Disclaimer: "To steal or not to steal- oh, the hell with it! Steal!"
(An: I'm trying to vary the short and long chapters… so this one is short.)
A Little Rusty (Thieves Gotta Stick Together)
Kurt's party was still going strong, so it was easy for Ororo to sneak away while Kurt was trying to teach Forge to dance. Not modern dances, just plain dancing. Forge had the rhythm of a dead squirrel.
She crept up to Kurt's room and was just about to reach into Forge's duffel bag when someone cleared their throat. She whirled. Remy was leaning in the doorway wearing his trademarked smirk. Ororo sighed.
"I guess it's been a while?" Remy asked.
"Since what?" Ororo knew what he was talking about, but it was better for her current reputation as "Stoic Woman" to pretend she didn't.
"Since the last time you robbed somebody."
Ororo glanced at the duffel bag, unable to suppress a guilty look. "I'm not robbing him, I'm borrowing something."
"For an indefinite period?" Remy replied, clearly amused.
"It's only robbing if I have no intention of returning it. And I'm going to."
"Ah, so it's like that." Remy nodded. "You know, normal people just go visit someone when they want to talk instead of stealing their stuff."
"Normal people ask for help instead of kidnapping the person in question."
"Touché, but I still don't think Forge will take kindly to you taking his stuff."
"Yes, but he doesn't have to know I took it, does he?" Ororo raised an eyebrow, and Remy shook his head.
"Hey, don't worry about me ratting you out. We thieves gotta stick together, no?"
Ororo rolled her eyes. "I guess I'm just a little rusty."
Remy nodded. "Being respectable for too long will do that to a person. Me, I find it's much more fun to be an antihero. You get to be loved and have fun!"
"I'm supposed to be setting an example… so are you, for that matter."
"I am setting an example! The wrong one!"
Ororo laughed. "No, that's Logan's job."
"Logan teaches the kids how to be jerks. I teach them how to be charming jerks."
"Why am I suddenly tempted to say 'keep trying' and call you swamp rat?"
"Because Rogue has suddenly developed telepathic powers and wishes to harrass me from afar?"
"If that happened, we'd all be in trouble."
"No, just me. Rogue has a grudge against me. She'd kick my ass. And maybe make Jean dye her hair. She's jealous as hell."
"And how would you know that?"
"…You don't tell her I've been reading her diary, and I won't tell Forge you've been stealing his stuff."
"Deal." Ororo pulled an "I -heart- my torque wrench" mug out of the bag, looked incredulously at it for a moment, then walked out.
(See? Shortness. Just a jab at Ororo's past that I couldn't resist. I think there was once a reference to Ororo's past in Evolution… but that's probably just me because that would be giving her character, and Evo obviously didn't believe in that. But neither does anyone else, so there you go… sorry. Ororo's a sore point with me. -sweatdrop- Next time: Sneaky!)
