Diorama

Hello everyone, this is my first X-Men fic, so please be indulgent... Also, it is quite different from my usual style of writing, so it may sound odd at times. Thank you!

A few precisions before the story starts... In this story, the characters are rather old students and it is not situated in a distinct version of the show.I know it may bring people to confusion, so I have to say that Gambit is a student in Xavier's school and he also teaches a small class. I wish you the best of time reading the story!

Diorama

First Chapter: Midsummer Night

The Westchester train station was nearly empty at this very late hour, and the people who got out hurried up to get out of the subway as fast as possible. They were probably eager to get home after a very long day of work, or maybe they just did not feel like hanging around the potentially dangerous people that usually lurked in the dark alleys of the city. Despite all this hurry, the young woman that came out last seemed rather lost as she looked around herself. Slowly, but with building confidence, she left the station, seemingly searching for something. She was so used to the bayous of Louisiana that the dry atmosphere of this midsummer night seemed anything but natural.

"I wonder where this crétin is... He'd better remember his old friend when he sees her," she whispered to none but herself.

Exhausted from the long trip from Bâton-Rouge to New York, she decided it would be wiser to look for the man with a fully rested mind. She could not afford her tiredness to let him get the best of her without a fight. Fortunately, there was a cheap hotel right next to the station, where the young woman decided to rest. The room that was given to her was small and rancid, but she did not really mind, she wanted nothing more than a bed to sleep in. It was with thoughts of her lost loved one that she fell asleep, filled with the desire to be with him like in the good old days of Louisiana.

The so-called crétin was not too far away. It was a really quiet night at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It was passed midnight, and most students were asleep, but some of them were still studying for tests and exams. These noble intentions were not what compelled the young man to enter the kitchen that late at night. As silent as the soft pace of a cat, the thief started rummaging through the pantry and the refrigerator, taking out the flour, chocolate chips, eggs, milk and a few other ingredients. With a lot of dexterity and precision, he started pouring and mixing all that he had taken out. While he was deep in thought, he did not hear the sound that one of his fellow students made as she entered the kitchen.

"Rémy?"

Surprised rather than startled, Rémy turned around and his gaze fell upon a young woman who was dressed in a rather short and seductive pink nightgown. He knew her outfit was potentially dangerous but nothing could stop him from looking at her soft skin.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "It's already passed midnight."

"I could say that aussi, Rogue..."

He took a better look at her and grinned widely.

"You definitely need to dress like that more often, très chère."

She rolled her eyes.

"You did not answer my question. What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I'm preparing material for tomorrow's class."

"Really... Well then, Mr. LeBeau," she playfully said. "just make sure I'm the first one to taste your preparations."

He nodded and went back to what he was doing. Before he could do anything else than add more flour to the mixture, the girl tenderly embraced him from behind. He smiled, knowing far too well that a wrong move could throw him into a comatose state.

"You couldn't sleep... Right?"

He started mixing, seemingly ignoring her question.

"Fine, be that way."

She let go of him and slowly walked towards the door. He had been taken in last year at the school, but he still did not really talk a lot about himself despite his friendly demeanor. His tendency to wake up in the middle of the night worried some of the teachers and counselors, but Rémy did not think he had a problem of any sort. As his friend, Rogue was worried by this attitude, but it was not her place to try and make him tell her all the psychological problems he might have had. She was worried that he would have problems with his teachers if he did not refrain from arriving late into class every morning.

She stopped in her tracks as she realized that she was not well placed to complain about his inability to open himself to others; no one knew her real name.

"If you want to know... I came here because I couldn't fall asleep either, and I thought I might run into you."

"Alright."

Rouge frowned, disappointed that her attempt to make him open up did not work. She sighed and left the room, knowing that saying considerate lines such as "you should go to sleep, we have a long day tomorrow" or "instead of cooking in the middle of the night, you should try and get some rest" would be pointless.

"Bonne nuit, Rogue..." she heard him say.

She smiled and went to bed, eager to taste whatever he was cooking. As she entered the room, she saw that Kitty was still awake, working on her computer.

"What are you working on?" Rogue asked.

"Science paper, I forgot all about it, and it's, like, due tomorrow morning! I hope Hank won't get angry..."

"He will get angry if you fall asleep on your desk tomorrow!"

Kitty laughed softly.

"Yeah, he will probably get annoyed at Rémy again..."

Rogue's smile froze. She knew that her friend was right, and even though she was not exactly interested is school either, Rémy's distaste was as visible as the red eyes on his face. Another small laugh from Kitty made Rogue lose her train of thought.

"He's really sweet though, and he's good looking. I wish he'd be... like... closer to me, but maybe it's this air of mystery about him that makes him so seductive... Or maybe it's..."

Rogue was not listening anymore. She knew her affection towards Rémy was fragile, and she knew that the boy had a slight tendency to be overly suave around the other girls. Even though she was not his girlfriend yet, Kitty's blabbering about his looks annoyed her and brought her to a state close to anger, but she did not say anything to the other girl.

"And you, Rogue, what do you think?"

Rogue shook her head.

"Uh... I think that if you don't finish your paper soon, Hank will probably get annoyed with either you failing or you falling asleep on your desk."

"Oh you're totally right, I should, like, continue working and let you sleep!"

"Yeah, good night Kitty."

As one o'clock was approaching, Rémy was still sitting in the kitchen, reading the newspaper as the food was baking in the oven. The young man's attention had been brought to the newspaper by an article that had to do with a string of murders that had taken place recently in Louisiana. As his reading of the article was progressing, the modus operandi described in these lines strangely reminded him of people he knew down there... people he did not really want to remember. At the middle of a paragraph, Rémy smelled something in the air, the sweet smell of baked goods that were almost ready to be taken out of the oven. It took him some time to realize that it was the food that he had prepared a bit earlier. He threw the newspaper down, jerked out of the chair and opened the oven's door. He sighed in relief as he took notice that the dozen of chocolate chips muffins he had so carefully nurtured were perfectly baked.

The sun rose up on Xavier's beautiful mansion. Rémy woke up to the sight of the newspaper and to the sweet sounds of swallowing and muffin chewing. After he had whined for a few seconds, he lifted up his head and looked at the source of all this noise. Logan, a muscular and gruff looking man, was staring at Rémy, a muffin in his hand.

"That was class material" Rémy groaned, pointing at the food.

"Really... seems like one of your followers won't get a treat, Bub."

Rémy took the muffins out of Logan's reach and got up.

"By the way... aren't you supposed to be in class?" the older man asked.

"Well... yeah...?"

"You're late."

Rémy took the plate in which the muffins were and went up to his room. He placed them on his bed side table and went to class. Professor Hank McCoy was telling the class something about the periodic table of the chemical elements, but he stopped his lecture as Rémy came in. Rogue, who was sitting at the back of the class, raised her head from the science book to take a look at the disheveled boy at the front of the class. In her opinion, he looked cute even with such messy hair.

"How nice of you to grace us with your presence, Rémy... May I ask of you to give me your rendition of the assignment I gave out last class?"

"Désolé, I completely forgot."

The teacher sighed. As they were talking in front of a class that was happy to see some action this early in the morning, Bobby, who was sitting right next to Rogue, leaned towards her.

"It's ridiculous, I wonder why they tell this guy to attend class, he really couldn't care less," he whispered.

"Right, right..." she answered, distracted.

"Um, Rogue? I was wondering if you'd like to go out and eat lunch with me?"

"I don't know, Bobby... I may have things to do."

Annoyed by the attention she was giving to the boy in front of the class, Bobby continued on a harsher tone.

"Rémy won't eat with you, as soon as class is over, he'll probably go back to sleep."

Kitty, who was right in front of Rogue, spun around to look at her female peer.

"Ah, Rémy is so cute! He's like... I don't know, cute, you know?"

Bobby frowned. How could these girls see the charm in this incorrigible player?

"Yeah, it's a good thing that he believes every girl in the school is worth his attention. Did you see him swoon over Jean yesterday? And over Jubilation two days ago?"

"I think you're exaggerating," Kitty said.

The professor's voice stopped their conversation.

"At the back of the class, silence, please... it's okay, you may sit down, we will discuss it once class is over," he told Rémy.

The young man, grateful for the understanding personality of the teacher, went to sit in front of Bobby, next to Kitty. Apparently, Kitty did not mind the fact that he had gotten away with not doing the assignment she had worked so hard to complete last night. She eagerly showed him what page they were at in the book. Rogue was looking at the back of his head, unable to concentrate on the class. She still remembered her arms wrapped around his chest, a move that could have been dangerous for him. She wished she could have been able to embrace him without having to worry about the danger of it all. Nonetheless, that gloomy thought was replaced by a more positive one; Rémy had not tried to get away from the arms she had thrown around him.

...

Thank you for taking the time to read. Please do not hesitate to send me a review to share your opinion, ask me questions or poke me with a stick!