Touching

Disclaimer: These are borrowed characters. Borrowed! I don't own the X-Men, the concept, characters, nothing! Don't sue me or I'll cry.

"So, what can you tell me about the abundance of mutants in your school, principal Kelly." Essex slunk forward, slowly lowering himself into a seat though his eyes never left the unnerved principal. Nathaniel Essex had a commanding presence that was only enhanced by his sharp sense of style. He was dressed in a pressed suit and tie, with his jet black hair combed neatly back from his forehead. Simple, official, meant business. He was unnaturally pale, but it only emphasized his angled features and piercing dark gaze. "There is, you know, an abundance of mutants here. More so than in any other school in the area."

"I'm fully aware of that, superintendent." Kelly remained standing, his fingertips tapping a nervous beat on top of his desk. "But I assure you, it does not in any way hinder the school in providing a quality education. The faculty, including myself, are doing all we can to ensure the safety of our students, and in fact, we are this close to finding the means to expel the-"

"You shall do no such thing." There was a sort of vehemence in his voice, though his expression remained cool and calculating. Almost amused.

Kelly blinked. "Pardon?"

Essex allowed his thin lips to curl up into a slow smile before he responded. "Why do you wish to rid the school of the mutants?"

"Why, they're dangerous!" Kelly stared at him incredulously. "A menace to society!"

"Indeed."

A pause. "Do you mean to suggest that I allow them to continue attending Bayville High? That I continue putting the children at risk?"

Essex sat forward in his chair, elbows leaning against his knees and hands folded under his chin. "So. Say you expel these students, children in their own right-"

"Well..." began Kelly, "You may call them children but that doesn't mean-" He was silenced by a sharp gesture from Essex.

"So you expel these students. What then?" A smirk crossed the superintendent's lips. "Tell me, what exactly are you afraid of, principal?"

"These mutants pose a very tangible threat to us humans, superintendent. Have you seen what they are capable of? What chance do we humans have against a force like that?"

"You are saying they are capable of taking over, then."

"Yes!"

Essex arched his eyebrows. "And you believe that they are all plotting against us?" He didn't wait for an answer. Getting up from his seat, he strode towards the window, gesturing towards the students below. "So why do you intend to do away with the opportunity we have on hand? Wouldn't expulsion merely give them more time to plot in private?" Turning back towards Kelly, he regarded the principal intensely, his lips still curled up in an infuriating smirk. "Why don't we monitor them? Study them. Better to know what we are dealing with, don't you agree?"

There was a moment of silence as Kelly considered his words. "What do you need me to do?"

Satisfied, Essex straightened, a grin widening on his lips. "I need information on these students of yours."

"Ah don' know why Ah evah agreed ta go out with ya," lamented Rogue, crossing her arms in front of her and refusing to look at her boyfriend. He was sitting beside her on the couch, rapidly flipping through the tv channels and enjoying the last jelly-filled donut. The last jelly-filled donut.

"Aw, now Roguey, don't be like that," Pietro whined, though his eyes remained planted on the swiftly changing channels.

"Hmph."

The speedster finally turned towards her to give her a pout, but she just turned her head away. "Oh c'mon!" He smiled at her with a hopeful look in his eyes. "I love you..?"

"Hah, if ya loved meh, Ah'd be the one with that donut, sugah."

Pietro sighed. "Why do I go out with such a brat?"

Rogue turned to face him then. "Excuse meh?!" She glared at him. "Care ta repeat that, speedy?"

"Well, it's not like you'd even finish the donut, or even eat it in the first place. You're always goin' on about some diet." He nudged her with his elbow as he turned back to the tv. "Admit it, you only want the donut cause I have it."

"Ah lahke jelly donuts!"

"Sure, Roguey," he replied dubiously. "And I like to take my time."

"Ah do!" Growling, she snatched the tv remote out of his hand. "Ah really don't know why Ah put up with ya most of the time."

"Because I'm cute and you can't resist me," he grinned, finishing off the donut. Inching closer to his girlfriend, he slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Admit it, you can't help but love me."

She tried to maintain her angry expression but only half-succeeded as a smirk curled the corner of her mouth. "No."

He grinned mischievously, tightening his hold around her shoulders as his other hand got poised above her middle. Threateningly. She began to squirm, stifling a preemptive giggle. "You going to tell me you love me or do I have to tickle it out of you?"

Rogue hesitated for a moment but stubbornly shook her head, her eyes fixating him with the challenge. "You wouldn't dare..."

"Oh well, you asked for it!" With that, he pounced, tickling her sides and causing her to laugh helplessly.

"Pietro!" she shrieked in protest, struggling to escape, but he just pinned her beneath him, tickling her mercilessly. They wrestled until both were out of breath, Rogue curling up at a last attempt to escape the disarming touches. "Okay! Okay! Ah love ya. Ah love ya!" she cried, a few giggles escaping her as he ended his torture. "My stomach hurts..." she groaned as they adjusted themselves to lay relaxed on the couch, Pietro's head resting on her collarbone.

"Sorry, Roguey. I'd kiss it and make it all better but I'm feeling too lazy right now."

She snorted, reaching over to poke him sharply in the side. "Ah knew it. Ya don't love meh!"

Pietro squirmed slightly, moving to wrap his arms around hers, trapping them against her body. "Sure I do. Just not enough to move right now."

Rogue chuckled, shaking her head in resignation. If anyone had told her a year ago that she would gain the ability to touch, leave the X-Men for the Brotherhood, end up dating Quicksilver – she would have laughed in their face. But here she was, cuddling with Pietro, and she could not be happier. Well, ok, no, she could, but she was well on her way to that point. If only she had chosen Pietro in the first place, she lamented. Oh well. She wasn't going to dwell on it.

"Roguey?"

She blinked, startled out of her thoughts. "Yeah?" She looked down at him. Pietro had lifted his head and was resting his chin on the palm of his hand while the other was playing with her necklace. He looked a bit off, his movements awkward as he wasn't used to being naturally slow instead of intentionally so.

"You never really told me about this necklace of yours." He released the chain, looking relieved as he did so. "Where'd you get it?"

She remained silent for a bit, a hand going up to finger the links of her necklace. "Mm. Hank gave it to me." She furrowed her brow, trying to remember his words. "Something about the Gems of Cyto-whatever. Ah don't remembah."

"Gems of Cytorrak," Pietro stated. "The same ones my father..?" She looked at him and smiled ruefully, nodding.

"Yeah, though instead o' evolvin' us, Hank made them devolve us. In a mattah of speakin', o' course. So he said."

"Oh." Pietro furrowed his eyebrows, regarding her carefully. "It doesn't sound... healthy. You know, devolving and all that. You think if you wear it long enough you'll go back to bein' a kind of caveman... er, cavewoman? Maybe even a monkey?"

Rogue rolled her eyes, flicking him on the side of the head. "A monkey?"

"Well, that's what they say we evolved from, isn't it?" He grinned. "Ooh, you know, I always wanted a monkey for a pet."

Ignoring him, she began playing with her necklace again. "Well, Hank an' tha professah didn't really want meh ta be wearin' it all the time. In fact, Hank was s'posed ta monitor meh. S'only experimental, he said." She pursed her lips. "Ah was s'posed ta keep workin' on controllin' mah power without it."

Pietro smiled, propping himself up on his elbows over her. "Well then, why don't we keep workin' on it? I'll help you."

She frowned. "Pietro, Ah don' want ta hurt ya."

"An' y' won't, petite." Paling, Rogue turned to see Remy leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed in front of him. His eyes seemed to flash a furious red to see Pietro draped over her, though his lips remained set in a thin smile. "Speedy's gotta go. Got a meetin' wit' Magneto."

I have a plan! Well, sort of. I kind of know where this is going now. Like, I already knew before, but I know more of the specifics now.

Can you tell I'm kind of having trouble with the characterization? Feels kind of awkard, doesn't it? And the tempo seems kind of sluggish. I dunno.

Best I can promise is that I'll get the main thing down, and if it bothers me too much, it'll be improved upon when I go back later and revise the story. Which I will. Prolly end up months from now, when I even start that. Prolly be like a year or so until this whole fic is completely complete.

Slow and steady, well not so much steady, but slow. Haven't forgotten the fic, though. Obviously.

Anyway, see, the problem is I kind of got over my temporary infatuation with Rietro. So writing fluffy scenes with those two is kind of weird. I tell you, I kept wanting to put Remy in Pietro's place. I'm kind of impatient to get it all done with.

Hopefully everything will get exciting again. Soon. It should, the next chapter. Definitely. As the next chapter requires a bit more energy. Well, so long as it goes as I'm planning. Of course, I had always planned this to be a very brief, just romy fluff, kind of fic. At most, ten chapters. Ten! So yea, things don't always go as planned. Who knows?

I think I might have a surprise in store for you guys though.... Or I could just be predictable and not know it. Ah well.

Til next time :)

- Rielyn