Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made by this work.
"I don't know what you're brooding about, but keep it up Remy!" Suzanne cheered, her shutter a flurry capturing the brooding man dressed for a fall catalogue.
"Glad I could be of service." Remy said, his eyes staring off into the distance thinking about his morning.
"I knew those contacts would set this shoot off, glacial blue with those cheek bones of yours. You are my faux nordic god." Suzanne purred, shouting some orders at him for how he was to pose just then.
Leaning against the prop tree, a foot raised for support and his hands in his pockets looking casual, he looked right through her when she beckoned for his attention. Only half listening, he could tell she was pleased with the effect as he wondered just where the Rogue who had come into his life was then, what mischief his Petit Ange was getting into. The snapping of fingers brought him back, looking to find Suzanne in his face looking harried and hurried.
"Welcome back, okay go hit wardrobe and get ready for the last set, I just have to finish up with Fernando and then we can go get cocktails." Suzanne urged, taking him under the arm and pushing him off.
"Fred?" Remy teased, pleased with the scowl the photographer threw at him.
"It's officially Fernando now, play nice." Suzanne chastised, turning to great the latest model to grace her shoot.
Stepping into the change room, he disrobed and placed all the garments back on the rack waiting for the true stars of the shoot to be welcomed in. Clothes make the man he'd been told, but as Suzanne always said it took the right kind of man to sell the dream. It was her job to work with him to evoke these fantasies that would stir some soul to buy it, dress it, and dream it. Dressed and ready, he took his seat and waited with an aide bringing him an espresso and another of the days paper. Snapping it open, he kept an eye for anything that fit with his little angel's tale from last night, nothing found for better or worse.
Throwing it with the rest, he resisted the urge to rub his eyes with the contacts there at the moment, hiding a secret he usually kept behind sunglasses so suiting of the playground of surf and endless skies. Watching Fernando pose for the energetic photographer, he remembered his first meeting with her sitting out on a patio with a much needed and savoured frosty cold beer when he'd heard a shutter capture him. Fearing the worst at first, instead he was greeted with a business card pushed across the table as she joined him. That had been the start of it all, some of the easiest work in his life next to what he did best.
Waiting for the scenery of the shoot to be changed, Fernando joined him with an aide bringing a fresh round of espresso for both. The man liked to think him his rival at the agency, but Remy wondered what the man would really think if he knew what it took to be his rival. Passing off a paper, he watched Suzanne yell orders to the men fighting with a very heavy looking fake mountainside.
"How's Jubilee?" Fernando asked making small talk.
"What interest is it to you homme?" Remy asked, still staring off at the men toiling and taking a bit of pleasure from it.
"Just been a while since I've seen her raiding the catering." Fernando replied, flipping to the daily horoscopes.
"She be staying out of trouble, for the most part." Remy mused, hoping it stayed that way.
"Hmm, that's good then. Suzanne talk to you?" Fernando inquired, flipping pages.
"So many questions?" Remy asked far more pointedly this time.
"Just some gossip I heard, was just wondering if there was any truth to it." Fernando said blandly, sipping his espresso with a look got the woman marshalling the workers to one last shift of the mountainside.
"Oh, gossip? Just what sort?" Remy inquired.
"What interest is it to you?" Fernando questioned, turning the tables with a smirk.
"Touche, and no but we be on for cocktails later." Remy chuckled, holding the man in his false icy blue eyes.
"Just that some have been seeing her talking with some from other agencies, fuelling rumours she might be jumping ship. I don't know about you, but I don't think we'd be getting the work we do without her." Fernando whispered as he leaned in.
"Now that is interesting. Well, if anything equally interesting be said over drinks maybe we talk again." Remy replied though thinking of how to make it all work out for him were it to be found true.
"Well, I better get changed. Got a call back, don't want to be late for it." Fernando remarked before finishing the last sip of his coffee.
Hearing the call of his Mistress as it were, Remy followed suit and finished his espresso and slipped from his seat to head on off to the set.
"Another audition?" Remy asked over his shoulder.
"Oui." Fernando said lightly.
"Bonne Chance, au revoir." Remy replied with a bow, turning to head off to his fate.
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"Here, throw this on and lemme see." Jubilee said throwing another shirt over the dressing room door.
Leggings had been picked out, shorts both some long and baggy with a few short and hugging. Long sleeved shirts were a necessity, her friend toying with styles as Rogue herself enjoyed the seclusion and privacy behind the slatted door. There were some hoodies of light fabric too, short sleeved for the most with a couple having no arms at all. It all worked with the right accessories Jubilee had said, Rogue looking in the mirror and finding she could smile at the person she saw there.
Gone was the runaway fleeing her home and the problems there, the girl that wished she could just curl in on herself and hide from the world. The first bit of kindness she'd known crossing the country had come just when she needed it the most, pushing aside the thoughts of what would have happened to her had she been left on the beach last night. Unbidden came the face of the man with two names, how gentle he had been last night to her, always assuring her she had no worries even if all she had known since that awful day had been fears and shame.
Stepping out, Rogue looked around for the girl only to see her rushing back with a pair of boots and some lady cursing at her back. Laughing at the scene as Jubilee threw them down grinning up at her, she tried them on and found them far more comfortable than her road ragged and worn shoes.
"Lookin' good, gotta figure out some gloves for ya that work. Right now ya look like you're just gonna get OJ on someone, if they don't fit ya must acquit!" Jubilee said in honest admiration.
"Thank you." Rogue said, toying with her friends rebellious hair.
"No problemo, grab what ya like. I got enough dough, then it's totally time to get some grub." Jubilee said, snatching up her basket filled with her own purchases.
Swearing to find someway to replay the generosity, she followed along and tried to ignore the snippets of conversation as she passed, the snide remarks and just the overall sense of wrong of some of the other shoppers. Ever since catching the bus filled with the masses she'd been looking at people differently though she didn't know why. Flashes of teeth provoked her, had her clenching her fists fighting the urge to stalk up to them in challenge. Other things excited her, the running of people flagging down the bus as it pulled to stops.
She could only wonder she would have handled it had it not been for her new friend somehow grounding her, always drawing her back from the brink with her cheerful way and easy manner, talking enough for them both. It helped her put everything that had happened to her into the past, to find the fresh start she'd come looking for at the very edge of the world. Past the Pacific were just places she'd heard about, seen in movies, nothing she could ever imagine as being as real as where she was this moment. It could all be forgotten or pushed of to be deal with someday in the future, always another tomorrow following the sun setting against the waves.
Chatting to the lady at the cash as if they were old friends, Jubilee argued a few of the prices that came up on the register that didn't match. She told the woman just what was being worn out, snatching off the tags to pass them over to be tallied up. Helping with the bags, Rogue waited at the end keeping an eye on the bill and swearing she'd find someway to pay back the debts that were piling up. Though as her friend tried to take her own bag, she refused figuring she could at least carry the shopping as they stepped out into the street.
"Okay, whaddya want for lunch?" Jubilee asked, hopping up atop a bench to tip toe across the back.
"A hotdog is fine for me, you've already done so much." Rogue said.
"Pfft, I don't do street meat. If ya want something off a cart I know a great one that we can get some awesome Indian at." Jubilee brushed off, jumping from the bench to a trash can.
"You're the one who's paying Jubilee, you get to choose." Rogue said, watching her jump again to land in a crouch.
"Like I'd make ya eat something ya don't like, we'll head that way but if anything has ya going nom just tell me." Jubilee said skipping back to her feet and leading the way.
Tormented with the aromas wafting from the patios they walked past, the bars and restaurants, Rogue felt the growl rolled out of her belly that rumbled in her chest. Something primal gnawed at her, something she fought against walking through the crowd until a new scent filled the air with the relief coming as her friend rushed to the cart to join the line. Waved off, Rogue stood watching as every patron served meant they were one step closer. Throwing a fistful of cash down, Jubilee ordered up in the language of the cuisine, the man filling take out dishes full of rice and seasoned meats with a warm flat bread served in a paper bag.
"Got ya a mild, little bit of surf and turf. Ya got some shrimp and some sweet ass beef that rocks, trust me. C'mon." Jubilee said leading them off to some wall that stood over the sidewalk.
"Thanks." Rogue said, opening hers up and feeling her hunger gnaw at her.
"Try it first and then thank me." Jubilee grinned, digging in to her own.
Doing as she was bidden and trying a piece of shrimp first, Rogue couldn't help her moan of pleasure. Even the rice was better than anything her mother had made for their dinners over the years, full of spice and colour and flavour. Beside her Jubilee beamed at her between mouthfuls, tearing at her warmed flatbread to scoop up some sauce.
"Hey Mikey, I think she likes it." Jubilee giggled.
"You weren't kidding." Rogue agreed, spooning some sauce on the rice for a bite.
"Stick with me girl, don't know what they serve in Alabama but there's a world of taste sensations out there for you to try, believe it." Jubilee said.
"Mississippi." Rogue felt the time for a correction came, sipping her bottled water.
"Mississippi Queen huh? Rock on." Jubilee laughed.
Stuffing her mouth to chipmunk capacity, Jubilee started humming the song that had Rogue laughing at how silly she looked. Eating amidst some childish antics of stealing each others food and talking about whatever came to mind, they trashed their empty takeout trays and headed on down the street. Passing by one shop though Jubilee's eyes lit up with her taking her friend arm in arm to lead her on in.
"What are we doing here?" Rogue asked as she was lead in.
"Figuring your glove problem out and having some fun at the same time. Two birds shot down." Jubilee said leading the way.
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"So tell me, did your little angel bring some heart-breaker over that I owe today's shoot too?" Suzanne questioned, toying with the olive from her martini.
"Something like that." Remy confessed, sipping his scotch.
"Oh really? Since when has my own Rembrandt ever shed a tear over someone not being in his bed for the next night." Suzanne pressed with a feline grin to her lips.
"Why don't you come over tonight and find out." Remy offered full of honey and promises.
"Well to start with you missed out on that chance to sleep with your photographer and secondly, I've come to know when you're lying." Suzanne said, biting down on her olive.
"Now that is an interesting skill in and of itself, you should be careful with that." Remy chuckled, leaning back in his chair to take in the crowd around the bar.
"You're just lucky I don't frequent the sort of places where you work your other job." Suzanne said, flicking off the toothpick.
"Hmm, well, day job be for the bills. The other one be for everything else." Remy said with a playful smirk.
"Just make sure you play nice, you were so very lucky that one shoot I was able to keep you in profile to show your good side. I'm serious too, I'm working on something big and you and your Petit Ange are right in my crosshairs." Suzanne revealed, playfully reaching under the table to stroke his leg with her bare toe.
"Oh? Would this have to do with the rumours of you looking for better deals?" Remy asked lowering his shades to reveal the contacts he still wore from the shoot.
Tutting at him in a scolding way, she waved her finger for another round instead, looking around the bar through the artists eye that had made earned her name and reputation. Following her gaze he imagined the world as she saw it looking on a couple reaching in for a kiss, pictured just how she'd capture the empty table with it's glass full of slowly melting ice. Watching her do what she did best, he at the bar in the light of his lively hood picking out the suckers and losers that he could milk at a card table.
"Don't go believing everything you hear. Just don't go pressing your luck, if I can make this work I'm sure we'll all be very happy with the outcome." Suzanne assured.
"You had my curiosity, you trying to get my attention now?" Remy grinned, finishing his drink.
"Come back with that pretty face and find out. What do you always say? Bonne Chance? Au revoir, my Rembrandt." Suzanne said, throwing some cash on the table before excusing herself.
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"Are you sure about this?" Rogue asked looking to impish girl beside her.
"For starters I didn't buy it for ya so ya could just be a poser, it's not a fashion statement. Second, no one's gonna question you decked out as ya are. So c'mon and trust me girl." Jubilee said.
They had dropped off the rest of their haul off at Remy's Pad as Jubilee called it, but right now Rogue wondered if she hadn't bit off more than she could chew. Helmet, gloves, and pads had her blending in with the people enjoying the bike path even if she was scared out of her wit. In hand was her longboard that had been bought second hand, a tune up of off the shelf parts had it better than it when it was new Jubilee swore.
"You've rode a bike right?" Jubilee asked, sipping her smoothie.
"Bikes have brakes." Rogue replied, staring down at the asphalt that looked painfully hard and hot.
"Okay, I mean yeah there's some cool shit and stuff ya could do on this but this ain't riding the rails, doing ollies and jumps and tricks. This is just another kind of surfing at it's core girl, you can try the cool stuff out once you're chill enough not to a face plant. Right now you're just riding the wave." Jubilee explained.
"Face plant? What? Wait a minute..." Rogue started fretfully.
Jubilee grinned as if she had been waiting for that question the entire time, pulling out a mouth guard and silencing any further protest. Siding with her on her own board, Jubilee threw a wink and pushed them both off. Holding hands, her own in some skate gloves while Jubilee just had some sturdy looking work gloves, they ripped down the asphalt path along the beach with their boards pulled tight together in a dance over the blacktop.
It took some false starts, watching how easily her friend worked it to catch on, but after a while Rogue felt she was getting it. Her feet felt sturdier on the deck, kicking for speed figuring out just to guide herself.
"This is...kinda fun..." Rogue said after spitting her guard out.
The wind was in her hair and hearing the roar of the distant surf she could almost imagine she was riding those crashing waves instead of the winding road through the sandy beachfront. People made way for them when they could, other times she just ate sand instead when she couldn't figure out how to stop in time. The first fall was the hardest to get up from, but as Jubilee stood over her with a gloved hand offered she got back up to try again.
"Knew you'd like it." Jubilee said as they sailed along.
The secret she kept the whole while though had been watching as those cuts and scrapes she earned heal before her eyes, no idea how to explain the blood that stained her clothes. Badges of honour Jubilee called them, laughing off her own trickling cuts and rough red rashes. With that same wind in her face and the scent of blood in the air something awoke in her and pressed her on, forcing her to quicken her pace. Throughout it all she had a shadow at her back laughing aloud and challenging her, tearing past doing some little dance atop her board.
Sometime later laying in the sand with the waves rolling in reaching for them, Rogue looked to the girl next to her and smiled gratefully at her. Sweaty, sore and the least out of the pair to still be bleeding red, Rogue reached out for a classic high five that was eagerly returned.
"Thank you." Rogue said watching the sun fall from its lofty heights to crash into the ocean.
"Cha, for what? I had a blast and you got some threads that don't paint ya like some tourist." Jubilee said.
"For everything." Rogue replied, still not sure just what that meant.
"Whatev, we buds right?" Jubilee asked, holding her fist out.
She didn't know how a girl she had just met yesterday could place so much trust in her, but looking at her she just didn't care. Raising her own fist up their knuckles crashed together cementing their friendship just when Rogue needed one the most. Out there on the beach people laughed and joked, splashed and played, but right now all she cared about was laying with her back to the earth and staring up to the sky above watching the blue fade with the crimson clouds burning on the horizon.
"Friends, definitely." Rogue answered savouring the word as it passed her lips.
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Sitting in the back of some seedy bar, Remy listened to the news play highlighting the debate that looked to be taking a step back in time, the argument for Mutant Registration. Drawing lines in the sand and forcing people to step across, just so that they could be persecuted as was so openly done in the past that had many still fighting at the dawn of the new millennium. As a man who lived by many names he wasn't too worried, so many lives already played out across the country months at a time until moving on.
Forced to the very coast this time with another name to call himself by, fate had handed him a chance to try a somewhat honest life for a change of pace. He still wondered just how long it would last until his past came catching up to him, but it was all just part of the dangerous game he played. Looking to the last who joined the game, the door was slammed shut quieting the ruckus from the bar now in full swing.
"Well if it isn't the pretty boy." One man laughed as he took his seat.
Toying with his chips, Remy looked at him and placed him from another game now a month past. He'd been one that had known when to fold, cashing out and taking his winnings before the end. The others hadn't the sense or the luck, it'd been a good night indeed. The look in the eyes of another had his visit to the washroom explained, surly having gone to powder his nose.
"Going to stick around the whole game this time homme?" Remy asked of the first, catching from the corner of his eye how the rest looked at the past player.
"Depends on the cards." The man said, buying into the game.
It was enough to get the rests attention of himself and onto the other, letting them drive all the pots up as the hands were dealt. Favouring coffee and pulling a flask at times to pour a belt in, it kept them off his case as most sat with bottles at their side or some trips to the can as the cards were sent across the felt.
"So pretty boy, what brings you to this part of town? Run out of games to hustle?" The man asked some hands on.
Staring at him as he savoured a sip of his brew, something about the mans eyes tickled the back of his neck with the hairs climbing. Toying with some chips, Remy bought his way into the pot as the bidding went around the table. Another card joined the first, rapping his knuckles to the table and letting someone else make the move, wondering just what it was about the man across from him that had him so on edge. Of the rest he recognized one, he'd played enough games with him over the city and knew he always had ready cash.
"We all just honest gentlemen here." Remy replied, flipping a chip in with the rest after the bid had been made.
It was hardly more than a twitch, yet to a man who made his living by reading the faces of those he stood against it didn't go unnoticed as the man looked to the only other whose face Remy knew. He was a dealer, a peddler of highs that always came crashing down in agony. The green was the same, but he counted every dime he milked off the motherless son of a dog and gave it to the clinics around town that helped the junkies try and come clean. Looking down at his hand, a wining one no doubt, he folded before the flop and headed off to the can.
It was no surprise to him when the man he now figured for a cop walked in and stood against the door lighting up a smoke. With the privacy bought at the table, Remy accepted the cigarette offered and lit up.
"How long do I have?" Remy asked, taking a pull as the ember blazed red.
"What gave me away?" The officer asked, staring at Remy in a new light.
"Pusher man was there the last time we met, you sit right next to him too this time. That and you don't take chances, you play it just loose enough but I see enough last time to know you only playing it to drag out his shit he spouts." Remy said softly, tapping his ash in the sink.
"So I take it you're not just another pretty face." The officer chuckled, flicking his ash on the piss wet floor.
"You got your case?" Remy pressed, looking at man who usually be the very last to talk to.
"Got something." The officer said, playing it tight.
"Well then homme, how would you like to see a real hustle?" Remy grinned, the thrill of a good con something he just couldn't resist as the wheels started to turn in his head.
"What's in it for you?" The officer asked.
"I just walk out of here, no questions asked." Remy replied, flicking his butt into a urinal for it to hiss with the drowning of the smoldering cherry.
Walking past him, Remy had his answer with the stony look in the cops eyes as they headed back to the table. Maybe breaking a promise to Suzanne, he couldn't help himself as his blood ran hot and he started playing the games that would end with some true filth off the streets. Thinning out the rest, the officer played it tight as he always had and kept enough to stay in the game until it was just the three of them with the dealer.
"Just you and me man." The dealer said, him and Remy the only ones with big stacks of chips left.
"You'd be amazed at the comebacks a motivated man can make." Remy replied, sipping his last belt of bourbon straight from the flask.
"No way man." The dealer laughed, looking to his cards facing the first round of bidding.
"Then why don't we make it interesting while he still have something on the table, all in blind." Remy challenged.
Remy could see the man eyeing his chips and their worth, completely ignoring the man next to him as nothing more than change. He kept the grin from his face as he watched the dealer push his chips in, doing the same and the game was on. Cards were burned and turned until the river ran between them. They held their cards in hand, toying with them as they spun them over the felt keeping them hidden.
"Ready to get this over with?" The dealer asked.
Looking at the pot, Remy winced at it and tapped his cards on the felt before laying them down. Taking his watch off he put it on the table and pulled out a roll of cash to set within the band, eyeing the man across from him while tapping his finger on the notes.
"Rolex, figure ya get eight grand easy if you pawn it. Another fourteen grand cash there, that was a nice car I see you with. Give or take where ya pawn the watch, easy twenty grand. Nice car ya have out there, a classic. What say we make this really interesting." Remy asked, tapping the wad the whole while he stared across at the dealer.
"Deal." The dealer said without a pause, reaching in his pocket for his keys.
Three pairs of cards were thrown down to the felt, the fates casting their lot as the dealer fell in his chair to watch Remy pull in his winnings. A straight flush winning out, even the officers hand standing over the dealer having thought he'd had someone trying to press their luck.
"Here, on the house friend." Remy said, throwing the keys to the officer in the final gambit to draw out just what the man would need.
A chair was kicked back and a flash of gunmetal grey heralded the pulling of a pistol from the dealers off the rack suit. Remy stood savouring his win as he flicked a chip painted in a purple glow at the gun totting thug, sealing the deal. It was already over by the time the officer had his hand on his own gun with his backup crashing through the bar. The explosion though small still held the force of a mule kick to the chest, toppling the scum in a loud crack of kinetic energy. Doors were kicked in amidst yelling as the rest of the bust swarmed the room.
Looking over the battered and beaten body of the pusher, Remy knelt holding his hands over his head with his slacks surely stained from the filth on the floor. The officer at the table fought for order, trying to regain control. His heart hammering in his chest, Remy looked on him with the real hand of the game yet played as the seconds ticked away.
"Let him go." The officer said, walking over to help him to his feet.
Protest was silenced, orders issued as Remy dusted himself off. The real surprise came as his watch was passed off with the wad of cash that had found itself a bit thicker than he remembered. Looking on the man in a different kind of respect, he slipped his watch back on to where it belonged.
"You have fun with that car now, I be sure you find all sorts of interesting things in it." Remy grinned.
"Seen a lot of interesting things tonight, maybe I'll see ya around. Name's Jackson by the way." The officer said in passing as he turned back to the men swarming the scene.
"Time will tell." Remy said with a shrug, heading off out into the night having found just the thrill he was looking for.
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Rogue was asleep and curled up on the sofa, Jubilee watching her from the hammock out on the back porch that sat right on the beach. She couldn't be told otherwise saying she didn't want to sleep in Remy's bed for a second night. Rocking back in forth listening to the waves, Jubilee heard the latch opening with the lord of the manor returning home. He walked in and kicked off his shoes, halfway through stripping down to his drawers when he noticed the silhouette standing out of the blankets on his sofa.
Heading to his room, he came out dressed in boxers alone and surprised the one still awake as he climbed into the hammock fighting for space. Settling down curled up with her head resting in the crook of his shoulder, she enjoyed the way his fingers trailed through her hair.
"You eat?" Remy asked.
"Yeah, leftover chinese in the fridge if you haven't." Jubilee whispered.
"Merci." Remy said, his arms wrapping about her gently.
"Your photographer chick got any work?" Jubilee asked.
"If she doesn't she always have a friend who will. You need some cash?" Remy asked quietly, lolling his head back to look on the girl camped out on his couch.
"Couldn't hurt." Jubilee yawned.
"How is she?" Remy questioned, admiring the girl in questions sleeping form and how peaceful she looked.
"Full belly, a board and a place to crash. What more does a girl need?" Jubilee posed the question, staring off to the ocean.
"Friends." Remy said as he looked back to the girl in his arms.
"She's got me, we buds." Jubilee said, rolling her head so she could see him.
"Bon, then that be something we both have in common, Rogue and moi." Remy said staring into her eyes.
"Thanks, seriously man." Jubilee said all the more serious.
"De rein, go to sleep." Remy whispered, anything else he'd have to tell her something that could wait until the morning.
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Author's Note : Thanks to everyone who has been enjoying!