It was a couple of days before Ororo's mood settled again. Which was unfortunate for Remy, because he'd gotten detention with her for three days; due to fact that he'd run out of his room naked to see what was going on. He survived the tedious scrubbing and rescrubbing of the various surfaces of the institute only by not telling Ororo that Rogue came and helped him occasionally. Even if her definition of help was usually to stand to one side talking to (or, moreoften than not, at), him, it made the hours go by faster.

Rogue's mood was not a good one. She was quieter and more sullen than usual, but when she was friednly, she was more friendly, and was more prone to break out of her dark moods on her own, smiling faintly at some memory or other, before regaining her sullen demanor.

In order to help the various angst ridden members of the institute, and decrease the amount of fornicating, the professor bought musical instruments and encouraged the students to learn them. Remy had picked up on the bass quickly, due to his increased dexterity. Rogue had been learning guitar off and on since childhood, so took to electric guitar like a duck to water. They often practiced together, though usually practice became flirting while holding instruments.

One sunny spring day, Remy was practicing by himself, parked on a fairly large amp. He was wearing a barely buttoned shirt with a red spade and 'Lucky 13' embroidered on the back, along with a comfortable pair of jeans. He swung his feet slowly in time with his general plucking. John was sitting in the same room, taking a quiz in a months old Cosmo.

The door to the room opened, revealing a tired looking Rogue. She'd planned to meet Remy in the music room after school, and it looked like it had been a hard day. So it was no surprise to Remy when she didn't notice John lying on the couch until she'd flung her backpack into his head.

After a few sullen but sincere apologies, Rogue plopped down behind her lovingly polished guitar, nodding at Remy, who was still parked on top of the amp.

"Well well, ma chere, look achoo-"

"Bless you," John said automatically. Rogue chuckled and began tuning her guitar.

"As I was sayin', purple really looks nice on you." Remy continued, as if he weren't trying to ignore John and talk over the decidedly unmusical sound of a guitar being tuned into submission.

"Thanks. Can't say I see much of your outfit, since you're all the way up there 'n' all." ROgue noted, shooting him a quick grin. Remy replied with his trademark smirk and slide gracefuly off the amplifier.

Rogue watched in fascination as his lithe body bent, the unbuttoned shirt showing off his torso beautifully. Her eyes took on a clouded look that might have been mistaken for anger, if not for the fact that her mouth was slightly open, letting the tiniest of whimpers escape. Remy's smirk turned seductive as he pulled up a chair across from Rogue and began playing a low and steady hook.

Rogue finished tuning and joined Remy, playing a higher melody to counterpoint his bass line. Their playing wove around them, creating a charged atmosphere; one that could lead to dangerous liasons and copious rulebreaking.

Up until John looked up from his magazine. "Hey am I more of a bright sunny person, or a dramatically creative- hey, that's sex!"

A giggle from the doorway made Rogue turn around. Kitty, Amara, Jean, and Roberto were in the door. Amara was giggling, Kitty was trying to shush her. Jean merely shook her head and turned around, dragging Roberto to do whatever it was they had been on their way to do.

Remy, being a bit of a show-off, stood up and bowed, flashing the ladies (and Roberto), one ofhis prize winning smiles. Kitty rolled her eyes before pulling the almost histerically giggly Amara to a nice quiet room where she could calm down.

Rogue sighed and turned around, looking embarrassed. "Seems like no mattah what we do, there's always someone sayin' we shouldn't."

Remy gave her a sympathetic look, before reaching out for her hand. "Yeah, but dat's life. You gotta either go with it, or kill everyone. De second's a little herder to do than the first, but if you really wanna, then I guess I could help you out."

Rogue put on her best coersive female look, "You'd do that for me?" If she had been a different type of girl, there would have been fluttering eyelashes and flashes of cleavage.

"Sure. After all, I love to see y' smile."

Rogue beamed at Remy in a way he'd never really seen before. At least not from her. He gave her a wide, genuine smile, before continuing to play.

"je t'aime, mon cher." Rogue whispered, a smile still settled on her lips.

Remy's eyes widened, his face a perfect picture of shock. But it soon settled into a content, and slightly smug, smile. "Et moi, ma coquine."

John sighed and went backto his magazine, "Must be dramatically creative, because that just made me sick.

-fin.

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Peace and Love,
Panther Nesmith