Disclaimer: I don't own, don't sue.
A/N: I'm going strictly by the movie here, so if my backgrounds don't match up with the comic or the show backgrounds, please forgive. With the movieverse versions, I was given a lot more freedom, so I went with that.
Thanks for your encouraging reviews, and sorry this chapter is so late coming. :)
***
"Hi," I said. Not the best of opening lines, but I was tongue-tied.
She smiled half-heartedly at the tabletop. "Hi."
"So, um, d'ya wanna...wanna eat first, or walk around and then eat, or...what?" Neither of us were looking at each other, it was pretty damn pathetic. I felt like the king of the losers.
"Um, let's eat, I guess," she said.
So we ordered and we ate in silence, until we reached dessert and I just couldn't take it anymore. "So. Um. Where'd you come from?"
She looked up from her cake slice and met my eyes for all of five seconds. "The South."
"Oh. Um. That's...that's cool." I sighed. How lame was I being? "Are you ready to go?"
Marie looked at her half-eaten cake, then looked at me. "Yeah, I guess so."
Better than nothing, I guess.
We toured the whole of the campus, the wings that held the dorms, the various classrooms she hadn't seen yet, the courtyard, some of the important secret passages that she would need to know of with the promise that I'd show her the rest later.
"Why do you have all the secret passages?" she'd asked. "It's like some medieval castle or something. You have ghosts, too?" There was a faint smile on her lips.
I wanted to be just as joking, but the matter is more serious than she realized. "People hate mutants, you know that," was all I could bring myself to say.
"Tell me about it." Her tone was dark, and I wonder what happened that was so awful that she just appeared here in the middle of the night. Most of us here were recruited like I was. Meetings with the parents. Secrecy in some cases, like mine, shameless forthrightness in cases like Kitty's, where an x-gene is the only way that could explain why Kitty's hand had broken half hte dishes in her house one morning because they kept passing through her fingers. Literally passing.
"We need to be prepared," I said. "That's what the Professor keeps saying. Just in case."
Another 'just in case' was the Danger Room, where I showed her next. Her eyes were wide, taking in all of the control panels and the sheer expanse of the room. The room wasn't activated to any particular simulation, but Mr. Summers was leading Piotr and Jubilee in a sparring session. Jubes, I'm sorry but not surprised to say, was greatly outmatched. My guess was that Mr. Summers was working on Jubilee's speed.
Marie was taking in all of it, completely fascinated. "You think they could teach me to move like that?" she asked breathlessly, watching how artfully Jubes dodged Piotr's offense.
"Sure."
We watched for a few more minutes, then I checked my watch. "Unfortunately, there is a curfew at this place, so I better show you back."
"Ooh, let me see if I can try and remember the way," she said, and she was looking much more relaxed, eager, even.
"In that much of a hurry to get away from me?" I said. My tone was teasing, but I couldn't help wondering if what I was saying was the truth.
She rewarded me with a grin. "Well, I imagine that you don't want lil' old me following you around for the rest of my time here."
"That wouldn't be so bad, I don't think," I said, smiling back. But as she led the way, following the twists and turns of the sub-basement's hallways, something about what she said rang in my mind. 'The rest of my time here?' Sure, at first glance, it seemed fine, but at the same time, it seemed sort of...temporary. Like she didn't think she'd really stay here.
I brooded over this as she turned down the wrong hallway, didn't find the elevator, and turned to me, frustrated and lost. I showed her the right hallway, and we stepped on the elevator. There was no 'strummy-strummy-la-la' (as Allerdyce would put it) elevator music in the sub-basements like there was over in the teachers' and students' wings. I found myself having to break the silence. "I think you might like it here, Marie."
"Please, don't call me that," she said.
"That's your name, isn't it?"
She leveled me with a stare. "What do they call *you*, Bobby? The other students."
I met her eyes. "Iceman."
"Well, *Iceman*," she said, but not in a derogatory way, "I'm Rogue. Marie is the person that I left behind. You know...they told me...they told me there was no cure for being a mutant."
I blinked at her. A cure? I had never even thought about looking for a cure. When I had first found out...I just wanted to keep it secret. I thought it was a phase, or something. Like animals change the color of their fur in the winter. I thought it would pass, and I was only concerned with keeping it to myself. I hadn't been looking for a cure.
I wondered for the millionth time what kind of mutation that she had, that made her so anxious for a way out. That was something that the other students didn't know, one of the few secrets at the institute.
"So I'm just trying to...accept it, I guess," she said. "And that means accepting that I'm not Marie anymore. Can you understand that?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can."
"So, please...call me Rogue. I'm not Marie anymore. Marie was a normal girl, and Rogue is a...is a mutant."
"Fine then. I think you might like it here, Rogue."
She was smiling at me now openly. "I'll be the judge of that."
That looked promising. I grinned at her.
We finally reached her room, and she gestured at the door. "This is my stop."
"Oh. Um, you wanna get lunch tomorrow? With me, I mean."
Rogue had a seriously great smile. "Yeah, that sounds good."
"Okay, cool." I wanted to say something else, I wanted to do something else, but I wasn't sure what or how or if I should. Then I noticed a tiny bit of lint on her coat, and decided it was better than nothing. I reached for it. "You've got something on--" I started, but she physically drew back, eyes wide. "Um, I should go," she spluttered, trying to give me a smile, her lips twitching, but she was unsuccessful. Confused, but mostly humiliated, I nodded and stepped back. She opened the door, and I started to walk off to my own room.
"Bobby?" I turned to look at her, feeling like a massive tool. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
Maybe I wasn't as massive of a tool as I thought. "Yeah, great." I went back to my room, and lay down, lost in thought. Rogue. I wondered what had made her step away from me, if it was because I was being too forward (although I really hadn't been), or if she was just shy, or...I didn't even know. I wasn't even going to try and figure this one out, because I just plain didn't understand girls.
A/N: I'm going strictly by the movie here, so if my backgrounds don't match up with the comic or the show backgrounds, please forgive. With the movieverse versions, I was given a lot more freedom, so I went with that.
Thanks for your encouraging reviews, and sorry this chapter is so late coming. :)
***
"Hi," I said. Not the best of opening lines, but I was tongue-tied.
She smiled half-heartedly at the tabletop. "Hi."
"So, um, d'ya wanna...wanna eat first, or walk around and then eat, or...what?" Neither of us were looking at each other, it was pretty damn pathetic. I felt like the king of the losers.
"Um, let's eat, I guess," she said.
So we ordered and we ate in silence, until we reached dessert and I just couldn't take it anymore. "So. Um. Where'd you come from?"
She looked up from her cake slice and met my eyes for all of five seconds. "The South."
"Oh. Um. That's...that's cool." I sighed. How lame was I being? "Are you ready to go?"
Marie looked at her half-eaten cake, then looked at me. "Yeah, I guess so."
Better than nothing, I guess.
We toured the whole of the campus, the wings that held the dorms, the various classrooms she hadn't seen yet, the courtyard, some of the important secret passages that she would need to know of with the promise that I'd show her the rest later.
"Why do you have all the secret passages?" she'd asked. "It's like some medieval castle or something. You have ghosts, too?" There was a faint smile on her lips.
I wanted to be just as joking, but the matter is more serious than she realized. "People hate mutants, you know that," was all I could bring myself to say.
"Tell me about it." Her tone was dark, and I wonder what happened that was so awful that she just appeared here in the middle of the night. Most of us here were recruited like I was. Meetings with the parents. Secrecy in some cases, like mine, shameless forthrightness in cases like Kitty's, where an x-gene is the only way that could explain why Kitty's hand had broken half hte dishes in her house one morning because they kept passing through her fingers. Literally passing.
"We need to be prepared," I said. "That's what the Professor keeps saying. Just in case."
Another 'just in case' was the Danger Room, where I showed her next. Her eyes were wide, taking in all of the control panels and the sheer expanse of the room. The room wasn't activated to any particular simulation, but Mr. Summers was leading Piotr and Jubilee in a sparring session. Jubes, I'm sorry but not surprised to say, was greatly outmatched. My guess was that Mr. Summers was working on Jubilee's speed.
Marie was taking in all of it, completely fascinated. "You think they could teach me to move like that?" she asked breathlessly, watching how artfully Jubes dodged Piotr's offense.
"Sure."
We watched for a few more minutes, then I checked my watch. "Unfortunately, there is a curfew at this place, so I better show you back."
"Ooh, let me see if I can try and remember the way," she said, and she was looking much more relaxed, eager, even.
"In that much of a hurry to get away from me?" I said. My tone was teasing, but I couldn't help wondering if what I was saying was the truth.
She rewarded me with a grin. "Well, I imagine that you don't want lil' old me following you around for the rest of my time here."
"That wouldn't be so bad, I don't think," I said, smiling back. But as she led the way, following the twists and turns of the sub-basement's hallways, something about what she said rang in my mind. 'The rest of my time here?' Sure, at first glance, it seemed fine, but at the same time, it seemed sort of...temporary. Like she didn't think she'd really stay here.
I brooded over this as she turned down the wrong hallway, didn't find the elevator, and turned to me, frustrated and lost. I showed her the right hallway, and we stepped on the elevator. There was no 'strummy-strummy-la-la' (as Allerdyce would put it) elevator music in the sub-basements like there was over in the teachers' and students' wings. I found myself having to break the silence. "I think you might like it here, Marie."
"Please, don't call me that," she said.
"That's your name, isn't it?"
She leveled me with a stare. "What do they call *you*, Bobby? The other students."
I met her eyes. "Iceman."
"Well, *Iceman*," she said, but not in a derogatory way, "I'm Rogue. Marie is the person that I left behind. You know...they told me...they told me there was no cure for being a mutant."
I blinked at her. A cure? I had never even thought about looking for a cure. When I had first found out...I just wanted to keep it secret. I thought it was a phase, or something. Like animals change the color of their fur in the winter. I thought it would pass, and I was only concerned with keeping it to myself. I hadn't been looking for a cure.
I wondered for the millionth time what kind of mutation that she had, that made her so anxious for a way out. That was something that the other students didn't know, one of the few secrets at the institute.
"So I'm just trying to...accept it, I guess," she said. "And that means accepting that I'm not Marie anymore. Can you understand that?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can."
"So, please...call me Rogue. I'm not Marie anymore. Marie was a normal girl, and Rogue is a...is a mutant."
"Fine then. I think you might like it here, Rogue."
She was smiling at me now openly. "I'll be the judge of that."
That looked promising. I grinned at her.
We finally reached her room, and she gestured at the door. "This is my stop."
"Oh. Um, you wanna get lunch tomorrow? With me, I mean."
Rogue had a seriously great smile. "Yeah, that sounds good."
"Okay, cool." I wanted to say something else, I wanted to do something else, but I wasn't sure what or how or if I should. Then I noticed a tiny bit of lint on her coat, and decided it was better than nothing. I reached for it. "You've got something on--" I started, but she physically drew back, eyes wide. "Um, I should go," she spluttered, trying to give me a smile, her lips twitching, but she was unsuccessful. Confused, but mostly humiliated, I nodded and stepped back. She opened the door, and I started to walk off to my own room.
"Bobby?" I turned to look at her, feeling like a massive tool. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
Maybe I wasn't as massive of a tool as I thought. "Yeah, great." I went back to my room, and lay down, lost in thought. Rogue. I wondered what had made her step away from me, if it was because I was being too forward (although I really hadn't been), or if she was just shy, or...I didn't even know. I wasn't even going to try and figure this one out, because I just plain didn't understand girls.