Author's Notes: Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in italics. Telepathic conversation is underlined.
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Rogue stared in open-mouthed shock at her bare, white-skinned hand resting on Piotr's tanned flesh. She was so paralyzed by the complete and utter surprise of the lack of pull of her power that she couldn't speak, couldn't think, couldn't even move. Tears came to her eyes and slipped silently down her pale face.
"Rogue?" Piotr asked after a few moments. "Are you okay?"
She lifted her tear-streaked face to look at him, choking out, "I'm... touching you."
Piotr frowned slightly, obviously having forgotten about her power, or else not having realized her hands weren't gloved. He made no move to pull away from her touch, and Rogue could only be grateful for it. It had been so long since she had felt someone else's skin on her own without immediately being sorry for the negative affect it had.
"Perhaps your powers have shut down for some reason?" he asked softly, lifting one hand to wipe the tears from her face.
Gasping at the gentle contact, Rogue had to concentrate on herself for a minute before she could answer, "No. My power is a steady hum beneath my skin that reacts violently the instant I touch someone. It's not reacting to you, but it's still there, waiting. You... you must be immune for some reason."
"Maybe it is because of my mutation," Piotr observed, referencing his ability to turn himself into living organic steel.
Rogue nodded slowly, "Maybe."
Wanda came into the room and Rogue reluctantly pulled away from the first skin-to-skin contact she'd had in a very long time without hurting someone.
"I'm sorry for running into you," she apologized to Piotr.
She excused herself quietly and left to go to her room and think. She completely forgot about lunch.
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After an absent-minded nod in Wanda's direction, Piotr started to leave the kitchen.
"Piotr, wait," Wanda called.
Turning to face her, Piotr waited for Wanda to speak.
"Was Rogue just touching you with her bare skin?" she asked excitedly.
When the redhead made to go after their newest housemate, Piotr stopped her.
"She does not have control, I am simply immune."
"Oh," Wanda said in obvious disappointment. She studied him for a moment thoughtfully. "Do you like Rogue?"
"She is a nice person," he answered warily. "I do not know her well yet."
"Well, none of us do, she's only been here a few days," Wanda responded. "But you can touch her, and I know what that means to her. I think, unless you have some objection, that you should take her out on a date. You may be the only chance she has at a semi-normal life."
Piotr seemed surprised by the thought but nodded slowly, "I will think about it."
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Wanda told Rogue about her idea the next morning, so it wasn't as much of a surprise to Rogue when later that day Piotr tracked her down and asked her out. To ease into the situation easier, they decided on a daytime date. They chose a picnic in the park in the center of town followed by a trip to the New York Museum of Art. Rogue was a little surprised to find that she enjoyed herself for the whole 'date'.
Once they had gotten over their initial awkwardness, they found that they had many things to talk about, and the day had gone by much faster than Rogue had thought it would. It was dark by the time they made it back home.
Standing on the front porch with Piotr, Rogue was suddenly nervous for the first time in hours. Piotr, who must have somehow sensed her nervousness, slowly moved closer to her and dipped his head. Lightly, he brushed his lips over hers. The gesture was soft and pleasant, but nothing more. When Piotr pulled away, Rogue looked up into his dark blue eyes. His expression was guarded. Had he not felt anything either?
"Nothing?" she dared, needing to break the silence that could soon become awkward.
Piotr breathed a sigh of relief at her tone and confirmed, "Nothing. You are a very nice girl and I would like us to be friends, but..."
Piotr shrugged his broad, muscled shoulders.
"I completely agree," Rogue said with a small smile.
It would have been so easy if she had been attracted to him and he to her. Easy to make some kind of life with someone who was immune to her deadly skin, someone she could give all of herself to. A tear escaped to slide down her cheek at the thought.
As he had in the kitchen when they had first discovered he could touch her, Piotr lifted one of his large hands and wiped the tear from her cheek, his hand staying to cup her face for a moment before he let go.
"Maybe there are others who are immune," Rogue mused aloud.
Piotr looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke.
"Any time you need someone to hold hands with, or to hug or just sit next to without having to wear gloves, I am here."
"You'd do that for me?" Rogue asked tremulously.
Piotr raised a hand to cup her face again and said simply, "Yes."
"Thank you," Rogue smiled radiantly.
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"The taxi's here; are you ready to go?" Rogue asked from the doorway to Piotr's room.
She was about to be separated from the man who had become one of the very few people she had ever called 'best friend', but Rogue knew it was best for him. Piotr was a friendly person by nature, but staying in Magneto's mansion was understandably making him bitter. A month after their failed attempt at a date and the start of their unconventional friendship, Rogue had finally convinced him to tell her why it was that he stayed.
Piotr's older brother, Mikhail, had been a cosmonaut whose shuttle had crashed. Magneto had contacted Piotr and told him that if Piotr worked for him, he'd tell Piotr what the government had done with Mikhail's body. Wanting to ease her friend's turmoil and free him from Magneto's grasp, Rogue had sifted through Magneto's memories. The process had been terrifying, the Erik in her head unable to keep her from reliving his time in the concentration camps despite his best efforts. But in the end, she had been able to tell Piotr that Magneto knew nothing of his brother's final resting place.
Rogue had broken down into tears after, and Piotr had held her in his lap and let her cry for nearly two hours. Having someone who could physically hold and comfort her had helped immensely as it had after nightmares and during times in the past month when she had been suffering greatly from the voices in her head. They talked quietly about their experiences for several minutes before she told him that Xavier's school would be a better place for him.
The only convincing it had taken was Rogue promising that their friendship would not end just because they were no longer living in the same place. As long as Pitor kept information he shared with the Professor about her to a minimum.
Piotr took one last look around his room and nodded in answer to Rogue's question.
"Then let's get you out of here," Rogue responded, picking up the smallest of his bags and heading for the front drive where Piotr's taxi waited.
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Rogue had called the taxi service and paid for it herself, requesting a van in deference to Piotr's bags and his large frame. It had helped to keep her mind preoccupied rather than dwelling on losing him. For though she knew they would stay in touch, she would no longer get to see him every day. She wouldn't sit in the library and read as he sketched her. Wouldn't sit with him on the porch swing and listen to stories of his life in Russia as he showed her his sketches of his home and family.
The little things like that had been most important to both of them. At first Rogue had been afraid that she was the only one getting something out of their friendship, but she had quickly realized that he shared his fears and hopes with her just as much as she did with him. Piotr was closer to her than he was to anyone else in the house, and he had already been living with them over a year before she had shown up.
She had briefly considered taking him to the school herself, but knew the X-Men would have questions she didn't want to answer. She was also afraid that she might be tempted to stay. As much as Rogue looked forward to each week's call with Mystique and as much as she liked her housemates, she also had to live with the constant fear of what would happen when Magneto was free. For though he wasn't scheduled to be released as far as she knew, Mystique was determined to rescue him, and the Erik in Rogue's head was, of course, very familiar with Magneto's persistance in getting what he wanted. And Rogue had no doubt that he wanted out of jail.
When Piotr had asked why she hadn't stayed at Xavier's herself, Rogue had explained what had happened before and after the Statue of Liberty incident. Piotr had understood her reticence. He had also understood, after how well they had gotten to know each other in the past month, why she had been so willing to give Mystique a chance to redeem herself. Piotr and Rogue had shared so much of their lives together that they could at times read each other's minds without use of Rogue's borrowed powers.
"You'll be fine," Piotr assured her.
Rogue smiled. She was supposed to be the one reassuring Piotr that he was making the right choice in leaving the Brotherhood House. But instead he was convincing her that she would be okay staying behind.
Approaching the back of the van, Rogue tossed the small bag in and watched the driver help Piotr situate the remaining luggage.
"That everything?" the man asked.
Piotr nodded and turned to Rogue. Rogue smiled and opened her arms. Pitor wrapped his arms around her and lifted her a foot off the ground in a powerful hug.
"Ya budu sku chai," he said softly in her ear.
Rogue smiled sadly; over the past month he had taught her some Russian phrases. "I'll miss you, too. Ya lu blue ti biah."
"And I love you, my dearest friend," Piotr responded. "If you do not stick to our agreement of meeting once a week, I will come kidnap you."
Rogue laughed softly and nodded.
Piotr set her back on her feet and got into the van. Wanda came out of the house and stood with Rogue until the van disappered through the entry gate of the property.
"You okay?" Wanda asked as they both walked back into the house.
"I'll be fine," Rogue answered. "We'll still see each other, just not as often."
"I know you'll miss him."
Rogue turned to look at the other young woman, "You and Pietro are my friends too, Wanda. If I've made you feel..."
"It's not that at all," Wanda interrupted. "It was just special between you and Piotr. Almost like it is with me and Pietro."
Rogue laughed at the thought of she and the over-six-foot Russian being twins.
"That's better," Wanda said, tucking her arm through Rogue's. "Come on, let's go do a training session with the others. Take your mind off missing him."
Together they tracked down their other housemates, and for the first time since Rogue had moved in, all of them got ready to test their skills against each other and as a team in a simulated battle scene.