Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 26

Chapter 3: I'm Sure We Won't

Rogue didn't trust Remy at first when he said it was a surprise, and she knew she had reason to be suspicious because when Remy got an idea, and had a surprise in mind, it usually amounted to some kind of trouble she could do without. And though doubt plagued her mind like a cancer, eating away at whatever trust she had left in him, she let him lead her anyway.

When Friday came, the moment they had met in the foyer of the mansion was when everything started to become rather strange. At first, it sounded ridiculous when he insisted she be both blindfolded and have earmuffs so he could take her to the surprise destination. She'd laughed at the concept, and blurted out the usual string of comments such as 'are you crazy', or 'why do I get the feeling this is going to be something extremely insane?'.

After some coaxing, Remy had managed to get her to put on both earmuffs and blindfold, and lead her into car. The journey seemed terribly bumpy, but she realised this might only be because she now had no sense of vision or sound, and thus any physical jolt seemed so much more intense due to this.

From there, they left the car, and he lead her along a very long stretch of path, and up a steps. She heard nothing except some rather muffled engine noises, and although she still felt rather apprehensive about this, she said nothing and played along.

She was confused, but somewhere deep inside of herself the part of her that loved him dearly told her to just tolerate it, that this was Remy's way of being romantic and that she should not worry about it at all.

Soon, after having spent much time not hearing anything, not seeing anything, and not having felt Remy's presence physically at all, she felt Remy removing her blindfold, and earmuffs, and was now glad that something might come into perspective as to what was going on exactly.

Rogue opened her eyes and it felt almost blurry at first. She looked around to find herself sitting in a very comfortable leather seat, in what at once she realised was a private plane. A bottle of champagne was on ice nearby, and the lights were dimmed considerably. Remy was sitting in a seat opposite, and he was smiling softly.

"Wow…" Rogue blinked, "this…must have cost a bomb."

"Nothing but the best," Remy said with that boyish grin of his as he glanced out of the small oval-shaped window to his right, there was nothing but clouds below, no landscape could be seen far below.

"So…" Rogue watched as he opened the champagne and poured her a flute. She felt very apprehensive now. She certainly wasn't used to this kind of treatment. Dates with Remy in the past had always been rather general. Dinner and a movie, not a weekend away to a surprise location via private plane whilst supping expensive champagne.

"So?" Remy smiled and handed her the flute of champagne.

"Where…are…we headed?" Rogue turned and glanced out of the window anxiously also, but saw no sign of anything that could indicate where they were exactly. She'd lost all concept of time since she'd gone up those steps, which now she realised, must have been the stepway to the plane.

"It's a surprise," Remy touched the side of his own nose to indicate she was being nosy.

Rogue sighed, "Why all this weird secrecy?"

"I don't know, thought it would be romantic," he admitted, and he smiled again, and he looked confident and happy, and she hadn't seen him look so blissful since that one night in the shower on his twenty-first birthday.

"Okay, fine, I'll play along," Rogue smiled a little too, and began to feel herself slipping into the mood of it. After all, like he said, he did want to make up for having done what he did with her bank account. "but I tell you, any funny business and you'll be gettin' kicked squarely in the nuts."

"That's fair," Remy nodded, "but there's nothing funny about this, I promise" he smiled, "I just want this to be a weekend we'll never forget is all."

"Okay," Rogue nodded, and she sipped her champagne. "I'm sure we won't."

Remy leaned back in his own seat, and smiled somewhat to himself, knowing what was a head and deciding she was right. It certainly was something that wouldn't be forgotten in a hurry.

When one of the crew of the plane arrived into the cabin to advise Remy they were approaching their destination, Remy put the earmuffs and the blindfold back on Rogue. Rogue was beginning to feel rather silly – which she expressed to Remy a few times but seemed to get no more response than a soft tickle in the left ribs as he guided her off the plane and into another car.

The drive lasted for what felt like half an hour, although it could have been more, she was unsure. And then there was a walk. She felt the ground change beneath her feet from hard sidewalk to the cushiony texture of soft carpeting under her strappy sandals, and felt cool air conditioning in comparison to the hot exterior she'd felt the moment they had left the plane.

Moments later, they were standing still, Remy still hanging onto her arm, one hand pressed against her back as if to reassure her everything would be alright. She felt the sudden lurch of her stomach and realised they were in an elevator, she only ever felt her stomach lurch quite so much if she took off too quickly into flight with her powers, or if she was sitting on the Blackbird and they were plummeting for a fast landing.

More walking, and then she was standing on her own in a very warm room, and what little light showed through the blindfold she was wearing was very dim. She could not feel Remy's presence near her anymore.

"Remy? Can I take this stupid stuff off now?" she asked, although she didn't expect if he had said yes that she'd hear him reply due to the heavy duty earmuffs, which she was afraid he might have stolen from some poor construction worker who might have been on a lunch break.

Seconds later, she felt him take the earmuffs off again, the rush of sound came back, little things like the ticking of a nearby clock, and the sounds of traffic outside became very alive to her, more than they might have if she'd arrived in the room without anything on her ears at all.

"Where are we?" she asked, she felt him behind her head untying the cotton blindfold. She tried to listen out for any kind of clue, but all she could really notice was traffic, and that could mean they were anywhere.

"You'll see," he said, he sounded excited, like a child on Christmas, and she felt her heart somewhat soar, it was nice to hear him so happy. Play along, she thought. He's been so miserable since joining the X-Men again that he deserves at least a little happiness, and if this whole surprise game is his idea of fun, then just play along.

When the blindfold came off, she opened her eyes, again, they felt blurry and she had to take some moments to focus on the room around her. She was in a dimly lit room, in fact it was almost like a brown out, no lights on, but a tiny slither of bright light peeked from between the folds of thick velvet drapes in front of her. She glanced around.

It was a hotel suite, she could see now as her eyes adjusted to the light. Two splendid sofas faced each other in the lounge area, and Rogue wandered around a few moments to get used to the surroundings. In the seperate bedroom area, one very large bed – king sized – stood with its expensive art deco headboard against a wall. The rest of the furnishings were so tasteful that Rogue was almost completely mesmerised for one moment. She was sure that whatever she earned a year teaching at Xavier's would not even cover the cost of one of the small bedside cabinets.

"Wow…" she whispered, she wandered into the bathroom and switched on the light, and couldn't help but feel impressed at the black marble suite and the very large sunken tub that matched.

"Like it?" he asked, she felt him touch her back gently, and instantly that uneasy feeling came back to her that she'd been getting every time he touched her. She'd had to tolerate it since the moment he'd put the blindfold on her, but now she felt there was absolutely no need for it, and she drew away.

"So where are we?"

Remy smiled, "c'mon…" he took her gloved hand and led her back to the lounge area eagerly, and then brought her over to the drapes, and he moved over to the curtain pull, "ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be I suppose," she said, feeling slightly more apprehensive than before.

The curtains were pulled, and beyond two large glass windows and double patio doors, the light assailed her eyes so badly that she couldn't see anything. But then, once again, everything started to come into focus once again. So many buildings, it seemed almost overflowing with cement, and so many signs of colour and light. Every way she looked she could see the sign 'Casino' and she realised he was right, she definitely was surprised to see this. She'd been here twice, on missions, but had never spent time here on vacation before. She recognised it at once, "Las Vegas?" she turned to him and looked at him with much confusion.

"Gambling, drinking, the shows, the parties," he grinned, "c'mon, this place has everything," he leaned against the wall.

Rogue reached out and opened the patio doors and stepped out onto the balcony, "is this the penthouse?" she asked, she held onto the wall and leaned over a little to gaze down.

"Of course. It's the best," he followed her out onto the balcony, "don't lean over too far, don't wanna fall or anything."

"Like I'm worried," Rogue gave a laugh, "I can fly, it's not like I'll fall on top of that limo down there and right to my death, now, is it?"

Remy smiled a little, "I guess not," he let his arms rest against the wall, "so…what'd you think?"

"I'm surprised," Rogue nodded, "you sure know how to make a girl feel special."

"I know," Remy grinned.

"So what's the plan for tonight, then?" Rogue asked.

"Well, we're going to a wedding," Remy said, and he sucked in a breath, he knew there would be a response, he just wasn't sure what.

"Who's wedding?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Ours."