Galatea

Galatea Chapter Nineteen (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta...your witchy goodness knows no bounds. *G * InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink, and Dracena are splendiferous for archiving/hosting. ProPhile will catch up sooner or later, lol. Morgan-you survive? Readers/Reviewers: *twirly dance * Thank you!!!!!!!!


"Rogue."
"Mmm?"
"Rogue?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you even paying attention to me?" Todd nudged her with his foot, frowning.
She looked up from her book and smiled. "Of course, sweetie. What is it?"
"I was sayin' that everyone's waiting...Movie, remember?"
"Oh, right." She shut the book with an air of regret and stood, stretching on her toes. "I'm ready."
Todd stared for a long moment at her outfit. "Are you, um, gonna wear that?"
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's very...Goth."
"Never bothered you before," she shrugged. "Uh "Uh, you never went full out Switchblade Alarmclock1 on me before..."
Rogue smoothed her hands over the black vinyl corset with it's silver bondage rings and smiled faintly. "It's comfortable."
"Won't you get cold?" he hazarded.
"I have a jacket." She bent to tighten her boot lace, her pants slipping a little lower than was socially acceptable in the process.
Todd nearly swallowed his tongue. "Are you even wearing underwear?"
"Nope," she grinned. "Let's go."
"Whoa..." He grabbed her wrist where her studded bracelet covered it. "I can't let you go out like that!"
"You can't *what *?" she demanded in a very dangerous tone. She bent so their faces were a bare inch apart. "Did you just imply you had a measure of control over my life?"
Todd blinked, then straightened. "I'm just sayin' you're my girl, yo. An' I don't like guys starin' at you..."
She snarled, "Take it as a compliment!" and stalked out of the room.
"Where's Todd?" Lance yawned, waiting by the front door.
"In there," Rogue snapped, jerking her thumb in the direction of the rec room. "You wouldn't tell Amara how to dress, would you?"
"Not if I wanted to keep my balls, no." His gaze swept over her vinyl and silver clad form. "But she doesn't dress like a dominatrix." _ In public _ he added mentally.
Rogue frowned, seized by a moment of self doubt. "There's nothing wrong with how I dress."
Todd finally appeared, looking oddly blank. "Ready?"
"Waiting on Amara. Storm said she needed her real quick." As an afterthought, Lance added, "So, you think Rogue's dressed to scary or something?"
Todd glared first at Lance, then at Rogue. "No, she isn't scary."
The silence that fell was fraught with tension. Finally, Rogue broke it with, "Well then why'd you say what you said?"
Her boyfriend sighed. "Never mind...you look fine and I don't care who stares at you. It's your thing."
She frowned, feeling suddenly clown-like in her pale makeup and dark eyeliner. The vinyl felt hot all of a sudden and she looked, she realized, like a girl trying to be noticed rather than one who wanted to blend in and be alone. "Todd..."
"So," he said, cutting her off, "which movie did we decide on?"
Lance shrugged. "Dunno. I'm not gonna be paying much attention to it anyway," he laughed.
Rogue sighed and leaned against the door, waiting while they debated the merits of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre marathon or Halloween. She wondered if it really bothered Todd, how she dressed, and whether or not she should care. She was thus the first one who noticed Amara, standing in the doorway leading to the study. "Hey, what's with you?"
Lance and Todd shut up as Amara shuffled into the foyer, looking distracted and upset. "I, um, think I'm not going to go to the movie..."
"What is it?" Lance asked immediately, going to her. "You sick?"
"No," she murmured, rubbing at her temple. "I seem to be in a bit of a predicament..." Belatedly, she smiled brightly and said, "I know how much you were looking forward to spending all day together... Maybe tomorrow?"
"Uh, yeah... Look, I can stay here with you..."
"No, no, go on..." She waved him off. "I need to go lay down for a moment."
Lance stared after her as she trod up the stairs then turned to Rogue and Todd. "Look, guys..."
"Maybe tonight," Todd sighed.
Rogue was tempted to ask why they, just the two of them, could not go out, but she held her tongue. Instead, she followed Todd to the kitchen and waited as he poured a glass of juice and picked at a dry patch of skin, seemingly ignoring her. "Todd, does the way I dress really bug you?"
He sighed wearily and put his glass on the counter, hopping up to sit next to it. "You ain't gonna let this go, are you? First my mom, now this..."
Rogue felt like she had been slapped. Hard. "Sorry. Forget I said anything." She spun around and strode from the room, not even looking back as he called for her. Slamming the door to her room was only minimally satisfying, even if it did make Paige shout for her to shut up from down the hall. She immediately went to her bathroom and began scrubbing at her face with the wet washcloth from her shower that morninot not even bothering with cleanser. Once her skin was raw and red from the hasty make up removal, she pulled the bat wing shaped barrettes out of her hair and let it fall every which way. Her corset top and pants followed her boots to the floor, then her jewelry. She stared at herself, a plain looking girl with strange hair, and sighed. Without her armor, she was nothing special. She looked, she thought, like every other girl in Bayville. Maybe a little too skinny, a little on the tall side, but plain. The tattoo on her thigh was the only extraordinary thing about her reflection. With an angry growl, she stomped into her bedroom and flung the closet door open. After a concerted effort, she found pants that weren't black, dark green or blood red or made of some strange fabric, a shirt that covered more than it revealed and was almost an ordinary color. Finally, she found her old sneakers, abandoned since that ill fated cheerleading experiment months before. Her fingers itched for her rings and her face felt naked without her paint, but she forced herself to look away from the full length mirror on the back of her closet door. A moment's hesitation almost did her in, but she knew Kitty was out at the library so she had no choice. She dialed the number slowly, each digit like a nail in her coffin. She held out hope that no one would answer or they would be busy but to no avail. "Hey, Tabby..."
"Rogue? Holy shit... Thought you were Kitty when I saw the number on the I.D....what's up?"
"Um...want to go shopping?"
"Huh?" There was the sound of the receiver being hit against a hard surface. "This the same Rogue who scares the shit out of half of the town and who the other half is fairly certain is a vampire?"
"Ha. Yes. Shopping, yes or no?"
"Sure...why?"
"I need some new things." Mentally, she ticked off the list-Brown hair dye, make up in actual colors... "Feel like making a day? I'll buy you lunch."
"See you in half an hour."
Rogue hung up and felt sick.

1 First they were Strawberry Switchblade, then Switchblade Alarmclock... I give up trying to keep it straight anymore. A gothy punk band.