Title: Passing Performance Arts
Author: MistressKitty PG; Category: Shipper Fun.
Summary: It's time for the final examination for Rogue, Jubilee and Kitty- students in Storm's Performance Arts class.
Notes: Archive with permission. Characters not mine. Thanks to White Shadow and Boo for the betas.
/How did Jubilee convince me to do this/ Rogue was quite distraught at the mirror's reflection of herself in a rather, shall we say, revealing corset (is there any other kind?). Jubilee finished off the breath-restricting lacing and slapped Rogue lightly on the behind.
"Knock 'em dead, Honey," she said, as Rogue lurched forward and struggled to regain her balance.
"How can I knock when I can't even breathe? …Ow…"
"You'll find a way. Trust me." Those were the same two words that had gotten Rogue into this mess in the first place. Trust me. She wasn't likely to believe them again. But some part of her insides was still convinced that this wasn't all that bad. She knew that she wanted to pass Performance Arts, and this seemed to be the only way. Of course, she could have arranged her own act, but then she would be going all alone. That seemed like a fate worse than corsets. (coughSequelPlugcough)
"Do you think Nicole wore her hair like this?" Jubilee asked from in front of the bathroom mirror. Rogue turned around to see Jubilee's silken locks wrapped up in a French twist with wisps hanging down reminiscent of the Moulin Rouge courtesan that the girls had come to admire.
"Who cares? You look fabulous!" Rogue couldn't help getting a little excited. "Speaking of fabulous, I haven't seen you or Kitty's costume yet."
"In due time, in due time."
Rogue shook her head and attempted to squeak out the first few measures of the song and then had to sit down, gasping for air. Jubilee tried, halfheartedly, to conceal her laughter.
"You put yours on, and then we'll see who's laughing."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure that it's going to be me." Jubilee bit her lip to keep from bursting; the corners of her mouth curled up in a spritely smile. "We've still got two hours, keep practicing. I'm going to help Kitty with hers."
"Okay- but be sure and meet back here 15 minutes before we go on."
"Gotcha."
Rogue hummed a little as she tried to decide what to do with her hair. /Up or down… think Rogue, what would Nicole do/ Rogue nodded decisively. Both. She worked her hair up in a clip spilling down with curls, and her streaks down in front. She'd be sure to knock them dead. But wait, she wasn't sure that she wanted to do that. /Won't it be a little cruel to taunt them, and then, sorry, can't touch me unless you don't especially like being consious…/
Ah, well.
It was 16 minutes before the show would start, and Jubilee and Kitty were nowhere to be found. Rogue was starting to get antsy. She was about to get up and go looking for them, but she didn't want to pass out before the show. "Come on, come on…" Rogue muttered as she adjusted her long green gloves.
As if on cue, the door opened.
Jubilee waltzed in first, looking splendid in a crimson corset and long flowing skirt. Her hair was adorned with little red flowers to accent her dark tresses. Rogue clapped in delight. Jubilee gestured to Kitty, and she timidly stepped into the room. Kitty's outfit consisted of a navy blue corset with a silver skirt. She looked like a star. Rogue looked down at her own outfit- Green and gold embroidered corset and skirt. They made quite the trio. The only down side was, of course, the fact that they would be waltzing around in front of the whole school and alumni in next to nothing, but also that there were only three of them to do the parts meant for four girls. This wasn't going to be pretty. Well, you know what I mean.
Wolverine was shifting in his seat. Jean had ordered him to go down to the theatre early to reserve seats for her, Scott and himself. Sitting at a talent show was bad enough, but sitting at a talent show next to Scott Summers, that was something else all together. As the minutes closed in, the room became louder and more crowded. Wolverine was startled… how many kids could be out here? Half the school was in the show, so who were these people?
One of the kids, his name was Bobby, was handing out programs. Wolverine grunted at him and obtained three before Bobby ran off to hand out the now slightly iced programs elsewhere.
He opened the folded paper. "Welcome to Professor Charles Xavier's School For the Gifted Annual Talent Show!" Wow. Cheery. He quickly scanned the list for names he knew and stopped dead when he saw Rogue's name. He blinked twice and his jaw dropped. Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee were doing a rendition of "Lady Marmalade". Good God.
Wolverine made a quick attempt to leave the theatre but was met on his way out by Scott and Jean. "I thought you were saving seats for us!" Jean exclaimed in mock dismay.
"I was, I…"
Scott leaned over to Jean and whispered in her ear so that Wolverine couldn't hear even with his powerful senses, it didn't seem to Scott that the hairy man could listen if he tried to at this point. "He just saw the program, I bet you 50 cents."
Jean laughed as she commented on the fact that 50 cents was a very pansy bet. She then turned to Wolverine. "Why don't you show us to our seats, Logan."
"I… I… Okay."
"Okay guys. I grabbed a copy of the program. We are going third. So, practice breathing, and there's a piano over there if you want to warm up." And with that, Jubilee was off and helping another group. She was the second in charge of this performance.
Rogue and Kitty looked at each other and then down to their feet. /Wait a second…/
"Our feet!"
"Shoes!"
"JUBILEEE!"
"JUBILEEE!"
The cry echoed through the theatre. Everyone looked around concerned, but the trouble was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, all was concealed behind the curtain as Jubilee was barraged with words and weak blows to the shoulders. "Girls, girls. Calm down!" she said.
"Calm, what?"
"This could work. As long as we don't act like we're missing shoes, the audience will assume that we weren't /supposed/ to be wearing shoes." Jubilee had a mind like a politician. Rogue and Kitty breathed sighs of relief and resumed ridding themselves of the pre-show butterflies.
"Remember, Kitty. Do it for Ewan."
"Ohhh," Kitty breathed. "I'm getting belly rumblin's."
"Me too. I never did anything in front of a huge crowd like this before. No one ever asked me to in Meridian." /It probably would have set off my mutation early, Rogue thought.
"Yeah. I just have to remember not to phase through the stage… This is going to be interesting."
That would prove to be the understatement of the century.
Jubilee was making rounds one last time before it was time to join Storm on the stage to begin the introductions. Once she stepped on stage (wearing a black sorcerer's robe to hide her costume) the crowd grew quiet and Jubilee was able to see all of their faces. She restrained herself from doing a dance of joy. It was /perfect/ There was Wolverine: front and center. Jubilee could have kissed Scott and Jean she was so pleased. They had certainly done their part in the plan well. Things couldn't be better.
But it was time for business.
"I would like to welcome all of you to the Xavier School Talent Show!" Storm paused, patient while the audience clapped. "I am Ororo Monroe, and I usually teach History, but this year I decided to branch out and instruct Performance Arts as well. I want to introduce Jubilation Lee who has been student aide for my class and is second-in-command of this production." Jubilee was pleased at the roar of the crowd. "The students you will see today are going to be presenting a variety of acts: from oral interpretation, to musical numbers. They should have been rehearsing on their own time for about two months now, but I'm sure the procrastinators only started last night. Please reference your program for the acts as they come along. Well, Jubilee and I are needed backstage. I hope you enjoy the show!"
The curtain closing to muffle the exuberant cheers from the crowd hardly registered to Jubilee. She had a job to do.
Wolverine shifted uncomfortably in his seat again. Jean turned to him and made her angry face, so he quickly settled down. He didn't know whether to be proud of Marie, disgusted, or /interested/. It was that last one that scared him into shifting in his seat. He knew that parts of him kept forgetting how young Rogue was, but he liked to deny the existence of those thoughts if at all possible. It made him feel like a dirty old man. (Well, he might be dirty, but as far as he knew, he wasn't old. Or was it the other way around?).
His thoughts settled as the first act took the stage.
The first two acts passed quickly, so Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee hardly had any time to become any more nervous than they already were. As John and Rahne left the stage, the trio grasped each other's hands and whispered 'good luck' before they transformed their personas into members of the Diamond Dogs. There was no going back now.
The music started up, and the girls moved seductively across the stage. Their glittered chokers sparkled in the spotlights. They had memorized the dance, so from the opening on, they were moving and singing on autopilot. Jubilee was the most natural at the singing and movement (well, obviously… she was the one who had gone into the local thrift store and bought all the corsets…). Kitty had to keep stifling the urge to evaporate though the stage rear. Arguably, Rogue was the one who had the most trouble with the act.
She was totally disoriented with so much skin showing, she couldn't even focus on the audience because she was so out of it. She was constantly terrified that Jubilee or Kitty would fatally brush up against her. She couldn't stand for something so unnecessary to happen because of a talent show, of all things.
And then, there was the tiny distraction of Rogue knowing (although she couldn't see him) that Wolverine was somewhere in the audience. She could feel his eye on her, burning little eddies into her skin. She could hear his voice in her head making semi-obscene comments about her outfit and the way she was moving. Head-Logan was almost convinced that Rogue had been a real life prostitute at some time. Rogue mentally made a note to clobber Head-Logan sometime after the show.
But she had learned that Head-Logan and Real-Logan were sometimes very two different entities. Who really knew what Real-Logan was thinking except for him?
Wolverine tried not to move. He tried not to breathe. It wasn't her swaying hips that held his attentions, or her exposed bust-line. No, it was her eyes. They were smoky today, set off by some very well done liner and shadow (he would have to give his regards to Jubilee). It was her casual lock of shock-white hair loose from the rest of her hair-do. It was her pixie lips forming the words to the song. It wasn't the /words/ from the song- he didn't speak French anyway- it was the way that he felt that she was singing to him, whatever it meant.
Out of the corner of his eye (no more than a corner- he was completely transfixed with Rogue) he saw Scott and Jean glancing subtly towards him and sharing smiles. Did they know something he didn't?
The song was over, and it was time to bow. The applause seemed overwhelming; its force almost knocking Rouge down. The three girls stood in the middle of the stage, Jubilee in the center, and Kitty and Rouge on either side. They gripped damp hands/gloves, and as they took their bows, Rogue pressed her other hand to the top of her corset. She didn't want anything coming loose, especially this close to the end. The girls stood there a moment more before they fled the stage. Rogue didn't stop running from backstage all the way to her room.
"Remember, we have group bows at the end!" Jubilee called after her. "Don't change!"
"Excuse me, ma'am. Thank you. Excuse me." Wolverine was maneuvering through the crowd in an attempt to escape before the next act began. Sometimes he wondered if he had Marie in his head after all- he knew with such clarity where she was going and plus he was acting so polite all of a sudden. He only hoped that she wouldn't mind him barging in. He didn't even know what he was going to say. 'Good job', 'you looked great', 'I could tell you worked hard'. Bah. All of those could be said by anyone. He wanted to convey how he really felt about her, but in simpler words.
Well, there was the obvious…
/Knock, knock, knock/.
"Just a second!" Marie's disembodied voice called from behind the door. She adjusted her hair slightly and pulled at the top of her corset. Then she opened the door, only to find Logan: Real-Logan. Was she ready for this?
"Hey, kid. Saw you up there. Good job." Logan couldn't think of anything to say, and he couldn't put emotion into the words. It was like she had put a spell over him.
Marie blushed a little. "Thanks…"
They stood there in silence for a few moments and they could hear the distant tinny sounds of the talent show going on in the background. They looked at their hands, feet…
"Are your feet cold?" Logan caught Marie's eyes.
"Nah. Jubes just forgot to buy shoes is all."
More silence.
One minute, two. Then Logan raised his arm to gently place his hand on Marie's hip. They were frozen with this contact. Not deadly in the literal sense, but heart-stopping with madness. They were looking into each other's eyes, brown to brown, only, nothing was ever that simple. Logan opened his mouth-
"Psst. Rogue! Get over here!"
They looked to the voice, and Rogue stepped a little closer to Logan as she said in her sultry accent, "I better go."
Logan nodded, but as she was running off, he whispered, "I love you." And he wasn't sure if she had heard it until after he had made his way back to his seat, and he saw Marie's smile as she bowed with her classmates.
She was /definitely/ going to pass Performance Arts.