Bittersweet Return [[open]]

[roguey]

Rogue took a deep breath as she knocked on the front door of the mansion. It just didn't feel right waltzing right in there like she owned the place...it just didn't feel right. She knew it had once been her home, and Rogue had enjoyed every single moment she had spent there, but now...well now everything felt awkward, and that was putting it simply.

Shifting the bag in her arms from one gloved hand to the other Rogue glanced back towards the front yard, her patience wearing a little thin as anxiety started to gnaw at her. Rogue turned to study the door in front of her and turned the knob, gently easing it open. She stuck her head inside as she entered the hallway, closing the wooden door behind her.

Her green eyes marveled at the simple fact that nothing seemed to have changed in all the time she had been away. Rogue set her bag down at her feet and wondered what exactly to do next. On the trip home she really hadn't planned very much...just a 'hey, Ah'm back, how've you been?' was basically all she had managed to come up with. Of course considering she was back without much of a notice beforehand hadn't helped matters. After her place had burned down Rogue had been somewhat homeless...well, only in the fact that she had been hoping to have a while to come to term with certain things before returning to the mansion. But now she really didn't have much of a choice, here she was putting her feet in cold water without being prepared.

While she was glad to be home Rogue couldn't help but feel it would be a bittersweet one. Did anyone else know about the cure being a temporary thing? Or had they already heard? Her eyes fell to her gloved hands, studying them intently. It probably didn't matter very much, one look would be worth a million words.

"Hello? Anyone here?" called out the southerner after several more seconds of standing around and feeling like an idiot. She needed to just announce her homecoming and be done with it.

[Storm]

"Hello? Anyone here?"

Storm's head snapped up where she was sitting at her desk, her door open as usual to the first floor of the mansion. She paused for a moment, taking in the information that her ears had just given her.

Yes, that was Marie. It had to be.

In barely a moment she was out in the hallway and around the corner to the foyer. There were the gloved hands and the white streak she knew so well... Ororo's heart wasn't sure whether to sink to her stomach or leap to her throat.

"Rogue."

[roguey]

Rogue breathed in relief as Storm appeared from a doorway. She was grateful for a familiar face, and Storm's was one face she had truly missed while being away. It had been a while since Rogue had last seen Storm; months really, though it felt more like years to the southerner.

"Oh, Storm, ya have no idea how good it is ta see ya," murmured Rogue with a smile on her face. Her eyes were misting with tears, but she took no notice of that as she moved forward to give the older woman a hug.

"Ah've missed y'all so much." Rogue couldn't get herself to say much more. She simply wanted to revel in the fact that she was home again, and it was a more or less wonderful feeling. A peck of doubt crept into her mind as the southerner found herself wondering how much information she would be divulging to the X-Men that they were completely clueless on. Rogue wasn't sure she wanted to be the bearer of bad news--or any news for that matter.

Pulling away Rogue wiped away a tear from her cheek, giving Storm a haphazard grin. "How is everyone? How's...Logan?" She had wanted to ask about Bobby, but Rogue wasn't sure she was ready for that just yet. Logan was always the safer bet to ask about seeing as how he was usually more trouble then all the students combined.

[Storm]

"Oh, it's so good to see you too." Ororo forestalled questions for the moment as she wrapped Rogue in a tight hug. "And you have been missed." She reached to touch the white streak in Rogue's hair, not touching her skin by habit.

When she pulled away, Storm looked down at her fondly. "Everyone is fine... Logan is..." She paused. Truth be told, she did not know where Logan even was. "Fine. He is not at the mansion for the time being, however; he needed some time away, to himself." She exchanged a knowing smile with the younger woman. "You know how he is."

Now she changed the subject as she led Marie inside to the living room. "What brings you back, Rogue? Is everything alright?" Ororo could not hide her concern for long.

[roguey]

Rogue rolled her eyes at the mention of Logan. Oh she knew how he was alright, always like a leaf on the breeze, never staying in one place for long. She had half expected him to be gone--truth be told she had been quite surprised that he had stayed for as long as he had before. "Ah'm sure he'll return eventually--the next time he's bored outta his mind."

Her hands moved together, twisting nervously at Storm's next question. "Actually...Ah'm not sure. At least not completely. Ah uh, Ah received word not too long ago that uh, the cure--it isn't permanent. Mah powers are gonna return, or they already have. Ah dunno. As soon as Ah heard about it Ah just put mah gloves back on. Ah cahn't be too careful with mah powers, ya know?"

She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck before glancing back up at Storm. "Ahn that isn't all. It seems Magneto isn't as...gone as we had thought. A passerby kinda mentioned him ta meh. Ah guess old metal head is startin' over or somethin'..."

[Storm]

Ororo wasn't so sure about Logan; but she let Marie's words go unchallenged.

In the living room, Storm started to lead the way to a comfy couch but was stopped short by Rogue's next words. The Cure.

Word of its impermanence had reached the many ears of the Institute, but nothing had been confirmed, and the issue made Storm's blood boil unhealthily every time she heard of it, so generally the subject had been avoided lately. But it seemed word had gotten much more disseminated than that, if Rogue had put her gloves back on.

She waited to hear if the younger girl would explain where she heard the rumor, but instead the conversation took - was it possible - an even more disturbing turn.

Old metal head indeed.

Storm lowered herself onto the couch and put a hand up to her brow, nostrils flaring dangerously. This was a couple of issues she did NOT want to face again. But of course the Cure and Eric Lensherr's return would be all mixed up in each other... maybe the rumors were true.

"Where did you - " she looked over at Rogue. "Where did you hear these things? I have heard nothing but rumors, but sometimes rumors carry a disturbing amount of truth."

Her eyebrows lifted a little at the last word. Actually, she thought, truth was probably in front of her. "Have you tested yourself yet? Your powers?" She eyed the iconic gloves.

[Storm]

[Thread closed: We're assuming Rogue told Storm all she knows. : )]