I LIIIIIIIVE!
Okay so this chapter took a while to be posted and stuff, which was not my plan. Life kind of blew up the last few weeks but honestly seeing the kindness and comments and stuff from people has been so great and has kept me keeping moving along (very slowly at first).
My boyfriend of five years and I broke up or went on a break (it's unclear) and it put me in a huge funk so writing was just not happening. I super appreciate the people who saw my tumblr posts and responded in some way or form-it was very kind and it helped even if I didn't respond at the time.
On top of that I'm a teacher and life just got crazy prepping for spring break (and schools closing due to Corona now too DX)
Second to lastly, huge huge thank you and shoutout to thehazeofdusk who helped with some awkward phrasing I had/beta reading AND for the extra support and content to read to help keep my mind off of things. She always has the best thoughts to push me in the right direction!
AND lastly, there is a fanart that inspired a moment in the fic. I'll link it at the end of the chapter :)
So without further ado, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy :)
Chapter 7Although she'd been able to finish her reading fairly quickly the night before and had gotten to sleep in, getting through the school day was quite an ordeal for Rogue. Every class dragged on and on and by the time the final bell rang, Rogue felt like she'd already done an entire week of school in that one day.
"How is it we didn't have to do the Danger Room this morning and I'm still totally exhausted?" Kitty sighed dramatically, closing her locker with a resounding thunk.
"Well did you go to sleep at a normal hour? Or did you stay up all night coding again?" Rogue asked as she rolled her eyes.
Kitty's lower lip jutted out in a pout and Rogue had to laugh, knowing she was right and that was exactly what the girl had been up to until all hours of the night. "I'm not Lance. That ain't gonna work on me, Kit."
Kitty let out a frustrated growl (Rogue was starting to wonder just how many of Logan's students had picked up that trait from him) but continued their walk to the pick up section of the school where Scott and Jean would be arriving from their day of college to take the senior team home. Another perk of being on a mission all day yesterday; Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue hadn't had to carpool with the younger X Men to school. Much less chaotic and much more time to get ready.
"Ain't my fault you stayed up til all hours of the night working on your computer program."
"At least I didn't have a guy in my room after curfew."
Rogue froze unintentionally, but knew from the smug look on her old roommate's face there was no hiding the facts anyway. Kitty squealed, clapping her hands, all previously mentioned exhaustion wiped from her face. "So who was it? Was it that cute guy?"
Rogue froze again momentarily before feeling her entire body buzz with annoyance and panic. "You think they're all cute."
Kitty wagged her finger at Rogue, a mischievous smile wide across her features. "Oh no you don't. Deflection isn't gonna help you here. I sense drama and I want it now."
"W-what?" Rogue sputtered, caught between her annoyance and her want to not hurt Kitty's feelings. "I'm not deflecting!"
"And there you go again not addressing the issue."
"What issue?" Rogue's nose crinkled as she smelled the tell tale signs of Kurt porting nearby.
Great.
"There's no issue," Rogue said quickly, resisting the urge to swat at her old roommate. Kitty trying to weasel the story out of her was one thing, but if Kurt found out then Scott would find out. And if Scott found out, Logan would find out. She wasn't exactly sure how the tentative truce she and Gambit had called was going to go, but she was pretty sure it would go down the drain if Logan murdered the Cajun.
They were almost to Scott's car. If they could just make it there, maybe Kitty would have the decency to decide to not bring up the subject in front of Scott. The petite girl loved drama, but Rogue was hopeful that she would use her gigantic brain to not bring up her suspicions to their team leader.
"There's totally an issue. You won't beli-" Rogue stuck her foot out to the side as they walked, making Kitty stumble. Kurt rushed to help the smaller girl and as Kitty righted herself, Scott and Jean pulled up to the group.
"Rogue, what the h-" Kitty seemed to take in the pleading look in Rogue's eyes, and shut her mouth. If Kurt, Jean, or Scott noticed how abruptly Kitty stopped talking, no one said anything, much to Rogue's great relief. Before climbing into the car, Kitty looked back at Rogue, a meaningful look in her eyes.
Rogue tucked some bangs out of her face and moved to get towards the car before feeling a hand gently touch her shoulder. Jean was quick to remove her hand at least. Between Gambit and Mystique and now Jean, Rogue wasn't sure how much she could handle people touching her and pulling her aside to converse.
"Sorry, I..." Jean looked frustrated. "Are you okay?"
"Fine."
"Okay. I just..."
"Jean, spit it out."
"You just have so much anxiety coming through your thoughts. Did something happen at school?"
Rogue's eyes widened in anger. "You read my thoughts?" She'd thought she was putting up her mental blocks to make sure Jean wouldn't see anything about Gambit in them. Especially the part about her letting him into her room after curfew.
Jean was quick to correct herself. "No! No! I promise. I didn't read your actual thoughts. You're just projecting a lot of anxiety and I've been having trouble not picking up on that kind of stuff lately."
Rogue let out a slow breath, relieved. But now she was worried about something else entirely: Jean's powers had been growing and acting up for a while now. She remembered the last time Jean's powers had gotten out of control...although she knew her freak out at the concert wasn't much better.
Jean looked embarrassed and rambled on, rushing to explain. "Not so much with the telekinesis lately. But telepathy yeah. The professor thinks he has a solution though." Rogue nodded, hoping it would be enough to let Jean off the hook of feeling like she needed to explain further. If there was anyone who understood powers being uncontrollable, it was Rogue. She didn't like this, but she was sure no one liked it when her powers got out of control either. She nodded at the older girl to end the conversation, signaling no harm no foul, and slid into the car next to Kitty, who was giving her a very pointed look that said something along the lines of 'if you don't get your ass up to our suite stat to explain everything to me you're in so much trouble'.
The senior X Men unloaded from Scott's car and Rogue suddenly felt a jolt of uncertainty wondering if the Acolytes were even going to still be at the mansion. Magneto had said they'd evaluate after the night, so for all she knew Gambit and his team could be gone. The whole house seemed quiet in general, and Rogue had a giant clusterfuck of feelings in her chest about that, none of which she cared to investigate. She was probably just exhausted and that was making things more overwhelming. Besides. She didn't necessarily want Gambit to still be there...for all she knew, he would be gone for another eight months again. It would just maybe be a little sort of kind of nice to see him after their conversation and maybe understand a little more what their conversation the previous night would lead to.
Either way, Scott seemed to be determined for life to carry on as normal: they had no sooner made it into the house than he announced that now would be a perfect time for an after school Danger Room session. Rogue wanted to ask if he was kidding, but there was no use in that: He wasn't. Scott had his business "I'm the leader" voice on as he ordered them to go suit up.
With no Logan or Storm in sight, command fell to Scott and he was clearly very prepared to use that power, much to everyone else's chagrin. The only upside was that potentially Rogue could time things right to get into her uniform quickly and manage to zoom past Kitty's planned interrogation. All she had to do was make it to the Danger Room before Kitty could catch her; Scott had zero tolerance for gossiping during a session and (not for the first time) Rogue was grateful for this.
She pulled her uniform suit on in record time and was already out her bedroom door before finishing latching her leg and chest armor, just in time to hear Kitty burst through the door from their shared bathroom in hot pursuit. Without looking back, Rogue speed walked her way to the elevator, incredibly aware of the pint sized maniac gaining on her and the fact that racing to get to the elevator and closing the door behind her wasn't necessarily going to stop Kitty's phasing.
Rogue dove for the elevator and slammed her fist on the door close button, hoping the elevator would start moving quickly enough Kitty would chicken out and not jump through the doors. The elevator started moving downwards and Rogue strained to listen for if she could hear Kitty's voice through the closed doors. Luckily, there was no sound and Rogue leaned back against the wall as she sighed in relief. It was only then she had the wherewithal to look around and notice she was not alone in the elevator.
"...anything I should know, Stripes?"
Rogue froze before turning to face her mentor, trying to keep her expression as normal as possible. Logan was definitely among the last on a long list of people Rogue would want to admit anything to concerning Kitty hearing a guy in Rogue's room past curfew. Especially since the guy just so happened to have been Gambit. She was lucky enough Logan hadn't done a sweep of the senior X Men hallway the previous night and smelled the Cajun had been there-especially during the time he'd been physically in her room.
"...Nope."
Logan raised an eyebrow, but didn't push. She wouldn't have expected him to, but it still made her freshly grateful he didn't ever pry. Although it was just as much for his comfort as her own, it was still one of Rogue's favorite things about him.
"Guessin' by the uniform Cyke already has you guys headed to the Danger Room."
Rogue rolled her eyes. "Didn't even make it in the house before he told us to suit up."
"Sounds about right," Logan snorted and leaned back against the wall. "Saves me the trouble anyway. Was headed up to bring you guys down when you got home anyway."
"You runnin' the session?" While she knew Scott would be beyond pissed at that, Rogue was kind of excited by the idea of getting to do a standard Logan session. Anything but having to play Capture the Flag again would be better, even if Logan's Danger Room courses were killer.
"No such luck, kid," Logan said gruffly, although she knew she didn't miss a ghost of him hiding his laugh at her hopeful expression. "Chuck and Metalhead requested we get you guys downstairs as soon as school got out so we could all meet and not have to repeat the same information over and over."
Rogue tried to not let herself perk up at the mention of Magneto still being there. This was stupid. Just because Gambit was maybe actually still there and they were on okay terms that didn't mean it was something to focus on. She had much bigger fish to fry. Still..."Didn't really expect Magneto to stay."
"They didn't at first. Magneto took his team and they tried to check their base. Charles said the Sentinels were gonna be there and he was right. Didn't take them long to come runnin' back. We're gonna be stuck with them for a while."
Rogue didn't respond and also tried to not consider the fact that this meant Gambit was potentially about to be living at the Institute for the time being. Partially, that made Rogue incredibly uncomfortable and the fact that she didn't know why made her even more uncomfortable. But part of her (probably the same part that had been willing to sit back and let Gambit talk to her last night) was curious what that could be like. It's not like just because they talked and he was temporarily here she was about to be spending every second with him or like he was going to want to be around her constantly, but Rogue did wonder if perhaps it might be interesting to have him around. Maybe it might be nice to have someone around to hang out with a little bit instead of reading a book to avoid people flinching away from her skin. That was another train of thought in and of itself: she had friends, sure, but something about Gambit didn't mix into her thoughts of regular life at the institute, especially with her small circle of people here.
Something about the image of Gambit hanging out casually with her around Kurt or Scott or Jean nearby felt almost comical. Sure he was similar to Rogue, but when she tried to group him with institute friends in her head, he stood out to her almost comically. Then again, he always seemed to do that in her brain. No matter what, he always stood apart from everyone else-no real category or label for who or what he was to her. He was probably her friend, she supposed, but also their friendship felt so different from any other friendship she had that calling it simply "friendship" felt disingenuous. It wasn't like she had much by way of friendships to compare him to in the first place though.
The elevator doors opened and Rogue was not surprised to see Kitty waiting there, hands on her hips as she breathed hard, doing her best impression of Scott when Duncan used to come around Jean. Only Logan exiting the elevator at the same time as Rogue was her saving grace.
"Need somethin', Half-Pint?"
Kitty blinked quickly, her anger momentarily paused, and looked between Wolverine and Rogue. Rogue stared at her friend directly in the eyes, not willing to outwardly beg her to keep her mouth shut, but also wishing Kitty were suddenly a telepath so she could understand that this was not a subject she wanted anyone privy too, but especially Logan.
"Get movin', we got a meeting to get to."
"Oh, Gott sei Dank! So we don't have to train?" If you'd asked Rogue seconds beforehand, she would have thought Kurt coming down the stairs (followed by Jean and Scott) at that very moment would have made things a million times worse, but she was instead proven wrong and forever grateful for it.
"Charles wants us in a meeting with Magneto and his team in the Control Room. Let's get movin'."
Rogue pointedly tried to ignore Kitty's eyes boring into the side of her skull as she snuck past to follow Logan with Kurt and Jean. She should have known Kitty would station herself at her side, continuing to watch her like a hawk as they headed to meet with the Acolytes. Scott quickly followed after, bringing up the rear, grumbling all the way.
If it were possible to fall asleep with eyes open, Remy would like to think he could have achieved it that day. Between his inability to sleep in unfamiliar places, his brain refusing to stop playing his conversation with Rogue over and over, the early morning wake up call from John (not that he'd actually been sleeping), the trip to find Sentinels already at the Acolyte base, several hours of meetings, and waiting to have even more meetings once the X Men got home from school, he was dead on his feet.
He ran his hand through his hair and down his face, brushing past his five o clock shadow and doing his best to look like he gave half a shit about what Magneto was continuing to drone on about. It was all pointless right now anyway, they weren't going to make any decisions until all the X Men got there. He didn't see why they had to sit around and continue to talk the same things over while they waited. Nothing new had been said in the last (mandatory) few hours of meetings. He was having trouble focusing on anything they were saying, partially due to the repetitive circular nature of Magneto and Xavier discussing the situation.
At least of all the mutants in the room, no one's lack of focus could compare to Pyro's. The poor guy had been fidgeting and unable to stop moving since the first hour of meeting to discuss the Sentinel threat. By now, their third hour, Pyro looked about ready to jump out of his skin, doing his best to look somewhat professional as he paced around the room from the couch to where Remy leaned against the back wall over and over. On the couch, Pete sat stoically and calmly but Remy liked to think he knew the guy well enough to see even he was unable to hide he was bored out of his skull.
Remy used to think nothing would be more boring than Magneto on a rant. He had never considered that putting Magneto and Professor X in charge of a meeting together could be even longer and even more tedious. The constant politeness throughout their heated debates had been enough to keep Remy interested for the first hour, but after that he'd been unable to stop himself from going off into his own thoughts. Anything to not have to hear "old friend" one more time.
Frustratingly, even though things were way less tense between them, his brain was still determined to playback his nighttime discussion with Rogue. He wasn't sure he'd expected her to actually give him a chance to speak. He'd been sitting there in his room for the night (probably officially for a few nights for now, at least until the Sentinels were gone), feeling antsier than he would have anticipated, debating how long he would be able to smoke before one of the X Men broke in and ruined his small attempt at relaxation. He could never really feel comfortable in a place until he knew it well enough and he only knew the outside of the X Mansion, so he'd been aware getting sleep wouldn't be much of an option (not that it was most nights anymore anyway) but sneaking a smoke was something he was willing to bet he could get away with, even with Wolverine's super nose.
He'd been out the balcony doors hopping from railing to railing quickly, deciding the idea of having to deal with an angry Wolverine could end up more fun than annoying in the end. Maybe pissing off Wolvie was just the outlet he needed, even if he couldn't finish his smoke. Either way he would get a chance to get some of his body to calm the fuck down. It's not like he would ever be there for any amount of permanent time anyway. Pissing off the adult X Men didn't really have any consequences.
Try as he might to say he was going down towards the cliffs for a better chance at a longer smoke, he'd still ended up headed towards what he'd thought was Rogue's room, although he only came to realize his destination when he'd found her room occupied by someone else (something which had initially concerned him until he realized the room was redecorated in a style he knew she wouldn't choose herself). From there, it was only logical he'd needed to find where Rogue's room was now. Even with her pissed off at him, she'd still chosen to have his back earlier. If worse came to worst and the Sentinels came here, it was smart for him to already know where she could be.
He hadn't known, honestly, what he'd intended to do when he found her. It was late enough she could be asleep, but that was unlikely. He'd know from his time spying for Magneto she preferred getting chores done at night and reading before bed. But he was a master thief..he could easily scout out her room and sneak away with her none the wiser. That had been the plan at least. Unfortunately, something about Rogue tended to get him to act before he was able to think things through and no sooner had he found her room than he'd jumped down on her porch and found himself tapping at her door.
It was a stupid move and he didn't understand why he'd actually done it. He'd just known he wanted her to understand. Needed someone to understand (even if he could only handle them reaching back to him on a surface level) and who better than Rogue? She'd understood him some before, he'd thought, just as he'd understood her with no pressure to explain or justify. It was probably selfish and definitely weak for him to want that from her, but he'd wanted that connection back that they'd made in New Orleans. To explore whatever connection they'd found and maybe find some of what he had lost through it. They were two sides of a coin, afterall. He'd found several epiphanies about himself through months of watching her and maybe that was what he needed now. Maybe he could return the debt he owed her and keep her side of the coin from becoming as aged and damaged as his own. Maybe he could actually help both of them this time, instead of potentially helping her as a byproduct of helping himself.
He'd known the second Mystique walked onto the plane that every door they'd hesitantly cracked open for one another had been slammed shut on Rogue's side and the only way he could hope to remedy that was to get her to hear him out, despite his complete confusion on where to even start. With most everyone, he knew what to say to make them believe him. He knew what buttons to push and which angles to take to get his way. If all else failed, he could easily charm anyone into having a little faith in him to get a conversation started. But he didn't want that with Rogue-the thought of it made his stomach turn, even if he didn't want to acknowledge it. He'd quickly found out in New Orleans how it felt to persuade her and trick her into seeing things his way and he'd found out just as quickly how much better it felt when she chose to trust him all on her own.
Him. Not the tales he spun to get to his end goal or the front everyone else bought. She'd chosen to trust him. She'd decided he was worth it (even after she figured out his game) and she'd stuck around until he was out of his mess. Although it defied all logic and went against every rule he'd made for himself his entire life and he couldn't for the life of him explain why he was so drawn to Rogue, Remy wanted that again. Although technically he knew he didn't just want the same thing again. He wanted it for real this time.
Whatever it was.
It was a terrible plan really, knocking on her door and figuring the words he needed would come to him (they always did, although apparently Rogue broke more of his rules and norms than he'd realized), but he still hadn't been able to stop himself from sitting down next to her and trying to explain, to hopefully get back to that easy almost friendship and connection. Not an easy task, especially considering the large amount of discomfort both were dealing with.
But still she'd listened, which was honestly more than he'd deserved. She had given him a chance. She had - shit, she had just walked through the Control Room doors, almost as if she'd been summoned from out of his brain and into the real world. Finally something interesting was about to happen.
Their eyes met briefly as she walked in the doors, flanking Wolverine, before she quickly looked toward her Professor, corners of her lips turned downward in an adorable, serious frown.
"Well, we might as well begin," Xavier began, fingers steepled.
"Begin!?" Even Remy almost jumped as John wailed and almost flopped over the back of the couch, sliding face down into the couch cushions next to Pete.
Remy watched closely with narrowed eyes as Mystique rolled her eyes at John from next to Magneto, as if by standing there she had any authority in this room or situation.
Seemingly choosing to ignore John's outburst, Xavier turned towards Wolverine, who had settled himself on an opposite wall similarly to Remy. "Logan, your report?"
"Called in some favors from S.H.I.E.L.D. They don't got much."
"Great," Remy heard Nightcrawler mutter.
Wolverine seemed to grunt in agreeance with the elf.
"Well? What do they have?" Mystique demanded. She seemed to either be ignoring or not notice she was in no place to be making any demands.
"I don't take orders from you, Mystique," Wolverine growled and the X Men all clearly tensed behind him. For once, Remy was grateful for Logan having no filter on his distrust for the Acolytes. Among them, Rogue's eyes were narrowed in on her mother, arms crossed and jaw set.
"No one does, far as I'm concerned," Shock of all shock, Cyke had some balls on him. Remy was mildly impressed Cyke had it in him.
Mystique advanced towards Cyclops, murder in her eyes.
Now this was interesting, Remy thought. Twice in the span of twenty four hours, in front of allies and enemies alike, Cyclops had mouthed off to Mystique. Didn't really fit with the picture of "perfect boy scout" Remy reserved for One-Eye in his head. He glanced quickly at each of the X men, finding none of them were surprised, before landing on Rogue's face again. She looked calm, but her entire body was tense from her crossed arms, to her hip jutted out, to the scowl fixed firmly on her face as she glared at Mystique. He smirked and found a weird blooming feeling in his chest.
Remy frowned himself and looked away quickly. Even if they were on okay terms, he really needed to stop doing that. Anyone could have easily seen him watching Rogue and he didn't have the safety net of "watching her is my job" anymore. In multiple ways from multiple angles Rogue being associated with him could be bad for both of them. Even more than wanting to keep Rogue safely out of his messy past, he got the sick feeling Mystique would probably enjoy tormenting him while manipulating her daughter in one foul swoop.
Metal rattled all over the room. "That's enough, Mystique." Concerningly and just as on the plane, Mystique backed down almost immediately. Remy caught Pete's eye and before both men looked back to their boss. Magneto had to have something on her for her to be so compliant with his orders. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw both Rogue and Nightcrawler sharing a similar look. He wondered exactly how hard it would be to figure it out. He was good, he knew, but Mystique was crafty and had more tricks up her sleeve than Remy would care to admit. If he could find dirt on Mystique, though, at least one of his problems could be patched.
Wolverine looked to his leader before continuing on, as if the interruption had never happened. "Fury sent me some files with designs from some people who got caught working for Trask, but nothing much more than what Gambit stole." Remy didn't care if he looked smug at the idea of Wolverine having to compliment his work. "Trask's got a major backer behind him and outside of a few extra design ideas and guesses from Fury that's all he's got." All smugness quickly drained from Remy, trying to ignore a cold clenching in his chest. He knew he wasn't showing any outward anxiety, but between the two telepaths in the room, Rogue (who always seemed to have a decent read on him and bring out reactions he didn't care to show), and Mystique (who was now staring at him with an intensity that made his stomach twist), he made sure he was very careful to cover any trace of reaction. "He's got ears on the ground and a few favors he can call in for us."
"You believe he will?" Xavier asked.
Wolverine's expression darkened. "After the mess with H.Y.D.R.A.? He better."
Xavier simply nodded and quickly rolled over to the holotable, pressing a few buttons and pulling up the specs Remy had stolen the previous day. He couldn't bring himself to listen to the different features Trask was planning on outfitting in each Sentinel, especially now that he had a pretty good idea of exactly where the upgrades were coming from. He especially stopped focusing when, in the midst of everyone moving closer to the holotable, he saw Mystique immediately head to stand by Rogue.
Like hell was that gonna happen.
Staying light on his feet and drawing as little attention to himself as possible, Remy moved to block the shapeshifter, squeezing his body where Mystique had been aiming for (in between Rogue and Shadowcat) encasing Rogue between himself and Nightcrawler. Momentarily Remy saw Nightcrawler stare at him, not as hostile as Cyclops or Wolverine but close enough, before turning back to the table, perturbed. He kept his eyes focused on the specs, pretending to be incredibly focused on everything Magneto and Xavier were telling their teams.
He rested one hand on the edge of the holotable, leaning sideways into it as his other hand went to rest on his hip inside his duster, elbow resting gently bethind Rogue's back centimeters from touching her. He crossed one ankle over the other, satisfied he was effectively cutting Mystique off from Rogue as much as possible while still maintaining plausible deniability. He wasn't about to advertise his intention to keep his promise and watch out for her, but Rogue had saved him with his father. It was the least he could do to help keep her mother away from her. He would have to be careful though. He was sure Rogue would agree with him that the less reason Mystique had to think he was protecting Rogue instead of just trying to piss off Mystique (or standing in a place inconvenient for Mystique), the better.
His eyes stayed focused on the contents of the holotable, but he was now incredibly aware of how much he was in Rogue's space. Her back was stiff, but she wasn't leaning away from him. He decided to take it as a good sign and stand his post. She was so close he could feel the same warmth from her back he'd felt when he'd tucked her body so tightly against his own yesterday. Were they not in a room full of people (and thus liable to make her panic and shut down on any progress they'd made), he might have tried his luck at squeezing tighter into her space again. She'd let him hold her for so long even though he'd assumed she would push him away immediately after the explosion, and he hadn't been able to figure out why. It made him want to try again.
He'd almost shivered when her lips had met his ear, face mask stopping her soft cheek from brushing against his skin or not. The sheer closeness of her snug between his legs, her breath in his ear, her every curve molded to him, had created such a rush of adrenaline. Not to mention the shock to his system he'd felt when she started reaching for her communicator, hand incredibly close to places he didn't like to think she'd ever been before.
"So we wait then," he vaguely heard Magneto saying.
Xavier was nodding and Remy forced himself to pay attention. "Until Logan hears from Fury and this matter is sorted out, you and your team are welcome to take up residence here, Magnus."
"I think that best."
For once, Remy was glad for Magneto's proclivity to answer for his team without asking for their opinions. Had Magneto asked the team, they would have had to justify to him why they wanted to stay or go. Remy had started out on very thin ice, he felt, trying to keep his desire to stick around and figure out Rogue a private desire. Nothing good would come of him allowing people to know Rogue had drawn his focus, especially if "people" included Mystique.
He heard a scoff from behind him and involuntarily stiffened, elbow bumping gently against Rogue's back as he turned with everyone to look at Mystique. "You'll have to excuse me if I find the whole idea of this ridiculous."
"Your contract does not require you to stay here, Mystique, only to go on missions when called upon," Magneto answered coldly. Beside him, Rogue turned sideways to look towards her mother with everyone else and Remy couldn't help but notice if she were to take one step backwards, her back would almost be flush against his chest. He resisted the urge to push her boundaries and shift himself closer, to shield her from Mystique's eyes as much as possible. Remy didn't generally think of himself as protective of anyone. He'd been looking out for Rogue because he owed her. Because he wanted her to be safe. But that surely wasn't the same as feeling protective of someone. Yet in that moment, he could clearly identify an almost burning in his throat at the want to keep Rogue away from her mother and whatever she was thinking.
He watched Mystique closely as she looked at each of her children, the same look in her eyes that Remy found he really did not like. Mystique shifted and her eye contact with Magneto was just as calculating and apathetic before she turned on her heel and walked out. Quickly he noticed the weather witch follow Mystique out of the room and Remy was grateful someone was making sure Mystique actually made it out of the building.
Before an awkward silence could fully descend upon the group, Xavier was speaking to the group again, giving meal times and telling Magneto's team general amenities they could find around the Institute and listing a few rules he hoped for the Acolytes to follow as well as listing several concerns for his own team with the Sentinels around, but Remy found himself unable to focus on any of it as he saw Rogue's head tilt upwards slightly in his direction. His eyes immediately met hers and something inside his chest gave a jolt when she gave him a very quick, very small smile of gratitude before turning back to her professor.
Rogue would have thought doing her senior year a second time might have made all the homework somewhat easier. She'd done most of it all before so it should have been easier at least. It wasn't like she had different teachers this year. Yet here she was, head aching like she'd been hitting it against a brick wall instead of doing calculus, just as stumped as she'd been the first time. It didn't help to be dodging Kitty, who had been on the drama hunt especially after Gambit had slid between them at the holotable.
It was weird. The second they'd all moved to stand around the holotable and she saw Mystique make a bee line for her and Kurt, something in the back of her mind had wondered if he was going to find a way to run Mystique-interference again. She'd barely been able to think it before she felt his solid form at her side, arm hovering behind her back. She hadn't needed him either time, but when she'd known he might make that play the second time, she hadn't hated it as much or had the gut reaction of "I can take care of myself" she usually had. She had almost appreciated it even.
She sighed and blew her bangs out of her face. Staring at the textbook was apparently not helping her understand calculus any better. Maybe she should just bite the bullet and track down Kitty to get the damn assignment done. It was her last bit of homework for the night and she was going to have to deal with Kitty soon anyway. Kitty was on dinner duty that night, and Rogue had drawn the short straw of being her sous chef. Otherwise known as making sure whatever was served was slightly edible.
She resisted the urge to sigh again and looked down at her worksheet and textbook one more time, trying to find anything she understood. English and history she was good at. Science she was decent in. But math? Math she was even worse at than French, and that was pretty dismal as was.
If she was going to avoid Kitty and basically commit to an F on that assignment, maybe that was an okay reason to take Gambit up on his offer to help with her Fre-
"Y'know for a school, the library's actually pretty small."
Rogue jumped, completely embarrassed as a small squeak came out of her mouth. Shit! How the hell did he just appear out of nowhere like that? He was like a damn ghost with how quiet he was. She turned in the direction of Gambit's voice, frustrated she hadn't heard him enter the room or approach her at all. "Cajun!"
He immediately had the chair next to her turned and was straddling it, arms folded over the back. He rested his cheek innocently (yeah, right) on his arms as he made sure to lock eyes with her, insufferable grin plastered across his face as he managed to smoothly lean even closer towards her in the chair. "Did you jus' squeak, chére?"
"What the hell, Gambit?"
"Y' did, didn't ya?" When he really laughed, Rogue couldn't help but notice the corners of his eyes crinkled. It brought out the mischief behind his eyes even more, as well as Rogue's general desire to punch something.
"Seriously, what the hell?" She glared at him, hands on her hips.
"Not sure I woulda pegged y' for the kind of gal who squeaks." Apparently her glare still had no effect on him and, unlike every other person she'd met, it instead seemed to spur him on rather than shut him up.
She flopped back in her chair, giving herself more space away from him as she crossed her arms."Well, what the hell am I supposed to do when you appear like a phantom outta nowhere?"
He sat up slightly, still leaned in towards her but not advancing any further. If he could grin any wider, his face might just split in half. "Y' jumped too. Anyone else know y' scare so easy?"
"You're enjoyin' yourself way too much here, Cajun."
"Don't know what y' talkin' 'bout, chérie. 'M simply enjoyin' the fact that you're a jumpy, little squeaky toy when y' scared."
"I wasn't scared, asshole!" She thwacked his arm and tried again to fix him with a glare that (again) had the opposite effect of her intent; he just laughed harder.
"Alright, chére," he held up his arms in defense, laughter still laced throughout his tone. "Y' wasn't scared. Seein' ol' Remy jus' gotcha so excited y' jumped for joy."
Rogue grimaced and rolled her eyes. He wasn't that much older than her. She knew he wasn't 100% sure of his age, but his psyche's roundabout guess didn't leave enough of an age gap for her to consider him old, figure of speech or not. "Whatever, Swamp Rat. Rogue wasn't scared," she said, sarcastically emphasizing her name in third person as she turned her glare from his face to the worksheet in front of her. "Ain't my fault I couldn't hear ya over the sounds of me not understanding Calculus."
He stood from his chair and leaned over onto the table from behind her. She realized too late she was now basically trapped between his arms as he rested his hands on the table and leaned down, bringing his face level with hers over her shoulder, seemingly for a closer look.
He was close enough to be looking almost directly over her shoulder at her worksheet, but far enough he had left a little space for breathing room, something she was immediately grateful for even if breathing suddenly felt incredibly hard to do. Unfortunately even with the minimal space between their bodies and faces and despite the fact that no part of them was touching this time, she was immediately overstimulated by him, just like yesterday. Still the same waft of spices followed him, but this time she was able to notice a lingering smoke as well as mint when he breathed out. And he was warm. Even with space, she could feel the heat from him run through her like lighting. It felt like the heat was landing solely in her cheeks, a sensation she was rapidly losing the fight against. Rogue found herself wondering if this was just how it felt when someone got physically in your space for no reason, or if this panic was just because it was him.
In New Orleans, he'd invaded her space a few times, although mostly to pull her along on their journey. Yesterday he'd been protecting her when he'd been so physically close to her. It had been unavoidable, really. But right now was different. There was no need to convince her he wasn't scared of her powers, no immediate enemy threat, no nothing. Right now he was just casually choosing to be in her space of his own volition and she didn't know what to do with it. She turned her face slightly towards him, relieved when she was not met with his eyes. She wasn't sure really if she could handle looking into the red of his eyes on top of all the other sensations she was experiencing.
She tried to give herself another inch of space between them, finding it nearly impossible, and cleared her throat as she tried to sound as casual as he looked. "Can't find something else to entertain yourself 'round here? Or do you just happen to love math?"
Gambit glanced her way before he pushed back from the desk and sat back down, pulling out his deck of cards and began idly fiddling with one, just as he had the previous night. He was still leaned in towards her, but she finally felt like she could breathe again. "That's not actual math. 'S just nonsense," he said idly as he watched his hands move the card through his fingers quickly.
She snorted in agreement and flipped a page in her book, trying to find something to help. "Well y'ain't technically wrong there, Cajun."
His eyes flickered towards her momentarily before focusing back on his card. There was a set to his jaw that told her well enough he had a thought on something but was choosing not to voice it. Whatever it was, it was gone before she could contemplate what was going on, a feeling she was growing increasingly familiar with the more she was around him.
"Couldn't find somewhere more interestin' to cause trouble?"
He looked up at her from his card, an eyebrow raised as he appraised her reactions. "Already found th' most interestin' thing here."
That response and it's potential insinuations did nothing to keep her on comfortable ground. This needed to stop. He wasn't her enemy right now and she'd decided to let bygones be bygones with him bailing on her. They'd agreed they were on okay terms. There was no reason to still feel this weird around him, even if it had only been about a day since he'd stormed back into her life. Nothing should be causing her to feel so nervous. She had been nervous in New Orleans, but that was easily chalked up to being kidnapped and taken on a whirlwind trip with him. That was more situational than anything else, really. Or so she'd thought until this very moment when just sitting next to the guy was giving her weird feelings of anxiety in her chest and stomach.
But he was just a guy. An annoying guy who was intent on hanging around her for reasons she didn't quite understand...but just a guy. There was no reason to be feeling so amped up. Besides. It wasn't like he actually meant she was really all that interesting anyway. He was a flatterer for sure, but by far she was not the most interesting person, let alone thing, in the X Mansion.
That easy grin was back on his face and for once, she was glad he could seemingly carry on a conversation all by himself. His smile reached his eyes more than yesterday, but she could still see the same hesitations as the previous day. He stretched out just then, his uniform hugging every part of his form as he did so. Once he finished he fixed her with an impish grin full of promise. "Mus' mean it's time t' stir up some trouble then."
Rogue rolled her eyes, unable to stop herself from smiling back at him slightly. "You'll have to let me know how that goes. I got dinner duty in a few and no time for trouble makin' in my schedule."
He stood and held out a hand to her, still grinning as he waited for her to grab it. "Always time for trouble makin', chére."
She stood and began gathering up her books, shoving them haphazardly into her bookbag. "Not if I wanna get to the kitchen in time to stop Kitty from doing any actual cooking," she said, allowing a little bit of humor into her voice.
When Gambit didn't respond, she hesitantly paused her motions to look back at him. His hand was dropped to his side and although he wasn't looking at her, she could still see he was thinking very hard about something. It was confusing. One second he had been completely fine, joking around, and the next he was standing there looking almost exactly like he had yesterday when she'd climbed through the fence on her own instead of accepting his hand for help.
Wait.
Rogue winced inwardly as she watched his guarded eyes, focused off on the table. That couldn't be what was responsible for his sudden change in demeanor, right? Clearly the conversation had just hit a lull and she was boring him. Afterall, who would really care or want the untouchable girl to take their hand? Gambit was crazy, but he wasn't that crazy. Still...
"Might be some trouble on the way though?" she offered, trying to sound as casual as possible as she slung her bag over her shoulder and watched his face closely, not turning away even as he met her eyes.
Whatever was going on in his head, she must have done something right because although his smile was not as full of shit as normal, he did offer her a smile again as he nodded. For probably the first time ever, he stood quietly without comment (watching her maybe just as closely as she had just been watching him, she felt) for her to finish gathering her schoolwork. She walked to meet him and he remained quiet, although any tension she'd seen in his body posture and face was gone so the quiet was much more comfortable and companionable. She tucked her hair behind her ear, unable to stop a small smile, and snuck a small glance at him as he strolled right alongside her out the library door towards the kitchen.
Rogue sighed in relief when she and Gambit arrived at the kitchen to find Kitty had not yet arrived. If she could get the basics of something started, there was much less of a chance that Kitty would be able to completely ruin the meal. A ruined meal meant pizza, which Rogue didn't much mind, but it also meant a very frustrated and upset Kitty who could not understand why cooking didn't come as naturally to her as science in general. She blew her bangs from her eyes as she stared blankly into the fridge. She loved cooking, but being on dinner duty was always a lot to handle. It was usually only once a month, but with Kitty in the rotation someone had to be there to help and that usually fell on Kurt or herself.
Rogue continued checking the fridge for what they had on hand, incredibly aware Gambit had taken up residence on a stool, shuffling his cards as he leaned on the countertop, but also unsure what she was supposed to do here. If he stayed did that mean he wanted to cook too? Or sit and talk while she cooked? Or did he not know what to do with himself and she was the least boring option? Or was he wanting to just sit and mutually ignore each other?
"So what we makin', p'tite?" Eerie as it was for him to do so, he seemed to know exactly what she'd needed to hear and she was grateful. He had to have picked up on her discomfort….that or he was just better at knowing how friends hang out. Either way, the guidance was appreciated. She closed the fridge and leaned onto her elbows across from him.
"Well. For starters, somethin' simple that Kitty can't mess up when she gets here."
He looked up from his cards and raised an eyebrow at her.
Rogue again tucked her hair out her face, eyes falling to the countertop as she frowned and continued. "She sucks at anythin' cooking."
He snorted. "Why let her on the rotation then?"
Rogue stepped away and began looking through the cupboards, trying to find something to inspire her as she answered him. "Prof's rules. All senior team members have to be on all chore rotations. Sets a good example or whatever."
"But you have t' do it twice?" she heard him ask, voice right behind her. He must have moved off the chair and closer behind her at some point, but she hadn't heard him move at all until his voice popped up so close behind her. She did her best to hide her slight flinch of surprise (not a jump. She didn't jump. She also didn't scare easily), although knowing Gambit, he had to have noticed.
Way up high she saw the flour and moved to grab it down, deciding that was much more important to focus on than Gambit's close proximity. Someone had put the flour in the wrong place and she had trouble reaching the container even when she lifted herself onto the tops of her toes and reached as far as she could. "Nah, I just drew the short straw this time."
She actually heard Gambit move closer this time (which she assumed was intentional) but still she was unprepared to feel the warmth of his body flush against her own. Rogue was again stunned as he moved into her personal space with no hesitation and she could not stop herself from noticing how their hips lined up almost perfectly with her still stretched to reach up for the flour. She lowered herself down, but that only served to make her notice how much taller he really was than her, something that made her feel even more encased. He stayed in her space as he reached up easily to grab the flour and hand it to her. Just as she felt like she was about to explode from the proximity, he stepped back and leaned back against the countertop casually. "So what we makin'?"
She began shuffling around the kitchen, gathering supplies as she spoke. It felt good to create some physical distance between them. With the amount of time he'd spent in her personal space the past day, Rogue would think she would be getting used to it, but she wasn't and she shouldn't. It terrified her every time he got too close. He could get hurt if he kept playing this game. She knew he was being anything but careless when he came so close, but sometimes even the best intentions and most careful choices could still end in disaster.
"Was thinkin' of pizza. If somethin' goes wrong with the cookin' it's what we'll eat anyway so maybe it'll soften the blow for her, worst comes to worst."
"Well, don't have much experience with cookin' pizza, but Remy's ready to assist." It was kind of nice, Rogue decided, to have someone to talk to as she continued hunting down everything they would need. It was also kind of nice to see his smirk was gone, replaced with an actual smile. Nothing crazy and nothing like the teasing grin she knew so well, but a nice smile (soft almost) that made his lips look even fuller and brought out the good humor laced throughout his expression.
Rogue rolled her eyes. "Well, can he turn the oven on?" Just where had that third person thing come from anyway? Gambit had never done it before today that she could remember. When she looked up to ask, she noticed immediately the shadows that had been darkening his eyes looked to be almost gone for the moment. Whatever it was on his mind, it couldn't hurt for her to let him continue to be a weirdo.
Although he seemed in a good mood now, deep down she knew it was a cover. She'd done it enough times herself to understand that the something behind his eyes she couldn't figure out was still there and he really didn't need her to poke at what it was.
"Remy's happy to, chef."
Rogue snorted, but couldn't stop herself from hesitantly smiling back at him. It was probably dumb to be almost enjoying his boyish smile and mood, but she couldn't help it. This had been the part of New Orleans she'd been thinking of when she'd agreed it hadn't all been bad. They'd relaxed into conversation so easily back then and she was cautiously happy with the idea that they not only actually could again, but kind of already were. But that was too quick, really. The Swamp Rat had been back for barely a day.
"Homemade sauce?"
She turned to look at him, so lost in her thoughts she had to stop for a second to figure out what he meant. "I mean, I wasn't plannin' on it, but mostly because mine never turns out right."
He grinned widely as he started grabbing spices from the cabinet she'd opened earlier. "Remy's got you covered, chére."
She laughed and raised an eyebrow. For some reason the idea of him cooking wasn't something she'd have ever pictured, but it certainly made sense to her right now. "Oh, really?"
"Really." Surprisingly, he actually did have her covered. Remy could apparently cook. Really well.
As both set about preparing the meal, they lapsed into a comfortable, companionable silence Rogue wasn't sure she'd ever truly experienced with anyone else outside of maybe Logan. Occasionally Gambit would ask her where to find something, still mostly doing that goofy third person thing, but for the most part they moved around each other with ease.
As they continued moving about, she caught him looking at her several times. His expression had shifted again and curiously she tried to figure it out. She could see he was a deep concentration, but didn't understand much else. It was like he was watching and waiting for something, like someone patiently waiting to find the solution to a puzzle.
He was being so quiet though. She knew he was capable of it, but she'd always assumed he wasn't one for quietly working together on something like she was. Rogue tried to not let it show that she was working on finding a solution to her own puzzle.
"Alright, Swamp Rat. Time for a taste test?"
He smiled before looking into his sauce pot to check. Upon smelling his creation, he held up a finger indicating she should wait before throwing a few more herbs and spices in and giving it a good stir.
"Okay, 's ready."
She dipped a serving spoon in and lifted it to her lips to taste, blowing on it carefully. As she waited for the spoonful to cool, she could see in her periphery that his eyes were locked on the spoon. His tongue darted out to wet his lips and, although she could have been imagining it, his posture was suddenly very tense.
She wasn't quite sure what to do with that, but...friends (sort of friends?) pranked each other right? It seemed like something Kurt could do, but had never really been comfortable for her. Still, if there was anyone she could try it on, it was probably the guy who technically owed her a favor. Satisfied the spoon was cool enough, she tasted his creation and grimaced. "I thought you could cook, Cajun!"
Gambit's eyes went wide, a hilariously appalled look on his face. "What'chu talkin' 'bout, chére?"
She dipped the spoon in again to hand off, but instead of grabbing the spoon he grabbed her arm, guiding it (and by extension the spoon) towards his own mouth. Although it seemed like such an awkward way to get the spoon to his destination, Rogue completely forgot all about that the second the spoon reached his lips. It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room as she watched him blow on the sauce, embarrassingly fascinated by such a simple action.
The second he tasted the sauce he froze and locked eyes with her. Amusement danced through his eyes and that helped her to not feel so nervous as she laughed. He let go of her arm and chuckled along with her, shaking his head until all that remained was a smile and eyes full of warmth as he looked at her. "Chére, did you just...purposefully do something goofy?"
She tried to turn away, but even that could not hide her grin. Rogue was very aware her cheeks had some of a blush gathered, but she found she actually didn't mind much when he was smiling like that.
"Y' did!" His smile was even wider and it made her stomach jump a little.
"Don't know what you're talkin' about, Cajun."
He chuckled again and went back to stirring his sauce. Neither of them, it seemed by their silence, was quite comfortable with this side of friendship, at least with each other, and neither of them really knew how to navigate this situation. Snark was normal. Sarcasm as well. Life or death situations? Easy. But joking around was mostly new. It was kind of nice to not feel five steps behind on everything with him. She loved Kitty and Kurt and her friends, but sometimes she felt like Irene's strict upbringing had kept her held back socially and she didn't always know the right thing to say. Usually she stuck to sarcasm and bluntness. It was her strength and she did it well. But with Gambit it was kind of nice to feel on the same level in that way.
She turned to him and let herself smile a little, feeling a little more comfortable with him seeing that. "One of the best pizza sauces I've had, Swamp Rat."
He met her eyes and they both grinned before they both turned back to their cooking. The warmth was still across his every feature but another look had flashed across his eyes, positive but still indistinguishable. Honestly, she was going to have to get his assistance on having a poker face good enough to fool Logan. Even if she could detect emotions from everything he did, she had a feeling it was going to take forever to understand which emotion was which.
They continued to work quietly for several minutes before he spoke up. "Y' good friends with Shadowcat, huh?"
Rogue looked up at him from preparing the vegetables she'd pulled aside before immediately looking back down, the look in his eyes too intense to meet right then. She shrugged and brought the tomatoes over to him for his sauce. Remy spoke again before she could truly answer, his voice so soft she couldn't stop herself from meeting his eyes. "S'good y' have her." He began blending the tomatoes, adding spices here and there, again before she could answer.
When the blender stopped, she still found herself rooted in her spot watching him. The confusion was probably very obvious on her face, but she couldn't help it. That felt like it came out of nowhere.
"Not bein' roommates anymore helped for sure."
"Thought y' were always kinda friends?"
She shrugged again as she began to work on making the pizza dough. "We were, but we definitely got closer after Apocalypse and getting our own rooms."
He set the lid on his sauce pot and moved over next to her, leaned against the countertop. "S'good t' see y' with friends around." His voice was still soft and she found herself unable to keep her focus on the forming dough when he was looking at her like that. He was speaking in normal syntax again and it directed her to understand that this was a genuine sentiment.
She looked up at him, trying to find some words to respond, but was immediately distracted. He licked his lips quickly and she was suddenly incredibly aware of his hand very slowly reaching towards her face. The closer it got, the more nervous she felt (and probably showed).
"R-Gambit?" She corrected herself quickly, but all this third person talk from him had almost coaxed his name out of her mouth, something she wasn't entirely sure she was comfortable with yet. Swamp Rat, yes. Cajun, for sure. Gambit, definitely. But saying his actual name? It felt like admitting she was happy he was there and hanging out with her, something that she didn't feel right about when he'd only been back for such a short time.
There was a triumphant smile on his face as he continued moving closer, finally reaching his destination and tucking her hair behind her ear. "Yeah?"
Oh, shit, he thought she was trying to ask him something, not warn him back from touching her.
"You sound like a total tool when you talk in third person, you know that right?" Remy burst out laughing at that and she couldn't help but let her own version of a triumphant smile grace her lips. It was kind of nice to hear him laugh instead of chuckle. He had a nice laugh, it had all the warmth and honey of his voice with happiness mixed in. Happiness looked good on him.
His smile was just as bright as before, but with an air of slyness as he turned and began helping her with the dough. "Think 'm gettin' my desired result, though."
She raised an eyebrow at him carefully. "And that would be?"
"F' me t' know and y' to wonder 'bout." He couldn't have sounded more childish if he'd stuck his tongue out at her as he said it and still she couldn't stop a laugh from escaping her in response.
She shook her head and began rolling out the dough, deciding if she rolled her eyes any more that night she might get a headache. "Whatever, Swamp Rat."
Reference pic (not their exact clothes or anything, but the position and idea for sure):
starrrtt27/art/Southern-Cooking-COLORED-361755722