Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made by this work.
Surprised by another facet of the mysterious Remy, Rogue sat at the kitchen island nursing her coffee slowly watching him and Jubilee wash the dishes from the breakfast he had prepared. The only words she could use to describe all of it would have to be decadent and delectable, a glance to their hostess showed her with the same bliss after the morning meal. Now the both of them watched the antics of the two at the sink, Jubilee washing while Remy dried with a tea towel thrown over his shoulder as he put a stack of plates away.
"I need to find me a man like him." Cynthia purred, having another sip of her coffee though with just a touch of Irish cream.
"So you and him haven't...?" Rogue started, daring to ask the question if the two had ever dated as it seemed so obvious.
Smiling wistfully, Cynthia looked back to Remy and to the girl they shared. A hint of lust, a touch of want and just a dash of restraint were easy to pick up and again Rogue wondered where these thoughts came from and how she had never noticed the subtle scents carried in the air before like the aroma of coffee or the perfume of flowers on the breeze.
"We may flirt time and again, even had a couple episodes under the sheets, but it was just blowing off steam. We just kinda know we can't give each other what we're lookin' for." Cynthia said softly with a glance to Rogue.
Blushing at the thought of it all, she had another sip of her own coffee and looked back to the pair at the sink as they chatted and at times bickered over silly things like too much suds still on the dishes in the sink and the other critiques Jubilee's job. The affection between the two was obvious and it looked almost like an older brother with his younger sister. Remembering last night and even just that quiet time they shared after her shower, Rogue had to wonder what it was that Remy wanted if he couldn't find it with the woman next to her.
Beautiful, obviously of the upper crust of society and worldly, she envied Cynthia even as she enjoyed her company. Thinking again of the night past, she had to wonder if she was reading too much into it all. Was it all just some harmless flirting on Remy's behalf, or was it something else. Feeling flustered, she pounded back the last of her now lukewarm coffee and fixed a cup black craving the bitter roast without any of the sugar or cream mucking it up. Even as she drank it and found it awful, but some part of her practically purred as it found what it was craving.
"Yeck, prune hands." Jubilee's voice carried, wiggling her soapy fingers at Remy to show them off.
"You lost the coin toss Petite." Remy chuckled, handing her off his towel even as he reached down under the suds to pull the stopper.
"I always lose the coin toss, I'm starting to wonder if ya ain't cheating." Jubilee huffed while towelling off her hands.
"Serious accusation, I promise it just be that Lady Luck, she has a crush on this N'awlin's boy." Remy chuckled, taking up the last of the silverware to put away.
Twirling a knife in his long dexterous fingers with ease, Rogue blinked away the sudden image of gloved fingers twirling a dagger just as easily. The unbidden vision startled her, looking up to find Remy staring at her curiously. Forcing a smile, she trampled down on it and pushed it back with all the strangeness that had been plaguing her ever since she found out she was different.
"No one's that lucky Rem, I tell ya one of these days I'll figure it out." Jubilee shot back over her shoulder as she peeked and snooped through cupboards.
"I hid the cookies." Cynthia teased.
"Sounds like a challenge." Jubilee replied, turning to them with her hands on her hips looking cocky and sure of herself.
"Good luck." Cynthia winked.
"Thanks..." Rogue said after a while.
"For?" Cynthia asked.
Looking back to Remy doing the last bit of clean up in the kitchen while Jubilee rummaged and ransacked looking for cookies, Rogue turned back to her hostess and gestured to it all.
"For making life seem normal again." Rogue managed, feeling she had found some shelter from the storm that had uprooted her from her everyday life.
"This is LA girl, we got a different kind of normal here. You're welcome just the same, just do me a favour and try and keep bratty over there out of as much trouble as you can. As for tall, dark and handsome...well, you're on your own with him." Cynthia said lightly laughing with a wink.
Maybe a different sense of normal was what she needed, that and some time to try and get it all together. Finding Remy watching them both as he leaned against the counter with his own cup of coffee, she once again thought of what Cynthia had said, wondering just what it might be Remy was looking for. The question turned itself back on her though, wondering just what she was looking for herself suddenly.
There was no turning back now, somehow she knew that deep in her bones. Lost to this sunny west coast Wonderland, at least she had some people to walk that road with her and see just where it went.
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It had been a while since he'd been to the City of Angels, not his usual scene as they'd probably say. NYC, Chicago, New Orleans, those were his kind of cities full of just his kind of fun. The closest he usually got was Vegas but the fun there really started to dry up once the place started getting cleaned up of all the mob rackets. Whistling to himself as he walked down the row of storage units flipping through his key ring, thinking of the mob brought a smile to his face thinking of what a time it had been back when all those Itallian's started legendary turf wars.
He missed old time Gangsters, men that had ambition and a lust for the finer things in life and worked hard to figure out all the rackets. Nowadays all these punks calling themselves Gangsta's could use a good lesson from the pros. Nowadays the real Mobsters had a new face he was all too familiar with, Russians and other Eastern Europeans that knew how to get things done and scare the piss right outta most folks at the same time. Coming to the unit, Victor found the key and undid the lock before stepping in and pulling the door shut behind him.
Inside was an Indian that had one owner since new, him, looking like it could use some tender TLC and a trip around the city to let her run. At the far back sat a couple of gun lockers he kept some toys in, opening one to look at the weapons and fondly stroke a Luger he'd taken as a trophy once. The look on that Jerry's face after putting an entire clip into him had been worth it, he'd returned the favour in kind and taken his souvenir. Grabbing some cash and a little gold for his war chest, he figured he'd let the dogs run for a bit before he joined the hunt.
"Time ta have some fun." Victor growled, stripping out of his street clothes Erik had brought him.
He had little places like this all over the country, from storage units to just some old properties tucked away. Knowing the right kind of people kept the payments up, one firm in particular that was used to dealing with long lived individuals and other interesting sorts of people. Some he hadn't been back to since the last good war he'd been in back in Vietnam, others he saw regularly. Throwing on a pair of jeans and a wife beater, he gathered up his long blonde hair in a bandanna and threw on some shades before slipping on a pair of cowboy boots.
"Don't worry girl, yer Pappy Vic will be back ta get ya cleaned up and runnin'." Vic said with a glance to his Indian.
He didn't have time to give her the proper once over she was due, but at the same time he longed to head on out and feel the wind in his face as he tore about the city stretching his legs before he got back to work. With a pocket full of Nazi gold and a wad of greenbacks, he knew just the right pawn shop to hit up to fence the gold for some quick cash to buy a new bike. Same time he could probably find out just who had picked up the contract Erik had put out, only one man in LA that handled that kinda business and he'd surely want his ol' pal Victor to stop in and say hi.
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"You're an asshole Remy." Jubilee hissed as she stepped out of the dressing room.
"Turn around Petite and let me see." Remy replied instead, Jubilee huffing as she obeyed.
The invitation for dinner had been sprung once they had climbed into the taxi after leaving Cynthia Jennifer's abode, startling Rogue at how sudden it had been. But if that had been a surprise, just where he had taken them to go shopping for something to wear for tonight had left her breathless as he told the driver to take them to Rodeo Drive. It seemed her tour of Beverly Hills wasn't over with as they pulled out, the suave man flanked by two skater girls leaving many passing by look on with a mix of shock and insinuation.
"You look tres belle." Remy said earnestly.
"I look like a doofus, I'm changing." Jubilee huffed as she stormed back into the dressing room past the store clerk.
Rogue sat dressed in designer jeans and a long sleeved shirt that hugged her tightly but felt so very nice, the softest gloves she had ever known adorning her hands. Her hair had been primped after a few whispered words from Remy to the stylist, the man wearing gloves the whole while as he worked his magic. That anyone could make her feel that way with just using their hands to cut and style her hair had her wondering just what those long dexterous fingers of Remy could do beneath the sheets as Cynthia had teased at.
With a few bags at her feet, she now had more options for her wardrobe that all took her deadly skin into consideration. Throughout it all Remy had waved around a credit card that had never been declined or questioned, though catching the name on it she wondered just how many identities he had.
"What do you think Chere?" Remy asked, drawing her back from her musings.
"Huh, oh? The dress, it looked nice." Rogue said, catching sight of Jubilee as she stalked wholly unladylike back into the changing room.
Where Jubilee seemed to love the colour Yellow, the dress was a creamy blue with pink accents, simple yet elegant at the same time. Her hair had been teased and toyed with by a lady up to the challenge, likely used to the uppity children of the rich and famous and how to deal with them.
"I'll take it." Remy said to the clerk with a flirtatious wink, the lady smiling and rushing off to help Jubilee in the change room.
"Yer torturing her ain't ya?" Rogue asked in a whisper.
"Oui, where we be going for dinner, it be casual yet trendy. You fit in perfectly as you are, not to say you not be tres belle yourself." Remy said softly as he leaned in.
Mesmerized by his lips and his fragrant breath that was so warm against her, she had to blink to clear the thoughts of just what she longed to do to him in that moment. Impulses to tear him free of his clothes and ravage him while she claimed him coming unbidden to her that left her dazed. Yet still a purr rumbled from her chest and Remy greeted it with a smile that promised her the world if only for a kiss. Leaning in near as that hunger edged her on, she longed to find out if those lips tasted just as she imagined them.
"Whoa, uh..." Jubilee blurted, still doing up the button fly of her cutoff denim shorts.
Realizing the peril, Rogue gasped and jerked her head back wondering just what had been running through both her own and Remy's minds.
"I...sorry, I..." Rogue stuttered.
But even as she did Remy instead took her hand in his own and placed a gentle kiss to her knuckles and then pressed it to her lips silencing her. Breathing in she could smell that tangy aroma so clearly now and, with just the slightest slip of her tongue she could swear she found that taste she longed for...sweet and smoky.
"You just wasn't yourself for a moment oui, moments lapse." Remy smiled.
Truer words couldn't have been spoken as she thought to those impulses driving her on that still had her heart pattering away, wondering just who she was then. Through the set of his jaw and the worry she could smell, she felt Remy was wondering just the same himself.
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Walking into the shop and flipping the sign to closed, Victor looked around at all the shit filling the shelves and wondered if anyone actually bought any of the crap. The place was filled with scents and smells that told tales of the type of business Vince really did as a broker for all the usual unsavoury contracts the underworld saw from one day to the next. Out of them one stood out that he hadn't caught in years, thinking he just might have found his bit of fun after all.
From the back he heard the sound of a bottle being uncorked after a knife had cut through the seal, the aroma of fine scotch filling his nose a few seconds later along with someone's thirsty swallow. Stepping out from a back room Vince walked up and offered the bottle, Victor taking it for a belt before passing it back.
"Long time." Vince said with a touch of his fear finding its way to his voice.
"Ya look like ya saw a ghost." Victor chuckled.
Vince nodded, walking up to the cash and taking a seat on a stool before having another long swallow. Victor had known him since he had been some little punk hustler moving stolen goods and fencing for the stupid gutter trash. It didn't surprise him that another punk of the same cut of cloth had been here, wondering just what that little pickpocket LeBeau was up to these days. One thing to be said for that kid, he knew how to handle a knife Victor mused as he took the offered bottle for another drink.
"Just...hard to get used to..." Vince said, waving a hand over his own face.
"Some o' us just age like a good whisky." Victor lied with a laugh as he passed the bottle back.
Figuring he might as well get his business over with before he got on to pleasure, he pulled out the fistful of Nazi gold and laid it down on the counter. Vince looked at it and had another swallow of scotch before daring to reach for one of the bars of bullion. There had been a time when seeing this stuff turn up had been pretty common in those shady places, nowadays people dropped bricks imagining just where the gold might have -really- come from.
"Where did you..." Vince started to ask, catching himself as he clammed up and turned in his chair to find a scale.
"See, knew there was a reason I liked ya. Ya know when ta not ask questions." Victor growled playfully.
Taking the bottle for another swig, he walked around the looking at all the trash on the shelves wondering just where Vince kept the good stuff. The sound of a cash counter ran in a flurry of bills, fat stacks slapping against the counter in a growing pile. Dragging a claw across the glass of a case housing a bunch of old baseball cards leaving a line behind as the awful screech died, he turned back to Vince and passed the battle. Taking up his cash, he folded over the stacks into wads and shoved them into his pockets.
"So just what brings LeBeau to this neck o' the woods, thought that punk was still layin' low after all that business in 'N'awlins'?" Victor asked as he forced the accent at the end.
"Work usually." Vince said after he finished the last swallow of the bottle, reaching for a pack of smokes from his shirt pocket to light one up.
Finding the pack offered, he took one and lit one up too, drawing in a breath as the smoke slipped from his mouth up his nose. Lazily blowing a smoke ring, he looked down to Vince to see the man drawing another long drag looking to find some comfort in the craving of the addiction. It made Victor all the more interested in the work that punk LeBeau might be up to, wondering if like Vince he had grown up from petty street crime to the big leagues.
"By the way, ya happen ta see some ol' fella post some work about some girlie? Trust me, ya'd know him if ya saw 'im, he's got a way o' makin' an impression." Victor asked as casually as he could enjoying toying with Vince.
Yet the sudden scent of fear and panic that washed off Vince like a man puking his guts, Victor turned an interested eye down to him while stubbing out his butt right on the glass of the showcase. As he grinned he watched Vince's eyes grow more fearful while his lips trembled to say the obvious, that Remy had taken the job. How unlike the ladies man Victor mused, reaching into Vince's shirt to pull out the pack and pluck another cigarette. Placing it to the brokers lips, he found his lighter and lit it up for him as the man puffed away nervously.
"So, LeBeau took that job huh? Well now, nothing more I like doin' in the world than mixing up business and pleasure. Why don't ya just tell me where I can find that little swamp rat so I can go pay him a visit." Victor growled lightly.
With shaking hands Vince wrote out an address and passed it off. Slipping it with the cash, Victor looked down to the man he still could easily remember as some smalltime hustler and clicked his tongue a few times. He really liked Vince, the same way one might like a dog maybe. But like a dog, there came a time when it came to take it out into a field for its one last run before putting it down.
Eyeing the cherry of the cigarette, he waited until it burned down to the filter as Vince closed his eyes with fluttering lids and a nervous shake to his entire frame. Reaching across the counter, Victor laid a hand on his head and took it in a firm grip before working his formidable strength with a skilled jerk that had the man fall limp from his chair.
"Can't have ya runin' the surprise now can I?" Victor asked.
Heading out the door, he left the sign at closed and wandered off down the street to see a man about a horse or so they used to say. Once he had his ride he'd head on down to go drop in on LeBeau and just see what his ol' pal was up to.
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Rogue had to wonder just what Remy's idea of casual was looking at the patrons of the restaurant as they were seated at a table for two. Sure they were dressed in what might pass for jeans and shirts, but they looked as if they had just gotten off a photo shoot or some runway with how extravagant it all was. She felt their eyes on them and strangely enough she knew without knowing why that it wasn't scorn but genuine intrigue by many. Yet at the same time she could easily pick the interested looks of many women for Remy, feeling a surge of jealousy and possessiveness she had to stamp down.
She let Remy order for her, glasses of water set down by a waitress with frozen fruit as the ice. Sipping hers, she wished Jubilee hadn't managed to weasel her way out of coming if only to have someone to talk to. The impish girl had taken a taxi back to Remy's, telling her to have fun in a way that left her wondering how much insinuation one person could pack into a word. How much fun could she have if she couldn't even touch him without killing him she fumed.
"Did ya just order me pizza?" Rogue asked as she cut through the fuzz to recall his words from a moment before.
His smile set her heart pattering, tilting his glasses just enough for her to see the playfulness in those red on black eyes he kept hidden. Sure, it sounded like a fancy pizza but at the end of the day pizza was still pizza wasn't it she wondered. Something about his smile promised her anything but, finding her lips suddenly dry as she took a sip of her water.
"Trust me." Remy asked.
Something about the devil eyed charmer across from her had her nodding, intrigued and eager to find out just what a pizza at this place was all about. There was no way these people were here for a slice you could get at any joint on the corner, looking around to spy what they were all enjoying. Looking more art than food, the other patrons ate modestly and talked much, thinking now just why Jubilee had chosen to skip out on dinner. The girl she knew seemed more at home at those joints on the corner than this restaurant.
"Your salads." The waitress greeted, setting plates down before them.
"Merci." Remy returned.
"What's this?" Rogue asked, picking up a slender strip of meat that looked like bacon.
"Prosciutto, you break it up like this." Remy said, taking his own and littering it over his salad.
"Ya mean bacon bits?" Rogue asked, earning a few looks from other nearby patrons.
Remy smiled and laughed lightly, just giving a slight nod though she could tell by the rest that she had just made a faux pas as it were. Trying a bite, she had to admit it was better than any bacon bits she'd ever had on her salads. Even the salad itself was a treat, full of complimenting flavours that accented another and made up for the oddness of it being served so frilly. At the taste of that dry, delicious meat a hunger grew in her longing for something more. A sniff and a glance had her see that even the steaks here were tiny things dressed up.
"Remy, can I ask ya a question?" Rogue posed.
"But of course." Remy said agreeably.
"Ya knew Jubilee wouldn't want ta come right?" Rogue asked to which Remy just nodded.
Shopping around Rodeo Drive had been his own brand a torture and teasing for the girl, who on more than one occasion had said he 'was sucking all the fun out of it' having her try on outfit after outfit from store to store. All the while he had found for her the perfect 'ensemble' as he had said, what she wore now and felt comfortable in despite so many around her.
"So, is this a...date?" Rogue asked tentatively.
"This is just two friends out to get to know another better, a man and a lady breaking bread. Trust me, you'll know when it be a date." Remy purred, his hand reaching across the table to find hers and gently stroke.
Her Momma had always told her not to trust people who said 'Trust me' so often, but given how her life had turned out her Momma's advice could be taken with a grain of salt. Yet she felt no sense of guile from him, a breath taken only filling her with the cologne he had wore and his own musk that drove her mad feeling forever denied her desires. She felt like she had an animal caged in her looking for release, fighting against these feelings thinking how mad it all was.
"I'll hold ya to that." Rogue managed with cough, having a long drink of her water to find a thawing slice of strawberry to munch on.
"You have my word." Remy replied with a light laugh that left her wondering if he'd just jested in some way.
She realized she didn't care, didn't care if whatever this was turned out to be some fling or something more. Right now as she sat at the table dressed as she was all the while admiring him down to the tight fitting dress shirt that had her envisioning the toned flesh beneath he was hers, the ladies who tried to hide their stolen looks left only to fantasise about having him sitting there still stroking her hand softly and smiling for her alone.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." The waitress apologised as she came with their orders.
Had she not been told it was pizza she wouldn't have known what it was, but taking her first slice of that delicate crust filled with slices of what she'd been told was goat cheese, her first bite was bliss. Chewing slowly as she sought out the toppings, the spinach was a surprise and the fire roasted peppers a treat. The cheese slices were tangy and flavourful, nothing like the greasy goo that smothered her only experience with pizza. Losing herself to it, she never knew food could taste like this as she swallowed and enjoyed another bite slow and deliberately.
"Bon Appetite." Remy said so appropriately, joining her then with his own slice.
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Parking his bike on the sidewalk, Victor looked to the scattered pedestrians in challenge that none took. Cutting the engine and twirling his keys on a finger, he looked to the two story apartments that overlooked the beach. Whistling, it looked as if LeBeau had moved up in the world from petty thievery. Sporting some brand new riding gear, he reached to his vest to find his pack of smokes to light one up as he sat there eyeing the milling crowds.
"Here, piggy, piggy, piggy." Victor chuckled, watching a patrol car head on down the street.
Usually he wouldn't care so much about creating a scene, but he was technically still on the clock so he had to play nice. Soon as his business was over with Erik he'd have to let loose and have some real fun. For now he was content with meeting up with LeBeau and having a few words with him, if he felt like being less than hospitable all the better.
Climbing off his bike and heading on up the walk to the apartments, he started to wonder just why that scent he caught was so familiar. Same time he smelt Remy right as rain all over the place, pressing one finger to the peep hole even as he knocked. He could hear the sound of light feet rushing eagerly to the door, wondering if Remy had himself a frail but a sniff told him she was too young for that.
"Woot! You're late, free piz..." Jubilee started triumphantly only to have the words die in her throat looking on the man before her.
Her hands were raised before her but he had years on her she couldn't dream of, a quick and strong backhand knocking her clear back into the apartment a spray of blood from her split lips. A vague memory from his fight with Erik's girlie came back to him, an explosion and the stink of gunpowder in the air. Stepping in and closing the door behind him, he looked down at the struggling girl beneath him and recognised her scent even if he hadn't seen her as he had the life drained from him.
"Well, what do we have here?" Victor asked as he fell into a squat over her.
A hand was raised at him but he just took it and bent it back to the point he heard a hiss, just enough to get her attention. She tried to pull free but all it took was a flex as a claw sprung free to dig into her palm to put an end to that. Breathing in he caught both Remy and girlies scent all over this one, chuckling at the turn of events. It looked like getting little Miss Marie o' Meridian, Mississippi to head on over to New York was going to be easier than he thought.
"I'll scream..." Jubilee whispered fearfully.
"Good." Victor said, smiling full of teeth that had no place in the mouth of a man.
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