Chapter Two

(3)

"So, Remy, what's going on in your life right now?" She asked the question with simple curiosity, trying not to sound like she was prying or being nosy, but the wary look he gave her made her feel like she was a meddling kid with a dog named Scooby-Doo.

"The usual," he replied, glaring at the new, younger bartender (whose name was Terry) as if he had been eavesdropping on their conversation. "Wake up. Eat. Hunt for women. Sleep. Occasionally go on a mission."

"Wow," Rogue snorted. "What a good life. It's so… so sophisticated."

"Chere, don't be a hypocrite. Your agenda is probably full of eating, sleeping, kicking ass, and making out with your frozen boyfriend."

She reddened, the heated blush spreading across her face and prickling her neck. "Shut up."

Gambit winked. "Oh, I got everything right, didn't I? I'm brilliant."

"Charming," she said dryly. "Now, hand me that daiquiri, will you? You don't look like you're enjoying it."

"I'm not," He confirmed. "It's the most repulsive thing I've ever tasted."

Terry, who was rhythmically wiping down the counter, stopped in mid-wipe and narrowed his eyes at Gambit. He'd made the daiquiri with his own two hands, pouring and mixing liquids (some of them had mysterious stenches) that didn't belong together. Rogue had watched with barely-stifled laughter, while Gambit had worn a look of disgust. Terry was just as bad as the previous bartender.

Gambit smiled sheepishly and apologized in French, while discreetly slipping the drink into Rogue's hand under the counter. "Désolé."

"Dude, don't come here if you don't like the drinks," Terry snapped. Spittle flew onto the shiny counter, and he forcefully wiped it away.

Gambit waggled his brows. "I don't come here for your drinks," he told him. "I come here for her." He jabbed his finger in Rogue's direction.

Terry gave Rogue an once-over as she blushed again at Gambit's words. "Hmm," he said, admiring her unusual white streaks of hair and the soft, almost invisible dusting of freckles over her nose and across her cheeks. "I can see why," he said, and snickered. He held out his fist for Gambit to bump.

"Non, not like that," Gambit said, rolling his eyes and ignoring Terry's fist. "She's my friend."

"Just a friend?" Terry inquired.

"Don't get your hopes up, homme. She's got a boyfriend."

"A boyfriend?" Terry scoffed and turned to Rogue, who was staring at him like he was the Anti-Christ. "What's your little boyfriend's name, girlie?"

"Bobby," she uttered.

Terry let out an obnoxious laugh. "Bobby? What kind of retarded name is that? Is he an accountant? Does he play golf?"

"He's an X-Man," Gambit deadpanned. "You know, that kid who could make hell ice over if he wanted to."

Terry paled. "Oh."

Rogue shot Gambit a warning glance and said to Terry, "Naw, it's not like that. Bobby's really friendly."

Terry shook his head and made a noise of frustration. "It doesn't matter. You're the second chick this week I've tried to hit on who is taken by some mutant superhero."

Rogue raised her eyebrows. "Second?"

"Uh-huh. The other girl claimed her boyfriend could fly, then knocked me out with her mind."

"Warren's girl?" Gambit mused aloud. "Say, Terry, did that girl talk like a Brit but look like an Asian supermodel?"

He frowned and tapped his fingers on the dented but clean counter. "Yeah, exactly that."

"It's Betsy," Gambit told Rogue, smiling. "I went clubbing with her once. Merde, that girl can drink."

"Betsy?" Rogue echoed. "I didn't know she was with Warren. Why didn't anybody tell me?"

He shrugged. "It's a low-profile thing. I only know about it because I'm absolutely merveilleux."

"You'll never cease to amaze me with your self-flattery."

"Aw, you're making me blush, chere."

Terry looked between the two mutants suspiciously. "You sure you guys aren't dating?"

Gambit stretched, locking his hands together behind his head. "The two of us are perfectly aware of the dangers of dating. I killed my own brother-in-law. Rogue here practically became a nun after puberty began—"

"But now," Rogue interrupted, somehow unsurprised by his statement about his brother-in-law, "I can touch people. So it's perfectly okay for me to date Bobby. I can't hurt him."

Gambit snorted. "You can't hurt him? Cherie, you need to toughen up. Your powers will eventually return. You'll have to face the music." He shot her a sharp look.

"Wait a minute, you guys are mutants?" Terry asked, alarmed. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

Rogue returned Gambit's piercing glance with a steely-eyed stare of her own, then turned back to the nervous bartender. "The last guy got scared and ran off, and the boss probably didn't know why, so there was nothing to inform you of."

Terry began to sweat. The beads of perspiration were visible through the short bleached-blond fuzz atop his head. Rogue and Gambit both noticed this, but Gambit was the one who commented on it.

"You resemble an early Slim Shady," he remarked, a wicked gleam in his eye. "But the sweat ruins the whole cocky rapper look."

Terry didn't seem to hear him. "You're a mutant?" He repeated weakly, backed up against a shelf-wall of fancy vodka.

Rogue slapped her palm to her forehead. "Yes, Terry, he's a mutant."

Gambit sighed dramatically. "Why does everyone fear mutants? It's not like I'm going to blow you up, Terry." He smiled mischievously. "Though I could."

Terry began to tremble, and the bottles behind him shook as well.

"Shut up, Remy, you're making things worse," said Rogue.

"Désolé," Gambit muttered. "But he doesn't seem likethe type of guy to be frightened so easily." He looked at Terry. "I thought you were tough, loud. The kind of guy who wears cologne to bed and only showers once a week."

"Hey!" Terry protested, moving away from a teetering row of Absolut. "I shower twice a day, for your information."

Gambit stared at him in disbelief. "Who showers twice a day?" He asked incredulously. "Do you magically become dirty overnight? Do you go hiking in your sleep? Or is your girlfriend just rougher than she should be?"

Rogue rolled her eyes, but her lips curved upward. "Remy, don't say stuff like that."

"No, no, it's okay," Terry said, suddenly staring admiringly at Gambit as if he had notjust been quaking in fear of his powers. "You're alright, dude. You're cool."

Gambit grinned.

(4)

"So, Remy," Rogue started conversationally, "tell me about the whole brother-in-law thing. You didn't tell me you were married." She was beginning to see him in a different light, but she wasn't sure if it was light or dark.

Gambit shrugged. "I'm not."

Rogue furrowed her brow, waiting expectantly for him to continue on.

"We married, but the relationship ended without needing divorce. She was my wife for a few hours, and part of an entirely different… guild."

"Oh, so it was a Capulet-and-Montague situation, then?"

"Not exactly. Our marriage was supposed to bring the guilds together, as a treaty of some sort, but Bella Donna's brother, Julien, tried to kill me after the wedding. So I killed him."

Rogue seemed only slightly startled by the gruesomeness of Gambit's so-called love story. Her focus was on the girl, not the gore. "Bella Donna," she sighed. "That's a beautiful name."

"Oui, but for an ugly girl, chere," Gambit mumbled. He quickly backpedaled when Rogue gave him a half-baffled, half-irritated look. "Ugly on the inside, I meant. I loved her, and I still do, but now I hate her at the same time. Do you know what I mean?"

Rogue chuckled darkly. "No. How can you marry someone if you don't love them completely?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Gambit cried. "Break it off? My guild would've been devastated, and her guild would've been pissed."

"Your own happiness means more," Rogue stated. "It wouldn't make a big difference if the marriage totally went through, would it? You wouldn't be in love. You'd be miserable, and your… guilds would just be a little less cold toward each other."

Gambit stared at her in wonder. "I…" He quickly shook his head. "But the marriage didn't go through, and I ended up miserable anyway."

Rogue frowned. "What do you mean?" Gambit seemed like a pretty calm, satisfied man. He was the sort of guy who made friends wherever he went, and could get whatever he wanted.

"After I killed Julien," he cleared his throat nervously, "they kicked me out of my own home, my own family. Not just the Guild and my house—they completely banned me."

Rogue's jaw dropped. "They just threw you out of New Orleans?"

"Oui."

"That's… that's not fair! Your actions were purely out of self-defense, weren't they? Plus you're a mutant, so you could have simply lost control over your powers or something."

Gambit snorted. "Who would believe that? They all knew I was skillful with my mutation, and they were all aware that I didn't particularly like Julien. The case was lost before it was even formed."

Rogue growled, pushing a lock of white away from her eyes. "Well, whoever that Julien guy was, he deserved to die."

Gambit blinked at her, shocked. "Wow, Rogue." He laughed.

"What?" She demanded hotly, suddenly self-conscious. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down.

Gambit gave her a no big deal shrug. "That statement was bold, that's all. I like it."

Crimson tinted her skin. "Oh."

"Don't blush so often, chere," Gambit insisted. "Just be yourself."

Rogue glanced at Terry, who was tampering with the rusty smoke alarm, oblivious to their conversation. He was the only other person in the bar. "I am being myself," She hissed to Gambit. "Around most people, I'm…" Her lowered her voice until she was barely audible, "…just a quiet, shy ex-mutant, that's all."

"Quiet? Shy?" Gambit's smile was crooked and amused.

Rogue gave a mousy little nod, her eyes wide and apprehensive.

Gambit twisted around and propped his elbows on the counter. "And Bobby finds this version of you sexy? What a turn-off. I like you when you're brash and scary."

"Scary?" She squeaked, her shoulders slumping.

Gambit inhaled sharply. "You can stop now," he informed her. "The shyness scares me more."

Rogue straightened her back. "I wasn't pretending," she muttered. "I have… self-esteem issues. I want to please everyone, but it's impossible."

"Amen," Gambit agreed. "C'est la vie." He paused, then added belatedly, "Now, since I'm not one to talk to you about self-esteem issues, being the amazing person that I am…"

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Right. Then let's discuss"—her eyes fell on her unfinished beverage—"drinks."

"Drinks?" Gambit repeated with mock surprise, lifting his own glass to his lips. "How old are you again, cherie? Fourteen, fifteen?"

She smiled lightly. "Funny, Remy. I'm twenty-two."

He spewed Jim Beam everywhere, and she ducked. "What? I thought you were lying when you said you were legal!"

"Why would I lie?" Rogue handed him a crusty old napkin she found on the counter. "Anyway, how old are you?"

He waved away the ancient napkin and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "I'm… thirty-two."

Rogue whistled. "Ten years older. Wow, I expected more."

"Pardon?"

She laughed. "I'm kidding, Remy. Logan's older than you."

"Wolf-homme? Really? Hmm." Gambit yawned. "What about Bobby?"

She shrugged. "Same age as me."

"He's perfect for you, then."

"Eh."

"What do you mean, 'eh'?"

"Well, I don't really expect a careless flirt like you to tell me about who's perfect for me. Anyway, Bobby and I have been… distant, lately."

"I'm not a flirt," Gambit argued, sticking out his bottom lip and making it tremble for effect. "You hurt my feelings, Roguey."

Rogue stuck out her tongue, feeling wonderfully childish as she did so. "Good."

"But really, what's going on between you and your popsicle-garçon? Trouble in paradise?" He smiled widely. "He's not cheating, is he?"

Rogue fell silent.

"Oh," Gambit said, fumbling to cover up his mistake. "Um, well… I hope that bastard burns in hell."

"Whatever," Rogue said flatly. "It's okay, Remy, don't lose your mind over it. It's just a suspicion I have, that's all. We're still doing pretty good."

"You sure, cherie?" Gambit questioned skeptically. "I mean, I want you to be alright."

Her heart softened at his obvious concern. "Don't worry, Remy," she assured him, "I'm fine."

:D

If you got all the way down here, write a review. Good or bad, doesn't matter. It just really helps.

I WANT TO SEE A ROMY MOVIE. Obviously, Rogue and Gambit are not going to be in X-Men First Class. Shucks.

Thanks to Chellerbelle and BasiaM82 for reviewing!

CLICK THAT BUTTON.