She had said "maybe," Gambit recalled

She had said "maybe," Gambit recalled. As in "maybe" she didn't want him looking at her. It was like the ace of spades coming up all over again; he was going to like it here. He felt a slight twinge of regret about saying there were other women to look at. It had only made her angry, and while that also seemed like a good sign (people who didn't care rarely got mad about it), he would prefer to skip the "hard to get" stage with this one. Her skin was so perfect, so smooth, that he'd had to resist the impulse to reach out and touch it right then and there.

That, he thought, remembering her irritated glare, would not have been a good move.

Patience was the key here. Give her a little time, and he was sure he'd have Rogue running to his arms. He was a thief by trade…some said by nature. He was used to waiting, almost as much as he was used to getting what he wanted. Just a little time.

"Check it out," said Jubilee, nodding at the main door to the dining hall. "New boy's here."

"Gambit," said Rogue reflexively.

"Pardon?" said Kitty.

"His name," said Rogue. "It's Gambit."

Kitty leaned over the table conspiratorially. "Who's your source? Bobby? Peter?"

"Remy," said a voice. "Remy LeBeau. Gambit to my friends."

"Remy," said Rogue by way of acknowledgment.

"Mmm," said Gambit appreciatively. "Way you say it, I might drop 'Gambit' altogether."

Jubilee coughed. "Are you going to take a seat, Gambit, or do you flirt better on your feet?"

"I do a lot of things better…."

Rogue slammed her knife and fork down by her plate. "What's your mutant power, Cajun? Making people lose their appetites or just talking them to death?"

"I always thought it was my electric personality," said Gambit. "But I've been wrong before. Once or twice."

Rogue rolled her eyes and pushed her chair back.

"Don't go, chere," said Gambit. He reached to grab her arm, but she stepped quickly away.

"Keep your hands to yourself," she said brusquely, and hurried from the room.

She ran out of the dining hall, out of the mansion, back to her spot. She could hit herself for being so stupid. Of course he'd have found out, sooner or later, but if she hadn't reacted so strongly it might have been later. As it was, Kitty was sure to be running her mouth off right now: "Don't take it personally. Rogue can seem a little stand-offish but that's understandable, considering her power and all. Oh, she didn't tell you? Rogue…."

Is a freak among freaks, Rogue thought bitterly. Scares even her own kind. Look, but don't touch.

Rogue had been a teenager in America for a while before she knew she was a mutant, and that was all she needed to experience to know that very few people would be interested in a hands-off romantic relationship. Heck, neither am I, for what that's worth. Which was nothing.

She pulled her feet onto the bench and hugged her knees to her chest. She had to collect herself. She had to get used to this. She couldn't live the rest of her life wallowing in self-pity. Rogue put her head on her knees and focused on breathing deeply, on trying to make her mind a blank. It was working.

Until she felt a hand on her shoulder and lost all control of her limbs.

"Whoa!" said Gambit. "Settle down, chere!"

Rogue recovered from her spasm, all the relaxing effects of her makeshift meditation session gone. She realized that Gambit was now holding her by the shoulders, and that she had grasped his arms in her shock. She pushed him away roughly. "Settle down?" she gasped. "You snuck up on me, fool!"

"Old habits," said Gambit as he sat down. "I'll try to walk louder next time."

Next time. Kitty must not have…. "I'd appreciate that," she said, putting a hand to her heart. "I'd live longer."

They sat in silence for a while as Rogue worked up her nerve. "I have something I have to tell you," she said. "I…."

"Excuse me for interrupting a lady," said Gambit, "but I have something I have to tell you first. And that is that I'm sorry about spoiling your appetite back there."

Rogue was about to accept the apology and be done with it, but she realized that she couldn't. Not in good conscience. "It wasn't you," she said.

His eyes glinted. "I hoped not," he said.

"It's just…I'm still not used to telling people…new people, that is…about what…how they can't…."

Gambit waved a hand dismissively. "Kitty and Jubilee told me all about it," he said.

"Yeah?" she said, irritated. "Must not have told you enough if it wasn't enough to make you stay away from me."

"Au contraire," Gambit said. "Enough to make me real curious."

"How it works?" she asked.

"How it feels," he said. "From the other side, I mean."

"Like you're ever gonna find out," she snorted.

"Maybe not," he said. "But don't underestimate Gambit, chere. He's a very patient man. And he knows women, and he notices things about them, and he notices that you…."

"I swear," interrupted Rogue. "You don't ever get tired of the sound of your own voice, do you?"

"From time to time," he said. "But only for a minute or two."

"Take your private conversation elsewhere, will ya?" she asked petulantly. He shrugged and leaned forward, preparing to stand up. "That is, unless you can let a girl get a word in edgewise."

Gambit grinned and settled back onto the bench. "Another thing about Gambit," he said. "When the other person speaking is a beautiful woman, he's a very good listener."

Rogue smiled. This wasn't at all how things had started with Cody or with Bobby. They had both been much more serious. This new boy was a fast talker, but he was all talk. And "all talk" was right up her alley.

It looked like the beginning of a beautiful flirtation.