The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Posted by Ranger on Jun 29, 2017 13:54:44 GMT -6
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Noel
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Fuegogrande
Jude was in his twenties while he was thirteen, because that made sense. Though if he was a mutant it just might. An age changing mutant? There were stranger powers. If he could change age why was he seventeen? Sure his power didn’t change his legal age but he could just hover around an age that commanded respect, or at least kept you from being carded.
During his year of surveillance Jude never picked up Noel’s name. At least he wasn’t calling her ‘it’ anymore. Though his description of her sounded like something from a movie. Noel and this Sebastian out cruising around with swords and leading patrols. People disappearing or changing and her getting bloodied.
And then it came to what the Ranger viewed as the heart of the matter. It seemed Jude knew this Sebastian before he had come across Noel. He believed she had brought about the change to him being a psychopath.
When Jude was finally through he had neglected to answer Ranger’s question. Ranger took that as a sign he had not changed. If he had changed somehow it would confirm Jude’s belief that Noel was bad news. Him having not changed and admitting it weakened his position.
Bringing Noel by had quickly become a mess. In this city what are the odds that any two random people who the Ranger brought together at his business would already have a history this deep.
”I’ll take this under advisement.” He said to Jude, the kid could have said nothing. He felt strongly enough that he felt he needed to warn the Ranger. ”Y’ can keep an eye on me then. If y’ see me changin’, headin’ off the deep end t’ global destruction, let me know. Or have Alpha kick me until I’m thinkin' straight. I’ll let them know y’ might ask them t’ do it.” He didn’t believe that was something that would be necessary, but maybe it would help ease Jude some. And what else was he going to say? He wasn't about to kick Noel out of his life because Jude, a kid who worked for him, had just told him she use to work for a guy who tried to take over the world. Just because he said that Sebastian changed didn't mean that Noel necessarily did it. She only took memories away and knew when people were lying. That couldn't change someone that much, could it?
”F’r now we’ve got ripples t’ worry about.” He moved to leave the room before turning back, ”Oh. An’ hey, Benjamin Button, her name Noel.” His tone hadn't indicated the issue was closed, only there were more pressing matters at hand.
Posted by Jude on Jun 29, 2017 14:36:42 GMT -6
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"I guess I can't ask anything more." He didn't have to like Boots, but if he could catch her in the act and if Alpha was allowed to kick Michael's teeth in if he started to go bonkers... it might be okay. "I'll hold you to that..."
Noëlle. The name jogged a memory of... something... Jude felt like he might need to sit down, actually. He passed the pages of notes over to his boss. As tempted as he was to insert himself between Noel and Michael, the boss was a big boy. He was allowed to make his own calls and dig his own grave.
"Call if somesing doesn't make sense. I'll go move papers." Or something.
Posted by Ranger on Jun 29, 2017 15:11:24 GMT -6
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Fuegogrande
It was clear Jude didn’t want to be around Noel. He was finding something else to be doing other than joining Ranger and Noel at the map he’d worked to put together. The Ranger took the notes and let Jude go off to find some papers to busy himself with.
And he would hold Ranger to the offer of having Alpha kick him if Noel changed him. While the Ranger didn’t think that would happen, having people ready to beat you until you were yourself again wasn’t a bad thing to have.
Upon returning to his office, the Ranger found Noel standing on his chair nearly eye to eye with Lucky. He had almost expected her to be spinning in his chair. ”It’s real. Shot it in Eastern Europe a couple years back.” It was a 14 point with a 40” spread how could he not. ”Red deer have massive racks.”
Noel asked him if she was in trouble.
It was a hard to answer question, while it was a no it wasn’t just that. ”No.” He began. ”Though it seems y’ an’ Jude had some history four years ago, he gave me the short version of it.” Ranger held up the notes he’d been given by Jude. ”He also gave me his notes an’ went off t’ find busy work.”
He'd let Noel tell him what happened back then if she wanted to. If she even remembered.
Posted by Noel on Jun 29, 2017 15:38:48 GMT -6
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She had to keep herself occupied otherwise she was going to wander off and try to eavesdrop. There was one big distraction in sight that was begging for a closer look. Noel climbed up on the Ranger's chair in order to try to see Lucky's horns. It couldn't be real could it?
> ”It’s real."
Noel startled which amounted to her jumping an infinitesimal amount and having to take a deep breath. Red deer? Noel looked at the false eyes in Lucky's real face. "Dead deer, now."
She hopped down from her balance on Ranger's chair and dusted the seat from the nonexistent anything she might have left in her wake.
"So am I in trouble?" The kid had seemed pretty mad. As usual, the Ranger took his time in weighing his answer before he spoke. As crazy as that made Noel, she did try to appreciate when she got the truth.
"Four years ago?" Hmm. That took a little puzzling. "I was... bodyguard and swordsman. Hm." She hoped she hadn't hurt anybody the kid had been close to... or intimidated him personally.
"I've done lots of things for lots of people, not all of them good. The more active I was, the less I know about it." Her statement was nakedly unapologetic. Noel wouldn't have done it at the time if it hadn't made sense. She had to believe that otherwise she'd spend her whole life chasing down what she didn't know. Some things were better off not being known.
"Hadden says he's breaking that chain and I don't have to operate like a pile of skills and the shell of a person." So here she was. Trying to be a person. Noel shrugged.
"If I need to make things square between me and the kid, I can try later, but it might be better to let him do his own thing if we want to go over the map." Because other than parking the Fordasuarus and a quick office tour, that had been their initial aim.
Posted by Ranger on Jun 29, 2017 16:15:06 GMT -6
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Tan
Noel
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Fuegogrande
A bodyguard and a swordsman, Noel had led an interesting life. The kid of life many people would love to have so they could tell the stories. Noel had lived that life, and couldn’t tell many of the stories. Which was different than the Ranger who could tell his stories, but if he did holy hell would rain down on him. At least until what he did was declassified.
Though to the Ranger the biggest issue wasn’t the legal problems of talking, it was the danger it might put another operator in if he were to talk and it float to other ears.
”Jude’ll be fine. I think I talked him down enough t’ keep him from havin’ a conniption.” Jude and Noel playing nice would be nice, as one of them worked for him and the other was someone he enjoyed spending time with, which might just include bringing her by work. That said, he wasn’t going to tell Noel to try and build bridges. Jude was soon to be an adult and Noel was one to.
”We’ve both done things that aren’t exactly good, an’ likely that we aren’t proud of. Comes with the territory of what we’ve done for our livin’s.” the Ranger leaned against the side of his desk. ”An’ I’m here t’ help y’ be able t’ be y’r own person. Not some shell who is only the sum of her skills.” He likely wouldn’t be as professionally helpful as Hadden could be but he could always be there for her personally. ”Anythin’ I can do. Y’ know that... I can help y’ find work, hold y’ accountable, or even just be there f’r y’ when y’ need someone.” He smiled at her before taking her hand in his.
Posted by Noel on Jun 29, 2017 21:37:45 GMT -6
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Dec 21, 2021 8:26:40 GMT -6
Ghost
He talked Jude down. He talked Noel up.
"Honestly, if you keep being this nice to me, I'm going to start questioning if this is real." Out of habit, Noel checked her wrist. There was nothing there which spiked a moment of panic before she remembered that she hadn't written anything there on purpose. Michael was supposed to be her reminder today. And here he was. Smiling, slipping his callused and greasy hand into hers, and reminding her.
"You are... something else." Noel shook her head and took the papers from him before he got them any dirtier. She gave his shoulder a little nudge with hers and let pulled him along into the hallway so he could show her where they were going.
The notes, from what she could see flipping through one-handed, weren't bad. "Location, time of discovery, size, verification, and looks like some have a description of effect." She upgraded her impression level from 'not bad' to 'damn good.'
"There's more listed here than I thought there'd be." Ah, but the dates were for more than just today. "How long have you guys been at this?"
Ranger swung open the conference door and Noel was greeted with the biggest map of New York she'd ever seen. Pins, markers spots, and a handful of writing utensils littered the table, but the table was pretty well covered. A radio buzzed just out of reach of a pushed back conference chair and their CB twin sat just off to the side.
How weird to see the setup without the kid in it. He'd obviously just stepped away. Whatever it was she did, it must have been pretty bad.
"What is that, 1/10th life size?" She joked, but it was unreal how big it was. "Where do you even get a map this size?"
Posted by Ranger on Jun 29, 2017 23:29:40 GMT -6
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Tan
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Fuegogrande
”If y’ ain’t questionin’ yet I ain’t doin’ my job.” Ranger said and grinned even wider. Noel said he was something else and took the papers he was holding. They had nice finger prints of grease on them. And when the Ranger released her hand it would also have grease. Just a nice present so she could remember his touch when he let go. And that he was covered in grease…
Noel nudged Ranger and led him out of the office. Once in the hallway he indicated the direction, said, ”this way,” and led her down to the conference room. As they walked Noel one handedly flipped through the notes. She noted what was on the notes. It sounded like putting Jude on the task was the best course of action.
”I started the map this mornin’. I tasked Jude t’ it before I left t’ pick y’ up. There a lot?”
And then they were at the conference room. Ranger opened the door for Noel, and they headed inside. The walls were covered in guns and a large table ran down the middle of the room. The table was covered in This is what seemed to catch Noel’s attention. ”It sure looks like it, doesn’t it? I’m actually not sure what the exact scale is. Maybe one t' one-hundred thousand? No, that’d be like four by four feet. One t' twenty-thousand maybe, That’s almost nine by nine.” The Ranger knew how large New York City was off the top of his head. Simple division and figuring the square root. ”I found a website that sells large metro maps like this. I’ve also got DFW, ‘Ouston, L.A., D.C., an’ a few others rat holed away."
Sliding his hand free from Noel’s the Ranger looked down at the map. He then found a clean spot on his clothes and wiped his hands. That of course succeeded in making the remainder of his clothes a mess and his hands only slightly cleaner. Good enough.
The map had significantly more markings than when he last saw it. Jude had really done an excellent job. He had really earned his paycheck today, and he had not spoiled the impression by causing a scene.
”Alright map. Tell me y’r secrets.” Ranger whispered to the map as he looked over the pins and markings. There must be a pattern there somewhere. He ran his finger from point to point, careful to avoid touching it with his grimy hand.
Idly he thought that he should have stopped by the bathroom to clean off his hands. That or use the shower here. Before he left for sure.
Posted by Noel on Jul 1, 2017 23:32:13 GMT -6
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yellowgreen
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Dec 21, 2021 8:26:40 GMT -6
Ghost
It was instances like this that made Noel feel really dumb. They'd been kicking around ideas for the hows and whys and nothing was making a ton of sense. It felt like they'd been at it for hours, but after checking her phone, it'd been hardly more than one. The map was frustrating. She couldn't stand to sit for long, instead standing, leaning, or otherwise looking anywhere but the map.
Which meant she was looking at something she was much more comfortable with, a wall full of weapons.
She pulled a P226 from it's moorings with a comfortable familiarity. It felt a bit off, but she would have cleared it anyway. The magazine popped into her opposite hand first followed by running the slide to eject a cartridge that wasn't there. She locked the slide back, looked, and turned as she was checking the chamber by feel.
"What about time? The kid wrote down the times, right?" The police scanner, which had been largely quiet started picking up in activity. Noel put the sidearm back together and started to slide it into a holster that wasn't there. Ah. Right.
She set it back on the wall and grabbed some of the papers instead. The other papers tossed to Ranger so he could help.
A quick scan through and she noted a few that were closer to the shores were oldest. The police scanner picked up again, annoying. The next round seemed to be a day or so later and closer into the city. No real obvious pattern. No rhyme. No reason.
Ugh. What a waste of time. She slapped the papers onto the table and went to turn the police scanner off, but hit the volume the wrong way.
-moving inland. This is a weird time thing we thought previously closed. She quickly spun the dial the other way to shut it down.
Posted by Ranger on Jul 2, 2017 13:28:14 GMT -6
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Tan
Noel
1,682
381
May 19, 2024 14:33:01 GMT -6
Fuegogrande
The Ranger wished he had hired a few Bravo team members from the Special Forces instead of focusing so hard on hiring Alpha team members. While Alpha team soldiers were the ones trained to handle direct action mission, the Bravo team members handled intelligence and signals. Bravo team handled exactly what Ranger and Noel had been trying to decipher for the last hour.
They had bounced around ideas about what was going on. Who, why, how? They had not managed to discover anything. The only thing accomplished was that the Ranger eventually went and washed his hands. After the fourth time he left a greasy smudge on the map he had stalked off to take care of it before returning to metaphorically banging his head against the wall.
At one point, after an hour of spinning their tires, Noel pulled a pistol off the wall. Ranger looked over and saw a SIG in her hands. While he knew she had worked security, and that had involved her having one of the incredibly rare licenses to carry in New York City, Ranger couldn’t remember having seen her handle a pistol. He watched her properly clear the weapon. Girls with guns, always worth seeing.
There were many trained professionals who couldn’t properly clear a weapon. And some of those who knew often wouldn’t. Complacency kills. Noel clearly knew what she was doing.
"What about time? The kid wrote down the times, right?" Noel asked before attempting to slide the pistol into a holster she wasn’t wearing.
”Yeah, I all but wrote a paper for each one.” Jude had been seriously on the ball.
The pistol went back to the wall and the papers were divided. All while the police scanner became quite active.
Ranger looked over the papers, paying attention to the times. It looked like the ripples were moving. Possibly just converging on Manhattan. On the West side moving East, East side moving West. They also seemed to pop up around the same time. There was too little for Ranger to hazard any more of a guess.
He was broken from his thoughts by a sudden loudness of the police scanner. Noel had turned it up before quickly turning it all the way down. Ranger assumed they were talking about a ripple on the radio. One they had thought previously closed. So that officer had come to the conclusion the ripples were moving.
”I’ve got nada.” Ranger said before laying the papers on the map. ”I’d guess the ripples are convergin’ on Manhattan, but it’s too little intel t’ be sure.” He scratched his head. ”Maybe I’ll keep Jude on it a few more days. Get more data points an’ hope in the meantime it doesn’t all hit the fan.”
Posted by Noel on Jul 3, 2017 11:14:31 GMT -6
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yellowgreen
Ranger
1,751
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Dec 21, 2021 8:26:40 GMT -6
Ghost
"Well, we can take this back to Hadden at least. It's not nothing." Maybe their problem was too much information. They didn't know what was noise and what wasn't. "Run copies real quick? There's no taking a map this ridiculous, but, I mean... I'll take pictures, I guess?" Really, at this point she was itching to just do something even if it was just going back home. Staying indoors and crunch data was just not her thing.
So Hunter went off to make copies or make someone else make copies. Somehow Noel didn't imagine him doing it himself. Noel slipped off her shoes and stood over the map to get the "bird's eye view." She tried not to get her socked feet in the frame, but photography was also not her strong suit. Maybe it should be. It'd sure be convenient to have photos to help remember things...
A few more close in shots for the details and Noel considered that okay enough to call it a day. She slipped her shoes on and not sure if anything else needed to be done, abandoned the conference room.
The Ranger had done more than just make copies. He'd noticed her preference for what was on the walls over what was on the table. He pawned off a gun and a belt full of magazines and shuffled Noel off to the shoot house so that he could go spend some quality time with a lava bar in the shower.
No one had given her a nicer gift. Noel was more than happy to brush up on her practice, which she was woefully out of. It'd been almost a year since she'd handled a loaded weapon. She was pretty sure the Ranger was biased in this situation, but the trust that action showed gave her warm fuzzies and holding polymer and hard coated anodized stainless steel was as much like coming home as Michael's birthday.
Posted by Ranger on Jul 3, 2017 15:44:09 GMT -6
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Tan
Noel
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Fuegogrande
Noel was right, what they had wasn’t nothing. It was just a whole lot of something. More something than they knew what to do with. They were looking for a certain needle in a needlestack. She suggested Ranger run copies while she takes pictures. She was right about there being no taking the map, besides if they took it what would Jude stick pins in and make notes on? ...Other than some fancy internet map.
It just wouldn’t have the same gravity. Which with this map was a little more literal, a few more inches and it might have orbit.
”On it.” Ranger said, gathering up the pages of Jude’s map. ”Be back in a few.”
The Ranger left the conference room and head to the copy machine.On the way there he saw Tedward. A tall man built with wiry muscles. ”Howdy, Tedward.”
“Howdy, Sir.” Tedward said in reply, the word sounding odd from his lips. Like he only ever used the word at work and still wasn’t sure he had it down.
As the Ranger passed Tedward an idea struck him. He spun around and stopped Tedward. Using his privilege as Tedward’s boss, he passed off the copying and made his way to the armory.
Once there he grabbed a belt with a series of magazine holsters attached by tech lock so they could be easily attacked, detached, or moved. He then grabbed a holster to support a SIG P226 with mounted light and locked it onto the opposite side of the belt.
Out of all the guns on the wall, Noel had grabbed a P226 off the wall. Lucky for her the Ranger had a selection of well worn in P226s. Though for Noel he didn’t grab just any old P226 that they ran for work. No, Ranger grabbed one of his personal P226s. A silver with a hint of blue anodized aluminum frame, stainless steel slide with a black nitride coating, and synthetic grips with a significant bite to them so they wouldn’t move in your hand. It also had hundreds of dollars sunk into improving the trigger and action. An square-notch XRAY3 sights. The rear sight was two tritium beads so it would glow in the dark, and the front sight was a single tritium bead with a bright green ring around it for maximum visibility. It made a tactical reverse mullet. Party in the front and business in the back.
Most of the guns in the armory were work guns, this was a race gun. Well, as close to one as a P226 could be.
Ranger dropped the pistol into the holster and then slung the belt around him like a bandolier. He grabbed a box, filled it with loaded P226 magazines, and was out of the armory. Jude would have to load a few more mags than normal this week. He was going to take a shower, he didn’t plan on taking a long one, but he knew how fast someone could burn through bullets so he brought a lot of magazines.
Noel had left the conference room by the time he made it back. The Ranger wrapped and velcroed the belt, which was in no way just an excuse to wrap his arms around her. Then he led her to the shoot house. He dumped the box of magazines on the table. Some ear and eye protection and with a kiss on her head he turned her loose.
She could shoot all she wanted and he would go and remove the oil and road grime. Events like this were part of why he made sure there was a shower at Blackforest. It also worked out well when he lived there for the first few weeks back stateside, before he moved into Haven.
Ranger took the quickest shower he could. Which wasn’t entirely expedient given the resistance of the oil to coming off. When he was done he got dressed in some spare clothes he kept at work. A nice polo and pants to go with it. He looked like a 5.11 Tactical ad plus boots.
Tedward had deposited a folder with the copies on the Ranger’s desk. Ranger retrieved it and went to see how Noel was doing. He stuck a pair of bullets in his ears to act as hearing protection before he stepped into the shoot house.
When Noel was finished they headed for the garage and took the Hellcat tamer back to Haven. On the way out the Ranger delegated calling the mechanic to look at the Fordasaurus.
The drive back to Haven was uneventful. Traffic did seem worse than normal, but they didn’t run into any ripples. Again the Ranger was able to scare off other drivers to get his way in traffic. Instead of size though the Hellcat tamer was uncomfortably loud to be near outside of it. It was much smaller but still intimidating.
Nothing the Ranger did was within the normal realm of reasonable in this city.
They chatted on the way back. The Ranger did not bring up the ripples. They had spent the last hour staring at a map and trying to decipher them and getting nowhere. They could put off more work on that subject.
Finally the Ranger parked in the Haven garage. He took Noel’s hand and they went back to Haven.Stopping at the door he turned to Neol and asked. ”Want t’ be MyFace official?”
The Ranger did not have a MyFace account, but he had heard talk of how you and someone else weren’t official until you were MyFace official. It was his joking approaching the subject of them being together.
Posted by Noel on Jul 3, 2017 17:58:50 GMT -6
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Dec 21, 2021 8:26:40 GMT -6
Ghost
Was there maniacal laughter? Only on the inside.
Noel tried to practice absolute control when handling a weapon. So what if it was little more joyous to do when the man she liked handed her a cadillac of a handgun? It turned out to be over the top, yes; but for once it was over the top in all the ways she could actually appreciate.
"You did something to the trigger." There wasn't a single part of that SIG that didn't seem altered in some way, but the trigger was what had felt most different. Noel was happy to talk guns and ammunition the entire way back to Haven. He was more knowledgeable by far, but she knew enough to contribute at least. Especially where it came to her personal preferences.
He found her hand for the walk back from the garage, something that was happening more and more and becoming more and more natural. She found herself feeling just right about today, despite all the frustrations.
> ”Want t’ be MyFace official?”
She tugged him forward, wishing that he hadn't stopped and that they could keep moving so she didn't have to look at him and his earnest eyes.
"What does that mean, exactly." She didn't sound closed to the idea, just.. cautious.
"The kids say that y' ain't official 'til y're MyFace official. I'm not sayin' t' go around shoutin' anythin' or stickin' it online... Just askin' if y'd like us t' be more than just two people who runnin' around havin' fun... I sound like a seventeen-year-old right now don't I?"
As much as she'd wanted to interrupt him and make this into something serious or maybe even to put him out of his misery, it was a tiny bit more fun to watch him dig that hole deeper and deeper. Noel did eventually have to take mercy on poor Michael. She just liked him too damn much not to.
"You mean I could say things like 'my Ranger' and we could have a standing reservation at the plastic cowboy dance hall?"
"Got it in one."
This time when she tugged his hand he did take a step. She'd stopped trying to pull him along and instead pulled him into her. She went from soaring to sinking when she realized that she wanted this. And that she might never be able to be what Michael needed or wanted. Noel slid her arms around him without the excuse of helping him into his belt.
"Yeah. I'd like that." She touched his face, smudge free. For now it was back to soaring. "I have ten million more questions about that... this. Why don't you come over cook me something?" Presumptuous? Yeah. But not even Noel wanted to eat what she could cook.
What hadn’t the Ranger done to the trigger? ”I’m not sure there’s a factory condition part left in that gun. Everythin’ is either replaced or polished. I did most of the work myself.” It had taken him a long time to get the pistol running just how he wanted.
It was clear that Ranger had made a good decision letting Noel have her trigger time. Everything firearms was the subject of their discussion back to Haven. And it was clear Noel had good taste.
Noel asked what his question meant. Ranger had asked the way he did to avoid having to fumble around for words. That didn’t work and he went into the fumbling ill prepared. He rambled on sounding worse as he went. Ranger had a suspicion Noel was just wanting him to squirm a bit.
She asked a question and he replied. Then Noel pulled him in close and snd slid her arms around him. He returned the gesture so that the pair of them stood in front of Haven arms around each other. There might have been people having to divert around them to come and go, the Ranger took no notice.
"Yeah. I'd like that." She said and touched his face.
Inside the mind touchdown dancing ensued. Ranger couldn’t help but smile.
Noel had more question, but instead of asking them then she invited Ranger to come over and cook for her. ”I’m y’r food fairy.” he said it like he was telling her he was her huckleberry.
Moving meant releasing her, but releasing her meant going up to her place. A nice calm way to end the day after an afternoon of adventure. He freed one arm and used it to open the door while sliding around to walk at her side wish his arm still around her back. Through the door he would trail a step behind her and then a couple longer strides and he would be back beside her.
Posted by Noel on Jul 3, 2017 23:10:33 GMT -6
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Apparently making things "MyFace Official" meant they upgraded from holding hands to holding themselves a fair bit closer. No matter the door navigation or the elevator or the fact that Noel had to free herself enough to type in her code could keep them from walking in tandem.
When the door opened and two little black balls of floof stumbled over their paws in over to escape from her apartment, Noel did elect to let her Ranger go. The puppies came snuffling around with enough enthusiasm to nearly bowl Noel over, but more than that, she went on high alert.
"I don't have puppies." They were cute for small bears, but she didn't. have. puppies.
A thought was bubbling up. A memory, hers since it only went in real time.
Despite the fact that it may not have been spoken outloud in decades, Noel used his full Chinese name like a curse word and pulled out her phone to fire off a text message. There were exclamation points and question marks involved. It was sort of a heat of the moment kind of text.
"I know a man who can walk through walls," Noel raised her voice and with her foot nudged one puppy back toward the doorway, And if he is in there, he'd better get out before security comes.."
Oh shoot! Weren't there 2 puppies just a second ago? Noel's panic at the thought of someone being in her apartment downgraded enough that she left the doorway ajar in order to chase down the second one. She scooped it up and then grabbed for the second one as it too squirted past her defenses and attempted freedom.
Inside Noel's apartment was a crate that had once had a door, the latch was long since spent.
Could someone return puppies? Noel marched herself into her apartment with a squiggling canine in each arm.
"He won't-" kill anybody? Heh. Noel stopped that train of thought before it got out of her mouth. "He has better things to do than be here. 99% sure this is a... present from a friend."
Sure it was a little awkward being so close when trying to do things, but it was an inconvenience well worth it. It did complicate things when a pair of black bears tried to use their legs as bowling pins.
Noel stated something the Ranger was well aware of despite evidence to the contrary. She did not have puppies. She cursed some Asian sounding name and pulled out her phone. She also loudly announced she knew a man who could walk through walls.
Sliding his hand into his pocket, the Ranger drew out a pocket pistol and slid into the apartment when Noel went to chase the second puppy. Holding the pistol at a high ready the Ranger drifted through the apartment. Aside from a crate in the floor it all seemed as usual. He was almost through clearing when Noel made her way in and said,
"He won't- He has better things to do than be here. 99% sure this is a... present from a friend."
The Ranger stopped. It was clear that Noel had a very good idea who had left her the pair of oversized puppies. Also, who would leave puppies and then hang around to hurt someone. The pistol returned to the pocket as Ranger left the room he was in.
”Sounds like there’s a story here... An’ a upgrade t’ security needed.” It just would not do that someone managed to sneak in a crate with a pair of what looked like Pleistocene survivors. ”Why would someone send y’ a pair of oversized dogs?”