-scene-

"And in conclusion," the professor was saying. "That is why waterloo is such an integral part of French history… Mr. Lebeau, are you with us?

Remy, who had been gazing across the courtyard, turned back to face the front of the room, looking a bit dazed. "Uh… non." He admitted with a charming smile, "Mah mnd was… somewheya else."

"In bed, no doubt." The professor shook his head with a smile. "Mr. Lebeau, I believe you sleep more than any student here." He nodded to the rest of the class, dismissing them for the day.

Remy grinned. His mind certainly had been in bed, but not his own. "Desole, Proffesa, growin' boy need his rest." He explained.

"I'm sure you wouldn't need quite so much rest if you managed to stay out of trouble once in awhile." He gestured to the bruise coloring Remy's jaw. "Have you been fighting again?"

"Uh…" the boy took a moment to concoct an alibi. "Non, jes… practice in de danger room." He lied.

The professor raised an eyebrow. "Remy?" he asked, "Do I need to make sure I can trust you?"

"Non! Non!" Remy waved his hands frantically, trying to put up a mental block to keep the professor out of his thoughts. "Not fightin', sweya! Jes… playin' rough wit proffeseur Logan." There, he figured. That was close enough to the truth.

The professor paused, but finally nodded, wagging a scolding finger at the young Cajun. "Alright, I'll believe you, but keep in mind, your powers are not to be used on other students, even if John starts it."

The redhead grinned sheepishly. "Ah try to rememba dat." He promised.

"Let us hope you do," Charles warned, "Or you'll be spending a few days on a mental vacation in detention."

Remy swallowed hard. The professor's punishments were ones even he couldn't sneak out of, and the prospect of spending his time in a mental void wasn't very inviting.

"Yes sa." He nodded emphatically. "Remy gon' to rememba dat." With that, he scrambled out of the classroom to catch up with Kurt and Bobby, who he knew would be waiting for him just outside.

"So, where did you get that bruise?" Bobby asked with a grin.

"Practicin' in de danger room," Remy repeated with a smile.

"Yah right!" Bobby challenged. "Me n' Kurt were there all day, and I know for a fact you didn't show up!"

"It is true Mein Freund," Kurt agreed, his tail swishing interestedly. "Vee vaited for you but you ver gone all day."

Remy hesitated. "Ah see…"

"So come on," Bobby stepped in front of him. "Spill it! Where'd you get that thing?"

Remy took a moment to size the boy up, then, with a completely straight face replied, "Rough sex." And pushed past the other boy to continue on his way down the hall.

Bobby stared for a moment before turning to his blue friend. "Is he… serious?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"I could not tell!" the boy replied. "He is too experienced at lies!"

"Remy?" Bobby asked with a grin. "Are you serious?" He bounded after the taller boy. "With who? One of the students here?"

"A gentleman neva kiss an' tell." The Acadian smiled.

"Vell it can't have been Rogue…" Kurt pointed out, deciding that a little deductive reasoning might clear up the mystery.

"It better not have been!" Bobby seethed.

"Relax, mon ami." Remy chuckled, patting the boy on the shoulder. "She all yo's frosty. You can keep de ice queen."

"Hey, I know you don't like her," the boy protested. "But leave off making jokes about my girlfriend, alright?"

"D'accord." He laughed. "She not all dat bad… once you get past her personality."

Kurt stifled a chuckle, catching the glare from Bobby and decided to turn it into a reprimand instead. "Zen vhat is your type, Mr. Casanova?" he teased.

Remy paused. "Don' know… Neva been single long enough to tink about it." He replied.

"Vell, vhat about now?" Kurt asked.

Remy turned around, a cocky grin on his face. "Like ah say," he winked. "Neva been sinlge long enough…"

This brought about a new cacophony from the boys.

"Who is it?"

"Come on, spill!"

"Is it Kitty?"

"Is it Anna?"

"It's Jubilee, right?"

Remy spun around, a slight stagger in his step, and he put a hand on both of the boy's shoulders. "Mon comarades…" he grinned. "Who say is de femme? You know how easily Remy can be persuaded to try new tings…"

Bobby blanched, and Kurt merely blinked, confused as usual. "You sayin' it's a guy?" Bobby asked.

"Vhat! A guy?" Kurt exclaimed, finally catching on.

"Y'mean someone here is into that? … besides you, Remy." He added as an afterthought. "C'mon, now you gotta tell!"

The Cajun paused, worrying his lower lip with his teeth. The three had been le meilleur des camarades since his arrival at the mansion. They had told him everything in their lives, and truth be told, he didn't like keeping secrets from them.

He hesitated, then finally gave in. "Promise you won' tell?" he grinned, a trademark sign that he was going to tell them anyway, whether they agreed or not.

"Not a soul!" the boys chorused.

"Now ah'm serious, not even Rogue." He glared at Bobby. "Anybody fin' out 'bout dis, it could be serious trouble, comprende? Dis one le grand secret d'ennui."

The two looked at each other, curiosity mounting. This had to be good!

"Ve von't tell!" Kurt grinned, his pointy teeth showing, and Bobby nodded emphatically in agreement.

Remy took one more second to think it over before replying. "Proffeseur Logan." It tumbled from his mouth.

There was silence, then "You're full of crap!"

"Bull Scheiße!" the boys waved him off.

Remy sighed, pulling down the hem of his trousers to reveal five, heavy bruises on his hips that were unmistakably fingerprints. "Non?" he asked. "You don' b'leve me?"

"Oh… my… God!" Bobby shouted, jumping back. "Jesus Christ, Rem! You can turn anoen gay!" He held up his fingers in the shape of a cross to ward the boy off.

"Hey!" remy glared at him, "Dis his game. Remy jes happen to be a willing participant."

Kurt seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. "Vell, vhat about Miss Grey?" he chimed in, "I vas lead to believe he vould love her for alvays…"

The Acadian rubbed his arm uncomfortably. That had been a sore spot with him for awhile. "De man realize da's jes a dream, homme…" he replied quietly. "An' deys no use stayin' célibataire fo' a dream."

Bobby noticed the change in his friend's posture and demeanor, even if Kurt didn't and it gave him pause. "Remy… you okay with that?" he asked. "I mean… him thinking about somebody else?"

Remy shrugged. "Got to be. You make sacrifices, you know, in dis so't o' ting."

The iceman paused. "Remy… you sayin'… you sorta like him?"

The redhead looked up, meeting his friends eyes, and there was pain there. "Ah knew dis ting was gon ta get me in trouble," he admitted miserably, "jes didn' know it would be like dis…"

"Shit, Rem…" Bobby breathed, "You love 'im don't you?"

"Vhat!" Kurt nearly shouted. "But he is your teacher! Remy, zis relationship von't last! You know zis."

The redhead chewed his lower lip anxiously. Bobby elbowed the blue-skinned boy.

"Smooth, Kurt!" he hissed.

"Vhat did I say?" he wanted to know. "I'm only saying zat it does not bode vell to be in such a relationship. If someone finds out, you vill probably be expelled. Besides, zis is professor Logan. He is not exactly renouned for his reliability. As Remy's friend, I feel responsible to make sure he is avare of all zis." He explained.

"Damn." Bobby whistled through his teeth. "I hadn't thought of it like that.

"Me neider." Remy blinked. "Merde."

Kurt shrugged. "Pessimism is a gift zat comes vith a life dedicated to religious study."

-scene-