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 Raine on Mar 17, 2017 15:44:31 GMT -6
Tempest likes this
Mutant God
Member of the AV!X-Men
khaki
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Pining all over the place
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Dec 14, 2021 8:29:26 GMT -6
Ghost
She was hurt and low on charge. This incident was one she didn't want to risk taking back to the Mansion-- back to Roger or back to Rupert, though Rupert would probably know by the end of the day no matter what she did.
Lori just wanted to disappear for a little bit.
And she needed to get better in a hurry.
That meant Lori had to do two things that she really hated to do: asking for help and visiting Sanctuary.
The infirmary had been cleaned since her last visit and that was a good sign. If Devon did nothing else with his life, at least he was keeping this place going. She fumbled at the phone and had a difficult time dialing, but at least she didn't have to suppress her power to get a clear voice connection.
And of course it went to voicemail.
"Hey, Andrea it's me. I... could you swing by Sanctuary and give me a hand? Infirmary. I'll meet you there... we should catch up." She was already there, in fact. So after hanging up Lori took a seat in the chair by the door and let her head dangle in a doze.
She'd been working a shift at one of the hospitals she frequented when she'd gotten the message. Her phone had been turned off due to the nature of her work, She didn't notice it until ten or so minutes after the call when she'd stepped out of her latest patients room in order to take a quick break.
She recognized the number and the voice, but was instantly worried when Lori mentioned the Infirmary. Tucking her phone back into her pocket, she headed toward the nurses station to let them know that she would be leaving early due to an emergency, and outlined the plan she had for the few comfort care patients she had left that night.
--
One quick Taxi later and she stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the Sanctuary. She was still in her scrubs, with a small backpack of supplies looped over one shoulder as she paid the driver and hurried up into the building. Seeing the golden doors again was both soothing and troubling. There always seemed to be trouble associated with her visits.
After greeting the receptionist, who she knew on small professional level, she headed directly for the Infirmary. She honestly wasn't sure what to expect, but had gotten fairly good at steeling herself before walking into the unknown.
A soft chorus of hisses and the waft of air signaled the opening of the infirmary door. She'd been dozing fitfully because of her arm which was at this point looking hideously mottled with bruises. It would take time to build her reservoir back up, but for now she left it low. She didn't want to injure Andrea.
There were very few people who Lori had come to trust in her life, but Andrea was one of them. She occupied a very unique position in Lori's life. She'd been introduced as her secretary some years ago when they were both working at Faust Pharmaceuticals. She was an obvious mutant that was as debilitated and empowered by her abilities as Lori was. She understood what so, so many others did not.
For some of them, this wasn't a game.
Lori didn't even have to look her in the eyes. In fact, she couldn't look her in the eyes or else Lori'd be taking a nap. So there were no power struggles between them. Just mutually assured destruction.
"Wasn't sure you'd come." But she was glad that Andrea had showed up. Lori grimaced with pale lips. "Hope I didn't ruin your day." She could stand a bit of small talk first, if that was what Andrea wanted. It was a small price to pay for a house call.
The Greek smiled at first when she laid eyes upon the woman, but then the smile softened when she zeroed in at the state of one of Lori's arms. It was riddled with bruises.
"Sorry I did not reply. I rushed over here as fast as I could, and thus forgot to let you know of my intentions in my hurry... and do not worry about ruining anything. I would consider this the highlight of my day, actually. It is uncommon for me to have time to catch up with old friends."
She breathed out slightly through her nose and headed for the nearest stool, rolling it on over so she could seat herself in front of the woman to begin an examination. She did however let her smile creep back onto her face, and tried to make eye contact with Lori slightly. She might have been lacking her signature sunglasses, but in place of them she had protective contacts in. "I have contacts in. You can safely look at me." In fact, they were a pretty close shade to her natural color; just a little darker orange.
Unzipping her bag, she grabbed a few new gloves and swapped hers out, before reaching out for Lori's arm. Visually it looked bad. She could spot some swelling, and the pattern of the bruises gave her an idea of how bad the injuries inside could possibly. Gently she moved the arm around, testing it just enough to see where the pain was and how far it could flex in a few different directions. She wanted to see where any stiffness was, if there was a limited range of motion, and what kind of movements were uncomfortable.
"I suppose I should mentioned before we get into any discussions that I do work with doctor-patient confidentiality in mind. If there is anything related to this that you need to tell me, it will not leave this room unless you wish it so."
She glanced up from her work, gently prodding around the arm with two fingers. She was careful to apply just enough pressure to achieve her goal, without putting Lori through unnecessary pain. After a moment she reached out for her other arm so she could measure them together, looking for any differences in length.
"That being said.... how have you been? It has certainly been a while since we spoke face to face."
Old friends? Yes. Lori supposed that they fell into that classification by now. The label chafed a bit, but it was fine to have a friend. Especially an efficient one who did the chitchat in conjunction with the health assessment.
>"I have contacts in."
"Ah. So you found a workaround." That was good. The sunglasses weren't the oddest thing about Andrea's appearance, but they'd been one more mark people had counted against her. At least Lori looked human despite all her other faults. "Still with the gloves, though. Is that because of the--" Lori had to stop and hiss through whatever poking was happening and then ride the subsequent wave of nausea. This sucked. What had she been saying? "The nurse thing." Her voice was tight from the continued probing.
Her well of power tried and failed to rise up inside of her. Luckily there was nothing real to defend against.
Lori nodded through the HIPPA run down. "I fell out a building, my building. You know. Where we used to work." She didn't have to say why, but the thought was bubbling up inside of her. She wanted someone to know that she'd done something legitimately and indisputably good.
"Do you remember Jacen? The one that could nullify mutant powers?" Lori did catch a glimpse of Andrea's eyes. Orange. It was a lovely color, but again it was something that people would hold against her. "I had him under observation, except, today... I let him go." Under observation was code for kidnapped indefinitely. Faust Pharms had been on the bleeding edge of cure research in every possible way.
So yeah. The defenestration had been earned fair and square.
"I went out the window because security was there and ever since the hostile takeover, I'm not allowed back in." She grimaced which also hurt. Was her cheekbone also bruised? She probably had more than a few glass cuts, but nothing serious on that front. Because there'd been a guy there. Probably a full foot taller than her and so full of concern without asking anything in return.
"So you're a nurse now? You seem pretty damn legit from where I'm sitting. Congrats." She wasn't a sociopath. She had empathy. She just had mutational help to ignore it usually.
Her smile was minimal and held her sympathy. She was well aware that this was often the worst part of her care. Generally what followed was much more relaxing if you could get over the oddity of it all.
"Yes, and no." She replied, while releasing both of Lori's arms and turning to dig in her bag a bit more. "I change them for sanitary purposes before each examination, but mostly they are then to protect you from my venom."
She withdrew a small flashlight, clicked it on and motioned for Lori to lift her head slightly so she could shine the light in her eyes. It was a safety check for signs of a concussion, mostly. She wanted to make sure her patient would be fit enough for a transfusion.
Her eyes flickered back to Lori's face, however, when she mentioned exactly how she had gotten the injuries. The Greek's lips pursed, and though she finished her task quickly, her mind was already pondering on other things. "Yes, I recall him." She confirmed, as the woman went on. Andrea recalled being generally delighted when anyone with that type of ability had been around. It had given her a chance to see herself as she could have been without her mutation.
That had been years ago, however... and she'd grown to accept, and love herself as she was, for the most part. She nodded slightly and sat back on her chair, examination over for the moment. "I see." Dropping her light back in her bag, she crossed one leg over the other knee and gently clasped her hands over it.
"After the divorce I decided to do something with myself other than simply sitting around. I took a two year course and got my degree in nursing. I'm still working toward a heavier degree, but I won't come close to earning that for the next few years."
There was more she could say, but.. there were more pressing matters at hand. "More importantly, I can help you. But, my methods are a little unorthodox." She shifted slightly so she could survey the rest of the room. From what she could recall it was sure to have most of the things she would need, if she lacked the supplies herself.
When she turned back, her expression was a little more serious. "I have the ability to heal you completely, but in order to do so I will need to mix my blood with yours. A simple transfusion will do, and for what I presume the degree of your injuries are, it shouldn't take longer than an hour or two. If you would rather not go with that method, I will patch you up with the best cask I can manage."
She paused again, letting that soak in for a bit. "But, If you choose the transfusion I will need to know up front should you have any blood related illnesses that might affect me." It was a pretty basic question, if a little personal. She waited for a moment for an answer, before standing and gathering her bag. She offered to help Lori up, intending on leading her over to one of the beds in the room, which would be more comfortable during the process.
Yes. The venom. Once she'd learned that her power was a permanent thing, Lori'd had to abandon the idea of having Andrea touch some laminated materials before passing them out in a board meeting for intimidation purposes. But not even they deserved to lose fingers just for disagreeing with her.
Lori endured the pulling and light shining and whatever else she had to endure. She was not concussed, mostly just rattled. She'd been cushioned and gotten off lighter than she should have.
> "I see."
That was confirmation enough that Lori'd done the right thing. Or at least is was an admission that what was done was done. Either way they were all moving forward now that there was nothing tying them back to that building. Lori would miss the underground levels. But she could, and would, live without them now.
"Not sitting around sounds entirely too healthy." Her brain was having filter issues and her words dragged out of her lips sluggishly. "You didn't plot revenge or voodoo doll stab anything?"
Actually, Lori was quite impressed. Andrea had to be an LPN or RN then. Either she'd muscled her way into a hospital or the powers that were in charge had loosened their anal retentive tendencies. Her next step career-wise could only happen after a four-year degree, though. Given the pace at which life happened, it might actually take longer if she wanted to continue onward and upward.
Again Lori nodded through the talk. Unorthodox should have been her middle name at this point.
"The best I'd been hoping for was a cast," The best she'd been hoping for was that Andrea would come because Lori had called. That was still just so unexpected that she hadn't planed on anything beyond that hope. "I'll try your transfusion. No changes health-wise since testing cure iterations." She'd wanted that cure so damn bad. "Under normal circumstances, I'd be worried about shocking you to hell, but today's really," what had she called it? "unorthodox."
Andrea offered her gloved hand and Lori took it with her uninjured arm.
"Do we have to set it first?" Her face said oh please god no. "And your complete healing... There's wire under the skin on this arm." Well, both arms. The other one wasn't in need of fixing, though. Lori stopped for a second to let a wave of nausea roll through before she sat on a bed. The gurneys were dumb, but if that would make Andrea happy...
The Greek chuckled lightly. "The divorce was very much my idea, so I can only be hopeful that he did not consider any of those things." She had become proficient in not stewing over how much it still bothered her... leaving him like that. She counseled herself regularly that she had done the right thing for both of them.
But... that was neither here nor there, and in no way as important as Lori was at this moment. She hummed slightly in response as she helped the other woman sit herself on the bed, before turning to gather the supplies she would need. Andrea could recall her excitement over the prospect of a cure of some sort, and although she hadn't really bothered to learn much about it, she knew that it had been important to her former boss.
"Unorthodox is definitely a good choice of words." She headed back over to Lori's side with an arm full of tools, before seating herself in her stool next to the bed.
"I do happen to have my registered donor's ID on me, should you wish confirmation that I am safe for transfusions." It was a small black card. She donated a lot of blood.
A small kit she carried with her, which was made specifically for transfusions contained the needles she would need, tubing, a small filter, and a few flow clamps for both ends. The other items she had needed to gather had been disinfecting pads, tape and gauze to secure the needle insertions points, and some items to make a temporary splint.
"I don't think it will need setting, at least not the typical type." She have the arm another once over as she reached out to set the arm in a comfortable position. The bruising patterns didn't indicate that there was any free bleeding under the surface. She doubted that there was any trauma to the blood supply underneath.
Even if there was some damage, it would soon vanish with the mixing of their blood.
"The arm itself doesn't appear to have shifted at all, so it is most likely a simple closed fracture. From what I can see, and the movement you still have in it, I am also sure that the bones haven't migrated much, if at all. Really, radiology would be able to tell us more... but I am not aware if this facility has such equipment." She grabbed a few of the items she'd gathered, a few large tongue depressors and some medical tape. Carefully she set about fashioning a temporary splint, just to keep the arm and wrist straight as it healed.
"The bone itself should heal completely. No residual fracture or weakness. If it is displaced a bit, you might end up with a little bit of extra bone on the side of the misalignment, but it shouldn't affect the use of your arm or hands at all... And, as for the wire, you should be fine. You will heal around anything embedded within you. I had to learn that the hard way. Fishing things out of people after the fact isn't fun at all."
Finally, after much prep work, she was ready to get into the thick of it. "You know, Lori," She started, as she prepped Lori's good arm and slid the needle in.
"If you ever need anything, any help, you need only ask. I am only a phone call away." She joined herself up to the mess of clear tubes via the artery in her left wrist, waiting until she had a good connection before taping it in place. A few moments later after releasing the clamps, blood started to flow freely.
Within a few seconds Lori would begin to feel some relief. Minor pains and wounds would heal up quickly,leaving only the worst to deal with. Within a minute that feeling would spread fully around her body, helping to ease discomfort as she was rejuvenated from within. It would take at least twenty to thirty minutes for the broken parts to fully heal.
There were a few back and forth questions about blood type and Rhesus factor as well as a close inspection of what, ultimately, was like a club member's card for Andrea's voluminous blood donations. "I'm surprised they take mutant blood, let alone blood from someone whose blood does something. Unless you just... didn't tell them?"
Would anyone complain from getting healed back to wellness without their consent? It was a weird thought, but some people could get bent out of shape about anything. Like it was their hobby or something.
> "I am also sure that the bones haven't migrated much, if at all."
"That would be the wires." Small mercy. The d*mn things made her wrists and fingers freaking stiff, but at least they'd bought her this. "They help me convert between magnetism and electricity." And it was an obviously amateur job, but it did the trick.
> "You know, Lori..."
Oh. It was now time for the daily dose of guilt. She closed her eyes against it as much as she closed her eyes because she was just plain exhausted. Bonus points for not having to watch the needles go in.
"Showing weakness is... not what I'm used to." She'd been picked apart and picked on for far, far too long for this to be anything but weird.
With a slight grin, she settled back into her chair. "Some have the option of choosing... Others do not get that choice, as I often deal with people in very unstable conditions. A select few do not know, and it is probably in my best interest to keep it that way."
She paused momentarily, "But, when I donate freely at clinics and banks, they are well aware of what my blood can do. Generally I hear it is often used specifically for other visible mutants, like myself. I considered keeping apparent nature of my blood a secret, but eventually someone would trace it back to me. I'd rather not lose my credibility where it counts."
She listened to the brief explanation of the wires with silent interest, glancing down at Lori's arm again. "That is equal parts strange and fascinating. Something so simple helping to accentuate your powers." The Greek hummed slightly, inwardly musing where the wires would be located, and how it would look on the inside.
"Showing weakness is... not what I'm used to."
"Weakness is a subjective word. It depends on who is using it, and their own personal beliefs on the matter. I, for one, believe that weakness does not apply to this situation. It takes strength to ask for help when it is an action you normally avoid."
Carefully folding her hands in her lap, she stretched slightly to ease the tension in her legs. "There is no weakness in standing up for what is right. There is no weakness in preserving your own life. Weakness, to me, would have been if you had let something carry on even if you were against it..." She grinned casually, showing just the barest hint of hr tusks.
"And anyway, I derive great pleasure from helping out those I care for. You are doing me a favor in seeking my help."
Andrea wasn't yelling because normal people didn't yell.
Lori snorted at the thought. Here she was hooked up to a woman who was green with snakes for hair and Andrea was the most normal person she could think of when Lori'd been running through her options. She wanted to laugh and cry simultaneously.
Instead, Lori used the hand from her arm that wasn't in the process of a transfusion to smooth the bunching of her eyebrows. She could feel the skin of her forehead drawing her eyebrows together and down. She could feel the look of disapproval she was showing for Andrea's words and it wasn't right so she rubbed it away. Her friend deserved an dissection of what she'd been thinking. Maybe even an honest one.
She was just too tired to arrange her features into her usual defensive mocking mask.
"Weakness isn't subjective when your arm's hanging at an angle, but I see your point." The pain was starting to ease which eased some tension in her body over all. Lori was working hard to keep her eyebrows from bunching again and even more stubbornly keeping her eyes closed.
Had she been against Jacen's continued incarceration? Not really, since she'd been the one to lock him in there and teach him to stay, but at the same time, yeah... it wasn't right that no one was there to take care of him. And it wasn't right that she'd lost her own company and her own dreams.
Andrea gave her the out she needed with her words. Lori was gaining Andrea's favor by seeking help? Okay. Then Lori would try it. She opened her eyes and zeroed in on her friend.
"I don't know what to do, 'Drea." The admission sent a flush up her skin. It was... she didn't say those things. She didn't even think them. She didn't blush, she wasn't indecisive, she shouldn't have felt so... exposed. "You're doing the nursing thing. You've found an identity to define yourself." Lori plowed on despite her attempt to die of embarrassment. "The company is gone. M isn't in my hands anymore. There's no cure. There's no adapted. The Sanctuary doesn't need me. I don't fit anywhere."
Oh. Oh no. She was not going to cry. She was NOT. Lori clenched her jaw stubbornly in order to wrangle herself back into control.
"I don't know what to do, 'Drea. You're doing the nursing thing. You've found an identity to define yourself. The company is gone. M isn't in my hands anymore. There's no cure. There's no adapted. The Sanctuary doesn't need me. I don't fit anywhere."
There wasn't a trace of pity in her expression as Andrea listened to Lori speak. This was hard for the woman, and rightly so. Andrea had spent the last few years pulling herself together from practically nothing. She hadn't had a path, didn't know enough about the world to fully function on her own, and yet that had really been her only choice. She had no home to run to with her tail between her legs. Forward was the only direction.
Lori's situation was different. She had been at the summit of her own personal mountain already. She'd had the resources to follow her dream with a laser guided focus, and the determination and strength to achieve things most scoffed at. Lori had built up an empire and had it ripped from her hands. In some small way Lori was in a place similar to where Andrea had been when she first left home.
The biggest difference was that even with those chess pieces removed from her board, Lori was still Lori. She was still the mind behind the game.
"Have I ever mentioned what my first impression of you was, all those years ago when you hired me?" She paused for a moment, gaze lifting to slide across the room. "You were kind of terrifying, at first."
With a soft chuckle she continued, "I had never met a woman so capable before. Someone who not only had earned the respect of her peers, but also commanded it with her very presence. Working with you inspired a confidence within me that, at the time, I had never felt before."
Though she still struggled slightly to find the right words, having conversations like this had gotten easier with practice. It helped that she'd had similar talks with herself before, too.
"You will fit anywhere you choose to place yourself, because Faust Pharmaceuticals didn't define you. You gave it definition. Even stripped bare you are still Lori Faust, and it is you who will ultimately change something. Whether that is inspiration in others, or a cure. You still have all of the tools at your disposal, because at it's very base that message comes from within you."
She paused for a moment, expression pinching as she stumbled over the words in her head. "What is the expression... when you fall off the horse, you get up and get back on?"
This was exactly why Lori called Andrea. She didn't flinch or apologize or pity. She simply took a moment to reflect. The direction of her thoughts surprised Lori.
"When we first met?" Andrea had been naive at best. She'd been so cute in a skirt; like the skirt was wearing her instead of the other way around. The presence of her friend had changed through the years, however, even while they'd worked together Lori had noticed it. She was coming into her own, whatever that meant. She had much more... muchiness.
"You were a mouse when we first met." Lori's expression softened a bit at Andrea's chuckle. Lori had always been a force to be reckoned with from the moment she started shouting back to her parents. Maybe she took that for granted. She couldn't fault anyone for being worried about getting caught up in what had drawn Lori's passion. She'd been doing anything, anything to get things done. Apparently what had felt like desperation had come off way more cool looking. At least to a mouse.
>"Even stripped bare you are still Lori Faust, and it is you who will ultimately change something."
Change something. That phrase stuck inside Lori's head and didn't want to quit. She had the tools. Yeah. She knew that much. She hadn't lost her confidence. Nott entirely. She'd mostly just lot her direction. Lori sank back onto the bed and closed her eyes again. What did she want to change?
"Not many horses in New York." Lori smirked. "Maybe try: When life closes a door it opens a window?" Or it could toss her through one. That fit a little better for the situation.
"What do you want to change?" Was she trying to heal the world or some small savior complex with her nursing and blood stuff?
The Greek chuckled. "Of all the things I have learned over the years this language is still the toughest lesson. I will never understand all of the metaphors."
"What do you want to change?"
Her attention zeroed in on her friend, and for a moment she frowned. It was a question she got asked a lot, and she never felt like she had an adequate answer for it.
The honest to goodness truth was that she didn't really have an answer, though.
"That is a complex question, and I am not often prepared for it..." She sighed slightly through her nose, and spaced out slightly while staring at the floor.
"... As a species, we have always feared what we do not understand. From the first fire, to the first encounter with another of our own kind. Differences, even if they are slight, have generally been approached with apprehension... mistrust... hate. I, we, have seen it. Felt it."
She didn't dwell on her own personal experience with such things. It often served no purpose to stew over them. Instead, she strove to understand them. To help shape the bad into something good instead.
"Want to heal those wounds..." She smiled slightly, reflecting back on the many people she had gotten to know over the years. Rich and poor, sick and healthy, mutant and human...
"The divide between those of us who are obviously different and those of us who are not is only the newest issue, but certainly not the only one. There is suffering throughout every facet of life... There are those out there who cannot provide for themselves, some who cannot escape certain abuses. Others who are elderly or sick, who have no one to care for them in their last moments."
The face of a man she had met only a few days ago popped into her head. She wondered if he had every taken her advice and gone in for medical treatment...
"A woman I greatly admire once said, 'Spread love wherever you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.' "
"I am under no illusion that I will cause an instantaneous change. That suddenly, do to my actions, poverty, hunger, pain, or hate will no longer exist. But, I am certain that through my actions others might start to reflect on themselves. That maybe a small seed of change with be planted within them, and given time and attention it might flourish into something beautiful."
She glanced at Lori again, and sighed slightly. "... I... hope that answered something. I am afraid that I have become rather long winded within the last few years."
Checking her own line, she moved to check Lori's. "How are you feeling? Any better?"
Oh. Oh no. Her eyelids felt heavy. She'd been sitting very still and now that she wasn't in as much pain, she was fighting really hard to focus on what Andrea was saying. Something about a divide... and love... Uhg. Lori'd tried to go down that route by tricking a unicorn into being the greatest villain the world have ever known. She'd wanted to unite the city, unite the mutants. Unite them by giving them a common enemy.
It hadn't worked.
Andrea might make a good villain.
The thought was fuzzy and heavy and did not sit right. Her friend moved in closer to check the line and by leaning in, Lori decided that she needed to do something to help.
"S'fine. Better."
See? She moved her hand and pat Andrea's cheek with the arm that had been hurt. That motion actually still hurt every time she made impact so something wasn't quite done. She was trying to figure out why it felt like that so the patting just kept happening.
Her eyes were open. Barely. Not open... no, actually they were open. Nope. Not for long. Lori fought to keep control and to stay awake, but this was quite clearly a losing battle.
"'Drea?" She had something to say. It was a hard thing to keep hold of in her slippery head. Oh. Was she still patting Andrea's face? Lori settled for just leaving her hand there. That was a good spot. "Love's not a 'leave happy' thing."