A couple of days have past since the trainer and the trainee started their new daily routine. Gambit said that he would make things go as quick and as painless as he could. Quick and painless .. what a joke. He was a taskmaster and he worked her to the to top off matter Tina started to have a round of pattern nightmares every night like clock work. She didn't let it interfere with her training, even though she couldn't understand why she would be having such dreams now, and one night being the dumbass she was, Tina suggested in almost a whisper that they should practice at night, and of course he agreed.
So here Tina was, standing outside of the danger room, flipping a dagger she found in her old boxes around in her hand waiting for the jerk to show up, and with each passing moment an annoyed sigh came out of her mouth. "Me and my big fucking mouth…" still playing with the dagger. If seeing him once a day didn't make her feel awkward enough then seeing him twice a day would do the trick.
Remy knew Tina was wound tight. Tighter than he seen in a few days. While he knew he had to keep her working through the exercises, he also had a report to file later in the week. And if he didn't get her to relax, it might not be a good one. He suspected he needed to do something unexpected tonight.
He watched Tina, her serious look, and her exhausted features. He momentarily thought it was because of his training schedule when something else niggled at him. Something was off with Tina and while he didn't know exactly what it was, he knew that it was time to address it.
"Danger room, call up Gambit 985", Gambit watched the room change and it was Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The scene looked like Mardi Gras but was tamed down as in they were in the "off" season. He reached a hand out for Tina and said "lets go for a walk."
Tina crossed her arms in an annoyed manner. "Your suppose to be training me not fooling around in here. If Cyclops ever finds out about this…"
Gambit cut her off and said "not all training sessions are combat oriented, sometimes you need to look around you," he smiled.
"If you don't look around how do you know that there isn't more to see … trust me chere. There is more to life than training and following orders. Sometimes you need to live." Gambit smiled at her and invited her to walk with him in New Orleans - danger room style.
"And the point of this is to what? Look beyond everything?" Tina started to walk besides him with her arms still crossed.
"The point is to live, to enjoy and see everything," Gambit smiled for all he was worth as if the world was his to own.
"Oh I tried living once, maybe twice. Left me backstabbed, unwanted, and hurt." She moved a little closer to him, as she kept walking.
While she talked about her trappings, something moved to the right of their eyesight. He went on alert as did she. They followed the movement … and as a tandem .. the searched the area. Eyes, ears and powers on alert. He moved his finger to his lips for silence and then pointed to show her what the target was – and with the skill of a panther she nailed the enemy with her energy bolt. Remy smiled, when she nailed it. Her eyes were surprised and she watched in fascination. All this time wasn't wasted with the hot guy in the house. Remy smiled at how well she handled herself, her precision, her grace and expertise. His report would be a good one and Cyke would see her differently. Not a fledgling but a solid member of the Xmen team.
"Now I see what you meant, to look at your surrounding not matter what right? Even when you're relaxing you always want to keep your eyes open" Rubbing her hand.
Gambit smiled at her, "you are gettin' the hang of it. Ya still need to practice, but it may save your life. I think we're done for tonight, unless you'd like to join me for dinner."
Her shyness came flooding back, but her stomach was growling, and she wouldn't pass up a free meal. "U-um s-sure.."
"Al'right chere, meet me in a half hour at the front of the mansion, we'll take my bike for a ride and grab a bite to eat." He ended the program and walked toward his room.
Tina slowly left the room shortly after him, before going into her room, and looking into her closet. "Be formal yet casual…..whatever that is…"
She ended up going with a black halter top, and blue skinny jeans with heel boots, and added a bit of black eyeshadow to her look. She debated on putting her contact in, but decided not to, and went outside to wait for him, holding a short black leather jacket in case she got cold.
Remy was dressed in jeans and a button up cotton shirt that fit him well. His leather jacket hugged him tight. He made sure his "baby" was ready to ride. Motorcycles had to be in pristine order and his baby was purring. He drove to the front of the mansion to pick up his date feeling better about life than he had in weeks. He was looking forward to spending time with a pretty lady.
Tina noticed him then the bike while she put on her jacket. "What a beauty.." walking up to him.
"Yes .. she is .." Remy smiled at the double entendre, thinking of Tina and his bike. "Hop on."
"Oh so your bike is a girl huh?" She asked as she got onto the bike behind him, swinging her left leg over, trying to figure out where to put her hands
Remy grinned to himself, he enjoyed teasing Tina. He noticed her awkwardness, "just wrap your arms around my waist and hold tight. Lean in the same direction I do and hug tight the rest of the time. Ready?" Gambit waited.
She bit her lower lip, as her arms wrapped around his waist, holding onto him tightly. "R-ready."
He smiled with delight and his eyes lit up, he gave the throttle a twist and down the Mansion road to the street. He didn't drive too fast, he didn't want to freak her out but he wanted her to enjoy the thrill of a motorcycle. He swerved in and out of areas and paced the bike so she could see everything.
Tina watched as everything went past them at a fast speed, feeling the wind blowing through her hair. She felt like she was almost flying with the wind and being in an open vehicle, as she never felt anything like it before.
Remy took a more scenic route to New York City. Once in the city, he took them to a restaurant known for its cajun cuisine. The valet parked the bike for them once they arrived. He looped his arm with hers and escorted her into the restaurant. "Ready for dinner?" Gambit looked at her with hopeful eyes.
Tina quickly ran her hand through her hair as if she was combing it knowing that it was probably a bit of a mess, and moved her bangs in front of her right eye. "Mhm.."
"Don't do that chere .. your eyes are beautiful. Don't hide them from me." Gambit gave her a breath taking grin to re-assure her. "You are fine as ya are, don't let anyone tell ya different."
"Its a force of habit really.." She pushed some of her bangs back behind her ear, leaving a bit still over her eye.
Remy pushed the rest of her bangs behind her ear. He tilted his head and really looked at her. She had such beautiful eyes. He couldn't believe she would hide them, they were mesmerizing. Her heart shaped lips begged to be kissed. Her complexion was sun kissed and he found she was very easy to gaze upon. He found beauty in any female. To him they were works of art, all of them. He leaned down and gave Tina a kiss on the cheek.
Once his lips touched her cheek, she jolted her head back a bit, as now her face was bright red with a flushing blush. It was a way of protecting herself, from being hurt , but she didnt really wanted to hurt his feeling by pulling away completely. Her lips pulled in as she looked down at the ground below her.
He chuckled with warmth in his eyes, "C'mon I'm hungry .. aren't you?"...he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the restaurant.
Tina followed him, trying to shake off the redness in her face. Once they got seated and had drinks ordered, her eyes looked up at him, and felt his eyes locking onto her own. "I…...I….." sighing hard. "I'm sorry.." in a soft whisper.
"Awwww chere, nuthin' to be sorry about," Remy wanted Tina to relax. He had no idea why she was so tense. It couldn't be the danger room or Cyke's crap. What he did know is she needed to just be herself. And if he could help her with that, it would make him feel good. In the back of his mind he knew the Xmen needed another person who could hold their own and cause damage. Nightmare could do that, of this he was confident in.
There were two parts of her going to battle in her head during this whole time they were sitting. One side want her to give in a little and try to give Gambit a chance, while the other side reminded about the past and that Gambit has a reputation. The two sides kept battling each other through dinner, with every warm smile and locked eyes, that he gave her.
After desert which both were surprised they indulged in, he asked Tina if she wanted to go on a ride, he liked going for countryside cruises. While he knew she was struggling with some inner demon at least she had fun this night. And he wanted to make sure when they parted ways that she had sweet dreams.
She agreed to the ride, as it cleared her head even though it was for a bit. But deep down inside she debated on telling him what was going on in her own head, and why she was acting the way she did. On the way back home, she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, as she kept looking out at everything that passes them, as her mind went at work. Maybe he isn't as big of a jerk as she thought, he was kind and polite, and always wanted to hear her speak, despite stuttering or having short answers . She really couldn't say that about any of her past boyfriends, since they werent too keen on how she was feeling, or didn't bother to ask what was wrong as they possibly chalked it up to mood swings.
But now there was a slight pull deep inside of her, despite her shyness she felt a connection of sorts with Remy, or it could had just been the cajun spice going to town in her stomach, but she was sure it was a spark of sorts. It was gonna kill a bit of her departing from him for the night once they got back, because after tonight it's back to business with him, and she really didn't want to be flirting around with someone who was suppose to be her mentor. Still if it was a one time date with him, at least she wouldn't had gone away feeling worse than she had before.
They arrived at the mansion and he pulled his motorcycle into the garage. Once he had the kickstand down and Tina hopped off, he removed the keys and smiled at her. "Thanks for goin' ta dinner." He swung his leg off the bike and pocketed the keys. "See you tomorrow." While he would have liked to spend more time with her, he felt that she was probably at her end with him for the night. He knew she was nervous around him and until that went away, there was no point in pushing.
Right before he was about to leave the garage, she decided to speak up. "My mom was the one who called me nightmare.." She slowly walked away from the bike. "Even before I even knew about my powers…"
Remy was surprised that she decided to tell him something but made sure it didn't show, "Why did she call ya that?" He was genuinely curious.
"Because she wanted nothing to do with me, after my dad died when I was little, she only kept me around so she could get her hands on the money he left. Everytime she got it was either a beating here, or a yelling fit there. Then I decided to run away because if I hadn't I don't think I would had been here today." Her eyes downcast to the ground for a moment.
"How did ya father die?" Remy thought she would feel at least a little better by getting some things off her chest. And hopefully she would feel better about herself.
"A weak heart, a physical weak heart. He wanted to marry and have at least one child before he past. Which is where my mom and I came in, even though she didn't want to have another kid so go figure. And ever since then, no matter how hard I try those who I made a connection with be it a friendship level or partner level, they all walked out on my life.." She walked up to the door, and turn to him. "Thanks for listening to my babbling…" Turning to the door, she went to go open it.
Remy stopped her from entering the door and pulled her into his body, he wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin. He understood the loneliness and the feeling of wanting to belong. "Some day chere, you'll find someone who won't ever walk away. The Xmen are a good family, they'll stick by you, ya just need to let 'em in." He wasn't sure if she would find comfort in his words but he hoped she was listening. He then let her go and kissed her forehead. He thought about kissing her on the lips but he had a feeling she wouldn't be that receptive to him. She would have to make the next step. He stepped away from her so that she could walk into the mansion.
"Well, I don't know about that…" She quickly went over to him, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, before walking out of the garage, almost tripping while doing so. "I'm okay" blushing deeply.
Gambit smiled at her and watched her disappear into the mansion. Sighing to himself, he entered the mansion and headed up to his room. He now had a better understanding of Tina and he would teach her to trust through training sessions. He would change their routine just enough so that she would learn what its like to trust and be trusted. But not take away from useful skills she would need if she was on her own.
Tina got up into her room, before grabbing her pillow and screaming into wasnt planning on talking about certain things in her life that had happen, and now that she had, I realized that she gave her heart what it wanted, and would have to see how things would progress from now on, as she wraps her arms around herself. "The man is gonna kill me….but at least it might be a loving death." As she slowly smiled to herself.