#protective gambit

“I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend really quick.” You blurted out as you rushed over to where Gambit was casually leaning against the wall, grabbing onto his arm in order to none too gently pull him away from the wall so you could wrap an arm around his waist, the man’s hand settling on your hip in order to catch his balance right as the door to the rec room swung open.

You barely resisted the urge to sneer when fucking Aiden –otherwise known as the thorn in your ass– strolled through, looking as annoyingly cocky as ever. He gave a bit of pause when he saw you standing intimately close to Gambit, who he knew you had a crush on –considering the two of you used to be friends before he decided that he wanted something romantic and wouldn’t take no for an answer– but he recovered infuriatingly quickly.

“Hey there, gorgeous. I've been looking for you.” Aiden said with a smarmy smile and your stomach churned in equal parts anger and discomfort at being pinned under that look. Your hand on Gambit’s waist tightened as you silently seethed, biting back all the awful things you wanted to say, only for your mind to go blank when you felt Gambit’s thumb begin rubbing soothing circles on your hip.

You took a shaky breath, being careful not to look too surprised by the contact with Aiden watching you so closely, while stubbornly repressing all the warm, fuzzy feelings you were getting from being on the receiving end of Gambit’s touch. You'd allow yourself a moment of weakness to freak out over it later, but for now, you focused your attention back toward dealing with Aiden.

But, like every other time you attempted to reject him, it didn't work. You could tell he wasn’t taking you seriously just based on the condescending way he laughed and shook his head, as if you were acting like a tantruming child.

“I already told you, I'm not interested in dating you, and I’d appreciate it if you stopped bothering me.” You snapped while baring your teeth in a threatening manner, trying to mimic the same feral energy that you’d seen Logan use to scare the shit out of enemies and misbehaving students alike in the hopes that it would get Aiden to back off.

Though, before you could begin to waste your breath trying to get the message through his thick skull, Gambit finally joined the conversation with an annoyed click of his tongue, the sound drawing both sets of eyes in the room to him.

“You're dating Gambit? Since when?” Aiden turned his gaze away from Gambit after the man neutralized the kinetic energy that made the card glow a bright pink to instead talk to you, his body tense like he was forcing himself to look away from a predator.

“So sorry to disappoint, homme, but dis one's taken.” Gambit said with a faux friendly tone while giving Aiden a dangerous smile, falling into the role of loving boyfriend with an ease that made you equal parts light-headed –in a good way– and crestfallen, since it wasn’t real.

Gambit pulled a card from his sleeve and held it between two fingers, Aiden's confidence visibly wavering as he watched Gambit charge the card in a wordless warning to tread carefully.

“That's none of your business.” You hissed with far more venom than strictly necessary, but you couldn’t help it when the audible disbelief in Aiden’s voice had the feeling of butterflies in your stomach going sour, as if Aiden found the very idea of Gambit wanting you inconceivable.

Aiden blinked at you for a moment –like he had been caught off guard by your defensiveness– his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he glanced between you and Gambit, your stomach dropping out when a slow, knowing grin spread across his lips and he crossed his arms, looking all to the world like the cat that got the canary.

“I don't believe you. Gambit here isn't exactly known for being the settling down type.” Aiden shrugged, his eyes briefly flicking over to Gambit before settling back onto your scowling face. “So why don’t you just stop playing hard to get and get a coffee with me, or maybe we could see a movie? You, me, a dark room… sounds like a good time to me.” He continued with a leer that had you feeling vaguely nauseous, your body tensing with the desire to either get away from the situation or hit him in the mouth to knock that obnoxious smoldering look off his face.

“Then by all means, man. Prove it.” Aiden challenged with a sweeping gesture, watching the two of you with a smug smile that told you that he thought you wouldn't be able to do it. Unfortunately for him, he underestimated just how much you hated him and just how petty you could be if push came to shove.

“Ah, mon ami, you have a bit of nerve to be suggestin' a goo’ time wit someone else's lover.” Gambit snapped as his grip on your hip tightened in a way that felt protective, a sharp edge to his voice that had you glancing at him out of the corner of your eye. His usual friendly demeanor was nowhere to be found, his teeth clenched so tight that the muscle in his jaw jumped and his eyes hard as he began flipping the playing card between his fingers faster, his gaze never leaving Aiden. “But Gambit is more than willin' to show you why there ain't a chance in hell of dat happenin', if you like.” Gambit continued, his tone dripping with thinly veiled ire.

You turned to Gambit and, without giving yourself any time to try and talk yourself out of your reckless decision, you threw your arms around Gambit’s neck and pulled him down to you, whatever the Cajun had been about to say transitioning into a choked off gasp of surprise when you pressed your lips against his.

You had every intention of lingering only just long enough to convince Aiden that the two of you had done something like this before –to sell that this actually wasn’t the first kiss you’d ever shared– but, when you made to pull away after the appropriate amount of time had passed, Gambit wrapped his arms around you and pulled you flush against him as he tilted his head in order to deepen the kiss.

You inhaled sharply through your nose when Gambit let out a soft moan against your lips, his breaths turning quick and heavy, and you forgot all about Aiden standing there watching the two of you as you threaded your hands into Gambit’s auburn hair in order to pull him harder against you, holding him in place as you took control and forced him to slow his frantic pace.

You hummed your approval against his lips when he obediently followed your lead, savoring finally being able to kiss your crush –even if it didn't happen exactly how you had imagined it in your head– and you felt a keen sense of loss when you inevitably had to break the kiss. Gambit kept you close, nuzzling your temple with a low, satisfied chuckle as you caught your breath before flashing Aiden a dark grin.

“Convinced now, homme? Or should Gambit make it clearer?” He let his fingers trail down your arm, linking your hands together as he tilted his head, silently daring Aiden to say another word.

“Whatever.” Aiden grumbled petulantly, shooting you a glare full of wounded pride, before stalking out of the recreational room, slamming the door behind him hard enough to rattle the walls. 

You stepped away from Gambit and cautiously approached the door to make sure that Aiden was actually leaving, a triumphant grin spreading across your face when you heard the sound of Aiden’s frustrated footsteps get quieter as he stalked down the hall before disappearing entirely.

“Fuck yeah!” You hollered as you moved away from the door and hopped around in a little celebratory dance at finally having gotten Aiden off your ass about indulging him with a date when you’d rather go drink gasoline. And, in the heat of the moment, you spun and planted a wet, smacking kiss onto Gambit's stunned face.

You were unable to help the delighted laugh that bubbled up and out of you when Gambit muttered under his breath in French and used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the spit you left behind off his face. Though you didn't take his moody grumbling personally since the grin teasing at the corner of Gambit's mouth was more than enough to reassure you that the other man meant nothing by his dramatic fussing.

“Dis donc, cher, Gambit didn’t realize he was signin’ up to be slobbered on today,” Gambit said as he finished cleaning his face, the man feigning exasperation as he flicked the card that he was holding at your chest –uncharged obviously since he didn’t want to turn you into a splatter on the wall– grinning when you instinctively caught it before it could make contact. “But if dat’s how you thank him for savin’ you from unwanted suitors, maybe he oughta volunteer more often, non?”

“You say that like you weren’t enjoying yourself.” You said with an eye roll, pushing as much nonchalance as you could muster into your voice as you attempted to ignore how the memory of your shared kiss –and Gambit’s involuntary groan of pleasure, which would burned into your brain for awhile, goddamn– made you want to blush and trip over your words.

“Oh, mon cœur, do not worry yourself. Gambit enjoyed every second and wouldn’t mind a repeat performance.” He replied with a wink, his eyes sparkling with amusement as your face flushed a bright red at his words, the man raising a brow at you but –thankfully– remaining silent when you tucked the card he’d tossed at you into the back pocket of your jeans like a precious keepsake.

“I–” You began before the words got caught in your throat, Gambit’s expectant stare like a physical weight pressing into you, and –in a moment of cowardice– you decided you couldn’t make yourself finish the sentence, so you shifted gears after a moment of loaded silence. “I owe you one. Thanks, Remy.” You said –settling for something safer than the confession that you’d been about to make– giving Gambit a soft smile as you reached out to squeeze Gambit's shoulder before you turned on your heel with the intention of leaving, though you were pulled to a halt before you could even take two steps when Gambit grabbed your wrist.

You turned your head to give Gambit a questioning look, your curiosity transitioning into concern when you noticed how lost Gambit looked. But, before you could ask him what was wrong, he realized that you were watching him and he quickly replaced the bizarre expression on his face with a grin that looked far too manic to be genuine.

“What about Aiden? Won' he go right back to buzzin’ around you if he thinks we ain't together no more?” Gambit asked, his accent getting thicker as he spoke, and you took a moment to consider the question as you raked your eyes over Gambit, taking in the tension in his shoulders… the fragile look in his red eyes as he gazed at you like he hung onto your every word.

“It's inevitable that he'll find out eventually. It's not like we're actually dating.” You gave Gambit an odd look when the hand holding your wrist twitched –a movement that you would call a flinch if you didn’t know any better– before continuing. “And we can't keep up the charade forever. You have plenty of people to woo and I’m just…” You trailed off as the knot in your chest, one that formed anytime you thought of Gambit with anyone else, tightened painfully.

Gambit's grip on your wrist loosened slightly, but he didn't pull away, his fingers lingering against your pulse point like he wasn't quite ready to let go yet as his eyes searched yours for… something.

You felt a spark of hope flicker in your chest when Gambit’s harsh grin softened into something more gentle, his thumb absently tracing circles against the thin skin of your inner wrist.

“Remy, what are you saying?” You asked quietly, as if raising your voice would ruin the moment, unwilling to make assumptions with something this big since it would kill you if this ended up being just another one of Gambit’s games.

“Gambit's got plenty of admirers, sure.” He admitted with a shrug, like the fact that he had both men and women falling at his feet on a daily basis was nothing. Meant nothing to him. “But maybe… maybe he's lookin' for somethin' a little more den charmin' strangers these days.” His voice dropped lower, teasing but oddly sincere as he tilted his head, studying your face closely.

You felt horribly off balance, like someone had pulled the rug out from under you, when Gambit’s eyes flashed with a familiar heat and he prowled forward. You immediately began matching him step for step, staring up at him breathlessly as you backpeddled until the door hit your back, leaving you with nowhere to go when Gambit leaned in until your faces were inches apart and you could count each individual eyelash if you wanted to.