The X-Project

After her day at the spa, Lorna gives Remy a call and they meet for drinks. Any type of sauveness continues to elude them both but they fumble through anyhow with the help of several drinks.




Remy ducked past the gaggle of stockbrokers and into the bar. He's got Lorna's call an hour ago, and had nearly gotten lost trying to follow her directions. He'd wanted to call her in London, but hadn't had the words to say. He wasn't sure if he did now, but he wasn't about to miss seeing her.

She did like her upper class places. Remy was glad he was wearing a suit under his trenchcoat for once. Meetings in the morning, and Emma had threatened to make him think he was the outside of a sausage roll if he didn't wear something suitable. He caught sight of her at once, standing near the bar. "Lorna?"

Lorna turned away from the man who'd been trying for the last twenty minutes to charm her number out of her without a second thought, cutting him off in mid-sentence. Her smile, initially polite, widened to genuine pleasure. "Remy!" She grabbed her drink off the bar and walked quickly over to him, moving easily in her ice-pick heels. "I was afraid you weren't going to make it."

"You think dat I would miss..." Remy looked her up and down for a moment. "dis? I hope dis all not just for my benefit, chere." He smiled and waved towards the bartender for a drink.

She blushed slightly and laughed, "I was at the spa. They made me pretty. Since I was here, I figured I'd give you a call and let you tell me how pretty they made me." Her free hand fluttered over her blouse and skirt almost nervously, betraying nerves that belied her light tone. "How have you been? It's been a little while."

"Been in London. Got to rescue Wisdom's sister. Did you know dere's a person actually nastier den him?" Remy picked up the glass that had been placed on the bar and guided her towards one of the side tables. "I, uh, got you something." Remy searched through his pockets and came up with a small box.

She didn't mean to recoil like that. It was a present not a bomb. But it was a small and jewelry box shaped, what was she supposed to do? Okay, probably not recoil from that either. "You didn't have to do that." She reached forward and took it carefully from him before they sat down at the table. Without really thinking about it, she sat next to him and turned his direction, legs crossed. "What is it?"

Remy saw her sudden change, and mentally cursed himself. Too far, too fast, moron. He managed to keep the thoughts from his face as he took his seat. "See, been learning 'bout people, chere. One of de things dat Remy learned is dat when you give a gift, you supposed to make dem open it to find out."

He gave her a grin, hiding his own inner turmoil as he sat down.

She gave him a grin back and lifted it to her ear, "Can I shake it?" She did, lightly, cheating slightly and giving the EM fields a quick touch as well. Silver chain. Okay then. She lowered it back to the table and slid a newly manicured nail beneath the wrapping paper, opening it carefully at first then when the paper ripped, laughed and tore the rest away.

"Well, you officially ended your chance at de exciting career of bomb disposal." Remy said, and she flicked the paper at him with a smile. She opened the box, and Remy leaned over to touch the piece inside. It was a piece of jade, intricately carved and fastened to a thin silver chain. It was small, delicate and subtle. "It's from Central America. 'bout hundred and fifty years old." He tapped it lightly. "It's de same colour as your eyes."

She touched it lightly, "It's beautiful." Lorna looked up at him, "You really shouldn't have."

"Well, I..." Remy trailed off at her look and took a drink to cover his uncomfortableness. "You say dat because you think dat I should have spent de money, or dat I crossed de line?"

Lorna blinked, startled, nerves jumping a hundredfold. "I...Remy. I don't even know what the line is. We...never really figured out what we're doing."

"Non. We haven't." Remy said, and gulped the last of his drink. He knew what he wanted to say, but just couldn't. Instead, he picked up the necklace delicately in his long fingers, and gently affixed it around her neck. "It's pretty. It matches your eyes exactly. It made you smile. Dat's enough for me right now." Remy said, with a small smile.

She shivered slightly when his fingertips brushed the sensitive skin at her neck. "Is that what you want to do? Just focus on right now?" she asked softly, mouth suddenly dry. She felt like she was sixteen again with no idea what she was supposed to do.

"I don't know. Remy never done dis before, chere." Remy broke the contact, unwillingly, but for the best. He was terrified of going too fast, or making the wrong move and driving her away. "I was kind of hoping you'd have some idea."

"I can't remember. It's been a long time since I was at this part." And she'd never been here like this. Not when it mattered and not when the stakes were quite this high. "I...what do you want?"

Finally, back in the lizard brain of LeBeau, sense woke up, courtesy of his training. Lorna was scared, unsure; her body language screamed it. For the first time in a while, he suddenly was grateful for what he'd gone through. He didn't want her unsure, or scared. He wanted her to make her decision when she was ready. That was the only way he'd be able to accept that she shouldn't be with him.

"What I want is dis wrong rating for dis bar, Lorna. We strictly in PG-13." Remy grinned, and kissed her hand. "I don't want to live just in the moment. I don't want to start planning for de house in Jersey either. I'm not really sure what I want at all for de future. Right now, I want to make de beautiful woman beside me laugh and smile today as a start."

He could make her do both and blush at the same time. She wasn't really sure how he did that but the heat in her cheeks proved that he could. "That you can have. Pretty poor trade if you ask me. I get pretty jewelry and you just get a smile. But you're the one who declared the rating so oh well. We'll stay almost family friendly."

"It not nice to tempt Remy like dat, chere." LeBeau said, a hitch of his eyebrow. He suddenly paused and took a deep breath. "Something dat I wanted to talk to you 'bout. Remy going to be living back in de Big Apple."

Her hand tightened on his as her stomach flip-flopped. "Really? Why, did you upset the crazy lady that you work for and she ran you out of her city again?"

"Nothing dat easy." Remy waved for another drink, at the very least wanting the protective camouflage. "You know dat Wisdom isn't coming back to de school, oui?"

"You know, I can't say as I ever even noticed that he was back." There were plenty of people at the school that Lorna made it her business to keep track of. The grumpy Brit had never been one of them. "Where's he going?"

"Here. De city." Remy added a glare on top of his order, as the bartender delayed between his drink and the girl with the impossibly short skirt. "He's going to use his connections to start digging into all de mysterious stuff going on wit' different governments and people. Moira and dat Frost are footing de bill. He asked Remy to help."

Lorna received another drink from the server though her current one was still half full. She looked confused momentarily then dismissed it. "Well, that sounds like...a lot of tedium. So you and Pete are going to play Undercover Blues now? Does that mean I have to start calling you Enrique and speaking in code?"

"Only if dat's your kink, chere." Remy made a gesture at the bartender which was approximately 'where's my drink' and received what seemed to be 'this is my banana' back from him. "Between de two of us, dere's a lot of things dat we can get in and out of dat wouldn't be good for Xavier's reputation. I'll be honest, it feels right. More den keeping pimps and killers in line in New Orleans."

"Sweetie, so long as you think it's the right thing to do, I'm just going to wish you the best. Please don't tell me about it though because God only know what the two of you are going to get up to." She sipped at her drink, feeling like she was letting it go to waste if she didn't.

"Remy not exactly sure what's going to happen. De important thing is dat I'm going to be moving into town." Remy finally got a drink, the wrong one, from the waitress. With a sigh, he put it on the table. "So, um... if you want to see me, I'll be around."

Lorna finished her first drink and switched to the second. "Will you really? Is that an invitation?" She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled slightly. "You don't sound terribly enthusiastic about it."

"I don't know how dis part goes, chere. I want you to be around. But I want you to want to be around more." Remy shook his head. "Dat didn't even make sense to me. I... dinner. Frost has arranged de crappiest apartment building in Manhattan set aside for us. Do you want to come over next week? I'll cook you dinner."

Her eyes widened slightly and she sipped at her drink to avoid answering right away. It gave her time to shove the nerves from her voice. "I didn't know you cooked." Lorna wondered if he'd ask her to stay. And whether she wanted him too. Why did everything seem like it was rushing even when they were going nowhere at all?

"I spent six months as de zombie slave of Tante Mattie. You pick up a few things." He grinned. "It's all cajun, and you could probably do better, but one thing dat I've learned is dat food someone else makes for you always taste good."

She smiled, "I hate eating my own cooking so I'd love to come over. Should I bring a housewarming gift? You said us...does that mean you're sharing with Pete? Is there a wedding registry I should look up?" Teasing him is so much easier than trying to be serious. When they're serious it's scary.

"Dat's not even funny." Remy took a sip from his mismade drink and made a face. "I don't know all de details, but I'm pretty sure dat I've graduated to having my own place. I'm not about to become an 80s sitcom living wit' Wisdom. Cain was bad enough."

"Aw, look at you, all grown up and living on your own." She reached out and chucked him lightly under the chin. "Okay then. Be sure to tell me what you're going to decorate in and I'll get you something tacky that won't match. And then I'll bring the wine so that you'll forgive me for it." She went to take another drink and discovered her glass was empty.

"Think dat you empty and dis place isn't going to care." Remy was nudged by yet another of the stock broker crowd, calling loudly for a Heineken as he ran into him. "Can I interest you in a walk? See de sights?" he said with a crooked grin.

Lorna was of the opinion that she could probably have gotten another but wasn't sure that she should be having more. "I think seeing the sights sounds nice." Her head was swimming just a little. It was nice. "But these shoes, not exactly made for walking." She straightened one leg to show him. "How about something non-walking?"

Remy instinctively bit back his natural response to that, both not wanting to push Lorna too far and also too obviously admiring the long shape of her leg. "Maybe we just take a drive den. After all, don't want to mess up a day at the spa." He threw some money on the table and offered her his arm.

She stood gracefully, swaying only slightly as she did. "Good God, no, we don't. I didn't give some frightening woman with a dubious French accent $300 just to waste it." Her hand settled on his arm then slid down to lace her fingers with his.

"See, dis is de part we need theme music for." He joked, guiding her out of the bar to the envious looks of others. In part, he hated himself for wondering exactly when it was all going to come apart. But the rest just gloried in the moment.