Recent Posts

(OCC sorry for the short post)

"Margo," said Richard, "I also wend through a similar struggle as what you described, but after a time I came to a conclusion. Death ends a life not a relationship. For me making peace with the passing of my father means that though I still miss him, I choose to remember what he gave me, the joy he brought me and not the sadness of his passing. It does not mean that I love him any less. It is sort of how we are wired. We are wired to heal from emotional wounds. Sometimes I think of it like a tattoo, although I have never had one. The pain from the inking fades but not the mark it has left. I hope that helps."

Just then a brilliant flash lit the sky. As first lightening then thunder struck followed by rain. "Come," Richard said and lead the way out to a covered back area with a railing and two deck chairs. "I love watching the rain, especially when there is a good thunderstorm." Gently he rested his hand on Margo's shoulder. He hoped she did not mind. More and more he was tempted to call her sis but did not want to push things too far too fast. Also he was not sure if she felt comfortable enough around him for him to start treating her like a little sister. Although he had to admit she was succeeding at tugging at his heart strings more and more. He looked at her with genuine affection. 

Just then in the background gently wafting over the radio came the words to a song by third day.


When the rain comes it seems that everyone has gone away,

When the night falls you wonder if you shouldn't find someplace,

To run and hide,

Escape the pain,

But hiding's such a lonely thing to do.



I can't stop the rain,

From falling down on you again

I can't stop the rain ,

But I will hold you 'til it goes away........

"Aw, I can't say I know the feeling. Tht is, of enjoying the feeling of a head of a block of wood."

Richard smiled at this.

"I'm sure everyone at your workplace appreciates your, um, skills as an engineer. So what sort of things do you work on?"

"I have been hired to design and build armaments, military type contracts." Richard was not sure how specific he could be about his job, if she perused more he would probably tell her but not if she did not pursue any further.Anyhow now she was on to sharing about her day so Richard listened attentively.

"It was your typical, boring old day at school, Anyway, as you obviously know, it was a rainy evening. As you probably don't know, I love the rain. I'm just weird that way. So it starts to rain, and I'm actually sort of happy, but I resist going out because it's pouring pretty heavily and I don't want to, um, get into the situation that I end up getting into anyway. Like you found me. So I'm thinking and I remember another rainy night,"

"I love walking in the rain too!" said Richard while smiling. "You are not weird at all. But do go on." Richard urged, he had a feeling that Margo was about to share something deep. He watched as she traced patterns on his armchair.

"I read something once about a guy who would have terrible migraines, and he would bang his head repeatedly against the wall when that happened. It's sort of like that. You want to externalize your pain, you know? So when I remembered my mom passing away 7 years ago on this date- you know I'm so forgetful? Like most of the time I can't even remember the day of the week? When I remembered, I just needed to get out and be alone and...drown it."

There was a moment's silence. Then softly Richard said. "Margo I am very sorry to hear that." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "You see, I happen to know exactly what you are talking about. My Father passed away when I was fifteen. At that time both my mother and sister cried on my shoulder, and overnight I had to grow to become the "man of the house". There was no one for me to turn to so I used to cry myself to sleep every night against the concrete wall." He paused for a minute remembering. "My world imploded, shattered, collapsed. I fell into depression and even contemplated suicide. Anyway, that is in the past. I have made peace with it, I still miss him. And like you, once a year on the day he passed I get really depressed for no apparent reason, until I recall the day." Richard was sitting forward, elbows on knees, hands loosely clasped, head slightly bowed, eyes looking down at the carpet as he shared. He rarely if ever shared this memory unless peopled had experienced similar. Otherwise people just did not get how it felt.

"We all vent sorrow in different ways, so that is perfectly understandable. IT would be far worse to try to hold it in, and stuff it. The human mind is sometimes like a high interest bank. You try to contain sorrow and bottle it up and you just make it more intense and when it is finally let out, it is all the more painful, believe me I have been there." He paused, then on a slightly lighter note said. "Still there is a time for mourning alone and there are times where it is best Not to be alone." He smiled and looked up at Margo, sympathy and understanding in his eyes. "Thank you for sharing with me, I am honored by your trust. If you ever need to or want to talk about it, you have my number, and my door is always, always open." He said sincerely. At that moment he reflected on the rapidly deepening connection between them.

“Greetings. I’m surprised to find anyone back here working. What’s your name sir?”

Richard looked up to see a lady with captivating green eyes. He glanced over at Cheeky from who's body had risen two rectangles such that it looked like a small mobile SAM vehicle. He immediately yelled "Cheeky! Stop! Reverse! Avoid! Resume!".  Upon hearing this Cheeky beeped apologetically, retracted the rectangles back into its body and resumed cleaning the floor. Turning to the lady he apologized. "Sorry for that, my name is Richard, an engineer. I hope I am not doing anything that is not allowed. It is just that fixing things helps me thing. Also Sorry about Cheeky, the robot, I had to stop him from tazing you. His current programming includes defensive and deterrant traits. It would have been a rather unpleasant experience."

He paused, unsure if he should be asking the question of someone with such an air of authority. "I'm sorry, but You are...?"

(OCC sorry for it being a little short. Work is a litttle crazy of late)

It appeared that a hot shower and warm food had raised her spirits and she looked like she was more relaxed, which was always a good thing.

"Good, Not really. It was an okay day, then things just started going downhill, I guess. It was actually more like things just suddenly fell off a cliff. Yours?"

"Um, mine was long. New job, new city,new responsibilities, learning so much more about my self as well. I am learning so so much. It is overwhelming at times. Also it does get slightly lonely at times. I am currently the only engineer at my workplace. Although I must say I am delighting in the challenge. At the end of the day it leaves my head feeling like a block of wood." Richard smiled, his eyes twinkling as he did so. His job was challenging but he enjoyed it. He enjoyed stretching himself, a good challenge, and the job that Danny had set before him certainly was that.

"Sorry to hear about your day, care to share?" He asked genuinely wanting to know more. He had grown a certain fondness for Margo and was starting to think of her more as a little sister than as a friend who he had just recently randomly bumped into at a coffee shop. "No pressure, only if you want to." Richard would did not like forcing people to share.

"Not normally, but most mutants just lack the power to be to dangerous. Plus i have a policy not to let people who put craters in my floor back in the bar."

"That sounds like a wise plan." Richard said smiling.

"Yea Thursdays always are. The week end the place gets pretty busy though. What kind of work are you looking for?"

"I'll bet Fridays and Saturdays are the worst. Um work, I am a Mechanical engineer specializing in robotics and automation." Most people tended to have varying ideas as to what that actually ment with equally varying degrees of accuracy.

"There are a number of laboratories and small companies that are doing interesting projects and research here.I am hoping to see if one will hire me. I recently graduated you see." Richard explained.


"If you are a mutant i would advise against being to open with your powers. Some people like our kind, other's don't and sometimes they see killing as an option. If your a human i would avoid the area around Sanctuary. It's a mutant only shelter that houses mutants despite reputation, so while it is safe enough for mutants, humans avoid it. Don't let that scare ya though"

"Thank you for the advice. Each place has its do's and don'ts and it is good to find out before hand as opposed to discovery via trial and error." Said Richard gratefully.

"Also while i don't care if your human or mutant, many who come here will, so if you are human just claim to have a stupid power you can't show"

"So where would one go to learn about mutant power control?" Asked Richard casually. he was not sure, but he suspected. In any chase it was good to find out what he could. He appreciated the honesty very much, and tipped accordingly.

(OCC sorry for the lack of emotion, it has been a long week, also sorry for the wait)

I would be interested in that either having Richard play the scientist or Hades being involved somehow. Anyone else interested?

"It's not New York. It's me. I boost mutant powers. Dat's why I didn't want you to touch me, my powers activate yours on contact." Said the un-named lady sighing as she spoke.

"It sounds like you have a useful mutation though. Sounds like something you could do a lot with if you get it under control..."

So she was also a mutant, and evidentaly one that had experience with her powers.

"If I may ask, how did you learn about your powers and how did you learn to control them?"
Richard asked, interested. Firstly learning that he was a mutant was a bit of a shocker, and now knowing he was one changed a lot of things. He needed to do some research on how people felt about mutants, sure there were bound to be lovers and haters and the indifferent crowd but Richard would have to work out who belonged to which crowd and more importantly how being a mutant would affect him, his view of himself and his daily life. It was as if a previously hidden side of him had suddenly opened up, revealing the potential for wonderful and scary products.

Richard decided to experiment a little bit, it couldn't hurt right? He focused on the cup he was holding and there on the rip of the cup a little finger of plastic began to "grow". It was no wider than a pencil and was of the same thickness as the cup rim. after it had grown to about a centimeter in length it stopped. Richard furrowed his brow as he tried to do something. Then his face brightened. "So that's how you do it." He said softly to himself. The liftte "finger" of plastic slowly bowed to the girl who sat opposite him, then it slowly waved side to side. Richard opened his eyes and smiled. "You learn something new every day" He said softly as the finger stopped moving. Richard felt weary, using his powers took energy. "I am sorry, we have been talking for a while now I still don't really know what to call you."