A/N: This may not make any sense, it may make perfect sense. Just.. getting it out there. My first Movieverse Rogue/Scott fic.
She is dieing in that slow kind of way Melanie Griffith spoke of in that one movie. The one with the south heavy in everyone's drawls? Yeah... that's the one. She says those exact words out loud only once and she knows he heard her even if he doesn't exactly reply instantly like Bobby would.
This is what Bobby would say without much thought on the matter: You're so morbid sometimes.. I mean, don't you think the glass is half full?
Well, Bobby, it isn't a case of glasses being half anything. It's a simple fact that everyone is dieing and some faster than others and others slower than some. At least, that is what she'd like to say but she can't help but want to keep Bobby smiling as long as possible. He looks better that way and it doesn't make her heart hurt so much from her 'morbid' thoughts.
So, she doesn't say those words out loud to Bobby, ever. She says other things to him that are light as feathers and sweet as candy, and saves the heavier words for those with open hearts. It isn't Bobby's fault that he could never handle her odd thoughts and words, she wouldn't have him any other way, sweet Bobby Drake.
It isn't Scott's fault that he can handle her odd thoughts, and really she wouldn't have him any other way, but she knows there are others who wished he were just as light hearted as Bobby. Jean never said this, of course, but she thought it often enough that her face tended to express the way of thinking more than she probably realized. Telepaths think so much, it is a wonder they aren't making an unusual expression every five seconds.
This is what Scott does say, after several moments of consideration while pretending to check her homework: Why do you say that?
He rereads the same sentence five times because she is leaning closer to him and that means two things to him. Danger and Intimacy.
She could kill him with a kiss, and the more he thinks about that the more he likes the idea of it.
Rogue yawns, and her eyes roll up briefly to survey the ceiling with sudden interest as she replies simply. She doesn't quite know what brought up all the dieing business, but if she had to guess (which she did) she would merely blame it on what Jubilee told her earlier.
What did Jubilation say, asks Scott who is hungry for her words to fill his ears so he won't think about that kissing so much.
She said it was sad to think that Quicksilver might be dieing faster because he simply is faster, even if he... wasn't always very nice. So, Rogue thought that people where all dieing but either fast or slow depending on how they lived. She told this to Jubilee and Jubilee said: Oh yeah, like people who are like bright flames go out quicker?
Rogue does not think she is such a bright flame because how can someone live, really live if they can't even touch the ones they love? If she can't do that how is she supposed to live in the moment when she can't create moments? Like, a moment of love with a kiss or a moment of hate with a slap, or a moment of surprise with bone crushing hugs or a moment of laughter with cheeks pressed together in order to pose for a silly picture?
After she is done telling Scott the origins of her dieing slow comment, he places the red pen down on the desk and turns to her in a most Bobby like way, quick and unhesitant.
He has to do it in a Bobby way or else he will lose his courage (the courage everyone assumes the fearless leader is never parted with) and he might never get the chance again.
Rogue, he says in a voice that brings out all his authority as a leader so she won't doubt but rather trust, you don't even have to touch me and you're creating a moment.
Her eyebrows raise and she is giving him the universal signal for 'go on'.
Not that he wants her to think he thinks she is dieing fast, he points out, he just wants her to know that she doesn't have to touch (like most people) in order to invoke emotional and physical response. In order to live. She just has to be there, really, like now.
She doesn't scoot away when he says this, and she seems to be smiling more while he finishes checking her homework.
I think our love is going to be kind of different, she says and he pats her knee under the table. Secret is probably a better word for it, he thinks, but he doesn't say this out loud. It's not a completely private affair, not with the Professor in the same building, but it's quiet, soft spoken and saved for the right moment to let others know. A moment where age will be forgotten because soon everyone will want as much love as they can get with talks of war and danger coming up more often than not.