Rogue slept through their way to the hotel.
Remy kept glancing at her sleeping figure, she was curled up again, a peaceful look on her face. She was sleeping like an angel, sunrays touching her long eyelashes in a majestic way, igniting on her porcelain face with a gleam.
A sudden realization hit him when he thought about the fact that it would be over in less than two days.
When all the shit was over, he would have to leave with the ring -because there was no way she would let him give it to Sinister. Hell, even he didn't want to give it to him, but he knew there was no other option and keeping the ring meant getting her included in something way bigger. Shaw and Frost were nothing compared to fucking Essex.
Once they were on the parking lot, he gently touched her arm and woke her up. She mumbled something, refusing to wake up. He grinned at her stubbornness and gave her another soft shake, her green eyes opened slowly, a frown appearing on her face. "Back at the hotel," he informed her, his eyes pointing at the building.
She blinked a few times more to adjust her view and got out of the car, he grabbed the fancy shopping bags and headed towards the building. The redheaded cashier greeted him with a bright smile, he offered her a matching grin and kept on walking, but her gaze turned into a venomous one when she saw the brunette walking behind him. Remy suppressed a weary sigh, Rogue narrowed her eyes in return. What the fuck she wanted from her? And she had to double check her annoying stare because she had just woken up and her mind was fuzzy for god's sake.
Once they were back in the room, she curled up on the bed and closed her eyes. Remy shook his head and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up. "No sleepin'," he said, ignoring her protests. "Show me the book."
That got her attention as she blinked, her gloved hand randomly rubbing her eye. She walked up and grabbed a shopping bag, revealing the big book and handed it over. He looked at the cover carefully, raising a brow at the promising title.
Placing himself on the couch, he began flipping through the pages. She sat next to him curiously, hoping to find something useful. Interestingly so, he did stop at a couple of buildings and looked at them with a curious look on his face. She raised an eyebrow at that, was he planning another heist other than the club gala? Did she just help him do more thieving business?
He flipped more pages and nearly whistled at one page. His eyes darted towards her, she was close to his sitting figure to see the pages and gave her an appreciative nod, a smile playing on his lips. "Bon travail, ma cherie," he said, eyes never leaving hers. His smile got bigger when a proud look appeared on her face, knowing that she did something useful and good.
Eyes back on the page again, he carefully began reading about the building's details and history. There was even a floor plan and he remembered that she mentioned being lucky earlier, this was proof that she was indeed lucky as hell -even if she didn't count herself as one.
Noting that he was studying the plans, she slowly got up and went back to her bed, closing her eyes for a brief moment, hoping to dream about some good memories of the people she had absorbed. Maybe, she could dream of Remy's thanksgiving, it was one of the good ones. It radiated warmth and love, something she had been missing since she was a girl back in Meridian. She could dream of pumpkin pies and cinnamon cookies, maybe some jazz and blues. A soft smile appeared on her lips before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Jokes on her, she dreamed of a Nazi camp, where she was a captive and her mother was being used against her to enable her true powers. But she was confused, since when she could control metal? Frowning, she tried to move a coin but ended up failing, somebody was screaming at her to complete the job but she couldn't see the man's face, as if he was completely a shadow. She panted in anxiety, her mother kept telling her she could do it –but she frowned again, she couldn't see the woman either, they were all shadows besides a couple of soldiers.
A scream escaped from her lips as the shadow figure shot her mother, she died right there and she kneeled right next to her. It was strange not being able to see someone, but still it made her want to cry her heart out. "Mama," she cried, feeling the metal shelves around her move as she spoke. "Bitte stirb nicht," she panted, tears falling down her face as she yelped. Don't leave me. She was dead, the only person on this planet that truly loved her was dead and there was no way she could bring her back. "Verlass mich nicht."
She was alone in this world from now on.
Snapping at the shadow figure who was responsible of this murder, she stood up and jump at the man as every metal object in the room began shaking, but she gasped when something was injected into her leg from behind, stabilizing her as the shadow figure began laughing. Her panting increased, anger mixing with fear as she laid there still.
"Chére."
A warm tear fell down from her eye, her weight lying next to her mother's lifeless body.
"Wake up, p'tite."
Panting still, she opened her eyes and let her eyes roam around her for a moment. Relief washed her over as she realized that she wasn't in Auschwitz, rather she was in a hotel room in New York. Taking a deep breath, she wiped tear away from her eye and sat up, trying to calm herself by regulating her breathing. Remy watched her in interest, what the fuck did he just witness to? Sure he had his fair share of nightmares, but never once he spoke another language other than his native one for starters.
"Y' okay?" he asked, earning a nod from her. "Didn't know y' spoke German."
"Ah don't," she shook her head, briefly looking at him before focusing on the sheets again.
His frown got bigger after her comment, he was positively sure he heard her speak fluent German, so why was she pretending otherwise?
"Did Ah interrupt your study?" she asked, her green eyes looking tired as she leaned back.
He opened his mouth, eventually gaping at her response. She just had a fucking nightmare, screamed her lungs off and all she could think was if it bothered him? He shook his head and touched her shoulder, she didn't flinch at his closeness as he was sitting next to her, his body facing hers. "Y' wanna talk 'bout it?" he asked, hand moving on her arm in a soothing motion.
Rogue eyed him slowly, indecisive about talking.
"Pretty sure heard y' speak German, chére," he noted, pushing onto the subject to learn more about the mysteries about this gorgeous beauty. It was like solving a riddle to enter a treasure room in an adventure game, he felt thrilled and motivated to go in there. "And it was fluent as my French, so don't say y' took a class or somethin'."
She gave him a sigh and closed her eyes. "Ah don't know any German," she said once more and before he was about to protest, she lifted a hand to stop him. "Ah don't, Erik does."
Who the hell was Erik?
Seeing the confused look on his face, she blinked and inhaled slowly. "Magneto," she said, eyes not meeting his. "Ah still have his nightmares sometimes."
Magneto.
He remained still. For someone who got himself out of everything by using his silver tongue, this girl knew how to make him speechless occasionally. His mind was filled with questions, he wanted to ask her so many things, yet he didn't want to frighten her. People like her and people like him, they would not want any intruders in their mind. So he understood her perfectly, but still, he felt like a moth flying in the zone of a lamp, she was drawing him in within.
"Y' absorbed Magneto," he repeated, her eyes lingered on his face slowly. "How?" he asked, knowing for a damn fact that he was a strong mutant and a clever one, to be fair. He had people to do his dirty work, that's why he rarely come across any mutants anymore. He was the leader, not a foot soldier.
Rogue bit her lip. "Do you know what went down in Ellis Island?" she asked, a dark look appearing on her green eyes.
He nodded his head. "Brotherhood of Mutants tried t' turn some politic figures into mutants, oui. Heard about it."
She looked at him. "Ah was there," she began, fingers nervously playing. "Sabretooth kidnapped me, because Magneto would probably die if he used the machine on his own. He made me absorb his powers and made me use the machine, Ah nearly died but the X-Men saved my life."
Remy stared at her in disbelief, he knew that she was a precious being but having realized that other people found his gem way before he did made him frown. She was such a rare beauty, her powers making her unique in so many ways that she would literally be a pawn at the wrong hands.
And the fact that she had been one before made him angry.
An apathetic smile appeared on her lips, her gloved finger touching her white streak. "And this is a reminder of that," she began, shaking her head at his apparent frown. "Nah, Ah like it. Reminds me of somethin' that Ah survived."
He instinctively touched her hair, his fingers delicately brushing it and wrapping it around his index, slowly giving it a little shape. She watched him in wonder before a thought appeared on her mind. "Ah guess, Ah kinda answered a bunch of questions for you," she noted, her green eyes fixated on his red on black ones.
He had to blink to remove his attention from touching her or her hair, before trying to understand what she had meant. Yeah, she actually did. Back when he had kidnapped her, he asked her if it was her first time and she didn't answer. And when she mentioned Magneto's name, he asked who she was. And the fact that she knew Sabretooth, this was a simple explanation of how she knew the guy.
So in overall, yeah, she did answer some important questions for him.
Seeing as he was remaining silent, she kind of felt the need to speak to get rid of the silence. Normally, she had found peace in solitude but now that she was talking about her traumas, she was waiting for a response or any emotion. "And you were right, today," she nodded her head.
He removed his fingers from her hair and controlled himself, his eyes lingering on her face. "Quoi?"
"Ah never went to prom," she shrugged casually. "That was kinda on point."
"I'm sorry, p'tite-"
She waved a hand. "Ah ain't sayin' it to earn your sympathies, sugah, you were just right and that's it," she explained. "It was a long time ago, and believe me, prom wasn't the only fun Ah was denied from."
Remy shot her a look, curiosity written all over his face. Rogue nearly choked when she realized that probably sounded way dirtier than she intended, so she opened her mouth to speak and he raised his brows in wonder. "It's not what you think," she shoved him by the shoulder.
"Mais," he argued, resisting against her pushing him away. "Y' have t' talk 'bout this, chére. We can always make it up for it, non?"
She hit him with a pillow. "You filthy swamp snake, Ah wasn't even talkin' 'bout that!"
He lay down on the bed, arms shielding himself from the pillow. "Désolé," he breathed out, amused. "A man can only hope, hein?" he lifted his arms again when another hit came to his side. "Y' were sayin'?" he asked, facing the ceiling from his position.
"Ah meant goin' out and drinkin' with friends and everythin'," she rolled her eyes. "Ah've been shieldin' myself from everyone for so long that normal things seem a lil' bizarre to me," she explained again, letting her body fall next to his. "Anyway, sorry for blabbin'. Ah just felt like sayin' since you made a good guess."
He sighed and tilted his head towards her. Normally, he wasn't the sharing type, especially when it came to his past and his personal traits. Being a thief meant staying in the shadows and only talking about things didn't count as much as a shadow. But she was so upfront with him, he thought she only deserved the same. "Y' made a good point too," he commented, his crimson eyes watching her in interest.
Rogue gave him a frown. "You mean, when Ah made it look like you have a thing for your sister?"
He laughed out loud, shaking his head. "Non, p'tite, when y' said the blonde looked like certain someone. She did look like someone from m' past," he explained deliberately missing out the wife part. "Someone important for me."
"Oh," she nodded her head, feeling strange about both of them making point on guesses about each other's lives. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Ah don't know," she shrugged, her voice low. "For makin' you remember your past, maybe."
He sucked in her breath, his eyes fixated on hers in an intense gaze. She fucking understood and it made him insane, he never wanted to be understood. He only cared about touching, fucking and having some meaningless compassion. This was intense, this was primal –like a lion needing a safe nest, tired from all the battling.
Neither of them moved an inch, their eyes locked in an intense gaze. She looked so naively stunning that he wanted to corrupt her, a part of him wanted to destroy her innocence, make her feel like suffering as he did. But another part of him didn't dare to touch her, he wanted to keep her as naïve as he could, destroy everything that wanted to harm her in any way. He sighed slowly, she was able to make him feel two different things, yet both feelings were so damn intense.
And that fucking terrified him.
"I observed a few things," he muttered, blinking away the intenseness and slowly putting himself in a sitting position. Soon after, she mimicked him and sat in front of him on the bed. "Y' can hold onto direct contact for about two t' three minutes."
Her eyes widened at the observation. She could touch for three minutes? She was there for the whole experiment, but apparently she didn't pay enough attention to count the seconds. Holy shit.
"Two t' three is enough for y' to get something from Shaw," he said, nodding his head. "Mais, if he does something else that y' have not been prepared for, that could mean y' would be exposed."
"What do ya mean?"
He opened his mouth, trying to think of nicer words to say. "Let's say, y' met him at the open bar at the gala and he invited y' to his room upstairs," he explained calmly and she gaped at him. "Before y' have a chance t' make him think about the safe and t' ring, there may be some kissin' and he'd be useless if he was out cold before y' get what y' want from him."
Still gaping at him, she blinked a few times, feeling upset in all of a sudden; however he looked as uncomfortable as she was, so she decided to act otherwise. "Just kissin'," she mumbled, earning a nod from him. "Okay."
She was on board, good. "Can y' tell me 'bout your experiences with it?" he began in a strict tone, it was almost giving teacher-student vibes and she felt like answering his questions like a proud student. "How long usually it lasts for before they pass out?"
She moved uncomfortably. "Ah don't know, depends. Ah can name a few, though. One was about ten seconds, another one was nearly twenty," she nodded, color going up to her cheeks. "Then, y' lasted for about a minute."
He suppressed an urge to whistle like a champion, he was the winner of his contestants. Wearing his signature poker face, he nodded his head. "That means y' have to practice 'bout that," he muttered, sighing. "What I realized is y' actually get what y' want from people," he added, carefully explaining. "I had mentioned Ibiza and Rio, after a while y' got that image from my head and that was done subconsciously," he said, making her gape. "And y' wanted to know more 'bout me, then y' got a thanksgivin' memory of ma famille too."
Rogue squinted her eyes, thinking about what he said and he was actually right. She actually got the image because subconsciously, his words left a mark in her mind. She nodded her head in awe, he had found something useful with her mutation. Looking at him proudly, she bit her lip. "You did it," she said, almost whispering. "Ah mean, it's not like Ah'm totally harmless, but we made a progress just like you said, which means Ah have hope," she added, a soft look in her eyes. "Thank you."
Something was ignited in him, something forgotten and buried deep inside him. He wasn't a man to be thankful for, he was the man that made up excuses and left women heartbroken. He was the man that lied, cheated and stole. She was a woman to be thankful for, she was the innocence and the grace. Not him, he was not called Le Diable Blanc for nothing, he didn't deserve her sympathy or her gratefulness.
His eyes locked hers in a gaze, her green eyes staring back at him in wonder and amazement. She was feeling gratitude and bewilderment towards him, and fuck, he was nothing of these things.
But he accepted it anyway.
Yet again, he cocked his head aside and offered her a soft smile. "Told y' that Remy was a magnifique teacher, p'tite."
She rolled her eyes, amused at his cockiness. "Don't recall you sayin' that, swamp rat, but yeah," she smiled. "So, what are we gonna do about the smoochin' part with Shaw? 'Cause don't think Ah can be calm and everything when that piece of shit touches me."
Giving her a reassuring grin, he stretched his arms above his head, casually exposing his toned chest and arms through his slim fit black tee. "Believe me, I don't like that part, either," he confessed, annoyed with the image popping up in his head. "Mais, if y' get taken aback when he does that, chére, he'd drop dead –not literally, but we'd achieve nothin' and it's a risk we ain't takin'," he explained. "Y' just make sure t' talk 'bout the safe, he'll subconsciously think 'bout the codes then y' will do your lil' number on him et voilâ."
"Talk about the ring, make him think about it then absorb his damn mind," she nodded her head. "Got it loud and clear, sugah."
"And if he dares t' kiss y?"
"Focus on something else, Ah guess?" She bit her lip. "That's the issue, Ah would be uncomfortable as hell and you know when Ah get nervous-"
He shushed her with a hand wave. "Now we're workin' on that," he said as her green eyes sparkled with wonder. "Ask me somethin'."
She raised an eyebrow, thinking about the purpose of it and she had found none –other than the fact that he was trying to calm her senses. "Your family," she said, out of the blue. "How many siblings do you have?" she asked, thinking about the crowd she had seen in his memory.
A soft smile appeared on his lips, thinking about all the good times he spent with his family. Henri was his brother, his bond with him was thicker than blood and it meant something seeing as he was adopted when he was little. Etienne and Emil were his cousins, they were kind of pain in the ass but that didn't mean there wasn't any love. While he could say he considered them all his brothers, Henri was still his brother and his best friend, so he decided on saying just one.
Feeling satisfied with his answer, he gently grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to his body. Before she could ask about it, he brushed his lips on hers and her eyes widened in shock. His hold was firm but delicate, his one hand travelled through her messy bun, pressing her into him. After a brief moment of bewilderment, she responded back as her gloved hands rested on each side of his face, opening her mouth a little.
He should've stopped there, right there and at that exact moment –but when she opened her lips, oh dieu, he couldn't resist to discover her sweet intoxicating taste. He deepened the kiss, his arm capturing her waist as she was pressed against his body, his tongue exploring mouth and devouring everything about her. She let out a soft moan and he could swear he had heard nothing like that before, how come she was both so innocent and a mind blowing vixen at the same time? He shivered at her melodic tone, pulling her on his lap sharply as her fingers were tangled in his hair, feeling like his skin was on fire when a tingly feeling surfaced.
No, fuck no. He couldn't just do that, he couldn't destroy her pureness because he didn't fucking deserve someone like her.
And then she gasped for air, breathing against his lips. Remy put his face on her neck, taking deep and rapid breaths to fucking calm himself as he felt her chin on top of his head, panting. "One," she breathed out. "Henri," she added, breaking the silence.
She heard him chuckle against her throat, even that alone was enough to send shivers to every inch of her body. "Oui," he murmured against her skin. "Just one."
Her emerald eyes sparkled with success, her lips curled into a soft smile, still unaware at the strange position they were in –she was sitting on his lap, her arms around his neck as he held her waist close. Just as she was coming to her senses as adrenaline begun to wear off slowly, his hot breath against her throat sent chills to her spine as he spoke. "Ask me something else."
Her breathing increased, biting her lip at his husky tone. Fuck, he was so damn hot and she just couldn't resist his mind blowing charm. "Why did you leave your family?" she asked, knowing damn sure she was putting her nose in some dangerous topics here. He never spoke plainly about it, or his past. It was actually safer to ask him common questions, but hey, she wasn't an easy girl to begin with,so she wasn't going to ask some basic shit.
"Ask me something else," he breathed out again, sending warmth on her skin as he tried to not think about his exile just in case she wouldn't listen and press her lips against his again. No, instead he thought about this one time thrill at the Louvre when he stole a fucking Monet. He could talk about that.
She sighed slowly and tried to come up with a different question and realized that her arms were loose on his shoulders, as if it was the most natural position in the entire world. Fuck, how come she could focus on asking something when he was beneath her and his hands were resting on her sides.
"Ah have a feelin' you know the answer to this one," Rogue raised a brow, a faint amused expression on her face. "Why does the redhead hate me?"
Shit.
And he realized that he had run out of pass cards.
Because he knew damn well why she hated her.
Before he could have a say in it, she brushed his lips with her own in a quick motion which started as a peck, her hands were lost in his messy shoulder length hair and he couldn't resist to wrap his arms around her tighter. She let out a soft moan when his one hand reached down to her thigh, slowly caressing it before grasping it and he could've sworn that could be the only melody he had to hear for the rest of his life and he would still be happy.
This time, much to his surprise, she deepened the kiss and put her hands on his toned chest in attempt to touch his body. Remy was drunk in lust, never in his life had he waited patiently for a woman to open up and ease in like she did. He had his fair share of sexual encounters and he could proudly say that he wasn't a newborn stud who let his dick dictate his life, but something about Rogue made him question his choices in life and he found this frustrating –and that frustration turned into an uncontrollable lust.
As if he couldn't get enough of her and it was just a fucking kiss for god's sake.
His mouth travelled from her lips to her chin, through her neck as she tilted her head back in arousal, allowing better access for his lips to touch. Her eyelashes batted and a shiver went down her spine, feeling those damn tingly electrical currents in her every cell while his lips slowly bit on her sweet spot on the curve of her neck and she hissed in a mixture of pain and pleasure.
A series of memories rushed through her head, long red hair looking up at him between his long legs, her long red nails working on his zipper –and oh, that lust. His tongue touched her skin and she moaned a soft oh, her mind divided between the memory and the reality and their combination of pleasure.
She couldn't pretend to be the one that gave him pleasure, could she?
Fuck, no, she couldn't.
Clearing her mind, she gently put her hands on his chest and stopped him, her hot breath against his face as they were both panting. "Now Ah know why," she muttered, her voice firm but panting. His crimson eyes were shining curiously at her words, his strong hands still on her body as if he was afraid of missing her warmth.
"Y' do?" he asked rhetorically, she shifted uncomfortably in his lap. Her emerald eyes never leaving his, she gave him a nod. "Pourquoi?" he whispered against her lips, making her shudder and he liked that feeling. He wanted to give her so many of those feelings, wanted her to experience the depths of pleasure and make her want this as much as he did.
"You do know why," she frowned, her posture was stiff.
"I want y' to say it."
Rogue tried to roll her eyes sassily, but she couldn't tore her gaze away from his beautiful eyes. It was like he had put her in some kind of spell and she couldn't get away. "She did something pleasurable," she finally found her voice to speak, trying to come up with the right words to use for the unnerving memory. "And she saw you with me afterwards, it's only fair if she felt this way towards me."
His grip on her waist tightened and she suppressed a yelp. "What did she do t' me?" he asked huskily, the hue on his reds were changing into something dangerous.
She gaped inches away from his lips, unable to find words that were nothing but torture. Okay, back in the moment in irresistible lust, she had thought of the memory as something pleasurable that could help her imagine things as if they were her own memories; but now that she could think clearly, it was another woman and not her true self. "Remy," she pleaded, not even knew what she was pleading that for, but his magnetic charm was so strong that she felt obligated to answer.
"P'tite," he murmured against her lips, his index brushing her white streak behind her ear slowly. "Sex is only natural, y' should get used t' talkin' about it," he added, shifting her body closer to his. He didn't even bother to tell her about the gala, if she wanted to go undercover as he had been doing for years, she had to find a way to talk about literally anything as if they were the most natural topics in the entire world. Hellfire was nothing different. "Dis moi, what did she do?" he pressed on, waiting patiently for her answer.
Rogue watched as the tip of his nose touched hers, her eyes closed afterwards to gain some confidence. Sex was never her thing to begin with, she was such a stranger to it that he probably had no idea. But this new Rogue that she had turned into was someone fierce and strong, not that shy girl who was afraid of anything. She took a deep breath and faced his intense stare, licking her lips before tilting her head. "She gave you a blowjob," she replied as firmly as she could, letting the sentence out of her lips in a hasty breath.
Something ignited in his face that she hadn't seen before. She tried to understand his motives, maybe he was proud to see her coming out of her shell or maybe it was just lust now that he recalled the memory, she didn't know. "Oui, she did," Remy replied firmly, keeping the eye contact still. "That's why she's not... very fond of y'."
Her green eyes roamed through their tangled bodies and suppressed a groan, they were supposed to be studying or rather experimenting, how the hell did they end up in this position? Taking a deep breath, she removed herself from his lap and leaned against the bed frame under his intense gaze. "Ah guess, someone's gettin' pretty good at this," she gave him a small grin, meeting his eyes. "Ah meant the memory thing," she added hastily, earning a smirk from him at her innuendo.
Yeah, she did fucking get pretty good at both, driving him insane with her touch and getting something from his damn mind.
"Y' are a fast learner," he observed, sitting casually in front of her. "Even without me, y' will eventually manage t' control your powers."
She didn't know why, but that last sentence struck a nerve in her. She knew the thing between them was temporary, it was an agreement that had a deadline. Neither of them was going to see each other after tomorrow and that did something to her, a realization of the reality was nothing but disappointment and she knew that she had no reason to feel that way.
So, all she could do was nod.
Breaking the long lasted eye contact, Remy got up and walked towards his leather bag, preparing for the flight. "The book you found," he addressed, eyes on the clothes. "I've looked into the plans, it was good, so we're good t' go."
She nodded again.
"Our flight is at eight in the morning," he explained, glancing up at her as she stared back at him. His voice was once again all professional and no glimpse of fun, she noted that he was always serious when it came to work.
She grabbed the phone nearby and frowned. "We still got so much time."
Remy literally bit the inside of his lip to sustain himself, not trying to come up with a suggestive idea to keep them both busy until the flight. Casting a glance at her way, he sighed at the delicious sight –she was flushed from their early experimental session, her hair in a messy bun which reminded him of bedroom hair and her swollen lips looked so kissable that he groaned inwardly at the obvious frustration.
He needed to get laid.
Rogue watched him stare at her with such gaze that was pretty much unknown to her; a look that she was basically a stranger to, he looked like he was angry but kind of lusty or maybe he was bored of staying at the hotel room, so either way, he was frustrated. But his messy hair and the way his black shirt was enhanced due to her pulling reminded her of their previous session and she sighed silently. He made her want things like she had never did before, which caused her to resist the urge to ask for another session.
Fuck, she needed a drink.
"I'll be out."
"Ah'll go out."
Both stared at each other at the exchange of their words, facing raised eyebrows and puzzled faces. However, neither of them wanted to come up as jealous or controlling, so it was the best to stay carefree or so they thought. It wasn't like it was any of their business, they were colleagues and nothing more. And the change of scenery would definitely help their frustration, since being stuck in a hotel room with one person could indicate a stupid attraction towards one another and that was what they were feeling, right? Seeing other people would change this fucked up dynamic.
But the idea of other people still annoyed the shit out of them.
"Don't wait up," he informed, grabbing his coat and heading for the door.
"Not a problem," she answered with a grunt, grabbing her jacket. They both walked out of the room, shooting each other annoyed looks.
Frustrated.
"Hope y' answer y' phone this time," he said roughly, stepping into the elevator.
She rolled her eyes. "Sure will do, daddy."
A glint of spark appeared in his eyes, annoyed with her big mouthed words. However, he chose to let it go and tried to focus on the action he would be getting soon. He would be damned if he let her ruin the most natural thing on the entire world for him.
"But Ah gotta say," she added, a faint smirk appeared on her lips as the elevator doors opened. "Ah'm flattered that you'd still think of me even when you go out, sugah."
Ruined it already.
Before he got a chance to reply, she walked out, causing him to gape at her sudden fierceness. Groaning out loud, he walked to the car and realized that she was waiting for him next to it. He raised a brow, but realized that she needed a lift so he couldn't really say anything about that.
The trip to the town center was quiet, all they got were stolen glances and some grunting. And the strange thing was, neither of them had an idea of why they were so pissed off in the first place.
She grabbed the phone and began texting, he looked outside for the open bars and strip clubs.
Once the car was parked, they got out and began walking in the opposite directions after a moment of staring one another.
After a ten minute walking process, Rogue walked into the same bar that she had gone a few days ago. It was exactly as she remembered, crowded with bodies tangled together and heavy music pumping up her chest whenever the beat came up. It wasn't a traditional bar where a bunch of lonely men hung out, it was strangely modern and mostly teens were dancing on the dance floor; causing the older men at the bar stools show up like a rabbit flashed with a light.
It wasn't hard to notice the blonde guy in the crowd, he was drinking shots one by one as if they were water.
"Hey," she greeted, placing herself next to his stool.
"Hey, sheila," John sent a nod in her direction. "Surprised to get a text from you."
"Why is that?"
He shrugged. "Not a shoulder to cry on, just so you know."
"Ah don't need a shoulder, fireboy," Rogue laughed lightly. "Ah'm here to ease my mind a little," she added, deliberately missing the part where she wanted to say was that she wanted to forget.
He looked relieved, lifting a shot of some cocktail. "Then drink up," he announced, making her grin and take the shot from his hand to gulp it down. He mimicked the action with the next round, it was a soft drink and the duo easily drank a couple of shots in a row.
"You know," she informed, ordering a beer. "Ah have the durability of Logan, you can't possibly beat me in a drinkin' contest."
"Shame on you, Rogue," he shook his head playfully, eyes roaming around the bar to get more attention. "Look at you, trying to get me drunk for your perverted intentions."
She opened her mouth in awe, gaping at his loud voice as a couple of strangers turned to look at her with curious looks. "John!" she shoved him a little, shaking her head disapprovingly as a huge grin appeared on his face. "He's joking," she said loudly, squinting her eyes at the curious people next to him.
"I don't mind, honey," a bald man replied, his eyes looking at her figure. "You can get me drunk anytime you want."
"See?" John shrugged, turning towards her. "They like it."
Rogue sent a cold look at the older man, before casting a glance at the blonde next to her. "Point taken," she sighed. "Although, since when you care about what people like?"
The Australian shook his head. "You didn't get the point, sheila. I don't fucking care, that's what I'm trying to prove to you. You wanna have fun? Good, then stop caring about them."
She glared at the man for the last time before mentally shaking herself off and grabbing her beer. Okay, she could do that. She could spend a night with her friend, as strange as that sounded, without thinking about a certain devil eyed, handsome Louisiana man.
So, instead she gulped down more shots. "Set these on fire, will you?" she asked, gesturing towards the shots and he proudly did so. Something about the flaming shots excited him and she knew it. At least one of them was happy and thankful to use their mutation, hooray.
After a couple of shots, John also got himself a beer and made a simple cheers gesture before taking a long sip, she did the same. Rogue was curious how things have turned for her and John, how he used to hate her for obvious reasons but now, they were basically and intentionally choosing to be in each other's company.
"You wanna know a secret?" she put her hand on his shoulder, leaning against him with a playful grin on her lips. He put down his beer and cast her a curious look. "We're best friends now."
He literally shoved her away with a frown on his face, making her laugh out loud. "Fuck no, we're not."
"Yes, we are," she saluted him with her beer. "You like me."
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do," she purred, trying again and ignoring the vibrating thing in her pocket. "No one at the institute would believe this, if they ever saw us hangin' out. And it's strange that they wouldn't find the logic in this, you know?"
"Because they're imbecils?" John couldn't help but laugh at her goofiness, especially after blabbing about Logan's enhanced durability and shit but still he earned a head shake from the brunette. "Then, why?" he played along nicely, not really caring about the people back at the institute for many reasons –well, except one certain person, anyway.
"Because we're traitors, John," she sighed, although she wasn't feeling down. "You switched sides and I switched my DNA, even though it was permanent," she explained, earning a thoughtful look from the Australian man. "Don't get me wrong, Ah don't support your decisions, but that doesn't mean Ah don't understand why you did it."
He gave her a sigh, understanding the sense in her reasoning of why they were hanging out together after all. "You get smarter when you drink."
"Maybe," she shook her head, laughing. "It's just that Ah'm a good observer," she shrugged, a smile appearing on her lips. "And you just happen to like me."
"Jesus," John groaned, but a matching smile played on his lips. "If I happen to admit that, will you fucking drop it please?"
"Yup."
"Fine, you're not that bad."
She made a fist bump in the air, as if she won something important and he rolled his eyes at that. Yeah, she wasn't really that bad, but he couldn't ignore the fact that she sucked back at the institute, which was a fact that he loved reminding her of. But she was actually fun to hang out now, god help him if he begun calling her willingly now.
"Bestie shots?" she teased, ordering a couple of pink shots on the menu and he shot her a glance.
"What the fuck is that?"
All he could got as an answer was a laugh from her lips, the bartender gave them ten shots of pink liquid and Rogue lifted one up, waiting for him to do the same. "The first one to drink all five wins, the other has to pay," she eyed him carefully, counted to three and both gulped down their drinks.
Rogue won.
John made a face. "You fucking cheated."
"Don't be such a sore loser, John."
"It was just too sweet," he shrugged, an annoying taste in his mouth. "Should've let me choose the fuckin' shots."
"My god, Ah hope you don't start cryin'," she rolled her eyes, he shook his head. Both began arguing about their difference in shot choices, Rogue insisted on trying it with tequila shots but he refused, saying they need to wait at least ten minutes to let their stomach adjust to the alcohol. Rogue called him a crybaby and he told her that she was acting like all ignorant because she didn't know how to drink properly, they both laughed at each other.
The wooden doors of the bar opened and Remy walked into the bar with a dangerous look on his face. He thought he had made it pretty clear that she would answer her phone, yet again, here she was, still not answering her phone after the third call. And what the fuck was this place anyway?
The bar was crowded, people were dancing on the floor as others were talking on the other side of the bar, placed on the stools. That was the second bar that he walked into in search for her and finally, her long brown hair and white streaks caught his attention from where he was standing.
Before he walked towards her directly, he placed himself at the closest stool to the door and stared at her and the company she had. She was talking to a blonde man, laughing as he shook his head at something she said –which caused something to sting into his abdomen.
He couldn't actually see the man's face clearly, but he assumed he was the John from the napkin.
A part of him really wanted to leave, it was none of his business and he had no right to intervene like that. So what if she was seeing someone, he was seeing lots of someones.
No, it only bothered him because she had ruined things for him.
And she broke a rule which he made it very clear. Answer your goddamn phone.
At first, he went to this strip club that was nearby and he knew he would have fun, it was an occasional visit whenever he was in town and the women back there knew how give a man some quality time. He drank, he made out with women and then, just to see she was okay, he gave her a call since they both left without saying anything else.
It was just to see that she was doing okay and not in trouble, then he would be back to his business.
But she didn't pick up the fucking phone.
And that frustrated him, eventually leaving the club to go looking for her. Now that he knew that she was having a good time and indeed, she was okay, he could leave and go back to where he left off, right? Because a certain blonde stripper was waiting for him at the private room with her legs on the pole and nothing on top.
No, he was going to ruin this night for her just as she had ruined it for him.
Because he couldn't focus on anything else, other than their previous making out session at the hotel room and that drove him insane.
Her laugh cut off his thoughts, he cast a look at her direction again. This time, the man was laughing with her too. Merde, how he wanted to go up in there and grab her wrist, drag her back to the hotel with him.
So, he did what any other sane person would, he ordered a neat bourbon and kept glancing at her way from a distance.
At the other side of the bar, Rogue proudly lifted the empty glass in the air and shot her friend a teasing look. "You're so out of shape, John," she shook her head, smirking at him. "This is what, the third beer?"
"That and many shots," The Australian man shook his head as well, glaring back. "That's your inner Logan," he huffed. "And the taunting is literally his signature."
"Come on now," she leaned against his shoulder playfully. "Admitting to defeat is a sign of honor."
"I ain't admitting to anything," he rolled his eyes. "Cheaters get nothing."
She made a face at his reaction and ordered a big cocktail that looked like a milkshake, another flaming one to be exact. When her order came, she shoved it towards him and smiled. "Light it up."
He shook his head with a smirk, playing with fire always did things to him, with a simple touch of his fingertip, he used the flame on his zippo and created a bigger flame on the cocktail. His smile got bigger and accepted her offer on trying the drink first. Again, it was done so smoothly that no one noticed that the flame on the cocktail was caused by him.
"Hey, darlin'," the bald, long bearded man came up behind her. "Is the offer still standin'?"
"What offer, mate?" John argued, leaning back against his stool casually.
The man shrugged. "Since you're not goin' home with her, I might as well take the opportunity, right mate?" he mocked his accent, a smirk on his lips as he put his hand on her arm.
"Get your paws off of me," Rogue gave him a frown, annoyed with his bluntness and pulled her arm harshly.
"Come on, darlin', don't be shy," he smiled eerily. "You've been havin' good time now, why don't you be a good girl and give a man some good time too?"
John got up and opened his palm towards his face, and before she could stop him, he caused a flame big enough to get the majority of people's attention on them and causing the man to jump back. "Back the fuck off," he informed the bald man, his blue eyes darting at them dangerously.
"What the fuck," the man exclaimed, his finger pointing at him. "He's a freakin' mutie!"
"Dave, what the hell's goin' on?" Another man came up behind him, followed by a bunch of other anti-mutant activists.
A grin appeared on the Australian's face, but Rogue reached out for his arm and stopped him from doing something stupid. The last thing they both needed was unwanted attention and their pictures on newspapers. And that was something Pyro was quite famous for -creating a massive scene out of nothing like a true drama queen.
"You're not welcome here," another man told them, holding an empty glass bottle of beer in case he needed to cut it in half and attack them.
"Come on, John," Rogue pulled his arm, trying to get him towards the door but he refused to move.
Oh, shit.
"You know what," he began, eyes darting at every single one of them dangerously. "I'm so sick of you little people, trying to exterminate mutants like it's possible. We're fucking everywhere, you sick fucks, better get used to it."
"What the fuck did you say, weirdo?" One of the men broke the bottle in half and attacked him, using it as a weapon.
John shoved her out of the way and ignited a flame at the men, their screams filled the room. Rogue hit the counter, blinked a few times to clear her head as her vision went crystal clear, a man was running towards her with a knife. Wait, what the fuck did she do? It was John and his big mouth, they didn't even know that she was a mutant, did they?
Before she had a chance to get away, the man dropped to the floor with a shriek as Remy stood behind him with his long leather coat, with flames in the background –which reminded her of a movie scene in which the hero saves the girl as the building collapses in the background.
She ran towards him without thinking and he grabbed her hand, heading to the exit but she stopped him. "We have to help him, Remy," she said, anxiously looking at the blonde man who was busy with burning down the counter.
"Don't look like he need any help, p'tite."
"Please."
Remy stared at her face for a moment before giving in with a sigh, never in a million years would he believe if someone told him that he was going to help the man that she was seeing. But here he was, using his bo staff as he kicked and punched a bunch of mutant hate group, giving enough access for the man to use the back door to run.
John cast a glance at him, then back at her before giving them a nod and disappearing into the back door.
Just as she was still staring, the men began to stir in their positions. Remy grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the bar. She was panting heavily when they reached the car, the engine was turned on and she avoided looking at him in the eye –because she knew damn well that she would see those missing calls in her phone if she checked.
"How did you find me?" she asked, breaking the silence eventually, her voice low and breathy.
His eyes were on the road, his hands tight against the wheel. He was mad and he was avoiding her, she had come to know a few habits of him for a short time. He always ignored her when he was mad at something, especially things related to her. He made it pretty clear that they were keeping low profile and she had made a scene, sought unwanted attention and caused trouble.
In her defense, it wasn't herself that started the drama, but anyway.
"What the fuck were y' doin' there?" he asked harshly, which reminded her of the night that she went out and didn't answer her phone.
"Ah-" she began, unable to find words to defend herself. "Ah didn't know there could be any anti-mutant activists there, it was just a bar and Ah didn't think-"
"Y' didn't think," he cut her off, voice sharp and firm. Her green eyes caught his gaze, he shot her a look that made her look anxious. "What would've happened if I wasn't there to save y' and y' lil' boyfriend?" He added bitterly, a dark look appeared on his face as he looked unamused and annoyed.
And it was the night before their big day. She could've been shot or hurt, he would be doomed and she didn't think of the consequences of her actions.
"He's not my boyfriend," She sunk down into her seat with a grunt as if that was the case at the moment, legs crossed over and head leaned against the window.
He snorted at that, the waves of anger still radiated through him. In complete silence, he drove them back to the hotel and got out of the car without a word.
She followed him to the elevator, sending an annoyed look at the redhead's direction along the way and put her arms around her protectively. "You're not goin' out?" she asked, once the elevator doors closed. She knew that she ruined his night out with a flaming bomb at the bar, but once she was back at the room, he could go out and pretend that nothing happened, couldn't he?
"No, Rogue," he answered sharply, letting out an exasperated sigh. "We're stayin' at the room and make sure y' don't get yourself killed."
Rogue.
He had never called her that.
She bit her inner lip, her eyes roaming around his face for a single clue on why he was so mad to begin with. While she understood the reasoning behind his anger, it wasn't that big of a deal and she was fine after all. But something about the night –or her impulsiveness caused him uneasiness and she actually felt guilty because of the way she had made him feel.
Fuck, she hated this.
All she wanted was to just drink and forget –of how he made her feel, how he made her want more of his touch.
Instead, all she got was guilt and loneliness.