Chapter 9, "These Days"
By: RogueBHS
A/N: Sorry about the delay. Busy week or two around here. Ahh, the holidays...so fun, but way too busy. I made up for the delay by making this a longer chapter. I don't think you'll mind too much.
Please note that I am planning a 1 chapter addition to the arc covering all the X-men as a little Christmas treat. Look for it to be uploaded December 23 or 24 if all goes right. If you were a reader of "Drowning," a special edition chapter will be uploaded for that as well. Thanks! Oh, and one last thing: REVIEW!
Rogue's temperment towards Storm improved greatly a week after Rogue had gained the control of her powers. No one knew why Rogue had been angry at her best female friend, and it seemed they never would. During the week, Rogue even agreed to a shopping trip with the four other "main" X-women; Ororo, Jean, Betsy, and Kitty. The trip got postponed by a couple of hours when Scott called everyone together to announce that they would be having company in a few weeks.
It seemed that Alex, Lorna, Nate, Nathan and Madelyne were all going to be dropping by for Labor Day weekend. They had learned "through the grapevine" of Jean and Scott's divorce, and had finally managed to clear schedules and what not to be able to visit. Of course, Jean wasn't too pleased that Madelyne Pryor was coming along, but the Professor hushed her when she spoke out in protest.
When they were finally released, there was a bit of a quarrel over what vehicle to take. Jean wanted the Seabring, Betsy wanted the BMW, while Storm and Rogue both agreed that Bishop's SUV would be most practicle. Storm and Rogue finally won when Betsy conceded that they would need more space than the BMW provided for shopping bags.
Getting to the mall was no hassle, however. Of course, finding a parking space was a major hassle. But once they were inside, all 5 women breathed a sigh of relief. Being cooped up due to rains the past few days had taken its toll on them all.
It was agreed that Rogue's wardrobe, which still consisted of primarily long sleeved shirts and jeans, needed some help. Thus, the nearest clothing store was the first stop. All four looked through racks for Rogue and themselves, picking out whatever looked the best. 3 short skirts, a dozen or so tank tops, a new short sleeveless dress and a few other items were stacked up and pushed into the dressing room along with Rogue.
When Rogue stepped out in the black mini-skirt and a red halter top, the vote was a unanimous "yes." After all, since Jean would vote no on anything, her vote wasn't counted. Smiling, Rogue went back into the dressing room and changed outfits again. Stepping out in a stereo-typical "little black dress," Rogue was met with a few looks of disbelief from the saleswomen. The X-women, however, just smiled, nodded and waved her back in to the dressing room.
When Rogue walked back out in one of the other short skirts and a lace-up bra top, it was another unanimous vote. The rest of the afternoon carried on in that way, leaving Rogue with over 20 shopping bags full of clothes, accessories and a few pairs of shoes to top it all off. Once everything was thrown in the trunk, a stop by the ice cream shoppe was decided on. Rogue amused the others when she pouted.
"Ya talk meh int' buyin' an ungoddly amount o' clothes, then ya decide to stop at one of mah favorite places for sweets. That ain't nahce ya know."
Betsy patted Rogue's arm and laughed. "Rogue, you couldn't gain an ounce if you tried. I've seen you inhale a gallon of ice cream before and not have to work out to burn it off."
Storm nodded in agreement. "It was a gallon of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and if I remember correctly, it was not barely a month ago. She lost a bet of some kind with Logan."
Rogue shrugged and smiled impishly. "So Ah'm blessed with a mutant metabolism...Who in this car ain't?"
The ensuing laughter continued until much later that night.
The next morning, all five women were not only the last to get up, but also seemed to be the best of friends. Even Jean was smiling and laughing with the others; she was also happier than she had been in months. Of course, being rather skeptical of his ex-wife, Scott chalked her behavior up to Jean trying to get out of her punishment for the fight with Storm a while back. Storm may have been removed from her position as co-leader for 6 months (or sooner if the other senior members decided she was no longer in need of the punishment), but Jean's punishment seemed worse.
The red-head was to move to the Massachusetts Academy to help Emma Frost and Sean Cassidy teach the Generation X kids. The fact that she was going to be expected to work along side with the former White Queen bugged Jean to no end...almost as much as Rogue's status in the mansion.
For the time being though, Jean was still an X-woman. The 5 "main" women had been joking all morning, and even occasionally "zapping" or moving items via their respective powers. Of course, since Kitty was neither telekenetic nor did she have a long-range power, she simply settled for reaching through the others to get what she needed, grossing the others out when she grabbed something to eat while still phasing.
It wasn't until Jean hit Rogue with a plate (which was bound for the dishwasher) that everyone went silent. Rogue's temperment may have been better, but she still snapped at the others when her headaches were at their worst. The other X-men watched, waiting for Rogue's reaction to being hit out of the blue, almost holding their breath.
Rogue, not sure if the hit was on accident or purpose, decided to give Jean the benefit of the doubt. Smiling, she pointed to the dishwasher. "Th' dishwashah's over there Jean. Ya missed by around a few feet."
Relieved, as it truely was an accident, Jean nodded and smiled back. "Yeah. Sorry about that Rogue. Guess I need to improve my aim a little more."
With a nod, Rogue shrugged. "Just a bit."
Jean sighed, and gave a rather sorrowful look. "Guess I'm just out of it this morning."
Storm, Rogue and Scott almost collectively raised their eyebrows. "Why would ya be out of it Jean? Ya seemed fahne yesterday an' what not."
Jean shrugged and turned, facing the counter, blocking her face from view. "Well...I just am not totally sure I can deal with Maddy being here. I mean, she and I never really did get along or anything you know."
Since it was a true enough statement, Rogue nodded slowly, accepting it. "Just think about th' fact that Nate an' Nathan'll both be heah. That aughta make it worth puttin' up with Maddy. Shouldn't it?"
Jean nodded, her back still to the others. "Yeah. I guess that'll have to do..."
Later that night, Rogue and Storm were "camped out" on Rogue's floor, munching on pretzels and watching the tale end of "Practical Magic," when there was a knock on the door. Curious, Rogue grabbed a handful of the pretzels and went to answer her door. Pulling it open, she smiled when she saw Scott. "Ya need somethin?"
He glanced behind her, and smiled sheepishly when he saw Storm sitting there. "Sorry...didn't realize you had company."
Rogue rolled her eyes and pulled Scott into the room. "Roro wouldn't mind ya joinin' us. An' Ah wanna know what dragged ya t' mah door." She flashed him one of her smiles. "So take a seat and talk."
Storm moved over, making room for Scott as she smiled. "She's right. I don't mind. After all, I'm curious why you want to talk to her too."
Scott shrugged and smiled. "Well, what man alive could ever really say no to you two anyway?"
Rogue shrugged and grinned. "If there is one, Ah ain't met him yet." She slanted a look at Ororo. "How 'bout you gal?"
Ororo grinned as well. "Hmmm...I must admit that I don't recall a man ever saying no to me when I truely didn't want him to."
Scott shook his head. "You two took that too literally." He shrugged. "But anyway, I just wanted to see if you thought that Jean was acting a little off earlier. Have to make sure it wasn't just me."
Storm laughed. "You certainly don't beat around the bush much do you Scott?" She paused, then sighed. "But yes, if you're asking me as well, I did notice that Jean was acting strangly."
Scott nodded at Storm's answer, then looked to Rogue who seemed a little hesitent to answer. He poked her gently in the side, earning a half smile.
Rogue sighed softly, then nodded her agreement. "Yeah, Ah noticed."
Puzzled by her reluctance to say more, he touched her arm, hoping it wasn't one of her "bad" days. "Something bothering you Rogue?" When he got only a glance, he remembered another time when she had done that, and realized her reasoning. Prodding gently, he posed another question. "You don't want to talk about Jean do you?"
Rogue shook her head slowly, sighing. "Ah jus' don' know what t' think 'bout her any more is all. She's alraght some days, then a complete witch othahs. Ah jus' wish that she'd open up and tell somebody what her problem was. She used t' be real nahce, now she bites peoples' heads off for no damn reason."
Storm put an arm around Rogue, understanding completely. "Believe me Rogue, we understand. After all, when her temperment changed, we lost one of our friends...we all did."