A Game of Cards...

((For full A/N please scroll down to the bottom.))


A GAME OF CARDS AND AN OPENING, OF SORTS…
*Authors: Mini and Twisted_Cuz
Part of the X-Communicated RPG


-PART ONE-


Jared sneezed, hand coming up automatically to cover his nose and mouth, blue eyes squeezed shut as his head swam with dizziness at the sudden motion. 'Ow ow ow ow!' He thought as the throbbing in his temples flared up quickly before dying away slowly. After a few seconds while he willed the pain and dizziness away, Jared opened his eyes and lowered his hand to wipe on the bottom of his red flannel pajama bottoms- they were dirty anyways, and not much mucus had come out. Tears had formed at the corners of his eyes and he swiped at the wetness with the back of his hand, blinking and contemplating. 'Damn that was a hard sneeze... I hope that doesn't mean I'm getting sick... Who'll take care of me if I'm sick??' A mental image of himself dressed in a robe and slippers, shuffling up to Remy or Alistair's doors with a hand full of tissues and sniffling made the blue-eyed man cringe. No, he wouldn't ask anyone to take care of him, that painted a too-pathetic looking picture for his liking.

Getting up from the bed where he had been previously typing away on his lap top, Jared crossed his large room and went into the bathroom, going over to where the toilet sat and grabbing up some toilet paper. After a minute he exited the bathroom, sniffling but feeling much better, holding a roll of toilet paper as he walked back to the bed and fell back onto it, laying the TP beside his computer. The homepage for his blog showed on the screen and Jared read over his entry, feeling that it was a horrible summary of what really happened but figuring it was better than just a blank journal. He marked it as private, which he knew would bug the hell out of said "little cousin", and logged off the site, pulling up instead MutaNet.net. It was a popular website group for young, impressionable mutant teenagers to go for advice and meet up with other mutants. If Jared used his actual stats some of the members might call him a pervert or a pedophile for hanging around these chat rooms and such, but the angel was neither- he just knew an excellent place for recruiting when he saw it.

***

An hour passed, with Jared switching his position more than a few times, his body longing for the beautiful desk he had owned in another lifetime, when someone knocked on his door. Cutting off some vapid little drama-king mid-rant, Jared signed off of MutaNet and switch the website to something tamer before speaking up. "Intrude!"
Clicking on to Media Player, he lowered the volume some so the person knocking on his door could enter and speak at normal tones.

Remy had been bored all day, Alistair had disappeared into his rooms, probably to toy with his billions of computers full of information that Remy didn’t understand… Alright, so it was more like five, built into one large one, but all he really knew about the man’s system was that it didn’t have a single solitaire game on it! Having been left alone the better part of the day, Remy found himself cleaning his room, washing dishes, and even contemplating mowing the slightly over grown law, but then sanity hit him and he appeared outside of Jared’s door, knocking. “Intrude? Cher I don’t never intrude on nothin’ you don’ want me in.” he smiled brightly at the man as he opened the door, a new deck of playing cards sliding between his hands easily. It was no secret that he adored the winged man now clad in flannel and black, all muscles and wings and delicious. Remy leaned against the door frame; his own body covered in denim and a thin t, and didn’t bother to hide his eyes as they traveled the length of body before him. “Jus’ wonderin’ if you wanna play, I’m bored.” He gave Jared a little wink to show that he would take any kind of ‘playing’ the man offered.

"You always seem to get into things, though… Kind of like a cute roach.”
Jared's face instantly lit up when Remy opened his door, the angel not having bothered to get up himself since he had known it would most likely be the charming Cajun- Alistair, though always a very clean and polite roommate, hardly ever came rap-tap-tapping on his door. Jared wasn't sure what the brilliant man did locked away in his rooms and, quite frankly, he didn't care, so long as it didn't either a) stink up the place, b) bring the police to their happy little home, or c) involve him in any way. Al was an okay guy, but the angel didn't want to hang out with him...

Now Remy on the other hand... Funny, sweet (in his own little ways), and much easier on the eyes than ole Al, Jared sometimes wondered why the Cajun had become a bad guy after having been so involved with the X-men, but he never asked. Everyone had their own story and not everyone liked to share, himself included. Jared grinned over at said man and shrugged a shoulder, moving the computer so Remy could sit on the bed as well. "Sure, you never did finish teaching me how to play Texas Hold 'Em."

“Dat cause strip poker is so much more entertainin’.” Remy all but purred as he made his way to the bed and sank easily into the mattress, making himself comfortable with one leg tucked in half Indian style while the other dangled with a little swing over the side. Shuffling the card he dealt them with no effort at all, eyes never leaving Jared. “Why don’ we play five card stud, deuces wild, de classics are always betta anyway.” He gave Jared a stunning smile as his eyes finally found the other man’s and he adjusted his position a bit to hid his interest. Jared would have to be either blind or stupid to not know how much Remy wanted him, but their little game was fun if a bit frustrating, and it built up Remy’s biceps.

Jared quirked a brow at Remy's squirming but otherwise didn't comment, a small smirk trying to appear on his face. When Remy caught his eye with his exotic red on black ones, Jared had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing out- the Cajun wasn't even trying to hide the attraction they both felt but Jared was cautious to act upon. It wasn't that he didn't want the beautiful man (far from it!), but a hot and heavy one-night stand would turn into an awkward morning after for roommates and the angel liked the easy friendship they had struck up so quickly.

Looking away from the penetrating gaze, Jared checked the cards he was dealt and sat in full Indian style in his red flannel bottoms and fit black wife beater, wondering if Remy was doing this to him on purpose. "You know I'm not good at cards so let's do an easy game," he spoke to Remy but kept looking at his cards. "And no making up rules this time."

Remy laughed quietly, eyes brightly shining for the angel as he mixed around his hand. He had dealt Jared three aces and a deuce and a three, his own hand all mixed and mingled, offering the angel the obvious upper hand. “I’s easy… you get three or four of a kind, deuces is wild, so they anythin’ you want them to be… you get a card you no want you toss it down and I deal you a knew one… easy, no?” he grinned again as he finished and nodded to Jared to go. “And there ain’t no rules to change, so you safe… maybe you get da hang of it we make a wager?” he quirked a brow at Jared, entertained by the simple fact of being in such close proximity to him.

The thick Cajun drawl sometimes made Remy a little more difficult to understand, but Jared figured he'd gotten most of what the man had said and really looked down to inspect his hand before doing a double take. His facial expression didn't change, but inside Jared couldn't believe his luck- if he had understood Remy correctly then he had a winning hand! Score! And right off the bat too... That was a mite suspicious.

Selecting the three, Jared tossed it into the small space between them, which was feeling even smaller than before, and gave Remy a triumphant smile, head cocked to the side cutely. "Alright, I think I've got it... What kind of wager did you have in mind?" He put on a mock-contemplative look before grinning again and straightening. "I'm seeing you in a dress, on your knees, on bathroom duty for a week."

Remy kicked himself mentally; he knew he should have given him Kings instead of Aces! Oh well! With an evil grin, Remy licked his dry lips and nodded. “Well I’m seein’ you in nothin’ but dat smile and an apron cookin’ me dinner.” He tossed down four cards before picking up the deck and dealing first to Jared and then to himself. “Is a deal then?” he asked with a growing grin, trying his best to look innocent and holding out a hand for Jared to shake.

Knowing that Remy was the ultimate in being a card shark, Jared knew he should be wary, but after a quick glance at his hand his confidence was restored and he merely grinned back, already picking out what color dress he was going to buy specially for Remy, along with the pumps, of course. And maybe some fishnets? The other man was going to look so adorable down on his knees, scrubbing away- and Jared was going to get it all on film! Extending his arm, Jared shook Remy's hand, an already victorious grin on his face. "Deal." Where their hands touched Jared could feel his skin heat up and squirmed a little himself now, the mental image of Remy on his knees, never mind what he was wearing, doing awful things to his lower regions.

Remy still hadn’t picked up his cards when he released Jared’s hand, wicked grin overtaking all his features. “Oh, I almos’ forget ta tell ya, ya get four of a kind wit a deuce ya win, but anyone get it wit de real cards… dey win.” He relished the look that spread across Jared’s features, somewhere between ‘oh shit!!!’ and ‘WTF?!’. Nodding to his hand, he asked quietly, “What ya got?” knowing he had won and that if things went properly they would both enjoy his prize.

TBC…

A/N: Everyone, please give a BIG hello to Remy LeBeau (a.k.a. Gambit) and Jared Montgomery (a.k.a. son of Angel). For a bit of history about these two and their involvement in the game leave request with your review and I’ll be sure to e-mail it to you, but if I get a lot of interested people then I’ll simply post it up for you all to read, in detail. For now all you really need to know is, yes, this is the REAL Gambit we’re using, from the X-men comic books, and Jared is the son of the “late” Warren Worthington/Angel, also from the comic books. Jared is an OC, but Remy is based off of his original character. Savy?

Now please review and check out the second part!