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.
"Hey now, that's Detective Nurse DJ Firefly Dizzle to you, sir," Juliette joked. Since they were in the process of coming clean about everything, she figured it would be a good place to poke a little bit of fun. She loved that she felt comfortable enough in that situation to be able to do so.
Typically, her codename didn't matter enough to make jokes about. When she was with the X-Men, her codename was just a fact of life. Everyone had one, so it wasn't something that people made a big deal about. Then, when she was anywhere else, she tried not to bring it up for so many reasons. It was strange to be able to talk openly about it to someone who wasn't also on her team.
Her hand had done nothing when held up to the light, which was something that hadn't happened since she was very small. Her mutation was just an expression of herself, so having it turned off was slightly unnerving. It had been so long since she had lived without it that she couldn't imagine what life would be like. In a way, it was like losing a limb or an organ. It was just so present that she, like most mutants, didn't think of what it would be like without it.
Still, if she was going to be entering a relationship that went beyond a date with Booker, then it was something she needed to consider. While her mutation was a part of her, it wasn't the only part of her. She had other things going for her, and she didn't need her mutation to feel useful or alive. Not only that, but she wasn't dependent on her mutation to survive, so losing it while around Booker didn't seem like a horrible trade off. If it meant that she could continue spending time with him, then she didn't mind the idea of not being able to use light for that time.
Of course, her power still came with drawbacks, just as every mutation she'd seen did. If she didn't absorb light, or she absorbed too much, then there were consequences. What would happen when her mutation was shut off? She had no idea. She was willing to find out, though.
Her began to explain to her what it was like to be an adapted on a regular basis and a few tales of how his ability had impacted his life. "Poor kiddo," Juliette mused. She liked kids. She really did. It was also encouraging to see that Booker clearly did too, but that was a thought for other times. Still, she knew first hand how tough it could be to deal with mutant children, so she commended him for his efforts. "It's cool that your ability can be used like that, though."
>>”But really, other than a few minor things, I can be as normal as anyone else.”
She nodded. Much like non-physically mutated mutants, he could get away with leading a regular life without too much hardship. If Juliette had chosen to continue down that path, that was what her life could have looked like too. She had chosen to join a team of mutants and fight for what she believed in, which negated that choice, but she still stood by that decision.
She watched as he handed her a piece of pizza on a napkin, to which she responded by placing a hand over the majority of her face.
>>”Please, try it. I didn’t forget…unlike sooooomeone…”
"I'm sorry!" she enthused with a grin. She really had forgotten. "But in my defence, it's really good. I doubt you'll want to stop eating it either."
He held his mouth open for her like a baby bird, which made her laugh. "Close your mouth!" she laughed, only slightly serious. She cut a piece of lasagne and held it out for him on her fork, holding it with just a few fingers so he could take the utensil from her. Then, she slid the plate forward for him to take more while she picked up the piece of pizza.
It hadn't been a thought of Juliette's to protect her identity in any way other than just not telling people who she was. Sure, she didn't wear a mask, but people didn't typically follow the lives of the X-Men close enough to be able to tell who was who. At least, she didn't think they did. She thought that they did a good job of remaining in the public view, but still keeping to themselves and living lives outside of the work.
Of course, she also didn't have an awesome precedent to follow in terms of keeping her identity hidden. Cafas was a movie star, and it was well known that Ghost was his girlfriend. She was actually amazed that neither of them were recognized more. Then, there was Rebecca. Again, she ran a ViewTube show and had impossibly recognizable features, so the odds weren't looking great for her either. Sam had kept anything from her, either. Hell, by their second date, he had brought her into the danger room. She didn't need to dwell on that, though.
So, really, telling him about the fact that she was a member of the team had her more worried that he would react poorly to that fact. His reaction had shown her differently.
But, as adorable as Booker was, Juliette had to admit that it was getting a little strange to have her date fangirl over her. It was endearing at first, but as the realization that he, among others, knew things about her life that she hadn't given them permission to know was a little unsettling. Hell, she kept MyFace and Speedigram accounts as private as she could possibly manage.
Then again, she couldn't blame him for it. She was a part of the team, so she didn't really know what it was like to watch from the outside, to imagine what it was like to fight on a team like that. She knew first hand that it really wasn't glamorous at all. Especially living at the mansion; she'd seen sides of people that she had not been prepared to see.
To Booker, she was The Firefly. Shiny, new, and a super cool X-Man. To him, it was a novelty. To her, she was enjoying a first date with someone she really liked. It felt a little unbalanced.
Still, she wasn't about to ruin things with her weird reluctance to step into the role. She kept her smile up and nodded along to what he was saying. Surely he would get over it quickly and the novelty would pass, and then they could go back to how it was before. She'd liked how it was before.
>>”Umm…well…s-since we’re being so honest… I…have something I should say too.”
Well, that was a worrying statement. Juliette blinked at him, waiting for another bomb to drop. Her mind flashed with a thousand possibilities of what he could possibly be gearing up to tell her. There was no shortage of weird images that her mind managed to draw up. She hoped for none of them, but she had to wait.
Really, she couldn't be angry at him for starting the topic like that and leaving her guessing. She'd done the same thing just minutes before.
>>”So…a-about that explosion I survived… For a while I honestly thought that I was just, you know, lucky. But sometime I caught this AMA after with a staff member from, you know, Xavier’s, a Ms. Taylor…um it was then that I learned I was…special too. Just…you know…in a different way…in the adapted way…”
She grinned, somewhat relieved. That was certainly less weird than anything she had thought of. "So you are an adapted," she nodded. "I thought that might be the case, but I didn't want to pry it out of you."
That explained why the walk had felt strange. The sun was uncomfortable because she wasn't yearning for it like she usually did, and she couldn't just absorb it if it got too intense. She... couldn't absorb energy at all. That was a weird thought, actually. She held her hand up ever so slightly to the low-hanging lamp just above their table and gave it a subtle test. Nothing. So weird.
"Yep, completely shut off," she mused, letting her hand fall back down. 'That's cool. Has it affected your life much?"
On one hand, Juliette's comment might have been viewed by some as insensitive. Too fast after talking about an awful subject matter to bring up a joke like that. Booker still took it in stride, responding with a comment in stride and a smile. Only after it came out did Juliette realize how poorly he could have taken it. She was thankful that he was the person that he was, though, and her rudeness was taken well.
"Hey, I'm sorry, the girl was cuter than you," Juliette said cheekily, thinking back to when Booker had tried to win that dance off with the girl at the hospital. In truth, they were a different kind of cute (Booker was very cute), but when pressed, she would still pick the sick little girl every time. Anything she could do to make her life better, she would.
She said her piece on the fact that she was a mutant and then waited. It was unbearable to do so. Absolutely unbearable. She'd just admitted something deeply personal, and he was giving her nothing. Absolutely nothing. She took a bite of her lasagne instead, trying to focus on something else. It was good, God, it was good, but it really wasn't what she wanted to be thinking about in that moment.
His face was completely impassive. What was he thinking about? Did he completely hate her for saying that? Juliette was sure that the date would be over that second, and there was a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was ready to grab her purse and make a mad dash for the door if he suddenly got angry. Maybe she would take the lasagne with her as consolation.
>>”J-Jesus Christ…”
Juliette looked up, bracing herself for an angry or disgusted expression, but she saw neither. Instead, he was looking at her in awe. That, she had not been expecting. Surprise, sure. Maybe a little bit of curiosity, but of all the good emotions, awe was not the one she'd expected.
She opened her mouth to say something, but decided to let him finish. She closed her mouth with a grin. He really was as good as he seemed.
>>”…y-you’re Firefly. Oh… my god…you’re THE Firefly.”
Talk about unexpected. Juliette just blinked at him for a second.
"Wait, you know my codename? That's... never happened before," she admitted, feeling her face grow warm. Sure, she was an X-Man, but she was a really recent X-Man, and in the scheme of things, she hadn't done all that much. She was very surprised that he was up to date enough on his lore to know who she was, of all people.
She might have expected it if she'd been on the team for a long time, like Ghost or Alchemist, but that really wasn't the case. She hadn't done anything important yet, and as far as she knew, the thing that she was most famous for on the gossip sites was dating Cold Steel...
Juliette really hoped he hadn't read all of that.
>>”I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to nerd out… I just…wow…I mean…I’m such a big fan and I respect what you guys do and… …I’m sorry. Really. I…jeez…I feel like I’m making a complete spaz out of myself…”
Juliette laughed. "No, no, it's okay! I've, uh, never really met someone who's a fan before. It's kind of cool," she grinned. She felt famous. Was that what being a celebrity felt like? If so, she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. It was a bit strange, but it was very flattering.
More content with the situation than before, she decided to take another bite of her lasagne. It was delicious. If she wasn't careful, then it would get away from her and she would forget to share.
The hand that she'd placed on top of Booker's had been received well. Well enough for him to turn his hand around and hold it, anyway. She gave him a small smile, her eyes flashing down to where they were touching briefly. More than anything, she just wanted to keep them like that. Keep them intertwined and never worry about having them fall away from each other again.
The memories that Booker was dredging up to explain his willingness to support mutants didn't seem to be good ones. She hated to imagine the recovery process after something like that, especially while losing a friend in the process. Grief was a heavy weight that could follow people around forever; she knew that well.
Booker, on the other hand, had survived the ordeal in perfect condition. Juliette had remembered reading about him; the anonymous student who had walked away without a scratch. As if survivors guilt wasn't already enough.
"Booker, I'm sorry that happened to you," she told him earnestly as the waitress approached. She took her hand back and let it rest in her lap, the path between their arms having been cut off by the food. While it smelled amazing, and she was hungry, she couldn't help but resent the fact that she had to take her hand away.
"It's just too bad that that luck didn't follow you to the hospital dance contest," she joked, trying her best to lighten the mood. The last thing that she wanted to do was make him continue to focus on a horrible subject matter. Dates were supposed to be happy, good times, after all. Not times for going over past worries and hardships. Well, first dates, anyway.
Still, she was mulling over the fact that Booker hadn't been scathed by a mutant attack. Within the mansion walls, there was lots of chatter about adapteds, especially with Gemma, the counsellor, around. Unless Booker had some sort of shield mutation, adaptedness was really the only explanation that she could think of for why he could have possibly escaped from an attack by a mutant. She regarded him curiously, trying to figure out whether that was the case or not.
Of course, she didn't want to pry the information out of him. If he was an adapted, then that was information for him to tell her, not for her to try to guess. She wouldn't have wanted him to expose her as a mutant before she was ready to come out and say it, after all. Then again, she didn't want to be left guessing...
Booker had made her feel safe, like she didn't have to worry about her past or her genetic code. She felt safe enough to decide that it was alright to share the truth in a public space after all. Just perhaps in a hushed tone. Her eyes darted back and forth quickly to make sure that the rest of the restaurant was focused on their own meals and conversations before continuing. Sure, the public opinion on mutants was good then, but it was hard to know who might have been listening and what kinds of prejudices they might have. She had been given the ability to keep it a secret, which physical mutants often didn't get, and she planned to make the most of it.
Juliette took a breath before starting on the topic. "I should tell you something," she began, "well, several things. I'm... not just a mutant supporter. I am a mutant. And that private school that I teach at is Xavier's Sister School. I'm also a member of the X-Men."
There it was, plain and simple. It was both the biggest part of her life and her current biggest secret. If Booker had been embellishing about his support for mutants, then it was the time for him to admit that. She wasn't about to block the door. She only hoped that he still felt the same way about everything as he had claimed to before, because she really happened to be enjoying the date. While she waited for his reaction, she cut a piece of her lasagne and took a bite
Her thoughts had trailed back to the Odessa rally the previous summer. Despite the fact that it had been less than a year since it had occurred, it still felt like forever ago. It had been directly after that rally that she'd volunteered to join the X-men, spurred on by the events that she'd just witnessed second-hand. A lifetime had passed since then, even though she was still adjusting. She couldn't imagine going back to the way her life had been before.
The strangest thing that she was still trying to wrap her head around was the fact that she and Booker could have been standing in the same space all that time ago without even realizing. Had she felt that magnetic connection before without knowing? They could have been feet apart and never known.
>>”I mean…it was such a tragedy and the turnout was so spectacular that it was hard to miss. It was absolutely terrible what happened, but it was good to see so many people uniting. Those X-Men... They really knew what to say. I only hope it doesn’t need to be repeated.”
Juliette nodded emphatically. From the sounds of it, Booker was not only a mutant supporter, but a supporter of the X-Men. She didn't feel like she would have to hide that part of her life from him at all. Then and there, she decided that she would tell him exactly why she was a bit different than the average human, but not then. They were sitting in the middle of a restaurant, after all, and a nice one at that. If the topic came up directly, then she would talk about it, but she wasn't about to bring it up without reason.
"Cafas... did a good job with that speech," Juliette nodded, thinking back to the time when it was necessary to talk like that. The pink-haired mutant had done an excellent job of putting things plainly but respectfully. "And Abby, the little girl. Both of them were really something else that day."
Her question of his position as a mutant supporter went answered, and she got the answer she was expecting. He was not a mutant, from the sounds of it. She couldn't be too disappointed, though - just about every other part of him was perfect, and despite the fact that she knew more mutants than the average person, they weren't all that common. It wasn't unusual for him to be a human, but she had gotten lucky with the fact that he was a mutant supporter, so it was good enough for her.
Besides, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it would be a good thing to have a part of her life that didn't revolve around the X-Men and her powers. If he stayed in her life, that was. She was getting ahead of herself again.
The thing about his response was that it more than answered her question. A friend in college had lost control of his powers and caused an accident. She gave him a sad glance, trying to imagine what it must've been like to have something like that happen, especially in a time like college years. "Booker, I'm so sorry," she breathed, placing her hand on top of his.
The idea of that triggered something in Juliette, a news article that she remembered from years ago. If she was remembering the article correctly, then there had only been one person that got out unscathed. A male student. "Were... were you that student that got out unharmed? Despite everything?" she asked cautiously, not wanting to overstep. She imagined that it couldn't have been easy to come out of something like that. Even just reading about it had made her emotional, and she hadn't experienced it.
In the midst of a heavy silence, the waitress returned with a basket to breadsticks. Juliette gave her a quick smile once again and then watched as she left. She really did pick the most opportune moments to show up.
She had figured that Booker was just waiting for the waitress to leave. That seemed like the most convenient option. Then, he didn't answer.
For a moment or two, Juliette held her breath. She had set her drink down while she waited for an answer to her poorly-worded question and tried not to worry that he was taking his time answering. He'd given her two words and then trailed off, remaining silent for a while. Maybe it was too poorly-worded? Maybe he wasn't going to discuss it with her?
Or maybe, like a regular human being with regular though processes, he was just taking a minute before he answered. She watched him take a piece of bread and chew it for a minute, clearly in thought. That was a good sign, at least. She did the same, taking a piece of bread and tearing off a piece to distract herself with. Silently, she willed him to say something else so she wouldn't feel like such a complete screwup.
Mostly, she was just hoping that she hadn't gone too far. Some people were extremely touchy about social justice issues, while others still were completely unwilling to discuss such heavy topics on a first date. Still, Juliette needed to know. If he felt differently, she wasn't going to finish out the date. There was no way around that. As much as she liked Booker, her mutation was her life, and she could neither hide it from him nor could she compromise on the subject. It was make or break.
Eventually, the silence was broken.
>>”Tragic…”
...
>>”…that in this day and way people can still be so bigoted.”
Thank God. "Yeah, it really is," Juliette agreed, leaning back in her chair as she tried to keep herself from grinning while talking about the touchy subject. She had been scared for a while there, and her hand had started to travel to her bag to make a quick break for it. However, she'd gotten the answer that she wanted. Or, at least, the answer that was being fed to her. She really hoped that he was being sincere.
>>”I mean, I get that the ‘new’ can be scary, that some mutants had some seriously dangerous powers, but they’re DNA is still basically the same. No matter what, we’re all still human. I’ve marched at a peaceful pro-mutant rally or two…if we’re being honest.”
Her smile grew wider. She'd thought that it wasn't possible to like Booker any more than she already did, but there it was. She officially liked him more than she had before.
While his responses didn't suggest that he was a mutant, they did suggest that he supported the mutant cause. More than that, actually, he fought for it. He was a fighter, just like she was. It was too soon to be making any connections or assumptions like that, but there her brain went, off the tracks as usual.
"We might have gone to the same ones, then," Juliette told him. While she didn't attend every one, she had been attending far more recently, since the X-Men were often supposed to be there for both support and security. She enjoyed them quite a bit, too. "The Odessa one was intense."
She took a bite of the piece of bread that she'd ripped off and chewed it slowly, no longer in a rush for words or answers. They were on the same page, and that was what she needed. For then, anyway.
"That makes you... a mutant... supporter?" she asked slowly, figuring she would try her hand at one more question.
Juliette really wasn't expecting Booker to leave when she offered him the door. As weird as things had been for a short while, it had become clear that they had chemistry. Plus, if Booker was having as good of a time as she was, then there would be no breaks made for that door. They were staying right there.
She grinned and turned her head to the side as she ran her hand through the back of her hair as she glanced down at her water glass. She looked up again as she felt something touch her hand.
>>”Nah… I’m exactly where I want to be…”
Juliette's eyes widened in surprise as she looked between Booker's face and his hand, which he'd placed atop hers. Her face grew warm and red, and she could feel a shiver run down her spine each time his thumb brushed across her knuckles. She never wanted it to stop.
"I am too," she admitted quietly, her breaths much more shallow than before. The restaurant seemed to have quieted down around them; so much so that she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Was she seventeen again? It felt a lot like she was.
The waitress returned with their drinks, but the two were too distracted to pay her much mind. Juliette echoed Booker's "thank you", but didn't move to get the drink that was placed in front of her. She was too focused on other things. Sitting with Booker felt like a puzzle piece that had just fallen into place. Was it too soon to feel that way? Too soon to have the sudden urge to skip dinner all together and just leave with him? Probably, but that didn't mean she would stop feeling that way.
She cleared her throat and took her hand back slowly and set it down in her lap, trying not to let herself get too distracted. They still had a dinner to eat, after all. If only she still had that menu to distract her...
"Sorry," she clarified, furrowing her brow as she tried to sort through her thoughts, "where were we before? We were getting to know each other?" Man, it was hard to think when he was looking at her.
There was still a glaring question that needed to be asked. One that could undo all the good things about their date and make her turn and leave if he felt differently. She dreaded having to ask it, but it was a necessary thing to discuss. If they felt differently, then there would be no salvaging the date. It would be over in a flash, and she would have to bury her feelings deep down where they wouldn't be accessed again. God, she hoped he answered right.
"So, I was listening to this pod cast," she began. The pod cast had been years ago. It was just something she used to get the ball rolling without jumping in and asking outright. "They were discussing mutant rights, or something. Anyway, they said that the population of America is split with about seventy percent wanting mutants to have all the rights that humans do, and thirty percent wanting humans to have better rights. Weird numbers, huh?"
It had felt awkward, the way she ended that sentence. She felt her face go red again, so she grabbed her soda and took a quick sip, only stopping part way through (when she realized how good it was) to savour the flavour. Carefully, she glanced back at Booker to watch his reaction as she did so. All she had to do was not get lost in those green eyes.
"And you," Juliette agreed, raising her water glass to toast the occasion before taking a sip. They had technically met twice before, but this was their first attempt to really get to know each other. Was there a better place for that than a romantic little restaurant? Juliette couldn't think of anything.
She leaned forward and set her glass down in order to pay attention to what he was about to say. She was interested to hear what Booker would say to describe himself. Or, at least, the basics, anyway.
Before he could say anything, though, the waitress arrived to take their orders. Juliette smiled at her, but she had to admit that she was a little disappointed that she didn't get to hear his answer before they were interrupted. She turned to the waitress and ordered her lasagne as Booker, again, let her go first.
>>”OH! And an Italian soda, peach please. They’re Italian sodas are pretty awesome.”
Italian soda actually sounded amazing. And the best part? Completely non-alcoholic. Juliette could definitely roll with that. "I'll try the blood orange, please," she told the waitress, who nodded and jotted down another note.
"I'll be back with those in a minute. Enjoy!" The waitress took their menus and left the pair alone at the table once more.
Once again, Juliette leaned forward in her chair to better hear what Booker was about to tell her. It wasn't as if the restaurant was particularly loud (especially where they were sitting), but she wanted to make sure she didn't miss anything.
He began to explain the little details of his life, to which she listened attentively. Most things, she already knew, but there were a few surprises. The ukulele definitely definitely wasn't one of those; she could totally see him sitting with the tiny instrument. It fit his entire persona. Again, volunteering with kids - absolutely adorable, but she already knew that about him. The fact that it was a very regular thing only made her appreciate him more, though.
The thing that surprised her was the fact that he was very close with his sister. Usually, by twenty-eight (yes, she remembered his age from their first meeting), a person was not still living with their sibling. Of course, Juliette had nothing to base that on, being an only child. The only thing that she really had to compare it to was television, which was entirely biased and off-base. Still, it worried her ever so slightly. Was it something to worry about? She hoped not. Rather than dwell on it, she decided to just assume that there was absolutely nothing strange about it.
"A huge nerd? You? No way," she grinned. Of course he was a huge nerd. Anyone could have gathered that with just a glance or two. Juliette thought it was cute, though. He was his own person, and he was so entirely different from anyone she had dated before. It was refreshing.
>>"Still time for you to escape if you feel like you have to."
With a straight face, she glanced at the door, trying to see if she could make it out of the restaurant. "The door is right there..." she trailed off and then laughed to herself. "No, I would have escaped long ago if I had any plans to do that. There's nothing stopping you from doing so, though." Cue the charming wink.
The waitress arrived back at their table just as she said she would and placed down the two sodas. "I'll be back in just a minute with your food."
In school, hurdles had been Juliette's least favourite competition in track. She much preferred long distance events, where the only thing standing between her and the finish line was time. Even as she grew up, she preferred not to have to deal with hurdles. Unfortunately, they were a fact of life that would follow her everywhere, no matter how much she tried to avoid them.
They were staring at a hurdle in that moment. Things hadn't been the slightest bit forced when they'd first met, when they were volleying sarcastic comments and avoiding eye contact for too long. Unfortunately, there was a weird bit of tension that had settled over the pair; the hurdle. It was just one, though - just one hurdle for them to get over before it was open road.
Lasagne had been a good place to start, she figured. They were at an Italian restaurant, and lasagne was an Italian staple, so there really shouldn't have been any way to get it wrong. Plus, it was a pretty universally loved dish, so she wasn't going to be trying something completely crazy in an already strange (although exciting) situation.
>>”Great choice. They hand make all their pasta so it really is quite delicious.”
"Mm," she nodded, more pleased with her decision with that information. Homemade pasta made everything so much better.
>>”I’m probably going to get their Mozzarella and Basil pizza ... I MIGHT be coerced into sharing a slice if you like?”
She met his eyes once again and grinned, cocking her head to one side. Pizza was probably the only other Italian staple that was better known than lasagne, although it was hard to get real Italian pizza anywhere but an authentic restaurant. Other places put things like pineapple on their pizza. Another prime example of heathens roaming the face of the earth.
"Share? With me? I feel like I've just been given a great honour," she teased, placing a hand gingerly in the middle of her chest as she feigned surprise. "I might have to share the lasagne, then. The servings are usually really big."
She mirrored his actions ever so slightly as she set the menu down next to her, watching as he took a more comfortable position at the table. Things were getting easier by the second, and Booker clearly felt comfortable enough to make himself a bit more at home, which was a good sign.
>>”So, Juliette, I know you a few things about you… I know you like jogging…you have a fairly new feline in your life…you read the classics…you are a nurse, and, by the way, a totally biased dance judge …and you like the color green. What else can you tell his humble librarian about yourself? Not to put you on the spot or anything, heh.”
"Good memory," she noted, dipping her head forward a little and then taking a sip of water. That was far more than she had expected him to remember, not matter how much they had clicked the first time that they'd met. "Alright, well... let's see..."
As much as he'd said he wasn't trying to put her on the spot, he had definitely put her on the spot. She'd given him most of the basic details when they'd first met, so anything after that was getting into stuff that didn't all need to be talked about on a first date. She still didn't even know how he felt about mutants. That needed to be discussed soon.
"Hmm, well, I'm a nurse, obviously, and I teach health classes at a private school as well. I'm probably the worst cook you'll ever meet, I love Led Zeppelin, and I really like being outside. Now you know all the basics," she said with a slightly nervous smile. She needed to get a feel for something before she told him any more than that. "Alright, now you."
There were two questions that she hoped that he would answer. The first being how he felt about mutants, and the second... was a very recent addition to the vetting process on dates: how did he feel about drinking?
Before Booker could answer completely, the waitress had arrived to take their order.
The thing about compliments was that as soon as someone commented on something on a person, they seemed to immediately need to touch it. Booker was the same way. As soon as Juliette mentioned his bowtie, his hands shot up to adjust the tie, making sure that it was in no way off-kilter. "It looks good on you," she commented, feeling the corners of her eyes crinkle as she watched him puff up proudly.
Neither of them had any need to feel bad for being nervous, which was made clearer by the fact that they felt the same way. It had been a long time since she'd been on a first date; since she'd felt the overwhelming need to not do anything completely stupid. It was positively nerve-wracking.
While they were following the hostess to the table in the back, Juliette began to fret. What if it was all a mistake? What if she'd just pulled him from his life to do something crazy and it didn't work out? What if they really didn't have anything in common?
No, that wasn't the case. They had plenty in common. They had a spark, too; a strong connection, and that was what they needed to make something out of... whatever they had just started. She calmed her breathing and went back to worrying whether or not her hair was falling in her face.
"Thank you," she smiled at Booker as he pulled a chair out for her. She took it gratefully and set her bag over the edge of the chair, out of sight and out of mind. She nodded a thank you to the host as he set some menus down in front of the two of them, listed the specials, and then left them to their own devices. As she looked around the table, she couldn't help but note how they managed to snag the perfect spot. It was intimate, cozy, and just generally had the perfect aura.
Quickly, she skimmed the menu, looking up every once and a while to catch Booker's eye. One time, it prompted him to start talking.
>>”Um…any ideas on what you’d like? Really it’s all good. You don’t have to listen to my suggestions.”
"Hmm," Juliette furrowed her brow a little bit as she skimmed the menu one last time. "Honestly, the lasagne sounds really good. What about you? Do you have a top pick yet?"
Green eyes. Jade green eyes. That's what they really were. Juliette couldn't help but notice that after teasing him; her eyes just seemed to lock with his without trying to, and she couldn't look away. They were too enticing for her to be able to. Far from the tomato or kaleidoscope image she'd joked about before.
After a minute or so, she was finally able to peel her eyes away from him, and she did so with a somewhat flushed face. As much as she could, she did her best to just focus on the road in front of her rather than the person she was walking with.
>>”College students are pretty resilient. And, honestly, I don’t think she totally cared. I get a lot of college students who only take the job to appease an scholarship application or because they think they’ll get all the study time in the world. Used to it by now.”
"College can be tough. Sometimes it's a shock to get out on your own and realize that the world really isn't everything you expect it to be." It was filled with unexpected twists, deaths, hardships, and feelings. She was getting ahead of herself, though. That was definitely a topic that didn't need to be discussed as they walked toward their first date.
She made the decision to get Italian food. The other places looked good, but Italian just seemed to be the one to go with. Perhaps it was the air of romanticism that the food gave off. Whatever it was, they were quickly approaching the door.
Turning and grinning back at him, Juliette couldn't help but nod at his suggestions for food. Pizza and lasagne both sounded amazing. Really, what kind of person didn't like lasagne? Heathens; that was who.
Inside, the restaurant was not what she had been expecting. It was quaint, but still elegant and interesting to the eye. Compared to the average restaurant, it was absolutely tiny, but that simply added to the charm of the undiscovered place. Plus, rent in NYC was crazy expensive, so Juliette had no doubt that they were paying a fair bit for that small space in a prime location.
>>”You…look very pretty today.”
Surprised, Juliette turned her head away from the front of the queue to look at Booker. He sounded young when he complimented her, like he was having trouble finding the right words. She grinned at him and tilted her head as she looked up. "Thanks, Booker. You look nice, too. The bowtie is a good touch. Do you have a lot of them?" That was the second time she'd seen him in a bowtie like that and it seemed to be a staple of his.
>>”Sorry, I’m usually a little better at this. Please tell me I'm not the only one just a little nervous?”
"Far from it," Juliette admitted with a half-grin. She was pretty sure that her hands were shaking a little bit, and she hadn't taken a full breath in a long, long time. It felt like she'd had something lodged in her throat since she left Becca's. "I think it's been a very long time since I've felt this nervous." It was nice to be able to feel like she could talk openly to him without feeling uncomfortable.
Before she knew it, they had reached the front of the line. "For two?" the host inquired, looking between the two of them, clearly able to feel the air of tension that rested between the two people in front of him.
"Please," Juliette nodded. The host gathered two menus and began to lead them to the only open table in the restaurant. It was the smallest one in the already tiny restaurant. It was nestled next to a fireplace and tucked slightly away from the rest in a slightly darkened corner. It all seemed a little too perfect.
A nurse's schedule was a weird one. Juliette's was extra weird, given her commitment to teaching at the mansion and training with the X-Men, so in general, it was hard to predict where she would be and when she would be there. It was a little taxing, but she made it work. All the unpredictability was reminiscent of her life moving from place to place with her mother. In a way, it was what she knew.
However, that also meant that she was unpredictable. She sometimes slept at odd hours and was awake when no one else was. It could make having a social life difficult at times, but she made do. For the most part, she'd been on a normal schedule for a few weeks. That day had just been a blip where she'd slept from eight-thirty until around one.
>>”Please tell me you got some sleep and aren’t running on fumes? Would kinda suck if you were sleep deprived and all I looked like was some kind giant floating potato with googily eyes.”
"The eyes are more like tomatoes," Juliette said with a straight face. She'd stopped walking in order to pretend to stare at him with a confused expression. She couldn't help but play it up. "No, of course not. I slept this morning. Besides, the eyes are definitely all red and kaleidoscope-y."
There was the Booker passion again. As soon as she brought up the library, he tumbled straight into conversation. He was clearly holding himself back a bit, though, for which she was grateful; layman's terms were always a friend to people who worked in different industries.
She smiled and nodded along as he told her about the new system that the library was putting in. In all honesty, it went over her head, but she didn't really mind. It felt natural talking to him, like she didn't have to put up any sort of barriers. It didn't really matter that she knew nothing about libraries or the systems they used; she was alright with just listening to him talk. What more was there, really?
>>”Oh, eh, I had to fire one of my interns. She just kept slouching in her shelf maintenance assignments. Third time. Just not good for the books, you know?”
"That's too bad," she commented. Firing people was never fun, and it certainly didn't make for a great shift. "Sorry it had to happen like that. Did she take it alright?" She'd never had to fire someone herself, since she'd never really worked in a position that high, nor had she been fired from a job before. Still, she could see where it would be difficult and taxing.
Eventually, Juliette learned that she'd been following Booker to one of the strangest restaurants she'd ever seen. Typically, there was just one restaurant with one (unless it was a buffet) style of food. What they were standing in front of was... very different. Three very small restaurants resided next to each other, each boasting a different style of food. While it was a cool idea, it was a little strange. Though, perfect for a first date when you had no idea what kind of food the other enjoyed.
>>”I figure, since I’m not 100% sure what you’d like to eat, I’d bring you someplace you could pick whatever you wanted.”
"They all sound good," she said a little lamely. While that fact was true, she didn't want to stand there and be completely indecisive when he'd taken her to a place where she could specifically choose what to eat. No, she wouldn't leave him hanging to have to awkwardly decide for the both of them. "How about Italian?" she offered.
If there was one thing to be said about Booker, it was that he knew how to flatter. Juliette had been worried that they might not be on the same page, but it was clear from his response that they were. He gave her a cheesy line about only wanting to spend time with her, to which she grinned a little wider.
"A little cheesy, but that's okay. Just so long as it's mozzarella," she smirked. "What're you binging right now? Honestly, I've been really into Grey." She knew exactly the reputation that show had, but she was a sucker for #Greyisdrama.
The origami flower felt sort of strange against her face, but she didn't dare touch it. The thought of it was so sweet that she didn't dare. With any luck, she would be able to keep it for a while afterward. Assuming that everything went alright over the course of their late lunch.
"Why thank you," she smiled and curtseyed as she exited the door that was being held for her. Booker was the sweet kind of chivalrous. Not at all like that senator that she and Rebecca had been forced to deal with when they'd first met.
They walked out of the building into the sun, which was usually Juliette's chosen environment. Usually, that was. On that day, it felt somehow... different. When she stepped into the sunlight on a normal day, it felt so comforting, and it was never painful. On that day, it was too intense, and she didn't exactly enjoy being out in it. In fact, she almost wanted to go back inside. She wasn't about to dwell on that fact, though. All her thoughts and feelings were off kilter from the rush of emotions. Her powers were probably just playing off of that.
Rather than making any sort of fuss about the strange feeling, she simply raised her hand to block the sun from her eyes and continued on. Booker did not take her hand as they walked, so it was clear that she had made the correct decision by keeping her hands to herself at first. They could figure everything like that out later.
When they had cleared the long set of stone steps, Booker led her in the direction of the restaurant. Or, at least, Juliette assumed that he did. For all she knew, he could be leading her to some secret underground lair. She took her chances anyway.
>>”So, um...you had the day off today?”
Juliette shook her head, "no, I worked an early shift this morning, one to seven, and I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, I don't have to work again until tomorrow, but I did work this morning." It had been a quiet shift. Allowed her to do some thinking.
"Was your shift alright?" she asked in response. It was petty small talk, but it was all she could really muster in that moment. They hadn't started to dig into anything deep or particularly personal yet, so she stayed on the surface. They still had to find their stride when they weren't just trying not to kiss each other.
Thankfully, Juliette didn't have to spend that much longer waiting. Booker joined her at the entrance, looking just as ready to leave the building as she was. She grinned at him, at the pack strapped to his chest. He looked so pleasantly, well, bookish. Everything about his style suited him and only him.
>>”I…wanted to go out and get you a real flower but…stacks were kinda of packed today. So I made you this.”
She took the flower from him and held it in her hand. It was cute, and it looked like it had taken a little while to make. "Thank you," she smiled and tucked it behind her ear. "Sorry, I don't have anything to give back."
It was a sweet sentiment, though. She hadn't really been expecting him to give her anything, because, well, she had ambushed him at work for that meeting. The fact that he took some time out to make that for her was really, really sweet. "This will last longer than a real flower," she pointed out.
Juliette nodded to the exit. She would have offered him her hand or her arm, but it felt sort of strange and unnerving to push any more than she had. Despite the fact that she'd gotten affirmation that he felt something for her, too, she didn't want to move too fast. She wasn't going to force him into anything that he wasn't ready for yet.
"Are you ready to go?" She asked. They had a bit of a walk to do before they got there, but she was more than ready for it. They wanted to get to know each other, after all, and, in Juliette's opinion, there was no better way to do that than getting some exercise out in the sun.
The air felt different than it had when she'd first walked in. It was lighter, happier. It was filled with hope rather than regret, anticipation rather than dread. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of Juliette's shoulders, and she could look up at Booker with a new excitement.
She asked if he would consider getting to know each other better, to which he agreed. She let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding and smiled at him. With any luck, things would actually go right for once and fall into place.
Her step closer had been well-received, by a kiss, in fact. It was just a soft, quick one, but Juliette closed her eyes, letting it sink in. She silently wished that it had gone on longer, but she knew why it couldn't. Things were still strange and awkward, and they were in the state of figuring things out. If they moved too fast, then they ran the risk of ruining things altogether. Plus, Booker was still at work. It wasn't as if he could just drop what he was doing on a whim.
>>”I…um…get off in an hour. Want to get something to eat? Unless you have work or, you know, other plans, of course.”
"I'm free," she responded, quickly wishing she hadn't sounded so eager. Sure, she had finished an early shift that morning and had no classes, which meant that she had the rest of the day to herself, but she could have at least tried to sound like she didn't spend all her time waiting for a man to sweep her off of her feet.
With the very clear fact that she was available, she thought through what she could do for an hour. There were plenty of things to do to kill time in the middle of Manhattan. She could keep herself busy. "Do you know anywhere good?" she asked, realizing as she thought that she didn't really know any restaurants in the area.
>>”Unless you and your unit are shipping off to join war effort or something? I’ll admit it now, I do not have a widow’s peak to watch for you day-in and day-out.”
She grinned, glad that they were back to the point where they could have fun with things again. No, she wasn't shipping out anywhere. Or in a unit, unless he counted her X-team. No, she would not bring up her involvement with the X-Men yet. It really was not the time or place.
"Really? I'd invest in one, then. Saves quite a bit of MyFace stalking," she replied as soon as her thoughts had cleared. "See you in an hour?"
The hour moved at an absurdly slow pace. It almost seemed as if it would never end.
Juliette had taken up a place at a little coffee shop near the library, ordered a cappuccino, and tried to get some work done despite all the distractions. The shop was filled with talkative people, and her own thoughts just wouldn't shut up. By the time the hour had finally passed, she had gotten absolutely nothing done.
Still, she was just glad to be able to meet Booker again. She'd made her way back to the library lobby and waited for him near the entrance.
