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.
"Alright, you choose. North, we go to the village, start a quest there. West, we go out toward the coast to a dock out there. East, toward some mines an stuff, and south, to the dark woods. All of them have stuff to do. Hell, we can do what ever you want. It's your adventure. You can open up a mini map and stuff, but I do know there are some things we an test out the fighting system on over there if you want."
She fiddled with her stats a little more, before finalizing it. "I'd like to test this out a bit. Get a feel for it." She looked over to where he had pointed out. She hadn't played a necromancer in a long time. "Lets go wreck some Sh$t!" Hoisting her staff up, she turned and led the charge toward the bushes, flipping through her spells and abilities with one hand, while pushing some foliage out of her way with the staff in the other.
Off in the bushes ahead of them was a small horde of Kobolds, who were gathered around a decent pile of shiny baubles and treasure. They were squabbling among themselves over it, flailing small swords and spears around while screeching at each other.
Shelby paused by a tree not too far off, peeking around it at them while trying to decide what attack to go with. She could summon an apparition to send at them... or start shooting generic energy bolts at them. Hmmm.
She squinted at him in suspicion as he got the simulation going. Was it a coincidence that he had named it after one of her favorite cartoon shows? The world populated around them in a flash, and she spent a good few moments marveling at it with a little spin in place. Was it some kind of time-travel picnic?
A little hub appeared before her, earning a squeak of surprise. The artist flashed a questioning glance at Saph, who was busy poking at his own little screen, before she adjusted her glasses and leaned into look at her own. Was that a...?
"Character creation?" It slowly dawned on her what kind of adventure he probably had in mind, and a delighted grin settled on her features. She loved games like this! She was a huge fan in fact, and had once spent a pretty penny on a very well liked online multiplayer game with a similar theme. God, her bank account was happy she'd managed to escape from that particular vice.
Poking around through the options, she pondered what she wanted to be. Human? Elf? Halfling? She certainly had the stature for the last one, but decided against it. She'd always went with whatever was the most visually appealing to her. After a bit of pondering on it, she made her choice and a similar light quickly enveloped her.
As it dimmed and faded she lifted an arm to look at herself. Her skin was a dark greenish color, with sharp pointy black nails. She reached up to feel her ears, which had elongated slightly and ended in a slightly crooked point and tucked newly white hair behind them. Unbeknownst to her, her teeth had been tapered off into small sharp points as well, and her eyes had turned a very cat-like yellow. Blinking, she looked to Saph first with a grin on her lips. "Well, what'chu think oh, knight?"
Whereas he had received the armor of a knight, if a well used version, she had received the garb of a Goblin Shaman. Which, considering her gender, covered relatively little. A black, jagged looking strapless bra enveloped her womanly bits. Bits that looked like thorns poked off in random directions, with bits of dark brown leather hanging here and there. There was a heavy necklace of what looked like bones hanging around her neck, with a bird skull sitting center over her clavicle. A skirt, if it could even be called that, hung loosely around her hips, and matched the bralette in appearance. It was open on the sides; hanging down at front and back in the same dark brown material that decorated the top. She was barefoot all of the sudden, and noticed that tribal looking bracelets decorated her wrists and ankles.
"You look smashing in armor." She tapped one last button and a long, knobby wooden staffed appeared, with a human-like skull decorating the top.
"Lookin good, darlin. That's, eh, laundry day chic, right? Very popular with the kids."
She stuck her tongue out at him, tugging her sweater down around her hips. College trends were hard to get rid of!
"You're just in time, actually. C'mon. Daylight's burnin! You'll see! Hope you like it; worked on it all night... and the night before that."
Wow... all night for two night straight? She was flattered. She blinked at him and smiled like a dope, appropriately. "Well, color me flattered."
He slung the mystery bag over one shoulder and headed for the simulation room. She followed after him excitedly, nearly bouncing on her toes as she went. What had he been working on for so long? "I'm so ready i'll explode if you drag this out any longer." She clasped her hands in front of her and broke out the puppy eyes again, batting her lashes at him over the rim of her glasses.
She encountered his note as she wandered back in from a run and swiftly checked her phone for the time. She had a half an hour to spare. Crap! After the fastest shower of her life, she threw on a baggy college sweater, some yoga pants, and made haste for the danger room as quickly as she could.
She arrived a few minutes shy of the assigned time, stumbling into the room winded and still damp. "I'm-" Pant, huff, "-Here!"
He was inside, leaning up against a wall with his arms crossed. He'd cleaned up. She suddenly felt frumpy in comparison and shifted awkwardly. Quickly, she braided her wet hair to one side and stepped in to meet him.
"Sorry... I would have been here earlier but I went for a run around the school and only got back in a little bit ago. I uh... took a quick shower. Figured you would appreciate me not smelling like a sweaty mess." Her eyes shifted to the bag at his feet. A brow raised slightly as her curiosity peaked.
"So... what's the adventure?" She was mighty curious... and excited.
"Don't they say you can make a wish when you see a falling star? Guess this prolly doesn't count, huh?"
Shelby settled her hands on her stomach, glancing at him out of the corners of her eyes. "Stars, dandelions, fountains...." Another star streaked across the sky. "There are a lot of things people make wishes on." A few more stars raced by overhead.
"Given that this whole area is made up of some kind of hardened light, i'd say that that they are real enough for now, in the moment at least." She wasn't really sure if that was reassuring... or what he wanted to hear, but well, what else was she supposed to say?
"I think the main idea is to pick something to wish on, make your wish, and then keep it secret until it comes true." Really, she'd never understood the concept fully. The wishing, yes... the secret part, no. She glanced at him glanced at him again, one corner of her lips lifted slightly in a half smile.
"Yeah? You know... I never had someone do this kinda stuff for me... I guess it's. Heh. Romantic, or something. You're really something else, Shelby."
He wasn't the only one embarrassed. His admission gave her pause when she was blowing on her tea and she flashed a face at him that was torn between flustered and happy. Settling her thermos between her knees she playfully punched him in the arm and pressed a kiss back on him. Honestly, she hadn't been expecting a thank you... or anything for that matter. Most of her previous relationships had worked so much differently than, well... whatever this was. She was used to give and take or just going along for the ride, for however long it lasted. It wasn't like she hadn't done other thoughtful things in the past, either. She wasn't the type to sit on the back burner and let other people do all the work. She'd just never had someone so openly accept and acknowledge it before.
"I mean... it's just normal, you know? We're two adults doing adult things, who are really just kids in adult suits making stuff up as we go." She shrugged, taking note of his grumble and chuckling. The man really liked his coffee. She could appreciate that.
"Not bad, though. So... Why are there meteor showers, anyway? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me... There areas with a bunch more rocks in them floating out there?"
Screwing the lid back onto her tea, she flopped back and tugged the blanket up around her a little. "Okay, so, look at it like this: There are really big comets out there, right? Well those comets have an orbit around the sun, similar to other planets. The difference is that their orbit isn't round, like ours. It's lopsided. They get further away and then closer to the sun depending on the angle of the orbit."
She attempted to mime it out in the air with her hands, "When the comet gets really close to the sun little chunks and particles break off and trail behind it. All that junk lingers there until Earths orbit and the Comets orbit eventually meet." She spotted a little streak of light spear across the sky and pointed up. "When that happens those bits of comet smack into our atmosphere and burn up. That's where the light comes from."
She chuckled. The Pluto debate was one that was sure to continue on into the distant future... or at least at long as memes remained popular.
"...Rings and everything... Jees... That's unreal... I mean, you learn about all of these thing, right, but you never think to just... look up at it all. Here I am, though... Lookin' at Saturn. Thanks, Shelby."
She glanced up at him with a faint blush dusting her cheeks and grinned. "No problem, s'what i'm here for." Detaching herself from him, she shuffled back to the blankets and huddled herself into their warmth. There was a mug of hot tea calling her name, and Saph had a mug of hot chocolate somewhere calling his.
"There should be a meteor shower starting at some point too... though, I never thought to ask about when." She pursed her lips, sipping her beverage and sighed contently. The shower was supposed to be a big one, too... she'd specifically asked for a lot of shooting stars.
"You should drink your coco before it goes cold." Shelby reached for a cookie, nibbling on it as she turned her eyes back to the sky.
"Really? Didn't even think something like that could happen... Jees, it looks so small. Is it a tiny one? Like, uh... Pluto?"
She chuckled. "Actually, Venus is nearly the same size as Earth." She turned to look up at him slightly. "Pluto is a tiny speck compared to it." In fact, on a size chart you had to break out a magnifying glass in order to find it. "They actually declassified it as a 'planet', into a dwarf planet at some point... I would show you through the telescope, but you have to find it's specific star field and watch it over several days... it's a ton of work." Hence why, when it came to her own gazing she'd never been devoted about to try and track it down. She replied on the most current pictures from NASA for all of her Pluto know-how.
"Buuuut..." She took hold of the telescope, picking out another of her favorites. "I can show you something better~" The sing song tone she adopted and she tracked down Saturn was light and silly. "I bet this one will blow your mind."
She edged away again having found the planet she sought, to let him peek through the eye piece. There, before him would be a miniature version of Saturn. Ever so slightly blurry, but still clear enough to see the full shape of the planet and its well known rings.
She watched him with a content smile on her lips, cuddling back into his warmth.
"I am not a particularly visible mutant, I just make people collapse with a look."
That was... interesting, actually. He was a case of a mutation that wasn't visible. Like, at all. She wondered if people even knew he was a mutant most of the time, or if many just chalked it up to some random kind of spasm happening within them. "Only a look? No glowing eyes or your hair turns gold and stands on end?" She tossed in a bit of her own humor, chuckling at him.
"Yes Shelby, I'd like that. Can't stand coffee though. Anything is preferable to getting shot. Except Coffee which is about equal. I'm actually able to show you exactly how it feels with my power."
Now that earned a real laugh out of her. "No getting shot, or getting shots. Tea it is, then?" Being born and raised within proximity to Seattle, she practically had coffee running through her veins. They didn't hand babies a bottle of milk in the Emerald City, they handed them a bottle of double shot espresso, three shots caramel, with soy. She liked to think it was where all the hipsters came from.
As the vehicle edged to a stop, she scooted back into her seat so the paramedics could start to get the stretcher ready to move.
"Looks like they're going to take this souvenir from this fight away, what a shame eh?"
The artist grinned, "If it were me in your shoes I would ask to keep it. Make a necklace out of it or something. A conversation starter, if you will." She paused, an image in her head of a necklace with a hundred or more bullets on it sitting heavily around his neck, and blinked. "Just don't get shot a lot, or that would start to get really heavy really quickly."
One of the paramedics opened the doors while the other gripped the back of the stretcher behind Linley. Carefully, and with practiced ease they pulled him out. Shelby hopped out of the ambulance after, and shuffled awkwardly off to the side. She wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen now... if someone else was going to come pick her up, or if she was going to wait until her current overseer got himself patched up and cleared to leave. She pulled her phone from her back, glancing down at it as she pondered. She wondered if she could call Saph... If he wasn't busy he could swing by and get her.
"No @#$%in way.. That's a planet. I'm looking at a planet."
She watched excitedly as he bent over the telescope eyepiece, smiling to herself. It was always fun watching someone else discover something new, especially when it had to do with space. Not a whole lot of people ever really bothered looking out. They just focused inward, as if Earth was the center of the universe. In reality they were so small... just a blip on the radar. "Did you see the Great Red Spot?" She questioned, "That's a huge storm on Jupiter that's been going for hundreds of years."
"Uh... can you get any other ones on this? Planets."
She nodded, cheeks pink with happiness, and turned to look at the sky. She wasn't exactly sure how the stars were aligned out in real life but in the simulation she'd had the ability to override nature a bit. She pointed up, away from the bright spot that was Jupiter to another bright, silvery, glowing spot. "Can you see that spot right there? That's Venus." Moving the angle of the telescope to match, she took a peek though the eyepiece once more, before stepping back again.
"Venus is the closest planet to us, so it's usually fairly easy to spot." She glanced up at it herself, battling a shiver away, before she decided to try and squirrel her way in between Saph and the telescope for warmth. He was taller than her by enough that she could easily lean out of the way while he looked, and she'd be able to leech his heat away from him.
"Interesting Venus fact: One day on Venus takes about two hundred and forty-ish days for a full rotation... and yet, it's orbit only takes about two hundred and twenty... that makes a day on Venus longer than a year on Venus!" She tilted her head back a little to look up at him.
"It's somethin' else. One hundred billion... So you know all this stuff, huh? From College?"
With a giggle she shrugged one shoulder at him. "There are an uncountable number of stars in the observable universe... There was an estimate made a while ago... something like a hundred sextillion?" With a smile, she glanced at him, before turning her face back up to the stars. "Nah. I've been an astronomy nerd for a few years now. Ever since I read the book 'Ring World'."
It had really opened up her imagination, away from simple dragons and dungeons. She could easily recall the first time she'd ever seen mars.
"Uhm... Hey, what's that bright star right there. It's brighter than all the others."
She leaned in toward him and followed the point of his finger. With a squint, she spotted the bright speck. "That... looks like Jupiter, maybe." She pondered breaking her pen out to magnify the spot, but thought better of it.
"Computer, import Celestar 86, computerized telescope." She stood as it started to materialize, dusting off her bum as the large piece of equipment settled in the grass just in front of their blanket. Moving to the telescope, she swiveled it toward the spot he'd pointed out, and adjusted the height on the rig a bit. "Yep! Jupiter." Stepping aside, she waved him toward her.
"Here, come look." Then she stepped aside and tucked her hands into the pockets of her sweater.
The rainbow, even in its gloopy moist state, looked fabulous! She was satisfied with with it, and when she rolled the last bit of foil up she was already envisioning what it would look like. Heck, if it looked as awesome as she was expecting, maybe she would do it to herself eventually!
She moved into position so Zinnia could apply the pink to her hair, not expecting the pigmented explosion that was to come. She had just taken her glasses off when the bottle popped, and shrieked in girlish terror as the dye splattered everywhere. Across her t-shirt, her face, the floor and the walls... Her glasses flew across the room in her surprise.
She blinked, lucky that it had mostly missed her eyes, when the last drop settled. A glance around her room told the story of a hardened war zone. Or a scene from a certain hit serial killer tv show.
".... Ha!" She pelted out a laugh, reaching up to cover her mouth. "Hahaha! Oh my god!" They were a mess! The room was a mess!
And it was so freakin' funny!
Once she had managed to calm down, she stood and plucked at her soon-to-be tie dyed t-shirt. "Do you wanna rinse off first, or should i?" After they agreed on who went first she shuffled off to her bathroom. She got the shower going and started carefully peeling off dye stained clothes.
She chuckled. "Originally? No. I was born in Bellevue. I lived all over Washington state." Like, seriously. All over it. "Bellevue, Spokane, Yakima, Puyallup, Tacoma, Vancouver... The list goes on."
"The... hell? Since when is that a thing?"
"I had it installed when this program was being made." She was tempted to reach for the pen again, but held back. "It makes it easier tailoring the environment to suit my needs, since I don't know all the fancy codes. Plus, well, ya know... art."
"Jees... how many of these volcanoes do you guys got around here?"
"Mmm... ten?" She paused, thinking it over. "Yup. Ten." She grinned, knocking her boots together. "Oregon has nineteen." "Holy s^$t... How many stars do you figure are out there?"
Laughing, she scooted over to make room for him. "At least a hundred billion or so in the Milky Way alone." She looked up as well, leaning back on her arms for support.
"Pardon me!" She side stepped someone in the hall, "Pardon me!" She jerked out of the way as another student hurried past. "Ah, oh! So sorry!" She stooped to help collect the items from a box that had fallen when she'd run into someone else with her shoulder.
It was her first day in New York, and she was attempting to get to the apartment she was supposed to be living in for the next four years. When she finally got to her door she hip-bumped it open and slumped against it with her shoulders. She was exhausted! Physically having to drag all of her belongings up a bunch of flights of stairs, then having to navigate through a packed hallway to get to her room. She had half a mind to just drop her stuff where it was and go take a nap.
"..uh... Hello?"
Shelby jerked a little, swiveling her head around to spy another girl standing in the middle of the empty living room giving her an odd look. The artist hurriedly blew a few strands of orange dyed hair out of her face and forced herself to stand like a proper human being. "Oh! Um, Hi. My name's Shelby... I guess you're my roommate?"
A flash of recognition scooted across the other girls face, before she stepped forward to grab a few of the bags from Shelby. "Well that makes sense, then! I'm Jennifer. Nice to meet you!" Shelby allowed the bags to be taken, and silently categorized the girl she was going to be spending a lot of time with. She was a little taller than Shelby was, maybe 5'6" or so. Her hair was a deep auburn and fell to her shoulders, and she either spent a lot of time straightening it, or was lucky enough to have naturally straight hair. Her eyes were a murky green-blue in color. Like when two different types of water met and pushed against each other. Her nose was sturdy, like a roman's, but with the way it was set on her face ended up being fairly attractive. She looked athletic, and Shelby wondered if she was rooming with a jock momentarily.
That thought was immediately thrown out the window when she stepped into the room a little more and spotted the pile of computer equipment Jennifer had been busy setting up in the corner. Some sort of science nerd, maybe?
"You're room is over here, Shell." Jennifer paused, casting a glance over her shoulder. "Do you mind if I call you shell?" Shelby shook her head, momentarily breaking her stupor. "Do you mind if I call you Jen?"
The other girl laughed. "Not at all!" She set Shelby's suitcase down just inside the other bedroom doorway, and dropped back to watch as it's new occupant shuffled in.
"If you need anything, i'll just be out there setting my desktop up." She jabbed a thumb behind her and departed.
Shelby plopped down on her bed, flopped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. This was her new room, in her new apartment, with her new roommate, in her new school, in a new state...
She wriggled happily on the mattress.
---
A few months in and she had finally settled. Not only into her new lifestyle, up into a new friendship to boot. Jennifer had turned out to be much more than Shelby had originally pegged her for. She was working towards a degree in engineering, and was probably on par with Olivia when it came to deviousness.
Shelby had just broken up with Derrick the day before, and had been moping around because of it. Jennifer had devised a plan to get her out of the apartment right under her nose, and she hadn't even suspected it. Before she really knew what was going on she'd been whisked away to a party across campus in a different apartment.
She hadn't suspected a thing, least of all the attractive foot ball player who'd opened the door and greeted her by name. Shelby speared her friend a wild look full of broken trust as a red solo cup was shoved into her hands and the guy snatched her hand and dragged her inside.
Jennifer laughed, light and airy, and followed them inside to the party.
The last few years have gone by quietly, or at least relatively. She had made up with Olivia some time back, both of them shaking hands on a truce, and her relationship with Derrick was plucking away steadily. She'd passed high-school with a good enough grade point average that she qualified for quite a few continuing education schools in her area. Originally she had wanted to study abroad, somewhere like San Francisco or New York, heck, even Paris... but ultimately had decided against it. Derrick hadn't liked the idea a whole lot. Something about her being too far away. She relented to his demands for now, content with the few courses offered at a local community college.
She'd moved out pretty much as soon as she had turned eighteen, and was blissfully happy not having to deal with her parents shenanigans all the time. The downside to it was that she got shafted with a rather annoying roommate who was working her way through some kind of account management degree.
Shelby was more than happy to willfully ignore the girl, and the girl returned the favor.
Derrick visited her often, sometimes staying the night when he could. Olivia would pop by every now and then when she wasn't off organizing rally's and donation drives. All in all Shelby's little world was good.
Her funding for the classes only lasted for so long, however, and a year into her studies she had to call a break so she could start to compile funds for the next round. The financial aid she'd managed to scrounge only covered classes for so long, since it was a simple 2 year degree she was working on.
She found herself a crappy little part time job, moved back in with her dad for a bit, and started to hoard as much money as she possibly could. Derrick was overjoyed to be able to see her more, since she didn't have huge projects to devote all of her time too. Even Olivia was inclined to drop by more often.
Shelby didn't have the heart to tell either of them that she was making plans to switch schools. Out of state... across the country. In New York.
She'd been doing a lot of research on schools, and which offered the best courses and degrees. Her chosen school was already picked out, and she had already sent in the application. She had decided that she would tell them when, if, she got her acceptance letter....
--
A few months passed, and one day after work Shelby came home to a plain while envelope sitting on her bed. After tearing it open, a scream ripped through the house
"DAAD! DAAAD!"
He came barreling out of his bedroom, bathrobe blown open and in his boxers, with a mini slugger clenched in a hand. "W-What!? Where?!" She all but tackled him the moment she saw him.
"I got accepted!!"
--
Her flight was booked. She was packed and ready to go, anxiously watching the clock tick away on the wall. Her mother was by her side, eyes wet from sobbing. Her father was on her other side, arms crossed and pointedly not looking her mothers way. They were currently broken up, again.
Derrick was slumped in the seat in front of her, grumpily frowning at everyone that passed within his range. Shelby smiled, nerves alight with excited energy. This was it... her dream was coming true!
"Flight 356, Seattle to New York, boarding now."
She hopped out of her seat eagerly, snatching up her carry on, and turned to throw her arms around her mother... who burst into fresh set of tears. "Oooh! My baby is leaving me!" The woman dribbled on Shelby's coat as she patted her back and laughed.
"I love you, Mom!" She moved to her dad next, who scooped her up in a bear hug and tried to swing her around like he used to. He nearly threw out his back. "Now, you call me if you need anything, Shell. You hear me? Anything!" He suffocated her in another crushing hug, which she wriggled free from. "I promise dad, I will call you for even the slightest inconvenience." They both knew that was a fib. She hadn't needed much from her parents since she had left home all that time ago.
Turning, she moved to Derrick last. Setting her bag down she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed. He squeezed back, and when she retreated his face was screwed up in a deep frown. "Hey, now... it'll be okay. You'll see! You can fly out and visit me, and when I have breaks I can fly down to see you!" It did little to make him feel any better. She withdrew from his arms with a quick peck to the cheek and snatched up her bag again. Her flight was boarding.
