Welcome!

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“The church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully”
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It wasn’t a club, rather it was a bar. That wasn’t as seedy as is sounded, it was a reasonably nice bar, a family resteraunt by day and a bar at night where local bands would play. Rogue sat at one of the high tables, that was surrounded by tall stools, but was by and large meant to be stood at. Rogue perched on the edge of one of the stools around the table. Tonight she had gone for a rose chiffon mini dress. She wore thick black tights and a pair of Chinese Laundry black over the knee boots. As usual her arms were clad in a pair of long gloves that came to her upper arm. Rogues hair was swept up out of her face, although her two skunk like stripes framed her pale skin. Her make up was dark and dramatic this evening, her eyes accentuated by the dark eye liner and deep crimson lips.

It wasn’t that late but already a decent sized crowd had started to filter in, the juke box in the corner had started to spit a series a rock tunes, much of it hair rock like poison. A large group of what appeared to be college freshman had settled into a corner and seemed to have set up an impromptu pool competition among themselves. They seemed more than a little drunk judging by the shouting and cat calls to any passing female. A group of three passed her on their way to the bar, and on their way back with arms full of beer, one stopped at her table and leered in what he clearly thought was a seductive manner. Hey Dollface, wanna party with us tonight.

Rogue flashed him a seductive smile, and looked up at him through her lashes. ‘Suga’ Ah would love to party, but Ah’m not drunk and Ah have no intention of getting drunk anywhere near you’ she said her tone starting warm and flirtatious but becoming cold as she spoke. Subtlety was often lost on drunks so she needed to be harsh. When the frat boy had scowled and lurched off, chasing another passing female. Rogue rolled her eyes and glanced over shoulder looking for the person she was supposed to meet.

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Word Count:391
Tag: Matt
Graphics credit: me
Lyric Credit: Russian Proverb
Notes: none

Life had been on warp speed, the world seemingly put in a pressure cooker for the past week. Kassie had been shot in the stomach and the leg, and he'd been healing her every day after work as much as he could sneak in. She didn't want him to heal her, he didn't want her to hurt, though. Of course she told him he could use his powers on someone more worthy, but in his experience, he had met nobody more worthy of his loving care than her that needed it. Days of healing her after coming home from work had shortened the days because he often fell asleep shortly after, nuzzled into her. He had almost forgotten his fast-approaching birthday.

Lately he had been taking steps to control his allergies to meet her halfway, or at least he'd been trying. He didn't want to separate her from Deimos and Argus, and he had been around her almost obsessively when he wasn't at work, making sure she was comfortable, making sure she was alright. Kassandra wouldn't let him feel guilty about her having been shot, she was trying to make him a new shirt. He almost felt bad for her feeling so responsible for his Knights Who Formerly Said Ni tee shirt being destroyed - it wasn't her fault, it was the fault of the gang-bangers he'd never thought would affect his life more than having to save one or two now and then.

The first few days after the bullet he had been trying to rein her in, keep her from overdoing things, then he was exhausted, wearing himself out from working then healing until he couldn't hide his need to rest any longer, then sleeping up against her. It was an experience that was bringing them closer in adversity and causing a bit of hard and fast relationship evolution. Tender kisses were delivered between the two of them with a bit more warmth. By his birthday he had nearly forgotten about it, thinking "this is Friday" before "this is my birthday". He almost went into a Friday shift at Starbucks, realizing halfway through showering and changing uniforms that he could put on normal clothes, that Kassie had already baked a cake, and a pie, and some cookies, and that she would soon be back in his apartment suite for his big 21.

That night had started a marathon of adult-related activities. Since he'd turned 21, the usually very alcohol resistant couple were testing new possibilities together, by virtue that they might find something acceptable, and they were in good company. It had started with playful kissing that turned to what his cousin Kathryn identified as "snogging" to sweaty, unplanned, inebriated sex. It had been painfully awkward, as well, since Kassandra was in the healing process. He felt like it was too soon, too sudden, but again, the whole world had been put on an evolutionary pressure cooker and now he was choking on Shipwreck Casserole. Well, figuratively - literally he was drowning in soft brown curls, his body damp with sweat and "icky", slightly. They had been 'dating' less than a month and now they were what was considered a true item. The virgin knight had been deflowered.

So the whole world seemed to be jumping around like a cricket avoiding a lawn mower. The way the couple was handling it for the moment by looking to the horizon for incoming sex education Jedi Masters and gracefully skirting the elephant in the room in the awkward "Let's not talk about the painfully awkward sex we had for the first time ever". She was being diplomatic by not asking him if it was always as bad as the first time, he honestly couldn't tell her from experience but hoped so, and the world just kept on spinning. Matt went from feeling confident with the "score" to feeling a little dirty for "taking advantage" of Kassandra to feeling a little embarrassed by the elbow-nudges from family members who could either see the signs of "I have been sexed" or heard from those who could.

The twenty-seventh he had popped down to Oriental for a day trip, leaving early morning and coming back the next morning. His cousins and sister were there, most of whom figured out easily and quickly that there was something different about him. Kathryn had disseminated exactly why after a moment of silence on her part. He figured the woman found it amusing - she was probably only there to poke at him about finally being a "man" anyway. At least she made sense sometimes. After a round of elbowing and claps on the back, he was put through a round of "test the booze". So that he wouldn't balk at any of the liquors, his family tried to space them somewhat evenly with increasing alcohol per volume content. The strongest they let him even taste was Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey - he promptly spat it out and went diving for some water. It wasn't his stuff. By the time he was completely sober, it was too late to drive with his poor night vision. In the morning he headed back to NYC with his first ever brand-spanking-new hangover. Somewhere along the road he stopped for pancakes at Denny's then kept going.

Now, after a loooong nap, a shower, and finally unwrapping the non-alcoholic gifts from his family, he was ready to go out to the bar with Rogue. In a worrying moment he wondered if he would soon be pickled at this rate. Nah, he'd taper off after the initial spike, and this was more of a social venture than anything. It wasn't like he would make a habit of booze cruising when he oftentimes got carded for trying to buy Sudafed or fireworks. Of course, some people would kill to look years younger, but he just wanted to quit being asked his age. He was debating growing a beard, which surprisingly did not take much. At this pondering he pulled out his ID card and showed it, a New York driver's license that proclaimed he had turned 21 just two days ago.

The shirt he was wearing was layered over a white 3/4 sleeve shirt, a black tee from Frank that claimed in backwards print "I AM NOT AN AMBULANCE". She'd found it amusing that she got him that shirt when he worked as an EMT, and he had found it vaguely amusing. Matt was also sporting a black hat with a somewhat narrow brim over his hair, just trimmed recently by his mother. When he saw Marie, he grinned, though the grin faded a little when a member of the male species harassed her temporarily. Now as he entered he got a few stares as drunks tried to decipher his shirt.

When he sauntered up to her, he was tempted, so very tempted, to give her a bear hug, but he remembered her mutant powers had returned. It was disappointing, really - he was becoming even more tactile with Kassie being around him constantly. There were so many things he learned to express with feeling up close instead of seeing that he was forgetting a few things to make room. Realizing Rogue didn't have super crazy sensitive hearing like Kassie or Argus, he called to her, a short "Hey Marie!" His somewhat less smooth Northern accent met her as there was a united front of North and South to keep out the jerkwaffle Guido/Fratboy front. Somehow he wondered how he would drop the sexbomb on Marie. Maybe it would be better to not. She didn't get much tactile interaction so it would probably be one of those "Yew bastard" moments. When he got to the table, he climbed up onto one of the high stools, feeling a little taller for a moment and checking out her interesting outfit.

"How'reya doing Marie? Sorry I'm a bit late. I woulda come earlier but I just rolled out of bed and got dressed. I went with to Selinsgrove and we caught a movie then come back to my parents' place. The cousins got me a little tipsy and I got back to town this morning. Don't see you much."

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“The church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully”
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Marie wasn’t technically supposed to be in a bar but she would be 21 later in the year. She had always found it much easier to get into bars than any of her male friends, it seemed to be the case that any of the female X-men could talk their way into a night club with a flutter of their lashes and a flirting glance at the bouncer much easier than any of their male counter parts. In fact time and time again the girls would be waved through when the guys would have to produce fake ID’s or try sneaking in the back. Even now she sat with a beer in front of her, light because anything more than that would piss of Logan with whom she had made a tentative deal. She could have a drink and he would pick her up, if and only if he couldn’t smell it off. So she figured a light beer followed by a high number of sodas to further dilute the smell. She took a sip of the cold larger and relished the fact that it cooled her mouth. Ok so she wasn’t totally a fan of the taste, but it was alright.

She heard her name called and looked over her shoulder to see Matt making his way through the crowd towards her. She made a small wave and took another sip of her beer, before shimmying her stool over to make room for him at the table. How'reya doing Marie? Sorry I'm a bit late. I woulda come earlier but I just rolled out of bed and got dressed. I went with to Selinsgrove and we caught a movie then come back to my parents' place. The cousins got me a little tipsy and I got back to town this morning. Don't see you much. he said in pretty much one breath and Marie smiled at him. ‘Hey suga’’ she greeted and smiled more to herself than him. Matt’s accent in its own way was as thick as her own and it was true that at times she found it hard to understand his turn of phrase and the way her phrased things. ‘Ah’m fine hun, havn’t been waiting that long anyways. How is the birthday boy?’ she asked him.

As he joined her, Marie motion to one of the waitress to bring him a drink and suppressed a snicker at his teeshirt. It was his birthday after all the first round by all rights should be on her. The dumpy red head made her way over to their table, chewing a pencil between her vivid red lips, her makeup too over done in an attempt to look younger than her years, all it did was make her look like a man in drag. Alright hunny, what ya having? she asked removing the pencil from her mouth and a note pad form her apron. ‘Ah’ll have another light and eh…Matt what about you? she offered.

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Word Count:503
Tag: Matt
Graphics credit: me
Lyric Credit: Russian Proverb
Notes: none

‘Hey suga. Ah’m fine hun, havn’t been waiting that long anyways. How is the birthday boy?’

"Birthday boy wants another nap. Birthday boy got put through the gauntlet by his cousins yesterday. I slept so long when I got home that I felt tired again. It'll wear off, maybe with caffeine."

Matt felt like plunking his head down on his arms but instead yawned widely, hand over mouth. When the dumpy coppertop came over to take his order, he blinked blankly once or twice first before registering exactly just what the woman wanted. He'd almost asked if it was a Pepsi or Coke establishment before nearly giving himself a "shoulda had a V8" forehead smack. The rough sound of the woman's voice had only added to the illusion that she'd rushed here straight from a night out at the drag club.

‘Ah’ll have another light and eh…Matt what about you?'

"er...ah... Light. Yeah. One of those."

Though he'd already shown his ID, he reached for his pocket, eager to prove once again that yes, he was old enough for this. Yes, he had come to a bar. Yes, he looked like a teenager and he was aware of this fact. Sometimes it was nice to look youthful but every once in a while it got a little ridiculous. It was time to push the focus over to Marie, though, since all week he'd been in the limelight and he was bushed. Maybe it was that he didn't want to talk about his sexcapade with Kassandra, since he really didn't know what to say about his family meeting either without referencing it when the cornerstone of his day was being appalled when his sister death-hugged him because his loss of virginity meant that he was straight after all.

That had been fun. His parents may have been perfectly accepting of mutants but they did not want a homosexual in the family.

"How you been?"

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“The church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully”
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As Matt scrambeled for his ID Rogue hid a smirk behind her hair and another sip of her drink eager to prove that he was old enough to be here. Marie was only 20, she wouldn’t be 21 for another few months but it hadn’t stopped her thus far. She had snuck into a few bars with Logan, who no one challenged about Id for himself and anyone with him. As such most of the bars that she frequented in the city knew her face and she tended not to get hasseled. Of the two of them though she looked the older, or at least she did tonight.

Marie let out a light laugh ‘Burnin’ the candle at both ends ahe we?’ she joked, between his family and what had happened to his girlfriend Kassandra in recent weeks she should hardly be surprised that the boy looked all but exhausted, but there was something else as well, something that Marie just couldn’t put her finger on. She drained her beer that was now all but luke warm, or at least room temperature and accepted the new bottle that the waitress brought. Condensation clung to the side and she wiped it away with a gloved hand. She paid the waitress and tipped the girl generously.

How you been he asked and Rogue gave a shoulder based shrug. ‘Complicated’ she admitted unsure as to wither she should go into the situation with Gambit, Bobby and Kitty or not, Matt had enough on his plate at the moment. ‘Lets just say that a one man and one woman relationship might be much easier than what Ah got going on at the moment.’ she said ruefully but with a slightly self derisive laugh. She took a long sip of the cold beer and inspite of herself she let out a logan like sigh as the cold beer chilled her mouth. She hated the fact that sometimes the little idiosyncrasies of others she had absorbed bubbled to the surface and manifested. It was never that much, just enough to remind her of the person who originally owned the mannerism.

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Word Count:503
Tag: Matt
Graphics credit: me
Lyric Credit: Russian Proverb
Notes: none

‘Complicated. Lets just say that a one man and one woman relationship might be much easier than what Ah got going on at the moment.’

Matt always hated to hear news like that, but from Marie it was something... new. He'd had friends who were quite the harlots, which he dealt with good-naturedly, trying to help them out of their situations. They were good people deep down, they just had a habit of falling into pitfalls of destructive or overly complex relationships. He didn't expect Marie to get caught up in one of them, but then, it could happen to anyone in the right situations. Still, he wasn't too good at doling out relationship advice, especially when he had enough problems trying to get past the beginning stages of a monogamous relationship.

"Guess I can feel a relief kinda like schadenfreude then. Got a one man one woman relationship and I'm still treading water."

Getting dunked.

Trying to give relationship advice was not his forte, and he tipped generously with Marie when he received the beer, cracking it open for a try. Of all the things he'd tried with Kassie for his birthday, beer was not one of them. It tasted odd, and he couldn't get over his cousin Kathryn calling it bottled piss. The association with urine was too strong as he tasted the bite in it and put it down at least temporarily. By all accounts he'd heard, American beer was just good to get drunk on after massive quantities, not good to taste.

Really, he didn't want to get drunk again.

"You know, my family thought I was gay..."

:: :: :: ::
“The church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully”
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"Guess I can feel a relief kinda like schadenfreude then. Got a one man one woman relationship and I'm still treading water." he said and Marie let out a light laugh. ‘Ha, between us we really have this stable relationship thing licked don’t we’ she said referring to their mutual lack of experience, it was all a little new to both of them, she had never been comfortable with the physical aspect of any relationship she had ever been in, but in recent weeks her dose of the physical had gone up, and while she didn’t know it yet but her friend had just out paced her in the physical realm.

She noticed him wince after taking a drink of the bitter amber liquid. She smiled softly to herself. She remembered herself making that same face herself the first time she had sneaked a drink of Logans beer one evening. She made an even more pained face after Logan had discovered her in the kitchen with a few of the older students. Yeah that hadn’t exactly been the smartest thing she had done in her young life. Thankfully Logan was quick to anger and also reasonably quick to forgive. She took another sip of her beer, she hadn’t liked beer at first but she had gradually gotten used to it, and now she found that was reasonably good when she wated something refreshing, but in truth the mild taste and the lemon after kick was part of the reason she mostly drank Coronas.

"You know, my family thought I was gay..." he said and Marie almost spat into her beer as she chocked back a laugh and tried to prevent the Corona making a return down her nose. She coughed a little trying to clear her throat. ‘Really?![color] she exclaimed laughing lightly. . [color=green] ‘And what exactly did you do to convince them otherwise?[color] she asked, although she coming to a fair assumption of what the answer might be

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[color=green]Word Count:503
Tag: Matt
Graphics credit: me
Lyric Credit: Russian Proverb
Notes: none

"Well... I was actually intimate with a woman. Big shock there."

Matt gave an uncomfortable look. It wasn't because he'd made love to Kassandra, but because his family had made a big honkin' deal of the whole affair. Being twenty-one was different than being twenty, a lot more than he would have ever expected. Right after the change of a season, his life had taken a strange little twist, and now he was a man in the sense that he'd deflowered a woman. After the fact he didn't regret who he had done it with, but that he hadn't premeditated it. It was a night born of too much alcohol for those not used to it, and at least there hadn't been worse decisions made.

"Blegh. Beer sucks."

A change of conversation was welcome, and he sat in silence a moment after his proclamation that beer was not good. Before he was twenty-one, he hadn't had an alcoholic drink that he could remember, other than very watered-down wine. What he needed was advice, somebody to tell him that what he'd done wasn't wrong because he loved Kassie anyway, and maybe that he should relax. Since his girlfriend had been shot by not-so-friendly crossfire, he was wary of letting her borrow his clothing without something under it, scared of letting her out of his sight in rough areas. But at the same time, he knew she was safe in Deimos' hands.

He wanted to change it up, so he tried to focus on her instead of what was going on with him. His stresses weren't that great, so he thought, so maybe he could shift the spotlight. It wasn't really a place he liked to be in, the limelight. In regards to her relationship issues, he thought and dug for a name,

"Bobby again?"

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“The church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully”
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Well... I was actually intimate with a woman. Big shock there." he said awkwardly, clearly not comfortable with the idea just yet and Marie smiled, she had only just taken the ‘big step’ herself not long before when she had been on the cure with Bobby so she knew what he was going through in so far as they were both ‘late bloomers’ in other peoples eyes. ‘Well get you – look like you are a man now suga’’ she said smiling at him. She was pleased, she had met his girlfriend only once in passing but she had seemed like a nice girl, pleasant, another member of the Human-Mutant alliance so she was clearly not a nut job.

Marie took a sip of her beer, this one bottle would probably last her most of the evening, that was generally how it worked, one bottle of beet followed by a lot of soda to try and wash the smell from her breath, it generally took that much to mask the smell sufficiently to stop Logan from smelling it on her. He had an unfortunate knack for catching her when she came in late in the evening. If she could avoid him until the morning he would never find out, the smell would be sufficiently masked by the smells of the mansion and she could shower then. Somehow though he seemed to have a nack for coming on her in the evening.

"Bobby again?" he asked clearly trying to change the subject from the topic of Kassandra and now it was Rogue’s turn to turn beetroot. ‘Ehm – not exactly’ she admitted a little guiltily, ‘There is a new guy at the mansion, he was there before Ah came, before Liberty, then left and now he’s back. He’s been attentive’ she said, it was a weird situation for her, she had never been so persistently pursued by anyone in her life before, let alone someone who was older than her and considered to be rather debonair. In her heart of hearts she was afraid there was something else behind it, a caveat or other waiting to jump out of the wood work, it seemed to good to be true.

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Word Count:503
Tag: Matt
Graphics credit: me
Lyric Credit: Russian Proverb
Notes: none

‘Ehm – not exactly. There is a new guy at the mansion, he was there before Ah came, before Liberty, then left and now he’s back. He’s been attentive’

When conversation swung back to Rogue, Matt leaned his head on his palm and listened quietly, calmly. It was something he was good at, other than giving physical affection in platonic ways. With Rogue, he could not practice the latter regularly. In some ways, Marie having her powers back sucked bigtime. While he liked giving hugs, he kind of liked having his healing energy stay in his body.

"You and Bobby had always had your ups and downs. I hope this'll work out for you, hon."

With his comment about Bobby, he hoped he didn't sound like a busybody. He really didn't know the boy very well, but he knew that the whole situation in Rogue's life had a lot of turbulence, and he just wanted there to be calm waters for her. Whoever had been "attentive", he didn't want the man in question to be an ass to Rogue. He almost reached his hand to clasp hers in a friendly gesture, then stopped, remembering. Touching was a no-no with Rogue. An awkward look of not knowing what to do crossed his features and then he regained his state of outward serenity.

"I really do hope it'll go well, Marie"

:: :: :: ::
“The church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully”
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When she had been able to touch other people Marie had been a tactile person, she had dedicated those few short months of touch to making up for lost time. She had hugged every person she had come across in the thirty mile radius, had become almost European in her use of the double and triple cheek kiss, the high five, and every single other way she could come up with to touch or be in contact with another person. Matt and a few others had been on the receiving end of the majority of this misplaced affection. She had even hugged the guts out of Kitty Pryde on more than on occasion – when she thought about it now she must have been on crack, the thought of hugging Kitty at the moment made her skin crawl. The two young women were far from being friends, even then, it was perhaps, because with her ability to touch she had been more secure in her position with Bobby.

"You and Bobby had always had your ups and downs. I hope this'll work out for you, hon… I really do hope it'll go well, Marie" Matt consoled and Marie gave a little scoffing laugh and took a haphazard sip of her beer. She didn’t know what she hoped form this Gambit situation, or even what she could expect to come out of it. Logan was being surprisingly accepting, but Scott and others, even to an extent the Professor who had not said anything, but the looks he kept shooting Rogue made her a little uncomfortable. Like he knew and had an opinion that she wouldn’t like but was keeping it to himself, as he often did, determined to let them make their own mistakes.

When Matt stopped short of taking her hand, Marie balched a little – another reminder of all that she had lost when her powers had returned. What kicked her more was the question of which was her real personality, was she the tactile Duracell bunny from when her powers were gone, or was she the stoic creature that she appeared most of the time, and in truth she didn’t know which she preferred – there had to be a nice balance between the two were the real non-neurotic Rogue.

‘Thanks, suga’ His name is Remy Le Beau’ she said with a laugh and lowered her voice to a mere whisper. ‘He is one of us. –so he sometimes goes bah Gambut’ she added ‘ Ah mean its just one of those weird complex things that always seems to happen to meh – never did ever take the easy route huh?’

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Word Count:503
Tag: Matt
Graphics credit: me
Lyric Credit: Russian Proverb
Notes: none

‘Thanks, suga’ His name is Remy Le Beau. He is one of us. –so he sometimes goes bah Gambut. Ah mean its just one of those weird complex things that always seems to happen to meh – never did ever take the easy route huh?’

Matt loved his friend dearly, but he was glad he wasn't Rogue, that he didn't have her abilities - to be a wild card at the expense of a key part of interaction. She couldn't have physical affection, which he found as healing as his own powers. Maybe he would pray that she would one day be able to touch others without taking their abilities away or hurting them, without the mutant cure. He wanted her to have control, to be able to do what she could but be able to touch other people. It would have been the best of both worlds, and he wanted only the best for his friend.

The way she whispered was almost like conspiracy, and the fine hairs on the back of his neck prickled up in response. After the initial warm feeling of being included in some quiet secret, he thought about why they had to do so and it left. Even in in a bar he was pretty sure was run by mutants, they were looked down upon. Did Rogue, who could pose danger to others, see their views of mutants much differently than him, he wondered. As someone who absolutely could not do any damage with his abilities, he felt as though the mutant community was entitled to be treated the same way as "humans". But yet they had to whisper at the fact that a man went by another name.

She deserved to be happy, and she definitely hadn't taken the easy way out on this one. But some poet or other said that the road less traveled.... something about the road less traveled. It was more interesting or something. Or it had wolves at the end. As much as he liked books over math, he really didn't remember much of the finer points of roads less traveled and whether or not they may have wolves at the end. (He was at least somewhat certain they didn't, however, because he would have probably remembered that useful bit of information - untraveled roads have feral animals, Beware!)

Matt asked for a coke from their waitress and then smiled at Rogue, patting her gently on the shoulder, where there was cloth to keep them from touching with their skin.

"As long as you're happy, dear, I'm happy. I wish... you know... it was easier."

:: :: :: ::
“The church is near but the road is icy, the bar is far away but I will walk carefully”
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Mattie was a sweet guy, his new girlfriend was a lucky girl, she knew that – although to Marie he was nothing like the way she viewed Gambit. Matt was the little brother she never had, someone she could speak in conspiracies too – the benefit of course was that in their relationship their was no mother or father for them to rat the other out to – cus sure as hell Logan didn’t want people tattling to him. Still like all siblings sometimes she was as jealous as hell of him and his powers. Matt had a power he could control, even a job that he loved, she was still quiet some time away from getting her life on track – she wouldn’t be able to start the teacher training course until the end of the year – and then she still needed to decide if she could risk being a teacher with her abilities -risk hurting some poor kid. In fact they were like two halves of the same coin, Rogue could drain the life from someone, and Matt could restore it, heal the fissures of nature that she made.

"As long as you're happy, dear, I'm happy. I wish... you know... it was easier." he offered and Rogue gave a lopsided smile – it wasn’t easy now, but she hoped that it might be – She was working with Mark Ferriman, another mutant from the Human-Mutant alliance, on breaking down the barriers that bound her powers, that made her dangerous to others when she touched them. There was ‘potential’ in her apparently to be able to control her abilities –that her skin may no longer be a killer. That maybe- just maybe eventually she can have a ‘normal’ existence.

‘Thanks hun’ she said revelling in the small amount of contact he affored her through the arm of her shirt. She bit her lip wondering if she should jynx herself by explaining what she was trying to do with Mark ‘Ah hope it will get easier hun – soon – Ah’m working with one of your colleagues actually – Luc put me in touch with him – Mark Ferriman. ’

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Word Count:503
Tag: Matt
Graphics credit: me
Lyric Credit: Russian Proverb
Notes: none

‘Thanks hun. Ah hope it will get easier hun – soon – Ah’m working with one of your colleagues actually – Luc put me in touch with him – Mark Ferriman. ’

Matt lit up a little bit at the mention that she was working with Mark on control of her powers, though he wondered how exactly Mark was accomplishing it. Maybe his ability afforded him some resistance to her abilities. That might make sense. But what really mattered was that Marie was getting the help she deserved, and he knew nobody better for directly breaking down the barriers and showing control. Things were falling into place for Marie, and even as life started to get a little bit more complicated on his end of the spectrum, he was happier for it. What he wanted to give her was a hug, but he didn't want to touch her on dangerous skin.

Even as her friend, he was a bit afraid of what she could accidentally do - he didn't try to let it show. While he walked on thin ice with her, he didn't want to let her down by showing that her ability freaked him out a little. She was his friend, she deserved better than to have to worry about being able to touch other people. Just for a day he wondered what it would be like to not be able to touch anyone, then picked up his drink with a frown and sipped distractedly, trying to think of something else than the life-sucking qualities of his friend.

"So when's your birthday, Marie? I always forget."