Chapter 34: Go Fish
Remy and Rogue sat on a blanket under a tree, the leaves all in beautiful autumn colors. Then sun was low in the sky, but it wasn't yet sunset. Everything looked magical, like it always does in fall. They were playing cards, just Go Fish, since Remy didn't know how to cheat at Go Fish - and Rogue thought that maybe he just couldn't help it after losing seven hands of Baseball in a row. Remy looked over his cards and sighed.
"Yo' have any eights, p'tite?"
Rogue smirked, peering over her hand.
"Well, maybe.. or maybe not."
The October air had a distinct chill to it, and it was this time of year that Rogue didn't feel as ridiculous having all of her covering. She wore dark grey pants with a black mini skirt over them, and a long sleeved black shirt depicting a cat in a microwave, subtitled 'Goodbye, Kitty...'. Kitty, her roommate, occasionally took offense to this. The ensemble was completed with thin maroon gloves.
"Go fish."
Remy sighed as he drew another card. He'd switched back to his trench coat - and wearing t-shirts and jeans underneath, sans gloves, with the same boots as always - as his other style of dressing just... didn't fit his personality, at least he thought so. The coat always looked so good. He leaned back against the trunk of the tree and grinned, then waited for her to ask for cards.
Rogue scanned her hand quickly.
"Do ya have any threes?"
She had noted his change in dress back to his normal clothes, and was grateful for it. The long sleeves and gloves weren't for him. She glanced up at him again.
"So have ya listened ta the news lately?"
Remy's grin fell and he snorted as he tossed the three three's from his hand over to her. They weren't charged, of course.
"I's hahd ta tell wha' yo' watchin on Remy's TV... He ain' got good reception at all... An' dey nevah wan' ta watch nuttin' serious on de big TV unless de Prafessah make dem." He shrugged and waited for her next request.
She smirked victoriously, gathering up the cards.
"The President vetoed the Registration Act. The vote was near unanimous in both houses, but Ah guess the President wasn't too happy with the incident at the Friends of Humanity facility. Got any jacks?"
She regretted having mentioned that, but decided the sooner she was able to talk about it plainly, the sooner the dreams might go away.
Remy smiled and shook his head.
"Go fish."
He looked up at her to make sure she was okay, before he spoke.
"Yea, dat wasn't a good one fo' dem... De Prafessah tell me dat he have ta make reports every now an' den, an' dat dey is very pleased wit' him. Dey givin' him a grant, an' he say he gonna put some of de money inta checkin' accounts ta ensure our 'stable futures'. Yo' got any... Twos?"
Rogue frowned as she drew a card, only to give up another. She considered for a moment. The Professor hadn't told her that.
"That's awful nice of him.." She looked at him curiously. "Ever thought what ya wanna do in the future? Ya know, after all this. Aces?"
He chuckled and shook his head.
"Yo' fo'gettin de rule, chere... Remy get ta ask anothah one fo' gettin' it right... Now he know jus' wha' ta ask fo', too... Aces?" Remy grinned at his craftiness, though he hadn't really done anything. "Nah, Remy usually live by de moment, ain' much one ta plan ahead."
Rogue found herself getting too caught up in thinking on other matters than the game, giving up her two aces begrudingly.
"Damn. So ya haven't given it much thought?" She restrained herself from asking for more cards.
Remy laid down the set of four aces and sighed, looking over his hand.
"Umm... Any... Nines?" He shrugged, and didn't really expect her to have any, as he only had one himself. "Nah, he nevah really did. Why yo' askin, p'tite? Yo' t'ink bout yo' future a lot, or even at all?"
Rogue shrugged back, keeping her eyes glued to her hand.
"Go fish. Sometimes Ah think about it, but not lately. Ah remember thinkin' about it a lot when Ah was young."
Things weren't as uncertain then as they were now, and it was easier to plan a future. Especially as a child.
Remy took a card and held back a chuckled.
"Was yo' one of dose li'l girls dat dress up fo' make-believe tea pahty's an' weddin's ta yo' teddy bears an' de like?" He grinned at her, and seeing that she just kept her eyes on her hand, he tossed the cards down and crawled over. He pushed her hand down and just grinned at her. "Well?" This could be good.
Rogue's cheeks flushed a bit as she thought about it. She remembered her room back home. The walls were filled with stuffed animals and dolls, with her fair share of water guns and GI Joes that she played with David. At one point there was a pink rug.
"Well not *exactly*.. Ah was sort of a tomboy, but Ah had dolls and everythin'.. But Ah spent most of my time tryin' ta rescue 'em from David. He hated that stuff."
She remembered falling out of a tree, where he'd placed a stuffed unicorn in a precarious branch. He cried for three days afterwards.
"Is dat so?"
He just laid down on the cards, rolled onto his back, and put his head in her lap. Remy had grown tired of Go Fish... it really just wasn't his game.
"Why don' yo' tell Remy mo'... I's a nice day fo' jus' layin around an' talkin, aftah all..."
Rogue smiled and leaned back on one hand, the other running through his hair. She told him all about her childhood in Mississippi, and it seemed picture perfect. About how once she built a raft and tried to ride down the river, pretending she was Mark Twain. She hadn't made it very far before the raft sank. And how she and David traded pranks and practical jokes, retelling how once he'd tried to burn her hair once when she was sleeping in the grass. It had been completely brown back then. Her life had been normal and happy, but she didn't mention what happened after she discovered her powers.
The sun had almost set completely, and Rogue glanced up at the leaves bathed in golden light, the sky fading from orange and red into a faint purple.
Remy took her hands in his and slowly started to kiss each of her gloved fingers. It wasn't much, really, but he just couldn't stand not touching her at all. He just knew not to do it skin-to-skin.
"Dat's real nice, p'tite... sounds wondahful..."
Rogue sighed a little as he did this, trying not to think about it.
"Yeah, it was.. Ah remember my plan was ta grow up, marry my best friend, and have two kids, a dog, and a snake. Ah don't know why Ah wanted a snake..."
She smiled a little at the memory. If she'd never become a mutant, she may very well have carried out that plan. But she didn't regret where she was now. The only thing about being a mutant that she regretted was the obvious. Though now the regret included not being able to touch Remy, let alone be touched.
"It was silly, really."
Remy chuckled and shook his head, her hands still held in his as he looked up at her.
"Nah, ain' silly at all... Yo' jus gonna have ta make a li'l change ta dat... Yo' gotta put Remy in de male lead."
He grinned up at her and squeezed her hands. She looked so beautiful in light of a fall sunset.
She gave a small laugh, squeezing his hand in return before moving it up to play with his hair again. It had become a favorite pastime. The world suddenly seemed less unforgiving, and the colors of fall became more vibrant, and the reddish leaves turned crimson in the sunset rays, glowing like sometimes his eyes did.
