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.
>>”Maybe a secondary one...but you’re welcome to test it out whenever."
Winnie smirked a little, feeling her cheeks color under the attention. Really it was exactly what she needed tonight. She didn’t want to think about Halloween or what she witnessed when she was last with this woman. Rather she wanted to give herself over to something fun and blissful, nothing that was complicated and terrifying. Of course, the more time she spent with the other woman, the more often her mind kept drifting back to that night. Truly it was a horror filled evening and while anyone who was a fan of Halloween would have wished for it, Winnie wouldn’t have willed it upon her worst enemy.
A small tingle ran down her spine, like the icy touch of death rolling a bony fingertip down each of her vertebrae. But she didn’t let it stop her from trying to have a good time. Rather she just took another sip of her drink and gave the attractive blonde next to her her undivided attention.
But it seemed that Halloween was going to be the topic of conversation. It made sense, especially if Charlie couldn’t remember any of it. So she asked, wanting to know what was so different about the evening. She wanted details, to know how they knew one another, what horrors were seen. Really her mutation must have packed quite a wallop if she couldn’t remember so much of it. Winnie basically saw it every time she closed her eyes now.
Still, she couldn’t avoid the subject forever. While she could have easily just gotten up and decided to find a different distraction, really she didn’t want to be rude. So, swallowing her courage, she started to recount the night as best she could.
By the time she was done, the flirtatious smile had seemingly been swept off of Charlie’s face. Instead she was now looking just a bit shocked.
>>”Well. No wonder you’re a little shaken up...I mean, I probably would be, too, in your shoes...Are you… holding up alright?”
Winnie offered her a small, genuine smile. She was thankful for that little bit of actual care in the other’s voice. They may not see one another again after this meeting, but at least she knew she wasn’t just some being scammed to feel emotional to drive her closer to bed. So, with a nod and a tender smile of gratitude, her lips formed a “yeah” in response before she followed it up.
”I’m holding up fine, now.” A sip. ”Though I’m definitely staying in on Halloween from now on.” She chuckled a little before her dreamy eyes turned back to Charlie. ”Shame. I have some amazing costumes and, alas, no one will get to see them.” Okay, she could feel her own flirtatious nature returning (that god for liquid courage). ”What about you, hon? Clearly you don’t remember, but, things been good since we last met?”
Even as Winnie recounted her story, she felt like absolute garbage. God, it was awful enough to live through it once, but to have to tell the story again was just outright terrible. She could see all the mistakes that she had made, even it Nessa couldn’t. She should have known better. Somehow she should have known what this guy was. Normally she had such a finely tuned crap-o-meter that she could tell when she was being hit on by someone who was altogether skeezy. Now that she thought back on him (god he was gorgeous) she had to have seen something...right?
She sighed in her tiny kiwi form and just shook her small head. She could probably drive herself crazy trying to make heads or tails of this night. Eventually this would be a story told during girl’s nights, a laugh riot about the time that the innocent photographer was chased out of a pissed off mutant’s house straight from straddling her husband. But now wasn’t the time to laugh about it. Now was the time where she was busy trying to calm down from a near-death experience.
Winnie continued to grumble sadly to herself when she felt a soft, tender hand begin to stroke the top of her head. Normally she would have grumbled and told whoever was trying to pet her to **** off. But right now she needed all the comfort that she could get.
>> ”Oh, honey, that’s awful. I’m just glad you made it out. I don’t care how massive this guy was—with muscles...You don’t deserve creeps like that using you. You deserve so much better. I’m sorry, Win.”
She sighed. Really she didn’t know what to say. She was angry, she was humiliated, she was scared, but right now there was a strange sense of comfort that was pouring over her. Nessa’s words and her gentle touches were making all the difference on such a screwed up night. Never had anyone petted her like this, but these were clearly extreme circumstances. For now the photographer was willing to take any kind of comfort she could get, no matter how debasing it would have normally made her feel. A sniffle and Winnie nestled into the sweater, sitting down and leaning somewhat into the pets her friend offered her.
Winnie blinked as her world suddenly shifted. In an instant she was small and compact and now she was fully grown into a human woman. She glanced at herself in the side mirror. A fully grown nude human woman. The sweater that Winnie had nestled into early was not wrapped around her next but that was the only thing it was covering. Everything else from her shoulders down was clearly on display. A turn to face Nessa and the two briefly locked eyes as they came to a stop at a red light. So thankful to be human again, she would have hugged the other -- that is until a wolf whistle came from a car that was stopped directly next to them.
”Eep!!” she shouted as she quickly wrapped her arms to cover her chest while also struggling to pull the sweater down. ”Jesus, help me!” she grumbled to Nessa as she fought with getting the sweater on and maintain some kind of dignity.
Winnie was happy to find a nice, quiet spot to spend with her new lady for the evening. Charlie certainly seemed pleasant enough, and her words and actions all pointed to the exact same direction that she wanted this evening to go. Winnie loved, love; she loved sex, she loved to warmth, the heat, the absolute bliss that it could cause to course through one’s veins. Some may wonder if maybe Winnie had a slight problem, but it was never to that degree; she just knew how to have fun and when. And right now, that was what she was after.
However, while Winnie was usually all for getting passed the uncomfortable talk and throwing herself into the dancing and the touching, the woman was a mystery to her. Halloween had been such a horrendous night that she could scarcely imagine anyone forgetting it. It seemed altogether impossible, to the point that the photographer felt she was partially scarred by it. Who wouldn’t be?
Well, Charlie apparently, as she could remember a damn thing; lucky.
Trying to regain some of her flirtatious footing, Winnie pouted and commented that she was almost offended that she was so easily forgotten. After the events of that night, and the drinking that followed, Winnie was assured that totally blocking out that night was impossible. However, that was exactly what was happening to her new friend.
>>”My mutation makes me forget things sometimes...I’m sure I’ll get it back eventually, though. I mean… I couldn’t possibly forget you forever.”
Mutation. Duh, she was in a mutant bar, after all. She bit her lip, nodding her head in agreement. She wondered exactly what the blonde’s powers were that caused her to forget something so traumatic, but the coy words that followed immediately pulled her back into the goal for tonight. Charlie certainly had a way with words, something which the pixie-haired photographer appreciated.
”You certainly know how to make a girl feel special,” she teased. ”That your power?”
She sighed, taking a sip from her drink. Though she didn’t like talking about that night, she could feel the relaxation beginning to course through her veins again. Muscles untensed, her body melted into the booth, and she in no way recoiled when her bare knee brushed up against the other woman’s leg.
>> ”So what am I missing from that night? Fill me in on the details, sweetheart.”
She licked her lips, trying to think of how tastefully to recount the incident. She didn’t want to scare the woman, especially after she had managed to forget it, but if she wanted to know then…
”When we met at the hotel, in the hallway, things started to get a little...nuts…” she said with choice words. ”Some weird black mist came through the vents and everyone...we all…” she sighed. ”Things got bad. People started going crazy. I swear I thought I saw things. Thank god that X-Man showed up when he did on the rooftop and knocked out that crazy mutant. I just hope the police locked her away for doing that stunt.”
>>”Nah, I don’t need a van. I hunted for gays; the rainbow bumper sticker was enough to lure them in.”
Winnie snorted (as best a tiny kiwi could) and just shook her tiny head. Really Nessa wasn’t lying. She had seen the woman on the hunt before and, really, she didn’t need much more beyond a bumper sticker. It was never that Nessa was hurting for companionship, it was more that she was trying to find the right one. It was a commendable hunt, really, something that Winnie could really get behind. It just so happened that her friend was the first to reach that particular finish line (Gina was amazing) and the photographer just couldn’t see it in the horizon.
She sighed as she settled into the sweater, trying to warm up her chilled body. Really she just wanted to put this night behind her. She had been humiliated, used, and put into danger and all she needed now was her bed to crawl into, and a stiff drink to lull her to sleep. Of course she couldn’t very well leave Nessa not knowing the whole story. It was the least that she could offer her after dragging her out in the middle of the night to rescue her from a dark, dank alley.
So she went into her tale…
Winnie was a storyteller. Even though she knew that Nessa was a self-proclaimed “hella gay”, she still pressed the importance of her date for the evening. Really, when you come across someone that hot, and you nearly bag them, how can you not brag about it? Even to your lesbian friends? Nessa, notably, seemed to sense the importance...
>>”Okay, wow. I can theoretically see the appeal. Continue your very pansexual story.”
And so Winnie did. She went over what she could, explaining that, she had indeed gotten very far with Captain Goldfish when there was an...interruption. Winnie felt too embarrassed to even admit it, but really there was no way to hide what had happened to her; the wife served as the catalyst that forced Winnie’s change -- and it was in no way pleasant.
Nessa was, notably, shocked. Winnie may have slept around, had a plethora of boyfriends and girlfriends, but she never willing participated in someone’s extramarital affairs, not unless it was something that the couple were both into. Winnie had her standards, after all.
>>”Married? Oh, my God! And he didn’t tell you? Well, of course he didn’t, otherwise why would you be there...Oh no. Exactly how ‘in the act’ were you when she showed up and made you a panic bird?”
Winnie groaned and buried her small head inside of the sweater. It was a nice, cotton cocoon where she momentarily wondered if she could live out the rest of her life. But, rather than fall into utter silence, she continued.
”Oh hunny…” out came her muffled voice from the folds of the sweater. ”...we were halfway down the red carpet.” God that was embarrassing to admit. She sniffled, still upset that she had been lied to and stuck her small kiwi head out of the top of the hoodie. A sigh as she brushed her eyes against the hoodie to remove any tears. ”Anyways...ahem...we were...like...really getting it on when I see a silhouette in the reflection of the window. I turn and...there’s his wife. Utterly not pleased and, best part, she was a mutant.” She shuttered. ”You ever have a whip made of electricity snapped at you? Most terrifying thing you can ever experience.”
Okay, well, Winnie certainly had a promising distraction in front of her. When she came out this evening, this was exactly what she was looking for and it looked as if she was going to get her wish. Admittedly she wasn’t wearing her absolute best, but the photographer was only too happy to meet up with someone who was willing to look past the bad colors scheme she currently had on. Best of all, it was someone who she knew and wanted to meet again. Though their last meeting was apparently a mystery to her, Winnie was more than happy to remind her.
At the invitation for some private time together, Winnie readily agreed. The bar was getting a bit crazy and a quiet, dark booth seemed like exactly the thing that she needed. So, with a smile upon her lips, she nodded her head and agreed that slipping away was best for the best of them.
>>”Come on...let’s go over there.”
A slender hand slipped into hers. Holding onto her drink, Winnie was pulled along and she readily followed. Moving through the crowd of people, away from the grinding and the dancing and the touching, Winnie found solace in open air when they finally popped out the other end. As promised, Charlie found a nice little booth for them to hide themselves away in, something that Winnie was only too happy to accept.
Taking a sip from her drink, she followed her to the booth and waited for Charlie to slip in first. She didn’t need more than the simple patting of the vinyl seat next to the woman to partake of the invitation. Carefully she slid into the seat, crossing her legs under the table as she turned to face her new friend. Charlie was indeed a gorgeous woman but her eyes held such a mystery for her. They were the eyes of an old soul, something that had always attracted the young photographer.
Now that they were away from the crowd at the bar, Winnie could hear herself think again. The music was still loud but not as obnoxious out in the seating area as it was near the bar and dance floor. She turned to the other, a sultry and teasing smile on her lips as she gave her another careful look. Really she found it hard to believe that Charlie didn’t remember her at all, but she guessed that there must be a reason for it. She hoped she wouldn’t be bothered by her asking.
”So you really don’t remember me?” she inquired gently. ”And here I thought I was pretty unforgettable.” She grinned. ”Oh well, probably better that way. The Skyline Hotel, I dunno how they’ll recover from that event. Wasn’t specifically their fault but so many got hurt.”
Winnie’s powers were a funny thing. If there were any good aspects of it, it was the fact that she was far luckier than most in her predicament. Plenty of shifters existed in the world and they all had their stories to tell, mainly of how their mutations just screwed them over. They either ripped clothing, ruined them, shrink out of them and lost them somewhere in the world, the options were varied across the board. However, with Winnie, it was the one part she lucked out in. When she shifted, everything came with her.
Honestly it proved to be the only truly useful thing about her powers. Carrying her camera, Winnie could easily take it along with her, popping in and out of her kiwi form, snapping photos and escaping into the night. If there were any good aspects of her powers, that was it. However, like anything else, there was a downside. If she shifted while having nothing on, carrying nothing, then when she shifted back she would be in that very same state. Sadly that was exactly how this evening had gone. If she were to calm down enough to shift back, all Nessa would find is a very nude Winnifred Wickham with probably the laciest panties that she owned.
It was not a good state to be in and, therefore, the reason why she offered her bestie the warning that she did.
>>”Right. Right. One second.”
Winnie slipped into the side and waited for Nessa to come back. Thankful for the heat being on, Winnie rustled her feathers a bit, trying to shake off whatever chill she had gathered from that dark and dank alley. She could still feel some of the moistness of the evening upon her plump body and she wanted to do whatever she could to shake it off. But she had to stay calm. For as freaked out as she had been, she knew that she was safe now. Hopefully it wouldn’t be long that she was forced to stay like this.
>> ”There. That’s kinda big on me, so it should be bigger on you...It should hopefully cover most of you. Hopefully. Enough that I won’t have a lot of explaining to do if we’re pulled over.”
Looking up, Winnie watched as Nessa poured fluffy cotton tent over her body -- at least that was what it felt like in her much smaller form. The reality was that it was a sweater, one that she only vaguely recognized. She was momentarily lost in the folds but knocked her heard through, dug, and eventually found the appropriate place to stick her long neck and tiny head out of. She blinked, turning her head left and right before she nestled into the cloth.
She snorted at Nessas comment. ”You mean the cops aren’t used to pulling your butt over with half naked girls in the backseat?” She said with some of her usual piss and vinegar. ”Surely the authorities are aware of your luring innocent college girls into your windowless van with promises of candy and funny stories.”
With a plop she sat in the folds of the sweater, her head arching as she looked around her. Nessa only drove this car for emergencies and she was thankful that her friend had gone out of her way to come get her. As the car pulled away from the curb, Winnie sighed when she felt the soft fingers begin to rub the top of her head. If kiwis could purr, she probably would have, but at most she just felt a little sleepy. As much as she wanted to drift to sleep, it wasn’t possible. A story had to be told...
>> ”Okay, fluffball. Talk to me. What happened?”
She sighed. ”Ugh, B.S. is what happened,” she grumbled. ”I was out with the girls. I met this…super hot guy. I mean, Nessa, like, superhot. You know that guy coming out in the new Hero Society movie? The one playing Captain Goldfish?” She waited for Nessa to answer before continuing. ”Spitting image.” A pause before she continued. ”Anyway, we met, we danced, he invited my back to his place, gorgeous f***ing condo. And we were getting down and crazy and…” A breath. ”...then his wife showed up. And...she. Was. Not. Happy.”
Winnie was not one to falter in the face of others. She was the life of the party, the attention seeker, the person that would try her hardest to pull others from their darkened shells and out into the spotlight. She couldn’t help it. She knew that not everyone was like her but she wanted to do whatever she could to help others been more comfortable with themselves. After all, that was all shyness was, people who needed to know that it was okay to be themselves.
Besides, the other woman helped her. The way she was raised, it was only proper to offer that person a show of thanks. In this case, for helping her climb the insurmountable mountain of cleaning up scattered chocolate pieces, she would treat her new friend to something to eat or drink. A perfectly innocent offer, really, as Winnie really just wanted to thank for her all of her help.
>>"Um..."
It seemed that Amber was going to be a little hesitant. Winnie wouldn’t have had hurt feelings if Amber declined, but she really hoped it wasn’t because of something Winnie said or did. Maybe the other had a meeting to attend or some other sort of shenanigans that she was running off to. If that were the case, Winnie wouldn’t stand in her way, but otherwise, she would still want to offer her gratitude.
>>"You know I'm a mutant, right?"
Winnie tilted her head, momentarily confused by the admission. For a moment it seemed so out of left field that the photographer couldn’t wrap her head around why it was said. Briefly she wondered if maybe Amber were speaking to something directly behind her. So, Winnie turned her head and looked, saw no one, and turned back to face her covered friend. Upon realizing that the black-eyed woman was talking to her, she just offered a soft smile and shrugged in reply.
”So? It’s a snack or a drink. I’m not asking you marry me, silly,” she smiled earnestly. She then lowered her voice a bit, tilting her head the other way. ”Besides, who says that you’re the only one?” She raised her eyebrows, indicating that she herself was one too.
Winnie was sometimes overly curious. Whenever she came across someone who interested her (as a subject), she sometimes grilled them without really meaning to. It wasn’t really her fault, but she had an inquisitive mind and she liked to fill in the gaps of her knowledge as soon as possible. It was a trait that made her a voracious learner and someone whom could not be quelled with quick and meaningless answers. Some saw it was adorable, others as rude, how could Jackie see it?
She had to inquire about the obvious; what was Jackie’s relationships status? Did she have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Did she not have any of those feelings ever? In all honestly any of that was possible as Jackie was a little harder to read than a regular human. Winnie knew what to expect of people when they were interested or not interested in her. There were subtle body languages that were actually quite easy to read once you’ve seen it many times over. But Jackie was entirely different, clearly, as the mutant didn’t have a lot of the same expressions and cues for Winnie to read (or rather, she did, but they were far more subtle given Jackie’s physique).
Therefore, outright questioning was in order.
>>"Oh, no...No, no. No 'oy-s'riend. I'n not... hn...I don't swing dat way...I don't sink I'd has nuch luck wiss guys any'ays. No guy'd wanna date a girl dat could 'ench'ress hin."
Winnie listened intently as Jackie explain that she actually wasn’t into guys. Interesting. She did make a good point that a few guys would probably feel emasculated at being bench-pressed by the much larger and stronger mutant. Of course there were probably some that would have been into it, but those kinks were probably hard to locate, especially if they didn’t make their preference known to Jackie themselves.
What was even more interesting was Jackie’s admission that she didn’t “swing” that way. So she was more attracted to the female persuasion? It would make a lot of sense...
>>"Had a girl-s'riend...Real nice. Didn't work out."
Bingo. So there it was, Jackie had a girlfriend in the past and the relationship seemingly didn’t work out. That was sad, really, since Jackie genuinely seemed like a good person. Vaguely she wondered if her appearance or powers had anything to do with it but for as investigative as Winnie could be, she did have some sense of decency. She wouldn’t delve much deeper than that.
She scooted up to the other again and reached out, her hand finding a spot on Jackie’s shoulder. There she gave it a soft and tender stroke, an earnest smile on her lips.
”Sorry to hear that, love,” she said with a soft sigh. ”You’re too much of a sweetheart to go through troubles like that.”
>>”Winnie, hm? Pretty name for a pretty girl. Much more fitting than Toxin.”
Winnie blushed a little at that, nibbling on her lower lip. Honestly the soft touch and the wondrous words were already getting her engine revving up and causing her to forget the horrid night that the two of them had met. While normally she may have decided to stay away from the blonde because of what they experienced, right now she was too lost in those old, soulful eyes the woman had. If she could forget that night, then maybe Winnie could too -- or at least be distracted for a bit.
The woman’s drink was refilled as she closed the gap between them. Winnie closed her eyes briefly, smiling at the scent what whatever the woman wore filled the air between them. She grinned wide, her nose crinkling cutely as she looked over the woman again. Yeah, this definitely had some promise for a good and memorable night. She hoped that the other had the same idea and, considering the look in her eyes, it was clear that she did.
>>”Well, Winnie, I’m Charlie...I gotta say, it’s a goddamned shame that I can’t remember you, but I have a different proposition… it’s getting a little noisy in here, so what do you say we get a table in a quieter area and make a few new memories?”
It was exactly what she was hoping for. Watching Charlie’s eyes, she sighed, letting her stresses and fears melt away at the promise of something else to come. While Winnie was usually accustomed to being the one to bring all the forwardness to these conversations, it was kind of nice to be pursued for a change. Coming across another person as forward and charismatic as herself was rare but it was something that she was willing to play along with.
Plucking her drink up from the bar top, she took another sip from it and nodded her head. She stepped closer to the woman, on arm looping around one of her’s as she gave her a sweet and lustful smile. ”Lead the way, gorgeous,” she said playfully. ”I couldn’t certainly do with some ‘new memories’.”
Okay so Winnie didn’t normally feel bad about asking for a rescue. It was one of those unspoken rules between her and her girlfriends (including Nessa) that they would support each other in their endeavors. Winnie wasn’t the first one to get in over her head, nor would she be the last. She even remembered a few times when Nessa went home with the decidedly wrong person and needed a quick exit. They helped one another and that was a good thing. But right now she was feeling decidedly bad about enacting their agreement and for one very glaring reason -- Nessa was happy.
It could be nauseating, yes, all the lovey-dovey crap that Nessa and Gina wrapped themselves in. It was sweet, but overly sweet, like dipping a chocolate bonbon in caramel, covering it sprinkles, baking it into a cookie, topping it off with a dollop of ice cream, and setting it in-between two slices of cherry pie. She loved the two of them dearly but sometimes just being around them made the roof of her mouth itchy. However, right now, she couldn’t have felt more like a third wheel and it hurt.
Winnie clicked her beak looked utterly downtrodden. Nessa looked so comfy. She was probably in bed with Gina, curled up and happy, and made the choice to come out here, in the middle of a dark, damp night in order to rescue her kiwi-stuck friend. Later on this would be laughed off and turned into anecdotes about how much Nessa secretly wants her, but right now, Winnie was depressed to be that grumbly.
Her sadness was soon replaced with surprise as Nessa leaned down and gently scooped her into her arms, cradling her against her soft hoodie. Winnie sniffled a little but still tried to keep the tough act going as she didn’t say anything. However, she had the admit that the material of Nessa’s chosen garner was indeed a little warm and comforting.
>>”Definitely not ruined, hun. I’m always gonna be around to answer your texts for help—though I’m still surprised you managed to send me one like this...Why don’t we go for a ride, at least until you get to the point where you can go back to being human-sized? You can tell me all about what happened if you’d like.”
”Please?” she lightly whimpered about being let into the car. She wanted out of here so badly.
Winnie meekly nodded her head as she was carried out of the cold, dark alley and towards the street where she could already see Nessa’s car waiting. This would make a hell of a story to tell one day but it would definitely need some embellishments and altered to make her appear far less pathetic. For now she would have to work with the details she was presented with and, remember, that there was one particular details that Nessa needed to know before Winnie calmed down totally.
”So, about the human-sized thing…” she started a bit sheepishly. ”You...don’t happen to have any spare clothes in your car, do you?” She sighed and tried to nuzzled into her friend’s hoodie. ”Because, once I change back, well…” If there were ever a competition of kiwis impersonating Marilyn Monroe, Winnie would have won, hands down. ”...’Happy Birthday Ms. Bookman’.”
Winnie had to smile at the newcomer. She was still a little dumbfounded that someone was being so nice to her. How sad was the state of world when someone being nice throws you off? There was probably some social commentary that could be made about this but Winnie wasn’t the type to write up or vlog about something like that. She preferred to be behind the camera...rather than in front of it. But it was not something she would have to worry about now as she just needed to get her head on straight when interacting with the person she just gave her name to.
>>"My name's Amber...Nice to meet you."
Her offered handshake was accepted and Winnie beamed a brilliant smile to the fully covered woman. Amber. That was a pretty name. Winnie didn’t know many “Ambers” in her life but she hoped that all, if not most, were at least as friendly and understanding as the one she was meeting now. Once she retracted her hand, it found its way onto her hip as she tilted her head, eyeing the woman a bit more closely.
”Oh it’s great to meet you, love,” she said sweetly. Vaguely she wondered if the other was all covered up due to her religious belief. Not that it bothered her but she did have to note that when she attempted to look at her eyes, all she saw was darkness. Probably just a trick of the light, nothing more than that.
Silence prevailed between them for a moment as Winnie waited to see if Amber would continue their conversation. While Winnie was all for drawing people out of their shells, she didn’t want to try to hard with the other woman as she had been nice enough to help her. The last thing she wanted to do was show her appreciation by badgering her for information so she would let her decide where this would go.
>>"Were you taking pictures? Are you a photographer?"
”That I am!” she exclaimed happily.
Winnie turned and noted the camera bag that Amber had pointed to. Winnie nodded her head, turning and picking up her bag. As she strapped it over her shoulder, she unzipped a small portion of it and fished inside for a business card. Upon finding one, she pulled out the pristine white rectangle of cardstock with the embossed golden letters that announced her name and title as a freelance photographer. She handed the card over to Amber.
”Please, take one. I’m always looking for clients.” She said with a sigh. Obvious the life of a freelance artist of any kind meant constantly looking for work. Slipping her bag over her shoulder and securing it, she thought for a moment before she gestured behind her towards a nearby eatery in the station. ”Can I treat you to something the eat? The least I can do for all your help in cleaning up.”
Winnie still couldn’t believe that she ran into “Sandy” again. It seemed like it was almost a lifetime ago that she had been in that terrible hotel, during that most insidious night. The things she saw, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, still haunted her. While Winnie did good about avoiding thinking about it and was successfully moving on, right now she was hit with a stark reminder of that night. The woman next to her had been apart of it, had witnessed the whole thing, even vanished at some point before it had all ended and returned. Needless to say, seeing her just brought back a flood of memories.
However, as Winnie spoke, it was clear that the memories that came back were hers and hers alone. The blank, almost suspicious look in Sandy’s eyes were telling enough that she still only had the vaguest recollection of who she was. While Winnie would have been offended by that, in some ways she was a jealous because it seemed as if her drinking buddy that night had utterly blanked on the experience.
A fact that was verified when she finally shook her head and spoke.
>>”Sorry, luv. I’ve got… memory issues sometimes. You’re going to have to be a tad more specific. I’m sure Toxin isn’t your real name.”
Winnie smirked. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she noticed that her drink was set down next to them. A sweet smile was offered to the bartender as a thanks for getting her order in, but she turned back to the blonde, scooping up the drink and taking a sip. Oh the sourness almost immediately locked up her jaw, but it was a welcome experience and she just rode it a satisfied sigh of relief. The alcohol was a welcome addition to this conversation, but so was the lovely woman in front of her -- even if she had completely forgotten who she was.
She shrugged off the comment, leaning her hip against the bar and crossing her arms under her chest, one hand still holding up her drink. ”It’s not. Then again, we didn’t trade actual names that night.” Another sip before she extended out her free hand to her. ”Winnie. My name is Winnie.” Once that was out of the way, she went on into clarifying how she knew this woman. ”And we met last month. At the Halloween party in the Skyline Hotel.” She paused, shaking off the memory. ”It seems that one of us was successful in forgetting that awful night,” she said with a teasing laugh.
Welcome to MRO.