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Rogue sighed as she finished up her nightly routine. She had washed her face, gotten dressed for bed, brushed her teeth…. Now all she had was the longest task of them all: unpinning her hair and brushing it out before bed. She sighed and began her arduous task. How many pins did she use today? 35? And she hoped none had gotten tangled during the day. Even with a gentle removal tangled pins were still not a fun experience.
Rogue sighed. At least Kitty wasn't here to try and push to let her help Rogue. She means well but can be such a pest at times. Kitty was visiting her family in California as the public school year had ended. A lot of students had been going home for at least some of the summer break in fact. Even her brother Kurt had to go home to help with farm work through July,with the harvesting of the spring planted vegetables and summer fruits in June and detasseling the month after.
Rogue sighed at that thought as she plucked the pins from her hair one by one. At this point, it was only really her, scott, alex, Tabitha, and Evan here currently as far as students go. It made the building feel…incredibly empty and lifeless…maybe she would rather have her roommate here pestering her after all. The last thing she needed was for that sense of loneliness she always had before all this coming back…
To think a year ago rogue had been living in a mostly quiet, empty house with her adoptive mother Irene and now lived full time at the institute, which until recently, had always been filled with the hustle and bustle of busy teenagers getting ready for a school day or training…it had certainly been something to get used too. But she had ultimately enjoyed the liveliness …and she didn't like the idea of getting used to an empty house again… she grumbled as she continued to pull out the last few pins.
“Well well well, looks like Gambit came just in time ta wish ya goodnight, chére!” She heard a voice say from her doorway. Rogue nearly jumped in her seat before turning to glare at the cajun with red on black eyes leaning in the doorway, giving her that mischievous glint he was known for.
“Boys ain't supposed to be in the girl's dorm,” she pointed out.
“You mean da half o da building occupied entirely by you?” Remy retorts with a smile, “sounds pretty selfish if you ask me.”
“What are you talking about? Tabitha is…”she starts but then stops when she sees remy continue to smile, “Tabby’s run off again hasn't she.”
“In fairness dis time is not anytin bad. she went to stay wit Amara's family last minute,” he explains.
Rogue quirked an eyebrow up. “Amara left for the train station two hours ago and Tabby was still here at that time,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, and an hour and forty five minutes ago, Tabby decided to invite herself along to meet her family,” Remy said with a shrug.
Rogue rolled her eyes. “Lord help Amara…” she muttered, “that still doesn't explain what you are doin here, cajun.”
“Ah told ya! Wanted ta wish mon belle femme goodnight,” he says getting off the wall and walking towards her, “…but looks like you ain't quite ready fo bed yet.” he nods to the messy state of her hair.
“Your point being?” She says crossing her arms as he nears her.
He picks up the hair brush off of her dressing table sue was sitting in front of and does a little bow with it. “would you like it if Remy brush your hair out for ya chére?” He asks with a smirk.
She glared at him and snatched the brush from him. “Ah'be been brushin mah own hair since ah was 8. Ah don't need your help!” she snapped.
“Gambit said nothin about needin him, chére,” he explains, “Gambit was askin iffin ya wanted him to…” he winks at her causing her eyes to widen.
Oh. Ohhhhh…
She looks away, a blush creeping up her cheeks “... Someone could walk in on us,” she points out.
“Den lock da door,” he offers, leaning a bit closer.
Her breathing hitches a little. “... Someone could see you leaving mah room,” she points out, trying to not make eye contact.
“All de biggest gossipers are all gone away chére, n ya know honest scott gotta strict 8 pm bedtime for himself,” he leans in and whispers.
She played with the brush in her hands a little and bites her lip. “.... Logan could smell you in the room …” she says.
“You planning on invitin him in here in da near future?” He asks, pulling away and giving her a confused look.
“Wha no!!” she sputtered, “ah just…ugh…fine you win.” She says, resting her face in her palm and handing him the brush. He snickers a little in victory and takes it. However, despite what she said and her seeming look of defeat, she felt giddy inside. She put her gloves back on and gambit guided her to the bed where she sat on the edge and he got up behind her cross legged.
She felt her heart racing as he gently shook out her braided hair and felt like an absolute idiot for it. She was glad he couldn't see her face. It was as red as a tomato and she hated that was the case. She wanted this badly. It had been a long time since anyone had done her hair for her. She can't remember the last specific instance and since her powers awakened she knew it hadn't happened once. She used to squirm out of her mother's or a maid's lap when they brushed her hair out as a child…but now it felt like she was waiting on bated breath for someone to come over to invite her to the dance floor at a ball…she hated it.
Remy gently took her hair in his hand and began gliding the brush, and his fingers, through it gently. There was slight discomfort, an occasional tug from a snagged tangle or light pull on her hair getting caught on his fingers, like a shock of static…but overall…it eased something in her she had been holding taught for a while. A weight lifting and she felt herself sigh involuntarily as she felt her shoulders relax at the contact. She loved the feeling of him gliding the brush down from her scalp to the ends of her tresses, but hoped he didn’t notice how much. She felt a shudder run down her spine as his fingers gently slid through her hair, and it was as if all her troubles just melted with each stroke of the brush as it rubbed against her scalp.
She felt herself smiling and her eyes falling shut, blessing God quietly that for all the rotten cards he dealt her, he made it so humans could feel through their hair without it counting as skin contact.
“Ya hair so soft, chére,” Gambit commented quietly, twisting a finger around it gently, “silky, bit like a kitten, don't suppose ya'd let me brush ya more often.” he rubbed the back of his hand down the side of her head, sending a warm feeling through her.
She shrunk her chin close to her chest as her cheeks felt warm again at the complement. “Only when Kitty isn't here…” she said softly, a bit dreamily, “if she knew of this she'd never let me hear the end of it.” She was definitely getting him to come back and do this again. It was heavenly. The way he played with it, how gentle he was, how he petted her hair like he couldn't get enough of the texture.
He chuckled as he gently scratched her scalp with the brush. She gave a grateful hum. “Maybe we have a picnic sometime…you and me, nice summer day, I'm brushin ya hair while ya lounge and sip on some lemonade…” he mused. He gently ran his nails against her scalp, her thick hair protecting him from her powers, but not her from the sensation.
Between the image of him brushing out her hair as she lounged like a spoiled princess and the sensation of his nails gently massaging her scalp…a soft, contented moan escaped her lips.
…and while Remy didn't seem to notice, she CERTAINLY did. What the hell had she just uttered? Was that??? From him brushing her hair?!?! What was WRONG with her?!?!
Rogue suddenly launched herself from the bed with a yelp, flapping her hands in front of her face, utterly embarrassed. Remy nearly fell back in surprise. “GET OUT!” She shrieked, “I'm sorry but you need to get out!! NOW!”
“Huh? Rogue? wa’s wrong? Did Gambit hurt ya?” He asked, getting up and walking over to her with concern.
“I said GET!” she insisted, “we cannot do this again i.. I…you saw what happened now go!” She pointed at the door trying to avoid eye contact with him.
Gambit gave her an incredibly hurt look. “Remy don understand…You looked like you was enjoyin yourself…” he said stepping closer and taking the hand pointing into his own. Shs tried to pull away but stopped when he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. As he got closer he got a look at her face. Were…were those tears? Was she crying?
“Yeah! Too much! Now leave me to mah shame!” She snapped, rubbing the tears of frustration from her face. Rogue wished she could disappear. She was mortified. Why did he keep pressuring her to talk about it?! Couldn't he see how embarrassed she was? Did he have no sense of modesty?! Did he not care?!
“Quoi?” He questioned, pulling her hand from her face, “Chére ah don't know what you are talkin bout…you do realize you are allowed to enjoy your hair bein played with… please tell me what's wrong.”
“Oh my God Remy you ASS what is wrong with you, ah MOANED!” She hissed at him still trying to look away, “ ladies don't…Not in front of friends…its its dirty and crude and
…maybe you are used to getting girls to do that for you but i felt horribly undignified and you-”
Suddenly she found herself pulled into a hug, smushed against Remy's chest. She squirmed for a second but he pulled her back to sit on the bed with him, her in his lap.
“Remy?! what are you-,” she started but he kissed her hair.
“Rogue,” he said suddenly serious, thumb rubbing her shoulder, “please listen…no it ain't lady like in public but please…never shame yourself for how ya express feelin good behind closed doors.” He squeezed her tight. “We may be mutants Rogue, but we also are humans,” he said gently, “we get sick, we belch, we make silly noises on accident, n sometimes when we feel good we moan. Sometimes even real loud and stupid like. It don mean anythin bad bout ya. Ain't even mean somethin dirty.” “Ah mean takin a load off after a long day o work make Remy make all kinds o silly noises,” he says trying to lighten the mood. She gives him a slight smile. “All it means is you needed that attention. Nothin mo. Nothin wrong,” He pulls away to look her in the eyes, genuine concern for her, “you know Gambit would never judge you fo enjoyin yaself right? Not good or bad. He just happy you enjoyin yaself. Please let yaself enjoy things…lord knows you don't get much joy your way.”
And just like that, as she looked into his eyes, she felt something eased in herself that had been kept taught for a long time. He was right. Why should she be ashamed? They weren't in public. Remy didn't mind and no one else was around to see… It wasn't her fault it had felt good. It wasn't her fault it affected her so. It wasn’t her fault she felt so…alone and in need of touch. And that's what it was: needed touch. Like a baby being held or someone offering a friend a shoulder to cry on. There was nothing crude about it. That's all it was: needed touch. It had been so long since she let someone else take care of her.
“Thanks…ahm sorry Remy…” she says with a sigh giving him a squeeze back, “ ahm sorry yah had ta see me cry over somethin so stupid…why don’t…why don't you come back tomorrow…to wish me goodnight and we try again?”
Remy smiled at her and kissed her hair. She sighed in delight, her heart fluttering at the contact. “But of course. Only if you want me too,” he purred.
She smiled and pressed her weight into him. “I think…I think I need it…yeah” she says softly, “it would be nice. Please.” her eyes slide shut as she enjoys his warm presence. “Yeah I need this…”