Unlovable Xmen

4

Now, Gambit never actually told the Xmen he was taking Rogue out. They would've went through the mile long list of why she was bad news, and couldn't be trusted, ruining their plans. With Logan always hovering over them, this might be his only chance to get to know her personally. Besides, Annemarie would of likely stayed the day in her room, hiding from Logan. She wouldn't be missed. And if anything happened, or the team needed him, Xavier could reach him via telepathy or a call. The bases were covered. As he was walking out to the courtyard, though, he heard a voice that stopped him in his tracks.

"Gambit." There it was. Scott Summers, boy next door. Team Leader. Gambit turned to face him, with an almost guilty expression.   "Hmm?"  Scotty was a rule follower, and Xavier's trusted apprentice.  Basically, a stick in the mud.

"Where are you sneaking off to?" Gambit   flashed him a smile. Maybe he hadn't been found out. A solid pokerface could save him.

"Gambit going out. The prof needs him to run a few errands."  Scott stared him down. It was usually Logan or Jean who ran errands for Xavier. The idea of Gambit going grocery shopping seemed off. Much too innocent of him. And Gambit knew that.  "Gambit might do a little window shoppin' too." He smirked. "If you catch my drift."

Scott nodded, suspiciously. That would make sense why Gambit took up such a noble task. He could use it to his advantage. Still, Scott wasn't sure he believed him. "Well have fun."

For some reason, he would let Gambit go. He knew he was lying, but oddly enough, he felt guilty about keeping him there. Gambit wasn't sure why either, but he hightailed it before Scott had a change of heart.

-

"That Gambit's hole in the wall, Rogue. The dealer always sippin' something when he think nobody lookin."   He pointed to a bar. The sign in the window said 'Poker Nites Friday.' "So yer a card shark", Annemarie asked, walking beside him.   "Card Shark? That implies that Gambit's cheatin. Gambit don't need to cheat to win", He said.   "That was only a fun fact for your enjoyment, Chere."

"Fun fact, huh?" "Yeah, comes wit the tour. Visite par le Gambit."  Rogue smiled.  "Guess Ah shoulda read the brochure." Gambit smirked as she went along with the joke.

"So where we goin", She asked. "To only the finest establishments the city can offer."  Rogue wondered what that meant as they walked another block.

"Voilà!", he said, stopping right infront of an arcade. "Oh, very fancy." "Oui. After you", he said, holding the door.

There were machines all along the walls, on either side, and a desk off to the right.
Gambit went to the desk, not noticing that Rogue still stood in the doorway.

She knew what an arcade was. It was where you went to waste time, and where there were games. Thing is, she'd never actually been to one. This was not what she imagined at all.

Gambit turned to see Rogue wasn't there behind him, but still in the doorway.
"Chere!" He said, walking towards her. He carried a bag of coins, not actual coins, but fake ones, imitating dabloons.

"What game you wanna play first?" Rogue looked nervous. "Where's go fish?" Gambit looked at her with raised eyebrows, and smiled at her. "How about we start wit Donkey Kong?"

Rogue quickly realized there wasn't actually a Donkey in Donkey Kong, but there was a monkey. Gambit fed the machine one of the terribly obvious faux coins, and the screen lit up. Gambit figured by her request for go-fish, she wasn't used to video games. "See da man down tere?" Rogue nodded. "Well he need to climb da ladder to get the woman from Donkey Kong."  Rogue furrowed her eyes.

"Why not run away while he ain't lookin' ?" Gambit smiled, realizing this was an insult to her. "The girl ain't as strong as you, Chere."

Rogue side-eyed the machine. "Huh."

Gambit went first, showing Rogue the controls. When it was Rogues' turn, she found herself halfway to the Lady before  she was hit with a barrel.   "Did you see that", She yelled at Gambit. "He hit me! Ah can't believe he hit me!" Gambit smirked as Rogue hit the game. "Try again, Chere", he said handing her another coin. "Ah ought to kick his ass!"

After their third coin, Gambit recommended trying another game.

"Dis is galaga. You gotta hit the ships before they hit you." Rogue was surprisingly good at that one. She darted side to side, and hit every other battleship. She got to the second stage before her turn ended.
"Ah did it!", She said, jumping. "Oui!"  Gambit couldn't help but smile at her. He felt his care free disposition slipping, and his ego couldn't allow that. "Das very good for you." "Fer me?" "Yeah, it's very high, but Gambit could beat your score wit one hand tied behind his back." "S'that so?" "Mhm." "Yer on!".

Gambit beat Rogue by only a few hundred, with Rogue insisting he was cheating. "Gambit never cheat", he said, before walking off to some other game.

After a few different ones, Rogue stopped infront of a claw machine. "What's that?" "Uh, Rogue dat might not be da best idea..." Gambit saw how angry she got at Donkey Kong, and figured this would be a lot worse. "No, Ah want this one." Gambit nodded and gave her a coin. "Okay den..."

As soon as Rogue tried to move the claw she ran out of time. "Hey!"
Gambit smirked. "See? Is rigged." "Ah'm only warmin' up', She said. The second time was a bit better as she was actually able to reach for something. "Nice try, Rogue."
"Ah almost had it that time." "Rogue..." "Toss me another one." "Another one?" "Yeah, one more." "Let's try another game, no?" "No, Ah feel lucky about this next one." "Chere-" She looked him in the eyes, and he couldn't say no. He watched as Rogue aimed for a teddy bear. Her face lit up as she scooped it up. "Ah got it", she said. Gambit kept his hand over his mouth, deep in thought. Rogue almost had it when the bear dropped.

"Are you kiddin' me!" She threw her fist down on the button, not minding her own strength. She watched as it cracked, and flew through the air. She covered her mouth with both hands, shocked and embarrassed.  "We should be off", Gambit said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He walked her off before anyone around them noticed.

Annemarie felt ashamed as Gambit walked ahead of her.  "Remy, Ah didn't mean ta-" He waved her off. "Non. Is time for lunch anyways." She nodded, as it was his way of reassuring her.

Gambit led them to a diner,  and they waited to be seated. "Dis the finest restaurant in the city", he said once they were seated. "What you want to eat?"

Annemarie looked at the menu for a minute. "Are the chicken and Waffles alright here?" "The best. Gambit gonna have himself a burger." Once the waitress had taken their orders, Gambit turned his attention to her.

"So tell me bout yourself." "Well", Rogue began. "Mah mutation let's me absorb things around me by touching em."  Gambit shook his head.  "Tell Gambit something else. Like dat accent", he said. "Where it come from?" "Ah'm from Mississippi." "Louisiana", he said. "We coulda met sooner. We was only a river apart dis whole time, Chere."

"There's that word again", Annemarie smiled. "Why do you keep on calling me that?" "Chere?" He smiled. "It mean Gambit's fond of you." "Like friend?" "Someting like dat. Now tell me, what do you like to do? Other than 'go fish', that is."  "Ah like to read", she said. "Read what?" "The classics. YKnow, Sherlock, Shakespeare, that kinda thing. Do you?"
"Nah. Gambit waits for the movie to come out. You listen to any music?"
"Yeah." "What's your favorite song?" Annemarie tried to remember the last song she heard. "Music Of the Night", she said, remembering the song Hank recommended. "Ah. Never heard it." "What's yers?" "Gambit likes whatever is at the bar", he said. "Oh."
They sat silently for a while, as Gambit thought they were running out of things to talk about. That's when the waitress came to hand over their food, giving them a reason not to talk.

While eating, Gambit tried to find a way to save the date. He watched as another table was handed dessert. After he noticed Rogue stopped eating her waffles, he motioned for the waitress.
"How bout a slice of Cherry for la femme?"  "Remy, Ahm fine."  "Nonsense. Cherry for Cherie", he told the waitress.

"Remy, Ahm full", she laughed.
'Remy.' That was his name, but few used it. The idea that she liked him himself made him smile.  "Dhen we'll share."

After they split the dessert, the waitress brought the check.
"Thanks, Remy. That was nice." "The pleasure's all mine." He took her hand, in his. "Any man would gladly buy lunch for a beauty like yourself." As he went to kiss her hand, Annemarie snatched away from him, and looked down at the table. "It's late. Xavier's probably lookin for us."
He looked a bit embarrassed as she rejected his advances. "Oui."