It was dwindling late into the evening, and Rogue had never been so bored in her life. After introductions and speeches were made; a long, drawn-out party commenced, in which Remy seemed to disappear from. For Rogue, it was annoying. He was the most interesting thing in the room. At the same time, wasn't he supposed to be here mingling with his potential brides?
Kitty didn't seem to mind Remy's absence, and was more enthralled in the food and visiting with various LeBeau cousins closer to her age. Rogue thought that seventeen was a bit young for marriage, and as she watched Kitty, it became more apparent. Kitty had her whole life ahead of her, and it was about to be wasted for the sake of saving the future. The more Rogue thought about it, the more she had convinced herself that Kitty's age had something to do with Gambit urgently whispering in his father's ear. It cancelled out her original thoughts that it had something to do with Logan.
Legally, Kitty could marry at sixteen if she had wanted to. It wasn't hard to remember that Kitty was the youngest on the team, followed by Bobby and then herself. Kitty looked young for her age. A stranger would definitely peg her as, at the very least, fifteen. Most likely Gambit fell into that category.
Rogue was startled from her thoughts when a warm arm laced itself around her waist and gently guided her towards the vacant balcony. Normally, she wouldn't have put up with such behaviour, but all the Thieves seemed to be touchy-feely types, as if by culture… or trade. She instinctively felt for her necklace and bracelet. Both were still on her body.
Once outside the party, and dipping into the quiet night of the balcony, she realized who had stolen her away from all the dithering noise and boredom inside.
Désolé, I couldn't resist," he spoke smoothly with a certain charm. "But you looked almost as bored as me in there."
Not wanting to be rude and risk insulting the hosts, even if one of the hosts had already declared his party boring, Rogue decided to keep quiet on that matter.
"The food is wonderful," she complimented instead, wondering why the hell Remy LeBeau had bothered to socialize with her over his supposed brides.
He casually backed up against the railing, in what could best be described as a cocky lean. From there, he proceeded to watch her with a hooded gaze, as though she were some fascinating creature.
"There are far better places to eat. I could take you to hundreds of nicer restaurants than what's being served here."
Rogue frowned slightly. She wasn't entirely sure, but she was starting to suspect that he was coming on to her. It wasn't something that happened very often to her, given her disposition to avoid people and socialization in general. She just wasn't a 'people' person, which made it difficult to discern his current intentions.
"Thank you, but I'm fine." She was about to say 'maybe some other time' when it hit her that she was speaking with the future groom. "Perhaps Kitty would like to go with you."
He made a sort of face and pulled his body up off the railing, magically appearing closer to her than she would have considered necessary.
"Perhaps these certain places don't allow minors," he purred gently.
Yup. There was no mistaking that Kitty's age was his problem. There was also no mistaking that the guy was now coming on to her at full force. She backed away from his advancing, not wanting to have to knock out the groom unless she had to. There would be a lot of uncomfortable explaining to do if that happened.
"You're getting married to one of those girls inside in a couple of days," Rogue said politely, trying to reason with him instead of taking the gloves off.
He moved even closer this time. Much too close to be considered proper if someone came out here and caught them.
"All the more reason for a couple more nights of plaisir." His voice dripped in salacious evenings and she caught the meaning quickly.
Her jaw dropped in anger. "You – you Swamp Rat!" she practically spat at him. "That's completely despicable! How can you even try to solicit someone when you already have two women waiting for you to make a decision?"
"Facile, j'ai envie de toi," he answered with a hint of a smile as though her outrage amused him.
"In English, please," she replied, folding her arms across her chest.
"Easy, I desire you."
Rogue didn't hesitate for a single moment. She smacked him across the face with her gloved hand before angrily marching back inside to the party. She couldn't believe the absolute nerve of that guy. She was instantly sorry that she'd ever found him good looking. He was a snake in the grass that one.
Smacking a man across the face had never felt so right or so well deserved. The idea of that guy marrying Kitty made her skin crawl, and she was actually thankful he had no interest in Kitty due to her age. It was a strange; a creep like him should be just itching for a younger girl. Rogue was wishing he'd marry Bella Donna instead. The two deserved each other. Screw saving the world.
"You look ready to kill, what's up?" Logan asked, immediately by her side. Apparently he had noticed her absence.
"Just getting my first lesson in Cajun hospitality," Rogue remarked sourly before lowering her voice. "Are you sure we need these people… him on the team?"
"Chuck seems to think so," Logan answered. "You already know how I feel about this."
"Kitty shouldn't have to marry him. You know she likes Bobby, and you know Bobby likes her."
"Yeah." Logan sighed sadly. "I know, but I gotta believe Xavier knows what's best for us all."
Remy remained alone on the balcony rubbing his sore cheek. He'd never been smacked across the face before and it was kind of exciting. His future bride had a delightful temper, and even with her gloves on, she'd still managed to hit him hard enough to make it sting. However, he was quite disappointed that she didn't exactly fall to his charms and make things easy for him.
It just meant he'd have to be a bit more devious in his plot. He didn't have enough time to try seducing her again, so he'd have to use trickery instead. It was unfortunate to have to resort to underhanded tactics, but her temper was far better than Bella Donna's. Really, she was his only option, seeing as Kitty was too young for his tastes.
He wondered if he had moved too fast for her. Had that been the problem? He'd never had a woman become so quickly disgusted with him… or disgusted at all for that matter. It occurred to him that perhaps he hadn't thought the situation through or from her perspective. He was supposed to be marrying her younger sister. Instead, he had coaxed her out onto the balcony and flat out told her he wanted her in an adult consenting way. He made it perfectly clear that he desired her, and not his intended bride.
Yeah.
He could see how that could piss a girl off.
He decided to brush the incident off as nothing. He was going to make her his bride and that was the end of that. Remy had never been one to conform to Guild law, and it was rather unfortunate that by lack of cunning and a sense of ruthlessness, his older brother had been cut from the line of succession. This meant that someday Remy would become the Patriarch of the Thieves, and oversee the family 'business'.
Considering Remy's lack of responsibility and interest regarding the Guild, he had an innate desire to cause trouble. Call it willfulness, but he just had never really enjoyed being told what… and who he had to do.
There was no way around his impending marriage. That fate had been sealed long ago, but he could work the odds in his favour and trap himself a more pleasing companion. It wasn't that he doubted Kitty would be a remarkable beauty when she grew up; it was that her older sister far surpassed her in looks and appeal. Remy would have an extremely difficult time being married to Kitty while lusting after her sister.
Joining with the X-men would save him from Bella Donna's clutches and keep him out of harm's way concerning Wolverine. Gambit wouldn't have to worry about having to fight the guy in battle if they were on the same team. Self preservation was another motivator for him. Lastly, he could skip off to New York and avoid Guild politics and gossip for a little while at least.
The plan he'd now come up with to obtain his goal was simple. Scandal was the quickest course of action. All he needed to do was compromise the eldest daughter's virtue and he'd get his way. Of course, Jean-Luc would be furious losing out on both the Assassins' information and Kitty's delightful mutation, but Remy would have the woman he desired most. Considering his vain, self-serving attitude, that was all that mattered to him.
Remy knew the Guild laws from front to back and upside down. He knew that he was absolutely forbidden to 'consort' with women once it was stated that he was to be married. All he needed to do was tip off a few of his father's men that he was in a certain lady's bedroom, and the rest would write itself.
Since everyone would assume the worst from the evidence of being caught in her bed, preferably with her, Remy would have no choice but to marry the girl for the sake of her honour and their families'.
He simply needed to find out which room belonged to the magnificent woman of divine beauty, and the stage would be set from there.
Translations: "Désolé" - "Sorry"; "plaisir" - "pleasure"; "Facile, j'ai envie de toi." - "Easy, I desire you."
