Chapter 3, "More Than Words"
By: RogueBHS
A/N: I am so sorry for the delay on this update. My muse took a leave of absence I didn't approve, and to top it off, I was sick. Talk about not good for writing. *sigh* But, I'm back, and thanks to a little help from a friend, this chapter is ready. I hope to get back to my once a week updates soon, but with the holidays coming up, I won't make any promises. I really hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for being patient!
Where on earth was that woman? A body could get the impression she was avoiding him, but no... she wasn't that type. Not any more anyway. Poking his head into the kitchen for the third time in the past hour, Remy sighed. Rogue had seemingly disappeared from the mansion, and he really didn't like it. But that was probably because Scott hadn't shown up during his search of the mansion either. Rogue's bedroom door had been closed and locked, and after trying to pick it only once, Remy had found that to be a very bad idea. It had taken swearing on everything he liked or loved in order to get her to finally let go of him. Of course, pure fear of an angry Rogue had made him forget she was holding him over the pool. He still got ribbed by Bobby about that one.
Finally admitting defeat, he trudged back up the stairs. She had locked herself in her room, presumably with Scott, for reasons he didn't want to linger on, despite her inability to touch. It bothered him imensely that she let Scott touch her, without flinching. With him, it was the opposite. She had said that the way he touched her brought back unpleasent memories, but had refused to elaborate. He wished she would talk to him like she did to Scott. But most of all, he wished she would trust him enough to let him touch her.
When he found himself walking past her door, he paused, noticing it was open an inch or two. By nature, he wasn't one to butt into another's business, or to spy. Oh well. It was being done to ease his mind. He just had to hope and pray that he didn't get caught.
Stepping to a better vantage point to watch, he glanced around quickly. No one else, except Ororo, was upstairs that he knew of. Good. Turning his attention to what was going on in Rogue's room, he was caught off guard when he saw her sitting in Scott's lap as if it was an every day thing. To the casual observer it would seem romantic in intentions, but Remy wasn't a casual observer.
He could faintly hear them talking about something, but the words were hard to understand. She said something that caused Scott to frown. He spoke now, and Rogue's response was a sigh and dropping of her shoulders, followed by a spoken response. Scott rubbed her back almost absently, and she relaxed, laying hear head against Scott's shoulder, her hair acting as a barrier between their faces.
All of the touching seemed so...absent minded. As if they weren't thinking about it, but simply did it out of a natural comforting instinct. Remy frowned deeply. Rogue quite obviously trusted Scott without reservation, and vise versa. Knowing staying any longer would be too great a risk, he slowly, quietly backed away. When he was a few doors away from Rogue's room, he stopped moving and thought about what to do next. His anger was peaked, but he had already been in two Danger Room sessions that day. That was more than enough. Seeing only one outlet for his anger, Remy headed to the mansion's attic loft, hoping Ororo could provide the calming influence he needed right then.
Rogue glanced up at the clock on the kitchen wall by the fridge, then frowned. It was well after 7:30, yet Ororo nor Remy had come downstairs to get anything to eat. Curious, she passed through the living room and to the main stairwell, taking the steps quickly. She walked directly to Remy's room and knocked. When there was no answer, she tried the doorknob, and it opened easily. Looking around, there was no sign of life. Sighing, she closed the door and headed to the stairs leading to Ororo's loft.
She took the stairs slowly, enjoying the slightly cooler air that always seemed to occupy the stairway to the loft. Rogue stopped 4 steps away from the landing and the door, hearing both Ororo and Remy's voices. Remy raised his voice in anger, surprising Rogue to the point she almost stumbled backwards. He was angry about her and Scott's friendship, and was currently saying how he wished that she would give him the same amount of trust she did Scott.
Rogue heard Ororo trying to get Remy to calm down, saying that getting angry all over again would help. Again? Rogue frowned slightly. Obviously the Cajun had been talking with Ororo for a while, and Rogue could think of nothing that would have sparked his temper. Granted she had holed up in her room for an hour with Scott, but he had been upset over a matter in his family. What was she supposed to have done? Tell him she was busy? Rogue shook her head. Surely Remy wouldn't have gotten so angry over that. After all, they hadn't had any plans for the day.
Rogue tuned back in to the voices in the room, and let Logan's enhanced senses "turn on" for extra help. Ororo spoke in her calm tone, sticking up for Rogue and Scott. Remy humphed at Storm's point, and Ororo sighed. Remy said something, just soft enough for it to be hard for Rogue to hear. Ororo made a sympathetic noise, which was followed by the sound of Ororo moving from her bed to where ever Remy was sitting.
Rogue lifted her feet off of the steps and slowly lowered herself back down to the second floor of the mansion. Glancing back up at the door to Ororo's loft, Rogue sighed. She knew she should talk to Remy, but right now, her own anger was sparked. The only thing she had ever wanted from him was honesty...in everything. As many times as he had told her he loved her, rarely did he go out of his way to prove it. Rogue had tried to open up to him in her own ways, and had been rejected.
She had pushed the Morlocke Massacre back in his face over and over once she found out, and the guilt over it had all but swallowed her whole. Never before had she ever truely judged her teammates until Remy's trial in Antartica. Her own past was anything but clean, and she wanted to make him understand why she was so uneasy around him. But the memories that haunted her were too clear, and the wound still too fresh despite the years that had past.
Rogue walked towards her room, pausing briefly outside Scott's door. She shook her head and continued to her own room. No need to make matters worse. If Remy was jealous of Scott, she knew she should talk to Remy about it. But hadn't she already tried that? Well...Sort of. If he was in the mood to be pig-headed, he could do just that. Rogue entered her room and closed the door behind her. Walking to her window, Rogue shed her gloves, tossing them on her dresser. Rogue openned the window, and slid partway out to sit on the windowsill.
Starring up at the stars, Rogue let her mind go as blank as was possible, pushing all worries into the depths of her mind for the time being. The sky was clear, and the moon bright. Without being summoned, her old jealousy of the relationship Remy and Ororo shared popped up. It was always there. But Rogue had forced herself to keep it under control. Angry with herself for being jealous of the best female friend she had ever had, Rogue slid back into her room, closing the window. Turning on her CD player, Rogue changed into one of the old hockey-jerseys Remy had lent her. It was meer coincidence she had forgotten to return it. Then a month later, he had seen her in it, and told her to keep it...it looked better on her than it ever had on him.
Rogue smiled and shook her head. If she ever managed to keep the Cajun X-man out of her head for more than 2 minutes, it would be a record. Crawling into bed, Rogue shut off the lamp, hoping Remy's anger would be disappated by the next morning.
Ororo was putting the last dish in the dishwasher when a sound behind her made her turn. It was Rogue. Unlike two days before when they had gone to the mall, Rogue's face was unsmiling. During the past few months, Rogue had been more happy in general, and had smiled more often than at any time during her years as an X-woman. Wondering what could have gone and taken the smile off of her friend's face, Ororo tilted her head. "Is something bothering you Rogue?"
Rogue simply shook her head as she took a red apple out of the fruit drawer and grabbed a bottle of water. Rogue had been one of the first ones up that morning, much to the surprise of the others.
Storm frowned. Something was definitely bothering Rogue, but Remy had said they hadn't had a fight. "Rogue?" Ororo walked forward and put her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"
Rogue turned quickly, the anger in her eyes barely supressed. "Ah basically said as much didn' Ah?"
Ororo stepped back, wary of setting off Rogue's temper fully. "I'm sorry, Rogue. You just seemed rather disturbed. But if you aren't, then that's that. I won't ask again."
Rogue closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It took a great deal of effort to keep her jealousy that had been sparked the night before from exploding. When she reopenned her eyes, the anger was suppressed again. "Sorry 'Roro. Ah jus' didn' have a good naght."
Ororo seemed interested. "Oh?"
Rogue nodded and took a seat at the table. "Th' damn Swamp Rat was eithah avoidin' meh, or went out for a naght on th' town. Ah looked for 'im for 'round two hours, but with no success."
Storm's eyebrows shot up. "Why were you looking for him?"
"Ah had hoped t' talk t' 'im about a few things...includin' askin' 'im if he'd go with meh on this lil' trip th' professah wants meh t' go on."
Rogue watched as Ororo pursed her lips, and she knew the goddess was trying to decide if she should tell Rogue where Remy had been for so long last night. Ororo decided not to, and simply shrugged at Rogue. "Then I guess you'll have to see if you can find him today then."
Rogue shook her head. "Ah leave fo' th' airport in 20 minutes. Bish is goin' with meh."
Ororo nodded her head, a little surprised it wasn't Scott that was going with her. "Well," she smiled and hugged Rogue loosely, "then I guess I will tell you goodbye now."
Rogue hugged Storm back. "Bye Ro." Rogue stood and threw the apple core into the trash and the empty botte into the recycle bin. "Tell Remy Ah wanna talk t' 'im when Ah get back would ya? Ya seem t' see him more than Ah do."
Rogue didn't see her friend wince as she left the room.