Diorama
Hello everyone, I hope you will like this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have fun!
I also need to thank the fantastic work of SailoMoonFanForever, who took the time to Beta-read and to fix the many errors I made throughout this chapter. If you read this text, know that I am really grateful for all your hard work!
Second Chapter: Dusk
After a rather long discussion with Mr. McCoy, Rémy left the class feeling depressed. The teacher had agreed to let him work on the assignment he had given, but the boy had to finish it before his next science class. Of course, he had better things to do, but he did not feel like disappointing a teacher who usually coped well with his tardiness. His books in his arms and his mind set on the task of finding a good theme for his paper, Rémy walked up to the room he was sharing with Bobby. He walked in on a sight he sure did not want to see. Bobby was sitting on his own bed, eating one of the muffins from the night before.
"Bobby, what are you doing? Who said you can eat that? These are for the ladies."
Bobby frowned and looked at the muffin.
"Seriously? Well, next time, hide them. I thought food existed for the purpose of being eaten."
"You know I need this for my class."
Bobby shrugged and took another bite, annoyed.
"You know I'll be there, Rémy, so everything's okay, your muffin's not wasted, geez..."
Silence followed his words. Bobby was usually a very nice and sweet person, and everyone at the school liked him for his warm personality. At first, he had had nothing against his quiet room mate, he even appreciated the fact Rémy was far from troublesome and usually gone from the room. People wondered why the red eyed mutant did not listen in class and why he would be seen sleeping during the day, but the answer was fairly simple; he enjoyed the nocturnal lifestyle. These habits led the staff and the students of the school to worry over him, and quite frankly, Bobby, sweet as he was, also had his share of worries. He stopped caring about the antics of the other boy when Rogue started showing interest in the whole situation. Bobby loved Rogue, and he believed he loved her more than a man who tried to seduce every female that crossed his path.
"Hey, I wanted to know something,he said.
R?y, who had put down his books, looked at the other boy.
"I was just wondering... what do you think about Rogue?"
"...Rogue?"
Bobby blushed, thinking about the girl. He shook his head, trying to regain control over his feelings.
"You know what? Forget I said anything."
"Je l'aime bien..." Rémy answered softly.
"What?"
"I like her, she's sweet, and I can tell that she also likes me."
Bobby frowned. Of course Rogue liked him, she didn't know that he was a player, or maybe she did not realize what it meant. Besides, since he was a player, he knew exactly what to do to be loved by women.
In another part of town, the young lady was just waking up in her hotel room. As she looked around herself, she remembered where she was and why she had left Louisiana. She was searching for a lost friend. With a fully rested mind, she realized how ugly the room was. There were cobwebs on the ceiling, humidity stains on the walls, and an unpleasant smell. Nevertheless, she had already slept in places that were worse than that when her job forced her to. She went to take a shower, cold because there was no warm water. She hurriedly washed her long blond hair and her white skin as her humor was gradually worsening.
"He'd better be happy to see me," she pestered. "I went through all the trouble of finding ce sale crétin!"
There were no towels in the old washroom so she had to put her pair of jean and her soft pink t-shirt on after some time. There was no hair dryer so she could not try and make her hairstyle as pretty as it could be. She wished she would not have to stay another night in this dreaded hotel room. Well aware of her prey's habits, she knew she had to wait for dusk to come to have better chances of finding him, so she decided to act as a normal girl would and go out to do some shopping.
In Xavier's school, there was a special room in which there were a dozen of ovens. It was the place where Rogue, Bobby, Kitty and some other students gathered an hour after dinnertime. Rogue and Bobby went to sit in front of one of the ovens while Kitty and her partner, Kurt, were patiently waiting in front of them. Kitty, being her usual self, was telling Kurt about things that probably did not interest him that much.
"I'm telling you, it's like, true! Can you believe that?"
"Ja, ja, okay..."
"What are you guys talking about?Rogue asked.
The preppy brunette, happy to have gained a new listener, approached her two friends.
"Well, you know, it was like, yesterday! Jean was taking a shower, see? And... Scott, like... walked in on her!"
Bobby snickered, while Rogue wondered why she had asked in the first place.
"Right, Kitty, that's really interesting..." she said
"Wait, I also heard something else, though it has, like, nothing to do with Scott or Jean... I don't know how, but Rémy, like, convinced Hank to let him redo the science paper!"
Bobby frowned as Kurt's eyes were widening.
"Was? Oh, and here I worked like crazy last night to finish it up..."
"Yeah, me too!Kitty exclaimed.
"And I think I'm gonna fail..." he added. "Some people have all the luck..." he sighed.
"La chance has nothing to do with this. It's skills."
All eyes converged towards a single spot. Rémy, who had mindlessly snuck up on them, was standing there, his plate of muffins in one hand. He gave a muffin to the girls and Kurt.
"Sorry Rogue... some people did not realize that I would be using these for today's class, so I couldn't keep my promise. Bobby here and Wolverine tasted the muffins before you."
"Aww, really? Then promise me this, Rémy... Next time you'll cook in the middle of the night, then come and wake me up so I can be the very first person to enjoy your cooking, okay?"
Rémy smiled and laughed softly.
"D'accord, Rogue... how could I ignore a request from such a charming lady..."
Bobby clenched his fists, and even though the others did not pay attention to it, the air surrounding the boy got slightly colder, as if winter had taken over his sweet heart.
"Don't you have a class to teach?he snapped.
The target of these unnecessary harsh words blinked.
"You're right, Bobby... seems like I got distracted by overflowing charme féminin..."
Rogue blushed and lowered her head in an attempt to hide her red cheeks from him. The air around Bobby grew colder as Rémy was going in front of the class.
"Ah, is it me, or is it cold in here?" Kurt asked Kitty.
Rogue looked at Bobby with concern.
"Are you okay? You're getting cold..."
Bobby sighed, the heat returning to his body.
"Yeah, it's nothing, don't worry about me, Rogue."
She looked at the front of the class where Rémy was standing after he had given food to the other students. Although he was a student, he was also in charge of teaching his fellow students the fine art of cooking. Charles Xavier had come up with this idea to make sure that Rémy got somehow involved with the school. Since the boy did not seem to like studying and since he waited for the night to come before becoming fully active, he had been tasked to teach one of the things he did best during the evening. There had been no cooking classes, and as Ororo Munroe, a counselor, had said, it would be best for the students to learn how to cook to become more autonomous adults.
"For today's class, you will try and recreate what you just tasted" Rémy explained. "For this recipe, you will need flour, eggs, milk..."
Rogue was not listening to him at all while he wrote the ingredients on the blackboard. She was simply looking at him, at his glittering red eyes that showed how happy he was to be there, sharing with the people he knew some of his culinary knowledge. Seeing this apparent joy in his dark eyes made Rogue happy for him, and she felt relieved seeing how the young man was enjoying himself at least in his own class. She feared he would leave the school. It was not uncommon for impatient youngsters to turn their backs against the school to join the Brotherhood or to simply vanish. After some time, Bobby pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Okay, how about I start with everything that looks liquid while you do the rest?"
"Sure, why not, Bobby..."
Rogue left her place and went in front of the class, where the fridge was. She opened the door and stayed motionless for a moment. Seeing that, Rémy approached her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Rogue, ça va?" he asked.
She spun around and she met his eyes, they were so close that she feared that a wrong move would put him into deep trouble. She blushed yet again and took a step back, almost entering the fridge. It took her some time to remember what she was trying to tell him.
"Uh... there's no milk left..."
His eyes showed confusion.
"What? Oh non... and there's none left in the kitchen..."
He turned around and looked at the class.
"Sorry, but there's no milk left! We can't possibly do muffins without milk..."
Without thinking, Rogue spoke up.
"You and me can go and buy some."
Her eyes widened, while Rémy looked at her. She did not mean to say that, but sadly, these words had already reached the ears of the whole class. She really wished she could have taken back those rather embarrassing words. Of course, not helping her too much, Kitty's voice rose up from the back of the class.
"That's, like, a great idea! How about we have our class later tonight? That would be, like... Totally awesome! We can wait for you to come back, you know!"
Rogue glared at her, but since the class all agreed to this idea of having the class two hours later, she had no choice. Rémy came closer to her.
"Let's go, Rogue."
She sighed and agreed.
Rogue and Rémy left the school and started to walk towards the market. The sunset was amazing, and it bathed the couple in an intense red, burning and fiery light.
"So, how did you like the taste of the muffin?" Rémy asked.
"Oh, it was delicious, as always..."
She was not too sure what to tell him, and it was not like her at all to be this way. She was not a shy person at all, but somehow, Rémy knew how to make her lose her cool. Maybe it had to do with his perfect smile, his passionate eyes or maybe his deep voice, but Rogue did not feel like herself when she was around the young man. As of Rémy himself, he knew that Rogue was a tricky woman and that he could not withstand the danger of touching her. But despite the threat she seemed to be, he wanted to hold her close and touch her soft skin so badly that sometimes it hurt, and this pain so often seemed excruciating.
"Tu sais, I wanted to know something..." Rémy started to say.
Rogue looked at him, smiling tenderly. She took Rémy's hand, getting so close to him that any onlooker would have thought they were in a relationship.
"Yes, what is it?"
Rémy could not detach his gaze from her curious but patient expression. He let his eyes wander until they fell on her lips, lips that seemed too sweet to remain untouched, too delicious to keep for herself, but also too forbidden to ever be claimed.
"Rogue, do you... do you like me?"
Rogue opened wide eyes. Was this what was bothering him? She wanted so much to tell him that she more than liked him, that she loved him and she wanted him to be hers and hers alone. To be the first one to steal a kiss from her at the peril of his life, and more than anything, she wanted to find a way to spend her life at his side. How perfect this life could be if he would agree to stay with her forever if they would find a way to consummate their love without the risk of him dying in a fatal embrace. How beautiful their romance could be! Instead of saying all that, the answer that came out was rather short.
"Well... yeah?" she said.
Rémy smiled, apparently satisfied.
"Alright... je te remercie."
Thanks for reading, please send me a review!
