kineticcajun | 2nd Card Dealt [Action/Voice

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2nd Card Dealt [Action/Voice - Backdated to Yesterday]

[Gambit has been a frequent visitor of the Battle Dome lately. Not that he wasn't shy about visiting it before, but ever since the moon fell, he's been working out the excess irritation through copious amounts of explosions. Early today, he goes through his usual training of increasing difficulty in the Battle Dome, working his way up from a warmup into an all-out survival match worthy of the Danger Room the X-Men had back home. Despite the chains of explosions, he still emerges from it all without a scratch.

After cooling down by just wandering idly around the Battle Dome for a while, it's back out into the snow. And Remy hates snow. For one, bad memories (babysitting Wolverine and Sabertooth both in a snowstorm is not a fun experience); but also, he's just not built for snow. Thank god for this nice warm coat.

After a brief trip into the grocery store, he's heading back to his apartment to make some gumbo. Nevermind all this winter weather noise, it's time for something hot and spicy to warm up with.

Community Building 1, hope you don't mind the delicious gumbo scent wafting around the ground floor.

Eventually, after checking to see if the snow has stopped - and seeing that it hasn't - he'll turn to the journals.]

[ Voice ]

Still snowin', huh.

Is it always this cold this early 'round here? Or is this jus' a sign we're in for a real rough winter?

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[Hey. Evil makes a mean gumbo, but even Evil needs ingredients.

Although there is a distinct lack of pre-made Cajun seasoning as far as he's noticed, so he's wandering around the store a little more than usual to make sure he has everything to make it all from scratch. And though he wasn't expecting to spot Rogue on his way past the coffee aisle, he's not particularly surprised, either. Weather like this isn't exactly Southerner-friendly.

And so, doubling back (on the pretense of picking up some cayenne pepper), he gives an offhanded greeting.]

Keepin' warm, chere?

[Rogue is scowling at the shelf. Why does the shift always move her favorite brand of coffee? It's great that it's here and all, but the extra challenge of staring at all the coffee beans every time she comes in here is not appreciated. As such, she had momentarily lost track of Gambit... all the same, as soon as he doubles back she sees him out of the corner of her eye and...

...well, okay, there was some something the last time they'd talked, but she (in her mind) had walked out the clear winner, so there was no reason to want to melt into her shiny new fur-lined boots. And heck, it is practically a Southerner's born duty to grouse about the first snow.]

No. How can anyone keep warm in this?

[He holds up the cayenne pepper in answer to that question and grins.]

I'm thinkin' this oughta help a bit. Maybe. Way too cold too early.

[Not that he'd appreciate any snow, really, but early snow is exceptionally unappreciated. He figures she can appreciate the sentiment, though; neither one of them comes from this sort of climate.]

You might be onto somethin' with the coffee.

[Stockpile for potential snow-in: coffee and cigarettes. Who needs milk and eggs and bread?]

[She glances at the cayenne pepper and nods a little before shifting her gaze back to the shelf in front of her. She scowls again.]

If I can find it. [Folgers, you are far inferior. Why are there so many tins of you?]

[This is one detail he has not picked up on yet: coffee preference. So he really has no idea what she's looking for. But whatever it is, it is apparently not the mountain of ten thousand Folgers variations.

Which ultimately raises the question of just how fancy the coffee can get here.]

Anythin' in particular you're needin'?

Somethin' that isn't this st--ah-ha!

[And this requires some bending and dipping to the side, but when she comes up she is triumphant! It is a bag of 8 O'Clock beans marked 'bold' and 'dark' and she is smiling.]

Found it.

[...and she is going for seconds. Seriously, she should not be allowed to run out of coffee, ever. It does bad things to her brain, like making her think it's okay to smile around Himself here.]

[...Rogue. Why do you do these things to him. Such joy over some coffee. It's such a slip from the usual guarded attitude they keep up around one another that he ends up forcing back a smile of his own. Can't be doing that. He doubts either one of them would much know what to do about it.]

Such a pretty smile, chere. [He means it. He really does. Which is why he is not making eye contact as he says it.]

...They oughta keep more of dat coffee around.

[Her eyes cut to him sharply at the compliment. There's less than a fraction of a second of hesitation - why isn't he looking at her? - before she resumes a normal, guarded expression. She drops her gaze and looks for a third bag of the coffee. Yes, she is taking it all back with her.]

Seems like they should do a lotta things they don't do 'round here.

[Like a certain OTHER person she could name.]

Edited 2011-11-11 23:24 (UTC)

[The search for the third bag of coffee finally drags that smile out of him. It really shouldn't be so amusing, but hey.

From his vantage point a little higher up, he can see another bag further in the back on a higher shelf. And so he just fishes it out and holds it out without any comment about lending a hand.]

Guess you got me there. It's def'nitely a trend in this place.

[Her own search is less than fruitful, so she blinks up at him for a moment with a look of curious appreciation, reaches out to take the bag, and then hesitates.]

Ya ain't gonna charge it, right?

[The last time she took something from you, she almost lost a hand. More to the point, if you waste this coffee she will kill you dead. 8|]

[He can tell from that hesitation and the wary look that she's thinking of the card incident. And so, he shakes his head.]

Non. Not on orders from Magneto this time.

[The grin grows just a bit wider. He knows she'd probably rip his arm off and beat him with it if he did charge the coffee, but he still can't resist poking about it.]

Unless you wanna see all the beans poppin'... but that ain't on your list today, is it?

[Snatching that bag right out of your hand right now before you get the chance, thanks.] This ain't popcorn.

[Three. She shuffles them in her other arm awkwardly. Should have brought a bag. Maybe she will just have to stuff her pockets?

And she's... tempted, just now, to ask about Magneto. How did he end up with Magneto anyway? The memories are there if she wants to try to roll through and extract them, but...

And she hates asking about people's pasts. It's just too... involved.

...but maybe a round about shot could do the trick.] "Acolyte." S'funny, I nevah took you for a true believer.

[...real round about, Rogue.]

[Gambit's smile fades a bit at the second part, but he waves a hand dismissively. The past is never something he ever feels like going into much, and joining up with Magneto was one big chain reaction that he doesn't feel like getting into ever, let alone right now. There were far too many things weighing into it and none of them are anything Rogue needs to be dragged into.

But he can still answer in his own roundabout way.]

Prob'ly wasn't the best name for us. Colossus was no "believer" either... least out of all of us, I t'ink.

[The joke is honestly pretty half-hearted, but he still adds,] "Employee" mighta been a better word, but it sure don't have the same ring to it.

[A moment's pause as she weighs his response, but well, she's certainly not going to follow up on it. All the same, she didn't like not understanding. He was a rat. She knew that. But part of her knew that Remy had some good in him - he'd done what she hadn't even been able to do with his father, after all. She knew why she'd joined up with Mystique, that first time. She hadn't felt like she had any choice. But Gambit was someone who made his own choices...

She shakes her head.] Nah, it don't have the same flair for the dramatic ol' Magneto would demand. 'Least Ororo's cape is tasteful, but what else says 'I'm here ta blow up a schoolbus' like a red cape and hat, I don't know.

["I'm here to blow up a schoolbus." He can't help but laugh over that one. ~~Especially funny considering that Gambit himself is a bus destroyer.~~ Grinning despite himself, he shakes his head.]

Well... I guess that's part of always tryin' to get people to sit up and take notice. Coulda lived wit'out all the drama, though.

[It may have been his choice to go there in the first place, but, well. It's always drama hour when you live with Sabertooth and Pyro.]

[Eyebrows. Former terrorists laughing schoolbus being blown up jokes = uncertain. But she'll pass over that for now.] Must be a relief ta be on your own.

[...apparently, this is 'ask questions with the subtly of a brick' day.]

[Subtlety of a brick indeed. He gives her a mildly curious look before giving a small nod.]

It ain't half bad. Not used to the quiet, though.

[Going from the thieves to the Acolytes to here, this is the first he's actually had some moments of peace.

...It's really kind of boring.]

Kickin' around the idea of goin' out on your own again?

[A light smirk, although she is surprised at the question. Why would she, in a place like this? And Rogue shakes her head, her expression unaccountably soft for a moment.]

Nah. [They came for me.]

Though if I was hangin' around with those yahoos, I could see the appeal.

[He gives an amused snrk for the yahoos comment. It's honestly a pretty good way to sum it all up.]

Yeah, you got de advantage of not havin' housemates who burn stuff for laughs.

[There's a playful spark in his eye as he goes on to tease a bit.] I'd say you got your hands full enough with fur on the furniture, but we had that, too.

[Easy on the brother jokes, man. Up go those eyebrows again.] I'd say the two hardly compare.

[Sabertooth happens to be one of her least favorite people.]

Nah, not really. You got me there. [Fuzz is about the only thing in common. But he'll leave it at that and almost absently fish out one last bag of her coffee that he can spot near the very back, handing it out for her to take.]

Here. Last one, far as I can see.

[She blinks and reaches out to take the coffee bag with a certain amount of hesitance. Not, this time, out of worry that he may charge it, but more concerned with why he is being so helpful.

...

...

...]

Thanks.

Any time, chere.

[Hey, that smile over the first bag of coffee is motivation enough. No ulterior motives.

Which would probably raise suspicion in and of itself, so he meets that wariness with a gently joking tone.]

Hard enough gettin' by in this place, let alone tryin' it without any coffee.

An' that's the sorry truth.

[That makes four bags of coffee tucked into one arm, and she tucks a strand of hair behind an ear a little uncertainly, because she feels this strange reluctance to end this conversation and at the same time just wants to get away as quickly as possible. Always with the contradictory feelings and reasons - why can't anything ever just be simple?]

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