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 Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
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.
He was too late to stop the slip, and far too late to stop Maya walking in. Cafas simply stood with his tongue entwined with a battered beater, waiting to see how much trouble he had gotten himself in to. Maya was hardly the cheeriest morning person even before embarrassing and potentially painful slips.
"Y'a'wighe?"
The genuine concern was undercut by the line of cake batter he'd managed to leave on his face, and the fact he had not stopped licking chocolate from the beater. If Maya hadn't seemed so fine, he might have even felt guilty. By the time he'd carefully navigated the slippery minefield to Maya's side, she'd already collected herself. Didn't even need the help he'd come to offer.
Rowan on the other hand, didn't seem to feel any concern, nor any guilt. Running high on sugary cereal and childish glee, his laughter filled the kitchen and rang painfully in Cafas' ears. His own chuckles having subsided, he was realising it was far too early for that much noise. He signalled Ro as much, wordlessly, as Mom skated her way to the linens. He at least tried. It was commendable.
>>"How many cakes are we baking today?"
"Just a coup-"
"SIX! LIKE ME!"
Cafas smiled his best, toothiest, most nervous "please-don't-kill-me." smile as Rowan sing-song chanted "six cakes".
"Probably closer to three now?" He offered, eyes dancing around all the spilled and spattered batter. It was not a strategy he thought would work, but he had to try. He didn't really want to get scolded in front of Rowan.
Outside the door, D.J. Roomba trundled down the hall, "Live Louder" playing at an ironically considerate volume. Cafas did a tiny on the spot dance shuffle. Defuse defuse defuse.
"Dibs on his tenth, that one's all mine." One more kiss and he set Maya back down. They really did need to keep going.
Two hours sleep had perhaps been an overly ambitious goal. Not that he'd had time to reflect upon it since breakfast, he'd been busy shopping for way too much cake mix with Rowan. Cafas stared blankly into his coffee, yawning and blinking tired tears out of his eyes. He wasn't entirely sure what cup this one was, which was saying something, because he just couldn't shake the habit of counting.
"I wanna mix too!"
Rowan's incredibly loud voice shook Cafas back into reality. He blinked a few more times and took a quick gulp of too hot coffee. It burned the whole way down, and he regretted his impatience. "Sure mate, reckon you're old enough to help." X-dad smiled as enthusiastically as he could, "Jump on up so you can reach." Rowan didn't even hesitate to ignore the no butts on benches rule. With just the barest bit of assistance he'd scrambled up to sit next to the mixing bowl. "Alright, you gotta hold on tight, yeah?" Cafas took Ro's hand and put it on the mixer. The excited yep and vigorous nodding probably should have set off warnings, but Cafas let go of hand and mixer.
Ah...
Several choice words spattered across Cafas' internal monologue, much as chocolate cake batter spattered half way up the kitchen wall when Ro almost immediately lost control of the beater. Startled, the young birthday boy flailed backwards, kicking the mixing bowl the opposite direction, and dropping the running beaters. Cafas had Rowan in one arm, coffee in the other, and the bowl and beaters floating aloft, before he was fully aware of what had happened. Brain catching up, and startled fully awake, Cafas took in the scene, and then broke down laughing.
Metal bowl was a good move.
Rowan, uncertain, took his cues from dad. He was laughing too by the time he'd been set back on the bench. Cafas tousled his hair and grabbed the mixer. He switched it off quickly, but he suspected he'd just burned out the motor when he'd grabbed it by the wire coils. He'd been basically done anyway. Cafas ejected the beaters, and held one out to the chocolate splattered Rowan, still shaking with laughter. "You know what bud, I think we just don't tell Mom about this one, deal?"
"Yeah, no telling mommy!" Ro grabbed the beater offered, and had it half way to his mouth when his eyes went wide, looking straight past Cafas. "Um..."
Boy did they ever need to work on packing up. Something in him brain remembered someone mentioning using a dropsheet. Probably something on Seddit or viewtube. Either way, that sounded like a good way to start. It did come lacking organisation, and would undoubtedly make rebuilding anything ten times harder. Probably wasn't a thought that would occur to Rowan. It had never mattered to Cafas at that age, that was for sure.
He's not gonna rebuild the sets properly, why worry?
The X-man's eye darted back and forth through the deep murk of the wood. Internally he was trying to push down the usual paranoia he felt going into those trees. It was a tired routine, yet one he was forced to repeat every time. Preparing for the plunge into the true darkness, short sight lines, and deceptive shadows, he took a deep breath. Able to focus externally again he noticed the metal signatures from Maya's effect had stopped moving. A flash of adrenaline hit his system. The X-man spun on the balls of his feet, eyes sweeping his partner for any sign of what was wrong.
No blood, no assailant, no visible injuries...
As it turned out, he had over reacted. Maya had simply stopped to speak. Cafas straightened out of his coiled spring stance and stowed his flashlight. Quite against patrol protocol, Cafas stepped in and drew Maya into a hug. He knew the mom guilt when he heard it. "Hey, hey, come on, it's fine. I don't know really if that's allergies, maybe, maybe not. We should just monitor it now we've thought of it. We're raising a physiologically abnormal kid, and for years you did that on your own, and did a wonderful job. You can't be expected to think of everything." He planted a kiss into Maya's hair for good measure, then slid down her slightly to get an arm under her, pulling her up so he could comfortably nestle his face in the crook of her neck. Even solid and whole Maya was light. It always caught him off guard. "Let him have his cake, clearly he's not too allergic if he's any. You want me to try and organise that, or do you want something sensible?"
Bet they have some really intense cakes out there...
"Lets go with the second option." Never knew when something was going to become a super rare set. Lego liked to stop producing things, or so he had gathered from trying to find that damn mountain one. "If nothing else, I like lego. Kinda hoping we can build it together, drag him away from the computer and see if I can't get him into building things with his hands." Was he pushing his own values on Rowan with that? Cafas was a little self-conscious about being too cliche step dad. He didn't want to end up with Rowan resenting him later in life the way all the teenagers on TV did.
Yeah, but you have to foster practical joys right?
"Oh, yeah, I bought lego. Was it always so expensive? I really took it for granted as a kid." He suspected he probably owed his parents more thanks for the amount of lego he'd been given.
Huh... Haven't thought anything nice about them in a while.
>>"...I was thinking cupcakes."
"Cupcakes sounds good, easy portion control. Though I guess with cupcakes that probably isn't most people's first concern." Cafas shrugged his jacket into a more comfortable position. Chocolate on chocolate sounded about right. Not that Cafas could say anything about that, his own tastes were hardly refined when it came to cake. Honestly, it sounded good. It was just that... "Can Ro eat chocolate? I mean, I know he can I guess, but you know." The X-man's eye roved the dark, probing for signs of trouble as best he could while tracking his metal sense. Never hurt to check the fence while they were out.
Treeline approaching. Man that wood gives me the creeps. Not to mention bad memories.
Anthro wolf? Which one? Why was that such a common mutation? Why animals? It was one of the great mysteries of mutant kind. Cafas focused on that, rather than the possibility that it was maybe Adder that Maya was referring to. He didn't need that argument again. He had spoken to him, he had tried being stern. It just didn't help. Teenagers were impossible. Besides, hers was hardly better, just French.
No, I'm not getting into it.
>>”I have a few presents hiding in my X-locker. I’m glad you said something. I still need to wrap—”
A cat wandered into view, all attitude and aloofness. Cafas squinted suspiciously. Maybe it was a little paranoid, but he didn't trust any animal that was so... Calley like. It was certainly a little crazy to flip the cat off. He resisted the urge.
"Yeah that bouncy castle is a write off for sure. They probably know that already." The address was a real tip off. He doubted the company was under any illusions about the survival odds. If the deposit hadn't been doubled Cafas would be surprised. It's what he would have done, and he was actually affiliated with the mansion.
>>”Did you… uh. Should I put your name on some of the things I picked out?”
Cafas was not incredulous at the suggestion he might have forgotten Rowan's birthday. Nor was he hurt. At least not that he was going to let on. He had to assume Maya meant it in the best possible way. It was true he had been a little caught up in life for a while. It was probably Maya's way of saving him from disappointing Rowan. That was definitely not something Cafas could deal with gracefully. There would be tears, and maybe even Rowan would cry.
"No need, I got myself to a few stores. Actually mostly I went online, it's so much easier. I might have actually gone overboard..." To understate things. What had started as a couple of Lego sets had quickly spiralled into the complete Minecraft Lego set collection. Plagued by indecision in the face of his options, he'd just thought it safer to buy all of them. That way he couldn't be wrong. It had come in just shy of $1000. Cafas received a call from the credit card folks to confirm that one. In a way it was reassuring.
"Out of interest, how much would you say is too much?"
Posted by Cafas on Apr 22, 2018 14:11:56 GMT -6
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X-Men
Team Leader of the X-Men Member of AV!Haven
Hetero with notable exception
Cafaya
1,571
114
Mar 7, 2020 21:43:37 GMT -6
Cafas
"All I'm saying is that work just hasn't been as frequent since I went natural, and I think it might be that I'm not as showy of a token mutant." Cafas shone the beam of his flashlight out the fence, cutting through the darkness and lighting up... Nothing at all. He should have been glad, but a threat might have actually taken his mind off the matter. Maya had to be sick of hearing about it. He was certainly sick of talking about it. Still, it plagued his mind. What if that really was it? Had he just been a token mutant to wave around yelling "Look how inclusive we are!"? It hadn't seemed that likely at first, but as time chugged on he couldn't help but feel it might just be true.
Satisfied there was nothing to see lurking in the grass, he shut off the flashlight beam. For a brief moment he was completely blind as his eyes struggled to adjust. He hated that bit. Luckily it was brief, and he was back to watching the breath mist from his mouth. He didn't know what sort of temperature forty was for late April, but he did not approve. This sort of thing wouldn't fly in California. He added that to the pro-move column.
Is there even a point now?
He sighed, and turned to face Maya, dimly illuminated in the light of the half moon. It suited her. "I'm sorry, I know I go on about it." Cafas' mouth quirked apologetically. "Go on, who's leaving dirty clothes everywhere today?" Apologetic quirk became loving smirk, and Cafas tried to put away his worrying long enough to actually listen. He owed her a good, long rant on that front. "Come on, I know it's someone." He poked, teasing the brewing rant to the surface. There were times those rants could carry them through half a patrol. True, it took some goading to achieve, but he was only working with what was already there.
The great June rants should be fun. Can't blame her, teenagers really do stink.
"Or should we maybe talk about tomorrow? What's our game plan? You saw Ro today, I don't know that I can keep up with him a full day. We should at least schedule water breaks, maybe some orange slices." Cafas was only half kidding. He'd needed a nap before the patrol, and he was hardly the napping type. It seemed likely he'd be propped up on caffeine the whole day, and that didn't do wonders for his patience. He really didn't want to snap at Rowan on his birthday. He also didn't want to be a boring and tired lump. Rowan would want him to be energetic and fun, and Cafas really hated to disappoint the kid.
He was free and running! So fast! Fast as his legs could go! Then he jerked to a stop and it hurt.
Why had she stopped. Rowan pulled her forward again. She wasn't listening to Dad, they had to run inside!
"Come oooooooon." He whined in annoyance.
He tried again, gave another tug, and there was suddenly no more weight. Rowan stumbled forward and fell, holding hard shells.
Well that's gonna be a mess...
Despite his warning, Rowan tugged. Of course he tugged, Cafas had known that would happen really. He hadn't so much expected Kalos' fingers to come off. Not the rest of them anyway. Actually, maybe he should have seen that one coming too. He did his best not to panic, panicked a little, and then did his best to hide that. The tentacle hand was just another thing to add to the list of weird mutation stuff he'd seen. Actually, that was almost alien enough to throw a guy that had lived in a mutant school. Had he not been in parent mode it probably would have.
Rowan sat and looked at the fingers in his hands, then to Kalos, then to Dadfas.
The shock faded, and the tears started. He threw the finger bits away in fear and confusion.
"Wha- why- wha- Aaaaaaaaah"
Oh dear. That wasn't attention cry, that was real. Good, two overwhelmed children, as if one hadn't been enough. At least he knew he could safely pick Rowan up. He had some real doubts after watching Kalos' fingers come off that her body would take her weight. Boy did he ever have enough experience in that area. Actually, Maya would have been incredibly useful under the circumstances. Though that would probably just freak her out so much more, but then, it hopefulyl wouldn't damage her. The situation needed dealing with.
"Hey, hey, Kalos, it's okay sweetie, you're safe." He didn't really have a better option. "Just hold tight, I'm here, I have the sky, you take your time." He trotted the couple steps to Rowan and bent down. He could pick Rowan up. He wrapped an arm under the boy and lifted him up so he could bury his wet black nose into Cafas' shoulder. The boy clung around Cafas' neck as tightly as his little body could manage. Okay, that was one semi dealt with. With his free hand Cafas fished out his phone and dialed Maya. The speed dial had been such a good decision.
"Hey sweetie, you at the Mansion? I could use some back up."
That was a hell of a lot of desperation to take in. Cafas swayed in his seat, so taken aback he nearly forgot his own mood. The X-man blinked and cast his eyes around while he tried to translate and process.
God, she must get sicka people askin her to repeat herself.
He held his hands up in a placating gesture. Okay, so he'd been right in IDing her. She was deliberately keeping a low profile. She was in trouble. She didn't want the Mansion to have trouble. She didn't want to be found. Not even mentioned. So he had the content down. The subtexts, the implications, the fear, that was all having a much slower trip through his brain. That was what he drank for though, wasn't it? Shut up his brain. Slow it down to a point he could manage it.
"I ain't tellin' anyone I was here, let alone you." He knew what it was like not wanting to be found, and explaining he'd found Jack would involve explaining where he'd been. He had absolutely no intention of doing that. This was going to be his secret. The drinks were hitting him hard enough that he didn't even see the danger in that thought. He'd had those types of thoughts before. Nothing good had ever come of them.
"Now, what sorta trouble y' in? I dunno if y' know, but trouble's kinda our speciality up there. Maybe I c'n help. Not tha' I'm much use t' anyone 't the moment..." What had started as a calming and caring tone trailed off bitter and sulky. His eyes turned back to the bar. He didn't have a drink. That was a problem. He glared around for the bartender. "If nothin' else I can 'elp ya take y' mind off it. Always easier with somebody else." He waved expectantly at the bartender, who had done nothing at all to earn his impatience and grouchy mood. It never stopped anyone else though. He was used to it. The sort of people the place attracted.
The hammer was bothering him. He was sure some kid had put it there as a joke. They liked to do that sort of thing. Not that they were really meant to be in there, but since when had that stopped any of them going wherever they pleased? It had certainly never stopped Cafas, so he wasn't about to get hypocritically angry.
It also bothered him that he couldn't feel it. The whole ceiling and rafters was kind of just an indistinct mass at best, and he was having to concentrate enough to give himself a headache just to get that much detail to stick. Eyeballing it, he tried to nudge the hammer. Nothing. Whatever, it could stay there, it wasn't like it was hurting anyone. Actually, that only became more likely as he prodded it with an unstable mutation.
>>"I'm... sure it is! Good call on the boyshorts. The bra's built in, but nothing else."
"Oh man, detachable would make sense." Cafas muttered to himself, tracking his eyes very carefully down a wall until they were rested safely on his bench. There, safe sketch pad, nothing terribly risque there. Well, except the design drawings, and some research photos. Despite initial jest, he had tried his best not to think of it as a BDSM project. The evidence did not suggest that at all. Underneath his lining note, he added detachable bra? and set the pencil down. Those things did need washing, after all.
That would have been an awkward oversight...
>>"Huh. You really do have a lovely butt, Rebecca. Mine's like 2 pancakes stuffed in my trousers."
Cafas stifled a giggle at the image that had evoked. He also shoved down several hilarious but unkind comments. He was in no position to be teasing his girlfriend. Not if he happened to like having one. Also on the list of things he liked having (and should limit himself to one of) cookies appeared on his bench, so wholesome and innocent next to his decidedly otherwise research folder.
>>"She must work out."
"Hadn't thought about it that much." He lied. He'd spent so much time measuring, it had been impossible not to. He'd stopped short of asking for her routine. He could probably guess though.
>>"I missed you. Coffee?"
"I missed you too, how's your day been? Coffee would be great!" Cafas beamed back, face still glowing like a brake light. "And I think my opinion on your butt has been made abundantly clear. Though if it bothers you, I could totally dig out one of my workouts, wouldn't take much modification." He had about eight floating around, and most of them would serve Maya's purposes nicely. Why did he have them? None of your business. A guy was allowed to feel pretty if he wanted to! He was also allowed to make up for his stumbles with overly animated happiness that he totally didn't feel. Before he could think down that line too far he bounced into a hug, pulling Maya close and tight. The ability to squeeze was still so novel. Even one handed, as he surreptitiously picked up and bit down on a toasty warm cookie.
"I know it's not how that works, but I'm pretty sure I just put on a pound...
"Again, not that you need them." Pretty much how he ended that conversation every time. Perhaps not so laden with self consciousness.
Cafas ventured a look to see how Rebecca was getting on. It was a gamble. Then again, he was going to have to mark all the alterations. Oh boy it was only gonna get better wasn't it? There would be no avoiding looking at her butt, and if anything he felt less nonchalant about the process seeing her in the fruits of his labour. Yeah that research had tainted it.
Even before it had been a problem he'd been a frequent drinker. He'd been unwinding with a drink or two since he'd been seventeen, partying since before that. It was just how things were, at least in Australia. The habit had just carried over. When he looked at it that way, it didn't seem so surprising he'd fallen into dependency.
So how long had it been? Long enough he'd been counting it in three month stints. As long as he'd been dating Maya. That was a long time. Certainly the longest since he'd started drinking.
Then again, in that time he hadn't really had anything quite so terrifying happen to him. Sure, there had been bad times, the photographer, the bridges, his PTSD. They shook him, there was no denying it. He'd been getting a better and better grip on them though. He'd been getting the help he needed.
Then Halloween. Nothing had shaken his perception of his identity like that. The hallucinations, the screams, the horrifying reality even after it had faded. They'd been bad enough. He hadn't slept a decent night since. Still, he probably could have gotten through that.
Except for his mutation. His poor, broken mutation. He couldn't reliably lift a penny, and it was all he could do to not randomly change the properties of every piece of metal around him. He'd strained it, and he'd pushed it until it snapped. So much of his identity had been tied into that one part of himself. Now it felt like it was nearly gone, and that terrified him.
How could he continue to function as an X-man?
Cafas slugged back his whiskey and set the tumbler down. His sour expression burned into the bar as a heavy sigh escaped him. He ran both hands through his still blonde hair. Another broken part of his identity. He didn't even know what to do with it. Certainly it needed washing.
At least this feels the same...
The X-man cast his eyes around the bar for the first time since he'd walked in. It was one of those divey places he'd ended nights face down on the bar at once all the nicer places had barred him. He didn't remember much about it, but that was something of a theme with those.
A cursory scan, an assessment of the threats, the exits, the potential weapons. He felt so on edge. Then he found the giant, chitinous, multicoloured, lavender eyed mutant, and added confusion to his emotional state. As steadily as could be expected, he pushed off his stool and meandered over to sit a respectful one stool away from the Shrimp mutant. He stared at this new section bar for a second, an acidic glare on his face.
I mean, what's the point? Why would they want to talk to you?
He just about got up and walked away. Then curiosity won out, and he turned to face his bar neighbour.
"Jack? That you? It's Cafas, we did a shift or two together. I heard you were dead or something..." He paused a moment, watching the former Mansion security officer, "I'm glad I heard wrong." There were enough mutants just disappearing without adding any more people he knew to the list.
The imaginary glasses were a nice touch. It really wasn't her first rodeo. Hopefully that meant she didn't feel quite so nervous about the accidental ambush. Cafas narrowed his eyes and shifted, agitated by the continued questioning. It was a feeling he could certainly relate to. More than once he'd felt trapped, especially with psychologists. Of course, Hardman had no choice but to stay until she signed off. He was trapped in more way than one. Certainly that would explain his eventual break.
"Why does anyone Doctor? I've dealt with more than you I'd wager. Seems to me it's just a matter of having no reason to stop. Not as if I had work the next day. I was suspended, so I cut a little loose." He shrugged. Hardman was trying to play it off as casually as he could. He was just a stony cop that hadn't had a proper party in years. It was the easiest lie he could tell, because it was basically true. Cafas was actually feeling pretty confident in his delivery.
"It's only human Doctor. Can't tell me a college educated woman like you doesn't understand that sometimes, when you're unwinding, it gets out of hand."
Rowan wiggled more because he was winning. He wiggled and wiggled but couldn't see.
He wiggled some more, but stopped suddenly to pose.
She called him Hero Rowan. The boy grinned ear to ear. He was a hero! She'd said.
It wasn't good enough for Cafdad though. He had to be a hero with manners.
"You're welcome miss Kalos." Cafas smiled, and gave Rowan a tiny nudge to encourage him to stop just looking smug, and perhaps be polite. He stared down the cheeky glance, his smile unmoved. Rowan capitulated quickly.
"You're welcome."
It was bright, but Cafas felt likely begrudging. Whatever, it happened. So long as it became habitual, Cafas didn't much mind it being begrudging for the time being.
It was a relief to know that Kalos' fingers were, at least in some capacity, meant to do that. She really didn't seem overly bothered by it all. Perhaps shy, but she'd seemed that from the get go. "Yeah, we can run inside. Rowan, try to remember you're holding someone's hand and not tug okay?" It definitely needed saying. Cafas had no doubt about that.
Running inside? That sounded like fun!
Plus, now he could see her fingers! Sort of. They felt short and hard and sharp.
He could kind of see that they were missing bits. Weird.
Whatever, they were running! Rowan nodded enthusiastically at Dad's instruction.
"Okay! Let's go! Ready steady go!"
Rowan took off as fast as he could go.
Cafas had seen that coming, but his main concern was keeping up with Kalos. He had to make sure the girl felt safe. Rowan was fine, she was not.
He was pretty sure that wasn't how he'd planned it to go. Actually, he was very sure. Still, she wasn't trying to BS him any more. He wasn't gonna be played so easily.
That thought lasted perhaps half a second before it was driven from his mind by far more important things. At least, far more insistent. He'd been pretty keen to see those, and she went and turned her back on him? What kind of cruel woman was this? Did she think she could possibly be his match? She was certainly trying her best.
The come hither was utterly unnecessary, though it didn't go unappreciated. He was willing to go along with her, for sure. Now that everything seemed rather nice a guaranteed, playing hard to get seemed self sabotaging. Still, he kept his amble over to a casual strut. Rushing over was just going to seem desperate, and that wasn't the look he was going for. Desperate guys didn't get laid. That's why the sad ****s were desperate.
”I think I deserve a prize for winning, don’t you?”
He matched her smirk with one of his own, and a cocked eyebrow. "Y'know, I reckon y' do. Shame, don't sheem t' have anythin'" He patted his jacket pockets down with mock concern, then discarded it onto the floor. With more prep time he might have tried to set his phone up, but offices just weren't cluttered enough to make a recording phone look casual. "Any suggestions?" He cast an unsubtle glance.
He went from relief to renewed awkwardness in the space of three pause laden sentences. He supposed if he'd really thought about it, he'd have come to that conclusion for himself. He'd been so focused on research, design, and construction. He hadn't really paused to consider what the built in breast support would mean for the fitting. He'd been actually devoted quite a bit of brain power to not thinking about Rebecca actually wearing his work.
If you could divert some power that way now, that'd be sweet.
"Right uh, yeah no worries." Cafas quickly pivoted, without realising that he was still holding the harness, "Uh, okay well if you have trouble with it I guess just let me know." Because he hadn't described it at all had he? "Trouble like the fact I'm still holding it..." He sighed. He was letting the awkwardness get the better of him again. With his eyes diverted, the X-man deposited the harness on the table next to Becca. He would just convince himself that piece of cloth was a rag, nothing more personal. He turned once more and made himself busy with his design pad. Right up the top in large block letters he wrote Lining! and underlined it in heavy strokes. That leather wouldn't be comfortable for extended periods.
"So the connections are carabiners. You can probably see the loose leather loops? Should be pretty self explanatory where they go. The legs can be detached too, if you feel like it." Not that he saw much reason to, but you never knew.
Cafas kept his eyes to non-reflective surfaces. That was harder than it sounded in a workshop so largely maintained by a metal manipulator. He was just starting to think about lining solutions, and potential padding, when he heard the door fly open, aided by the frigid gust it allowed in to the already not warm enough space. The violent and unexpected sound made Cafas spin instinctively to face the door. The surprise on his face easily could have been misconstrued as guilt.
"Oh! Hey sweetheart. What a lovely - butt..."
Right. Rebecca had been changing.
Cafas diverted his eyes to absolutely anywhere at all.
"Surprise! Lovely surprise! That was totally just a shocked statement. Sorry Becca, not that you... Tell ya what, I'm gonna just shut up. Did someone say cookies?"
Beet red and barely daring to breathe, Cafas very carefully examined the ceiling. How the heck did a hammer get up in the beams?
