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.
Javier had to be the worst liar. It was almost as if his body were programmed to make lying impossible. The way he struggled to find a spot to look, the quiver in his voice, it was clear that if he attempted to hold onto to fib any longer that the poor guy would probably suffer a full blown anxiety attack. Booker wouldn’t have let it get that far, unless the man was cheating on him, but trusted the tailor more than that. He only hoped this wasn’t the worst case scenario that his mind attempted to conjure.
But as he stared at the other man, arms crossed over his chest, he could see that he was worn down. He had kept his secret as long as he could and he was going to unveil it now. Booker was silent with bated breath, expression somewhat serious, equally tense, until those first syllables fell from Javier’s mouth.
An X-Man. It was something that he had made for an X-Man.
Booker was unmoving, the silence deafening, then he straightened up, sucked in a breath and replied with an, ”Oh. Is that all? That’s sweet of you.” He then leaned down and kissed Javier on the cheek. Wrapping his arms around him, he hugged the tailor tightly to his chest. ”Why didn’t you just say so? Silly.”
Unsurprisingly, Booker had had his own experiences with the X-Men, specifically the redhead who used to go by Lodestone. She used to date his sister and really didn’t seem to have much care about hiding her identity. It was for reasons like that, and visiting the mansion and meeting some pretty great people, that he had a general idea of the X-Men. He wouldn’t go about blabbing their names to the public but the majority of them didn’t even wear masks and free went about the city.
Seriously, totally disrespecting the whole secret identity superhero trope, but he wasn’t going to complain!
With a grin he planted another kiss on Javier’s cheek and slipped away, pulling off his jacket and undoing his bowtie. ”Which X-Man is it for? Did they come to your shop? You gotta spill the beans now,” he beamed happily.
Booker looked down upon Javier with a small smirk to his lips. He knew that he had backed his boyfriend into a corner. He loved the man but he knew how to push his buttons in just the right way to get what he wanted. Right now, he wanted answers and so he delved in to get them by any means necessary. After all, walking in on your boyfriend wearing a super suit, leads to one of two scenarios: 1.) Javier was hiding some secret life as a hero, or 2.) He was having an affair with a superhero.
He didn’t think about that second option beforehand. Now he felt a slight rise of panic in his chest. What if Javier was having an affair? It hardly seemed like him and any other day he wouldn’t even consider it, but this situation definitely brought up questions.
>>"I... uh, dunno? The next one we go to?"
He arched his brow again. ”Try again.”
Though he did have a momentary fear that he would hear the worst from his boyfriend, deep down, he knew that it was not true. That wasn’t who Javier was. He trusted him and he knew better than to let his imagination run wild. Javier wouldn’t cheat on him.
>>"I'm sorry, it's just... it's not mine."
…huh. He stared at Javier, unmoving and silent for several seconds before he finally took a second to breathe, then cleared his throat.
”I really hope you have more to say than just that, Javi,” he said with slight warning in his voice.
Booker was absolutely shocked. This wasn’t what he was expecting when he came home today. He expected Javier, boxes, and a tired acceptance that they were just going to order in for the night since there was still so much left to unpack. What he didn’t expect was to step through his front door and find his boyfriend decked out in a legit X-Man uniform!
Staring at Javier, he couldn’t help but state his obvious surprise and appeal towards his boyfriend in such attire. It also became apparent that he had gotten the drop on him as Javier cleared at least a few inches off the ground with that jump before turning to face him.
>>"What? No, no. Why, it's just...uh...Booker, hi. I didn't... uh. Sorry."
After having already closed the door, Booker stepped further into the apartment and set his book bag down on near the coat rack. His eyes hadn’t left the uniform top that Javier had, trying to decipher it, to tell which o the X-Men that Javier had been this whole time. Or maybe he was actually a new member that hadn’t debuted yet? OH! He had the inside track!
”Oh, don’t apologize!” Booker remarked. Javier, however, seemed deadset to continue to deny what he was seeing.
>>]"I mean, no. It's just... um. Cosplaaay?..."
Booker arched a brow. He was standing in front of Javier now, his arms crossed over his solid chest, green eyes peering closely at him. His lips set into a firm line, he looked at his squarely in the eye, as if trying to read whatever thoughts were hiding behind those brown orbs. After several moments, a very slight grin curled at his lips.
”Oh...okay…” he said. Though he wasn’t stepping away from him, rather, he continued to stare before he continued with the only question that could follow that up. ”Which Con are you planning to cosplay in?”
Booker had an in-depth knowledge of all conventions and cosplay events. He kept a special calendar for it on his computer and his phone. He couldn’t make it to all of them, but for those he could, he had to make sure he was prepared in time. So while that excuse seemed very viable, he knew Javier. Javier wasn’t a cosplayer. So, why not test / tease him a bit in order to get the truth?
This had turned out to be quite the development. Booker had been seeing Javier for some time now and while they had talked about future plans, it wasn’t something that Booker brought up often because he feared triggering some form of anxiety attack in the other. After all, what could be more stressful than planning for the future? But it seemed that the future would come for them eventually.
Nessa was moving out. The idea was heartbreaking but at the end of the day he knew that his sister could stay in the apartment forever. Eventually they would have to find their own lives. But it stirred up another bit of sadness for Booker, the apartment would be so empty. He was used to having another physical presence there so the idea that he would be alone was...terrifying, to say the least.
But, salvation would come in the form of his handsome, loving boyfriend, Javier. He would move in with him. It was a big step for the both of them, after all, Booker hadn’t actually done that before. Now, however, he was glad that it was Javier that he got to share this experience with. Javi was...he was someone different and Booker was a little anxious, but he was certainly thrilled by the prospect of waking up next to this man every day.
What he wasn’t so thrilled about was the fact that his sister still had yet to send for her goddamn boxes! Ugh. Even with the tragedy of losing her constant presence, she managed to find some way to make it annoying for him. He would have to call and yell at her once work was over.
Speaking of, the day went fairly well. The library was quiet, the tours had active listeners, and the shelving wasn’t all that bad! It helped that had had some amazing new library workers in the building; made his life so much easier. Despite all that, he was eager to get home and to the new phase of his life that was forming around him.
As he walked down the hall of his floor, he couldn’t help the small smile that started to spread across his features. Stopping at his door, inserting the key, Booker sighed at the sounds of shuffling inside. He was really glad he didn’t have to return to an empty home, but even more ecstatic it was Javier he would find waiting within.
What he didn’t expect was the superhero outfit standing inside the hall of his apartment, looking into the mirror. His eyebrow arched, watching as Javier modeled for himself. Admittedly, he looked really good in that outfit but what really took Booker’s breath away was the simple X-symbol that wasn on the chest. A symbol that was quite familiar to him.
Mouth opened, he dropped his satchel and spoke in a low, shockd voice. ”Oh my god...X-Men? YOU’RE AN X-MAN?!” He couldn’t believe it. Nor could be believe just how turned on he was.
[/a] *COMPLETED* Booker is visited by the last person he'd expect, a love DJ nurse. (Booker/Juliette) Daring Sword Fights, Magic Spells, & a Prince *COMPLETED* Booker offers his services as a book Sherpa... (Booker/Ghost) [/ul]
JULY
[/a] The adventures (misadventures) of the Bookman siblings. (Booker/Nessa) Take a Leap *COMPLETED* Booker is surprised with a recently free-to-date Juliette and their romance begins. (Booker/Juliette) Inconceivable *COMPLETED* Booker has Juliette over for a second date where things heat up...and are interrupted. (Booker/Juliette/Nessa(Cameo)) You're My Biggest Fan *COMPLETED* Booker goes to Xavier's Sister School to deliver a package...and meets his idol! (Booker/Gemma) We...Are...Cosplay! *COMPLETED* Booker takes Juliette out for her first cosplay experience! (Booker/Juliette) [/ul]
AUGUST
[/a] *COMPLETED* Booker works and builds a friendship with his intern. (Booker/Celeste) [/ul]
SEPTEMBER
[/a] *COMPLETED* Booker arrives home and meets his sister's new girlfriend. (Nessa/Gina/Booker[cameo]) Home is Where the Heart Is *COMPLETED* Booker offers his friend hope...and a place to live. (Booker/Celeste) Hope in the Headlights *COMPLETED* Booker and Juliette go out for a romantic weekend and run into trouble... (Booker/Juliette) [/ul]
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
[/a] *COMPLETED* Booker makes a new and interesting friend. (Booker/Javier) [/ul]
DECEMBER
[/a] *DEAD* Booker and family have a Christmas get together. (Juliette/Nessa/Gina/Booker) [/ul]
-------------------- 2018 --------------------
JANUARY
[/a] *COMPLETED* Booker meets a new, interesting mutant in the library. (Booker/Zoe) Capes and Underpants *COMPLETED* Booker reconnects with Javier and asks him for his help in making a costume -- and awkwardness. (Booker/Javier) Stasis *COMPLETED-ish* Booker meets a lovely hooker hanging out of his window. (Booker/Raine) [KC]Why Did You Say 'Martha'?! *COMPLETED* Booker and Javier attend King Con and run into tomfoolery! (Booker/Javier) Personal Space Walk *COMPLETED* Booker and Javier arrive to some...feelings. (Booker/Javier) [/ul]
FEBRUARY
[/a] *COMPLETED* Booker and Javier finally go on an actual date. (Booker/Javier) [/ul]
MARCH
APRIL
[/a] Booker, Javier, and Nessa all decide to have dinner together as to avoid any awkward situations. (Booker/Nessa/Javier) MAY 2018 Book It Down the Runway Booker does a favor for Javier and ends up drawing the attention of a suspicious reporter looking for a scandal. (Booker/Javier) [/ul]
JUNE
JULY
[/a] Booker meets a new library patron! (Booker/Andrea) [/ul]
AUGUST
[/a] Both the Bookman siblings are scooped up by SUPER agents! (Booker/Nessa) [/ul]
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
[/a] Booker visit Javier in the hospital after seeing him on TV! (Booker/Javier) [/ul]
-------------------- 2019 --------------------
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
[/a] Booker discovers Javier's dirty little secret...making costumes for superheroes and not telling him!! (Booker/Javier) [/ul]
-------------------- 2020 --------------------
JANUARY
[/a] Booker meets a new friend while in line at the premiere for one of the biggest movie franchises ever! (Booker/Mal) [/ul]
FEBRUARY
[/a] Researching a local arcade, Booker makes a new friend! (Booker/Zaid) [/ul]
MARCH
APRIL
[/a] Booker is surprised to his see his younger sister -- in more ways than one! (Booker/Nessa) [/ul]
JUNE
[/a] Booker and Javi go out for a much needed date. (Booker/Javier) [/ul]
JULY
AUGUST
[/a] Booker and Nessa are pulled into a strange event where they play their favorite card game -- with their lives. (Booker / Nessa) [/ul]
Booker really was relieved that Javier was okay. However he didn’t share his boyfriend’s anxiety at being caught on film. The fact that they may have to explain things to his family was...understandable...but Booker was too outgoing and bold to really care what people thought. He stepped away from 75% of his family ages ago and has never looked back. His sister was all he needed.
But deep down he knew that not everyone was like him, Javier especially. But he would be there, supportive, understanding, and would see him through his dilemma to the best of his ability.
>>"How do I keep ending up in these situations?"
Javier looked exasperated and Booker smirked. He pulled the chair a little closer, holding onto his hand. He sighed as he reached over, running his hand tenderly over Javier’s scalp. ”You’re just too damn pretty,” he said with a sigh. ’You lot attract all the trouble.”
He was grinning, of course, his attempt at making the other smile. Truth be told he had to admit that it was strange how many times things like this happened to him. It was as if he were some poor character in a book under the diabolical machinations of a sadistic writer. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? Life wasn’t a book -- as much as he would have liked it to have been. He liked happy endings.
>>"I'm the farthest thing from a superhero that I can think of... not to mention I almost got knocked out by a lemur. I mean, New York has a lot going on... but I just feel like I get unlucky a lot recently..."
Javier continued his tirade until he finally just rested against the bed. Booker smirked sympathetically as he leaned over and kiss him on the cheek. He really wished that he had an answer for him but he just didn’t. Sometimes life happens and sometimes it happens in the shittiest of ways. He knew Javier didn’t like the spotlight, he didn’t want to be a hero, but he wanted to help. That would inevitably cause problems.
”Sorry Javi,” he said, taking his hand. ”I know you don’t like the whole superhero thing,” he said. ”But you’re a good person and you try to help anyways. Unfortunately, it’s one of those trials good people have to face.” He smirked as he squeezed his hand. ”Being good isn’t always easy, Javi. But I’m still proud of you every day.”
Booker smirked. He hated the idea of Javier’s secret being out but he had faith that there was enough blurriness in those cell phone videos that he wouldn’t be immediately recognized. Hell, even some of the X-Men who ran around without masks could hardly be picked out of a crowd. Unless they were the likes of Cafas, of course, and constantly flaunted their power about while sporting blazing pink hair.
Javier was a bit more average in that regard. Not a bad thing, mind you, just a quiet person that would take several moments of hard looking before you realized he had been on the news. Booker firmly believed that, at least for the time being, his identity was safe.
That woman on the other hand, hah, she was definitely going to have some cameras in her face.
>>"Well, she did most of the heavy lifting... no pun intended..."
Booker smirked as he settled into his seat. He was sure that the other woman was going to receive the brunt of the attention. The videos had mainly been focused on her and her antics as she ran about, punching animals and spinning mutants around by the length of their capes. Truly her face was going to be plastered everywhere.
But she wasn’t Booker’s concern. Javier was. He looked pretty banged up but not as bad as he would have feared. Therefore, he asked, how was he feeling?
>>"Some stitches and a dislocated shoulder, mostly... Dios, do you think my parents saw it?!... I didn't want to call them..."
Booker smirked as he reached over, stroking Javier’s unbandaged arm. ”I think you’re okay for now. Like I said, the didn’t show you for long and most videos seem to be focusing on the woman.” He shrugged his shoulders. ”But maybe give them a call anyways? Just to check in? When you’re feeling better, of course. It’ll give you a chance to gauge if they saw anything and, if they did, you can at least appear like you are communicating with them first.” He beamed innocently.
Booker wasn’t upset or mad at Javier because of what happened. It wasn’t like he could blame him for being put into danger. He knew his boyfriend and he knew that he was the type who would rather spend as much time as possible running away from danger. Not that he was a coward, but he was careful and he would rather let officials handle situations like this. The fact that he was involved at all meant that he didn’t have a choice in the matter. And Booker was relieved that he was okay.
Though he looked worse for the wear.
As he stepped into the room, Booker didn’t think anything of his adapted field. There didn’t seem to be any mutant healers in the hospital and though he knew that Javier was strong, he didn’t make any connection that his aura was affecting him. So he didn’t stop as he stepped forward, leaned down, and planted a kiss on his forehead and another on his lips.
Javier winced but he returned the gesture, much to Booker’s gratefulness. He couldn’t handle the idea of having nearly lost him and he didn’t bother to think on it.
>>"I was hoping the media didn't notice me...The zoo is probably a mess..."
He smirked. Grabbing a nearby chair, he pulled it up so that it was at Javier’s bedside, where he reached over and took the man’s hand. ”Yeah it seems that there were a couple people there filming from their cell phones. Not the best camera work, but I recognized you.” He then shrugged. ”It ran a couple times with you and whoever that woman was as anonymous, but someone here must have spilled the beans. Count yourself lucky, though, most of the reports seem more focused on the woman, Roxanne.”
He thought back to the footage. It wasn’t complete, just the end of the fight where it showed a shaky image of the shorter woman chasing the man calling himself Beastmaster around and then throwing him into an oversized tiger. The shots of Javier were more distant but nonetheless impressive as he took on the massive tiger for a couple rounds. It was impressive, yes, but also so very dangerous.
With a heavy sigh, he squeezed the tailor’s hand. ”I’m glad you’re okay. Were you hurt bad?”
So...this was unexpected. When Booker had gotten home from his day at the comic store, he was expecting a quiet day at home. A chance to unwind, to look over his latest purchases, add them into his collection, maybe call Javier to see if he was up for going out later. But it seemed that he would never get that chance. The second that Booker had climbed out of the showered and lounged on his bed in his boxers, he flipped on the TV as he searched his closet for his comfortable clothes.
That was when he saw it. The headline about a mutant attack in the Central Park Zoo. Booker often made it a point to read or watch these kinds of stories, just out of interest, really. He still remembered the Christmas Tree attack on New York. That was a hell of a story to follow. This one seemed to offer the same about of intrigue, only with giant animals and a nefarious man who was using them to kidnap people.
It was amazing to watch. Booker sat on the edge of his bed, in only his boxers, enraptured by the information that was coming in. The eyewitness accounts, the theories, the worries, it was all just so damn interesting! And then, he saw it. The names of those film of those two people who were heroically pulled from the fray and lauded by the victims as the heroes of the day.
The second that he saw Javier’s picture, Booker had grabbed his phone, his keys, and ran out of his apartment. He was mostly through the hallway outside before he realized a key fact -- he didn’t have any clothes on. After a quick dash back in, a flurry of finding coverings, Booker ran back out in his sweats and t-shirt, hopping as he pulled on his shoes, and made directly for the door.
***
It seemed like only seconds had passed before Booker was jogging through the hallways of the hospital, worry on his face. He tried searching for more info online about the incident but most of it was stuff he had already ready. By the time he got to the hospital, there was still no info about the two ‘heroes’ of the day. When he finally reached the right floor, and after some convincing that he was Javier’s boyfriend (he had to show them selfies he had taken with the man) Booker was finally allowed through.
His pace slowed, his throat dried, and by the time he made it to Javier’s room, he moved as softly as a whisper. Stopping at the corner, he peered his head in and spied the man in his bed and breathed a sigh of relief. The news reports all said that the heroes hadn’t received much injury, but now that he was seeing him with his own eyes, he felt infinitely better.
Stepping in, he gulped as he shared a slightly shy smile with the tailor. When he caught his attention, he chuckled. ”So, I may or may not have had plans to invite you to the zoo this weekend,” as he approached the bed, he leaned over and planted a kiss on Javier’s forehead, then his lips. ”I take it I should probably come up with a plan B?”
The trouble with being as strong and as healthy as Booker B. Bookman was that it was hard to judge the right cocktail to keep him conscious and complacent. Too much and he would be a mindless mess, unable to keep his eyes open or understand a single word; too little and his rage would hardly be contained. In this case, they tried to lean a bit more towards the former as opposed to the latter. And so a meek and disoriented mess was what they had initially achieved. Hence the waiting.
Booker knew something was going on. Even as his mind drifted in and out of consciousness he knew that something wrong was going on. His mind struggled to fight off the effects of the drugs but for all of his mental prowess, it wasn’t exactly an easy battle to win. That is until his sister started to call out.
>> ”I don’t know what’s going on; I’m blindfolded. Can you see?”
He grunted weakly, sighing as he tried to catch a steady beat of breath. At most he could mumble in response as he tried to fend off both his own panic and hers. Something was wrong. Something was definitely and most certainly wrong.
>>”Is anyone else here? What do you want from us?”
No response except for the echo of her own voice in an empty room. Booker tried to remember, tried to delve back into everything that had happened but he was quickly coming up short. The last he could recall was having ice cream, then chatting with his sister, and...someone else? Someone was watching...Ness? Both of them? And then...blackness. Blackness and a pinprick in the neck. Dammit, what happened?!
His heart pumped hard, coursing through his veins. Anxiety was feeding him the worse case scenarios and as his blood pressure raised, it seemed almost as if the drugs were growing less and less potent. A few more seconds and Booker could feel the movement of his tongue in his mouth and the ache in his dried throat. It was the worst feeling imaginable, but it was a start.
>>”Book, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
He grunted. His head lulled for a second as he tried to lift it. It felt like his head balanced on the tip of a paper cone but he managed some kind of balance. Weakly he did the only thing he could do -- respond.
”I...I don’t feel so good…” he said between hard blinks under his black bagged face. ”Drugged with...something...I...I don’t know.” Cautiously he attempted a calming breath before calling back to her. ”I...think there’s a bag...over my head. Can you…? Can you see? Nessa...are you...okay? Are you hurt?”
As the thought that his sister could be in danger flew through his head, he found himself shaking to keep himself under control. It was at times like this that he certainly wished he was a mutant so that he could burn, break, or phase through whatever was keeping him bound. His sister. He needed to keep her safe. That was his job!
”Nessa…” he started to say. But he stopped. A door creaked. A heavy, menacing door that sounded metallic and echoed like in so many horror movies. Images flashed through his head as he tried to keep from imagining the brands of psychotic serial killers who could possibly have them in their clutches. He tried to squirm more but while his mouth and neck were working, the rest of his body still felt as useless as wet noodles. ”Hey! W-Who are you?!” he shouted at the approaching footsteps. Hearing them move across the room towards Nessa location Booker began to panic more. ”Hey! L-Leave her alone, goddammit! **** off!!”
No one really thought of a librarian as being a hard worker. Most think that all you do is sit behind a desk and shush everyone but there was so much more that needed to happen to make a library successful. Of course Booker didn’t often go into the minute details of his position as others tended to find it boring. It was tragic to say that the world these days was beginning to look further and further away from print materials and focus was narrowing in on the digital. Booker had no problem with the digital frontier but he would always be a stalwart defender of his first love...books.
Of course, that didn’t mean he had to always be in love with it. Truth was that more often than not the man was pretty satisfied with his work but there were just those days, like today, where even the library couldn’t help but be agonizingly boring.
At the start of the day, Booker had his shift at the reference desk. However, asides from a few calls asking when the new ‘50 Shades of Bae’ was going to be available for check-out (try never, since he was tired of checking in books that were questionably sticky), things were far too quiet. Very few patrons came through today except for a handful of regulars. Most of them didn’t have any questions and merely strolled in and directly into whatever they were working on. Even his coworkers were quiet and did little to combat his boredom.
Sadly even that was better than what he was doing now -- office work. He didn’t mind this part of his job but that was because the rest of his day tended to be more interesting. Now it was anything but. The tedium was merely prolonged into another set of hours, in another location. As he typed in confirmation codes to the last on his list of book vendors, Booker grumbled. God he hoped the day got better than this.
Booker was a big guy. That much was for certain. For anyone who was planning on any sort of drugging in order to commit a kidnapping, they needed to make sure that the man was down for the count. Observations and trackings would note that the librarian, despite the stereotypes surrounding his profession, actually took very good care of himself. He worked out, he lifted weights, he boxed, and he had a high I.Q. All those were warning signs and signifers that he was the one who needed to be taken down and taken down fast lest he put up a fight and cause a scene.
That was probably why the drugs were so potent. He didn’t see it coming. They moved fast, slipping by before his sister noticed and inserted the needle into his neck. There was a momentary panic and the pin-prick which caused the librarian to stand but it was quickly defused as the potent concoction worked its way through his system, saturating every square inch and causing him to collapse into waiting arms.
Of course, Booker wasn’t aware of any of this. He didn’t feel his massive frame being carried away, he didn’t hear people gasping and muttering in the streets for those few precious seconds that the event was visible, and he certainly wasn’t away of which direction the vehicle took them away. Even as he was seated in his chair, Booker wasn’t aware of his hands being tied of the blindfold slipped over his closed, emerald eyes.
In his drug-induced stupor, he vaguely caught the sounds of people arguing, the subject being the validity of keeping the two of them in the same room or not, but the details were lost in the thick, soggy muck that filled his brain. His muscles refused to move, his brained worked like it was crawling through muck, but through it all, all he could wonder was where was Nessa? Why wasn’t she talking?
>>” ”Booker? Booker, are you here?””
The words cut through the darkness but even then they were hard to focus in on. It was like he was trapped in a dark, cotton lined-room, floating in a pool of water. Vaguely he knew where the sounds were coming from but it was too hard to pinpoint. He heard the panic though. That much was clear but the exact words were lost upon him. His head hung, he could tell that, but it was as if all the strength had been sapped out of his body and even if he wanted to move his head it was near impossible.
Weakly, after a few moments, his dried lips moved, barely forming words as the whisper of a breath rolled out from his throat. ”N...N...Ness...a…” He sounded like he was coming off of a three-week bender of roofied alcohol. His sister’s name was slurred but it was the best he could muster.
Booker’s keen eyes watched as the woman walked away, turning the corner. He was joking at first, yes, but now that she had rounded the corner and was gone, he couldn’t help but replay the scene in his head. There was just something...funny about it. He didn’t quite know what it was, but it was enough to get his attention the more thought power he put behind it. While anyone could have mistaken the scene, Booker had a perfect memory, one that allowed him to remember the most minute details.
That woman was taking their picture. He could see it as clear as day.
>>”You know, it occurs to me that she could have not been taking a picture. I just kinda believed your assumption...Which would, of course, make me that awkward girl who waves at people who aren’t looking at them.”
Booker shook himself out of his thoughts and turned his gaze back to Nessa. She was returning to her ice cream cone, something that took him a second to realize. He hoped his mouth to say that the woman was certainly taking their picture but if there was one thing that the man with the perfect memory learned was that you don’t correct people; they tended to agitate them. Not that Nessa wasn’t used to it, but she wasn’t having the best of times so he silenced himself.
”I wouldn’t worry too much,” he said as he glanced back to her, grinning. ”You have so many other qualities to be awkward about.”
The woman hadn’t returned. Booker kept his eyes forward, watching the corner that she rounded and back down on the other side of the sidewalk. There was no sign of her. She hadn’t returned. Great, now he was questioning himself. She certainly had her phone pointed at them but...maybe the picture was a little paranoid sounding. Hrm...
>>”People are weird,”
His brows furrowed as he turned back to his sister. She had returned to her ice cream. He didn’t notice the couple she was musing about and inquired. ”Who’s wei--”
This wasn’t the first time. Booker had been in a few ViewTube videos and had earned his own small group of followers. What was it that they called themselves? Oh that’s right, the Booker’s Hookers. Honestly he didn’t care for the name all that much because it made it sound like he owned a brothel, but what was one to do? But rather than stifle the creativity of his fans, he let them be. Tangent aside, he knew that if this were one of those people, they would have absolutely no problem speaking to him.
To be fair, the same went for Nessa’s fans. Whenever they were out, when they came across someone that recognized her, they were usually pretty upfront about wanting pictures or autographs (or be hit on by Nessa). Suffice it to say, their fans weren’t shy.
Booker tilted his head, watching the person, smirking a little to himself as he pointed them out to Nessa. His sister took the moment to peer back and observe but something definitely seemed off about the situation.
>>”Okay, that’s weird. I don’t know if she’s doing that because she’s a fan or she’s trying to document the low-tier of society I associate with.”
He turned back, giving her an exaggerated, unamused look. ”The offense!” A small slap with his napkin followed before he dropped it with a grin and glance back. The person offered a kind of meek wave before turning, lowering her head, and walking away as she held up her phone to ear to talk. Booker shook his head. ”Maybe my dashing good looks scared her away? Or maybe she could smell all the hate and bile you’ve been spilling on that shirt the last few days?”
Booker smirked as he looked over his sister. He would deny it but the reality was that he looked up to his sister. She was brave in a way that he wasn’t entirely sure he ever would be. Early on she made a decision about her life and stuck to her guns, knowing that it would be the hardest path that she would follow. but in the end it led her to a happiness that she deserved. That alone was worth being inspiring. That was why he hated to see her beat herself up so soundly. If there was one that Nessa could do, it was step down off the cross and just live her life; she earned it.
His tongue ran over the ice cream, letting the cool treat numb his taste buds. He let his words hang in the air as Nessa mulled them over. A few moments passed as he looked out across the street, to the sidewalk, to the passing cars, then he heard that soft intake of breath. His gaze drifted back as his sister finally responded.
>>”I guess there are better ways to celebrate being part of a community than seeking out the people who are mad I’m in it.”
He nodded and lifted his ice cream to her. ”Smartest thing I heard all day.” He grinned. ”You know, aside from what I had just said.” A wink as he turned back to his vanishing ice cream.
>>”Okay. When I go back, I’ll close out that video. I’ll go onto some community message boards instead; look for the love instead of the hate.”
Another nod. It sounded like a plan to him. Nessa would be okay. She would have found her footing sooner rather than later, but she needed this nudge and he was all too happy to provide it. And speaking of nudges, a soft one was felt against his shoulder, causing him to turn his attention back to the woman at his side. She gave him a sincere and sisterly smile.
>>”Thanks. With little trips like this, people are going to start thinking you care about me.”
He snorted, unable to hide his smile. He took a second before he nudged her back, catching her arm just as she was about to go in for another lick of her ice cream, causing it to smear across her nose. ”There. That should give me my rep back.” He chuckled. As he laughed, he looked across the street. There, somewhat hidden in the shadows of an alley, he could see someone. A woman, athletic and well-toned, was dressed darkly and holding up her phone. Immediately he noted her poor attempts to hide the fact that she was taking pictures. Booker assumed that she was just an overzealous fan of Nessa’s trying to snag a few photos. ”Just in time too,” he noted as he pointed out the person to Nessa. ”Looks like one of your rabid fans caught you on candid camera.”
