6078/Casa de La Rogue

Casa de La Rogue
Date of Scene:	31 December 2018
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Rogue and Psylocke's chat is interrupted by an injured Gambit.
Cast of Characters:	Rogue, Psylocke, Gambit

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Rogue has posed:
Rogue's apartment/loft almost a week after Christmas. There's still a tree up in the corner of the main living room area, the hardwood floors are covered with rugs and nice furniture like any other home. The kitchen is just off of that living area and this is where Rogue is currently located. She's seated on a stool in front of her marble counter-topped island, her laptop is on the counter in front of her and she's reading something on its screen. There's music playing softly in the background on her television/stereo setup that is hung from the brick wall. Her German Shepherd "Aces" is laying on the leather sofa and chewing on a plastic squeaky dog toy.

Its a pretty casual affair at her place right now on this evening. She's also sipping a beer... sure she's not even 20 yet (next month) but she has her ways of getting alcohol when she wants it.

Psylocke has posed:
Tonight, Rogue isn't alone. It took a little bit of tracking but Betsy managed to find out where she was living and had stopped by for a visit. She was seated in the chair in the living room, since Aces insisted the couch belonged to those with four legs and not two.

She was dressed casually in jeans with a nice button up blouse, her jacket laying over the arm of the chair. A beer is in her hand and she doesn't seem bothered that Rogue is enjoying an alcoholic beverage. Americans had such strange ideas about the laws regarding that, in her opinion.

"Rogue, I mean it. You really are missed," she continues from the earlier points she had made. "We have college courses now, if what drove you to come to the city instead. We could use you back with the team though. Things are...scattered. It would be nice to have everyone back home again." It isn't just Rogue but others as well.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue finds what she's looking for on the laptop and she gathers it up and slips off of her chair at the counter. She's wearing a big comfy dark green sweater and some black and gray cotton pants, with dark green socks, comfort-wear. She walks over toward where Betsy is and smiles faintly at her. "I got stuff I gotta take care'a. Stuff that might not be on the level with how the X-Men operate. And if it takes me down, I don't want t'have it hurt ya'll too." She pauses beside Betsy's seat and she offers the other woman the laptop. "I already was gonna switch over t'classes at Xavier's, until this came up. I had the paperwork already in-play... but look."

She stands beside Psylocke at the chair and points at the laptop's screen. On it is a news article about a commune in western New York state that was found completely frozen in a trance-like state. Twenty five people all staring lifelessly forward at nothing. The people were all gathered up and taken to a hospital where they eventually woke up, having no memory of what had caused them to fall into the trance.

"That." Rogue says. "Thats what happened t'my family's commune when I was a kid. It means the people who did it are near by..." She takes a small swig of her beer. "It means they know where my parents are."

Gambit has posed:
The knock is a swift "Shave and a haircut", followed by a soft but relatively urgent "Rogue, yah 'ome chere? MAh phone got busted or Ah woulda called." He also didn't buzz up and got past any security doors to get to her apartment door but... well hell at least he didn't just come in through the window.

Psylocke has posed:
At the sound of the knock, Betsy glances over to the door as she balances her beer on her knee, holding the bottle pretty loosely. The accent sort of gives away who is there and she arches a brow at Rogue.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue looks over to the door as well, but Aces is the one who jumps up first and rushes toward it barking exactly twice before he stops and then just stares at the crack of the door beneath the knob. He's a very well trained dog... Rogue had paid for the best since he spent the past several months living at the Avengers Mansion until that place had vanished back then--thankfully they'd been together at the park when that happened rather than IN it when it vanished--even if it was back now, they'd moved out then and not ever gone back.

"I'm surprised he didn't use the window." Rogue mutters as she walks away from Betsy. "But yeah, thats why I don't wanna get ya'll inta this kinda trouble. Cause, if I find out who took them? I'm probably gonna punch their face in."

She moves to the door and opens it up, she doesn't have it locked... anyone tries to break into this house is going to be sad about having done it.

She looks up at Remy and stares at him for a second. "Whats wrong?" She asks him.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau smiles at her, giving her that wolfish grin. "Got inta a lil bit of a disagreement wit' some t'ugs. Dey disapproved of mah 'umor and stunning good looks. Ah disapproved of dem running drugs." He winces slightly, "It was closer ta come ta yah den go back to de mansion. Ah was 'oping yah'd be willin' ta tape mah ribs foh me." It's only then he notices Betsy. "Ah didn' realize yah 'ad company. 'Ey Dare 'Lizbet'.

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy tracks Rogue's passage to the door and watches as she opens it. The explanation is heard then she gives a nod of greeting to Remy as she offers her beer up in a mock toast.

"Seems you are losing your touch," she says in a light tone, obviously teasing. "Letting them actually hit you? Tsk tsk." She sips her beer then settles it back atop her knee.

Rogue has posed:
Aces wags his tail when he sees who's on the other side of the door, after all Remy is the one who bought the dog for Rogue, back when he was large enough to sit in the palm of his hands, now he's huuuuge.

Rogue looks the man over and then glances back to Psylocke, she smirks and shoves the door the rest of the way open. "I'll go get the first aid kit." She says then. "But Betsy should probably take a look at your wounds. I'm liable t'make it worse. I can't easily apply bandages and such with gloves on, and well... yeah, don't gotta explain nuthin' more."

With that said, Rogue sets her beer down on the counter island with a little click of glass on stone and then she scurries off toward the other side of the lofty where a hallway has been built inside what was one part of this once-a-warehouse building.

Aces of course leads the way back to the sofa where his toys are.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau gives Betsy's comment all the consideration and respect it deserves. He sticks his tongue out at her and blows her a raspberry. He smirks a bit and lets the dog lead him to the sofa, taking the time to ruffle his ears. "'Ey dare Aces, yah been taking care of our girl, huh?" he asks playfully... but then he does what he came to do...which means taking off his trench coat and the upper portion of his battle armor. He does have a nicely developing bruise on the side of his ribs. "In mah defense, Selene was dare, and so was Creed. An' anot'er player too. Didn' recognize 'im. All black suit wit' a Bat motif."

Psylocke has posed:
"Batman? Like /the/ Batman from the Justice League?" Betsy asks as she remains comfortably where she is. She isn't trying to get up and check his wounds. He seems to be moving around pretty well so it's likely just a bruised rib or maybe a fracture. She doubts it's broken from his breathing. "I thought he was just an urban myth."

She shakes her head a bit but does end up focusing back on one of the names he said. It makes her frown darkly. "Creed? Where was this at?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's only out for a second cause the kit is hung on the wall behind the door. She hears the jist of what they're saying because the place isn't that large! Just two doorways down the mall hall to the bathroom and the bedroom.

"Batman was in Manhattan?" She asks as she re-emerges and walks toward where Remy is, she eyes his injury with her dark brows down while she unzips the kit and offers it to Psylocke. "He went to Xavier's once, ya know? Jean told me about it, well, e-mailed some of us about it. She said she was super tempted t'peak inta his mind but she refrained." This is said with a small smirk. "I woulda jumped right in t'see what he's hidin' under that cowl. I bet its George Clooney-esque good looks." She flashes a grin then before she sits down on the edge of the sofa chair.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau nods slightly, "Maybe it was 'im. He certainly fit de part. He looks to Betsy and adds "evah 'e is, 'e's 'ad ninja training. He fight allot like yah do." He shrugs a bit, "What c'n Ah say, Ah gotta respect someone wit' secrets. Got enough of mah own, non? All Ah know is Ah was following down a lead about some big drug deal going down. De Black Queen show up. Pretty sure Sabertoot' being dare was a coincidence, but.." he shrugs slightly. "Den Batman jump in, den Ah jump in. Some guy wit' stone skin got a lucky punch in.. Selene made de whole truck vanish 'fore Ah could blow it up."

Psylocke has posed:
Sounds like a Tuesday. But it's Sunday. So quite unusual in that aspect at least.

"Oh really? I may need to go look up this fight location." She has a score to settle still with Sabretooth. If he has training now, it would be more challenging but she doubts he could beat her again. She isn't the woman she once was. Literally. She does rise to her feet, moving over to take the kit offered by Rogue and settling in on the arm of the couch by Remy.

"Broken, cracked or what?" she asks as she starts pulling out the tape and ace bandages.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue crosses her arms over her stomach and stares at the both of them for a second before she turns and starts back toward the kitchen. She gathers up her bottle/drink and then takes one out of the six-pack on the counter to bring it over and offer it to Remy. She extends the bottle out to him, base first. "Look at you, fightin' with the Batman. I bet you get an e-mail recruitment message. Maybe you'll get t'put on a cape and a little cowl with ears too." She grins and takes a sip from her own bottle of booze.

"I think he's okay, Bets." Rogue says. "I think he just wanted t'take his shirt off in fronta us." She has to be herself, after all, and she likes to tease and poke at people for the sake of 'fun'.

Gambit has posed:
"Cracked, Ah t'ink. Not'ing too serious. Won' miss Scott's five Am Training exercise foh it.. Might sleep t'rough it, but..." He grins wickedly as he takes the beer from Rogue, he touches the cap with his thumb and a flash of pink later it pops off flipping like a coin. "Of course chere, Ah mean yah gotta admit it's a nice beautiful woman ta Remy ratio we got goin' on right now." he smirks playfully. "Ah coul' nevah work wit' de Bat. Dose domino masks make mah nose sweaty."

Psylocke has posed:
"Which means you've worn one before to know that fact," Betsy points out as she gets the tape ready. She puts her hand on his ribs, feeling along where the bruise is carefully then giving a nod. She removes her hand then brings the tape around. Hopefully, he isn't ticklish since her hands brush over his ribs with each circuit of his torso. The process starts and shouldn't take very long as long as he doesn't squirm a lot.

"I'm pretty sure you're right, Rogue. Although since when did he need an excuse to do it? Not like he's shy." Yes, she's talking like he isn't right there in front of them hearing every word.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue sits down on the arm of the chair that her laptop is resting on and she holds her bottle between her hands over her knees and just listens and watches. "I don't know what you got yourself inta this time, Cajun, but it sounds like you're lucky ya walked away with as minor'a bruises and bumps as you did..." She raises her bottle up for another drink and Aces comes over to place one of his chewtoys in her lap. She takes hold of it and squeeks it a couple times before she tosses it across the room and the young dog goes skittering after it, sliding across the nice wood floor.

"Could be worse, I guess." Rogue then says. "I had someone tell me I shoulda worn a mask when I was with the Avengers, t'hide my identity. I told them that I encourage home invaders. I welcome the idiocy."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau smirks a little bit and grins, "What c'n Ah say, Ah went t'rough a phase." He says with a playful grin, "Ah wore a balaclava wit' a domino mask undah it and a 'ood pulled up. All yah could see was may eyes, which some people fin' creepy foh some reason." He says with a grin, "Ah'm not ticklish chere, but if yah gonna get fresh, jus' remember Rogue in de room, non?" he says playfully. He holds perfectly still to let Betsy work, only moving to sip his own beer. "De 'ole t'ing accelerated quickly. Ah coulda 'andled it on mah own if needed... Probibly gonna get 'ell foh not calling it in 'owevah."

Psylocke has posed:
As she finishes taping, Betsy gives him a light twap with her fingers right on that sore spot. It won't be enough to send him into severe pain but it should twinge ever-so-nicely. "That's for the getting fresh comment."

She packs away the leftover tap and bandages into the first aid kit then closes it up before rising to her feet to give him some space instead of crowding him on the arm of that chair. "Why wear a mask?" she asks, looking at Rogue. "We don't as X-Men so why should you as an Avenger? Many of them don't, or their identities are public already."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue shows a little brief grin as Psylocke gives the injured Cajun a thwack to the side for his commentary. "Had it comin'." She says then while the German Shepherd brings the toy back because once that gate's open, its hard to shut it again with a young dog like Aces. Rogue flips the plastic newspaper toy end over end in her hand and the dog stares at it every millimeter of its journey like its the single greatest object in the entire world, waiting for it to be thrown.

"So you're not gonna wear a 'domino' mask and join up with the Batman, but... did ya find out why he was in New York? Did he chase all the filth outta Gotham and shove it all over here now?" She glances to Betsy and grins at her. "Masks would hide just how damn pretty we are anyhow, we'd be doin' the world a dis-service by wearin'em."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau gives an overly dramatic wince as Betsy thwaps him in his side. Not seeing a reason to put his shirt on immediately afterwards, he doesn't, instead taking a deep drink of that nice pain killing beer. "We didn' 'zactlly 'ave time ta 'ave a chat, but Ah'd guess 'e was dare foh de same reason as me. Large drug shipmen' goin' outta dat were'ouse. Mus' 'ave some connection ta Got'em. Probibly chasing it up or down de pipeline. Dat'd be mah guess. Now stop torturing de poor guy an' t'row dat t'ing."

Psylocke has posed:
"Precisely," Betsy says to Rogue for the reason they shouldn't wear masks. She heads back over to the chair she vacated, not sure she is up to the level of dog hair she might receive by sitting on that couch. The laptop is picked up and she glances at the screen, looking at what Rogue was showing to her earlier while she speaks. "It would make sense he might be following it. He does get out of Gotham at times with the Justice League. Though I doubt they would be tracking drugs. So probably something that would cause an effect to Gotham so he showed up." She shrugs, since it is all theory anyway. "I take it you did manage to stop the shipment? "

Rogue has posed:
Rogue hears Remy's words and she smirks softly yet still, and she gives the chew toy another flip in her hand before she lightly under-hands it right toward Remy's lap... and here comes a giant dog on a bee-line for that newspaper that the Cajun has now!

Rogue looks over to Psylocke, smiles lightly at her. "I'd like t'see the Batman someday. Like, in person though... I seen small clips of him online but they were all cell phone recorded and generally dark and wobbly, some of them I'm pretty sure were just nerds in sports equipment painted black, leapin' around like damn fools though."

She stands up and picks up the First Aid kit to take it back to the bathroom, as well as that cap that Remy had blasted off of his beer bottle, she likes to live a tidy lifestyle and the cleanliness of the apartment shows that.

"Scott's gonna make ya get up and go t'his 5 AM thing anyway, ya know, he doesn't care if you're bruised."

Gambit has posed:
"Merdi!" Remy curses as his eyes suddenly get huge. Barely remembering /not/ to charge the squeaky toy, Gambit scoops it up out of his lap and throws it towards Rogue's hallway, banking it off two walls and into her bedroom. "DAt was evil chere," he mutters darkly, though it's obvious he does see the humor in it too. He shakes his head at Betsy. "Ah t'rew some cards under it, blew out de tires and who know what... but Selene manage ta 'port de whole t'ing away... dat woman got some serious power.

Psylocke has posed:
"That was the truck you mentioned her teleporting away," Betsy says, repeating what he already said earlier but now getting the full context of it. "Which brings up another question. Whey would Selene even care about a drug shipment? Or was she simply doing it keep the heroes from achieving their goal?" She shakes her head a bit, eyes going back to the information on the laptop.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue watches the chew toy bounce off the walls and into the doorway of her bedroom and she just sighs as the big dog rushes past her to go and pick it up, not even letting the item lay for longer than a second on the floor without being snatched back up again.

She vanishes into the bathroom though and comes back a few second later after turning the water in the sink on for a couple of seconds. With the light flipped back off she strides back out and looks between the two of them. "Who the hell is Selene?" She then abruptly asks, having not ever dealt with the Black Queen in her time with the X-Men.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau nods to Betsy and shrugs his shoulders at her question, when Rogue asks her own he sighs, "Black Queen of de 'Ellfire Club. She old. Like really old. Rumor is 'er parents were farmers. She didn' t'ink it'd work... Not 'er parents farm mind yah, de 'hole farming in general t'ing." he says as he sips his beer one more time emptying the bottle and standing up "Mind yah dis was a box truck full of drugs.. Shipment dat size might be on 'er level, depending on what it is..

Psylocke has posed:
"I don't know much about her myself. Just her connection to the Hellfire Club. I think the New Mutants back in the day had some contact with her but that's all." Betsy shrugs, tapping a few keys on Rogue's laptop and firing off an email to herself with the information there. That way she can look at it more later at her leisure. She sets the laptop aside after she is done, focusing on the two. "I wouldn't think she's be dealing drugs. I guess it's possible."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue steps over and picks up the laptop after Betsy sets it aside, she closes the top on it and moves to sit down on the edge of her wooden coffee table in the center of the living room rug. Aces rushes past her knees as he moves toward the 6ft tall Christmas tree in the corner of the room where all of his toys he got for Christmas are piled up inside of a metal ice bucket, the dog starts sniffing around in them for his next favorite.

Rogue just sips her beer and she grins at the both of them. "Hellfire Club... that does sound familiar." She says then, tapping the top of her laptop with the covered pads of her gloved fingers. "Thats a pretty old group isn't it? I think I read about'em before, or seen a video of'em." She's a kid of the internet age, she's grown up on Youtube!

"Selene, the Farmer, is now in charge of it and she's... what? Evil? Hell-bent on... something bad?" She looks between Gambit and Psylocke, then exhales sharply.

"I'm leavin' early in the mornin' to go t'where this stuff happened that I showed ya, Bets. Hopefully this city's still standin' by the time I get back."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau raises an eyebrow at that, placing a hand on his injured ribs as he moves the wrong way and causes the injury to sing. "Where yah goin' chere?" he asks curiously and a bit concerned that he is just finding out that she is flying off somewhere...apparently without even telling him.

Psylocke has posed:
"I'm certain it will be. It's stood this long," Betsy replies. She gives Rogue a serious look. "If you need backup, you let me know. I'll be there." Then she falls silent as she hears that question from Remy, arching a brow at Rogue that she hadn't told him her plans either.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue offers the laptop over to Remy so he can open it up and read about it. He's heard her talk about this stuff before in the past, how her parents vanished and how she's wanted to delve deeper into investigating it but has always put it off... usually with excuses revolving around her own well being, mentally, physically, financially, her education, so on and so forth.

She remains where she is seated on the edge of the table and holding her half finished beer. "I'm just gonna drive out t'that small town and see if I can poke around, talk t'some folks about it. I'll just tell everyone I'm a journalist. I got some fake credentials in my duffle, they always work whenever I wanna play that angle. People just start gabbin' like mad." She shows a quick grin. "Sometimes I think folk are just thrilled t'have somoone to talk too."

She shakes her head and draws in a breath. "The people who did this thing? They're likely gone by now, I mean its been a week. But maybe I can find _some_thing out."

Gambit has posed:
"Ah'm goin' wit' yah." he says in typical Remy instant decision fashion. He offers her her laptop back and says "Gimme a few hours ta get to de mansion an' pack an ovahnight bag an' a few decks of cards." Then before she can object he adds, "If dare somet'ing bad dare, yah need someone ta watch yah back. If not, jus' 'ow many people yah know 'alf as charming as moi? Not to mention good excuse ta get me outta Scott's torture session."

Psylocke has posed:
Strangly, that gets a bit of a frown from Betsy. "If you want him along. If not, I'll be certain he goes to the torture session. Whether he likes it or not." She gives a smirk then it fades as she gets more serious. "I understand this is something personal that you might want to tackle on your own." She glances to Remy. "The best we can do is be available if she needs us once she gets there. Give her some space to work on it and through it."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue looks between the two of them, she nods her head, sips her beer and reaches a gloved hand up to stroke some of her white bangs out of her face and back over an ear to keep it off of her cheek. "I appreciate that, but really, I don't think that this trip is gonan lead t'any action. I'd be... shocked if there were still lingerin' elements of whoever, these people are, that're doin' this."

Her eyes go up to Remy. "We ran inta them once in Canada, with Lorna and Ororo. At that Darkmere Castle. That was quite awhile ago, ya probably don't remember. But I can't have ya runnin' around with busted up ribs..." She then looks back to Betsy and smiles at her. "I'll be fine though. What on this planet can even take me down?" She's gotten a lot more arrogant since she joined and worked with the Avengers too, she was a mess when she first made it to the X-Men, unsure of herself, unable to keep her thoughts straight in her head and not entirely sure how Carol Danver's powerset even worked.

Things have changed since then...

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau sighs and stands, obviously not happy with Rogue's words, but not wanting to fight her either. Especially in front of Betsy. He glances at the Ninja-by-way-of-England and says :Ah rode mah bike 'ere, but if yah coul' give me a lif' back, Ah'll come get it aftah dese ribs 'eal up in a few days.." He then takes Rogue's gloved hand and kisses it gently, "Yah be safe chere."