Rogue bought herself a hand painted secretaire. It was made of mud-yellows and deep greens, and reminded her of afternoons at the creek, wild and half covered in dregs, laughing and napping under a lattice of sunlight dripping down between tree limbs.
Pyro started sleeping in her room, because he didn't really care either way as long as they were together, and she just liked looking at the desk. Besides, my sheets are cleaner. He had his face buried in her nape, and she could feel him plant little kisses and take in breaths of just her. She slid her hand up and down his arms wrapped around her, reached back and traced down his shirt and back up his side against bare, bare, bare skin. He was softer than she imagined. You would think he was all hard lines and sharp edges, but his skin was silk and butter.
"Morning." Her voice was sweet, laced with good dreams and him.
He groaned against the skin of her neck, traced the lines of her shoulder with butterfly kisses. "I'm still asleep." He drew his tongue from the edge all the way back up to her ear.
She shivered.
These easy, quiet mornings were a gift. She couldn't remember ever being happier than this.
At breakfast they somehow managed to eat without losing contact. They had become masters of constant easy touches that made her deeply aware of him whenever he wasn't physically around her. She chatted with Mystique and felt the weight of Remy's hungry, jealous eyes, and avoided eye contact or reference to Magneto even as the others spoke to him.
The new recruits sat around them without acknowledgement, and it was difficult for her to realize how much had changed even when it was at its most obvious.
"We got a mission tonight, non?"
"We have a protocol for these things, Gambit." Mystique remarked.
"Yeah, Remy, we'll talk about it later-" Rogue started.
"when we convene." Pyro finished her thought.
"Overheard the big bosses planning it out over tea and biscuits last night. Thought the protocol must've changed."
She was quickly getting the hang of laughing while rolling her eyes.
"Me, you," He pointed at Rogue. "Mystique. Cozy." He winked at her.
She heard Pyro's silverware scrap the plate as her mouth fell into a smirk. His patience was something near saintly.
"I'll bite." Rogue turned to Mystique. "What could we possibly need him for?"
Mystique smiled at her protege. "Bait."
"I like the sound of that." Pyro commented between bites.
"And what are we catching today?" Gambit asked the leading question with a guttural drop in pitch.
Rogue rolled her eyes. "A woman."
"Carol." He drew out the word in a long, sultry line. "We got a special connection."
A retrieval mission. They were going after Carol, the security system—Mystique, Gambit, and Rogue. Two stealth slots with one brute force, but training with Mystique had taken some of the knock out of her steps at least.
They'd followed her, waiting for her to be alone.
Carol led them into some house, way out of the way of anything. "A safe house?" Remy grabbed her arm, soft but determined, put a finger to his lips.
"I think I know that place." she replied. "An X-Men safe house."
"Quiet." Mystique hisses in a whisper.
Carol unlocked the door, turned into the darkness. She couldn't see them, surely. "You better come in! It's a cold night."
Remy chuckled, pushed Rogue back toward Mystique, shuffled noisily toward the house, slipping out of shadows.
"Hello there, chere." Gambit grinned at the blonde woman as she turned, surprised but unmoved.
Rogue bristled, felt a sharp pain hearing him call another woman by his pet name for her. She supposed it wasn't anything too specific.
"There's nothing here." Carol answered him.
"You wound my poor Cajun heart." His movements were dramatic. He was all limbs and swooning, moved around the room like an ocean current. "Didn't come here for nothing more than a chat."
"I'm not telling you anything." Carol was confident, her voice sharp with the bravado heroes always seem to have in spades. Carol's body was turning around, following Gambit's sways and swivels as he touched just about everything in the room.
"Now, now. I promise not to ask anything too personal. As long as you can do me the same favor." He grinned at Carol again, and Rogue was trapped somewhere between jealousy and desire. She tugged at her gloves, slipped the silk off easily. "Gambit's got his secrets too."
Rogue moved fast, hurled her body at Carol's when her back was fully turned, caught the woman's face in her bare hands. The drain was quick when she wanted it to be, and Carol was out before she could properly react. The blonde woman grunted a little, tried to throw Rogue's body off with an inept shove she didn't even bother to throw her weight into. Her body slamed onto the floor. Rogue was more pleased than she liked to admit to see her out like that.
"No need to be jealous, petite. I only got eyes for you." Gambit's smirk was a little too comfortable.
Mystique came through the door at the thud of Carol's body. Rogue couldn't tell how much she caught, but she seemed as displeased with her as Remy was arrogant. Of course, that was part of his appeal.
Mystique gave her a sharp look. "Drain anything useful?"
Rogue was thankful for the question. It felt like there was more air in the room, and she realized she has been holding her breath. Rogue closed her eyes, let Carol's psyche come at her, and then pushed it away. "She's strong, overconfident. She thinks she's invincible."
"Anything else?"
"No."
Mystique morphed her body into Carol's, but continued in her own voice. "I'll wait here. Someone will come looking for her."
Rogue nodded. "You'll come back after?"
Mystique's smile seemed genuine, though it looked odd to her on Carol's face. She had just knocked the woman unconscious, and Rogue was not quite used to seeing Mystique as anything other than scaly and blue yet. She wasn't sure it would ever stop freaking her out, but she tried not to show it. She would have hated for Mystique to catch her discomfort.
"I'll return with the files." Mystique told her, a reassurance.
"Don't think you'll need some help with that?" Gambit interrupted them.
Mystique sneered. "If I need your help, I'll wave a dog treat in the air."
Remy chuckled. He either couldn't tell that her disdain was real, or didn't care.
"Help me with the body." Rogue called out to him.
"You won't be needing my help with that, chere. It's like you said, she's strong."
Rogue's lips split into a smile of her own. Her eyes lit with excitement. She lifted the body easily, looked back at Remy like a child in a candy shop. "Cool."
Remy's eyes sparkled like he could feel her joy. "She can fly too."
"Really?" Rogue's excitement was raw.
"You'll have to keep her hidden at the base until I return." Mystique interjected. She shots a look at Gambit. "Try to behave."
Remy chuckled again. Rogue wondered how much of the sound was genuine.
"We'll do our best to stay out of trouble, but I don't make promises I'm not sure I can keep." he answered.
Rogue couldn't help but laugh a little, but Mystique shot her a reproachful look and she tried to bury the giggle. She turned to Remy. "Race you." And she was running out the door with him following before she could catch Mystique's reaction. Rogue jumped up, trying to fly, and found that it was something easy, natural.
"Don't go too high or you'll hurt yourself when her powers wear off." Remy's voice was light, but the words struck her as concerned for her wellbeing.
Aw, he does care. Rogue was surprised to hear him be the voice of reason, but she supposed he had to be good at anticipating risk in his line of work. And he was right too, not that she'd let him know it. "Spoil sport." But she tried to stay hovering close to the ground.