Karaoke, Too
It had been days. Rogue not only wouldn't talk to him, she wouldn't even look at him. If he entered a room, she left. All the girls were being ice queens this week. Remy was dying. He could live without the flirting, but Rogue shunning him like a leper was too much. His blood red eyes got misty but he couldn't let himself cry. He was the Gambit. A lover of beautiful women. He could not be swayed so strongly by any one female. Nope, not him. No way. Bottle one empty, -enter bottle two. Empty shot glass. Humph! Fill it, drain it. Fill it, drain it. Fill it, drain it. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
The Beer Swill Saloon was a good place for a stiff drink. It was early, but Remy had been drinking harder and faster than usual. His second bottle of Southern Comfort wasn't any more comforting than the first. She's all smiles and sweetness, until he walks in, and then no one else in the world exists for her he thought bitterly. Remy scowled at his empty shot glass. He refilled it and emptied it in rapid succession three or four times before the bartender interrupted.
"What's her name?" he asked, knowing that only a woman could drive a man to drink like that before eight o'clock.
"Rogue," Gambit said her name gently but his expression was fierce.
"Did she break your heart?" the older man asked.
"She don't even know she has it," he said bitterly. "She's too busy giving hers to someone else."
"Tell her," the bartender said.
"What?" Gambit said.
"Declare yourself, and let her choose," the bartender insisted.
"She loves him," Gambit said sadly.
"Does he love her?" the bartender asked.
"He toys with her," Gambit hissed. He downed another shot and grimaced at the burn. "He doesn't deserve her."
"Talk to her, at least make a play for her," the bartender said sternly. "Never give up, give the jerk some competition!"
Another shot. Two more. An empty bottle. Money on the bar. Another bottle. Forget the glass, chug away.
"Boy you don't need that much courage, do you?" the bartender chuckled.
"No, I'm gonna go tell her right now!" Gambit stood up, and the room sank. Ooh.
"I'll get you a cab," the bartender said flatly. He never laughed at his patrons. It didn't encourage return visits. This guy was usually much more pleasant. Whoever this Rogue was must be a knockout to tie him up in knots like that.
The cab pulled up by the front door of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters around nine o'clock. Remy paid the guy and headed for the door with his bottle when he heard the music. It was loud and harsh, even to his sluggish ears. He followed the noise to the patio outside the gallery and watched through the windows. The boys were singing that song from Top Gun and trying to impress the girls. It seemed to be paying off, because the girls were smiling again.
Then he showed up. Wolverine marched right up to that stage like a man possessed, and started singing that stupid "I'm too sexy" song. Damn. She loves it. Ass-hole. He actually can sing. Hell! Two can play that game!
Remy racked his brain for the song that could top Logan's. His sluggish mind didn't work that fast. 'Sexual healin' popped right into his head, er mind. Then George Michael's 'I want your Sex' followed. Ugh! They wouldn't just throw him out; they'd have him arrested if he sang that to a bunch of teenagers. Blame it on the whiskey. Then it came to him. Yes. The song.
Logan's song finished and the girls were all screaming. He wants to go to her; Remy could see it, but all the kids around makes him wait.
Gambit smiled a wicked gambit sort of grin and walked through the French doors and right up onto the stage. Everyone settled down to see what he'd do, and he made a selection, grabbed the microphone, and closed his eyes as the music started. U2's 'With or Without You' started. He opened his eyes and stared at Rogue.
"See the stone set in your eyes, See the thorn twist in your side, I wait for you…" Remy sang in his sexy Cajun voice.
The girls swooned, and Rogue's jaw dropped. Logan looked pissed.
"Sleight of hand and twist of fate, on a bed of nails she makes me wait, and I wait…without you." Remy's dance was smooth and sexy in time with the music. He tossed his coat aside revealing the thin white cotton tank top that stretched tightly over his chest.
"…With or without you, I can't live, with or without you," he continued with so much emotion it was almost frightening.
Rogue blushed. She couldn't believe it. Remy was a flirt, and Remy was her friend. Where was this coming from? She was in shock. Was it her imagination that they both seemed to be singing for her?
"…And you give yourself away, and you give, and you give, and you give yourself away," he sang and couldn't help the unconscious frown he sent toward Logan.
"Oh Chica, this is gonna get ugly," Jubilee said to Kitty as they watched their friend being torn between the two hottest available men in the mansion.
Logan couldn't take it another second. His pals Jack, Jim and the Captain were being chased away quickly by his healing factor. He did not want to be standing here sober. He did not want to be standing here at all. He slipped out while Gumbo sang. He needed to see if any of his friends were left. There might be a cozy bottle of Brandy in Xavier's desk.
"My hands are tied, my body bruised, she's got me with nothing to win…and nothing left to lose," Remy closed his eyes, pouring his heart out with every word, and it was affecting every girl in the room, though it was obvious who he sang for.
Rogue snuck out. She couldn't face either of them, not after that blatant drunken display in front of everyone.
"With or without you, with or without you, I can't live…with or without you," Remy finished the song and the girls cheered. They swarmed around him and the attention distracted him for a moment. When he looked up, she was gone. Damn! It was gonna be a killer hangover for nothing. She left with him.