Someone's always watching.

[x-marrow.livejournal.com]

Sarah'd been waiting all day to go out. Yesterday she'd sat through classes, bored as hell, and then her plans had gotten all fucked up, but today she was determined to go out. She was going somewhere that was not on mansion grounds, come bones or asassins, or large fucking robots. She'd thrown on some music and a movie to pass the time until they left, and finally, around seven, she decided to change clothes. Throwing a pair of jeans and her leather halter-top on the bed, she pulled off her t-shirt and sweatpants tossed them into the pile.

The rasp of a match begun struck along a concrete wall snapped her head ahead in time to see a darkened corner lit up suddenly under the flame. Remy put the light to the end of his cigarette and inhaled deeply, leaning back against the wall casually. His brown trenchcoat hung open, and his grey shirt and pant made him blend easily into the shadows.

"Fucking hell." She started, crossing her arms and glaring at him. Not to mention standing in her underwear. "_You_ need to stop doing that. How long have you been in here, anyway?"

"Just long 'nough seems." Remy grinned around his cigarette. "Came down to give you a present, chere. Figured you would like surprises."

Sarah rolled her eyes, and shook her head, turning back to the bed to at least put some clothes on. "What I don't like is having people sneak up on me. Just out of fucking _nowhere_." She pulled on her jeans, giving him another glare as she zipped and buttoned them up.

"Was here de whole time, chere. Thought you were good at keeping an eye out." Remy said, needling her. His grin was aggravating, but less so than the fact that he had slipped in without the slightest warning. "Peace offering den." He said, and lobbed a bottle underarm to her.

"I _am_," she muttered, catching the bottle and taking a moment to look at it and smile. "Very nice." She put it on the bed, and though she hated to do it, started to change her shirt. It wasn't that changing in front of him was bothering her, but the fact that she had to turn her back to him was unsettling. Taking off her bra, and pulling on the halter, she fumbled with the ties in the back. She was _not_ going to ask him to help.

Remy smiled, drinking in her unease. For all of her violent exterior, she wasn't has hardened as she liked to think. That meant he could find her levers. He blew a smoke ring that drifted over her shoulder. "Sure you don' want some help, chere Extra set of hands?"

"That'd help," she said finally, dropping the ties and looking over her shoulder to narrow her eyes at him. "Come over here and make yourself useful."

"Remy got all kinds of ways t' be useful, chere." He smirked, butting his cigarette out on the wall. His nimble fingers barely registered on her skin as he began to deftly knot the ties. He lightly touched on a bone nub protruding from her spine. "Hurt much?"

She saw him reach for the bone, and for a split second Sarah thought she was going to have a repeat of Betsy. She tensed for a moment, and then relaxed, turning around to look at him, to try and figure out what the hell he was after. "Yeah. I'm used to it."

"Hell of a t'ing t' have to get used t', chere." Remy said with a slightly solomn air. She nodded, trying to find some clues in that red on black stare of his. "You got any control, or do dey just come up?"

"They just come up. Sometimes I can pull them back, but most of the time it just doesn't work." She rested her hands on her hips. "And if they don't come out, like the armor, they're fucking sharp. Which makes them even more fun to deal with."

"Sound like quite de party trick." Remy said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Bet more den a few types got on de wrong end of dem, oui?"

"You could say that." She went over to her desk and pulled out her cigarettes, lighting one before making her way back toward the bed. "And unlike some of the people here, I'm not afraid to use these to hurt people."

"Remy hasn't seen too many people hold back here. Least, not what de blood on de mats shows in de workout room." Remy said casually. "Half are headcases, and de rest act like dey got dere spines taken out. Creep around like dey afraid de Professor going to spank dem for acting like teenagers."

"I guess that puts me in with the headcases." She took a long drag from her cigarette and smiled. "I don't know whether to kick your ass for calling me a headcase, or to thank you for noticing that I have a spine."

"Hey, dere are headcases and dere are headcases. You like jabbing de bones you put outta your skin into people. Dat sound like de norm t' you?" Remy said mockingly. " 'sides, got t' be what you are, Remy t'ink."

"It was normal where I came from. You fought, or you got your ass kicked by somebody much bigger than you." She shrugged, and sitting crosslegged on the end of the bed. With lots of space in between them.

"I t'ink dats the rule everywhere." Remy shrugged, fishing in the pocket of his trenchcoat for his ciagrettes. "Remy prefer t' not be where dey t'ink he is. Less chance of ending up wit' de bone in de eye, neh?"

"If they don't know you're there, yes." She pulled an ashtray out from under the bed (she's got them hidden in random places about the room, so she never has to search for one), and balanced it on her knee, flicking ashes into it.

"You didn't." He said quietly, something of a challenge behind his voice. Her eyes narrowed, and he grinned wider. "Sorry, chere. Remy got a natural habit of making people uncomfortable."

"Yeah. Just lay the hell off the hiding in the shadows thing, and we'll get along fine." She took another drag off of her cigarette, and nodded down at the bottle still on the bed. "Especially if you keep bringing presents. What'd, you raid Logan's stash?"

"De lock on de liquor cabinet is older den de house. Just fall right open one day when Remy walk by." He grinned. "Thought Remy bring down a gift, 'specially since de best views are from de shadows."

Sarah looked up at him, amused, curious, and just a little bothered by the whole situation. "How many times have I not seen you there?"

"Wonder if Remy's been hiding when you all alone?" Remy grinned. "Maybe been down a lot, or maybe not at all. If it helps, I haven't found a way t' spy on de shower yet, so you still safe dere."

"That's where all the fun is." she said with a grin. "You should try harder."

Remy arched an eyebrow. "Maybe I wait for an invitation, chere." His leer deepened. "Seems like de femmes only have one or two men t' choose from in de first place."

"If you're waiting around for an invitation, you going to be waiting awhile." she said, idly flicking ashes into the ashtray. "Like you said, some of the girls here are afraid of their own shadows."

"Not necessarily. Made some of de femmes are in need of comfort?" He pointed out. " 'sides, dere is a town close by. May have t' look outside de mansion." He ground out his cigarette and leaned back on his elbows. "Not New York, but maybe dere be somet'ing worth seeing."

Sarah smiled. "Contrary to popular belief, there is _always_ something to do outside the mansion. There's a couple of great clubs nearby here, including one that makes _me_ feel almost normal."

"Dat so? Tell me about it, chere. Remy could use some recreational time."

"There's a place about 20 minutes north of here. Black leather, loud music, piercings and body mods. They don't even blink when I walk in. " She grinned. "In fact, I can almost always get a couple of free drinks there, just for being the biggest freak they've ever seen."

"Go dere often, chere? Femme like yourself is probably de centre of de floor. Got your pick of he hommes?" Remy said, waiting to gauge her response.

"A couple of times, yeah. Taking Shinobi with me tonight. We were supposed to go out to dinner, but the bones got in the way of that." She put out her cigarette, and leaned over to put the ashtray back on the floor beneath the bed.

"Whouldn't have thought de boy could handle dat sort of place." Remy said mildly, rubbing his thumb along his upper lip. "Maybe we go down dere some time. Show Remy 'round de town?"

"You'd be surprised." She said, sitting back up and shooting Remy a grin. "It depends. Are you buying the drinks?"

"As you might have noticed, I tend t' de de surprising, chere." Remy nodded. "I guess I can pick up a few drinks out dere. Need to come up wit' some proper ID. Won't take t' long, neither. When we doing de big night den?"

"I dunno," she said with a smile. "Next weekend? Better yet, surprise me."

"Maybe Remy just might do dat." He said, grinning. He rose from the bed with that uncommon grace, his trenchcoat swinging and hanging behind him. "Guess I have t' go work on dat shower project. Maybe Remy see you dere, oui?"

She shrugged, smiling up at him from the bed. "I'm sure you'll see me _somewhere_. I'll try to make it interesting."

"Dat one t'ing Remy always interested in, chere. If you very lucky, you might even see me at de same time." He gave her one last flick of his eyebrows and disappeared out the door.