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.
The plane ride back had been brutal. Not only where their delays but Raina had been stuck between two obese snoring loudly spilling food often when they were awake couple. Not that she had anything against anyone with a couple of pounds... but it had tried her patience.
She wondered how Luke was doing and couldn't help herself from wondering about Rupert. It was after the holidays and all and she couldn't help but feel guilty for how things were left off.
She wondered what it was like back at the mansion. She felt that soon, maybe very soon she'd have to make a choice about her job at the mansion and her job at the aquarium co-existing. Raina believed in what she did at the mansion... but wondered if someone else could do it better and invest more time.
She stepped off the gate and was met by a rush of cold air. Though she was born up North after spending all this time in the sun Raina was tanned. She shivered a bit. The tan made her look healthy and vibrant. At least she was dressed for the New York January.
She knew her luggage wouldn't be here. She found out at the last stop that it hadn't left Australia and wouldn't be returning home for another two weeks. Sure, that was bad. But flying United she was glad no one had broken her guitar.
She saw the sign and the young man standing underneath it. He seemed familiar. Of course she knew he was from the mansion but with everything going on before she left she couldn't be sure if she'd actually met him or if she'd only seen his file.
"Martin." she said out loud remembering his name from whichever source it was. "Im sorry for keeping you waiting, my flight was delayed." she flashed him a pearly-er than normal smile thanks to the tan.
Posted by Martin Stein on Feb 4, 2010 8:09:34 GMT -6
Alpha Mutant
760
0
Jul 2, 2013 5:22:49 GMT -6
The young man looked rather relieved at hearing his name called, dropping the arm that held the cardboard sign (it was the pretty brown color of old banana crates) onto waist level, where it continued dangling along. Forgotten maybe. He lifted up his blue eyes and scanned her face. Her body. Her missing luggage, eyes somewhat questioningly blinking at that point. His steel meeting the color of her life for the first time in reality. She even knew his name. She remembered him. Though they never had had anything to do with each other. She probably had seen pictures of him or walked by him on occasion at the mansion. It was OK. It was the way it was. Was that really a good thing? For him? The young man was dressed rather shabbily, if she looked out for those things. On gloves and pants there were still sots of earth left to be seen. His heavy duty boots laden with the brown of soil. The smell of gardening was about him like a cheap perfume, hugging the nostrils. Not the right person to transport fish to an aquarium, as it? And he, knowing not what else to do, rather reluctantly extended his hand to her. With dirty glove mind you. “Hello Miss Hiltz. It is a pleasure to meet you.” His voice was steady, pleasing to the ear in a way, his own accent shifting vowels, consonants, slightly from their usual position. Courtesy is an important part of business, is it not? And business was what was on his voice as he dismissed any discomfort her late arrival might have caused with a simple hand gesture. "It was no trouble at all." But did an early twen really talk like that? Apparently. The brownish glove hung in the air. Questioningly. "I arrived by car." Yes, some would have called it that. It sounded like a feat. It was.
Posted by rainewater on Feb 4, 2010 11:51:00 GMT -6
Guest
"Im Not Miss Hiltz anymore." she laughed. "It's just Raina. I don't actually have a last name..." she hesitated. "Where I came from people are identified by their tribe. but you know being in the good ol U S of A you need a last name." she giggled. "So Raina is just fine Martin."
She followed behind him. "Thanks so much for coming." she said again. "I feel like I've been gone forever. How was Christmas at the Mansion?" she asked as they walked through the airport. She noticed the dirt on his clothes. "And how's the landscaping coming? My brother mentioned that you were the gardener here. Sorry if he was an oaf." she was referring to Naveed of course.
She could tell just by the way he held himself and spoke that she liked Martin. He seemed thoughtful- the kinda person who would think things through before acting with their mutation. She found herself wondering what his was as he led her to the car.
Posted by Martin Stein on Feb 5, 2010 13:40:20 GMT -6
Alpha Mutant
760
0
Jul 2, 2013 5:22:49 GMT -6
Her outburst of laughter soothed the imperative action of mumbling apologies for his fauxpas of addressing her inaccurately. Somewhat. His lips still worked, despite her smile, his eyes dropping to the ground, mouth opening, to release a small string of empty phrases, long since having lost the full potential of their meaning, asking for excuse at his inaccurate knowledge of both her ancestry and her wishes. For some reason, they seemed to be important to him. Inside Martin was just filing information, moving crates of knowledge from one point to the other, spinning his webs as he pleased ever more with every bit that was given to him. Just a few seconds time. And before he even knew it, he had stopped and begun a crisp walk to the parking lots, brown sign dangling at his side, swinging in stride with his legs, eyes scanning the surroundings beamingly while he talked to the counselor.
“It was nothing big really.” If he'd still knew he'd probably tell her more just to judge her reaction to the news, but as things were standing right now, the temporal tamperer was oblivious to the fact, that there had even been a Christmas between his arrival at the mansion and the reconnaissance mission he was on now. Get to know the new teacher as quickly as can be. Maybe. “The landscaping is coming on nicely though. I have just started a project that will surely be enjoyable by both the students and the staff.” He seemed to know exactly where he had parked for his steps led them straight to the car. He opened the door for her and closed it after she had seated herself inside. His door was drawn shut with somewhat more force then her own, creating an audible thud as he sat down in the drivers seat and turned the keys. He had not attached the seatbelt. He was not looking on the road. He was doing nothing really that he was supposed to be doing. But he started driving anyways. With formidable speed. “You have a brother?” His tone was perfectly conversational, his eyes even blinking up to her in the back mirror. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Everything said so. Maybe except for the fact that the car was swaying slightly. Just that little bit. Too much?
Posted by rainewater on Feb 5, 2010 20:22:52 GMT -6
Guest
Raina stole fleeting glances at Martin as they hurried on to the car. She didn't usually find other men attractive and she knew this was only something superficial because she'd been away from Luke for so long, but she couldn't help thinking Martin was nice to look at.
Maybe it was just the fact that he seemed so calm and indifferent as they talked. Not bubbling at the surface like Raina always was. She always admired people who weren't slaves to their emotions like she was. Though truth be told she'd come an awful long way. Raina had however no hopes of being anything else but sensitive.
So perhaps it wasn't so much his face that she was attracted to- but his overall demeanor. Being away from your boyfriend for so long could really do a number on a poor girl's feelings. And of course all of these thoughts transpired in Raina's head in the fraction of a second. Not even enough time for her facial expression to change- well except for the slightly embarrassed blush that was threatening to break loose at the thought of thinking of Martin in the way she'd been only seconds ago.
Once inside the car he asked about her brother. "Yeah, Naveed. He told me he ran into the gardener- I guess that was you."
Again she found herself wondering what his powers were. She stared at him for a second quite obvious but oblivious to herself. Once she became aware she was doing it she spun her head to face the passenger window and look out. "Great Raina, just Great, be an emotional freak to the guy you just met." she told herself.
"You know, I have no idea what would go into it but I'd love to see the fountain spruced up. It's one of the few things that hasnt been fixed since well... the raid a while back." she was referring of course to the registration raid... with Rupert...oh yeah
Rupert. That's right. Rupert was around again. Oh man. She'd forgotten all about that.
Posted by Martin Stein on Feb 9, 2010 4:14:33 GMT -6
Alpha Mutant
760
0
Jul 2, 2013 5:22:49 GMT -6
The young man seemed to be either quite oblivious about the multitude of feelings (and the traffic regulations for that matter) that were mounting on her or decided not to pursue that alley of conversation. Instead he steered the car into a curve with screeching tires, creating enough centrifugal force to make the seatbelts an uncomfortable addition to a car. And he still wasn't paying full attention to the road it seemed, more like dividing it between Raina and the street equally now, blue eyes searching for hers in the back mirror from time to time, almost dreamy in their absent touch. Dreaming of arrival?
His voice retained its polite tone, though or because he tried to dance around another big fauxpas. He might have to look up that brother of hers. Again? “Of course. I met him a while ago. He seemed pleasant.” Well, not a real lie. He doubted many people at the mansion could get really unpleasant for him, to him. They were all so trusting and easygoing and full of their justice and themselves. A cold hint entered the next look in the mirror. It was nothing against that woman really. She was quite nice. Amiable. And interested in gardening. “Oh..Ill see what I can do about that. After I finish my...” His smile relinquished all attempts at being distant and became quite friendly now. Just invite the snake into your home... and don't complain if it bites your children. “hedge maze. Maybe I can find someone with the ability to make it full-grown by summer.” Everybody loved hedge mazes, or not?
Another quite illegal driving movement later, they were getting closer to the mansion. It was record time. Probably. He had not kept it.
Posted by rainewater on Feb 9, 2010 17:24:36 GMT -6
Guest
"Naveed nice?" she snorted. "I think you're the first person to say so." her eyes met his in the mirror and looked away embarrassed. Her heart raced a little as the car edged on and she felt herself pushing the 'invisible' break.
She hated this. Missing Luke. Feeling vulnerable. Faltering at the slightest bit of attention the opposite sex showed her.
"I wish I knew someone with plant powers." she said abruptly a little too long after her made the comment about the hedges. "But you know, I think that would be a fantastic addition to the mansion. It could even be used for training for certain students, and Ive always admired prayer and meditation mazes."
All too soon they were at the mansion. She looked up at the big gates. Here she was. Home. Mostly. Those gates seemed to represent everything. About to gush open any second with millions of things for her to do. She couldn't help but slump in her seat a bit. She had nothing to look forward to now. She was done her adventure, Luke was away for who knew how long, and there was a great big backlog of students for her to catch up on- Martin apparently being one of the residences she had to refresh herself with.
"Home sweet home." she commented a little dully. "I really appreciate the ride. Maybe I'll see you in the garden." she chimed.
Posted by Martin Stein on Feb 15, 2010 14:25:32 GMT -6
Alpha Mutant
760
0
Jul 2, 2013 5:22:49 GMT -6
The screeching of tires and the sigh of breaks resonated through the car like a giant bell being rung, shaken really, as his foot pressed down on the pedal that activated the hydraulic system which slowed down the car using amplified force of his foot in conjunction with some other force, generated electrically probably, making metal clamps close around similar fitting disks. An intervention. Unshaken were his eyes, still looking, scanning, unmoved by but the most emotional reaction the new old teacher showed. Strange they were, blinking. But oddly his eyes seemed to look tired at her comment about knowing his brother, maybe even at her signs, the signs she sent, knowingly or unknowingly, the arch of her lips, the nervous movement of the fingers, the shoulders contracting. Really tired. Old maybe. His fingers moved. Maybe worn. His shoulders moved. Maybe lost. His eyes moved. Away from her. Sapphires in darkness. Screaming their light out. He took his time. Moved out. Time that passed as silence fell outside the car again, the now standing machine slightly dirtier then the time he had entered it. Manned it. Taken it. Moved it. Gravel crunched under his feet.
Again movements were continued to relieve the woman of her peril, the lesser one, her confinements springing open, in the inside of the car, he did it, opening the door with a slight bending of the back, almost a bow, his spine now complaining for once, nothing complaining. There was just something tired. In him. Just if it were something organic... would be so easy to fix.
The temporal tamperers words were quiet and almost a mumble, as she left the car. “He will be allright.” Why thought it? Guesswork. Why he said it? He did not really know. Maybe just a feeling, one little feeling. Maybe he just wanted to feel something. Or he might just have let it slip. An innocent slip. Was there any innocence left? “If you like mazes I could show you the one I made.” He offered her a gloved hand. Innocence?
Posted by rainewater on Feb 15, 2010 17:32:01 GMT -6
Guest
Raina had thanked Martin and was all ready on her way when he said something to the effect of "He'll be all right." or at least that's what she thought she heard. She stopped for a moment wrapping her overcoat around herself tightly and wondered what that meant, but when she turned to face him he'd asked her a new question. It took a moment to register what he asked. In fact, it almost seemed to take more than a moment. Her heart pounded in her ears.
Raina was always an enigma of energy even when she was tired and jet lagged. There was just something about her that seemed to scream vitality. Personally she always felt it made her seem a bit suspicious always jerking her movements. But now she was completely still peering at Martin wondering why she hadn't taken the time to notice him before. She almost felt like time had stopped- but in that superficial I'm having an epiphany sort of way. Despite her stillness that Raina energy was still coursing through her like invisible water.
"Um..." she began wondering why it was taking her so long to answer. Her mind was completely blank but she prayed it gave off the impression that she'd been thinking his offer over. Should she go with him before even checking in at the mansion? Or especially when she was feeling so vulnerable around other men?
Her eyes darted down but quickly darted back and met his. "Sure!" she took his extended hand and felt the familiar surge of escalating serotonin levels. A chill crept across her spine and her eyes lit up.
Maybe she was just happy to see someone who didn't believe they truly were a fish after all these months. Maybe that was it.
Posted by Martin Stein on Feb 18, 2010 20:09:05 GMT -6
Alpha Mutant
760
0
Jul 2, 2013 5:22:49 GMT -6
He might just be told to leave and do that. He might just be told no and left. He might just be told that she was not interested. She might not be interested at all after all. So many things might happen. And one of his problems could be that he was able to take the time to worry about all of them. In this instance though, he refused the temptation nagging at him, drove it away, by calling up his innate ability to strengthen the flow before his eyes, until she quite suddenly appeared at his site, having taken his hand. And he in turn was at a loss.
What to do with a hand in yours? Press it lightly? Dont give it support at all? Somehow it seemed prudent to him to do the latter. Dont even acknowledge it is there really. So many things could happen if one held his hand. Bad things happened if he ever chose to hold peoples hands.
But luckily this was not a matter of his choosing.
And it was good.
She felt warm after all, her own body heat a little reminder of the fact, that he too, was akin to her, was of her kind. Not really kind, but of hers somehow. A memory.
Lightly his steps fell, as they closed in on the geometric patterns of brown he had turned the earth upside down in. Only the green was still missing from them in the cold of winter. Only life was missing. “So here it is. Nothing great I suppose.” Just....earth. How... lame?
Posted by rainewater on Feb 20, 2010 11:58:12 GMT -6
Guest
ooc: Martin I adore your writing style, it's very eloquent.
ic: Raina smiled as he took her hand and led her around the mansion to the garden area where the earth had been churned. She stared at it momentarily with her hand still in his, and then quickly took it back to poke the ground with her finger. It was odd to be holding someone's hand. Someone who wasn't Luke. But It was nice. She missed Luke... she missed human contact.
"I wish I could help, the best I could do would be to sing up some frost and that wouldn't do much to help your cause." she admitted.
Raina longed to control water the way she controlled ice. She could transition the water to ice but couldn't do anything else with it until it was ice. She often thought about what a difference it would make in her life to be able to sing up water and not just ice.
"It's a good layout." she commented. "It will look lovely in the spring when it starts to sprout." she closed her eyes and stood up breathing in slowly and picturing it in her mind. Then without warning she turned around and faced Martin. "Martin, what is your power?" she could have easily looked it up in his file... but she never felt right in doing that unless it was for professional purposes. She'd rather give the mutant the ability to tell her... and right now she was very curious about Martin the man she hadn't noticed much of before.
Posted by Martin Stein on Feb 24, 2010 11:31:44 GMT -6
Alpha Mutant
760
0
Jul 2, 2013 5:22:49 GMT -6
OOC: Thank you very much.
Even though her hand was removed from his support, he could still feel the lingering energy that she had left there, maybe unknowingly for him. A secret stash to draw on during difficult times, hidden away in the corners of his self, where some part of him was still attached to something called humanity. It was a vain attachment. And a useless one. But he had not yet overcome it. Not that he particularly desired to do so. It was just a natural consequence of his existence. So many natural consequences. Breathing. Moving. Death. There was death about him like a cloud, a dark cloud, raincloud, blocking out the sun, the light... the Life? His blue eyes, they desperately tried to remain in touch with hers, those small gems.
She could manipulate ice it seemed. Sing songs of death. Nothing like that for his plants. Nothing like that for him. Yet. Clouds darkened. Eyes cooled. Was there wind blowing? The warmth. Where had it gone?
She tucked her finger in the earth. A stab.
She commented on the mazes beauty. A dagger.
She asked for his power. A weapon.
Too much.
The contact broke, as Martin descended, almost knelt down before his work to touch the earth in a fashion similar to what she had done. But not. His hands were still engloved. Covered up. He was covered. He had hidden himself from her. Physically. Metaphorically. His face was but visible in profile to her, for such was the way he had turned, positioned himself. By accident? Had she looked into his eyes at this moment. Shed have seen an old man. A tired man.
Long gone the time of youth and flower. He was a barren ground. An eternal ground. A dieing ground. But that was not a bad thing in his opinion. He refused the labels that morality would give him, the labels that some distant part of himself attached to others. Had always. He was after all. He only was. And would be.
“Touching my skin is dangerous.” He then said. The almost-lie that he lived here. It was not a lie. It was just not the truth. And truth be told. There were no truths. And he was not broken. The cold, the storm were greeting him with a warm smile. They were brethren after all.
Posted by rainewater on Feb 24, 2010 17:21:58 GMT -6
Guest
ooc: You remind me of my favourite author Neil Gaiman, ever read his stories? I think you'll appreciate American Gods.
Ic: Martin took a moment to answer her question and she didn't quite feel like meeting his eyes so she stood watching the wind blow across the dirt. She could see him out of the corner of her eyes but she'd wait for him to answer, or tell her where she could put that question.
Finally when enough time had passed that she wondered if he'd even heard her she turned her attention to him as he told her touching his skin was dangerous. She looked at her hands, than at his. "I guess that's why you have gloves." she remarked tonelessly. Luke couldn't see, Martin couldn't touch, and there was a time Rupert couldn't feel. Was she developing a complex?
She stole a glance at his face and wondered if he was realizing at the moment what she was: that they both had gray eyes. Gray eyes that swam like water. Gray eyes like she'd never seen in another human being before or mutant. There was hazel, and then there was just absolute gray. Raina couldn't help it when the little gasp escaped. She turned around facing the ground with her face red.
"I'm sorry. It's not right to put you on the spot like that. I felt impulsively curious." she admitted. And now she felt she had to tell him her power. "I think you know I'm an ice chanter. I can conjure up ice from any liquid source usually and freeze it willing it to move like something alive if I want. It sounds like the kind of power perfect for the x-men but it's not perfect for a girl who longs to sing..."
Raina missed singing. She could only do it with a lot of help. So she played instruments instead. "Music is like... I mean... well... if I had to choose only one way to communicate for the rest of my life it would be music." she was trying to relate to his power. He couldn't touch anyone apparently without hurting them. AT least that's what she guessed from his hesitance. She couldn't sing. She also counldnt get wet.
"My tribe, they believed in this Godess called Sedna. She controlled the sea. She created the animals. She was of it and it. When I first started showing my mutation they thought I was her reincarnation. But when it really started to come on strong- the x gene that is- I had to leave." it wasnt a painful story to tell anymore. It had been. But not anymore.
"When I was in the camps... my second mutation reared itself." she turned back to look at him now "I mean, I know it's not as bad as not being able to touch people... but I do turn into pretty much a fish." she gave a musical laugh that chilled the air a bit. "Mer folk you know. Hence the trip to Australia. Researching another group of mutants with similar powers. "
She kicked the earth at her feet a bit and shuffled her weight. "Sorry." she started "Ya know... if that was too much information. I feel a little lonely." she admitted. "I shouldn't have asked about your mutation like that and then went on and on about mine. I just thought maybe sometimes you seem a little lonely too."
A person could read into that it was true, but Raina was truly sincere and innocent in what she said. There was something about Martin that seemed loner-ish despite his helpful nature. Probably the same something that made her take no notice of him before but notice now when she felt alone.
Posted by Martin Stein on Feb 27, 2010 20:21:44 GMT -6
Alpha Mutant
760
0
Jul 2, 2013 5:22:49 GMT -6
Instead of gracing her first remark, the very prudent one, with an answer he bent down a little more. The earth was scooped up in the gloved hand, vanished in it, disappeared in a fist, only to be returned to itself in small bits and pieces, leaving nothing but some brown crumbs behind, leaving nothing behind at all, but for a slightly earthy smell that was about them, nothing but a memory. It too would fade, too. Still his eyes seemed to be glued to the ground, away from her, until he could be sure that his face would not betray him, betray his feelings, his being. Him. All that he was, lay in his eyes, especially in his eyes, if one would see them as they truly were.
Truly.
Once he had touched them. They changed people, these eyes. They changed the world. If only in his mind. His world they had changed. And others too. Only they were quite unhappy with that fact. Quite insane, too.
And then he rose again, to his full height, turning himself over to her, moving to stand in something that could be called arms reach for her. For him too. A dangerous distance. And for some reason she seemed to be quite uncomfortable looking at him. Eyes drilled into her soul. “There is no need to be sorry for curiosity.” Just pay the price. Just know the dangers. Like himself. He was curious after all. Curious too, too curious? In a very dangerous way. His voice seemed distant, almost faint.
Something had touched him.
Long ago. Today. He listened to her voice, her words, her powers. He would remember. But himself?
The more she spoke of her powers to the man-in-the-making before her, the more she might notice the subtle changes in his stance, the shoulders shifting back into a straighter position, a light shudder, maybe from the sudden cold, maybe not, arms crossing before his chest, but the reality of the situation, the gravity, it lay in those eyes of his. Shifting away from the natural spectrum of emotions, with every word dripping from her mouth, a drop of water falling onto stone, something changed, emotion went missing, more and more, another word, a final sentence.
“As I told you Miss Hiltz, there is nothing wrong with being curious. One does just have to be willing to pay the price.” Look behind the mirror, don't catch on the shards / look behind the mirror don't fret they are darts / Throwing at you the past and the future / Cutting your everything up inside / Come now with me to see wounds fresh with suture / Enter with me... the great divide / How strange his voice now sounded. The accent was still there, but placed farther in the back, was removed, parted, from the meaning of the accentuated words. Cold words the almost were. Cold eyes looked at her. Old eyes. Gray eyes. A murderers' eyes. And a gardeners'. A childs' eyes and a soldiers'. So many people wanted a look, so many faces he had. But one thing his eyes were always. They were Old, numbering the years beyond youth and young adult age. “And so I will give you some knowledge that nobody here yet possesses.” His face, it was made of ice, hewn of stone, in all its young perfection it seemed to be so alien.
The smell of earth was about them like his perfume. The smell of dead things. Of new growth.
“I am immortal.”
Talk about pregnant silence. This had been one. And talk about being lonely. Who could lecture him on that?
Posted by rainewater on Feb 27, 2010 20:37:58 GMT -6
Guest
Raina watched him move. He didn't seem to have any tone in his voice when he said it was ok that she was curious. Raina was sensitive, she took that to mean he was guarded and unhappy with her babbling. That may not have been the case in actuality but she regretted the conversation. Here he was a nice man coming to pick her up from the airport and she was making him show her this potential maze, tell her about his life, and fill a void she had for male companionship with the intimate way she was trying to encourage him to talk.
After all, who was she to be so informal? Perhaps the time with Luke had encouraged her to be too familiar with people not allowing them their privacy. Or maybe her job here at the mansion did that.
His eyes seemed distant and his stance ragged. Her insides clenched with anxiety. She hated how her emotions always bubbled at the surface like this. He was standing there calm and collective and it was all she could do to keep from running away after embarrassing herself. Until he said he was immortal.
She stared at him in awe for a moment, thinking too quickly to savor the fact he'd shared this secret with her. Raina always felt empathy stronger than any emotion including love. It got her into a lot of trouble and right now it was pushing her to the brink of tears and working its way all over her body. Did that mean he didn't age? Or maybe he did and didn't die? At what cost was his immortality?
Her brain was buzzing with questions, all seeming inappropriate. Instead she simply said, "I've supposed you've seen a lot then. It must be frustrating to see the same mistakes over and over" she didn't need to be immortal to know she made the same mistakes over and over just like humanity did on a grander scale.
Here she was, her heart racing. All thoughts of Luke, Rupert, or anyone else aside. She was looking at this man who would live forever and wanted to take him in her arms like a child and hold him, hug him, and tell him the world would be alright. He seemed childlike to her at time, and other times she saw him as a man. One she'd want to kiss and promise she'd try to live forever for. Raina was a sucker for that sort of romance.
She turned her eyes downward and noticed the mist was moving in as the sun was getting ready to set. It was getting chillier and not just because of her voice this time. "I guess we're a different type of lonely." she said. How could she have been so stupid as to think she could relate to the man who'd live forever? She felt like such an idiot for rambling on about her powers and struggles. She was lonely because Luke had been away for so long and she didn't know if he would come back. She didn't know if she should wait to find out. He was lonely because he really was alone.
The real kind of alone. The kind a well meaning Raina couldn't fix or help with. She felt very insignificant.