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.
Tom fanned open his wallet. That was a grand total of 42 dollars, 20 cents and 3 paper clips (although he didn't think they were official currency here). He couldn't get a job, so he had been working off odd favors for the past week or so, but it wasn't going to last. He stared up into the night sky and checked his watch. 2:34 AM, but he couldn't sleep, he had to get himself sorted. It was a cloudless night, which made it cold, and though the cold didn't do much to Tom, he still felt it. He zipped his jacket right up. It looked like he was going to have to do something he was going to regret, but hey, it was all in the name of survival. He had somewhere in mind too, not only could he steal a lot of good quality food from there, but also they fully deserved it.
He walked past the big gates and giant wall a few times and decided there wasn't much chance of getting over them, especially not given there were probably cameras all over that bit of the wall. He had seen places like this before, they were always rigged up like some secret government facility, he wasn't sure in this case if it was to keep out thieves or zealots. Never the less, it would probably work for both, so Tom needed to be careful about this one. He wrongly guessed that the outside would be heavily watched, but the inside less so.
He walked all the way to the edge of the section and saw that there was a two story building next door, far less flash and with only a small fence. That was his way in. Using climbing skills attributed predominantly to his lack of fear, and the fact that his muscles didn't get sore, Tom scaled the outside of the next door building. He used anything he could, banister rails, down pipe, even the washing line, and eventually he found himself on the roof. He noticed just how high the wall was from here. It almost came up to the roof of the next door house, but not quite, so he was in the clear.
He walked to the other side of the roof and prepared for his stunt. This was going to be great, those pompous, rich, stuck up, preppy mutants were going to fund Tom's belly for the next week or so. Not everyone could afford to go to a school like this, and with Tom emancipated from both of his parents, no one was going to pay the hefty bill for this place. In truth, he envied those who stayed here, it seemed nice. It was warm, safe, full of food. But Tom thought he was out of luck. He didn't realize it was a charity case where anyone could come in. He thought it was just another private school, and his feelings had pushed him to pick this place to steal from.
He sprinted full force across the neighbor's roof and launched himself into the air off the end. He had to clear as far as he could into the yard if he wanted to remain unseen. His arms and legs flailed as he tumbled through the air to finally land heavily about four meters in from the wall. There was a dull thud and Tom gave a grunt. For a second he just sat on the ground and cringed, that hit had knocked the wind out of him good. But a moment later, he stood up, rolled his shoulders and his neck, and began walking off towards the mansion. He was less cautious now, the cameras were normally on the fence, but in most of these places there weren't many cameras inside if any. Just another mistake he had made tonight.
He climbed up the side of this house, there was a convenient wooden grid on the side for plants like creepers to grow on. This thing was far easier to climb that the other house. Once he was fairly high up, he began to shimmy across, and felt around with his hand, trying to get hold of the banister rail. He fumbled around for a second before he got hold of it, and he swung round, grabbing on with his other hand and bumping into the rail. He smiled, he had got to the right spot. From down at the ground, he had seen that this was a deck with chairs and tables on it, which meant it was probably close to the kitchen and dining areas. He swung over both of his legs and crept over to the door.
As Tom quietly moved into the mansion he reached down and turned down the sound on his ipod so it was just running quietly. He needed to be aware and alert of his surroundings in this place. He carefully closed the door to the deck behind himself and tiptoed through the first room, which had couches and a tv. He glanced through at his options, on room had a big table with lots of chairs, probably a dining room he guessed, and the other option had a hallway lined with doors. He headed into the dining room and spotted his target immediately. There, through one open door, was the kitchen. He walked over to the doorway and leaned his head round to peek in. There was no one there and he smiled, walking in as he took of his backpack.
He had left his baseball bat, hidden in the neighbor's yard, after all, it would only slow him down on a stealth mission like this one. He set his bag on the counter top, and unzipped it, opening it right up. From there he headed to the fridge, there were a few things of interest there, but they were in the fridge because they needed to be cold to last. Tom couldn't provide that so that stuff would go off fast. Next he opened the pantry. Here was the treasure trove. He took a number of sealed cans and tossed them lightly into his backpack. He saw a can opener on the shelf and dropped that in too. After all, cans weren't much good if you couldn't open them. Next he grabbed a box of cereal and stuffed that into his collection. With that, his bag was full and he zipped it up before grabbing an apple and biting into it to hold it in his mouth.
Suddenly a door closed loudly and Tom froze in place. His eyes were wide and his ears pricked up as he attempted to hear the sounds of the house. Maybe he had just left a door open somewhere and the wind had blown it shut. After all there was quite a wind out there. Or maybe someone was awake. This put him in quite the predicament. If he had left a door open then he needed to run and get out quick. If someone else was coming then he needed to hide. Tom gritted his teeth and grabbed his hair. He finally made a decision. He tossed his bag into a cupboard and unzipped his jacket, trying to look tired as he leaned on the bench and ate his apple. It was a gamble, but if anyone came in he figured he might be able to pass as a student having a late night snack.
Andrea winced visibly, peeking around the barren hall. She hadn't expected the door to slam like that, but then again she was half asleep and hadn't expected to be woken up by a hungrily grumbling stomach. After a swift glance around, she continued on her way towards the kitchen. Late night snacks really weren't her thing... but of the late she had been waking up at increasingly odd hours of the night in starvation mode. Bare feet padded softly on the floor, her shadow dancing off the walls as she passed by a few windows, each offering its own twilight landscape to view. She thought to pause and stare, but felt the weakness in her legs and arms urging her forward. Darn hunger. Before she knew it, she was stopped before the kitchen doors, tugging one open slowly and reaching inside to flick on a light as her feet slapped onto the cold floor. She really missed her old, fuzzy warm carpet by now.
What greeted her shielded eyes as the lights flickered on, was not the sight she had been expecting to see. The green woman froze, her eyebrows raised high, and gazed in a very dumb struck manner at the boy munching on an Apple... that was an apple, right? She squinted to make sure. Yes. An apple. Apparently she was not the only one rummaging for food this late. A glance down at her choice of clothing compared to his though, told her she was indeed the only one walking around in fuzzy pants and a tank top. She felt herself darken a few shades.
"...Oh...."
Licking suddenly dry lips, she dropped her hand from the light switch and scratched at her cheek. "...sorry... I didn't think anyone else would be up this late." Eyeballing him, she moved from the doorway towards the cupboards near him. All she needed was a box of cereal, or maybe a bag of pretzels and she would be on her way back upstairs. "Excuse me." She reached for the cabinet door, then stopped, suddenly realizing that she hadn't remembered to slip her gloves on after leaving her bed. That probably meant there was an assortment of neat little hand and finger prints trailed behind her through the halls and on various organic surfaces she had touched. She grimaced. Real Smooth.
Tank leaned against the bench top, his heart hammering away like a happy little builder in his chest. He breathed shallow sharp breaths as his eyes flicked from side to side wondering if he had made the wrong decision. He hadn't heard anyone, maybe he should just grab his bag and run. His hand gingerly gripped the cupboard handle. No. He had made the decision to play it cool, and he would see it through. After all what was the worst that could happen, it wasn't like any of these punks could actually hurt him. That thought reassured him and his heart rate began to drop a little. He took a deep breath and bit into the apple, chewing another sweet, fruity mouthful.
That was when the door creaked. Was someone there? Was a suspicious resident about to discover their thief. The door swung open and a hand fumbled for the light. Tom cringed. The light! It was a dead give away, sitting here, pretending to be a normal student, and he hadn't even turned on the light. How suspicious was that. He calmed himself, he would think of something, that was provided this person even gave it a second thought. With any luck they would be too tired to even think about it. The feminine looking hand finally found the light switch and bathed the whole room in a bright white glow. Tom's eyes squinted and he threw up a hand to shield them from the bright bulbs.
The girl walked in and Tank lowered his hand to see a woman, probably a few years older than him, stroll in in pajama pants and a tank top. He raised a brown for a second, but on fear of rebuke he lowered it and tried to maintain a level expression. She was green. Like green green. He had seen, and in truth done, some weird things in his time, but green people was something new. He tried not to be fussed though, after all this was a school for mutants, some of them would undoubtedly get dealt a bad hand. She seemed surprised that he was there and Tom's heart skipped a beat. Was he suspecting him. He gave it a few seconds but she didn't accuse him of anything so he allowed himself to relax slightly.
She apologized and explained why she was surprised. She thought she would be the only one awake. See, that was all, she didn't seem suspicious of Tom at all. He began to gain confidence, enough to reply. "Yeh." He almost grunted in his thick accent. "Jus' been playing a li'tle xbox ya know. Got a tad peckish from all me 'ard work." He added with a slight chuckle. Hopefully she believed him. What if he had just put his foot in it? What if the students here weren't allowed tvs in their rooms? He decided to say as little as possible from now on.
She started to walk over and Tom purposefully avoided her eyes, he thought he seemed guilty as it was, and he figured one look into his eyes would tell anyone exactly how guilt he was. She stopped beside him and began to reach for a cupboard. The boy's muscles tightened up, that was the cupboard he had stuff his bag full of loot into. She couldn't look in there! His heart pounded and his hand gripped the edge of the bench, white knuckle tight. His teeth clenched inside a closed mouth as her hand drew close to the handle. Suddenly she paused. Tom couldn't hold it in, he had to say something, divert her maybe. "I uh... I uh, wouldn' look in there. I um... I cleaned out mos' of it. There ain' much left in tha' cupboard." He said with a nervous tone ringing through his voice.
The was a moment on silence as the boy waited to see what she would do. Would she open it and out him, or move onto another cupboard, leaving him in relative safety?
Pausing, she eyed him carefully. He seemed... off. Something about him was... Shifty? Maybe it was they way he refused to meet eyecontact, or his... relaxed yet tense posture. Then again, she was green after all, and more than a little scary....
>>"Jus' been playing a li'tle xbox ya know. Got a tad peckish from all me 'ard work."
Ah. Xbox... that infernal contraption again. Relaxed yet ridged posture? could very well be from hours of playing games. She scrunched her nose at the thought and turned back to her current task. "Personally I have never played that thing. " She scrunched her nose further as she thought back to when she had snuck in and actually tried to play it. Too many buttons for her taste, buttons that did an assortment of confusing things. That subject aside, she turned back to the task at hand and returned to finding her snacks.
>>"I uh... I uh, wouldn' look in there. I um... I cleaned out mos' of it. There ain' much left in tha' cupboard."
She turned to blink at him, but heeded his advice to slowly. The cupboard was already open, and opening further as she watched. She winced as something large slid out of it and crashed loudly onto the counter below. Blinking some more, she tilted her head and poked at the bag with her free hand.
"...Why... was there a backpack in the cupboard?"
Turning curious eyes to him, she paused once again. Why had he sounded so nervous? Her gaze shifted back to the back pack. Perhaps he was hoarding food? A silly thing to do... there was always enough-
"I... I have never met you before... What's your name?" Her hand dropped from the bag to pluck an apple from a bowl nearby. Its skin darkened and shriveled before the apple slowly shifted to stone.
Tom cringed as he heard the tell tale noise of his bag falling out onto the counter-top. A dull thud, followed by the clinking of the cans hitting each other. He flicked his eyes up at the girl who stood before him nervously. She looked less than impressed to say the least. She poked the bag lightly, but easily hard enough to feel that those were cans of food in there. She asked why it was there, but in a tone that sounded almost as though she actually didn't know the answer. Maybe he could lie and get away with it, or maybe not. Either way it was best to keep her off guard by talking. "Now tha' bag ain' mine mate. I don' need any extra food, go' eveything I need righ' 'ere." He said, being as calm as his shaking voice would allow.
Tank was now in the position he had dreaded getting himself into all along. He was now in limbo. Either he pushed her over, grabbed his bag and sprinted headlong for that ranch slider, or he made something up and hoped it was convincing. But if it wasn't convincing, she might block his escape, and who knew what she could do when she was ready for him. At least the other way he had the element of surprise. But one thing held him back, he was trying to turn over a new leaf. If he hurt this girl just to steal some food, was he any better than his own father back in West Ham? No, he was worse, at least his father normally went after mutant-haters. This girl was just an innocent boarder. He couldn't do it, it was too wrong, he had to talk his way out of this one.
She leaned back from the bag and for a second Tom thought he may have been in the clear. Had she actually believed that total BS he had just spouted. He couldn't believe his luck, he must have been dealing with the most naive girl on the campus. She said she didn't know him and asked his name. Maybe not. She was suspicious of him and it was clear as day. She picked up and apple and it slowly withered, turning all gray and bumpy looking. He figured she must have burned it from the inside out and turned it to ash or something. But he bet she could only do that when she concentrated, which meant if the worst came to the worst, he could beat her with the element of surprise. Not that it would matter anyway. After all, that wouldn't hurt him as long as his music was up. He tossed out one headphone so he could still hear and subtly turned up his ipod so that music banged away loudly in his left ear, while he listened to her with his right.
Oh well, he was committed to being as non-violent as he could be, so he had better start talking, too long of a gap and she might catch on. "I'm Tom, Barker. I'm new 'ere, jus' moved in yesterday." He said and extended a lightly shaking hand to her in a gesture of greeting. Maybe she would believe him, after all, this place was pretty big, it could fit a lot of students, so new ones must come in regularly. If she didn't believe him and tried to grab onto him to take him down, he had a plan too. His left hand sat at the ready next to his bag. A quick bop on the head from that bag full of cans and he'd be away. But he had to see if she believed him or not first. Turning over a new leaf was such a pain in the a**.
>>"Now tha' bag ain' mine mate. I don' need any extra food, go' eveything I need righ' 'ere."
Uh huh. suuure. One slow, measuring blink turned into two, then three. until finally she shook herself free from the blinking spell and weighed the two options presented to her. Either he was lying... or he was telling the truth. but which one?
>>"I'm Tom, Barker. I'm new 'ere, jus' moved in yesterday."
"Has shin or one of the other staff members shown you around yet, Tom?" Surely if he were telling the truth, he would at least know someones name... Then again, she had only known shin for the first few days. well, Shin and Saph and that Doctor fellow. With that in mind, she decided to trust the boy. What harm could be do anyway? If anything he seemed to be hungry.
Without really thinking about it, she reached out and clasped his hand. A hands shake, a simple enough gesture. One she was getting more and more used to as the days went by. She grasped his hand lightly, her brows raising as her lips pursed at its slight shaking. Was he afraid of her? The stone feeling of the forgotten apple in her other hand told her yes. Yes he is probably slightly freaked out. And on the other hand, the bag at her side full of food items told her he had other things to worry about. She raised curious eyes to him, before dropping them to her hand, which was holding his. ... Wait, that just didn't add up. She was holding his hand? yet he wasn't screaming and cursing and nursing an injury? She froze. A mix of horror and fascination flooded her face as she ever so slowly released him and drought her hand to her face. Maybe she was sleeping? Maybe this was all some odd, hunger driven dream... She reached for her glasses, pulling them from her eyes carefully, while at the same time dropping the apple and bringing the now free hand up to rub at her tired eyes. There was no way she had just touched him... it was... impossible? The hands dropped, and two wide, orange eyes affixed straight on him. Were her powers nullified around him? Was that it?
She was about to find out.
Tom stiffened. He didn't reply, nor did he move at all. She sighed with what could be considered distress, and plopped her glasses back onto her face. No, whatever it was stopping her touch from effecting him, it was not her doing. She was still quite destructive. A shame really. That small glimmer of hope that she might have been normal in some manner flickered and died, and she thrust herself into action. First things first, his eyes were shut to prevent excessive dryness. The second thing that needed to be done, was to pull up a chair from the table and maneuver him into a sitting position. He probably didn't need a crack in his noggin from a fall on top of what he was already going through. Carefully getting him into the chair took time, and lots of leg positioning. How was it that legs refused to work properly when limp?! It was ridiculous!
But, whatever. He was sitting now. She turned to grab a glass of water and his bag- or what was not supposed to be his bag, and waited for him to wake up.
He spoke his name as confidently as he could and she seemed to believe him. What a god send, this girl, he might actually get out of here with his new code of ethics in tact. Maybe if he could just put a bit more spin on it. Just one more push on her trust and he could get away safely. Somehow, somehow he liked this girl. She was nice, and maybe he felt sorry for her too, for the way her mutation must affect her, for the fact that he was lying to her too. Whatever the reasoning, he felt wrong hurting her. He really didn't want to, that was why it was such a relief for her to seem to believe him. She asked him if someone called Shin had shown him around. That was just great, Shin could have been either gender, Tom had no idea with Asian names. He took a guess, someone who greets people and shows them round a school, seemed compassionate and kind. He guessed woman. He guessed wrong. "Yeah Shin. She showed me around when I got 'ere yesterday. She's real nice in't she." He added for affect and hoped to god he had gotten it right.
She shook his hand and reacted oddly. She stared as though something was wrong. Had his shaking given him away. His heart raced and his shaking grew worse. But she didn't try to catch him, she didn't to to restrain him. Just withdrew her hand and cradled it to her face like it had stung her. He didn't understand her, but he guessed that was the problem with the world these days. He sighed inwardly. This was a whole experience. He had been scared and relived so many times that he just couldn't count any more. He just wanted it to be over. Now that she was standing away from the doorway he figured he would wait for an opening, grab the bag and run.
The opening came soon than he thought. She reached up to her glasses and her hand was about to obscure her vision. That would be the time, he would have the bag and be running by the time she saw him again, then after the initial shock there was no way she would catch him before that deck. He waited a second longer then just as her hand covered he face he reached for the bag and slid off the benchtop. But he missed, his hand missed the bag. He swore in his thoughts and twisted back to grab the strap and swing it onto his back. He was behind time, those glasses would be off now and he wasn't moving, if she was onto it, she might catch him!
He glanced back just as he started to move and saw her eyes. Her gorgeous eyes. They were bright amber, and so big. They were so beautiful he just couldn't look away. Why was he staring, he needed to go! Now! He tried to turn his head but he just couldn't. Her eyes were something else. His eyelids drooped and he blinked slowly. Forcing his eyes back open to catch one more glimpse of those amazing optics. Then it was over. The bag slid off his arm and he was unconscious before his body slumped on the bench surface. _______________________________________________
Tom's eyes cracked open and he found himself in an odd position. He was standing wasn't he? He was running away wasn't he? He tried to move but only managed a weak sloppy arm movement. Where was he? This didn't make any sense. Why was he sitting down? Then it all rushed back. Her eyes, they had put him to sleep! Now that he knew their effect, he knew he couldn't look. He cracked open and eyelid and saw that the glasses were back on. Almost a shame, he had almost wished that they were off, he wanted to see her eyes again for some reason. He opened the second eye at that and looked up at her blearily. "Well tha' was a nice li'tle nap aye." He said in a slurring tone, a cheeky grin adorning his face.
His eyes fluttered. A sign of him stirring. Andrea dragged a chair over and sat before him, backwards(as she had seen others who were 'cool' do) in her chair as he came to. She had to admit, he had been the first to actually spend a little while staring back at her. Usually they just sort of blanked out.
>>"Well tha' was a nice li'tle nap aye."
Blinking at him, she smiled back softly, crossed her arms over the back of the chair she had pulled up and relaxed a bit. He had only been out for maybe twenty minutes or so. "I'm sorry." scrunching her nose, she let her forearms hide the action and continued onwards. "That was a stupid thing for be to have done, I hope you are alright?" Leaning over towards the counter, she snatched up the glass of water and held it out for him to take. He could drink it, or splash himself with it to get rid of the residual drowsiness that often came about from her stare, either way she knew form experience that water helped for some reason.
"By the way, Shin is a male. You are very new here, yes? Have you not been formally shown around and given a room yet?" She considered this, recalling that own roommate had bypassed a direct tour of the place.... which had led to many many bookshelves and a gardener in shining armor. Not a mistake she wanted to go through twice, mind you. All tours she would leave to the Mansion staff. They could have all of the flying teacups and wobbly ladders, and she would stick to a nice book and a bag of pretzels- which, as her stomach reminded her, she still hungered for. Standing from her chair, she moved back to the cupboard and rummaged around within. Her fingers found the sealed plastic bag, and before opening it, she managed to remember that she was still un-gloved. No food for now, it would have to wait until she was back in her room.
Tom started to shakeEx the drowsiness from his brain relatively quickly. Two things were important in this process. The first, it felt kind of like a concussion and Tank had had plenty of those in his after-football fighting days. He had gotten used to them enough that felt like he could kind of manage it. The second factor in this was the determination factor. He needed to get out of here, he had to get out of here. In a big place like this, full of teens, it was only going to be so long until another person came out for a midnight snack. Especially with all this noise. After all, Tom had full on fainted, he figured he probably had fallen onto the floor. Though it didn't feel like he had...
Anyhow, there was limited time before someone else came to investigate, he didn't know how long he had been out for, but he knew he was just damn lucky that someone not so ridiculously gullible hadn't shown up already. He had to capitalize. Even though he didn't want to hurt this girl's feelings, especially not now that he had seen those eyes. After seeing them Tom felt himself uncontrollably attracted to her, and he knew it would hurt her to know that he had been lying the whole time, player her for a fool. But he didn't have a choice. He had to grab the food and get out. Same deal as before, and all he had to do was not look at her eyes and he'd be home free.
She pulled up a chair and apologized sweetly to him. Honestly, was she tricking him, paying him? Could she really be this blind to the truth. She said she hoped he was ok and from her face she seemed to be serious. Tom smiled, this girl. To cover his smile he replied. "I'll be righ'. I've 'ad worse I can tell you tha'."
He reassured. She leaned over and grabbed a glass of water, handing it to him. He looked down at the glass off water. He smiled as a memory came flooding back.
West Hampshire versus Liverpool at home. Tom had been there, they had gotten utterly decimated of course, but there was nothing like a brutal loss at home to amp you up for a fight. Thirteen year old Tom strolled out with his little gang friends, patrolling the streets for a pocket of cocky Liverpool fans. They found exactly what they wanted. At a weird place too. They found the twats watching a cycling race go through. The fight was brutal. Tom charged one man back out into the path of the cyclists only to see him run over by a speeding bike, causing a rough crash. Another man charged him and Tom went for the improvised weapon. He stole a water bottle from a nearby refreshments girl. As the man approached Tom splashed the water in his face and used the moment of shock to thoroughly wallop the older man.
Tom knew what he had to do. West Ham versus Liverpool at home. It would work, it had to. He took the glass of water and nodded his thanks, right before tossing the water back into the girl's face. He cringed, he really hadn't wanted to do that but it was time he was gone. As soon as the water connected, Tom dropped the glass and pushed himself up off the chair. He heard the glass smash as he took his first stride and reached for the bag. He swept it up, not missing a fraction this time. He slung it onto his back. The next step felt odd. Suddenly with the extra weight his leg felt like jelly. The stride was off and he was off balance for the next one. He could push through it, he just had to adjust himself with this stride. But it was not to be, his limbs were still too weak from the eye thing she had done.
Tom's leg gave way and he plummeted to the floor, clattering onto the floor in a rough collision. Luckily she hadn't turned off his ipod or that would have hurt a lot more. He tilted his back and tried to get up but it was no use. He couldn't get up and now he was sure he was japed. He swore inwardly. Should have just drank the f****** water.
>>"I'll be righ'. I've 'ad worse I can tell you tha'."
Good news if ever she had heard it. Her smile widened slightly, and she shifted, tucking a leg under her on the chair. He took the offered water and seemed to space out little. She had seem a look similar to that one before. A look one dawns when thinking back to a specific memory. A fond or cherished time, or perhaps even a sad one. She had known her mother to wear that expression quite often, but had never known what to pin it on until coming to the states.... to the mansion. She sighed inwardly, no need to get on that subject again anytime soon, and thankfully, she didn't have to worry about that train of thought sticking about much longer. It was literally washed away when the boy hurled his entire cup of water into her face.
Icey cold, refreshing water.... In her face. She suddenly felt a lot like a gold fish. Before she could really gasp, or flail, or whatever one was really supposed to do while drowning out of water, she found herself coughing and sputtering and holding onto the chair for support as she dragged soaked hair out of her eyes.. What had that been for?! Had she said something wrong? she didn't think she had, and a quick recount of all the words she had muttered since meeting him proved that no, She had been speaking proper English.... So- She hadn't called him a big shiny baboon butt or anything... Why then the abrupt water in eye attack?
The cold, icy wetness seeped into her hair and her tank top, and after a brief shivering session, realization sank in... Finally. A strange guy in the kitchen, acting nervous and shifty. A bag crudely stuffed into the cupboard- filled to the brim with canned foods and other snack items...
He was a thief? At first, she wondered how on earth he had slipped past all of the security systems, and second- she found herself shaking. Not with sadness, or anger, or fear. Nope. Andrea was laughing herself silly. In fact, she was laughing so hard she had to hold onto her sides to keep them from splitting. "You-... you don't live here, do you... You were stealing those things weren't you?"
All of this time, a thief had been in her midst, right under her nose, and she hadn't even noticed. She looked to the sprawled out boy and bit down on her lip to keep herself from laughing harder.
"You should know, that you don't have to steal from here. They Accept virtually anyone into the school..." Another round of giggles burst from her before she could stop them. Either she had lost her mind somewhere in the sopping wetness of her clothing, or this was juts really, really funny to her.
Well this just blew. Sitting with his chin resting on the floor and his arms flat by his sides Tom wasn't comfortable to say the least. He couldn't get any of his limbs in motion, he must have moved them too early, they must not have been ready or something. On the upside at least he knew that he hadn't torn anything. It literally wasn't possible with Fuel by Metallica pounding away at his ear drums. Of course that didn't help the situation at all. He was still going to fry for this. That wasn't the kind of thing that a girl would brush off lightly.
He heard her spluttering and gasping and he cringed. He felt horrible, but what was he supposed to have done? Asked he politely if he could walk away with stolen Mansion goods. He doubted that even she would be silly enough to say yes to that. Never the less, none of it mattered any more. He was done for. She would go wake up some brutal gym teacher he bet, and when the adults rolled in, that was going to be bad. He sighed and closed his eyes. Why had he done this? What a dumb idea, and look at the trouble it had caused him. He had bent his new code of ethics and look how it had backfired, lesson learned.
Then the situation brightened slightly. She began to laugh. Not like a malicious, I got you, I had you all along laugh. Like an, oh my god this is actually funny laugh. Sometimes Tom just didn't get women. He had lied to her straight through god knows how many times, tried to steal her stuff, and thrown water in her face and she was laughing. But that couldn't be all bad right. Maybe it meant she wouldn't turn him in. Maybe he could give back her food and get away safely. He could only hope so. She seemed to finally catch on, asking him to confirm that he didn't live there and that he was a thief. He sighed, and spoke, difficult as it was from his position.
"Yeah. It's true. I don' live 'ere. I was tryin' to steal your food. I'm sorry I lied to ya." He said somberly. The laughter was stifled behind him and he waited in silence. Was she deciding his verdict? Was she weighing it up and contemplating his fate? He didn't know but he hoped for the best regardless. She spoke again, telling him that he didn't need to steal, that they accepted anyone. Tom got angry, how dare she say that like he could just walk in and join up. It might have been that easy for some people, but others didn't get the luxury. He gritted his teeth and heaved, plopping himself over onto his back where he could see her.
"Tha' might be easy for you to say, but I 'aven't got it easy like you do. See, this school, they migh' accept nearly anyone, but you still go' to pay the fees. I don' see either of my parents anymore, so there's no one to pay for me to come 'ere. You got it easy, rich folks tha'll pay for you to be somewhere safe like this. I did 'ave to steal. I can' come 'ere." He delivered his speech in a tone that sounded more and more defeated as it went on. He had given up. His life was a mess and he wished he could have the financial backing that she had. You're lucky girl.
His apology caused her smile . She resumed her old position in the chair and commenced tugging her hair behind her, sparing herself from a wet curtain of hair. He looked a bit frustrated, down there on the floor... but she could understand in a way. She had met quite a few people who survived the way he did... but she had also seen all of them change and knew that they no longer needed to wonder where their next meal was going to come from.
>>"Tha' might be easy for you to say, but I 'aven't got it easy like you do. See, this school, they migh' accept nearly anyone, but you still go' to pay the fees. I don' see either of my parents anymore, so there's no one to pay for me to come 'ere. You got it easy, rich folks tha'll pay for you to be somewhere safe like this. I did 'ave to steal. I can' come 'ere."
Rich folks who would pay for her to live here? She resisted the urge to laugh bitterly in his face. Under that accent, there was pain in his voice. She could see it in his eyes as well. He was hurting, weather from something she did, or from his own issues, she'd never fully be able to tell without asking... but that would come later. He seemed to think that the mansion was some upscale school, only for those with money. God forbid that from ever happening... If it did she would find herself out on the street so fast her head would spin. Her smile faded, replaced by a soft frown. This woulden't do. He was in need of food, enough so that he felt he had to steal, thus he should also be in need of a home. Her time spent with the few friends she had managed to make kicked in and she felt the need to reach out an help him, so to speak.
Standing from her chair, she proceeded to wring herself out and moved towards the sink to grab a rag and a bowl to clean up the water and broken glass. "You have mistaken this school for something that it's not. We aren't required to pay fees, or tuition, and we aren't kept here by rich parents. This school is for people who need it. Take me for example; I am here because I need help with..." She paused, having already shown him her power, "-with my powers, as you have seen, but I wasn't sent here by 'rich folks', as you put it. Nor was I sent here by my parents. I came here on my own, much like most of the other students." She turned back to face him, a smile on her lips again. Frowns were not friendly enough for the situation. Padding quietly across the floor, she stooped and retrieved most of the broken glass, intending on mopping up the water as well, before a sound from somewhere outside the kitchen alerted her to someone else being up. Her eyes darted nervously to the door, then back to the boy.
"I fear someone else has awakened...." Standing swiftly, she moved to the door and peeked outside. The coast was clear, for now. "Get your things, If you want to leave quietly, now would be the time." She turned to look at him from the doorway. "But you have to promise me something before you go..."
She didn't say anything. Tom had thought as much, now that she saw how rich and blessed she was, and saw how low he had sunk, she was speechless. Tom's face darkened, she hadn't understood him, his way of life at all when she had said that, and he figured now she was feeling silly for saying it at all. He face adopted the hints of a frown, but this unnerved the boy slightly. That frown wasn't the kind of frown that was born of being yelled at. He knew that frown, she was thinking about the past. For a second his confidence faltered, had he been wrong. Then logic kicked in, of course not. Someone had to pay for this place to run after all, and it was a school, a rich boarding school. Parents paid for their kids to go and stay at a rich boarding school, that was just how it worked.
She stood up and went over to the sink, and Tank's expression changed to a cringe again for a second. She was going to go squeeze the water out of her sopping hair. Something that he had caused. This night, had been all just one mistake after another. It had all gone wrong, much like a metaphor of the rest of his life. He sighed as she grabbed a towel, but then she grabbed a small bowl. Then stranger still she walked away from the sink, what was she doing? Then he saw, she was cleaning up his glass, broken on the floor in a puddle of water. Just another mess he had caused for her. If it was possible to hang ones head from this position, he would have.
He opened his mouth to awkwardly apologize again, but she spoke out before he did. She said that they didn't have to pay to stay here. Tom's eyes shot wide open. It was free to stay here? How could that be? Who paid for the food, the water, the power, the rates? The school was for people who needed it. He sure as heck did. Did that mean they would just let him stay here? Even after he had tried to steal their food. He hoped so, he really hoped he hadn't blown it yet again. She said she was here because she had trouble with her powers and Tom nodded with a somber expression on his face. "It's a righ' shame tha'." He said to her. Suddenly he realized that hadn't quite said what he had meant. "Wha' I mean is, it's a shame you 'ave to cover you eyes like tha'. You 'ave really pre'ty eyes ya know." He added to clear that up.
Tom looked back away, should he ask her. She was his only contact here right now so he figured he didn't really have a choice. "I uh... I jus' wanted to know. So they'll let me stay 'ere? Even though, ya know, I tried to steal your food and wha' not?" He asked gingerly, half dreading, half desperate for the answer. He sat in silence trying to wiggled his arms as he waited for a response. He was starting to get some solid movement back now. A few more minutes and he may have been able to limb out of there, that was if she would let him.
Suddenly there was a noise from outside the kitchen and they both had a moment of panic. She dashed to the door and checked. She came back looking worried, saying she thought someone had woken up and Tom banged his head lightly on the kitchen floor. This? Again? He groaned, he couldn't go through this whole process over again, it was too stressful, he just wanted it to be over. Then the green girl threw him a bone. She said if he wanted to leave now he could. She wasn't going to stop him, this could turn out ok after all! He nodded and prized himself to his feet, grabbing onto the bench to pull himself up onto his weakened limbs. He grabbed his bag and roughly tipped the stolen items onto the bench, before zipping the bag back up and throwing it over his shoulder.
He heard her take a breath behind him. She wanted his promise, he didn't know what it was, but he nodded. "Wha' do ya wan' me to promise you?" He asked in hushed tones. But before she could answer his legs gave way again and he tumbled loudly to the floor. He battled back onto his knees but it was too much effort, there was just no way... Time for plan (b). He turned back to her, a sense of urgency thick in his voice as he threw open the cupboard and tossed in his bag. "Quick, toss me in the cupboard." He instructed. It would work because the cupboards were all one storage area, just with multiple doors, the only thing that separated them was the small section of wood at the front between each two adjacent doors. He would fit but he needed help. He twisted and jammed his feet in there before struggling away trying to get his butt off the ground and into the cupboard. This was going to be an uncomfortable night's sleep.
Pretty eyes? She snorted. She didn't thing so. Pretty eyes didn't need to be covered up, nor were they such an unholy shade of hellfire. But, she refused to comment on the subject, and let it pass. He was speaking again already anyways.
>>"I uh... I jus' wanted to know. So they'll let me stay 'ere? Even though, ya know, I tried to steal your food and wha' not?"
She blinked, frowning for a moment. "They don't have to know about this, I figure. Would it not be better to start off here with a clean slate?" She peeked back out into the hall again, just to be sure no one was fast approaching, before turning back to see him getting to his feet. Guilt struck her then, while she watching him stand uncertainly and wobble a bit. She had never seen her power affect someone so... badly. So very badly. The urge to go help him steady himself was great, but she remained by the door to keep watch. "I want you to promise that you will look into this school, so you don't have to steal food anymore." She glanced away for barely a moment, before a loud crash behind her made her jump out of her skin and shut the kitchen door quickly. He was on the floor again, with the cupboard door open and his feet already settled within.
>>"Quick, toss me in the cupboard."
Uh... what? It took her more than a moment of standing by the door, gawking at him, before she realized that he was... actually serious. Beside herself with confusion and curiosity, she hurried over to him and grasped him under the arms, lifting as much as she could to help him fit inside. "...Are.. you sure you want to, get in there?" She blinked, a frown settled over her lips again. If he was looking for a hiding spot, she knew quite a few that would be better and much more roomy than a kitchen cupboard. Like a closet for example. Her closet to be more exact... though... She did think that having a random male exit her room the next day would lead to rather unpleasant questions from both her roommate and the general staff. And Andrea simply woulden't be able to live the implications, nor the embarrassment. "there are other places you could hide... that are not quite so cramped." But not my room, She added inwardly, more to herself than to him. She didn't need Saph jabbing her in the ribs for anything more than she already had.
Out of all of it, there was good news and there was bad news. But when Tom thought about it, the good news far outweighed the bad news, which meant that he couldn't help but smile. That cheeky grin crept slowly across his face until he was grinning as he tried to stuff himself into the cupboard. Out of all of it, she wasn't even going to tell anyone that he was trying to steal, he could walk in here and sign up without a care in the world, things were looking up. Tonight was going to be uncomfortable, but by now he was used to not sleeping in soft beds, he could easily handle this in return for staying at this mansion from now on.
She turned back to him and told him she wanted him to promise to give the school a shot. He chuckled, pausing in his person stuffing efforts. "Look into it? Let's pu' it this way. You'd 'ave to work migh'y 'ard to stop me from coming 'ere now tha' I know I can." He said with a grin. He resumed his efforts as he heard another noise outside. Suddenly he felt her arms touching his, helping him wiggle himself into the tight storage cupboard. She expressed some concern about the size of the space and Tom inwardly agreed. It was tight in there, but they didn't have a choice, any second someone was going to come in, and he didn't have time to be hobbling off elsewhere.
Finally with one last wiggle his body slid in and his head tucked into the space too, fully inside the cupboard, Tom smiled up at her. "Look, I uh... I don' know 'ow to thank you... Bu' yeah. Thanks." He said and closed the door, covering his face. There was a second of silence before the door opened again, "Oh, and could you please come and ge' me in the morning, otherwise I'll sleep righ' through." He added with a smile before closing the door once and for all.
He didn't know if it was the effects of her eyes or the knowledge that everything was going to be ok, but whatever it was, once his ipod was off something made him so calm that night that he went to sleep in seconds, despite being jammed into a kitchen cupboard. A deep and happy sleep that lasted well into the morning.