She couldn't believe that guy's nerve
She couldn't believe that guy's nerve! Trying to sneak something into her drink. What a dick! She didn't even finish her beer, either, and it had been pretty damn good. Grr! Then, in retrospect, she probably should have stopped to thank that guy that had save-helped her. He seemed to be a pretty cocky guy too, but he still deserved a thank you. She had just been too angry to stop and think. Now she was alone in the heart of Bourbon street, not remembering where her hotel was. Great, she thought, all I want to do is go lay down, and I can't even do that.
"Hey lady!" She heard the call from one of the nearest balconies. She looked up and a guy with sandy blonde hair was waving some beads her way. Seeing who he was looking at, a couple of his buddies gave some cat calls and whistled, some asking her if she wanted some beads.
She folded her hands over her chest and stared up at them, raising an eyebrow and smiling despite herself. Mardi Gras, she realized, just had a way of bringing you back to a happy state no matter what you had been through.
She unfolded her arms and lifted her shirt to them, and their catcalls rose in volume. When she put her shirt down, she reached out to catch the beads they threw. She wasn't able to catch them, however, when a single strand of green, purple and gold beads went over her head, and she was pulled to someone's strong chest.
"Ya know, Chere, if you wanted some beads, all you had ta do was ask." A smooth Cajun voice whispered into her ear. She recognized the voice instantly as the man who had helped her at the bar.
He began to turn her to face him, and she was about to tell him to let her go, when she gasped.
Looking up, she was met with a stare she had never seen on anyone before. His eyes were red on black, and she was mesmerized. Looking back, she supposed she must have looked like an idiot gawking at him like that. That might have been why he was chuckling.
"Like what you see?" He purred. She snapped out of whatever she was in and tugged away from him. He let her go and leaned against a wall nonchalantly. "You can admit it. I won' lie ta' you. I like what I see. A little southern bell running around Bourbon Street alone. Not a smart decision. You could use a guide."
Her cheeks lit up. Yeah, she did like what she saw. A tall, well built man with long auburn hair, a bit of it hanging in his face, though unable to hide his burning eyes. And he was gorgeous to boot. That was probably why she felt so infuriated by him.
"Ah don't need any help." Whoa, the booze and her anger was really bringing out her southern accent. She needed a bit of control here. She turned to leave.
"Come on, chere. Let me show you around town. I promise not ta' do what dat man in dere tried ta' do. I jus' want the pleasure of yo' company fo' a while." He said.
She turned back around. "Its Rogue." She snapped. Then she froze. Why did she care? Why did she want to tell this man anything? He was just an annoying playboy, she could already tell. He wanted only what she could never give again, and hell if she was going to let him hurt her.
He just grinned back at her. "Gambit."
"Gambit." Rogue repeated, dumbstruck. So those weren't contact lenses, and his eyes were really like that. He was a mutant.
"Come on. I know a nice little café dat's still open now." Before she could protest, this man, Gambit, had grabbed her by the hand and was tugging her down the street.
She couldn't figure out what she was doing as he pulled her down streets he must know by heart, and before she knew it, She was seated in a small café with live jazz music playing in the background.
She blinked dazedly as he ordered a coffee for each of them and a piece of apple pie to share.
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked angrily.
He only smiled. "I thought I was takin' a lovely lady out ta' eat. If I'm wrong, you can correct me after the pie."
She gaped at him. The nerve! The absolute nerve of him! He was infuriatingly confident and just…just… Delicious looking? Her inner voice offered. She slapped it and substituted 'delicious' for cocky.
"You thought wrong. You practically kidnapped me!" She started.
He nodded and thanked the waitress that brought the pie and coffee. He pushed the pie between them and took a drink of his coffee.
"I mean, sure, you helped me out with the guy back there, and thanks, but that doesn't give you claim on me for the rest of the evening." She continued.
"I'm listening," He said, watching her as he took the first bite of pie. "Mm" he closed his eyes. "Agnes here makes the pie in N'Orleans."
Rogue's teeth clenched. "And anyway, I don't even know who you are, and you don't know who I am, so let's say goodbye now."
"You know, you should try de pie." Gambit said.
Rogue was furious. "Haven't you been listenin', swamp rat? This ain't a date, and Ah'm leavin'." She winced at her accent and stood, leaving the café. However, when she went to pass him, he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her down to his lap. She opened her mouth to protest, but he stuck a forkful of pie into her mouth.
His other hand looped around her waist and she wanted to struggle, but damn that was good pie! She licked it off the fork and sucked the rest of the filling from the tongs, closing her eyes to savor it.
When she opened her eyes, she was sitting on his lap and he was wearing a triumphant smile on his face.
Her face burned and she leapt from him like he was wildfire.
"What the hell do ya think you're doin'?" She asked, staggering back.
"I did tell you dat the pie was really somethin'." Gambit replied, chuckling at her reaction.
"You…you…" Thing was, she couldn't figure out something bad enough to call him that would get her anger across. Instead, she settled for an exasperated sigh and headed for the door. She spared him a glance on her way out, and though he wasn't looking at her, he still infuriated her. He had stuck a hand into the air, and was making a countdown with his fingers, presumably the time until she came back to him. Well, it was going to be a long wait for him. She opened the door, and was greeted by two ugly smiles.
The first, and significantly smaller, was the man from the bar earlier. Only this time, he had brought a buddy. A very tall, muscular, and greasy looking buddy. "Hey there, little lady." Said the man from earlier.
He reached out to grab her, and she screamed. Across the room, Gambit was out of his seat in a split second. He squared off against the two men, wearing a smile.
"And here you still had one second left on my count." He held up the hand he was counting off on, which still had one finger up. Then he put that finger down and reached into his back pocket.
"Whoa there!" The man holding Rogue said, squeezing her neck. "No guns, no knives LeBeau. We just want to talk to the girl about her mouth. And fist. We don't need to deal with you."
"Guns? Knives? Mon Ami, I wouldn't dream of it." From his pocket Gambit pulled a deck of cards and began shuffling them, not a care in the world.
The two men began backing out of the door. "So you'll just let us go, then? Glad to see you have some common sense." Said the taller of the two.
"Let you go? Who said anything about that?" Gambit asked, and his eyes seemed to blaze brighter. "Rogue, move!" He shouted, and the picked up a single card, igniting it with a blazing pink light, and tossing it at the men.
Rogue ducked and scrambled as the man holding her let go of her and tried to push past his partner. He didn't get very far, though, before the card hit him square in the back, exploding on impact.
He flew forward, falling on his face. His partner stared at him for a moment, and in that moment Gambit had crossed the room and proceeded to plant his foot in the taller man's face. There was a sickening crack, and that man fell backward, clutching at his now broken and bleeding nose.
The first man was getting up and Gambit picked him up and hauled him to his feet. "I suggest you don' come anywhere near dat girl again, understand?" He asked. The man nodded his head and Gambit let him go. Rogue had never see someone run away faster.
She would have laughed, actually, had a large shadow not descended on her at that moment. She looked up to see the other man still coming towards her. Gambit looked up, saw what was happening, and was on the move.
Rogue, however, knew that if the fist the tall man was holding up was any indication of what he intended to do to her, Gambit wouldn't reach her in time. She had no choice.
She yanked off her glove and met his fist with her bare hand. The force of his blow never came. Instead, she watched his veins pull to the surface. Scared, she let go, and the man fell down unconscious. She looked up, and Gambit was staring at her with the most serious expression she had seen him wearing since she had met him.
Tears pricked her eyes. As annoying as he was, she kind of liked the little bit of time she had spent with him, and seeing him look at her like that was like seeing Bobby kissing Kitty again. In the distance a police siren wailed, and she turned to leave, ready to forget about this night and Gambit altogether.
She was almost over the threshold all together when Gambit caught her hand and pulled her to him. "I don' tink so, Chere. I'm not lettin' you get away from me that quickly. If we're runnin', we're doin' it together." And with that, he was pulling her down the streets again.