Thread/Log: Pyro & Rogue Who: St. John & Marie Allerdyce When: This was supposed to happen weeks ago but I'm going to say it happens today, Monday, April 28, 2008 Where: A little apartment above a bakery in Poughkeepsie, New York What: John and Rogue go apartment hunting because the Lair is empty and creepy and Rogue wants windows. To possibly be continued in comments, but it sounds pretty finished if it isn't.
Okay. The world was all topsy turvy. She had a husband who had just lost the closest thing he had to a father figure. And, the fact of the matter was, whether Sage was admitting it or not, the Lair wasn't really the safest place in the world to be hanging around. But the fact that they were actually looking for somewhere to live that wasn't the Lair... well, that sort of put Rogue in a good mood. She was trying not to see too happy about it, though, not wanting to freak John out with any nesting traits she might have been displaying. And because she didn't want him to think she wasn't being sensitive to the fact that he was --- with very good reason --- still in mourning.
But she'd been wanting to get out of the Lair for months now, even before the whole Max thing. And she probably had some sort of misguided conviction that, if they got out of the Lair, that maybe John would slowly ease his way out of the whole terrorism thing. And that maybe some of the things that had changed in the previous two years could go back to normal. Like some of her lost friendships, like with Bobby and Jubilee and even Kasey, who she'd barely known and now wasn't even on speaking terms with. But especially with Logan.
So, naturally, the second they stepped into the apartment that the landlord had given them to key to so they could take a look, Rogue's face lit up like it was the most perfect apartment in the world. ---It really wasn't. From the doorway alone, it was obvious that it could use a paint job and possibly a new rug. But that didn't seem to dissuade her in the least. "What do you think? It could use some work. But it's not terrible."
John was a creature of habit in spite of himself. He didn't like apartment hunting because he didn't want to move. He liked where he lived and... yeah, it was underground and the furnishings were cold and metal, but that was all he'd known for the last five years. Then again... being at the Lehnsherr house in Salem Center and a few other places happened to remind him that the Lair was cold. It was cold just because of its design, and no matter how many ways you furnished it, it was still bare metal walls and floors and ceilings with no windows. The more he looked at other places, the more he was beginning to realize that. John hated the fucking cold.
That didn't mean he really wanted to take this place----until he saw the look on his wife's face. Glowing. Like this was magical motherfucking fairy gumdrop land. His mouth twitched, looking around from the doorway, and he broke a fleck of paint from the frame.
"...We'll take it."
Anything to keep her looking happy like that. And they needed cover, John knew that. Besides... free pastries.
It took Rogue a second to register what John had said, having already convinced herself that she was going to have to put up a fight if she wanted him to agree to this whole getting their own apartment thing. As it was, she was shocked that he'd even agreed to look at the place, never mind that he hadn't been particularly adamant against it. But, still, she'd never in a million years expected him to agree to it so easily.
"...Really?" Rogue blinked, immediately switching to devil's advocate just because he'd gone along with it. "It's not all that big, I know, but there's..." Trailing off, she grabbed his hand to tug him further into the apartment. "There's a second bedroom and everything. I was told it's really small. But you can use it to write in, can't you? And I'm sure we can dress it up. Maybe get some paint? New curtains. A few throw rugs?"
John just stared at her blankly, smiling in that 'I swear I'm listening but I don't get it' way. "Babe, you lost me at curtains," he said, giving her a light pat on the head before he was slipping past her in order to explore. It really wasn't that bad. It was quiet, it was... yeah, it was pretty nice, actually. Decent. It could be theirs.
"Curtains... we can put curtains in the kitchen..." Rogue trailed off as John wandered off to explore the apartment. She knew it was pretty futile to try to get him interested in any kind redecorating. Which was fine with her... as long as he didn't complain about any redecorating she chose to do.
Trailing behind him, she added, "It's bigger than our room at the Lair. And it's got windows. And it's not freezing. Those are all pluses."
"Uh-huh." John peeked into the master bedroom with his arms folded across his chest. He looked more disapproving than he actually was. After all, John didn't like change, and this was a big change. This was moving into an apartment above a bakery and having to lie low... He knew that was what they had to do, he just didn't want to admit that.
"It's not.. nn. It's not that bad," he admitted. "So we'll take it. It could be comfortable."
Rogue smiled a little, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I'll take that you don't completely hate it. I know it's not perfect. But..." They had money squirreled away, but now was not the time to be spending it. Not when they didn't have any idea if they were going to desperately need it sometime soon. "And it's close enough to the Lair for you, right?"
"I don't completely hate it," said John, patting her hand and letting her rest against him. Actually, when he was really thinking about it, it was kind of a nice idea. Sort of. Not really. But if it made Rogue happy..? Rogue needed to be happy, she deserved to be happy. "It's close enough to the Lair without being... conspicuous, I guess. It's close enough, it's..." His words died off and he just ended with a one-shouldered shrug.