Disclaimer: Don't own the X-Men!
Chapter 7: Dessert.
"Hello?"
"Bon soir chere, hope y' weren't sleepin'."
"…Remy? God, do yah…? It's about three am, what is it?"
"Y've got that wrong, it's 12:01 am on Saturday, so it's the weekend already, and je suis tres désolé if I woke y' up but this couldn't wait any longer."
"...What couldn't wait any longer?"
"Asking if y're busy tonight, of course."
"Yah mean tonight tonight, or Saturday night?"
"Either one."
"Well, right now Ah was actually busy, yah know, sleeping…"
"Sleeping can wait, chere."
"…but… tomorrow night, Ah mean, Saturday night, yeah, Ah'm free."
"Great, so I pick y' up at 7, 8, 9? 10?"
"Umm… why don't we meet somewhere instead?"
"Come on, lemme pick y' up, hein? We take a lil' ride on my bike, I know y'll like it."
"…"
"So?"
"What if we meet in Central Park at 5 pm? Or is it too early?"
"Chere, if y' told me to meet y' in the Liberty Statue in ten minutes, I'd be there in five."
"Okay. In that case… yah know the Alice in Wonderland statue there in Central Park?"
"Non, but I'll find it."
"Alright. See yah then."
"Au revoir cherie, and sweet dreams."
(…)
It was 4:50 pm when Remy got to have the statue on sight. He didn't know that thing existed before, but he liked the fact that she had chosen it for their rendezvous point. She obviously liked the park and she must have liked the statue too; did it have some special meaning to her? Did she like that book? She was finally allowing him to take some glimpses into her life, her actual life, which is what he wanted the most.
Even though spring had arrived, the trees were still mostly naked, so everything around looked brown, grey or ochre… kind of like the statue itself.
5:05 and she entered his field of vision, coming from the left, hands in the pockets of her black jacket and hair all loose. She got to the statue and took a look around, then at the immobile characters there, observing them like it was the first time; like a kid would.
As he approached stealthily, he got it confirmed: the more he saw her, the more he wanted her, in every way possible.
When he was only two or three steps away, she turned around to face him:
"Hi" she smiled.
"Bon jour cherie, how are y'?" There was somewhat of an awkward cheek kiss there, but he picked the situation up: "Beautiful as always, Remy can see."
"Ah'm fine, yah?"
"Tres bien. So, Central Park. As far away from Bayville as possible, non?"
"Well, yah can't just break into the mansion like that, yah know? Ah can't believe they didn't catch yah."
They started walking. The air was mostly cool, but not freezing. It made it feel nice to be wrapped in a coat.
"Chere, those people of yours wouldn't catch me if I was under their nose. They seem very stuck up too. What y' people even do there?"
"Stuff" she shrugged, but then, continued: "Yah could say we're in the superhero business, as ridiculous as that sounds. Trying to save the world from the bad guys such as, yah know, those who steal microchips that could potentially endanger mutants everywhere…"
"Ah oui?"
"Yeah, that kinda stuff."
"So I'm a bad guy?"
"By X-Men standards, most likely."
"And by your standars?"
She looked at him and then back to the front, as they went around a bunch of children playing:
"If Ah thought yah were a bad guy, Ah wouldn't be here with yah, would Ah?" There was that very precise dose of sarcasm in her voice: "Ah'm an X-Man, after all."
"Or maybe y' like bad guys" he gave her a smug smirk.
"Are yah implying that Ah like yah?"
"Y' don't?"
She vacillated for a second:
"Ah don't think Ah have to answer to that, especially to a thief."
"If y' think y' wound me with that chere, lemme tell y': au contraire. See, y' do what y' gotta do to survive, and if it be something y' enjoy and y're good at, amen to it." She didn't say anything for some moments, so he spoke again: "What 'bout y'? Do y' like what y' do?"
"Yeah" she said right away, but then, seemed to think of it better: "No. Kind of. Ah mean, it's not bad, it's just that sometimes it feels like Ah've never had another choice but doing these things."
"Chere, every step we take's a choice. They're everywhere, choices."
"Yeah, Ah know, but most guys there believe they… we can actually save the world and be a part of something big, like that. Me? Not much."
Clearly, what she was saying made much more sense than what those prude heads were about: "Then what would y' like to do? What do y' really want?"
There was a patch of snow in the middle of the paved road they were walking down. Some people there were snapping pictures or just walking on it.
"Maybe just having a normal life. Traveling. But that'd be selfish, right? Not using my powers for the benefit of others."
"Not selfish, non. Only human, and true. Can't deny what's true."
"Yeah, maybe it's better to honestly being an asshole than to pretend caring about others."
"Y' implying I'm an asshole?"
"Maybe" she chuckled: "But, besides that… what do yah really want?"
"Always been more 'bout living the moment, chere. But…" he looked at her: "What do I want? That easy: I want y'."
She looked back at him, at his red on black eyes, trying to read his face and in between his words:
"What do yah exactly mean by that?"
"I mean exactly this" he gestured towards her and around: "I call y' or y' call me, we meet, we have a nice time, no one keep anyone guessing when the other'll show up and I know, maybe all this ain't what we first expected from this, but I couldn't care less, we talked 'bout being honest, right?" They kept walking for some moments: "Would y' like that?"
"Why me? Or do y' act like this with all of the girls yah… see?"
"Non, y're the first one that do this to me, some women I've liked more than others, but not as much as to spend weeks with mud up to my ears, waiting for 'em to pass by to just say hi."
"That was your call. But… people usually like what's hard to get. And Ah was pretty easy. To get, Ah mean. That's a contradiction, in a way, don't yah think?"
"Not important. In fact, I'm glad, 'cause that what brought us here."
Suddenly, she stopped walking:
"Don't yah love that view? The trees and the branches, and back there the buildings? Isn't it amazing?"
"Oui" he looked in the same direction as her, though with the corner of his eye, he kept track of the expression in her eyes, her skin, her collarbones barely visible, right there where her green top began. "I'd only come here once or twice."
"Really?" she kept walking and he followed her: "Yah live in New York and yah don't come here?"
"Well I could start if y' come with me."
"And yah have to take everything down that road, don't yah?"
"Can't help it. It's your fault, tough".
"My fault?"
"Yeah, y' make me like y'. Y' make me like being with y'. Don't y' feel that too? Didn't y' enjoy breakfast time the other day?"
"Sort of."
"Ah oui? Aren't y' enjoying now?"
She looked up in sort of a candid way, that he knew was everything but:
"Nah" she said, smiling at him.
"Alright" he nodded: "Then I guess we'll have to go home and fuck, got no problem with that."
He didn't know what he liked the most: the sound of her laughter or the perfect vision of her face when she did. Probably both.
"Look" she said.
The saxophone melody that had been growing louder in the past minute or so, originated from an old man with a cap and a white beard. He was playing the instrument, following the rhythm with his body. Someone approached him and let some coins fall in the case that rested by his side. Besides that, people were just passing by, not paying much attention to him.
"They say this kind of stuff is for tourists" she said, searching inside her bag: "But Ah'm not from here, so guess Ah'll always be one."
The man nodded when she placed a bill in the case, and kept on with his music.
"Aren't we all?" Remy said.
She held on to his arm.
(….)
"Can Ah try yours? What's its name again?"
She didn't wait for him to answer, reaching for a piece of his food, cutting it with her spoon.
"Bien sur, they call it limoncello dessert and though I'm more into the spicy stuff, gotta say this really good".
"Told yah."
On the other side of the glass, there was the street and the night had fallen already. Inside this little desserts' bar, as it was called, it felt warm and cozy. Rogue was taking a bite of her massive cake, when he spoke:
"An' what do y' do when y're not savin' the world or giving Remy limited visits?"
"Hm" she finished chewing: "Yah stalked me for quite a while, yah should know by now. That was crazy, by the way, no, Ah don't know, Ah don't do the big stuff… Ah like to come here, to the city and just walk around. Find this sort of little places and try something different." She looked out the window for a moment, then back at her plate: "Ah don't miss the South. Ah like it here."
There was more behind her not missing her homeland, but he decided it would be better to go into that later.
"Got no complaints 'bout New York, sure, but if we talk 'bout missin', I do miss N'awlins."
"Really? Ah guess there's more to it than what people usually know, Mardi Gras and all of that."
"That true. It's the streets, the people, the lights there, just the air and French in your ears, that the best part, imagine, if it's good to hear Remy talkin' the way he do, imagine hearing it 24/7, it's perfection."
"Yeah, Ah can't imagine that, really."
"Y're gonna love it, y'll see."
She straitened up in her seat:
"Ah'm gonna love it?"
"Uhum" he nodded, while taking a sip from his glass: "When we go there."
"Oh yeah? And when will that be?"
"Anytime y' want. We could go now."
"Now?"
"Mais oui, we take a plane, a bus, we could go in my bike too, would take some time but it wouldn't be the first time I ride my way there. Also, it'd be fun, don't y' think?"
He said this all nonchalantly, as if he was talking about going across the street.
"Well thanks but Ah'm gonna pass on that, for now."
"Y' just let me know when."
He was staring at her with those damn eyes, as he really meant everything he had said, and she had to look away, because all of this time, she had felt she was in control of this. Of their relationship, if it's necessary to give a name to what they had been doing all these months. But now, living this moment that was so real, she knew she couldn't step back.
He was right. Of course she liked him too. Everything about him and it scared her to realize she, too, wanted more.
(…)
And several hook ups, furtive encounters and a little chasing around later, this was the first time she got on his bike. It reminded her of a class they had in the institute long time ago, about the brain and how it makes us who we are. They talked about chemicals in there, oxytocine and dopamine, or something, that make us feel good, like the mind just exploded into one big flying thing that rises up and sooths and excites everything inside at the same time. Was it that what she was feeling, chemicals in her brain? Whatever it may be, it was great and she was swimming in it when going down the streets holding on to him, with her arms around him and seeing everything with wide eyes, because it felt like the first time she ever did. And, again, it was scary because… should she tell him?
She tried to put that thought away, push it to the back of her mind and just be present in the moment.
They were getting close to his building when it started drizzling.
(…)
"Ah know what yah're thinking."
Remy brushed away some strands of her white bangs, then kissed her forehead.
"Did y' pull out your absorption thing on me? Hm?"
"No, yah wouldn't like that."
"Why?"
"It kind of… knocks people out. It's not very pretty."
"Well y' knocked me out from the start anyway. Y' cold?"
"A bit."
He reached over to a side of the bed and took a thick blanket, then covered the both of them with it and lied by her side again, face to face. It was raining really hard, the sound of dripping water pulsing around.
"So what Remy thinkin', hein? What's on my mind?"
She ran her fingers over jaw for some moments, then stopped and looked into his eyes again:
"Yah're thinking Ah was… maybe a little different this time. Wasn't Ah?"
There it was again, the indecipherable look he had seen before.
"What y' mean?"
"Yah know what Ah mean."
He tried to read on her face, to get some sort of clue about where she was going with this. But none.
"'Kay, maybe" he ventured.
"How?"
"Maybe y' were a little less…"
"Aggressive?"
"Was going to say wild, but, okay, if y' say so."
She chuckled and looked elsewhere for few moments, pursing her lips:
"What else?"
"Just that. Also y're usually in a hurry, but y're still here and I'm sure glad."
She smiled, then bit her lower lip before continuing:
"It's… if yah really mean all of that crap yah've told me, Ah should tell yah something too. But… Ah think yah'll think Ah'm a complete freak because of it, though… Ah already started so there's no turning back, really."
At this point, the thought of just getting up, put her clothes on and leave, like she had done other times, almost every time, crossed her mind. But she stayed right where she was.
"Alright" he got even closer to her, if it was possible: "What is it?"
She was trying to find the words.
"Ah've never said this to anyone. No one knows, not even the guys at the institute, the Professor, no one. He does know about the context of it, but not about the exact thing Ah'm trying to tell yah".
"O…kay."
"Yah scared?" she laughed nervously.
"Non! No, I'm just wondering what it could be, my mind is going a million miles an hour but… I don't know what y're telling me."
"Okay, eh… Ah'll just spit it out as blatantly straight forward as Ah can." Her hands felt weak, but she had to continue. She opened her mouth for few seconds, then just started speaking: "Ah'm not a… normal mutant, if that makes sense. In the early 90's there was this project to create more skilled mutants? Have yah heard of that?"
"In Alaska, I think?"
"Yeah, exactly. It was a secret thing. Not many of us made it through, only 'bout a dozen. Well… they fooled around with our DNA's before we were born, gave us extra abilities, that's why my power as such is absorbing other people's skills and memories, but the extra stuff Ah'm telling yah it's, Ah can jump 'bout five stories high, and Ah'm really fast, that's not mutant, they gave that to me, see?" Now that she had started, she just kept going without thinking: "Ah have night vision and can see things from a large distance. All of that, and well, to achieve that, they changed our DNA's and mixed them with… other… things, Ah have, eh, part of… animal DNA in me, specifically a… feline thing. And… like the happy meal, it comes with an extra toy, too, 'cause it also gives me this… thing, every… four months."
She paused, hoping that he had got it. But anyway, she knew she had to say it.
"What gives y'?" he asked, knowing all of this time of sneaking around and wondering and guessing, reduced to this.
She sighed deeply, and said it:
"It... does something to me, something Ah can't control. It… ohmyGod, well: every four months… Ah'm kind of… in heat".
Note: Alright, this chapter has me a little scared, because even though I built the fic around this and intended for it to be this way, I wonder if you guys will think I have finally lost it. First off, I gotta say I took this idea from the TV series Dark Angel; did anyone watch it? I haven't seen it in a long time but somehow a lot of it stayed in my mind enough so I think this is the third fic that I write, with something I took from that series. So, this thing Rogue says in the end, happens in that TV series; I watched the episode before starting the fic, so if you want to, you can check it out in Youtube, just look for "Dark Angel, Meow" which is the name of the episode. Secondly, I don't mean to say that in order for a woman to do the things Rogue has done in this fic, something as bananas as this DNA thing has to happen to her. To each their own, it's a free world, and this is just a specific case, a specific fic I wanted to build around this idea, so please don't take it as if I'm trying to be moralist, or the opposite, I don't know. Don't take it weirdly, please. Aaaaaand next chap, comes the long awaited flashback time! Let's see how all of this madness began. Thanks so much for reading and I hope this is not too crazy. Kudos!
Note 2: I just realized they took down the Dark Angel episodes from Youtube, so now I can't find it. Anyway, just in case, that's the name of the episode (Meow), season 1.
Note 3: These are a lot of notes. But anyway, I had to mention that since this is an interactive fanfiction world we live in, TazzieLuv13 dropped me the most random review ever (thanks for it, it kept me giggling for several minutes): "Can fillet mignon be one of the cravings?" I said I didn't have that planned, then she/he suggested limoncello. So that's where the limoncello dessert came from. Also, on chap 5, stixnstones suggested to make Gambit say that he likes to make things go boom, when he explains his power to Rogue. So I just changed it and put it that way. Thanks for your feedback, guys. And this is the final note, I promise.