Scott looked at his stop watch and then in-between the two girls. Kitty was grinning but Rogue, Rogue was scowling. He looked at them and bit back a grin.
"Kitty did beat your mile score. By ten seconds, but she beat it." He declared, his face deceptively straight. Kitty let out a surprisingly loud whoop and started jumping up and down in the air. Jean crossed her arms, impressed.
"Wow, Kitty." She said, amused. "Amazing what you accomplish when you put your mind to it." She didn't catch the following glare from the underclassman.
"Ugh, whatever." She said, sticking her hands on her hips. All eyes eventually fell on Rogue. Kitty, Kurt, Scott, Jean, Bobby, Jaime, Tabitha, Amara and Jubilee glared at her. Her cheeks burned so red even Scott could notice. "Well..." Kitty pressed, smiling smugly at her roommate. Rogue crossed her arms over the emerald breast of her X-Suit and pouted.
"Well what?" She snapped, her posture rigid.
"Well? We made a bet, remember?" Dozens of heads nodded in agreement. They had witnessed the bet making. Rogue glowed an even deeper red.
"Ten seconds hardly counts," Rogue drawled, holding up a finger. "You said you could wash my time. You tried your very hardest and barely squeezed by." Kitty was frowning, Rogue was good. Kurt cocked an eyebrow.
"I dunno... A vin is a vin. I think it still counts." He said unsurely. He ignored the evil stare Rogue sent him.
"Sounds like a win to me." Jaime said with a shy smile. Bobby rolled his eyes.
"You just wanna see-" Jaime elbowed the ice mutant quickly, splitting into four more Jaime's on accident. Jean caught Rogue telekinetically as she tried to sneak away during the fray. She smiled, satisfied she had stopped one of Rogue's famous disappearing acts.
"Oh no you don't," She said, bringing Rogue back. They all surrounded her, smirking.
"A bet's a bet." Amara said with a mischievous grin. Tabitha laughed.
"That's right! You agreed." Rogue rolled her eyes and scoffed, pushing through the crowd of mutants.
"FAHNE. Will y'all leave me alone if I just do it?" Kitty nodded, her eyes shut.
"Yep. We will." Rogue stalked past them all, a frown on her face. Scott sent her a sympathetic smile.
"It won't be that bad." He assured her, hoping that the sensitive girl wasn't really upset. Unbeknownst to a lot of people, he and Rogue were close enough to joke around with each other. He noticed that she got really out of odds when other people tried it, even if they meant it in good nature. 'We just wanna include you in the fun,' He thought as she stomped up to her room.
"I'll be down here." He called, figuring it was the lease he could do.
Scott sat in the kitchen and ate a tangerine while he read for English class, waiting for Rogue to finish showering. He had almost forgotten about the Danger Room or the bet when she finally prepared to come downstairs.
"I look ridiculous," She grumbled from the top of the steps. Scott rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure you look... Normal, Rogue." He responded, not looking up from his book.. "Just come down, it's only me anyways." She wished he could've seen the look on her face when he said that. 'Yeah,' She thought. 'Just you.' She cleared her throat awkwardly.
"If ya knew how expensive makeup was or how long it took to put on you'd get why this is emotional." Scott chuckled a little. He could understand how makeup was really important to a girl's self esteem and overall aesthetic. Rogue's look wasn't for everyone but damn if it wasn't deliberate. It was never Scott's style but he could always appreciate her level of commitment.
"Just come down already before I fall asleep." He heard her sigh and begin to shuffle her feet. As she came down the stairs he wondered to himself if he'd ever seen her without makeup before. When Remy stole her she'd fallen into the swamp and her makeup got washed off. She didn't make a big deal of it then but he remembered thinking it was kinda nice, just a little weird.
She always had it on. In the Danger Room. In the gym. At school. To go to the store. Sometimes to sleep... Perhaps he had seen her bare face when she was seriously injured in the infirmary but nobody was paying attention to that then. Rogue never willingly let anyone see her without makeup, no wonder she was freaking out. Scott looked up casually when she appeared at the bottom of the steps and almost dropped his tangerine.
Her hair was still damp and curly, shocking the high school senior most of all. She had been at the institute for over a year and he'd never seen her straighten her hair. Her skin was still pale but it wasn't unattractive. He realized Rogue actually had freckles she hid with foundation for whatever reason. She had on a black unitard and a big, green shirt draped over top.
Her lips were soft looking and pink, her eyes looked much bigger and much greener not hidden in makeup.
Scott stared at her, certain he was about to mess up whatever he was about to say.
"I..."
"Don' make fun." Rogue said quickly, and Scott tried to figure out what someone could make fun of. She had never looked brighter.
"Of what," He sighed, his stare lingering a little too long. She dropped her gaze, her heart hammering in her chest. 'I can't believe I'm not wearin' any makeup in front of Scott.' She thought frantically. "You look,"
"Natural?" She interrupted with a smile. He laughed.
"Stunning." He said, causing her to swallow hard. "You wear your look well but you really could get out the shower, throw on clothes, and go." He popped a tangerine slice in his mouth. "I've uh, dated a lot of girls. Kind of." He caught a strange look from Rogue and he shoved more tangerine in his mouth. "Most of them don't look so good right out of the shower."
She knew he hadn't meant Jean but Rogue thought about some of the other popular, beautiful girls he'd dated and took the compliment.
"I-"
"Rogue, are you finished?!"
"The girls wanna see!" Jean and Kitty called, filing from room to room looking for her. They howled in pleasure when they found her in the kitchen, then screamed at the sight of her natural. She was... Gorgeous. Not that any X-Girl thought she wasn't but this bet made it clear Rogue's makeup was a defense mechanism and not a necessity. Scott slid to the background and let the girls have their fun fawning over Rogue, knowing he'd said enough.
She was tough. She was smart. She was effective. But they had underestimated her by not considering she was a part of the unofficial looks race the X-Girls were participating in. Scott had learned a long time ago that if there was one thing you don't do, it's underestimate Rogue.