Written in the Stars April 13th, 1912. 7: 07pm by Adréa
Disclaimer: The song is from Aida, so credit to Disney. The Scarlet Pimpernel... I don't know who it belongs to now, but it was written by the Baroness Orczy. Well, everyone else seems to own the X-Men. Marvel, Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal, etc. etc. Why can't I? Look! They'll work for twinkies and beer! It's true! They did this fic for twinkies and beer. Although I had to throw in a few steaks and peeps somewhere...
Author's Notes: I tried to make it not exactly like Cameron's movie! But some things kinda snuck in there and stuck. Be prepared for suckiness! (that even a word?) Big shout out and thanks to my best friend JenN who unknowingly gave be ideas and knowingly gave me every ounce of support she could.
Author's Notes2: I don't even own Amy and Jenn for they are based on people I know. I'm currently working on another fic involving them that would go much farther into their personalities, so sorry if you don't understand things or what not because they aren't well developed in this one. Now, on with the show!
During dinner, Marie forced herself to not once glance at the table in which Logan and his friends sat. Even though she felt the heated gaze of him on her numerous times. Someone had tried to harm Logan by using her, and she didn't want the same people to feel it necessary to do it again. The feeling that his twin was involved in that also came to mind.
So instead, she would act like she was admiring her ring. Which served two causes. One: It made it look like she really liked it. Which she did, but not when she thought about what it meant. And two: It gave her something to look at when Logan was looking at her so she wouldn't glance back at him.
"Marie, dearie, what color did we decide would be the main scheme for the wedding?" her mother asked gently.
"Deep or light red, Mother. The color of passion and love."
"That's right. Oh, I only wish I could see you in your wedding gown. But I can imagine, and you'll look so gorgeous in my mind..."
Graydon smoothed a side of his slick, brown hair back. "Indeed. I also await that presentation with bated breath."
More conversation about the wedding took place all throughout dinner. It seemed to be the only thing anyone could talk about around her. Truthfully, she was rather sick of it. Still gripping to her fantasies of marrying for love, not money or a title, or anything else. Which was odd, given that her family had a prominent title and lots of money, what use would they have for more? Without that need, she should be allowed to marry whomever she desired.
After dinner, the men parted ways to go to the smoking room and talk about business and things that had no place for a woman. Before her father left, he gave strict orders that she was to take her mother to their room and to stay there. On her way out, helping her mother back to their quarters, Marie chanced a quick peek over at Logan. Unfortunately, at that moment he was in a conversation with his group and not looking at her.
So she continued on and got her mother to their room and turned her over to a couple of their servants. As she was leaving to go to her own room, a knock on their door was brought to her attention.
Curious, she opened the door and was greeted by Jennifer. One of the girls she met earlier that day. "Jennifer?"
Jennifer just stood there and smiled at Marie. It took a quick and harmless jab to the shoulder from the elbow of the young man standing next to her. Bobby, if she remembered correctly. "Oh! Um, we were wondering... A friend of ours is going to take us to the lower decks, would you like to come?"
"I can't, I'm grounded," Marie admitted with a sigh. It was so unfair. So she ran into a little trouble before, she took care of it, and Logan had sworn to protect her.
Jennifer laughed. A sweet laugh that made you want to laugh with her, even if you have no clue what was funny. "You're twenty. Officially, at eighteen they no longer have any right to ground you. Come on, be rebellious for once. Who knows if you'll be able to again."
She had to admit, the girl had a point. She was twenty, dammit! Why should she still be taking orders from her parents. She was a young woman, fully grown and capable of making her own decisions and following her own rules. Without complete carelessness, Marie wrote out a note to her parents and put it someplace where her father or a servant might find it. After all, it would a very bad thing to have them go through a repeat of earlier in the day.
Marie exited the room and joined the couple in walking down the hall. "So, who is this friend who's supposed to take us?"
"Remy LeBeau," Jenn answered. "He's escorting Amy to her room, she can't join us. Major migraine, poor girl. Remy and Logan practically had to carry her out of the Dining Room. They both should be joining us down there."
Logan was going to show? That made things even better.
Bobby lead the way to the third class area of the ship. As soon as they got here, he yanked off his jacket and bow tie. "I hate these things. Hank was right, the bow tie is the most devilish villain in the world. All in the name of fashion... If you ask me, it's not worth it."
Marie felt her heart rate increase ever so slightly. This was going to turn into her first real battle of the sexes. It was thrilling, to say the least. Which meant that she lived a rather pathetic life. "They aren't as bad as corsets. Imagine having to always wear those. You can never lace it up yourself."
Jenn agreed and Bobby backed down. "Okay, okay. I know better than to argue long with one woman, and I certainly know better than to argue at all with two. So I'll just wave the white flag now, you win."
A ways down the corridor that looked drastically different from the ones she was used to, loud music could be heard playing. The walls were just painted glossy as was the floor. Instead of the wallpaper, wood trimmings, and carpeted floor she was used to. The music got louder the further they walked until they reached an open door.
Inside it was just one large mass of people having a good time, drinking beer and smoking up a storm. The room was noticeably bigger than Marie first thought once she went down the small flight of stairs into it, but it was still packed with people. Hardly any room to move around.
If it weren't for Jenn and Bobby, Marie would have felt extremely out of place in her first class attire. Everyone around them were mainly dressed in dirty, torn, ragged, you name it, it looked like it had been done to it, clothing. Despite that, they were all laughing and having a great time. One might have felt bad for them if it weren't for that fact. The fact that they would have far more fun living the lives they did than becoming a member of the first class.
"Ah, chere, you must be de girl ev'ryone talks 'bout," a young man who came up beside her said. He had long brown hair drawn into a low ponytail and dark glasses to hide his eyes. His accent was peculiar and one Marie had never heard before. The man took her gloved hand in his and kissed the back of it like a gentlemen. He was a gentleman, for he was dressed in expensive clothes and carried a trenchcoat draped across one arm. "Remy LeBeau, at your service, Mademoiselle."
Ahhh, so this was Remy. Not bad... Not bad at all. The man was attractive and had the most charming smile to go with him. If Marie heard right, that Amy was quite the lucky woman to have this man wrapped around her fingers in such short notice. Jenn was lucky too, Bobby was so sweet and funny. They both were lucky... They appeared to be in love with the men they were with. Given that Amy and Remy had met on the ship, perhaps there was such a thing as love at first sight.
"If you are lookin' for Logan. He's right over dere, mon chere," he said and gestured to a corner table of the room where Logan was sitting with a beer in his hand and a cigar hanging out of his mouth. This looked so much more like his element. Marie was surprised to see how relaxed he was sitting there with his back to the wall and in perfect view of the stairs. The only way in or out of the room.
Pushing her way through the crowd, Marie sat down beside him, careful not to block his view of the stairs. Logan raised an eyebrow in surprise. Apparently, he hadn't expected her to come. It was then that Marie noticed the numerous empty glasses of beer that sat on the table. "You didn't drink all these yourself, did you?" Once the words were out, she wanted to kick herself. Of course he didn't, no human could and not be dead drunk.
"Yep," he replied calmly, cigar still hanging from his mouth. He took a puff and pulled the brown appendage from his mouth, reveling for a moment before blowing the smoke out.
She was surprised. Well, maybe surprised was too weak a word. More like... aghast. Did he honestly expect her to believe he drank all that beer and still looked and acted as if he was just on his first?
"You want one?" he asked in between puffs.
She didn't even hesitate in her reply. "Yes."
"Go get one."
For the second time within a minute, Marie was shocked, and just a little bit afraid. Until she saw the amused glint in his eyes and reminded herself that his twin would have facial injuries. Down here, on more of his turf than hers, he wasn't going to play nice-guy or gentlemen anymore. Perhaps it was fair in its own way.
Moving gracefully, Marie got up and got a couple glasses of beer for herself. After setting them down on the table, she made sure he realized that they were both for her and none for him. Logan gave her his half-smile at that, amused that she was playing along by his rules. If he wanted another beer, he'd have to get it himself, same as her.
They sat in comfortable silence as the Irish music played around them, the fast beat making her heart pump in rhythm. Marie finally broke the silence between them. "Thank you... for getting my ring. I thought I was dead..."
The man next to her simply shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing, took another large gulp of beer, and unbuttoned his dress shirt all the way down and opening it up some.
Good God... that's a chest... That was a chest. That was a chest unlike any she had seen before. Even though Marie didn't have another chest to compare it too in her memory, she was sure that the man sitting next to her had the chest of all chests. The muscles moved so smoothly whenever he moved. Her dark eyes trailed over it, drinking it all in as she was drinking her beer. She didn't even notice how bad it tasted compared to what she was used to.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her eyes glazed over his chest and to his biceps, then down his arms. His arm didn't appear to be injured anymore. "Is your arm alright?" she asked, puzzlement clearly etched into her face and voice.
"Oh, yeah. It's great," he replied, trying to hide the fact that he wanted to avoid the question, and failing. "It wasn't nearly as bad as it looked."
"You sure? It still looked really bad, you should still have it in a sling or something." The scraping noises of her chair scooting towards him made him pull away.
"I'm fine, really."
"Okay..." Maybe it was like the man thing she always read about in her books. They just didn't want the women to see how hurt they were for some odd reason. Though that would give them the opportunity to pamper them and cater to their every whim, and what man wouldn't want that? No one else would usually know about it.
She sat back in her hard chair, her spine perfectly straight despite the discomfort. As much as she forced it down, the hurt remained at his rejection of letting her even look. Once she thought about it, she realized that before they were alone, in private. Whereas here, they were in full view of a lot of people.
Yet again, they sat in silence. Neither saying a word, just stealing glances now and then.
Until someone came up to their table and bowed before Marie. It was Remy, he had extended his arm to her in the fashion of a gentleman. "Would you like t' dance, mon chere?"
What the hell. She was there to have a good time unlike that she had ever had before. And dancing the way they were was something she hadn't done before. It looked so... unchoreographed. And so fun at the same time. With a grin, she took his arm and allowed herself to be led to the area where people were dancing.
Remy immediately swept her into the music and into the dance, leading her on with the way his hands would apply pressure before his feet moved. With one hand joined with her gloved one, and the other on her waist, they were off. Dancing and laughing and having a rather good time. He spun her, dipped her, which she had to admit was quite an experience. And they hopped around like a couple of fools, just like everyone else.
It was so wild and carefree. Completely unlike the dancing she was used to that was so proper and every step was placed perfectly. This was uncivilized, improper gander. And she was loving every minute of her rebellious actions, even with this strange man.
She was having so much fun she didn't even notice the man standing behind until Remy ran straight into him. With a growl and a shove, Logan pushed Remy away from Marie. In protest she put up a pissed off front, and succeeded even though she was gasping for air.
Remy was also going to protest, but Logan cut him off before he could even begin. "Get lost, Cajun. I doubt your girl would like to hear of you gettin' a little too friendly dancin' with someone else."
Finally able to find her voice, Marie yelled at him. "How dare you ruin my fun!"
"I figured you were too caught up in it to notice his hand on your ass." Okay, so it was a lie. Truthfully, his face was getting too close to her exposed neck for Logan's tastes. And not all of it was from what the Professor had warned him about.
"It was not! Believe me, I would know! After all, it was my ass and not yours!"
They were creating a scene. And a scene was not something that they needed at that moment. Putting a hand to the small of her back, he pulled her closer and even though he hadn't a clue how, he began to slowly dance with her in time to the slow Irish song that was being played. If it weren't for his good hearing, the small gasp she emitted would have been lost to him in the music and background chatter. Her eyes had also widened and darkened some from their normal chocolate color as she looked up at him with surprise.
His breath was hot on her ear as he lowered his head and rested it gently against the side of hers, careful to have her hair protect him from her skin. Her skin that he hadn't the slightest clue what it would do to him and was slowly wanting to throw caution to the wind and find out. She smelled so good amidst the brewed beer, the cigarettes, the cigars, sweat, blood, and everything that made up everyone else. She was like a flower, something beautiful and colorful and smelled nice among the weeds of the people. The faint vanilla scent inflared his senses and when he felt her breath just mere centimeters from his neck was driving him to the point of madness.
When he moved a little more than intended, her lips brushed the skin on his neck. Reflex made them both jerk apart as if touched by the scorching flame of a candle.
"I'm sorry-" they both sputtered at the same time, which in turn caused her to pause and smile while he raised an eyebrow.
The moment over, Marie asked him what time it was. When Logan took out his pocketwatch, he was surprised at how late it was. They must have been there for hours and not known it. But there was no wonder why Marie was so exhausted now, to top that off with the dancing she did earlier.
"Ah should be gettin' back," she said, her voice still thick with emotion from the brief contact.
"I'll escort you."
She nodded and smiled in reply before taking the lead in going up the stairs. Someone rushing down them made her stop her assent.
Bobby grabbed onto Logan's shirt sleeve to get his attention. "We have a problem. Where's Remy?"
Without even looking, he jabbed a thumb behind him where the Cajun was using his charm on a little girl who was almost asleep in her mothers arms. "What is it, kid?"
"Amy's missing and Jennifer disappeared"
"What d'ya mean?"
"I mean missing. As in gone. Amy's no longer in her room. There's no way she could have gone anywhere in her condition. It would have lasted well into the morning. And Jenn just disappeared as I was walking her back to her quarters. I felt a great gust of wind, then she was gone."
"Bobby, you take Marie back to her room. I'll get Remy and we'll search."
She had wanted to thank him for the wonderful time, but he already had his back to her and was pushing through the crowd. With a sigh, she silently headed back to her quarters and her life.
All references to characters belonging to the X-Men Universe are (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, duplication or distribution of these materials in any form is expressly prohibited. No money is being made from this archive. All images are also (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities; they are not mine. This website, its operators and any content used on this site relating to the X-Men are not authorized by Marvel, Fox, etc. I am not, nor do I claim to be affiliated with any of these entities in any way.