I Dare You

 

By: Esprit

 

 

Title: I Dare You

Author: Esprit

Pairing: Gambit / Hank and Bobby / Jean-Paul

Rating: PG 13 to X

Disclaimer: Characters and background history on them belong to Marvel comics and no money was made in the production of this story.

Author Note: This story takes place after Hank’s transformation into a great big feline, around the time of the Kick crisis.  I know Remy wasn’t really around then, but for the purposes of this story, he will be.

 

Chapter One

I Dare You

 

            Remy was pretty sure that Hank was bluffing about this declaration of his to the world.  He had known the man for too long to believe it.  Still, people did change and it was his prerogative, especially with all the other changes he had been undergoing recently.  Still, he really wasn’t comfortable with Hank forcing himself into this.

            Waltzing into his lab like he owned the place, which he most definitely did not, he was actually very silent in approaching Hank.  As a thief he was pretty much always silent, but sneaking up on one with super human hearing was only possible until you were close enough for them to hear your heartbeat.  Hank was concentrating on his report when Remy leaned over him and brushed his tongue against a feline ear.

            Hank jumped about two feet and Remy was smiling brightly, but not laughing as Hank looked at him.  “Gambit, what on earth are you doing?  You startled me.  I must have been absorbed in my work,” he said in order to brush off his racing pulse.

            “I jus’ came t’ visit ya.  You always locked up in here, I figured you might like some company.”

            “Unless you’re going to submit to a physical examination, I would prefer to be left alone.”

            “Sure,” he said casually.  Hank paused in his breath unable to believe he heard the man correctly.

            “Did you just say you’d submit to a physical examination, Gambit?”

            “It’s Remy.  C’mon, we known each oder for long enough to be on a first name basis, non?”

            “Yes, but… why?”

            Figured you’d wanna see me nekkid now dat you’re gay, Remy thought to himself.  “Well, since you asked so nicely,” he cooed smoothly.

            “I don’t understand….”

            Remy moved closer to Hank and actually brushed against him.  “You’re not dat dense,” he commented as he let his tongue come out to play more, licking at the edge of his ear again.  It flicked involuntarily and Remy had to hold in his laughter.  He was a big cat!

            Hank smelled the pheromones coming off of Remy and wondered what they were in response to.  He couldn’t possibly be attracted to Hank.  No one was.  He was too monstrous.  He tried to shrug off the tingling feeling that shot through his body at the intimate contact, especially from his tongue.  “I’m afraid I am.”

            “I wanna get naked for you,” he whispered, letting hot breath brush across Hank’s sensitive ear.  “Don’t you want to see?”

            “Remy, that’s not—“  Hank didn’t know what was going on.  The last person he feared this kind of behavior from was Gambit.  He was far too much of a ladies’ man to react this way to Hank’s mock confession.  “Remy, I don’t want to see you naked.  I just want to make sure you’re in good health.”

            “Remy always in good health,” he said pressing what Hank then recognized as a hard penis against his thigh.

            “Remy!”  This was insane!  Remy had never acted like this toward anyone, least of all Hank.  Listening to what he was saying was becoming more difficult as his own blood rushed in his ears.  His heart pounding was drowning out everything else.  “You can’t be serious,” he trembled as Remy attached his mouth to Hank’s ear and nibbled at it.

            “You don’ want me?”

            “No, Remy, I don’t.”

            Remy’s hand snaked down to between Hank’s legs and felt his hard cock straining against his uniform shorts.  “Yes, you do,” he commented in a Smart-Alec sort of way.

            “No, really, Remy, this is just—“ he tried to get out of it.  The truth was that he was curious.  Why had Gambit done this?  Why had the feeling of someone, anyone, licking his ear brought giddy sensation to his body?  Why was he hard at the way Remy was acting toward him?  He really felt… desired.  He had felt quite the opposite recently—rejected, hated, avoided.  Here was a man who was expressing attraction to him and what was he doing with it?  Tossing it in his face.  Rejecting him.  He didn’t want to be that to someone.  “Remy, if you really want, I’ll do whatever you’d like.”

            “C’est vrais?” he asked coyly, smiling.  He moved to face Hank, still pressing against him.

            “Yes.”

            “Will you fuck me, Hank?”

            “What?”  Hank could feel himself shaking.  Any more of this and his claws were going to start chattering on the tile floor.  He stared at the young man in shock.  Remy leaned toward Hank and licked his lips.  It was very different than your conventional kiss.  Hadn’t Hank complained about not being able to kiss someone, Remy recalled.  “Remy, what are you doing?”

            “I wanna feel you inside me, Hank,” he purred and licked at Hank’s lips again.  His tongue snuck inside under a lip and felt the long, sharp canine teeth and Remy shivered against Hank.  So much power, he thought.

            “Are you sure, Remy?  I could hurt you.”

            “You won’ hurt me, Hank.  Y’d never hurt me.”

            “I cannot guarantee that when you are … affecting me this way.”

            “Y’ don’ have to.  I trust you, Hank.”  That statement took Hank’s breath away.  He hugged the Cajun to him fiercely and breathed out a heavy sigh of relief.  At least someone in this world still trusted him. 

            “Thank you, Remy.”  Remy took the opportunity to hug him back and then to grind against him.

            “Desole, Hank, mais, Remy est si chaud,” <Sorry, Hank, but Remy is so hot,> he whispered in time with the undulation of his hips.  Hank could understand as he was in similar straits.  The emotional moment was short lived, but he was glad he had gotten to experience it with the Cajun all the same.

            “Yes, I imagine so,” he said and let his tongue flick out slightly to brush across Gambit’s lips.  His tongue was rough, but the very tip was soft and that sliding against Remy’s lips made him tingle and both their cocks grow stiffer.

            Gambit leaned back to expose his neck, because he was feeling so good and Hank let his tongue slide across Remy’s smooth flesh there.  It felt wonderful, and wasn’t even slobbery, which both had been afraid of; his tongue was quite dry and rough.  It added to the textures he was feeling as he ran his fingers through Hank’s soft fur.  His hands massaged up around his face and Hank started growling at Remy when his hands started scratching at just behind his jaw.  The feeling there was great!  He turned into the pressure like the big feline that he was and clutched at Remy.

            Remy wanted to make things go further and so replaced his scratching of the head with licking at his lips.  Hank’s mouth was slightly open and allowed Remy to slip his tongue in and go over all his teeth.  Hank couldn’t describe how much he liked that.  It was like Remy was enjoying the fact that Hank was somewhat feral now.

            Hank’s paws were deftly trying to remove Remy’s clothes, but he was having trouble with the buttons.  Remy’s hands rushed to assist him and he got rid of his shirt and worked on his jeans.  They slid easily off his hips and Hank had to wonder if Remy was truly healthy.  He had been through so much the past few years physically… and his body didn’t even seem to show it, he noted as he looked at the perfect skin the man presented to him.

            Leaning down to his chest, Hank licked at one of Remy’s already hard nipples and Remy shouted and bucked toward Hank.  Remy jerked on Hank’s big white lab coat and had it sailing to the cool floor in an instant.  As Hank licked at his little nubs in turn, his teeth would scrape along his skin and Remy would shudder at the contrasting texture.

            Remy produced breathy moans of passion and held onto Hank tightly.  “Hank, y’ such a tease!”

            “I believe it is you who are the tease, Remy.”

            “Don’ torture me, Hank.  Please, come inside me,” he pleaded.

            Hank didn’t know how he was going to do that without hurting his friend, until he remembered that he kept KY Jelly around for ultrasounds.  “If you’ll permit me a moment,” but Gambit was unwilling to permit him that moment and followed him step for step across the lab, never ceasing his touch.  The KY Jelly was located near the exam bed and would be a slightly more comfortable surface, but Remy didn’t seem to care about any of that.  He was amazed at how focused he was on Hank’s body, brushing it, stroking him through the shorts he still had on.

            Stumbling when Remy reached inside his shorts and rubbed his hard cock, Hank caught himself on the exam bed and roughly positioned Remy over it.  Not wanting to hurt Remy he leaned over him and whispered in his ear, “I don’t want to hurt you, Remy, so I’m going to have to ask you to prepare yourself.  Can you do that?”

            “Avec plâisir, Bête.”  <With pleasure, Beast>  Remy took the tube from Hank’s grasp, his sight lingering on his sharp claws, and coated his fingers with the gel.  Hank removed the last of Remy’s clothing for him and started on his shorts when he heard Remy moan as he entered himself.  Hank’s eyes were riveted to where Remy’s fingers were disappearing inside himself.  He bucked into the table a little as he fingered himself, then got more gel on and pumped deeper, loosening up his muscles to accept Hank into his body.

            “Remy, you’re gorgeous,” he found himself whispering as he watched Remy.  Remy smiled and took more gel in his hand.  He held it back out for Hank and brushed his shorts lightly with the clean side of his hand.  Shucking his shorts the rest of the way, Hank moved closer to Remy and Remy grasped Hank’s massive erection in his gel coated hand and tugged.  Grunting in his ear, Hank murmured, “I can’t take much more of this, Remy.  Please—can I?”

            “Fuck me, Hank!”

            With a growl that fit his more beastly side, he lunged into Remy’s waiting body and stopped as he heard Remy cry out.  It took him a moment to collect himself from the tight embrace of Remy’s ass and ask, “Remy… are you all right?”

            “Oh, Hank… y’ have no idea.”  He shuddered and moaned, a little high pitched for what Hank usually heard out of Remy and then started moving his hips to get Hank to move inside him.  Hank was so huge it wasn’t even funny… but it did feel good.

            Gasping, Hank breathed finally, “Then I’m not hurting you?”

            “Ah!  No—Hank, you feel so good.  More, please!”

            Hank responded to his request by moving faster into him and Remy whimpered at the pace.  He made sure to pull almost entirely out of him and thrust back in occasionally so Remy could feel the head of his penis.  Remy cried out each time he did and moaned as Hank slid in and out of him.

            Reaching around to grasp Remy’s member as he pounded into him, he stroked Remy with his furry hand.  Hank was so soft!  The sensation of rubbing against his fur made him tingle with delight and the other feelings hitting him full force ensured that he would not last long.  The sounds he made grew louder as he ascended toward climax and when he got to the edge and flew over it he distinctly felt like he was flying.  Crying out as he jerked convulsively, he felt Hank’s rod of flesh spasming uncontrollably inside him and not seconds later heard Hank’s loud growl of completion.

            Hank thought he heard a sound, but it was masked by the heavy breathing of both he and Remy as they rested curled against one another half over the exam table.  For him, I think I just might be gay, was the thought Hank had in the afterglow of passion when thinking about what had just transpired.

            “Remy?” he asked the man under him.

            “Hmm?” he moaned out weakly.

            “Are you all right?” he asked leaning away from the table so Remy could breathe or move if he wanted.

            Remy smiled against the exam table, noting that Hank was going to have a mess to clean up.  “When are y’ gon’ quit askin’ me dat?”

            “Never, I’m afraid.”

            “I fear your concern more dan you do,” he quipped.

            “I’ve always wondered at that.  Won’t you tell me why?”

            Taking in a deep breath, Remy leaned up from the table and stretched like a cat with his arms above his head.  Hank watched his naked body and noted that he was beautiful, but also that his ribs were far too visible still.  “Not just yet… but soon, ami.  I will tell you soon.”

            Taking that as the best answer he could hope for under the circumstances, he nodded and searched for his clothing.  Before he could turn away, Remy moved in front of him and massaged the spot under his jaw.  “Gimme dat tongue,” he whispered.

            Perplexed, Hank let out his tongue and Remy licked the tip of it, pleased that he had figured out a way for Hank to kiss.  Hank smiled at him all that his lips could, but it was expressed more in his eyes than in his mouth.

 

 

 

Scott walked down the corridor on his way to the Med Lab to get a report from Hank on this new drug, Kick.  He was nearly at the door when he heard Gambit’s familiar voice shout out, “Ah!  No—Hank,” and Scott leapt toward the door of his office to see what was going on.  Hank couldn’t be hurting Gambit, could he?  Then he heard the rest of his exclamation, “you feel so good.  More, please!” and Scott peeked around the corner of the door only to see Hank pistoning in and out of Gambit’s ass against the exam table.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he whispered to himself and drew back into the hallway so they wouldn’t notice him.  Well… Hank did say he was gay, but Scott hadn’t believed it and he certainly didn’t believe that Gambit was gay.  The cries and grunts he was listening to proved otherwise and he felt very much like a voyeur… and he liked it.  Staying for a little longer, he desperately wished he could have another peek, but was afraid he would get caught looking at them. 

He listened until they had obviously climaxed, both being very loud about it and was pretty sure he would need to go and take care of his hard-on before coming to Hank for his report.  He brushed his aroused cock before creeping down the hall the way he’d come.

 

 

 

Chapter Two

Silver Linings

 

 

Scott sat in his room thinking about the scene he’d just stumbled upon.  He was having trouble deciding whether or not it was a sexy scene in and of itself; it was certainly racy and that set Scott’s heart pounding.  It was doubly so because he was watching them without their knowledge—something he certainly shouldn’t do as Team Leader.  People’s privacy and all that.

With that moment playing in his mind, with Gambit’s cries echoing down the hall, he couldn’t decide if he cared or not.  If it had been a year ago even, he would have said that he cared, but he also would have turned tail and run the moment he saw the two of them like that.  Now… he’d changed.  He knew why he’d changed, but that didn’t make the alterations any less real.

He concentrated on the small eyeful he had gotten at the start of this and imagined what it would have looked like for Gambit and Hank to climax and ended up doing so himself.  It was a pretty powerful orgasm too.  Smirking, he went to see if he couldn’t go about his business now.  He cleaned up the mess he’d made and went down to see Hank.

 

Hank was in his lab—alone this time and looked up when he saw Scott walk in.  He seemed… happy as he smiled at Scott when he walked in.  “Hello, Scott.  I assume you would like my report on the substance ‘Kick?’”

“Well, I didn’t come here to make out with you,” he said trying to hide the smile that wanted to break out over his face.

Hank looked surprised and perplexed at Scott as he tried to hide his reaction.  Luckily his fur hid the blush that was forming on his skin.  “I wouldn’t have thought in a million years, Scott.”

“So, where is it?” he asked seeing that that was probably all the reaction he was going to get out of Hank, although he did enjoy seeing him squirm a little.

 

“It’s here on the computer.  Would you like to read it here or should I save it to a thumb drive for you?”

“A thumb drive will be good.  I’ll review it in my office.”  Hank nodded and transferred the information onto the small drive and then handed it to Scott.  Scott didn’t think he could keep his mind on the investigation if he was down here in the lab where he had just seen Hank fucking Gambit.  “Hank, have you seen Gambit around by chance?  I heard he was here in the mansion.  I had thought he and Rogue were still in California.”

“Why would the young Cajun come down to my lab?  He despises it here.”

Yeah, Hank, he really despises it.  “Okay, well if you see him, tell him I have an assignment for him.”

“Assignment?  Last I checked, which was several weeks ago, mind you, Gambit was powerless.  What assignment could you have for him?”

“It’s top secret, Hank.  It takes advantage of his other abilities.”

“I see,” Hank said, figuring that he meant his thieving abilities.  “I’ll tell him to see you if I see him.”

“Thanks, Hank.”

Once Scott left the room, Hank sat quietly at his desk wondering why he had just told his leader a lie.  I just don’t think I’m ready to tell everyone… for real.  It was different when he was telling Trish—it didn’t mean anything.  He knew he wasn’t gay and no one would look at him differently because they all knew he wasn’t, no matter what he said, but now… was he really gay because he had sex with Gambit?  That is the definition, my learned friend, he told himself.  Sighing, he decided that he’d better talk to Remy about this whole thing before he went and told people he was sleeping with the resident Cajun.

Going off to find him, he’d kill two birds with one stone; or rather have an excuse to talk to Remy to everyone else as he’d tell him about the mission Scott had planned for him.  Remy wasn’t in the main living areas and Hank wondered if he was in his room or if he’d wandered off farther than that.  No one was living in the boathouse anymore.  Maybe he’d gone back there.

Hank followed his nose after a minute and found that Gambit had gone out to the boat house and when he got there found the shower running.   Probably a good idea for him to shower, considering Logan had just as sensitive a nose as he did.  “Remy?  May I come in?” he asked at the doorway.

“Hm?  Hank?” he asked as he poked his wet head around the shower curtain.  “What’s up?”

“Scott wanted to see you when you’re done there, and I wanted to talk to you about… us.”

“Already?”

“I just wasn’t sure whether or not I should tell anyone about… what happened, or if you wanted to keep a lid on it.  You seem the type to want to.”

“I’m a pretty private man when it come down to it, Hank.”

“I realize that, Remy.  I understand, but if someone should ask… what should I tell them?”

“My response’d prob’ly be somethin’ like, ‘none o’ yer freakin’ business.’”

“I would like to respond thus, but….”

“Hank, y’already told de world dat you’re gay.  How come you’re getting’ uptight now dat people will actually see you dat way?”

“That was an inadvertent announcement, you know.”

“Inadvertant?”

“I lied to Trish Tilby to get her to leave me alone.  I didn’t want the heart break all over again.  If she can’t accept me for who I am, then I won’t bother seeing her.”

“Good move.  Wish I had de guts to tell Rogue to leave me along when it counted,” he sighed.  Or wished dat it worked when I did.

“What?”

“Y’ heard me.”

“You’ve broken up with Rogue?”

“Hank, I wouldn’a slept wit’ ya if I hadn’.  Rogue’d’ave killed me.”  Too late.  I wish she’d’a just let me die when I asked her to….  Remy became quiet and bowed his head into the hot stream of the shower.  Hank could see his shape through the clear plastic. 

“I sense that it was painful.”

“Ain’ it always?”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”  He paused.  “Forgive me, if I’m disturbing you.  I’ll leave.”

“S’all right, Hank.  I know y’ didn’ get de answer y’ wanted t’ y’ question.  Gimme a minute an’ I’ll be right out.”  Nodding, Hank went out into the main bedroom that the bathroom was attached to.  He would have to ask him why he came all the way out here again.  Did he want to be so isolated from everyone?  Generally, Remy wasn’t reclusive—not when people were happy to see him and being accepting of him.  He was a type of social butterfly the world hadn’t really seen yet; sporadically social and antisocial. 

 Hank waited in the room for Remy and he was out in only a minute, like he promised.  He came out wearing nothing but a towel and Hank looked over his body again.  Turning away when Gambit found him looking Hank averted his eyes and Remy smiled then dropped the towel.  Hank’s eyebrows shot up at what he knew had happened.  He looked over at Remy in question.  “Didn’ lose interest, did ya?”

“No, Remy.  I did not.”

“Good,” he said shortly and leaned to Hank to lick his lips.

“You wanted to talk to me?”

“Wanted to tell you dat I don’ care anymore.  I don’ care what people tink or say.  You can tell dem whatever you want.  Dey won’ hear shit from me dough.”

“I see.  Thank you, Remy.”

Remy reached to rub under Hank’s chin and he purred at that.  “Hmm… de big cats do purr,” he commented.  Hank smiled.

“It’s a unique experience.  Quite peaceful.”  Remy nodded and moved to get dressed.  “Did you want to… talk about Rogue?”

“Why?” he asked miffed.

“Well, I had thought that you might want to… get it off your chest, but I really wanted to learn from her mistakes.”

“De mistakes she made are… different dan you could ever make.  I don’ expect to run into de same problem, but if I do…” he turned to Hank and looked him in the eye.  “I know y’ took an oath.  I understand dat.  I tink your reasonin’ would be different dan hers.”

“Oath?  What are you talking about, Remy?”

“Your Hippocratic Oath.”

His words hit Hank harder in the chest than he expected them to, even after he’d had time to examine what he said.  “I don’t understand….”

“Of course you wouldn’.  You’ve never known what it’s like to really want to die.”

“Remy… you’ve used this excuse before—“

“It was different!  I was on de ice an’ she left me de first time, just feelin’ sorry for m’sef.  Dis time, I was at Heaven’s Gate.  I remember it.  I could feel de warmth and de peace… dat was m’ only chance to die an go to Heaven, do you understand dat, Hank?”  Remy’s body shook with anger.  “She’s doomed me to hell!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.  “I can never go back,” and his voice cracked with longing. 

Decidedly, Hank rose and locked Remy’s still bare body in a tight hug.  “Remy, please believe me when I say that I don’t know what happens on the next plane of existence, but I have the utmost confidence that you will go to a serene and peaceful place when it comes time for you to leave.”  He could feel Remy trembling in his arms.  “But please understand that if ever you are in danger of losing your life, I will have an obligation to do everything in my power to save it.”

“I know, Hank, but you would wan’ me to live for me… not for you.”

“Did Rogue want you to live for her?”

“She wanted to drag me through de coals so she could be happy an’ satisfied!”  Hank nodded and held steadily onto Remy.

“I don’t know if I will do any better once I’m attached to you, Remy.  We all miss the ones we love dearly and it is so painful to be without them that we’ll do anything to keep that hurting at bay.  Will you at least try to understand that?”

“I understand.”

“I don’t think you do, because if you did, you wouldn’t be here with me, you’d be in California with Rogue.”

“I don’ want Rogue any more, Hank.  I may understand why she did it, but it still hurts.  It hurts dat she don’ respect me enough to let me make my own decisions.”

“Deciding to die… it’s not something she could have lived with.”

“I offered to let her come with me.  We could’a been in paradise, right now, but instead….  I think she wanted kids.”

“Don’t you?”  Remy stared at his old closet.

“Yes… but I wouldn’ keep somebody as a slave to have ‘em.”

“You feel she’s enslaved you?”  Hank’s head rested on Remy’s shoulder as he listened.

“She forced me into a place I didn’ wanna be an’ is expectin’ me to be grateful an’ marry her.  What do you tink?”

“I think that for whatever reason, I’m glad that you lived.  I would have been very upset had you left us that day, Remy.”

“Doctors always get upset about losin’ a patient.”

“But I would have lost a friend.”  Remy bowed his head and kissed an arm that was wrapped around his chest.

“Tanks, Hank.  I’m glad y’ think o’ me as a friend.”

“Now I think of you as quite a bit more.”

Remy nodded.  “You said Scott wanted to see me?”

Hank nodded his big head on Remy’s shoulder.  “He said he had an assignment for you.”

“Hmm.  Sounds interestin’.  Wonder what it could be.”

“Whatever it is, be careful.  I realize that you are an accomplished thief, but I will worry about you quite a bit now.  I hope that is all right.”

“Long as I’m not dyin’ heroically, it’s okay.  If I’m dyin’ to save somebody else’s life—just let me go.”

“You still want to die?”

“I don’ really want to die, Hank.  I want to be able to go to heaven.  I don’ wanna be trapped in hell.  I had enough of dat in my dreams.”

Hank suddenly saw what Remy was so afraid of; to live his nightmares out for eternity.  He would have done everything he could to have that not happen, too.  “If I can, Remy… I will try to let you have your peace.  Until then, please don’t be too reckless.”

Remy nodded.

 

 

               Jean-Paul was talking to Annie about Bobby again and Annie was trying to get him to tell the poor man how he felt, but Jean-Paul would have none of it.  "Do you know how he reacted when he found out I was gay?"

               "I was there, Jean-Paul.  In fact, I'm the one who told him," Annie said a little guiltily.

               "You did?  How could you?  We were friends, and you tore us apart!"

               "Jean-Paul, it would have happened anyway once he found out."

               "At least I could have broken it to him gently instead of you saying flat out, 'he's gay' while I'm not there and don't get a chance to say anything."

               "Why do you even care?  He's not interested in you, Jean-Paul."  Jean-Paul became quiet at that and remembered a few whispered words from a Bobby who was

nearly passing out in his arms.  'Hey, handsome, nice suit.  Come here often?'

               "I know."  He paused trying to collect his emotions. "And I know he never will be.  I know.  It's just so hard for me to accept."   I can’t help but still want him and I don’t know why this feeling persists.  Jean-Paul was nearly ready to cry when Alex walked in. 

               “Oh, I’m sorry, Annie.  I didn’t know you were busy.  Hey, Jean-Paul.  How’s it going?”

               “Miserably, since you asked so nicely,” he grumbled.

               “Uhh….” he said and decided to let it go.  Obviously somebody was having a bad day.  “Okay, I’ll just see you later then, Annie.  It can wait for a minute.”  He stepped out of the office and walked down the halls to find something else to do before trying to talk to her again.

               Inside Annie’s office, she turned back to Jean-Paul.  “You’re just going to be a grouch until you ask him out!”

               “No, I’m going to be a grouch even after I ask him out because he’s going to refuse me as if I were a piece of trash that had crawled out of the garbage can to eat him!”

               “Nice pun there, Frenchie.”

               “Pun?” he asked and thought about it and thought about it.  “Oh, that’s ridiculous!  If you’re not going to listen to me I have better things to do.”

               “I have been listening to you, Jean-Paul—for the past hour.  I’ll talk to Bobby for you.”

               “You’ll do no such thing,” he demanded.  “I won’t have you asking Bobby out for me like some childish high school drama!”

               “We are in a high school,” she pointed out.

               Jean-Paul cringed and that reminded him that he was late for a class of his.  “Damnit, I’m late.  Don’t you say a word to Drake!” he said as he left her office.

               “Oh, I won’t ask him out,” she said to his departing back.  The doors closed and she said to herself, “but I didn’t say anything about imparting a little information to him,” she smiled.

 

               Bobby entered the Medical Lab with a bit of a tentative posture.  The last person he wanted to run into was Jean-Paul as he often hung around the Medical Lab because of Annie.  “Annie?” he called.  She appeared from behind a piece of equipment and smiled at him.  “There you are.  What did you want to see me about?”

               “I wanted to do a few tests on you so I can try and learn more about this mutation of yours to see if you can’t turn back into your human form.”

               “Really?  You think it’ll work?”

               “No,” she said and that brought all his hopes crashing down on him in an instant.  “But it never hurts to understand what’s going on with your patients.  Sit up on the bed and let me see if I remember how to work this corny machine of Dr. McCoy’s.”

               She turned the machine on and made Bobby fidget for a minute.  “So, how have you been?”

               “Miserable,” he grumbled.  Annie giggled.  “What’s so funny?” he asked.  Was she some sort of sadist enjoying people’s torment?

               “It’s just somebody else said that exact same thing to me earlier today.”

               “Yeah?”

               “Yeah.  Anyway, you were saying?”

               “No, I wasn’t.”

               “Sure, you were about to tell me how miserable you are and why.  That might actually be part of your problem, Bobby.”

               “What?”

               “You might actually be experiencing this because you’ve lost control over your abilities and need to relax in order to regain control,” she said matter-of-factly while she fiddled with the Shi’ar machine.

               “You’re serious?”

               “Of course I am.  I’m always serious when it comes to my patients’ health.”

               “How do you know so much about mutants anyway?  You haven’t been here for that long.”

               “Mutants are human too, Bobby.  Or did you forget?  You start classifying yourselves as a different race, but you are all still subject to the same kinds of problems, physically and emotionally.”

               “Well, since you’re so smart, why don’t you prescribe me something?”

               “I prescribe a relationship for you, Bobby.  Oh, but who could you possibly touch now, right?  You’re made of ice, so who could stand it?”

               “You’re talking like you’ve got all the answers, Annie.  You certainly couldn’t sleep with me anymore.”

               “Not that I would even if you weren’t made entirely of ice, Bobby.”  She smiled at him gently from her console.  “But there is someone who can touch you who doesn’t have a problem with cold.  It doesn’t affect them.”

               “Them?  I note how you fancily skirt around the use of a pronoun.”

               “Very observant.  Nice to know the ice didn’t dull your brain.  Jean-Paul doesn’t feel the cold, Bobby.”

               Bobby’s fists clenched on the bench and she could have sworn she heard cracking ice.  She watched as Bobby became so angry that he stormed out of the room without saying another word.  He couldn’t believe she even suggested something like that!  She was trying to set him up with that—!  He stormed all over the mansion thinking about how much something like that could never happen.  How could he even—?

               Jean-Paul was running down the hall toward a classroom when he spotted Bobby, mad as hell and stopped dead in his tracks.  He looked so sadly at Bobby, bowed his head and entered the classroom.  Bobby watched his eyes as they sparkled with what looked like unshed tears then turned away from him.  He turned the opposite direction he’d been heading and ran back into the basement and into the Danger Room.

 

               Bobby had been in the Danger Room for three hours and what he was doing was… against regulation uses for it.  At least, Scott would probably put it that way.  He had been programming for an hour and was fiddling with the program and tweaking it until it was right, then had been playing the program over for the last hour.  It still didn’t feel right.  Her words were… unimaginative.  Her body was perfect, but it was as if she was just… sitting there, waiting for him to… use her.  The thought sickened him and he turned off the program with a hasty word.

               Then he started to think about what Annie said and asked the computer to project an image of Jean-Paul Baubier in his scenario.  Jean-Paul appeared and was smiling as the image became solid.  He looked at the man’s image for a long while.  He leaned in slowly and experimentally touched is lips to Jean-Paul’s image.  The solid light simulated the texture of his flesh perfectly and Bobby could still feel it against his lips of ice.  The figure actually started to kiss him back and Bobby shook himself out of this and Jean-Paul went back to smiling warmly at him.  Bobby put a hand over his mouth and crouched down in shock, beginning to cry.  How could he have kissed even the image of a guy?  How could he be thinking of resorting to that kind of degradation and revolting act?  He wasn’t gay!!!

               Bobby cried ice droplets as he knelt on the floor trying to come to grips with his life… and his options.

 

 

 

               “Jean-Paaaauuuul!” Annie sung to get his attention.  Jean-Paul sighed and walked over to her.

               “I only have fifteen minutes, Annie, what do you want?”

               “I want to show you something.  It’s really quick, actually.”  Sighing, Jean-Paul followed her into the Medical Lab where she displayed a scene on the monitor.  It was of Bobby in the Danger Room.  He looked kind of frustrated.  He was talking to a girl and stroking her cheek, leaning in to kiss her.

               “You were spying on Bobby?!  If all you’ve brought me in to show me was a damned peep show of Bobby getting it on with some woman—“

               “That’s not a woman.  And it gets better, trust me.”  Jean-Paul was intrigued and stayed to watch further.  The image held Bobby getting even more frustrated as the woman acted like a doll when being kissed.  Bobby got mad and shouted out audibly for the program to stop and the woman disappeared.  “Now wait,” Annie encouraged.  A moment later, Bobby said something, but it couldn’t be heard.  Then an image of Jean-Paul appeared and the real Jean-Paul looked perplexed.  Maybe he was going to beat him up.  That would be a nice thing to show him, wouldn’t it?

               Bobby looked at the facsimile’s smiling face and then gingerly, leaned in to kiss it’s lips, and the lips of the figure kissed back and the arms drew up to hold him.  Then he broke away from the light image and put his hand over his mouth and crumpled to the floor shaking.

               “Mon dieu…” Jean-Paul whispered as his heart went racing faster than he felt he’d ever run.  He felt flushed and giddy, but at the same time, sick.  Bobby had kissed him… why?  The answer confused him so much since he saw him only yesterday mad enough to tear through a brick wall.  “Comment…?” he reverted back to French.  “Why were you spying on Bobby?!” he shouted.

               “The recording system that is used to tape Danger Room sessions was left on by accident.  He didn’t notice it while he was in there.”

               “Monteur!  You recorded him on purpose!”

               “Aren’t you glad I did though?”

               “What?”

               “He’s at least thinking bout you.”

               “But he… he must hate me….” Jean-Paul whispered.

               “I told him… that you weren’t affected by the cold, Jean-Paul.  I think that’s why he was… experimenting.” 

               “What?  You told him—   How could you do that to him?!  How could you manipulate him like that?!  I’m sorry I ever talked to you about him!  I’m sorry, Bobby,” he cried, tears he hadn’t felt in several years creeping up on him.  “I’m so sorry, Bobby….” And he fell back onto the exam table and put his face in his hands.  “Why did you do that to him?”  Bobby would be so embarrassed if he ever found out that someone had taped him experimenting with the same sex.  It was still so taboo to him.

               “I did it because I care about both of you.  Now you have a class to get back to.  Scram.”

               Jean-Paul looked up at Annie with fire in his blue eyes and turned away from her rising from the table.  The look he gave was like throwing daggers into her heart as she looked at him.  He wasn’t going to speak to her for a while.

 

 

 

               Annie was desperately looking for Bobby.  She hadn’t seen him in days and nobody had seen him for the entire day on the day the recording was taken.  He must have been doing some deep thinking.

               Finally she found him and brought him forcibly into the Medical Lab.  He protested, but she ushered him in again with promises of showing him something—what she wouldn’t say.  “Conniving little—“ he muttered as he followed her in.

               “Okay, you watch the monitor and I’ll get the things I need.”  She actually left to get a winter jacket and a boxing shield, but she didn’t tell him that as she left.  The screen came on to the image of the Medical Lab and she and Jean-Paul walked in.  Apparently she was showing him something too.  The screen wasn’t visible from the view of the camera, but he saw Jean-Paul’s reaction to it and heard his words. 

               “You were spying on Bobby?!  If all you’ve brought me in to show me was a damned peep show of Bobby getting it on with some woman—“

               “That’s not a woman.  And it gets better, trust me,”  Nausea overwhelmed Bobby as he watched and listened as Jean-Paul looked annoyed at the screen.  They had seen him?  Annie recorded him in the Danger Room?  He couldn’t tear his gaze away as he listened to her admonish him to wait.

            They spoke again and Jean-Paul looked heart broken.  “Mon dieu…

Comment…? Why were you spying on Bobby?!”

               “The recording system that is used to tape Danger Room sessions was left on by accident.  He didn’t notice it while he was in there.” He had been in there for hours!  Had she been watching his every move?

               “Monteur!  You recorded him on purpose!” Jean-Paul accused and Bobby wondered why he was being shown this.

               “Aren’t you glad I did though?”

               “What?”

               “He’s at least thinking bout you.”

               “But he… he must hate me…” Jean-Paul whispered from the screen.  Bobby was aghast at the scene still unfolding before him and he still couldn’t look away.

               “I told him… that you weren’t affected by the cold, Jean-Paul.  I think that’s why he was… experimenting.” 

               “What?  You told him—   How could you do that to him?!  How could you manipulate him like that?!  I’m sorry I ever talked to you about him!  I’m sorry, Bobby,” It looked like tears were forming in Jean-Paul’s eyes and his voice cracked a little.  “I’m so sorry, Bobby….” Jean-Paul leaned back against the exam table and put his face in his hands.  “Why did you do that to him?” he asked in such a defeated voice. 

               He obviously cared about Bobby.  How could he care about Bobby when he’d been acting like nothing but a jerk to him—to everybody?  Annie didn’t come back into the room actually and he knew why.  He would be scared if he were the perpetrator of that immense violation of privacy too.  As it turned out, he didn’t want to see Annie… just Jean-Paul.  He looked for him and found him in the Dining Commons. 

               It was Jean-Paul’s lunch hour and he wanted to know how he should approach him.  He definitely didn’t want to make a scene, and so was going to ask him to come for a walk with him.  He approached the man and stood beside his table.  “Hey, man… could I talk to you?  Do you have a minute?”

               Jean-Paul sighed.  “I suppose I know what this is about.  Shouldn’t we take this down to the Danger Room?”

               “No, I… don’t want to be in there for a while,” he whispered.  Jean-Paul frowned, knowing exactly why he didn’t want to go down there.

               “I see.  Out on the grounds then?”

               “Sure.”  They walked out onto the grounds, Jean-Paul leaving his lunch and books at his table.  They eventually found themselves where Jean-Paul had saved Bobby’s life the night he was attacked by that… blob of mud.  “Thanks for the save and everything… that night, I mean.”

               “You’re welcome,” he said gently, trying not to put too much emotion into his voice but unable to keep it all out.  He thought to himself how often he remembered that night.  It was the one and only time Bobby had flirted with him.  He cherished it.

               “Thanks… for sticking up for me too,” he said quietly.

               “Sticking up for you?  When did I do something like that?” he asked the tinge of a smile showing on his face and in his voice.

               “When Annie showed you the video of me… in the Danger Room.”

               “You know about that?” he asked surprised.  Bobby just nodded.  Jean-Paul counted himself lucky that he wasn’t being frozen to death as they spoke.  He expected to be at least yelled at, but it didn’t sound like that’s what he came out here to do, but that could change at any moment with Bobby.  “I’m sorry.”

               “I am too.  She taped your conversation.”

               “What?”

               “She taped you watching the video of me.  I guess I just wanted to explain it,” he said looking at the grass as they walked through the grounds that were still kind of ripped up.

               “It’s all right.  You don’t have to explain anything, Bobby.  I saw how you reacted to even kissing an imaginary me.  I know how much it hurt you.”

               “But you don’t know why I did it.”

               “Sure I do.  Annie told me that she let you know that cold didn’t bother me.  I gather you were pretty upset by that.”

               “She suggested that I—“ she suggested that I was gay, Jean-Paul.  Do you know how insulting that is?  She also insinuated that I would chose to date someone just because they were possibly compatible with me; that I wasn’t choosy; that I was desperate; that I was—shallow.  “She has no right to tell me who to see or what I should do.  I’m not a child and I’m not gay.  You know that, right?”

               “Of course I do, Bobby,” he said trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.  “I also know that… desperation will cause someone to do… strange things.  I’m just sorry you had an audience for yours.”

               Sighing, Bobby did suppose that he was desperate.  He wasn’t desperate enough to kiss a man though.  “I just wanted… I dunno… to let you know that I’m not mad at you.  I don’t hate you, Jean-Paul.”

               Jean-Paul smiled at that and reached his hand out to offer it to Bobby.  “Friends?”

               Bobby smiled a half smile at him and shook the proffered hand.  “Friends,” he said and then let go of the shake before he let himself feel what Jean-Paul’s skin was like.  He did get a taste of how soft it was and he knew that before long he would be missing people’s touch and even the girl down in the Danger Room would become more inviting and pleasurable than nothing.

 

 

Chapter Three

Fights and Understanding

 

              

               Remy walked into Scott’s office and took a seat in the chair across from him, leaned back in it and set his feet on Scott’s desk.  “If you’ve got somethin’ for me to do, it better involve thievin’, ‘cause I ain’ blowin’ notin’ up anymore.”

               “Gambit, I realize that.  Why aren’t you in California with Rogue?”

               “We parted ways, Scott.”

               “After all this time?  After she can finally touch you?”

               “Can it, Scott!” Remy said and stood up in anger.

               “Good.  Now that your feet are off my desk, I’ll tell you what I need done.”  Remy stood with his jaw clenching as he listened to Scott.  He’d been taking lessons in provocation—nice.  “There are two things I’d like you to do for me, Gambit.  One of them is a recon in New York and the other is… a little closer to home.”  Scott paused and let Gambit soak up what he was saying.  “My sources tell me that the Hell Fire Club is back in business and I don’t think we’re going to like what we find.  I need you to see if you can find out what they’re doing, who the key players are, and where they’re planning on going.  Think you can handle that?”

               Remy nodded.  “I’ll need plans of de place you tink dey’re at.”

               “It’s not as easy as that, Gambit.  They’re still scattered.  You have to track them down in their homes to see if they’re still operating in their old circles.”

               “Now how am I gon’ figure out who all de old Hell Fire Club people are an’ where dey’re at now, hunh?”

               “I’ll get Emma Frost to give me a hand.”

               “Right.  De White Queen.  She your ‘source’?” he asked wondering what else she was his source for.

               “Shove it, Cajun.  I’ll get you all the details you need to carry out your mission.  And Gambit, I need you to be a ghost.  No marks that you were ever at any of these places.”

               “Why don’t y’ send Kurt?  He can infiltrate places probably better dan li’le ol’ me.”

               “He stinks.”

               “An’ I don’?”

               “I chose you for this mission for a reason, Gambit; you’re the person best qualified for this job and I won’t have you hanging around the mansion doing nothing.”

               “Oh, fine den,” he huffed crossing his arms over his chest again in a gesture of defiance.  “What else do you need me to do?” he nearly spat.

               “I need you to take care of Hank.”  Remy’s arms dropped to his sides and he looked at Scott with his mouth hanging slightly open.

               “W-what?”

               “I know it’s more of a personal request, but he’s been depressed lately and I think you’re probably a good influence on him judging from how happy he was earlier today after having seen you.”

               “What… I don’ get it.”

               “You guys are friends, aren’t you?  If you could try to cheer him up, I’d appreciate it.  I don’t have as much time for him as I’d like and I don’t think he gets to see Bobby as much any more.  Tensions have been kind of high between them because of Hank’s recent announcement.  That doesn’t bother you, does it?” he asked as if he were curious and didn’t know the answer.

               “Non, I’m pretty open minded ‘bout dat sorta ting.”  Dieu, I tought I was in trouble!  “I’ll do what I can for ‘im,” he assured.

               “Thank you.  You can leave now.  I’ll get back to you with the details of the people I want you to check on.”  Remy nodded and turned to leave Scott’s office wondering how best really to take care of Hank.  He grinned and started to have a few ideas.    

 

 

               “Hank, I tink you’re gon’ like my new assignment,” Remy said wickedly as he entered Hank’s room in the mansion, then closed the door behind him.

               Hank looked up at Remy from his book as he rested on his bed.  His glasses were perched on top of his nose making him look like a wise old cat.  “The assignment Scott gave you?  What is it?”

               “My mission in life is to screw y’ senseless,” he purred as he pounced on Hank and leaned over the book he’d been reading.

               “Surely you jest!” he shouted appalled.

               “Well,” Remy said rolling off to the side of his bed that was unoccupied, “he said I was supposed to make you happy, but I can’ really tink of a better way,” he smiled innocently while evil thoughts danced behind his eyes.

               “Remy, don’t you think we should keep our activities… more clandestine than that?”

               “Dan what?”

               “You certainly don’t want to have to give Scott a report on the things we do….”

               Remy chuckled and just imagined Scott getting redder by the minute as Gambit told him in graphic detail what he was doing with Hank.  “He said dat one was a personal request.  I have two jobs around here so I’m not lazin’ about.  De oder one is to gader intelligence on old members of de Hell Fire Club.  Lots o’ fun dat’s gon’ be,” he grumbled.

               “Do be careful on that one,” he said.  “But so far as your other mission, Remy, I’m sure you have nothing to fear.”

               “Y’ not gon’ fuck m’ brains out?” he cooed into Hanks ear.  It twitched at him again and Remy held in his laughter.

               “Not today.  I have to show some measure of restraint or I will end up hurting you, or at least making my talents seem superfluous.”  Remy smiled at Hank and leaned over onto him, one leg drawn up and resting on his.

               “Y’ in no danger o’ dat, monsieur fort brain.”  Hank chuckled at him. (Fort is pronounced “for” and means strong.)  Closing his book and setting it on his nightstand, he drew Remy to him and cuddled with his very new lover.

               “Are you sure you won’t get tired of me, Remy?”

               “’M not sayin’ dat it’ll never happen, but I don’t tink so.”  He smiled evilly, “Especially if y’ keep m’ satisfied.”

               “And how would I accomplish such a Herculean task?” he asked licking Gambit’s cheek lightly.

               “’M I really dat insatiable?”

               “You tell me.  You seemed to have quite the orgasm in my office…” Hank looked at his watch and back at Remy again, “Two hours ago?  That’s a little difficult for me to keep up with.”  Remy huffed and munched on Hank’s ear.  “Oh, Remy, stop that,” Hank said half-heartedly and a little breathily as he tried not to let that sensation arouse him again.  He’d fallen victim to it earlier that day and would not make it through the rest of it if he kept that up.

               “Stop?” he purred into Hank’s ear.  “You liked it earlier today,” he pointed out.

               “I like it now,” he said assuring that the situation hadn’t changed, “but I am afraid that one or both of us will be exhausted from these actions.”

               “Den let’s be exhausted, Hank,” he said gliding his hands along Hank’s chest, discovering that he indeed had nipples under all that fur.  Hank jumped once Remy found them and he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to leave that discovery alone.

               “Oh, you are asking for it, young Cajun,” he said as he left all pretenses of propriety and rolled toward Remy, pinning him down.  Remy smiled, then cast his eyes demurely away from him as Hank stroked the man’s skin with his tongue.  Remy started purring.  “Hmmm… I didn’t think humans purred,” he smiled as he licked Remy’s vibrating throat.

               “Remy part cat, homme,” he said while moaning as Hank lifted up his shirt to gain access to the rest of his body.  Remy was more than happy to get his clothes off, and tugged at Hank’s shorts.

               “Remy… what—how far do you want to take this?”

               “Far as it go.”   Remy pounced upon Hank once his shorts were off and licked his lips and his tongue when it came out to play.  Playing with his teeth was something Remy found he really liked.  Making sure his hands were playing all over him, Remy scooted down to Hank’s hardness and licked at him with long tender strokes.

               Hank whimpered and when Remy took him into his mouth completely he shouted out wordlessly.  Remy was more aroused by Hank’s reactions to his ministrations than he thought he would be.  The feeling of having his mouth full of such soft flesh was wonderful!  His tongue played up his shaft and Hank was begging for mercy in two minutes flat.

               “Remy, please, have mercy!”  Remy raised an eyebrow at that and looked up at Hank who was writhing.  Their eyes caught and Remy felt the cock in his mouth jerk.  “Please, Remy?”  Remy slid off his cock long enough to suck a finger into his mouth and make it slick.  He went right back to the straining cock.  Hank had to wonder what he was doing, but knew that he shouldn’t have worried because Remy knew what he was doing.

               He had actually come in Remy’s mouth before he knew what happened and had to reconstruct that Remy used some… unconventional erogenous zones.  Hank wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being penetrated, but… that was unthinkably good.  He told himself that he was going to look into this form of pleasure… as soon as he could move again.

 

 

               One didn’t often get a summons to the Medical Lab for nonmedical reasons, and Bobby was sure that he’d had a physical (Ha!  What a joke) recently enough that he wouldn’t have to visit Hank for a while.  He found that, against all odds, and Bobby had an idea of them, he was not being called in for anything to do with his body.

               “Bobby, you’re here already?  Please, won’t you sit down, my friend?”

               Bobby took a seat on a cold stool and wondered when the next time he’d get to enjoy something warm was going to be.  Wherever he was in the mansion, he always had to take the least comfortable chair because he would spoil it for the people who could actually get warm in one.  “What did you need to see me about?”

               “I… I have something to tell you, Robert… and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.”

               “Oh?”  Brace yourself, man!  If Hank was in love with him, he was going to scream and go and shatter himself.

               “I’m… dating someone—finally.”

               “Really?  Wow, that’s great!  Who is it?”  Why would I be upset about that?

               “Remy,” he said softly.

               Oh.  “R—Gambit?”

               “His name is Remy, Bobby.”

               “I know what his name is, but I—!”  Bobby stopped himself because he knew he would just sound like more of an ass than he was already being to his poor friend.  He knew that he’d announced to the world that he was gay through Trish Tilby, but he also thought he knew the reason.  They’d talked about how she couldn’t live with him being so feral all the time, and Hank wasn’t even that feral.  They had also talked about Hank’s announcement being an impulse when he thought Trish might want to see him again because this time he was a feral who saved the world—again.  “Are you sure about this?”

               “Most certain.”

               “I thought he was with Rogue—in California.”

               “She has offended him and he no longer wishes to be with her.  I think that his presence here may even be a secret from her.  I do not know.”

               “Geeze.  I thought those two would stay together forever,” he commented in bafflement.

               “As did I.”

               “Hank… why are you telling me this?”

               “Because… I needed to tell someone… and you’re the only person I trust.”

               “You mean I have to keep this a secret!?”

               Hank bowed his feline head.  “I don’t know whether you feel you can keep it a secret, or if you would have this burning sensation to tell someone—er freezing, or whatever sensations you have.  Just, please… don’t tell anyone you don’t trust.”  Bobby nodded.

               He didn’t trust… hardly anyone.  Not with something like this….  He didn’t think Hank would want Scott to know; he’d let that influence his decisions on where to put them on teams….  Who would know what it’s like to—  Jean-Paul.

               Could he really tell him about this?  He wasn’t known for gossip, but….  Jean-Paul would understand.  After all, he was gay too, right?  People were supposed to be understanding of each other’s plights when they shared them?  Well, he didn’t know if Jean-Paul was seeing somebody or liked anybody right now anyway, so he wasn’t sure if the plight was shared, but—he would have a better chance at understanding what was going on and why it needed to be kept a secret.

 

               “Um… Northstar?”  He asked the man who was in the library correcting papers.  He looked up from his papers and smiled.

               “Hi, Bobby.  What’s up?”

               “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

               “Oh, hang on,” he said as he closed up his books and left the pile there to leave for the grounds with Bobby.  Jean-Paul didn’t have an office and even if he did, he would probably want to keep stuff like this out of there anyway.

               They were out on the grounds and around their favorite spot again when Bobby started talking.  “It’s Hank.”

               “Oh?”  Jean-Paul was very afraid that Bobby was going to tell him that instead of falling for him, he had fallen for the feline Beast.  “What—um… what about him?”

               “He’s dating Gambit and I just—I couldn’t keep this to myself.  He didn’t really want anybody else to know… at least not now, but I just—thought you might understand.”

               “Um… yes, I understand.  Does it bother you that they’re seeing each other?” he asked gently.

               “No, I mean, it’s Hank.  I mean, I want him to be happy and if this makes him happy… I’m just not sure it will, y’know?”

               I’d be happy if I were with Gambit, so, no, I don’t know.  “I understand your fear for him,” he said trying to sound like an understanding friend, which was all he was at the moment.  “But surely he must know what’s going to make him happy?”

               “I don’t know.  His last choice kind of flipped out on him and Gambit’s track record isn’t sterling.  I’m just worried.”

               “All you can do at this point is be a friend.  If it turns out that you were right about Gambit, then you should be there for him when he’s down and help him up again.  From there I’d try to influence his future choices of a partner, but there’s not much you can do about that either.”

               Bobby sighed.  “I guess you’re right.  Thanks, Jean-Paul.”

               “Any time, Bobby.”  He tried to smile more genuinely than he ended up pulling off, but he just really wasn’t in the mood to be the friend who offered the shoulder to lean and cry on while secretly harboring the love of a lifetime.  It wouldn’t be long before he started to tire of this secret game… with himself.

 

 

 

Three days later

 

Remy was out by the pool, soaking up the hot sun while there weren’t any kids around.  He could hardly get away from those… kids.  They were kind of annoying and he wondered if he was ever like that when he was their age.  Not worrying about it too much, he decided to enjoy the sun and the solitude.

He wasn’t alone for long as he noticed another person coming out to enjoy the bright rays of the sun that would hopefully strengthen his tan again.  He had noticed that he was far too pale since coming to Xavier’s. In California, he would have gotten the chance to have bright sun for longer, but he would take what he could get here in New England.

               The person he found coming over to visit him in the next lawn chair was Jean-Paul Baubier if he didn’t mistake the streak of white hair.  “Aloh, ami.  Comment ça vas c’apres midi?” he asked.

               “Un petit inquietés, mais il ne y a pas quel que chose que je puis fait rectifier.”  He sighed.  Remy only got the gist of what he said because the “French” that they each spoke was not in fact French at all.  Jean-Paul spoke Canadian French, which wasn’t truly French, but was a lot closer to it than the Creole Remy spoke.

               “Desole, ami,” he said in consolation, but was unable to help him any further than that.  He tried to relax, but couldn’t help feel that there was something Jean-Paul wanted from him.  He looked up only to find that Jean-Paul was staring at him.  “Can I help y’ wit some’m?” he asked curious as to why he was being stared at.

               “I’m sorry.  It’s just that… you’re incredibly sexy.”  Remy raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses and looked surprised that Jean-Paul would be so bold in saying that.

               “Um… t’anks… I t’ink,” he smiled at Jean-Paul a little uncertainly.

               Jean-Paul continued to look at him and Remy was starting to get uncomfortable.  “I hear that you’re dating the Beast.”

               “His name is Henry, homme.”

               “I know what his name is.”  Jean-Paul was silent for a moment.  “I’m just noting how much I missed out on,” he smiled disarmingly.  Remy was used to women coming onto him, but he wasn’t sure how to react with Jean-Paul acting interested, mostly because with women, he could predict their responses.  Jean-Paul leaned over to him and kissed Remy’s lips lightly.  “Such fine lips,” he whispered.

               It had been a while, by Remy’s standards, since Remy had felt a conventional kiss and he certainly enjoyed it. “Non,” he said and pushed Jean-Paul away from him.  Jean-Paul smiled and kissed him deeper.  Remy had never been very good at saying no and he fell into the kiss. Jean-Paul was licking down Remy’s body and Remy was writhing under him, lost in the sensations.  When Jean-Paul started sucking on his cock though, it felt incredible!  He moaned breathily and gripped the seat below him.  How long had it been since something like that had been wrapped around his shaft, completely encompassing him?  He bucked up into the mouth that was doing delicious things to him and he thought of how it would be impossible for Hank to do anything like this with the way his mouth was—.

               Hank!  Remy pulled Jean-Paul off of him and held his arm in between the two, demanding a cooling down.  Jean-Paul squatted beside Remy’s lawn chair and nodded.  “I’m sorry, Gambit.  I couldn’t help myself.”

               “It’s Remy, an’ it’s okay, homme.  Jus’ don’ do it again, ‘kay?”  Jean-Paul nodded.  Remy understood what it was like to have to go without for long periods of time and needing someone—anyone to fulfill those needs.  Remy had been less than faithful to Rogue while they were unable to touch, but he wasn’t with her any more. He was with Hank, and he could touch Hank.  Tucking in what Jean-Paul had pulled out, he got up to leave the sun.  He didn’t want to be out here any more.

               Bobby, who’d seen everything from the shadows of the house ran from Remy’s approach and made sure it looked like he was doing something where he couldn’t have possibly seen their little tryst.  He casually ignored Remy as he walked through the building and hoped that would be enough to hide his knowledge.

               He knew that Remy and Hank were dating now and didn’t feel that it was right to cheat on your partner, especially when that partner was his best friend and so went to tell Hank about what he’d just seen.  Maybe that way he could get away from the fact that it looked extraordinarily pleasurable and gave him a hard on like he hadn’t felt in a long time.  He knew that he was excited at seeing them when they didn’t notice him, but it was more than that.  He was jealous and wanted someone to do that for him, but because he was completely made of ice no one could—except Jean-Paul.  Bobby forced that thought out of his head and tried to think of his other options.  The best thing he had was more like a blow-up doll in the Danger Room and he wasn’t feeling quite desperate enough for that yet.

               Bobby went to find Hank down in the Medical Lab and was sure to visit his office instead of Annie’s.  “Hank?” Bobby asked gingerly as he looked around for Hank.  “Can I talk to you?”

               “Of course, Bobby.  It’s been a while since we caught up.  How are you?”

               “I’m okay… considering—but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.  I need to talk to you about Gambit.”

               “Oh?  What about him?” Hank asked fearing a prejudiced conversation.

               “Well… I just saw him outside with Northstar… kissing—and stuff.”

               “Kissing?  Remy kissing Jean-Paul?”

               “It was more like Northstar kissing Gambit, but yeah.  I know you like him, Hank, but I think you should break up.  He’s not a faithful person.”  Bobby was staring at the floor hoping that his friend would listen to him.

               “Are you sure it wasn’t a cultural thing where they kiss each other on the cheek?  That is a form of greeting, you know.”

               “Is cock-sucking too?” Bobby asked angrily, eyes shooting up to Hank’s.

               Hank was taken aback by Bobby’s harsh question that was stated like an accusation.  “C—  Do you mean to tell me that Remy was performing Fellatio on—“

               “He was getting it, but that still makes him unfaithful.  I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Hank,” Bobby pleaded with Hank.

               “Is this true, Robert?  You have to tell me if you’re playing some game.”

               “It’s not a game; I saw it with my own two eyes!”  Hank deflated and he looked like he lost all of his exuberance in that one conformational phrase.  Bobby didn’t know how much power words could have and wished for an instant that he could take them back.  Still, he knew that it would be better for his friend to know about this and leave Gambit than for him to get attached to him and have him be toyed with until he was left by the wayside.

               “Please, Bobby, I need some time alone….”

               “I’m sorry, Hank,” Bobby said before he left.  He felt awful about having to be the one to break the news to his friend, but it needed to be said.  He went to find Jean-Paul and give him a piece of his mind.  They might be friends now, but he had no right to go hurting other people’s relationships by coming onto guys in the mansion.

               He found him still out in the sun by the pool, although his posture was far less relaxed than when he first came out.  Now he was looking more like he was depressed sitting on a lawn chair with his head bowed into his hands.  “What the hell were you thinking?” Bobby asked as he approached him.

               “What?  What are you talking about, Bobby?” he asked looking up at the man he’d rather have been sucking off.

               “Remy.  Just now.  I saw.”

               Jean-Paul groaned.  “Oh, dieu.  I didn’t mean to freak you out, Bobby.”

               “I’m freaked out, but that’s beside the point.  A) you were having sexual relations out in public, B) you were mackin’ on my best friend’s—boyfriend…” he stumbled with the word.   “What were you thinking?”

               “I’m sorry, Bobby, I wasn’t thinking.  I just wanted—so badly that—“

               “That you were willing to just go and take it from wherever you thought would be a willing source?  You’re low!”

               “Let’s see how low you get when you’re getting desperate!  Kissing images of people—that was just the beginning!”

               “Like I’d go to Gambit to fulfill my needs.”

               “Why don’t you come to me then, Bobby?”  Bobby paused because he wasn’t sure if he had heard right.  He wasn’t expecting words like that out of his mouth at all.  “We could solve each other’s problems.”

               “I’m not gay!” was all he shouted and ran from Jean-Paul.  He ran to his room and locked the door.  He started to cry again thinking of how lost he was.  Why was it that the only person who really wanted to love him was the only person he couldn’t love back?  Fate always did shit like this to them, all of the X-Men.  He heard a disturbance in the hall, but was too absorbed in his own problems to go and take a look at what was going on.  No alarms were sounding, so things must still be okay.

 

               Gambit had gone to check out another address of a Hell Fire Club member and had come back very late in the morning.  He went to sleep in his own room that night, not wanting to disturb Hank.  He was woken up in the morning from a pounding on his door.  “Wake up or I’m going to freeze your shorts off through the door!”

               “What?”  Bobby?  Great, they were catching onto his weaknesses pretty quickly.  Soon he was going to be ordered around by Bobby’s whims if he ever caught on to how afraid he was of the man.  “What do you want, Bobby; I’m tryin’ to sleep!”

               “Scott wants you in his office pronto,” he shouted through the door.

               “Fine, gimme a minute.”

               “Now!” 

               God damn.  “I’ll be right out.  Let me get some clothes on for Pete’s sake!”  Remy hurriedly dressed and dashed down to Scott’s office.  “Scott, what’s so important you had to get me up two hours after I fall asleep?”

               “You’re remiss in one of your duties, Gambit and I’m very disappointed in you.”

               “What?  I was just checkin’ anoder creep on de list last night.”

               “I didn’t mean your Hell Fire Club mission.  I meant the other mission I gave you.”

               “Last I checked, Hank was pretty happy,” he said cautiously.

               “When was the last time you checked?”

               “Yesterday mornin’.”  He had been taking care of Hank.  How could Scott think he wasn’t?

               “Okay, then by yesterday afternoon Hank was very depressed.  What measures have you been taking to make sure Hank is feeling well?  I want specifics.  Have you been taking care of him like I asked you to at all?”

               “Yeah, Scott,” Remy said menacingly as he went on, “he likes to fuck me from behind while I stroke his ears.  I particularly like it dough when he takes me facin’ ‘im and bends over so far he can lick m’ cock and fuck me at de same time.”  Remy watched as Scott’s jaw dropped open slightly.  He couldn’t believe that Remy was actually telling him this stuff.  It was also making him kind of hard.

               “Remy if you’re going to continue with that foul language I’m going to gag you.  Now, either tell me why Hank was depressed yesterday or let me watch next time you do the things you’ve been talking about.”

               Let you watch?  A blush crept up on Remy’s face and he became very quiet.  He cleared his throat before saying, “I jus’ been out-blushed, ami, so I’m gon’ just go see if de Hell Fire Club is raisin’ cane yet, okay?”

               “No, you’re going to apologize for whatever it was you did to Hank.”

               “I didn’t do anythin’!”

               “Then maybe you should find out why he wouldn’t talk to me at all yesterday and didn’t get any work done.  He’s an important member of the Kick investigation team and I can’t have him just doing nothing.  I’m also worried about him as a friend.  Now go and see what’s wrong with him.  He should still be in his office.”

               “At dis hour?”

               “He hasn’t left that room all night, now go see what’s bothering him.”  Remy left the room feeling more like a slave to Scott than Hank’s partner.

               Remy walked into Hank’s office and noted that something was wrong immediately.  Hank was at his computer desk clicking away on the keyboard, but it was no pattern that could be making words; the pattern of clacking was too random and too fast.  He also wasn’t acknowledging Remy, which was odd because he knew he could hear and smell him the moment he walked into the room.

               “Hank? Everythin’ all right?”

               “Why, I do believe there is a bug in this laboratory.  I think I should get rid of said bug due to the sensitivity of the equipment kept in here,” he said as if talking to himself, but Remy knew he was aware of his presence. 

               “Hank, I know y’ don’ tink I’m a bug.  What’s boderin’ y’?  Work been too stressful?”

               Hank finally seemed to acknowledge that Remy was in the room and looked at him.  “Remy, I do not wish to judge you before speaking with you, but I have heard some very disturbing news and I’m afraid that I am quite angry at the moment.”

               “What’s dis about?” he asked.  He had some clues as to what it might be about, but had learned not to ask what something was about, just in case you were wrong.  You often avoided having two things wrong.

               “Bobby came into my office yesterday afternoon and told me that you had… been given Fellatio by Jean-Paul.”

               “Ah.  Did he tell you dat I fought ‘im about it?”

               “No,” Hank said relieved to hear it and perplexed that it wasn’t mentioned.

               “Well, it wasn’t dat obvious, and I didn’t resist much eider, so y’ have a right to be mad at me.  I just wanna let you know dat I care about y’, Hank an’ dat I don’ want our relationship to end because Remy’s not skilled enough at sayin’ no.  I am sorry, Hank.”

               “Tell me exactly how it went,” Hank said and settled down to listen to Remy.

               “Was sittin’ in de sun out by de pool an’ Jean-Paul come out an’ sat next to me.  He started talkin’ an askin’ about you… den tells me I’m sexy.  I didn’ tink much of it ‘cause he gay an’ he ain’ blind, but I didn’t really think he’d have de guts to actually move on me.

               “Anyway, he kisses me an’ I stop him an’ say no, but he kinda jus’ plodded on through an’ kiss deeper dis time.  I’m sorry Hank,” Remy said as he shuffled his feet a little. 

               “And the Fellatio?”

               “Jus’ kinda naturally followed.  De whole ting only lasted a minute, tops.”

               “You think that because of a time limit I would be less affected by your actions?”

               “Non, Hank, I’m jus’ sayin’ dat it take me a while to get my head togeder after somebody jus’ come over an’ make nice wit me like dat.  I’m sorry, Hank.”

               “Have my talents become superfluous?”

               “Non, Hank.  I admit dat it’s different when somebody’s kissin’ me, but you’re still very good.  I s’pose I ain’ never been very much good at de whole monogamy ting.”  Remy sighed.  “But I do want somebody to come home to, y’know?”

               “I understand.  I suppose I could never have hoped to keep you all to myself.  Not even Rogue succeeded in that.”

               “Hank… I still wanna be wit’ ya… is dat possible?”

               “I will think about it, Remy.”  Remy nodded and figured that he was dismissed.

 

 

Chapter Four

Chapter Title

 

 

 

               Remy flopped onto his bed thinking to himself, I‘m such a hedonist!  How could I hurt Hank like dat? He sighed and rolled over on the bed trying to think of a way to make it up to Hank.  Maybe he could make him understand what it was like.  Ideas started forming in Remy’s head and he was getting aroused just thinking of letting Hank know what it was like not being able to have a mouth completely around his cock.  Remy tried to formulate an excuse to go and see him, but decided that if he wanted to make a point, he had better make it loudly.

               He waited until it was around dinner time, so that Hank would have something to be impatient about.  That would help to get his point across and make the need he was feeling seem all the more powerful.  Heading down to Hank’s office, he waltzed in to see Hank at his desk, working on his report.  Good, he wasn’t up and experimenting.  Hank looked up to Remy as he came into his office.  Remy rounded the desk and knelt down before Hank and looked up at him.

               “Will y’ allow me t’ apologize, Hank?” he asked.

               “Remy… I’m a little busy.  Can this wait?”

               “Non, it can’t,” Remy said and leaned in to Hank and kissed his chest, finding his nipples underneath all that fur and the lab coat.  Hank’s breath was caught in his throat and he rose up a little in shock.  Remy took that opportunity to grab Hank’s shorts and pull them down enough that he could reach his manhood easily.  That was part of the plan.

               “Remy, can you please… I have work to do.”  In response, Remy leaned down and licked Hank’s half erect cock from base to tip.  He let the tongue glide along it and flicked at the top when he got there, circling around the crown.  “Remy—that feels wonderful, but really—“ and Remy dove down on the shaft, but didn’t close his mouth.  The warmth of his mouth and the entire length of his tongue was along Hank now, but there was no suction, no closure, no enveloping feeling that was so wonderful.  Hank’s sentence was never finished.  “Ahhhhh,” was all he was able to get out and he trust up into Remy’s mouth, but it wouldn’t close around him.  He came back up and went back to his licking, slow and sensuous, but somehow, just not enough.  “Damnit, if you’re not going to stop, would you please suck me then?”  Hank sounded desperate and crass even to himself as he nearly demanded satisfaction from Remy.  Remy, however, didn’t give it, just he slow, excellent licking he had been. 

               His tongue slid back and forth up near the top, just on that spot that drove Hank crazy with wanting an enveloping heat to have.  He tried pushing his hips up again, but Remy would not respond to his request, spoken or inferred.

               The lab doors opened again and Scott stepped through the door.  Hank scooted up to his desk, shoving Remy into the foot alcove, covering him with the desk.  He coughed loudly to cover up his abrupt movement and the sound of Remy hitting the desk’s recess.  “Scott?” he choked out, coughing some more in order to make like he had a cough.  “Oh, I’m not feeling well.  Perhaps that’s why I’ve been so behind on work,” he mused loudly to himself.

               “Th-that’s okay, Hank,” he said thinking that something wasn’t right with this picture, but not being able to figure out what.  “Um… but you’re doing it now aren’t you?” 

               Hank felt Remy’s tongue on him under the desk and stiffened.  “I most definitely am,” he assured.  He wasn’t getting much done thanks to Remy, but he was working on it.  Remy started letting his tongue take a different path, swirling around the sides and he wondered how he could be doing that with such little space.

               “Okay.  As long as you’re okay, I guess everything is fine,” he said.  “I had just come in to check on you.”

               “I assure you, Scott, I’m fine,” he said and then he felt Remy’s teeth scrape along him and he cringed involuntarily.  “Really.”

               “All right.  Tell, Gambit that he’ll be in trouble next time if I catch him not doing his job.”

               “Oh, don’t worry, he is.”  Hank’s stomach turned at that comment as it implied not so nice things about Remy, but he was the one who told him that he was assigned to Hank.  How much more of a job could you get?  “I mean, has been,” he hurriedly corrected.  Remy’s technique was making it hard for Hank to think at all, much less along a line resembling anything straight.

               “Okay.  I’ll see you at dinner,” he said and walked out of Hank’s office, still unable to tell what was wrong with that whole scene.

               Once the doors were safely closed, Hank slid away fro the desk and took Remy’s head in his hands.  “You, young man are going to stop that,” he said as he pulled Remy off of him.  “That is entirely frustrating,” he said as if Remy were a bother.

               “See?” he said as if that should point out everything in the world, but Hank didn’t seem to get it.  Then again, he hadn’t been present for the entire planning of this little lesson, so he wouldn’t get it without having it pointed out.

               “See what?”

               “How hard it is t’ go widout somethin’ envelopin’ y’,” he said as he leaned in and kissed Hank and wrapped his hand around his still hard shaft.  His kiss was against lips that could not kiss back, and so Hank could only feel the kiss being given, not give one back.  His eyes closed and he moaned. 

               After he came back to his senses, he remembered that Remy was trying to point something out to him.  “I… I understand.  I’m sorry, Remy.  Perhaps it was simply never meant to be between us,” he said solemnly.

               “I ain’ givin’ up yet, homme.  I jus’ wanted y’ t realize how I could get caught up in it for tirty seconds while I try t’ get m’ head t’geder.  D’accord?” he asked.

               “Yes, Remy.  It’s all right.”  He looked at the expectant face the young man had on.  “Just… please try to stay away from Jean-Paul from now on?”  Remy nodded and smiled, this time giving Hank a kiss that they could both enjoy, with the twisting of tongues.

               Remy was hard from before he even came down to Hank’s lab and so was Hank, he could see.  He had yet to cover back up and Remy liked Hank being so open with him.  Leaning back in for another taste of his lover, Hank stalled him with a hand.  “Oh, if you’re going to keep that up I think it best wait until after dinner.  I can only take so much of that torture.”

               “I was gon’ relieve de torture, cher,” Remy explained.  Hank looked at him consideringly and took his hand away from Remy’s shoulder.   Remy smiled and dove in to lick his way around again once before sensing that Hank was near the end of his patience and drawing him completely into his mouth, sealing his cock inside his warm, wet mouth.  Hank moaned loudly at the sensations and knew he wasn’t going to need much to send him over the edge.

               Hank’s hands were gripping his shoulders and he was afraid he was going to bite into the skin with his claws if he weren’t careful.  “Remy… please,” he panted out.

Remy started feeling around Hank’s genitals with caressing hands and Hank started coming when Remy hit the soft area between his balls and his ass.  He tried not to be loud about it, but wasn’t entirely successful.  He sighed when he was through and looked at Remy who had a small amount of cum at the side of his mouth.  “Oh, I’m sorry about that,” Hank said as he leaned in and licked it from Remy’s lips.

               Remy smiled to him and asked, “Can I get my desert tonight after dinner since you got yours before?”  Hank smiled at him conspiratorially and nodded.

               “You should be thinking of your request.”

               “I already know what it is.”

               “Oh?” he asked, curious.

               “Oui, Hank.  Will y’ let m’ fuck y’ in de ass?”  Hank’s heart skipped a few beats and sputtered after that.  He felt like he couldn’t breathe.  The thought excited him and terrified him beyond his ability to express it, and that was saying something.  He didn’t know how to respond.  Remy had been so willing and free with his body so far, except for that little torture lesson a moment ago… he almost felt obligated to say yes, of course.  But he’d never done anything like that before and he didn’t know if his new physiology would get in the way of things… he just wasn’t sure.

               Remy could see the wheels grinding and whirring behind Hank’s cat-like eyes and said, “Y’ don’ have t’ say jus’ yet.  We can talk ‘bout it.”  He knew it had been a big step for him.

 

 

 

 

Jean-Paul was getting tired of feeling like he was getting nothing from being here with the X-Men. There were few things keeping him there, one of which was his affection for the children, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to be part of one of the teams. Maybe it was that SNAFU where he abandoned Angle and Paige that cost him that place. He was pretty disagreeable, he had to admit. It wasn’t until recently that he started to realize just how sensitive his temper was. Bobby had been part of that realization, but he no longer held out hope for the young man’s interests to turn his way.

Heading to Scott’s office, he tried to calm his breath as he approached the door. He knocked and had to wait for a minute before the door was answered and it was undoubtedly caused by another romp with Emma Frost. The voice from beyond the door bade him enter and he stepped into the room with a stubborn visage plastered on. To his surprise, Scott didn’t look like he’s been having fun with Emma—he looked rather tired and was rubbing his temples. He then wondered whether or not they had a fight.

“What is it, Cyclops?” he asked and feared the answer.

“I need to figure out what to do about Bobby.”

I seem to have that problem too, he thought to himself as he talked to the man. “Oh, what about Bobby?”

“I want him to go on a date for his own good and the good of the whole school, but I can’t figure out who it is that I should have him go out with. I suppose it could be a platonic date, but that would kind of defeat the purpose. He really needs to relax.”

I couldn’t agree more, but how are you going to manage forcing him to do anything? “I’ll take him for you,” Jean-Paul found himself offering before he knew it and regretted the statement right after it left his lips. He was cringing on the inside and couldn’t suppress a grimace. He watched Cyclops’ smile form on his face and nervously awaited his reply.

“I just might take you up on that.”

Jean-Paul smiled shyly and looked away from Scott. He supposed he wouldn’t give Scott an ultimatum now about the teaching. “Why are you making him do this?”

“He needs so many things—I think he can get them from someone special.”

“But just anybody special?” Jean-Paul inquired angrily.

Scott smiled wistfully. “There are some things that a person can benefit from if it’s just given to them. Bobby needs those things.”

Jean-Paul nodded in understanding. Bobby needed someone to love him, whether or not that love was returned. “Then, let me know if you need me.”

“I’ll tell him to go see you. Take him some place nice, Jean-Paul.” Jean-Paul’s heart was speeding up nervously as he nodded. He turned to leave the office when Scott interrupted him. “Wasn’t there some reason you were knocking on my office door?”

Jean-Paul’s smile was crooked. “Not any more.” Scott smiled at him and nodded, turning back to his desk work. Jean-Paul left the room with a lighter step than he entered and went to figure out just how he was going to be effective for Bobby and where he was going to take him.  

 

Bobby was starting to feel like acting like the child that Cyclops was accusing him of being the longer Scott droned at him. “Do you know what could have happened out there? I expect more from my senior staff, Bobby. You have to be able to be a role model to these kids and keep them out of trouble; they’re our responsibility.”

“I know! Okay? Are we done yet?”

“No.”

“What do you want me to do, for Christ’s sake?!”

“I want you to go out, Bobby. It’ll be good for you.”

Bobby looked exasperated. “With who?”

“You have one day to find someone who will go out with you or I will choose for you.”

“That’s crazy, Scott! Why do you want me to go out with someone?”

“I think that it will shape you up—and I need you to shape up, Bobby.” Bobby sighed and an ice cloud puffed in front of him.

“What if I don’t find somebody?”

“In that case I have someone picked out for you.” Bobby’s eyebrows raised.

“Who?”

“It doesn’t matter, Bobby. One day and I’m ordering you to go out. Go and find someone.” Bobby shook his head as he left the office. Where was he going to find a girl who would go out with him? He couldn’t date any of the students, so that limited his choices. Let’s see… there was Annie, but she was taken by Alex and he grumbled to himself as he thought about that. Maybe he could convince her to just go on a date with him although he was still very angry at her. Then there was Jean, but she was married to Scott even though they were kind of separated, so she was pretty much out. There was Lorna, but he was pretty sure that she was still mad at him. Still if he could convince her that he needed to go out on a date with her…. There was Rogue, but she was in California and couldn’t make it in time, and there would probably just be a big confrontation about Gambit if she were to show up.

Then there were people he didn’t have any romantic interest in like Emma Frost. He knew her too well. Or here was Dani Moonstar, who was new to the staff, who he didn’t know at all. He would tear his hair out by the end of the day if he had any.

He decided that he should go start asking people, starting with Lorna.  

Lorna was coming out of the Professor’s office when he found her. He stopped her, stepping in front of her, “Hey, Lorna… can I ask you something?” Lorna looked at him a little coolly as she nodded her head. “Will you go on a date with me?”

Lorna raised an elegant eyebrow at his question, then her lips quirked into a small smile. “What’s this all about? You and I had our turn and we didn’t work out.”

“Scott’s ordering me on a date and I have to find someone who’ll go with me,” he explained as he looked shyly at the floor. He was actually pretty angry at the whole situation; Scott didn’t have the right to meddle in his personal affairs.

“Robert… I don’t date on whims. We failed as a couple for a reason. I am not going to date you without being serious. It’s a ridiculous prospect.”

“Then… would you date me for real… again?”

“No, Robert.” Her look became distant. “I’m not ready to get involved with anyone again. After gaining and losing Alex…. Perhaps someday, but not in time to keep you from whatever Scott has planned for you.” She brushed past him and was on her way like he had never stopped her in the first place. 

Jean was in the library, apparently looking something up. He didn’t pay attention to what she was reading, but he did pay attention to how good she looked. Her hair was falling around her face in a fiery frame and her green eyes were engrossed in what she was looking over. “Jean?” he interrupted.

She looked up at him and smiled, “Bobby?” she greeted and asked his purpose simultaneously.

“Um… I’m in kind of a spot and I was hoping you could help me, Jean.”

“Oh, with what?”

“Well… I need someone to go on a date with me.”

“Oh?” she asked intrigued.

“Scott’s making me,” he explained. “Would you go with me?”

“Where?”

“Um… is dinner and a movie too conventional?”

“Oh, you want me to go on the date with you! Bobby, I’m married. To Scott. You didn’t forget, did you?”

               Bobby looked at the floor again. “No, I didn’t forget… I was just hoping that it would be that easy, y’know?”

               Jean huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.  “Have you tried Lorna?”

               “She said no.”

               “Annie?”

               “She’s with Alex and I’m mad at her.”

               “Rahne?”

               “Wolfsbain?  I hadn’t thought about her….”

               “You could ask her… or Dani, but I don’t think Dani’s into dating right now.”  Jean looked at the ceiling thinking about who else he could ask and muttered to herself.  “You could ask Marilyn.”

               “The woman with four arms??”

               Jean’s mouth quirked up in a half smile.  “Beggars can’t be choosers, Bobby.”

               “Fine, I’ll put her on the list too.”  Mentally, he struck her from the people he meant to ask and hoped that Jean didn’t pick up on it.

               “I can’t really think of anyone else at the moment, Bobby.  Scott didn’t say that it had to be a woman from the school, did he?”

               “Well, it kind of has to be since I can’t actually be anything but ice and a normal person would wonder why I’m colder than a dead body even if I had an image inducer.”

               “That would make things difficult.  Sorry, Bobby.  You’re on your own.  Good luck though.”

               “Well… Scott did say he had somebody picked out for me if I couldn’t find anybody.  Then that means somebody here has to want to date me.”  Bobby thought about it.  “It’s probably Marilyn,” he grumbled to himself as he turned to leave the library.

               Jean chuckled to herself and turned back to her reading.

 

               Bobby looked for Dani next and found her coming out of a meeting with her students.  He stopped her and asked, “Hey, um, Dani… I just—“  How could he ask something like this?  How was he going to phrase it?  He didn’t even know the woman.  “I was wondering… if you’d—go out on a date with this big hunk of ice.”

               “A date?” she asked as if she were paying attention to him for the first time.  She had been closing the door behind her and she looked over her shoulder at him a bit perplexed.  “But… I hardly know you, Mr. Drake.”

               Ouch.  That was… colder than I am.  “Well, dates are meant for people to get to know each other, aren’t they?”

               “That’s true, but I… I really think that you’d be served better finding someone else to date you.  Besides, I’m not interested in seeing anyone at the moment.”

               “It’s just one date,” he pleaded with her, his desperation quickly turning into anger.

               “I’m not ready to be involved with anyone on any level.  Thank you for your offer; I’m very flattered, but I really can’t.”

               Bobby sighed and turned from her.  Not flattered enough to go out with me, I suppose.  Maybe I should work on the flattering bit and try to be more… confident.  Yeah.   That’s it.  Rahne was his next target and he didn’t like what he saw when he went looking for her.  He peeked through the door that was slightly open only to see that golden student of hers kissing her… rather passionately.  What is it with me seeing everybody else’s passions and trysts but not getting any of my own?  This is ridiculous.  After he saw that, he wasn’t about to interfere in that mess.  He’d gotten into enough trouble and didn’t feel like messing with other people’s relationships again.

               Feeling dejected, Bobby went to the last place he thought he’d be heading.  The kitchen.  Marilyn wasn’t an ugly woman—well, if she lost fifty or so pounds, she’d look a lot better, but she wasn’t unsightly.  Still, Bobby wasn’t sure they would really… get along.  “Marilyn?  You in here?” he asked to the empty, but obviously in use kitchen.  Pots were boiling on the stove and the place was filled with steam.  It was making him feel all clammy just being in that room, but he decided not to fool with the temperature.

               He heard Marilyn’s voice from around the corner and found her coming out of the pantry with a huge package of spaghetti.  She smiled at him when she saw him.  “What can I do for you, Iceman?”

               “Um… I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a date with me?”

               Marilyn nearly dropped the spaghetti.  She had been trying to open it and nearly spilled it all over the floor; she was so surprised.  “A date with you?”

               “Well, yeah,” he said smiling at her.  She smiled back, but then frowned at him.

               “You would really want to?”

               Hm… not on a regular day.  “Yeah.”  Today’s not exactly regular though, is it?  “You probably want to have a night out with food you didn’t have to cook, right?”

               “But you… you like the pretty girls,” she observed a little downhearted, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

               “Hey, I happen to be the arbiter of pretty,” he quipped.  Although, he felt he would say anything at this point.

               She managed a small smile and then sobered up, looking him full in the face.  “I would really love to go on a date with you, Iceman,” she said.

               “Really?” he asked relieved.

               “But I don’t think that it would work out.  I mean, I like you, but I… I can’t even touch you.  I mean, I spend plenty of time in the freezer, but that’s different, you know?”  She also had her doubts as to whether he liked her like that or not.  Here at the mansion she could be accepted, but that was very different from being desired or sought after.  “So, I don’t really want to date you if it’s not going to go anywhere.”

               Well, at least they were all honest.  He knew that this damned mutation would get in the way of his love life!  Now what was he going to do?  He’d asked every woman in the mansion that wasn’t taken.  It was odd that there only happened to be three.

               He lazed about waiting for one of the women he’d asked out to come to him and say they’d changed their minds.  Really, he thought that at least Marilyn would, but she didn’t show and neither did any of the other girls.  The rest of the day passed regularly—as regular as things had gotten around the mansion, and he found that at least those three women were avoiding him.  He couldn’t blame them.  Even Jean was being scarce, though he was pretty sure that she wouldn’t come to accept his offer suddenly.

               He went to bed still hoping that he would get to have a girl say she’d accept.  His hope that they would sleep on it and think better of it followed him to bed, but didn’t wake up with him.  He had an odd dream about all the girls accepting his offer and fawning over him at the same time.  He dreamed about kissing again.  In his dream his lips were made of flesh as opposed to the ice they were made of now. 

               Trying to shake the dream, he went about his daily routine, hoping that Scott would forget about his threat by the time afternoon rolled around.  It had been around 1:00 in the afternoon and Bobby still refused to see Scott until that time.  He was called for at two.

               “I gave you twenty-five hours.  Who are you going to go out with?”

               “Nobody, Scott.  I think this is ridiculous,” he huffed.  “You have no right to tell me who I should see or even if I should see anybody at all.”

               “Then I’ll have to relieve you of your position.”

               “You’d honestly do that to me, Scott?”

               “I can’t have you here if you’re endangering people, Bobby.  You’re an adult and you should act like one.”

               “You’re always telling me that I should be a kid by the way you treat me like one!  I don’t have to go out on a date with anyone.  Nobody would even have me, Scott.   I asked every single woman I know in the mansion.”

               “Then don’t go out with a woman.”

               Bobby looked slack jawed at Scott.  “Not you too?!!”  He turned about exasperated.  “How can you all be doing this to me?”

               “I’m not conspiring with anyone, Bobby.”

               “Then how did you get this idea??”

               “Someone volunteered when I was talking to them about you.”

               “Jean-Paul?” he asked angrily.

               “You know how he feels then?”

               Bobby looked and sounded exasperated.  “How could there be any feelings involved, Scott?  He’s gay!” Bobby felt a hard impact on his jaw.  When he was able to look back at the direction it had come from, he saw Scott frowning at him, his fist still curled from the blow he had delivered.

               “I wish you could hear yourself right now.  You sound like a bigot, Bobby.”

               “Just because I don’t want to go out with a guy?”

               “No, because you’re judging people before you know them by a title you herd somebody call them.”

               “I know he’s gay!  He already asked me to—to be gay with him.  I’m not going to!  I’m not going to even if I do have to leave the school!  I don’t need you or anybody here!”

               “I’m not asking you to be gay, Bobby.  I’m asking you to be accepting of someone and to go out with him because you need a confidence booster.  He’s willing to be a friend to you, but you won’t even let him be that.”

               Bobby stopped and stuttered.  “You… you mean you didn’t mean it to be a date?”

               “When did I say that?”

               “I just figured… that’s what you meant.”

               “You figured wrong, Bobby.  Go with him out to a bar, go get something to eat together, I don’t care what you do, but I want you out in a social situation and you need to let go.  You’re too uptight and I’m worried about you.”

               Bobby started to feel a knot in his throat at the emotion he was feeling.  Scott was looking out for him and Jean-Paul wanted to be his friend… it made him feel cared about.  “I… I’ll go with him.”

               “Thank you, Bobby.”

 

 

 

               Scott called Jean-Paul in after Bobby had been dismissed and run off to do his chores for the day.  “Jean-Paul, he’s accepted, but he feels that it’s an outing between friends, not anything romantic.  He nearly left the school, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t put any moves on him because he’s very sensitive at the moment.  And please, Jean-Paul… be nice.”

               “I’ll do what I can,” he vowed, but was uncomfortable thinking about how many things throughout the date—or rather, “social outing between friends,” could go wrong. 

               Jean-Paul nodded and turned to go out the door and figure out where he was going to take Bobby.  They had to go somewhere that mutants were accepted because it was pretty obvious that they were mutants, but there wasn’t anywhere that was really—close.  Technically, he could take him anywhere in the world, but he didn’t know how Bobby would respond to being held for an hour or so.  Probably badly, if he could predict Bobby’s bigotry with any accuracy. 

               He wondered to himself why he kept torturing himself over Bobby.  There were men out there that would have him and he could probably find them with little trouble… but there was something about Bobby that made him want to wait as long as it took, even though he had resigned himself to the fact that Bobby would never want him, almost from the first day he knew about his own affection.

               Still he’d been unable to let go.  When he was mad at Bobby, when he was trying to befriend the man, when they weren’t speaking to each other… he still held the feelings that warmed his heart deep inside him tightly.  It pained him to think about letting Bobby go, but it pained him to think about playing this game further.

              

              

 

 

 

Notes for Future

 

Why does Remy fear Hank’s concern more than Hank does?

 

 

Have Remy give Hank head while he’s in his office and have Scott walk in on them, Remy hiding under Hank’s desk and watch Hank squirm!

Hank sucking on Remy while being inside him….

Oral sex is good… shower is good while Hank jacks Remy from behind