Chapter 1 Dancing, food, and fun
Rogue looked up at the flashing neon sign—Dancing, food, and fun. Well, she really wasn't looking for something like that, but going to the library every Tuesday was getting old. She had read practically everything interesting there already, anyway.
Well, what? it was a small library, okay?
It started after she found out that Risty was really Mystique. Tuesday nights she used to go over to Risty's to hang out with her best friend and to get away from dumb-assed teenager drama that was always beholden to the mansion. But then her power-freakout happened and 'Risty'—and Risty's house—were no longer in the picture. And now that the library had been exhausted, she guessed she should try something different.
Go me, she thought sardonically. Personal growth.
She supposed the place wasn't too bad. It had the kind of music that she leaned toward playing more often than not. She caught a few lines of a Nine Inch Nails song playing and smirked. Ah could get used to this place.
The place looked like it used to be a roller-skating rink, with a wide circular dance floor and snack bar. It was a club right now, but apparently they were looking to hire dance instructors, too. They also had theme nights—Rogue had read about them in their newspaper ad.
A new song started, and rogue felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around to tell whoever it was her usual spiel, and found herself staring into a pair of red-on-black eyes.
"May I have this dance?" he asked with a smirk.
"Ah… When did ya get back up North?" she asked.
"Couple days ago." He took her hand and pulled her to the dance floor. She was a little baffled while flattered at the same time. Since when did anyone at all want to get close enough to her to dance with her? Especially if they had been absorbed by her, not to mention more than once.
Back in Mississippi, rogue loved to go out dancing. She automatically found the beat and moved with it, and with him. When they ended up looking each other in the eye again, she simply asked "Why?"
"Why what, Chere?" Gambit replied. She gave him an I-don't-tolerate-being-bull-shitted glare. He laughed. "Can't I dance with a pretty lady?" he asked.
"Maybe if ya have a death wish, ya can."
"You've absorbed me before an' I'm still alive."
"If ya know how horrible it is, shouldn't ya be afraid ta touch meh?"
"Nonsense. I'm touching your clothes." She rolled her eyes at this. "And if you're so worried 'bout me touchin' you, maybe you should learn to control your powers.
"Yeah, because Ah haven't tried that," she drawled.
"Actually, you haven't."
"Are you on something?"
"The floor. And what you've been doing is fighting your mutation. Trying to beat it down. You should be working with it, not against it."
"How? Just go up to someone and will mahself ta absorb them? And how the hell would ya know what Ah've been doin?" she replied indignantly as they sat at her table after the song ended.
"I used to be employed to stalk the X-Men, remember?"
"Used to? If you're not with Buckethead anymore, then why are ya up north?"
"Guild stuff got too annoying. So now I'm living at the acolyte base again while ignoring Magneto's every request. It's great fun." He smirked. "But back to you. You want my insight?" she nodded warily. "I want you to work on distinguishing your psyches from each other. I know you got lots of people in that pretty little head, and I want you to work on getting to know the distinct feel of each one. Can ya do that for me?"
"Ah guess."
"Good. Then meet me here at the same time next week." He got up and left the club.
X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X
Rogue punched in the security code for the mansion and walked up the driveway and into the kitchen. Reaching for her Coke in the bottom shelf of the refrigerator drawer, she was mostly paying attention to what was going on in her mind.
She guessed that her psyches would try to take over her mind the moment she paid attention to them instead of pushing them back behind the mental wall she had worked so hard with the Professor to build up. Surprisingly, she found that she still had control, although now that the psyches were getting some attention, they were quite talkative. Pretty much all of them refused to be quiet and let her pick one out of the bunch to "get a feel" for them. SHUT UP! She thought loudly.
And they did.
And then they started again.
Like jeez, Rogue, you don't gotta be rude! Kitty piped up. Kitty was as good as anywhere to start with, so Rogue thought hard and analyzed Kitty's psyche until she knew it well. She had Kitty fade in with the rest of them, but now that she had spent some quality mind-time with Kitty, she could tell her psyche apart from the rest of them. Maybe the Cajun's ideas do have some merit, Rogue thought.
She then proceeded to analyze Logan's psyche, and once she had that one down, she started on Kurt's. The real-life counterpart of said psyche popped into the kitchen at that moment, but rogue didn't notice until he waved his hand in front of her face.
"Pretty intense look you vere giving zat soda," he joked. "You should really mentally undress your carbonated beverages in ze privacy of your bedroom, shweister."
"Ha-ha, ya're very amusing," she replied. He proceeded to stand on the counter and go through the topmost cupboards, pulling things out and searching very thoroughly for something. "What're ya doing?" she asked him finally.
"I'm on a Twinkie quest," he replied. "I know Mr. McCoy keeps several boxes stashed somevhere." Well, here goes nothing, Rogue thought as she rifled through Hank's psyche.
"Try that little refrigerator he keeps in the Medlab," Rogue said. "Behind the Petri Dishes." She smirked at his baffled expression and walked out of the kitchen.
And straight into Jean.
"Oh, sorreh, Jean."
"That's alright," she said absentmindedly. "I was looking for Hank, and I could've sworn I felt his mind in here a second ago… How odd." Rogue opened her mouth to explain and thought better of it. She just shrugged at Jean and walked on.
She didn't need anyone to know she was trying something new with her powers, as they would probably want to know where she got the idea. She couldn't very well tell them she spent the night dancing with Gambit. No, that wouldn't do at all. Somehow, she had the idea that several people would be none too pleased.
As she was heading up the stairs, she passed Logan. He stopped in his tracks although she kept on walking, and sniffed the air. "Stripes, where in the world were ya tonight? Ya sure as hell don't smell like books."
"Oh, nowhere. Just hitting the town fer a change." He seemed suspicious. Maybe he smelled the Cajun on her? But he walked away anyway.
Rogue went onto the next psyche, and the next, and the next until she knew the feel of all of them in her head.
She went to bed that night wishing it was next week already.