Disclaimer: Don't own them!
Chapter 5: Important developments.
Standing there, alone, completely absent from the mansion's noises and issues, Rogue closed her eyes and leaned her head backwards, to then twist the faucet. While her hair and body started to get completely soaked, she smiled: same way as this tepid water was doing it, her skin had been travelled across by Remy, only moments, minutes, so little ago she could almost still feel his touch and his presence on her.
She had heard it and read about it so many times, but this is what it really was like: to share something so intimate with someone, to give yourself, to receive him back… she had to smile again at this thought: this was real life, not the little bubble she had lived in before.
Covered only by a green towel, she came out of the bathroom followed by clouds of vapour that vanished in a few seconds. Sitting in front of the dressing table, she began to untangle her mostly auburn hair; and then she met her own eyes in the mirror. It was time to ask herself the question she didn't want to: what would happen now?
Of course she pretty much lost her mind every time he was around; of course she liked the way he stared at her, his amazing body, his kisses, and damn, everything else; of course she wanted to know more specific facts about him and his life. But what about him? He had no particular reason to differentiate her from the rest of his women, simply because she had behaved just like them.
And what would happen was very predictable: they'd do it a few times, maybe a week or two of furtive hot encounters; but then one day he'd start to lose interest, so there were two choices here: either he did something really mean, for her to dump him, or he just dumped her himself. And that'd be it. Even more: there's nothing to dump when that person is not yours, so it'd be more like moving on with her life, pretending nothing happened.
That is, if he didn't just want to nail the ex-untouchable girl once, just for the fun of it, and then get rid of her.
She knew this might seem paranoid, but what could she expect from a man she barely knew?
Her hair was ok now, still dropping on her back but now without knots.
If this was only about sex for him, so be it for her too. She wouldn't show him she's affected by this, that she probably won't be able to think about anything else at least for the next 500 years or so, that she wants, needs to be with him. She just refused to be one of those dumped, heartbroken girls.
She could take this as a grown person, and… yeah, move on with her life.
There was one thing for real, though: she didn't regret a single moment of it.
(…)
Lunch wasn't as formal as dinner: generally, half of the people ate outside the house, and the other half ate last night's leftovers, or whatever they could find. She found some pizza and sat in front of Logan, who was eating too; Kitty was unsuccessfully trying to prepare some meal with Kurt. It was just another normal day for them, but for Rogue it was the day after, and she couldn't help still feeling so overwhelmed by it and, why not?: she even laughed a little bit on her inside, thinking they probably kept pitying her because of her power, not even imagining what she had done last night.
All of a sudden, she heard his voice behind her back, making her shudder to her bones:
"What y' cookin' dere, petite?"
And she had to ignore him, to pretend nothing happened, not only in front of everybody but also in front of him. For sure sometimes life seems to be some kind of circus, where we do nothing but playing silly roles and hide our true feelings.
She kept chewing mechanically, as he started chatting with Kitty and Kurt.
This is exactly how she'd pictured the scene earlier on: him, with his usual cool demeanour; her, with her stomach all twitched and her brain on fire, bouncing inside her skull.
She better got used to this, if he was to stay longer.
A while later, she finally left the place. She didn't fixate her eyes on Remy once; it was just too hard this way.
(…)
After working out at the gym for a while, Rogue decided to come back to her room. Of course she couldn't get the whole deal out of her head, but she just hoped not to meet someone down the hallway, who'd see her disturbed face and ask "Are you ok, Rogue?", because she wouldn't doubt in answering "Yep, Ah had sex last night, don't that always make yah have a wonderful day?"
But it happened too fast: before she knew it, she was dragged inside this little dark room where they save cleaning stuff.
"What the…?!" she protested, but was shut up by a kiss.
If she'd have wanted to speak her mind in front of him, and if she could actually speak in that exact second, she'd have said: "this is exactly what Ah needed".
Remy embraced her tightly, until they finally broke apart to take some air; then, she rested her head against his chest, finally feeling secure.
"Don't scare the hell outta me like that!"
"Desolè, cherie" he said to her ear. "But Remy didn't have de chance t' say hello back in de kitchen. An' y' didn't either".
"Well! What did yah want me t' do? T' say: hey Rems, last night was great; oh, an' Logan could yah please hand me a napkin? Thanks!"
"It was great, indeed" he agreed. "And y' know, I've got a good idea for today: what if y' an' I go have some dinner t'night?"
What was he trying to do? To be polite or something?
"Dinner, eh? Should Ah take this for… the next day call?"
He chuckled before answering: "I don't use to do next day calls, chere".
"'Course not, what was Ah thinkin'?"
"So: what y' say?"
She knew she'd be going deeper and deeper into this if she accepted, but…
"Ah guess it wouldn't make too much sense to play hard to get now, would it?"
He grinned: "Dat a yes?"
"Yeah" she nodded.
"See y' in de garage at 9 o'clock".
He kissed her deeply again, before opening the door and leaving.
(…)
Sitting on his bike, Remy threw to the ground the butt of a cigarette, and wondered for the millionth time why he was doing this: going out with a woman he had already slept with; didn't it usually work the other way around? Was it because she was a virgin, because she used to be untouchable? There was something appealing in those two facts, sure, but yet there was something else: he just wanted to be with her.
He felt so comfortable talking to her, like he didn't have to pretend being "the" Remy LeBeau, and be just a guy wanting to know about a girl. He had thought about it the whole morning, until he came to the conclusion he shouldn't think anymore, and just act instead, inviting her out.
"So, yah ready Swamp Rat?"
"I am" he greeted. "An' y're beautiful".
Rogue rolled her eyes playfully and hopped on the bike, behind him.
He smelled so good it was almost enrapturing.
(…)
"Wow chere, I gotta confess somethin'" Remy stated, and took a sip of bourbon: "I never imagined dere'd be a place like dis one 'n dis city".
"There's a little bit of everythin' here, yah know? Yah just gotta know how t' search".
The place was halfway a bar and a restaurant, and if someone puts you there without saying you're in New York, you could swear you're in some town of Mississippi or, why not?, maybe even in New Orleans. It was an all southern place: the decoration, the music, the aromas of spices and liquors, and even the moods of people around.
"It sure almost feels like home". He didn't now if he said this only because of the place, but also because of Rogue's face, her unique drawl, and just the whole aura that surrounded her.
Then, their food arrived; since she ordered his food and he ordered hers, there was Chicken Sauce-Picquante for her, with tomatoes, spices and rice, and a huge chicken fried steak for him.
"This is… really, really good" she pointed out, right after swallowing the first bite.
"If y' like dis, y've gotta try Remy's Special Jambalaya".
"Yah cook?" she questioned, sceptical "Yah look like everythin' but the kinda guy that cooks".
"Hey I don't just cook: I make miracles" he added confidently.
"Ah definitely gotta see that t' believe it."
"Y' won't only see it, chere, but y'll also taste it."
"Ah, really?" she was feeling so good, she started to relax even without realizing of it: "So yah gonna cook for me?"
He came a little closer, staring at Rogue like she was his meal: "I'm gonna cook lunch, dinner… an' breakfast for y'".
"Mmm, breakfast's good" she smiled.
"Isn't it? Especially 'n good company".
The music changed at this point, being a little less noisy and more calmed.
"An' I remember we left somethin' unfinished" he continued. "Our little knowin' each other talk. Y' forgot 'bout it?"
"No…" she stared at a distant point for a few moments, thinking to herself: "No circus, no playin' roles; there's nobody around but him, an' what the hell? Yah already gave him… a lot". Then, looking back at his eyes: "All right, there's somethin' Ah do wanna know".
"Dat'd be…?"
"Are yah actually a thief?"
Unable to speak since his mouth was full, Remy nodded repeatedly for a few moments, also trying to figure out the way he'd begin to tell the story:
"If I said yes, would dat make y' walk away?" he said, half defiantly, half in joke; for Rogue, it was so easy to read his eyes:
"Ah'm no saint either, Cajun".
"Non?"
They both stared at each other: him, trying to decide if what she said was believable; her, content of being able to say such a thing in front of someone.
"C'est bien, saints have no fun. An' oui, y've got de best thief of Nawlins right 'n front of y'". She didn't seem surprised or scared, which he liked: "It's a family thin'; mon pere's always been 'n de business".
"Does that have anythin' t' do with yah, movin' out an' comin' to the mansion?"
"It's a bit more complicated dan just dat" he hinted; this was something he didn't tell everybody, but somehow, he knew it was ok to tell her: "See, we've got guilds back dere: de thieves' one an' de assassins' one. We're not exactly best friends with 'em. The son of de assassins' leader an' de son of de thieves' one, dat'd be me, we fought dis kind of duel… stupid traditions… He almost died, an' I'd be dead already if I'd stayed dere"
It was also good to see she didn't look reproaching, like she actually understood the complexity of the whole guilds stuff.
"An' we're here now" he finally winked.
Rogue blinked a few times and kept eating; so he wasn't only a thief, but was nothing but trouble, just as she had imagined. And it could seem the strangest thing, but that sounded… pretty exciting.
"Haven't yah ever wondered how Ah gained control of mah powers?" she suddenly said; if this was about getting out the dirt, she was willing to do it too.
"Ever since de first time I touched y', chere" he recognized. "But I guess I was waitin' y' t' tell me y'self".
"'kay then. 'bout, Ah don't know, couple weeks ago maybe, Ah…" this wasn't easy to say either, but she felt encouraged by the fact that he had told her about his own issues. "Ah came out of the mansion one night; Ah just felt so messed up… Remy, yah really have no idea what it's like t' live knowin' yah'll never touch anyone, that yah'll always be so bloody alone". She sighed: "So Ah went out; Ah just wanted t' disappear or go t' hell or somethin'. Ah ended up in some bar, an' after 'bout three drinks Ah was seein' double already. An' this guy came on t' me, an' touched me…"
Remy's expression was serious at this point; it's true, he hadn't yet stopped to think about how she felt before, which for sure was still a big part of her:
"An' he passed out right away, 'course" she continued. "But Ah was so pissed off, so Ah went outside an' started t'… t'… absorb random people. Willingly, only 'cause Ah hated everyone… an' 'cause Ah was drunk out of mah mind".
The napkin in her hand was now a crumbled ball: "A few of 'em fainted… but then not anymore". Her green orbits now had slight glitter of tears. "Ah grabbed their hands, like a complete lunatic. An' Ah realized it was true what the Prof had told me a few times: controllin' a mutant power requires practice. Ah sure practiced with those people that night, one after the other… An' we're here now!" she repeated what he'd said, moments ago.
It was true: none of them was no saint, and that was probably what had joined them in a house full of prude wannabes.
He raised his drink, staring deeply into her eyes:
"Cheers t' dat".
"To what? Me, randomly distributin' free naps?" she asked, unconvinced.
"To y', gainin' control" he explained.
Rogue finally smiled and raised her own drink: "All right" they both drank a sip: "An' also cheers to yah, bein' a thief".
"Dat be good one" he admitted, and they took another sip: "An' of course: to us, bein' here now".
"I've got another one" she announced, with a look in her eyes that nearly killed him: "To… last night".
There was only one sip left in each drink, and Remy wanted to use it right; so he stared deeply into her eyes: "To… t'night".
"Cheers" she said.
"Cheers" he answered, and they took the last sip at once.
(…)
It ain't easy to enter the mansion without waking someone up, especially if you can't stop laughing and it's past midnight.
But they managed to do it, and once they arrived to her room, she wrapped her legs around him, while making out avidly.
They went to bed again, but not exactly in order to sleep.
Note: hey that was a long chappie! But I couldn't erase anything; it had to be this way. I'll try to update soon, but I swear it takes me about two days to get to this; and I'm on vacations. Thanks so much for your reviews, and please, tell me what you think about this one: it's a free world! Let's express ourselves! Yay!
Next chap: Remy does something really, really stupid (*suspenseful music*).