Chapter 8: Remy

Conversation was subdued the next morning when Logan showed up in the kitchen minus Jubilee. The others had gotten so used to seeing her with him that it was actually something of a shock, and he could see the question in half their eyes. Bobby, in particular, was eyeing him up. When he tried to approach him, though, Logan snarled wordlessly and Bobby took the hint. Logan grabbed a cup of coffee and vanished.

Jubilee came down for her coffee a little later, accompanied by Remy. Surprise looks went flying around the table when he pulled out her chair for her and poured her a cup of coffee. She drank it, oblivious to the stares, and sorted through the pile of mail. There were a few envelopes for her, mostly bills, but there was one pink envelope she pulled out of the pile and ripped open. "Oh, jeez," she groaned. "Professor Cohen's wedding. I'd forgotten about it."

"Huh?" Remy, sitting at the table across from her, raised his eyebrows.

"Professor Matthew Cohen's a teacher at Columbia University. The last time I saw him he'd just gotten engaged and was planning to get married. Here's the invitation." She read it, and sighed. "I'll have to go get a dress, I suppose. Remy, you up to a shopping trip with me?"

"Sure, p'tite," Remy said amiably.

"It's a formal wedding; Betsy, do I need to get a long gown or a short one?"

Betsy sat back, thinking as she tried to avoid Jean's surprised look. Usually it was Jean Jubilee asked questions of; and in her absence, Ororo. Jubilee must really be upset if she wasn't speaking to either of them.

"Is it a morning, afternoon, or evening wedding?" she said. Jubilee checked the invitation. "The ceremony's supposed to be at six, and the reception at eight," she said. "That's evening, right?"

Betsy nodded. "An evening formal gown, then, Jubilee," she said. "And it's a fall wedding, so you'll want to get a fall color. Try a yellow, or a beige. Or a red. I think red would look better, given your complexion."

Jubilee said cheerfully, "Thanks. I figured you'd know. When do you want to leave, Remy?"

"Anytime y'wan', p'tite," he said.

She jumped up. "It's almost eleven now. How about around one?"

"Sure, p'tite," he said. She got up and left the room, her coffee cup still clutched in her hand.

As soon as she left, Jean leaned in. "What's going on, Remy? She's not talking to me, and Logan already went through here looking like he'd lost his best friend…" Her voice trailed off as she realized what she'd just said.

"'S far's he's concerned, he did," Remy growled. "Your blasted Scott an' his assumptions. An' you an' 'Ro too. Yer all assumin' Logan drag a little girl off to some place she shouldn't'a been. None o' you listen to her when de p'tite say she gone dere by herself. None o' you t'ought 'bout de fac' dat de p'tite isn't so little anymore. She got a right to go where she want to, an' do whatever she want to. She's young, but not so young dat you c'n tell her what to do an' not have her git upset 'bout it." He got up and put his coffee cup in the sink. "Logan hurt de p'tite las' night when he say he don' love her. Remy fin' Jubilee drinking in de wine cellar las' night tryin' to drown her sorrow in a bottle. It not healthy for her to do dat, so until Logan come to his senses, Remy gon' take care of her." He turned and left the kitchen. Jean stood there for a moment, staring openmouthed, and then ran after him and caught him in the hall.

"She was drinking last night?" Jean bit her lip. They hadn't meant to hurt either Logan or Jubilee. She, Ororo and Scott just wanted him to realize there were places he could go that Jubilee couldn't, and shouldn't, go.

"Yeah, well, all de stuff you say to Logan should'a been said to Jubilee too. Crossroads was her idea, not his. Logan wan' to go to Harry's. Jubilee wan' to go to Crossroads. Logan jus' got dragged along. You know how stubborn she is." Gambit stopped. "Scott said las' night dat if Logan have any sense he tell Jubes to go fin' someone else, 'cause he can' give her what she deserve. So for de firs' time las' night Logan listen to Scott, an' might have ruined Jubes's life in de process. She have dreams again las' night, Jean, bad dreams. All Remy could do was hol' her an' try to keep her from hurtin' herself. She keep crying for Logan all las' night." He took a deep breath, and Jean saw the weary look in his eyes. "Logan tell me once, las' mont' when we was drinkin', dat she been t'rough some bad stuff, but Remy never guess it was dis bad. I never wan' to hear Jubilee cry like dat again. If Logan don' come to his senses soon, I goin' to beat some sense into him myself." And he walked off, leaving Jean looking after him with a growing sense of just what kind of damage she, Ororo, and Scott had done the previous evening.

She returned to the kitchen, silently put her cup in the sink and sent psychic tendrils out looking for Logan. He wasn't in the mansion. She sent her senses out to the grounds, then when she couldn't find him, she went out to the garage. As soon as she looked into the side where Remy and Logan and Scott kept their motorcycles, she knew he was gone.

Well, he would come back, and then they could talk. As she walked back to the mansion, however, she remembered his penchant for running off whenever he needed to think. Jean ran up to his room and took a quick look under his bed. His worn old traveling bag was gone.

"Damn," she moaned. "Logan, I hope you get back soon."

* * *

Remy didn't normally enjoy shopping with the girls, though he'd gone sometimes when Rogue wanted him to, just to spend some time in her company. She, however, had taken some time away from the X-Men after having touched one of the Dark Riders during a mission they'd had just before Jubilee had come back, and he missed her company. He decided to keep Jubilee company, and so agreed to go shopping with her.

Shopping with Jubilee, he found out quite quickly, was not like shopping with Jean or Rogue. Jubilee didn't spend a whole lot of time looking through stuff she wasn't going to buy. She headed directly for the dress department in the department store and went through the racks like a whirlwind, picking out two dresses, one in a buttercup color, and one in a bright red. Then she headed straight into the dressing room. He stood out there, waiting, until she finally came out, carrying both dresses. She stopped when she saw the look on his face. "What?" she said.

"You not goin' t'let Remy see?" he said. "Rogue always come out of de dressing room in whatever she want to buy so I can see what she look like in de outfit."

She blinked. "I didn't think you'd want to waste time like that."

Remy leaned over her and kissed her cheek. "Never a waste, p'tite, not when it comes to a pretty woman."

She grinned, not as widely as she usually did, but it was better than nothing. "Will you hold my purse, then?" she said. He took the bag she handed to him, and sat down in a chair by the door.

She came out shortly wearing the yellow dress, and he looked at her for a long moment. He'd hardly ever seen her in a dress; as a teenager she'd been more into hip hugging jeans in bright, eye-blinding colors. He'd liked the new clothes she had now; sensible, comfortable clothes that matched her personality.

"Well, what do you think?" Jubilee twirled in place.

Remy ruffled his hair. "De dress fine, chere, but Remy t'ink maybe de color not de bes'. Yellow don' look so good on you all a sudden."

She nodded. "I like the cut of the dress, but the color isn't exactly flattering," she admitted. "Let me put on the red one, and see what you think." She disappeared back into the dressing room, and came out several minutes later wearing a dress in a deep burgundy that nearly made Remy's heart stop.

It was a strapless floor-length creation made of rich wine-colored velvet. The bodice fit Jubilee's body like a glove, and displayed her tiny waist to perfection before sweeping out into a full skirt that brushed the ground when she moved. Delicate silver embroidery adorned the top of the dress, and a rhinestone ornament accented the vee between her breasts.

Breathe, damn you, breathe! He scolded himself. Don't matter if dey havin' an argument right now, Jubes is Logan's girl. He started breathing again with an effort, and said, "Jubilee, dat's perfect."

She frowned, went to look in a nearby mirror. "You think so?" she wrinkled her nose. "I thought it came down too low right here and showed too much cleavage."

Chere, dere's never enough cleavage for a guy when it come to a pretty woman like you. "No," he shook his head, "Dat's de dress you should get."

She threw up her hands. "Okay." She retreated back into the dressing room and soon came out wearing her regular clothes and carrying the dress.

The woman at the register took a look at her, at the dress, then at Remy, and blinked when she saw Remy's red pupils on black irises. She stopped in mid-sentence and became positively rude. Jubilee bit her tongue and kept her temper as she paid for her dress and they left the dress department.

Remy grinned at her. "I'm used to it, chere," he said as they walked through the store. "De eyes always stop people short. Some people it don't bot'er; some people it do." They were almost out of the store when he stopped. "Do you need shoes for dat?" he asked.

Jubilee smacked her forehead. "Yes I do," she said. "I almost forgot." He turned and led her off down an aisle, which opened out into the shoe section. As she was about to walk in, he stopped. "P'tite, you t'ink your frien's goin' to min' if you bring a frien'?"

Jubilee shook her head. "No, Professor Cohen said I'd be welcome to bring a date. But Logan won't go; he hates stuff like this where he has to get dressed up…even if we were still going out," she said, that sad look coming back into her eyes.

"Would you min' if Remy come?"

She looked at him. "Would you mind?"

"'Course not, p'tite," he said. "Remy goin' t'be de center o' everyone's attention when he walk in wit' de pretties' girl dere on his arm. Wouldn' miss dat for de worl'." He grinned. "But Remy t'ink maybe you don' wan' go wit' someone dress only in jeans. So Remy goin' to buy a suit. I know girls and shoes, Rogue take forever. So I meet you back here in, say, a half hour?"

Jubilee nodded. "Okay." She watched him saunter off, thinking how different he was from Logan. Logan would have been thoroughly bored with the whole thing; he'd probably never even had come. She'd be trailing after Jean and Storm as they went in and out of all the shops in the mall, looking at everything.

She went over to the dress shoe section and looked at the assortment of styles there. A few caught her eye, and she picked up the display shoe and looked around for a salesperson. There were two women sitting by the sneakers, talking, and at first she thought that they were customers. Then one shifted position and she saw a nametag on her, and she walked over. "Excuse me," she said, "Do you have these in a six?"

Then she saw the other woman, and her heart sank. It was the woman from the dress department.

The shoe saleswoman, a skinny older woman, maybe forty, with thinning red hair, said "No, I'm sorry, we don't, that pair on display is the last pair we have."

Jubilee held up the second shoe, which had a new item! sticker on it. "How about this one?"

The woman didn't even look at it, just mumbled no. Jubilee rolled her eyes and returned the shoes to the display shelf, miffed and ready to walk out.

There was a click of heels in the aisle, and Jubilee turned, to see a young woman, about her age, walk in. She was Asian, too. There was a large box balanced on her shoulder.

The girl dropped the box on the floor. "Hey, Anne," she said to the other shoe saleswoman. "Chris delivered these to Men's by mistake."

The older woman sighed. "Take 'em back there, I'll put them away when I got time."

Just then the girl spotted Jubilee. She looked back at her co-worker and raised an eyebrow. The woman shook her head. The girl turned toward Jubilee and started to walk over, but the dress woman caught her arm and said something. Jubilee didn't miss the sidelong glance the two older women were giving her, and sighed.

The girl said something in a low voice. The other two women said something back. She shrugged, and started to walk over to Jubilee.

"I saw those dresses when they came in upstairs," she said to Jubilee, indicating the velvet dress in its clear protective plastic. "They're beautiful. Are you trying to find shoes to match?" her voice was warm, friendly, and Jubilee smiled back at her.

"Yes. Do you have this," she indicated the shoe she'd picked up first, "Or this," and she pointed to the other choice, "in a six?"

The girl picked up the first shoe. "This one, unfortunately, no," she said. "We always put the small size out, and this one's an eight. The six is probably gone. The other one I'll check for you." She vanished into the back room, ignoring the poisonous glare her co-worker was giving her, and came out in short order holding two shoeboxes. "This one runs small; I usually wear a five, and the five-and-a-half fit me, so I brought the six and the six and a half for you. Here," and she handed a pair of try-on nylons to Jubilee. She sat down on the floor and started to unwrap them for her, which surprised Jubilee. She'd never had such a warm, personable saleswoman wait on her before.

She slipped the six on and grimaced. The salesgirl was right; it was cut small. She slipped her foot into the six-and-a-half the girl offered her, and nodded. It felt better. She put the other one on, and took a few steps.

The girl watched her walk over to the mirror and look at the shoes. "What's the occasion?" she asked.

"I've got a formal wedding to go to," Jubilee said. "It's an evening wedding, upstate. The ceremony's at six, and the reception's for eight."

The girl blinked. "That's a long time to be standing in those," she said. "Your feet are going to hurt by the end of the evening. Have you considered getting a lower heel?"

Jubilee looked startled. "No, I didn't see any out there in the same color," she said.

The girl got up and disappeared in the back. Jubilee sat down, taking off the shoes, and waited. The girl soon reappeared, holding three more boxes. She sat down, opened the first one, and Jubilee saw a pair of red leather pumps. "What do you think?" the salesgirl said.

Jubilee shook her head. "I didn't think so," she said, closing the box. "How about these?"

Jubilee looked with interest at the strappy sandals in the box. "They're pretty," she said, taking one out.

"The heel's high, three inches," the girl said, "But because the heel's thicker, it won't tire your arch muscles out as much." Jubilee slipped them on and walked to the mirror. These were much more comfortable, and she blinked. The girl knew what she was talking about.

She returned to her seat, and took them off. "I like these," she said. The girl smiled, and started to package up the other shoes. Jubilee stopped her. "What's in the third box?" she asked.

The girl said, "These are the shoes that were originally designed for the dress you have. It's the last pair we have, but they're a five-and-a half. I wasn't sure they were going to fit you, but they felt kinda big on me."

"Can I see?" Jubilee said. The girl opened the box.

Jubilee picked them up. They were a pair of plain velvet pumps, with heels about an inch and a half. The girl reached into the box and pulled out a little plastic package, opened it, and took out a tiny shoe clip that had the same rhinestone pattern that decorated the dress. Jubilee slipped them on. To her surprise, they fit. "They fit!" she said to the girl. "But they're a little tight on the side."

"They're leather underneath, so they'll stretch," the girl said. "How long do you have until the wedding?"

"A few weeks," Jubilee said. "If I wore them around the house, do you think they'll…"

The girl shook her head. "They will, but not enough." She felt the side of the shoe. "Will you wait here?" She vanished into the back again.

When she came back out she was holding what Jubilee recognized as a shoe stretcher. She slipped it into Jubilee's shoe and began to open it, stretching the shoe around the sides. When she finished, Jubilee put them on. They felt like a glove. She returned to her chair and grinned. "I'll take these," she said.

She was stacking the rejected shoes and stretching the other shoe for Jubilee when Remy came in, carrying a suit bag over his shoulder, and sat down beside Jubilee. "Got de suit," he said. "And Jubes, it has a vest dat match your dress." He unzipped the bag and Jubilee peeked inside.

"Wow!" Jubilee's eyes sparkled. "You're going to look good!"

"Not better dan you, p'tite," he said.

The sales girl smiled at Jubilee. "You two make a lovely couple," she said.

"Couple? Oh, no, he's a friend," Jubilee said, blushing. "Remy, this nice girl's helped me find shoes. She's.." she looked closely at the nametag.

"Elise," the girl said. "Lovely to meet you, Monsieur."

Gambit took the hand she held out to him to shake and kissed it, "Lovely name for a lovely girl," he said. "Are you French?"

The girl blushed. "Oh, no," she said. "I'm a dancer with the New York City Ballet. My grandmother was Cajun; I recognized your accent because she talked like that." She indicated the shoe displays. "This is a part time job for me."

"You're a dancer?" Remy asked. The girl nodded. "Such a lovely art, ballet," Remy said, watching Jubilee slip her feet back into the shoes. "What's your name? Remy might look for your name when I go."

"You're a patron of the ballet?" the girl said interestedly, and Jubilee hid a smile behind her hand. Remy would rather go bar-hopping than to a ballet; but throw a pretty girl in the mix and he'd go anywhere for her.

"Occasionally," Remy said.

"Elise," she said. "Elise Maron. We're rehearsing Don Quixote right now; it's going to open in a month. I have invitations for opening night, but no one to give them to. Would you like one?"

"Sure," Remy said.

She vanished into the back room with the rejected shoes, and came back with a prettily printed invitation and a ticket. She handed these to Remy as she rang up Jubilee's shoes, and smiled as she bagged them and they left.

Jubilee burst into laughter as they went out to the parking lot. "Laying it on there pretty thick, weren't you?" she chided him, punching his arm.

Remy grinned. "She a pretty mademoiselle," he said, shrugging, "Remy couldn' help it. Maybe we go out afterward, neh?" He grinned wolfishly.

Jubilee snickered. "Pick up a girl anywhere, huh?" she laughed as he swiped at her, and ran for the car as he chased her. She was still giggling as they drove home.