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X-MEN AND ITS CHARACTERS ARE OWNED BY STAN LEE AND MARVEL COMICS.
NO MONEY WAS MADE BY THIS FANFICTION. I WROTE THIS PURELY AS A FUN CHALLENGE.
PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT A FAN OF GAMBIT AND ROGUE TOGETHER AS A COUPLE.
(AUTHORS NOTE: • This takes place directly after the events of the Rogue and Gambit (2023) five part mini comic series.
• Takes place in the kitchen where Rogue and Gambit are sitting on the kitchen floor kissing after Gambit returns to the penthouse from his jog around the block and Rogue tries to cook his favourite gumbo meal, and burns it. But instead of ordering in a pizza, Remy convinces Rogue to give cooking another try and offers to teach her. The gumbo recipe is directly from the back of the issue of the comic.
• A gift to AnaExpert on AO3.
• Originally posted on my DeviantArt page; 2024, AUG 25th.)
CAJUN MASTER CHEF by NessaJayn (C) 2024, AUG 25th
"I'd like to take a break from remotes and gadgets for a while, Remy." Rogue said softly, slowly backing her husband to the wall in his arms.
"Bien sûr." Remy said softly with a smile as his arms wrapped around her waist and guided her down to sit on the floor of the kitchen in his lap. "Just the two of us."
Rogue felt relief to no longer have the implant attached to her neck by Power Broker. It wasn't causing her the same nagging pain the inhibitor collars would. At least with the inhibitor devices she still had the freedom to move and to think for herself. But the feel of the implant attached to her skin during that mission by her mother, brought back that humiliating feeling of not being in control of herself. She hated that feeling and the memory of her fist connecting with her husband's jaw, horrified her. And how Power Broker had hoped she would kill her husband by her own hands.
The memory of her fist connecting with Remy's jaw during that fight where she was being controlled, caused her to sniffle slightly. It didn't escape Remy's notice through their kiss. He pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against hers.
"What's wrong, chère? Why the tears?" Remy whispered softly, his left hand moving from her backside to cup her cheek. His hand then rested on her neck directly where the implant attached to her skin he had recently removed.
"I'm sorry for hurting ya before. I wasn't in control of myself." Rogue said softly, sniffling and wiping tears from her eyes as she stood up from her seat in Remy's lap. Sensing her distress, Remy quickly stood up and embraced her to try and ease her distress of the events that happened from the mission Destiny had sent them on.
"It's okay, chère. My nose ain't broken after that headbutt ya gave Remy. But Remy deserves it for not makin' the bed." Remy chuckled softly and Rogue's hands immediately lifted to carefully examine how badly her headbutt had done any damage to his perfect face.
With her fears addressed about no lasting damage she may have caused from her attacks when she was under the control of the implant, her smile quickly faded and tears welled in her eyes again. A sigh escaped her lips and rested her forehead against his muscled chest. Inhaling the scent of his cologne and sweat from his jog as she stood in the protection of his arms around her.
"I wanted ta do something nice for ya, and I ruined it. This part of the house, is definitely your domain. I feel inadequate and useless compared to ya in here." Rogue said softly, brave enough in her husband's arms to admit she wished she had his culinary skills.
But unlike him, she had no-one in her life to teach her such a life skill. Remy had Tante Mattie in his life as a young boy to teach him how to create something delicious from a handful of ingredients so that he wouldn't starve. Remy wrapped his arms tighter around her to comfort her and placed a soft kiss to the top of her head as he listened to her soft words of admission about her low-level skills of cooking a meal.
["So that's what this is all about."] Remy thought to himself. His eyes opened and scanned over the kitchen counter and her efforts to try and cook him his favourite meal.
"Look at me, chère." Remy said softly. His hands moved to her upper arms as he watched her raise her head from his chest to gaze into his eyes. His left hand then moved to cup her chin to make sure her eyes were gazing up at his face.
"Don't ever call yourself useless or inadequate, ya hear me, mon cœur. While things didn't turn out like ya planned..." Remy said softly and gestured with his other hand the mess on the kitchen counter and around the stove. "...it's the effort of trying that makes me appreciate what ya did for me."
Remy's right hand then reached over to grab the tablet sitting on the counter, as Rogue grabbed the pot of burned ingredients and took it over to the sink to clean. Remy placed the tablet down on the counter when he heard the sound of water filling the sink. With a smile, Remy walked over and placed his hands over her's as she cleaned the pot of her failed attempt at cooking for him. Rogue couldn't help but smile at the feel of her body being trapped between the sink and her husband's muscled frame. Feeling his lips place soft kisses to the skin of her neck as his hands joined hers to clean up the pot.
"Don't feel ashamed, chère. No one took the time to teach ya how ta cook, like Tante Mattie did for Remy..." Remy whispered in between kisses to her skin of her neck, causing Rogue to close her eyes and rest her head back on his shoulder. Allowing him full access to the skin of her neck for him to pleasure as their hands washed up the pot in the hot, soapy water in the sink. "...tell ya what, how about we cook the gumbo together instead of ordering in a pizza. I'll guide ya through it."
Remy's words that he whispered in her ear, sent shivers down her spine at how thick his accent sounded, causing a soft moan to escape from her lips. Rogue opened her eyes to glance over her shoulder with a sad smile.
"But it won't feel the same, sugah. I wanted ta surprise ya with this."
Remy couldn't help but nod his head softly in agreement in what she wanted to attempt. He couldn't resist placing a soft kiss to her button nose in appreciation for the effort she put into wanting to do something for him.
"That may be true, mon cœur. And trust me, Remy was surprised, and I mean that lovingly." Remy chuckled softly and earned an elbow to his stomach from his wife.
Remy couldn't resist lifting his wet hands out of the water to slide under her hooded sweater and tickled her. Remy's smile turned devious when his lovely wife immediately shrieked in laughter that her husband had resorted to using her weakness of being ticklish. Taking pity on her, Remy's fingers ceased his tickling to allow her to catch her breath and placed his hands back down in the water to help Rogue clean the pot to use again.
"But in all honesty, Anna Marie. This king of thieves would much rather spend some quality time with his queen in his domain, preparing a meal we can both share than waiting for a pizza. What'd ya say, chère."
As Rogue regained her breath from her husband's tickling, she couldn't believe how Remy's antics had made her forget all about her feelings of inadequacy in the kitchen. And how his offer to guide her in how to cook was not a commentary on her lack of skills, but rather, a show of love and appreciation of what she had tried to do earlier. She couldn't help but give a soft sigh in defeat and gazed over her shoulder.
"You really are a silver tongued swamp rat." Rogue said softly in mock defeat as she lifted the now clean cooking pot out of the sink. Remy quickly grabbed a tea towel to dry the pot ready to use to give another try at cooking the gumbo recipe on Rogue's tablet. "We may not have said 'for better or for worse' on our wedding day. But I'll gladly take for better or for worse as long as its with ya, sugah."
Drying her hands, Rogue grabbed the tablet from the counter to read again the gumbo recipe. Gathering up the necessary ingredients needed and helping Remy to prepare them for his favourite dish. She had to admit, Remy was right once again at how pleasurable it was to spend time together in the kitchen, doing something simple together as cooking a meal. It didn't feel as intimidating as she thought, having Remy watch her and guide her in preparing the ingredients to the recommended quantities needed for the recipe. The preparation took longer than she was expecting, but truthfully, she didn't mind. Cooking with her husband brought a feeling of satisfaction she didn't think she would feel, even if he was the one guiding her in how to cook. Something that also brought a feeling of satisfaction to Remy to be able to teach a skill to his beloved wife. If he thought seeing Rogue learn the skill of picking locks so quickly like a professional thief could bring a smile of pride on his face, that feeling of pride paled in comparison to seeing the smile on Rogue's face standing by his side next to the stove and ready to give another try at cooking Remy's favourite dish, together.
"Remember what I said, chère." Remy said as he stepped aside for Rogue to stand at the stove, handing her the bottle of vegetable oil to pour into the pot. "Just follow the recipe, step-by-step, and you'll be fine. And don't worry. I'm here to guide ya all the way through it."
Standing directly behind Rogue, pressing his body to her back, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his chin on her right shoulder. She couldn't help but notice, how Remy arranged the prepared ingredients on the counter in the right order to the recipe to make it easier for her to follow.
"The first step to this recipe, chère, is incredibly important. But don't panic, I'm here to guide ya, but watch carefully." Remy said, with no hint of superiority in his voice that he was the better cook in the house. Gently guiding her to the side to get the important first step of the recipe going for her to watch and learn how it should look.
"If it was anyone else doing this, I would probably feel insulted. But for some reason, you make me want to learn. Like when ya taught me how ta pick locks." Rogue said with a smile, watching carefully Remy start the recipe for her to know what to look for.
"You have no idea how proud ya made Remy feel at how quickly you picked up that skill." Remy grinned as he worked together the oil and flour in the pot into a roux for the gumbo. "From that mission in space with the Shi'Ar to the Thieves Guild, ya picked those locks like ya had done it all your life. You've become Remy's best student to teach, ma colombe."
After twenty minutes of constant stirring of the flour and oil in the pot, Remy stepped aside and let Rogue take over, motioning her to keep the roux moving but the colour of it resembling the colour of chocolate was intentional. Standing directly behind Rogue and placing his arms around her again, he guided her through the next set of steps in the recipe. She couldn't help but smile at the soft kiss to her cheek Remy gave her as the gumbo slowly began to smell delicious and waft through the penthouse.
"Have ya ever thought of becoming a teacher at the mansion, sugah?" Rogue asked softly with a smile over her shoulder.
Remy chuckled softly against Rogue's shoulder while she added the vegetables into the pot and stirred in to cook.
"What would Remy teach those underlings exactly?" Remy whispered softly, resting his chin on her right shoulder to keep an eye on her progress.
"Well... ya teaching your lovely wife how ta cook your favourite dish. You and Ororo should team up and teach those kids their way around a kitchen." Rogue grinned as she stirred the ingredients, then added in the meat and bay leaves to add another level of flavour.
Remy couldn't help but chuckle softly as he watched Rogue lift the large jug containing six cups of chicken stock to add to the pot. "At least you didn't say that Jean she should be teaching those kids how to cook. No offense, but her cooking is terrible."
Rogue couldn't stop a soft chuckle as she watched Remy put his fingers to his throat in a vomiting motion at the mention of Jean's cooking in the mansion's kitchen.
"I'm guessing in your humble opinion, sugah, only you and Ororo should be allowed in that kitchen." Rogue giggled as the gumbo came to the boil, then turned down the heat to simmer for an hour. Remy quickly grabbed the kitchen timer setting it for an hour for the gumbo to simmer. He quickly set it down on the kitchen counter and wrapped his arms around her again.
"Damn straight, chère! Stormy's knowledge of flavours is off the scale." Remy said softly and smiled as Rogue turned in the circle of his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"How did I do, chef Remy?!" Rogue giggled as Remy's arms wrapped around her more tightly.
"Very well, ma colombe. But don't walk away from it just yet. There's still some remaining steps to follow before we can serve this." Remy said softly and kissed her in pure pride at how well she had done in giving cooking another try. "Remy's proud of you."
As the gumbo simmered for the scheduled hour uncovered, Remy couldn't resist placing the skin from the chicken thighs into a frying pan to fry crispy to serve on top of the gumbo like pork crackling. Provided that Remy didn't snack on the crispy chicken skin while waiting for the gumbo to cook completely.
"Couldn't resist huh, cajun!" Rogue giggled as she gave the simmering gumbo an occasional stir to keep it from sticking to the base of the pot. Her giggle didn't cease at the sight of her husband try to keep the fried chicken skins away from their three cats who were sitting on the bar stools on the other side of the kitchen counter.
Figaro being the bravest of the three, before he was scooped up by Gambit and placed on the floor of the kitchen.
"Protect these with your life, chère." Remy said softly, giving his boys a glare as they sat on the bar stools.
The cats followed Remy to their cat bowls for a feed of their own as he grabbed some tins of cat food. Satisfied his boys were occupied with their own food, Remy walked back over to be with his wife, only to stop in his tracks at the sight of Rogue eating one of the crispy fried chicken skins from the plate.
"Couldn't resist huh, ma colombe." Remy chuckled softly. He couldn't stay mad at his southern belle for pinching one of the chicken skins he had fried up, as she glanced over to the recipe on her tablet.
"I wasn't kidding, sugah, when I said you and Ororo should consider teaching the young ones at the mansion how to cook." Rogue said softly and added the chicken thighs to the dish, setting the timer for two hours and covered the pot with a heavy lid.
"What do you mean by that, chère?" Remy whispered softly with his arms around her and his hands on her backside giving her glutes a good squeeze.
"Tante Mattie took the time to teach you how to cook when you were a boy, so you wouldn't starve. Like ya said, cooking is a life skill. You could be those kids Tante Mattie in a sense, teaching them a skill besides how to control their powers. If you can be patient teaching me how ta cook, you can teach those kids." Rogue said softly, gazing up at his incredible eyes.
She could see the wheels turning in his mind at the mention of the woman who had become a mother figure to him, teaching him the ways around a kitchen. It warmed his heart at how much Tante Mattie took a liking to Rogue and thoroughly delighted to call her a daughter-in-law. Especially during their brief visit at her house in the bayou after the business with the Thieves Guild. Remy's eyes softened at the memories in Tante Mattie's kitchen and could see the value in teaching someone such a skill. With a smile, he couldn't resist placing a soft kiss to her forehead.
"Remy'll give it some thought, chère. But I certainly wouldn't be able to cook at the mansion what I had planned for us for dessert. Because it involves setting alcohol on fire in a pan." Remy chuckled, letting go of his wife to check on the simmering gumbo, adding the last remaining ingredients for the final twenty minutes of cooking before serving.
"You mean, Crepes Suzette? That dessert we had in that restaurant in the French quarter where that waiter set those pancakes on fire?" Rogue asked softly, and her response was a grinning nod of his head. "Ooh... that was my favourite, Remy."
"Consider it a reward for doing a great job with the gumbo, ma colombe." Remy said softly and kissed her in pure pride at how well she had done in giving cooking another go to build her confidence in the kitchen.
Rogue couldn't help but wrap her arms around him in thankfulness, as he fished out the bay leaves from the gumbo and served it up with a bowl of rice, topped with the remaining crispy chicken skin crumbled in his hand as a garnish.
"Thank you, Remy." Rogue whispered and placed a soft kiss to the skin of his chiseled back, in between his shoulder blades.
"For what, chère?" Remy whispered softly and kissed her in pure adoration as he handed her a bowl of the gumbo she cooked with his guidance.
"For believing in me, that I could make this." Rogue said softly, placing the bowl on the counter and quickly grabbing a bottle of wine from the fridge and two wine glasses.
"My wife can do anything when she sets her mind to it. If you can cook this, you can be a great leader to the team. Remy means that, chère." Remy said as he dished up his own portion of gumbo and rice.
Placing the bowls of gumbo on a tray, Remy carried the tray of food and followed his wife into the living room. He placed the tray down on the coffee table beside the bottle of wine and happily sat down on the couch with Rogue in his arms. Enjoying the dish of his childhood that was cooked by his wife's hands and now sitting in his lap like a queen.
"Delicious!" Remy said with a mouthful of gumbo quite happily as Rogue poured the wine. Being able to cook for his beloved Anna Marie, Remy considered it a joy in his life. But to have his wife cook something he loved, even with a bit of guidance from him, was priceless.
THE END.