And then there was more...
7
AJ squinted at the sun shining through the window onto her face. She furrowed her brow. Her room was on the west side of the building.
She sat up quickly as the night before came back to her. She'd fallen asleep. She gathered her clothes together; pulling them on hastily as she mentally kicked herself for spending the entire night. Being careful not to draw any attention, she closed the door silently behind her, tiptoeing back through the hall to her room. Thankfully it was still early enough that no one was awake yet. And no one caught her.
Gambit grinned as he rounded the corner to the rec. room. She sat on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table. Alone.
Pretty much everyone had gone out for the day, taking advantage of the beautiful spring weekend that had shown up in the midst of a bought of rain. But not her. She liked her alone time.
And he liked her alone time too.
She chuckled at the TV, shaking her head before flipping through the channels.
His smile widened as he moved over to her, kneeling behind her, leaning on the back of the couch.
"Remy loves d'sound a' yo' laugh chère…"
She spun around, giving him a scowl. "Y'know, ah love the sound a'you leavin'. So we're even."
He moved around the couch, sitting down next to her, draping his arm around her shoulders.
"Now y'know dat ain' true." He winked at her.
"Y'right." She scooted a few inches away from him "It's a toss up between that an' you not talkin'."
He grinned "Dat would really put a hamper on mah charm…" he whispered, using his partially gloved hand to turn her chin towards him, moving in slightly.
Her eyes burned. "You got a lot a nerve comin' in here like this Cajun. Ah oughta-"
He moved in quickly, laying a soft kiss on her lips before she could protest.
She pushed him away, punching him in the arm with a fierce look.
"What the hell are you doin'!" She shouted "Ah swear t'god swamp rat! You lookin' t'get killed!"
"Relax mon fleur. Remy's fine." He smirked.
"You ain't gunna be fine when Ah'm done with ya!" She narrowed her eyes.
"Don' get all bent out o'shape…"
"Bent outta shape?" She furrowed her brow, her green eyes piercing through him with a slightly defeated look. "Why don't you just leave me alone?"
He suddenly felt a wave of guilt come over him. He looked away before taking her gloved hand and planting a kiss on the back.
"Ah don' do it to upset you chère."
She pulled her hand away. "Well it does."
He carefully tucked her hair behind her ear, catching her eye despite her best efforts to look away.
"Y'don' have t'live like dat chère. You don' deserve it."
"Gambit, please." She closed her eyes, clenching her jaw. "Ah just wanna watch TV. Alright?"
"Alright." He said, raising his hands and turning attention to the TV.
They watched TV in silence until Kitty and AJ walked through the doors.
"Hey!" Rogue grinned. "Y'have fun?"
Kitty looked winded. She'd picked out a cute pink jogging outfit for their outing, focused on how adorable she'd look.
She wasn't much of an outdoor girl.
AJ smiled and tightened her pony tail "It's so beautiful out there! You should come out with us." she pulled her leg up to her side, stretching her muscles before taking a drink of water.
Gambit winked at Rogue "It's beautiful enough in here."
She grunted as she stood.
"Stop!" The remote in her hand charged up, glowing bright pink, before she threw it at the floor causing it to explode.
She stomped out of the room, storming past everyone that was returning from their morning outing to fill up on lunch.
AJ frowned at Gambit "What did you do?"
"Nothing!" He shook his head, feeling like he was getting ganged up on.
"Oh that's right, I forgot. Everyone can make things explode." Kitty crossed her arms before zipping out the door after Rogue. "Wait… please… I can't handle more running!"
Kitty knocked into Logan as she passed by him.
"Geeze… doesn't anyone watch where they're goin' in this damn mansion?"
"Sorry…" Kitty frowned, moving past him and chasing Rogue again.
AJ laughed at Gambit announcing that she was going to have a shower as she turned the corner.
AJ gave Logan a smile. It was an awkward smile. "Hi." She'd never had to deal with the morning after syndrome.
"Hi." He lowered his voice. "Listen… about last night…"
"You wanna keep it on the down low." She smiled "I understand. I'm all over you." She shook her head "It. I'm all over it. Not you…" She chuckled uneasily "that wouldn't make sense… cuz then it wouldn't be on the down low…" she shook her head again "Please stop me."
He smirked. She was rambling nervously. It was cute.
"Right." She smacked her hands together, running her tongue along her lower lip "I'm just gunna go."
"Y'know, y'didn't have t'leave." He crossed his arms.
"I haven't left yet." She joked with a grin.
"No, this morning."
She shook her head, her mouth hanging open slightly. "I don't… understand."
He smiled "Think about it." He said, moving past her.
She watched him walk away with a confused look on her face.
After her shower, she headed over to Rogue's room. She wanted to scope out the damage.
She pushed the door open, giving her a smile. "What's up?"
"Ah don't wanna talk right now. Please." Rogue rolled over on her bed, facing away from the door.
"That's fine." AJ shrugged, sitting down on her bed, crossing her legs "Then I'll just sit here."
Rogue let out a breath and sat up. "He just can't get it through his thick skull that ah don't want t'be chased by him!"
"But you do." AJ smiled.
"No ah don't!" she frowned.
AJ shrugged. "Okay."
"Ah don't!" her protest came out as a squeal.
AJ raised her hands "I didn't say anything!"
Rogue narrowed her eyes at a grinning AJ.
"You may not want to be chased… but you like the attention."
She let out a deep breath, shaking her head. "Whatever."
"Come on. You can't tell me you don't like the Cajun charmer fawning all over you. He thinks you're beautiful. He obviously thinks you're worth the pursuit, otherwise he'd have given up a long time ago."
"He just likes t'bug me. That's all." She crossed her arms and looked down.
"I don't think that's true and I think you know it. You just don't want to get hurt."
AJ held Rogue's intense stare. She wasn't one to back down.
"Ah do not."
AJ shrugged "That's fine then."
"Don't do that!" She flopped down on her back.
AJ chuckled and smacked her leg. "Don't take life so seriously Rogue! It doesn't last long enough for that."
She rolled her eyes "Listen t'you, wise ol'woman. Y'four years older then me."
"Actually, almost five." She grinned "But I've been around the block kid. And then some."
"Kid. Don't call me that. Logan calls me that. Bugs the hell outta me."
"Me too." She scrunched up her nose before letting out a laugh and pushing the auburn haired young woman back down.
Later that evening, practically everyone had decided to go out for the night, leaving the mansion virtually empty to those who preferred to stay in.
Logan stepped into the elevator, pressing the button to take him to the second floor. A hand stuck in just before the door closed, holding it open, and her bangles clicking against the metal. AJ poked her head in grinning at him.
"Hey, can I hitch a ride?"
"Knock yourself out." He shrugged.
She stepped in, crossing her arms as she watched the doors close. Once they were secure, she turned to face him, pushing the emergency button with a wicked smirk.
He looked slightly shocked, and even more shocked when she pushed him back against the wall, pressing herself against him.
The elevator doors opened with a ding. Rogue threw her hands up in the air and huffed.
"Ah was startin' t'think you were dead! An' the damn elevator wasn't workin'! Were you stuck in there!"
"Woah there nelly!" She chuckled. "One question at a time hun." She stepped out of the elevator.
Rogue rolled her eyes "Whatever, ah'm not goin' in there without you."
"Why?" AJ shook her head.
"The Cajun's in there." Logan chuckled.
Rogue shot him a nasty look from over her shoulder.
They walked to the rec. room, and sure enough, sitting next to Kitty on the couch was Gambit.
"See?" Logan shrugged as he stepped by the two girls.
"Did d'room jus' light up?" Gambit winked at Kitty "Or did Remy hear d'voice of an'angel?"
"Sit down swamp rat, I'm not yer type." Logan grunted taking the seat on the stool by the pool table.
"Hey!" Bobby grinned, moving over to the two girls "Do you guys wanna play darts?"
Rogue smiled and shook her head "Ah'm no good at darts."
Bobby looked at AJ who shook her head and held up her bandaged hand.
"Sorry… I'm out."
Kurt volunteered to play with Bobby with a smile.
The two girls moved over to the small couch, sitting down in unison.
"Dere's Remy's girl." He winked at Rogue. "Keepin' distance… see?"
She rolled her eyes with the hint of a smile. "Ah see Cajun."
Kitty smacked his arm. "Okay, I'll go first. You promised, remember?"
Gambit looked at her with a grimace. "Yeah chère… go ahead."
He'd promised Kitty he'd play Clue with her. "But y'need one more player."
"Well, I'll play." AJ shrugged. It'd been years since she'd played a board game. "I'll lose, but I'll play. As long as I can be Ms. Scarlet."
Kitty giggled and clapped her hands together.
"Rogue?"
She shrugged "Ah guess. One game, y'hear me Kitty?"
"What about you Tiger?" AJ asked, looking at Logan as she took the red piece. "Y'wanna be the Mustard to my Scarlet?"
He smiled and sat back "I'll pass thanks."
He watched as the four of them played their game. They all laughed together, the unlikely group of friends. He couldn't help but stare at her. The way she laughed and moved, the sound of her voice; he gritted his teeth, adjusting in his seat once he realized what he was doing.
After a drawn out game, AJ made her guess before gloating shamelessly. "I am the Colombo of a new generation." She said standing up and bowing. "Except without the glass eye. That was creepy. And a better wardrobe. More like Sherlock Holmes… without the opium dependence of course."
Gambit sat back "Y'pretty good. Y'cheated."
"Nah, I just know how t'read people." She shrugged, sitting back down. "Trust me, if I cheated, you'd be broke."
Rogue suppressed a laugh. She understood exactly what AJ meant. When she'd taken her powers, she'd also absorbed the part of her memory that contained her idea of 'cheating'.
"And naked."
AJ nodded "Right. And naked."
"Well, Remy's already broke so…" He stood up and proceeded to take his clothes off.
The three girls hooted as Kitty threw a handful of popcorn at him.
"Sit down!" AJ shook her head "You're terrible! Y'got no… class."
He laughed as he sat back down "Didn' realize dere was class involved."
"You got a lot t'learn."
"Care t'teach Remy?"
She held his stare. He was playing with her. Testing his limits.
She shook her head with a laugh "Maybe some other time. You remind me alright?" She tossed her red game piece at him.
The sound of her new friends' laughter brought a smile to her face. Friends. She actually had friends.
Aw. now wasn't that touching?