Chapter Six
Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own any of this.
Remy groaned against the pounding in his right eye as he sat up, pushing his hair off his face.
He had to wonder if there was any liquor left in that bar, because it felt as though he'd drank more that his fair share.
Not that the others hadn't helped.
As soon as the chaperones had left, the kids truly had come out in style.
That Kitty sure could put it away, considering how small she was. Remy couldn't help but smile at the memory of her jumping up and down in what she much have imagined to be a alluring dance, in an attempt to get Pete's interest. In Remy's opinion she didn't need to do anything to get the attention of the big Russian, he practically blushed whenever she was within smiling distance.
It was adorable.
He shoved the comforter off himself and padded to the door in search of coffee, wondering why he had let Bobby convince him that just one more Bourbon wouldn't hurt.
Even Rogue had gotten involved, shaking her hips in the middle of the dance floor until practically every male in there was mesmerised.
He would have to keep a closer eye on her in future.
Remy headed straight for the coffee pot as soon as he entered the kitchen, thankfully someone had already filled it and he had fresh, hot coffee within seconds.
"Hey Remy" a voice squeaked from behind him.
He turned to see a very red faced Kitty looking down at his bare feet, her fingers knotted together.
Maybe he should have thought of to put on a shirt before he left his room.
"Bonjour Chaton" he purred, delighting more than he should in her discomfort. It had been a while since he'd been around a girl that blushed, "How yo' feelin'?"
"Oh, I'm fine" she said, still not looking up from his toes.
"I don't bite yo' know, petite" he said, taking a step closer to her.
Kitty laughed awkwardly, "I'm just not used to being around half naked men."
"Sho' dat ain't true" he teased, "Petey sho' looks better dan Remy does naked."
Kitty's gaze finally snapped up to meet his, though her face was even redder than it had been before. Which Remy wouldn't have believed possible until now. "I don't know what you mean!" she stuttered.
"I t'ink de cherie doth protest too much" he mocked, throwing her a wink.
"Rogue was right about you" she said, attempting a weak glare. "You're a bad influence."
"Dere any udder kind?"
Kitty just laughed and shook her head, "The Professor wants to see you in his office."
"Right now?" Remy asked, scratching his bare stomach. "Ain't really dressed f'r it."
"So go get a shirt" Kitty shrugged, "But just a heads up, I saw Rogue heading in that direction earlier" she threw him a wink before she turned and disappeared down the corridor.
Remy let out a laugh as he followed her out, thanking the powers that be that he seemed to at least have one ally in his quest for Rogue. Perhaps the innocent little miss Pryde was more corruptible than she made herself out to be.
He made a mental note to owe her a favour as he reached out to knock on the Professor's door.
"Come in" a voice called from inside.
Remy knew it was a mistake to come to the office shirtless as soon as he opened the door and four pairs of eyes focused on him.
The Professor looked exasperated, but not exactly surprised. Logan looked like he was ready to skin him alive. Rogue's eyes were so big it was as though she hadn't even seen a naked man before.
The fourth member of their little group Remy didn't recognise. She was a terrifyingly, gorgeous blonde wearing an extremely tight white corset that was pushing her boobs up to her ears and was watching him steadily with her icy blue eyes.
"Oh honey" she shook her head, a smile lilting her lips. "You look like all kinds of trouble."
"Den we be kindred spirits, non?" he winked.
"Do they not have shirts where you come from, Gumbo?" Logan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Not when dey drink half a bottle o' Bourbon de night before" Remy grinned, falling into a chair and propping himself up on one arm.
"In future, Mr LeBeau" the Professor popped up, "If I call you to a meeting in my office, I do expect you to be fully dressed."
"I knew there was a reason I didn't come to these meetings" the heartbreaking blonde sighed, checking out her fingernails.
"I got it, Prof" he said, holding up his coffee.
"So what is this meetin' about?" Rogue asked, her overly curled hair had flopped into her face and her cheeks were a little less pink than usual. "Other than makin' people get outta bed before noon."
"Those martinis givin' yo' hell, chere?" Remy grinned at her.
"Nah, but the memory of yoar dancin' sho' is" she shot back.
"As fun as this little interaction is" Logan said, stepping in between the two of them and effectively blocking Remy's view of Rogue. "Is someone going to tell us why we're here?"
"Yes, of course" the Professor said. "Rogue, I have called you here today to discuss your mutation."
"An' we need an audience?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Gotta agree, Charles" Logan chewed over his words, "Why does he need to be here" he indicated towards Remy with his thumb.
"An' miss yo' charmin' company?" Remy asked, taking a drink from his coffee.
"I will explain in due course" the Professor said, disregarding Remy's comment. "Rogue, Emma tells me you are making little progress with your mental barriers."
"Ah'm tryin'!" she defended.
"Darling I know, I've watched you exhausting yourself" Emma said, sympathetically patting her hand. "It just doesn't seem to be working."
"With the mental strain that this seems to be taking on you, I have been considering other options" the Professor continued, "The only logical thinking is to go back to training your ability to touch."
"Professor Ah don't think-"
The Professor held up his hand to stop her, "If you'll just allow me, Rogue" he said. "Logan here is more than happy to help you practice whenever you like."
"O' course" Rogue rolled her eyes, "Cuz who don't love passin' out over an' over again?"
"I'll live" Logan muttered.
"Ah won't" Rogue said, "Still ain't got tha smell of cigars outta mah favorite sweater from the last time."
"Regardless of this" the Professor continued as though there had been no interruption. "Having Remy here offers in itself a rare opportunity."
"It does?" Remy asked.
"Ya'll heard, huh?" Rogue sighed, shoving herself up in her chair. "Ah ain't usin' him as a lab rat."
"Rogue, even if you do not wish to ask Remy to aid with your practice" the Professor put in, "I would like to monitor what happens when the two of you touch."
"Yah gotta be kiddin'" Rogue huffed.
"This could be the key to unlocking your mutation, Rogue" the Professor chastised.
"Of course it ain't" Rogue burst out, standing up and waving her arms in the air. "It's jus' his mutation, unless he can pass it on t' others, it ain't gonna help me none."
"Come on, chere" Remy said softly, "Ain't it worth a try?"
Rogue paused as she made eye contact with him, he could sense her apprehension and fear. He tried to latch onto the excitement he could feel, but she looked away from him before he could manipulate.
If he was immune to Rogue's mutation, then she just had to be immune to his too.
"Chuck, I just don't think this is a good idea" Logan put in, "They shouldn't be around each other more than they have to."
"Don't be a child, Logan" the beautiful blonde rolled her eyes, "I've already set things up in the lab, if it doesn't have any results then what's the harm?"
"Yah think this would help?" Rogue asked.
"I don't think it would hurt, darling" the blonde replied.
"Okay" Rogue nodded as though she was trying to convince herself. "If it's okay with Remy, Ah'll give it a try."
"I'm in chere" he said, standing up with his coffee. "Anythin' t' help."
"Perfect" the stunning blonde stood and clapped her hands together, "Come by after lunch, the two of you look like you could use something to eat first."
"Ain't dat true" Remy agreed, "Can I walk yo' t' de kitchen, chere?"
"Rogue-" Logan started.
"Ah'll be okay, Logan" Rogue smiled, "Ah'll catch up with yah later."
She followed Remy out of the room and then sighed.
"Are yah gonna put on a shirt before lunch, Cajun?" she asked.
He grinned and held out his arms, "T'ink I look pretty good, non?"
"Ah think half the teenage gals will pass out" Rogue chastised.
"S'long as yo' t'ink so" Remy winked at her, "Let's stop by m' room first."
Rogue looked a little apprehensive but followed him down the corridor, rubbing her hand into the back of her neck.
"Yah don't have tah do this yah know, Remy" she said as they walked in step with each other, "Yah never signed up tah be a science experiment."
"Non" Remy agreed, "But if it helps wit' yo' control, den it's a win" he smiled at her as he opened his bedroom door and headed inside. "An' de blonde might hunt me down if I say no, sho' don't want t' be on her bad side."
She waited in the entryway, shoving her shoulder into the door frame. "Emma ain't so bad."
"Emma, huh?" Remy said as he pulled a shirt out of his dresser, "Pretty name."
"Ah" Rogue laughed, shaking her head. "Forgot about yoar feelin's foar blondes."
Remy grinned as he pulled the shirt over his head, "Yo' jealous, chere?" he teased.
"'Course not" Rogue snorted, "Emma Frost would eat yo' f'r breakfast."
"Ain't dat de truth" Remy agreed, following her back out of the door and down the corridor. "I'm more partial t' brunette an' white dese days anyhow."
"Remy" Rogue sighed, hanging onto the banister at the top of the staircase and glaring at him. "What did Ah say about this?"
"About what?" he asked innocently.
"'Bout actin' like tha last ten years never happened" she said, pushing past him to head down the stairs.
"Well yo' sho' didn't say that last night, chere" Remy teased, following her. "After dose four martinis, yo' was ready t' reenact certain parts o' our past."
"Shove it, Cajun."
"Tryin' t' take advantage o' a drunk man dat way" Remy shook his head, "I sho' was shocked."
"Yah are incorrigible" she shook her head.
"T'ink how much fun it would be t' corrige me" he said, wriggling his eyebrows.
Rogue threw him a glare, but didn't quite manage to hide her smile as she entered the kitchen.
Remy meanwhile was instantly glad he had decided to put on a shirt the moment he stepped into the kitchen.
It was like the entire mansion had suddenly decided to get out of bed and go in search of food, every single table was filled with extremely hungry adolescents. Remy followed Rogue to the table she was making a beeline towards, while avoiding the gaze of two extremely curious teenage girls, eyeing him with far too much interest.
Why did every girl in this place except Rogue seem to have a morbid fascination with him?
"Hey guys" Rogue said, taking an empty seat beside Bobby. "We all feelin' good this afternoon?"
"I'm so tired" came Jubilee's muffled voice from where she had her head in her arms.
Remy grinned as he took a seat beside Kitty, "Yo' look fresh dere, petite."
Her cheeks pinked and she cleared her throat, "I had some coffee."
"Where have you two been?" Bobby asked, eyeing both of them suspiciously.
"The Prof hauled us into his office" Rogue sighed, spooning herself some pie from the center of the table.
"What for?" Kitty asked brightly.
"Mah mutation, what else?" Rogue rolled her eyes.
"Is he finally going to let you practice again?" Bobby asked, "Because you know you'll always have a willing partner here."
"Thanks Bobby" Rogue smiled, "But we ain't quite there yet."
"Rogue got her partner right here, mon ami" Remy said, helping himself to some food.
Jubilee finally lifted her head from her arms, "You two are training together?"
Rogue glared at him, "Not exactly" she said evasively, "The Prof jus' wants to figure out why mah mutation don't work on Remy."
"Gotta be a lab rat" Remy nodded.
"Every little helps, right?" Kitty smiled.
Rogue narrowed her eyes at her friend but didn't bother to comment.
"I hope it works for you, Rogue" said Pete, who was always so quiet that Remy often forgot he was even sat at the table with them. "You deserve it."
"Thanks Pete" Rogue smiled.
"I gotta go shower, chere" Remy said, dropping his fork on the plate and throwing her a smile. "Meet yo' downstairs?"
"Sure" Rogue agreed, not looking up from her plate.
Remy bid the others goodbye and stood, leaving his food and exiting the kitchen without making eye contact with anyone. He really needed a smoke and a shower, this morning had been far too high maintenance for someone that had four hours sleep and six glasses of bourbon the night before.
He had no problem helping Rogue with her powers, in fact he was happy to. Anything that gave him an excuse to touch her without asking was good with him.
The problem was that she would put so much on this, and he didn't want it to fail.
Of course she could touch him, they both already knew that. While Remy had absolutely no problem being the only person that Rogue could touch, in fact if he had it his way she would never touch anyone else, he knew that wasn't what Rogue wanted. He knew that she would want to be able to hug Logan without having to worry about accidentally touching him, would want to reach out and flick Kitty's hair out of her face without gloves or have a workout with Pete in the gym wearing just a vest or sports bra.
He knew how much she wanted all those little things that everyone else took for granted.
If she put all her hopes on this and it didn't work out she would be heartbroken, and he couldn't stand to see her heartbroken.
Remy flicked his hair out of his face as he stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his hips and entering his room. He shoved open a window and lit a cigarette with the tip of his finger, blowing the smoke rings out of his window.
Of course he knew it wasn't all on him to fix Rogue's problem, but that didn't make him any less nervous about it.
He flicked the cigarette butt out of the window and dropped his towel, shoving his legs into some sweats and pulling his head through a t-shirt.
He made his way down to the lab as he promised, and he entered the room he found Rogue sat in the middle of a lab table chatting to Logan as Emma stuck electrodes to her arms.
Remy crossed his arms over his chest, "As much as I love our little chats Wolverine, dere any reason why yo' need t' be here?"
Both Rogue and Logan glanced up at him in the entryway.
"You really think I'm going to leave you alone in a room with her?" Logan practically growled.
"We been alone plenty" Remy replied, stepping into the room.
"With what happened last time, you think I want to make that a trend?"
"It's okay, Logan" Rogue said, reaching out to pat his arm. "Remy, be nice."
"Aw Rogue" Emma said, finally looking up. "I thought you preferred the bad ones."
"Don't you start" Logan bit out, moving to the other side of the room.
Remy took a seat beside Rogue on the table, "Not exactly a relaxin' settin'" he pointed out as Emma rolled up his sleeves and started to stick electrodes to the crease in his elbow.
"This is for monitoring" Emma pointed out, "Not for relaxing."
"But if you don't like it Gumbo, I'll happily switch places with you" Logan growled, chewing on a cigar.
"Go ahead an' touch de chere, Wolverine" Remy said, frowning at him. "Might finally get a bit o' hush."
Emma laughed as she backed away, "Okay you two, just act as though we're not here, we need this to be as normal as possible."
"So Ah do what, start touchin' him?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow as Emma began to back away from them. "Cuz that sho' ain't normal tah meh."
"Just do whatever comes naturally" Emma said easily, pulling Logan to the other end of the room.
"Then Ah guess Ah jus' sit here an' not touch anyone" Rogue muttered.
"How 'bout we lose de gloves hm, chere?" Remy suggested, tugging on her fingers. "'M real touchable, yo' know."
Rogue took a deep breath as she pulled the satin off her fingers.
"Yo' seem nervous chere" he said, reaching out to move her hair out of her eyes.
She didn't just seem nervous, her nerves were practically screaming out and suffocating him. As soon as his bare fingers were close enough to graze her cheek she flinched and panic clouded everything.
"Ah'm sorry" she said, taking another deep breath and moving closer to him again. "It's just, Ah ain't touched no one in a long time."
"Ain't no reason t' be sorry, chere" he said, placing a calming hand on her leg. "How long it been?"
"Ten years" she said, finally glancing up to meet his gaze.
"Yo' touched someone since me" he chastised.
"No one that stayed conscious" she pointed out.
"Well du calme, chere" he said, stroking her hair. "Yo' ain't gonna hurt me."
"How do you know that?" she said, her voice slowly rising to hysteria levels. "How do you know it ain't changed?"
"We done kissed jus' yesterday" he pointed out, his mouth lifting into a half smile.
"For all of about three seconds!"
"Tis sweet dat yo' care about me, chere."
"Jus' don't want yah in mah head."
"Come here" he said softly, reaching out until the tips of his fingers brushed her cheek.
Immediately her pleasure and terror simultaneously hit him like a train and just for a second he was transported to a leaky, damp warehouse kitchen ten years ago. The first time he ever touched her she was so scared, she was practically vibrating with it. He hadn't known someone could have such conflicting feelings until he touched Rogue. Being hit by her emotions was almost as addictive as touching her itself, she never reacted as he expected and he loved it.
"Yo' sho' givin' me nostalgia, chere" he said, stroking her cheek.
"Ya'll are making meh nervous" she hissed.
Remy laughed, "Yo' sho' need t' lighten up."
"Yah overly attached tah that face o' yoars?"
"Gets me all de pretty ladies" Remy grinned, "But I got an idea."
"Ah don't trust that look in yoar eye" Rogue said, leaning back from him.
"Come on now, chere" Remy teased, "Don't yo' remember dat lil t'ing I discovered f'rm all our touchin'?"
"What- no!" Rogue practically squealed, but Remy already had hold of her before she could escape. He wriggled his fingers in her ribs which only made her squeal at a higher pitch, "Remy, stop!" she screeched in between giggles.
"Aw chere, jus' wanted a cuddle" he laughed, pulling her closer and tickling her without mercy.
"Ya'll get a fat lip" Rogue choked, trying to wriggle away from him.
"Dat a threat or a promise" he teased, wrapping his arms fully around her and pulling her back into his chest. "Ain't so awkward now is it, chere?" he whispered into her hair.
Rogue laughed but leaned her head back onto his shoulder, "No, it's not so awkward."