Queen of Hearts
Chapter Eight: School Daze or Back to Half-Normalcy
* ~ *
The alarm clock woke Rogue with a start. The caterwauling of some rock star was cut short when her fist met the snooze button. The Southerner beat the clock into a silent oblivion before rolling over and burying her face in a pillow. "Ten more minutes," she mumbled.
"Come on, Rogue, get up!" Kitty sang rather cheerfully for a Monday morning. Then again, the pony-tail loving brunette was always cheerful.
"Go away," she moaned in reply.
Kitty wasn't about to give up. She tore off Rogue's blankets with a smile. "I won't let you, like, sleep in again. Gambit might be at school today, you know. You don't want to, like, look like Medusa in front of him, do you?"
Rogue forced herself up, but tried to remain cool and composed. She refused to let her roommate know how much she really did care for Remy. "Ah see don't see y'r point. Ten minutes won't hurt."
"Oh please, I've lived with you for, like, more than a year. Ten minutes would totally turn into ten hours! I know sleeping habits too well. Besides, you only have, like, forty-five minutes to get ready anyway."
She panicked. "No way forty-five minutes is enough f'r me t' get ready. Ah mean, ah need a shower an it takes me forevah t' put on all mah make-up, an..."
"Then hurry it up girl!" Kitty said with a giggle.
Rogue nodded, practically sprinting through the hallway. There was quite a line to the bathroom, but most of the new recruits moved out of the way upon her arrival. Only Berzerker was foolish enough to remain in his spot by the bathroom door. He had saw her rushing down the stairs, yet he stood in place.
"Move! Ah need t' use th' bathroom." she snapped at Ray. She folded her arms across her chest to add effect.
"Well, so do I, sister," he replied with a raised eyebrow and challenging eyes. "But there's a line and I was here first."
She dangled a bare hand to his bare face. "Oh really?" she inquired. Her emerald eyes simply narrowed into slits. Ray and all the others knew that look all too well. It was the look that clearly read: "You'll let me get my way or I'll flat line you in seconds." She gave the boy a disturbing smile, which just added to the dangerous expression etched on her fair features. "We'll just see about that, sugah."
He gulped, backing away. "Uh, uh, well- um... be my guest. You know, ladies first. Gotta be a gentleman, right?"
Rogue's unnatural smile grew. "Why, how considerate of you. Remind me not to hate you for at least ten minutes."
"She's really not a morning person, is she?" Amara whispered to Rahne, who only shook her head meekly.
Pale fists pounded on the wooden door. "Whoevah's in here, ya got ten seconds t' get out b'fore ah bust in!"
"Take a chill pill, Rogue," Bobby said. "I have to take a shower to make myself look even more hot than I usually am. Wait, is that impossible?"
She smirked. "Yeah, y'r made o' ice, Bobby," she snapped sarcastically. "Now let me in. No amount o' water, soap, hair gel, or cologne is gonna make ya decent. Y'r wastin' time."
"Patience is a virtue," came his reply.
Rogue growled in anger and frustration. She thought of just kicking the door down until Kitty walked by. She smiled and grabbed Kitty's wrist. "Sorry, Pryde. Desperate times call f'r desperate measures."
The girl didn't even get to respond before she collapsed on the floor. "Yet another one ah owe ya," the goth said with the best apologetic face she could muster.
"Okay, Drake," Rogue said, turning to the door. "Ah warned ya. Ah'm comin' in."
"How are you gonna do that, Roguey?" he asked smugly. "The door's kinda locked."
Losing her patience, she phased right through the wooden door. There was a crash, a scream, and a half-iced boy who came bounding through the bathroom door, shrieking bloody murder. The students in the line all laughed at Iceman as he raced down the hall and into his room. Amara and Jubilee even gave the class clown a few cat calls to add to his mortification.
After turning the lock on the door, Rogue sighed in content as she stripped down and climbed into the shower that Bobby had left running in his race out of the room. A sigh escaped from her lips and the warm water danced across her skin. Finally some peace an quiet in this hell hole.
*BAMF*
"Zorry, but I forgot my toothbrush!"
Guess ah spoke too soon, Rogue thought. "NIGHTCRAWLER!" she bellowed with a mix of anger and surprise. "How many times do we have t' tell ya t' knock b'fore ya 'port?!"
"Vell, ze average person needs to have somefink repeat five times before zey memorize it. Kitty must have told me about a zillion times..."
Rogue growled. "Well... Knock b'fore ya 'port, knock b'fore ya 'port, knock b'fore ya 'port!" she exclaimed.
"However, ze average mutant probably needs tvice ze repetition!"
"Or th' average idiot..." she muttered.
"Vhat vas zat you said, Schwester sister?"
"Get the hell outta th' bathroom is what ah said!" she snapped, throwing a bar of soap from behind the curtain.
*BAMF*
The fuzzy elf teleported before the soap could reach him. Instead, Rogue heard a crash as it collided with the various bottles of hair products sitting on the bathroom sink.
"Why can't ah evah get t' take a shower in some damn peace?" she mumbled to herself. "If everythin' keeps up like this ah'll never get t' school..."
* ~ *
"So what new with you an' that sheila, Rogue?" Pyro inquired as he, Colossus, and Gambit sat picking at their mystery meat in the school cafteteria.
"Haven't seen her all day t'day," he replied with a worried glance. "Remy knows she got lunch dis period, but she seems t' be avoidin' me. Saw her in th' hall, but she high-tailed it outta dere."
"Smart girl," Piotr muttered.
"Ah, ya wound me, Tin Man," Remy said. "But 'm sure Roguey, she got some explanation foh her behavior. Mebbe she went home sick or somet'in'."
"Or somethin'," John said with a laugh. "Don't know what the bloody hell she sees in ya, mate. But I definitely see what ya see in her. That sheila got some mad curves. Wish I could get my hands on her..."
"But you can't," Piotr retorted before Gambit could fit in a word, flipping a page of the novel he was reading. "Because you're already set on setting your hands on that bony, fire-work starting Asian."
"At least I don't like that Valley Girl!" he shot back.
"Garçons boys, calm down. Jus' cause mon fille is better den yohs ain't give you any right t' fight wit eachother. We won' do Maggie no good when we all déchiré aux brins ripped to shreds, will we?"
"Don't big note yourself," the orange-haired Aussie snorted. "Like to rip that idiot apart, though. Always treatin' us like we're a bunch anklebiters kids. Or worse, his bloody personal slaves!"
"Like t' hear you say dat t' his face," Remy challenged.
The boy shrank back instinctively. "Do I look like I wanna come a gutzer get hurt?"
"If you keep talking like that, you will," Piotr muttered under his breath.
"What'd you say, Petey?" John inquired while examining his fries. "Hey, what do they put in these things anyway? They look bloody plastic."
The Russian ignored the boy and continued what he did best, which was staying silent and out of the conversation. Colossus was obviously not a very social person, and wished Pyro would just shut up already.
John discarded the fries and focused his attention on something more interesting. "Hey, mate, ain't that her over there sittin' alone?" he asked Remy.
Gambit's eyes roamed over the crowd to see the back of Rogue's head. She was reading a book as usual. Probably something by Anne Rice. "Oui, dat would be her. Wonder why she's been avoidin' me."
"Well, aren't ya gonna talk to her, mate?"
He nodded and rose from his chair, excusing himself. The Cajun then sauntered over to Rogue, tapping her on her clothed shoulder. "Chere?"
Rogue almost jumped five feet in the air. Her book automatically shut, and the mutant lost the page she was reading. "Don'tcha have enough decency t' at least give me fair warnin' before ya go an scare th' shit outta me?"
Remy shrugged. "Gambit a t'ief. He got it in his instinct t' be sneaky." The cover of Rogue's novel caught his attention and he picked it up. "Cerulean Sins, eh? Sounds a bit racy..."
She hated herself for blushing in front of him as she quickly snatched the paperback from his hands. "What ah read is really none o' ya business, Swamp Rat."
" 'Suppose dat's meant t' be an insult, non? Guess it might hurt if it wasn't comin' from a Mississippi River Rat," he teased.
"Is that an insult, Cajun?" she snapped, but couldn't fight the smile tugging on the corners of her mouth. "O' course it's not like ah care. Remember th' last time ya pissed me off?"
"You kissed me!" he exclaimed, clutching his chest in mock pain. "It was horrible, chere! Please... do it again."
She giggled and rolled her eyes at the same time as a few people turned to stare at the couple in the lunch room. "Y'r embarrassin' me. Sit down. Now."
"Very commandin', beb," he replied as he took a seat. He winked. "Remy likes a fille in charge, dough."
"What are ya doin' over here anyway?"
Remy studied her pretty face more closely. There was something different about her that day. Mebbe she really is ill, he thought. Her normally deathly pale face as glowing healthily. Her usually dark violet lips were now a natural, sensuous pink, and her emerald eyes were sparkling more clearly without the constant competition for attention with her dark purple eyeshadow. Did she do somet'in' different wit her make-up t' day? Then it hit him. She's not wearin' any make-up at all.
"Chere, you feeling sick?" he asked gravely.
Instinctively, the goth felt her forehead. It was cool. "What are ya talkin' about?"
"You didn't wear any face paint today."
She narrowed her eyes. "Is there a problem with that? Ah didn't have time t' put it on this mornin'. Ya don't have t' act like it was a fuckin' crime!"
He grinned, reaching out to brush a stray hair from her eyes. "Did I ever tell ya how mignon cute ya look when ya mad? 'Sides, ya look too pretty t' be coverin' yo' self up wit dat crap."
"Ya never give up, do ya?" she asked in half annoyance. "Why are you even here?"
"Ain't it obvious?" Remy inquired with a hurt expression. "Gambit jus' want t' have yoh company."
When she didn't reply, he continued. "Which reminds me, Remy would like yo' company on Valentine's day. Dat is o' course, if ya don' already have a date."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you know me, Rem. Ah'm so irresistible."
"Well I coulda told ya dat, chere."
Rogue focused on the cover illustration of her book, avoiding eye contact with him. "Ah guess. But we bettah be doin' somethin' good."
"Harsh, chere, real harsh. But trust me, it'll be de best Valentine's day yet."
She smiled wryly. "If you say so..."
The lunch bell rang, and students groaned as they gathered up their things to return to class. Remy turned to Rogue and smiled. "Carry yo' books, chere?"
She sighed. "Remy, really... that's so stupid an ol' fashioned an-"
He already had them in his arms. "You get t' pick de place dis time," he informed her.
Rogue followed Gambit as he walked her to her French class. "Ah'm sure whatevah you pick will be fine. Besides, ah want ya t' surprise me."
"Well den you gonna have de biggest surprise in yo' life," he said. Remy turned and grinned at her. "Cause Remy- he de best."
"So cocky..." she mused. "What am ah gonna do with ya, Cajun?"
"Remy got a list at home," he replied with a wink. "But I left it my other pants."
Rogue groaned. "That has t' be the worst line ah've heard in mah life!"
"What do ya want fo' a gift?" he asked. "You don' look like a rose type of fille."
"Not really," she replied. Rogue glared when Gambit began to grin like a fool. "Ya bettah not give me lingerie!"
"Wouldn't dream o' it, p'tite..." he answered with a mock-innocent face. "But since you gave me de idea..."
"Don'tcha dare!" she fumed. "It bettah be appropriate!"
He chuckled. "You'll jus' have t' wait an' see, chere. It's a surprise, after all."
"You-!" she exclaimed. Rogue yanked her books from his arms and stomped down the hallway. Remy leaned by a locker and laughed. "Dat fille sure full o' spirit," he murmured to himself.
A locker beside him slammed. "And you have a lot of guts," a voice snapped.
Gambit turned to face an extremely pissed Cyclops. "Uh- thanks?"
"No, thank you," he snarled sarcastically. "Thanks to you, my car has to go through its third major repair."
"I'm guessin' sorry ain't gonna help de situation, is it?" Remy retorted.
"Not really," he said. "I'll send you the bill."
Scott walked away, and Gambit considered blowing up his locker too. Don' t'ink Rogue would be too happy 'bout dat, dough. An my objective is t' get on her good side.
As if on cue, Cyclops turned. "Oh, and stay away from Rogue- if you know what's good for you."
* ~ *
Dinner that night at the institute was uneventful. The students, of course, had been talking non-stop about Valentine's day and their dates. When Jean and Scott weren't making goo-goo eyes at eachother, Kurt was asking Roberto for gift ideas. He wanted the best present for his girlfriend, Amanda.
Kitty was unusually silent through the whole conversation, and only Rogue really knew why. She was upset about not having a date ever since she and Lance split. Rogue had to give the girl props, though, she was doing a pretty good job at hiding her feelings.
"I hope I get a Valentine from somebody," Boom Boom whined. "I mean, come on, guys, who wouldn't want to be my valentine?"
"Anybody sane..." Bobby mummbled.
"I heard that!"
*POP*
Bobby's mashed potatoes exploded right in his face. "Hey!"
Tabitha picked up her milk with a smirk. She tipped it, but nothing would come out. "You froze my milk, you little creep!"
Of course, a major food fight ensued between Tabby and Bobby. Eventually, all the new mutants joined in until Logan, Hank, and Storm broke them apart and sentenced them to a week of dishes.
Rogue smiled to herself, and turned to comment to Kitty about the whole fiasco, but the girl had quietly slipped out of the dining room.
The Southerner stood up and excused herself, walking to her room. Upon opening the door, she heard soft sobs muffled by a pillow. Kitty lay on the bed, crying.
She sat on the edge of the bed by her roommate and sighed. "Kitty, what's wrong? Is this about Lance?"
The brunette looked up with tear-soaked eyes. "No! It's just that- well, I don't have a valentine," she sobbed.
"Do you realize how silly y'r soundin' right now, sugah?"
Kitty wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. "It may sound, like, stupid, but you wouldn't understand. I mean, you have Gambit."
Rogue nodded. "Yeah ah do have Gambit, but we both know it won't ever be as normal as what you could have. Ah would be sympathizin' with ya, but just because no one's asked ya yet don't mean they're not gonna ask. Maybe they're just shy."
"Or maybe they don't like me," she retorted with a sniff.
"Okay, how about this: if nobody gives you a valentine on Friday, ya can dress me up all funny an ah'll wear the get-up all day."
"Anything?" Kitty asked, a trace of a smile forming on her face.
"Anythin'."
She giggled. "Even, like, Jean's cheerleading uniform?"
Rogue stiffened. "Okay, now that's just too far!"
Kitty grinned. "You promised!"
"Ah did, didn't ah?" she said with a smile.
"Thanks, Rogue," Kitty said softly.
Rogue reached for a box of tissues on her nightstand. She offered it to the girl. "No problem. That's what friends are for."
Shadowcat blew her nose loudly. "Okay, like, then I get to do something nice for you."
"Like what?" she asked warily.
"I get you dress you up for your date on Friday."
She frowned. "An how is that nice, Kitty?"
She giggled. "Oh, don't be such a spoilsport. I already have a few ideas. How about, like, a pink minidress? You'd look totally adorable!"
Rogue's eyes widened in fear. "Um, how about no?"
* ~ *
Author's Note: Sorry so short- obviously to be continued! The hint of Bobby and Rogue romance is just that: a hint. Rogue will be with Gambit in this fic if I have to kill someone. ;-) Oooh, I may even give this story more a plot later! Anyone feel like a team-up against Apocalypse or is that too over-done? I am also considering a whole Assassin/Thieves show down (that ties w/ Malick and Nicole comments about being driven out of New Orleans). But it has to be one or the other- not both. AND I WILL DEFINITELY ADD A VALENTINE'S DAY CHAPTER. Go me. And sorry for taking forever and a half to update this... I've had issues and major writer's block and- wow I'm gonna run out of excuses, huh? I have no excuse for my other fics, though. I'm only updating this one I just have a major fondness for it! And sorry if Scott was OOC, but he is a jerk to people a lot. Take Lance for example. And plus, he had a reason to be mean. Come on guys, he has to fix that car AGAIN!
And for my lovely reviewers:
yo mama: Lane, you're a dork! I know it was you! And I don't know when Remy and Rogue are going to mack, but probably not anytime soon. I want to play on a Rogue and Remy relationship with her powers, to add something a lot of Romys don't have. I want to still have that conflict that makes their relationship so special. Then again, you must remember that you can't use NC-17 on ff.net anymore. So any "macking" chapter I write will never satisfy your perverted mind. ;-)
ristyness: Whoa... thanks very much for the thorough review. I appreciated and will use your many comments to make this fic better. I'm glad you like the humor too. I thought I was over-doing it for a while, especially since a lot of people didn't comment on it. But now I know I have a fan! Did you like the Professor-wanna be Kurt? lol Bald spots are sexy... not. I'm glad you don't think this story is too mushy, either. I have a habit of being too mushy- maybe partially because I'm a hopeless romantic.
ShojoAngel: Thanks for the lovely review! Ummm... I'm not sure what you mean about the Professor thing. I don't really like him (thanks to X-Treme X-Men grrr), so I've been trying to ignore him. But I don't think I'm making him the bad guy... if I am I'm sorry for the Professor abuse! he he. Yeah, Jean was pretty OOC, wasn't she? I don't like Jean, so I usually don't use her, so when I do use her it usually isn't the real Jean because I hate the real Jean. :-)
Nychus: If I remember correctly, Rogue absorbed Gambit many times. That was the main reason why she left him to die in the Antarctic. She absorbed his memories and apparently didn't like the fact that he was a murderer. They have had an issue where he created some bio-electric field, but that was only in the Gambit miniseries and it wasn't permanent. I think whoever wrote that was on crack. It was like: Oh, here it is! Rogue can touch Gambit! Then it just disappeared. Weird huh? Just like the fact that Rogue whines about not being able to touch. There are many alternatives out there. Shi'ar clothing or a Genoshian collar anyone? Grr Marvel pisses me off.
Trunks-Girl: Thank you! I feel really appriciated!
Rosebud15: Yay! Amelia kicks! Glad there's another fan out there!
girl4chat86: Thanks! Yeah... Mystique and her tough love. Oh well. At least she didn't try to throw her off a cliff this time, eh?
LotusPen: Yay! I am converting people to love Mystique. Or is that a bigger step than understanding her? :-) Hmmmm... I considered setting up John with Jubilee. What do you think?
starlightz6: Glad that people hate Remy? Shame on you! Mystique better be wrong about the relationship not working out or this fic will be baaad.
ishandahalf: It's okay. Rogue forgives you. Especially since you loved the last part.
Saiyan Brat: Thanks!
Lady MR: Ha ha the old comic tensions of Logan and Remy. I thought I might add a part where Storm gives Rogue her blessing because she likes Remy, sort of a reference to the fact that Stormy and him are friends in the comics. Eeeek! Don't tear Mysti's throat out! You melted? Hmmm... *picks up a mop and cleans up the floor*
Scout: Thanks! I am planning on writing A LOT more of this pointless mush. ...Unless I get lazy.
Berry Toastman: I love you too! But I can't marry you. I'm in love with Remy! We have something special! ;-) And though I must object at the "best Romy author" comment, I am veeeery flattered! Maybe I will marry you. Remy doesn't say nice things to me like that...
