Chapter Nine – Chew Your Pain
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A/N. Profuse apologies for the lack of updates. I'm so very sorry. I just realized that I've only updated twice in three months. By the way, I'm going to be entering X-Day 2004 (community X-Men fanart and fanfiction competition), and if you see anything of mine, either in art or fanfiction, that you think I should enter, please tell me.
A/N 2. Title of this chapter is from the Sister Hazel song "Your Winter", specifically the line, "Why do you chew your pain?".
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"Remy gets rather agitated when we refer to him as the Prince of the Lollipop Guild." -Kurt's Thoughts
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Kurt woke to commotion. The crashing sound of pots and pans and Scott's voice jarred any chance of sleep away immediately.
"Aw, c'mon Scott, it's just a little mouse!" Bobby seemed to be in hysterics.
"It's not the mouse I'm worried about! Aw, Christ!"
Kurt rubbed the back of his head and got dressed. As he was straightening a crick out of his tail, the sound died down. He could still hear Bobby chortling downstairs, and Remy too, apparently.
He might as well find out what it was.
When he reached the kitchen, the first sight that met him was Scott nursing a bleeding arm and a chair in front of the cupboard. The first sound he heard, besides Bobby and Remy's laughter, was scratching inside the cupboard and a prominent hiss.
Kurt looked between the three men and the cupboard. "Is that the cat...?"
"What about my cat?" Everyone in the room jumped as a murderous- looking Lorna walked in. Even the cupboard seemed to fall silent. "What did you guys do to my cat?"
"Well, uh..." Scott hid his arm behind his back, Bobby slid himself over to the fridge, pretending to look for the orange juice and Remy suddenly became very interested in the wood of the table.
"Where's Bellbottoms?" This time it wasn't really a question as much as a demand. Kurt shrugged.
At this point the cupboard began to make noise again. Blushing, Scott kicked the chair away and the enraged tabby sped out.
Fists as her sides and eyes wild, Lorna woke the entire mansion. "What the fuck did you do that to my cat for?!"
Bobby was a world-class babbler, when the need arose. "There was a mouse in the kitchen and it crawled up Scott's pants and the cat attacked him and see it got him too and it wouldn't get off him so we locked it in the cupboard-"
"Couldn't you have just locked it out of the room?" Kurt asked, and all three culprits glared at him in betrayal.
Lorna's every word was punctuated by her jabbing a fiercely pointed finger in each of their general directions. "Next time you decide to torment a poor, defenseless animal-"Remy coughed into his hand. "-I will personally rip your limbs off and use them as golf clubs!"
With that, she stormed out, calling for her 'kitty-kit-kit-kitty'.
Kurt found it oddly interesting how a single woman could instill such fear in three grown men. Then again, wasn't that the way it always was?
Remy was more interested in another fact. To Bobby, he said, "I didn't know Lorna golfed."
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"You gettin' the mail?" Rogue asked. "S'usually mah job."
"I just thought since I was out here anyway, I'd pick it up." Bobby gazed out at the snow around him. "I like winter. It's like a big family reunion." He hugged himself jokingly.
"You and your fellow snowballs?" She laughed.
He winked cheekily. "Home away from home. Wanna walk with me?"
She nodded, smiling. Inside she hurt.
Her black boots and his bare feet left prints in the snow. Rogue kept looking down at his toes, pink and flushed with cold. There were two things that made her keep looking at them. The first, the blatant exposure or soft, bare skin. The second, the obvious immunity to cold.
Why was it impossible for her to have neither in her life?
His voice jolted her back to reality, away from sweet fantasies. "So, how're you doing?"
"Hmm?" They'd started to veer off the trail. "Okay, Ah guess. And you?" She asked, for the sake of covering her lie.
"Fine." He said. She saw through his bluff as easily as he saw through hers.
The mansion had disappeared behind the trees. They were up to their shins in snow, and neither minded.
"Rogue? Can I, uh, tell you something? Since we're friends and all?" He looked nervous and guilty. It was an awkward expression for him, usually the jester, the entertaining little clown. The joker for other's benefit was asking for a favor. Then again, the jokes had always been for himself as well.
Rogue looked around at her surroundings. This was her place, the most beautiful spot in the winter. Bobby wasn't the one she wanted beside her now.
But it was also the perfect place to comfort a friend, without distraction and with only bright light and birdsong around them.
"Yeah, sure."
Bobby created a bench of ice for them to sit on. "It's about Lorna."
She'd figured as much.
"You know, at night..." He continued. "At night she still calls for Alex."
Rogue nodded. Bobby looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. When she kept silent, he went on almost dejectedly. "I can't help feeling that if Alex ever came...if he ever came back, she wouldn't even look at me twice again."
Rogue listened and bit her lip to keep herself from speaking her mind. She held his hand in hers, rubbing the back with her thumb. The fabric of her gloves was soft against his skin.
He bowed his head sadly. "What do I do to make her really love me? Like I love her?"
"Bobby, what Alex did to her was just plain cruel. But if she loves him still...Ah don't really know if you can ever break that." She caught herself as she realized that she wasn't really talking about Bobby as much as she thought,
"So you're telling me to give up?" He pulled his hand from her and stood up.
She was slightly startled by his suddenly defensive attitude. "Ah'm just sayin'-"
"You think I should just give up! You think it's a hopeless case!" He shouted and the birds fell quiet. Then he sneered at her maliciously, in a way she had never seen from him before. "Well, fuck you! You want a hopeless case, just look in a goddamned mirror, your boyfriend won't even eat ice cream he's so damn afraid of the cold-"
"That's not true!" She stood and screamed at him. "That's not true!"
"-Because of YOU, Rogue! Me and Lorna, ha! We aren't the ones who're fucked up here! That's you two!"
"SHUT UP! That's not true and you fucking know it's not true!" But in the back of her head, it was.
He threw his hands up in a picture of mock surrender, suddenly sinisterly calm. "You know what? Fine, I shouldn't have talked to you in the first place. That's like the blind leading the blind." He walked away, bare feet crunching the snow beneath him and quick breaths rising in heated steam.
She didn't call after him. She didn't seize the last word. She let it fall like a slip of paper from her hands.
"You're wrong, you're wrong..." she whispered into her chest. Tears stung her eyes but didn't fall.
It was a full ten minutes before the birds started singing again. By that time, Rogue had disappeared into the forest.
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Hank was quite happily immersed in his computer when Remy and Kurt came calling. At first he found it odd, since Remy and Kurt were never really that close (largely because they loved the same woman, for different reasons, and both knew different sides of her).
"Hank?" Hank didn't mean to look like he was ignoring them, but he needed to close his programs.
"Hank, cut de antisocial crap and talk to us!"
He spun around in his computer chair to face them. "I am most certainly not antisocial!"
"Prove it." Remy challenged.
Kurt interjected. "We've organized a 'night out' for the guys."
Hank looked at them skeptically. "And you're inviting me?"
"Nah, we just came over here to tease ya about it. Of course we're invitin' ya."
He smiled. "Well, then, count me in."
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Go figure. There wasn't any milk left.
"Lorna, we're going to have to do with cream."
Lorna made a face. Jean gave her a cup of coffee. Lorna skimmed through the paper. "Says there's a sale at Macy's again."
"I hate Macy's."
"You hate Macy's?"
"Loathe, detest, abhor Macy's." Jean stirred her coffee. Lorna flipped to the crossword and grabbed a pen off the counter. "Last time I was there the cashier was the biggest bigot I'd ever seen."
Lorna filled in a slot in the crossword and sipped her coffee. Why was it so bitter? Usually she loved it that way. "Hey, want to go out tonight? If Bobby makes me watch one more Saturday Night Live rerun I swear to God I'll lose it."
"Sure thing, but I don't think Bobby's going to be around anyway. The boys are planning something tonight. Rogue too?"
"I guess." It would be lonely in the mansion without them, wouldn't it? "Where is she, anyway?"
The redhead washed her empty cup in the sink. "Don't know. I haven't seen her since this morning."
"Speaking of missing people, have you seen Bobby?"
"Didn't he go out to get the mail?"
Lorna shrugged and brought her coffee cup to her lips, but she didn't drink it. It was just too bitter.
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Scarf slung loosely over her shoulder, Rogue returned. She didn't see Bobby on the way back, nor did she return cheerfully. Her eyes were strange and wandering, desperate and sad.
"You go get Scotty. I'll deal wit' de Snowman." Remy and Kurt were still prowling the halls. Rogue stole up behind them and tapped Remy on the shoulder. "Oh, hey chere!"
"Remy, can Ah talk to you?"
He looked slightly confused, either by the distant tone in her voice or by the notion. "Yeah, anytime."
"Alone?" She glanced at Kurt, who took the hint, nodded to Remy and went off to find Scott.
"What's botherin' ya?"
She bit her lip before she asked the question, knowing it was a painful one for both. "Can Ah talk to you...outside?"
A look of panic crossed his face. He stepped backwards instinctively, and that drove an emotional knife into her. "No, no, Rogue. I hate it out dere."
Her eyes sparkled sadly as she grabbed his hand. "Please? Please, for me?"
Trapped because he hated to see her pain, trapped because he hated the cold, trapped because she wouldn't let go, he held her hand back. "Okay, but jus' for a little while."
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"Herr Drake, will you not answer your door?" Kurt was on the verge of pounding the smooth wood just to get Bobby's attention. Maybe he should have left this to Remy.
Bobby answered angrily. "I'm sleeping, dammit!"
Kurt highly doubted that, both because Bobby had been out getting the mail earlier this morning and because he had to be awake to shout.
"Bobby, I am waiting for you." He glared at the door, as if Bobby could see that anyway.
"Is he being a sulky kid again?" Scott had been passing through the halls when he'd witnessed the unusual occurrence of the German getting angry.
"Ja. He locked the door."
Scott shrugged, putting his hands in the pockets of his khakis. "Let me try. Hey, Drake!"
"Go away! I'm sleeping!"
Scott twisted the doorknob. "Do you always sleep with the door locked?"
Darkly, "yes!".
"Okay, but I need to do some mandatory room inspection." He winked to Kurt and whispered to him that Xavier had given him the school keys. They could hear Bobby muttering grumpily on the other side.
"I'm coming in now!" Scott pushed the key in and opened the door slowly.
Bobby was sitting on his bed, arms embracing legs, bare feet pointing ahead, and staring out the window. His purple-tinted sunglasses were perched on the top of his head, holding back his hair. He didn't turn around when the two men entered. He didn't even twitch.
"Are you okay?" Kurt walked almost to the wall to see the Snowman's face. His eyes were reddened.
Scott stayed to the back, knowing that Kurt was much more adept at the comfort-situation.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Bobby turned around to look at them. A lock of light brown hair slipped from behind the glasses and fell in front of his eyes.
Kurt sat down in the beanbag chair, theatrically sighing in comfort and prompting an appreciative snort from Scott. Bobby smiled half- heartedly.
"You're sure you are fine?"
Bobby shrugged and his smile faded slightly. "Yeah, I said I'm fine. Why did you guys have to bust into my room?"
Kurt explained. "Well, we were organizing a little get together for all the men, and I was hoping you would like to come with us."
Bobby raised an eyebrow. "You barged into my room to ask me about that?"
"Is that a no?" Kurt looked disappointed.
Scott opened the door to leave. "Well, Kurt, I doubt it's a yes."
"Close the door behind you." The younger man said cruelly.
The blue-furred mutant sighed softly and followed Scott out. As he started to close the door behind him, he left a final comment.
"By the way, mein freund, I am sorry about the cat. I was not trying to get you in trouble with Lorna."
The door didn't make a sound as it closed.
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Rogue could feel him tense his hand the instant they set foot outside. Remy shuddered and bit his lip, but kept walking forward with her along the path.
As soon as the snow came to his ankles, though, he stopped. She took a few steps forward with him, silently telling him to keep coming. He stayed where he was, seemingly fused to the ground by his feet.
"Why are we doin' dis?" He asked, wrapping his arms around himself.
In truth, she wasn't quite sure. "Because how else are ya gonna get over it?"
"Do I have to?" He whined softly, more to himself than to her.
"Just come a little further with me? See, y'aint dead yet." She tried to joke with him, but her voice fell as flat as the colors of winter. "Remy, Ah..."
"I'm goin' back in." He stated firmly, but didn't move. She grabbed a hold of his hand again, afraid that he would just slip away and disappear into the snow.
"Remy, please!" She put her hand on his chest, gently, trying to be comforting. Her eyes sparkled like icemelt. "It's drivin' me crazy! Ah know that Ah did this to you, but Ah'm just tryin' to fix it now! Ah don't want you t' be so afraid anymore, Ah want to share the world with you but Ah can't! Ah'm just tryin' ta help an' fix what Ah did!"
He still didn't move, but she felt him shiver again and look away. "Stop it, Rogue. I'm goin' back in."
She held tighter. "But Ah love you!"
He didn't answer, and that was when the tears came.
She buried her face into his chest, sobbing and clutching his shirt. It was destroying her that he simply refused her attempts to help. And it hurt even more that there she was, breaking down into him, and his arms were hanging limply at his side, his face watching her with dull, mute interest.
Watching her, he knew he was supposed to comfort her, to help hold her close and reassure her, but he couldn't find the strength. Outside, the cold may have drained all the love from him, and now it was spilling from her too. He couldn't do anything to stop it; he couldn't even bare to touch her face or shoulders now.
She finally separated herself from him, wishing she was entangled in him and trapped again. Instead, he let her go freely, and she almost hated him for it.
"C'mon, Rogue, let's go in."
There they stood, facing each other, ankle-deep in snow, and though he barely found the will to hold her hand as they walked back, it was enough for her.
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"Hey, guys!" Bobby sprinted up to where Scott and Kurt were engaging themselves in a game of checkers. Apparently Kurt was winning.
Either victory put him in a good mood, or he'd forgotten about Bobby's earlier behavior entirely. "Guten tag, Herr Drake."
"Hey, Bobby." Scott didn't look up. The game was pretty much shot for him, but tenacity was part of his nature (and the result of being the field leader for far too long).
"Hey, uh, guys..." Bobby's hand was jammed so far down into his pocket that he could have been advertising for roomy cargo pants. He used his other hand to ruffle the hair on the back of his head awkwardly. His sunglasses fell from the top of his head to his nose. "I'm sorry I got all snappy at you. I just was, um, having, uh, a rough time with things earlier this morning."
He half-expected Kurt to get angry and rip his apology open, but the German just smiled happily.
"And if you aren't mad at me, I'd kinda like to come tonight."
Kurt's grin grew wide enough to expose the two sharp incisors. "Of course."
Bobby beamed and grabbed the footrest in the corner, pulling it up to the coffee table and watching them play. "So, where are we gonna go tonight?"
"We could decide on that now." Kurt jumped another one of Scott's checkers, ending the game. He reset the checkers and started the next round.
Scott gritted his teeth as he faced defeat. "Something indoors that isn't a hockey rink."
"Oh, is a Summers brother actually being considerate, for once? Wake the media!" Bobby slugged Scott playfully in the arm.
Scott smiled but kept his eyes on the board. "Yup, a Summers brother is actually thinking of his friends."
"So, how about a movie?"
"What movies are out?" Kurt's tail twitched and swayed on the floor, quicker with the anticipation of victory.
Bobby picked up the newspaper on the couch and skipped to the entertainment section. "Chick flics, mostly. Another sappy romance. Something with James Marsden-"
"Jean absolutely loves James Marsden." Scott said, bitterly and sarcastically.
"Another reason for us not to see it." The Snowman kept looking. "Sorry, Kurt, nothing with pirates. Chick flic, chick flic...war movie?"
Kurt stuck out his tongue and Scott shrugged.
"Guess not..." Bobby started reading from a review. "How about something that involves no intelligence, cool special effects, women in tight leather and corny comedic timing?"
"You've just summed up every action movie I've ever seen." Scott was losing again. "But it'll do."
"Sounds good." Kurt grinned broadly.
"League of Extraordinary Gentlemen it is, then!"
"If Hank and Remy agree, of course." Kurt used his tail to jump Scott's red checkers.
"Yeah." Bobby turned to the comics page.
After a few nods of assent, the conversation slowly dissolved into the white light of winter coming from the window.
"Checkmate."
"That's chess, Kurt. 'Checkmate' is chess."
"Ah, right. New game?"
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Taking a sip of his mocha, Hank sank onto the couch. As he pulled a blanket onto himself, he used the remote to turn the TV on to his favorite channel – Discovery. There was supposed to be some documentary on time- space anomalies, which would undoubtedly go unappreciated by the rest of the mansion's inhabitants.
A familiar face appeared on the screen. "This is Trish Tilby, reporting on what is now known as the Manchester time-"
Hank picked up a book from the table and shut the TV off.
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"There you are!" Lorna caught Rogue drifting through the halls. "Jean and I were looking for you."
"Huh?" Rogue looked at her green-haired friend through bleary eyes.
Lorna was not oblivious to the pain on Rogue's face. "Hey, are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, Ah'm..." The belle paused. "No, Ah'm not."
Lorna held Rogue's shoulders calmly. "'Cuz, you know, my shoulder's waterproof."
"Nah, Ah really don't wanna talk about it."
"You sure?"
Rogue smiled. "Pretty sure."
Her friend shrugged. "Okay, then. Wanna grab something to eat? Jean and I are hitting a restaurant tonight since the boys'll be out and we thought you'd like to come, or maybe shop for something. You know us girls and shopping. You up for it?"
"Lorna, Ah really ain't in the mood tonight."
Lorna rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. "You're no fun. First you ditch every poker night, and now you won't even come with us! Between you and your boyfriend, I'm not sure who's worse at getting out of the house!"
Rogue glared. "He did leave the house today."
Lorna ignored the last comment. "Anyway, you need a new scarf. That one's getting ratty." She tugged at it.
"Fine, Ah'll go!" Rogue conceded, exasperated. Lorna grinned wickedly.
"That's a girl. We all need to get out anyway."
Rogue smiled ruefully and rolled her eyes again. "How well Ah know."
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"You can't possibly expect me to waste two hours on this drivel." Hank said in disgust at the movie choice.
"Actually, it's only an hour and a half, and you already agreed to it." A smug Bobby smirked at him.
Hank made as if to leave. "And to think that I'd actually attend something as idiotic as-"
"Aw, Haaank!" All four of the other men, spread around the room, whined.
"If it's awful, we'll pay ya ten bucks each." Remy offered.
"Still no." Hank said firmly.
"Twenty, den."
Bobby looked at the Cajun in shock. "I never agreed to this!"
Hank stood firm. "No."
Remy's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Twenty-five from each of us. One hundred all told."
Kurt backed Remy up. "And if it is good, you'll have had a good experience."
"Either way, mon ami, you win."
Hank shrugged and said, cynically, "Fine, assuming you make the three yard dash from the car to the theatre."
It was a shameful attack, and Remy wrinkled his nose. Bobby, however, slapped his thigh and declared, "So we're all going! But if this movie sucks, Remy, you owe me so bad..."
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As soon as the sun started to set, the two groups, respectively, got into their separate cars. Scott had offhandedly suggested that the boys use the Toyota, because he 'liked it more'. In truth, it was primarily because it was already in the garage and he'd decided to spare Remy the particularly long driveway, even if the car was exceptionally crowded.
In return, Remy had volunteered for the most cramped seat, knowing Scott's true intent. Bobby was driving, rather hazardously, as his mind was on other topics.
"So, where are the women going tonight?" From shotgun, Kurt fiddled with the heater with his tail.
Scott had learned long ago that rolling his eyes had little effect with his glasses, so he just cocked his head cynically. "Shopping. Again. Let's just hope it's not for books or clothes."
"Or furniture!" Bobby cried, joining in.
"Rogue bought dis awful green leather couch last time. Lasted a week before dat damn cat tore it t' pieces."
"By the way, Scott, how's your arm?" Kurt looked apologetically at him.
Scott found that he could now laugh at the incident, seeing as it was behind him and Lorna had no chance of catching him. "It's just a scratch."
"Ah! Just a flesh wound!"
The entire car turned to look at Hank, stunned.
Bobby smiled broadly. "You've seen Monty Python?"
Hank blushed behind his fur and grinned.
"Okay, we're getting closer to civilization, guys. Hank, Kurt, image inducers up! Remy, put on those shades!" Scott barked as they entered the city.
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The girls had decided to stop at a restaurant before taking full advantage of the twenty-four hour services at The Gap. The food had too much cheese, but for the most part it was enjoyable.
Lorna spied an attractive man across the room. "Look at that one."
"Ain't you s'posed to be with Bobby?" Rogue tried to correct her friend's behavior. She knew how sensitive Bobby could be, even if she was still hurt from their earlier conversation.
Lorna sighed and stirred her drink with her spoon. She murmured under her breath. "How long do you think that's gonna last?"
"Is it really that bad?" Jean's concern was palpable.
Lorna started. "No, no, it's not bad! It's just...other things, you know? He loves me to death, but I just...don't." She finished sadly.
She kept stirring her drink lazily. "Jesus, what am I gonna do?"
"About?" Jean asked.
Lorna sighed again. "Bobby. I don't like lying to him."
"Lying?" Rogue looked skeptical and took a bite of her cheeseburger.
Lorna looked dejected. "I told him I didn't miss Alex. But I don't know how to tell him the truth without breaking his heart."
Rogue and Jean both nodded sympathetically. Rogue felt that she'd already driven the knife deep enough between the Bobby and Lorna, so she kept her mouth shut.
"Hmm. I guess men just suck." Jean said randomly, sipping her own drink. "Scott actually thought I had an affair! God, its like there are no men with any self-confidence in the mansion. Maybe it's in the air. Hank would probably have some chemical analysis for it. Some weird mixture between testasterone and the air conditioner."
The other two girls nodded. How true! They just weren't sure if it extended to men only.
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"Okay, guys, we're here!" Bobby pulled, having, thankfully, avoided an accident. "Let's get our tickets and pop on in!"
"Tuck your tail in!" Scott urgently whispered to Kurt. As Remy struggled to get over the backseat, behind which he'd been crammed, Scott tapped him on the shoulder.
"You wanna wait in the car while we get the tickets?"
Remy gave his lopsided grin. "Dieu, Scott, are you always dis over- protective about your teammates? Remy's fine bein' outside for a whole o' three minutes!"
Scott's lips parted in a smile as he hit the recline button, helping Remy out. "Glad to hear it. Now let's hope this movie's good or we owe money."
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Lorna put a book back on the shelf. "What is it with all this lousy literature about people whining about their lives?"
"Dunno, guess that's what sells." Rogue leafed through a magazine in the store. Nothing incredibly interesting. Another celebrity breakup. Big deal.
Jean was looking through the latest romance novels. None of them interested her. "Hey, Rogue, there's some stuff here you might like."
"Ah outgrew Harlequin eight years ago." She said, but she wandered over to that section anyway.
"I'm just surprised none of us raided the self-help section yet." Lorna said absentmindedly.
"Well, Ah doubt any of them deal with tryin' to murder your ex's new girlfriend, eating a solar system and havin' poison skin." Rogue replied, equally absentmindedly.
Jean shushed her. "We're in public!"
Rogue smirked ruefully. "What, that doesn't happen to everyone?"
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The boys came out of the theatre grumbling. Hank looked triumphant but tired, Remy looked through his wallet, Scott picked his way through the glove compartment and the other two promised to get the money when they got home.
"Shoulda listened t' Hank..." Remy muttered, handing over a twenty and a five and jumping, rather quickly, into the car.
Still, just a night out of the house and enjoying themselves (except for the movie) had been worth it.
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"Bobby? Is that you?" Lorna was almost asleep on the couch in her room when he came in. "Was the movie good?"
She shifted her feet so he could sit down next to her. "The movie sucked, but it was fun. How was shopping?"
"Rogue got a new scarf and Jean got some books." She mumbled, resting her head on his shoulder.
He buried his face in her hair, absorbing the sweet scent of her. They couldn't be that screwed up. "What, you didn't bring me anything?"
She looked up at him and smiled. "You're so insistent." She kissed him lightly on the cheek, but let her lips linger. He couldn't help but think that it was empty. The both knew it was an acting job, that she was pretending he was someone else, that he was pretending not to notice.
Quietly, he lay into her and they closed their eyes, their breathing coincidentally synchronized. The button on her shirt bit into his cheek, but he didn't care. The one woman he really wanted was falling asleep in his arms, and no matter what, he wasn't going to let her go yet.
The touch of her hand turned off the light as the moon filtered from the winter. Throughout the night, it illuminated their sleeping forms. Tonight, they weren't alone in the dark.
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Rogue had been downstairs watching TV when the men came back home, so she hadn't realized they were back until Kurt had come down to say goodnight half an hour later.
"Ah, mein schwester, I thought I wouldn't find you." He peered over the couch's headrest at her.
She sat up and turned off the television. "Didn't know y'all were back yet."
"Hmm." His tail twitched lazily. "Remy's already asleep. He was tired."
She yawned. "He ain't the only one. Ah just wanted t' be up when y'all got back. How long ya been here?"
"Half an hour." Kurt started to leave the room, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Good night."
"G'night to you too." Rogue got up and, brushing a white lock from her face, left for her room.
It was true – Remy was already sleeping. His soft breathing was hardly audible in the room. Rogue considered that a blessing, knowing his tendency to snore. His blankets had shifted slightly, exposing his bare shoulder.
"You awake, sugah?" She bent over him, saw his eyelashes flutter lightly. No answer. "Ah – Ah'm sorry for makin' you do that today. Next time you don't wanna do somethin', maybe Ah'll listen."
Before crawling into her own bed, she pulled a blanket back up to cover his shoulder.
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Once again, Hank was comfortably sleeping alone. He believed that he, of all the inhabitants of the mansion, didn't truly mind it. His fur was warm enough by itself. Though dissatisfied with the amount of work he'd actually finished today, he'd hate to say that the day wasn't productive.
In fact, it had made him feel more accomplished than most of his studies had ever done.
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Scott was surprised to see that he wasn't the only one with insomnia. His lovely wife was also in the kitchen, shoulder-length hair down and holding a cup of tea with all five fingers.
"Didn't expect to see you down here." She said lightly. "Y'want tea, honey?"
"Tea and honey'd be nice." He said, knowing that that wasn't her use for the word, but knowing she'd think it funny.
They laughed as the rest of their home slept.
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A/N. Profuse apologies for the lack of updates. I'm so very sorry. I just realized that I've only updated twice in three months. By the way, I'm going to be entering X-Day 2004 (community X-Men fanart and fanfiction competition), and if you see anything of mine, either in art or fanfiction, that you think I should enter, please tell me.
A/N 2. Title of this chapter is from the Sister Hazel song "Your Winter", specifically the line, "Why do you chew your pain?".
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"Remy gets rather agitated when we refer to him as the Prince of the Lollipop Guild." -Kurt's Thoughts
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Kurt woke to commotion. The crashing sound of pots and pans and Scott's voice jarred any chance of sleep away immediately.
"Aw, c'mon Scott, it's just a little mouse!" Bobby seemed to be in hysterics.
"It's not the mouse I'm worried about! Aw, Christ!"
Kurt rubbed the back of his head and got dressed. As he was straightening a crick out of his tail, the sound died down. He could still hear Bobby chortling downstairs, and Remy too, apparently.
He might as well find out what it was.
When he reached the kitchen, the first sight that met him was Scott nursing a bleeding arm and a chair in front of the cupboard. The first sound he heard, besides Bobby and Remy's laughter, was scratching inside the cupboard and a prominent hiss.
Kurt looked between the three men and the cupboard. "Is that the cat...?"
"What about my cat?" Everyone in the room jumped as a murderous- looking Lorna walked in. Even the cupboard seemed to fall silent. "What did you guys do to my cat?"
"Well, uh..." Scott hid his arm behind his back, Bobby slid himself over to the fridge, pretending to look for the orange juice and Remy suddenly became very interested in the wood of the table.
"Where's Bellbottoms?" This time it wasn't really a question as much as a demand. Kurt shrugged.
At this point the cupboard began to make noise again. Blushing, Scott kicked the chair away and the enraged tabby sped out.
Fists as her sides and eyes wild, Lorna woke the entire mansion. "What the fuck did you do that to my cat for?!"
Bobby was a world-class babbler, when the need arose. "There was a mouse in the kitchen and it crawled up Scott's pants and the cat attacked him and see it got him too and it wouldn't get off him so we locked it in the cupboard-"
"Couldn't you have just locked it out of the room?" Kurt asked, and all three culprits glared at him in betrayal.
Lorna's every word was punctuated by her jabbing a fiercely pointed finger in each of their general directions. "Next time you decide to torment a poor, defenseless animal-"Remy coughed into his hand. "-I will personally rip your limbs off and use them as golf clubs!"
With that, she stormed out, calling for her 'kitty-kit-kit-kitty'.
Kurt found it oddly interesting how a single woman could instill such fear in three grown men. Then again, wasn't that the way it always was?
Remy was more interested in another fact. To Bobby, he said, "I didn't know Lorna golfed."
...
...
"You gettin' the mail?" Rogue asked. "S'usually mah job."
"I just thought since I was out here anyway, I'd pick it up." Bobby gazed out at the snow around him. "I like winter. It's like a big family reunion." He hugged himself jokingly.
"You and your fellow snowballs?" She laughed.
He winked cheekily. "Home away from home. Wanna walk with me?"
She nodded, smiling. Inside she hurt.
Her black boots and his bare feet left prints in the snow. Rogue kept looking down at his toes, pink and flushed with cold. There were two things that made her keep looking at them. The first, the blatant exposure or soft, bare skin. The second, the obvious immunity to cold.
Why was it impossible for her to have neither in her life?
His voice jolted her back to reality, away from sweet fantasies. "So, how're you doing?"
"Hmm?" They'd started to veer off the trail. "Okay, Ah guess. And you?" She asked, for the sake of covering her lie.
"Fine." He said. She saw through his bluff as easily as he saw through hers.
The mansion had disappeared behind the trees. They were up to their shins in snow, and neither minded.
"Rogue? Can I, uh, tell you something? Since we're friends and all?" He looked nervous and guilty. It was an awkward expression for him, usually the jester, the entertaining little clown. The joker for other's benefit was asking for a favor. Then again, the jokes had always been for himself as well.
Rogue looked around at her surroundings. This was her place, the most beautiful spot in the winter. Bobby wasn't the one she wanted beside her now.
But it was also the perfect place to comfort a friend, without distraction and with only bright light and birdsong around them.
"Yeah, sure."
Bobby created a bench of ice for them to sit on. "It's about Lorna."
She'd figured as much.
"You know, at night..." He continued. "At night she still calls for Alex."
Rogue nodded. Bobby looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. When she kept silent, he went on almost dejectedly. "I can't help feeling that if Alex ever came...if he ever came back, she wouldn't even look at me twice again."
Rogue listened and bit her lip to keep herself from speaking her mind. She held his hand in hers, rubbing the back with her thumb. The fabric of her gloves was soft against his skin.
He bowed his head sadly. "What do I do to make her really love me? Like I love her?"
"Bobby, what Alex did to her was just plain cruel. But if she loves him still...Ah don't really know if you can ever break that." She caught herself as she realized that she wasn't really talking about Bobby as much as she thought,
"So you're telling me to give up?" He pulled his hand from her and stood up.
She was slightly startled by his suddenly defensive attitude. "Ah'm just sayin'-"
"You think I should just give up! You think it's a hopeless case!" He shouted and the birds fell quiet. Then he sneered at her maliciously, in a way she had never seen from him before. "Well, fuck you! You want a hopeless case, just look in a goddamned mirror, your boyfriend won't even eat ice cream he's so damn afraid of the cold-"
"That's not true!" She stood and screamed at him. "That's not true!"
"-Because of YOU, Rogue! Me and Lorna, ha! We aren't the ones who're fucked up here! That's you two!"
"SHUT UP! That's not true and you fucking know it's not true!" But in the back of her head, it was.
He threw his hands up in a picture of mock surrender, suddenly sinisterly calm. "You know what? Fine, I shouldn't have talked to you in the first place. That's like the blind leading the blind." He walked away, bare feet crunching the snow beneath him and quick breaths rising in heated steam.
She didn't call after him. She didn't seize the last word. She let it fall like a slip of paper from her hands.
"You're wrong, you're wrong..." she whispered into her chest. Tears stung her eyes but didn't fall.
It was a full ten minutes before the birds started singing again. By that time, Rogue had disappeared into the forest.
...
...
Hank was quite happily immersed in his computer when Remy and Kurt came calling. At first he found it odd, since Remy and Kurt were never really that close (largely because they loved the same woman, for different reasons, and both knew different sides of her).
"Hank?" Hank didn't mean to look like he was ignoring them, but he needed to close his programs.
"Hank, cut de antisocial crap and talk to us!"
He spun around in his computer chair to face them. "I am most certainly not antisocial!"
"Prove it." Remy challenged.
Kurt interjected. "We've organized a 'night out' for the guys."
Hank looked at them skeptically. "And you're inviting me?"
"Nah, we just came over here to tease ya about it. Of course we're invitin' ya."
He smiled. "Well, then, count me in."
...
...
Go figure. There wasn't any milk left.
"Lorna, we're going to have to do with cream."
Lorna made a face. Jean gave her a cup of coffee. Lorna skimmed through the paper. "Says there's a sale at Macy's again."
"I hate Macy's."
"You hate Macy's?"
"Loathe, detest, abhor Macy's." Jean stirred her coffee. Lorna flipped to the crossword and grabbed a pen off the counter. "Last time I was there the cashier was the biggest bigot I'd ever seen."
Lorna filled in a slot in the crossword and sipped her coffee. Why was it so bitter? Usually she loved it that way. "Hey, want to go out tonight? If Bobby makes me watch one more Saturday Night Live rerun I swear to God I'll lose it."
"Sure thing, but I don't think Bobby's going to be around anyway. The boys are planning something tonight. Rogue too?"
"I guess." It would be lonely in the mansion without them, wouldn't it? "Where is she, anyway?"
The redhead washed her empty cup in the sink. "Don't know. I haven't seen her since this morning."
"Speaking of missing people, have you seen Bobby?"
"Didn't he go out to get the mail?"
Lorna shrugged and brought her coffee cup to her lips, but she didn't drink it. It was just too bitter.
...
...
Scarf slung loosely over her shoulder, Rogue returned. She didn't see Bobby on the way back, nor did she return cheerfully. Her eyes were strange and wandering, desperate and sad.
"You go get Scotty. I'll deal wit' de Snowman." Remy and Kurt were still prowling the halls. Rogue stole up behind them and tapped Remy on the shoulder. "Oh, hey chere!"
"Remy, can Ah talk to you?"
He looked slightly confused, either by the distant tone in her voice or by the notion. "Yeah, anytime."
"Alone?" She glanced at Kurt, who took the hint, nodded to Remy and went off to find Scott.
"What's botherin' ya?"
She bit her lip before she asked the question, knowing it was a painful one for both. "Can Ah talk to you...outside?"
A look of panic crossed his face. He stepped backwards instinctively, and that drove an emotional knife into her. "No, no, Rogue. I hate it out dere."
Her eyes sparkled sadly as she grabbed his hand. "Please? Please, for me?"
Trapped because he hated to see her pain, trapped because he hated the cold, trapped because she wouldn't let go, he held her hand back. "Okay, but jus' for a little while."
...
...
"Herr Drake, will you not answer your door?" Kurt was on the verge of pounding the smooth wood just to get Bobby's attention. Maybe he should have left this to Remy.
Bobby answered angrily. "I'm sleeping, dammit!"
Kurt highly doubted that, both because Bobby had been out getting the mail earlier this morning and because he had to be awake to shout.
"Bobby, I am waiting for you." He glared at the door, as if Bobby could see that anyway.
"Is he being a sulky kid again?" Scott had been passing through the halls when he'd witnessed the unusual occurrence of the German getting angry.
"Ja. He locked the door."
Scott shrugged, putting his hands in the pockets of his khakis. "Let me try. Hey, Drake!"
"Go away! I'm sleeping!"
Scott twisted the doorknob. "Do you always sleep with the door locked?"
Darkly, "yes!".
"Okay, but I need to do some mandatory room inspection." He winked to Kurt and whispered to him that Xavier had given him the school keys. They could hear Bobby muttering grumpily on the other side.
"I'm coming in now!" Scott pushed the key in and opened the door slowly.
Bobby was sitting on his bed, arms embracing legs, bare feet pointing ahead, and staring out the window. His purple-tinted sunglasses were perched on the top of his head, holding back his hair. He didn't turn around when the two men entered. He didn't even twitch.
"Are you okay?" Kurt walked almost to the wall to see the Snowman's face. His eyes were reddened.
Scott stayed to the back, knowing that Kurt was much more adept at the comfort-situation.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Bobby turned around to look at them. A lock of light brown hair slipped from behind the glasses and fell in front of his eyes.
Kurt sat down in the beanbag chair, theatrically sighing in comfort and prompting an appreciative snort from Scott. Bobby smiled half- heartedly.
"You're sure you are fine?"
Bobby shrugged and his smile faded slightly. "Yeah, I said I'm fine. Why did you guys have to bust into my room?"
Kurt explained. "Well, we were organizing a little get together for all the men, and I was hoping you would like to come with us."
Bobby raised an eyebrow. "You barged into my room to ask me about that?"
"Is that a no?" Kurt looked disappointed.
Scott opened the door to leave. "Well, Kurt, I doubt it's a yes."
"Close the door behind you." The younger man said cruelly.
The blue-furred mutant sighed softly and followed Scott out. As he started to close the door behind him, he left a final comment.
"By the way, mein freund, I am sorry about the cat. I was not trying to get you in trouble with Lorna."
The door didn't make a sound as it closed.
...
...
Rogue could feel him tense his hand the instant they set foot outside. Remy shuddered and bit his lip, but kept walking forward with her along the path.
As soon as the snow came to his ankles, though, he stopped. She took a few steps forward with him, silently telling him to keep coming. He stayed where he was, seemingly fused to the ground by his feet.
"Why are we doin' dis?" He asked, wrapping his arms around himself.
In truth, she wasn't quite sure. "Because how else are ya gonna get over it?"
"Do I have to?" He whined softly, more to himself than to her.
"Just come a little further with me? See, y'aint dead yet." She tried to joke with him, but her voice fell as flat as the colors of winter. "Remy, Ah..."
"I'm goin' back in." He stated firmly, but didn't move. She grabbed a hold of his hand again, afraid that he would just slip away and disappear into the snow.
"Remy, please!" She put her hand on his chest, gently, trying to be comforting. Her eyes sparkled like icemelt. "It's drivin' me crazy! Ah know that Ah did this to you, but Ah'm just tryin' to fix it now! Ah don't want you t' be so afraid anymore, Ah want to share the world with you but Ah can't! Ah'm just tryin' ta help an' fix what Ah did!"
He still didn't move, but she felt him shiver again and look away. "Stop it, Rogue. I'm goin' back in."
She held tighter. "But Ah love you!"
He didn't answer, and that was when the tears came.
She buried her face into his chest, sobbing and clutching his shirt. It was destroying her that he simply refused her attempts to help. And it hurt even more that there she was, breaking down into him, and his arms were hanging limply at his side, his face watching her with dull, mute interest.
Watching her, he knew he was supposed to comfort her, to help hold her close and reassure her, but he couldn't find the strength. Outside, the cold may have drained all the love from him, and now it was spilling from her too. He couldn't do anything to stop it; he couldn't even bare to touch her face or shoulders now.
She finally separated herself from him, wishing she was entangled in him and trapped again. Instead, he let her go freely, and she almost hated him for it.
"C'mon, Rogue, let's go in."
There they stood, facing each other, ankle-deep in snow, and though he barely found the will to hold her hand as they walked back, it was enough for her.
...
...
"Hey, guys!" Bobby sprinted up to where Scott and Kurt were engaging themselves in a game of checkers. Apparently Kurt was winning.
Either victory put him in a good mood, or he'd forgotten about Bobby's earlier behavior entirely. "Guten tag, Herr Drake."
"Hey, Bobby." Scott didn't look up. The game was pretty much shot for him, but tenacity was part of his nature (and the result of being the field leader for far too long).
"Hey, uh, guys..." Bobby's hand was jammed so far down into his pocket that he could have been advertising for roomy cargo pants. He used his other hand to ruffle the hair on the back of his head awkwardly. His sunglasses fell from the top of his head to his nose. "I'm sorry I got all snappy at you. I just was, um, having, uh, a rough time with things earlier this morning."
He half-expected Kurt to get angry and rip his apology open, but the German just smiled happily.
"And if you aren't mad at me, I'd kinda like to come tonight."
Kurt's grin grew wide enough to expose the two sharp incisors. "Of course."
Bobby beamed and grabbed the footrest in the corner, pulling it up to the coffee table and watching them play. "So, where are we gonna go tonight?"
"We could decide on that now." Kurt jumped another one of Scott's checkers, ending the game. He reset the checkers and started the next round.
Scott gritted his teeth as he faced defeat. "Something indoors that isn't a hockey rink."
"Oh, is a Summers brother actually being considerate, for once? Wake the media!" Bobby slugged Scott playfully in the arm.
Scott smiled but kept his eyes on the board. "Yup, a Summers brother is actually thinking of his friends."
"So, how about a movie?"
"What movies are out?" Kurt's tail twitched and swayed on the floor, quicker with the anticipation of victory.
Bobby picked up the newspaper on the couch and skipped to the entertainment section. "Chick flics, mostly. Another sappy romance. Something with James Marsden-"
"Jean absolutely loves James Marsden." Scott said, bitterly and sarcastically.
"Another reason for us not to see it." The Snowman kept looking. "Sorry, Kurt, nothing with pirates. Chick flic, chick flic...war movie?"
Kurt stuck out his tongue and Scott shrugged.
"Guess not..." Bobby started reading from a review. "How about something that involves no intelligence, cool special effects, women in tight leather and corny comedic timing?"
"You've just summed up every action movie I've ever seen." Scott was losing again. "But it'll do."
"Sounds good." Kurt grinned broadly.
"League of Extraordinary Gentlemen it is, then!"
"If Hank and Remy agree, of course." Kurt used his tail to jump Scott's red checkers.
"Yeah." Bobby turned to the comics page.
After a few nods of assent, the conversation slowly dissolved into the white light of winter coming from the window.
"Checkmate."
"That's chess, Kurt. 'Checkmate' is chess."
"Ah, right. New game?"
...
...
Taking a sip of his mocha, Hank sank onto the couch. As he pulled a blanket onto himself, he used the remote to turn the TV on to his favorite channel – Discovery. There was supposed to be some documentary on time- space anomalies, which would undoubtedly go unappreciated by the rest of the mansion's inhabitants.
A familiar face appeared on the screen. "This is Trish Tilby, reporting on what is now known as the Manchester time-"
Hank picked up a book from the table and shut the TV off.
...
...
"There you are!" Lorna caught Rogue drifting through the halls. "Jean and I were looking for you."
"Huh?" Rogue looked at her green-haired friend through bleary eyes.
Lorna was not oblivious to the pain on Rogue's face. "Hey, are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, Ah'm..." The belle paused. "No, Ah'm not."
Lorna held Rogue's shoulders calmly. "'Cuz, you know, my shoulder's waterproof."
"Nah, Ah really don't wanna talk about it."
"You sure?"
Rogue smiled. "Pretty sure."
Her friend shrugged. "Okay, then. Wanna grab something to eat? Jean and I are hitting a restaurant tonight since the boys'll be out and we thought you'd like to come, or maybe shop for something. You know us girls and shopping. You up for it?"
"Lorna, Ah really ain't in the mood tonight."
Lorna rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. "You're no fun. First you ditch every poker night, and now you won't even come with us! Between you and your boyfriend, I'm not sure who's worse at getting out of the house!"
Rogue glared. "He did leave the house today."
Lorna ignored the last comment. "Anyway, you need a new scarf. That one's getting ratty." She tugged at it.
"Fine, Ah'll go!" Rogue conceded, exasperated. Lorna grinned wickedly.
"That's a girl. We all need to get out anyway."
Rogue smiled ruefully and rolled her eyes again. "How well Ah know."
...
...
"You can't possibly expect me to waste two hours on this drivel." Hank said in disgust at the movie choice.
"Actually, it's only an hour and a half, and you already agreed to it." A smug Bobby smirked at him.
Hank made as if to leave. "And to think that I'd actually attend something as idiotic as-"
"Aw, Haaank!" All four of the other men, spread around the room, whined.
"If it's awful, we'll pay ya ten bucks each." Remy offered.
"Still no." Hank said firmly.
"Twenty, den."
Bobby looked at the Cajun in shock. "I never agreed to this!"
Hank stood firm. "No."
Remy's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Twenty-five from each of us. One hundred all told."
Kurt backed Remy up. "And if it is good, you'll have had a good experience."
"Either way, mon ami, you win."
Hank shrugged and said, cynically, "Fine, assuming you make the three yard dash from the car to the theatre."
It was a shameful attack, and Remy wrinkled his nose. Bobby, however, slapped his thigh and declared, "So we're all going! But if this movie sucks, Remy, you owe me so bad..."
...
...
As soon as the sun started to set, the two groups, respectively, got into their separate cars. Scott had offhandedly suggested that the boys use the Toyota, because he 'liked it more'. In truth, it was primarily because it was already in the garage and he'd decided to spare Remy the particularly long driveway, even if the car was exceptionally crowded.
In return, Remy had volunteered for the most cramped seat, knowing Scott's true intent. Bobby was driving, rather hazardously, as his mind was on other topics.
"So, where are the women going tonight?" From shotgun, Kurt fiddled with the heater with his tail.
Scott had learned long ago that rolling his eyes had little effect with his glasses, so he just cocked his head cynically. "Shopping. Again. Let's just hope it's not for books or clothes."
"Or furniture!" Bobby cried, joining in.
"Rogue bought dis awful green leather couch last time. Lasted a week before dat damn cat tore it t' pieces."
"By the way, Scott, how's your arm?" Kurt looked apologetically at him.
Scott found that he could now laugh at the incident, seeing as it was behind him and Lorna had no chance of catching him. "It's just a scratch."
"Ah! Just a flesh wound!"
The entire car turned to look at Hank, stunned.
Bobby smiled broadly. "You've seen Monty Python?"
Hank blushed behind his fur and grinned.
"Okay, we're getting closer to civilization, guys. Hank, Kurt, image inducers up! Remy, put on those shades!" Scott barked as they entered the city.
...
...
The girls had decided to stop at a restaurant before taking full advantage of the twenty-four hour services at The Gap. The food had too much cheese, but for the most part it was enjoyable.
Lorna spied an attractive man across the room. "Look at that one."
"Ain't you s'posed to be with Bobby?" Rogue tried to correct her friend's behavior. She knew how sensitive Bobby could be, even if she was still hurt from their earlier conversation.
Lorna sighed and stirred her drink with her spoon. She murmured under her breath. "How long do you think that's gonna last?"
"Is it really that bad?" Jean's concern was palpable.
Lorna started. "No, no, it's not bad! It's just...other things, you know? He loves me to death, but I just...don't." She finished sadly.
She kept stirring her drink lazily. "Jesus, what am I gonna do?"
"About?" Jean asked.
Lorna sighed again. "Bobby. I don't like lying to him."
"Lying?" Rogue looked skeptical and took a bite of her cheeseburger.
Lorna looked dejected. "I told him I didn't miss Alex. But I don't know how to tell him the truth without breaking his heart."
Rogue and Jean both nodded sympathetically. Rogue felt that she'd already driven the knife deep enough between the Bobby and Lorna, so she kept her mouth shut.
"Hmm. I guess men just suck." Jean said randomly, sipping her own drink. "Scott actually thought I had an affair! God, its like there are no men with any self-confidence in the mansion. Maybe it's in the air. Hank would probably have some chemical analysis for it. Some weird mixture between testasterone and the air conditioner."
The other two girls nodded. How true! They just weren't sure if it extended to men only.
...
...
"Okay, guys, we're here!" Bobby pulled, having, thankfully, avoided an accident. "Let's get our tickets and pop on in!"
"Tuck your tail in!" Scott urgently whispered to Kurt. As Remy struggled to get over the backseat, behind which he'd been crammed, Scott tapped him on the shoulder.
"You wanna wait in the car while we get the tickets?"
Remy gave his lopsided grin. "Dieu, Scott, are you always dis over- protective about your teammates? Remy's fine bein' outside for a whole o' three minutes!"
Scott's lips parted in a smile as he hit the recline button, helping Remy out. "Glad to hear it. Now let's hope this movie's good or we owe money."
...
...
Lorna put a book back on the shelf. "What is it with all this lousy literature about people whining about their lives?"
"Dunno, guess that's what sells." Rogue leafed through a magazine in the store. Nothing incredibly interesting. Another celebrity breakup. Big deal.
Jean was looking through the latest romance novels. None of them interested her. "Hey, Rogue, there's some stuff here you might like."
"Ah outgrew Harlequin eight years ago." She said, but she wandered over to that section anyway.
"I'm just surprised none of us raided the self-help section yet." Lorna said absentmindedly.
"Well, Ah doubt any of them deal with tryin' to murder your ex's new girlfriend, eating a solar system and havin' poison skin." Rogue replied, equally absentmindedly.
Jean shushed her. "We're in public!"
Rogue smirked ruefully. "What, that doesn't happen to everyone?"
...
...
The boys came out of the theatre grumbling. Hank looked triumphant but tired, Remy looked through his wallet, Scott picked his way through the glove compartment and the other two promised to get the money when they got home.
"Shoulda listened t' Hank..." Remy muttered, handing over a twenty and a five and jumping, rather quickly, into the car.
Still, just a night out of the house and enjoying themselves (except for the movie) had been worth it.
...
...
"Bobby? Is that you?" Lorna was almost asleep on the couch in her room when he came in. "Was the movie good?"
She shifted her feet so he could sit down next to her. "The movie sucked, but it was fun. How was shopping?"
"Rogue got a new scarf and Jean got some books." She mumbled, resting her head on his shoulder.
He buried his face in her hair, absorbing the sweet scent of her. They couldn't be that screwed up. "What, you didn't bring me anything?"
She looked up at him and smiled. "You're so insistent." She kissed him lightly on the cheek, but let her lips linger. He couldn't help but think that it was empty. The both knew it was an acting job, that she was pretending he was someone else, that he was pretending not to notice.
Quietly, he lay into her and they closed their eyes, their breathing coincidentally synchronized. The button on her shirt bit into his cheek, but he didn't care. The one woman he really wanted was falling asleep in his arms, and no matter what, he wasn't going to let her go yet.
The touch of her hand turned off the light as the moon filtered from the winter. Throughout the night, it illuminated their sleeping forms. Tonight, they weren't alone in the dark.
...
...
Rogue had been downstairs watching TV when the men came back home, so she hadn't realized they were back until Kurt had come down to say goodnight half an hour later.
"Ah, mein schwester, I thought I wouldn't find you." He peered over the couch's headrest at her.
She sat up and turned off the television. "Didn't know y'all were back yet."
"Hmm." His tail twitched lazily. "Remy's already asleep. He was tired."
She yawned. "He ain't the only one. Ah just wanted t' be up when y'all got back. How long ya been here?"
"Half an hour." Kurt started to leave the room, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Good night."
"G'night to you too." Rogue got up and, brushing a white lock from her face, left for her room.
It was true – Remy was already sleeping. His soft breathing was hardly audible in the room. Rogue considered that a blessing, knowing his tendency to snore. His blankets had shifted slightly, exposing his bare shoulder.
"You awake, sugah?" She bent over him, saw his eyelashes flutter lightly. No answer. "Ah – Ah'm sorry for makin' you do that today. Next time you don't wanna do somethin', maybe Ah'll listen."
Before crawling into her own bed, she pulled a blanket back up to cover his shoulder.
...
...
Once again, Hank was comfortably sleeping alone. He believed that he, of all the inhabitants of the mansion, didn't truly mind it. His fur was warm enough by itself. Though dissatisfied with the amount of work he'd actually finished today, he'd hate to say that the day wasn't productive.
In fact, it had made him feel more accomplished than most of his studies had ever done.
...
...
Scott was surprised to see that he wasn't the only one with insomnia. His lovely wife was also in the kitchen, shoulder-length hair down and holding a cup of tea with all five fingers.
"Didn't expect to see you down here." She said lightly. "Y'want tea, honey?"
"Tea and honey'd be nice." He said, knowing that that wasn't her use for the word, but knowing she'd think it funny.
They laughed as the rest of their home slept.