I don't like it when fics mention too much music. But the entire time I was typing this, The Killers' album was playing in my ears. I'M SORRY!
Chapter Five
(9)
"So," Gambit began uncomfortably at their next meeting, "I heard you and Bobby broke up."
Rogue concentrated on the wrinkled olive Terry had dropped into her cocktail as a final touch. She spoke quickly and emotionlessly. "Yeah, he ended it. I mean, I avoided him all day on Tuesday, then bailed out on the 'talk' to go gambling with you. Bad girlfriend behavior didn't make him change his mind, obviously."
"I'm sorry, Rogue," Gambit said seriously, taking her hand.
She glanced up at him, then pulled her gaze back down to the olive. Her lashes created shadows on the skin beneath her eyes. "No need to apologize," she said. "I really don't feel anything right now. Isn't that odd?"
"Maybe you're numb," He suggested. "You've been with Bobby for a while, after all."
"Nah, that's not it." Rogue set down her glass on the counter. "I… It's like I don't care. I mean, I was expecting it the whole time, wasn't I? Being a drama queen and everything."
"Hmm." Gambit studied her thoughtfully. "You should be a little more upset, though."
"I know. It's funny." She swallowed. "You know what's also funny?"
"What?"
"The fact that he asked out Kitty right after he told me it was over."
It was suddenly so quiet in the bar that Rogue suspected Nightcrawler had arrived and taken everyone away. She looked up to be sure, and only saw a shocked Cajun with 'angry' written all over his face, from the crimson and coal in his eyes to the clench of his jaw. Then—
"I can't believe it!" Gambit seethed. "That bastard. I actually thought he was a nice guy. You know, Rogue, I…" he disappeared into yet another long, complicated French outburst that Rogue didn't bother to try understanding. This one was faster than usual, angry and hateful.
"It's okay, Remy, I'm not really bothered," Rogue interrupted. "Don't worry about it."
"I'm not worried," Gambit growled, "I'm pissed off."
"Well, don't be," she muttered. "Bobby doesn't deserve your anger."
His expression changed like a chameleon's colors. "Ha! See, you are upset."
"Only slightly. It's been almost a week. I don't care anymore. Now, will you please calm down?"
Gambit looked at her in surprise. How could she keep her ticking time bomb under control? He knew she had one, under her skin.
Rogue glared at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing. It's just…" He ran through the mess of thoughts running through his head, searching for something else to talk about. "…Uh, did you see that game the other night? The Yankees were whooped."
She seemed eager to change the topic, yet reluctant to swing from mood to mood. "Yeah, I guess. That last double play sucked, didn't it?"
"I know! I was laughing my ass off, and mon ami from Brooklyn was screaming at me over the phone." He chuckled.
"Oh, that's right, you're not a Yankees fan."
"Well, why are you a fan? You're not from around here."
"I grew into it."
"Did Wolf-homme convince you?"
"Are you kidding? He's Canadian. He could care less about baseball, much less the Yankees. He only watches when somebody's playing the Blue Jays." She was really getting into the conversation now, forgetting Bobby, and she was enjoying it.
"The last time we watched a game together, my team against his, he tried to kill me." Gambit winced, then laughed.
She cocked her head to the side. "But… what team do you root for? Louisiana doesn't have any MLB teams."
He shrugged. "This and that. Anything but the Yankees or Red Sox."
"So that's why you're never around on game nights."
"Well, I watch, but I don't hang around the mansion."
"Hmm." She scrutinized him cautiously. "You should come. It's fun. The younger kids try to make popcorn, but some guy always manages to pull a J—a Pyro, and burn everything. We still eat it, though, even though it tastes like crap. Especially Bobby, he's always really kind and helps out when…" Her voice trailed off, and a tidal wave of emotions crashed to shore. Tears began to well up in her eyes, like, finally.
"Cherie, why are you crying?" Gambit asked gently. He let her fall into his arms, soaking his shirt with her tears.
"Baseball makes me sad," she sobbed, her voice muffled by the material of his clothing.
He chuckled. "Sure. Have you been holding that in since last Wednesday?"
"Yes."
"Well… do you want me to sing a song to make you feel better?"
"A song? You're terrible at singing." She half-laughed into his shirt, wet tears still streaming from her eyes.
"Moi?" He gasped, acting shocked. It was only partially true; he could carry a tune if he tried.
"Yes, you. I imagine you sound atrocious when you sing."
"Atrocious. I quite like that word."
"I do, too."
His shirt was starting to look like it'd just been washed. "Well, I think I'm a pretty good at singing. You know, I had this one kinky girlfriend who liked to sing when we—"
"Don't finish that sentence!" She cut him off.
"Okay, fine." Gambit grinned. "But you'll let me sing, oui?"
"Uh-huh."
He cleared his throat. "'You can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold. You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold.'"
Rogue smiled slightly into his shirt, then cried harder.
"I guess that didn't help, huh?"
At last, she raised her head and peeked up at him with red-ringed eyes. "It did. Thanks."
" It's 'Romeo and Juliet' by The Killers," Gambit told her softly. "Originally by Dire Straits. 'You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin. Now you just say, 'Romeo… oh, I used to have a scene with him!'"
A tear dripped down the slope of her nose and fell onto her wrist. She rested her head over his heart, fingers still clutching his shirt. "I'm being dramatic again, aren't I?"
"Oui. But I can handle it." He grinned. At her touch, his nerves were burning fiercely like wildfires. "Are you all right now, chere?"
"No, but I'm close enough." Rogue laughed, pulling away from him. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Um… sorry about your shirt."
Gambit glanced down. It looked like he'd just ran fifteen miles and sweated a storm, or maybe gone out into the rain to have some fun. "Non, don't worry about it."
She smiled uncertainly and imitated his previous words, "I'm not worried, I'm pissed off." She paused. "I shouldn't have broken down like that. How embarrassing."
They sat there quietly for a moment, watching each other. He arched a brow, she copied him. She moved a lock of white hair out of her face, he flicked a stray strand of brown from his eyes.
"You know," Rogue said in the end, breaking the silence, "I was wrong about Kitty and Bobby. She never had interest in him. He asked her out, but she turned him down because of her crush on Piotr."
Gambit laughed. "I like her."
(10)
"You got a tattoo of your girlfriend's name?" Gambit critically examined Terry's tattoo with clear disapproval in his voice. "Are you insane, homme?"
Terry sounded hurt. "What do you mean? I love her. She's beautiful." He flexed his almost-but-not-quite-guido muscles, and the letters of Siobhan rippled creepily.
"You just don't seem like the kind of guy who'd stay locked down in a serious relationship." Gambit muttered, shaking his head. "At least you didn't get her entire body inked onto your arm. The older and heavier you'd get, the uglier she'd become."
Terry gave him a strange look that said, How the hell do you know that?
Gambit paused and thought about it. "I'm not really sure."
The door burst open and Rogue came in, cold and shivering. She stamped soft white flakes off her boots and walked toward the two men, long hair askew and red nose resembling a strawberry or tomato.
"Oh, look," Gambit said, amused. "It's Rudolph."
Rogue glared at him. He'd arrived only five minutes earlier than her, but he looked warm and perfectly fine and nothing was out of place. His trench coat was rumpled and his hair was messy, but that was normal. "It's snowing outside!"
Gambit smiled. "I know."
"It's not even November yet!"
Terry shrugged. "Once, it didn't snow till January."
She stared at him. "That's my point."
"Oh. Okay." He blinked, lost, subconsciously moving away from the Louisiana man and the Mississippi girl.
Back to polishing the shiny counter, Rogue guessed.
Gambit shot her a crooked grin. "I haven't seen you all week, cherie."
She smiled. The way he looked at her made her happy. "I've been busy. I complained to Logan, you know. He moved me up. I'll be with your group starting on Saturday."
His eyes widened. "Wow! Congratulations, Rogue. I knew you'd finally break through."
She blushed slightly. "Well, I've been through a lot. It was unfair for them to treat me like a kid."
"It was," he agreed. Gambit dug into his pocket and pulled out a thin CD case. He handed it to her, fingertips brushing hers.
Sparks flew.
No, actual sparks.
"Ouch!" Rogue yelped, trying to shake the unexpected pain from her hand. It felt like it had just burst into flames. "What was that for, Remy?"
He stared at his own hand, bewildered as well. "I… I don't know. Désolé."
Rogue decided to brush it off as a simple accident. "Uh, it's all right. What's this?" She held up the album, which she'd dropped into her lap at the contact with Gambit's skin. "Sawdust," she read, figuring it was the title.
"It has the song I sang to you last week," Gambit explained awkwardly, with a sheepish smile. "Stole this from an old friend."
"Thievery again, Remy?" She teased.
"Borrowed," He corrected himself. "Anyway, how'd you know about my addiction to stealing?" He tried not to sound too suspicious.
"Well, on April Fool's, you were the one who stole Logan's entire underwear drawer," Rogue replied with a slight smile. "Why do you sound so paranoid?"
"Uh…" Gambit scratched his head. "It's complicated. Cherie, remember what I told you about my guild?"
She nodded. "Yeah. And Bella Donna had one too, right?"
"Oui. My guild… they're, er, the Thieves Guild. And Bella Donna… is part of the Assassins Guild." He didn't know why he was telling her this. It just felt right.
Her reaction was not what he expected. She didn't gape at him or demand more answers. Instead, she just raised a brow and said, "Well, that's not a surprise. You're from New Orleans, after all. I've heard about the Guilds before."
He stared at her openmouthed until he regained the use of his voice. "Really?"
"Yeah. I assumed those were the ones you were talking about before."
"You… okay. Merde. I don't know what to say."
Rogue laughed. "I'm flattered." She flipped the CD from hand to hand, finally tucking it into the pocket of her coat after a beat of consideration.
"You've very weird, cherie."
"So I've heard."
Gambit chuckled and edged closer, sweeping a loose lock of hair from her face. His skin grazed hers once more, but this time there were no sparks. She held her breath, suddenly nervous. She liked the way his face was sculpted, but up close, she didn't care about his beauty. She just felt like touching him, making contact, because she could. Because he was Gambit, he was Remy.
Rogue smirked and sang quietly, "'A lovestruck Romeo, sings the street a serenade, laying everybody low with a love song that he made.'"
Gambit laughed out loud and leaned back, looking at her with something she couldn't quite name in his eyes. "You listened to the song?"
She smiled. "Of course I did, Remy. But I'm still taking the CD." She patted the square shape in her pocket and her smile broadened.
His fingers curled involuntarily, as if all the blood in his body was rushing elsewhere. "You're a strange lady, Rogue."
"I know."
Gambit cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes, then back up into her eyes. "You still hung up over Bobby, cherie?"
"Maybe." Suddenly, at the subject change, Rogue tore her gaze away from his face and avoided making any kind of eye contact. Her nails tapped restlessly against the spotless counter.
"Don't move on too fast," He murmured quietly. "Nobody likes being a rebound."
And then, without another word, he got up, rushing out the bar and into the white blizzard outside.
...Pointlessness. Three more chapters or so. Spiked drink plot is abandoned.
So please leave a message after the beep. Tell me what you think.
Thanks to courtneykutie, ChamberlinofMusic, LibraMoon, Chellerbelle, EnglishRose28, Rogueslove22, lilacgardens12, and tfobmv18 for reviewing. *Dances* Lots of love.
:D
CLICK. THAT. BUTTON.