Episode 6
The housemates were a little surprised when they were instructed to meet Spyke on the stairs rather than in the study. The five teams gathered on the stairs all the same and waited patiently. Soon, Spyke walked through the front door and looked up at them with a stern expression on his face.
"Go pack your things," he said. "You're leaving."
The Beauties and the Geeks paused with confusion. Where they in trouble or something? Before anyone had a chance to voice their query, however, Spyke went on.
"We're going to Vegas, baby," he said, a big grin on his face.
Wanda, Amara and Amanda squealed with excitement. Toad, Lance, Pyro and Kurt cheered. Rogue grinned at everyone. X-23 stood there as if there was nothing at all thrilling about this event and was waiting for her cue to go pack. Gambit also joined in on the celebrating, but inwardly he was already plotting: he had actually auditioned in Las Vegas, rather than New Orleans, where Gambit figured his housemates would presume he had auditioned. In some ways, Las Vegas was almost Gambit's second home, which would certainly make things interesting. Were they going to stay somewhere he might bump into someone he knew? And just what were the Las Vegas challenges going to be? How much of himself did he reveal?
He had come to no conclusions until after they had boarded the coach. The coach had a couple of tables. On one table were a couple of decks of cards (Gambit could feel his fingers twitching at the very sight), and on the other were five books which later turned out to be recipe books for cocktails and mixed drinks.
"I wonder what we're going to be doing in Vegas," Amanda said as the coach took off.
"Well, let's see, what's Vegas known for?" Lance said.
"Getting married under the effects of alcohol?" Rogue suggested and Lance pulled a face at her.
"Hmm," Gambit said, who was conveniently sitting beside Rogue. "Note to self, get Roguey very drunk..."
"Hey," Rogue objected and punched Gambit in the arm. "Not funny, Swamp Rat."
"I'm guessing that there's going to be gambling involved," Wanda said as Gambit rubbed his arm. "That's probably what the cards are for."
"Poker," said Kurt. "Or maybe Blackjack."
"Makes sense," said Amara, who was filling through one of the books. "These are probably for the Geeks."
"So, we should teach you Beauties how to play poker," said Kurt, opening up one of the packs of cards.
"Since when does a Theology student know how to play poker?" asked Lance. "Aren't you guys supposed to be against gambling?"
"The two are not mutually exclusive, mein freund," Kurt said. "Besides, I learned how to play while I was in the circus."
"I know how to play," X-23 said, an admission which took Gambit by surprise. "My father taught me."
"Great," Kurt said, and patted the table. "Why don't we have a demonstration game to show the Beauties how to play?"
"Very well," X-23 replied in agreement.
X-23 moved her he seat to one of the ones opposite from Kurt at the table. The Beauties sat around or near the table as Kurt shuffled the cards and started explaining the rules. Gambit joined in as well, pretending to be learning how to play, but in reality paying more attention to the other Beauties and making mental notes on who were quick to get the hang of it, who showed the more interest in bluffing, and other such detail. If they were right about gambling being involved, Gambit had no intention of showing his hand too soon.
Some hours later, they finally arrived at the hotel, and Gambit was pleased when he realised it was one he didn't normally stay at. Good, that meant there was little chance of him bumping into someone he knew. After being shown to their rooms, they were told they could have the rest of the day to themselves, as long as they all attended a certain night club at a particular time that evening. They went into their rooms long enough to dump their things and have a look around, then they headed downstairs.
"And this is where I say goodbye," Wanda said just outside of the entrance to the hotel's casino.
"What, why?" Toad asked, looking back at her with concern.
"My powers are probability based," Wanda said with a shrug. "I'm not allowed in casinos."
"Oh darn," Rogue said, snapping her fingers. "I forgot that. That means I can't go in either."
"Why not?" Wanda asked with a slight frown.
"I'm in the same party as someone with probability based powers," Rogue said. "And I borrow powers. As far as the casino's concerned, there's nothing stopping me from siphoning your powers and going in there to cheat with them. I'd have the same problem if Jean was still part of our group."
"'Cause she has telekinesis, right," Wanda said with a nod, and then grinned at Rogue. "So, I guess we're going shopping then."
Rogue laughed. "Guess so."
"We'll see you guys at the club later," Wanda said to the rest of their group.
For a moment, Gambit seriously considered going with them, but finally decided to go with the rest of the group. He would enjoy the casino a lot more than going shopping, no matter how badly he wanted Rogue's company. Besides, X-23 was his priority.
Gambit, X-23, Lance, Toad, Amara, Pyro, Amanda and Kurt headed into the casino. Once inside, they splintered off and tried their hands at some of the available games; Blackjack, roulette, the slot machines, and others. Much to Gambit's surprised, after doing a round of the main floor, X-23 decided that she and Gambit needed to go to the poker room.
"It will be good practice for you if we are correct about the Beauties challenge," she told him.
Gambit hesitated, but agreed. X-23 was his teammate, and she was trying to hold up her end of their partnership. He couldn't fault her for that, especially as she had no way of knowing just how good and experienced he really was with poker. Once in the poker room, he considered hamming it up and pretending to be a worse poker player than he really was, but decided it was pointless. The Beauty and the Geek crew would likely know he auditioned in Las Vegas, and anyone with half a brain would assume that a playboy in Vegas would have experience with gambling. None of the other cast members would be watching, so what did it matter if X-23 found out? Besides, when this episode went to air, anyone who watched and knew him would likely expose the fact that he was playing the card shark.
While Gambit and X-23 were living it up in the poker room, Kurt watched over Amanda's shoulder as she and Amara played at the Blackjack table. He gave the girls some tips, but he had no real interest in gambling himself, and started to get bored.
"Well, you ladies seem to have the hang of it," Kurt said. "I think I might see if I can track down Wanda and Rogue."
"What, you're not leaving are you?" Amanda asked.
"I can stay if you really want," Kurt replied with a shrug. "But this isn't really my thing."
"And shopping is?" Amara asked.
Kurt chuckled. "I can always come back here. In any case, if I don't see you before, I'll catch up with you again at the club."
x-x-x
Just when Kurt was starting to think that trying to locate Rogue and Wanda in the resort's shops was a fool's errand, he found them in one of the many clothing stores. The women were surprised to see him, but they welcomed his company.
"And what have you ladies been up to?" Kurt asked.
"Window shopping, mostly," Rogue replied.
"Wow, they sell windows here too?" Kurt replied ingeniously. "I had a feeling this place was bigger than I thought."
Rogue laughed. "Silly boy."
Kurt grinned at her.
"Hey Kurt," Wanda said, picking up a couple of dresses from the rack, "You're a man—"
"I am?" Kurt asked, batting his eyelids at her. "Oh good, I wasn't sure."
"—which do you think is sexier?"
"Umm," Kurt said, looking between the red dress and the black dress. "Is this a test or something?"
"No silly," Wanda replied, giving him a pitying look. "I want your opinion."
"Umm, well," Kurt said, scratching his head. "I...like the red one."
"So do I," Wanda said, and put the black one back. "Stay right there. I'm gonna go try it on."
Rogue looked at Kurt as Wanda disappeared into the change room. "And this is why going shopping with people like Wanda is a really bad idea. Twenty bucks says she'll be back out here, decides she doesn't like it after all, tries on the black one, as well as half a dozen other things in this store, and then will either buy to the red one, or declare that there's nothing in this store and leave."
"Huh," Kurt said with a nod. "Personal experience?"
"My best friend, Carol, once dragged me into a shop half this size, stayed there for two hours, tried on pretty much everything and then declared that they didn't have anything and left without buying a thing," Rogue said.
Kurt looked around and took in the size of the store. "No joke?"
"No joke," Rogue replied, smirking as she started going through the clothes herself. "I'm the one who has to go around covered up all the time. You'd think I'd be the one who was fussy about her clothes."
Kurt laughed. The two dissolved into idle chatter, and Kurt found he really liked talking to Rogue. He hadn't socialised with her quite as much as he had socialised with others in the house, Kitty and Piotr in particular.
Before too long, Wanda came back out in the red dress she had tried on. While both Kurt and Rogue assured her she looked gorgeous, she declared she wasn't sure and tried on the black one. As soon as Wanda was back in the change room, Kurt and Rogue looked at each other and laughed.
At around the appointed time, the Beauties and Geeks arrived in dribs and drabs at the night club. Spyke was waiting out the front, and as each of the Geeks arrived, he told them they should spend some time tonight watching the flair bartending. Spyke took off after the last of the group arrived.
Rogue, Kurt and Wanda were amongst the first to arrived. After they had gotten bored with shopping, they dropped off their few purchases back at their hotel rooms, and then decided to play a few friendly games of poker and Blackjack by themselves. After they arrived at the club, Wanda encouraged Kurt to go dancing with her. While the pair tore up the dance floor, Rogue found herself a good spot to watch the flair bartending with as little crowding as possible. She was a little thrown off at first, as all three bartenders looked identical.
Gambit and X-23 were the next to arrive. X-23 seemed quite content to sit by Rogue and watch the bartenders at work. Gambit was also quite content to sit by Rogue.
"I see Wanda and Kurt are having fun," Gambit said, gesturing to the dance floor.
Rogue looked away from the bartenders to glance at her friends, and then looked back at the bar. "Mmmhmm."
"Have fun shopping?"
"It was okay."
Gambit slid his arm around her waist. "Wanna come dance with me?"
"Absolutely not," Rogue replied firmly, her eyes remaining fixed on the bartenders.
"Aww," Gambit said, twisting his head around so that Rogue would see him pouting at her in her peripheral vision. "Come on, it'll be fun."
"Nope," Rogue said. "You might be able to get me to dance on a roof top, Swamp Rat, but there is no way in hell you're getting me on a dance floor in the middle of a crowded night club."
Gambit moved in close to her. "Why not?"
"Because the last time I got talked into going to a night club, I was groped by some moron who had too much to drink, and before I had a chance to escape his clutches, the douche bag kissed me, thus getting him knocked out," Rogue said irritably. "It would have been nice if it had been left at that, except that in addition to being permanently assaulted with his disgusting little mind, I also ended up drunk. Not actually drunk, as I only had one beer, and that's not nearly enough to do the job. No, I absorbed his horny, drunken state, and ended up throwing myself at three or four different girls—absorbing them as well—before Carol was able to rescue me."
Gambit gave a low whistle.
"I didn't realise absorbing minds did that to you, chère," he said.
"Fortunately, I have better control than I did in terms of what happens when I first absorb a new personality," Rogue replied with dignity.
"Well, that's good news," he said, skipped a beat and then added: "Come dance with me."
Rogue finally looked at him with an expression of exasperation on her face. "Did you even hear a word I just said?"
"Oui, I heard," Gambit replied with a sly smile and a shrug. "I'm just not sure whether I heard 'I'm living life in fear' or 'I'm just making excuses'."
"I'm not living my life in fear!" Rogue exclaimed.
"Then you must be making excuses," Gambit said, standing up and taking her hand in the process. "Dance with me, chère. I promise I'll keep the big bad gropers away."
"Really?" Rogue challenged him as she allowed him to help her up. "Does that mean you'll stay away from me?"
"You wound me," Gambit said, pulling her nice and close. "I've never put my hands anywhere inappropriate on you. But, if you'd like me to start..."
"You're lucky I let you put your hands on me at all," Rogue snapped back as they walked over to the dance floor.
Gambit smiled at her. "I know."
Rogue was not expecting that response at all, and so didn't reply. In any case, she felt very awkward on the dance floor as she had no idea what she was doing.
While Gambit was coaxing Rogue into some semblance of dancing, the rest of the Beauties and Geeks arrived. Before the evening was over, all of them, even X-23, ended up on the dance floor. The Geeks also managed to spend time—some more than others—watching the bartenders at work.
The following morning, the Geeks gathered in one of the hotel's event rooms with Spyke, a couple of camera crews, and a man that Rogue recognised as one of the bartenders from the night before. This particular event room had a wet bar, which is what they were all gathered around.
"Okay Geeks," Spyke said. "For your challenge, you get to learn all about the art of flair bartending. And to teach you the basics, we have champion flair bartender, Jamie Madrox."
"Hey," Jamie said, giving the Geeks a nod, and with a clap of his hands, two duplicates appeared beside him.
"Whoa," Rogue said. That explained why the bartenders all looked alike.
The Jamies then proceeded to show off, tossing, juggling, twisting, spinning, flipping and balancing bottles, tins, and cups. By the end of the demonstration, Original Jamie had created a cocktail, a duplicate had produced another drink, and the second duplicate had filled up five shot glasses all at once.
After the demonstration, Jamie absorbed his duplicates and Spyke left him to instruct the Geeks on some basic moves. The Geeks then proceeded to practice with tins and flair bottles that were provided. The tins and flair bottles often ended up on the floor, although Kurt did managed to catch a couple of them with his tail. Jamie thought that was great.
"Seriously," Jamie said to them, "if it's at all possible for you to use your mutation in flair bartending, do it."
"Like you do?" Rogue asked with a sly smile.
Jamie grinned at her. "It's very useful, especially on busy nights."
Jamie stayed with them for a time, giving them tips and pointers pertaining to both the trick and interacting with the customer. He eventually left them to practice on their own. The challenge was going to be the next day, so the Geeks were forced to minimise their tourist activities to concentrate on practising.
The Beauties, on the other hand, with their Geeks so occupied, had more time to go shopping and hang out at the casino, and do other touristy things. They did check on their Geeks as they practised, some more so than others.
Wanda, who was a cocktail waitress, spent some time with Toad educating him about the drinks.
Lance actually worked as a flair bartender. Once he knew what the challenge was, he and Rogue returned to their hotel room.
"Okay so the first advice I can give you is practice," Lance said while Rogue balanced one of the practice bottles on the back of her hand. "Practice, practice, practice, and when you're done with that, practice."
Rogue laughed. She launched the bottle into the air and caught it neatly. Lance watched her as she practiced some of the moves that Jamie had taught them.
"Your hand-eye coordination is pretty good," he said. "But that alone won't make you a juggler, and being a juggler won't make you a bartender. You have to know the drinks."
"We were given a list of five drinks we have to learn," Rogue said, gesturing to a piece of paper she had placed on the table. "I mean, I think they want us to learn more than that in interests of the elimination round, but those are the five we need to know for the challenge tomorrow."
Lance picked up the list and glanced over it. "Piña Colada, Cosmo, Fuzzy Navel, Sex on the Beach,
Manhattan. Heh, I'm kind of looking forward to Fuzzy Elf making the Fuzzy Navel."
"He's just Elf now, remember?" Rogue replied cheekily.
"Just Elf, right," Lance replied with a smirk. "Okay, well, you keep practicing, and I'll tell you about making the drinks, and then I'll grill you on them."
"Sounds like a plan."
That evening, Gambit sat in the hotel room with X-23 while she practice.
"Okay, so," Gambit said. "What do you think of this challenge so far?"
X-23 was silent for a long moment, and then finally said: "I do not understand why it is necessary to flip the bottles before pouring the contents."
"Show business. They're trying to impress their customers in the hopes of getting bigger tips, and probably return business," Gambit said.
"Oh."
"Makes sense?"
"It makes sense that they would want more money and repeat business," X-23 replied, continuing to slip bottles and tins in the air. "Why would this be impressive?"
"People are always impressed when others demonstrate some flashy ability they can't do," Gambit said, and fished out a deck of cards he had bought earlier. "It's irrelevant whether the ability is useful or not. Take these cards for example."
X-23 glanced at the cards as Gambit extracted them from their packet.
"Very useful for playing games," he said. "Being able to do fancy stuff like this? Not so much."
He fanned them out with one hand, then pushed them back into a deck again. Then he cut the deck into three and juggled the three piles in the air. He collected the three piles and put them back together again.
"And this," he continued, springing the cards from hand to hand, "actually damages the cards. While this," and with the deck in one hand he began to shuffle them, "is only actually useful if you're playing at somewhere other than a casino. It frees up the other hand to count chips and drink beer. But all of those impress people. They have absolutely no bearing on whether I can play poker or not."
"Then why do them?"
"Because I can."
On their second morning in Las Vegas, the Beauties and Geeks gathered in one of the private poker rooms. It was only because of the special circumstances, plus the fact that they wouldn't actually be gambling with the casino's chips, that Wanda and Rogue were allowed into the casino. The women could feel the eyes of the security guard boring holes in the back of their heads as they crossed the main floor, and they were both very much relieved when they made it to the poker room, and the door was shut.
The Beauties sat down at the single, large poker table that dominated the room. The Geeks stood behind their Beauty's chair, and Spyke stood at the dealer's position.
"Okay Beauties," said Spyke when all was in readiness. "For your challenge, you will be playing poker."
The housemates felt rather smug about that; they had rightly picked what the Beauties challenge was going to be.
"Strip poker."
Wanda, Amara and Amanda made exclamations of shock and horror. Lance, Toad and Pyro cheered. Kurt looked concerned. X-23 looked like she wasn't the slightest bit perturbed by this unexpected development, which she probably wasn't. Gambit laughed a little, and Rogue eyed Spyke like she was expecting there to be a catch.
"Yes, that's right," said Spyke, continuing on with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, "Beauties, you will be playing strip poker... with your gentleman's clothes."
"Oh thank god," said Amanda in obvious relief. She wasn't wearing a bra.
"So, Toad, Pyro, Kurt; your Beauties will be playing with your clothes," Spyke reiterated to make sure everyone understood. "Remy, Lance; you'll be playing with your own clothes."
"Darn," Gambit said, his eyes firmly on Rogue. "So close."
Rogue glared at him at first, and then her glare was replaced with a sweet smile as she responded: "Pity. I wear so many extra items of clothing than average, Lance would have had an advantage."
"Obviously, for safety concerns, you can't strip," Spyke said to her. "And it wouldn't be fair on Laura if she was the only woman stripping. You guys be stripping down to your underwear, by the way. Once you're down to your underwear, and you have no other clothes left, you're out of the game. The last Beauty and Geek team standing, wins."
"What if I'm not wearing underwear?" Gambit asked with a completely straight face.
"Uhh," said Spyke, and it was obvious to everyone he had not expected to hear that. "I guess you're at a slight disadvantage then."
"So Remy," Amara said flirtatiously from the seat next to him. "Are you wearing underwear?"
Gambit grinned at her. "I don't remember. I guess we'll find out, hein?"
"Oh man...Toad," said Wanda, turning her head to look back at her partner. "Please tell me you're wearing underwear."
"Yeah, I am," said Toad.
"Oh good."
Spyke cut into the nervous giggling to explain further:
"We'll be playing our own Beauty and the Geek version of Texas Hold 'em," he said. "Everyone puts in their bets, then we deal everyone two cards. You look at your cards, and then I deal the five community cards in the middle that you will need to complete your hand. We have a betting round, then you reveal your cards, and the Beauty with the best hand wins."
Spyke paused while everyone absorbed that, and then instructed them to 'ante up'. The first bets consisted of the guys' jackets. Spyke moved them aside, then dealt everyone two cards face down. The Beauties lifted just the corner of their cards to see what they were. The Spyke dealt the five community cards in the middle. Wanda was up first, and opened the betting with one of Toad's shoes.
Gambit's first hand wasn't very good, but he called the bet away. Mostly he just waned to lure everyone else into a false sense of security.
Wanda won the first round. She decided that she liked poker. Like the 'frumpy flirting' challenge previously, her innate understanding of probability gave her a slight edge in poker (probably one of the many reasons why mutants with probability based powers were barred from gaming in casinos). Going by the cards in her hand, and the community cards, Wanda was able to calculate the chances of someone having a better hand than herself in moments, allowing her to make split second decisions with none of the hesitation that comes with trying to calculate things.
On the second round, Amara decided to try bluffing and see what happened. Her hand wasn't very good, but she kept a confident smile on her face and stared down her opponents during the betting round. All the other Beauties folded.
Pleased with the success of her ploy, Amara tried it again the next round. Wanda and Gambit both folded because neither felt the odds were in their favour to win, regardless of Amara's bluffing strategy. Amanda was intimidated and folded. Lance called her bluff, mostly because he had seen how easily she had won the previous round—no cards were revealed at all—and didn't want to let her off so easy. In his efforts to undermine Amara, he ended up putting in all his remaining clothes besides his pants. Unfortunately, he lost; Amara had a pair of eights, and all he had was a high card, Ace.
At the start of the fourth round, Lance was forced to bet his pants, making him the first guy to end up in his underwear. He had to win this round in order to stay in the game. After the cards were dealt, Amara started the bidding with one of the shirts she recently acquired, then proceeded to stare down Amanda. Amanda looked at Amara, then at Kurt who was down to his pants, then at the community cards on the table: Queen of Hearts, Queen of Clubs, Queen of Spades, Two of Diamonds and Three of Spades.
Amanda too another look at her own cards and finally back at Kurt.
"Give me your pants," she said, sounding resigned.
Reluctantly, Kurt unzipped his light jeans at the front, and unbuttoned the hole at the back where his tail passed through. He pulled down his pants, revealing the boxer shorts he wore as underwear (which also had a hole at the back for his tail), and handed his pants over to Amanda. This was embarrassing.
"Amanda is all in," said Spyke.
"Fold," Wanda said, pushing away her cards. The odds were not in her favour, and in any case, this round at least one team would be bankrupt.
"Lance is already all in," Spyke said.
Gambit pulled off his undershirt and put it on the table. Then he stood up and started on his pants.
"I raise," he said and shamelessly pulled off his pants and dropped them on top of his undershirt on the table. His magenta silk boxer shorts gave the girls the giggles.
Gambit sat back down again and smiled at Amara. Amara smile back at him and he could see a flicker of uncertainty in her eye.
"Call," she said without so much as a waver in her voice as she added a belt to the pile.
Spyke gathered the clothes and set them aside. "Amanda?"
Amanda turned over her cards: Aces of Spades and Ten of Spades.
"Amanda has a Flush to Ace," Spyke said. "Lance?"
Lance turned his cards over with some reluctance: Six of Spades and Eight of Diamonds.
"Lance has a Three of a Kind." Spyke said. "Remy?"
Gambit turned over his first card, the Four of Diamonds; and then the second, the Queen of Diamonds. He allowed himself a smirk.
"Gambit has Four of a Kind," Spyke said, sounding impressed despite his attempt to remain neutral. "Amara?"
Amara turned her cards over with some irritation: Eight of Heart and Ten of Hearts.
"Amara has Three of a Kind," said Spyke, and the gathered up the clothes. "Gambit wins with four Queens."
Gambit grinned as he received his winnings. The cards were gathered and placed in the card shuffling machine.
"Lance, Amanda," Spyke said. "I'm afraid you two are out of the game."
Lance and Amanda moved their chairs back just a little from the table, forcing Rogue and Kurt to stand back a little in the process. Kurt held his hands in front of his boxers in a vain attempt to retain some modesty and Rogue gave him a sympathetic smile.
Gambit, Amara and Wanda put in their opening bets for the next round. The cards were dealt and Gambit made a sharp intake of breath as he looked at his, knowing Amara would hear him, despite the fact that his cards were poor. After glancing at her two and the five in the middle, Wanda folded. Gambit opened the betting by dropping Kurt's and Lance's pants onto the table. He turned his head and smiled confidently at Amara.
"Fold," Amara said. She had thought her cards were okay, but she had been thrown of by Gambit's actions and the fact that she had lost the last round.
Gambit's winnings were passed to him, and he chuckled inwardly. He loved using aggressive bluffer's own tactics against them.
Gambit, Amara and Wanda put in their opening bets for round six. After the cards were dealt, Gambit opened up the bidding with a belt. Confidently, Amara raised with two items of clothing. Wanda called. Gambit folded; he was certain that Wanda wouldn't bet unless she believed she could win. It was close, but Amara's Flush to King just beat Wanda's Flush to Jack.
As Amara lifted her head after looking at the cards dealt to her for round seven, Gambit spotted her briefly twirl a lock of her hair in his peripheral vision. Whatever her cards were, Gambit was certain they weren't good. Nevertheless, it was her turn to open the bidding and with all the confidence in the world, she placed two items of clothing in the middle. She smiled confidently at Wanda. Wanda returned Amara's smile with a look that said 'not this again' and folded; not because of Amara, but because she just didn't have cards she was happy with.
Amara turned her confident smile on Gambit. Gambit smiled back at her and reached for his pile of clothes.
"Raise," he said, and dropped four items of clothing in the middle.
Amara and Gambit looked at each other, and uncertainty flickered in her eye. Gambit hoped that Amara would make the classic newbie mistake and call him instead of folding.
"Raise," Amara replied, and dropped two more items of clothing on the table.
"Call," Gambit replied.
"Okay," Spyke said after Gambit had put his bet on the table. "Remy?"
Gambit turned over his cards, and it took Spyke a moment to figure out his final hand: "Straight to Ten. Amara?"
Amara turned her cards over.
"High card, King," said Spyke. "Remy wins."
Spyke passed the pile of clothes to Gambit. Gambit's pile of clothes was now higher than Amara and Wanda's piles combined, even counting the clothes that Pyro and Toad were still wearing.
Amanda, Kurt, Lance and Rogue were getting rather bored. Pyro and Toad were both a little anxious, and X-23 didn't seem at all bothered by the time this was all taking.
Wanda won round eight after Gambit folded. Amara did try to bluff Wanda, but she lost and lost badly; her stock pile of clothes was now gone, and all she had left was what Pyro was wearing.
Gambit called Wanda's bet on round nine. Amara folded, and Wanda won; her full house beating Gambit's two pairs.
For round ten, after dealing the players their two cards each, Spyke placed the five community cards in the centre: Ten of Diamonds, King of Diamonds, Queen of Spades, Queen of Diamonds and Six of Diamonds.
"Amara," Spyke prompted after a moment.
Amara turned her head and looked at Pyro. "I need the rest of your clothes."
"How I wish sheilas would say that to me more often," Pyro replied as he obediently pulled off the last of his clothes. He made a show of it when he pulled his pants off too, and revealed his flame-themed boxer shorts.
"Amara is all in," said Spyke.
Wanda considered for a moment and ignored the way that Amara tried to stare her down. She placed four items of clothing on the table. "Raise."
"Call," Gambit said, and added his clothes to the pile.
"Amara?" Spyke said.
Amara turned over her cards: King of Clubs and Eight of Hearts.
"Two pair, Kings and Queens," said Spyke. "Wanda?"
Wanda's cards were the Ace of Clubs and the Jack of Hearts.
"Straight to Ace," Spyke announced. "Remy."
Gambit allowed himself a smile as he turned over his cards: Queen of Spade and Ten of Spades.
"Full House, Queens over Tens," Spyke said. "Remy wins. Amara, I'm sorry, but you're out of the game."
Amara nodded with disappointment and moved her chair out slightly from the table. Pyro patted her shoulder sympathetically. Gambit was given his winnings, and the cards were collected and put into the shuffling machine.
Wanda was a little nervous as she handed over a shirt for the first round of betting. Gambit had considerably more clothes than she did. She really didn't want to come in second two challenges in a row. She looked at her cards after Spyke dealt them; Five of Hearts and Eight of Hearts. In the middle he dealt the Ten of Spades, Five of Diamonds, Ten of Diamonds, Jack of Spades and Nine of Clubs. That gave her two pairs; Tens and Fives.
That also meant that Gambit had at a pair, but Wanda was reasonably confident that the odds were in her favour. She glanced over at Gambit and became more certain that she had the winning hand; he had a pensive look on his face as he rechecked his facedown cards.
"All in," Wanda said, and she glanced back at Toad. "Your pants, your shoes and your socks, please."
"Sure thing, babycakes," Toad replied cheerfully.
Wanda looked back at the table. "Please don't call me that."
Toad stripped off and gave Wanda his clothes.
"Call," Gambit said, and put the same number of clothes on the table.
"Gambit," Spyke said.
Wanda held her breath as she watched Gambit turn over his cards. Although she was relieved when she saw the Two of Spades, she knew she had lost when he turned over the Ten of Clubs.
"Three of a Kind," Spyke announced.
Disappointed, Wanda turned over her two cards.
"Two pairs, Tens and Five," said Spyke. "Remy wins. Wanda, I'm sorry, but with nothing left to bet, you're out of the game."
Wanda nodded and Spyke turned to Gambit.
"And as the only one with any clothes left, Remy wins the poker challenge," Spyke said. "Congratulations."
"Merci," Gambit replied.
"I'll leave you to get dressed," Spyke went on. "We'll meet for the Geeks challenge in two hours."
Spyke departed and the crew packed up. The men were quick to start putting their clothes back on, especially Kurt, who even when to the trouble of teleporting to the pile of clothes.
"So, Roguey," Gambit said as he pulled his pants back on. "Enjoy the show?"
"Oh absolutely," Rogue replied cynically, her eyes locked on his and resisting the temptation to look at his half naked body. "There's nothing I enjoy more than watching a bunch of guys being forced to strip off leading to various degrees of embarrassment and shameless exhibitionism."
"That's what I thought."
Two hours later, everyone arrived at the events room that they had used the day before. The Beauties sat on stools by the bar, and the Geeks were directed to stay in another room. The Geeks would be sent in one at a time, and wouldn't be performing in front of the others. Jamie was back as the judge.
Lance and Amanda both had high hopes for this challenge. It was the first time that Lance and Rogue had really worked together, and he was very pleased with how far Rogue had come over the last twenty-four hours. Amanda knew that Kurt had some experience with juggling from the circus, although Kurt claimed he had primarily been an acrobat, and his juggling skills were rusty. Still, she had seen him practice and was very impressed.
"First up," Spyke announced, "Pyro."
Pyro stepped through the door and grinned broadly at everyone.
"G'day mates," he said. "I'll be your bartender today. How's a little Sex on the Beach sound?"
Pyro's biggest disappointment about this challenge—aside from the fact that he kept dropping everything—was that he wasn't allowed to make a Blue Blazer. The fact that it was one of the flaming drinks was the reason why Pyro wanted to make it, and the same reason why it wasn't even considered for five novice bartenders.
The good news was that Pyro knew the recipes for all five drinks; there were just a lot of spills, drops and bad jokes that went with it.
"Next up, Laura."
X-23 nodded to the waiting Beauties as she entered. She remembered Jamie's instructions about smiling and winking at the 'customers', and took this advice seriously. Unfortunately, X-23's false smile was a little unnerving. Otherwise, her coordination was excellent; she only dropped one bottle, although she did spill a little drink here and there when trying to flip bottles that were a little bit too full.
"And now, Toad."
Toad also knew the drinks, and had much better coordination than Pyro did, although not quite as good as X-23. His jokes were fairly corny, but on the whole, he was dong fairly well right up until he accidentally threw one of the bottles a little too hard. Knowing he wouldn't be able to catch it with his hands in time, Toad flicked out his tongue and not only caught the bottle, but proceeded to use his tongue to pour the contents into the tin. Jamie reflected that there were times that using one's mutation wasn't necessarily a good idea after all.
"Next we have Rogue."
Rogue's entrance won her a wolf whistle from Gambit. After some experimenting with the gloves she had brought with her, she decided that her black leather ones had the best grip, and subsequently built the rest of her outfit around those gloves: Black leather pants, boots, vest, and a white long sleeved shirt. She wanted to glare at Gambit, but in the interests of her challenge, she instead smiled at him, blew him a kiss and asked
"Do you like Piña Coladas," she half-sang, "getting caught in the rain?"
"As long as I'm with you, chère," Gambit replied.
Rogue smirked at him and pulled out all the glass wear she needed for the drinks she had to make.
Lance was very pleased with Rogue's performance. She had taken all his advice and suggestions on board, and the endless practice had paid off. She wasn't drop or spill free—none of them had been—but Lance felt she had been the most professional so far.
"Finally, Kurt."
Kurt's beginnings in the circus more than paid off. His fingers and tail had found their former skills in juggling. One of the favourite moments was when he tossed one bottle from one hand to the other a couple of times, then caught it with his tail and poured it into the waiting glass. Another time was when he played a little game of "hide and seek" after his tail "stole" the cranberry juice he needed.
After Kurt's turn was over, all the Geeks were brought back out, and instructed to stand with their Beauties. Jamie headed over to a corner in the far end of the event room, created about five duplicates, and proceeded to debate with them about who should win.
"Wow," said Kurt. "Kind of brings a new meaning to 'talking to yourself,' doesn't it?"
Eventually, Jamie's deliberations ended, and he and his duplicates rejoined the group.
"Okay, Jamie," said Spyke. "How did our Geeks go?"
"Well, I think they all did pretty well," Original Jamie said, "especially for people who have only been bartending for twenty-four hours. You did great."
One of the duplicates snorted with contemptuous laughter. "Noobs."
"Hey don't be rude," another duplicate admonished him.
"Ahem, as I was saying," Original Jamie went on. "It really came down to two people; Rogue and Kurt. Rogue, you were great. You knew the drinks. You were very professional and efficient. You recovered well when you dropped stuff."
"You're hot," added the third duplicate.
Gambit glared at him, but he was much too focused on Rogue and the startled expression on her face to notice.
"Say, after this is over," the duplicate continued, "if you're not leaving Vegas straight away, how'd you like to—"
Original Jamie clamped his hand over the third duplicate's mouth and absorbed him back into him.
"Uhh, sorry about him," he said, looking embarrassed.
"Man I hate that guy," said a fourth duplicate. "He's nothing but trouble! Did you know he went and slept with two of our friends, and got one of them pregnant? And we just won't go into what happened to the baby—"
"Oh man, sorry about him too," Jamie said, looking even more embarrassed as he absorbed all his duplicates back into himself. "Anyway, where was I before my dupes decided to display my dirty laundry? Oh yeah. Kurt, you were also great. A lot of fun to watch, too. If you had a bar, customers would buy drinks just to see what that tail of yours would do next."
Kurt laughed.
"Danke," he said.
"And the winner?" asked Spyke.
"Well, I've never been much good at making decisions, which was why the peanut gallery showed up," Jamie said ruefully. "So after a vote, we decided that the winner is...Kurt."
Amanda squealed with delight and hugged Kurt tightly. Kurt, grinning broadly, hugged her back.
The Beauties and Geeks had the rest of the day to do what they wanted. They split up and went off to spend time at the casino, shopping, and doing other touristy things.
Gambit managed to worm his way into having dinner with Rogue at one of the hotel's restaurants. Rogue wasn't quite as reluctant as she pretended to accept his invitation, despite the fact that she didn't think it would be wise to encourage him.
Regardless of Rogue's misgivings—and the fact that there was a camera crew nearby—she and Gambit had a wonderful evening together. She tried to forget that Gambit probably considered this a date and instead preferred to act as if she was just enjoying some quality time with a friend. They enjoyed some good conversation, and some laughs, although it was a little harder to think of Gambit as 'just a friend' when they shared dessert and he made a point of feeding her some.
"How much is it?" Rogue asked when the bill arrived.
"Don't worry, I've got it," Gambit told her, fishing a card out of his wallet.
"I'm sure you do, but I'd prefer to contribute," she replied.
"It would be wasted money, chère," Gambit said. "I'm getting it for free."
"You are?"
"Effectively. I had a couple of wins in the casino," he replied casually. "Plenty to cover dinner."
"Oh," Rogue replied, and left it at that, not really knowing what else to say.
Lance, Pyro, Amara and Amanda busied themselves with a few games of poker on the trip back home the next day. Kurt, Wanda and Toad sat around another table and chatted amongst themselves. X-23 looked on quietly.
Gambit sat next to Rogue and held her hand as she looked out the window. Occasionally they joined the others in conversation, but at that moment, Rogue was busy trying to figure out what she should do about Gambit. She liked him and she enjoyed his company, but he couldn't seem to get it through his thick skull that they couldn't be anything more than friends. It was highly frustrating and to make it worse she was sure she must be giving him mixed signals; one minute she was pushing him away, then next she was melting into his arms. Her heart and her brain couldn't seem to decide on the correct course of action.
Rogue was dreading Carol's reaction to all of this. Carol had been trying to get her to socialise more and get a boyfriend for years. Not only would Carol love Gambit, but Rogue was also convinced that Carol would happily conspire with Gambit to get her out on more dates with him. She supposed she should be glad that Gambit lived in Louisiana and not in New York...
Rogue paused in her deliberations. That was right; they did live in completely different states, and not even ones next to each other either. With such a difference between them, it was likely that they would hardly see each other after this was over. Rogue looked down at their joined hands. For someone as touchy-feely as Gambit, Rogue couldn't see him handling a long-distance relationship very well. Perhaps giving into him now wouldn't be so bad after all. They could have their little fling, such as it was, and then when they went back to the real world, distance would kill off any chance of further romance before they could hurt each other and they could be just friends instead.
Pleased with her conclusion, Rogue disentangled her fingers from his. Gambit made a pouting kind of noise in response which satisfied Rogue that she was right about him not being able to handle a long-distance relationship. She took his hand, wrapped the arm it was attached to around her shoulders and snuggled into his side.
Gambit looked down at Rogue in shock as she rested her head against his shoulder. This was a surprise. He had no idea what has inspired Rogue to do this, but he wasn't going to complain, and snuggled close to her in turn. He knew there was a big, silly smile on his face, but he didn't care. In fact, Wanda happened to look up right at that moment and saw them. She nudged Kurt, who looked, and then gave Gambit two thumbs up. Gambit grinned back at them.
Unfortunately, the happy moment was not to last. After their return to the Beauty and the Geek mansion, Gambit, X-23, Kurt and Amanda met in one of the bedrooms to discuss who to send to elimination.
"I'll be frank—" Gambit began.
"Okay, hi Frank," Kurt replied cheekily. "I'm Kurt, how're you doing?"
Amanda snickered as Gambit flashed Kurt a smirk.
"I don't want to send Rogue and Lance," Gambit said. "I'm sure you can all figure out why, and it has nothing to do with the game."
"I'd be inclined to let you practice your blatant favouritism," Kurt replied, "but I don't really want to see Wanda and Toad go in. Not twice in a row."
"I'm divided," Amanda admitted. "On the one hand, yeah, I think it's a little mean to send Wanda and Toad in twice in a row. On the other hand, they are a tough team. I guess, in terms of strategy, sending Wanda and Toad in would be the smart thing."
"Amara and Pyro may be the best match for Wanda and Toad, if you intend to get Wanda and Toad out of the game," X-23 said, surprising everyone by speaking up and saying so much. "Wanda and Amara both did well at the poker challenge. I do not know how well Pyro and Toad know the flair bartending material, but the fact that neither were mentioned as potential runners up suggests that they are on par with each other."
"Pyro might not be a good juggler, but I'm sure he knows the material," said Amanda. "And Wanda's a cocktail waitress. Okay, so maybe she doesn't actually mix the drinks, that doesn't mean she doesn't know them, or that she hasn't done a good job teaching Toad."
"I think it would be best to assume she's done a good job teaching Toad," Gambit said. "And Kurt, I get what you're saying about not wanting to send them in twice in a row. I do, really. But, well, think about it. This may well be the last nomination. There's only going to be four teams left and based on how things have gone so far, unless one team manages to win both challenges next round, the teams going to elimination are the teams that don't win a challenge."
Kurt frowned. "I suppose that's true."
"It's a little scary, actually," Amanda said. "We're over halfway."
"Exactly," Gambit said, looking Amanda deeply in the eyes. "So you can understand why I would like to maximise the time I have left with Rogue."
Some time later, the housemates gathered on the stairs in the foyer. Spyke stood in front of them and on either side was Gambit and X-23, Kurt and Amanda.
"Good evening," Spyke said. "Unfortunately, it's that time again; elimination. Remy, you won the poker challenge, thereby securing your team a place in the final four. Kurt, you won the flair bartending challenge, ensuring your team would be in the final four. But with great power comes great responsibility. Remy, who have you and Laura chosen to send to the elimination room?"
Gambit took a deep breath and looked at everyone.
"Unfortunately, it seems we have reached the stage of the game where we have to start turning on our friends," he said. "Which is great if you enjoy feeling like a scumbag. And since this looks like it'll be our last or our second last chance to choose who goes to elimination, we've decided to send the team we think is the biggest competition in the house; Wanda and Toad."
"Wow, biggest competition," Wanda said before Spyke could prompt her. "Are you sure that's your reason, Remy? Or are you just looking for excuses not to send your girlfriend?"
Rogue bristled, but said nothing and avoided making eye contact with anyone.
"Both actually," Gambit replied ruefully. "I was looking for excuses not to send Rogue, and Laura actually had her head in the game and was doing the strategic thinking. She's good at that. Look, I'm really sorry, Wanda. I know this is going to be your third time in."
"It's cool," Toad said, surprising both of them, and continuing when he saw the unimpressed look on Wanda's face. "What? I'd probably do the same in his position."
"Hmph."
"Kurt," Spyke said then, turning to the other winning team. "Who have you and Amanda chosen to send to elimination?"
"Well, like Remy said, we're coming to the stage of the game where we do have to nominate our friends. I don't want to send any of you in. If it were in my power I'd send myself and Amanda—"
"Hey!" Amanda said, smacking his arm lightly with the back of her hand.
"Amanda disagrees," Kurt said without missing a beat. "Another reason why this whole process sucks; not agreeing on who to send. Anyway, the team we have chosen to send is Amara and Pyro."
"Right, couldn't see that one coming," Amara muttered.
"What she said," Pyro replied with a shrug. "Hey with only three teams to choose from, it was kind of expected. I'm actually a little surprised we didn't end up back in elimination last week."
"Okay then," said Spyke. "Wanda and Toad, Amara and Pryo; pack your things, say your good byes, and I'll meet you in the elimination room."
The housemates turned and trudged up the stairs.
"Man," Amara said as they got to the top. "Who do you have to sleep with to get out of going to elimination these days? Oh wait..."
Rogue turned on her, eyes blazing, at the top of the stairs. "Do you have something you want to say to me?"
Amara gave Rogue a snide look. "Yeah. How does it feel knowing you're going to be an old maid?"
"I don't know. How does it feel knowing you're not going to get anywhere in life unless you sleep with your boss?" Rogue snapped back at her.
"Bitch."
"Slut."
"Ladies, ladies," said Pyro. "You're both pretty."
There wasn't as much packing as there might have been normally, since most were still packed from their trip to Vegas. Most of the allotted time was spend doing last minute study and saying good byes.
Rogue knocked on Wanda and Toad's door, and they looked up from where they sat on one of the beds.
"Hey," Rogue said.
"Hey," Toad replied.
Wanda gave her a bare nod.
"Just wanted to wish you guys good luck," Rogue said.
"Thanks," Wanda said, then frowned when Gambit appeared in the doorway behind Rogue. "Remy."
Rogue coughed uncomfortably. "Well, hopefully I'll see you guys again later."
Gambit touched Rogue's arm as she turned and left, then looked at Wanda and Toad.
"So, yeah," Gambit said. "Good luck guys."
"Thanks Remy," Toad said. "And, ahh, good luck with Rogue."
"Heh, thanks," Gambit replied as Wanda snorted. "Something wrong, chère?"
"Like you need any luck with Rogue," she said irritably, then sighed and went on: "Sorry Remy. It's not really you. I'm just pissed about going into elimination again. And I like Pyro. I'm not really looking forward to the him or me thing either."
Toad coughed uncomfortably.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Gambit said, scratching his head. "Like I said before, turning on your friends is a great way to feel like a scumbag."
"Previous experience?" Wanda asked.
Gambit gave a slight shrug as he stepped backwards out of the room. "And the rest."
x-x-x
Amanda gave Amara a big hug. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
Amara sniffed. "I just... It's just... I don't want to leave like this. What she said, I'm smarter than that."
"Of course you are," Amanda said, rubbing Amara's back reassuringly. "Rogue was just mad. We all say stuff we don't mean when we're mad. I've no doubt that when this experience is over, that you'll be able to do anything you set your mind to, and you won't need to sleep with the boss either."
Amara sniffed again. "Thank you, Amanda."
While Amara, Pyro, Wanda and Toad were battling it out in the elimination room, Rogue, Lance, Gambit, X-23, Kurt and Amanda waited in the upstairs bedroom. The bedroom felt particularly empty.
"I'm not sure which is worse," Kurt said after a time. "The waiting, or actually being in the elimination room."
"The worst part is knowing that no matter who comes up those stairs, we've lost another two friends," Rogue said from where she stood by the window.
"Agreed," Amanda said.
"Yeah," added Kurt with a nod towards Rogue.
Rogue turned her head slightly to look at the pair.
"I'm not used to making friends," she admitted softly. "Heck, I've made more friends since I've been here than I have in years. I usually push people away."
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Kurt said jokingly. "I don't think Remy did either."
Gambit chuckled and Rogue gave him a faint smile.
"But this isn't the end, not really," Kurt insisted. "Sure, the Beauty and the Geek experience might be, but the friendships we make while we're here, they can go on for as long as we're willing to make them work. I hope that I get to see all of you again once this is over."
Rogue turned her smile on Kurt then, and Gambit tried not to let himself get jealous over it.
"Yeah," she said. "I hope so too."
x-x-x
"The score is three to three," said Spyke, addressing the two Beauties standing before him. "Wanda, if you get this question right, you and Toad stay in the house. If you don't, we go to a tie breaker."
"Hit me," Wanda replied confidently.
Spyke picked up the final Beauty question, and then smiled to himself at the irony. "In Blackjack, what two numbers can an Ace represent?"
Wanda chewed her bottom lip and thought back to their trip to Vegas, and the little time she had spent playing Blackjack with Kurt and Rogue.
"A one or an eleven," she said finally.
"That is correct," Spyke said and Wanda breathed a sigh of relief. "Gentlemen, if you could return to the elimination room."
Disappointment was etched on Amara's face and Pyro hugged her as soon as he stepped through the door. Toad hugged Wanda too, but for entirely different reasons.
"Congratulations," Spyke said. "Wanda, Toad, you've survived another elimination. Unfortunately, Amara, Pyro; it's been great having you here, but I'm afraid I now have to ask you to leave."
Amara nodded, her eyes full of tears. Wanda gave her a hug and then gave Pyro one. Toad shook Pyro's hand and hugged Amara. Finally, Pyro took Amara's hand and they left the room.
As Wanda and Toad headed upstairs to tell the others of their victory, Pyro and Amara sat with the camera crew outside.
"I'm not ready to go home," said a teary Amara. "I was having such a great time, and I feel like there's still so much more I needed to learn."
"This has been a great experience," said Pyro. "I got to hang out with a bunch of people I wouldn't normally hang out with, even became friends with them, had a little romance, not to mention I now have a zillions ideas for books I can't wait to start writing."
"Oh you," Amara said, smacking his arm.
Pyro chuckled.