Chapter 3: Chasing The Kiss
Rogue couldn't concentrate, no matter how hard she tried, it seemed too difficult to focus on the maths test, and then during English, she almost fell asleep. Exhaustion settling down over her, her thoughts full of Remy – and why he'd left.
It almost seemed like he'd been exiled, and Rogue really had her concerns whether he'd be coming back or not, yet, he'd promised he was and that promise was all she could hold onto.
Kitty and Rogue didn't have chance to talk until lunchtime, in the Kitchen, Rogue was searching through cupboards for a packet of potato chips when Kitty approached.
"Is it true?" Kitty asked.
"Is what true?" Rogue asked, she hated playing those little games, why didn't Kitty just ask what was really on her mind.
"That, uhm, Gambit got kicked out?" Kitty kept her voice low, since she and Rogue were not the only ones in the kitchen.
"No, its not true," Rogue remarked, "He's away on business."
"That's what they're telling you," Amara remarked from the table, having heard Rogue.
Rogue slammed the cupboard door shut, "Amara, just butt out of my love life, okay?!" she demanded, "Jesus," she muttered to herself.
Kitty looked at Rogue, "away on business where?"
"Muir Island?"
"I heard he WAS kicked out," Amara ignored Rogue's request, "because he killed a guy."
"He didn't KILL anyone," Rogue hissed, "a guy owed him money, okay? He repaid him with a few slaps," Rogue lied, she felt her temper flaring, something about the way Amara would tactlessly broadcast rumours to everyone around a table – especially about Remy – was getting to be about as much as Rogue could stand of the girl.
"And I suppose you and Kitty had nothing to do with it?" Amara raised an eyebrow, there was a strange silence around the table, the only noise was coming from a radio which was playing an annoying pop tune.
"That's none of your business," Rogue gripped the edge of the counter, she tried to count to five to calm herself down.
"You're giving mutants a bad name," Amara remarked, "we all used to look up to you," Amara stood up, "now you're just disappointing us all," and with those final words, the smaller girl was gone.
Rogue clenched her teeth, she wanted to go after her and throw her against the wall.
"Let it go," Kitty placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder, "In another year, you'll be her instructor and you can pick on her all you want, we'll see how smart assed she is then," Kitty smirked.
Rogue sighed and opened the nearby window, and climbed up onto the counter.
"Where are you going?" Kitty asked.
"I need some air," Rogue sighed, she climbed out of the window, and took to the sky.
Despite she'd always regretted absorbing Carol Danvers mutant powers, Rogue held a passion for the ability to fly. It was like having freedom right at her grasp anywhere. She could take to the sky and fly gracefully like a bird, feeling the air rush beneath her and the clouds moist against her skin.
Ten minutes of flying around the area above the mansion grounds left Rogue all the much calmer, and she descended from the sky to the ground and landed with a rough thud on her backside, bumping along the grass, and then rolling accidentally into a nearby tree, which shook incredibly as she hit it, sending a few twigs and leaves raining down upon her afterwards.
"Oomph!" she heard something thud beside her, Jared had apparently also fallen out of the sky, she realised he'd been in the tree.
"Jared?" Rogue raised an eyebrow, "what were you doing up there?"
"Hiding from that Amara girl," he made a face, "she's scary, won't leave me alone."
Rogue smirked, "she's a handful, what can I say."
"I was out in the hall when I heard you arguing with her," Jared leaned up, there was a twig in his hair, he pulled it out gingerly, trying not to disturb his spikes, "when I saw her coming I dashed. She wants to set a 'study date'. Hell, do I look like I like to study?"
"She's a good kid, just a little bit of a bitch sometimes," Rogue sighed, she stood up, dusting dried dirt from the legs of her jeans.
"So…you can fly, huh?" Jared looked at her, Rogue realised he must have seen her when she had been in the sky, he had probably seen her crash land.
"Amongst other things," Rogue pulled a leaf out of her hair, and tossed it away. "Flyin' is something I haven't completely mastered, yet," Rogue said, "taking off, no problem, sometimes landing is another story…I'll get it eventually."
"You didn't hurt yourself when you crashed into the tree? Christ, that would have killed most people…" his British accent made him almost all the more appealing than usual.
Rogue took her hooded top off – wearing a black cropped tanktop underneath – and shook the dirt and twigs off of it, "I'm invulnerable, at least, I think I'm invulnerable, I mean it hurt, but it didn't break my bones or anything," she shrugged.
"Invulnerability, and the ability to fly, is there something you're not telling me, are you really Supergirl? Do you have X-Ray vision too?" he asked, "You can't see my Tweetie-Pie boxer shorts, can you?"
Rogue giggled, "No, its not quite like that, and no, I'm definitely NOT Supergirl, I mean I've seen the movie…she's beautiful and blonde with blue eyes, and the perfect body."
Jared leaned against the tree, "blonde and blue eyed isn't everything," he stated. "So…what's with your hair?" he asked, gesturing to her brown hair with its silvery white streaks
Rogue smirked, "what's with yours?" she asked, folding her arms.
"I asked you first," Jared grinned.
"Yeah, but as a woman, I get first priority on questions being answered."
"Very well," Jared smirked, "Its dyed, of course, Manic Panic…Bad Boy Blue," he gave a cheeky grin. "And yours?"
Rogue lifted a hand to her own hair, "its real."
"It's real?" Jared's mouth dropped, "no lightning bleach? No blue bleach, it just grows that way?"
"Yes."
"Was it always that way?" Jared queried.
Rogue shrugged, "long as I can remember. I don't really know how I looked as a baby – so…its hard to say."
"Don't you have baby pictures?"
"Not really. I was adopted when I was little," Rogue explained, "as far as I know, my hair was like that then."
"It suits you so very well," Jared responded, "so…tattoos? Piercings?"
"None," Rogue shrugged, "well, my ears, but those were a long time ago," she shrugged, "I'd like a tattoo, but needles probably wouldn't penetrate my skin…and besides, I'm only seventeen, Professor Xavier would have a fit. And with my powers, I can't exactly have a lot of skin showing so a tattoo would be pretty pointless, wouldn't it?" she sat down on the grass.
"Your power…yes, there was another power, wasn't there…at least I assume so, since you said you understood when I told you about my power, about not being able to touch people…you looked like you were crying…but then you left without explaining," Jared also sat down, his back against the trunk of the tree, it giving some shade against a scorching sun. "So…what is that power?"
Rogue looked at him, "I don't exactly know what you call it, at least, it doesn't have a name, not like the others, like Scott has Optic Beams, and Jean has Telekinesis…" Rogue shrugged, "My power…makes it impossible for me touch people…because if I do…I absorb their thoughts, their memories, their talents, their powers," she sighed, "Its kind of a dampener in personal relationships."
"I can sympathise," Jared shrugged, "I mean me and my ex-girlfriend were together at the time when my powers came on – I didn't know before then that I was a mutant…" he shrugged, "I when I kissed Gemma, it was then that my powers came on…nearly killed her…she never quite forgave me…" he shrugged, "and she's anti-mutant, so…"
Rogue nodded, understanding.
"It was my first kiss, too," Jared took a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out and lit it with a disposable lighter.
Rogue looked away, "I never even had the pleasure of a kiss without my powers, not really," she shrugged.
"But you've been kissed?" Jared asked, he took a long drag of the cigarette.
"I could say twice, but the first was the kiss of life – I had to save his life when he almost drowned… and then Remy kissed me, and I absorbed his powers, just like I do with everyone else," Rogue explained, "there…were chances where I could have kissed him, chances where it might have been more…"
"You mean you could have fucked him," Jared said coarsely.
Rogue frowned at the word, "It wouldn't have been that way, not with him. But now…I'll never know."
"So…if your powers prevent you from touch – how could you have had chances to kiss him?" Jared asked.
"There's this drug out there, it stops mutant powers from manifesting for a short time. I had some, and within that time, I could have, if I'd wanted…but, I didn't, and he had his own stuff going on…with the baby and everything else…"
"Yeah, musta been tough on the guy," Jared took another drag of the cigarette, "so you're still chasing the kiss then?"
"Yeah," Rogue ran her fingers through her hair absently, "I guess I am."
"Yeah, me too."
Rogue stood up, "We better get to next class – we can talk later."
"Fine by me."