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.
If April was taken aback by this sudden flood of questions she did not let it show. She took a few seconds to formulate an answer to his questions, as if gathering her thoughts. He listened quietly as she explained that the school had a decent reputation for helping mutants get to know each other, which was entirely true as everyone you met here was a mutant. The second part of her explanation made him feel slightly guilty, it was pretty obvious that her physical appearance would be a problem but it shamed him that he had made her say it out loud.
As for the studies it appeared that she was having the same dilemma as he had had. Choosing the subject you wanted to study was super important but also so very hard. He had spent his first week at the mansion cloistered in the library looking through further education books of all types. Now that he had finally chosen he felt as if he had made the right choice but would he still feel this way in three years? There was no point worrying about that as there was no way to know.
"How 'bout you? What's your story?"
The sad smile was back. It was almost like an automatic response to that kind of question. Sam took a breath, even though this was a sore spot he felt he owed April an answer. After all she had not refused to answer any of his. So he organized his thoughts and decided what to tell her, too much information would make him sound pitiful, so he opted for a brief answer.
“I wasn’t really given a choice in coming here, but I did spend an awful lot of time choosing my major. There’s a whole section over there to help you choose if you need it.”
He indicated the aisle he had pretty much lived in for a week and tried to brighten his smile a bit.
Her admission seemed to reassure him somewhat. It made him feel better to know that he was not alone in wondering if establishing a relationship between them would not be a foolish thing. He could already tell from her face that she would not give up on the idea so easily but now if things went horribly wrong she could not say that he had not warned her. With this said out loud Sam felt as though some of the weight he had been carrying had been lifted.
"I will not cry all the time."
It was nice of her to say that but Sam seriously doubted that she had any control over whether she did or not. Some people carried their emotions deep inside them and others carried them on their sleeve and he had now decided that Celeste belonged to the latter. He also decided not to add a reassuring “and I’ll do my best not to make you cry” because he could not promise anything on that front. All he could do was to give her a chance, which right now seemed very magnanimous of him.
"But when I was alone in your room ... I felt like we could become friends."
Sam tried to work out what was wrong with that statement. What on earth had she seen in his room that would make her believe that? He took a moment to analyze the content of his room with Celeste’s eyes. Bedding, curtains? Matching so +1. Computer… average so 0. Hair and skin products, ok she’s like the fact he took care of himself so +1. He doubted that those things would be enough to convince her, there had to be something else… wardrobe. If she had opened that then it would be like +100. Sam was very proud of his clothes collection and even though not everything he owned was branded there were probably just enough to make him acceptable in Celeste’s eyes. Which made this the first ever day when he resented his fashion sense.
Right so now it was his move he could either turn her down or he was going to hold out the olive branch of peace. He sighed, he’s try this once and if it turned out the same way again then he would tell her flat out that this was not going to work.
“Ok so how about this, I was going to put a bid on you in this auction which would have meant one “date”. So what I’m suggesting is that we go out somewhere as friends to see if we can manage not to kill each other.”
That was his best offer, she could take it or leave it.
Sam watched Michael pick his way through the scattered lego, which appeared to be the only personal thing that made this room Michael’s. The rest all seemed to be standard issue; a single bed with white sheets and the curtains of the standard colour. Well that would explain why Michael had stared at his double bed and not so subtle golden crown. It seemed a shame to Sam that this small boy had such a bland room. Weren’t children supposed to have rooms with bright colours and mess? Because that was one other thing that was odd, apart from the lego on the floor the room was spotless. The bed was well made, missing only the pillow which was placed near the computer; it felt as if someone had come through and tidied the place.
Sam made his way carefully across to the bed side table and set down the first aid kit, which he then preceded in opening. There were all sorts of things inside from plasters to stomach medicine. The illusion mutant pulled out some antiseptic cream and a couple of plasters for the scratches and some arnica for the bruises and laid them out on the side. He then looked at Michael and motioned for him to come over.
“We need to treat those cuts and bruises. Would you come and sit on the bed?”
He made it a question so as to give the child a choice. Getting bandaged up was something only your parents could force you into because even though your injuries hurt you knew that cleaning them would hurt all over again. So he waited patiently for the boy to decide whether or not he trusted him enough. If he didn’t Sam would just leave the cream here and let him do it himself.
The way she worded her sentence depressed him somewhat. Putting in “try to” implied that he had tried to say something and failed, which wasn’t exactly true. Suppressing a sigh, Sam decided that they were probably just fated not to understand each other. He did however have something he was curious about.
“How did you end up here? I mean I can see why you came here but what I want to know is want made you choose this place in particular?”
It was something of a sensitive subject with Sam because he had not been given a choice in the matter. So it made him feel better to hear why people who had been given a choice decided that Xavier’s was the place for them. Not that Sam had any complaints about the school; it was well run and had all the amenities you could need. He had had this conversation with quite a few people since he got here and it turned out that their reasons were diverse. It went from people like him that had been forced to street urchins that had come here just to insure they had a roof over their head. It appeared that Xavier’s was many things from a prison to a haven.
As he waited for her to answer, he let his eyes roam the table where he found the book she had been reading: 1984. He knew the premise behind the book, his mother had told him about it, but had never taken the time to read it. It was the same with a great many classics he knew what they were about and therefore had never bothered to read them. It was probably a great shame but that was the problem nowadays, there was so much to do that if something did not immediately grab your attention you quickly forgot about it.
“Are you a literature student?”
The question just kind of popped out on its own, he had been thinking it but had not really intended to say out loud. At least not yet… he had wanted to let her answer the first question before bombarding her with any more.
As he watched his words sink in, Sam realized that he had done it again. It was like watching a flash back of that day in the store. In less than five minutes they had managed to have an argument that made him lose his temper and as a result of that Celeste cried. He hated the fact that this was how things turned out, that she seemed to life in such an unrealistic world that it drove him crazy. To make matters worse those tears always managed to snuff out his anger and leave him feeling heartless and wretched.
This time though she seemed to be fighting hard to hold the tears in and he had to admit that he was glad of it. If she managed to push through the tears and back into anger or something similar it would be easier to deal with. So he waited to see which way the scales would tip and more importantly what her answer to his question would be.
"Friendship."
She uttered to word so quietly that Sam almost believed she had not said anything at all. Almost. If the atmosphere had not been so heavy Sam would have been tempted to laugh that statement off as a joke, but the look on Celeste’s face told him that she was deadly serious. There was something in her expression that looked almost like hunger and it scared Sam slightly. He had obviously stepped into something much more serious than he had been expecting.
"I want a friend, someone with personality who is not afraid to tell me if I'm wrong!"
She was gaining momentum now and getting more and more worked up. So much so that Sam was starting to get worried that she might have some kind of attack. He was so distressed by her state that what she was saying no longer seemed to matter. The more she cried the less she seemed to be able to breathe and Sam found himself almost pushing himself off his seat to go to her side. But he decided against it, right now he was unsure whether an intervention of that kind would be beneficial or not. Then after moments that seemed to drag on and on she got a hold of herself again.
"I want to relax with someone and not have to be the best at all times."
The statement hung in the air between them and it seemed like Celeste’s crying fit was winding down again. Sam stayed quiet for a long time, not only because he wanted to give her the time to get her breath back but also because he knew he had to be very careful what he said next. If he got thinks wrong he would bring back the tears and he was not sure he could deal with that. Then again he was not sure he was ready for a friendship with this girl either. He had a feeling that it would be something that would lead him into more unexpected and complicated situations.
However a small part of him felt that if he pushed her away now, after she had quite literally poured her heart our at him, that he would break something in her that might never be fixed again. God, the pressure was awful. Finally when he had played several scenarios over in his head he felt ready to speak again.
“Are you sure that I’m the person to give you that? I seem to have an uncanny ability to make you cry.”
The question was genuine and he kept his tone calm and reassuring. He wanted to make sure that Celeste knew what she really wanted. Because one thing was sure, he would not change who he was to suit her, that was rule number one of friendship accept your friends as they are. Which meant that if she did pursue this idea then he was going to have to find a whole bunch of patience to put up with her as she is.
“I…I feel a lot better. I’m…clean. With…with the soap.”
Michael’s answer was hesitant but Sam was growing used to that, heck he was pretty happy just to get an answer. After that statement the illusion mutant took a second to study the boy. The mix of the wet hair, slightly oversized boxers and the boy’s general condition was odd to say the least. But now that Michael smelt better Sam had to admit that he was pretty cute. These thoughts brought a genuine smile to Sam’s face. He had done a good thing here tonight and he was glad of it.
Seeing as Michael had not put on his pajama top, Sam draped the towel over the boys head. It would not do to let water run down from his hair onto his bare chest. The bathroom was warm from the showers steam but the hallways would probably be a bit chilly for a damp half naked child.
“Right let’s go and find your room now.”
With that he turned to the door, he had only picked up the first aid kit all the rest he would come back for after he had seen Michael settled. He opened the door and felt the rush of cool air hit him, he shivered slightly. He didn’t do well with cold, he would much rather be boiled on a hot summer afternoon than cold. Looking down at Michael he decided that they better hurry and find the boy’s room, the faster Michael was in a warm bed the better.
The corridor was empty save for the two of them, which was probably a good thing. Sam could imagine the strange looks people would give him, if they saw him leading Michael around in this state. As he had predicted the small boy’s room was not that far from his own he checked the number once more against the one on the name tag; which he had picked up in the bathroom; yep this was it.
“This should be the one.”
He pointed to the number plate to make sure that Michael took a good look at it. Then he opened the door and turned on the lights. He had been worried that the room would just look like all the others and it would be impossible to tell if it really was Michael’s but there was lego here and that gave the game away. He moved aside to let the boy in, Sam was curious to see how the boy would react in this space. He did not expect Michael to feel like this was home yet; because that would be ridiculous the boy could not even find the place. But he did want to see whether or not Michael at least seemed to feel safe and comfortable here.
Sam watched as his hidden accusation sunk in; Celeste had already been a bit fidgety before but now he knew he had struck a chord. She seemed suddenly uncomfortable as if she was unsure as to what her next move ought to be. The illusion mutant suppressed a smug smile that threatened to appear on his face; he had been pretty sure that she was the one responsible for the graffiti but it was nice to be able to confront her with it. Besides if she had not been prepared to deal with the consequences of her actions then she should have refrained from doing things in the first place.
After a moment or two of slightly awkward silence Celeste seemed prepared to speak. Sam was not sure what to expect, it could either be a flat out denial or she might decide to go the other way and claim that she had done him a favor by improving his drab room. It was so hard to tell what might come next that he gave up trying. He would just wait and see what she said, that way it would be a surprise.
"The crowns of princes are different. That is the crown of a queen. My crown. "
Yep there it was the surprise; he raised an eyebrow at the blond. It was an expression that read “what the hell?” and it was as much for the strange way she had answered the question as for the fact that she actually believed that there was a difference between crowns. A crown was a crown was it not? Ah why were women so complicated…
"I was so angry that I was going to paint your whole room. I wanted to destroy it... but then I realized... "
The eyebrow rose another notch; she had been aiming to wreck his room? Well that did sound a lot like the Celeste he remembered but still it sparked a small amount of anger in him. And all of the pieces of the puzzle suddenly seemed to fall into place. Everything made sense now, she had seen where he lived and then she had plotted revenge. The paintball game had been a ploy to gain access to the mansion; damn he had been so stupid. How could he have believed that she was there for an innocent reason? Well if she had trashed him room it would have been his own damned fault.
"The crown was a gift."
The words cut through the spiral of his thoughts. Wait, what? How had they gone from breaking things to gifts… he must have missed something. Taking a deep breath he tried to make sense of this whole thing. Celeste was smiling at him in a bashful manner as if waiting for him to thank her for this wonderful thing she had given him. Well that was not going to happen; right now he was struggling just to avoid yelling at her again. How was it that this girl managed to drive him crazy in just a few minutes? Hadn’t he come here to make sure that she was ok? Where had those feelings gone?
They were still there somewhere but first he needed to get some of this anger off his chest. He didn’t say anything for a good minute, trying to compose his thoughts so as not to say anything that he might regret later. In the end he opted with just telling her the truth, it would be up to her whether she could handle it or not.
“I’m sorry but to be honest I’m really confused. I don’t know if I should be angry that you even thought about doing that. Or if I should just be thankful you changed your mind…” He knew that his words might be a bit harsh but he was trying his best to keep them as diplomatic as possible.
“I came here today to keep an eye on you, heck I even brought some change to put in a bid if it came down to it but now I don’t know how I should feel. What is it you want from me exactly?”
It appeared that Celeste had not realized that someone else was still in the room as she jumped a mile as he spoke. Now that he thought about it he should have known he would scare her as it was obvious because she would never have let herself look so depressed if she thought someone might see her. He did however have to stifle a bit of a laugh, he knew it was mean but he rather enjoyed watching her look so shocked. Somehow it made her look more normal, like something any teenage girl would do. There was such a large difference in her demeanor between moments when she was in public and those when she thought she was alone.
But the mask did not slip for long, when she turned to face him she was wearing the expression he had been expecting. Cool, calm, composed loathing. He was about to tell her that there was no need to glare at him like that when her expression melted into something softer. It was not as if she had taken off her “miss high and mighty” face but the anger had gone from it. Sam had to admit that he was at once relieved and a bit surprised. If she was not going to yell at him what was she going to do? The small smile that had formed at the corner of her lips seemed to indicate that she was pleased to see him. But last time he had seen her he had made her cry, so he decided to wait until the conversation developed further before trying to decide what her mood was. It could after all be some kind of sly woman trick. Sam had never mastered the way that women thought and if you believed what you heard teenage women were even worse. So he decided to ere on the side of caution and waited for her to say something.
"I came for the auction but I had no luck."
If she was explaining this to him than she had not seen him in the crowd earlier, which was a blessing for him. Because he firmly believed that if she had known that he was there and had ignored her things would not be going so smoothly right now. So it was probably better for him to feign ignorance on the subject and let her explain; and if she asked what he was doing here then he could always come up with a suitably believable excuse. As she looked down into the cup of orange juice once more Sam felt that wave of guilt and pity come over him again. Things would have been better if he had managed to get his bid in. Oh well, there was no point in crying over spilt milk now, all he could do was move forward.
"How are you?"
The simple question seemed odd coming from Celeste. The way it was asked implied that she actually did care how he was. The Celeste he had met last time had not even cared who he was as long as he followed orders. And the reports he had heard from her paintball day tended go along the lines of “awesome day, shame about that horrible girl at the start”. Maybe the fact that no one had bid on her had help make he just a bit humbler… well that wasn’t a bad thing.
“I’m fine thank you.”
The answer was simple and to the point and Sam couldn’t help but feel that she had been expecting more of him; which was when his brain chose to remind him of the giant crown that now adorned the wall above his bed. He had done some digging in the days after it appeared and the only thing he had been able to find out was that a blond girl had been seen in the boy’s corridor on that afternoon. Add that to the fact it was the only day she had been in the mansion and he was pretty sure he knew who the culprit was. So he decided to test the water on that subject.
“I’ve been able to redecorate my room since we last met. I followed your advice and decided to improve my image by going with something more… princely.”
He let that last word hang in the air between them. It was Michael that had put that thought in his head; the young boy had wondered if Sam was a prince because he had a crown on his wall.
"N-no, you haven't, I just thought... you know... thought that I might have been making you... nervous. It's just that... that most people would be."
Nervous was not to right word for what she was making him, muddled seemed like a better fit but Sam could not help but feel that nervous was what he was making her. Just the broken way her sentence had come out proved that. But none the less it appeared like April was going to soldier on and she took the seat he had offered up earlier. Well that settled it, if she was going to try and push past the awkwardness so would he.
As she put down her pile of books in the small amount of table space he had managed to clear, Sam could clearly see that she still felt a bit cramped. So he hurriedly moved a few more piles of papers before sitting down in his own seat. He had been in the middle of looking up material that he would be able to integrate into his first essay of the year. Which was probably why he was being so chaotic about it, it would not do to fail your first ever marked paper.
He decided then to take some time to put this mess in order before trying to resume conversation with April. To Sam it was a bit like this mess represented his scattered thoughts, so fixing it might help make him a bit less random. He did however realize that April would not sit still watching him throughout this process and would no doubt make a start on those books she had brought with her. Well if that was the case he would decided whether or not to interrupt her later. -----
With the desk now resembling something where more like a sensible study area, Sam felt calmer. He had been able to find all of the references he needed and to the right lay the pile of books he wanted to borrow for his essay. The rest he had decided, he did not need. It was only from that moment that he turned his attention back to April. He took a moment to look at her and realized that he was doing the exact same thing as earlier… staring. So he quickly looked back down at his papers and cleared his throat to try and attract her attention. If that did not work he would try and come up with something to say.
No date, no fun: Celeste did not even get one bid in the valentine's day auction. Sam hangs back to manage the damage. After another tear filled confrontation the two agree to go for a meal to try and build some kind of friendship. COMPLETE
Orwell is in the library: Sam meets April in the library. The conversation is awkward at best. COMPLETE
OOC: To all people whose character I moved around a bit, please let me know if it does not suit.
The end of the valentine’s auction ended up being a bit of a blur. Sam had accompanied Michael to his station and they had studied the name of the person that had bid for him. As it turned out neither of them knew Maxine and they had spent some time trying to see if they could pick her out of the crowd. However the suspense had been short for Kat quickly began to call an end to the bidding. This was the moment Sam had planned to use to go and bid on Celeste, but that was not to be because the mysterious Maxine had made an appearance.
Sam had not felt able to leave Michael with this woman he didn’t know. Sure she seemed nice enough but it was important to make sure that Michael felt comfortable with her before leaving the two of them together. So he had stayed and made polite conversation for a while, trying to bring on topics of conversation that Michael would pick up on. And then the moment he had been fearing appeared, the announcement that the bidding was now closed and the very public explanation of the results. He caught a glimpse of Celeste out of the corner of his eye, she had not moved from her seat. He felt a pang of sympathy for her, not even she deserved to be completely ignored. When he was finally able to free himself of Michael and Maxine he started to make his way over to Celeste and then stopped. He had a sudden vision of him striding up there all smile and her letting loose all the anger she had no doubt stored up at him in one fell blow. So instead he went and sat on a corner of the stage where he could watch her quietly. He would wait to see what she would do next and then try and match his movements accordingly.
As it turned out she just sat there for a very long time, staring into space. Sam had to admit that he was somewhat surprised by this, he had pretty much expected her to storm off as soon as it was revealed that no one had bid on her. This time however, she just seemed frozen maybe the shock of it had been too much for her… And so the illusion mutant watched as the room emptied and the ice princess continued to sit on her throne. It was not until even Kat, who shot them a very bewildered glance, had packed up her things and left that finally Celeste moved.
She climbed down off the stage, with that silly dress of hers shimmering the whole time and walked slowly over to the drinks table. Sam turned slowly so that he could keep watching her. She picked up one of the juice cup and drank it; he could see from the look on her face that she immediately regretted that decision. He was getting quiet tempted to just let her go, she would get over this embarrassment and he was not sure he would not make things worse by letting her know that he had witnessed the whole thing.
"Am I not pretty enough?"
She was asking the cup of juice but Sam knew that it held no answers. He was not sure he held any answers either but he felt bad for her. However there was still in his head a small part of him that rejoiced at the fact that she had been humbled in this way; it felt like a “how the mighty have fallen” moment. But no matter how deserved this might be, he could not bear to just leave her like that.
“I’m not sure that glass of juice can answer that question.”
There he had given himself away but at least now if she yelled at him there would be no one around to witness it.
Just as he managed to make some sense of the mess that was the table, Sam caught a glimpse of the expression on April’s face. She suddenly seemed hesitant… The fact that he was not only a creep but a messy creep had probably made her decide that he was not someone she wanted to be around. He could understand that but he felt a bit saddened by it anyway. The idea of having someone around to take the edge off the endless studying would have been nice.
"You look like you're kinda busy, maybe I should let you get back to studying.”
Well she had the truth of it, technically he was busy. It didn’t mean he had to stay busy, this interlude could have been considered a study break or something. Weren’t those supposed to be good? To help you digest the information you had just been learning? Oh he didn’t know anymore and honestly it was not like it mattered. If she stayed he would study more a bit later and if she left he would get back to it now.
“It was nice meeting you."
That was the killing blow; it read “nice to meet you but I really must be going somewhere… anywhere but here”. Well he was not going to hold onto her if she did not want to stay but he was determined to try and make a good impression through to the end. So he decided to extend one last invitation, this time it did not even involve a conversation, just a seat.
“You don’t have to go… I mean even if we both have to study that seat is still free.”
God how was this conversation so hard? He seemed so tongue tied; when he took a minute to think about it the middle of the day nap had probably scrambled his wits; which would explain why he was being such an idiot, yes that must be it.
“Or if you have to go, don’t let me keep you. I’ve been pretty poor company so far anyway.”
As it turned out the military style speech was only the beginning as Ms Stephens had apparently only paused for breath. As she ordered the computer to start a program Sam had to look around in surprise. He had of course heard about the danger room and its simulation abilities but there was quite a large difference between imagining a room that could change the scenery and being in one. In Sam’s mind he had seen something approaching a room filled with giant tv screens. However the reality of it was well… much more real than he had been expecting. It felt like he had stepped onto a hill side in spring. Not only did his vision tell him that they were outside but there were sounds as well, so that if he had not known that he was still inside he could quite easily have believed that they had been moved somewhere else altogether.
Once the initial shock had worn off, he turned his attention to the details that were probably going to be important during the up and coming training. They were at the top of a hill, which meant good visibility, so Sam had no problem spotting the medieval looking camp at the foot of the next hill. His science fantasy brain told him at once that they had a good position as they were on higher ground but also that they would be spotted instantly standing out here in the open.
He did not however get much of a chance to think more on the strategic possibilities of their position because a bizarre robot type figure had just appeared. The face and features had a wooden expression and the joints were stiff but that seemed irrelevant considering the fact that it held a weapon in each hand. Sam studied them, one was a blunt baton which would mean a long and painful death and the other well one swipe would probably be enough. But either way letting that thing near you promised nothing good. It was in times like these when Sam wished he had at least ended up with an offensive power, because he very much doubted this thing cared what the person he was bludgeoning to death looked like.
To avoid looking at their newest recruit any longer Sam looked back to their teacher. That proved to be a big mistake, for granny had one of those looks that promised nothing good. Add to that the fact that she introduced the robot type thing as general “hilarity” and it was enough to make Sam feel genuinely sick. To try and calm his nerves he decided to breathe in and out in a slow measured way. He would have looked at his feet as well but he did not trust either the general or granny not to beat him to death while he wasn’t looking.
The fact that April was apologizing for waking him sent a fresh wave of shame through Sam. He couldn’t believe that he had fallen asleep in the first place and because of all this he could feel a blush of shame creeping up his face. There was however one good thing about being asian and that was that when you blushed the only place that showed it was your ears, and Sam was pretty sure that April was far enough away not to notice. Which made him wonder what it would be like to blush when you were green… would it be noticeable or not?
He looked at the girl that had just accepted his offer of a seat and wondered how hard it would be to make her blush. For a moment he was tempted to try it, just to see if he could spot a difference in colour or not. But then the words “nappeun namja » popped into his head, which when translated literally meant “bad guy” in Korean. It was one of those expression used frequently in the dramas he watched and he felt that if he played this trick on April it would probably be a good term for him as well.
Besides Noel would probably flay the skin off him for even daring to think such things. So he resigned himself to being good and headed back towards the place he had been sitting. He trusted that April would follow or if she didn’t want to this would give her a good escape opportunity. When he finally reached his table he stared at the disorganized pile of books, god he really had made a mess of the place. Hurriedly he started to organize the books in neat piles and clear some room so that the two of them could at least sit down comfortably.
Her reply struck him as a bit odd, as if she was forgiving him for not having an interesting power. He found it somehow both reassuring, in as far as she didn’t seem to care what his ability was, and slightly offensive. Which must mean that although he did not like his powers he still felt some kind of attachment to them. He brushed the feelings aside, locking them in a small box so that he could study them later.
"So, what does everyone do around here?"
The fact that she changed the subject made him smile. She seemed to have a reasonably good sense for the atmosphere of the conversation and he was relieved that she had turned away from that uncomfortable topic. As for the topic of entertainment Sam was possibly not the best person to ask. He was a bit of a recluse and did not do much with others. But he could at least tell her about the things he usually liked to do. However the first thing he needed to know was whether or not she was taking classes. She looked old enough to have finished school so she could have opted out of taking further classes.
“Well most people spend a lot of their time in classes; I’ve just started a sociology major.”
He smiled again at that, thinking back to the pile of abandoned books lying on the table somewhere behind him. He should probably get back to them but he knew that it would be rude to just up and leave the conversation. So the next best thing was to invite her to join him. They would be a lot more comfortable sat down anyway.
“I’m embarrassed to admit that I’d fallen asleep studying and that noise from earlier woke me, which is why I came looking… Anyway how about we go back to my table then at least we can sit down.”
