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 Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
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.
Booker’s arm around her shoulders was a welcome addition to the already warm and festive room. He looked a little like Santa Claus, if Santa had given up cookies forever and started on the diet regimen that Chris Rapt had taken for his role in Protectors of the Cosmos. She settled into his side and tucked her legs under herself to make her position as comfortable as possible.
She grinned as Gina and Nessa began to tell tales of Christmases past and their adventures with them. As she sort of expected, Nessa’s was a little more cynical, while Gina’s was quite the opposite. It simple to see the differences in the two women, but also where they complimented one another as a couple. Juliette listened intently as they each recounted their stories in turn, both of them admitting that they wouldn’t necessarily wait until Christmas morning to open their gifts.
She knew that Booker would be likely to fall into the other category of wanting to wait until the morning to open presents, but she fell more into the former. ”I like the idea of having a sneak peak,” she admitted with a grin, quitely reliving memories of her own. What Gina had said about having something to look forward to while still keeping the idea of a surprise alive was one that she agreed with, and it sort of fit her own Christmas traditions.
”My mom grew up Jewish, and while she definitely wasn’t the picture of religious integrity, she still liked to keep a few of the traditions alive. We would light a menorah each year and instead of spending money on a stocking, she would spread gifts out across the eight days and then do a larger gift on Christmas morning.” It was less of sneak peak and more of a mishmash of Christmas and Hanukkah, but she still liked to include it in the category. It was one of her favourite traditions and she planned on keeping at least some part of it if she ever had a family of her own.
Juliette took a sip of her own mulled wine and then leaned forward to grab a handful of candied nuts from the bowl. She missed her mom quite a bit around the holidays, and while she had gotten the chance to go see her grandparents for Thanksgiving, she still wished that she had been able to spend both holidays with them. Still, since her real family was so small and seemed to be decreasing in numbers each year, she was glad that she had people to spend time with, even if they weren’t blood related. Holidays were for the people you cared about, after all.
”So, Nessa, have you opened anything yet?” she asked curiously, nodding gently to the tree where there were wrapped items stacked underneath.
Juliette could agree with that sentiment, honestly. While she was raised Jewish for the first few years of her life, her mother had always been a big supporter of having Christmas anyway. She would come up with quirky Christmas traditions that were among Juliette’s favourite memories. Even after she died, Juliette still tried to carry out as many of those traditions as she possibly could, and she still cited it as her favourite holiday.
One of those traditions was spending the holiday with people that were close to you. For much of her life, that had just been her mother and a few close friends, but in recent years, those people depended on where she was in her life. That year, she was rather happy with the people that she got to spend Christmas Eve with.
She and Booker B. Bookman had been dating for a few months, and even though it had just been a short time, she was glad that he was in her life. There was no one else that she would have wanted to spend the holiday with.
Along with Booker, Christmas Eve included his sister, Vanessa Berry , and her girlfriend, Gina Schuyler . She and Vanessa had initially gotten off to a bit of a bad start, considering how she and Booker’s relationship had started and her friendship with Rebecca Grey-Morris , but they had cleared the air enough to have a relatively good relationship by that point. Juliette actually quite liked Nessa and her sense of humour. Plus, even though she had only met Gina a few times, she seemed like a lovely person.
She was a little disappointed that she couldn’t spend the holiday with Becca, but they would be spending time together the next day to make up for that fact. There would be enough cheer to go around.
It was a great setup, when she thought about it. Juliette stood in the kitchen, pouring mugs of mulled wine while Christmas music played in the background. The was a tree in the corner, food in the oven, the television was displaying a fireplace, and she was even participating in one of her favourite traditions of donning a tacky Christmas sweater. It was a little… risque, but it was a funny sentiment so she had gone for it.
After handing off the mugs, Juliette took hers and sat down on the couch around where the others were gathered. ”Anyone have any good Christmas traditions?” she asked the group, trying to get the conversation rolling. It was always interesting to hear what other people did with their holiday, since it was a little different for each person or family.
”Don’t worry, no backing out here.” Juliette gave Rebecca a quick grin to let her know that she was fully on board. She would be lying if she tried to claim that there were no butterflies in her stomach, or if she tried to say that she wasn’t having any second thoughts, but she had agreed to do this. Rebecca was already doing it. She had wanted this forever. It was happening!
The drawing that Ravi had done really was cool. He had managed to take the idea that Rebecca had and position it in a way that was truly creative and beautiful. She was sure that doing so was a skill that all tattoo artists needed to acquire, but it was still incredible to see.
She grinned down at her friend encouragingly. ”That’s going to look awesome on your hip.” And that was all the input she was going to give. Best friend was going to clam up.
There were so many doubts running through Juliette’s mind in that moment. Doubts that had stemmed from her relationship (or lack thereof) with her father, with Sam, with her mom. They were leaks in her mind, where that little sense of belonging sat, slowly seeping away. Usually, she was able to ignore it and power through. She liked to think of herself as a generally secure person, but that wasn’t always the case when it came down to it. She needed to feel loved and accepted, just like every other person out there. Maybe even a little more.
She had said her piece, but what if it wasn’t right for her to say? What if Booker didn’t feel the same way? What if she was more committed that he was? What if she had totally misread everything?
All of those were possibilities, but none of those were the real case. Things seemed to happen in slow motion. Booker’s face lit up, then she could see the emotion on his face; on his whole body. She could see the tears start to well up in his eyes. There was nothing fake about those emotions.
Something settled inside her as he pulled her closer into him. The doubts floated away and she could ignore the leaks for a little while longer. In that moment, she could let him kiss her in a way that she hadn’t experienced before and let herself be taken over for a while. This was good. He hadn’t said anything yet, but in a way, he had just said everything.
Juliette let the feelings wash over her for a while. She never wanted that kiss to end as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight to him. There was no room for doubt or shame between them. Just a warm feeling that had enveloped her completely.
Finally, Booker broke away, but Juliette felt her chin tilt up in protest. She took in deep breaths, still trying to process what had just happened as she rested her forehead against his. None of that was how she had expected it to go, but it was better than what she had pictured. It was more genuine, in a way.
>>”I’ve...been in love with you. I love you too. Scout’s honor.”
Juliette closed her eyes and smiled widely, letting out a little laugh. Those were the words that she’d needed to hear. He’d already just showed her what he meant, but the words made it more real, more final. That was it. He loved her too. Her hand travelled upward and rested on his jaw. She stayed still for a moment, just taking it all in.
”I meant to say that in a better place than the back of my car while stuck in the mud, but I think this way we’ll always know how real it was,” she pointed out. ”I… I’m glad you feel the same way.”
With her heart rate down again, Juliette felt like she could breathe easier. The moment of terror had passed, and now she just felt warm and fuzzy. She felt like kissing him again, too. Using the hand she had on his jaw, she tilted his chin up toward her and pressed her lips to his once again.
She hadn’t meant for it to come out like that. She hadn’t actually planned anything around revealing her feelings, but that was very different from how she’d envisioned it being revealed. It was a big thing to say, and it wasn’t even like she’d really said it. It had just come out. A Freudian slip.
So, she did what any rational human would do: she tried to brush past it. If she asked him about his middle name, Juliette figured that Booker might be distracted enough to not realize the implications of what she said. Then they wouldn’t have to deal with any of it or the awkwardness that might follow when they were sitting in close proximity in a tiny car. If he felt differently, then… it would be a strange few hours, sitting in that parked car with no real way to go anywhere else.
The librarian with the crazy memory was smarter than that, though. Juliette closed her eyes tight and hung her head a little, waiting for the gentle let-down the break the silence. Maybe he would be nice about it and they could just forget about the fact that Juliette had successfully created far too many awkward situations between them by going too fast in their relationship. Go her.
She glanced up as he did his best to shuffle around in the tight space. The back of the little car was definitely not made for a muscular 6’2” man, so it didn’t leave him a lot of room to turn in. Already, his legroom was looking sparse, and when he shifted like that it only looked worse.
>>”Do...you mean that? Like...really? You...love me?”
Juliette held his gaze, her heart stopped entirely. She briefly tried to decide how he was feeling toward it, but it was hard to get a clear read on him. He definitely didn’t seem angry about it, though, which was a good sign. There was no use brushing it off if it was what he wanted to hear, and since it was the truth. She knew what she needed to say. Now, it was just a matter of actually working up the courage to say it for real.
She took in a long break and cast her eyes down for just a second, a small smile forming on her mouth. A second later, she looked back up. ”Um, yeah. I do. I love you, Booker.”
There. That was it. There really was nothing she could do now. At least she could breathe again.
There was no way that it had been that simple. Juliette pressed her lips together and crossed her arms over her chest. How had she not gotten that? It was just the letter B. He wasn’t secretive at all; she’d known it all along, and that made her angrier than if it had been something that he just didn’t want to share. To pretend that it was some sort of huge secret was something that Booker would do, but she wasn’t impressed.
The woman crossed her arms over her chest and huffed as she leaned back into the chair. The letter B all along. How had she not seen that? It was so painfully obvious now with her hindsight bias. It irked her, though. More than any other joke he pulled before.
”You’re lucky I love you,” she said as she shook her head. As soon as the words left her mouth, she thought back on what she’d just told him with wide eyes. They… hadn’t said that to each other yet. That was the first utterance of those three words between them, and she’d said it without really thinking about it.
Juliette’s breath caught in her throat. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t meant it. At all, actually. She’d known that was the way she’d felt for a little while, but she hadn’t planned on admitting it like that. In fact, she’d hoped that he would say it first. She and Sam had never said it to one another, and it had taken her a few months following their relationship to realize that it was partly because she’d never really felt it. With Booker, though, it was different. What if he didn’t feel the same way? What if she’d just wrecked everything? What if he wasn’t ready for that?
Her stomach was doing flips while she sat silently, her thumb pressed against her mouth. It had come out, so there was nothing she could do to take it back. It was up to him to take it how he wanted to.
She cleared her throat, though, rather than let the silence go on any longer. ”So what’s the story behind just the B?” she asked meekly. Maybe he wouldn’t notice.
There was a stomp in the distance. That was definitely bad news. Firefly raced through the air, trying to get back to her original position with the creature and the car. Leaving them alone with it didn’t seem like something that she should do as a teammate, even if she didn’t know why she had gotten so far away in the first place. It only took a minute, since she was still close enough to see the vehicle, but the minute had the capability of being detrimental to the plan.
Not a moment too soon, she returned to the action. The creature was rolling forward angrily, its sights set on the car. Juliette swung around to get back into the creature’s eye line, and after that, it wasn’t hard to get it to want to follow her again.
Once she was back in the range of the light from the cars, Juliette started to continue. She went much slower the second time around, having no plans of whisking away again. ”Sorry about that, guys. I… sorry.” She finished with a frown. There was no good explanation for it, really. She had no idea why she had taken off like that all of a sudden and no logical explanation. It was something that she would have to look into when there wasn’t a giant beast on the loose.
The creature followed closely behind Juliette, shifting itself to be able to reach her more easily. It reached up with an arm-like appendage and attempted to swat her out of the air. Firefly swerved, just barely missing the end of the swipe. She was invulnerable, but she definitely wasn’t strong enough to compete with a giant hand coming down on her like that.
Just another half mile. That was all they needed. The river was nearly in sight. Juliette did her best to keep in time with the cars, but she wanted to get there as fast as possible. She turned to see where the cars were at, only to see that the creature had stopped following. It was no longer rolling and shifting and becoming more monstrous. Instead, it almost seemed to be… changing in a different way.
”Uh, guys? Does anyone know what’s happening now?”
It was difficult not to feel awful about the way that she had gotten angry with Booker. He’d done absolutely nothing to deserve being talked to like that, and instead of getting angry back, he’d just taken it and tried to solve their problems. Was this guy even real? The fact that Juliette could feel him beneath her fingers told her yes, but sometimes, it was difficult to believe that someone could be that incredible. She knew that there had been things to get him to that place, but it seemed crazy to think that he had ever been different.
>>”It’s okay. It was a frustrating situation.”
Juliette let her eyes flutter closed as she leaned into him a little more. She didn’t really agree with his acceptance of her apology, but she knew that they could go in circles with making themselves out to be the bad guy for hours. She didn’t want to waste whatever was left of their weekend on that. Instead, she just wanted to make the most of what they had. The kiss on her head made her smile a little and she rested her hand on his chest.
No, waiting was not a bad thing at all.
>>”I didn’t take it personally. I mean, it may not seem like it, but I’ve gotten angry before. Even said some things that I regretted later. Sometimes it’s just the heat of the moment.”
”I think I’ll have to see that to believe it,” she joked with a grin. They’d been dating for a number of months and the worst thing that she’d even seen from him was some mild frustration, and that was usually only directed toward Nessa. ”Until then, I’ll keep believing that you’re a crazy master of being zen.” Maybe she would be able to pick up a thing or two from him.
The cannibals with sticks was a funny thought in the middle of New York state. Booker had volunteered himself to be the sacrifice if that happened to them, which Juliette didn’t bother to contest. She found it funnier to imagine his process of thinking when he offered.
The two of them fell silent after that. Juliette was completely calm after having been sitting in the car for a while and not freaking out about all the bad things stacked against them. She slowed her breathing with a deep breath and looked out the window at the setting sun. It was unsettling to realize that they would be out in the field in the dark, but at least they had left the car on and were able to get light from the car. If it hadn’t been for that, she would have been in a far worse state. Even still, she was glad that she had Booker with her to calm her crazy.
>>”Did you figure it out yet? My middle name?”
Juliette looked back up at him, pulled away from her thoughts. She quirked an eyebrow and cocked her head at him, considering the question for a moment. She still hadn’t figured it out, but she had more guesses. ”I still have no idea. It isn’t just… Book, is it? Booker Book Bookman?” That would have just been cruel of his parents. ”Will you just tell me?”
Juliette held her breath a little after suggesting the idea. It was far from their original plan, and part of her was worried that this would be the point when Booker’s optimism ran out, but that wasn’t the case. It was as infallible as he was. She smiled a little with a new plan set in motion. They could make the best of what they had, and with any luck, they could have fun while they waited for a short time. Short was key.
She walked around to the other side of the car and sat down in the back seat, sliding her shoes off before she put her feet down in the car. It was muddy, alright, but the inside was still somewhat clean. They didn’t need to be trekking dirt in there if they didn’t need to be. She followed suit and stuck her boots on top of the car once she was inside. There would now be four muddy footprints on the top of the car, but those would come off in a car wash.
With the muddy shoes out of the picture, Juliette scooted fully into the back seat and positioned herself. It wasn’t exactly a lazyboy, but the back seats could be somewhat comfortable if they were leaned back and you were laissez-faire enough to put your feet on the armrests of the front chair. It would do for a few hours. Especially since it meant that Juliette was able to wiggle her way under Booker’s arm and cuddle in.
>>”Sorry. I’ll try not to track mud everywhere inside your nice, new car. And...you know...sorry...about getting us lost...and possibly condemning us to be eaten by sticks-dwelling cannibals. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they eat me first. I’m so packed with protein, they’ll probably fall asleep and, thus, allow you to escape.”
Juliette’s smile fell a little and she looked down at her hands. Her stomach sunk a little as she realized how bad she’d made him feel for a situation that she’d caused. ”No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have given you a paper map, and it was pretty obvious that this road wasn’t for driving. Especially not with little cars.” She sighed deeply before continuing, ”and I’m sorry for getting mad. That was way out of line and you didn’t deserve it.”
The cannibals thing was funny, though. She let herself grin up at him for that comment. ”That’s the real reason to build muscle, huh? Protecting other people from cannibals?” she chuckled quietly and rested her head against his chest, feeling better about the whole situation. Waiting didn’t seem all that bad now. Alone time had been what they wanted, hadn’t it?
With both means of communication out of the picture, the odds were looking very much not in their favour. It was crazy to think that something like that had even happened to them, really. It seemed like something out of a movie. Then again, she also spent some of her time as a costumed vigilante with super powers… Sometimes reality was indeed stranger than fiction.
Strange wasn’t really what they had planned for that weekend, though. Juliette let her head rest backward against the car behind her for a second as she let all plans of relaxing and not having to worry about sisters or roommates walking in on them slip away. She had so been looking forward to it, too. It wasn’t very often that she could manage to get an entire weekend off from her various commitments, and it wasn’t likely that another one would crop up anytime soon.
They must’ve had some sort of curse or bad luck on their side, it seemed. Juliette let out a half-hearted laugh and shook her head at Booker’s comment about a gypsy, but it just wasn’t as funny as it might have been if they were in a better situation. Or looking back at it a week later. They just had to think of a week later. A week later and they wouldn’t be standing out in the cold like that; they would be somewhere warm and happy, with any luck.
>>”Hey, hun, stupid question but can you, like, fly out of here? Maybe back to the city or at least see if there is a town nearby? Gotta be someway to get help.”
Juliette chewed her lip for a moment while she thought of that possibility. She didn’t often think of her ability to fly in situations that weren’t explicitly about her mutation, but it was a good idea, really. It was just a shame that she had such a short range, and she was already running on a moderate amount of energy. She didn’t directly respond to his question, but she tossed him the keys to start the car while she looked into trying it.
She stepped several feet away from him, until she could feel that familiar kick of leaving his adapted range. She wasn’t particularly low, but she hadn’t been expecting to fly anywhere. She definitely didn’t have enough to go more than a few blocks, and doing that would drain her completely. Juliette stood there a moment and sighed at the situation before trekking back to Brian.
”I don’t have enough energy and there’s nothing in sight. Even if I was fully charged, I don’t think I could go far enough to get anywhere,” she admitted. Couldn’t something just work for them? She put her back against the car and thought for a moment about what they could do. It was getting dark and cold outside, and she really didn’t want to be in the middle of a cornfield for that, but it was looking like that didn’t have many other options.
Trying her hardest to make the best of the situation, Juliette turned around. She would not get angry again. She would not cry, and she would try to be as happy and optimistic as Booker always seemed to manage. ”Look, why don’t we just sit in the back seat for a while and wait for your phone to charge? We have that food, it’ll be warmer, and I can keep trying to get a signal.” It wasn’t a great option, but it was the best one that they had.
It had been her intention to try to help get the mud off of Booker’s face, but all Juliette did was push it around and force it into his eyes. She winced with him, her stomach sinking a little as she looked at the mess she had caused. ”Sorry,” she said quietly. There was no anger left in her, just regret and guilt for the situation she’d caused. Everything she tried to do to fix it only seemed to make things worse.
At least Booker was still trying to find something funny in the situation. Each time he smirked at her, it made her a little more hopeful that she hadn’t caused any permanent damage or rifts. The last thing that she wanted was some stupid frustration to ruin what had been going to well. Navigating the next stage of their relationship had turned out to be a little more difficult than she had expected, but she was up for making it work. She liked Booker, after all. She liked him quite a bit.
Still, all hope of them getting to the secluded weekend getaway spot had been abandoned and they were about to call a tow truck. Juliette waited at the back of the car with her head falling backward and her hair spilling down her back. Definitely not what she had planned.
>>”Um, darling? Seems that my phone has just died.”
Juliette’s head snapped forward and she looked at Booker with wide eyes. Someone really had it out for them upstairs. She sloshed forward through the mud and stood beside him, sighing and running her hands through her hair as she glimpsed the blank screen. That was one phone out, then. Still, they had another one. They weren’t quite in horror movie territory yet.
”O-kay,” Juliette said in an exacerbated tone, ”if I start the car again, you can plug it into the car charger. I’ll just grab my phone for now.” She ducked into the car and pulled out a white cord, handing that to Booker while she grabbed her phone in her other hand. She would call the tow truck, he would charge his phone, and maybe they could still do something in the city while she sent her car in to be cleaned. There was still some weekend left for them to enjoy.
Ducking back out of the car, she turned on her phone and began to type something into her browser before she noticed something at the top of her screen. ”You’ve gotta be f****** kidding me!” cried Juliette. ”I don’t have any signal!”
More rain was the last thing that they needed. It would just make things even worse and the car would probably get more stuck in the sloppy mud. If they ever wanted to get off the road, they needed to do it before the rain came back and made it so they would have no hope whatsoever of ever making it to the end.
Booker’s plan was much better than hers. It was more thought out and it would probably work better in the long run. Juliette sat in the driver’s seat and gave Booker the signal to start pushing. She waited just a second and then put the car into drive, sending the car forward. At first, she just touched the gas. As she realized that it would need more, though, she pressed harder and harder until it was all the way at the floor. She had never floored the gas before.
For a second, nothing happened, and then they moved. They moved! ”We’re getting somewhere!” Juliette shouted back in triumph. It was just a few inches, but it was still something. If they could just keep going like that, then they would be off the road in… several hours. So it wasn’t exactly peachy, but they weren’t doomed.
...or so she thought. Juliette turned around to see how Booker was doing, only to see that he was getting absolutely pummeled by flying mud. She yelped quietly and immediately took her foot off the gas. The mud stopped flying, but the damage was done. Plus, they hadn’t actually been getting anywhere after those few inches. Maybe it was hopeless after all.
Juliette climbed out of the driver’s seat and squished her way back to Booker. ”Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she sputtered, glancing up and down at the mud patterns that adorned his outfit. ”Um, here.” She popped the filthy trunk open and searched around for the bag she had packed for the weekend. Once she’d found it, she searched through her clothes to pull out a little washcloth. She then turned back around and reached up to wipe whatever she could off of his face.
”You brought a change of clothes, right? It’s not looking like we’ll make it to the B&B without some sort of miracle anyway.” It would take an act of god to get them off of the road at that point. Either that or a tow truck that happened to have wandered very far from the city. "We should probably call a tow truck..."
The car had been so new and shiny, too. It was hard to see that under all the dirt that had accumulated on the surface.
Juliette had wanted to go to a tattoo studio for quite some time, but actually going there was an exciting event. It meant that it was all going to be real. The designs on the walls and pictures of people who had previously gotten tattoos in that same location were giving her a serious anticipation buzz. She could hardly wait for it to start, really. In the back of her head, there were a few feels of worry and doubt, but she pushed them all aside. She didn’t need to think about that. She had wanted it for so long, and there was no chance that she was going to let a few doubts ruin it for her at this point.
Rebecca had told the guy at the desk what they were there for, and he seemed to stand up almost excitedly. To be fair, he had looked a little bored before he saw them. As attractive as he was, though, he seemed a little bit young. If the tattoos that he had on him had been his own creations, though, then maybe he was just good for his age.
He led them through the parlour and to one of the stations that filled most of the space in there. Juliette remained standing while they got things sorted out, since they still didn’t know exactly what the process would be. They were definitely going to get tattoos, though.
”Good to meet you, Ravi,” she smiled politely, letting Becca introduce herself. As close as they were, she wasn’t going to speak for her roommate. ”I’m Juliette.”
She did, however, answer the first two questions. ”Yes and yes,” she nodded. It was happening. It was seriously happening. ”Do you want to go first, since it was your idea, Beck?”
The artist nodded while they deliberated who went first, gathering his drawing supplies for when they were ready. He had a notepad and a pen poise on top of it, waiting for him to start designing something. ”Sure. Whoever wants to go first, let me know what sort of design you’re thinking of.”
Pushing the car forward had to work, didn’t it? That was what people always did in the movie, wasn’t it? Ugh. It was just hopeless. All that Juliette was doing was sliding around in the mud and making even more of a fool of herself. For some reason, though, she just kept going with it. She figured that it had to work eventually and that the car would gain some ground after a while. Then they could get going and still make their reservation.
Unfortunately, it seemed to only make things worse. The front wheels just became even more stuck in the mud, and Booker just stood next to her watching. Why wasn’t he helping? Was he as mad as she was? He had every right to be. She had just been awful to him. Juliette shook her head and looked away, just trying to fix the situation.
Instead of getting mad, though, Booker started to say something else. Juliette had expected him to freak out on her in a way like she had just done, but he didn’t do that at all.
>>”I’m so sorry. Here… let me do that and you try driving forward. Maybe with our forces combine we could make a responsible adult!”
How… how was he so perfect? He didn’t even seem to be a little bit mad, and while she was just making things worse, he was coming up with good ways to solve their problem. She had so, so underestimated him, which would have just made her angrier if it hadn’t reminded her why she was so head-over-heels in love with him.
Man, she’d been a jerk. She had been the one to give him the map that he clearly didn’t know how to read, and she could have stopped before turning onto the road. If it was anyone’s fault, it was hers, not Bookers. He didn’t deserve the way that she had spoken to him earlier and he deserved to know that. He was too good not to.
Juliette’s hands dropped to her side and she looked at him, matching his sad smile. ”You’re right,” she nodded, thinking clearly for the first time in awhile, ”I’m sorry for losing it before… you’re pretty great, you know.”
She took in a deep breath to compose herself before then taking his advice and sloshing her way over to the driver’s seat. If Booker could be that calm, then so could she. Otherwise, their weekend would just get worse.
With another breath in, she started the car back up with her door open, turning her head out the side to look at the damage in the back. ”Alright, push now,” she called out to Booker as she stepped gingerly on the gas.
Juliette didn’t really care all that much about where they were going to get tattoos done. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about what was going to be permanently put on her body, but she had enough trust built up with Rebecca to know that she wasn’t going to bring them somewhere that would a) be unsafe, or b) give terrible tattoos. If it was okayed by Becca, then it was likely okayed by Jules. That was mostly how things went. Save a few dating situations.
What she really wanted to know was where she would be driving to. Her new car was only a few weeks old and it had already been towed and had a very good spray down, but it was functioning well again after some recent turmoil. She took a second to scroll through the pictures on the website before finding the address.
They travelled down the elevator to the parking garage. Juliette stepped out onto the concrete and walked to her car, pressing the clicker to unlock the doors. As they slipped inside, Rebecca asked her what she planned on getting once they got to the parlour. ”Oh god, I haven’t thought about it yet! You sort of sprung this on me!” she laughed. ”Give me a sec.”
Before starting the car, she pulled her phone from her back pocket and pulled up her PinBored account. She’d definitely been thinking about getting something done, but it hadn’t been real until that moment. She browsed through her board for tattoos for a little while before finding one that caught her attention. There. That was it. ”Okay, got one,” she said simply, not showing Rebecca what it was.
Juliette then started the car and drove them out of the parking garage, the parlour in mind for their destination.