2014.04.13 - The Trip

While there were all sorts of angsty stuff that could be said about Rogue's powers, still it was hella handy. After finding the right remaining crew member she was for the moment and able to pilot a big freighter. Which was like driving a big boat, a big clunky and slow to turn boat.

Rogue had taken them out of the dock and into the ocean while they sorted out a plan. She had already texted her boss to give him the heads up that she would likely not be in to work the next day because...well it was better to be unsaid.

She looked over to Gambit making himself a little too comfortable over in the corner, "It's time to start puttin' together some sorta plan 'Sug. Unless yer plannin' on becoming a pirate. Not quite as glamorous as that Black Flag plan."

She held up one finger, and held up each other one as she recalled their currect problems, "One, got a bunch of scared mutants on deck. Two couple of goons that will wake up soon or drown if we toss em over. And Three we got a big, friggin ship with nowhere to go."

And what, pray tell, is our favorite mutant doing over in the corner? Checking the bonds around the former captain's wrists. Last thing he needs right now is a mutiny. Beating the same people up twice in one day would just be tedious. Of course, the crew size has been significantly reduced since the last time the ship was at sea. Blame explosions and a toss-heavy brawl.

The more practical reason for keeping the captain bound in the bridge? Somebody's got to steer the ship, so it's either got to be The Captain, or Rogue with The Captain's skills.

"Don't be silly, Chere. I've got no intention whatsoever of becoming a pirate. We're smugglers now, same as our friend The Captain here. Speaking of which, here, I got you something when I was securing our friends below deck..."

With that sneaky way of walking that he has, Gambit somehow gets from over in the corner to just a few inches behind Rogue without making so much as a sound. From there, he reaches an arm around her and in front of the controls, showing the large, floppy round hat in his hand. "I figure since you're the Captain now, you're going to need some proper headgear." As he leans back to set the hat on her head, he peers through the window and down to the deck below. The previously-imprisoned mutant children are already making themselves useful cleaning up the mess from the fight that saved them. "Unless you'd rather I just scooped one of your eyes out."

Rogue jumped just slightly due to the surprise closeness for a moment. She probably wasn't the best person to startle, could have touched her exposed upper arms or neck. Oops!

She adjusted the hat on her head and rolled her eyes, "Have you ever talked to a woman? Beyond like just swiping her purse? You are so strange, Gambit."

She looked down to peer at the controls, everything looked in proper order at the moment, "Then Ah say we sail this here ship down to Genosha, Ah've got um...connections there and Ah'm guessin' some of these folks aint got nowhere else to go. We can sell the ship but we probably should dump the weapons before we get there. Already commitin' enough crimes today without armin' a lovely little country like Genosha."

"Say what you will, some women find having their possessions stolen by a charming stranger to be highly erotic." And now his voice is coming from somewhere else again, this time the opposite end of the bridge. "I'm not sure what to make of this screen. I'm pretty sure we're the green thingy though... better leave the course setting for you, Captain. Or do you prefer Skipper?"

Once again, he's up at the front, standing a few feet away from the newly-appointed leader and peering through the window. "Genosha's a good call. These kids'll be able to have a fresh start there, if we can't find a way to get them back to their parents. But I doubt that a couple of Kalashnikov's and a few shotguns are going to make much difference on Genosha. Hell, these kids are way more dangerous than anything else on board."

"Other than me of course, Captain Rogue. Rogue Captain. That sonds silly. Captain Anna, there." Rogue winked at Gambit and adjusted the hat on her head. Quickly she sorted through the majorly flawed plans on this mission. Was there even enough food for this whole trip? Would Magneto still answer her call? Crap.

With one awkward hand on the wheel she took out her cell phone and seemed to send like twetnty texts all at once, "It aint the nicest place to live, not by a longshot. But any kids that need a ride back to the states Ah'm gettin' that sorted."

There was a silence for a moment as Rogue frowned slightly, "Sorry about the dress, it looked real nice. Way better then what Ah got on now, swell."

"It really did look great on you. Of course, it would have looked much better on the floor..." Well, so much for that streak. Gambit's gone several minutes without hitting on something, so he was way overdue. Fortunately, he changes the subject. "When I was a kid, I would have gone crazy over a boat ride like this. It's too bad these guys won't remember this as an adventure, what with all the... hey... what's this?"

One of the benefits of constantly rummaging through things: you occasionally find a bottle of genuine pirate rum. Or genuine smuggler's rum, whichever you prefer. "Ron Abuelo Centuria? That's pretty swank for smugglers. We'd better get rid of this before the kids find it." And with that, he turns the bottle up and destroys several sips that might otherwise have gotten into underaged hands.

Rogue shot Gambit a look. Was this guy for real? Yes, he was. And was currently being a pain in the butt. Even if he /did/ admittedly have a nice butt. But that was nowhere near the point, "That was...not even creative. Ah'm ashamed and appalled."

She held out her hand and gave the 'gimme' gesture. "Give me a sip of that. This is gonna be a long drive Ah need it, especially if Ah've got more completely unoriginal flirts comin' my way."

She looked around the ship a bit, "Yeah, Ah woulda thought this was pretty cool when Ah was a kid too. Course there probably would have been more dead people. Ah the joys of being the child of a terrorist."

A long, slow, appreciative exhale is the only sign Gambit gives of just having downed several sips at once. But this is followed by a slight shudder. "Good stuff. Still think I'm more of a Courvoisier guy, but you take what you can get." Gambit apparently changes his favorite drink brand every few days, but at least he mostly sticks to the same type of liquor: cognac/brandy family.

Speaking of appreciative... "Careful now, we're getting close to telling each other all about our pasts. I'm almost certainly going to lose interest in you once the mystery is gone."

"Unless you'd consider going blonde, that is." He extends his hand, making a 'stop being greedy and give me back the bottle' motion.

Rogue took one sip as she turned to face away from Gambit, and placed the bottle down on a nice even surface. She slid off one glove and gritted at her teeth. These last few days, all of the stress and frustrations that was it, Rogue had enough.

So she let him have it, one punch to the cheek. No super strength these days, but a girly slap, "That's for everything that's happened over the last day."

With that skin contact Rogue's eyes glowed. She let out a long exhale, and handed him back the bottle. No one wants alcohol abuse after all. Her eyes focused forward on the task at hand.

You need to vote for other players before voting for Gambit again.

Didn't see that one coming. Gambit didn't even try to avoid it, so unexpected was it. "Not sure I deserved that. I mean, sure I manipulated you into life-threatening situations by promising you fun, but I also let you drive the Lamborghini. And the boat."

There is only the slightest hint of redness on his cheek now, a sign either of Rogue's weak wrists or of Gambit's built-up tolerance to slapping. "Just for that, you're not invited to sing pirate shanties with me and the crew later. Apparently Pho knows how to play that guitar I found."

Rogue looked to Gambit out of the corner of her eye and slipped off her hat, placing it onto the controls and ran her fingers through her now tangled hair. Aw dang it was all curly and pretty before too. Her makeup was probably a mess too.

After counting to ten (and checking her reflection in the nearby glass, yikes). She kept her eyes focused on the floor, the wheel ok to step away from for a few moments, "Ah'm sorry. Just, well day's been a bit shit. One day Ah'll put you in a life threatening situation and we'll call it even."

Like a proper gentleman, Gambit doesn't point out how frowzy and unkempt the Captain is. Perhaps he just doesn't want to walk the plank. "Don't worry about it, Skipper. We've got a mutant with us who can literally change into a dinosaur. I'm sure once we figure out what all the other kids have going for 'em we'll be able to get this tub to Genosha without a problem. Then we can get your pals to come pick you up. Or spend a week in Hammer Bay. It's nice this time of year."

A wide smile spread across Rogue's face, her mood starting to turn for the better,"Is that so? Don't think Ah've ever seen that power before. First time for everything."

She shook her head a bit and slid her glove back on and placed a hand on her hip, "Ah know, Ah remember used to live there. It looks real pretty before the chaos hits, and plagues! Still, miss the beaches."

Ah good times. But then bad times! Dang memories. "Besides Ah'd hate to get in the way of you meetin some /blonde/ from Genosha. Wonder if this thing has anything resembling a shower?"

"Heh. What would something that resembled a shower even 'do?'" This is followed by a couple short bursts of laughter. This is the first indication that nearly half of the bottle of rum is gone. Looks like Gambit is settling into the life of a pirate, I mean 'smuggler,' pretty comfortably. Just keep him away from the khat leaves.

"I think there's one down in the Captain's room. Or... your room, I should say. I might have looked in there a bit earlier... found a sack of money, but it's from the Phillipines or something." Gambit clearly isn't interested in showering, despite having done quite a bit of running, fighting, and stressing in the last twenty-four hours, but one could argue that that is part of his charm.

Normally Rogue would be drinking just as hard, if not harder (everyone has a vice, what can I say?). But with herself being Captain in this ridiculously put together plan only her and one other could steer this thing. So she gets the joy of staying sober for now.

She checked over the controls, and their path before stepping to Gambit and placing the hat onto his head, "Then that'll do. Leave the wheel be, it's drivin' straight it's ok to leave alone for a bit. I need to wash Average Sal and these mutant trafficker muck off of me."

She reached up to touch at the light pink on the side of his cheek with a gloved hand, which is only being added to with the booze blush. Rogue gave him a small, sly smile, "You booze hound. You'll owe me several drinks after this."

"Depending on the exchange rate of Phillipino currency, I may or may not be good for it." The newly-newly-appointed Skipper pulls the rounded, almost sombrero-like hat down just a bit. It might be a good look for him. Something to file away for his next conversation with his haberdasher. "Now scoot, Cabin Boy. Swab your deck, you're stinking up my bridge."

As Rogue turns to leave she swipes the drink, "Confiscating this. You can have more later if you're good."