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Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
 
 
 

The Companion Picture - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Dandelion
Last updated: 12/03/2009 06:26:08 PM

Chapter 8

The air was filled with the heavy scent of magnolia. A faint mist was just beginning to creep in, taking advantage of the sun's absence. The torches lit the road up to the house with a soft romantic light.

The horse's hooves were muted by the dampness of the ground. She waited on the porch, the torchlight casting glimmering reflections on her skin and hair.

Her gown was an emerald green that matched her eyes. The brocaded gold caught the light of the elusive flame and matched the highlights in her hair and the sparkle in her eyes.

<She belongs here,> he thought. The great mansion seemed to set her off. She was as a queen, here in her marbled palace. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And even the beauty of her appearance dimmed in comparison to the beauty in her eyes. He dismounted and walked towards the marble steps. Hers was a beauty that would never fade, hers was deep within her. It made everything around her sweeter and better than it ever could have been had she not been there. She made him better. She made him whole.

She beckoned to him and he scaled the steps towards her. Her lips turned up in a sweet smile as he neared. His fingers danced upon her cheek and she sighed softly. His nostrils were filled with the intoxicating scent of her musky perfume.

Her face turned up towards him.

He bent closer, delighting in the way her touch set his skin afire. Closer, he could almost taste her. Closer...

Magnus cast a sidelong glance at his friend and quelled a snicker before it got out. The decidedly goofy expression and the glazed over look in Remy's eyes gave him away as being far in the land of daydreams...again.

The two had driven to Asheville, NC after recovering from their binge to do a little recreational sightseeing. Asheville was the home of the Biltmore, one of the Vanderbilt mansions. So Remy and Magnus decided to see what the good life was like, since they had spent their lives so far from it.

Magnus had yet to make up his mind about the place. On the one hand it was exquisite in it's detail and the richness of every material and design. On the other hand, Magnus found that kind of wealth displayed in such a manner a little on the obscene side. He wondered what the Vanderbilts had been doing while he spent his childhood in a concentration camp. Remy had taken one look at the glorious mansion and had been swept away into a fantasy dream. He had barely said a word since their arrival but just grinned in a rather loopy manner whenever spoken to. Magnus assumed that Remy liked the place, he just hoped the young man didn't try to steal anything.

Of course, Remy's faraway state of mind was probably the only reason Magnus had succeeded in joining up with the tour group. Remy hadn't responded to Magnus' question so Magnus had taken it as consent.

So, they had traipsed through some of the house and oohed and ahhed over all of the tapestries and gilded detail and marble and velvet and the big doors and the beautiful grounds. Now they were looking at some of the gardens and Magnus decided to have a little fun at his partner's expense.

He listened attentively while the tour guide chattered on about the gardens and how much work and money and time had gone into them. She talked about how they had been inspired by certain gardens in Europe. Magnus flicked his eyes down and grinned like a maniac.

Remy, true to form, was wearing his steel-toed boots. Magnus stifled another laugh. He could count on Remy's uncanny agility and sense of balance to make this exercise well worth the effort.

He flexed his hands a bit and then called on his mutant gift. He cast a look around the gardens and the expansive lawn and then set Remy into motion. Literally.

Using his magnetic power to move Remy's feet around, Magnus sent the young man into a wild chase about the gardens. Remy went from stand-still to full out run in a split second.

"WWAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!" Remy's eyes went wide as he tore around the gardens.

The tour guide stopped in mid syllable and let her mouth hang open as Remy ripped around the pebble strewn garden pathways. Indeed, the entire tour group seemed to be frozen as they watched what appeared to be a young man completely wig out.

Magnus tired of sending Remy zipping through the narrow pathways, and besides, he didn't want to risk losing his concentration and mess up some of the flower beds. So he turned Remy around and sent him running into the beautiful lawn towards an ancient looking willow tree.

Remy waved his arms frantically over his head crying out: "STOPIT!! STOPIT!!! STOP!!! IT!!!"

Eventually, Remy did come to a stop, as Magnus was laughing so hard he couldn't keep his concentration.

The tour group stood, mouths agape, as Remy stormed back to the group, with red cheek and heavy breath. Magnus was bent over, hands on knees, his rich, baritone laugh cascading over the grand landscape.

One could almost see the steam rising off of Remy's head. "You think it fitting for you to die wit' a smile on your face, laughing boy?!" He roared as he reached the group again. Magnus wiped the tears out of his eyes and kept right on laughing.

"Ahem!" A voice turned Remy's head and he saw the group and the tour guide looking at him in a most disapproving manner.

"What! It's not MY fault!! You think I'd go tearing around this place on my own?" He felt completely wronged.

"I suppose you *weren't* the one running around?" The tour guide asked, the tone in her voice suggested a great deal more anger than she was expressing.

"Well, yes, that was me running, but-" Remy paused. Magnus, he discovered to his chagrin, was a master joke player. Here he was, Remy LeBeau, for once completely innocent of any wrong-doing, and he couldn't prove it. His shoulders sagged slightly. "I apologize for disturbing you, ma'am." He said meekly. "Won't happen again."

"If it does, you and your friend will be asked to leave. Do I make myself clear?" The tour guide had a fiery look in her eye.

Remy nodded again and glared at Magnus through his shades. Magnus had managed to subdue his mirth for the time being. Every now and again, though, a guffaw would escape him, only to be quelled by a righteous look from the tour guide.

"You are a dead man." Remy said later, at the restaurant at the hotel in which they were staying. Magnus rolled his eyes. "Where's your sense of humor, LeBeau?" He smirked. "Or should I call you 'Speedy'?" He chuckled.

"Laugh it up, Magnus. Go right on ahead. But don't you go thinkin' that I'll forget. I'm a man what pays his debts." He sipped his water. "An' I owe you. Do I ever!"

"Don't be such a stick in the mud. If you'd just look at it from a neutral standpoint, you will see that the whole thing was simply hilarious."

"Neutral?" Remy looked down his nose at Magnus. "If YOU will stop with the superiority kick simply because you laid a good one on me you will see that I CAN'T be neutral."

"Keep your voice down, people will talk." Magnus buttered a roll nonchalantly.

"I got used to that this afternoon." Remy retorted in a sulky voice.

"You said yourself it was a good one, now just appreciate it and stop whining." Magnus smiled at a waiter who went by. "Anyway, what were you doing? You were off in who-knows-where the moment we got to the Biltmore. Care to tell me what had you so otherwise occupied?"

Remy flushed a little. He studied his menu carefully then muttered. "Rogue."

"Again?!" Magnus looked up at the ceiling.

"What's it gonna take, LeBeau?"

"She woulda loved that place." Remy leaned his chin on his hand.

Magnus looked at him skeptically. "How do you know? You said you barely knew her."

"I knew her, I didn't know a *lot* of things, sure, but I knew her. I knew she woulda loved dat old mansion."

"What makes you so sure?"

"She loved beautiful things. She loved anything dat would remind her of the Old South. She woulda loved dat old mansion."

Magnus looked at his friend and a twinge of sympathy went through him. "Look, Remy, I don't know what I can say that might make this easier on you, but--"

Remy grinned. "Don't worry 'bout me none, Lensherr. I'm just feelin' sorry for myself is all. Y'know, Rogue made her decision and I gotta live wit' it."

Magnus looked back at his own menu. He couldn't really blame Remy for thinking about Rogue. After all, the memories of Magda were still bittersweet for him.

<Still,> he couldn't help a small chuckle at the memory of Remy running haphazard through the Biltmore gardens. <It's been a good day. And Remy is making progress. The more he confronts his feelings for Rogue the easier it will be to face his past. The fact that he's talking about it rather than stifling it is encouraging. There may be hope for us yet.>

He looked up and caught Remy fixing him with a dirty look.

"You will get yours, Lensherr."

The crickets could be heard in the distance.

Along the garden path, the noise of the revelers in the mansion could barely be heard.

It was just the two of them, standing in the starlight, basking in the glow of love.

He touched her hand to his lips softly, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."

She smiled knowingly. "Silly boy, you think Ah don't know that?"

He looked off into the dusky landscape dotted with the twinkling of fireflies. Could he have possibly imagined himself anywhere but by her side?

She opened her fan and waved it softly against her chest, the dyed green feathers danced across her skin and she sighed softly, reveling in this moment of peace amid the wildness of the area.

"Perhaps Ah was just waiting for you to say something." She murmured.

"You're always a step ahead of me." He replied, touching her cheek tenderly. "At one point, I wasn't sure if you wanted me to come here at all."

"Perhaps Ah didn't. But you came nonetheless, why?" Her eyes sparkled at him, two living emeralds that reflected so much of her soul. He lost himself in the depths of her eyes.

"I couldn't let it go without apologizing for what I done. Even if you never wanted to see me again, I had to say I'm sorry. I had to let you know dat I never meant to hurt you. You were the one thing that I treasured and I ended up hurting you. I couldn't live wit' myself, letting you t'ink I did it on purpose. Or dat it was somethin' I wanted."

"Ah know, Remy. Ah know. Ah love you all the more for saying it. Even when you didn't know if it would help, you said it just the same and Ah don't think you'll ever know how much that means to me." She flicked the feathers of her fan against his cheek and walked a few paces away, leaning to smell the white roses along the pathway. He admired her from the distance. She had spared nothing for her guests that evening. The emerald colored gown, the feathered fan, the feathers and pearls in her hair, weaving their way in and out of the curls. The pearls standing out against her auburn tresses, yet disappearing in the streak of white. She turned and smiled at him, opening her fan again and holding it in front of her face.

Her eyes danced and she beckoned to him subtly with her fan. He smiled and followed her, through the garden to the jasmine-covered gazebo. She looked towards the mansion. "Look," she gestured towards the couples that were wandering through the garden paths. "It's a night for lovers."

He came to stand next to her. She touched his hand. "Ah want you to understand something."

He brought her hand to his lips again. "What is it, cherie?"

"This is not absolution." Her eyes were serious.

He nodded.

"There is far too much we both have to answer for."

He brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. "You, cherie, have done nothing. Not to me."

"You don't know."

"Maybe not. I know this is only the start of making up for the things I've done to hurt you. Is there a chance for me?" He searched her eyes.

She smiled sweetly. "Don't worry." She leaned towards him, closing her eyes and parting her lips.

He leaned down as well, and felt the sweet softness of her lips on his...

Remy opened his eyes to the emptiness of his room. His lips still tingled from the memory of the kiss. He covered his eyes with his hands. He wasn't sure which was harder to bear, the dreams or the fact that they were all he had of her anymore.

 

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