Disclaimer: Don't own the X-Men!

Chapter 8: Chat.

"All right, all right!", Rogue finally said, accepting to answer the two hundred questions that were raining on her head; Remy was sitting by her side, holding a bitten cracker in his hand and staring at her with puzzled eyes. Many thoughts ran through her mind in that moment: maybe she hadn't told anybody because she was ashamed of everyone thinking that now she'd run to the arms of some guy, like she had suddenly been released; and it was worst if they thought the guy was Remy. Anyway, she drank a little more wine, before replying; maybe it would make her feel more comfortable:

"The thing's that Ah gained control 'bout two or three weeks ago… nineteen days, actually, an'… that's pretty much it". She put a strawberry inside her mouth, while he snorted:

"An' why didn't ya tell… anybody? I mean, dis important to ya!" She looked away into empty space, and spoke when she finished chewing:

"Yeah, it is…" Remy was getting flustered, like the answers he was getting weren't enough; he wanted to know more, he wanted… to have known it before:

"I can't believe ya didn't tell me 'bout dis 'fore!" he achieved to utter. Rogue turned her eyes back at him; who did he think he was?

"What, was Ah supposed to send yah a memorandum? Or maybe Ah should have knocked 'n your door an' say: hey Rem, guess what? Now yah can not only stalk me day an' night, but yah can also have realistic hopes o' gettin' in mah pants!"

"Mon Dieux, chere! Ya serious? I…"

"Hell yeah Ah'm serious! Come on, yah gonna deny that it was the first thing that came to your head when Ah touched your stupid hand?" She took another sip of wine. Then another one and he couldn't help but to chuckle, both because of what she had just said, and also because he had never seen her drinking like that:

"It was indeed de second thing I thought…"

"Ah, shame on me! Am Ah loosin' mah southern appeal?" she complained sarcastically, and he made a big effort not to laugh again:

"…'cause de first thing Remy thought, cherie, was that I thought we were getting' closer, an' dat mebbe ya were startin' t' trust me, an', dunno… I guess I'd have liked t' share dat with ya". Rogue stared at him from behind a few white stripes, that were then placed behind her ear:

"Well, we're sharin' it now" she said, while handing him the bottle of wine, like it was an official way to seal a deal. He stared at it for couple of seconds; then took it and drank. "It's good, isn't it?" she asked.

"Very…" Next, she took the bottle again, and poured its content on the ground. "Hey, what ya doin'?"

"Tryin' not to get drunker… this is not good for me", she answered in a low voice.

"But it be good for me", he winked, and seeing her narrowing her eyes, he explained: "Ya get very chatty when ya drink". With this, she suddenly felt like she was giving it all away; what about all the time she had spent building the wall that separated her from him? Was she gonna make it disappear just like that? And why?: because she could touch now? Because she had drunk almost half a bottle of wine in less than ten minutes? Or maybe because deep inside, she was actually trusting him?... Her thoughts were interrupted by his voice: "Chere… can I?"

"What?" she asked, and then saw him taking off one of his fingerless gloves. She immediately felt a twinch on her stomach; she had wanted to control her power for so long, and now that she did, she felt scared of not having the shell that always allowed her to hide the way she felt. She felt exposed, and much more as her breathe started to go faster: "calm down, calm down, don't be stupid…" she repeated over and over again inside her head… And as much as she thought she could be acting not completely right ("right to whom, anyway?"), and as weird as this little scene seemed to her, she didn't fight him when he approached his bare right hand to her left one, that was placed on her lap; when he stared into her eyes, asking for permission again, and she did nothing but a tiny shrug; or when he gently rested his fingers on her knuckles, and there was no absorption. He grabbed her hand on his, trying to record on his mind the way every inch of her skin felt; this was new for her, for sure, but it was also new for him, because he'd have never thought that the simple touch of a girl's hand on his, would make him feel this way.

"Ah'm sure… Ah'm gonna regret this tomorrow… Ah mean, it's yah, after all" she said, trying to sound casual.

"Ya don't have to" he whispered. "Chere, Remy don't be as bad as ya think".

"We'll see..."

Then, he decided to take a chance; he didn't want to think of it twice, so he asked his lucky stars for everything to go right, and started to approach his face to hers, very slowly. She noticed it, at the same time that she could feel her ears warm and her arms kind of weak, because of the wine; and his lips so close from hers, like she had never been with anyone, at least not in ages; everything was so surreal, that she thought she might be dreaming…

"Whoa! Hold up there, yah, swamp… Cajun… person" she protested, placing her free hand on his mouth and pushing him away.

"Bien, my bad" he raised both hands in surrender. "Ya really are killin' me right now".

"That's fine for me, as long as Ah… can get some sleep" and saying this, she slid her body until she could rest her head on the ground. "Ah'm really tired, an'… Ah don't know what they gave me in the hospital, but Ah'm feelin' dizzy again".

"Dey don't give wine dere, chere", he replied.

"Fine…" she closed her eyes and mumbled something else before falling asleep. Remy stayed staring at her for a while, trying to figure out the meaning of this little picnic they had just had. Then, he covered her legs a little more with his coat, rested on the ground by her side with an arm under his head, as a pillow.

"Hope ya remember 'bout dis tomorrow. An', do I really have hopes on it?" he murmured, and then chuckled to himself. "Sorry, I had t' say dat. But ya know ya're much more". He took another last glimpse at her, and closed his eyes; he used to sleep on the grass sometimes too, long time ago.

(…)

When Remy opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a blue, bright sky; all the memories of the previous night came to his mind right away. Turning his head to a side, there she was, still sleeping, which tranquilized him in some way. Then, a hint of realization hit him in the stomach, and he inmediatley checked on his watch: 7:35 am.

"Merde!"