Finally back

[emma]

Emma watched him carefully, speaking quietly. "A good number of months now," she replied. "He can hide himself well when he wants to."

[Gambit]

"I bought de Hellfire Club in January," Gambit said. "Does your 'good number of months' start before or after dat?"

[emma]

"After," she said simply. "He's involved in something he's not letting out to the rest of us. Hell, I say involved, I have a feeling he's up to his neck in it."

[Gambit]

"De rest of us?" Gambit repeated, wishing to make clear whom she meant by that.

[emma]

"Everybody else," she said coolly, keeping her gaze on his. "Just so I know," she continued softly, leaning forward on the table. "There's no logical reason for you and him being anything other than enemies, right?" With one leg crossed over the other under the table, she slowly dragged the top of her booted foot up against the inside of his leg. Above the table, her behaviour showed nothing to reflect the behaviour out of sight.

[Gambit]

Gambit leaned forward as well with a faint trace of a smirk on his face. "Alors," he said, his cheekbones becoming more accentuated for a split second, "if you consider his immense desire to put Gambit outta existence for sleepin' wit' ya a sufficient reason for him t' be my enemy, den yes."

[emma]

Her smile spread a little wider. "It sounds sufficient enough to me. Definitely sufficient enough for Shaw," she replied, not ceasing the actions with her foot.

[Gambit]

"Shaw's got quite a temper, has he not?" Gambit gave a wry smile. That conversation was making him rewind all the time he'd spent at the Hellfire Club - the original one - the events, the people, the danger and the intrigues he'd been involved in. It had been a fun time. It wasn't helping that Emma's boot on his leg was reminding him of the reason why he'd stuck around the Hellfire for so long back then. She had been fun to play with - the best toys are the dangerous ones. He had been the same to her - someone who was able to majorly piss Sebastian Shaw off, which had been the reason the White Queen of the Hellfire Club had kept Gambit in her favor for so long.

[emma]

"Most certainly," she replied, giving him a nonchalant smile as she sipped from her glass. there certainly had been intrigued at the original Hellfire. But so much double crossing, much less a team, more of a group of powerful individuals all out for their own cause and playing with niceties along the way. Until someone fell foul and those fake niceties were gone in an instant and the real reason why the Hellfire Club was so powerful showed. It was more than a meeting of the rich and extravagant, it was a meeting of those who knew ambitions and were enthralled by it.

[Gambit]

Gambit brought his knees together, catching Emma's foot between them. "So if he ain't dead - how has he managed t' stay so low an' calm all dis time? Wit' de temper he's got, eh?"

[emma]

An eyebrow rose a few centimetres as she felt her foot caught, but did not struggle in the hold. "It all depends on why he's being forced to stay calm. If he's in a lot of trouble.. " she said, fading out. She sound almost amused by the idea, as though it satisfied her.

[Gambit]

"Well, den we've got nothin' to worry 'bout, do we?" Gambit tilted his head slightly.

[emma]

"Now, Remy," she said gently. "You know things aren't as simple as that. If I don't know where Shaw is, I don't know what he's up to anymore. Clearly he doesn't want to dilvuge any of this to 'his' Emma."

[Gambit]

"Okay," Gambit said. "What I meant was, if he's in trouble, we ain't gotta worry. But if he isn't, and all dis time he been hidin' and fakin' his death, den..." he leaned back, releasing Emma's foot from between his knees under the table. "Okay, so why are you worried? I understand he could be after me or somethin', dat'd make my life less pretty dan it be now, but why would it trouble you? 'Cause he ain't lettin' ya in on it?" He knew the answer to that question; of course it was a yes. He could sense she wasn't lying when she said that Shaw didn't want to divulge anything to her. He simply wanted to make clear.

(( and I'm off for today. ))

[emma]

"I'd much rather know what he was up to, let's put it that way," said Emma, pulling her foot back towards her. She looked around at the Hellfire Club slowly, falling silent.