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.
Juliette gave a joking laugh to his comment about the deli, unable to consider the fact that it might be a necessary call if she did, in fact, screw it up as badly as she usually did. More than a few times, she'd tried to cook something and ended up having to order takeout because it was completely inedible. Over the years, she'd just resigned to the fact that she wasn't destined to be the next Master Chef.
However, she had successfully managed to move the biscuits from one location to another and arrange them in a way that looked presentable. She clearly deserved a prize for that.
Booker played along and allowed her to taste the sauce that he'd used to marinate the vegetables (something Juliette would have never thought of doing), to which Juliette gratefully leaned forward and tasted the end of the spoon, holding her hand beneath it to catch any drips.
The sauce was magnificent. Even better than the food that they'd had at the little Italian place, partly because she knew that it had been made with care and attention, and she was looking at the hands that had made it. "That tastes amazing," she enthused and closed her eyes as she licked the remnants off of her lips. He was kind of amazing.
They brought the rest of the meal to the table and arranged it nicely, creating a rather romantic atmosphere. Soon enough, they were seated and eating, enjoying each other's company as they had in the Italian restaurant. As usual, Juliette found it difficult to let her grin fall when she was around him.
The food was as good as it smelled and looked, if not better. Juliette had made that fact clear several times over as she ate, unable to believe how someone could make something that delicious in their own home. It was sort of absurd, really.
Nothing was better than being able to talk comfortably with someone. Nothing, except maybe being able to quote the same movie as them in succession.
Juliette's smile only grew as Booker quoted a line from the Fezzik the Giant, which was somewhat fitting considering his height. Sure, he wasn't seven feet tall, but to Juliette, he was reminiscent of a giant. With a laugh, she shook her head and replied, "Well, good. Wouldn't want you getting any ideas. Now, do you have horses, too?" With her joke, she added a wink, enjoying herself immensely.
They hadn't even started the movie, and already they were talking about the end scene. It may have been a sign that they had seen it a few too many times, but Juliette didn't really care. It was still one of the greatest movies ever, no matter how many times you watched it. In fact, it usually just got better the more you knew the quotes that were coming up in the next scene. It was a great cult classic like that. Just like The Room.
He'd offered her a drink, and she'd made the choice to risk having alcohol. She chose wine from the options, to which Booker responded by cheerily grabbing a bottle of rosé from the fridge and pouring two glasses just less than half-full. No unnecessary amount, so no reason for her to freak out. Really, it was a good amount to be drinking on a normal date. She just wished that the idea didn't worry her so much.
Booker had given her no reason to worry like that. He didn't display any signs, and he clearly wasn't attached enough to pour more than an acceptable amount or keep the bottle near him. In fact, it didn't even look like he was giving much thought to the matter. Juliette took in a breath and forced herself to be comfortable with the situation as she grabbed one of the glasses and took a small sip. "Thanks," she said lightly, deciding to nurse her glass for as long as she could manage.
>>”You can pop these into the basket while I finish stirring the veggies. I mean, I doubt you’d be able to set those on fire, right?”
"You'd be surprised," Juliette chuckled, "but I'll do my best."
The biscuits look amazing. Like, pay $5 for one amazing. She carefully pulled them off of the parchment paper and arranged them neatly in the basket. That, at least, she could do without screwing up. Hopefully, anyway. There was never a way to be sure when there was food involved. Thankfully, she had been successful, and she'd ended up with a nicely arranged group of biscuits in the basket. It was a little bit overkill for just the two of them, but it looked adorable.
Juliette lifted the basket over to the other side of the counter and set it down carefully, proudly displaying her work. "Well, I didn't set them on fire," she pointed out. "Your faith was not misplaced."
Juliette had convinced herself that the relationship between Booker and Vanessa was completely normal and not at all unhealthy. Yes, she didn't have a lot of prior knowledge on the subject, but she knew that it was rare to be seeing two grown adult siblings living together. She didn't want to think anything of it, though, so she had put on her new relationship goggles and pushed any thoughts of strangeness to the back of her mind. That was, until...
>>”We’re just close. Nothing weird, though. As you can see, two separate rooms. I mean, it’s only been two weeks but we’re adjusting.”
The woman simply stared at him and blinked. Booker was a funny guy who cracked jokes a fair bit, but sometimes, Juliette wasn't entirely following. Every initial thought of unhealthy behaviour was brought back up, and she was officially worried again. Sure, going through a lot and coming out the other side together was one thing, but sharing rooms at twenty-eight was something else entirely. She didn't even know how to respond.
>>”I’m kidding.”
"Oh... yeah, I knew that," she laughed awkwardly, looking down as she felt herself blush. Of course he was joking. It was just a joke. There was absolutely nothing for her to be worried about.
...Okay, so she could just deal with any worries later. They weren't important to bring up in that moment.
Thankfully, they had moved onto a better topic of conversation: The Princess Bride, aka the greatest movie ever. Juliette loved the unpredictable plot (the first time she had watched it, anyway), the quotable dialogue, and most of all, the campy eighties effects. The whole experience was something entirely unique, and there was no movie quite like it. She was glad that they were going to watch it then.
>>”Be still my heart. That has to honestly be the hottest think I’ve ever heard.”
Juliette laughed and crossed her arms as she looked at him, flopped in the chair. They were on the same page with the movie quoting thing. It really was just about the hottest thing that anyone could do (clearly not an exaggeration at all). "I'm glad you're considering me as an alternative to suicide," she added with a wink. Was she going to try to pepper as many quotes as she could into her speech for the next few hours? Yeah, probably.
Booker stood up and walked back into the kitchen to check on the food, leaving Juliette alone in the living room. She wasn't going to be much help in the kitchen, but she didn't really want to sit there alone when she could be spending more time with him. The clear option was to walk with him and see if she could help with anything that wouldn't destroy the meal he'd so carefully crafted.
>>”But feel free to sit back and relax! You want something to drink? We have…soda…lemonade…water…wine…beer…whichever you like!”
Juliette paused and bit her lip. She'd made the mistake of letting Sam's drinking slide until they were already so embroiled in the relationship to do much about it. She wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, so she had to tread carefully. Up until that point, she hadn't seen any of the signs of any kind of addiction, but sometimes they were difficult to spot. She had two courses of action: have something alcoholic and see what he did with it, or dance around the subject forever. The former seemed like the best way to go.
"I'll... have some wine, thanks," she replied cautiously. "I can help with things, if that makes anything easier on you."
While he denied the fact that the dinner probably took a lot of work, Juliette was both impressed and honoured to have been cooked for that early on, especially when it smelled that amazing. One thing was becoming very clear, if it hadn't been already: Booker B. Bookman was a catch.
The biscuits must've been what was giving off the faint burnt smell, she decided. Still, it was very faint, and the new batch smelled amazing. She was no less impressed. "Hey, any part of this meal sounds like something that I would never be able to make successfully, so I'm sold no matter what." Really, he could have given her something simple and she would have believed that it took him hours.
She'd travelled back to the kitchen, where Booker was indulging her, saying that her snacks might have just saved the evening. She knew just how untrue it was, but it was still a nice sentiment, and it made her grin. That seemed to be her face's default setting when talking to him.
>>”I haven’t tried chicken popcorn, but the veggie straws are some of my favorites. My sister buys them all the time and I steal them, haha. Just easier than buying my own.”
"You must be really close with your sister," Juliette mused, looking around at the decorations and the way that he talked about her. It was rare to find a pair of siblings that close, especially that far into life. It was kind of cool. Juliette wanted to meet her, though not as badly as she wanted to spend time with Booker that evening. Meeting Vanessa was something that she wanted to do, but it could wait. "It's cool to see. I've never really spent a whole lot of time around siblings, or had one myself."
She stole a Veggie Stick from the bag and munched on it while they waited, not wanting to spoil her appetite. It would have been a travesty to be too full to eat the meal that he was making.
>>”Oh a movie that has everything! Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles... Of course, I speak of the ‘Princess Bride’…”
As if the evening wasn't already shaping up to be a great one, he'd picked a movie that was near and dear to her heart, and he was quoting it. He had been attractive before, but he'd just reached a new level. It almost seemed as if all of his best assets were amplified now. How on earth did she snag him?
"Inconceivable!" Juliette responded, trying to keep the grin off of her face. "I love that movie."
Just as she had assumed, the apron had been left on absentmindedly. It actually took him a minute to realize what she was referring to, after which he looked rather proud of the fact that he had been doing so. It was adorable, just like everything else that he did. Somehow, the apron just made the moment even better than it would have been, and it took all the tension away. Yeah, she wanted to keep him around.
She nodded and handed the bag of snacks that she'd been holding over to him when he asked, almost glad to be done with it in order to step into the apartment. It wasn't as if she couldn't carry it herself, but he was being chivalrous and it had been an awkward thing to carry on the subway. She didn't really mind if he took it to the finish line.
"Thanks," she replied as he stepped aside and allowed her entry, revealing the inside of the apartment. She walked inside and began to take it in. First and foremost, the apartment smelled even better on the inside. Each and every sent was amplified, causing Juliette to breathe in deeply in an attempt to savour it. It was hard to believe that she would actually get to eat whatever was behind the smell. That was, of course, if Booker was actually going to let her eat it and it wasn't just a cruel joke where he made her sit and smell it forever.
>>”Nothing fancy, It’s just some Honey-Circus chicken, mixed vegetables in a butter sauce, and biscuits. I kept it simple.”
"Oh my God," Juliette let the breath out and stared at him, a little in awe. "Why did we even go to a restaurant last time? That sounds incredible!" There was no padding or fluff about that sentence. What she was saying wasn't just said because they were on a date and that t-shirt looked amazing on him; she really was as excited about the meal as she sounded. It wasn't exactly every day that she ate something like that and didn't have to pay through the nose for it. "Was it a lot of work?"
She knew nothing about cooking. Absolutely nothing. She'd never learned and she'd never really wanted to, since every time she had attempted anything, it blew up in her face. Literally, a few times. So, when she asked about the process, she was asking because she really had no idea.
Stepping further into the apartment, she could already see where Booker's personality had spilt into his environment. The whole place fit his style perfectly, with the posters, the gaming memorabilia, the giant television, and, most of all, the books. There were more books than she'd seen anywhere outside of a library, but she figured that it was probably something of a speciality of Booker's. Fitting with his name and profession and all.
"Thank you... yeah, I'll stay out of there, don't worry," she nodded, somewhat distractedly as she walked along the perimeter of the room, taking in book titles and images alike. There were many pictures along the sides of the room, most of which were of him and a girl that she could only assume was Vanessa. That assumption also fit the fact that she had looked her up on MyFace. Completely by accident, of course. No stalking at all. Her and Booker were friends, after all!
There were photos what looked like friends, but it didn't really look like there were any of extended family, which was slightly odd. There didn't even seem to be many of them as kids. Usually, there were a couple of photos (at least) scattered throughout the bunch that looked like they could be parents, but there were none in that room. Even Juliette had a picture of her mom that she kept with her wherever she was staying. The fact that she didn't spot any in Booker's apartment had to say something, but she wasn't sure what. It would be too rude to pry that early, too. So, she kept her thoughts to herself.
>>”What did you bring, anyways?”
Juliette turned back around and tried to focus on the question at hand rather than her thoughts. "Uhm, I brought some Veggie Straws and some Butter Chicken flavoured popcorn. I saw it at the store and figured that it would be worth trying. I don't know, though - it could be completely disgusting." She paused and grinned, "but we won't have to worry about that since we have your cooking."
With the room mostly surveyed, Juliette travelled back to where Booker was standing and looked up at him. Messaging was great, but there really was no substitute for seeing the real thing. Standing next to him in person was so much better. "So what are we going to watch?" Juliette asked, interrupting her thoughts before the date got a bit ahead of itself.
Thankfully, Juliette didn't have to stand outside waiting for long. Just a few seconds after her knock, the door swung open, revealing Booker standing on the other end. There were many things that Juliette noticed immediately upon the door being opened.
The first was the smell; honey and oranges and something baked... it was heavenly. There was also the faint smell of something having been burned (which Juliette knew all too well), but it smelled like it had been well aired out and there was nothing to worry about. It was clear just from the smell that she was in for something truly incredible. How did she luck into that one?
She didn't have a lot of home cooking. Her whole life, Juliette had existed off of easy boxed items and takeout, since neither her nor her mother could cook. The only time she really got home cooking was when she had gone home to her grandparents', and since they'd moved into a nursing home, it wasn't an option for her as an adult. There were a few people that she could mooch off of, but really, for the most part, she was on her own in a vast wasteland of an inability to cook. It was safe to say that she was excited to find out that Booker, on top of being already amazing, could cook.
The second thing that she noticed was Booker himself. They had taken very similar approaches to the "casual" style that they'd agreed upon, both ending up in something akin to jeans and a t-shirt. Only, Booker had chosen to add something on top of his outfit... a lovely apron.
>>”Juliette… welcome to my abode.”
"Thank you kindly, Amazing Amazon," she grinned. It seemed like he might have just forgotten to take it off, but it was too perfect not to point it out. It added a little of that Booker charm that she was already so familiar with to yet another thing that he was doing. She was excited to see what the night had in store.
Underneath the apron, she could see glimpses of the jeans and graphic t-shirt that he was wearing. The t-shirt was tight, and it was doing all the right things for him. It was really just too bad that the apron was blocking her view, since she knew from their little bit of dancing that he was in excellent shape.
Already, she realized that her nerves had disappeared completely. Experiencing the slightly-overdone grin on Booker's face, the apron, and the slightly burned smell had grounded her and helped her realize that she was more excited than she was nervous, and that she hadn't completely romanticized all the truth out of their last date. Hopefully, they would be in for something just as good, even if it wasn't in as many locations.
She glanced down at the snacks in hand, thinking that they likely weren't as necessary as she thought they were if Booker was cooking for them. "I feel a little lame with these after smelling what's inside here. You really didn't have to cook..." she blushed, feeling bad that he put in so much effort and she put in so little. "It smells amazing, though. What'd you make?"
Date number two. This was their first really "official" date that had been planned out, which was a step in the right direction, considering the unorthodox nature of their relationship up until that point. Juliette was more than a little excited for something ordinary and guilt-free.
They'd made it as ordinary as possible. Juliette was going to Booker's apartment for a movie date, and that was that. No suspicious library tours, no little Italian restaurants, no live music. Those three things were fun for a time, but they needed to find a natural rhythm that they could build something real on, and a legitimate date would help facilitate that. She hoped it would, anyway. More than that, she was simply excited to be able to spend more time with him.
She stood outside of his apartment, dressed casually in jeans and a blue shirt, holding a few bags of snacks. The date was meant to be casual and easy, so she figured that it might be nice to bring a few things to eat, even if she couldn't cook if her life depended on it.
Her hand was poised to knock on the wooden door, but she'd stopped. For some reason, though, she was still nervous. Why was she nervous? There was absolutely no reason for it.
After their last date, they'd exchanged numbers and texted frequently until they had settled on something that worked with both of their schedules. Now, she was standing at his apartment, and all she had to do was knock. Simple task, right?
Still, she couldn't get over herself. Her hands were shaking, and she had to steady herself with a deep breath in. It made absolutely no sense. She was almost as nervous as when she had gone to the library to dump news on him. It was ridiculous.
So, she went for it. She took another deep breath in and knocked hard on the door, waiting behind it for a response.
A thousand words swirled through her head as she searched for something to describe that kiss. Nothing seemed to fit, so she'd trailed. Really, what could describe that? Their first kiss had taken up a permanent place in the back of her mind over the weeks prior to their third meeting, but that had surpassed everything. It was free of (most of) the guilt and shame that had come with the first one, so she felt like she was free to enjoy it and the passion that came with it.
It had ended, though, and they were left in that stage after something incredible, where they had to walk the line carefully. Thankfully, from the second they made eye contact again, it was clear that they'd felt the same way about the experience. There was nothing left to be guessed or worried about. The moment had been perfect.
Her mind had been foggy from the moment that they'd moved away from each other, but it was getting clearer. Only slightly, though. His eyes were still impossibly disarming.
>>”…awesome.”
Booker's first response had been similar to how Juliette felt: eager and happy. There was nothing fluffy or flowery about that singular word. The kiss really had been awesome, and there was nothing she wanted to change about that moment. The only she wanted to do was lock it in her memory as long as she possibly could. Every single perfect detail.
"Yeah, awesome," she laughed as she repeated the word. It was a single word that encapsulated how the moment had been, even if there was nothing especially poetic about it. She felt comfortable standing there in a public space with him, like that. It hadn't yet occurred to her that there were people staring at the two with their arms around each other. She was a little too distracted to notice that.
>>”I…can’t remember the last time kiss took my breath away like that. It was…like magic.”
Booker's second response was a little more like what she would have expected from someone who read as much as he did. It was poetic and special, but somehow it was less impactful than his first, genuine response. Still, it made her somehow grin even wider, though she had thought that it wasn't possible. "Me neither," she replied. Yeah, really poetic on her end.
There they were, standing in Central Park with their arms wrapped around each other, people staring all the while. For the first time in a while, Juliette looked beyond the man in front of her and at their surroundings, a blush covering her face as soon as she realized what was going on around them. The bubble had broken after all that time, and now she knew exactly what was happening around them. How long had they been staring like that? Evidently a while. While most of them seemed to be looking on in support, it still made her feel a little strange about the whole situation. She quietly wished that they were alone.
They couldn't very well stand there forever, especially not like that with everyone watching, but Juliette desperately didn't want the evening to end. Not as long as she could manage.
"What now?" she asked gently, having not moved positions at all. As much as the people watching made her uncomfortable, they didn't make her uncomfortable enough to want to remove her hands from his arms.
The music swirled around them, creating what was almost its own space entirely. The rest of the park didn't exist in that moment. She had her eyes on Booker, and she wasn't moving them anywhere else.
The first song might have ended, but they weren't finished dancing by any account. As the music picked back up, they continued from where they were before, that time with a slightly more energetic set of movements. Juliette could feel his hands moving up and down her waist, which only spurred her on. She smiled, enjoying every minute of it.
Everything that had happened in the last while, the RIP, the breakup, the kiss in the library, it all melted away. She was happy, and nothing else mattered right then. If things decided to explode right then, it was alright with her.
They made eye contact, and a certain understanding was silently made. What was that lyric? Oh, reckless abandon. It seemed fitting.
Juliette closed her eyes and stood on her toes to meet Booker halfway as their lips met. She'd stopped swaying by that point, focusing instead on other movements. Her hands had travelled up from Booker's shoulders to the sides of his neck and head, drawing him closer still. She pressed in hard, enjoying the fitting feeling that they seemed to achieve by being close. It was clear that they were in the right place, doing the right thing.
As the song drew to a close with a final, simultaneous staccato note on the second violin and cello, so did the kiss. Juliette's heels fell back to the pavement as she broke away, her smile consuming her face once again. It wasn't her first choice to break off the kiss, but they were in a public space, and there was a certain amount of PDA that was acceptable.
Her mind was fuzzy, but there was one thing that she knew for sure: that had felt right.
It was strange; she felt like a giddy teenager all over again, and she didn't really know what to do with her hands. She dropped them down and rested them on Booker's forearms, not wanting to break contact completely. "That was..." she trailed off and simply grinned. Words were difficult to form and think of. Hopefully, he would understand what she meant.
Juliette hadn't even noticed that the sun had set.
They moved along with the music, Booker leading her through the dancing. She was glad that he was able to take the lead for the two of them, using gentle bits of pressure to guide her steps and movements. It was a simple enough dance that she was able to follow with relative ease. There was nothing complicated about that moment.
Despite the dance being a simple one, it was clear that Booker was a good dancer. It was no wonder, too. Juliette recalled him saying something about loving salsa dancing. She was glad that he wasn't using those particular skills in that moment, but it was decidedly nice to follow someone that knew what they were doing.
She drew slightly closer, being careful not to step on his toes. They moved along with the music, and she couldn't help but smile. It was nice to be that close to him again. She wouldn't have minded if the song never ended and they could spend the rest of the evening like that.
He caught her eyes, and she grinned back at him. He was obviously having as much fun as she was, which was very encouraging.
>>”The restaurant, the music, you coming by the library…I masterminded the entire thing. What can I say? I’m so, so diabolically brilliant.”
"Absolutely diabolical. I don't know how I'll look past this," she joked. Of course, it was absurd to question whether the night had been planned. She had been the one to seek him out, after all, and that had been a rather spur of the moment thing. It was quite possible, that, against all odds, fate was on their side. How rare was something like that?
The song cadenced into a close, but Juliette still wasn't ready to stop. She cheered with the rest of the crowd, but she didn't release herself from Booker's grasp. Instead, she stayed as close as she had been before. Thankfully, the band wasn't ready to stop either.
Bows were picked back up, pages were turned, and the group erupted into an encore performance. That time, it didn't take her long to recognize the number.
"This is one of my favourites," she grinned up at Booker.
"Wait, he juggled real chickens? Or just those plastic ones?" Juliette asked, raising her eyebrow at the thought. There were some weird things on the streets of New York, but she'd never heard anything quite that weird. It was amazing what the city could still surprise her with.
The music was distracting enough to make her completely forget about the chicken man. The performers began to move along with the flow of the music, swaying and dipping their bows as they went. It was truly an incredible performance.
Juliette had been content to stand there, holding Booker's hand as they listened. She would have been content to spend the whole night like that, just listening and enjoying. In fact, she was sure that she could have stayed in that moment forever and watched the sun go down. Of all things. She wasn't even worried as much as she usually was.
Contentment wasn't always the best approach, though. Sometimes, there were better things in store.
She turned slightly when she heard a bag drop, but didn't think too much of it when she saw that Booker had just taken it off and set it down next to him. She figured that he likely just didn't want the extra weight on him as he listened to the music. It didn't make a lot of sense in a crowded park, but she wasn't about to stop him from doing it. She would, however, try to stop anyone that tried to take it.
It was when he turned to face her and kissed her knuckles that she realized why he had dropped his bag. He was asking her to dance. In the middle of a park. To live music. Against a sunset. How was she supposed to say no to that? (And why would she want to?)
"Of course you may," Juliette smiled, her cheeks flushing. She was hardly a dancer, but she would make do. Especially if he was going to lead. So long as it wasn't something that required an intimate knowledge of dance steps, then she was good to go.
She placed her free hand on his shoulder and looked up at him with a grin. "This is almost too perfect," she commented as she looked from him to the surroundings and back. It was so rare that everything worked out like that; a perfect evening that seemed to be only able to move onto better things. Maybe it was all just a dream. Or a Binge movie. "Are you sure it isn't planned?"
Booker was a passionate guy. Nothing that he did was half-done or poorly thought out. Everything that he got his hands on received the same attentive care that he had demonstrated with just the few things that Juliette had seen him do. It was inspiring, really. She wished that she had the kind of resolve to be able to put that kind of effort into everything she did.
Case and point were the bracelets. Three weeks was a hell of a long time to be working on something like that, in Juliette's opinion, but clearly, the work had paid off for him. The costume looked really cool. Not to mention all the great things that it did to display his physique.
To Juliette's relative disappointment, he put away the phone. It was probably a good thing, though. The picture was far too distracting, and she might not have been able to look away if he kept it out. Her face felt a little bit warmer, though. She just hoped that it didn't also look warm.
Like she'd been hoping, he took her hand in his, which made a shiver run up her spine. She looked up and smiled at him, only to find that he was looking at the ground already. Shyly, she did the same, having only blushed a little bit. She ran her thumb lightly over his hand as they walked forward.
>>”Of course... I love coming here on days off. Sometimes they have some pretty great artists. God I hope it’s not that chicken guy again…”
She laughed. Central Park was a great place to run in the early morning, so it was a place that she visited somewhat often. the chicken guy was not something that she recognized, though. "What did the chicken guy do? Don't tell me he was dressed like a chicken..." she groaned. That would be an image. Really not one that she would want to see, though.
The performer was not the chicken guy. It was a young woman that looked to be in her early twenties, who, within seconds, was joined by three other performers. Quickly and quietly, they set up two violins, a viola, a cello, and four stands, and they were ready to go. The first girl counted them in for four beats, and they began. Juliette recognized the song that they played, but she couldn't quite place it.
"This is lovely," Juliette smiled, taking in the scene. The music was the perfect accompaniment for the surroundings. Despite the fact that it was about to be dark out, Juliette couldn't help but realize how gorgeous it all was; the green foliage that had peeked out for the summer, the people that were beginning to stop to listen, hell, even the geese seemed less awful.
The meal seemed to move too fast. Booker made jokes, Juliette laughed, and the more they talked, the clearer it became to Juliette that she was in the right place. She'd made the right decision by putting herself out there and risking everything, and this was the payout. She got to enjoy Booker's company.
Sooner than she would have liked, they were out of food, and thus, reasons to take up one of the sparse tables at the tiny restaurant. With the help of a subtle glare from the waitress and the placement of their check at the table, the two made the obvious decision to leave. Leave the restaurant, anyway. Neither was ready to go home yet.
They were walking through Central Park, Booker with his phone out, explaining a recent trip to a comic convention. While Juliette didn't know a ton about things like that, she really didn't mind listening. Or looking at Booker's costume for said convention... it was very small...
>>”Those bracelets are amazing, aren’t they? Made them myself out of plastic and foam. My friend was soooo impressed. I actually think she was a bit jealous…”
"That's really cool," Juliette enthused, still looking at the picture. The speedo was doing only good things for Booker's image. She was surprised that he was able to leave the convention single. And by the fact that his friend had arrived as his friend and left as just his friend. It must've been a room of people with amazing willpower. "Did they take you long to make? And do you go all out for all the conventions that you attend?"
He put his phone away, making Juliette look up at the sky. The sun was lowering on the horizon, meaning that the sunset would be following it soon enough. Usually, that would be the point in time when Juliette would consider calling it a night and locking herself in a brightly lit room. Staying out in the dark was not something that she liked to do, no matter how many streetlights New York boasted.
Why was she scared of the dark, though? Was it part of her mutation? A side effect? Or had it just spiralled because of her abilities? What did she really have to be afraid of if she didn't have her powers?
That notion didn't stop her from being less terrified of it, but it gave her a new bit of resolve. She was going to stay outside longer than she usually did, and she wasn't going to let herself freak out. She was going to stay out with Booker and enjoy the night, not worrying about the fact that it was dark outside. Well, she would try to, anyway.
>>”Umm…I’m…having a good time…by the way… Just…wanted to say that. I know you’ve been on pins and needles wondering.”
"I was. I was really, really worried," Juliette played along with a grin. She let her hand hang at her side, trying to signal that it was alright if he wanted to hold it. It was harder to make a move bigger than that when he had his hands doing other things. "I'm having a good time too."
The park was filled with other people that evening, which was to be expected. Tourists tended to flock to the area, and there were always locals doing something there. Juliette didn't mind, though. It was hard to notice them when her attention was being so entirely monopolized.
Something else did catch her eye, though. A street performer was setting up their instrument just in front of them, meaning that they would soon be able to watch some live music while enjoying the scenery. "Do you want to stop and watch?" Juliette asked. It seemed like it would be a good addition to what they were already up to.
>>”I told you. I stumbled across it one day. The other two restaurants... Are just as good. Just… Don’t say that outloud. Remember, they’re all still rivals.”
Juliette nodded and placed a finger on her lips. "Mum's the word," she nodded. They wouldn't be kicked out of there on her account. "Maybe we'll have to try the other places at some point." She very much liked the idea of an encore engagement with him.
She had gone through the parts of her life that were tied directly to her mutation, good and bad. Talking about it always brought up memories of her mom, though, which could be hard. While she didn't always completely agree with the decisions that she'd made, she understood that everything her mom had done had been with her best interests in mind. Juliette could walk around freely as a mutant if she wanted to, but that hadn't always been the case.
Parents could either make or break you, but no matter what, they were a part of who you were. Juliette was thankful that she'd had a parent that cared enough to make sacrifices for her, even if she'd been far from perfect. She'd been lucky enough to have her for a while. Not everyone got to say that about their parent.
She'd gone on to describe the problems that her mutation gave her, though she didn't go into great detail. It could be tricky, but for the most part, she'd learned to manage it. Though it had been giving her more problems of late...
>>”I have to ask, so please forgive me, but… If…you need to take such care about how much you absorb and don’t…will…we be an issue?”
Juliette blinked. Would they be an issue? She was sitting there, in his adapted field, and she had no idea what state her mutation was in. Was she low on energy? If she was, she couldn't feel it. Perhaps, when she stayed in the adapted field, her energy level just stayed as it had been before. That would be the best case scenario, anyway.
Of course, there were still other options to consider. She hadn't spent a ton of time around adapteds before. Sure, she'd stayed in the adapted field around Gemma's office for a time before, but not long enough for her to figure out what effect it would have on her. She was essentially flying blind with Booker.
"I... have no idea," she admitted, smiling shyly and shrugging her shoulders a bit. "I'm willing to find out, though." She reached across the table once again and took Booker's hand in hers. It felt right to be holding it again.
Whatever came, she was willing to try it. It couldn't possibly be that bad, right? Either way, it would be worth finding out if it meant more time spent with Booker.
Juliette held her fork out in front of her so that Booker could take it from her and try her lasagne. She was not about to put it in his mouth for him like a baby bird. There were... too many weird connotations associated with that. Not to mention the fact that they were in public.
It seemed that her date had other plans. Rather than taking the fork from her and eating the piece himself, he took her hand along for the ride. She didn't have to reach far, but it was far enough to make her lift her arm off of the table. She grinned a little bit, feeling her face flush as she watched him. There was something about him that made her willing to keep her hand like that for as long as he wanted her to.
It was apparently longer than she had been anticipating, though. Even after he had leaned back to chew, he held her hand. She didn't mind; it was an unorthodox, but very Booker way of getting a little closer to him. Everything about the date seemed to be very 'Booker', in fact. She liked that.
"That good, huh?" she asked teasingly. She grinned at him from across the table, wanting to remember that moment.
When her hand was released, she set it and the fork back down on the table. With two hands, she picked up the slice of pizza that he'd given her. She bit into it and chewed, nodding toward him as she swallowed. "You were right, it's all really good."
>>”What about you? I mean, from what I’ve read about your powers, they sound pretty amazing. But how does that affect your everyday life?”
She paused for a minute while she thought, setting the pizza back down on her napkin. It was less of a question of whether or not her mutation affected her life, and more of the fact that her mutation was in every faucet of her life. It was hard to go on living and ignore a part of her that was so large. Just as she wouldn't be able to do anything without subconsciously working in the fact that she had two arms and two legs, the same was true about her mutation.
"This is usually the part where I show off and make some tiny ball of light in a public space, but I don't think that's going to be an option," she chuckled quietly. It wasn't going to be as fancy, but she could still explain with words. "Uhm... I guess you could say that it affects everything. I mean, I wouldn't be an X-Man or a health teacher without it, and it's mainly why my mom and I would never stay anywhere for very long when I was growing up. She didn't want anyone to find out."
She took another sip of her drink as she thought of what else to say. Talking about her mom was always bitersweet, but she tried to do it often enough that she wouldn't forget parts of the woman that raised her. Of course, it then made it difficult to think of anything else. It took her a minute before she realized that she was leaving out one of the biggest parts of her mutation.
Juliette took another bite of her pizza, swallowed, and then continued. "My mutation also needs a bit of special attention. I can absorb light and use it, but I have to be careful about how much I absorb. It's almost like it exists on an equilibrium; too much on either direction and there are consequences. Basically, I just have to make sure that I always fall in a safe range."
She shrugged and turned back to her meal. It was strange not being able to feel her powers. In that moment, she wasn't even sure where she fell on the scale.
