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.
Again, he wasn't wrong. She had a few brief forays here and there into what regular people did, but she always tended to ruin it one way or another. She absolutely agreed that her experience so far hadn't been at all an authentic representation of new York like for those without stupid piles of money.
She sat there in her too-small seat and poked her manicured fingernails together in silence, more than confirming that he was right. It didn't help that she'd actually forgotten who had pumped gas, and the realization that she still effectively didn't know how cemented her sudden dour mood.
"No, you're right. I got so distracted I forgot you did all the work."
Was she a little sad that the drive was over? Yes. Simon seemed... normal. Someone who could get excited as a car as a gift. Someone who seemed smart and level-headed.
All that waited for her inside was fancy wine and a stern talking to like she was five.
"I don't know, I've never walked it."
She was puzzling over what he'd said about pizza and hotdogs. She'd never actually eaten a hotdog. The fancy versions her mother had cooked up for her didn't count. Hardly even looked like the real thing!
"...Say... would you happen to know any places like that?"
Instead of getting out, which she probably should have done because it was his car now, she turned back to look at him.
"I don't... Truth be told I've always been nervous to try a lot of the stuff other people do all the time. It's kinda embarrassing when you don't... ya know... know how to pump gas and stuff. I try not to let on all of the stuff I haven't done yet. It'd be nice to try, though."
Ack! He'd gotten it right on the nose his very first try. Did she need to be more.. um... vague? No, wait, that was the opposite of what she needed.
She was tempted to stick her tongue out and shrug helplessly, but... he went on and the direction it took just made her sad. The idea that a city could ruin a person just from some of the people living in it? Depressing!
Leah pouted. Full-on pout with bottom lip poked out and all. Not only did that sound boring, what he was suggesting, it was also something she had heard a million times over.
"See... I hate that kinda thing though. I thuroughly dislike the idea of living in some bubble away from everyone else, where it's safe and nothing goes wrong. Because that's not real. There will always be things I don't like. Some mean comment, or someone who doesn't have good intentions. I just can't let it get to me."
She fixed her gaze on him and sighed. "If I had stayed in my own circle, as I have been told to do many times, I... wouldn't be me."
She thought of all of the people she had met after high school, who weren't as rich as her or were flat out poor, who she had gone on to have some of her very first actual friendships with. She thought of when she'd gotten her first tattoo done, and how she'd adamantly chosen to sneak out to get it done at a parlor in the city vs having some celebrity artist come do it. She'd like the real connection she'd felt like she'd made with that shop, and how the advice and talent hadn't seemed at all subpar to anything else... it was just in a shadier part of the city. She'd gone on to get all of her work done there. She thought about all of the different parts of the world she'd been too with various partners, and what life looked like in other places.
"... I know I'm naive when it comes to a lot of stuff because of the buffer my wealth has put up, but I'd like to work around it. I'd rather be down here; My parents can have their cloud castle. I like the cement and dirt."
She never would have set foot in Hexe's and hoe's if she hadn't broken out of that gilded cage. Some of her best friends worked there!
"Besides, I love seeing how absolutely flabbergasted my parents are whenever I tell them about some new thing I've done." She clapped her hands together. "Now I can tell them that I've both driven a car by myself, and put gas in it!"
Cinnamon roll? Daw! Leah blushed cutely, fully embracing it. She was pretty sweet, with a little bit of spice, wasn't she?
"You're right, let me correct myself; People tend to get nervous around me when they figure out who my parents are. Nobody wants to accidentally insult the only daughter of the Williams'... so everybody just defaults to approaching me with kiddie gloves on. I much prefer 'Young lady' over 'Miss Williams' anyway."
She shuffled awkwardly in her seat to get a bit more comfortable and to try and keep her knees from pressing into the glovebox anymore.
"What do I do?" Leah blinked her long pretty lashes and very briefly pondered on pulling out the old 'I'm an accountant' card. He did say he was 90 and a lot of older folks tended to balk at her when she told them what she did for a living.
Buuuut... she hated lying and didn't feel like her chosen career was anything to be ashamed of. That always left her in an awkward position of trying to weigh someone else's comfort with her own... and she didn't often win that battle.
"I'm a dancer." She answered, already thinking about how it wasn't technically a lie. She loved dancing of all types and had a background steeped in it. Memories of all the competitions she'd been in when she was younger and a slew of social dances flew through her mind in a pleasant buzz of mental commotion, with only a hint here or there of poles and lights and thumping club music mixed between.
"I'm also a partial owner of a club and my parents regularly throw money at me all the time. This car was a birthday gift from my father after he heard that I liked how they looked. I own two others."
She smiled happily, amused at how silly her parents could be when they weren't being just the worst.
"I get out... enough, probably. When i'm not working. I just don't get out enough with actual people. Like.. people that aren't paid to be there."
Leah frowned a bit at what he was saying as Simon elaborated on her being 'careless'. He wasn't wrong necessarily, but... she didn't want to live like that.
"I see your point, and I'm not about to try and fault you for it.. but... that's just not who I am? I don't like going around assuming everyone is bad, or out to get me all the time. I know too many people like that and they always seem miserable, if I'm being honest." She shrugged a little and linked her fingers around her knees.
"People are just people. Some will end up disappointing me, yeah. I know that. But I'll deal with it when it happens and not before. I would hate to not help someone because I looked at them and came to some snap judgment about them without hearing their story first."
Her smile was back a flat second later as her thoughts shifted at lightning speed back to more positive things. "I really appreciate your concern about it though, So thank you."
Also, oh goodness look at how much he cared about his new baby! Daww! Leah was absolutely over the moon with his little shows of affection for the car.
She plopped the cool bottle of water on the round side table between his loveseat bed, and the one she had been lounging. She didn't move to sit though.
"Oh, don't even mention it, Hon!" He inquired about the wound being gone, and how long he'd been out. She'd just looked at the time on her phone on the other side of the door. "Only about an hour, max? Heck, maybe even a bit less. I didn't really start keeping track until I'd gotten you in here and settled." She offered a half shrug and propped her hands upon her hips.
As for the wound...
"Well... I hope you don't mind but it looked pretty bad when I found you out in the alley, so I called a friend to come help." She gestured to the seat he had woken up, in case he wanted to sit again.
"A lot of people who get in scuffles around here don't often want to involve the authorities if they can help it." Another shrug. It was just part of the club life. A lot of the wealthier patrons they got didn't want their names hitting the headlines, and the ones that were less wealthy didn't relish the idea of a big hospital bill.
"I was pretty worried, too! Luckily that friend I know can patch people up right back to one hundred percent."
After a moment, she offered a hand in his direction. "I'm Leah, by the way. Please to meet you!" Now he was alive and not going to die, she snapped right back into her overtly friendly default.
"Say, do you happen to remember what happened to you? I'll need to tighten security around here if there's some mad slasher running around out there."
Leah hadn't noticed him cautiously avoiding looking at her anywhere but her face. She leaned down a little so that she could see him a bit better through all the mood lighting.
Was it weird waking up in a strip club? Not to her. She was comfortable in her own skin and with her own sexuality, and sadly, sometimes had a hard time remembering that not everyone was so blessed. The thrum of music from the other side of the walls didn't phase her, even though she knew each set by heart and know who out there was currently dancing based on what version of a song was playing.
A deep breath from the sleeping man caught her attention, so she slowly dropped her phone into her lap and watched him with her natural curiosity on high. He gradually came too, seemed to look around where he was, and when he finally turned and looked at her she was prepared with a welcoming smile to-
He almost instantly looked away and Leah blinked. Oh. Okay?
Maybe he was still waking up? It was a bit dark in the VIP room, but with the brights on it was almost too bright, and most of them aimed at the single small stage in the middle of the room. The mystery man at least was awake enough to talk, though. That was good.
"Hexes and Ho's." She responded calmly, fiddling with the little charms that dangled off her phone case. She didn't ogle him when the blanket fell. She spent too much time getting ogled at to feel the need to do that to other people.
... Like, unless there was already a thing going on. She ogled all of her partners as often as possible.
"Right at the foot of your seat, Hon. Would you like me to hand them to you? I'm no medical professional, but you just got healed from a pretty nasty wound."
She still wasn't sure who this man was. He'd been too far away for her to peg him as a patron right off the bat, but close enough that him ending up in their access alley made her wonder.
She shifted a little, the idea that he might want some space to get dressed popping into her head. Leah stood and collected her heels, pausing before leaving to give him a soft, but critical look. "I'll give you a minute to get dressed. If you need any help I can send one of the boys in here to help you, if you'd prefer? I'm pretty sure Blaize would be able to come help." Leah tapped her bottom lip with one long, pointed nail. "I'll bring you a cold bottle of water too, alright? Be back in a sec!"
She made her exit to give him a moment, dropped her tall heels off in the back for some three-inch ones, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and spent exactly two minutes loitering around outside the VIP room door before re-entering.
"I'm back!" Hopefully, she'd given him enough time to get dressed. She hated to think she'd bust in on him mid-way through!
She stepped in through the tall doorway, paused there with the bottle of water in her hand, and offered a friendly smile.
It was a typical night and she had stepped outside to run to the road, where a very patient delivery woman was waiting in her car with a whole armful of bags with all sorts of coffee and drinks. She had a tendency to spoil all of the other dancers, and those working behind the scenes, whenever she was on shift. She couldn't help it! It was hard to see so many people working their tails off and not want to make sure they were all doing okay. And, even if some wanted coffee, hydration was super important!
She turned, arms full of bags, and started to head back. Leah got about halfway before a sound reached her ears and she paused. She knew that sound well. Many patrons, and some newie dancers, often overdid it with the drinks and ended up out in the alleys and on the sidewalk, or in the bathrooms. She sighed, but couldn't ignore it. Someone was clearly not having a good time and she needed to make sure they were okay. Maybe call a cab if it was a customer, or help one of her co-workers up to one of the empty suites.
She set the bags down off to the side by the brick wall and hustled toward where the sound had come from. "Hellooo? You alright over here?" Leah spotted the person, seemingly passed out, and oof... she did not like what she saw.
A big cut? Some kind of huge wound clean through his clothes and down his back. He seemed to be visibly smoking, which didn't bode well either.
Her heart leapt into her throat and after a moment of collecting herself, she surged into action.
Off went the six-inch heels. She abandoned them without a care to one side and dropped to her bare knees beside the man. He was super out of it, but still appeared to be breathing so... that was good, right?
"Hang in there hon... I'll get you patched up in a jiffy, okay?"
As carefully as she could she hefted him up in her arms, only struggling a little to find balance with his weight, and then rushed as quickly as she could back to the club.
She got him into an empty VIP room and one of the other dancers brought her her phone. She dialed the first person she could think of to help. A little green woman who was sweet as pie and had the most adorable brown blush. Leah knew she could trust her with this, and that the guy would be whole again in no time.
A while later the man was healed, maybe a bit sore, and tucked comfily into the cushions of one of the large love seats in the room.
... He was also naked as the day he'd been born. The doc had been adamant about everyone being out of the room while she healed him, and when Leah had been allowed back in he was covered with a thin blanket. The Greek left her then, hurrying out with that adorable blush in place, and Leah was alone with the mystery man.
He still hadn't woken up yet and she was starting to wonder if she'd made the wrong choice in how to try and care for him. Maybe she should have handed him off to authorities?
... she would have spent the whole night worrying, though!
Leah sipped at her now cold coffee, lounging in a chair not too far away from the man. She hadn't bothered to change out of her outfit of the night. Why would she have? She was as comfortable in it as if it were a t-shirt and sweats. A black net tube top with pasties to cover... things. Black fishnet arm covers that connected behind her shoulders with a chain, which hung down to the black and attached to the sequin-covered short shorts she was wearing, with intentionally ripped fishnets under them. She didn't have her shoes on yet, but they were there. Sitting on the floor off to the side of her crossed legs.
Her hair was still tied back in two tight, blonde braids, and she still had her very elaborate stage makeup on, including cutesy pink hearts on her cheeks and deep red lipstick.
Leah, if you asked her, would describe herself in a variety of ways, but 'Observant' wasn't often one of them. She was an easily distracted person and tended not to err on the side of caution like she probably should have.
Thus, she wasn't even aware that she was being followed. Her head was in the clouds as she scrolled through pictures on Speedigraph for what kind of coffee she wanted. It had been a while since she'd gotten something fancy and posted a picture of it. Surprisingly, people had been asking.
The streets weren't exactly crowded, nor were they empty. She stuck out like a sore thumb as she walked regardless. Not many people were naturally as tall as her.
The two men following her waited for a break in foot traffic before ultimately deciding to make their move. Leah was just about smack in the middle of one block, unaware and still engrossed in her phone. They thought about running up for a purse snatching but recalled that she'd had money in her phone case too. Not to mention the various expensive brands she was wearing.
"Hey Lady!"
She looked up, blinked, and stopped walking to turn and see who's shouted. They both produced knives, and held them aloft in what she was going to assume was supposed a threatening manner.
"Hand over all your money and jewelry!"
Leah blinked. Then she turned fully and dropped her phone from her face, propping her other hand upon one hip. "I don't wear jewelry?"
They paused, not having expected her to... not react? "...uh... hand over all your cash then, stupid!"
Her nose wrinkled. "Excuse you, that's pretty rude!" Dealing with horrible attitudes was one of her least favorite things.
"Lady, do you wanna get stabbed??" Usually, women screamed or tried to run. Occasionally one would fight back. They didn't often get... whatever this was.
The bigger of the two decided to approach and just make a grab for her purse himself, knife out and lifted toward her in a warning.
"Gross." Steph muttered, unable to help herself when it came to expressing her bigoted views about mutants. She came from a circle where everyone she knew felt the same and they were all empowered enough by each other that vocally expressing such thoughts hardly phased them at all.
It was really super sad. Leah liked to think that everyone had the potential to grow past the various issues that each person inevitably would have, but more and more people from her own social circle wore on that belief whenever they could. She was starting to think Steph was a bit of a lost cause.
The tall woman dropped 400$ on top of the three large bills already on the table. She didn't even need to say anything, seeing as the performer himself offered a few comments of his own. Steph huffed loudly, pulled her giant sunglasses back down and turned on her heel to stomp away.
"Hope you have fun with the riffraff, Leh! I hope you don't end up in a dumpster!"
Leah watched her leave and the smile she'd kept up gradually faded. Not for her leaving necessarily, but just for the sad fact that she was so opposed to thinking differently about her views that she'd rather just leave and take their security detail with her. Leah already knew she'd be hopping into a car at the edge of the street and within moments she'd be gone.
Sigh a sigh, she turned back to the table and the performer and the gathered crowd, and mustered up a smile again. best not to ruin his whole gig by letting the impromptu drama end on a downtick!
"Well, this was fun! I should probably stop though because I really am absolute rubbish at games like this. It's so hard to pay attention to where the cards go!" She chuckled and slid her purse back behind her. "Thanks for letting me steal the show for a moment, and I'm so sorry for Steph. She's... problematic at the best of times!" The tall girl slid her own sunglasses back into place and took a step back, gently going about making a plan for her own exit over the heads of all those gathered.
"Have a good rest of your day!"
It didn't take much to make a path out to the empty sidewalk. People tended to naturally step out of her way for the most part just due to her size alone.
Of course... now what was she supposed to do with the rest of her day? Shopping all by herself was just... boring. She didn't quite feel like calling a driver to head home yet, though. Maybe another coffee?
Leah didn't notice that two of those gathered around the card table left the same time she did, obviously following her from a was back.
Oh goddess, he always had a way of getting the blood going, didn't he? She had a soft spot for baddies, and for Raijin in particular. People who just oozed confidence as he did were just addicting.
Her cheeks were already heated just from his touching her and the way he'd said what he had. The first aid kit was all but forgotten right there and then as he drew her in and she willingly let herself go.
Man, she just loved how dark and stormy his eyes were~
--
Once more she reminded tucked in the covers as he got up, content with basking in the after feelings and the relief that her muscles were feeling after another long session. There was something so very pleasant after getting lovebites all over, as the slight pain ebbed away and all that was left were tingles.
She watched him through her lashed, on the cusp of the nap she'd been cheated out of earlier, and offered a lazy smile back.
Ninety years old? Woah! That was pretty neat, or.. well, she hoped it was? She supposed I might not be super enthused about it depending on his personality. Leah decided not to comment on it and shifted to a different part of the conversation. "I don't mind! I love nicknames. A lot of people are afraid to call me anything cutesy when they figure out who I am."
She twirled a lock of hair around one finger, not really reacting to the whole ransom thing. Her parents were paranoid about it, yeah, but she tried not to think about it. Normal people didn't run around wondering when they were gonna be kidnapped, right?
"I mean, yeah, it's definitely a thing other people in my position worry about a lot, but... I don't know, I just don't think like that? I'd really hate to fall into a pattern of just being paranoid all the time. Constantly looking over my shoulder and all that. I have cousins who are like that and honestly, they just seem miserable all the time. Cooped up in their big houses and too afraid to actually live."
She shrugged and decided not to think about it anymore. "I'd rather go about doing what I do and meeting interesting people when I have a chance. Like you! If I hadn't decided to try and drive myself I never would have met you." She flapped a pampered hand in the air a moment later. "Besides, my parents almost always have someone tailing me just to make sure I don't get in trouble. There's a 70% chance we are being followed currently, and I'll get chewed out later for being "needlessly careless"."
He wasn't wrong but that didn't really help the situation a whole lot. She snorted awkwardly through her nose, running a hand through her disheveled hair, and then wiggled her fingers in her own face. A calming charm slipped into place over herself, and with it, the raw edges of her nerves soothed enough for her to feel like she could walk and talk without making a mess of herself.
It helped that Rai didn't seem adverse to her wanting to help with his wounds. It made her feel useful and gave her something to distract herself with. She seemed to slip back into a slightly muted form of her normal self, and turned with him to head toward the stairs back down.
At the bottom, two more bodies. Both equally changed from the drug and very very dead. She made a face at them but offered no comment, and honestly couldn't help but stare at the guy who'd turned into a bunch of bladed limbs. He looked like a monster from a video game! Yuck!
She left them in through the destroyed doorway, through the hall with scorch marks and drips of blood, and her mood shifted a little toward being angry all over again. Yeah, they'd died, but looking at the evidence it certainly looked like they'd gotten the fight they'd wanted, didn't it?
Sigh.
She paused briefly to get someone else on the task of getting everything sorted out with the mess outside, and led the way back up to her lift with Raijin on her heels.
"I'll meet you at the bed!" She split ways just inside her door to go get her own personal first aid kit, and then shuffled out to meet him there.
....and damn her poor soft heart. She really hated seeing blood on him, even if he didn't seem to mind. He'd never been anything but sweet to her.
She had a warm, wet rag in one hand, the softest she could find, and she settled herself nice and close in so that she could wash the blood off of him.
"Just tell me if I'm being too ruff, alright?" She doubted he would. Her gentle prodding probably wouldn't even phase him.
He accepted! Yessssss! Also, he was just as jazzed about getting the car as she had hoped he'd be! So much so that he totally forgot about his own car, which was still sitting at the pump completely forgotten. She didn't bother mentioning it, but fished her phone out and sent a text out for someone to come tow it for him before the real tow sharks spotted it and tried to suck hundred of dollars out of him to get it back.
Leah clambered into the passenger side seat, rolled the seat as far back as it would go, and wedged her long legs on in. He asked her about, well... her, and why she was the way she was, as she buckled herself in. She offered a wide grin, "I've been surrounded by huge putz's my whole life, so I had a lot of great examples of how not to be?"
He'd spy a few little snippets of memories of suck people as they flew through her mind. All glaring examples of her life growing up being wholly dissatisfied with other people who were supposed to be role models in her life.
After she was settled and he asked for directions, she geared her phone's GPS up again and plopped it into the little vent phone holder so he could see and hear it better as they drove. Once he started the car it purred to life as if it had just been picked up from the lot. There wasn't a scratch or a hint of wear and tear anywhere that he'd be able to see.
Once they were actually on the road, she angled a look his way and crossed her arms behind her head. It wasn't a horribly long drive, but enough for a chat at least. "So what's your story? You keep calling me 'young lady' and said that your friend's dad had had one of these when you were younger, so... I get the feeling you've got some interesting tales to tell. If you don't mind that is! Don't let me get away with prying if it makes you uncomfortable."
She was a naturally curious person, and he'd certainly caught her attention. He reminded her of all the old stuffy people she knew, but without all the stuffiness. Just some of the cute mannerisms.
Steph reacted like he'd spit on her, just from the compliment that left his mouth. She didn't even know if it was a backwards or sarcastic compliment, either. The spoiled young woman just didn't like people with less status than her looking at her in ay sort of way. "As if!"
Leah has earned his attention though, and she was more than willing to take the spotlight for a moment to try to make up for Steph's attitude. "No change needed, hon."
Steph was uncomfortable with how friendly Leah was with average folk on a good day, let alone winged ones with weird eyes. "Leh, you're being silly. You know you can't fin-"
Leah waited exactly one second for the winged boy to finish shuffling the cards, turned and looked Steph in the eyes with that same kind smile on her face, and blindly poked one.
"Oops! Silly me. What if I got it wrong? Darn. Guess I better try again? That alright, hon?" She tilted her head out as she fished another few bills out, this time setting 200$ on the table. "Second times a charm, right?"
If it wasn't super obvious that she didn't care if she lost the money when Steph leaned in and tried to tug the taller woman away she figured she might as well make it super clear.
"Leh! Stop, you're just giving money to people who are probably going to spend it on-"
"Oh, Hon, I don't care who spends their money or on what. Once I have it over, it's not mine anymore, you know?"
She gently, but firmly removed the shorter girl's hand from her arm and angled a very sad look her way. "And you should know that every time something mean comes out of your mouth, I'm just going to have to put more and more money down.
Her phone case was tucked away, and she slid her small purse to the front and dug her actual wallet out, which still had all the money she had been planning on spending on clothes in it.
If the cards were reshuffled again by that point, she'd reach out and poke another one blindly, thoroughly enjoying as Steph's pretty face turned a lovely shade of red. She didn't like that they had a literal audience of people poorer than her watching on as she got scolded. "Hmm, I dunno... maybe this one? I'm not nearly as good at this as you are Steffani." You bratty cheat.
"You are so childish, Leah!"
"Ope! Was that a mean thing? That probably counts." She slid 4 fresh hundred dollar bills out of her wallet and hummed to herself.
"Oooooh... a street performer? I want to see!" Leah was on a mission, and while she probably could had stood back and just watched from a few bodies back seeing as she was at least a head taller than everyone gathered, but... where was the fun in that?
Her much shorter companion snorted loudly and rolled her eyes behind her big Gucci sunglasses. "Really? A street performer? Leah, your standards are too low."
The tall blonde whipped back around to wrinkle her nose at her companion, a girl named Steph that she'd used to go to high school with, with who she'd been pressured into a shopping date by her mother. "Oh, I'm pretty sure my standards are right where I like them to be, Hon."
Steph blinked, wrapping her plump lips around the straw for iced coffee. "... You want low standards??"
"If it keeps me from having to deal with people like you, sure," Leah muttered while slipping fully to the front so she could see the table and artist more closely. They were called artists, right? Like... sleight of hand and human magic and stuff? Meh, she didn't care. She'd consider just about anything someone put loads of time and practice into an art form.
Steph pushed her way to the front as well, but a lot less politely and with an air of disgust that she had to be so close to commoners. "What's the point of this, even?" The brunette grouched while making sure to clutch her purse closer to her like someone was going to steal it any moment.
Leah full-on pouted at her and reached up to take her big, rainbow-hued sunglasses off. Contrary to her... friend, she was relaxed and didn't seem to have a problem with any one of the people around them. It always amazed her how terrified of losing their money most of her family acquaintances were.
Steph scrutinized the cards in a calculating sort of wall, all business, as the winged male shuffled them. Leah on the other hand was immediately distracted by said wings and their movement. She happened to be exactly the target this kind of gig worked on most often.
"Ooooh~" Was that a guitar she spied? Neat! She didn't know how to play anything but a bit of piano, which had failed when her mother realized she didn't have the attention span for it. Someone cried out that there was cheating afoot, and that drew her attention back in.
Wasn't that like... sorta the point? Wasn't the whole idea that you needed to be tricky and pull the wool over someone's eyes to win? Maybe she had the wrong idea about street 'magic'.
Steph muttered something unkind under her breath about the obvious mutant among them, and Leah's eyes snapped over to her. How absolutely rude!
"I don't even get what the big deal is. It's not that great of a trick anyway. I could find the dumb card immediately."
"Steph don't you da-" Leah was too late.
The winged entertainer had just shuffled the cards, and immediately Steph slapped down a 20 and pointed an immaculately manicured finger at the queen. She had just the most cruel smirk on her face for thinking she'd just ruined his little trick, though she had also helpfully pointed out that the queen was indeed on the table and he wasn't actually cheating.
Leah was the only one aware that Steph had used a spell to figure out which card it was, and she just siiiighed. Steffani really just was the worst sometimes.
She dug out a crisp 100 from her phone's wallet case and set it down, angling a cheerful smile Steph's way. "Wow, you made that look so easy! I think I'd like to try too!"
Then she turned and made direct eye contact with the table's owner. "Would that be okay? Can I try next?"
Okay, so... she'd seen that sh*t in movies, obviously. Samurai flicks were super popular through various stages of her life, especially in cartoons. So she had of course seen something strikingly similar to this play out before, in a multitude of ways, and from a very early age.
But never in person, on a real live human being.
Raijin seemed to notice her stress and for a moment she was caught off guard that he was even checking her over. The switch from riled up and deadly to calm and concerned would have been a red flag if she didn't already know him... but she did. She'd heard stories about all of his tattoos, the marks on his hip and hand, and various other little things he was comfortable enough to share since she tried not to pry.
She was aware of how dangerous he was, and she had mentally visualized various things with him involved since the day she had met him... but seeing it in the flesh was different. It twisted her guts in a way she hadn't ever experienced before, and she didn't like it.
Funnily enough, it was still pretty easy not to blame him, Rai, for it either. Harvey had attacked first, and from what she had seen earlier in the club the guards he had hired had probably attacked Raijin first as well, once she was out of sight.
"...I'm fine." It was hard to get any power behind her voice, but she tried. Even though it was overwhelming and gross, and... so, so many other things, she didn't want to make this about her. It wasn't about her in the slightest. "I'm not hurt, I've just never seen a.. uh..."
She tore her eyes away from Harvey's body, already trying to organize things in her head for what to do next. She needed to call the police and her lawyer, and probably Harv's parents or their lawyer. Oh lord, she needed to tell Jen at some point.
Her eyes zeroed in on the wounds he had, which seemed to have stopped bleeding but were very visible and raw, and she jumped on that as a distraction to think of something other than the dead man she'd used to know, who'd fallen victim to his own problems.
"Oh hon, you're bleeding! Are you alright?" She stood fully and was rather proud of the fact that she didn't wobble on her feet. "I've got a medical kit in the dressing rooms. Do you want me to clean you up?"
