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 Noel on Oct 19, 2021 10:25:12 GMT -6
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Ria arrived and Noel did her best to keep the squiggling to a minimum.
Best. Decision. Ever. Noel closed her eyes and relaxed into the swap. It wasn't that she was used to it, but that literally anything was better than how she was feeling before. She'd felt trapped and tired and sore and so intolerably miserable before. Now...
"Have I ever mentioned you're my favorite person, Ria? You're my favorite person. New best friend." And by golly Noel felt so light. Michael's body twirled around and bounced from one leg to the other, entirely missing a wave of contractions that the real Michael was enduring in her usual body. "Look! I can even, like- fit places!" Michael's body squeezed between two pieces of equipment to stand near the head of the bed that her own body was writhing against.
Ugh. Fine. It was probably time to get serious, even if Noel-in-Michael's-body could not stop smiling.
"Aren't you glad we both went to those classes?" Noel put his man hand out and held onto the real Michael's Noel!hand. "Squeeze my hand if ya wanna. If you wanna get up and move around y' can. I bet rubbing your back between waves would not go amiss either." Since he knew just what was wrong, he was absolutely the best person to suggest a fix.
"Ria, would you be a dear and see if they're calling that anesthesiologist?" Because Noel knew Michael's strength, and he knew his own, and he wouldn't be surprised if things were ramping up quickly based on the terrible bone grinding crush happening to his hand. Not that he would complain. Anything was better than what Noel's body was doing.
"Doing great, sweety." Noel secretly resolved to take a nap soon. A nap with no watermelon acrobatics to distract.
Posted by Noel on Oct 19, 2021 8:21:45 GMT -6
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November 19th, 23:57
Noel was feeling... stupid. Stupider than usual, but not in an intelligence sort of way: in a "where has my brain gone?" sort of way. The number of sticky notes around the BlacTac apartment had quadrupled in the last 24 hours in preparation for the inevitable. Because this baby, like it or not, was inevitable. She paced a bit in the kitchen, stopping to sip some mega cold water and feel the kidlet squirm.
She couldn't do this... her body didn't feel like her own. There was a freaking watermelon in the way, her calves and ankles were swollen for no apparent reason, she felt simultaneously heavy and droopy and out of energy, but also twitchy. Like she couldn't sit down. Lord knew she wasn't sleeping well these days. Laying down meant the dance party in her belly would kick into high gear.
Noel's phone ticked over to midnight and a slew of reminders started making her phone buzz in her hand. Most of it she remembered, but there was one that stood out from the rest.
Text Ria. Ask if the deal's still on.
November 24th, 13:00
She was gonna throw up. They'd finally decided on a name and now Noel had someone to curse directly in her head. But she preferred to think of their baby girl as the spawn of Satan himself when she was doing something unholy to her ribs. Like she was now.
The doctor said that the baby hadn't "engaged" yet and Noel was ready to get out a rolling pin and make her. Was there a trampoline she could jump on? A carnival game that might spin her around and centrifuge a baby out?
Noel was going crazy since she'd started her maternity leave and had nothing to do but suffer. Sometimes, she could see the whole rotund mountain of her belly tighten up after she indulged in the urge to scrub the nooks and crannies of the apartment with a toothbrush. Other times, she was terrified that she was somehow messing this up. Had the kid moved in a while? Noel gave her belly a nudge and when nothing happened back, she gave it a more forceful shove.
She got an punch straight down by way of reply.
November 25th, 20:00
She couldn't be sure it was time. They had to be sure, first.
Noel paced the length of their kitchen again with her sunglasses on despite the fact that the sun had already gone down. She was still breathing fine, but did have to take a break every once in a while to let a wave of discomfort pass. Michael was hovering, and sure... that was valid.
Was it go time?
"I'mma take a shower, first. Maybe they'll stop." So far, the contractions had stopped every other time they'd started. Did things feel different this time? Only because everyone around her was acting like she'd explode soon.
She secreted a text to Ria and by the end of the shower, she absolutely didn't feel any better.
With sunglasses still dripping water, Noel finally acquiesced. They could go to the hospital and let a doctor tell them they were both overreacting.
"It's fine. We're allowed to overreact. It's our first kid."
November 26th, 0:00
There were fresh humiliations around every corner. And, also, contractions. After observation, they were admitted to a room. THE room where IT was going to happen.
Posted by Noel on Feb 11, 2021 0:15:26 GMT -6
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Noel cursed when she was half-way up the stairs to their apartment. ”I shoulda looked at what he was trying to get at. I’m sorry that was stupidly selfish. I’ll go back. BlacTac is-”
”BlacTac is not going anywhere overnight. Go sleep. We’re circling the wagons and the bad guy’ll still be here in the morning, promise.” Demore was making his way in from the side entrance and damn if Noel wasn’t happy to see him. There was something really solid about Demore. Maybe it was knowing that if there were more invisible guys out there, Demore would know.
”If Demore is the vet you called for Dammit, we are about to have words.” She shot the Ranger an accusatory look, but ultimately let herself be cosseted. Doing anything more was more than she could handle at the moment.
She managed to kick off her shoes. She should have written notes. Instead Noel went face first into the pillows and only squirmed enough to get one leg under the covers before falling asleep.
Some time while Noel rested, Jude arrived looking odder than usual. Even in the morning light his greenish skin, sunglasses, and a writhing mass of snakes for hair made it clear that he’d been power shopping.
Posted by Noel on Feb 3, 2021 19:44:41 GMT -6
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Noel cringed at the update. Dammit being fine wasn’t the problem. The vet might not be a problem either, so long as they didn’t insist on a police report. ”I’d feel best if she got a real doctor. No offense but neither of us stitch too straight.” Their skill sets were not quite a circle, but the middle of their venn diagram was far too fat. Noel made a mental note to change that. Or, to see if their boss cared for her to change that.
She resumed her seat on the floor, bone tired and entirely over all of it already. JP tried to talk to her, but he was easy to tune out when there were memories to be had. She wrote herself a note, just in case, and set herself to her task.
As soon as she saw the man behind the desk, Noel understood why JP was so smug. He looked like the footage they had of the Noel from the otherverse: Nolan. Boy Noel. In fact, Noel wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t Nolan since she only had seen him CCTV. But JP called him Daniel.
She listened… well, she tried to listen, but she wasn’t really interested in what they were saying. She was more interested in the office she was in, the desk, the photos. She didn’t recognize a single person in any of the photographs, but there was a whole family accounted for. Mother, father, grandparents, sons and daughters. Wedding photos. Baby photos. There wasn’t anything definitive to be gleaned, but the girl who most looked like her, wasn’t Noel. They were similar, some might say they could be sisters.
A weird unease settled on Noel’s shoulders.
The only details were the ones that had remained in JP’s head so none of the papers were filled in. The computer screen was blank.
Noel reviewed all of Daniel and JP’s interactions on fast forward mode. Nothing too insane. They hadn’t murdered anyone together or done drugs for funzies. She would go somewhere else to review it carefully, but she just tried to keep an eye out for anything that stood out. Then she did the same, trying to find the people in the photos in JP’s memory.
…
It took time to be thorough. She stopped to write things down periodically. Sometimes JP did something that would draw her out of his memory and she’d have to re-focus. By the end of it all, she had a short list of names and approximate relationships and ages. She could share the faces with Michael by touch, but she was at the point of weariness where the bare floor was looking as good as a bed.
Posted by Noel on Jan 12, 2021 16:30:44 GMT -6
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John Paul Rider, or JP to his friends, also known as Mr. Invisible in Noel's head, sputtered at Noel's declaration. He tried to deny, or misdirect, but was all too busy tripping over himself and his story.
"Shut it, JP. The adults are talking." Noel had to use her knee and Michael's offered hand to help hoist herself up. Already her center of balance was different. That was irritating not to be totally comfortable with how her body was working. Stack on top of that the fact that is was stupid o'clock, her dog got stabbed, and she hadn't really rested and the result was that Noel was feeling just a mite cranky.
"He's smug 'cause he's thinking he's got good news for us and for his boss so everyone should be happy in the end. I think maybe just maybe the idiot forgot who stabbed my dog."
That did it. He paled all over again.
To Michael's question, "I think it's safe to say Bird's been made. You hear from him lately?"
And for JP... Noel circled around and folded her arms. "Why'd you say I'm not her? You may speak now to answer the question."
"Oh. Uh. The- the uh ages don't line up just right. She would've been just 30, born in 1990 and you're..." He looked like he was going to guess Noel's age or say more, and then wisely shut his yap instead.
Noel was just about to turn 26. Or 36, if her driver's license was to be believed. His reluctance to guess was likely founded on the knowledge that her age had been flexible at one point and still none of the numbers lined up just right.
"You got a family dossier?"
"No."
"You know this family, personally?"
"Only a little. I contract pretty regularly, but we don't barbecue or anything."
Noel frowned. Worth it, not worth it? She glanced at Michael again.
She'd only just gotten up, and now she was gonna have to go back into his memory and fish out details the hard way. Why didn't employers helpfully give out dossiers about themselves so she could carefully limit her intake?
Posted by Noel on Jan 10, 2021 16:27:25 GMT -6
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She could have had all the answers by now, but it was polite to wait considering it was as much Michael's business as her own. The man cleared his throat once, as if he might try to say something but he must have thought better of it. He had a light blond stubble, dishwater brown hair that could use a trim in a few days but not just yet. His eyes were gray... maybe blue. He didn't seem to be able to keep eye contact. He wasn't memorable in any one way, really. Not too old. Not too young. Not ugly. Not panty combusting.
> ”How’s it goin’?”
"Just scoping things out."
His clothes are well made, well kept. Easy to move in. He'd come prepared to manually breech their defenses. He didn't look too worried. Worried, yes, but not in active fear for his life.
"He's a cog in this, whatever this is. I guess it's time to see how useful he can be." Noel stood and stretched, the hem of her sleep shirt and hoodie raising just enough to expose a sliver of roundish belly. She caught him looking and tugged it down.
"They thought you were someone they know." It was impossible for her focus not to snap to the man. He'd been silent before, but he'd seemed comfortable in his silence, confident that he could wait as long as he wanted. He didn't sound all that confident any more. "You're not that person."
"What person?"
"They want to meet you."
Noel shot Michael a jaded look. It was never good when they wouldn't answer questions.
"No point in beating around the bush." She walked behind him and the man in the chair strained to twist and keep both of them in his line of sight, an impossible task with the Ranger in front of him.
"W-wait. We just wanted to make sure you were safe. This isn't exactly a normal place full of normal people, y'know? What are you doing?" Noel had plopped herself down and taken one of his fingers, brushing it off and double checking it wasn't going to be too icky. He probably thought she was going to break it since he actually yelped when she enclosed the finger in the soft tissues of her mouth. He blinked into invisibility and back with a cringe.
Noel walked into a memory of an office meeting, riding through the eyes of the man. He'd gotten the job to observe the people who'd sent that goon to look into them. Now that Michael and Noel were on their radar, several uncomfortable questions had arisen.
She rocked back, breaking contact with his hand and looking around the chair and man to look up at Michael.
"He was sent by my brother." Which implied that she had a brother and knew him, but she'd seen this man's memory. They suspected her to be the sister of the man who sent the invisible man. This was a theory she was all too willing to adopt since they'd had contact with Bird of Prey. BlacTac had sent BoP out to find her family.
Posted by Noel on Jan 10, 2021 0:49:59 GMT -6
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It was the smell. It was a bad mix of blood and musty dog smell, and it just made her want to lose her lunch. Noel had what felt like infinite experience fighting down bad tastes, and she had to battle the urge to puke but for Dammit's sake, if not her own, she was going to win that battle.
Noel's eyes followed the gas line back to the other side of the room, but... Noel didn't know about ether and dogs any more than Michael. She would stay to Dammit's back thankyouverymuch and try real hard not to look.
"I hear that veterinarian-ing is as easy as flying a helicopter." Of course, the both of them would rather be doing the latter. Noel smoothed Dammit's fur back from her ears in that spot she really liked and kept her other hand as a steadying reminder for Revvie not to jump up. Maybe they should look into staff that could help with animals. Or... maybe Noel had taken in the wrong set of skills at her last skill-up. How much defensive driving had she done in the last few weeks?
> ”How’s the sack uh shit that did this?”
"Awake. Uncomfortable. Not nearly uncomfortable enough."
She should go deal with that since she wasn't useful here. Noel gave Dammit another fur smoothing and made sure to unhook her leash before it might get tangled up. She did her best not to look, but she did see shaved skin. "We're going to need a cone of shame." That was going to be fun. For now, she ushered Revvie away from licking at Dammit's mask and continued to steer the other pup out of the room.
"I'll start on him. You can catch up. Don't worry, I won't—" She forgot what she wouldn't when she glanced at his hands and shirt. Both were blood slick enough that she was sure she could smell them. Noel made a hasty exit.
Revvie was now her shadow, walking in lockstep and keeping some part of herself pressed against Noel. She took long steps to get away, but slowed before rounding the corner where Steven was messing with the antennaed computer. "Find anything fun?"
"It was transmitting, but not any more."
"Local or distance?"
"I think distance."
Noel was not an expert in laptops either. She was a people person at heart. Noel moved into the room, noisily pulled a chair to sit in front of, but not too close to the sometimes invisible man. Revvie found a place on the floor, laying at her feet when she sat.
Posted by Noel on Jan 9, 2021 19:08:11 GMT -6
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Noel wrangled his jacket off before she zip tied his wrists and zip tied him again just above the elbows. It felt super awkward for the dude's shoulders, but he stabbed her dog. He could just freaking deal with it. Noel took the time to pat him down coming away with what appeared to be tools as well as a single knife. He hadn't seemed to be prepared for a confrontation. And curiously enough, Once she'd pulled his jacket full off, it became visible.
Michael had hefted Dammit up and disappeared inside. All they had to do was get those last few loose ends.
She asked Steven to hoist the invisible man inside and quickly grabbed the laptop, coat, and other miscelanea. Revvie whined and gave her hip a bump so Noel freed a hand to reassure her. "Surprised you didn't go in with Dammit." She gave the area one last look, it really was very unremarkable, but she didn't see anything and Revvie didn't have her hackles up any more.Noel spit the last of her over salivation and trotted after Steven to help with the doors and the "guest housing." They'd needed to use this holding room far too many times over the years.
He was shifting and starting to come around when they sat him in a chair. He let whatever ability had allowed him to stay invisible drop and Steven managed to zip tie his legs to the chair legs before things got too dicey. Noel piled the things she'd confiscated from him outside of the room so that they could go over them at their leisure, and took a moment to watch the guy for a bit. Shifty feller. His eyes kept drifting back to Noel and he seemed... flabbergasted.
Revvie bumped her hip again. Apparently she was the dog's emotional support person. Noel took the time to remove the leash and set that aside before they went to visit Dammit and Michael in the medical area, another much used portion of BlacTac. They should really move... but wouldn't it be a shame to leave all these conveniences behind when the dangers wasn't likely to stay with the facility?
"How's it going?" She took a deep breath before getting close and laying a hand on Dammit, reassured by the rise and fall of her rib cage.
Posted by Noel on Jan 9, 2021 14:17:44 GMT -6
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She should have tackled him after he clobbered over her and taken advantage of the confusion and disorientation. But she didn't. She knew he had a knife or something. She knew he had the means to make one of their dogs bleed. And, for all her complaints about the parasite... she couldn't do it. She'd taken a knee, rather than risk bumbling into him in the first place.
In the dark, a second set of fast approaching footsteps wasn't reassuring. It was undoubtedly back up. Michael. Even in the dark she could identify the way he moved, once her eyes started to adapt. She eased her hand off the phone in her pocket.
Noel wasn't hurt she was... terrified. Nauseated by the smell of blood that was continuously making her mouth fill with saliva.
She would not puke, she would not puke.
"Not me. Not hurt." She mopped at her face with the sleeve of her hoodie and cringed back from the lights when they flicked back on. Now that she could see, she wished she couldn't. It was Dammit. Revvie was super upset. Heck, Noel was upset. She'd basically used them both as a shield rather than coming out with proper preparations.
> ”Y’ want her ‘r him?”
"I can't lift her... should she be lifted?" Not to mention the smell. Noel mopped her face again and felt around to where the thud had resounded through the ground after Michael went all Texas Ranger on the invisible him. She felt an elbow, or something close enough. That she could work with.
Noel climbed on top of the prostrate form, kneed him in the spine, and chicken winged the arms in case his brain finished rebooting which must have looked ridiculous considering the fact that she was holding and molding what looked like nothing. Steven, to his credit, wasn't too far behind with zip ties and some helping hands.
Posted by Noel on Jan 9, 2021 0:12:54 GMT -6
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Noel couldn't see what they had, but both dogs had locked their attention on to something with the kind of growling that made the tiny hairs at the back of Noel's neck stand up. She let the leashes go since the dogs were pulling in an attempt to circle around and hem in something. And if there really was something there, Noel wanted her hands free.
She tried to take a quick stock of the situation: the dogs were snarling and edging in straight toward a wall that appeared to be bare of any visible threat. There was a window on that wall, wired to all the other security measures no doubt. There was a camera somewhere... she looked for it and found it, and gave it a wave and a shrug. If there was something wrong with it, it wasn't obvious: no charred housings or sparking wires.
She'd finally decided to back off, grab her phone, and wake Michael when the lights were cut and all hell broke loose.
Her eyes didn't have time to adjust. She was nightblind and only had sounds to guide her.
The snarling quickly crescendoed into lunging and attacking. Noel took a knee. A grunt. Male. There was a loud yelp of pain from one of the dogs and a spatter of something hot hit Noel's face.
Oh. Oh no.
A body smacked into her arm where she'd been trying to reach toward the nearest wall. He tumbled over her, clearly not expecting her to be where she was.
Somehow she knew that whoever he was, he was just as night blind as she was.
Posted by Noel on Jan 8, 2021 19:28:35 GMT -6
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What was she looking for?
"The usual." She literally could not care less if he played phone games. Anyone stupid enough to break into this facility deserved what they would inevitably get.
Unfortunately she didn't see anything unusual with a quick scan. She had a feeling, though, and couldn't be dissuaded.
"I think I'll take the dogs out." Alone. In the dead of night. In only her jammies, hoodie, and the boots left by the door. Totally normal, but she'd heard the dogs stirring at the sound of her voice in the Ranger's office where they sometimes got banished when they got too rambunctious. They were both a good excuse and defense, being the size of small bears.
The plus side of their sometimes banishment? Now the office was dog tested, baby proofed.
"You can watch on the monitors just in case." Noel gave her best 'you can't really say no' smile and went to leash up the pups.
Less than three minutes later, the ghost of Noel's breath drifted behind her as she did her best to steer. It was juuuust nippy enough to make her regret not stopping for a heavier coat, but she was worried that too much time had passed. Already, if there had been anything, likely it was now nothing.
"What do you think, girls?" Noel led them around the perimeter and watched them get excited about nothing in particular over and over again, until they suddenly got so excited that they nearly yanked Noel’s arm off.
Back at security, Noel was visibly pulled off screen by the dogs and didn’t appear on the next expected camera view.
Posted by Noel on Jan 4, 2021 23:28:24 GMT -6
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Noel could feel the rims of her eyes were dry from being open, but closing them somehow only made them itchier. She rolled for the third time and didn’t feel any better. The clock held a steady 3:3- the last digit being eclipsed by Michael’s elbow. If she lifted her head again to check and the last digit STILL hadn’t changed, Noel was going to throw something. Instead she rolled the opposite way, tipping out of bed as carefully as she could manage.
She had pills to make her not puke, pills to make her have enough iron, pills for brain formation or something, pills to make up for the side effects of some of those earlier ones, and most importantly pills to make her calves stop twitching. Those were the ones she desperately needed now as the near constant twinging left her legs restless and wrung out.
There were a surprising number of things to be worried about when you had a parasite.
Noel knocked back the obscenely large leg twitch pill and caught some motion out of the corner of her eye. Something outside was moving at this ungodly hour. In the city that never sleeps, that wasn’t unheard of, but this was a less than reputable side of town, and she was feeling more than her share of awake.
It was possible that paranoia was one of those side effects, but whatever. She grabbed her zip up hoodie and was sure to be quiet when she closed the door behind her.
Noel wasn’t active duty SUPER at the moment. She wasn’t exactly showing, more like she just felt like an overstuffed sausage and her fat jeans no longer buttoned. It was all happening a lot faster than she wanted, but then… they sorta thought it’d been cancer at first.
She had been forced to tell the truth to her superiors when she’d thrown up at the scene of the de-aging crack down so there would be no more chasing down bad guys for a long while. Maybe ever.
She still had her job as a glorified lie detector and there was no better interrogator than a psychic, but that was… well, that wasn’t ideal. She felt terrible that she’d been recruited for field work and already she’d screwed that up.
She was nothing more than an easy bake oven now…
”Hey.” Noel kicked the leg of the night time Tedward’s chair and he snorted out of his focus on his jewel matching phone game. His name was something boring: Steven or Phteven or something. ”Can you bring up the outside security cameras?”
Posted by Noel on Jul 30, 2020 12:10:02 GMT -6
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Noel watched Michael retreat into some serious introspection as he processed the possibility of him giving birth. It hit a little bit more realistically after their week-long walk in one another’s shoes and she appreciated that he took it seriously. Except… Sometimes he was absurd to the point where Noel had no alternative. She had to smile, maybe even laugh while she rolled her eyes or shook her head. But the very act loosened something in her chest. Ultimately, with the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder, all obstacles were insignificant.
Noel swapped her cone for his since they were both getting low and they hadn’t yet managed to share. If she didn’t do it now, it was never gonna happen.
”I appreciate the earnesty. Realistically, it’s not likely that you’ll suffer that part, but a girl can dream.” And a girl could scheme. The problem was they still had no idea on the why or how it happened. She had time. She’d make a note...
Noel nibbled at Micahel’s cone, the smell and taste weren’t unpleasant but it was lilac colored and she didn’t trust it. At the same time the flavor was weird in an I-can’t-stop-eating-it kind of way.
> “...After y’r cleared f’r active duty… I can take a step back..”
”That’s stupid. You’re bulletproof.” Sort of. She glanced around, but the store wasn’t busy in the least. Still, she leaned forward so that she wouldn’t be shouting things like ‘hey we’re mutants!’ ”I don’t think this is solvable now. I just can’t imagine what’s realistic for ‘after.’ All I can think about is the me part of after. There’s a third thing to worry about now. Or when we get there.” That was something she had to continuously remind herself of. That big question mark would affect everything.
Somehow this was a bit deja vu. Should Noel be taking Micahel’s hand? Putting it in her mouth? She leaned back, confused at where that mental image came from.
”What possessed you to get this?” It tasted like grandma’s soapy fruit loops and it somehow made her want to sneeze in her brain.
Posted by Noel on Jul 29, 2020 17:42:27 GMT -6
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Dec 21, 2021 8:26:40 GMT -6
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Yeah? Yeahhhhh. There was a surgery for that instead, wasn't there? Maybe they could schedule this sort of thing. Noel crunched her cone determined to plow through her ice cream so she could start typing up questions.
"You know if it's not such a big deal, maybe you should do that part. Have we gotten to the place where we can seahorse a dude? Maybe you should bake this bun." She was teasing, but the idea was a lot like offloading the wedding. If Michael were in charge of it, would she be as happy as he was? He could still walk away at any time. Not that she thought he would. But the option was there. She did not have that luxury. Noel resolved to bonk whatever needed bonking to swap. Maybe the wedding would do it. A wedding worked last time.
And maybe Michael had seen the scheming about work that was happening behind her eyes. Even without having to directly state her plans out loud, he ferreted out the heart of the issue.
"It's not- I'm not scared of desk duty. I just don't want to be useless. I need to be doing stuff and I don't think it's unreasonable to want to do the one thing I can do. I'd be just as nervous if I broke a leg, I think, except legs heal. And we know this broken leg is happening ahead of time. And we're not planning on it going away afterwards." Maybe she was mixing her metaphors or being melodramatic, but the broken leg thing was feeling more and more accurate. No autonomy. No way of escaping what was attached to you.
Was she going to have to quit? How was that going to work with two people in dangerous jobs?
"Plus I'm gonna get fat." She did hesitate before taking another bite of her cone, but it didn't stop her entirely.
Posted by Noel on Jul 29, 2020 15:23:26 GMT -6
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Dec 21, 2021 8:26:40 GMT -6
Ghost
Cannon salutes were strictly frowned upon in city limits. She didn't have to read the rules to know that much was true. So that was likely best that formality would be left off of their nuptials. His realization about what "simple" meant cranked up the nerves again.
"I'm assuming—maybe falsely,—that your own wedding would be the one time you're serious?" She couldn't even say it without it being a question. They'd sort of botched Sideshow's wedding. It hadn't been for a lack of seriousness, but they were going to screw this up too, weren't they?
And in the long line of things they were screwing up... now they were adding a child.
Noel realized that she'd been reading and rereading the same line for a while now. She set the pamphlet down and slid it over to Michael so he could read some of it for himself. It was that, or risk ruining her appetite for ice cream. She had her priorities.
"This is unreal. I can't believe we're doing this. That that is gonna have to happen." She stabbed a finger at the "head engaged" diagram that marked the "Labor & Giving Birth" section. Like, the bones were recognizable, but the everything else looked really terrible for everyone involved. Noel was going to continue to ignore the whole "family" thing. Or maybe she'd need to rent some movies or something. The idea of her mothering something was laughable in a despair kind of way. Not even her dog looked at her as an authority figure.
"The FAQ says this cooking a baby thing takes 40 weeks. We're 9 weeks in? Geez. That's almost into the second part. I think most of the limitations kick in for the last one." How long could she hide it? How long could she pretend it wasn't happening to her?
