Yay! Chapter nine and it's pretty darn long.
I was happy to see y'all really liked the brief appearance of Rogue's fairy godfather. But now it's time for it to really get good. Where the plum tree lies, I'm glad you liked my little Fairy-Wolverine present. Chellerbelle, thank you for the reviews. Actually, thanks to everyone who reviewed. You know I love you. You're the reason I keep writing.
But enough about that. You wanna get to the good stuff...
Chapter Nine: And She Went To The Party And Danced
In one poof, Rogue and Kurt disappeared from outta the room. It seemed like only a second had passed. In the time it took for Rogue to blink, she was outta her room. When she opened her eyes back up, she felt chilly. She looked 'round and saw that she was standin' right outside the French Quarter. She could her people inside talkin'. Girls in fancy dresses walked past Rogue and Kurt wit'out seemin' to notice them. Jazz music from inside the Quarter poured out.
"Wow," Rogue said. She couldn' believe she was already at the ball when things were lookin' so low for her. She smiled at the blue fuzzy boy. "Thank you so much."
Kurt told her not to worry 'bout it. He told Rogue he would be waitin' for her at a nearby tree. He reminded her to be back at midnight and Rogue promised she would. Then she looked at the big ol' Quarter.
A group of gigglin' girls passed by her. One of them kinda reminded her of Kitty and she panicked. She had forgotten all 'bout her family and had to 'member to evade them.
Evade means to avoid. Expand your vocabulary, kids.
After starin' at the Quarter wit' her mouth agape—she sorta looked a fish. A very pretty fish—for a real long time she finally closed it and walked inside. When she stepped in the door, she noticed that while everyone else was headed toward the main room, there was one room standin' off to the side. She had a drink in her hand and looked mad 'nough to spit fire.
Can anyone guess who that woman was?
What? No. Scott, why would you even think that? What kinda stupid guess is that? Does anyone else have a guess?
Thank you, Amy. It was Belladonna.
Like Remy said 'fore, Belladonna was pretty and all but battier than a fruitcake. And trust ol' Remy, them fruitcakes are pretty darn batty.
Belladonna was there glarin' at every girl who walked in the room, scoutin' out any possible competition. Rogue took note of the glarin' woman.
Do any of you kids have a doggy? Oh, good, a lotta y'all do. So then you know how two doggies look when they pass each other but don' like each other.
That's the kinda look Rogue and Belladonna exchanged. Neither girl said anythin' to each other though. Rogue kept walkin' and Bella kept on glrarin'.
Inside, Remy was busy dancin' wit' every girl in Nawlins. What seemed like a good idea turned out to be pretty annoyin' 'cause there were quite a few girls. Some of them were pretty crazy too. Not Belladonna crazy but they were 'bout two shrimps short of a gumbo.
Gumbo? You don' know what gumbo is?
Well butter Remy's behind and call him a biscuit. Wait, I don' actually want you to call me a biscuit. But I'm jus' shocked not one of y'all ever had gumbo. What y'all need to do is go home and ask your mama and papa to make you some. Oh, but add a lotta hot sauce. And Cheyenne pepper.
You can't forget the Cheyenne pepper. Trust me: everythin' is better wit' Cheyenne pepper. It might take some time for your taste buds to grow back but it'll be worth it in the end.
Don' ask too many questions, a happy endin' is waitin' for you, don' ever stop tryin', no one has it perfect, don' run away from your responsibilities, learn French, don' hit a man in that one spot, don' always trust a pretty face, don' let the ones who hurt you have the satisfaction of seein' you upset, don' let your anger consume you, everythin' is better wit' Cheyenne pepper, and somethin' about rats and birds.
I really wish I could 'member what the last one was 'bout.
What was I sayin'? Somethin' 'bout…
Oh yeah. The prince. He was dancin' wit' a girl. She had short blonde hair and was a little too loud for polite company. Her name was Tabby and when she was dancin' wit' Remy, her hands got a little too…comfortable and startin' wanderin' 'round his body in a way that won' very appropriate. He tried to ignore it but Tabby won' very tactful.
"Man, this place is so frickin' nice," Tabby said, lookin' 'round the room.
Prince Remy jus' nodded his head and wondered how much longer he would have to dance wit' her. She then started askin' him a buncha other questions, like what the most expensive thing in the room was, where the prince's bedroom was, and how often did he work out.
Now don' even start to ask why Tabby wanted to know the last two things. It's jus' one of those things you're too young to know 'bout. If you're that curious 'bout it, ask your pa'ents.** I ain't here to tell you that story.
Your pants?
No. Your pa'ents. Pay-ents. Ugh. Your mama and your papa.**
As Remy and Tabby were twirlin' and dancin', he noticed Rogue from all the way 'cross the room. She was real far 'way but Remy could see how pretty she looked in her jade—that's a 'nother way to see green—dress and her white gloves.
The graceful, smooth prince stumbled over his own two feet when he saw Rogue. Tabby asked him what was wrong.
"I've…gotta go," Remy told her.
Tabby didn' seem to mind.
"See-ya."
Then she slapped him on the behind—somethin' Remy won' very pleased 'bout—and walked off. He mighta taken time to be mad if he weren' so busy starin' at Rogue.
He didn' know it was the girl from the market a few weeks before. He thought she looked kinda familiar but he was seein' her hair for the first time and it threw him off. Plus, he was kinda busy tryin' to make sure his eyes didn' jus' pop outta his head from starin' at her.
Not. Not literally. Geez. I'd have thought y'all woulda figured that out forever ago.
Rogue was eyeballin' the table wit' all the foods and stuff on it. She didn' see Remy comin'. So he jus' walked right up to her and smiled his most handsome smile. And when Remy gave his most handsome smile—one he called The Smolder—no girl could resist him.
But he s'posed Rogue didn' get the memo 'cause she jus' rolled her eyes when she finally looked at him. But that Remy, he was a persistent fellow.
"Hi."
"What do you want?" Rogue asked, pickin' up a little plate and puttin' a sandwich on it.
"Well…I was jus' wonderin' if you wanted to dance."
"Nope."
He frowned a little 'cause Rogue seemed like she couldn' have cared less. But Remy tried again.
"You know, this is my party you're at, right?"
She gave him a look that wasn' very nice. "This is your party?"
He bowed lavishly, givin' her a 'nother one of his devilish smiles. "Prince Remy LeBeau at your service, Cherie."
She paused. When he called her that, she kinda sorta 'membered how the man from market called her that but she couldn' recall it completely. Instead, she jus' stuck to bein' snartky and said:
"Well, that's good for you."
"Why you bein' so mean, chere?"
"Why you bein' so annoyin', Swamp Rat?"
The prince paused. The name also sounded vaguely familiar to Remy but he couldn' quiet 'member why.
"I jus' wanna dance. Com'on. I don' bite." Then Remy winked at her. "'Less you want me to, that is."
Rogue started to say somethin'—probably nothin' very nice—bur Remy decided he outta interrupt Rogue 'fore she yelled at him.
"I could jus' have you tossed out this party."
Her eyebrows went straight into her hairline. "You would have me thrown out just 'cause I don't wanna dance with you?"
"Yup."
"Is that your way of charmin' a girl?"
Remy stuck out his arm. "It worked, didn' it?" Rogue growled but stuck her hand on his offered arm. "'Sides, I got the good looks to charm the ladies. I don' need words. Though I have those, too."
"You're cocky."
"After the party, you wanna find out jus' how cocky I am?"
She tried to look angry but an itty bitty smile slipped through. So Remy led her out onto the dance floor and started dancin' wit' her. Rogue was a little awkward but the prince was so good of a dancer, it made up for her lack of skill.
"You look real pretty tonight," Remy told Rogue 'cause it was true.
"Bite me."
"No. Really. You look real pretty."
She blushed at his nice words. "Shut up."
He jus' smiled and kept on talkin'. That's Remy for you, a real talker. "I bet you look pretty even when you aren' all dressed up for a ball."
"Shut up."
"I bet you look pretty even if you were covered in dirt."
"Shut up," she told him, 'cause her blush was gettin' real red.
"I bet you look pretty even if you were covered in manure."
"Shut—"
"But I might not have asked you to dance 'cause you'd have smelled funny. And it doesn' matter how pretty you are, I wouldn' dance wit' a girl who smells like—"
Rogue started laughin' 'fore he could finish talkin'. He laughed wit' her 'cause her laugh spread like the cootie virus before the vaccine and it made him wanna laugh. So they laughed a little bit and then they laughed a little bit more. And then the song was over and so they decided they would dance a little bit more so they could find more stuff to laugh at.
They didn' really notice it, but they danced for a real long time. Belladonna was watchin' the whole time and was lookin' forward to gettin' her crazy little hands on Rogue. Or Remy. Or both.
Preferably both.
But she didn' get the chance to do anyone any bodily harm anytime soon. 'Cause after a buncha dances, Rogue and Remy noticed their feet started achin'.
"You wanna take this outside, Cherie?"
Rogue didn' get angry when Remy called her that. She was startin' to like it actually. But she didn' wanna tell him that so she jus' nodded. He took hold of her gloved hand and led her outta the Quarter to the garden.
It was quieter there. More romantic. And the stars were all bright and shiny and makin' Rogue look real pretty in the natural light. Remy knew jus' lookin' at her face that she was the girl for him. He wouldn' have to marry Belladonna 'cause he was in love wit' Rogue. He jus' knew it.
"Those gloves are very pretty," he told Rogue, runnin' his fingers up and down her arm.
"Thank you."
They talked for a little bit longer. Rogue liked talkin' to Remy 'cause he didn' know that she was jus' a maid who couldn' control her powers. He jus' seemed to like her for bein' her sarcastic but secretly sweet self. And she liked him 'cause he was almost as witty as she was and was funny and handsome and not as bad as he seemed and handsome.
I said handsome twice? Really?
Well, it's somethin' worth repeatin'. Trust me.
Remy liked Rogue 'cause wit' every other girl, they only seemed to want him 'cause he was an attractive prince. He had to be polite and formal wit' them. He didn' have to wit' Rogue. She actually seemed to like him for his brazen behavior and dirty jokes. He liked for bein' liked by himself. And he liked that Rogue wasn' no frilly maiden who needed a prince to save her.
He had a good idea that Rogue could fight her way through jus' 'bout anythin'.
So Remy leaned down to give her a kiss. But Rogue quickly moved away from him. If he kissed her, her powers would work and then she would hurt the prince. And she didn' want him to be hurt. So she moved away.
"Um…no kissin'," Rogue told him.
"Why?"
"Cause."
"Cause why?"
"Just cause."
"But I wanna give you a kiss."
"How 'bout you give me somethin' else instead?"
There were a lotta things Remy coulda said—mosta them not so appropriate. Instead, he jus' went into his pocket and pulled out an old, tattered card.
"How 'bout I give you this?"
Rogue took the card and looked at it oddly. "Queen of Hearts."
"My lucky lady. She's gotten me out of a whole load of jams."
"Then I need a deck of those."
"I want you to have it."
"Why?"
"Cause?"
"Cause why?"
Remy took hold of Rogue's hand. He held it real tight and suddenly both of them knew at the same time that neither one of them wanted Remy to ever let go.
"Jus'…cause."
Have y'all seen one of those "mushy" movies where the two characters turn toward each other in slow motion and pretty music plays in the background and it's all happy?
This was one of those moments. It'd have been perfect.
'Cept it was ruined 'cause the clock struck midnight.
Moment ruined!
Sorry. But it couldn't be that easy for them. I also have to apologize about the lack of interaction between Remy and the mysterious kids in this chapter but I really wanted to focus more on all the fun Romy-ness happening. But I promise, I won't neglect them as much next chapter. Until then, please send me your WONDERFUL ideas and WONDERFUL reviews.
**Not an exact quote, but a quote from Ultimate X-Men, the issue where Remy takes in an orphan. It was part of my inspiration for this story.
NEXT CHAPTER: The clock strikes midnight, Rogue loses her "glass slipper", and Belladonna get's what's comin' to her.
-M.A.
