Hello All You Beautiful People!
This chapter has song inspiration again and will be revealed in the next chapter's author note. See of you can guess it!
I have been using almost all my free time to write again and it feels amazing. Hope you enjoy and R&R!
The mood crawling through the mansion was not one of comfort. Every occupant was either on edge with the new, temporary addition or utterly obsessed with him. The Professor had offered provisional asylum to Gambit until his injuries had healed much to Logan's aggravation. Gambit, however, was enjoying the local views. His chest was wrapped tightly due to the broken ribs he sustained and a cast extended from his left foot to his mid-thigh. He was crutch bound and although this fact did not inconvenience him terribly, he decided to milk the opportunity.
Gossip ran rampant through the younger recruits, those that had no previous knowledge of the X-men's dealings with Gambit down in New Orleans. They giggled and grinned as the school girls they still were when whispering about his jawline or accent. The attention was amusing to Gambit, although nothing new. Once in a while he would tilt his head towards the group of children following him that he pretended not to notice just to hear them squeal and run for cover.
Wolverine, however, was not impressed. His claws burned within him whenever he caught a whiff of Gambit's stench. Organizing around the clock danger room sessions did not seem to be enough to deter the younger students from fawning all over the newest occupant, no matter how hard he worked them. Exhausted, and slightly singed, students still formed drones of curiosity that seemed to smother Gambit.
There was, however, one downside. Rogue paid Gambit no special attention now that there were prying eyes around every corner. She was by no means cold to their latest addition, checking in on his physical therapy sessions and shooting a smile in his direction when present. But this was her space, furthermore this was her family's space and it was one thing to slip away and carefully fulfil her fantasies but having his enticing charm radiate here? That made her weary. Rogue already had several mutants crawling around this mansion worried for her mental health on a normal day, imagine if they saw her cuddled and carefree in Gambit's arms. Rogue worried they may only possess enough time to lock her away forever before their poor heads exploded. Wolverine had already begun keeping his distance from her, a fact that did not conceal his deep inhale to check her for scents whenever he was within range. A hostile scowl paired with the heavy thudding of combat boots rung throughout the halls if he determined her scent to be unfavorable. It would then be another day or two until she would see him skulk around a corner again.
Rogue felt as if she were a tie in the middle of a tug-o-war rope with the knot firmly planted in the recesses of her stomach. The closer she became with Gambit, the further away Wolverine pushed her. How could acquiring a lover mean losing a father? She was desperate and it was ripping her apart. However, she could not deny the undeniable: they were drawn to each other, each second of each day she secretly hoped to see him now that they lived in close quarters. She contemplated stealing her way into his room to perch under his covers as she had in his apartment, but everything was different now, and the change expressed the strangest kind of regression in their relationship, but also boasted uncharted excitement.
Gambit, on the other hand, knew this situation was temporary and decided to take full advantage of it. He waltzed as smoothly as he could into the kitchen, barring his crutch, to perceive a low growl strike his eardrums: Wolverine. A devilish smirk cut into the crook of his mouth, might as well have a little fun, no? Before he had a chance to rile up an already ferocious man, the southern drawl of a Mississippi accent saturated the hallway. His smirk only grew wider and split his face from ear to ear. His crutch just about whined as he leaned his full body weight on it and stretched his fingers apart until the veins popped to feign struggle in reaching the glassware on the top shelf just as Rogue rounded the corner.
"Ha, ya'need somethahng, Cajun?" Her tone was tender yet teasing and only intensified the southern charm she, too, possessed. "Because y'look pathetic."
"Yo' wound me, Chere." His strained hand sheltered the cavity where his heart beat beneath toned muscle. He could not get enough of the half irritated, half entertained grin that came with her infamous eye roll. He almost swept her away right then and there but what kind of con man would he be then? "Damn crutch."
"Whateva' y'say," Rogue was amused. Not ignorant. Her slender figure reached up to the fragile glassware causing her shirt to ride up and expose her bare waist as the crisp air of the mansion nipped at it. She pressed the glass into Gambit's chest with a cheeky, "Ah ain't fillin' it f'r ya' too."
A deep chuckle settled in his throat as he snaked his good arm about Rogue's once again covered waist with overdramatic, amorous eyes, "A t'ousand t'ank yo's, ma Cherie."
Rogue's laugh was stifled by confusion as she delicately used a pincer grasp to lift Gambit's broad arm off of her. The offensive limb lingered in the air as she questioned, "uh Cajun, what do ya'thahnk y'r doin'?"
"Jus' giving an appropriate t'ank yo' is all fo' such a loving gesture," Gambit's demonic eyes coiled about his rugged face to toss a wink in Wolverine's direction. The sudden shattering of a beer bottle startled the couple as the offender stormed out leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. Broken vases, ripped paintings, broken dressers, all leading to a mahogany door etched with the signature three claw marks.
As Gambit reveled in his good work, Rogue shrank in to herself, ashamed without a clear reason as to why she should have to be. Her internal puzzlement aimed itself at Gambit as irritation, "Why, Rem? Why would y'poke him lahke that?" Her tone gained brashness as she persisted, "What is the damn point in pissin' him off?" She did not wait for an answer as her heels pivoted in Wolverine's direction. The warmth of a hand suddenly clasped the fabric above her wrist and her emerald eyes were meet for a split second with pleading, almost apologetic ones. Rogue would never admit how quickly and quietly she forgave Gambit for such a stunt as the anger that flared in her eyes distinguished with even a glimpse of his. Stupid girl, she laughed to herself and curtly exited without a word.
As shadows overtook the world beyond the mansion walls, throngs of fatigued, still gossiping students headed towards their familiar beds and eventual slumber. For a master thief, Gambit really should have had a better plan to not be tracked, but then again perhaps he wanted to be found? The crunch of boots was barely perceptible as a burly hand snatched him out of the darkness of the corridor and pinned him to the wall with a low, dangerous snarl.
"Girl's wing, Cajun." Wolverine's lip curled upward in warning, revealing a bloodthirsty fang. "Get out."
Gambit was nothing if not quick on his feet and captivatingly disarming as he operated. "My bad. Mus' be lost," his signature purr did little but add to his captor's aggravation.
"Heh, doubt it."
Gambit had just about enough with this toxic, protective virility over Rogue. However he refused to admit and share their adorations of Rogue to anyone much less Wolverine. No, his pride was far too poisonous for that. If he was going to be accepted by this team, their trust was not going to live and die with Rogue, he would earn it on his own. "Yo' got somet'ing t'say t'me, mon ami?" His tone notably irritated.
"Yeah, bub. Think twice." The warning hung thick on the air, choking the two men.
"T'ink twice?"
"Before you touch her or anyone else in this place." The words were barely that, they presented more as maddened barks than intelligible words.
Malice and frustration overtook common sense Gambit spat back, "maybe she de' one doing de' touching, no?"
Shrouded by the knowing protection of night, Wolverine breathed in lighting that electrified and burned the inside of his lungs only to release it in a swift, heart pounding thud as Gambit's feet struggled to find the floor before the sturdy wall behind him caved under his body.
"Logan!" The voice was instantly recognizable to both men, the object of their dispute stood dumbfounded betwixt them, eyes wide as she took in the scene of a seething Wolverine and dust covered Gambit as he brushed debris off his trench coat.
"Hope that hurt, Cajun."
Disappointment shown clearly on his rigid features as he passed Rogue which she reckoned hurt more than being slammed through a wall in that moment. Her face drained of color as she doubled over to clutch her stomach in a futile attempt at comfort. Almost helplessly, Gambit reached for her as she doubled back with a blunt, "not now," and a shut door.
The following day was eerily quiet, Rogue floated through the hallways akin to a ghost and Wolverine was nowhere to be found, leaving Gambit in a jaded stupor. Whenever he considered easing up on the father figure torment his brow furrowed as he recalled the sentinel attack. He was ready and willing to give his life for Rogue, Wolverine should be the one playing nice, not him! Hubris held him heavy hearted. If that did not prove anything to this man, what would? He had resolved to the why even try strategy until last night when the ashamed countenance of the woman he loved did not look at him but through him as she shut him out. It was not his fault he'd tell himself, but then again, maybe it was? He had not exactly been an upstanding citizen in the past and his past was his to claim, to own, and to accept. 'The hypocrisy of it all,' he mentally jousted as his face bore all, if only anyone had been there to witness, 'how many people had Wolverine killed?' Gambit just about sulked as a child would.
Rogue absolved herself to the roof; other students barely even knew the way up there. She peered anywhere and everywhere she could to endeavor to make sense of the voices in her head. No, no other psyches this time, her voice was the one spouting dozens of half-truths and impulsive emotions she struggled to swallow down. Sure, Gambit could be malevolent and teasing and dark and exciting… Focus… but never cruel. Images of his devilish smirk and remorseful eyes assaulted her as her skin pricked to life in the chilled air. Her ears pricked up next at the roar of Wolverine's bike discovering the front gate after so many lost hours. She yearned to call out to him, somehow win her approval and her security back, yet she was ashamed and sank in to the shadows instead. She knew he would be able to smell her perfume on the wind, even hear her unsteady heartbeat. There really was no hiding from Wolverine; however, that fact by no means stopped her from trying.
Rogue's heartbeat just about battered Wolverine's ears from the second he was close enough to hear it. A diminutive chuckle slipped past what would've been a bruised lip had he not been a mutant as she gracelessly dropped to a plank on the roof. He let her be for a while, until the dawn of a new day broke with fresh, unrelenting promise. Then and only then did Wolverine appear on the rooftop, brow furrowed and eyes hard. Her chin twisted in his direction, eyes locked on the dried blood caking his knuckles. Rogue was anything but naïve, she understood what had happened and why. The thought turned her stomach.
"Y'pretend it was him?" Her voice was hoarse from dormancy.
He followed her gaze and scoffed, "No point in lying."
Understood.
Loud and clear.
She shakily placed her feet beneath her and stood, faced away from her shame and towards the mystery of the future. The silence was unbearable, wrapping around them in a damming haze. Their care for each other was suddenly suffocating. The need to apologize, to explain, to argue, to repent, all hitting the two in drowning waves. All broken by a simple, quiet exchange that took a lifetime to vocalize…
"Ah love him, Logan."
"Don't have to be psychic to see that, kid."
Props if you know the comic that last exchange is from!
Hope you enjoyed, reviews are always appreciated
I do not own xmen/xmen evolution