No One Told Us Not To Sooo... We Can, Right?! (Candy/Auro Partnership; Monster Hunt; Rated E; Invite)

Finishing his food, he took the long way around to the kitchen, mimicking Aurora's actions before starting on the dishes, as a whole. From his room, his phone pinged to indicate a message, but he wholly ignored it. Aurora, by now, had managed to hang upside-down over the back of the couch, completely oblivious and unable to see the others as she read.

Only a moment of not paying attention to Aurora ended up with her in such a position. Candy was able to be fascinated by how she managed to get so weird so quickly for only a moment before she stood herself up and followed Rogue to the kitchen.

Suddenly, it seemed like washing dishes was the most agonizingly long task he could possibly have been doing, in that moment. Face flushing, he moved to roll up sleeves he no longer wore, jacket discarded on the counter behind him, to keep from getting wet. By some miracle, he managed to keep his chakras from becoming visible.

Candy got up really close to Rogue before she actually did anything. She didn't want him escaping again. Not like he really could, since he was washing dishes. Candy's next move was to stand herself right up against Rogue's side, simply starting up at him. She was close enough that he'd definitely not be able to ignore it; heck, he'd probably be able to feel her body heat.

The man visibly stiffened, frozen where he was, in the middle of wiping down a plate. Looking at her sidelong, his eyes slowly started to narrow, a slight, blue strobing pulse becoming visible. "Yes?"

"I thought that you had gotten over my... Whatever this is." Candy said, as quietly as she could. She wanted to avoid tipping Aurora off as to what was going on here. Not something people usually do with their friend's friends. "Pleasantly surprised that you find it embarrassing to look."

He glared, turning to look her, gaze steady on her own. "A..." Rogue cleared his throat, pausing a moment before speaking, "Are you enjoying yourself, there...?"

"Oh, yes, yes I am.." Candy replied, giving Rogue a grin as she closed the distance between herself and him completely. She was now pressed against his side, only indication that she thought of any of this as uncouth being her blushing cheeks.

He felt his mouth go dry again, and he fought for control. Eventually, the yellow at his abdomen flashed again, bright and vivid, before settling. His eyes flashed to the couch to make sure that Aurora was still in her own little world. Finding the cost clear, he moved so that his arms were on either side of her, back forced against the counter and sink. Not touching her, at least not anymore, he leaned down, eyes intent on her, swirling depths hypnotic. "If you keep interrupting me while I'm trying to clean, you're going to get very wet." He growled out the word, the innuendo beyond him, as it was not his intent.

Oh, no, he was not going to turn the situation on her as easily as the last time. Though, with her back against the counter and in such a position, with such a line having been uttered suddenly, she was hard pressed for a retort. Really, this man was so impossible to predict... She didn't show her lack of ideas show, instead grinning as if she had one ready in such a scenario. Taking only a little time to think, she finally happened upon the perfect response: "If you get this shirt wet, you definitely won't be able to look..."

Heat flooded his face, and a huffed sigh fell from his exposed nostrils. Still, he didn't relent, even when his flickering throat chakra threatened to show. "You would like that, wouldn't you?" Rogue retorted, baffled by this woman that couldn't seem to decide just what it was she wanted from him.

If he was going to turn this into a battle of clever responses, then she was going to win. She didn't have any idea why she was doing any of this, but it was fun! "I'd rather that you keep looking. It's more fun that way."

"Is it?" He challenged, and a slow smirk began to form beneath the mask. Leaning back slightly, still trapping her with his hands, he let his eyes wander over her, chakras the color of flames flashing briefly in his lower body: root, sacral, and solar plexus. The blue still threatened to strobe, but the color was more vivid, the intensity of its errotism far turned down from before. Rogue brought his eyes back up to hers, slowly, and the light there was heated, smoldering as they seemed to look right through her, perhaps even somewhere beyond her soul. His brow raised slightly, even as his eyes locked her.

Candy's face burned as bright as Rogue's chakras did. Perhaps even a mouse will bite the cat if pushed into a corner... Though, even if her face betrayed her sudden embarrassment, her actual actions were the same as before. She was not going to let up this easily. She placed her hands on Rogue's shoulders and asked a question with a smirk of her own. "You like what you see?"

Tension became obvious, instantly, rippling down his muscles upon the contact. Even as the chakra wavered once more, though, he kept his eyes on her, betraying nothing with them. The same smoldering look remained, and he leaned just a touch forward, studying her, ignoring the burning in his face and reveling in the same state being mirrored on her own. "What if I do?" He inquired, not believing that she would bother in truly escalating the scenario from here; a dodge, he expected. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if Tony or Aurora managed to ruin the moment.

Tony, however, was not home, and Aurora was too distracted by her book.

Candy's heart pounded more and more as the situation likewise escalated. She knew that at this point, she should let up. It was obvious that this was going nowhere but trouble. But, Candy didn't want to let up. This was the most fun she had in this sort of way since Melody had disappeared without a trace; the thought no longer affected her particularly anymore. In the end, Candy wrapped her arms light the way around the back of Rogue's neck and said another choice few words, that would surely have to end in Rogue being the one to back down rather than her: "Then do what you like." She said, in a low tone, almost breathed out in reality. Flicking her tongue across the lips she found to suddenly feel very dry, she waited to see what Rogue would do...

The events that followed happened like a blink, the assassin moving too fast for any form of normal vision. Forcing himself calm by means of channeling his sacral chakra, his soul glowed yellow, invisible without perception, as his hands moved. Sliding rapidly from the counter and down her form, his hands hooked under her knees, lifting her up and over, onto the countertop. Leaning closer, he hooked her legs at his hips, one hand at her knee, the other holding her chin as he smirked. The same old smolder had returned, dancing with tinges of yellow flashing through them like comets, and he waited for her to dare to challenge him again, pressed against her as he trapped her in place.

She didn't have to wait long to quite suddenly being thrust across the counter, only a small squeak of surprise having time to leave her lips, with the man who she was having so much fun teasing before in between her legs. As she had predicted, this was getting quite out of hand. Blushing madly, Candy lay there almost immobilised by the shock of the action itself and the speed at which it all happened. Though, it seemed that even if she did try to move, she wouldn't be able to.

His eyes studied her for several heated moments, his body otherwise seeming still as a statue. For a long while, it seemed as though he would not move, would not let her leave. It only seemed that way, however, and soon enough, he was back, off to the side of her, doing dishes once more as though nothing had happened, leaving her on the counter just as quickly as he had brought her there.

Rather than jumping off of the counter and running off like she thought he expected her to do, she sat up and watched him as he continued to wash the dishes. She wasn't getting in his way in any way, just studying what features she could see above his mask. She swung her legs back and forth, lightly kicking them against the front of the counter and was leaning back on her arms. It really did look like the experience didn't scare her at all.

It took him mere minutes to complete the task, drying the plates and returning them to their homes. Turning around, he looked at her as he dried off his hands, brow raised, eyes dancing. Both his yellow and blue chakras pulsed in an opposing rhythm --- first one and then the other --- but the light was almost too faded to notice, without perception.

Candy shrugged when Rogue raised his brow. She was just looking; was she not allowed to do that? And she continued to look into his eyes after her shrug, smiling a little. She didn't really know why, exactly.

A slight smirk reappeared, but he shrugged back, putting the towel back in place before proceeding to the living room. Taking one of the free couches, he sat down, turning the television on before sifting through the games beneath the coffee table. "Care to join us?" He asked. Though the question was directed to Candy, an intent that Aurora easily knew, her ears nonetheless twitched, and she returned to proper, upright position. Cocking her head, she looked at him curiously; why had he not stuttered?

Jumping off of the counter, Candy followed Rogue and sat down as close to him as possible without making it seem suspicious to Aurora. "Yeah." She replied to Rogue's query. She was now trying to seem as natural as possible, seeing as Aurora was actually paying attention to the two of them, rather than food or a book.

Rogue's gaze went to Candy, briefly, as she sat down, but soon refocused on his task. The witch watched, unsure of why Rogue seemed so calm, natural even, in the girl's presence. Had she missed something? Giving them a strange look, she otherwise dropped the topic, sifting through the games for something that she might actually know how to play. For the most part, he let her take over, go around to check which systems were currently plugged in.