Knocking at Your Door
Chapter 5
By Kanshisha Tenshi
Remy waited patiently outside of Rogue's door. It was the day after he'd given her the jewelry, and she had agreed that afternoon to the date. It was now 8:00 p.m. on a Tuesday. He was dressed in a short-sleeved black shirt with dark red trim and black pants, with obsidian boots and his trademark light brown trench coat. He went without the cowl (?) and wore an image inducer he'd picked up on his way to New York from Louisiana, making his eyes look brown instead of black-on-red. He resisted the urge to light up a cigarette, and suddenly the craving disappeared when Rogue opened the door to her room.
She walked out shyly wearing a short, sleeveless black dress trimmed in emerald, to match her eyes, having a low-cut v-neck, with matching black stilettos and handbag. A black choker--smaller than her usual collar, and sans the spikes--adorned her neck. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but her white bangs had stubbornly fallen out of its hold and hung framing her face. She went without her gothic makeup, instead opting for crimson lipstick and a light coating of white eye shadow. He whistled appreciatively.
"Nice, petite. Remy don't t'ink we gonna be gettin' past de bedroom," he teased.
"Shut up," she mumbled, glaring at him. "This dress was a present from one o' my friends back in Mississippi a few years back, but Ah haven't worn it 'cause o' th'...skin condition. Ah had t' borrow th' makeup from Kitty's stash." He held his hands up in defense.
"Remy know better dan t' complain 'bout good t'ings. Dis is definitely a change fo' de better, chére."
She looked down, trying--and failing--to hide the blush that spread across her cheeks. Remy chuckled and tilted her head up with one hand, grinning at her.
"Vous êtes belle, ma chérie." She moved past him, heading for the stairs.
"So where are ya takin' me on our..."
"Date?" he supplied. She nodded, fighting the urge to cringe. "Oh, c'mon, chére, it ain't dat bad." She didn't respond. "It's true!"
"Ah know, yer probably right, but Ah haven't been on a date since my powers manifested," she sighed.
"Well no need t' worry, ma petite, Remy gonna show you a good time," he replied with a grin. Rogue looked up at him like a cow looks at an oncoming train, not sure she liked that response, and swallowed hard.
"Great," she mumbled.
He drove her on one of the mansion's motorcycles, with some mild complaints from her about how Logan would kill them both, and sped to a tall, white building. It looked like an old Southern plantation, and she felt oddly at home. It was called the Confederate Yankee, which caused Rogue to snort, and stood out amongst the more bland, modern buildings around it.
Inside the lighting was provided by many elegant chandeliers, and aristocratic Southern music graced their ears. (A/N: Did I just rhyme? Wow!) A nervous-looking matre'd escorted them to their table, excusing himself politely as he walked to the kitchen. The lights dimmed, and a man walked to their table and lit two candles. Other patrons were waved to tables further away from Rogue and Remy's, and some were even rushed out. Rogue looked at Remy questioningly, and he just smirked in return.
"Connections, right?" she asked drly.
"O' course. What did you expect?"
"Ah dunno. Do they serve fried chicken here?"
"Well, Rogue, dis is a Sout'ern restaurant," he pointed out patronizingly. She waved the waiter over.
"Gimme a Pepsi an' some fried chicken."
"We only serve Coca Cola products here, ma'am," the waited said apologetically. "And what sides would you like?"
"Ugh. Fine, water. An'...mashed potatoes. An' some corn."
"And you, sir?"
Remy sighed. "Got any gumbo?"
"Go fish. Er...we do have marinated, spiced shrimp."
"Give me dat." Then he added mockingly, "An'...mashed potatoes. An' some corn."
"All right."
"Remy be jokin'! Jus' de shrimp, an' make it snappy."
"Yes, sir." The waiter went into the kitchen to give the cook the orders, and Rogue half-glared at Remy.
"You makin' fun o' meh, Gumbo?"
"Dat a new nickname, chére?"
"You inspired meh."
"O' course I did!"
"Don't start, swamp rat."
"Aww...you spoilin' all de fun, chére."
"It's Rogue. R-o-g-u-e. Not 'chére'. Rogue."
"Don' you know any French, river rat?"
"You mean Cajun-talk. Ain't exactly French. An' yeah, Ah do know it. But Ah'd still like it if you called meh by mah name."
"As you wish, ma belle."
"Theah you go again..." He grinned playfully at her, and she rolled her eyes. When their food arrived they drifted into silence, chewing thoughtfully, each lost in the depths of their own views.
Gambit at first thought about how cute Rogue looked, eating and thinking at the same time. Then he thought about how amazing it was she could accomplish that, like walking and chewing bubblegum--jokingly, of course. Eventually, however, his thoughts drifted toward his stay at the Xavier mansion with his dinner date. He had to think of some reason to get out of there without making it seem like he was going straight back to Magneto without having ever had thoughts of joining with the X-Geeks...oh...-Men...-Women...-People? Whatever.
Well, maybe it ain't so bad. I mean, dey got better digs dan de Acolytes do...not by much, but Remy used t' livin' in de best dere is. 'Sides, Mags's plans, dey always be failin'. Xavier an' his team, dey always de ones foilin' de plans. Remy don' wanna fight on de losin' side! But...come on, dis is like aimin' fo' world peace! It ain't gonna happen! Some deluded, baldin' man in a wheelchair be givin' out orders t' some o' de most powerful teens in de world 'bout stoppin' mutants who wanna stop all de hatin' an' fightin'. But...de only differences 'tween him an' Mags is de wheelchair, views...an' de hair. An' dey used t' be good friends, too. So de real questions are, who does Remy wanna take lip from, an' fo' what cause? Savin' non-mutants...or destroyin' 'em?
Ah wonder what he's thinkin' 'bout, Rogue thought. He sho' is a cutie when he's concentratin' hard! Her accent was exceptionally thick in her thoughts, and it made her shudder. Yuck. Ah have got to work on that. Gee, this sure is some great date. We're jus' eatin'! Not even talkin'! An' what in tarnations is he thinkin' 'bout? She followed her thoughts with a real cringe backed up by a grimace, startling Remy out of his thoughts. He took a look at her plate, then at her, and smiled lopsidedly.
"Chére certainly has an appetite, eh? You ready t' go, petite?"
"Yeah, Ah think Ah am." She paused, then scowled. "Ah have a name!"
"Sure y'do."
"Y'all are impossible..."
"Mhmm, keep talkin'." Remy tossed the waiter a wad of cash as he gallantly limped out beside his date, one arm entwined with hers. They rode home in silence, but his earlier thoughts continued to plague Remy.
Author's Notes: I am SO sorry for the really, really, REALLY late update! I seriously did mean to update a few weeks sooner, but this thing about some pilo nidal cyst (however it's spelled) came up so I couldn't really sit without excruciating pain. But I really did mean to update!
Although I'm sure some of you will be pleased to know I am working on about four new fanfics other than this. Only one of them has a definite title, unless I change my mind, and I had a few chapters written...I lost the pages for it, though. It's called Beyond Fandom, and it's an AU fic about our favorite mutants in an orphanage. It starts out with them heading on a bus to see some music group--and guess who makes up the group! It's like a rock boy band with Remy as the lead guitarist/vocalist (see where I'm going with it already?) and I think Pietro and St. John on other guitars. Sabertooth's the drummer--make sense? You know, banging on stuff and whatnot. Mystique's the band's agent. Haven't gotten too far in it, but I'm assigning roles...and I've got some general idea of how it'll go. Also, there's one fic (latest) involving my favorite couple meeting in an AOL chatroom, and later it may involve some other couples...like Kiotr, maybe I'll hook someone up with St. John. There's yet another AU fic involving man-made demons, and humans and mutants banding together to save the homo sapien/superior race(s). Basically, mutants protecting humans...which eliminates most of the discrimination! Yea! It'll be a Romy, so don't get too many hopes up, and there'll be violence and death. The last one is a semi-AU fic in which a new student will come to the institute and get at odds with Rogue...it's going to have a bad ending, but never fear, for there will be a sequel. Cryptic enough for ya? Also, I have in mind a sequel for Ace of Hearts, called Two of Hearts...stay on the lookout for updates!
This chapter is dedicated to Ning Ning, for her advertising of this story in her own fic, Self Possessed, and for insisting on me updating. Go read her fic! It rules!
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. School starts up tomorrow so I'm not promising when my next update will be, but hopefully soon. 'Til next time!