Chapter 9: Some Light Conversation

                God, her head hurt, like someone had given it a thorough beating with a golf club from the inside. Beep, beep. Her body felt drained, the skin on her hands slightly tingly. She didn't feel like opening her eyes. Beep, beep. That noise was getting on her nerves though.. The alarm clock? No, she refused to go to school. Beep, beep. Try to ignore it, Rogue... Beep, beep. God damn it.

                With a faint sigh, Rogue lifted one hand to her face, frowning at the glaring light of the monitor as she peeked one eye open.

                Remy mumbled in his sleep, slouched in the chair. It couldn't have been very comfortable, but still he slept on, oblivious to Rogue's recovery.

                Rogue shot both eyes open at the sudden sound, despite the pain it caused. She looked to her left to see a sleeping Remy. What was he doing here? For a half moment she thought she'd been taken back with the Morlocks.. but this was definitely the ward. She looked back at Remy, trying to recollect.. He was there, with those people.. They killed that man. They struck down a mutant.. To her they were terrorists, the bad guys, but she vaguely remembered Remy trying to explain. She didn't hear it, though.

                He was touching her. It was a sensation she hadn't felt in years. How was it possible? She reached a hand out tentatively towards him before noticing it was gloved. She hadn't got control over it, after all. That's right.. Remy was touching her, and then everything became chaos. She must have absorbed him, but she couldn't feel him anywhere in her mind. Confused, Rogue covered her eyes and tried to remember the previous day.

                Remy mumbled again and shifted in his sleep... right out of his chair. He hit the ground with a solid 'thud' followed by rapid curses in Creole. The Spanish tones showed through just as clearly as the French, though it would be hard to discern what he said without knowledge of both languages. After a bit he climbed to his feet, rubbing the side of his face, bright red from smacking into the floor.

                When he saw that Rogues eyes were closed he sighed and sat down heavily. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, head in his hands, to watch her.

                "When yo' gonna wake up, p'tite?"

                Rogue's eyes opened suddenly at his voice, to see Remy a little less together than he usually was. She didn't remember what had happened after he touched her, but she only remembered being mad at him before that.. For leaving.. that was her fault, right? And for joining that group.. he had some kind of reason for that too. She just looked at him blankly for a moment, not sure what to think or say.

                Remy blinked, shocked at what he saw. He wasn't quite sure if it was a hallucination or not, so he scooted the chair closer to the head of the bed and leaned even closer.

                "Cheri? Rogue? Is... Is yo' really up?"

                She turned her head to the side, holding one hand to her forehead.

                "Ah course Ah am.." His voice was a little bit louder than her pounding head could stand. "Let's keep it down, huh?" Carefully she moved to sit up.. She didn't want to lie down while he was here, it was like a position of weakness.. Not that being in a hospital bed practically disabled wasn't enough.

                He grinned and sat back a bit, his voice a bit softer when next he spoke.

                "Remy glad yo' all right... He didn' know wha' he'd do if yo' didn' get bettah... He awfully sorry 'bout touchin yo' too long... He didn' know dat Leech - he da one dat took away yo' powahs - He didn' know dat Leech had stopped..." He sighed and shook his head a bit. "Remy stahtin' ta soun' jus like dat Kitty..."

                Leech, the name of one of the supposed terrorists. She'd question him about that, but she didn't feel like getting into that now.. She was far too tired.

                "What are ya doin' here? Ah thought you'd left the institute."

                Remy blushed slightly and stood from his chair. He walked over to the monitors after a little hesitation and became very interested in them.

                "Well, Remy jus' wan' ta make sho' yo is all right..." He reached up and pulled the ribbon out of his hair with only a bit of trouble and stuffed it into a pocket. "Yo' know how Remy is..."

                Rogue watched him before looking down at her hands. He touched her. The thought crept unbidden into her mind. But she didn't want to think about that either. Not now, not with him..

                "Ah can't say Ah do.." There wasn't really much to say. In her last conscious state she'd fought him, meaning to hurt him.. and she did remember getting a few good hits in. Not to mention the less than friendly terms with which they said their goodbyes. There was so much uncleared air. Logan had suggested talking, but what the hell did he know about that? Still, she trusted his advice more than anyone else's.

                "Look.. Ah'm sorry for the way Ah acted. Ah didn't mean ta hurt ya. Well, Ah did, but.. Ah shouldn't have."

                He chuckled and waved a hand. "Don' yo' worry bout it, Cheri. Weren' yo' fault none. I's like Remy said, Remy jus' trouble. Dis da stuff dat Remy be talkin' bout." He shrugged and moved on to something else in the room, giving it the same careful inspection as the monitors. "I's jus watah undah da bridge, dough, as long as yo' can fo'give Remy."

                Rogue watched him as he concentrated on looking at anything but her.

                "Ah can. But Ah don't think you're trouble. Believe me, Ah'd be in the same sort of trouble whether ya were around or not."

                It was true. It certainly wasn't the first time her powers caused her to nearly kill one or many people.. And it probably wouldn't be the last. She clenched one fist, then the other. Can't will it away.

                Remy smiled and glanced back at her.

                "Dat's sweet o' yo' ta say, Cheri... So, is dat..." He clears his throat and does his best to break away from the accent and sound a bit more clear. "Psykeek entahtey, or whatevah da Prafessah say, it still in yo' head?"

                Her expression darkened perceptibly. She especially didn't want to think about Carol. Rogue remembered the first moments after Carol had been completely absorbed.. she was screaming, sending her mind in circles, verbally abusing Rogue for an act she had been forced to do.. Then she was silent.. Rogue glanced up.

                "Wait, how do ya know about that?"

                It didn't occur to her that Carol had been responsible for yesterday's events, until now.

                "Oh.."

                Remy wandered back over to her bedside, though still kept his eyes mostly elsewhere.

                "Dat's how we felt aftah dah Prafessah say it too. He tell Remy ta stay an' watch yo' while da othahs was at school, dough since yo' is awake, guess Remy don' need ta do dat." He sighed and shrugged. "Guess Remy can get himself back ta de Mo'locks... Wouldn' wan nuttin ta happen ta dem.'"

                Rogue glanced back down, slightly hurt but not showing it. He'd taken the effort to come back to the institute he'd abandoned to see if she was alright.. a nice enough gesture.. but now he was just going to leave again? To protect the Morlocks? From what she saw, they didn't need very much protection...

                "So ya leavin', just like that?"

                He blinked and looked at her, really looked at her, searching her features, not quite sure how to respond right away. Soon enough, though, he grinned.

                "Yo' gettin' a li'l soft place fo' ol' Remy, p'tit?" He chuckled a bit and shrugged. "Remy maybe stay fo' a piece, don' wan' ta be rude ta de Prafessah fo' lettin' Remy come back... Shouldn' jus up an leave de next day, should he, Cheri?"

                It was her  turn to smirk. "Well it would disappoint the Professah.. "

                As the conversation progressed past yesterday's events and other touchy subjects, Rogue began to feel better. Quickly she peered around Remy out the window which led to the Beast's lab.

                "Is Dr. McCoy around?"

                Remy looked around and shrugged. "Remy don' see him, he jus' woke up, Cheri... He ain' jus knowin stuff out o' nuttin." He sat back down in his chair and sighed. "Remy sho' da Prafessah send someone soon as he t'ink yo' need it. Yo' jus have ta settle fo' Remy."

                "As nice as that would be.." She glanced toward the lab once before looking down, ripping off the monitor pads one by one.. "Ah can't stand ta stay here n'more. ..Ow." She took the last one carefully off her right temple. "Ah need ta find some aspirin first."

                For the first time she noticed that she was still wearing the same clothes as the day before, so threw off her covers without hesitation and swinging her legs over the side.

                "Help me up, wouldja."

                He stood quickly and offered both his hands to her. "Yo' got yo'self bit o' a headache, Cheri? Li'l tomato juice an' chili powdah take care o' dat right away. Ol' Cajun secret, Cheri, don' tell no one." He chuckled as he helped her up.

                She took both of his hands and pulled herself up, floor cold on her bare feet. Food was beginning to sound very appealing as well. She could really go for some pizza.. or better yet, peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Her favorite. The thought made her pause. She hated peanut butter. Then why..? Shaking her head, Rogue tried to make her way to the kitchen without help from Remy.

                "Ah think Ah just need some water."

                He nodded and made sure she was steady on her feet and, like any true southern gentleman would, opened the door for her.

                "Remy sho dat everyone be happy ta see yo' up an' walkin', Cheri. Yo' may wan ta t'ink 'bout stayin' away from yo' room an' yo' roomate till dat headache is gone, dough." He grinned and followed her to the kitchen. "She got plenty o' questions bout yo'self an' Remy."

                "What!?" She turned her head suddenly to look at him with a shocked expression, which quickly turned into one of annoyance. "Eurgh, that girl has been readin' too many dime novels. It's not her place to go insinuatin' things about other people." Opening the cupboard she found a tall glass, and some aspirin in the drawer. She put the glass under the faucet, letting it run a while to get cold.

                Remy gasped and rabbed his chest over his heart, falling back and putting a hand on one of the counters as if to keep himself balanced.

                "Yo' breakin' Remy's heaht, Cheri, he jus' can' take yo' turnin' him down ovah and ovah." He couldn't keep a straight face for long, though, and soon fell to a fit of laughterr, which quieted to his regular grin. "Don' worry, Remy set her straight, he jus' don' think dat's gonna stop da girl from askin' dose same questions of yo'."

                Rogue felt reconciled enough with Remy not to give him her trademark look of disgust at his suggestion, so settled for one of mild disamusement. She rolled her eyes at the thought of Kitty bombarding her with questions that had no foundation.. well, maybe they did.

                "Ah know she will. It's gettin' the girl ta shut up is the trick." She checked the dosage on the back of the aspirin bottle. Two. Hm. Rogue popped three in her mouth - she didn't think the aspirin manufacturers understood the kind of headache she had right now... She took a thoughtful sip. "What would make that girl quiet for awhile?"

                He shrugged and went to the fridge. He started to rummage about, just to check if they had anything that might spark his apetite.

                "Yo' know da girl bettah dan Remy... A beau may keep her out o' yo' hair, dough, maybe yo' should try an' get da girl ta take interest in dat blue fuzzy one. Den she bug him all day."

                "There was this one kid from the Brotherhood she was sweet on for awhile.. Before he went n' tried to announce our identities to the whole town." Rogue took another sip. "Nah, if she bothered that one it'd cause some serious property damage. Which reminds me, ya never did answer my question from before."

                He came up with a mouth full of beef jerky. He closed the fridge and chewed, the rest of the strip of dried meet still in his hand. He swallowed then started to look for something to drink other than water.

                "Wha question would dat be, Cheri?"

                Rogue hesitated, filling the silence with another long sip of her water. She remember how he reacted the last time she asked him, though it had been in slightly hostility...

                "Well, Ah don't mean ta get ya riled again, but, why did ya come here in the first place?"

                He froze in front of a cupboard, hand resting on the handle, ready to open it, chewing another mouthful of jerky, all ceased at that one questeion. He swallowed and let his hand drop with a sigh.

                "Don' go askin question dat yo' don' wan' da real ansah fo', Cheri... Dat's one o' dose questions."

                Rogue kept her eyes on her water, shuffling one foot across the floor. She'd thought maybe he'd be more willing to talk now, but she guessed he still didn't trust her, or something. Maybe some day.

                "Fair enough."

                Still, it was a prominent question that constantly came to mind when she was with him - especially after the way he reacted the first time.

                He shrugged and turned toward her with a slightly apologetic smile. "If yo' have any ot'er questions fo' Remy, he be glad ta ansah, jus no' dat one... No' yet, Cheri." He continued his search, and eventually just settled for the water and a seat on the counter.

                Rogue shrugged, trying not to care. It made him less easy to trust, but she thought she could look past it for the time being.

                "Alright, here's a question for ya.. Are ya gonna go back ta school now?" She looked up at him with a pleasant, hopeful expression, though she wasn't exactly smiling. "Ah mean, Ah'll still help ya study if ya want."

                He thought he'd told her all ready about how Remy and school just didn't mesh, she just didn't seem to understand for some reason. He looked over at her and was about to answer, then stopped and thought again for a moment. He smiled and took a drink from his water.

                "Remy t'ought he may try da schoolin again... Didn' give much chance da first time, aftah all."

                Rogue smiled, genuinely happy to hear him say that. She knew what he said about him and the school scene, but coupled with the other things he was saying to put himself down.. She didn't want him to feel any less of himself than he deserved. So if she could get him to do well in his classes, just like any other 'yankee', that'd prove her point.

                "Besides, who else will give me a ride after school?"

                He chuckled and finished off his water and jerky before he stood, setting the glass in the sink. Someone else would wash it, eventually, he was sure. He walked over to her and smiled.

                "Yo' know somet'in, p'tite? I's a real shame no one can feel yo' skin... i's real nice an' soft..." He grinned and winked at her.

                Rogue was taken aback by that for a moment. The mention of anyone touching her skin was a jarring and hurtful thought, but Remy was on her good side, trying to be nice. It made her think back to the few moments where she could actually feel his skin, the memory still vivid. But as soon as her expression changed, it brightened again, and she forced a slight chuckle before sipping her water.

                "Just don't let Logan hear ya say that.. You're already blacklisted."

                Remy shrugged, his confidence fully restored. He was back to being his old, cocky self again.

                "No worries, all Remy have ta do is tell 'bout how ma p'tite would be so crushed if'n Remy was hurt." He put the back of his hand against his forehead, speaking in a bit higher tone. "Oh Logan, mon ami, please don' hurt Remy, jus' don' know what Ah'd do wit'out him."

                Rogue rolled her eyes, less annoyed than she used to be at such comments. She reached out to hit him in the ribs.

                "In yer dreams, swamp rat."

                Remy didn't have time to think up a snappy come back of any sort when who should walk in but Kitty Pryde. She froze in the doorway and looked at Rogue, then back and forth between them before she focused on Rogue once again. Suddenly she got the biggest grin on her face and ran back towards the dorms shouting for everyone to come see Rogue, because she was awake. Remy chuckled and headed toward the other exit from the kitchen.

                "Remy gonna leave yo' ta de adorin' public, p'tite... Maybe he see you latah."

                Rogue blinked at Kitty's sudden entrance and hasty departure, inwardly groaning at the fawning and questioning that was sure to come. Still, it was sweet of them, and under her annoyance she did appreciate it. She looked at Remy briefly, smiling slightly.

                "Bye."

                As Remy turned to walk down the hall he was shoved against the wall, an arm barring over his chest with enough force to keep him pinned down. Logan's stubbly face soon followed, puffing cigar smoke into Remy's face.

                "Let's go for a walk, bub." Remy didn't have much choice in the matter as Logan dragged him outside while the students came rushing toward the kitchen to see their unfallen compatriot.

                Kitty followed soon after Remy left - and his former presence didn't go unnoticed.

                "Rogue! We're like, so glad to you're up! We were totally worried!" Rogue smiled. "Was there evah a doubt?"

                "Yes," Bobby pointed out. Rogue shrugged awkwardly. Concern and relief went around as the other kids offered to take her out or do something to celebrate, that is, as soon as the Professor would let her.

                Logan and Remy made their way out onto the lawn, Remy a tad tense because of the company.

                "So, bub, I heard you fell in with a bad crowd there."

                Remy shrugged, then shook his head. "No sah, Remy all ready tell da Prafessah, de Morlocks, dey ain' bad, dey ju-"

                Logan held up a hand, "I don't care. Just be sure you're backin' the right people. Got it, bub, or do you need to take some notes?" Remy shook his head and Logan continued. "Now, don't think I haven't noticed you warmin' up to Stripes back there," Remy tried to interrupt, but Logan would have none of that. With a quick 'snikt' three bands of adamantium were right in Remy's face and quieted whatever he wanted to say. "You can't fool me, kid, you've got that smell about ya. But here's a bit of a warning for you: If you hurt her, and I mean in any way, you're gonna regret it."

                Remy blinked, then grinned. "Well shucks Mistah Logan, dis po' bayou boy wouldn' nevah try an date yo' daughtah!" No laughs for that, though, just a cold stare from Logan's end. Remy swallowed and nodded and Logan nodded back, and 'snikt', the claws retracted. Logan patted Remy on the shoulder as he tossed the butt of his cigar.

                "Just remember that, bub."