A Little Tenderness...
      
      Author: vangiekitty 


Disclaimer: I don't own the x-men. I make no money from these stories. I get 
paid in reviews so pony up, bub! :)

Hey, this fic is my first attempt at slash so please be kind! It is inspired by 
the COLD series by V.Hayrabedian. I just like the idea of someone comforting 
Remy. He's so deliciously pathetic now that he's back from the deep freeze and 
Rogue is giving him the cold shoulder! Somebody's gotta warm him up, Scott, 
Bobby, or even... Logan. :) Yummy. Luv it! PS- can someone tell me a bit more 
about Gambit's charm power? I have read a bit about it in other fics and this is 
where I base my knowledge that it does indeed exist. If someone could tell me 
more, I'd appreciate it. thanx.


A Little Tenderness

These times are so uncertain
There's a yearning undefined
And people filled with rage.
We all need a little tenderness,
How can Love survive
In such a graceless age? 

Don. Henly



Remy sat alone by the lake which reflected a man he hardly recognized as 
himself. Gone was the 

sharp, attractive Gambit of old. In his place was a gaunt, too-thin apparition 
that stared back at him with

hollow, haunted eyes. The old, Devil-may-care attitude, the nonchalant charm, 
the mocking smile had all

deserted him and left him as he was now. Empty. Helpless to fight off the black 
depression that threatened

to swallow him whole. He felt as though he were sliding slowly into a dark well 
with slick, glass sides. If 

only someone would throw him a lifeline.... But who would care to do that, he 
reflected. Ever since

Antarctica.... he shivered, trying to push the pain and shame and guilt from his 
mind. But the feelings

had worked their way to the bone, as surely as the subzero temperatures had. 
Never.... he could never 

forget.

Suddenly a dark shape loomed behind him and he saw Logan reflected in the lake 
beside his

own pallid form

"Hey, Gumbo" said the rough voice. "What ya doin' sittin' here all alone like 
this? We were gettin'

kinda worried; nobody'd seen ya in hours." Then, seeing the look on Remy's face, 
he continued in a softer

tone, "You Ok, kid? Ya seem a little down."

Remy was torn between irritation at the interuption of his private reflections 
and relief for the

distraction from the dark thoughts that clouded his mind. He said sharply,

"No, Logan. Remy is not Ok. Very far from Ok. Y' want ta leave him alone now?"

"Not really." said Logan, unfazed by Remy's outburst. He sat beside the Cajun 
and eyed him 

complacently, but with a concern he couldn't quite hide. "So, ya want ta talk 
about it?" he asked again.

Remy was surprised. He had never thought of Logan as the concerned and caring 
type. And

yet, he reflected, why not? He had seen the way Logan acted with Jubilee, 
cradling her in his arms and

soothing away her fears and sorrows. Remy had often wished he had someone to 
comfort him in that way,

someone to hold him... The thought made him angry. There was no point in wishing 
for Logan to hold him

in his strong, muscular arms! It would never happen in a million years. Why, 
Logan would probably kill 

him if he even had an inkling of Remy's thoughts and desires. And now, he was 
asking Remy if he wanted 

to *talk* about it! The thought made Remy so angry, he snarled at Logan,

"You want to play confessor, chere, and hear all Remy's sins? Well there's too 
many ta count. You

aint got time for a full confession, I t'ink."

"Nope." said Logan, refusing to get angry in return. "I thought ya might want ta 
talk about what's

goin' on with you right now, Remy. Ever since ya gat back from the deep freeze, 
ya been all gloom an' doom.

Nobody's had much luck gettin' ya ta spill yer guts so I thought I'd give it a 
try." He grinned briefly. "So

ya want ta talk about it?" He asked yet again.

To Remy's surprise, he found he *did* want to talk about it- al of it. He looked 
at Logan to make

sure the other man was sincear. Deep, expressive eyes stared back into his, 
unblinking. Apparently. Logan

was for real.

"I guess I would like ta talk about it, Mon ami. But Remy hardly know where ta 
start. Y' know?"

Logan nodded but said nothing. Remy took a deep breath and tried again.

"It's just dat when Remy was all alone in dat dark, cold place, I think I'm 
gonna die, non? It made

me t'ink about my life here at de mansion. Closest t'ing I got to a home and a 
family. But even here, I still

feel out of place. Unwanted, unloved and hungry... so hungry."

"Hungry? For what, Gumbo?"

"F' love, I guess." Remy admitted, dropping his eyes from Logan's too -direct 
gaze. "Affection,

Mon ami. All my life I search f' it and in dis place I come so close... but not 
close enough. It's never enough

cause I can never let go."

"Let go?" Logan was confused.

"Let go my shields, my wall of defence, chere." Remy explained. "Y' see, my 
charm power be too

much f' people t' handle. Makes 'em crazy, non? But until Remy can drop the 
wall, he can never find love.

Love can't get in, can't get out, y' see?"

Logan frowned. "Guess so. This charm power o' yours is serious buisness, huh? 
Really affects 

people?"

"Oui!" Remy nodded vigorously. "Makes 'em do t'ings dey not even t'ink of 
useually. When

Remy was younger, 13, 14 and de power first come out, and I not know how t' 
controll it, how t' wall it in."

"Made life hard for ya, did it?"

"Oui." Remy said, more quietly this time. "Can't tall y' the number of times I 
was raped, chere. Lost

count m'self." He turned away in shame, wanting to get up and go but Logan's 
warm, callused hand on his

shoulder stopped him.

"I'm ..... sorry, Remy. I didn't know." he said quietly.

"It's Ok." Gambit said lightly, trying to pass the whole thing off. "After a 
while, Remy learn to 

control it. So de rapes, dey stop. De beatings, de stop to."

"Beatings?" Logan's voice rose a notch. "But you were just a kid, Remy! Who beat 
you?"

"Men who.... fuck Remy." Gambit said in a low voice. "Men who get to close, get 
trapped in de

charm power. Remy try t' get away, but he not always fast enough and his other 
powers not so strong,den.

De men, dey.... take Remy, whether he want to or non. After de passion is spent, 
dey realize what dey done.

Can't believe it, want t' blame someone. If dey ain't gay, must be Remy seduced 
dem, non? T'ink it's all his

fault and beat him up." He sighed. "Me, I t'ink it must be my fault too." He 
added in a lower voice.

"How could it be yer fault?" asked Logan angrily. "You were the victem, Remy, it 
was no fault o'

yours!"

Remy's face twisted and one slow tear made it's way down his cheek. God, he 
hated to cry in front

of anyone! "I's my fault cause I liked it sometimes." he admitted. "Not de 
beatings, never dat. But de Love,

de affection when m' shields were down. Dey weren't all bad men, y' see, Logan. 
Sometimes dey hold Remy,

stroke his hair, rub his back. Wasn't always rough and painfull. Sometimes..... 
sometimes it feel good." He 

turned away again, expecting the staunchly heterosexual Logan to leave in 
disgust. It was one thing to 

admitt to Logan that he'd been raped, but to tell him that sometimes he'd 
enjoyed it, enjoyed gay sex... well,

that was something else entirely. He wouldn't be surprised if Logan left now and 
never talked to him again.

But instead of leaving, Logan reached out to his friend. He had a hard time 
imagining how it must 

have been for Remy. Caught, pinned down and taken against his will, all because 
his charm power was too

strong for a young, inexperianced mutant to understand or control. He wasn't 
about to judge a man who'd

had that experiance not once, but many times. To many to count. It made him sad. 
Gently, He began to rub

Remy's back with one warm palm. 

"Ya poor kid." he said softly "It musta been damn confusin'. Somebody tells ya 
he loves ya one

minuit and he's tryin' ta kill ya th' next."

"Yeah. Used and confused, dat's me." whispered Remy in a broken voice. He lost 
his silent battle

to hold back the tears and they came pouring down his hot face. He felt like a 
mess. Suddenly, he felt 

Logan's strong arms around him.

"C'mere, kid." said the deep, rough voice in his ear. Logan was drawing him into 
his lap. Remy 

wanted more than anything to let Logan hold him, but he knew he couldn't.

"No!" he cried, fighting weakly. "Can't do dis, Logan!"

"Why not, kid? I know you need comfort and I can smell how desperately ya want 
it." said Logan

resonably, refusing to let him go. "Just let me hold ya for a while." he added 
gruffly. "Ya need some human

contact, make ya feel better, kid."

"But Logan, my shields, dey weak because Remy is weak. If dey slip, de charm 
power take hold

of you..."

"You afraid I'll rape you, Remy? Is that it?" Asked Logan, softly, still hoding 
the younger man in

his lap and refusing to let him go.

"Non, non, Logan. It's just dat, well, I know you like de femmes... Remy don't 
want you t' do 

somet'ing you regret later." Logan looked thoughtfull.

"It's true, I never... slep with a man, Remy." he said slowly. "But that don't 
mean I think it's wrong

or didgustin'. Just never had the urge, ya know? But this," he indicated their 
current situation with a wave

of his hand, "this isn't about sex, Remy. I'm just tryin' ta give ya what ya say 
yer hungry for. A little

affection, a little tenderness, Because ya look terrible lately, my friend and I 
want ta help ya any way I can.

And you know and I know this is what ya need, you're starvin' for it, aren't 
ya?" Worlessly, Remy nodded.

"So just let it go, Remy." His grip on the Cajun tightened a little. "I can 
control myself, I'm not gonna rape 

ya. Just let me hold ya a while, Ok?"

"Ok." Remy said simply. He finally allowed himself to relax against Logan's 
broad chest and, 

tenatively at first, nuzzling his face into Logan's scratchy neck. Logan stroked 
the flowing, auburn hair

and gently rubbed his friend's back, soothing him with touch and tenderness.

"Let down yer shields, Remy." he whispered roughly. "Let yourself *feel*. It's 
Ok." Gasping, 

Remy did so. Dropping his defenses was like letting go of a heavy weight he 
hadn't known he was carrying.

He decided he didn't care if Logan raped him. If only he could be held in these 
strong arms and feel the

tenderness his friend felt for him without any shields between them for a while, 
he felt that emotional bliss

would be worth any amount of physicall pain later.

Logan continued to stroke Remy's hair, touched by the utter vunerability of the 
young man in his

arms. He tried to steel himself against the effects fo the charm power but 
strangely, he wasn't sure if he 

*wanted* to. Though he had never been attracted to a man, he had to admitt, 
there was just something

about Remy. Maybe it was the soft, auburn hair, the beautifully chisseled 
features, or his long, lanky body.

Logan didn't know what it was but he did know that the thought of , say, kissing 
Remy didn't repulse him

at all. In fact, he found the thought strangely erotic.

Remy, nestled in Logan's lap, felt the older man's hardness begin to stir 
against his hip.

"Oh no," he thought, tensing. "Here it comes. Just hope he don't kill me when 
he's done!"

Logan felt the young thief go tense in his arms and realized what he must be 
thinking.

"It's Ok, kid." he growled. "Ya don't have ta worry. I can feel yer flamin' 
charm power and yes,

it turns me on but I'm not gonna hurt ya or rape ya. I can control myself a 
little better than that."

Gambit felt a sort of relief flood through him at Logan's words. He had been 
picturing how rough sex with 

Logan could get and though he was determined to take the pain, he still hadn't 
been looking forward to it.

And yet, he was a little dissapointed, too. He realized he'd always been a 
little attracted to Logan- that

terrible strength, the coarse, dark hair that covered the compact, muscular 
body. Being raped by Logan

would be painful, but the experiance might almost be worth the pain. Making 
love, of course would be

infinately better but Remy was pretty sure that wasn't Logan's sexual style. Not 
that he would ever get a

chance to find out! He sighed.

"You Ok, Remy?" Logan murmured into his hair.

"Tryin' not ta be afraid, chere, just dat Remy's been here before. I wouldn't 
care what y' did t' me,

Logan." he confessed in a low voice. "Just don't want y' to hate Remy later, 
non?"

"Wouldn't hate ya no matter what, Remy." Logan said firmly.

"Non? Y' t'ink not? I tell you Remy's been here before, I tell you true, Mon 
ami. When Remy was

younger, he lose a lot of friends dis way. Let m'self get too comfortable, de 
shields go down and de charm

leak out.Dat's how I lose m' best friend He tried t' kiss Remy, even though he 
wasn't gay or bi. Never f'gave

Remy. Never talk t' me again." The incident was years in the past, but Logan 
could see it still hurt Remy

deeply. More hot tears squeezed out of the beautiful red on black eyes.

"Quiet, kid." he ordered gently, lifting Remy's chin so he could look directly 
into his face. "That's

the past and this is now. I promise I won't hate ya, no matter what, Ok?" What 
was it about this young man

that made him feel so tender, so fiercely protective? Almost the same way he 
felt for Jubilee. As he would 

have done for her, Logan bent and gently kissed Remmy's wet cheeks and quivering 
eyelids. The kisses 

were feather-light touches that made Remy sigh with longing.

"What you doing t' Remy, Mon ami?" he whispered, not daring to open his eyes as 
Logan 

continued to kiss his face, so gently.

"Kissin' yer tears away, I guess." Logan replied, gruffly. "Does it bother ya, 
Remy?"

"Non, Remy likes it." whispered Gambit, wishing it would never stop. He felt his 
own hardness stir

in response to the gentle kisses.

Logan, ever direct, said, "I kinda feel like I wanta kiss more than yer eyes, 
Remy, if ya know what

I mean."

Remy sighed. "It's just de charm power, chere." he whispered whistfully. "If 
Remy put up his 

shields, you don't wabt t' kiss him no more, you'll see."

"Oh no?" Logan's voice sounded both tender and amused. "Try me. Put up yer 
shields and see

what happens, Remy."

"Ok, but please don' hurt Remy when y' find y' been doin' t'ings you don' like." 
the younger man

begged. Steeling himself for the unplesantness that was sure to follow, he put 
up a mental shield that 

blocked out the charm power in an instant, cutting off it's effects immediately. 


They sat silently for a moment, Remy ever expecting to be pushed from Logan's 
arms and perhaps

even beaten as had happened so many times in the past. In stead, he felt Logan's 
warm breath on his cheek

and then his firm lips closed gently over Remy's. Remy's eyes flew open in 
shock, Logan was kissing him!

Without the charm power! He closed his eyes again, savoring the feeling, wanting 
the moment to last.

He was sure Logan would pull away soon, surely he was just making a point.

But Logan didn't pull away. Instead, he pulled Remy even closer and parted his 
lips, deepening the 

kiss. Remy sighed into Logan's hot mouth as he opened his own lips to Logan's 
stronger, more insistant 

ones. He hadn't been kissed like this, so forcefully, so deliciously, in 
forever. Tenatively He kissed back

and was rewarded with Logan's warm toungue in his mouth, exploring him roughly 
and tenderly at once.

Remy reached up with one shaking hand and burried his fingers in Logan's wild 
black mane. It felt so good

to be held this way in Logan's arms while their mouths locked and Logan sucked 
gently on his toungue.

The kiss deepened even more and Logan's mouth became rougher, more insistant. 
Remy shuddered with

desire. He knew himself to be a natural bottom and he was sure Logan was a 
natural top. He thought of

how it could be- Logan riding him, filling him. He stifled a groan at the 
thought.

Scenting the young man's desire, Logan reluctantly broke the kiss.

"How's that, Remy?" he asked softly. "You like it?"

"You know I do, chere." Remy whispered, breathlessly, knowing Logan could smell 
his desire.

"But," he asked, wonderingly, "You don' hate Remy cause you do somet'ing you 
never want t' do before?"

"What? Hate ya because we kissed?" Logan asked. "Naw, kid, I don't hate ya. It 
*confuses* me a

little cause I never *wanted* ta kiss another man before. But I wanted ta kiss 
you and you wanted ta be 

kissed, didn't ya?"

"Oui." Remy said simply.

"Then what's tha big deal? Anyway, do ya feel better now, Gumbo?"

Remy knew that the old nick-name ment their special time was over, probably 
forever. He 

straightened up and started to scramble out of Logan's lap. "Sure t'ing, Remy 
feel lots better." Suddenly

shy, he added, "Want t' thank you f' being there for me, Logan. Means a lot t' 
me."

But Logan was not quite ready to release him yet. "Anytime, Remy." he said 
looking deeply into

the beautiful demon eyes. "I'm always here for you, I mean that , Ok?"

"Ok." Remy whispered gratefully. Logan finally let him up at this 
acknowledgement and he stood

looking silently at the lake for some time. Maybe, he thought with a smile, just 
maybe, everything would

be Ok. Logan was glad to see the small smile on his friend's face.

"Looks like kissin' agrees with ya." he remarked, standing beside the lanky 
cajun.

Gambit blushed. "Oui." he murmured softy, casting a sideways glance at Logan.

"Well, we better get back; the others'll think we drownd ourselves in the 
flamin' lake!" Logan

said, setting off for the mansion. Remy stood for a moment, watching the broad 
back as his friend departed

thinking how close he had come to doing just that, or something simular until 
Logan had given him the

greatest gift one friend can give to another- a little tenderness. Then, 
thoughtfully, he followed Logan home.