Rogue smiled to herself, shaking her head, and sat back down to watch the water. She was still very shaken by the events in recent days, and was just as glad that Logan was going to be gone for a while. He was very intense, with rapid mood swings, and she was going to need the time without him to wrap her mind around its newest inhabitant.
Instead of getting more focussed, Rogue's mind began spinning in circles. She wondered idly if she should break up with Bobby, or just wait for him to do it. The age difference between them had been showing up more and more lately. Chronologically, there was less than a year between them, but with Rogue's having more than a century's worth of memories in her mind, she felt very old some days.
She had very little patience for kids her own age. She realized that she hadn't really been a teenager since the night Magneto touched her. Rogue realized that the adult thing to do would be to break it off with Bobby herself. Admitting that the meditation thing just wasn't working for her right then, she got up and went to find him.
She found him in the rec. room playing foosball with Kitty. Rogue smiled to herself, knowing that Kitty had liked Bobby for quite a while. "Bobby, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, just a sec. I just have to – there!" Bobby grunted as he sank the ball and grinned at Kitty. "Want to play best two out of three?"
"Sure, okay," Kitty said.
"I'll just be a minute," Bobby promised the brown-haired girl. He turned to Rogue. "OK, what's up? Are you ready for an apology yet?" He tried his most conciliatory tone of voice.
"Let's go over here," Rogue said, motioning toward the couch. They sat down and shared an awkward silence for a moment.
"Listen, Rogue," Bobby began, at the same time Rogue started to speak.
"This isn't –" she said. They smiled.
Bobby started again. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for flipping out on you last night. I was just worried about you, and I missed talking to you, that's all."
"Worried about me? Why?"
"Well, you were gone for seven hours! Anything could have happened to you!"
Rogue raised her eyebrows. "But you knew I was with Logan, right? What could have happened?"
Bobby squirmed. "Well, you have to admit, the guy's a little unpredictable," he said. "I'm not sure you should be spending so much time with him, actually. What if he gets the wrong idea?"
Rogue sighed. It looked as if now was the time to cut him loose. "Bobby, Logan is fairly predictable to me. He's been in my head for a year, remember? And if he ever did get the 'wrong idea' about me, whatever that is, he and I are friends. We talk about stuff." Rogue sighed. "Bobby, I don't think this is going to work out between you and me. You deserve to be with someone who can touch, someone who doesn't have a constant stag party going on in her mind. I deserve better than to be told what to do and who to be friends with and how to spend my time."
"So this is it, then?" Bobby said. "You're dumping me?"
Rogue considered, and said, "Yeah, I am. Gently, I hope – but we can't be together like you want. I'm sorry."
"Hey, that's okay," Bobby said icily. "If you'd rather break up than work things out, fine. I'll see you around, then," and he went back to where Kitty was waiting for him at the foosball table. Rogue saw them talking quietly while getting ready for the next game, and smiled to herself. She'd bet it wouldn't even be a week before Kitty caught the rebound!
Dinner was quiet; Professor Xavier joined them in the dining room as he sometimes did, and Rogue sat with him to talk. She explained that she was not comfortable starting formal training to join the team until she got her head in order, but that she hoped to be able to join in a few weeks.
"I understand completely, Rogue, and I appreciate your honesty. Many students would have joined up, unprepared, and been a liability later on. I value your ability to know your limitations, and I look forward to working with you on your mental training." The professor was ever gracious and voluble.
"Thanks, Professor." Rogue speared up a piece of broccoli and ate it. "Uh, did Logan talk to you before he left?"
"Yes, and I will be in touch with him some of the time he's gone via Cerebro," Xavier answered. "He will likely be gone some weeks, but I see no reason to postpone your training until his return. You can start combat training with Scott, who will give you a good basis, and then continue with Logan when he returns. Meanwhile, perhaps you would like to begin 'unofficial' team training while we work on assimilating your personalities as well? It would be a shame to lose all that time." Xavier had a twinkle in his eye. He knew that Logan was afraid of being rushed, but he also knew that Rogue would need some tactile, concrete lessons to balance out all the mental work that needed to be done.
Rogue smiled and agreed. After dinner was her first meeting with Ororo, and it went well. With hard work and intense concentration, Rogue was able to achieve a few moments of peace. It felt good!