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.
She'd walked past the little shop a hundred times at least, but never before had she noticed what it was until today. Maya stood in front large plate glass windows of a dance studio. There was a flyer in the window advertising a need for mutant dancers. The woman on the flyer looked to be dancing as well as manipulating water around herself. It was... beautiful.
The white-haired elemental just had to go in. Just to see. It wouldn't hurt to just look, right?
The floor was wood. There were mirrors on all the walls except for the front wall that was mostly made of windows. The only interruption to the mirror was a bar that ran about waist hight for Maya. Everyone was in some kind of leotard and stretching. A girl with greenish-yellow hair, a girl that appeared to be partially made of dirt, a man with solid black eyes. No white, no pupil.
"Dahling, you are standing in my photosynthesizer's light."
Maya jumped out of the way and apologized with a shallow bow. As interesting as the dance students were, it was impossible not to be drawn to the main attraction: The Liquid Lady. She had a group of droplets hanging at her neck and ears that caught the light like jewels. The trickles that flowed behind her were like a cloak of diamonds. Her water manipulation was so much flashier than Maya's mother's...
In the time that Maya had been sizing up the teacher, the teacher had been looking her over too. "What flavor of mutant are you, child?"
"Air elemental, Ma'am." Technically she was an adult, but there were some people who just made you feel like a kid.
"Ooooh aiiir." She made it sound way more mystical than Maya was used to. "I've been waiting for one to show at my door. So showy! So much flair and drama to an element! Come in! Please, come in. Such a pity your hair is short, dear. Come. Care to try a lesson?"
She wasn't sure about all that, but... "Uh. Alright." What could it hurt? Learning to use her mutation as part of a dance would only make her better at using her mutation. In theory....
Micah weaved his way through the streets of the city, nose buried deep in a French textbook. Ever since, the onset of his mutation, his mind had not only soaked up but demanded information. Reading was beginning to take over his life. His dorm room at the Mansion was already buried layers deep in books he had checked out of the Mansion’s extensive library. Poetry, science, history, economics, politics… the list of topics he could speak about and actually seem intelligent was growing longer and longer each night he spent staying up way too late memorizing the knowledge of the world.
A woman’s beautiful laughter broke his concentration on memorizing French conjugation in the present pluperfect tense. “My dear child! Look at you! How silly you are, wasting away your day in a textbook when the summer sun is shining so brightly down upon you? Have you even noticed how gently the sun is sending down her loving rays today?”
Micah looked up at the beautiful voice. A woman sat in the shade of a studio’s steps, gently caressing her hair and face with a gentle breeze created by her lace fan. Upon seeing his face more directly, the woman gasped. “Child! You look so dreadfully pale. Tell me, darling, have you spent so many hours studying and taking care of your mind that you have forgotten to take care of your body?”
Micah laughed. “I’ve been studying a lot lately, I guess. Is it that obvious?”
The woman frowned. “There is nothing wrong with spending time with books. But my dear, the pleasures of the mind must not overcome the pleasures of dancing and movement. The body needs time to enjoy itself as well.” The woman stepped down from the steps. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am called The Liquid Lady. I am a dance instructor at this studio. While my clientele are typically only of the mutant persuasion, in this desperate case of yours I am willing to make an exception, if only for the benefit of your health.”
“Well, don’t worry about making an exception at my expense ma’am. I am a mutant.”
The woman laughed delightedly. “Oh my daarling,” she sang, “you simply must tell me what gift you bring to my studio today.”
“I remember stuff. And my brain is full of marbles.”
The woman was silent for a few moments before speaking. “You are jesting with me, no?”
Micah sighed, but wasn’t surprised by her reaction. Most reacted that way to his mutation. “No, I’m serious.”
She peered at Micah. “Show me.”
“Show you what?”
“A marble from your brain. Show me.”
“Sure!” Micah closed his French book and slapped it against his forehead. A crimson marble with a streak of bubble gum pink popped out, and almost as if she knew it was coming, The Liquid Lady deftly caught the marble in her right hand.
She gazed at the glowing marble intently, moving it up and down, watching how the glow caught the sunlight at different angles. Satisfied, she turned the marble back over to Micah.
The Lady caressed Micah’s arm and patted his legs. “You have nice arms, and your legs are thin but strong. You were a runner once, no? But I assume you have given up sport in favor of your newfound passion for ‘learning’. Come, you will try a lesson with me. I am sure that I can turn even you into a fine dancer. And child, be forewarned, The Liquid Lady does not give out lessons lightly, so think more than twice before you turn down this chance.”
Micah considered the offer. What do I have to lose? “Well, I was planning on spending the day memorizing French grammar, but you’ve tempted me. I’d be honored to have a lesson.”
The Liquid Lady smiled and led him into the studio. “An excellent choice, young man.”
Micah stared at his reflection in the small dressing room mirror with horror. “There’s , um, no frickin’ way I’m wearing this.”
The Liquid Lady laughed on the other side of the door. “Oh, but my dear boy! That is what male dancers of any real caliber wear when they practice dance. You wouldn’t rather be in jeans, would you?”
“Well, no, I guess not, but…” Micah grimaced as he turned and examined the rest of his body, “…there’s so many awkward… bulges.”
“You know, I’ll never understand American Culture. On your televisions and your movie screens you show scene after scene of horrific violence. Heads getting chopped off, fingers sent flying... but Goddess forbid there be any breasts or below the waist nudity. You Americans are so sensitive about your bodies. You’ll shoot and kill and maim each other, as long as you don’t have to see each other naked.” The Liquid Lady laughed. “And don’t get me started on how Americans are horrified of s-e-x.”
Micah stuck his head out of the door. “I was raised in an apartment of lesbian liberals. I got my first sex talk at five, and could explain artificial insemination to all of my classmates by age eight. Believe me; I don’t have a problem with sex or nudity.” Micah glanced down at his dancing outfit. “Except for, um, my nudity. That is an issue.”
“It’s a leotard Micah. You’re hardly naked.” She smiled. “Look at you. You are beginning to look like a dancer already.”
Micah had to admit, the leotard did make him look like he belonged in a dance studio, even if it was a little more revealing than the outfits he normally wore. The black leotard stretched up from his ankles up to his chest where it ended in a deep v-cut. It was a little awkward for him, but at least it gave him plenty of space to move.
The Liquid Lady beckoned towards the studio. “Come, you are ready for your first lesson.”
Since she was already in the door, Maya wasn't entirely sure why the Liquid Lady was pulling her further in to the studio. She stopped to encourage a male student out of the dressing room and Maya waved half-heartedly to him as she was coaxed into at the very least standing at the back of the class so that she didn't get kicked or anything.
The Liquid Lady rolled smoothly to the front of her students, droplets in tow. "For those of you that it is your first time, welcome. For those of you that are returning, an alternate welcome. Let us show our new friends what it is like to use your talents, to submit your whole being —body, mind and mutation— to the dance." She clapped twice and those who were stretching stood.
"Micah, darling, please begin stretching with Ms... ah." She realized that the elemental had somehow escaped giving her name. "Ms. Air Elemental."
Again Maya waved to the new kid. Just a sheepish movement of the hand, close to her body. She had no intuition of stretching. She was just here to watch. That's why she wasn't wearing a leotard. LL would figure that out eventually.
"A simple beginning to warm up." The teacher brushed her hair and earring droplets back over her shoulder before she set a record on a turntable gramophone. "Adiago! " The music was soothing. Not too brusque nor too slow. The dancers began in what appeared to be traditional ballet positions. Though it was more fluid than Maya had expected.
And even more surprising, the mutations. The girl with thick green hair began to grow out long fingers and sprouts in her hair. She had to have been the photosynthesizer. The tendrils grew at a pace that was impossible to trace with the eye. As if when Maya blinked there was more plant there, but while watching she could never actually see the growth. Soon she had twisting tendrils curling down her limbs in a way that not only complemented her movements, it emphasized the lines of her body.
"Visible mutations are the easiest to direct. Like the body, they have shape and can be formed."
The girl whose body appeared to not wholly be made of flesh, but partially of dirt's movements were no less graceful. Like the sifting of sand, watching her move and watching every tiny bit of dirt jump, spin and dip when she did was amazing.
"But less obvious mutants often possess a subtle strength unfound in the obvious."
The only other male currently in the store moved like a piece of shadow, strong and absolute. Other than his eyes, Maya would never have guessed he was a mutant. Though… people probably through that about her and her short, white hair.
Great, not only am I in a leotard, but now I’m in a leotard and there are other people around. Fantastic.
Micah soon realized he didn’t have any reason to feel awkward. Besides a pretty white haired woman who Micah could only assume was another one of the Liquid Lady’s victims from the street based on the way she drifted towards the back of the studio, everyone else was too focused on dancing to pay much attention to the newcomer. The white haired girl waved to him slightly, as if trying to cause as little distraction as possible. Micah smiled at waved back. I wonder if she feels as out of her element as I do. Micah chuckled. Hah, out of her element, and she’s an air-elemental. I just punned inside my head. Maybe this genius power is useful after all.
Micah glanced at her again. Wait, why doesn’t she have to wear a leotard?
Heeding the Liquid Lady’s command, Micah took a seat on the floor and started warming up by stretching out his calves. He had never taken up dance, but years of running track in high school meant he had plenty of experience in making sure his muscles were ready for a workout.
As he stretched he admired the other dancers, all of whom all seemed incredibly talented. Even the girl made out of dirt could’ve been on Broadway considering the way she moved with an effortless ease. Wow, if the Liquid Lady can teach a girl who could be killed by a vacuum cleaner to dance, maybe she can teach me too.
As if she knew he had thought her name, The Liquid Lady glided over to Micah. “Now, dear child, it is time for you to improvise! Take your gift and turn your love of your power into dance and beautiful movement!”
Micah blinked. “You want me to, um, what?”
“Just dance Micah! Do not feel ashamed or awkward. Everything about the body is beautiful. The only thing I do here is teach you how to let that natural beauty shine.”
Shine! That’s it! My marbles are shiny! Micah placed his hand over his ear and punched himself in the head just hard enough to send a daffodil colored marble flying into his palm. This had the unfortunate side effect of sending him crumbling to the floor. Crap, guess that was the part of my brain that controlled being able to stand. Better get a different one.
Another try produced a marble that glowed white and cloudy, almost like bright fog. It reminded him of the hair of the woman in the back of the studio.
Okay, so now that I’ve got a marble out, it’s time to dance. Good thing I remember everything now that I’m a mutant. Whowould’ve thought seeing the Nutcracker Ballet when I was eight would ever be useful? Lifting his marble high above his head, Micah started dancing.
The Lady of the dance studio nodded in approval. “I see you have learned many of the basic movements of the ballet. Impressive. However, your movements are jerky and poorly pieced together, as if you are someone who merely knows the movements instead of someone who has actually used them.” The Liquid Lady clapped, sending tiny droplets of water dancing through the air. “What an incredibly rare thing! I can only venture that it has something to do with the way your delightfully glowing brain works.”
She turned Micah so that he faced a wall of mirrors. “I want you to try to focus on your marble, Micah. See how it casts such a beautiful, delicate light. Use it. It is your prop, your inspiration, and a key element in your dance."
Micah was amazed at what he saw when he looked in the mirror. Wow, I look like a real dancer. And how could I have never realized my marbles were so beautiful?
Content with the work Micah was doing, the Liquid Lady turned her attention to the white haired girl in the back. “Now, my lovely Ms. Air Elemental, it is your turn.”
From the back of the room all that dancing was simply breath-taking. Considering that Maya was an air elemental and had a body with an extremely high oxygen-to-flesh-ratio that was saying something. After all her leotarded friend's stretching was done. It was his turn. Maya was ready to be dazzled. Instead... he hit himself on the head and fell on the floor.
"Ohmygoodness-" Maya had taken a full sep toward the boy, Micah, when he popped something into his ear. He seemed quite fine after that, but Maya was alarmed all the same. No one else seemed to blink at the fact that a boy had just collapsed here. Maybe because he was getting up now, but still! Should she ask if he was alright?
Then he did it again! Only this time he didn't fall over. He held in his hand something small and important. A precious stone? Maybe? Maya didn't have the best view, but he seemed to feature the strange thing in his dance. If he was showcasing his mutation... it had to be an odd one.
> “Now, my lovely Ms. Air Elemental, it is your turn.”
Maya bowed a short bow. "I am not trained. At all. Nor am I dressed."
"Neither was Cinderella, dear, but we're at the ball now. It's time to dance. Why don't you just show us a little of your talent with your mutation."
The dancers made room for her on the floor. She shook her head, entirely intimidated by the talent she had witnesses. "I don't dance..."
"Child, if you have legs, you can dance. Here." Liquid Lady pulled the needle off the gramophone and switched out the records. The new music was slow and soothing with an interesting beat that kept it from getting boring.
"Step forward. Onto the floor."
Well. If it was just stepping forward that wasn't going to be anything too embarrassing. Maya complied.
"Close your eyes."
Again. Not too compromising of her introversion.
"Start by listening. Breathing. Feel the music, child. Feel what it has to say." She was so very passionate about what she was talking about that Maya thought to give it a try. "Class, I want you to do the same. Spread out and close your eyes. We don't want any accidents here."
If she had to put a movement with the music it was... trotting. It reminded her of summer sun light and or a soft breeze. She could do that. A tiny tickling breeze moved the hem of her skirt and curled around herself to pluck at her shirt and hair. And running. There was playful chasing running in the music. Maya kicked off her shoes, a movement that had a natural grace that came of a practiced movement.
"Yes! Yes! Do that again!"
The air elemental opened her eyes and looked around before pointing at her own nose. Me? Others were opening their eyes too now, stopping mid motion.
"Do it again. The motion with your legs, child. Again."
It took her a second to figure out what she meant. Ah. loosing the shoes. Maya did it again, but this time with no shoes to be removed.
"Now this time put a little bit of gust into it. I know you've got some wind power in there."
Again it took her a second to put the ideas together in her head before she preformed it. The gusts of air traveled down her legs and swirled up dust motes in the light that came in from the windows.
"Magnifico! I would say you were built for tap, but that's a bit too heavy for an air sprite. Nono. Let us see. Modern dance, ballet, maybe something tantric?" She circled Maya as she spoke and the elemental knew she'd been sucked in.
"Class! Assume the first position. Dear. Let's get you into a leotard. Your training starts now."
Five minutes later it was clear to the entire class that Maya Swift Csendes had no womanly curves whatsoever. If an ironing board were wearing a black leotard, it could easily be mistaken for Maya now as she attempted to imitate the positioning of the dancers around her. Who would have thought ballet was so complicated? The arm had to be just so. The bend of the wrist... some things she naturally adjusted to. Others?
Micah walked himself through the movements as he committed them to memory. I bend my knees like this, point my toes there, bend my arm like so…
“No Micah, that will not do at all. Your gestures are too... methodical.” The Liquid Lady shook her head, sending a gentle shower of droplets into the air. “Memorizing is fine for books, but for dance, knowing the moves is only the beginning. You have to feel them as well. True, your power gives you a spectacular advantage in that you learn with an unprecedented ease, but like all of the dancers here, your natural gift is only an aid to the dance. You must give into your body’s inner love of movement if you are ever to progress in the art.”
The Liquid Lady looked around the studio and smiled when she saw her other new student. Of course, the solution was so simple, she should have thought of it instantly. She could already see the path Micah was heading down. If she didn’t put a stop to it now, he would continue to merely memorize the movements by rote, squandering whatever talent he might have. So she had to take away his ability to memorize and force him to improvise. And what better way to do that than pair him with the new raw talent?
The Liquid Lady clasped Micah’s hand and led him to the white-haired girl. “Micah, you’ve no doubt already seen this little sprite’s talent, so you should feel lucky to know that your new instruction is to dance with her.”
Micah was mortified. Dance with her? The girl with long, slender limbs that were sculpted to dance? And with my power? This girl can bend air, there’s no way she’s going to want to dance with the weird kid with a glowing brain.
The Liquid Lady sighed. “You’re doing it again, Micah.”
“Doing what?”
“Thinking. “ The Liquid Lady placed a hand over his eyes. Her skin was cool and refreshing, like catching the misty spray from a sprinkler on a hot summer day. “You need to put that strong inner voice of yours to rest. When your mind speaks too loudly, it drowns out the music. Listen to the melody. It knows what your body needs to do.”
Micah took a deep breath, and for the first time since he mutated, he quieted his thoughts and just let his senses take over.
The music was a bright little trot. It was mostly violin, with a piccolo whose trills danced lightly above the melody. It was a song about dancing children on a cool spring day. The music wanted him to laugh. It wanted him to have fun, to be mischievous and carefree.
Micah smiled, and lifted up his marble. If the music wants me to play there’s only one thing to do. He let his legs become happy with bright, springing movements. His body followed, cautiously at first, but gaining motion as the joy of the song took over. Looking at the beautiful white haired girl, he let his insecurities melt away and he grinned.
“So I guess I’m the child, and you’re the spring breeze that draws me out to play after the long, cold winter?” Micah laughed, and mischievously tossed her the precious marble that glowed white with bright fog. “May I have this dance, spring breeze?”
> “...you should feel lucky to know that your new instruction is to dance with her.”
Maya saw that one coming from a mile away. She had natural grace and flow. It was born of her element. Micah was rigid, but structured. They both held what the other lacked. Back when she had thought she was going to be a teacher at the Mansion, she'd learned about this kind of stuff. It was a great teaching style to learn peer to peer.
Maya dipped her head to the boy. "宜しくお願いします." She couldn't help but fold her lips in together to hide a little smile when the Liquid Lady put her hand over his eyes. Technically... she could take his normal vision from him. She could be the wind that spirited him away... She'd start by catching the precious marble, though.
> “May I have this dance, spring breeze?”
There was just something about him that made Maya want to tease him. And so, without further ado, she smiled. Nodded. And seemingly popped the marble into her mouth. As soon as the glowing orb should have hit her tongue Maya inhaled sharply.
Where moments before, a woman in a leotard had stood, now wafted a mostly see-through version of herself. As if someone had taken her opacity down digitally. The glow of the marble dimmed but also refracted along the impurities in the air that made her not entirely invisible. The luminescence spanned up from her hand where the marble actually was and Maya spun around while moving over him, or what might appear to be through him, as an actual cool breeze. Tufts of slightly cloudy air rolled around his more solid form.
"Don't loose this. It seems important." Now behind him, her body reformed into her the more human shape, never quite touching the ground. She could stay en pointe forever weightless as she was. The marble? She raised it over her head in a sinuous movement until she reached something reminiscent of fourth position.
Grace she had that in aces. Memorization of technique? Not so much.
Maya, or Ghost as some knew her because of this form, leaned forward and dropped the marble from between her fingers onto Micah's head. As soon as it left contact with her skin it's original glow returned along with its solidity.
That girl just ate a piece of my brain. And she smiled as she did it. I like her.
Micah twirled and bent his body as the woman wrapped her air around him. He pointed an arm downward towards the ground, catching the breeze like water bubbling lazily through a brook. Then he lifted his arms up like the arms of a small child clinging onto a kite as it sailed through the sky. He smiled and lifted his head up, letting the air tousle his hair as gently as a grandmother saying hello.
After several long moments that seemed to stretch into hours, their dancing stopped, and he felt his marble returned gently to the top of his head.
>>"Don't loose this. It seems important."
“It’s only sort of important. It’s just part of my brain.” Micah grinned warmly as he returned the marble to his mind. “That was, that was simply amazing.”
The Liquid Lady smiled. “I agree. You two are an excellent match. Pure knowledge and pure talent, you both learn have much to learn from the other. But unfortunately, there are only so many hours in a day. And our hour together is done. You are both, however, welcome to return to this studio. In fact,” she smiled, “I insist upon it.”
As her students filed back towards the dressing rooms, Micah caught the air girl’s attention. “Hey, um, I don’t know if we’ve been formally introduced. My name is Micah. And, um, do you want to go grab some coffee? You have an amazing power. I’d love to learn more about it.” Micah glanced down. “After we, um, change first, of course.”
In this form her vision wasn't normal. She got a sort of 360 view of things based on the presence of air. Quality was lost in favor of quantity and so while she could sense the twist and turn and dips of Micah, she could not exactly be sure it was the same boy. Not until she dropped that marble on his head and he replied favorably.
She wasn't much for compliments. The ghostly woman dipped her head at Micah and the Liquid Lady both. It took talent to recognize talent. Wasn't that a saying somewhere?
> “Hey, um, I don’t know if we’ve been formally introduced. My name is Micah. And, um, do you want to go grab some coffee?"
"Maya or Ghost." She didn't bother extending her hand since his would go right through hers anyway. "I would be honored if you came to my bookstore. I can get you a free coffee if you like." Jude was at home with Svetlana. Mutual babysitting. Sebastian was more than likely still at work. Today was technically her day off, but as the owner they were used to her popping in even on her day away from the store.
Nodding again she took her leave to seep past the curtain od a dressing room. It always took longer to reform into a solid state. Always took more concentration too, to manifest in the correct order so that she did not fuse with anything. Outside of her leotard and back into her slowing short skirt, she paid for the lump of spandex and thanked the Liquid Lady. LL handed her a leaflet of class times which earned her another thank you.
Waiting outside, she was sure the marble boy wouldn't be long. Maya couldn't be entirely sure since she was ghosted at the time, but... had he put the marble back into his head? What a bizarre happening.
As he changed in the guys’ dressing room, Micah smiled to himself. Free coffee and some time with a mutant who has an awesome power! It’s almost too bad she’s already married, and to a rich guy by the looks of it. That ring had to be antique, it looked really old-fashioned. Micah shrugged. Oh well, she’s probably out of my league anyway.
On his way out of the dressing room, Micah was stopped the Liquid Lady. “So, my little genius, when will you be returning to my humble studio?”
Micah shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ll be able to come back.”
The Liquid Lady gasped and placed a delicate hand on her chest. “But why? With your mental prowess, you could be the envy of every dancer on Broadway! Granted, you need time to master the technique, but with your memory you could memorize dozens of dance routines overnight! How can you squander such a gift?”
“It’s not that I’m not appreciative. It’s just that… well…”
“What is it, child?”
“It’s just that, um, I don’t have, um… I really can’t afford this right now. I’m just a student.”
The Liquid Lady laughed. “Money? That is your worry? Darling, you really would never make it as an artist if you’re going to let a little capitalism get in your way.” She brushed a hair out her face, sending a little shower into the air. “I am not an unreasonable woman. If you are willing to stay after your lesson for an hour or two to do a bit of cleaning for me, I’d be glad to call our debt to each other even. You see,” she pointed to the wall, “the mirrors here are always speckled with stains from water droplets.” She smiled. “I can’t possibly imagine why.” She laughed, sending another gentle mist into the air.
“Wow, that would be, wonderful! Thanks so much.” Micah offered the dancer an outstretched hand, which she gladly accepted.
“It is my pleasure Micah. Besides, I simply must have you back for other reasons as well.” She leaned in and whispered into his ear. “I believe Jeremiah, the one with the jet black eyes, has become quite taken with you after your little display of raw talent. He’d be ever so angry with me I didn’t make certain you returned.”
Micah laughed. He’d never been particularly picky when it came to gender, but he was embarassed to know he'd been admired from afar. Oh well, at least he's not married. “Well then, I’ll definitely make a point to be back soon.”
The air outside was much cooler compared to the sweaty studio. He waved to Ghost when he saw her waiting on the steps. “Hi Maya! Sorry, I hope you weren’t waiting long. So do you, um, still want to grab some coffee?”
"I prefer tea, but we have coffee there too." Before they took off Maya pointed to her left. "My apartment is that way. You'll laugh when we get to the store." People envied her when she told them that she lived in Manhattan. Some of the richest people lived here, though it was mostly a working class that actually lived in the densely commercial area like this.
Maya lead the way off to the right. It took them maybe 3 minutes to finish the block they were on and get through the next. At the far corner, on the corner were the Full Circle's familiar green awnings. "You can go through the revolving door if you like, that's exactly on the corner, but this is faster." She pulled open a side door that sported a handicapped symbol. There was a button on either side that would hold it open for a space of seconds to make it easier for those in wheelchairs, but since they both had legs Maya held the door for Micah.
"Welcome to the Full Circle." The cashiers were always diligent about greeting customers when they saw that shock of salt white hair.
The inside was cozy. Wood floors with plump rugs, sconce lighting and wooden bookshelves on casters that could be moved if they needed more space for the feature displays. The cashier's nook was circular and in the approximate middle of the front half of the store. Off to the side was a tiny side note of a coffee and snack bar, but it was her tiny note of a coffee and snack bar. The previous owners hadn't allowed any foods or beverages at all.
She stopped briefly at the circular counter to see how her cashiers were. They seemed appropriately chipper and noted that there had been no trouble today. An absolute relief.
Weaving around the magazine section was all that was left before they were in the tiny food area. Small two-seater tables scattered out from the glass pastry case. It wasn't Aurum or Sanders-Adamson behind the glass and so it took him a little moment to realize the boss had come in on her off day. "Whatever this gentleman wants and I would like a Raspberry Zinger, please." Technically an herbal infusion rather than a tea, but she was trying to cut down on the caffeine.
"Ah. Actually, can you make mine in my cup? It's..." She pointed with her finger and she had to direct him, down, no, over, up one, there. She liked to use the mug gifted to her at her wedding.
“Just a coffee with some vanilla and sugar, if that’s okay.” Micah turned and admired the bookstore. It wasn’t a huge place, it was probably even tiny by some standards, but it was efficiently filled with books and tastefully decorated. It wasn’t a place where customers bustled in and bustled out, grabbing their purchases and hurrying on with their day. No, this was the type of bookstore where customers came in casually and perused the selection for an hour or two, perhaps even grabbing a pastry on the way out or saying hello to an old friend. “There’s a lot of wood in here, you don’t see that very often anymore. Everything is all plastic and linoleum and concrete these days. You must be very proud of this place.”
As soon as his coffee was ready, Micah sat down at one of the cute little tables, and opening his lips he let the warm goodness flow into his body. Micah was a good person, but he wasn’t without his vices. Right up there with playing his gameboy and watching crappy anime was caffeine. He couldn’t get enough of the stuff, and this was possibly the best free coffee he had ever had, if not the best coffee period.
“Thanks so much Maya. Honestly, I’m really new to this whole mutant thing. One minute I’m just a normal college kid who just wants a degree, the next minute a doctor is handing me an x-ray and telling me I’ve got a brain made of glass toys. I’ve moved in this place called Xavier’s Sister School for Gifted Youngsters, and that’s helped a lot with the transition, but I’m still learning new stuff all the time. Like today, at the studio, when I just remembered all those ballet moves? The last time I saw the ballet was when I was eight. I’ve never danced in my life, but minor details like that don’t seem to apply to me anymore.”
Micah took another deep sip of the delicious coffee. He wanted to ask her about her power, about her past, about her life as a mutant in a thriving metropolis, but all he did was sip. I wouldn’t want to pry.
>"One minute I’m just a normal college kid who just wants a degree, the next minute a doctor is handing me an x-ray and telling me I’ve got a brain made of glass toys."
"I can't imagine what that would be like. You're very lucky, Mister Micah, that you were born into this time. When I learned I was gifted, mutants weren't allowed." As if they could deny their existence through legislature. Maya sipped her herbal infusion and kept the warm liquid between herself and the newcomer. She may not maintain many physical scars now because of her husband's power, but physical scars weren't the only ones left behind.
Maya had been through two different mutant internment camps. Been on body duty in one. But there were more plesant topics they could visit today.
"I've never really danced in my life either. My mom did when she was young and I always wished she would teach me. She was gifted with water control. Maybe the grace is inherent to them." The Liquid Lady was so not her mother, but the similarities were there.
"And when I was first getting on my feet here in New York, the Institute put me up. A full year and then some. I still visit on the weekends and maybe you'll see my son if you stick around enough. He'll be starting the 9th grade this year." And considered himself quite the little genius too. She smiled at the bottom of her cup.
Micah frowned when Maya mentioned her mother. Sometimes having two moms was a major pain. It meant twice the nagging, twice the doting, and twice the frowns of disappointment when he did something wrong. But talking to people who weren’t even lucky to have even one mom, let alone two, made him realize how lucky he was to have had two wonderful people to raise him.
“You have a son though? That’s awesome. I definitely want kids one day.” Micah stopped. Suddenly, his dream of children seemed a little more complicated now that he wasn’t human. Can I really bring children into the world to face such discrimination? I mean, things for mutants are getting better, but how can any decent father bring their children into a world where they’re destined to be hated? And what if they inherit my power? God, if genetics thought it would have a good laugh by turning my brain into marbles, what would it do to my children? Turn their brains into a deck of cards? A bowl of fish?
Micah shook his head. No need to think about that yet. “So the Institute helped you out too? Did you go there long? And wait a minute…” Micah did some quick calculations, “unless you also have the mutant ability of aging incredibly well, aren’t you a little young to have given birth to someone going into the ninth grade?”