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.
Riiiiight. A good chunk of, if not all of Quin's things required for her schooling were currently somewhere in the indeterminate wreckage that was the seating area of Hex and Company. Or was the seating area. It's not like he'd looked back to gauge things as they were running out of there. As he'd said before, the chances of delicate, expensive things like her laptop making it out of there in one piece was... optimistic... But he doubted anyone was out looting law books, so it was possible they could recover some of what was lost.
It'd give him something to do, presuming the entire city wasn't under siege by tomorrow.
Having rewound the episode to the start of the scene prior to when Quin's call came in, Will left the show on pause as they spoke back and forth, commenting on Michael jokingly, with Quin retorting that even they weren't likely to dare waking her after she'd called it quits for the night.
Note to self, let sleeping Quins lie.
Quin went on to say that Michael would be better served and additionally would probably have the common courtesy to allow their better armed friends downstairs to take care of any ne'er-do-wells. She also said that Will should probably keep his head down or otherwise make himself scarce if he didn't want to get wrapped up with any of the group's trouble.
In response Will gave a little tug to the slightly too-large t-shirt and gave a Quin a bit of a smirk. "Yeah, suppose I'm dressed the part, huh? Wonder if my ticket in here came along with stipulations to throw hands if things got serious?" He half-joked, but now that Quin had said it, and considered he was in here largely on Michael's word, he wasn't sure how much he was expected to do in the case of an emergency. Did getting in on their word clock him as a civilian or an extra set of hands?
Will knew it had been a day when he'd barely noticed that quin had been spacing out a bit. Generally he prided himself on being pretty aware of the people around him, and with only one other person to be aware of...
Well he'd blame it on the day, on his senses being more dulled than he was used to, on the ache in his arm... But still, he was still caught a bit off guard.
And then he felt silly. He didn't need to have his guard up. She'd said as much. She knew, honestly, pretty much everything of import about him. Everything he would bother to hide, anyway. Habits die hard though, right? Still, he was put at ease as Quin stated that was was thinking the same thing about the day. That it had, if fact, been a day. And not just a day.
It sounded as though she had more to say on it, and his ears perked, only for him to almost stumble in an auditory fumble as she suddenly was cut off by her phone going off. Will tried not to eavesdrop (though not -that- hard), and managed to only hear some muffled sounds from Quin's phone as she listened intently, as opposed to the entire conversation.
Thankfully for his curiosity, she was quick to share what was going on there, and why the phone call had been so one sided. NYU had some kind of robo caller or automated alert system that sent out messages. And the news was that Quin lucked herself into a day off tomorrow! Look at that, and all it took was citywide destruction and the threat of worse in the coming days.
"Well lookit that. Guess we've got time enough to properly binge some shows then." Will said in response to the good news. He was pretty sure he hadn't seen a grin on Quin like that yet... -maybe- when Michael had shown up and confirmed they were getting a ride back to 'home' or at least safety, but this one seemed to be lasting a whole lot longer. Her grin was infectious, and he found himself matching hers with one of his own, fumbling with one hand to try and find the remote blindly to rewind the show by a minute or so to take them back to before the call came in. "Or at least sleep in. 'less your buddy throws another friend at us again."
Will nodded as Quin rattled of the list of things that she was supposed to be doing to take care of her bumps and bruises. First two checked off, and seemed easy enough. The last one sounded uncomfortable. Propped up with pillows, or sleeping in a recliner or something, he'd imagine. Hopefully she had the extra pillows or blankets or whatever she'd need. Either way, sounded like a rough couple of nights. Shame he couldn't keep up his trick without focusing... buuuut then again, keeping someone under what was effectively low levels of anesthetics, even without the medical complications, would probably wind up with them hurting themselves, not feeling their limits properly.
But sleep wasn't happening just yet. Though given how much they'd been through, he'd have to see if they were both still up and aware by the end of the first couple episodes. Even just sitting on the couch with a full stomach and a sense of calm around him was making his body feel awfully reluctant to get back up. As Quin indicated she was ready, he started the episode, letting the intro and all the credits and what have you start up, setting the remote between them as he leaned back into the cushions of the couch.
Will let out his breath in a slow, shaky sigh as the tension he hadn't realized he'd still been carrying finally left, leaving him feeling boneless and -actually- relaxed. So that's what that felt like. As the intro to the show started up proper, Will's eyes flickered between the TV screen and where Quin was getting as comfortable as she could on the couch. It struck him that before this day, the thing he'd be most worried or anxious about would be trying to impress the person he was sitting next to on a couch in their apartment, or at the very least ingratiate himself with them.
Instead he was worried about... well about ten different new things and his brain kept rubber banding between the seriousness of it all and the mundanity of trying to be a good guest in some attempt for his mind to cling to normalcy. It was utterly absurd. Will tried to stifle a laugh at the strangeness of it all, managing to keep it to a snort and a cough, shaking his head. "Sorry. Just..." He let out a little chuckle, the rest of the laugh he couldn't hold back. "Today. You know?" He said simply, as though it explained everything.
"Really?" Will seemed genuinely surprised that even as you continued up and further into the echelons of education that it remained startlingly similar to the way it had begun. Or at least the was things were by the time most people got into high school. There had to be -some- differences, but... maybe it came down to the subject at hand and learning how best to tackle that. Still, seemed strange that the same skills that got you through 9th grade English worked for advance law classes.
"And I'd been half-joking about the flash cards... Sounds like they might actually help if it all boils down the the same sorta stuff in the end." Will shook his head in good natured disbelief as he started pressing buttons on the remote, eyes flicking between the screen and Quin as he talked. What channel, or app or... whatever... was that show on again? Hopefully she had it... Did he? Will couldn't remember the things he was and wasn't subscribed to for media, the list felt like it rotated pretty regularly. And sometimes it was easier to just search for what he was trying to find and watch it on... less legitimate streaming locations, lets say.
Will's memory eventually stopped faltering and he found the icon in question. Loading up the app, it looked like either Quin, or someone else who'd used the TV for the app in the past had a subscription to the content. Or maybe Haven had some sort of thing set up to get media to all the TVs? Quin's apartment -was- pretty swanky. But, whatever the case, it meant the next episode or two of what they were watching was solved, so long as it wasn't terrible. And if it was -really- terrible, he'd probably push for watching it anyway, like a B-movie.
"Yeah, that's the one. Supposed to be a riot, I think sorta sweet and charming at times?" Will said, clearly unsure about the most of the content of the show. "Keep hearin' great things and the little clips I've caught make it look good." Will queued up the first episode, checking his phone by habit now that it was laying on the couch beside him. No notifications. Or at least none that mattered (several from social media, of course), which was sort of a relief. There were calls and texts to make, but that was -tomorrow- Will's job. "You good to start? Need an icepack or anythin'? What're you supposed to do for bashed up ribs, anyway?"
"Never really did like the Craig's Notes things, or whatever they were called, at least back in high school." Will said for his part, giving his feelings on study aides, which was apparently that he didn't used them much, or know that much about them. "But I'm guessing that what you're putting your nose to the grindstone for is a bit tougher than a young adult book report, huh?" He teased, giving her a little grin. His last time serious hitting the books had been.... a while ago. High school, and -if- you could say he'd been serious then.
Will's grin broadened as Quin agreed to vegging out in one way or another. It was probably the best idea he'd had all day, and maybe the second or third best idea he'd heard all day. The pizza was still sitting at the top of the list, with various things that had saved their lives peppering the rest of the list, but those were stuck somewhere in the mess that was his later bucket, which had completely collapsed under the weight of what he'd thrown at it. Lots of things he should -probably- think about, but it was all just a smear of thoughts and faint recollections pushed to the back of his head.
"Awesome. 'ppreciate you letting me steal the view and electricity too." He quipped, making his way over to find the charger Quin had indicated while she went to snag a second one from her bedroom. Ah. Blessed were the universal connectors. He'd have hated to have to go rummaging through drawers, or ask her to, or worse yet just not -have- one that matched. No such panic though, and his phone (on single digit battery), buzzed with it's usual haptic feedback as it started charging from the donated charger.
Borrowed clothes, invited over for the meal, begged the charger... He'd wound up having to be given a lot out of the blue. Have to figure out how to give a little back when he could.
Before he could get too introspective though Quin was already back out, getting... Well he'd say getting comfortable on the couch, but... Quin was getting as comfortable as she could. Will was starting to think she'd gotten the worst trade back in the cafe with those ribs. "Yeah sure." Will nodded, leaning forward to grab the remote before sitting back, the buttons just a touch unfamiliar, but close enough he caught on without much trouble. "You ever watch that one show? Theo Tether I think? Supposed to be pretty good, and I keep putting off watchin' it." Was that the name? Second part had something to do with rope, he knew that much.
"Hey, if I'm not around for free coffee, I may as well be around for the end of the world, right?" Will teased back at Quin. They were going to wind up with a bizarre sense of humor and set of in jokes if their meetings kept being anywhere near this absurd. "And yeah, figure I can get some 'Law for Dimwits' cards from somewhere, right?" He smirked, though was fairly certain something as niche as that wouldn't exist. Maybe? You -could- sell just about anything on the internet these days. "Failin' that, stack of index cards and we'll make a day of it." Will wasn't any stranger to people from the one University near his cafe using things like that to study, take notes, or use for games in some way. Seemed smart, honestly.
"For now though... maybe just veg out with some TV? Or you can show me that text message story?" Will suggested, trying to keep them from getting too wrapped up in another conversation that'd have them laughing, crying or yelling. Maybe all three at once if they hit just the right subjects. "Dunno about you, but I'm tired from my brain all the way down to my bones." He probably would have suggested watching the city from the stellar view on any other day, but he sort of wanted to forget all the trouble outside of Haven existed, at least for a little bit. They'd gotten themselves wrapped up in enough of it that it seemed fair to try and forget for the rest of the day, right?
"Oh." Will added, remembering something as the tone of the conversation grew less serious and he was better able to focus without a blushing Quin thanking him for saying the things he said. "And you think I could borrow a charger? Phone's runnin' on fumes at this point and I don't wanna go incommunicado after tellin' my folks I was safe. Lose their mind."
Man. Talking to people. Like actually talking to people was hard. And scary. It was a lot easier keeping people a half-step removed. Will wasn't used to having to interact with people much beyond surface level interactions, at least beyond family, and even those relationships were more phone calls and holiday visits. Certainly he hadn't counted on an altitudinous redhead to come crashing into his life the way Quin had. It -was- a bit of a perfect storm though, between the crisis they'd saved each other from, and the surprising amount of shared views the things they both held in pretty serious regard.
Hard wasn't bad though. Like many things he was realizing today, it was just complicated. Difficult. Things had definitely gotten more complex for him since Quin had shown up in the cafe, in a lot of ways. Not bad though, save for the cuts and scrapes.
Quin said that she set the bar pretty high today, and Will smirked and stifled a laugh. "Not that high, I'll just expect a meal and for you to save my life once or twice whenever we're hangin' out." Will joked back as Quin said that she at least had the view to fall back on. There was a quip somewhere ratting in his head about there being two nice views from where he was standing, sorely tempted to tease her a bit about her blushing, but he bit his tongue before he could finish the though, let alone say it. Not the time. Probably.
Keeping a lid on poking fun seemed the right choice, as Quin continued to reply to what he'd said. She said she probably didn't want to do what she was currently doing, at least when she'd started... but that she meant what she'd said earlier, that she wanted to help people fight against things when they felt helpless, that somewhere along the way she realized there were a lot of people in need of help. Sounded like regardless of how things started, it was something that mattered to her personally now.
The tone shifted, slightly, as Quin changed subjects, moving to lighter things. You try to give a girl a compliment and you wind up neck deep in heavier things apparently... Though, he did let his own biases get him a little passionate about it all. Quin insisted that she at least owed Will tea, and explained that what she'd served just a bit earlier had been from the shop she'd mentioned previously. That was good to know -- he could find something to bring home if and when they went on their adventure to the Morgan Library.
And she thanked him. Again. And he felt awkward and appreciated and all kinds of flustered by it, and it took him a couple of moments to realize he should probably say something back. "Yeah, any time." He finally managed to reply, a sheepish grin on his face. "You bring the tea, and I'll bring the flash cards, sound fair?"
Will saw Quin's gaze break and she started staring at the floor, but he was already too wound up to really read her expression. Could have been holding back another fit of laughter, she was going a little bit pink there in the cheeks, after all. It wasn't until she started to look back up to meet his gaze again that he wondered if he'd crossed a line, or maybe he'd misread something. Was there something about what she was trying to do she didn't feel like it was noble? Maybe considering the folks she knew, like Michael, there was something more complicated going on?
Was the cop thing a sensitive subject? She didn't seem fond of SUPER, or the cops in general, with how they'd spoken. She even said she was glad she wasn't a cop. But maybe it was something she could say, but not others?
And then Quin spoke, whispered really. (He was glad for good ears right about now.) She seemed as flustered, if not more so than when they'd sprinted into the church. And she was blushing almost as red as her hair. She said that she was basically guilted into at least staying close to what she did before. That everyone had told them she was so great. What a difference she had made.
Two thoughts hit Will almost simultaneously. First being that being compared to anyone like that, let alone some weird, ghost, doppelganger, past-future version of yourself sucked. Straight to the core unfair kind of suck.
The second was that Quin was awfully cute when she blushed like that. Thankfully, he was given time enough to wrangle the less productive thought under control as Quin found herself at a loss for words, as she went back to looking away and mumbled a thanks.
Welllll... Jeez. Laughing to speechless in two minutes flat it seemed. Better be careful what he was saying or next it was either going to be tears or yelling. Fair though, today was rough. And, Will hadn't realized just how much pressure Quin was under, really, or how badly her missing life weighed on her in all of her interactions. Right down to the path she was taking.
"Well. I only know you. Never met them." Will said softly, 'them' referring to Quin's de-aged self, the ghost that seemed to haunt her. "So you only gotta live up to you, s'far as I'm concerned. And, well... you just heard what I think." Will chuckled, breaking into a sheepish grin.
He paused, thoughtful, picking at his palm idly as he tried to make sure he had the words right. "If... all this who you were sh-stuff, did anything good, I think they got you on a good path. S'long as you meant what you said about wanting to do it." Will said, letting his hand drop back to his side. "But you don't owe anyone. Couple four letter words it what they're owed..."
Will was a little frazzled... Frazzled? Yeah, frazzled was a good word for it. Frazzled by Quin's outburst of laugher. His ego had been stung a bit, but was rapidly mending itself once he realized none of the laughter had been directed his way, not that he thought Quin would be that malicious, but... And it made him feel a bit silly for even getting a bit hurt at the whole thing. Honestly, it was sort of nice to have regular worried and troubles bouncing around in his head, rather than whatever today had been. Let a feeling or two be bruised, it sure beat bruising ribs and dodging shrapnel, and brought some sense of normalcy back to the world.
Quin moved to grab something from the freezer while Will got himself together. She said that she needed to have some better self control over the next few days, as she moved across the kitchen area and snagged something from the freezer. Will wondered what she meant by that, until Quin set the thing she'd retrieved, an ice pack, to her side. Ah. Guess her ribs were more than a bit tender. A laughing fit like that probably wasn't the most comfortable of things. At least Will was alright to breathe and talk and laugh with his wound. Just not do much of anything that required a second hand.
"A proper young lady like you, using that sort of language? I couldn't imagine." Will teased, tone dripping with sarcasm, knowing he'd heard her very clearly drop at least one four letter word in all of their trouble today. Not that he had been entirely free of curses. The medic got an earful of colourful language as he was patching Will up for one, and he'd certainly thought a number of them through the day. Did that count? Maybe it would if Quin were psychic as well.
Will made a face at Quin, scowling a bit as she said that what she was doing wasn't lofty. "Pfft." Will scoffed, "Maybe not what you're doing right this second, but what you plan to? Y'can't tell me bein' the last line of lawful defense for the mutants that are out of options isn't at least a little bit lofty." He said emphatically, almost daring her to argue back with a little smirk on his face. "'specially when y'said it's all because you don't want people feelin' helpless... AND, I can imagine it would have been a heckuva lot easier to duck entirely out of anything even tangentially connected to the law, with all the cop stuff."
Maybe he was arguing on her behalf a little too much? Was that awkward? She -was- sort of doing exactly the sort of thing that he felt like needed doing, so his biases may have been colouring his perceptions a bit. But he also wasn't going to let Quin said she wasn't trying to do anything special when she clearly was trying to make a difference. And maybe he was a touch... jealous? Impressed? Quin was out there trying to make waves while he'd been making coffee. Sure, different lives, different priorities... but still.
Will let out another scoff that sounded closer to a snort of laughter than his earlier fluster. Yeah, better get the first aid kit ready for all those little emergencies you know? Kitchen cuts and burns, accidents during home repair, the gods of Egypt rising from the mists of the past and rampaging through the city, ushering in a new King of the modern day. Y'know, those sorts of things. Don't forget the ice packs.
"And yeah. Part 'cause it's complicated." Will grinned back at her as Quin giggled. Giggled? She'd struck him as the quips and sarcasm type, but it was a surprise to hear her giggle, and the grin on his face widened. "But it's lofty. I figure it fits what you're tryin' to do, as much as your height." There was a sort of a 'reach for the stars' kind of vibe to the word that something like 'willowy' wouldn't have gotten across. Maybe just because the word sounded like something from the depths of a thesaurus.
He'd spoken about the ClikClak story she'd brought up earlier, trying to deflect from his fluster, (one cute girl that saved your life says something halfway nice and you lose your head...), and apparently it was about the funniest thing he could have said. Quin breaking out into full laugher, bruised ribs or no, looking like she was holding herself together as she struggled through her response, explaining the gist of the text message back-and-forth story.
The story, admittedly, sounded cute enough, if not fully up Will's alley. But for his part, he was half amused by Quin's reaction, half stung and half concerned. It didn't quite math out, but there was some overlap in all of it. And there he was, stuck with an awkward half-grin on his face, thoroughly flummoxed and flustered as he waited for Quin's laughing fit to die out, thoroughly reconsidering if it'd been the best choice to bit the tea over the vodka.
Should you drink while taking ibuprofen? Probably not. Should you drink when there was a potential crisis outside? Also, probably not. Was it still tempting..?
Quin did collect herself though, after a moment, apologizing and explaining, saying that the laughter hadn't been directed at Will, just that the day had been capital A absurd. Okay. Yeah. Fair enough. That part Will could agree with.
He gave a nod and little chuckle of agreement. It wasn't like he hadn't been on the verge of hysterics a few times today. "Few other words for it, too, but they're all four letters..." Will joked back, trying to find his footing again, figuratively. "Worse part is, the week's only half over. Always did hate Wednesdays."
"I'm alright for now. Think the medic gave me some ibuprofen or acetaminophen at the hospital... camp... thing." Will said in response to Quin's offer, before giving a little sound of thought as he considered things and continued. "Might steal some from you, so I've got it for the mornin' though. Or if I wake up in the night 'cause it's hurting." Probably would be hurting worse come a few hours, the painkillers wearing off while his powers ramped back up. Hopefully the patch job would help keep everything from being too bad.
Will scoffed though as Quin suggested he might have a taste for heroics, or was looking to get a matching scar on his other arm. "Heck no." Will laughed, shaking his head in protest of the idea of leaping back into the fray. "Just whatever it is holds up well. Rather glue my finger together when I nick it makin' dinner than wrap it in a bandage. Seems handy for an emergency kit, too." Alright. So maybe he had had a tiny bit of a thrill with the heroics of the day, but it was definitely quashed by the blanket of awful that came with it. All the flashy, heroic media made it look a lot easier than it actually was. But he'd just as soon leave it to people like Michael. Even so... probably wouldn't hurt to learn how to properly throw a punch or toss a bad guy.
Quin went on to poke a little fun at him, or help him be a little less harsh on himself, maybe a bit of both? Telling him to change his perspective, that Quin's mother used to say something in the same manner, not to cut yourself down but to embrace your qualities as positive, or something to that effect. She was better at saying it than he would have been. "Yeah, yeah. I don't mind bein' scrawny... Sorry, lean, to be honest." Will quipped back with a bit of a smirk. "Just have noodle arms in cut-off shirts." He shook his head a bit. "Altitudinous is a heck of a word. Like it for you though. Fits somehow."
She then went on to say that he could also just consider buying shirts a size smaller instead, and that she'd definitely seen worse. Will sputtered and scoffed a bit at that, rolling his eyes at the compliment as he tried to feign being unaffected. "Yeah, well.. S'not like I got the choice with this one, at least." Will commented lamely, giving the shirt he'd been given a tug at the collar.
Clearing his throat and wishing he'd still had something to fidget with to do something with his hands, Will leaned back against the countertop, one hand gripping the edge. "So what's that text story about, anyway? Horror? Paranormal? Aliens?"
It did make sense that Quin would have notice the vanishing dance videos with a bit more alacrity than Will had. She had said she that she liked music and dancing. Of course liking dancing didn't necessarily translate to being a dancer, much the same way as liking cheesy hero shows didn't exactly translate to being a hero. Still, Quin's hobby probably had a bit more practical benefit.
Quin went on to talk about one of the creators she followed, the one about the story told through text messaging. Apparently it wasn't even voiced, unlike the AI voiced conversations he'd come across in that similar style, and it sounded like it had been going on for quite a while, long enough to warrant making a book out of it? "Huh. Wonder if they'll keep the texting style, or go more classic writing for it?" Will half wondered, half asked... not that Quin was liable to know what another person was writing, especially if it was still in the planning phases.
As the dishwasher was loaded with their things, they continued talking, Will teasing about Quin's cut on her cheek and Quin responding, asking how his own cut was. It was good to hear Quin seemed to be mostly okay, after the adrenaline and dampening her senses, she could have been pretty hurt without realizing it... But she didn't seem bothered by the wound and didn't offer up any other complaints about anything else, so she was probably alright. Or very stubborn. Probably some amount of both.
Quin did ask Will about his own injury. Fair enough. Will turned to show the wrapped arm, tugging up the sleeve of his borrowed, (was it borrowed? He wasn't likely be be able to get this back to the group...) and gave the bandage a tentative tap with his other hand. "Whatever the doc did held up... surprisingly. Really sore though. Doubt I'll be able to lift my arm above my head come tomorrow." Will tried not to think about the reckless 'activity' that Quin was talking about him throwing himself into. It'd been a bad idea that turned out well. Especially bad when she'd already told him to stay out of the way. But, he'd panicked, and was pretty much just trying to put the metal manipulator down before they could swing that bat at him or Quin. Had to be smarter about things though, someone armored up like that made his powers pretty useless, at least offensively. "Gonna have to figure out what they used to glue me together and keep some on hand." Will half-joked.
"Shorter sleeves, eh?" Will commented on Quin's teasing suggestion, giving her a little smirk in return. "Have to stop bein' such a string bean if I'm gonna pull that off."
Will listened as Quin implied she'd be interested in potentially checking out an anime at his suggestion. It'd give his brain something to do at least, rather than bouncing all over the place from the stress of the day. So there was the one with the brothers he'd just thought about. A couple parody ones he liked, but you sort of needed to know the tropes to understand -why- they were good. The one with the killing book was cool too, though it was full of police stuff, might make it less of an ideal choice. Best to do some digging, maybe see what else Quin liked. Who knows? Maybe she was the Magical Girl anime type of person under that law degree and all the weirdness that happened to her.
"Oh yeah. Dances really came and went, didn't they?" Will commented as Quin brought up some of her own favorite things to watch or favorite creators to check out on ClikClak. "Don't think I've seen anyone dancing on my doom scrolls for months. Used to be every third swipe." Sure, he hadn't paid much attention to the dances or many of the dancers themselves, but it was only striking him now how few accounts were still doing that, when it had saturated the platform so thoroughly before. "I've come across some of those fake text message things... but they were always kinda lackluster, AI voiced. If you've got good ones though, it sounds fun. Do like a good story."
As Quin asked about his preference for tokusatsu, referencing the camp of B-movies and the camp in those as part of the charm, Will gave a nod and an almost relieved grin. "Yeah. Exactly that sorta thing. If you buy into the camp and cheese it's fantastic." If you didn't, it was all kind of silly, but what was life without a bit of levity?
"Yeah, yeah. Here, lemme at least pull my weight." Will said, putting his mug atop his plate and picking his mess up, following Quin to the kitchen area to at least lend the appearance of lending a hand.
As they got started, Will took a look at Quin before his face screwed up in an overly dramatic, mock curious look. "Hmm... So how's that badass scar comin' along?" Will teased, the expression breaking to a smirk.
"Definitely give it a go, if you can squeeze it in between classes and crises." Will said in response to Quin's take on Will's own choice in shows. "Definitely would startcha on a more well put together anime than that one though." Will mulled a few shows over in his head about which anime would be best to introduce someone to the genre. No 1000 episode behemoths or anything too fan-servicey. The one with the metal arm guy and the transmuting? With the metal guy today and magic being around, that show seemed a little less fantastical all of a sudden...
Will couldn't ponder to idea too long, as Quin was asking if he had any favorite content creators on the social media that he scrolled through. "Nah. Not really." Will answered at first, then paused and added, "Well, there's a hilarious guy who does like, vintage recipes, worth a watch. Couple of costume people too. Can't recall their handles though." He gave a little shrug at that, "Then the usual, some cute animal stuff, people that cover news and politics I wanna know about."
Ah dang. Quin was asking about the other bit of media. He'd -sort- of hoped she'd either know and things would be done, or she wouldn't and would just nod and pretend like she did. Curses, the woes of having someone genuinely interested in the things you did and liked. "Ah..." Will gestured with his good hand, as though trying to gather his thoughts. "It's like... Japanese super hero type media. Fancy gadgets and morphing into fancy suits. Usually colourful spandex or really elaborate lookin' armor. Lots of explosions and rubber suited monsters and giant robots." Will gave a bit of an embarrassed laugh, "It's honestly cheesy as heck, but it's part of what makes it so good, y'know?"
Will waved a hand dismissively as she thanked him for giving a bit more insight into the way the world worked for him with his senses. "It's all good. Some days temperature is an issue. More cold though. Sensitive teeth sorta thing." Will explained. Hmm. Guess he really -did- have to think and manage more than he'd realized. Little by little picking up the bits and adding them until they became automatic, second nature. Weird to think you could pick up habits like that without noticing.
The conversation turned to lighter things, jokes about pizza and what to watch. Enough even to get a laugh out of Quin, which, didn't look the most comfortable. Hopefully the bruising was a bit less bad in the morning. Will listened as she explained what she liked to watch. A baking competition show, more for the vibes than for the baking or the creations it sounded like. Sounded like a pretty cozy show. Probably something he'd seen in passing, or an ad for, but nothing he could put to note.
Then there was a medical drama. Will was -pretty- sure he knew which one she meant... but there were also a handful of other medical dramas that were a little long in the tooth, and he wasn't an active watcher of any of them.
Finally, she mentioned that she'd missed the last season of a show called Archville. Now -that- one he knew about, but only knew about by proxy. A few of the regulars from the University studied and played games and talked about the show regularly. So the details were fuzzy, and he wasn't sure which were -actually- from the show and which were fan-canon... But it was enough to know the reputation of the show at the very least.
So of course Will couldn't help a cheeky grin from crossing his face as Quin said she watched something like that. And regularly enough that she'd felt the need to catch up on the whole season.
And then she asked -him- what he watched. Nuts.
"Honestly, kind of a nerd with what I watch... I'd say it rubbed off from the cafe, but, been the same stuff my whole life." Will admitted, lending a bit of insight into why or how he'd wound up working at a gaming cafe, rather than a more pedestrian kind of coffee shop.
"Anime, and sci-fi mostly." Will said, sifting through his head for the last few things he'd been watching. "Just caught up with the latest season of Aegis Champion. First season was real good but it's been sorta... eh, since then."
Will lifted his mug, taking the last half mouthful of tea that was left and setting it back down, running his thumb along the rim. "I try and remember to watch that one space exploring sci-fi show. Kinda brings back the classic sci-fi vibes, but more modern. Funny, too."
"Otherwise, I'm sorta doomscrolling through ClikClak, or Chirpr." He gave a bit of a guilty smile and shrug at that. It was far too easy to get sucked into just mindlessly swiping at the screen on those apps, and before you knew it, an hour was gone. "And, uh. Toku stuff, sometimes. Tokusatsu." Will added in at the end, like he was trying to sneak it in, admitting to his own media preference that could easily be called embarrassing.
