Queen's High
Chapter Twelve: Borrowing Trouble
by PrettyGothGirl
All Standard Disclaimers Apply
Spoilers: Post X-3: The Last Stand, non cure ending, not Origins compatible.
Summary: Remy and Rogue head north and decide to hit D.C. for a few days. After a new exchange of endearments, Remy makes some reservations and Logan gets on Rogue's bad side.
Author's Note: A big Thank You to my beta reader, Lost and Never Found! For a full cast list with pictures, check out my fiction livejournal prettygoth_ink. Good news, next update is on Sunday!
Rogue rolled over, squinting her eyes against the bright, sharp thin lines of sunlight. It took a few minutes to register that the bed next to her was empty, the covers a rumpled mess. Remy was missing. Rogue didn't know what to think about it and in a haze, rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom and the promises of hot water on someone else's nickel.
She only remembered belatedly to grab her bag with her clothes.
Half an hour and one steam filled bathroom later, she was feeling slightly more ready to greet the day. Someone knocked on the door.
"Sha, are yah decent?" Remy asked on the other side.
Rogue's eyebrow rose. Sha, what the hell was sha? "Oui, hun."
He opened the door and backed into the room, letting the door shut behind him once he got past it. Her expression didn't change as he looked at her. He raised his own eyebrow back at her. "Bon matin."
"Mornin'." She shifted her weight to one leg.
"Remy found some real coffee." He said and held out a steaming cardboard cup towards her. He didn't want to see her ruin perfectly fine brewed coffee again by drowning it in sugar if he could help it. "And de paper." He said. He hoped he didn't look like he'd been up since four in the morning, which was when he'd given up on trying to get a whole night's sleep and taken his own shower, escaping the room and her tempting presence before he lost all his sense and tried some of the ideas of how to sleep in the same bed with her without touching her skin.
She took the cup gingerly. "Thanks."
"De rien."
She took a sip and sat on the bed. "Sha?"
He blinked. He thought he'd said cherie like he normally did. "Cherie."
"That ain't an answer."
"Sha is de exact equivalent of cherie." He sighed and set the paper down on his things. It was just the Cajun slang for it.
"Yah do realize yah have three ways of callin' me the exact same thin', Cajun." She pointed out and took another sip of coffee. It was actually really good coffee.
He thought about that for a moment, while she continued to sip her coffee. "Ain't most endearments de same t'in'?"
"They have the same intention, don' mean they are the same thin'." She said.
"T'is is a ridiculous conversation, cherie." He crossed his arms. "Remy don' see why it matters."
"Just pointin' out, Sugar." She smiled at him.
He rolled his eyes. "Daylight's wastin', cherie."
She held out her hand. "Help me up." She said. He eyed her hand for a second. She was a big girl. She could get to her own feet. He took it anyways and tugged her forward. She grinned at him. "Thank yah." She winked at him and brushed against him as she headed for the door.
He stared after her. He really didn't understand her at all.
She paused and looked over her shoulder at him. "Comin' Cajun?" She batted her eyelashes at him.
He gave up for the moment, and caught up with her, wrapping his arm about her. "Dat's a silly question." He paused. "And a naughty one."
Rogue glared at him, reached around his back and slapped him upside the head. "Get yer head out of the gutter."
He pouted. "But dat's no fun."
She rolled her eyes and he grinned at her.
Remy dropped back as Rogue explored the Smithsonian. He glanced at the clock on his phone and concluded that it was far enough after lunch that someone would be answering phones. He dialed a number that he kept in his extensive phonebook.
"Allo, La Belle Fleur, how may I help you?"
"Ah'd like to make a reservation for t'is evenin'." Remy started.
"I'm sorry sir, but we are all booked up for the next six months."
Remy's eyelids lowered. This guy must be new. "Let me talk to de owner."
"I'm sorry. He's not-"
"Homme, yah go tell Leon Lefevre who is in de kitchen right now surveyin' de start of de preparations for dinner service dat Remy Lebeau is on de phone. And since yah are new, dat is all of de message." Remy kept his voice low.
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment and suddenly Remy heard the classic jazz that Leon used when he put people on hold. Remy checked on Rogue, who had moved further down the exhibit. The music stopped.
"Remy! What are yah doin' in town wit'out tellin' me." Leon said, his voice hearty and warm.
"Remy just told yah." Remy rolled his eyes. "Remy was hopin' to drop by for dinner."
"Tres bien!"
Remy bit his lip. "Wit' a lady."
There was a pause. "Oh?"
"Leon." He sighed. He hoped that Leon wouldn't start next with picking on him. "Remy wants to show her a nice time while t'ey are here, dat's all."
"Yah protest too soon and too much, mon ami." Leon said. "A romantic dinner on de balcony t'en, oui?"
Remy felt sweat form in his palms. Leon was a hopeless romantic. "De dinin' room is-"
"Nonsense." Leon interrupted. "De dining room is full anyways. And de balcony is perfect t'is time of year. Shall Ah order flowers to be ready when yah arrive or were yah gonna take care of it?"
Remy could feel this rapidly slipping out of his control. "We're travellin' by motorcycle, Leon.'
"T'en yah will need a car service." Leon said and Remy could hear him writing something down. "And surely, yah would like to give her somet'in'."
"Motorcycles, Leon."
"One flower? She could wear it in her hair."
Remy closed his eyes. "One."
"Classic or exotic?"
Remy sighed. "Classic is fine."
"Yah sound so put upon."
"Yah are takin' Remy's plans for a simple nice dinner and-"
"Doin' exactly what yah would do if yah had yer head on straight." Leon finished.
"Who said Remy don' have Remy's head on straight?" Remy's eyes widened. Surely, gossip hadn't traveled that fast.
"Dat would be tellin'. And what would yah like to order?"
"De regular for Remy and Marie ain't a dainty eater so," Remy paused. "Let Remy go and ask."
"Smart." Leon muttered.
Remy went to catch up with Rogue. "What is goin' on in town tonight anyways?"
"Well, dare is de usual shows at de theatre, but yah are a bit late if yah want a good seat for dat today. There's a magnificent jazz quartet, an art gallery openin'…"
Remy half listened and came up behind Rogue and waited until she glanced at him. "Cherie," He said. Leon stopped talking and muttered something about not knowing why he bothered. "What did yah want for dinner?"
"Uh," Rogue blinked. "What's special about dinner?"
Remy shifted on his feet. "Remy was hopin' to take yah someplace nice."
Rogue stared at him, excitement and the nervousness that she was going to disappoint him warring in her stomach. "Ah hate to sound terribly girly an' all, but Ah don' think Ah've got anythin' to wear to fit yer definition of nice."
"Well, yah did want to go shoppin'." Remy muttered and Leon laughed in his ear. Remy ignored him. "Have yah ever had boar, cherie?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Nooo." She didn't even know that restaurants served boar.
"She likes chocolate, Leon." Remy said.
"Ah know exactly what to make her t'en." Leon said.
"Merci beaucoup." Remy said. "And de quartet sounds fine."
"Nice to know dat yah were listening," Leon muttered. "Until tonight, mon ami." He hung up.
Remy shut his phone and looked at her. Rogue bit her tongue. She wanted to know what was going on, what she was eating that night and what the hell Remy was thinking, but then again she didn't. She didn't want to lead him on but he was the one talking about going someplace nice for dinner and his definition of nice was so far above hers that it didn't bear thinking about. "Ah really don' have anythin' to wear." She said.
"T'en we best hurry." He wiggled his eyebrows.
She smiled at him. "All right, Ah suppose we should."
Rogue, wrapped in a towel, unzipped the garment bag of the dress she'd bought that afternoon at the shop girl's insistence after being told that Rogue was going to La Bella Fleur. She'd been assured several times that it was a French designer and that she would fit right in with the regular crowd at the famous restaurant. Remy, out of chivalry or some such nonsense, had abandoned the hotel room on the pretext of looking for a shave or a haircut or making some sort of arrangements. She wasn't sure which just he'd muttered something and left saying he'd be back in time to for them to leave.
Her phone rang and the ring tone was still obnoxious. She winced and picked it up. She still needed to change it. "Logan."
"Hey Stripes, where are you?"
"In D.C., ain't yah got Forge trackin' me?" Rogue frowned and pulled the dress out.
"I don't trust it."
Rogue rolled her eyes. "It ain't like Ah'm gonna drop my cell by the side of the road and abandon it. Ah'm fine. Remy's fine."
"So, what are you doin' in D.C."
"Yah know, touristy thin's." Rogue let the towel drop and reached for the underclothes she'd bought to go with the dress, stepping into the panties and securing the bustier up the front. "Museums and monuments and such." She sat on the bed to put on her thigh-highs. "And avoidin' the White House at all costs, yah know. Ah've seen the Oval Office. Ah ain't impressed." She stepped into the dress and zipped it up the back.
"Stripes?"
Rogue rolled her eyes. Of course he heard the zipper. "Ah'm getting dressed. Remy and Ah are goin' out for dinner. Like we have to do every night 'cause we're on a road trip."
"Then why are you getting dressed at five in the afternoon?"
"Because we're goin' someplace nice." Rogue adjusted the dress so it fit properly and went for her long black gloves.
"Sounds like a date. Let me talk to Gumbo."
"Gumbo?" Rogue coughed.
"Remy." Logan corrected himself. Rogue snickered for a few minutes. "Rogue." Logan growled.
She contained herself. "Ah can't." Rogue pulled the gloves on. "He ain't in the room."
"The room? As in a single room?"
"We're adults. We can share a room without problems." Rogue glared at a random wall. "Relax, Mister Wolverine. It's only for a few days." Then she and Remy would go back to their carefully argued out compromise and separate rooms. She grabbed the shoes out of their box and leaned over to put them on while she let Logan digest that. It didn't take him long.
"Days!"
Rogue grabbed her makeup and headed for the bathroom. "Yes, days. D.C. is crowded and there's a conference goin' on. We're lucky to have found a room at all."
Logan growled. "Then maybe you could come home."
"Yah are obsessed with this, Logan. It's gettin' old." Rogue rummaged through her case. "Damn it. Ah don't have any jewelry." She muttered, at least nothing nicer than her silver studs. "And Ah wouldn't let yah talk to Remy anyways." Logan didn't say anything so she continued. "As yah would try to convince him to bring me home faster like Ah'm a child that needs a babysitter. And Ah ain't and neither is he."
"No. I'd try to convince him not to take you out to dinner."
Rogue froze and felt something in her heart stab. But- "That ain't nice." She said.
"This little road trip is bad enough."
"Logan." Rogue interrupted. "Ah am a grown woman. Remy and Ah are goin' out to dinner someplace nice that needs reservations and it ain't really any of yer business." She had spent all afternoon looking forward to this. Logan wasn't going to interfere with their plans from several hundred miles away. Rogue stared at the mess of makeup in her bag. She wouldn't let him. "Ah think yah owe me an apology."
"Rogue."
"When yah can say yah are sorry for tryin' to ruin my perfectly pleasant evenin', call me back." Rogue snapped the phone shut and inhaled deeply. She then shut the phone off. She exhaled and let the anger at Logan go for the moment. She was going to have a fine evening with Remy. She set to her face with brushes and powders.
She finished applying her makeup as Remy once again knocked on the door. "Yah ready, cherie?" He asked.
"Ah am." She said, coming out of the bathroom.
He let himself in and they stared at each other for a moment. Remy's eyes dragged down her figure taking in her dress and the gloves and Rogue's heart pounded again as his gaze really did make it feel like her skin was on fire.
"Yah are beautiful, ma cherie." He said.
She smiled at him. "Merci, sugar. Yah ain't so bad yourself." She glanced at his fitted three-piece suit, button down shirt and tie. "Just let me get my scarf and we can go." Rogue went to her bed and picked up her scarf and a clutch to go with the dress. She straightened.
He followed her into the bedroom area. "Hold still a moment." He murmured and reached up behind his neck. Rogue stiffened, her back rigid, shoulders stiff and she exuded nervousness. He unhooked his necklace and in a smooth motion, took it from his neck to put it on hers, passing it in front of her face. Her hand came up to touch it and she relaxed slightly.
"Remy," she murmured. He didn't have to put his necklace on her.
"Yah need it more t'an Remy does at de moment." He said and clasped it shut, all without touching her skin. Though that had been a small struggle not to touch it once. She'd gotten tense again though at the unknown or the anticipation of him touching her. He didn't let it bother him. He'd been paying attention all day and she did this when she thought anybody was going to touch her. "T'ough Remy will want it back." He muttered darkly.
She snickered and straightened her face out before turning. "Thank yah for lettin' me borrow it."
"And dat is all it is, borrowin'." He glowered at her. Rogue smiled at him. He was still sore about her taking it. She had returned it, quite promptly too. She didn't know why he was making such a fuss. She arranged her scarf along her shoulders and kept her smile as innocent or at least as mysterious as possible. His eyes narrowed. "Stop laughin' at Remy, cherie."
She grinned. "Ah ain't laughin', Sugar."
He held out his arm and she placed her hand in the crook. He didn't believe her for a second. She was definitely laughing at him underneath that Mona Lisa exterior. He wasn't going to push it however. The car was waiting. "Yah are on de inside." He said and escorted her to the door.
She grinned at him. "Ah can't deny it."
"Well stop."
"But yah grumpy is so cute." She fluttered her eyelashes.
"Absolutely cracked, cherie."
She laughed.
reviews are love, love me? (And I understand that it's pure cupboard love.)
Next time in Queen's High... Rogue and Remy go on their romantic date and end up having a little discussion about addictions that leads to a certain challenge.
