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Bonding

Summary:

It's one of those sleepless nights and some people find themselves on a certain roof of the mansion in the middle of the night.

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Rogue opened her eyes with a shriek.

Her mind was filled with descriptive images of blood, terror and pain –thanks to the memories of certain someone. She was panting heavily as she sat up and let her legs swing from the bed, grabbing the half empty glass on her nightstand to drink some water.

Her hands brushed her long hair, which was tied up in a messy bun, calming herself. Taking a deep breath, she got out from the bed and grabbed an oversize black sweatshirt with zippers and her knee high socks. Getting some fresh air always helped whenever she had to endure such situation, so she decided to go for the roof which had an amazing view of the great garden. Her window was facing the large plane tree, making it easy to climb up.

Her hands touched the roofing and pulled herself up, nearly jumped back when she saw the figure which she came across surprisingly in the middle of the night.

Bonjour, chére.”

Leaning against the brick wall behind him, Gambit cocked his head aside and offered a gloved hand to her, letting him pull her weight up to the roof.

“Hey, yourself,” she greeted with the same enthusiasm, gesturing him to move a little. “Scooch.”

He let a grin play on his lips and did as he was told, watching as she sat next to him and leaned back. Both heads resting on the brick wall as they watched the stars in the sky.

“Nightmare?” he asked, eyes still focused elsewhere.

She sighed with an affirmative nod, tilting her head towards him. “You?”

Moi aussi.”

“What,” she bit her lip, her green eyes roaming around his finely structured face. “Did you dream of government experiments and human genocide, too?”

His crimson red eyes fixated on her green ones, studying her face carefully. “Non,” he began. “More like mutant massacres and sociopaths performing illegal surgeries.”

It wasn’t something she didn’t know, they had their share of sharing their deepest traumas and PTSD’s along the way. Instead of bearing a look of pity, she gave him a look of understanding.

It didn’t mean they were going to play some therapy, though.

“My god, Cajun,” she rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head to dismiss the intensity of their reality. “Didn’t think we had so much in common.”

“I assure you, chére, we have plenty,” he flashed a grin and moved a little closer, his leather trench coat brushing her cotton sweatshirt.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of him moving but didn’t protest against it, instead she surprised them both by actually putting her head on his shoulder, not looking in his way.

“By the way,” she began, her tone low and peaceful. “How did you find out my secret spot?”

He raised an eyebrow at that.

“What makes you think it’s your spot?” he asked, slowly inhaling the lavender and dark jasmine coming off from her hair.

“Because, it is.”

“You have to work on your debating skills, chére,” he said, smirking when she huffed in annoyance. She pulled back from his embrace, but still let her arm touch his, feeling the warmth of him through the cotton fabric.

A groan interrupted the two as both eyes turned towards the large figure.

Logan grunted and mumbled something like fuck my luck, the southerners ignored his displeased comment.

“Hey, sugar,” Rogue said with a sigh, her hand petting the spot next to her left. “Come on, join the PTSD club.”

Both expected the Canadian man to actually refuse, seeing as he preferred to be alone most of his spare time, but he actually placed himself next to her and leaned back to the brick wall, mimicking their position as they all watched the scenery in front of them.

The scenery being the long trees.

He was wearing his signature grey tank top and a pair of trousers, smoking a Cuban cigar. His arm reached out towards the Cajun in front of her, offering him the cigar which the other man took gladly since he was out of cigarettes and it was handed to him on a silver plate.

Remy took a deep breath and let a grey cloud of tobacco appear in the air and handed it back to the larger man, which he did the same.

Rogue raised an eyebrow at their sudden friendliness, but chose to let it slip however suspicious it might have looked.

“You two have a death wish, I swear,” she commented, a frown appearing on her face as the intensity of the grey cloud increased.

“It’s ‘cause you never tried it, petite.”

“Didn’t think I’d agree with Gumbo here,” Logan said, tilting his head towards her with a grunt. “I’m not telling you to do it, but sometimes it helps with people like us.”

“How so?”

“Burns away the feelings.”

She was intrigued to ask more, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she looked at the Canadian and gave him a weary sigh, he exchanged the movement as the realization hit him.

The white streaked mutant was out on the roof, instead of her warm bed and it was loud and clear that it was because of the nightmares of his traumatic past.

“One of mines?” he asked.

“Does it matter?” she asked rhetorically, shaking her head, but deep down she knew he was aware of the truth. “It’s not like we all had the most loving pasts.”

They all knew that the bulky man was here for the very same reason, anyway, just like the crimson eyed mutant sitting next to her.

Her stare shifted between the Cajun and the Canadian and suppressed a chuckle, they both were very alike, yet so different from each other. The contrast was clear as the sky, however they both radiated a darkness that sometimes consumed them and she just couldn’t help but stare at amazement on their achievement to balance their darkness with some light.

Quite marvelous, actually.

“Oh, fuck me, it’s actually a prison.”

All heads turned towards the other side of the room as the Australian man dusted off his hands, giving him an annoyed look to match with the one on his face.

Logan gave him a grunt and turned his attention back to the long trees, focusing in front of him as if he was the security camera around the mansion.

John rolled his eyes and sat next to him, still keeping his distance.

“What is this? Anonymously Depressed after party?” he mocked, leaning back. “If I had known, I would join the meetings.”

“Shut it, fireboy,” Logan said as the tip of his cigar was put off, giving Pyro another growl. He lifted it to his lips and gestured the younger man to light it up, the blonde handed him his favorite zippo and began playing with it when he was done.

“Do you really feel like that?” Rogue found herself asking, her head resting on Cajun’s shoulder casually, as he was watching the stars. “Like its prison?”

“Sometimes,” John gave her a reckless shrug, his blue eyes fixated on the long trees that were embracing the school. “I mean look at this, I can’t do anything without you guys being there for fuck’s sake.”

Rogue couldn’t help but let a huff escape from her lips as she lifted her head to look at him, whereas John stared back, annoyed with her amusement whatsoever.

“You guys invaded my safe space and now you’re complaining?” she asked, an eyebrow raised at his direction.

“Told you, petite, it’s not your spot,” Remy gave her a small grin as he lifted an arm behind his head, careful with not disturbing her comfortable position with her head on his shoulder.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Pyro protested with a puzzled look. “I’m always here at nights.”

“Darling, it’s not your spot,” Logan looked at her with an amused expression. “Hell, it’s so common that Kurt comes here every weekend to read that shitty book and even Hank climbs here to think of what went wrong in his failed experiments.”

“It’s literally a meeting point,” John said, nodding his head at her direction and accusing them afterwards. “But I’ve never seen any of you here, at three in the morning anyway, so it’s pretty much everyone’s safe space but yours.”

“You guys are delusional,” Rogue folded her arms in a defensive position. “And for your information, I come here often. Especially at nights, to clear off my thoughts.”

“Clear off your thoughts?” John clicked on his tongue, a snicker playing on his lips dangerously. “Or to meet certain someone with… an explosive personality?”

That little shit.

Remy couldn’t help but let out a raspy laugh at Pyro’s blunt comment, as he watched the color going up to her cheeks.

She gasped after his prominent laugh and sent him a deadly stare, shifting her stare between him and John with her eyes narrowed at them both.

“No,” she said, more defensive than intended. “I just have nightmares and he just happens to be here, often.”

“Remy’s flattered, chére,” he grinned faintly, his red on black eyes capturing hers in an intense stare. “If it’s any consolation, seeing you here always brings pleasure to this Cajun.”

“And this reminds me of why I don’t like socializing,” Logan commented with a groan, rolling his eyes at the exaggerated flirting of the Louisiana man.

“Nah, homme,” Remy cheered, flashing him a smile. “Remy knows you’re growing to like him, otherwise you wouldn’t be sharing your cigar, hein?” he added proudly. “And it’s Cuban, one of your finest, so don’t deny it.”

“I’m already regretting.”

“About that,” John cleared his throat, biting his inner cheek, casting a nervous glance at the bulky man. “You probably smelled it miles away but I was hoping to enjoy this in peace,” he said, taking a joint from his pocket holding it in his hand to put it on display.

“John,” Rogue gaped, her eyes widened at the marijuana he was holding. “What the hell were you thinking?”

The blonde mutant ignored her comment with a faint eye roll.

“From Amsterdam?” Remy asked, sniffing the smell and studying the color of the cigarette casually from distance.

“Yeah,” he answered, a grin appearing on his lips. “I have a friend who happens to get me some good stuff every once in a while.”

Logan grabbed the cigarette from his hand, ignoring the blonde’s protests and smelled it attentively. Nodding his head, he gestured for the zippo again, making the younger man’s jaw drop to the freaking floor.

He wasn’t going to.

He was just testing him for sure.

“You’re fucking kidding, right?” John asked in disbelief, sharing the same look as the white streaked woman, but he hesitantly handed the zippo with a curious look on his face.

But the next thing he witness was going to play on his head rent free for the rest of his life.

Logan lit the cigarette and inhaled deeply, handing it back to him.

Bewildered as he was, he still took the cigarette and took a drag as well. Closing his eyes in pure relief, he mumbled some praising words and turned towards the Cajun to hand him the joint, who accepted the offer gladly without sparing a glance at the female next to him.

Rogue was watching all three in amazement, like how the fuck?

Just moments ago, she was having a mild panic attack and now she was witnessing freaking drug use in the faculty. She wasn’t a prude, not really. She liked to drink on every occasion, but this wasn’t her thing, she had never done this –let alone smoke a regular cigarette in her life, so how the fuck was she supposed to react now?

But then, Remy handed her the cigarette with that look on his face. The one that could convince anyone to do anything, but she still held his gaze anyway. She bit her bottom lip, unsure of what to do or more like how to do it, but he gave her a small reassuring smile that it was okay whether she wanted to try or not, before she took it carefully, avoiding to touch his bare skin with her bare hands.

It couldn’t be so hard, right?

She studied the cigarette for a moment, then did as what she had observed from the other three. She inhaled a deep breath and let a deep yet brief cough take over her, making the men laugh amusingly.

Logan touched her back softly, giving her a little pet as he took the cigarette from her hand and smoked again, eventually handing it back to its original owner to create a pattern of circle with the joint.

“I think I can die in peace now,” John shook his head in amusement, closing his eyes in peacefulness. “I have witnessed Rogue to actually fucking smoke pot. I’m not tripping, am I?”

Remy shared his enthusiasm, grinning at the younger woman as he felt the easiness cloud his aura. “You’re full of surprises, chére.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” she rolled her eyes, but deep down she was happy to try something new with the people she considered her family. “Just wanted to know what the fuss is all about.”

“Ain’t no fuss,” Logan shrugged carelessly. “Just an experience, darling. Better do it with people that you trust first.”

“He’s right,” the Australian intervened. “My first time? I woke up in a bathtub in an apartment and freaked out thinking some mob stole my kidney or something, got no one to help me with that bad trip. But we don’t have that much weed right now anyway, so just relax.”

Honestly, this one doesn’t really remember his first time,” Gambit muttered peacefully, eyes closed as he leaned back. “But it’s always better when you’re in a safe environment, non?”

“Good god,” Rogue groaned, shaking her head at the lecturing trio. “Would you stop with the public announcement? Are you considering a career in selling this or something?”

“I wasn’t even planning on sharing,” John rolled his eyes with a snort. “I was hoping to do it all by myself, then you guys literally jumped at it.”

“Consider it as a bribe,” Logan gave him a cold grin, his eyes faintly shining with amusement. “I did smell that, by the way, there was no way you could’ve avoided me, bub.”

“Jesus, you’re like a freaking German Shepherd.”

Rogue burst into laughing at the Australian’s comment, hiding her face onto the Cajun’s leather trench coat helplessly.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping a tear after a moment of calming herself. “But he has a point, don’t act like a retired narc dog, Logan.”

He gave her a glare, but that made her giggle even more.

“That’s not nice,” Remy observed, shaking his head at the younger two, but he couldn’t hide the smirk forming on his lips. “Not the dog part, but the retirement.”

Logan gave them a displeased grunt and grabbed the cigarette, taking his turn again. “Okay, now I’m stealing this.”

“What the fu-“

“Logan-“

Non-“

His grin stunned them all, he took another drag and handed it back to Pyro once he was done.

The Australian grabbed it gladly and inhaled, letting a thick smoke appear in the sky. He made a white circle with the smoke, then passing it over to hand it to Rogue.

She lifted the cigarette up to her lips and took a deep breath as a pair of crimson eyes were watching her with interest. She blew out the air and locked eyes with him, as he accepted the drag and did the same, her emerald green eyes never leaving his.

This time she didn’t cough and she felt kind of okay.

But instead of exhaling it in the air, he moved his face closer to her, stunning her still. His breath on her lips sent shivers to her spine, before he exhaled the smoke onto her mouth without making any direct contact. She breathed in and closed her eyes in pure bewilderment, the Cajun had the talent to make her feel like nobody else and she had to blink away the sudden shivering.

Satisfied with her reaction, he pulled back and cast a glance at the company. The Canadian seemed to be wandered off mentally, his eyes closed shut and oblivious to the scene.

But John was watching the two in awe, observing what the hell he had just witnessed with his mouth forming a gape.

Remy reached out and handed the drag back to him and closed his eyes in peace as Rogue placed her head on his shoulder again –he found out that he was quite taken with the gesture, to be this comfort zone for her whenever she needed.

“Okay,” John began in shock, an accusing look on his eyes. “When did that happen?” he asked, mentioning the sudden closeness of two southerners.

“How about an advice, kid,” Logan muttered, eyes still closed, but observing everything with his eyes closed which gave the others chill. “Keep your nose out of things that ain’t your business and you’ll be damn happy.”

“But,” he drawled, blinking with a frown. “But, how?”

“Hm,” Logan raised a brow, tilting his head. “When did you and Iceboy happen?”

John’s eyes widened, flashing a look at the Canadian man’s direction.

Logan was back to resting, not even waiting for an actual response with his legs spreading casually on the bricks as if the question was slightly rhetorical.

How the fuck he was so observant even with his eyes closed?

John frowned and cast a glance at the other two, Remy tilted his head towards him with a vague smirk as Rogue remained silent with a brief hum to point out that they weren’t even a tiny bit surprised by the bulky man’s commentary.

No, no, no.

What the fuck?

Did they also know?

“It’s obvious,” the Cajun noted, giving him a short nod.

Fucking hell.

Rogue lifted her head momentarily to speak, sighing as she explained slowly. “It’s only obvious to people who know both of you well enough. I’ve dated Bobby, I know a thing or two about him,” she said, cocking her head. “And I know you well enough to know what pisses you off and he doesn’t piss you off anymore.”

“So, that’s it?” John snorted, getting all defensive with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Just because he doesn’t get on my nerves like he used to, that means I’m head over heels for him?”

The white streaked mutant gave him a hum of affirmation, peeking through one eye as she was leaning into the male figure next to her comfortably. “And you act differently around him.”

Silence.

“Good different?”

“Good different.”

John let out an annoyed huff and let his body relax against the bricks. While his current company on the roof was pointing out some scary secrets of his life, he wasn’t feeling like he was being judged or shamed for what he might have or might have not been feeling.

He didn’t know why, but he felt like a hundred pounds were lifted off of his chest at instant. So that meant fucking sharing? Is this what normal people did with their friends?

Oh, fucking hell, were this trio his friends now?

“I don’t know how he feels about me.”

“He likes you,” Logan nodded his head, eyes still closed. He lifted his arm to gesture him to give the drag, the grabbed it and took a breath, passing onto the next person as he was done.

“Christ,” the blonde shook his head with a hint of amusement in his tone. “Aren’t you just like the Yoda?”

Remy gave him a low chuckle as Rogue accepted the drag, looking at him with a look that was a combination of amusement and wonder and he cocked his head aside, studying her face and trying to understand what she was asking.

And then it hit him, she wanted to do the same thing he had done earlier.

She wanted an experience.

Giving her a nod, the side of his lip curled upwards and moved his head closer as she took her turn and slowly blew it onto his mouth carefully. He closed his eyes in euphoria as he inhaled, the mixture of weed and lavender along with dark jasmine was just too overwhelming.

Normally, Logan probably would have gutted the Cajun. But tonight, he chose to act better about the whole situation. No, he understood the situation with her inability to touch and their annoying sexual tension.

This was their way of being intimate and he had no choice other than to respect that.

Besides, he didn’t want to be this strict father figure, but rather her close friend whom she could rely on whenever she needed. Also, it wasn’t like they were shamelessly making out in front of them, it was just their way of experimenting things without actually hurting each other.

Yeah, Logan became suddenly all wise and grinned faintly at himself at the realization.

Remy already sensed the look on the older man, being slightly observant and quick as he was, he knew that The Canadian was trying his best to be understanding of their situation.

While that was the case, he didn’t want to push on his buttons by pressing his luck any further, so instead of doing some sexual numbers with the gorgeous woman next to him, he took a regular drag and handed it back to John again.

Aussi,” the Cajun said, breaking the silence with an almost singing tone. “It’s quite the opposites attracting, non? You are the fire, he’s the ice –as if it’s meant to be.”

John gave him a long, dramatic groan. “Isn’t that a little childish, Gambit?”

Non, mon ami,” he gave him a reckless tsk, batting his eyelashes at the blonde and Rogue couldn’t help but grin at that. “It’s a fairytale.”

“Oh, good,” the Australian sighed out loud. “You’re joking. I thought you were serious with the whole you-are-my-fate bullshit.”

Logan took the drag from the blonde when he was done and inhaled. It had a minor effect on him, seeing as he was incredibly resistant to intoxication. But still, it made his mind a little cloudy and he liked that.

“Fate ain’t real, bub,” he remarked while passing it on. “You create your own reality.”

“It does exist, sugar,” Rogue peeked an eye at the Canadian, suppressing an apparent grin but ending up failing. “Ain’t it what you have with Storm, anyway?”

Logan nearly choked on his breath, shooting daggers at the brunette with white streaks.

“Stripes,” he said firmly, it was a warning which she didn’t seem to care. Her mind was just as blurry and she liked the heaviness as her head still rested on a muscular shoulder.

Remy also tilted his head towards the man, eyeing him carefully with an amused expression from his comfortable position.

Well, if it ain’t fate,” he began, nodding his head and agreeing with her as he took a breath from the cigarette. “Then I don’t know what is.”

“You and Storm?” John glanced up at the larger man. “Oh, my eyes and my ears. What else? Jubilee and Magneto? Gross, mate, I didn’t know the institute was basically a love island.”

Non, not that extreme,” Remy exhaled slowly, sharing his observation as he passed on the joint, emphasizing on his words if he was speaking pure wisdom. “But I’ll give you a hint. Chaton et le Russe.”

What the fuck did that even-

Oh.

Shadowcat and Colossus.

“Yup,” Rogue nodded her head, wiggling herself in more as she breathed in the sweet bourbon and rich tobacco off of him. “But it’s old news, they are not hiding it as much, anymore.”

Anymore?

“Why don’t I notice these things?” John frowned, cigarette sulking from his lip. “I’m literally blind when it comes to… these stuff.”

“Gotta keep your head out of your ass, kid,” Logan suppressed a chuckle. “You have to observe what’s around you.”

“What’s going on here?”

Four of them nearly jumped at the sudden intrusion, even the Canadian was shaken up a little.

Rogue straightened her posture but seeing the looks in the other three made her laugh out loud –oh, was it a sight for the eyes.

Remy was keeping a blank face, not even exhaling and hoping it wouldn’t smell more. Logan looked at the long white haired mutant with an open mouth, unsure of what to say as a response because it was clear as the sky. And John was trying so hard to keep the joint behind his back that he dropped the cigarette and it rolled over to the weather goddess due to inclination of the roof.

It was in that moment that John knew they were fucked up.

Storm cocked her head and picked up the cigarette, giving it a short sniff before casting them all a disapproving look.

Before the Canadian man came up with an excuse and he was probably going to blame it on John, the African beauty lifted it up to her lips and smoked the drag.

The Australian literally gaped at what he just witnessed, along with other three as his head went from one figure to another at instant, like what the fuck was going on.

Storm let a laugh escape from her lips, eventually letting a short cough out, too. They all looked so bewildered by her, as if they were witnessing a murder with their eyes wide open, their mouths in the shape of an ‘o’ in union.

“Ro?” Logan dared to ask, eyes blinking in confusion.

“What?” Storm shrugged, placing herself next to John in a sitting position. “Surely, you didn’t think only you had all the fun in the world, did you? I had my fair share of fun in my time.”

Oui, she did,” Remy smirked, making the white haired woman shoot daggers in his way as a warning to keep his mouth shut. “What? Believe me when I say this, the fille used to know how to party.”

The white goddess blushed and rolled her eyes, making the Canadian man glare at her in awe. “Ro and parties,” the bulky man repeated, letting it sink in. “Must be a sight to see.”

John furrowed his brows and looked at the two, from his left to his right. “Storm used to be a party queen? Fucking hell, the things my poor ears witnessed tonight is just beyond my imagination.”

Storm sent him a dead look, making the younger man to grin sheepishly.

There was a peaceful silence that lasted about less than five minutes, before Rogue burst into laughing once again. The Cajun raised an eyebrow at her sudden amusement, as well as others but they all chose to let the awkwardness slip due to the side effects of the joint.

Humor.

“It’s just,” she began, wiping a tear out of her eye with a grin. “John literally shoved the drag up in his ass when Storm came in, did you all see that?”

They all echoed her chuckle, besides John who was rolling his eyes at the comment. “Well, kindly fuck off, I didn’t know what she would do. None of you did, by the way,” he snorted defensively, before glaring at the Wolverine. ”Even the big bad wolf trembled in fear, don’t put this on me.”

“Remy knew she would be cool with it,” the Cajun shrugged his shoulders casually. “Can’t tame a wild soul, hein?”

Storm gave him a faint grin before her blue eyes rested on the Canadian that was watching her in deep interest. Maybe it was the high, but he looked so peaceful, calmer in ways that’s she couldn’t explain and she had found easiness in that.

“Tell me, Logan,” she said, leaning back casually. “What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done?”

He brought a hand back to his head, fingers playing with his hair loosely.

He was an old soul, the things he saw, the things he did was beyond telling. He didn’t even remember his own birthday for god’s sake. Also, every fun thing came up with tomorrow’s hangover, so he basically didn’t remember much of his party days.

So instead of a fun story, he just shrugged and let it slip.

Storm rolled her eyes at his expected closed behavior, her chin up as she cleared her throat softly.

“Okay, I’ll begin,” she sighed, hands clasped together. “There was once a time when I was in London with a couple of friends, after a while, they wanted me to make it rain in a mutant friendly nightclub. So I did, everyone was wet from head to toe, and mind you, so drunk. I don’t know how they made me agree to it, but we made a runway parkour with me bolting random lightning!” she looked horrified, but a soft curve appeared on her lips. “It wasn’t harmful by any means, I’ve made sure of that but people were trying to reach to the final end without getting hit –we made it without any injuries, thank god, but it was still amazing.”

John gaped at her once more.

Not only the story was horrible, yet kind of fun, but also it was coming from Ms. Munroe, the strict professor at the Xavier’s who was known to be a true disciplined leader. He was definitely having an awakening tonight.

Although he didn’t find getting roasted by a lightning hilarious, he still had to give it to her for having her share of fun.

Logan mimicked the Australian in a softer way, his brows furrowed as he tried to think of words to say and realizing there were more to her than just being this loyal, passionate, caring and brave colleague, also the fact that she knew how to have fun and he licked his lips at the thought.

“You know, darling,” he began, a grin on his lips. “You and me, we need to go out sometime.”

Smooth.

Rogue sucked in her breath and glanced up at the Cajun with a shocked face after hearing her friend’s blunt offer, he gave her the same taken aback look in return.

John gazed between the white haired woman and the smug Canadian, before casting a glance at the other duo –who looked back at him with questioning looks.

Okay, this was how it was done?

Logan was asking her out, but it had been so fucking smooth that it may have been a compliment on her fun-but-horrible experience.

The weather goddess blushed and tore her gaze away, looking at the landscape and a thoughtful expression washed her face.

The other three was confused as hell when neither of them said anything, especially John whose joint was put off and nearly finished. He groaned out loud and sulked in, not that sharing had been bad, it became rather fun and he found himself getting confused about that especially.

Not in a million years would he think that he would be spending his precious gift and his sacred spare time with these people.

And the worst part was that he did quite enjoy their company, yikes.

Remy cleared his throat softly, putting his head on top of the southern belle softly as she was leaning against his shoulder. “Stormy loves sushi,” he said out of the blue, casting a brief glance at the bulkier man. “And this new sushi place just opened in town.”

Storm nearly rolled her eyes at her friend’s obvious indication, but remained polite as she bit her lip and looked at them. “Yeah, I do actually.”

Logan wasn’t too happy with the sushi idea, seeing as he was a simpler man with the likes of an old bar and some beers, but it was just a dinner and it had been a long while since he had been in Tokyo, so he figured why not.

“Good,” he said, giving her a grin. “Sushi place it is.”

The Australian kept observing the scene, noticing Remy’s apparent hint and Storm’s acknowledging it. So, apparently, asking someone out had to be easy. Find the person’s likes, talk about it and ask them on a date –only it felt strangely difficult for him to do that, though.

Maybe, he could hang around with the Cajun for more tactics.

Having realized the questioning looks on the blonde, Remy studied his face for a moment before speaking, nodding his head at his apparent question.

“He likes ice skating,” he said, putting an arm around the white streaked brunette in a careful way not to flinch her away and avoiding direct skin contact.

The other three shot him a puzzled look since they had no idea what he was saying, but John nodded his head in response and sighed out loud.

He hated ice, he hated anything cold but it would be a start to found a good base if he wanted to form a relationship with Bobby fucking Drake. He nearly laughed out loud at the fact that he was thinking of making moves on him. Just until today, he was fighting against everything to justify his feelings for the guy and simply call it hate.

Jesus Christ, the things he had to endure in the name of love –scratch the last word, it was just being fond of someone, that’s it, or maybe just liking a little.

Rogue looked at him for a long time and thought about the comment that was made. Ice skating was Bobby’s thing and obviously Remy was hinting him to do something about that.

But since the Australian was an easily frustrated person, especially when it came to emotions, she figured maybe she could do some help and end his misery right there.

“Remy, sugar,” she smiled at the man next to her. “There’s this place that I’d been dying to go, Jubes told me the ice court was amazing and the food was cherry on top. What do you say?”

The Cajun smirked and gave her a flirtatious look. “You know what my answer is, even if that place is hell itself, chére,” he whispered huskily as color went up to her cheeks. He really had to fight against the urge to kiss her right there. “What did you have in mind?”

“Ice skating.”

Oh.

Remy shook his head amusingly and pulled her closer to his chest, appreciating her sudden thoughtfulness about her friends. “You never seize to amaze me, petite,” he muttered before casting a glance at the Australian. “The more the merrier, hein? Ask Bobby if he wants to come, it would be less pressure if there’s crowd.”

John looked confused and sighed. “I don’t know, mate.”

“Come on, kid,” Logan gave him a brief pat on the shoulder. “Grow some balls.”

Storm glared at the Canadian disapprovingly, Pyro was just a boy who was nervous about asking a guy out and they were kind of pressuring him into doing things. Apparently, he needed some more time to figure out things by himself before getting thrown into something bigger.

But also, she didn’t want to be the buzzkill everyone expected her to be, so she just sighed and changed her ways.

“Logan,” she said. “Sushi can wait, why not join them?”

Rogue flashed a grin at bulky man with an angry expression on his face as usual. “Yeah, Logan, why not.”

“Skating ain’t my thing, stripes.”

“So what, it ain’t mine, either,” she shrugged. “I hate anything that’s cold, sugar, it ain’t snowy where I came from. But I imagine it would be fun if you guys are down.”

“Besides, Remy really wants to see him claw his way out on the ice floor,” the Cajun gave the older man a smirk, earning a short growl in return. “Keep frowning like that and I might just record all that to torment you from now on.”

John shook his head with a sigh and looked at them, annoyed with the confession being made by the crowd. “So, you’re basically setting up a date just so I can bring somebody? Am I that desperate? Great, just great.”

“Don’t be damn sensitive,” Logan grunted, rolling his eyes. “They’re helping you, because you can’t move your ass out of your comfort zone.”

“Then I take it you’re coming, Logan,” the weather goddess smirked, her blue eyes piercing through his before he gave her a firm nod. “Good, I’ll take my leave now. Let me know when the date is,” she added, getting herself up.

The others slowly mimicked her, dusting off the dirt off of their clothes as they all got up.

“Oh and,” she began strictly, turning around with an unreadable expression. “This night never happened.”

“Mhm,” Rogue agreed, shivering against the cold breeze. “Nothing happened.”

 “I wasn’t even here,” Logan nodded, his voice firm and thick as if it was a warning, his eyes travelling between the Cajun and the Australian. “I’ll gut you if I hear a single word.”

 “Cross my heart,” Remy mocked, letting the southern woman climb off the roof first.

“I’d rather die than remember this,” John rolled his eyes, waiting for his turn to hop off.

“Good,” Storm nodded her head. “Good night to all of you.”

A few minutes later, they were all down to the empty library which was the easiest way to climb onto the roof. The warmth embraced them quickly as they were on their feet, hoping to bury the memory of tonight’s interesting meeting.

John studied their faces for a moment before he gave them a smirk on his way out.

“So, see you next Saturday at the roof?” he suggested casually, leaning against the door sill.

The others remained blank, looking at each other carefully in an unnerving silence. Their gaze over one another remained still, avoiding direct eye contact before they departed into their own rooms.

John grinned at himself as he made his way back to his room, sure they would come back next week. He could surprise them with new goods from Amsterdam, yeah? He’d been dying to try these brownies after all, but he had to order a dozen and there was no way he could finish a tray… until now.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad to make friends after all.