Disclaimer:All characters belong to Marvel.
Bobby Drake stared bleakly at the wall in front of him, and groused to himself. It was his birthday. And his 'friends' the X-Men had forgotten. Normally, he wouldn't mind. _Normally_, they'd probably be on some death defying mission to save the world. But this last week had been totally quiet. And they hadn't remembered, not one of them. Sulking, he continued to stare at the wall. It wasn't even as if it was just _any_ birthday, either! He was 25! A quarter of a centur...
*Oh, Geez, Bobster, don't think that. You'll just depress yourself even more.*
After another lengthy period of staring blankly at the wall, Bobby stood. He was sick of this. He'd go and drown his sorrows down at Harry's Hideaway, the nearby pub he and the other X-Men often went to.
Going down the stairs, he noticed Gambit and Rogue and the foot of the stairs, arguing again.
*Ulp. Glad I'm not the Cajun. _Never_ get into a fight with a woman who can topple the house you're in with one punch.* He thought with a grin -- though he hid that grin when he got nearer. He couldn't tell what they were arguing about, but Rogue glared at Remy, yelled, and then went into the front room, slamming the door hard enough to make Bobby glad the door frames had been re-inforced with steel -- Rogue's temper was well known. Many an X-Man had been on the wrong end of it.
As Bobby reached the bottom of the stairs, Remy looked up. Bobby was surprised to see he looked hurt. But it was gone as soon as he saw it, replaced with a facade of charm.
"Hi, Bobby. How's y' day been?"
Bobby smiled slightly at Remy. "I saw you and Rogue arguing."
The facade fell, and Remy looked away from him. Bobby didn't much like Remy, but he knew how deep Rogue's sharp tongue could cut.
"Hey, I was just going to Harry's. Wanna join me?" Bobby smiled disarmingly, and Remy looked up wearily.
"Sounds good t' me, mon ami."
********
Bobby and Remy had been at Harry's for about an hour. Bobby was still nursing his
first pint. Remy was on his forth. Bobby was wondering if he should go over to those
two girls who had been looking at them for the past half hour. They were pretty --
one had big, curly black afro hair with gold streaks, and a grin that Bobby would very
much like to see when he told a joke. The other had a very straight, dark shoulder
length bob, dark eyes, a model pout and a designer suit. She defiantly looked like the
type Remy would go for. Bobby was just about to suggest to Remy that they should go
talk to them, when Remy himself started talking.
"Bobby, I t'ink maybe I oughta go back an' 'polagize t' Roguie. I... said some t'ings I maybe shouldn't a said... aw, Bobby? Will y' drive me back?"
Bobby glared at him. he'd of felt more confident with Remy there. No one ever said 'no' to Remy. And they couldn't both have him.
Taking his car keys out of his pocket, Bobby plonked them on the table in front of Remy.
"Go on, then. Good look, man."
Remy squinted at the keys, then at Bobby, his expression one of disbelief. "Y' tellin' me y'd let me drive home like dis in y' Jag?"
Bobby looked at him, eyes wide. He hadn't thought of that... Bobby frowned, thinking of his car, and then looking over at the two girls. They waved at him. Bobby could cry. Then he blinked, and remembered they'd taken Scott's car. *Oh, crap...*
"Fine, fine, I'll drive you." He was sulking again. He had to -- it was either that or put up with one of Cyke's lectures on designated drivers. And pay God-knows-how much in repairs. Standing, he grabbed Remy's collar and dragged him into the car.
As they were driving, Bobby's nose wrinkled, and he looked at Remy, and remembered why he didn't like him. "Maybe you wanna sober up some before you go near Rogue."
Remy noticed the tone in Bobby's voice, and he looked at him sharply. "Why, homme? What y' t'ink I gon' do? Hurt her?" There was a dangerous undertone under that, but Bobby ignored it, and him, but answered in his mind.
*Yeah, I do actually. Bastard.*
Quietly, Remy went on. "I would nev' hurt her. I wan' y' t' know dat. My word might not mean not'in', but I love her an' wouldn' hurt her."
His gaze was fixed on the road in front of him, and Bobby wasn't sure what to think. Instead, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. The rest of the trip went by in silence.
The car pulled into the garage, and both men got out and walked into the house. Bobby looked at Remy strangely. He looked as if he was trying not to laugh.
"What's your problem?" Bobby asked, annoyed.
"Not'in'."
"It _isn't_ nothing... oh boy."
Remy had just opened the door to the living room and was now laughing in earnest at Bobby's face. The X-Men hadn�t forgotten Bobby's birthday!
"SURPRISE!!!" They yelled, and bangs of Party Poppers were heard everywhere. Bobby grinned, he couldn't help it. A big, cheerful banner above their heads read 'Happy Quarter of a Century, Bobby!' There were coloured streamers all over the place, all of the X-Men were wearing silly paper hats. Remy walked over to Rogue and hugged her. In return, she put one of the hats on his head. Jean came up to him, smiling broadly, with a paper pirate hat.
"I.. I don't believe this. You," He said, pointing at Remy and Rogue. "That arguing was just an act!? You had all this planned, didn't you?"
"Actually, we thought you were going to be sulking in your room all night," smiled Jean. "I 'heard' you come down and asked Rogue and Gambit to do something." Jean smiled at them. "I think they did very well, actually. But they've been rewarded!"
Remy raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? All I've been is groused at," he grinned at Bobby, who blushed.
Rogue turned, still in his arms. Stroking his face with a gloved hand, she smiled at him, green eyes sparkling. Without a word, she went up on tip-toes and kissed him softly on the lips. A stupid grin spread over his face.
Jean explained what she'd done. "I telepathically surpressed Rogue's powers. Just for about 24 hours, though."
"Dat's all we need..." Murmured Remy, kissing her.
Jean smiled, then turned back to Bobby. "Don't forget your presents too! We all got you special gifts for this special time of life." Putting her slim arm around his broad shoulders, she led him over to a table over-flowing with colourfully wrapped presents, envelopes, and little bits of coloured papers.
The blue Beast rambled over to Bobby and lifted a large box off the table, and handed it to Bobby. It was surprisingly light, and Bobby shook it. He couldn't help it.
"Ah, a little of the child within you still, eh Bobby?" Asked Hank, smiling. Bobby had ripped off the wrapping paper, and took the present out of the box. People around the room started laughing, and Bobby glared at Hank playfully. It was a zimmer frame.
"Ha, ha Hank. Real funny. Not."
"Yeah it is," Said someone from the back, and everyone else nodded, laughingly agreeing.
Bobby looked at the pile of presents, and sulk was gone from his face immediately. Like a little kid, he started ripping the paper off them. The presents ranged from the normal -- wool -- to the obvious gags; fly in an ice-cube, and then there were what Bobby thought were his favourite -- the 'cool', by his own admission; a life-size stand-up of the Spice Girls, and a French maid's outfit.
"Now all I need to do is find someone to wear it!" He joked.
Archangel grinned at him, his curly blond hair falling in front of his eyes. "What d' ya mean, Bobby? I'm sure you'll look great in it!"
The whole room filled with laughter, and heat rose to Bobby's cheeks, though he laughed it off. However, he did make sure later that the joke ice-cube found it's way into Warren�s drink... which found it's way onto Betsy's dress. Which earned Bobby a slap.
"Way to go, Bob!" Laughed Remy, behind him suddenly. "Slapped by a beautiful woman on y' birthday -- not even I managed dat one!" Bobby turned around, the stars on a headband that sat on his head (a present from Lorna -- "You're a star, Bobby!") bouncing on their springs.
"Nah, you only get kisses from the most beautiful girl in the world," he said, and kissed Rogue's hand.
"Whaddaya know?" Asked Remy, retrieving Rogue's hand from Bobby's. "De boy _can_ be taught!!"
"Only 'cause he's got such a great teacher!" She laughed, before kissing him. The two of them whirled away, leaving Bobby alone again, though not for long. Storm walked up to him, looking regal even in a casual jog-suit. Her smile was elegant and royal, as she gestured at the cake, at least three feet high that was currently being wheeled in.
"I hope you appreciate this gift from Jean and I -- it took us a great time to make it, and was quite a task, even for Jean, to get the tiers atop each other!"
Bobby paused, and looked at the cake. It looked real enough, but he knew the drill at anniversary parties. if it was a big cake, it was cardboard, and there was a girl inside it. With a frown, he looked at Storm, and then Jean. *Nah,* he thought. *Storm wouldn't lie.*
He walked up to the cake, carefully, and looked around the room too see everyone's reaction. Remy? Nope, he was too busy slow-dancing with Rogue to the Macarena. Warren? No, he was still apologising to Betsy. He looked at everyone in the room, and was semi-satisfied that this must be a real cake. He picked the knife up to cut it, and looked around again. No-one was about to tell him to stop, or was laughing. Though, Remy and Warren both had now noticed the cake, and seemed to be hoping there was a just-clothed woman inside. With a deep breath, Bobby cut the cake, and... nothing happened. He frowned, and cut himself a big slice.
He stared down at it suspiciously. Glancing around the room, he nibbled at it.
"Hey! This is good!"
Jean raised an eyebrow at him, arms akimbo. "You sound surprised?" She asked, a warning tone to her voice.
*D'oh.* He grimaced. "No, I don't mean it like that, I just thought it was one of those cakes where the wom... AAArrrrrggghhhh!!!!"
"LAU OU!!" Screamed Kitty Pryde, bursting out of the cake, leaving it untouched. She did a little Hawaiian dance, which gave Bobby enough time to recover from the shock of someone just jumping *thru* him, and notice her grass skirt, and coconut bra. With a laugh, her brown eyes dancing, she kissed Bobby on the cheek.
"Happy Birthday, Bobby!" She smiled, and handed him a Polaroid photo of his face, obviously taken when she'd jumped out of the cake. Bobby stared at it in horror. he started to rip it up, but Hank took it from him, and started to laugh at it.
"Why, if this isn't the best picture I've ever seen!! Look, everyone!" He exclaimed, and started to pass it to Quicksilver. Whispering in his ear, Quicksilver smiled -- a rare thing from him -- and ran off at at least a hundred MPH before Bobby even started to move towards him.
"Aw, man! Hank, what's he doin'?" Bobby whined. Before Hank could answer, however, Quicksilver was back and handing out photocopies to every one. Bobby stared at him, and looked like he was going to cry of embarrassment. Hank grinned, and took a photo of him like that too. With that, Bobby glared at him in mock anger, and started to try and wrestle the camera from him.
The fight between the 175lb Iceman and the 350lb Beast was a sight to behold, and it
had the whole room laughing -- especially when Bobby won!!
************
Later that night, when the DJ started to play the slow songs, Bobby was dancing with
Kitty. "So,"
he asked. "Who's idea was it?"
Kitty smiled up at him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She answered vaguely.
"Aw, come on!" He whined.
Kitty chuckled. "Fine. It was Ororo's idea." Bobby's mouth dropped open again, which had Kitty laughing again. "I told you you wouldn't believe me!"
Bobby looked over at Ororo, who was looking at her friend, Remy, who was this time slow-dancing with Rogue to the right sort of music, and started to walk over to her.
"Hey!"
Ororo looked up at him slowly. "Hello, Bobby. Are you having a nice birthday?"
"It was you!" He accused, pointing at Kitty, who was doubled over laughing.
"Oh, dear. What has Kitten been telling you?" Asked Ororo, smiling in turn at Jean. Bobby scowled, but Ororo only laughed and rose.
"My friend, did you not enjoy the surprise?" With a sigh, Bobby grumped.
"I guess."
"Then what is wrong?" Bobby grinned up at her, putting Storm on her guard immediately!
"I've not got you back!" He cried, brandishing cake. Ororo's eyes widened, but before she could do anything, he yelled, "NO POWERS!!" and started chasing her, cake in hand. Ororo gave a peal of shrieking laughter, and started to run. However, Bobby made the mistake of running past Rogue and Gambit. Rogue stuck a leg out, and tripped him up... meaning he fell flat on his face, right into the cake. Rogue, Remy and Ororo laughed, and helped him up.
"I guess that was my own fault." he admitted, with a smirk.
"Yeah," said Rogue. "You've learned two important life-lessons -- Don't cross the Wind Rider... and don' walk past two of her best friends when trying to smash cake in her face!!"
They all laughed together, then Bobby offered a hand out to Ororo. "May I have this dance, then, to apologise?"
Ororo smiled, and took his hand in hers. "I would be delighted!" She answered.
"You go, Stormy!" Muttered Remy, earning him a light punch from her. They shared a grin, and then Bobby whirled Storm away, and tried to teach her the Macarena to a Celine Dion ballad.
"No, not that, you move your hips, yeah, that's right, and then..." He trailed off as his saw Remy and Rogue leave, joined at the lips. "Wow! They're really going to do it?"
"I don't really think that is any of your business, my friend!"
"Grump!"
Ororo and Bobby laughed together, and danced the Macarena with everyone else in the room, to various love songs, until the sunrise.
The End.