Chapter 8: Kissing Date

Rogue stared at the speaker, her face bright red. Jubilee giggled.

"He... he..." Rogue stammered.

"Good isn't it?"

"Ah think that's the closest Ah've ever gotten ta having sex."

"I liked his voice. Like melted chocolate," Tracy sighed. "Man I wish someone would leave saucy messages like that about me. That was hot."

"Now you know why I saved those messages until last," Jubilee said smugly. "All the other ones were funny but this one was like, phone sex."

"I imagine it's what calling one of those 1900 numbers is like," Kitty mused. "We should check with one of the guys. I'm sure at least one of them has called one."

"Ah really don't think Ah'm gonna be able ta look at him the same way again. Especially not after the part where he... and that thing with muh... and Ah can't even repeat it."

"Now you know why Logan was so mad," Jubilee grinned.

"Ah think we're going ta need people ta hold him back when Remy picks me up for our date. Oh man, Ah just dont' know how Ah'm gonna face him," Rogue shook her head. "Especially not after some of the messages Ah left him."

"Oooh what messages?"

"Well, Remy's voice mail says 'If you leave a message, Ah'll call ya back. If you leave a sexy message, Ah'll call ya back sooner'. And Ah may have kinda, left some, erm, sexy messages."

The girls laughed.

"Oooh like what?" Jubilee asked.

"Oh nothing... nothing like that," Rogue said. "Just stupid stuff like, 'Ah want you. Ah want you now.'."

"Oooh let's ring him now and leave a sexy message," Tracy giggled.

"No, Ah really don't think so. It seemed like a good idea, but then Ah was in Spain, all alone except for Juanita. Next time Ah go overseas Ah'm taking someone with me."

"Take Remy."

"No, don't take Remy. Okay, you can take Remy, but he has to leave naughty messages on the answering machine again," Jubilee said.

"You really enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"I was there when Logan rang Remy and asked him if he's had to start having phone sex with answering machines to get his jollies."

Rogue giggled.


There was rather more people than Rogue was expecting when she came down the stairs the night of her sixth date with Remy. Storm was standing right next to Logan, who was scowling. He took one look at Rogue and said:

"Go back and change."

"Umm, excuse me?"

"You're not going on a date with him dressed like that."

Rogue cocked an eyebrow and looked down at her clothes. Boots, black tights, green and black checked miniskirt, a long-sleeved green shirt, black leather jacket and green gloves.

"Okay, firstly, there's nothing wrong with what Ah'm wearing. Secondly, you're not muh father. Thirdly, if ya were muh father, Ah'm twenty-one years old, you do not get a say in what Ah wear. Fourthly - and this is the most important, Logan - if you start dictactin' what Ah wear on muh dates, then you have ta start dictatin' what everyone else wears. It's bad enough you keep giving me a curfew - you don't even give Bobby or Jubes or anyone else who isn't a student a curfew. Double standard much?"

"The curfew isn't for you," Logan replied. "It's for Gumbo."

Anything else Logan might have added was cut off by the sound of a car pulling up outside. Everyone listened as the engine stopped and there was a knock on the door. Storm opened the door to find Gambit leaning on the door frame, his traditional smirk on his face, and one hand behind his back.

"Bonjour, mes amis," he said, his eyes landing on Rogue. "Ahh, ma chere, don't yo' look sexy? Fo' yo'."

On these last words, he pulled his arm out from behind his back to reveal a small red rose bouquet. Rogue's face lit up in pleased surprised and she tentatively reached out to accept them. She didn't see the flicker of alarm cross Storm's face.

"Thank you," she said shyly.

"Aww," sniffed Tracy. "That's so sweet."

"Ready t' go whenever yo' are, Roguey," Gambit added.

"Where are you going?" Logan demanded. "And you'll have her back by midnight."

"Pick une," Gambit said slyly. "Either yo' know where we're going or you have her back by midnight. Don't get both."

Rogue hid a smile while Logan glared at him.

"Listen here, bub, we are not going to have a repeat of last time. And you even think about doing even one of those things you suggested on the phone and I'll -"

"Do une o' the t'ings yo' suggested?" Gambit smirked at him. "I must be in real trouble now. I've already been t'inking about it plenty."

Snikt.

"Logan," Storm frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Have a good time, Rogue. Let me take those for you."

"Thanks Storm," Rogue smiled, handing over the bouquet.

"Remy, be good," Storm added with a pointed gaze at her old friend.

"Now where would be the fun in dat?" he asked smartly, slipping his arm around Rogue's waist.

Gambit couldn't quite believe just how much he missed Rogue until now. He walked her to the car, savouring the feel of her, and opened up the car door.

"Thanks sugah," she said.

He closed the car door once Rogue had settled herself and as he walked around to the driver's side he noticed the front door was still open, with Logan glowering at him. He toyed with the idea of doing something to tick him off, but in the end decided against it. For now.

"We're having a picnic?" Rogue asked Gambit drove off, having seen the things on the back seat.

"Oui," Gambit replied.

"Fun."

An odd sort of silence followed.

"So, how was Spain?"

"Oh good. Y'know what? Turns out Ah used ta live there for a few months."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Ah would have been about four or five. Didn't remember at all until Ah actually saw the house and that's when the trip down memory lane began," Rogue chuckled. "The house gets let out ta holidayers now, but Juanita - she's the woman who looks after it - had some stuff of Aunt Irene's for me. So even if Ah didn't remember Ah now have some photos of muhself at the house as proof."

Gambit chuckled.

"Aww, I bet yo' were so cute."

"No, you don't get to see them. No one gets to see them."

"Oh really?"

"No, you may not take that as an invitation ta sneak inta muh room and steal the photo album, Swamp Rat."

Gambit laughed wickedly.

"Say chere, did yo' end up listening t' all my messages?"

"Yes, yes Ah did. The girls were particularly fond of your 1900 number impersonation."

"Desole, chere," Gambit snickered. "Logan changed the message telling moi not t' leave any more sexually suggestive messages. I really couldn't help myself."

"You can never help yourself. Y'know, if Ah had known ya left that Ah wouldn't have left those messages on your voice mail."

"Aww, but I liked dem."

"Yes... Ah'm sure of that."

"Ma belle-soeur -"

"Your what?"

"Sister-in-law. Mercy. She likes t' leave interesting messages."

"Yeah?"

"Oui, she hates it so she'll leave messages telling moi I'm a dog. Tante Mattie hates it too, except she leaves a lecture every time she calls and gets it. Mon frere, Henri leaves sexy messages. Of course, dey're usually about what he and Mercy get up to. He usually waits until she's in the room before he calls just so I can hear her reaction."

Rogue giggled.

"Stormy and mon pere ignore it. Which is a shame. I'd really like t' hear Stormy wit' a dirty mouth."

"Oh good, ya said Storm. For a second there Ah was worried."

"Nooo, definitely don't want mon pere t' leave sexy messages. Dat... dat's a horrendous thought, cherie. Now, Logan seems t' like leaving messages about how he's going to kill and/or dismember me lately."

"Oh so that's why ya said you hoped Storm liked it rough?"

"Oui. I t'ink I may have ticked her off."

"Quite possibly."

"Fun though."

"You sounded like ya were enjoying yourself."

"I was."

As the sun began to set, Gambit pulled up at the lookout. He had managed to find a relatively secluded spot (although they were the only people there at that moment), and pulled the gear out from the back seat of the car. While Rogue looked at the view Gambit put the picnic blanket up on the front of the car, along with the bag of food and a plastic jar.

"Come have a seat. Better the car than the rocky ground, no?"

Rogue smiled and climbed up.

"Yeah, Ah'd say so," she agreed. "What's in the jar?"

"Ahh, well," Gambit paused. "I have a game we can play."

"Oh yeah? What game?"

"Well, it's... it's probably better if I show you, and den if yo' want t' play, I can explain it."

"Oookay..." Rogue replied, giving him an odd look.

"It's fine if yo' don't chere. Won't ruin the date any."

"You're being very mysterious about all this."

Gambit chuckled.

"And I'm about t' be more mysterious. Lay back and close your eyes."

"This isn't going ta be anything weird is it?"

"Well, I don't t'ink so... I can't speak fo' yo'."

"Hmm."

Rogue laid back as she was bid and closed her eyes. Just as she was wondering what exactly she was waiting for, she felt a light, smooth cloth cover her mouth. Her eyes flew open as she felt Gambit's lips press against her own through the cloth. It lasted only a moment, and as Gambit started to pull away, Rogue's hand cupped the back of his head and pulled him back down again. Thrilled at the invitation, Gambit kissed her hard, trailing his fingers across her cheek. He couldn't quite believe just how nervous he'd been about this particular date. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been nervous about a date.

Finally Rogue let him go and as they sat up she stared at him with wonder in her eyes.

"Ah never thought of that," she breathed.

Gambit smiled faintly.

"Dere yo' go," he said. "Now yo' know a new trick."

"Ah... thank you."

"Always. And now yo' get t' decide what kind o' date dis is."

"Okay..."

"We can have a casual picnic date under the stars, or we can have a kissing date."

"A kissing date?" Rogue giggled.

"Oui. Dat's where the game comes in chere," Gambit nodded. "It's going t' sound cheesy but it's actually a lot of fun. What we do is we take turns - either right after the other or at our whim - at pulling out une o' the pieces o' paper in dis jar. Each paper has a different kind o' kiss written on it which we try out and den we get t' tell each other what we liked about it. Or didn't like as the case may be. There's forty-three in total, although I took some out 'cause they involve swapping food and we can't do dat. And I t'ink the butterfly kiss'll be a bit tricky, so dat's not in dere either, but there's still a lot o' options."

"A kissing date."

"I thought it was dumb too when I was first introduced t' it. I thought, mebbe, now that yo' have a way t' kiss, yo' might want t' experiment some. See what yo' like. It's okay if yo' don't, chere. Dere's not'ing... bad on the list. I mean, I don't t'ink any o' dem would make yo' uncomfortable, but y'know, if dere is we can always skip it."

Rogue chewed her bottom lip, looking at Gambit, at the jar, then back at Gambit.

"Tell yo' what, chere," Gambit said. "Why don't we get started on dinner while yo' t'ink about it? It's completely up t' yo'."

Rogue nodded slowly.

"Okay," she said. "So, what's to eat?"

Gambit unzipped the bag and started pulling stuff out.

"Let's see, plates, cups... here's the chicken, some potato salad," Gambit continued pulling things out along with the running commentary. "After dinner mints."

Rogue giggled. They chatted some more about Rogue's trip to Spain. Rogue toyed with the idea of telling him about the picture she'd found but decided against it. Maybe some other time. So far she hadn't told anyone about it and she wasn't sure she was going to. They had their fill, and Rogue came to a decision. She opened up the jar and put her hand in.

"Well, this one's kinda tame..." Rogue mused.

Gambit grinned and handed her the sheer cloth.

"Surprise me," he said. "Dat's half the fun."

Rogue smiled, put the cloth over the lower half of his face and kissed his nose. Gambit grinned at her and kissed her nose in return.

"How's dat?"

"Ah like it," she replied.

"Bon. My turn," he grinned broadly.

He pulled out a paper, read it and turned to her. He leaned in, licked Rogue's lips over the cloth and then kissed her lightly.

"Okay, that was... weird," Rogue said.

"Hmm," Gambit considered. "Dat was the lick kiss. I'm t'inking the ones involving tongue are going t' be interesting. Yo' wanna give me une?"

Rogue paused, then shrugged.

"Sure."

She tried it out, and they both decided it was weird. Gambit refrained from mentioning it was much better when the tongue could touch the lips directly, figuring that was definitely not the kind of thing Rogue needed to hear. Rogue pulled out the next paper, then leaned into Gambit and gently bit his bottom lip.

"Ooh, nip kiss hein?"

"Yep."

"Hmm," Gambit said then, nip-kissed her back. "How's dat?"

"Much better than the lick kiss."

Gambit chuckled.

"Okay, well, it asked if it was hard enough," Rogue realised what she said then added quickly: "Don't you even think about saying it, Swamp Rat. It also suggests mixing little bites with kisses."

"Oui, like dis."

After Gambit's enthusiastic demonstration, Rogue decided that she liked that one and prodded him to take his turn.

"Ooh, my favourite," he said with a grin. "French."

Rogue blushed faintly as Gambit set the cloth up. He leaned in and kissed her softly first before seeking entrance into her mouth. Of course, the first couple of attempts were a bit of a failure - first there wasn't enough excess cloth to let his tongue in, and then there was too much and in the end they ended up with a saliva soaked patch on the cloth and a good laugh.

"Y'know chere, I t'ink wit' some practice we could make dat une work."

Rogue snickered.

"Really? Because it just felt funny. And it kinda tickled."

"Oh really?"

"Did Ah just say the wrong thing?"

"Possibly."

"Uh huh. What was that we were saying earlier about kisses involving tongues?"

"Dat dey would be interesting. Your turn."

"Hmm," she mused as she picked out the next piece of paper. "Kiss on the foot."

They looked at each other, then down at their boot-clad feet.

"Maybe we should skip that one," Rogue said the same time Gambit said "Mebbe we can pass on dat une."

Gambit snickered, while Rogue put the paper away and picked out a different one. She grinned as she read it.

"Oh, Ah already know Ah like this one."

"Yeah?"

Rogue grinned at him, took his hand and kissed the back of it. Gambit chuckled.

"Not usually on the receiving end o' dat une."

"Ah had a feeling that might be the case."

They continued to play the game. They decided that the 'upside down' kiss (or the 'Spider-man' kiss) was probably a potential risk, given that the cloth had to cover the entire face. Rogue became enamoured with the flavoured kiss.

"Takes away from having ta taste... whatever the heck this thing's made of."

The vacuum kiss was considered a dud, the sucking kiss not much better and the fish kiss was just plain silly.

"Hmm, I forgot dis une was in here," Gambit mused, many kisses later.

"What?" Rogue asked.

He showed her the paper.

"How do yo' feel about a hickey?"

"Uhh... Ah don't really think that's a good idea."

"Yo' can give moi une, if yo' like."

"No, Ah... Ah don't think so."

Gambit shrugged.

"Dat's okay chere. It's a bit o' a possessive t'ing t' do."

"Right. And y'know, Logan really doesn't need any more incentive ta turn ya into a Cajun kabob."

Gambit chuckled and pulled out a different one.

"Here we go, somet'ing lame."

"Yeah?"

"Kiss on the cheek."

Rogue laughed as he did just that, then pulled out another paper from the jar.

"Kiss on the navel. Oh, this is another tongue one."

Gambit laid back, lifted up his shirt and rested his head on his hands.

"I'm all yours," he grinned at her.

Rogue smirked at him as she laid the cloth across his stomach. She leaned over, gave his bellybutton a kiss then stopped after she barely started the 'lick around the area' part of the instructions, shaking her head.

"That is so not going to work."

Gambit chuckled.

"Could be right cherie. Want me to kiss your navel?"

"Ah'll pass. Your turn."

He shrugged and pulled out the next slip.

"Ahh the shocking kiss."

"What's so shocking about it?"

"You're supposed t' build up a static charge. Y'know, rub your shoes on the carpet and den kiss."

"Interesting. We don't have any carpet."

"Nope, but I do have a charge," Gambit grinned at her. "Haven't tried dis before, so let's see how it goes no?"

"Tried what?"

He put the cloth over her mouth and as his lips met hers he charged the cloth. Magenta light glowed between them for a moment, then he pulled away, deactivating the charge. Rogue stared at him.

"Well, that wasn't an electric shock," he mused. "No sparks."

"It was definitely different though. Ah... Ah kinda like it."

"Really? Well, anytime yo' want another une -"

Rogue took him up on that offer.


Logan glanced at the clock and Storm sighed.

"They'll be here," she said tersely. "They're just waiting until the last minute to get on your nerves. It seems to be working."

"I don't like this 'Ro. I don't like it at all."

"Neither do I. But we're not their keepers, Logan."

"She's wearing skirts. He's making sexual suggestions -"

"That's hardly unusual behaviour for Remy."

"I won't have him disrespecting her. You have no idea how high his hormone levels get when he's in the same room with her. And they're high, even by Gumbo's standards."

Storm opened her mouth to reply, but they both were silenced by the distinct noise of a car engine.

"Sounds like them," she said.

"About time," Logan muttered, glancing at the clock.

The engine stopped, then the sound of doors opening and closing, footsteps, then silence. When Logan would have opened up the door, Storm put her hand on his arm.

"Let them have a moment to say good bye before you go barging out there," she said.

"They've had all night to say good bye."

"Logan."

"Fine," he waited about ten seconds. "That should be enough."

He opened up the door and was struck dumb by the sight before him. Gambit had Rogue pinned up against the wall. His hands were on her waist, her arms around his neck and they were kissing, a dark cloth between their faces. Neither noticed the door open. They did notice, however, when Logan grabbed Gambit by the collar and hauled him off Rogue.

"Get away from her," Logan snarled.

Seemingly unperturbed, Gambit leapt up into the air and Rogue stared as he actually managed to flip over and behind Logan's arm. Because Logan's arm wouldn't twist that way, he was forced to let go. Gambit backed down the stairs.

"Nice try, mon ami," he said. "Yo' might wanna try a little harder next time."

Snikt.

"That's it, Cajun," Logan replied. "You do not get to see her again. This dating business is over."

"That's not your decision to make, Logan," Rogue said.

"I'm not going to let him take advantage of you!"

"Remy LeBeau does not take advantage o' women," Gambit glared at him.

"Logan, we had a fun night okay?" Rogue said. "He just showed me a way I could kiss people."

"Oh really? What else did this sexual predator show you how to do?"

"Nothing!"

"Oh so I'm a predator now, am I?" Gambit demanded. "Well, yo' know what dey say, Wolverine. Takes une t' know une."

"That's it," Logan said, closing in on him.

"That's enough!" Storm exclaimed.

She brought down a lightning bolt between them to emphasis the point. The thunder crack and the blackened spot on the concrete silenced all of them.

"Logan, go inside. Remy, go home."

No one moved.

"Now."


AN:

For anyone interested, you can download the full list of 43 kisses from HotDateIdeas[dot]com

Rogue and Remy skipped 7 kisses, so in total they exchanged 36 different types of kisses.

Yes, I know the cloth thing has been done. A lot. I doubt I'll ever use that device again and I only used it this time because I thought I could look at it from another perspective.