Gambit

Gambit + Cats in All New X-Factor

-In me the tiger sniffes the rose.

"You're right. I told you I was de bad guy. I don't owe my allegiance to you and I've done unimaginably horrible t'ings. But I'm not a murderer, Darcy. I'm a t'ief. Mutants an' superhumans alike gotta stick up for each ot'er because it's de only t'ing dey got going for dem in dis world. If y'want to stay away den I understand." He held up his hands in surrender and took a step back.

"Drink", she asked, nodding at the bar, before glancing down at her nearly empty glass. "Or we can skip all the idle stuff and get straight in to seeing how good your moves are?"

"So little faith in me. Also, you are hot." He spread a hand to establish his point as valid guarantee to show up. "Did de plan to get Remy drunk and cross-examine him not last the first glass? Not dat I'm complainin'. Come on!" He leaped to his feet and grabbed her hand.

He grinned. "Excuse me. I'm feelin' rat'er philosophical today, it seems."

"I am not trying to sound flip when I ask this, but isn’t that something you would know yourself?"

"I suppose it's a question of technicalities, homme. I'm not certain if mutants are a subspecies of human or a totally different species altoget'er."

She’d spent ten minutes standing out front, leaning against the brick wall, before deciding she needed a drink before she could actually relax about what she was doing here. Heading inside she slid on to a stool at the bar, ordered a sweet vodka, and tried to not look like she was keeping too much of an eye on the door.

When he finally showed up at the club he was wearing exactly the same thing she'd first met him in, although he had changed his shirt to a bright fuchsia of all things. He swaggered right up to her and straddled the neighboring stool, grinning broadly. "Miss me, mamzelle?"

"All my friends were in New York", Darcy said flatly. Thinking on the weeks spent in the cage, with nothing but doctors to come in to poke and prod and question, not even Jane or Thor being let in to see her…she’d thought she was going to die, been told as much. She hadn’t actually given a lot of thought to what she’d tell people if she survived. "Remember when we first met? And you found out the powers I had were a temporary thing? What would it mean if I had something that maybe wasn’t so temporary now?" 

He glanced at her sidelong, trying to weigh his response. Whatever had happened to her, it started to sound like 'being dead' really would have been a viable theory. "Like I said den, y'got to protect y'rself," he said seriously, unfolding a pair of sunglasses and slipping them on over his own red-on-black eyes. "Chère, I'm de last man on Earth who would judge y'for havin' powers. Sometimes dey ain't so good ones, but dat's what makes us who we are."

Except today - I’m pretty sure the queasiness came from a bad coffee, not exhaustion.

     ❝What’s green and red and goes really fast?              …A frog in a blender.❞

"Y'kill it, y'eat it."

"No. I mean…what? I lost my phone", Darcy hedged, and wanted to bury her head. Everything was overwhelming, and that especially went for Remy right then. She could smell the mutant of him, a tangible thing so strong it sat at the back of her throat. "Besides, it’s not like you’d have been messed up over it if I did die". 

"Use a friend's. Unless of course-- all of Darcy's friends are over de internet an' she hasn't told dem she isn't dead eit'er." He stopped gesturing and hesitated. "Mebbe not permanently, like bein' hit by bus. Is somet'in' wrong, sha?"

Don’t say anything about how good they smell, don’t say it!

He chuckled and leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. "Fille, wit' my luck when dey go silent dey are dead. It's always polite to send a occasional lil' 'I'm still alive' text, no?"

[message] You’re kind of a prick, but at least you’re cute. And I’m maybe very ok with getting up closer with the dancing. Long way of saying I like you enough despite what you do, so don’t stand me up.

[message] I'm an irresistibly charming person. I'll be there so worry your heart no more. Talk to me about how close though.