Chapter 26: Conseil Paternel

                Summer finally ended, much to the dismay of all the students. Remy returned with them to the school even though he technically should have graduated by now. He still had a ways to go before a diploma, because of the years without school.

                Rogue and Remy kept their relationship a secret, and acted like close friends so that no one would get suspicious. That didn't stop Kitty, though, but she'd yet to prove anything. Remy resumed tutoring her and in exchange Rogue still gave him help in math - he was actually up to geometry now  - and things settled back into the normal school groove of gossip, teasing, plotting, and the soap opera drama that was high school friendship and romance.

                One evening after dinner, the students milled about the mansion doing their various class assignments for their first week of school. In the living room Kitty, Rogue and Remy had set up their usual study session. Kitty and Remy were busy with French - Kitty had been assigned a huge project involving herself; what her favorite things were, her family, her hobbies. Rogue sat off to the side brainstorming for an English paper, glancing up every now and then to smirk at Kitty's desperate attempts to translate her interests into French.

                Remy sighed and shook his head.

                "Non, non chere. Yo' have ta follow de grammar, den de whole t'ing flow real nice. Like dis..." He cleared his throat and switched over to French. "Mon passe-temps préféré sera obligé à flirter avec l'Escroc. Bien que ma famille est postérieure dans la Nouvelle-Orléans, elle les aides gardent mon esprit ici. Elle est si douce."

                Kitty blinked and looked quite confused. "Like, what did you say?"

                 Remy chuckled and patted her on the head quickly. "Don' worry 'bout wha' Remy say, chere, i's de form dat mattahs." He was glad she didn't understand, and had hoped she wouldn't. The translation, you wonder? 'My favorite hobby is to flirt with Rogue. Though my family is back in New Orleans, she helps keep my mind here. She is so sweet.'

                Rogue smiled to herself, but kept her eyes on her paper. She continued writing silently while Kitty worked with Remy on the project. She'd managed to cover her hobbies and family, decorating the final drafts with colored pencils and gel pens while she talked with Remy in practiced French. The clock struck eight, and Kitty decided her French homework was done for the night. With a smile and a 'thank you' to Remy, she left and disappeared into the kitchen for a snack.

                Rogue looked up to watch Kitty's retreating form before smirking at Remy.

                "Quel était celui au sujet de flirter avec l'Escroc ? Je sais que vous ne m'avez pas simplement appelé doux."

                Her French was tinged with some form of a southern dialect. Not exactly perfect, but flowing nonetheless. Roughly it translated into, 'What was that about flirting with the Rogue? I know you didn't just call me sweet.' Sweet? Not if she had anything to say about it.

                Remy looked at her, surprised at first, then gave a big grin and nodded. "Oh oui, très doux." Which, of course, meant 'Oh yes, very sweet.' He chuckled and leaned back a bit.

                "Yo' nevah tell Remy yo' talk French... Guess he learn somet'in new every day, hm? Et oui, j'apprécie flirter avec vous beaucoup." Or, 'And yes, I enjoy flirting with you very much.'

                She smirked again and closed her notebook, pulling out her math book instead.

                "It's just a dialect they had where Ah lived. We had our share of French in the Mississippi bayou, too. Et observez votre bouche, jeune homme grossier." 'And watch your mouth, fresh young man.'

                She glanced up around the living room, switching back to English. Being able to speak French wasn't something she wanted to advertise, for some reason. She couldn't stomach tutoring Kitty one on one.

                "Let's focus, huh?"

                Remy sighed and rolled his eyes.

                "If yo' say so, p'tite... Remy still don' like math dat much. He nevah gonna use mo' dan subtraction an' addition, anyway." He picked up his own Geometry book and stared at the page hopelessly. It was going to be a long year for Remy.

                Rogue chuckled standing up to sit down next to him, the side of her leg brushing against his. It was as close as she dared sit, not only out of concern for his safety, but any closer and she'd be in his lap - not something she really wanted the other students to see.

                Rogue and Remy sat for a little while half heartedly studying geometry, but it mostly involved trading quips and subtle flirting. Logan emerged from the kitchen, stopping as he noticed Stripes and the Cajun sitting awfully close and looking a bit too cozy for his liking. He made a soft, nondescript noise, turning and disappearing into the hallway.

                Finally Remy just closed his book and leant his head back, eyes closed.

                "All right, p'tite, dat's enough fo' now... Remy can't take no mo', he gonna get a headache." He sighed and tossed his book on the coffee table, where he stared at it in disgust. "He jus' nevah gonna need ta know how ta find points on a plane... Except fo' on dese Geometry tests..."

                                                                               * * *

                Later in the week in the Danger Room, Rogue was sparring with Logan. With all the work they'd been assigned for their first week, it was beyond Rogue as to why Logan insisted on scheduling her for extra training sessions. As if she didn't have enough to do anyway, and it was even less time she had to spend with Remy. She tried not to feel bitter about it, though; Logan only had her best interests in mind, right?

                Rogue blocked another punch, leaping back a few paces to put some distance between them to catch her breath. His fighting seemed to be extra intense.

                "Gawd, Logan.. Take it easy, will ya?"

                Logan snorted and arched a brow.

                "Not gettin soft on me, are you, Stripes? Though, with the way you've been warmin' up to the card-carrying Cajun, I wouldn't be surprised." He chuckled as he leaned against the Danger Room wall. "Not that it's any of my business, of course... I just don't want to see you hurt, Stripes... I'll trust that you know what you're doin, but just be careful." He smiled and walked back toward her. "Ready for another?"

                Rogue watched Logan, curiously. He couldn't have known.. He was acting on suspicion, just like Kitty. She got into right guard and opened up her next attack, trying to keep him on the defensive as she spoke.

                "What are ya talkin' about? There's nothin' goin' on between us."

                She punctuated her point with a roundhouse kick to his chest.

                Logan caught her foot in the kick and shook his head.

                "Don't lie to me, Stripes, I saw you two the other day, and I can smell him on you from here." He shoved upward and dropped Rogue on her back. "I know his kind, I just don't want to have you come crying to me when he breaks your heart, ok? So just watch it." He helped her back to her feet. "And strike faster, especially on a kick, or you leave yourself wide open."

                Rogue fell onto her back with a dull 'thud', concentrating too much on the conversation to soften her landing. She got back to her feet quickly, stance and tone defensive.

                "He wouldn't do that. Ya don't know him at all."

                She ignored his advice, convinced he was just trying to change the subject, and crept forward slowly. She feinted an uppercut before dropping to the floor, aiming a forceful scissor kick to his legs.

                Logan didn't move away, rather let himself get thrown forward. He caught himself with his hands and went straight into a short forward handspring, then whirled quickly, his foot passing less than an inch from her face.

                "Don't tell me what I don't know. I've been around a lot longer than you have, girl, I know what I'm talkin about. You can ignore me if you want, but don't expect me to show you sympathy when it turns out I'm right, got it?" He stepped back and waited for her next attack.

                Rogue's eyes narrowed imperceptibly, and she moved forward to strike again, anger taking over. There was no hope of her winning an argument against Logan, much less a physical battle, but that didn't stop her from trying. She only hoped he wouldn't open up into Remy about it - she felt bad enough already.

In the middle of her assault, Rogue aimed an elbow at his solar plexus, which would easily knock the wind out of the target with even a light punch.

                Logan's block was too high and the elbow nailed him. He stumbled back with a loud 'oof' and gasped once before his lungs compensated and recovered so he could breath.

                "All right, Stripes, that's enough for today... Just think about what I said, will you? I'm just lookin' out for you, at least I'm tryin' to. Keep that in mind when you're thinking. Now hit the showers." With that he pulled out a cigar and headed for the exit. He needed a smoke.

                                                                                                               * * *

                It was late evening that day when Rogue sat on the mansion roof, looking out over the grounds and the lights of Bayville center in the distance. There was a door that led out here that Storm used when she directed the weather, whenever the need arose. But the skies tonight were clear, and she hoped she wouldn't get caught by a teacher.

                She was still fuming slightly over her argument with Logan. He simply didn't know what he was talking about, she decided. He couldn't imagine what they had together, and how keenly she felt the risk they took.

                Suddenly Kitty came through the door out onto the roof. That is to say, she walked through it, rather than opened it and came out. She grinned when she saw Rogue hadn't come down yet and went to sit next to her.

                "Hi Rogue, it took me forever to find you! Like, what's wrong? Did you have a fight with Remy?"

                She couldn't contain herself and grinned at that still playing on her suspicions and trying crack Rogue.

                Rogue started at Kitty's sudden appearance. The girl had a knack for surprising her, thanks to her penchant for phasing through walls. The question gave her pause, but she adamantly shook her head.

                "No, nothin' like that. Ah just wanted ta relax a bit. Alone."

                She didn't dare tell her that the fight had been with Logan. That would lead to a lot more questions.

                Kitty giggled. "Aw, come on, Rogue, you should never ben alone when you're sad... or mad... or whatever! It's always good to have friends! And, you know, since I'm, like, your friend, you can trust me." He sighed and tried to look as sad as she could. "Course, if you don't trust me, I guess I understand..." She sniffed to add an extra emphasis to it.

                Rogue grinned a bit. Kitty wasn't exactly an impeccable actress.

                "Ah trust ya Kitty, it's nothin', honest. Ah just felt like comin' up ta think. Real good for brainstormin' for essays, ya know."

                Hopefully changing the subject to schoolwork rather than her own personal life would distract Kitty.

                Kitty sighed and put her head in her hands.

                "We haven't had anything to talk about in for *ever*, Rogue! We need some new news! But, I mean, if you wanted me to keep it secret... Well, I can keep secrest when I *really* need to, like, you know?" She stuck her bottom lip out and looked down at the lawn.

                Rogue hesitated and sighed inwardly. She didn't feel ready to tell anyone about her and Remy, even Kitty, but she didn't want to hurt her feelings either.

                "Well, Ah just had an argument with Logan, is all.."

                Telling her about Logan was the least she could do, only hoping it wouldn't lead back to questions about Remy.

                Kitty blinked at that. Logan? Why would she fight with Logan? Definitely not for the same reasons she'd fight with Remy. After all, Logan was, like, old! She seemed a bit surprised and had to pause to gather he thoughts again.

                "Well, um... why? I mean, did you, like, get in trouble or something?" She gasped. "What did you do!?"

                Rogue jumped at her exclamation, laughing as she held her hands up in defense. At least she didn't make the connection between the fight and Remy.

                "Calm down, Kitty. We just, ah, had a disagreement over trainin'. Ah think he's workin' us too hard considerin' we just started school."

                Keep to the school subject, and all should be fine.

                Kitty nodded emphatically.

                "Totally! I mean, come on, we deserve a break sometimes, right? Like, get a life, right?" She giggled and shrugged, then blinked. She'd forgotten about Remy! She thought she'd been so close, too... "So, um..." How to get her? "If you aren't interested in Remy... Do you mind if I take a shot at him?"

                She grinned, perfect! Rogue would totally flip if she was with Remy.

                Rogue blinked, quickly masking her surprise with a quizzical look at her. Alright, so she'd made it a point to keep their relationship a secret, but what if Kitty was serious? Rogue shook her head, forcing herself to be rational.

                "Ah dunno why ya'd want ta, all he does is flirt with everyone all day. And ya take ya life in ya hands every time ya drive with 'im."

                Take that, Kitty. Even if she were being serious, Remy wouldn't leave her to be with Kitty, even though he could touch her. But no, he wouldn't. He couldn't.

                Kitty huffed and pouted, looking away from Rogue. Why did she have to be so darn stubborn! Maybe she should try Remy? Maybe she could try and seduce him like in that movie! Which movie? She shook her head, that didn't matter, it would work! He'd have to tell about him and Rogue, or Rogue might do it after that.

                "Jeez Rogue... if I had a secret boyfriend I'd tell you..."

                Rogue smirked and stood up, brushing off the seat of her pants. It was far too easy hooking Kitty into things like this. She was too big of a gossip diehard.

                "Ah can't wait ta hear about 'im. Just make sure ya don't start secretly datin' Kurt. His mouth's way too big ta keep it a secret."

                Leaving Kitty to her baffled musings, Rogue walked back inside, intent on settling down for the night.