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.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 16, 2010 6:21:11 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
Wandering down the hallway she turned a corner. There was no harm in making herself familiar with her surroundings and the more times she wandered the corridoors and rooms, the less she got lost. Less being a relative term, of course. Suddenly her thoughtlessness was interrupted, as she was rammed from behind. And she had been so sure that there was no bullying in the mansion. She turned around, quite ready to give as good as she got.
There was no one there.
She looked down at the sound of an apology and was faced with a boy sporting a tail, and wings. She blinked, once, twice, clearing her head from the cobwebby state it had been in. She held out her hand, offering to help him up.
"That's alright, no harm done. Is your tail ok?"
Ah, a long way away from skirting around anything that suggested 'mutation'. She had grown since the development of her gift, and not only in height and bust. Acceptance was a part of every day now, accepting herself, accepting the others who lived in the mansion. She was pretty sure if someone walked past and declared passionate, undying love to a rock she could accept it after a little while. Then again, around here a rock may well be a student.
"I'm Verdigris. Nice wings."
She gave a friendly smile to the boy, who was quite a bit shorter than her. Maybe something to do with his mutation, maybe he just hadn't hit puberty fully yet. She was pretty sure she had heard something about the x-gene becoming 'live' or something when the carrier hit puberty, but she wasn't sure.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 16, 2010 5:02:47 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
Verdigris felt infinitely better as the young man happily stomped back over her toes. It was one thing to be crushing the feet of your employer-for-the-last-five-minutes, it was something entirely different if he was crushing right on back. She smiled at him in between twitches of pain and apologetic grimaces. This was crazy fun, there was something just liberating about knowing that even with next to no knowledge of dancing they weren’t the oddest looking people there.
~ “I do not think we are doing this right,”
She grinned awkwardly at the young man, his cut and formed way of speaking reminded her a little of movies set in ‘olden days’, where everyone pronounced the syllables correctly and were constantly polite and following all the social guidelines. She idly wondered what social guidelines he was trying to fit into, before recalling that others had been thinking too loud and shushing the wanderings of her mind.
“Me either. Do you want to take a break?”
She glanced towards the tables, there were unoccupied ones scattered around, some close to the buffet table, others under the trees virtually solitary. She felt a little bad when she noticed the girl with a tail and a teenage boy twirling and swirling like professionals, but decided to say nothing. They were in their own little world. A world which the boy decided to exit abruptly. Verdigris tossed her head a little and looked at the young man before her.
“You’ll have to tell me what I should wear and everything, also where this… Mondragon place is, I’d offer you a number to contact me on with details and everything but, I don’t have one.”
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 16, 2010 4:13:10 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
The lock snapped shut with a click of finality, but Verdigris was far too occupied with the squirming ball of yippy dog to worry about all the things that could mean. Having a place to stay and regular meals had made her a little lazy. For shame. She put the dog down on the floor gently and endured both frantic knee-jumping and dragging before she was commanded to sit. She was good at taking orders.
She sat.
The man struggled the overturned coffee table in front of her back so that the feet were down and the top was up. The way it should be. He picked up the bottle- whiskey, she observed- and placed his glass and the key on top of the table. It was a little crooked and she leant forward, about to stand and move it so it was straight.
~”Sit!”
She dropped back fully onto the couch- the nice, squishy, comfy couch- and waited politely. The little dog, holding still enough for Verdigris to determine that it was some kind of lap-dog, paused, aimed, leapt her way onto her rightful place atop the visitors lap. Verdigris patted the dog and was rewarded by renewed licking with the added bonus of being thumped repeatedly with the tail as well.
Glancing up from her position of throne to the mutt she smiled as the man returned bearing muffins. Many, many muffins. Also a glass. Eyeing the glass she picked up a muffin from the plate and unwrapped it delicately. Mmm, chocolate chip. Small and fluffy whined and tried out that fail proof face all dogs seem to possess. Verdy ignored her. Chocolate was bad for dogs, and no matter the face, Verdy would not send the little one packing off to the vet, just because she pulled a longing face. A very longing face. A face that just screamed ‘I haven’t been fed in weeks.’
Thank goodness for distractions. A glass, brimming with whiskey was pressed into her hand and the temptation to give in to the little one was thwarted.
~ “Drink up! More where that came from.”
Verdigris glanced at the man and shrugged. There was no harm in having a little to drink surely, she had drank before, although not regularly enough to have any kind of stamina against it. Turning her attention to the little dog she looked into the deep sad eyes. She would not have the man decide suddenly she was far too young and boot her out.
With a wince she gulped a swallow of the fiery courage. Cough. Splutter. Compose. She picked up another muffin, tinged with pink and nibbled it to stall. Raspberry, delicious. Rupert started with ‘R’, so it would seem she had come to the right place. She gave a grin, small and fluffy had a name as well.
“Pleased to meet you.”
She didn’t bother to say anything about the way he pronounced her name, it was a tricky one, to be sure. Although nothing on the names some of her primary school classmates sported. She looked at the man on the end of the couch and tried to guess how old he might be. Thirty? Fourty? Probably somewhere in between, although the contrast in ages between his smiling face and his frowning face, the one he was wearing right now, was several years at least.
~“So what’da you think about mutants? God, I hate them… Sorry, Lord.”
Her fingers tightened around her glass and she gave a respectful nod heavenward before tipping another swallow of the burning drink into her mouth. An enthusiastic Flispy seized the moment, and the half eaten muffin, with a yip of approval and retired under the couch to gnaw triumphantly. Verdigris grimaced an apology. Now, how to handle a possibly awkward and very debated question.
“Truthfully, I feel a bit sorry for them. I mean one day you’re minding your own business, the next a pair of wings pop out of your back, or you turn into a fish or something. That’s tough stuff, then you have to explain to your parents and friends and everyone. You might have to drop out of school, or even run away.”
Pause, swig, cough, continue.
“I think that a lot of the time all of them are judged just because of the action of a few. I know some of them do bad things, hell-” pause, wince apologetically at the ceiling “-one killed my brother’s best friend, but everyone deserves a clean slate to start off with. Just because some people have a funky gene, doesn’t really make any difference to who they are.”
Rant over. She blinked at the man, for a while she had been justifying herself to her parents, to James, to the world. She was not a bad person, there was no reason for her to be treated as such. She swallowed again, the glass empty but for a trickle at the bottom. She glared at it, stupid drink, making her rant.
“Sorry, I swear I’m a redhead, give me a drink and I’ll get all fired up over nothing.”
Nothing, is that what she was? The trickle followed its friends down her throat and she set the glass down on the table and picked up another muffin. The flecks in it were much too small to be choc chips and it had a citrus-y kind of flavour. It was nice.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 15, 2010 8:57:40 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
Small and fluffy leapt out from behind the man's legs as Verdy crouched down to look at her. The flying ball of fur leapt upon her and smothered her in frantic licking. Perhaps she tasted like bacon. Whatever the reason, she spluttered and coughed like any smart human, keeping dog slobber out of her mouth.
Her whole face crumpled up in a grimance, her eyes shut and she didn't see the hand grasping for her elbow. While she was still occuppied with the frantic pink tongue she felt a tugging on her elbow. Standing with a wobble, blinking the crazy blinks of one assaulted by a dog-tongue, she followed- well, was dragged by- the man into the apartment. What a nice man, offering her muffins, and cake.
~"And candy."
Twitch. Candy. The food offered by kidnappers everywhere. A pause, fluffy one clasped firmly in her arms, out of licking reach, but still soft and cuddly. Ah well, she was a big girl now. Besides, she always had an active X-gene to fall back on, right.
"Muffins, sound great."
She smiled a little at the man and stared around the apartment. A half full (/empty) bottle of questionable substance was laying on the floor. At least that explained the faint, well not so faint, smell of alcohol that lingered on the man. Hey, it was a new year. Who was she to judge.
"I'm Verdigris, by the way."
Yes. Because knowing the name of the teenager you just invited into your house was always a plus. Especially when she stole your spare key...
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 15, 2010 5:47:28 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
The girl fell, Verdy was not sure if she hit her, or she slipped on the mud, or if the appearance of duco-kid had just startled her into tripping.
~“One of them has already assaulted me!”
Oops. She pulled her hand out of her pocket, no need for any more projectiles just now. She trotted up and arrived as the purple-haired captain stood up fully. She glanced at the redhead on the ground. Perhaps it was time to get out the innocent act. She blinked at the duco-boy and looked at the redhead.
"Sorry, are you alright?"
If she hadn't hit her, no harm done, if she had, then it was passable to explain she still had glitches. Which she did. Sometimes if she woke from a nightmare she would find bits and pieces embedded in the walls. True, what she had done was pretty obviously planned. Still, it was worth a shot. She glanced at the camera.
"Is your camera ok?"
A double barralled question if ever there was one.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 14, 2010 8:09:27 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
Verdy shrugged a little as she walked, odd, odd indeed. She jumped and stopped suddenly as a woman began to yell at a young girl. The girl looked maybe ten or eleven, and as far as Verdy could tell, she had just been outted as a mutant. Pink dragonfly wings hung degected from the girls back as the woman howled something about a disgrace to the family name and stormed off, with a final 'find your own way home if you come back at all.' Verdigris winced and felt something stirring within her. Before she really knew what was happening her voice took control. She bent down a little and tried to catch the girls attention with the start of a song
~Turn around, turn around And fix your eye in my direction So there is a connection
I can't speak, I can't make a sound To somehow capture your attention I'm staring at perfection
Take a look at me so you can see How beautiful you are~
The girl turned huge tear-filled eyes towards her and she felt a surge of pity for the girl, so young to be blooming, add a mutation- visible as it was- to the mix and she could see a hard life ahead for the girl.
~You call me a stranger, you say I'm a danger But all these thoughts are leaving you tonight I'm broken, abandoned, you are an angel Making all my dreams come true tonight~
She smiled at the girl and the girl twisted a finger through her hair nervously as the young woman sung to her, to make her tears go away, at least for now. Maybe her wings were a gift, maybe she was chosen to be a little angel. Not one of the 'monsters' her mother muttered about, she was no demon, she would be an angel.
~I'm confident, but I can't pretend I wasn't terrified to meet you I knew you could see right through me
I saw my life flash right before my very eyes And I knew just what you'd turn into I was hoping that you could see
Take a look at me so you can see ~
Verdy saw much of herself in the fear in the girls eyes, the girl may not have a younger brother attacked by mutants, but it was obvious that there was going to be issues with her parents. Mother at least. She fumbled in her pockets for something with the mansion's name and number on it.
~You call me a stranger, you say I'm a danger But all these thoughts are leaving you tonight I'm broken, abandoned, you are an angel Making all my dreams come true tonight
You are an angel Making all my dreams come true tonight
Take a look at me so you can see How beautiful you are Take a look at me so you can see How beautiful you are
Take a look at me so you can see How beautiful you are Take a look at me so you can see How beautiful you are~
The music followed her actions, repeating over and over as she hunted for anything to give the girl, she couldn't bear to send her off without at least having another option if her parents threw her out for good. It was a dangerous world out there, especially for the young, or the mutants with visible mutations. This little one had both. The girl turned away a little, muttering something about not being beautiful.
~Your beauty seems so far away I'd have to write a thousand songs To make you comprehend how beautiful you are~
With a grin of triumph she pulled a notepad from the mansion, complete with address and phone number along the base. She scribbled a hurried note, -a safe place to stay and people who can teach you how to use and control your gift, tell them Verdigris sent you.- She pressed it into the girls hand gently.
~I know that I can't make you stay But I would give my final breath To make you understand how beautiful you are Understand how beautiful you are
You call me a stranger, you say I'm a danger But all these thoughts are leaving you tonight I'm broken, abandoned, you are an angel Making all my dreams come true tonight
You call me a stranger, you say I'm a danger You call me a stranger~
With a sniff the girl clutched the paper to her chest and fled. Verdy watched her go then glanced at the group that had gathered as she sung. She hadn't realised she had had an audience, it had all been about the girl, and the memory of herself she saw there. A familiar face made her smile sheepishly and people again began to mingle and move, flowing past each other like complicated fish. She moved over to the bubble boy with an awkward grin.
"Hello, Juka isn't it? Verdigris."
She rubbed the back of her head. She had not intended, when she left that morning for a walk, that she would be singing today, and certainly not like that. With a nervous twitch of her lips she shoved her hands into her pockets.
"That was rather strange, totally out of character I assure you."
Not that she had a bad voice, it was just mainly reserved for the shower, or when a CD was turned up so loud it wouldn't matter if she screamed the lyrics she wouldn't be heard. Sometimes she did, just for fun.
Still trying to find a semi-decent one of her hand/s doing their thing, but eh
Also, for no real reason 'cept general slowness on my own part, is there anyway to put the names of the characters over their clip/s, like in the corner or something? I can recognise most of them but *sheepish* not all.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 14, 2010 1:39:45 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
~"When we get there, make sure you have a good grasp on your jaw. The first time I saw it I'm pretty sure Shin had a clear view of my tonsils."
The warning rang true and as they approached the door Verdy clenched her teeth together. Who knew, in a mansion full of mutants, maybe someone lurked in the library something akin to a dentist, who took pride in making people open their mouths really wide. That, or it was hugely impressive. Either way it was best to be prepared, and as Andrea opened the door she diguised the frantic pressing of her hand against her bottom of her chin as an itch.
She followed her friend into the huge area and felt her eyes widen. With another casual scratch she let her hand drop and stared around the huge area. It was truely impressive, suited indeed to a mansion.
~"I've been looking for a book Called Metropolis, but the sheer size of this place limits how far I can look in one day."
She glanced at the green-skinned girl and quirked an eyebrow.
"Don't they have some kind of database that you can search? I mean, a list of all the books they have and where they're kept?"
That was what she dimly remembered from her school library, although if it was kind of like a giant house, maybe it wasn't deemed necissary.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 13, 2010 23:23:10 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
Verdy flexed and unflexed her fist. The burns from Christmas Eve were almost healed, but the skin was tight and itchy. The C shaped scar on her arm itched as well, but she didn't use that part of her arm enough to be bothered so much by it. She wasn't really paying much attention to where she was going, she was just walking really, stretching her legs, trying to get into her mind the feelings of being employed and having a safe, warm bed to sleep in at night, not to mention a green roommate. Very different to the life she had been leading for three years.
With a sigh she shoved her hands into her pockets and fingered the marbles that resided there. She had to go back to the street of the giant clay fight at some stage, and try to find the marbles she had lost. They really were an invaluable weapon, suited especially to her- talents- as it were. She cricked her neck a little and yawned, with no doubt something happening for New Years Eve she could have been getting some sleep, but something told her there was no point in even trying.
A flick of her green-tipped hair and the thought was forgotten. It was her time to walk, no thinking required.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 13, 2010 20:41:27 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
~"Alright, lets be off then! How does the library sound as a start off point? There's a music room and a few others even I have yet to fully see..."
She waited until the girl emerged from the side-room and slipped out into the hallway. As of yet she hadn’t seen anyone beyond the front desk. Something about a curfew rung a bell in her mind, but she figured seeing as she was allowed to stay in the ‘grownup’ rooms in the middle hallway she was allowed to get a tour at who knows what hour of the night. She grinned at her green skinned friend as she shut the door.
“Sounds great, I haven’t done a lot of reading since my glasses broke I’m afraid, but before then it was something I enjoyed.”
She followed her friend quietly for a few moments, eyes darting everywhere. So much to see, still a lot to learn. But she was a fast leaner, there would not be long before she knew everything there was to know. Or at least as much as she could cram into her head in as many sittings.
“This place is huge.” She cleared her throat and started again in a smaller voice “How big is this place? Really I mean, I know the grounds are massive, it took me ages to walk from the edge to the gate and that was just one side, do you know how big the whole place is?”
She glanced at her friend’s bare shoulders and shoved her hands into her pockets, she could walk all night, or at least as long as her friend was willing to show her around. She was not yet confident enough to wander the halls alone. Besides, she didn’t want to be locked out of the room. Spending nights behind dumpsters and under park benches was all well and good, but her pack was half unpacked and she had nothing but what she was wearing. Not a brilliant way to spend the night on all accounts.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 13, 2010 19:13:46 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
~"Have you gotten a tour of the place yet? There are a lot a different rooms that might interest you... I'm not a tour guide or anything, but I could show you around."
She smiled at her friend, nothing quite like exploring. She glanced at the pyjamas her new roommate was sporting but decided not to say anything, this was like a great big house… kinda… She rolled her shoulders in anticipation, she could easily make them another pair of hats, but it was closer now to christmas than talk like a pirate day, so she decided not to adorn the head of her friend with anything on top of that scary hair.
“Sure, I’d love to. I’ve been to the, um, danger room? But, other than that, I’ve got no clue where anything is.”
She was always up for a bit of adventure though, and what better time than the present. It would also be a bonus to know where everything was in case she needed anything. She was pretty sure that the hair was a little extra on top of the explained gifts, but she was not going to push the limits of the friendship. At least not until she knew the girl better.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 13, 2010 6:23:01 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
~“Heeeelp!”
Verdy started a little as the girl started screaming then darted forward as she began to run away. Something was wrong, something was way wrong, and judging from the hunk of plastic and metal clutched in her hands, it was wrong on tape. Crap. Captain Alchemist and the gender-ambiguous horse rider gave chase, but there was only so much running battered bodies can take. She frowned, the girl had something, something the captain needed or wanted. Besides that, she ignored the women’s rule of screaming ‘fire’ not help in a situation. Marbles gripped tightly in her hand she lifted her other palm up and frowned a little. She wasn’t used to aiming at people, much less running people, but how hard could it be?
‘thuck’
She saw the rider leap into the reflection on a car window Duco hopping, cool., the marble fell way short. Aiming higher this time she let another leave her palm, flash of blue in the streetlights. Closer. She watched, slowing a little, as police gathered into a bundle. Who’s side were they on? Theirs or the runners? She supposed it didn’t really matter either way. Police were dreadfully fond of forms and statements, and would no doubt detain the young woman for questioning.
One more time now, slow her down so the police can grab her with ease. Aiming around knee hight in the hope it would hit the red-head in the foot she let loose a black marble, one of her best. If it made it to the girls foot it would pierce the sole of her shoe and hopefully knock her foot off track enough to make her fall over. If she smashed her video camera on the way down and the tape was ruined, all the better. Even if the marble didn’t hit the woman’s foot it was in close enough proximity to her feet that she could still step on it and slip. Especially with so much water and slippery clay all over the place. With a deep breath she slithered to a stop, to wait and see the fruit of her handiwork. No pun intended.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 13, 2010 3:43:15 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
Andrea smiled her signature, tusk filled, grin and wobbled to her feet. Verdy wiped her face with the back of her very muddy sleeve and moved to stand next to her friend. Following the sunglasses, in lieu of eyes, she watched as the young man with a- crowbar?- splatted into the mud.
~"Saph!"
She glanced from her friend to the mud covered man. A tiny smirk. Talk about over protective. Her face was back to it’s mud covered neutrality before Andrea looked at her and she nodded her sympathies.
~"That man is going to be the death of himself, I think. maybe I should go over there and plaster a few more bandages on him to make a point."
Verdy smirked, she doubted if there were anymore plasters left in the box the way Andrea had covered the young man with them over every scrape and scratch. She glanced back to her friend.
“If you plaster him anymore he won’t be able to move. And I don’t think that I could carry him.”
She nodded her agreement, the group of people had hung off as long as there was work to be done, but surged forward now the danger was over. She felt her friend’s eyes on her and gave a weary smile, it was one of those nights that the excitement was just too much, there was really no hope for sleep. It had been many years since a Christmas eve had had this effect on her.
~"Would you like me to find us a right home Verdi? I could see if one of the police officers could escort us?"
Verdy stretched her neck and sighed, maybe it was time to go home, just as soon as everyone was safe. She followed her friends eyes as her voice changed. Their captain was talking to a stranger, she hadn’t noticed her during the fight and she felt a twinge of fear. Who was this person that made their captain beckon like he was. She clenched her fists once and took a deep breath. Their captain needed them. Home could wait.
“Lets go find out huh?”
With a wipe of her palms across her jeans, muddy and wet, she started off towards the purple hair captain and the clean young woman. Automatically her fingers wound their way into her pocket and grasped her marbles. Hope it doesn’t come to that.
Posted by Verdigris on Jan 12, 2010 7:34:11 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
512
0
May 15, 2013 18:46:44 GMT -6
The sudden quiet- noticeable now the music she had dismissed as background noise and therefore ignored was switched off- was punctuated fiercely by curses. Loud curses. Loud angry curses and crashes. She winced and prepared herself for profuse apologies when the door opened. Maybe she had interrupted something important, or significant, or, or, or, intoxicating?
Verdy was no expert when it came to alcohol- not to say she was a stranger, but there's only so many drinks one can get for batting ones eyelids before having to go further, besides hangovers in alleys or under park benches, alone, was no fun at all- but even her untrained nose could smell the alcohol on the man. More so when he opened his mouth.
~“What can I help you with, Miss?”
She blinked, once, twice, then her brain caught up and fingers started frantically winding the key around and around, trying to untangle it from the dizzy mess of keys and key ring to give it to the man. The dog bounced happily, amused it would seem by her sudden possession of multiple thumbs, all of them left handed. Thumbed. Whatever.
"I uh, I found this." Fingers (Thumbs) grasped the loose key tight with success and offered it to the man, little tag swinging its approval at being free of the masses. "I think it's yours, I uh, kinda resolved to return it." She remembered her manners and decided better late than never. "Also, Hi, and Happy New Year. Um, yeah."
Resolved to return it and the dozens of others, to be precise, not all of them on this keyring either. No, these were just the easy ones, with tags or labels or little stickers with names, addresses, words. Words were easier to work with than nothing. If she had have started returning them as soon as she found them then she would only have had to check the doors in that area. As it was she now had to try and figure out where, when and how to find and explain to residents the fact that she was in possession of their spare key, often kept somewhere safe and secret.
She looked down at the little dog and a nervous smile flickered across her face, her peripherals still trained on the man, ready to dodge anything he could throw at her, including the glass clutched firmly in his grasp. Surprisingly firm really, considering how he leaned against the door frame and the fact that 'what' and 'with' came out something along the lines of 'whud' and 'wid', but no matter. The dog acted like she, or he, had not seen another set of petting hands in a very long time. Verdy felt a little like a huge vacuum was dragging her forward. Damn the power of puppy eyes.
"Hello."
Nothing quite like a dose of direct attention to distract small and fluffy from making herself, or himself, as cute as possible.
New Years resolutions. Foolish things really, made on the spur of the moment, and yet she always felt so guilty if she didn't go through with them. At least for the first few weeks. She stared at the little tag on the key for the umpteenth time and then at the apartment door before her. She could have just left it in the letter flap, she supposed, but what if this 'R. Kelly' had a child or a-
'Yip yip yip yiiiiiiiiiiiiip'
-small dog? Snuffles around the base of the door preceded a whine. Now she had to go through with it. The thought that a puppy, or something-owning-such-a-pathetic-bark-it-had-to-be-little, could choke to death just because she was chicken was Not Good.
Being Not Good meant that, no matter the glares or awkward conversations, no matter the mumbled apologies or frantic waving of hands trying to translate 'not a thief' into a foreign tongue, no matter how she had been treated for returning keys to owners in the last few day, she would knock and try to explain.
Her hand was firm, her grip on the jumble of keys loose, her forefinger and thumb holding the labeled key tightly. If this 'R. Kelly' was not home then she would move onto the next labeled key. "峠 back door" She was fairly sure she knew of a little Japanese place that had squiggles like that over the door. She had stolen food from their dumpster often enough. Good food it was too.
-Tap, tap, tappity tap-
The secret knock used between herself and James before she moved. A twinge of regret mixed with loneliness coloured her face. Her new friends were all well and good, but she did still miss James on occasion. What was three years without contact between friends? Lonely, that's what.
((OOC: Kanji= mountain pass according to Wikipedia))
