I do not own Marvel, X-men of any kind, or anything else amazing & profitable. Please do not sue me or my chubby evil pet salamander will gum your toes while you sleep.
This is a combo of some evolution, old school comics, & the movies, as will be anything I produce X-men related.
And so it begins:
LET IT SNOW
Rogue wandered the streets of Westchester, looking the part of an angsty teen to perfection. Her sullen frown, pale skin, and black eye liner were perfectly foreign in the white fluffy mounds of snow lining the sidewalk that mocking her. It was December…
Rogue hated December. It must be the biggest month of the year for people with real & fake families alike trying to bond. Maybe they made cookies. Maybe they sang songs and put up 200 figure lawn displays of holiday decorations. She didn't know. December in her life typically meant being cold, but relieved that everyone else had to wear gloves too. December meant planning some big grand attack or training more because class was out. December meant that nothing really changed, except that she noticed even more how lonely she could be.
Never had December had much to do with presents, cookies, religion, jolly fat men, or goodwill for her. Not that she'd chosen this attitude, mind you. Rogue's existence had little to do with her preferences it seemed. "Chewed up and spit out" tended to describe her treatment by the world.
Right now the entire institute was out trying to buy presents in town for their loved ones. That was the excuse for this little field trip the students had all taken, but Rogue had bigger problems. The first of which involved figuring out if she actually had any loved ones.
When it came right down to it, she was pretty sure that Logan was the only one that cared much for her. She did like him, but what sort of present did you get the Wolverine? Also, what money would she use? The Xavier School had presented her with some pocket money during her time there, and she rarely went out or spent anything so she had a bit of savings, but did she have enough to get anyone decent presents?
Hell, Wolverine deserved a new Harley under the tree for putting up with her temper… So did her annoyingly happy former roommate Kitty. The comical thought of Kitty on a Harley almost broke her out of her funk.
What to get Kitty? Well, it should probably be pink or technology related, right? Rogue window shopped aimlessly, enjoying the cold crisp feel of the air. At least she could enjoy that without fear. It started to sprinkle snow lightly, and she turned to walk toward the covered mall about a mile away. She didn't mind the snow, but didn't want to get even colder.
Her thick soled combat boots scuffed through the power pilings and she found herself slowing her pace. The street was quite, the unearthly silent sound that only seemed to accompany gentle snowfall. As she walked, the sound of music came closer and closer.
Rogue found the source a few blocks later, just before she made it to the mall. The sound was coming from a cozy looking shop. She could see toys, books, cd's, dvds, clothing, and a few other types of odds and ends on the shelves through the window and decided to enter. She quickly reached down and pulled the door open, hearing the faint tinkling of bells as it swung closed behind her.
The store was warm, bringing color to her cheeks. In the back she could see some tall backed plush chairs and a fireplace. There was a cocoa machine near it providing free beverages that she would definitely have to enjoy later. The shopping baskets were woven wicker baskets, instead of bright plastic & metal. She picked one up, appreciating the way they made the shop seem so much less sterile than a typical shop.
Rogue wandered the store slowly, enjoying the eccentric nature of the many items. She found a sturdy cigar box with a beautiful forest scene inlay made of different types of wood for wolverine on one shelf, and a mother of pearl necklace for Ororo on a jewelry display. Then, she stumbled on a book for Beast, German candies for Kurt, and even a magic eight ball to give the professor as a gag gift.
She had a few people left that she felt she knew well enough to try to get gifts for, but she felt that a break was in order. Rogue headed toward the fire, setting her basket next to one of the chairs. She poured herself a cocoa and turned around slowly, ready to head back to her selected seat.
Standing entirely too close behind her was none other than Remy Lebeau. Her face remained fixed in a calm and emotionless expression, but her mind raced and she instinctively took a step backward. The fearless girl looked up at the tall southern troublemaker
Remy leaned down toward her and grinned. "Ma Cherie, what a surprise. You come to see me?" He said conversationally. His eyes twinkled.
"Hardly swamp rat. I though you were still acting as gator bait down south."
"Naw. I'm too stringy for them gators." He laughed. He then swept an arm around Rogue and escorted her to the chairs, depositing her in one before she even registered what he was up to. Then, he slouched himself into the one nearest hers. The red velvet somehow suited the Cajun too well. "Finishing up your holiday shopping?" he asked conversationally.
"Ain't your boss gonna be upset you're chatting with the enemy right now?" she asked, partially out of mean spiritedness and partially out of genuine curiosity. Asking directly why he was back in town was unlikely to do any good.
"I be my own boss now, Cherie. Mags is gone, remember? And I quit dat guild as soon as I could." He said to her, smiling a genuine smile. "I up here to visit some friends and maybe figure out what ta do now that I'm a free man." He said to her, surprising her with his frankness.
"What sort of friends do you have?" she asked, falling back on her cruel façade to deal with the shock of his appearance and candor.
"Well, dere's you Ma Cherie." He said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "We had a good time down in da bayou. And dere's Piotr. Heard he's at your fancy institute now."
"That's right. He likes us bettah I think. We don't try to light him on fire like old Pyro did." To that Remy laughed. Pyro did like to light friends & enemys alike on fire. Rogue looked down then, noticing that her phone was vibrating.
She flipped it open and saw that she had missed 4 messages. Apparently the X-kids had been looking for her, and had given up. "They left me!" she cried in frustration "I gotta get home somehow and I'm not done shopping yet!" she said, slugging back her cocoa and jumping up.
"Cherie, calm down.." Deh fire's so nice, and it's snowing something frightful out there." he said, gently touching her shoulder and trying to ease her back into the chair.
"Ah gotta catch a bus I guess." She muttered, only half noticing him as she fell back into her warm seat in frustration. "Maybe a cab."
"You don't gotta meet them anymore, no? Stay here and finish yoah naughty and nice list with Remy. I help you pick some real nice presents out." He said softly in her ear. She smiled slightly at him.
"Logan might murder yah." She said to him, eyes alight. "I do need to finish up my shopping, though."
The shop keeper strolled over with an old fashioned pot and some corn kernels. "I've brought some corn for popping. It looks like we might all be stuck in here for awhile!" The kind old man said, starting the pan in the fire. Rogue and Remy looked at the door, finally noticing that the snow storm and gone from slight to severe. The flakes were falling gently, but had already created a thick drift in front of the shop door. The shopkeeper hurried off to attend to some thing else, leaving them alone again.
Rogue picked up her phone and dialed the mansion. "Logan? I'm stuck in town, snowed in at a shop." She listened for a few minutes, then said "No, they said I'd be fine to stay here until the storm lets up a bit." She frowned a bit. "No, don't come get me. The roads are too bad. I gotta finish my shopping anyway. I'll let you know when I'm on my way home." With that she hung up the phone with a click.
"So what are you doing in this shop?" Rogue suddenly asked Remy.
"Same as you Cherie, picking out some loot for deh friends. Was actually planning on sneaking something into your mansion for Piotr and Ororo, but mehbe if Remy play nice he can get you to help out…"
"Alright swamp rat, so long as I see what you're having me bring in. Wouldn't want you setting off the alarms on Christmas Eve and getting the kids all wound up." She said.
The two wandered up and down the rows idly talking and teasing one another for awhile, falling into a strangely comfortable place with one another.
"Can dis Cajun tell you a secret?" Remy asked her, suddenly looking sheepish.
"Ah guess."
"Your Professor asked me to be an X-man. I been scoping the gig out to see if I want to sign on. Do yah think I'll be welcome?"
"It ain't like working for Magneto. You can leave if you don't like it, take a ramble when you want to, so long as you don't get the X'men or mansion in trouble while you're gone. Some won't welcome you too quick, but you like to stir up trouble anyway."
"Hmm. Almost like giving myself a present. Maybe I leave myself under dah tree with a bow and see what happens." He laughed. Rogue laughed too, imagining Scott and Logan attacking Remy while he struggled to pull of a giant red bow and run at the same time.
"Yah are kind of like a puppy!" Rogue teased him.
Rogue slid down an aisle leaving the tall and angular man to contemplate for awhile. Silently, she slipped a little something extra into her basket. It looked like she might have one more person to call a friend at the mansion this year. She hurried to the counter before the thief could look at what she had picked out, and paid quickly. Remy strolled up as the shopkeeper handed her a few bags and handed over some loot of his own to purchase.
Rogue settled into her nice cozy chair with some cocoa and waited for Remy to join her. After all, who else would she be able to con into giving her a ride home in all that snow? And if they got to enjoy the fire and a long goodbye, she wouldn't complain…