Hello, my lovely darlings! I hope you've all had great holidays and all that jazz. Anyhoozawhatzit, here's the next chapter. And look! Only like, two days after the previous chapter! I know not much happens here, but I'm very proud of myself. Also, the contest from last chapter is still in play, so, keep thinking about that.
Enjoy!
-Forbala-
CHAPTER SIX: RELOCATION
They had been on the road for over an hour, going northeast, when Rogue finally asked, "Where are we going?"
"We're going to Charleston until I can arrange a more permanent location."
"For how long?"
"A few days. A week at most."
"Should we maybe head someplace, y'know, out of the southeast? Being as we're both from the South, that's the most likely place."
"Oui, but it's only been une semaine an' we've already been t' several states, an' nowhere fo' very long. Remy's got a safe house in Charleston—no hotels—so we should be safe fo' a while."
Rogue accepted his answer. If Remy—er, Gambit. Why had she used his first name? If Gambit said it was safe, then it was. She looked out the window at the passing scenery. She was far more comfortable—what with the new identities—than she had been yesterday, for example, when they'd been attacked by Sabretooth. Was it only yesterday? It seemed like so much longer, so much had happened.
Five hours later, it was well into the night and they stopped at a roadside hotel to rest—with the new credit card for Raoul Picard. Once they were inside the room (another single bed. Hm.), Rogue went straight to the bathroom to shower and change. When she emerged, Gambit was speaking rapidly in French over the phone.
"Non, non, je n'ai pas besoin d'un hôtel. J'ai besoin d'une residence permanente. Un appartement ou quelque chose. Location ouais c'est très bien."*
"Who are you talking to?" Rogue asked softly, toweling her hair and looking over his shoulder at notes written in Frenglish.
Gambit continued talking scribbled onto the pad of paper: Contact in Europe. Rogue nodded and then it hit her—une residence permanente, a contact in Europe. Oh good Lord, they were going to Europe! Not just Europe—France! Rogue had always wanted to travel, and France was one of the ultimate travel spots.
Rogue was so excited that she squealed and threw her (covered) arms around Gambit's neck. "Thank you, thank you!" she said quietly, but in a much higher register than usual.
Gambit froze in surprise—Rogue was hugging him. Sure, he was taking her to Europe, but she was hugging him.
"Excusez-moi juste un instant s'il vous plaît," he told his contact. He put the phone down on the desk and looked up at the girl. "What's all dis, chere?"
"We're going to Europe!" She was grinning widely and then she began to realize what she'd done and tried to pull back, but before she could, Gambit swooped in and kissed her.
Rogue pulled back—and then realized that Gambit was still conscious. "What the hell?" she screeched, about both the kiss and Gambit's consciousness. Okay, granted, he looked dizzy and kind of out of it, but he was conscious and smiling.
"Remy had an idea. An' it worked." He put a hand to his head. "Not perfectly, but it worked. Hol' on un instant so I can finish dis." He picked up the phone and spoke in rapid French again.
Rogue put her fingers to her lips and sat back on the floor, too surprised to smack Gambit for either kissing her or blowing her off for a damned phone call afterwards. But Gambit finished quickly, with an I'll call you tomorrow in French, and he turned to the surprised girl.
"Y' all right, chere?"
"How did you do that?" she demanded, recovering at the sound of his voice.
"Well, chere, y' were bein' so nice t' dis poor ole thief, he jus' had t' kiss y'."
"But how did you do that?"
"Well, y' take energy right? Well I control energy. I concentrated energy on my lips for y' t' absorb. How'd it work?"
"I…I can still feel you in my head, but…but it's quieter than normal absorption."
"An' Remy still conscious. So it worked."
After a long moment, Rogue said quietly, "You're Raoul now." Then she jumped up and dove under the bedcovers.
Raoul smiled softly.
Non, non, je n'ai pas besoin d'un hôtel. J'ai besoin d'une residence permanente. Un appartement ou quelque chose. Location ouais c'est très bien = No, no, I don't need a hotel. I need a permanent residence. An apartment or something. Yeah, renting is fine.