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.
As the two pairs met up, Will was getting the distinct feeling that the pair of people he and Quin had walked up to were not having as calm a morning as he was. Sure, he was running on too little sleep and the jittery energy of residual anxiety from the chaos of yesterday, but he'd stepped out of bed (couch, really) with the belief that things were going to be easy and smooth today. Tarin and Lee did -not- seem to have that same disposition. It was subtle things. Tone. Body language. The overheard bits of the discussion about problems involving magic, mystics and guards. The way Lee swore aloud when she discovered Quin hadn't talked with Michael today. Y'know, -very- hard to catch things.
Will had just enough time to try to digest all that and start to think about formulating an excuse to not be there anymore when the other person with Lee said something.
Spirits? Right. Lee had said something about someone she knew, and ghosts and...
And then they were there. Even with the warning, Will nearly jumped out of his skin, teeth gritting and muscles tensing. He was not used to being snuck up on, and for someone or something to be so utterly not there to be so completely there wasn't something he'd experienced before. He stared, openly, hearing but not quite parsing the words that were directed at himself and Quin, his brain taking a few seconds to catch up while he forced his heart to slow down and unclenched his jaw.
Good in a fight? Explain on the way?
Will's curiosity was locked in a pitched battle with his natural tendency to stay far -far- away from trouble. Normally, he'd follow his gut and give some sort of excuse to duck out and away. If this was what it sounded like, he was pretty sure he couldn't outrun or hide from the trouble if things went completely south for everyone involved, at least if what Ranger had been talking about was even half true.
"Uh. Well," Will finally managed to tear his gaze away from the specters, turning his head to raise an unsure eyebrow at Quin. She knew Lee more than he did, surely. And, maybe this other person too? This felt an -awful- lot like sticking their neck out where it didn't belong.
"We're sorta headed that direction anyway?" Will said non-committally, as much to Quin and himself as in response to Tarin. It wasn't untrue, at least with the direction Lee and Tarn seemed to be headed. Maybe not the path he'd normally have walked, and... maybe it wouldn't hurt to hear things out?
Quin had taken the words right out of Will's mouth as the man's gaze flicked from Quin to Lee to... the other person standing with Lee. Will hadn't really ever expected to run into Lee again, save maybe another late night run, but he -certainly- didn't expect Quin and Lee to be acquainted. And did Lee know Quin, or... "Archer?". Both? Bah. It was too early and he was too under caffeinated to worry about the semantics.
Following in Quin's footsteps, Will crossed the street towards the pair, raising a hand in a wave as they closed the distance. Looked both ways to see nothing coming down the asphalt and made a quick jaunt across. Huh, light traffic today it seemed, convenient. People by and large were probably still shaken up about yesterday. Will had to wonder if people were bunkering down inside, and how many people called into work. Ah, jeez. He'd never called his boss about the cafe. Well, something to do when they were digging for the laptop then.
"Hey. Fancy runnin' into you again." Will said simply to Lee as they got close enough to speak without shouting. He lowered his waving hand, tucking the thumbs of both hands into his side pockets of his pants. He gave a nod as well to the man standing with Lee in greeting, while he tried to wrack his brain for who they might be. Had Lee said anything when they'd met that night? He remembered mentions of an ex-husband. A kid... Neither seemed to fit here. Well, introductions would happen. Were happening?
He was content though, to let Quin and Lee talk, as they seemed to be the two who knew each other, at least more than his familiarity with anyone here. Besides, he'd caught a few bits of conversation from across the street after he'd caught sight of Lee. Will didn't necessarily like eavesdropping... but he couldn't help it. Both figuratively and literally. He hadn't caught it word for word, but the tone... wasn't light.
Yesterday had been the wildest day of Will's life. Not quite the worst, but, he was in no way in a hurry to repeat another day like it. Caught up in the middle of what seemed like a city gone mad, with mundane thugs and preternatural powered punks alike, all out for... Who even knew? Just for the fun of causing a ruckus, it had seemed. On the other hand, he'd managed to get out of it without much more than a bad cut on his arm and some overworked leg muscles, so he'd been far from unlucky. Frankly, the grit and pebbles that had stubbornly refused to be knocked out of his sneakers were the most troublesome thing at this point.
Will barely remembered falling asleep, and wasn't quite sure how he'd managed to pull himself awake, as groggy as he'd felt starting the day. But somehow he found himself spurred on by the thoughts of doing a good deed. Or at least doing a good deed for the person who'd saved his life yesterday. Or he'd saved hers. Neither of them seemed to be able to come to a proper conclusion on that. Either way, the sooner they went digging through whatever was left of the cafe he worked at with the better, lest Quin's laptop be snatched up or smashed to bits.
Presuming it hadn't been already.
As a result, Will found himself blinking in the natural light, standing just outside of Haven. The grit in his shoes and unfamiliar clothes on his back were a stark reminder of yesterday's mess, but the streets looked otherwise normal and the fresh air was welcome. Bizarre. Between the lived events and the news last night, he'd have thought he'd be seeing smoke rising on the horizon and flashing police lights everywhere. But it hadn't looked like that from the apartment window (which he'd, admittedly, spent a good few minutes staring out this morning), and it didn't look that way down here on the street.
Heck, even if he strained to listen for any trouble he couldn't hear anything. No crashing metal, or shouts of panic. No crackles of fire or emergency sirens wailing. Just the usual noise of traffic and wind and... an oddly familiar voice?
"...ink you can find out what's happe..." was the snippet of a conversation that had managed to reach his ears through the background noise of the city. Will glanced about, trying to get his eyes to find what his ears had picked up. After only a moment of searching, he'd found the person the voice belonged to, standing with someone he didn't know... though it wasn't as thought he was terribly familiar with Lee either. However, Will's gawking threw him off enough that he broke stride, almost stumbling into Quin as they were making their own way.
"Sorry." Will apologized with a sheepish grin to Quin and nodding in the direction of the people across the street that he'd been distracted by. "Jus', think I ran into one of those two a while back. Weird chance encounter, y'know? Funny seein' them again."
As Quin went off to fetch him some bedding in spite of his attempts at protest, Will could only give a little shake of his head. Besides the fact she was already out of the room, he'd learned enough about Quin today that there he knew he wouldn't be able to argue or protest his way to a victory. Besides, he wouldn't be able to fight all that hard, he might not want to ask for much, already taking up space and all, but a blanket and/or pillows wouldn't be something he was about to turn down.
As Quin came back and set down the bundle of bedding with a quip about there being no turn down service, Will wanted to snark back with something clever himself, but couldn't get anything witty to surface through the fuzz of fatigue in his head.* "Yeah, appreciated," were the words that came out instead. Simple, tired and honest.
Will listened as Quin pointed out the rest of the basics. Bathroom there. Kitchen was were they'd left it. She hadn't sat back down, which... made sense. Even as he'd propped himself up before she'd stepped out of the room, he was already slumping more against the back of the couch again. The conversation suddenly felt awkward. Had he missed a cue to say something? He didn't think so.
Before he could figure it out, Quin had already started her way back to her room, bidding him a good night and thanking him. "Same t'you." Was all Will managed to say in reply, and then Quin had closed her door, giving them each a modicum of privacy.
Will pushed himself up to his feet with a little grunt of effort, limbs protesting after being given a chance to rest. He quickly spread out the provided blanket and tossed the pillow to one end of the couch. He took the chance too, to grab the remote and turn off the TV, setting the living room into relative quiet and darkness. Sitting back down, he tugged off his socks and after a moment of thought, his shirt followed. Pants were probably a thing to keep on. No point in embarrassing either of them if Quin was the first up and out and the blanket fell off during the night.
Will's mind was a foggy blur, now that he was left alone with his thoughts. He thought it was funny Quin had thanked him, when she was putting him up and had the friend who'd helped get him a place here. He thought about all the near misses and things that could have happened today. He thought about calling his folks, or turning to social media on his phone, zoning out on binging the coverage of the event today.
Will's body though, outvoted any plans his brain might have. With the dark and quiet around him and the added comfort of the blanket and pillow at hand, he'd wrapped the comforter about him before he'd even realized it. With the idea, however tenuous, that the issue was solved (surely Michael had it covered... right?) and the knowledge he was somewhere safe, -with- someone safe, his head hit the pillow and Will was out like a light.
As Quin nodded in response to Will's comments about being potentially oblivious about such a city wide event, he was glad to hear that she was cut from the same sort of cloth as she replied. Just a chance event that they'd both been in a time and place it'd happened, and if one or two things had gone differently, today might have just been another weird day.
Well, he'd be out of work for at least a few days, if not longer, and Quin would still have to deal with all the.... whatever it was that the city was going to be doing and wherever her position landed in that orbit... But it wouldn't have been this.
”It’s crazy to think….” Will heard Quin say, as she trailed off into a yawn. It reminded him of the fatigue that his brain had been too wound up to pay attention to, but his body clearly was still feeling, as through the newscast he'd slowly been slumping and sprawling out more and more on the couch, more laying than sitting up at this point.
Will had started to prop himself up a bit more, trying not to seem impolite... as though propriety was anything either of them was terrible concerned about right now, when Quin extended again the offer to couch surf, rather than use the bunk in the basement that had been acquired for him.
"Yeah, runnin' on fumes myself, I think." Will agreed with Quin's statement, smiling sheepishly as he slowly straightened up a bit, using the arm slung over the back of the couch for leverage. Jeez, whole body felt like it was made of lead and bruises. Will thought briefly about turning down the offer. It'd be overstepping, right? Plus they'd set aside a spot for him... who knows how short they were on beds?
But... He knew he'd never get to sleep down there. And the idea of being able to cling to -some- amount of normalcy after the day, and to stick close to the person that'd gone through it with him outweighed any flimsy arguments that politeness and manners tried to bring to bear.
"I mean, if it's still on offer, I'd rather not hafta haul myself back downstairs." Will said with a smirk and a chuckle, admitting to at least that much, if not the rest of the reasons for wanting to stay. "I don't need much, promise. An' I don't snore, so don't worry. Be quiet as a mouse"
Will's attention flickered between the slowly de-escalating clips on the TV screen and Quin, as they talked about how certain they were that things were definitely, 100% under control and better now. Admittedly, Quin did bring up a good point, how was someone from that long ago going to be ready for modern day New York? Even without all the super powered folks running about, New York was not the sort of place you could possibly be prepared for. And if you -did- include all the preternaturally powered people running about? The X-men, SUPER, the vigilantes and even just all the mutants that wanted to be left alone? It'd be like sticking your head in a wasp's nest. After you kicked it. Repeatedly.
"No kiddin'" Will replied with a small smirk, trying to put away the tension brought back from the scenes of chaos with some good ol' reliable humor. "Rush hour in New York alone is probably scarier than anything that anyone could have imagined back then... Actually stirrin' up trouble here? Pfft." Will gave an exaggerated scoff, shaking his head. "No chance."
Of course, that sort of thinking conveniently ignored the fact that the person responsible for all the trouble had been using New York's own people against itself, coercing ne'er-do-wells and others on the fringes of the law to take action. Had it been magic? Money? Simply telling people that a lot of others would be causing chaos and that they could do as they wished without repercussions? Dangit. He was letting his brain get away from him again.
Quin went on to ponder aloud about what Michael's thoughts were on the situation, and Will nodded at that in agreement. It'd definitely be good to get the thoughts and opinions from someone who'd been in the thick of it all, and seemingly much more informed than either Quin or Will was. Not to mention, if Michael was a part of SUPER, then no doubt there'd been other bizarre situations or crises that had come up in the past. They hadn't seemed to be too worried about everything. And they'd seemed like the sort of person to be fairly blunt and honest.
"It'd fer sure be nice to get an update from the folks on the ground, y'know, once they're done putting the trouble down." Will said in response to Quin, more or less agreeing with the idea of waiting on reaching out. Probably be rude to call someone when they might be in the middle of stopping a magical army from the past from happening. Maybe? There wasn't really a book on that. Probably.
Will's attention floated briefly back to the TV, the clips of the events that had occurred through the day playing out as the anchors talking in that carefully collected, sanitized way that media tended to. Turning back to Quin, Will spoke up again. "It's weird, seein' it on the screen a little..." he admitted. "Honestly, if I wasn't workin' today, and nothin' happened around my apartment, might not even notice anythin' was happening." That part might have been stretching the truth, no doubt -something- would have caught his ear with the amount of ruckus happening all over the city... But it was odd to think that for a good number of people, that the news was how they'd be learning about the trouble. Lucky them.
Was it a bad idea for them to sticking their noses back into the chaotic events that they had gotten wrapped up in today? Will was no therapist or psychologist, but he was pretty sure nearly dying counted as a traumatic event, and that there were probably appropriate ways to deal with them. He just wasn't sure if getting a street level view of all the other violence and destruction outside of their little slice of peril was it. Was this more like unhealthily picking at a scab? Hurting themselves worse out of curiosity and impulse? Or was this a way for them to stop the worst parts of their imaginations from running wild?
Only one way to find out, probably. And, like Will had said, he probably would have wound up seeing the coverage one way or the other. At least this way he wasn't alone with his thoughts if this leaned more into the scab picking territory.
As the news unfolded, he noticed the same thing that Quin had. Most of what was shown was amateur footage, shot from what were no doubt cellphones and other devices. From far away, zoomed in recordings of rising clouds of dust and smoke, to shaky, panicked videos of people that had been right in the thick of things, who'd still somehow had the presence of mind to start recording the event. Or maybe it was a lack of common sense to just -get away-. Either way, it seemed that the trouble in the city was too much for much of the usual press to break out their cameras and microphones. Will could hardly blame them.
It was, troubling, to see the city in such chaos. But, the majority of the footage seemed to have been from earlier in the day, judging by the lighting. And the bits that trickled in later seemed to be calmer. As the timeline of videos progressed, it was filled more with far away shots of smoke and the aftermath of the fights. Shaky, chaotic videos were instead replaced with videos showing medic stations and other emergency response areas like Will and Quin had been escorted too.
It certainly seemed like, at least by what he could see, that Quin was right, things definitely seemed to be settling down.
Will let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and unclenched the muscles that had been wound tight again as he'd watched the news. Maybe it -was- a little bit self destructive to be watching that after all... but he felt better now, knowing things were largely under control.
Well, except the whole, ancient Egyptian witch thing.
"Yeah. Yeah, looks like." Will replied to Quin, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. Still, it seemed like it would be easy enough to poke their head outside come tomorrow, at least long enough to make an attempt at recovering Quin's laptop. Presuming they could find a ride that way. Would Ryde still be picking people up that soon after a city wide event like that? Prices were probably going to be -bonkers- if they did... "I guess maybe the witch lady underestimated the response she'd be gettin' if things are already calming down."
Napping your way to a clear head and a path forward sounded strange, but... awfully convenient. Then again, looked at from another way, it almost seemed like a way to meditate on a situation. Couldn't get much more of a clear head then when you were sleeping, right? Maybe it was Quin's way of letting all the processing in her head work without thinking getting in the way... Or maybe Will was overthinking things.
"Oh, uh. Fawn?" He asked to clarify as Quin questioned his quick rattling off of various responses to stressful or dangerous situations. "It's..." Will paused, trying to gather up the strands of the information he had on the fact from half remembered conversations and sleepless nights spent idly scrolling through various bits of information. "Well, it's tryin' to appease the person or people causing the problem. Pacify the aggressor and stuff. Not always as applicable to a situation, but..." Will shrugged and gave a sheepish smile as though to apologize for not having a better explanation for word. "Apparently people're more complicated than just punch or run. Who'd have thought, eh?" Will gave a little chuckle at that, slipping back into protective humor.
As he got comfortable on the couch, Will sprawled out more and more as the minutes ticked on, taut muscles relaxing as stress ebbed and was replaced by fatigue that creeped it's way through his body. He raised an eyebrow as Quin fumbled with the remote, switching away from the half-forgotten show that had been on pause the last few minutes? Dozen minutes? Hours? His sense of time had completely gone out the window since getting out of danger, everything seeming to be both happening in minutes but lasting for days.
"Honestly, I was prob'ly gonna be scrollin' through news and social media about this the moment I laid down and pretended like I was goin' to sleep." Will admitted, admitting intentionally to his plans and curiosity about the situation happening in the city, if not the current situation, at least what -had- happened, as well as unintentionally letting slip that he didn't forsee himself being able to easily get to sleep after the events of the day. "So, yeah. S'long as you're up for it?" Will said, his eyes darting between the TV and Quin as she fumbled with the remote.
Sea turtles and trash islands and people who'd been angry about straws years ago... and a few who were still disgruntled about it even to the day... It was all a lot easier to deal with than directly facing what they'd gone through, and what might still be looming on the horizon. Not that the issues with plastic and the like weren't -also- a threat, but it was both somehow more and less real. Far enough away that it wasn't breathing down their necks, but mundane enough that he could wrap his head around it.
Mundane. That was the word for the rest of the issues. Whereas the magic and gods and ancient Egyptian sorceress convincing mutants and meatheads to cause chaos in the city was... Distinctly not mundane. More real? Immediate? There was a word he couldn't find. But though those issues were less ignorable, they were so strange and outlandish it was tough to focus on. And scary enough he didn't want to dwell on it. Like waving your hand over a flame, or glimpsing at the sun. Linger too long and you'll get burned.
And so, sea turtles. And plastic. And avoiding trouble. He was good that that last bit, at least.
Will nodded in understanding as Quin countered his point, that rather than moving from one task to another, she end up with decision paralysis and do nothing at all. Or that if she was totally overwhelmed she'd just... nap? That part seemed a bit strange. But, hey, if it worked. "Didn't realize napping got added to the whole, fight, flight, freeze, fawn thing. Maybe because it doesn't have an easy "F" word to use." Will teased. Faint, maybe? That seemed more involuntary though.
For better or worse, Will wasn't able to get too entangled with that line of thought as Quin brought the both of them back to the events of the day. Magic mummies. Which was a bizarre thing to be talking about, outside of some sort of blockbuster movie or hot new tv series or something. But no, it was their current reality, because of -course- that's how this week would go. "No kidding. Or maybe a cheesy animated series. Saturday morning cartoon type stuff." Will replied. It wasn't as though there hadn't been some amount of Egyptian themed media here and there in the past. Usually something to do with mummies and curses and the like. Hearing that some of it might all have a kernel of truth though was more than a bit startling.
Will pulled his hand away from his sore arm, realizing he was more poking and prodding at it out of stress and idleness at this point than making any productive headway in loosening up any of the muscles, and draped his uninjured arm across the back of the couch again. This was all... a lot. Even if this whole thing went as well as it could, (and he had to assume it would, because what would it mean if there were Egyptian gods and magical royalty walking around?), there was just so much that had been revealed in the last few hours that it was like someone had taken blinders off of him. Magic and mystics. Time shenanigans and sorceresses. People being de-aged. SUPER.
No wonder they'd gotten on other topics.
"Wonder what the media coverage of this is gonna be like. Maybe we were in the worst of it? But... with the way Michael was looking and talking, sounded like we were far from the only ones in trouble."
"Few folks were pretty cranky," Will admitted as Quin joked about their day, as though a few disgruntled customers grumpy over plastic straws being a bit harder to access was comparable to the front of the shop being smashed in and the subsequent attack. It was sort of baffling that they'd been targeted at all, but if the idea was just to cause general trouble, maybe the group Will and Quin had dealt with was just looking for a place with people inside to add to the chaos. Or maybe they'd been hoping to snag some of the gaming merchandise in the scramble? "Maybe that's what today was actually about. Not witches and magic and gods, but a long held grudge against the ban."
Will shook his head in response to Quin asking if there was more she could do for his arm. "Huh? Nah... Just starting to stiffen up a bit. Thanks though." He gave Quin an appreciate smile and pulled his hand away from the wrapped up injury. Probably shouldn't be poking and prodding at it anyway, it was a miracle it had held up during his grappling with the metal mutant and the last thing he needed was to start bleeding all over his new friend's couch.
Quin brought up that they both seemed to be good at getting into deep conversations at a moments notice, or maybe that it was just the pair of them that fell into it. Will didn't think he had a tendency to do it on his own, at least. Or with most other people. Then again, he usually wasn't so candid with other people. Either way, Will nodded his agreement at the statement with a bit of a smirk. "Yeah, guess so, huh?" He agreed, and nodded along with Quin's following statement. "Well yeah, y'know, it's like when you have to do somethin' you don't really want to, so you start workin' on all those other chores you've been putting off."
Will chuckled, shifting his position on the couch to sprawl against the back a little more, good arm stretched out across the top of the back. "Like, y'don't wanna clean out the fridge, so you start sweeping, or you're puttin' off studying, so you start organizing your bedroom." He said, giving a few examples of what he meant. "Same thing. Just, y'know. Magic mummies and world crisises instead."
"And here I thought it was just the electrokinetics that had to worry 'bout bricking their phones." Will teased Quin as she bemoaned the sensitive electronic devices that she'd unwittingly wrecked previously. It did make Will appreciate how lucky he was that his cellphone was still working after getting caught in Quin's... Yank? Pull? Have to come up with a good name for her plastic pulling trick later. Maybe because it was shielded by the countertop? Though the straws had gotten yanked from underneath. Maybe it was the metal bits surrounding the plastic in his phone? Or the little slab of metal, plastic and glass might just be barely holding on. Hard to say. But it was humming along just fine, as far as he could tell.
Quin launched herself into a rather passionate few sentences about plastic, both micro and macro, her enthusiasm taking Will a bit by surprise. Though they did seem to shift between either casual, complacent joking and moments of intensity with little in between. Guess that's what you get for making friends over life threatening situations. Never a dull moment at least. Will nodded as she spoke, either in agreement or understanding, and gave Quin an accepting chuckle as she apologized and even seemed a bit sheepish, cringing at her enthusiasm.
"Nah. Don't worry 'bout it. Honestly, I've heard some of it before." Will commented, though he wasn't able to peel the amused smirk off of his face from Quin's sudden passionate speech. "Workin' at a cafe right by a uni when the city slapped down that plastic straw ban? Heard plenty from both sides 'bout the turtles and more." True, his knowledge about the plastics issue, both micro and macro was more information gleaned second-hand from conversations that he'd either been subjected to unwillingly or overheard without intending to, but there was still a lot he'd absorbed through osmosis those first few months when it was such a hot topic.
"Folks were usin' the ban for a launching off point for essays and projects for a while, an' regulars liked to get our opinions on it." Will explained, giving a little shrug and grin, idly rubbing at his sore arm, the muscles feeling like they'd knotted into a solid block now that the adrenaline of the day had completely drained away and everything had time to settle. Jeez, he wasn't gonna be getting much use out of his left arm for the next couple days. "Boss didn't mind us speakin' our piece, which was nice, but it's not 'zactly like I'm a fount of knowledge on the issue, y'know? Like, yeah, plastic straws are probably wasteful, but paper ones... kinda suck too. Issues just -bigger- than straws, honestly... An' there's plenty that plastic does we -can't- do with other stuff."
Will paused, smiling sheepishly as he realized he was getting a little caught up in Quin fervor himself. Plus, it wasn't as though he didn't have opinions of his own on the matter, but like a lot of things, he generally felt like the issue was too big, too complex to know how to go at it. Quin might have joked about having not gotten into politics between them yet, but it was become fairly clear they weren't likely to find much friction there. "S'complicated. Straws are a drop in the bucket. But there's a lotta one-use plastic crud we should really be shuttin' down... But we also don't really have a substitute yet? But probably only cause we haven't been lookin' cause plastic's cheap."
Quin's question about how he knew what was what when it came to making changes to people's senses. A part of him wanted to scoff and tell her it was obvious. But... he didn't really know why it was obvious. The sensory map, or galaxy of threads, or whatever one would call it that he could 'see' when he tapped into someone's senses wasn't exactly like anything he'd seen before, or could even really properly describe. But some part of him knew, at least in broad strokes, what went where and what did what. The feedback did the rest. It was all the tiny, minute threads that gave him pause, or the ways things might interact if he really started pushing things out of order.
As such, it took him a moment to respond, a puzzled look on his face when he finally did. "I... Just sort of do? Like, same way you know a puzzle's been put together right." Will said, though didn't sound terribly pleased with the analogy. Have to work on that. "Get a bit of feedback too, like feelin' it through a thick glove. But tiny things, complex things..." Will shook his head dismissively at that, showing he didn't have a clue about some of the more complicated or delicate changes that could be done. "Plus, some things don't like moving or changing without the things connected to 'em movin' or being affected too." Will wasn't sure if that was a hard limit or a result of his inexperience. Hard to say without poking around more, really.
Will was a little surprised to hear Quin couldn't mold and shape the plastic the same way she could pull it, that she had to touch the plastic to mold it and melt it. Will would have thought she would be able to do it all from afar. Though... He supposed -he- could continue a link from afar, but had to touch someone to set it up first. Maybe it was just as odd for her to hear that he couldn't manipulate someone's senses from a distance.
Quin continued, and it sounded like even as talented and controlled as she seemed to be with her abilities (at least to Will), she still had little slipups. Apparently putting little dents or fingerprints in the things she held if she got too emotional or overwhelmed. Sounded like it was worse years ago though. She did say she used to poke holds in water bottles, after all. "Handy way to personalize your laptop though. Hard to say it's not yours when you've got yer fingerprints right on the case." Will joked, though he wasn't sure if her ability was so precise as to allow her to make a detail as fine as just her fingerprint, or if she'd just end up putting a dent in the plastic.
Quin admitted that she -could- cause a lot of damage to a lot of things if she ever really had to. Explaining that so many expensive and advanced things had some kind of plastic, little complex and delicate pieces inside that could cause catastrophic failures if they broke. Heck, she could probably brick just about any computer by waving her hand and giving a good tug on the bits inside. Be even worse if she could melt the plastic from a distance. Scary power, once you got thinking about it.
"Yeah, plastic's kinda all pervasive." Will agreed with Quin's statement that she wished there was less plastic around. "Hard to find a place that doesn't have it by the pound. Apparently micro plastics are pretty much everywhere now, too. Supposedly people eat roughly a credit card a week, or somethin?"
Will scoffed and laughed at Quin's distaste for his choice in colour (what was wrong with mauve anyway?), quickly giving her opinions on what colours would obviously be far more superior to 'taste'. Or at least experience in some synesthesia related way. Will knew from reading up on it a bit (hey, you get sense powers, you read up on senses), that sounds and colours were often linked. Seeing specific colours when you heard certain sounds, or kinds of music. That could be interesting.
"Ah, right. Because it's all conveniently labeled when I'm workin' on ya. I'll make sure y'only get the best colour-flavours." Will teased back. He really didn't think he'd be able to be that specific. Though he'd never looked? Or tried to purposefully cross or link senses like that... It was, weird but nice, being able to talk about, even joke about his powers. To think about them without his brain just shutting down the line of thinking in a self-defensive panic habit. Weird, and nice and scary and yet surprisingly easy. Once again, Quin seemed to make things complicated. But not bad.
"Not any easier to shape it with your mind compared to your hands?" Will asked as Quin explained that she didn't have much of an artistic flair, and that she couldn't really make the plastic into a new shape without, well, actually shaping it. Quin held out the water bottle, or what -was- the water bottle, and Will shuffled over, leaning close to experimentally give the plastic a squeeze and squish between two fingers and a thumb. It was oddly like silly putty. Was silly putty synthetic? Hm. Questions for another day. "Okay, yeah, I'd be turnin' stuff into stress balls all day if I could do that."
Will stopped poking and smooshing the wad of plastic in Quin's palm, a little reluctantly, sitting back upright as Quin answered the questions he'd asked. That she wasn't fully sure what stopped her from being able to feel-hear synthetics, but that there was generally some around her, so often that she generally was able to tune it out.
Kind of like the sound of traffic, after a while, Will guessed.
He listened as she gestured towards her bedroom, as she said that she knew there was some plastic in there which she knew to be the hangers in her closet, but that she'd have trouble getting them from there to here, particularly if they got stuck or hung up on anything. She also said that they should consider themselves lucky that their phones still worked. Will gave his phone a little side-eye, in case it decided to develop a sense of timing and humor, but there wasn't any change to the dimly lit screen. So far, so good then.
"Yeah, I guess you could really wreck some havoc with anythin' that's got plastic inside... Which, uh... Is a lot, I think."
"If it's as good as you're sayin' I figure that'll cover at least the first week or two of my internship." Will teased back, feeling some of the tension in his body he hadn't noticed he was carrying starting to ease up as he did, the joking back and forth and the tentative plans of meeting again a much nicer thing to focus on than what their day -had- been.
Quin poked a little more fun, though maybe sounded a bit genuinely curious too, telling Will once day she'd like to find out what colours tasted like. For his part, Will just gave a snort of laughter and shook his head, a grin creeping across his features. "Yeah, yeah. Once I figure out how to do that on purpose, you can tell me exactly what mauve tastes like." Generally that effect, synesthesia, was more of a side effect, either from inundating someone, or amping someone up too much, but there was no reason he couldn't do it on purpose with some practice, right?
As he finished speaking, Quin took the reins of the conversation, giving Will a little demonstration of her own powers, squishing and smooshing the plastic bottle in her hands like it was silly putty, or even some sort of dough. Will had to give a little chuckle when Quin said when she was younger she kept poking holes in plastic bottles by accident. It was a bit of a funny image in his head, though after a few moments he was mostly just surprised. Quin seemed like she was a whiz with her powers, the thought that it had even given her issues seemed bizarre with what he'd seen her do already.
Hm. Maybe there was something to that whole 'practice' thing after all.
"Looks pretty satisfying to play with, not gonna lie." Will commented as he watched her squeeze and squish and manipulate the plastic. "Wouldn't go showin' off at the cafe though, you'll have half the people there asking you to make 'em custom minis." He joked. Mostly joked. There'd definitely be a few folks who would ask.
"Does anything keep you from hearing stuff? Or moving stuff?" Will asked, curious, and shifted a bit on the couch to face her more directly, now that the TV seemed to be back on the back burner. "Like, there's gotta be stuff in phones and all sorts of places out of sight. Pipes in the walls. Insulation?" Will wasn't sure exactly what insulation was made of. "That sorta stuff out of reach, or...?"
He was going on too much. Or, at least going on a lot. Maybe just giving Quin a lot to think about? She seemed like she was about to say things once or twice, and then he kept on going. Hopefully he'd answered whatever she questions she was going to ask, or filled in whatever comment she was going to make. Maybe the day was just starting to wear on her too... it's not as though he hadn't been slipping into little bits and fits of introspection.
It didn't help he felt a little silly too. Talking about his own abilities, even just opening talking about things about mutants felt like reaching to to grasp a hot coal, making him feel tentative and waiting for the worst, only to find there was nothing harmful there at all. That he could talk freely without worry or judgement. But it didn't stop that twist of fear and anxiety in his gut each time. He would have thought he'd be -more- likely to clam up, exhausted as he was, emotionally and physically, but it seemed like he just didn't have the energy to keep his guard up for that sort of thing, or else the idea of comfort from someone else was more tempting than hiding.
Will did have to give a laugh at Quin's absurd question though, as she asked who'd be pestering him with deep and personal questions after the most intense day of his life. "Y'got me there. But, the least I can do is answer a few in exchange for the pepperoni. Pizza tax and all that." Will joked back, falling back into the easy comfort of bad jokes and humor. Quin mentioned that they hadn't gotten into religion or politics yet. Will wasn't sure if Quin was particularly religious or spiritual (though considering the lack of prayers in the chapel, probably not the usual stripes if she was), but he could guess they likely landed in similar political bubble, considering several things that had been said.
Not really the time to bring those up, but in short, he wasn't worried.
"Yeah, I'll prob-" Will started to respond to Quin's offer, catching himself as he started giving her a half-hearted, wishy-washy reply. "I will take you up on that... Soon, anyway. Not exactly the time to be fiddlin' with your senses, I think."
