Romy; Mirror, Mirror

[fitslikeaglove]

Title: Mirror, Mirror
Characters: Rogue, Remy LeBeau
Verse: Earth Zero; an interlude
Previous Scene: Through the Looking Glass

Wanting to do something and actually doing itwere two different things, it turned out. Fancy that. Rogue skirts the peripheral of the pool, deciding, no, she really doesn't need to go swimming. Or undress. Or put on a bathing suit that covered less than her underwear did. She ends up sitting on the edge of the pool with her jeans rolled up and her feet in the water. It's more than she'd have ever done before, so she feels a smidge less cowardly than she might otherwise. Babysteps. She'd already made out with her boyfriend in someone else's bed, after all. That, she felt, was quite enough bravery for one day.

Let Remy get down to nothing; she'd sit back and appreciate the scenery.

Comments

[masterofthecards]

Down to nothing he was. Remy started stripping as he walked through the door to the indoor pool, peeling off his clothes and shoes, watching her with a sultry grin as she paced. He was shameless, just as comfortable naked as he was fully clothed. He sauntered around the edge of the pool, stretching his arms out, feeling the tightness from tense muscles around his wound.

"C'mon, chére, s'gon be fun. Don't you know how t'swim?" He asked, throwing her a dashing smile as he stood bare for the world to see, or at least her since no one else could see them. "C'mon go swimmin' with me..."

[fitslikeaglove]

Rogue glances at him-- And promptly looks away, red scorching across her face. Leave it to Remy to decide that swimming really meant skinny dipping. Damn the man. Her own fault, probably, getting mixed up with him. She shades her eyes with her hand, peering through cracked fingers just to assure herself that, yes, he really was naked as the day he was born, and he looked really good, too. Oh, God.

"I am not skinny dippin' with you, Remy LeBeau."

[masterofthecards]

He smirks, suppressing his laughter as he caught the blush and the way she hid behind her hand. "What's da matter, petite? Remy ain't as pretty as ya thought?" He looked himself over boldly, running a hand over his chest. "I know I been injured, but I can't be flabby already..."

[fitslikeaglove]

"There's not a thing wrong with you and ya know it," Rogue says, censure making the words sharp. She's going to die, she's sure. Of embarrassment. She flaps a hand in his direction, studiously looking everywhere but. First day she can touch and already her boyfriend's naked; it didn't bode well. "Get in the water or somethin'."

[masterofthecards]

He laughed and struck a pose, just because he could and that blush was as cute as a newborn gator. "But, petite...It's dangerous swimming alone! What if I get a cramp? You don't want poor ol'Remy to drown, do you?"

[fitslikeaglove]

He's divine punishment for a life of misdeeds. Got to be. Rubbing her face, Rogue groans. She bet he'd be doing this even if she couldn't touch him properly. Call it a feeling. "You're terrible," she informs him, trying and failing to fight down a grin. He was just lucky she loved him, really.

[masterofthecards]

He loved this, the easy laughter bubbling up out of him, the pretty red tint to her skin and the begrudging smile teasing at her perfect mouth. He remembered their kiss, the feel of her beneath him...

Throwing a wink her way, he turned and fell backwards into the water, taking long, sweeping backstrokes, the water glinting off his muscles. "You sure you don't wanna join me, Marie?" He used her name, a secret weapon.

[fitslikeaglove]

Irritable yet amused, Rogue leans forward and slaps a wave of water at Remy, using a bit more strength than is necessarily prudent. "You stop that," she says, looking up to shoot him a glare, which was... yeah, that was a mistake. Stupid naked man. He was entirely too good looking for his own good. Exhaling a flustered sigh, Rouge pulls her feet out of the water. She really didn't know what to do.

She settles for trying to watch him without watching him. It doesn't really work. "And yes, I'm positive."

[masterofthecards]

He dove beneath the wave, missing it as he arched his back in a graceful curve and came up to pillow his arms on the side of the pool beside her. Shaking his wet hair back, Remy rested his cheek on his arms and smiled up at her lovingly, fingers poking at her knee affectionately.

"You didn't seem t'mind my body back in dat nurse's room, chére...what's da matter? Do I got a saggy ass? I'll get a lift for ya, non?" He teased.

[fitslikeaglove]

"It's different when I'm not thinkin' about it," she admits, poking his forehead in retaliation. "And you still had your clothes on." The poke becomes her fingers running lightly through his wet hair. Getting a peek here and there wasn't at all the same as full frontal nudity. She tugs a lock of his hair. "Last week, handholdin' was the highlight of my year. Now you're prancin' around in your--" She makes a vague fluttery gesture. "--altogether. Gimme a second to change gears here."

[masterofthecards]

To his credit, his grin turned a little bashful. He wasn't used to girls--or guys for that matter-- who needed to take it slow, who wanted take it slow, but he didn't mind it with Rogue. Her fingers through his hair made any tension he felt instantly melt and he raised himself up slightly to kiss her wrist and lean his head into her touch.

"Might not be as surprisin' if ya joined me. Da water's nice." His hand, dry now, came over and rubbed over her knee softly before before he placed a kiss to her thigh. "But you take your time. Remy just ain't used t'bein' shy, don't you let him make ya feel pressure none, belle, don't mean nothin' by it." He promised softly.

[fitslikeaglove]

It takes a minute, fighting down that coiling, cringing embarrassment that makes her want to squirm away, but Rogue finally exhales, giving Remy a fondly exasperated look. "If I wanted someone shy an' retirin', I'd have found him." Honestly, she'd have turned and walked out if she really had a problem with it, or thrown his pants at his head. This was just... new. And he ran a little fast, is all. Like blindingly fast. Feet back in the water, she nudges his hip with her bare toes.

"Anyway, I tend to... get mean when cornered." She slowly mimes throwing a punch. "This is fine. Embarrassing, but fine."

[masterofthecards]

"I like it rough sometimes, but not dat rough, so we'll just try'n take it slow." He shifted over, putting himself between her legs, draping his hands over her knees, his fingers brushing over where they rested. "So, ignorin' my nakedness," He smirked, "What'cha think had dat Nurse Foster so uppity? Didn't seem like da same woman dat poked around in my shoulder."

[fitslikeaglove]

"Is slow even in your vocabulary?" Rogue asks, spreading her knees to give him room. Even that sent a hot, giddy thrill through her. She was a the saddest girl a live. She really was. Her toes twitch and curl when Remy's hands settle over her knees, his fingers flirting with her skin. His question, though, makes Rogue frown, her expression turning thoughtful, a little solemn. "That's 'cause she's not."

Her hands lace behind his neck for a distraction, thumbs lightly rubbing the sides of it. "You see it in girls and kids a lot." She pauses, then amends, "Guys get that look, too, but they try and hide it usually." Social conditioning. The need to be brave and stoic in the face of adversity. Which was plain nonsense to Rogue. If you're hurting, then let yourself hurt.

She goes quiet for a few minutes, trying to get a handle on the quality of that fragility she'd seen in Jane. "Someone broke her like a plate. I'm guessin' tall, dark, and devoted glued her back together."

[masterofthecards]

Remy nodded, listening. He was fully aware of the look, fully aware of the feeling, but he wanted to know what Rogue thought. He didn't care so much about Dr. Foster, but he got a whiff of Rogue taking a liking to her and Remy intended to use it.

"Couldn't have been an easy thing, she seemed like a tough one." It was a loaded statement, bait. "What'cha think happened to break'er like dat?"

[fitslikeaglove]

"It... doesn't take much," Rogue says slowly on a sigh, the line of a frown pinching between her eyebrows. "Torture's easiest, but that can be anythin' from burnin' the soles off the bottom of your feet so ya can't run or not lettin' ya sleep until you're crazy with it." Eyes unfocused, her voice quiet, she continues to rub Remy's neck with her thumbs. "Or just makin' ya believe they've killed your friend when they haven't." Finally, she shakes the thoughts away with a twitch of her shoulders, blinking. She shrugs. "The mind makes it's own horrors if ya let it."

Rogue didn't know exactly what happened to Jane, wouldn't know without eavesdropping, but she knew what could have done it and that made her sick.

"She looked whole 'nough and she wasn't skittish about him touchin' her, so it was probably mental more 'an physical."

[masterofthecards]

It was a struggle to keep his muscles relaxed, keep the tension away while she touched him as he listened. It was clear, that tone, that look, the shake of her shoulders, it was clear how much she had been put through and he hated it. Hated himself for it. If he were a better man, he never would have stolen that file, never would have stolen that collar and maybe she never would have been used like she was.

His hand came up to cup her wrist, dark eyes seeking hers. "Think she'll ever get over it?" he asked.

[fitslikeaglove]

The touch makes her look down, meet that searching gaze, and all at once, Rogue realizes they're not talking about Jane at all. Sneaky man. She'd have to watch that. "No, it never really goes away," she says quietly. "You just get better at dealin' with it. Thinkin' about it less. Fillin' your life with other things. It gets... manageable."

Her lips twist, not quite a smile. "Don't sneak up on me and we'll be fine, sugah."

[masterofthecards]

She was smart, and it pulled an apologetic smile from his lips. He wanted to take it all away, erase it from her memory and replace it all with better times. With her almost smile, Remy was finished with this dreary talk. Putting his hands on her lap, he pushed up in a wet surge and captured her lips in a hot wet kiss, nuzzling her nose when he broke away.

"Sneak attacks can be fun, though..." He whispered with a grin. He eased back down into the water nad pushed off the wall off the pool, swimming back into the center of the water.

[fitslikeaglove]

A shrieking laugh and a shove is what he gets for his trouble. A kiss, too, but he'd been counting on that. Drenched, Rogue fixes him with a sharp look, pulls her iStark out of her pocket and skids it far enough away from the edge as she can, then hops in, pushing off the wall hard. She blurs through the water and catches him around the middle. The man wanted to play, they'd play. With a grin, she pulls him under.

[masterofthecards]

He laughed, filling his lungs with air and crushing his mouth to hers as she pulled him down. His arms wrapped around her and he dropped them to the floor of the pool before pushing up hard to send them shooting above the water. He laughed against her lips, peppering her face and neck with silly kisses and comical sounding growls, nipping at her ear and nose.

"You just threw yourself to da shark, belle!"

[fitslikeaglove]

She wasn't naked, though, so it was a step up from whatever he'd been thinking. At least, that's her dominant thought as he attacks her face with kisses. Laughing and squirming, but not enough to get away, she twists to kiss him back, kissing him everywhere but his lips just out of spite. She runs her bare hands up his chest, enjoying that she can, that she won't hurt him.

"No, just one measly ol' gator. Hardly worth worryin' about."

[masterofthecards]

He pulled back, assuming a look of deep offence, "Old? Old?" He gasped. "Who you callin' old?" And before she could answer, he suctioned his mouth to her throat and blew out, making a vulgar sort of sound while his hands danced up and down her sides, tickling all the while.

[fitslikeaglove]

It's the noise that makes her shriek and squirm away, the buzz of it against her throat, not the tickling. Free, she splashes Remy, quickly backing away. The bottom of the pool is a long way down, or so it seems. It adds an extra layer of excitement, making her heart race and her eyes shine.

"Sorry, sugah, but if the shoe fits."

[masterofthecards]

He laughed and lunged back at her, making a grab and missing only to swim after her. "If Gambit's a gator, chére, he gon' eat you up!" With a playful, over dramatic growl, he dove under the water, making long sweeps with his arms to pull himself after her.

Slowly, he swept up and came up in front of her, his grin wicked as he made a grab for her, "gator in da water's always more dangerous dan a gator on da land, mon coeur!"