Disclaimer: The characters of X-Men Evolution are not mine. I'm just borrowing. :)
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Rogue could not forget his touch, his warmth, or the caress of his breath. No matter what she did, he seemed to follow her. He had been so forward! She felt giddy yet disgusted at the same time. A part of her longed for that moment when he came up behind her, but she brushed the feeling aside in favor of a desire to take a long, cleansing bath. She felt almost dirty. He had some nerve, indeed, to hold her like that. In fact, the next time he tried anything like that, she was going to show him why nobody messes with the Rogue. She was not some girl he could seduce in a moment's notice, only to drop cold later. No way.
Still, she remained so preoccupied that she took more hits than usual during that afternoon's training session. Sore and drenched with sweat, she headed straight for the bathroom, to take her much needed and much desired bath, taking no heed of Scott's frustration with her performance and ignoring him as she left the danger room. She did not give a damn, today. Damn boy scout.
After a long, relaxing soak, she emerged towel-clad feeling refreshed although her mind had hardly settled from its inner turmoil. Though then again, it was always in a state of disorder. She shrugged, opting to hum a tuneless song as she entered the room she shared with Kitty, locking the door behind her as she did so. About to head over to her dresser and shed the towel, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a praising whistle.
"You know, Roguey, you look even more beautiful without the make-up." Rogue clutched the towel tightly against her chest as she gaped at Pietro's gall. He was sitting nonchalantly on top of her bed, legs crossed and sporting his usual high-and-mighty smirk. "I'd say you come close to pulling off the natural look as well as I do."
"Uh, excuse meh, Pietro?" Rogue scowled at him. "If ya haven't noticed, Ah just came out o' a bath, an' Ah need to change." Pietro's grin widened.
"Well, be my guest." Rogue waited for a moment before she realized that he was not leaving. She gave him a silent glare and Pietro smiled innocently back. "What?" She sighed, huffing in frustration.
"What're ya doin' here anyway, Pietro? Last Ah knew, ya still call the brotherhood y' home, not the 'X-Geek' mansion."
"Easy, Roguey. I wanted to ease your suffering from being away from me for too long."
"In y' dreams."
"Oh, well, yes, I 'ease your suffering' there too, if you know what I mean."
"Pietro!"
"What?"
Rogue shook her head, lifting her free hand to clutch at her forehead. "What do ya want, really? An' how'd ya get past the security?" Pietro smirked, eyeing her as if to express disbelief in her not being able to figure it out herself. Or was it more as if to will her towel to fall? "Quit lookin' at meh lahke that, pervert." Pietro chuckled, his blue eyes mirthful.
"Well, to answer your questions, I'm fast, remember? Your security couldn't pick me out in a million years." He zipped to the other side of the bed, sprawling out into a playboy pose, his expression mischievous. "And for your first question... I know you want me, and I can't stand to see women suffer."
Rogue sighed, almost growling. "Oh, Ah give up. Go away, Pietro. Ah need to change." Pietro's grin faltered slightly as he hesitated, looking as if there was more that he wanted to say. A serious truth he wanted to tell her, void of jokes and teases. Rogue did not notice this, however, and only stared at him impatiently, beginning to tap her bare foot against the floor. Forming resolve, Pietro sat up, opening his mouth as his eyes meet her green ones; but there the words were taken from his tongue, he was left breathless, his voice arrested by a gaze into her eyes. He could get lost in them. He wanted to. And he wanted to tell her so. "Pietro, I told ya ta quit gawkin' already. What's y're problem, git goin'!" But he could not tell her. Not now.
But he had to, before Gambit messed things up. But just... not now. Flipping up onto his feet, he sported a wry grin once more, the mask going up easily from practice, and darted in until he was within an arms' length of her. "Oh, Roguey Roguey Roguey, playing hard to get!" She raised an arm as if to smack him but he stood his ground, raising a finger and shaking it at her. "Nuh-uh, tsk tsk, you wouldn't do that to your best friend, now would you?" Rogue smirked, swinging her hand at him, which he predictably dodged.
"An' who said ya were mah best friend?"
Pietro grinned, blowing kisses at her as he zipped over to the balcony, resting his foot against the railing, posing again. "I did, of course. Now, I'll let that slide, but the next time you try that, you'll regret it!" Rogue quirked an eyebrow, her lips trying to hide a smile as she took a few steps toward him.
"Is that a threat?"
"What do ya think?"
"Ah think a certain Pietro is lookin' fer a beatin'."
"Is THAT a threat?"
Rogue grinned, mimicking his voice from earlier. "What do you think?"
Pietro smirked, blatantly running his eyes up and down her body. "I think you're HOT," he stated, emphasizing the last word in a playful manner. Rogue dropped her jaw, feigning shock and continuing to play along, though her cheeks were tinged with a tell-tale pink. She picked up a pillow and flung it at him.
"Oh, git already, ya playboy."
Standing up on the railing, he caught the pillow. "Ooooh, we've got pet names now? I didn't know you loved me that much." Rogue wrinkled her nose.
"Well, that's because I don't."
"Oh, well that's just hurtful." Pietro pouted, hugging the pillow childishly to his chest before leaning back, seeming to fall into thin air. Rogue shrieked and rushed over to the balcony, careful to keep the towel tight around her.
"Piet-" she cut off when she noticed him laughing from the ground. He apparently had caught his momentum with his speed, running down the side of the building instead of falling.
"I had you there, didn't I, Roguey?"
"So not funny."
Pietro laughed again. "Loosen up, will ya?" Looking around, he waved at her with her own pillow. "Well, I should go before the other X-Geeks see me. Thank you for your token of love!"
"What? Wait, Pietro, that's mah pillow!" she shouted, but he had already sped off. "Lousy, sonofa-" She cut off when she heard a sharp rap at her door.
"Rogue, ya in there?" It was Logan. "I heard you scream. An' I also heard the name Pietro," he growled. She shook her head, smiling. Even though the door was in the way, she could just imagine the gruff man standing there, tense and ready to pound anything that moved. "He's that Maximoff, kid, right? Quicksilver, the one with Magneto?" Rogue grimaced. Somehow she forgot, or at least put it out of her mind. Maybe she was just being hopeful.
"Ah'm fine, Logan. Ah was jus'... lettin' out some o' the frustrations Ah been havin' at school." That was not a complete lie. She immediately remembered Remy again, but shook her head fiercely to clear it once more. After a moment, she added, "An' don' come in, Ah'm not changed." There was a silence, although Rogue imagined she could hear him sniffing right outside her door. She hoped Pietro had stayed far enough that his cologne would not reach Logan's alert senses.
"I don' like it," he grumbled. Rogue tensed, and there was another moment of silence. Eventually, she heard his feet shuffle slightly. "Alright, yeh'd best be gettin' dressed. Dinner's comin' up in th' near future." He strode away, leaving Rogue to herself and her thoughts. She changed, albeit slowly, her eyes looking at the empty spot that her pillow normally filled.
That's right, Pietro did betray them all, didn't he? And here she was bantering playfully with him, feeling rather comfortable despite her lack of clothing. She enjoyed it, too. Plus, she liked his cologne. But how was she to really overlook what he did? He did not seem that bad, for a brotherhood member. In fact, he was fun company, and he had a tender side, as he had shown her earlier, when he saved her from that Acolyte. Remy. Suddenly the memories of the cajun's touch and smell returned to her, leaving her dizzy. She had wanted him then, when she was resting within his arms. She might have done anything to have him. Terrifying thought, in retrospect. It was a good thing that Pietro... No, she did not need him to save her. And besides, she could not have Remy anyhow. She would never be able to have anybody. There was no use thinking about these things, it was a moot point. Give it up already. She sighed, surprising herself with how forlorn she sounded. Clenching her newly gloved fist, she hardened herself as she left her room to join the others for dinner.
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Hm. I edited this one sorta. I'm not sure I'm completely happy. I think everything went pretty much as I wanted it to, though I ended up regretting keeping her in a towel all that time. I might change this chapter, too, sometime. Rogue seemed to be too nice, considering that she WAS in just a towel, and Pietro WAS in fact sitting there ogling her, if you will. But I wanted them to talk. And chances are that if she blew up at him, he'd just high-tail it, and come back later. Though, that defeats the point of this chapter. I could have her just not take a shower, but then she'd be all sweaty and stinky and hardly appealing. Naw, couldn't have that. I don't know.
I've been getting quite a few reviews, and I thank y'all for it :) If you've noticed, it gets me to update pretty quickly.
I've been getting comments on how this is a Romy fic. Not bad ones, just neutral/positive. Like, 'oh, this is a Romy' or 'ooooh, Romy.' Those I have nothing to say about. There are also comments on how it's a Remy/Rogue/Pietro fic, which it is too. Specifically, Emerald expressed regret with how Pietro like never gets the girl in this triangle. Well, I too have been converted somewhat to liking Rietro too. But I could never write a R/R/P triangle fic with Pietro coming out on top. That just seems wrong to me. I can't do it. I have too much loyalty to Remy, I love the cajun! That said, I could never write a long series Rietro. MAYBE I could do a short one, I've been debating. In any case, I'm ranting as I tend to do. The point that I wanted to state is that I don't intend for Pietro to be fully brushed aside in this fic. I'm thinking that this chapter will give you guys sort of an idea about how she feels about the two of them at the moment, keeping in mind that this is only the beginning, and only preliminary emotions. No, I don't want no love at first sight stuff. No, Pietro didn't just look at Rogue and fall in love. I'll explain that later. We know Remy's intentions (bad bad boy), and Rogue's feelings... see above.
Heh, it almost seems like Pietro, at this point, is better for her. Romy fans, don't worry, I won't betray you. Hmm, yes, Rogue seems the popular one, but it's a triangle fic, what do you expect? It's not like I have everyone love her. If you notice, she's been dealing with this alone, like there's no one to for her to seek advice, or who she wants to go to seek advice. So maybe she's got love interests, but if you noticed, she brushed that aside, choosing solitude again. She always seemed like an alone type of character anyhow, so that's why she's like that. Pietro seems more like himself in this chapter than in my previous ones. I don't know, what do you think?
Thanks for reviewing :) Keep it coming, so I can adjust my writing to further please you, provided it goes along with my plot.
Rielyn
(Don't I rant ALOT?)