The date was progressing very nicely, and Remy took it as a small victory when he made her giggle in delight or shyly glance away from the things he said. It occurred to him that maybe she actually enjoyed listening to him, so he couldn't help but play up his ridiculous stories or embellish his compliments to her. He found that amongst it all, he was having a great time.
It was becoming harder to remain focused on his goal to seduce her. He glanced at his watch, he had planned on being out of the restaurant a half hour ago and on to more alluring places, yet they were still here, laughing and prolonging their dessert.
He had never shared his dessert with a woman and meant it before. It was a bit sad that under this stupid bet he was willingly sharing his dessert, and not under the pretense of seduction—like he was supposed to be doing. Generally he hated sharing food and only did so when he could get something out of it.
Ironically, he was supposed to be getting something out of this, except that wasn't why he was doing it. It had the same effect on her anyway, he argued to himself, so what did it matter what his motives were? She had leaned herself in closer to him as they shared some sort of flaky pastry. He couldn't quite remember what it was called. He'd been busy trying to win her affections when he had ordered it as a recommendation from the waiter.
She appeared to enjoy it quite a bit, and commented on the dessert numerous times. He should have been paying attention to the name of it. It was important to keep a mental catalogue of the things she liked. It would help him later on in his quest.
He felt he had the upper hand in this date. She was maddeningly seductive to look at, and her mannerisms and coy replies were intoxicating, but he found that her attempts to seduce him only played off his own attempts. She was helping him along without realizing it. She was so agreeable with him that it was hard to believe she was the same girl he had spoken to earlier on the phone.
Within a flash, the parting words of their phone conversation popped into his mind. It was something he shouldn't even be asking her in the first place, but the nagging curiosity had gotten the better of him.
"So, I need to ask," he began a little carefully and she looked up inquisitively from their dessert. "Are you still not wearing underwear?"
He hadn't blown his chances and pissed her off. Instead, she gave him that delightfully impish smile she wore whenever she had something clever to say.
"Well, now, that's a bit of a loaded question, isn't it?"
"A general curiosity is all."
Her grin widened as she prepared to answer. "It's the best way to avoid visible panty lines."
He was floored. "Really? In that dress? You don't have anything on under it?" he asked in a sort of dumbstruck awe. It was so tiny, and it had ridden up her legs on the bike…
She laughed again, and he was hooked.
"If ya don't see any panty lines, then perhaps you'll have your answer," she replied with that delightful impish smile.
It was fast becoming one of his favourite looks from her.
"That one sooooo goes to Rogue!" a familiar, yet unwelcome voice interrupted.
Both Rogue and Remy turned in horror to the window beside their table. Lance was standing outside the restaurant window while Kitty was sticking halfway through it.
"Kitty!" Rogue exclaimed angrily. "What the hell?"
Kitty was now pulling Lance by the arm and walking through the window so that they both now stood inside the restaurant.
"How else are we supposed to judge who wins when you don't let us know where you're going or what you're doing?" Kitty answered as if it was the simplest answer in the world. "You can't expect a fair game without referees, can you?"
"You expect me to try and seduce him in front of you and Lance?" Rogue answered completely aghast. "This was not in the set rules!"
"Oh, Jesus," Remy murmured as another familiar, unwanted face pressed itself up to the glass. This one was holding a notepad and pen.
"Hey, boss man? What was it you said earlier about her panties?" Toad was yelling through the window, eagerly waiting for an answer to scribble down.
"What is he doing here?" Rogue practically shouted at Kitty while pointing angrily at Toad.
"Uh, he was looking for pointers," Lance answered stupidly.
Remy rubbed his temples in annoyance. Things had been going so well before their unpleasant and unwanted interruption. He waved his hand slightly to their waiter. "Check, please."
Neither was in much of a mood to continue the date with three unexpected tag alongs. Rogue was mortified beyond comprehension. She had done and said some pretty brazen things to Gambit. And while it was okay for those things to be kept between the two of them, she was not comfortable at all with Kitty and Lance eavesdropping. Kitty had been spying on them and with Toad, of all people! Rogue could only imagine what that little sleazebag had written down in his vile notebook.
Remy was well beyond annoyed by the time he paid their bill. As soon as they were outside the restaurant, he snatched Toad's notebook from the greasy little man's hands and promptly charged it with enough energy to make the book pop loudly. It exploded into tiny, charred bits of paper. Toad protested wildly only to stop dead in his tracks as Remy glared down at him.
"Get the hell out of here, Toad," Remy growled.
"Yeah," Lance added.
Remy turned towards Lance and Kitty. "And you two, I refuse to do any seducing while you're around," Remy stated angrily before directing his attention to Rogue. "You share my sentiments, ma cherie?"
"You know it," Rogue answered with her arms crossed tightly around her chest.
"But how will we know who wins?" Kitty protested.
"Rogue will report honestly to you, and I will report honestly to Lance," Remy answered.
"How do we know you won't lie?" Kitty asked with narrowed eyes.
"I give you my word, I will not lie," Remy pledged solemnly.
"And I won't lie either," Rogue agreed.
"Alright," Lance answered hesitantly after giving Kitty a quick look. "But we can still show up at any time if we suspect the other team is lying."
"Yeah!" Kitty agreed. "It's only fair."
"We'll keep our presence unknown, though," Lance added.
"What do you think, Chere?" Remy asked Rogue.
"I guess I can live with that," she mumbled.
"We agree to your terms," Remy answered for the both of them.
"And we agree to yours," Kitty replied back. "But she sooo had you licked on this date."
Remy gave Rogue his most dazzling, charming smile. "I won't argue that."
Rogue willed herself not to blush.
"Until we meet again, ma Cherie," Remy called out before disappearing with Lance in the opposite direction.
Rogue lingered slightly, watching him fade into the dark.
"See," Kitty said triumphantly. "I knew you could do it!"
"Yeah," Rogue mused absently still remembering the sound of his voice, his charming display of manners and his cocky grin. "But it was a close call."
"Hey! Snap out of it!" Kitty demanded. "You can't get all gooey and mushy now! We're in it for the win!"
Rogue gave Kitty a reassuring smile. "'Course, I'm in it for the win," she answered, still playing back the evening in her mind. Up until they were rudely interrupted, the date had gone along wonderfully. She had had a good time, and suspected that he had also been having fun.
She had just barely been declared the winner of round one, which meant she had to be more careful when she was around him. She would have to work on drowning out his beautiful voice and sideways comments. There was no mistake he was a charmer, and had Kitty and Lance not interrupted, she was certain she would have fallen easily into his charm.
Remy sat silently on his bed in a sort of meditation. He was pleased with his efforts to salvage the date. Coming across as the chivalrous hero would have certainly won him some points in her books, but destroying Toad's notebook had been the winning move.
It had helped relieve Remy's aggression, all while he came to Rogue's rescue. He'd noticed her displeasure right away about Toad being there. Normally, he could have cared less what Toad was writing down, but in regards to Rogue, Remy had developed a sense of protectiveness towards her. Defending her honour had become his main priority at that moment.
Lastly, he'd succeeded in winning her favour by flat out admitting defeat. It would be much easier to seduce her now, having secured her trust and a sense of bonding.
As he thought about the evening further though, he came to the conclusion that she really had won. He was more than ready to find out whether or not she had underwear on. He hadn't expected her to be so charming and playful. He also hadn't banked on that smile of hers. It was a rare and wondrous thing to catch a glimpse of, and she had given him ample opportunities to see it.
He was dialing her number again. He willed his excitement to settle as someone went to go fetch her.
"Hello?" she asked.
His heart raced at the mere sound of her voice.
"Bonjour, ma Cherie," he greeted. "Just curious as to what you are wearing now."
She snickered a bit before answering quietly, "Why all this preoccupation with my clothes?"
"A guy likes to know what he's getting into," Remy remarked smartly.
"That is a terrible play on words." She giggled.
"But it made you smile."
She sighed. "I suppose it did."
"So you can grant me at least one article of clothing then, non?"
She hesitated a moment before answering, "Um, actually, I'm kinda wrapped in a towel right now."
"Seriously?" he asked surprised.
"Seriously. Jean just called me as I was getting out of the bath."
"So," he mused coyly. "You're all wet then?"
She laughed jovially into the line. "I'm not even touching that one!"
"Can I?"
"Good night, Gambit." She laughed before hanging up.
Remy smiled as he placed the phone back onto his nightstand. She was easy to flirt with, and he could push all sorts of boundaries he normally wouldn't. She was receptive to his sense of humour. She also had a certain sense of trust and familiarity with him, which meant she was more willing to accept the stunts he was about to pull. He was also willing to bet that she would step up to plate and try to counter anything he tried. Strangely enough, he couldn't wait to see how she countered back.
Considering she had held a whole conversation with him dripping wet, wearing only a towel, he was coming to expect great things from her.