Mafiatalia Min-Bios and Roles List

[Isoitsu]

Chronos

-

Leader: Honda Kiku

Co-leader: —

Follow-up: —

Body Guard: —

Sniper(s) Lucia Bianch, Feliciano Vargas

Hacker(s):Gilbert Rothenstein

Collector(s)

Grunt(s)

Whisperers

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Leader: —
Co-leader: Lukas Iversen
Follow-up: Mathias Kohler (for now)
Body Guard?: —
Sniper(s): —
Hacker(s): —
Collector(s): —
Grunt(s): —

Phantoms

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Leader: Francis Bonnefoy
Co-leader: Arthur Kirkland
Follow-up: —
Body Guard: —
Sniper(s): —
Hacker(s): —
Collector(s): Mihai Roșu

Grunt(s): —

Others

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Cops: 
—————————
Independents:
Hans Wulfstein (Hitman/Hired Muscle)

[Francis Bonnefoy]

Name: Francis Carlisle Bonnefoy
Age: 29
Organization: The Phantoms
Position: Leader
Codename: Iris
Appearance:


Francis looks like a very normal, down to Earth man, though he does look the part of a business man. He always dresses nice as he has a tie usually of some sort, and a pair of cuff-links to help keep the picture perfect image. His hair is always immaculate, in that perfectly windblown look. Though he is careful to never overdress the part of the other job he has, as a regular business man. After all, that's what he is. No one needs to know that some of his  business are fronts for the brothels that the Phantoms are famous for.  His eyes, while friendly, always seem to know something that others don't.  A shadow hidden among the blue. 

Personality Changes/Quirks:

* Manipulative: This man will manipulate circumstances to where he will always come out on top and to further his organization

*Cold: To others inside and outside the organization, Francis may appear cold. Truth is, he cares about very few people in his organization. He cares about the ones he surrounds himself with on a daily basis, but the underlings? He has no lost feelings toward them.

* Silver tongue: This man is a smooth talker, always trying to find away to get what he wants and how he wants it. After all, he turn a cop to the wrong side of the law.

*Quicker to anger. He has a very straight view of what is tolerable and not in his organization. Best not to make him mad or you may face the consequences.

Backstory: Francis didn't always start out with the name Bonnefoy, or even as part of the Phantoms. He wasn't involved with gang life when he was younger. His first memories that he can recall is spending time in a brothel. At the end of the day, he would go home with his father and just stay out of the way. Eventually, for some unknown reason, he was forced to stay there. But really, this was no hardship for him. He was fed and protected and kept warm.  He learned quite a bit while he was here, all the ladies and the madam teaching him everything he needed to know. As he grew older, he was sent on errands, learning much about the world in the process. and how horrible it could be. But the boy always kept a smile on his face. When he was a teenager, he didn't know what happened, but he was taken into a different home and his education really started in earnest. He already knew the basics of math, finance, reading, writing, and everything that was needed in a brothel. Inside of this new organization that he now learned was the Phantoms, he started learning everything he needed. He learned firearms, fighting, how to hone his skills with lying and manipulating.  It wasn't until he was in his early twenties that the man who was teaching him died, and that's when he found out that he had been named the follow up to to the Phantoms. He took the lead, and within the first week, he was forced to act, one of the men who the old leader had appointed tried to reduce Francis's position, and he had him taken care of. He found that he had no feelings toward the man or what happened to him. As the years went on, he grew in his leadership position and fully took control. He did his best for the organization, bringing it to a higher influence. Now he has a co-leader, one man that caught his eye. He has high hopes for this man, but he still keeps an eye on him, just in case there would need to protect his back.

Relationships:

Arthur:  This is the man that Francis stole from the police agency. He found out Arthur's hidden views and played them up, exploited them, made him see that there was a different way. Thus, showing him the eye for an eye, he pulled him over. Plus is helped that he was able to seduce the man. Though while he does have the loyalty of Arthur, and he is loyal in return, some people in the organization wonder if what he shows towards Arthur is an act, or if it is real? 

*more to be added as more people join*

Other Things Worth mentioning: Francis will not hesitate to do what needs to be done, to get blood on his hands if the case may be. Hes very jaded in this universe, hardly blinking at some things many would blanch at.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Name: Arthur James Kirkland
Age: 28
Organization: The Phantoms
Position: Co-leader, also head of security operations due to his expertise
Codename: “English” Rose
Appearance:

Arthur has a very clean-cut, sleek style that he continued a bit more after becoming involved with The Phantoms along with their leader. He prefers rather monochromatic tones of charcoal, black, and greys, with the occasional pop of color thrown in. He has a particular unhealthy enjoyment over leading a double life, and he will sometimes drop hints in his wardrobe choices in a rather flagrant and arrogant manner, as if flaunting who exactly he is while playing the façade of a do-gooder citizen with a respectable job and a respectable reputation within the city. He enjoys luxurious coats in particular: peacoats, trenchcoats, chesterfield coats, along with the occasional indulgence of leather coats. He does enjoy a nice suit as well, whenever the occasion calls. For the most part; however, he does dress well, especially whenever he’s attending to business. He strongly believes in dressing for the position that he desires to fill and maintain.

Personality Changes/Quirks:

• Affinity for deception: The more Arthur transitioned from his previous, respectable occupation within the precinct into what he does now within the business, the more addicted he grew to the outright elaborate deception that came with his new lifestyle. It was a very intricate façade that he had to present to the public, any family members, as well as former close friends from his time in the precinct.
• Charming: Arthur knows how to use his words to get what he wants, whether it’s through thoughtful flattery, comments, or just making the other person feel at ease. Part of this ability came from his background in learning how to negotiate with and interrogate suspects in his former life on the ‘right’ side of the law. This particular talent grew substantially when he was thoroughly seduced into the ‘wrong’ side of it.
• Lack of remorse: Along with a myriad of other expectations that altered as he embraced his new life, embraced this untouched indulgent side of himself that he’d long ignored previously, he steadily started to garner very little remorse for his actions. It's been a progression from the hesitancy he showed in ending an informant's life for the continued secrecy of the organization to hardly giving a moment's thought to giving out heartless orders.
• Fierce loyalty/business-oriented: Arthur followed through on quite a few atrocious deeds in order to fully gain the loyalty of the organization, particularly because of his background as a former detective for the city’s precinct. The further utilization of his skills from his prior occupation has also greatly furthered the security operations of the criminal organization as well, the worth of his insight proven time and time again, leading to his eventual promotion as one of the main driving forces within the ‘family.’

Backstory: WIP

Relationships: WIP

Other Things Worth mentioning: TBD

[Lucia Vargas]

Name: Lucia Maria Bianchi
Age: 22
Organization: The Chronos
Position: Sniper (Scary, huh?)
Codename: Gemini

Appearance:

Above is her normal appearance at all times, whether working or in her free time

Personality Changes/Quirks:
- Loyalty to the End: Lucia is determined to carry out her duties for the family. Her loyalty to the cause can at times border fanaticism, as long as she is not stabbed in the back she will continue to serve her cause. Contracts given to her to eliminate potential foes are treated quite seriously, in her mind jobs are important to complete right to the letter.

- Ambitions to Fulfill: Perhaps one day she will be the one to control the organization? Lucia will more likely take avenues to impress her superiors with success in jobs to rise through the ranks quickly.

- The Rifle is Man's Best Friend: She is quite protective of the equipment she uses for jobs. One should be wary that she does not like her personal property being touched.

- Energetic and Naive: She is quite energetic and young in her role, perhaps she must be directed properly to use her talents?

- Happy on the Outside, Disturbing Within: Despite her seemingly harmless appearance, she is quite cold-hearted, after all, one must be heartless in her field of work, there is no point mourning for those you have to make go away for good. Emotions and murdering do not end well in Lucia's mind, if it was done quickly, coldly and efficiently as if you were a machine.... There would be no problems.

- Extreme Arrogance: She holds extreme power over those in her scope as she takes aim! With this power, one can easily become drunk with deciding whether a person lives or dies. Lucia herself believes that she is untouchable by almost all people except her superiors within the family.

- Cold and serious in the moment: While on missions she is quite serious, a mission must be completed quickly and efficiently thus the fullest concentration was needed. There is no room for buffoonery in the field.

Backstory:

Lucia had not been raised in a broken family nor had she had too much drama in her childhood years. The Bianchi family was not quite a rich one, Lucia's father had little skills in working "clean" jobs, so instead, her father had to resort to another way to try and make a living: A sniper for an organization which gave money for successful and clean bounty hunting. Lucia's parents, her mother, in particular, wanted to keep this from their daughter which was met with success. However, it was only a matter of time before Lucia found out about what her Dad did for a job. Knowing of her father's skill with using a rifle quite well, she was intrigued by the idea of sniping, eventually begging her father to teach her exactly just how to carry out his job. Initially, Lucia's parents were not quite enthusiastic about their daughter's wishes and put it off... Until the accident.

Her family had racked up quite a high amount of debt throughout the years prior, though it was almost completely paid, Lucia's father was seriously injured when trying to lift heavy items, needless to say, it was clear he could no longer carry on the work and the Chrono's were not exactly going to be happy with a quite effective sniper for their cause pulling out. So, the old boss of the organization inquired whether Lucia would want to join the family, Lucia, young and interested in the field of work accepted this offer and eventually through hard training by her father in the field of sniping became a part of the Chrono's family organization. She had eventually paid off the family debt and had the option to pull out of the life altogether.... Yet didn't want to leave what she thought was quite a stable career as an assassin, though it was unorthodox work it was something that she seemed to be good at and she had no intention of leaving the Chrono's after her experiences in the field. 

Relationships:

- Lovino Remo Vargas: Lucia somewhat views Lovino with contempt, originally he was meant to be her boss yet his skills in the field of assassination were not quite good. He could provide an unwelcome challenge to the top position within the family, currently, however, Lucia is not in contention for leadership yet. That being said he can be quite amusing to watch at times in Lucia's opinion Lovino can be quite ridiculous in his attempts to be the leader. That being said she isn't against actually forming a friendship with him... Lovino seems like a useful person to befriend, she is quite sure that he will not provide any real challenge to top leadership compared to Lucia's own sniping skills.

- Kiku Honda: The leader and an individual that has her respect. The man seems quite mysterious to Lucia, he may not look much but she feels as if Kiku was something more dangerous than people realized. He shows next to no emotion which simply baffled her, nevertheless she has a positive opinion of the man. Currently, Kiku is her leader and she will do all she can to carry out his will. Perhaps her loyalty will be repaid one day?  

- Gilbert Rothenstein: Lucia has no idea what is involved in the field of hacking, despite her lack of knowledge of the work Gilbert does it looks very difficult in her eyes at least. Seeing that Gilbert is working in the Chronos organization as a hacker she at least respects that he is quite skilled in his field of expertise, other than that, however, her opinion of Gilbert can be considered quite indifferent or at least neutral for the time being.  

- Johannes L. Wulfstein: She holds both admiration and fear for the man, his rank has little to do with her feeling about him. Lucia regards him as quite skilled and very dangerous, both words that she liked a leader to be, she is quite loyal to follow Hans even if it meant her demise (of course, Kiku will always hold her most loyalty). On the other hand, the man seemed to also inspire fear in Lucia as well, failure in a task was not optional when the top of the organization demands it be done.

- Alexis Miller: Lucia regards her as healthy competition within the organization. After all, it would be excellent to see who was the better shot and the best at completing tasks, right? In any case, she will be on good terms with Alex only of the other wants to be friendly.

Other Things Worth mentioning:

- Fluent in both English and Italian
- Weapon of choice is the TRG-42

[Lukas Iversen]

Name: Lukas Iversen
Age: 35
Organization: Whisperers
Position: Co-leader
Codename: Cat’s Eye
Appearance:

Personality Changes/Quirks:

• Older (and none the wiser): With over 30 years under his belt, Lukas has seen some shit, so to speak. He has a lot more life experience, which means improved judgement, more rational decision-making and a better sense of responsibility. He can actually give pretty good advice if he feels like it. Too bad he can’t follow it himself, most of the time.
  
  
• Do or die: Let’s be honest, most people in this line of business don’t live to see their retirement, and Lukas has already lived longer than he ever expected to. That’s why he’s far more willing to step into the unknown and take risks than usual, because you never know if you’ll be there to see the next day. He can still be an ice queen when he wants to, though. The man's prideful to boot.
  
  
• Mental health problems: Just in the way you might imagine someone who has grown up without knowing much love or kindness; Lukas doesn’t have that much appreciation for himself. It’s gotten a little better since joining Whisperers, but he still doesn’t look after himself as well as he probably should, and leans towards darker moods from time to time. He has good days and bad days, but he tries to keep it all under wraps.

• Savior complex: He was a miserable thing who had given up on life yet someone saw him as worth saving, and that left a lasting impression on him. Maybe it’s just because he sees himself in others, or just wants to pay the good deed forward, but he has a weakness for sad, broken people, often feeling he has to do something for them. He probably shouldn’t, considering it is often a fruitless effort and he really should be taking care of himself before taking care of others but… It’s just the way he is.
  

Backstory:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Like many, Lukas wasn’t born into the underground world, nor did he actively make a decision to become part of it. More or less, he was just a victim of circumstances, the odds of him having a nice, clean, and happy life staked against him from the very beginning.

He never had a real family. The first memories he has are from the orphanage, a crowded and poorly funded place where everyone always seemed on edge and the slightest misdemeanor could get you punished. They were always told it was because no one would want a misbehaving child, that it was for their own good, but that was probably where things first started to go wrong for Lukas. He closed up, because that was the only way he knew how to protect himself. Don’t cry, don’t make noise, don’t speak unless spoken to; those were the rules he created for himself. And they worked, to some extent. He rarely got punished anymore. Other kids started thinking he was weird and didn’t want to play with him, but he was fine with that, he could spend time with his own thoughts instead. Even if sometimes the things his imaginary friends said about him weren’t very nice.

What helped him cope with life in the orphanage became a hindrance to finding him a permanent home, however. People wanted a whole, happy, child, not one with antisocial behavior and budding depression. He was eventually placed into foster care, but that too became just one miserable cycle of frustration, visits to councilors and youth therapists, disappointment and abuse. When the people who meant well shed tears because he wasn’t making progress, he knew it was because he wasn’t trying hard enough. And when the people who also meant well hit him because they had run out of any other methods… well, that was his fault, too.

The cycle did end, eventually, when he was just shy of 15 years. He was kicked out of the house he was supposed to call home after a fight, and he just never went back. It wasn’t like he made an active decision to run away; no one just ever came after him. If he wasn’t wanted, then why should he keep pushing himself onto these people.

Life on the streets isn’t kind to anyone, least of all a child, but he survived, somehow. He wasn’t completely alone, there were others like him who taught him how to navigate this new world of begging, stealing and hiding, people who shared what little they had with him. Some gave him a share of their lunch because they didn’t want him to go hungry, some invited him to spend the night at their shelter because they didn’t want him to be cold, and some offered him drugs because they wanted him to feel good for once. Of course, they wouldn’t give him stuff for free forever, and when he had no money to pay they offered him a deal; he would work as their errand boy, as their dealer, and he could use his share of the profit to buy himself whatever he wanted. Which worked fine until the money he was making simply wasn’t enough and he had to resort to using what he was given to be sold.

That was mistake, of course; these people always collected their debts, even if it was just in broken ribs and lost teeth. Maybe he should have felt glad that they’d left him alive, but being alive had never had that much appeal to him in the first place, so he couldn’t muster up the gratitude. He’d fully intended to just lay there, beaten and bruised, until everything finally faded away, but life never seems to give people what they want, and it just happened the moment he gave up, someone came for him.

He never found out why he was picked up from that alley, a pitiful kid like him – he certainly wouldn’t have bothered. The boss later claimed they hadn’t saved him, they’d recruited him, but he didn’t really see a difference. They patched him up and gave him a roof over his head (the fanciest roof he had ever seen), food to eat and a bed to sleep in. They gave him his drugs, for some time. But most important of all, they gave him a community, a family, to belong to. That feeling wasn’t immediate, of course, but the more he learned, the more he proved he could earn his keep, the better it became. Here, everyone had a past and their own demons, but no one cared and no one asked, as long as you watched each other’s backs.

The Whisperers weren’t completely without their internal disputes, however. The Boss and his son had very different views on which direction the organization should head, and as time passed the growing differences in ideals started to chip away at the unity of the group. Before things could escalate into an actual fight, however, the Boss passed from a sudden illness. A little too sudden not to raise suspicions. Lukas’s loyalties had laid with the old Boss from the start, and his mysterious death only made him resent his son even more; he felt like he’d been ripped off the family he’d finally found and the one person he had to thank for it all.

He might have considered walking out on the organization if it hadn’t been for Mia. She came into his world when he was in his darkest place since his teenage years, and he fell in love with her immediately. She was good and kind with a good head on her shoulders, a delight to listen and talk to. He couldn’t bear the thought of all that light and happiness stripped form her, but he knew that would eventually happen. She was married to the new Boss, the man who’d already proven himself utterly rotten, and the worst part was that she was too in love to see it. So Lukas made sure to stick close to her, to be there when she needed and to teach her the ways this life worked. And surprisingly, she took to it like fish to water; it soon became obvious that she could have even outdone her husband had she just been given the chance.

Her chance did eventually come, when she finally saw her husband for what he was. Lukas had no hesitations to help her get rid of him. It was a way of protecting Mia, but also to avenge the Boss and secure the Whisperers’ future. His advancement to co-leader was more of a by-product of it all; it wasn’t a position he really wanted, but he took it because Mia asked. And it did mean he could stay close to her and continue ensuring her safety and well-being.

Relationships:

Mia: Lukas would die for her, absolutely. He loves her like the little sister he never had, and will do anything in his power to ensure her happiness. Even if that sometimes means keeping things from her or acting behind her back. Lukas has absolute faith in her and her leadership, but he feels it’s also his responsibility to steer her in the right direction and give his council for as long as she will take it.


Mathias: Mia’s obnoxious(ly good looking) brother. They were off to a somewhat rocky start; Mathias questioning his motives to involve Mia in conspiracy and murder, him aggravated by Mathias' naivety and lack of knowledge of the world of organized crime. They’re still a bit of an oil-and-water mix, but as they say, maybe opposites attract?


Mihai: Another obnoxious(ly cute) individual. Lukas might have a soft spot or two for him, even if he doesn't fully trust him. TBP.


Liluuna: She’s part of the Whisperers so Lukas trusts her, more or less. And she’s good at what she does, so he has no complaints there either. TBP



Other Things Worth mentioning: 

• His code name was given to him by the original boss because he thought Lukas reminded him of a cat—always lurking and silently watching rather than rushing in on the kill.
  
  
  
• He's a pretty good fighter, but he prefers to solve conflicts by other means. He’s grown into quite the smooth talker. If things do escalate, he’s a decent shot, but his weapon of choice is knives. Much less noise with better control. Some people claim he even sleeps with one under his pillow.
  
  
  
• He has a tattoo of Jörmungandr – the World Serpent in Norse mythology— on his left arm. It covers up some of the more physical reminders of his early years. 
  

• He has (more or less) given up any illegal substances, but he still he’s quite a heavy smoker. He won’t say no to alcohol either. He abuses caffeine most of all, though.
  
  
  
  

[Kiku Honda]

Name: Honda Kiku [wip]
Age: 36
Organization: Chronos
Position: Leader
Codename: Aquarius 
Appearance:
Despite his age, Kiku is often confused for a student or someone in their early twenties. He is very petite in stature, standing at a mere 5' 4" and weighs a mere 124lbs. At first glance, Kiku hardly looks like the leader of anything, with black hair cut in a neat but unimpressive style, delicate features and dark brown eyes. He typically appears stoic and calm to those on the outside, but anyone who knows Kiku, knows that he is not one to trifle with. Only those who have had the misfortune of crossing the leader, have seen the truth that lies underneath Kiku's placid expression. When angered Kiku's gaze is cold and calculating, completely devoid of mercy. Though it's rare, Kiku can and does smile when he feels that it's safe to relax. In general, his expressions are very muted, but like him, it's the details that you should pay attention. 

Kiku tends to dress in nicer clothes than in other AU's, favoring well tailored suits and finely woven slacks and sweaters. He doesn't favor jewelry, outside of his personalized watch and ring, designating his role within his organization. 




Personality Changes/Quirks:
* Ruthless: Kiku is not  the leader of his organization by chance. He is merciless when it comes to matters involving his family and his duties, anyone looking for empathy from Honda Kiku is going to be sadly disappointed. 
*Ambitious: Kiku was brought in as an underling, and made it to the very top of his organization through careful planning, patience, and hard work. 
* Weapons master: Part of being a master assassin, Kiku is well versed in a wide range of weapons, from guns to blades to poisons, Kiku is an
                   encyclopedia when it comes to killing. 
*Practical: While Kiku's focus is on improving the prestige of his family, Kiku is not above making alliances with other families if it helps him. 
*Loyal: It takes a lot to gain Kiku's respect, but once you do, he is loyal to the end. Only a handful of people in Kiku's life have reached that level of respect. 
*Mysterious: No one knows much about Kiku's life before Chronos. Kiku keeps a tight lip about his family life, but one could reasonably assume that if he'd joined a group of assassins then his home life had likely not been a happy one. 


Backstory: Kiku's childhood is a closely guarded secret, no one in the organization knows where he came from, or how he was first introduced to the Chronos Syndicate. The first anyone can recall about him was as an 11 year old stoic child following along the leaders of group. He was taken in, officially, by the leader of Chronos when he was 14, and from then on trained diligently to take on assignments as an assassin. Kiku's patience and intelligence meant he picked up the trade with an ease that astonished his elders. He remained a constant presence in the organization, always ready to take on the hard cases, put in the long hours. He'd gained a reputation amongst the members of the organization as the dependable one, the man who could be counted on in a crisis. So when it came to selecting a successor and the biological heir fell through, it was no surprise that Kiku was the leader's choice. Kiku has only been the leader of the Chronos for a little over a year now, but he has overseen a sort of renaissance of the organization. He restructured the entire system, forged new bonds with other crime syndicates as well as with several members in law enforcement and in the government. The age of Aquarius has indeed arrived, and by all accounts, the future could not be brighter for Chronos 

Relationships:

Lovi: Many would think that Kiku would view the natural born heir to the Chronos legacy to be a threat to his position, but Kiku has never shown concern for Lovino's aspirations. Though on the surface, Lovi has shown nothing but disdain towards his new leader, he has never made a move to destabilize Kiku's position in the group. Despite Lovino's failings, Kiku has kept him under his wing out of respect to the old leader, whom Kiku had held in the highest esteem. 

TBA

[Mihai Roșu]

"Someone’s set me up. Someone from the inside. Now this only ends one way: a bullet."

Name: Mihai Roșu
Age: 24
Organization: Phantoms
Position: Collector. Specifically, he is a honey trap who collects information–usually for blackmailing clients who need a little encouragement to pay their debt. He does sex work whenever there's significant downtime between each of his assignments.
Codename: Sundew
Appearance: Mihai fastidiously takes care of his appearance because of his occupation, where youth and beauty carry you a long ways into people's hearts, minds, and beds. He invests heavily in beauty products and cosmetics, and usually doesn't like to be seen without a full face of make-up. That said, he will adapt to a target's preferences if needed, which influences his style and general dress. Left to his own devices, he prefers to dress well, and is equally inclined towards suits or dresses as long as they're expensive and pretty. Although he does try to pay attention to his figure, he weighs in on the thin side, and the reason why can be seen on his arms. They have slight irregularities that someone observant enough could identify as track marks; they're usually covered up in make-up if he thinks there's a need to hide them. There are also two bullet scars on his abdomen, and a scorpion tattoo occupies his back at the base of his neck.

Personality Changes/Quirks:

SPOILER: Click to show

♠︎Abysmal sense of self-worth: His upbringing left him with much to be desired when it comes to being able to care for himself. He relies heavily on hearing other people's praise, and while this doesn't necessarily mean he's eager to please, he often feels cheated and upset if the "appropriate" amount of attention isn't given to him. He worries a lot about people's real feelings towards him, whether they truly value him or see him as disposable.

♠︎It's all a performance: That said, he's something of an actor himself. What people pay him for is the performance, after all, and he delivers what he must to get the money. He laughs and smiles a lot, but he doesn't actually feel the pleasure that should inspire those gestures. Even though he's quite sociable and people usually find him charming, he's actually rather...

♠︎Cynical: Growing up the way he did, he's begun to believe the worst in people, so he keeps things close to his chest. Vulnerabilities will get you killed, darlin', and people will take advantage of you until you have nothing left to give. Even with those who seem genuinely good or kind, he'll inevitably approach with caution.

♠︎Moody: It's easy for him to grow testy and angry at small things. Even he's not sure why, or what specific minor things trigger his temper, they just do, and they leave him with a tendency to lash out–even when it's not smart to do it.

♠︎Just another workday: Emotional intimacy, that is. There's something about sex work that make people think of him as reservoir for telling their secrets and insecurities, and although he maintains a friendly and professional demeanor in dealing with his clients' revelations, it doesn't mean he cares for them much, nor that he'll tell a truthful account of his own life in return. Because of this, and everything above, it's very difficult to actually become his friend or trusted person, and will likely take a lot of time, effort, and patience.

♠︎Latent grudges: As a result of a mission he went on, which almost killed him, he has begun to bear a grudge towards the Phantom family. Although he pretends that everything was forgiven, his bonds of loyalty to the family have seriously frayed, and the Phantoms may find that there's an occasional information leak... Just not frequently enough to be effectively tracked down. The small things aren't satisfying enough for Mihai, but he hasn't found the right opportunity to decimate the family once and for all.

♠︎Can't I just get away from it all?: He'd love nothing more than a fresh start, and he frequently dreams about running away to some seaside town after destroying the gang. Or maybe just running away, period. Although he doesn't admit it to himself, he also craves love and affection–genuinely and unconditionally given. He wants to be treated like the center of someone's universe, for them to be unable to even think about leaving or betraying him. He doesn't dwell on these thoughts though, because no one can possibly be that good nor devoted to someone else.

Backstory:

SPOILER: Click to show

Sometimes, he tells them his parents were a rich family who got killed in a robbery, leaving him to fend for himself on the streets. In other stories, his father divorced his mother and married another woman. She hated him, and kicked him out of the house, which was how he got into all this mess. Or his parents were famous actors who got sucked too deeply into a cult, so he had to run away to keep himself sane. Or he was kidnapped by a gang, and forced to work for them until he made a clean break, and came to this city, with nothing but a few coins in his pocket.

Some clients love those stories, especially when he cries and smears his mascara telling them, and their sympathy afterwards is simply… addictive. Even if they sometimes get it into their heads that they're his Prince Charming, and come running him down at work with money and roses, just because he puts out for five hundred an hour and makes up some sad sob story for tips. He humors them about it for awhile, just to keep the cash flowing, but once it gets annoying he's unafraid of using his position in the mob to make them back off.

They never get the real story, oh no, even if his scattered retellings contain a grain of truth. The truth is that he never fell into the world of crime, nor was he born there. It was more of a growth, like a child left on the banks of the beach, without anyone to pull him out before the tides claimed him.

It started when he was ten years old. He had a life before that, and he remembers it in the mixture of bittersweet and resentment that comes from a future that's vanished into creaking metal, but it doesn't matter to this story. What matters is a car crash, two fatalities, and the lack of close relatives. What matters is that he started sitting in the water's wake when he was passed from foster to foster, never finding someone who wanted him.

With each house, hope became melancholy became resentment. The more he resented his life and the people who didn't care about him, the more he acted out, the quicker they grew sick of him, the quicker he was placed somewhere new, the more resentful he became. A vicious ebb and flow of the tides.

At twelve, he started smoking. At fourteen, he found drugs. They felt good, and as far as he was concerned, they were good, letting him dream away his days in his cramped bedrooms with the windows open. His fosters found the joints and the missing money, and off he went to another house. His bedroom became his friends' bedrooms, where they smoked and drank together. His friends didn't have much of a better life than he did, and that was what tied them together–a spider's web to bind misfortunate kids.

When he was sixteen, he dated his dealer's friend, who was at least five years older. He liked the attention, he liked the coke, he liked escaping the house, he liked feeling more adult than his peers. He told himself he liked everything else too. Even the coolness, the distance, and the way she'd brush him off when she had better things to do. He'd put up with worse things before, and at least with the girlfriend, there were benefits. He kept his place as the mantelpiece, to be seen and not heard, until he was sent away again, and from there, he quickly established another string of older men and women to feed his habit.

It was his second-to-last placement that almost saved him. They were a couple who actually cared, who asked rather than demanded about his late hours, who gave him ice for his bloody nose and black eye, and ran the culprit off their lawn. They shelled out for new clothes, tutors, health inspections, and even considered a detox program… That is, before they left the country. Perhaps their reason was a good one, but he didn't listen after the first piece of news left their lips. The reason didn't much matter. Even when he was wanted, he was always secondary to something else, it seemed. He became convinced that no one would ever have him.

He aged out of the system in the current city, and found his connections through the drug trade, as he tended to do. This time, his dealer was firmly tied to a mob, and he was offered a job when he started struggling with payments early on. After considering it, he eventually decided against working directly for the mob, and entered into sex work instead–a profession which he thought of as (comparatively) low-risk and high reward.

For awhile, he just was–aimless. He lived day-to-day, without much thought towards the future, worrying only about food, rent, and his addiction. He made friends with other workers at the clubs and brothels, but mostly they'd move, die, or drop off the radar. Sometimes, they moved onto something bigger and better, and he envied them for that. What he thought of as a big break came when he, by luck, picked up a particularly prolific client… One who was in quite a bit of debt to a certain mob. After the meeting, he was stopped by one of the members of the family, who paid him to keep meeting the client in order to collect blackmail. Thinking it was easy money, he agreed.

The case was resolved… successfully. To each party's satisfaction… More or less. The family came to him more and more with specific instructions on which clients to approach, and despite his earlier reluctance to get involved in gang business, he supposed a bit of information-collection and picture-taking couldn't hurt. The money he made increased substantially, and some of the family's higher-ups even began to see him regularly for the world's oldest profession. Not only did he benefit financially, he felt like he was in their favor, doing something that mattered and just a little important.

That was the honeymoon period.

It lasted almost two years, until the client he was meeting tore the hidden camera from his bag, and put two bullets in him. The client had known about the debt collection and the blackmail somehow–he didn't know how–just that it was fully intended for him to bleed out on the cold bathroom tile. How ironic that he managed to drag himself to the phone for help, resistant to pain because he was just that fucking high.

He was visited in the hospital later, racking up charges he couldn't afford. "Well, we really didn't think you'd survive," his visitor said. At first, he thought it was concern. "We thought that man would've killed you for sure." His visitor explained that it had been a test–'no, not for you'–to root out a mole that had been giving away tips about when the mob would come to collect. "Now, thanks to your sacrifice, we got 'im. Jus' rest up here while you can. We'll take care of the bill."

The visitor probably saw it as a kindness. But Mihai was exhausted, in pain, and feeling withdrawal clawing at his skin. He saw it very differently.

In the end, they didn't care whether he lived or died. He was convenient for them, but not anything special nor particularly important, and he could be discarded whenever they felt it was necessary. Just another disposable body that might as well already be dead. For some time, he fell into a daze, feeling a horrible heaviness in the pit of his stomach to know he didn't matter to them at all. But what right did they have to send him into a death trap? What right did they have to decide his life or death? Despair became resentment became anger, and he decided he would never trust them again, and like hell he'd die for them. If anything, they should pay for treating him like an expendable cog of a machine.

He would live, if only to find the chance to destroy them. And then he too, would move on to bigger and better things.

It was funny. This was the first purpose he'd had in years.

Relationships:

• Francis: 🔫😠🔪 He doesn't know for sure, but he's fairly certain that the order, or at least the permission, to send him and at least seven of his coworkers into a possible death trap was given from above. Ever since, he's regarded Francis with suspicion. They never interacted much before, and Mihai intends to keep it that way, especially with his newfound doubts about the organization.
• Arthur: ❓👮😘 Arthur had always been polite and courteous to him, even though the first time they met was in the police station over questioning in the death of some guy or another. Arthur continued to be polite and courteous even after he entered the mob, and they re-met during Arthur's stint as a negotiator. Mihai appreciates his manners, and is thus generally cooperative in return, though he doesn't trust Arthur as much as he used to after the other ascended to second-in-command. Who knows what Francis has been feeding him.
• Lukas: 👀🤔🤑 Mihai's not sure what to make of him. He's attractive, but he turned Mihai down while he was working at the club once, so Mihai generally assumes he's just not interested.

Other Things Worth mentioning:

• Has a limited amount of combat training, but not a lot, since his work primarily involves extracting information while someone's guard is down. He'd probably have trouble winning over people experienced in fighting.
• Keeps easily-hidden weapons on himself in case of emergency, including a taser, pepper spray, and a switchblade. He does sometimes carry around and use a gun–especially if he needs to threaten someone–but he's by no means an experienced sharpshooter or killer.
• He usually only agrees to work missions targeting heterosexual and bi women, or gay and bi men, unless it's a case where clothes don't have to come off. He's mainly worried about being subject to violent retaliation.
• Plots: In case you haven't noticed, Mi's a mess of vulnerabilities held together by sweat, spit, and glue... He is extremely exploitable, and craves affection/recognition/love/generosity, so feel free to do with that as you will. It can be a genuine attempt to help him heal (not easy, might bite 7 times out of 10), or it can just be using him for your own nefarious ends... Romantic options are open, but if someone approaches him with the express desire to love him and invests substantial effort into making that desire come true, he'll be extremely possessive, jealous, and paranoid after getting used to the idea. Even if he does not necessarily reciprocate the same notions of love. In short, being loved feels good, but loving is difficult. Abandonment issues abound. Possibly very unhealthy. He needs therapy ASAP.

[Mathias Kolher]

Name: Mathias Kohler

Age: 29

Organization: The Whispers

Position: Follow up (Doesn’t realize it)

Codename: Almandine

Appearance:

Personality Changes/Quirks:
* More serious. He’s not as easy going here, more serious and thoughtful
* Thinks more. He tries to think things through more often, watch his actions
* Calmer. He’s not as spastic as normal, more grounded.
*He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve here, or at least he tries not to. More than likely he only shows this around his sister, and maybe Lukas once he gets to know the man better.

Backstory: Mathias grew up normal with his family and a normal sister. He learned to fight just to get some of his extra energy out of his system, and went to college started on the path to being a carpenter to eventually be a construction worker. He loved his family and always tried to keep an eye on his sister. He met the man that she eventually married, but he admit that even he was fulled by his act of a normal business man. After heading to another town for a job, he received a letter in the mail from his sister asking for her help. And from there, as they say, the rest is history.

Relationships:
Mia: His sister. He’ll do anything for her. He’s trying to learn the way of the gang for her, pledging to stay by her.
Lukas: This man aggravates him as much as he attracts him. He’s trying to learn what he needs to do, but if Lukas could just be a bit more patient, Mathias would be very happy indeed.

Other Things Worth mentioning: Will be added later.

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

Name: Gilbert Rothenstein

Age: 35

Organization: Chronos

Position: Hacker

Codename: Cygnus

Appearance:


Personality Changes/Quirks:
* More thoughtful, less likely to make an ass of himself
*Intelligence: He allows his smarts to show through, not hiding it with his actions.
* Harsher. He has less cares about people he’s never met. After all, in this type of organization, one can’t be held down with moral dilemmas, especially when you might be directly responsible for getting someone killed.

Backstory: During high school he was a normal kid, but it was during his career at a computer place that he got hooked on gambling. He was doing good at first, then things went down the drain. He ran afoul a loan shark. Somehow his old friend from high school found out and saved him from something that probably would have been horrible. In return for this, he now works for his friends organization as a hacker.

Relationships:
• Kiku. His old friend from high school. He befriended this man despite what everyone said. He thought he became a good friend. Apparently it was good enough for the man to come to his rescue when he got into a bad situation. He now works for Kiku, willingly and he’s very loyal to the man. It seems that Kiku saw something in Gilbert.
• Hans: Is till getting used to him, isn't quite sure how to read this guy, but they get along decently. He is half amused by being called Ducky by the man, but... is he hitting on him sometimes?

Other Things Worth mentioning:
*Uses a programing/hacking style called Rubber Duck Debugging. This requires a rubber duck to sit on his desk, and this is why Hans calls him Ducky sometimes.
*Might have scrolled through the computer programing of their own hideout before to see if he could find any holes that could be exploited and needs fixed.

[Ludwig Beilschmidt]

2p!Germany

*** Using Hans only, as Ludwig/canonGermany would not fit as well with the AU well and I’m sick of playing him as a cop. —was approved to do so by other mods***

Name: Johannes L. Wulfstein
Age: 30
Organization: Independent Hitman/Hired Muscle
Position:doggy style
Codename: Omega
Appearance:

Little has changed from Hans' outward appearance, but he does have a few more tattoos in addition to his "Live Life" knuckle tattoos--one being a snarling wolf head with a skull on his back left shoulder (due to his surname) and a Totenkopf on his right wrist--and his scars were recieved in much different ways. He still prefers a ribbed white tank-top over much of anything else and will couple that with dark tactical pants and boots, as well as a tan jacket or a hat, and fingerless gloves. He typically keeps at LEAST one gun and (survival) knife on his person at all times and a pack or two of cigarettes. He still has a fondness for wearing his dogtags now and again.

Personality Changes/Quirks:
Loose Canon - It's hard to say what exactly Hans would do at any given moment or situation. But he is more prone to lose his head and threaten or injure someone if they piss him off. It's also not uncommon for him to not bite his tongue and say what he realy thinks--which has proven equal parts helpful and harmful in the past. 

Bend it Break it -  Rules are an iffy thing with him. Some are necessary to ensure you keep your own ass alive, but the others? Hah, they're more like 'guidelines' he can work his way around, if not disregard entirely.

Use your Head - Tends to think a bit more with his...head..than the actual head on his shoulders.

Hardened - He rarely discriminates against who he has to kill and has little sympathy for...anyone, really--it's a rare thing for him since he's squashed his feelings as much as he possibly can when on the job. He's just as soon to cap a 2 year old as he is an adult. 

Respektlos - You want his respect? Earn it. He has little patience with those who are born into power and the like--but he can respect and admire those that actually work for where they are. In otherwords, you don't get a damn pass just because you're the great-great-great whatever of the late Mr. No-One-Gives-A-Fuck.

Loyalty? - It's a give or take. Respect him and be loyal and helpful, he'll be the same.  Don't try to overlord him or shove him in a box, but let him have his freedom and hell, you've got yourself a great ally. He's also not a snitch. Just give him his money after a job and he'll happily go on his way. He doesn't want to meddle with the bullshit, drama, and turf wars the bigger families like to get themselves into.

Lone Wolf - He prefers his freedom over joining any organization and he'd like to keep it that way if he can. He'll still work with them, but that doesn't mean he'll be all head over heels to join their ranks properly.


Backstory:

(Quick backstory because Iso needs to not do a huge ass detailed biography like usual)

Childhood is nothing of note when it comes to Johannes' past. It was there, it happened, and then he got older.

He had never been one for high grades or the like, and of course, he didn't give a hoot in hell with a blowtorch when it came to going to college... But he knew he had to do something if he didn't want to just find himself pandering for money on the side of the road. ANd really, he didn't have many outstanding skills, but he COULD fight and he COULD build and he liked to do both. So, upon reaching the age of eighteen, he joined up with the military. He could work construction or he could go kick ass on the front lines or whatever. It seemed the ideal choice at the time, since he'd be getting paid for it as WELL as recieving benefits later on. The hard part, however, would be following the rules, but Hans had always held the belief that it wasn't illegal/against the rules if they didn't catch you. He got caught once in a while for minor stuff, naturally, but it only made him all the more wiser about how to go about hiding whatever he was doing. Regardless, he made it through boot camp and was sent out to serve abroad not long after that.

Hans couldn't have been more excited, but when he got there, he learned that it wasn't everything he had dreamed of. It was harder, it wasn't just a simple case of point and shoot and don't get shot. After the initial panic and uneasiness subsided, the exhiliration took root. The high of the adrenaline kept him going and wanting more of the action. And he got it. After his first tour of three years, he had one two-year tour where he and his unit were sent out to the frontlines. Everything was fine at first--they were joking and cutting up, playing cards and sucking on a few cigarettes Hans had managed to sneak into the barracks. Things soured in a hurry as the noise went from the clammor of friends dicking around to the whistle of shells being dropped and the explosions that followed suit. Gunfire filled the night as the young man and his teammates sprang into action. They were lucky to have not been in one of the other buildings which had turned into a smoldering pile of broken metal and debris. Hans was certain that was all it was as they joined the others in fighting back. Luck. The other guys didn't have that... Fire continued to rain down on them for the rest of the night, and a few men of the group were lost in the fight, while some nursed their injuries. Hans became the new owner of some metal shrapnel that had sliced through and lodged into his right forearm, leaving three large scars. But thanfully, they were able to extract the remaining pieces.

He really didn't care about the scars or his own injuries, but he had lost a few of his close friends during the attack. That probably weighed on him more than anything...survivor's guilt was always a terrible thing to deal with, and to cope, he tried to make himself as numb as possible. Through squashing his emotions or lashing out, or numbing it with alcohol and drugs. WHatever worked, he'd do it. And then he'd go right back out there, do his job, kill some bad buys, and the cycle would repeat.

It was on such a night that he went a bit overboard. He had just finished his tour not long ago and a few acquaintences had joined him at a local bar during their free time. One of them was an officer, who Hans had taken a bit of a liking to and was a bit more lax than any of the others (who admittedly acted like they had sticks perpetually shoved up their butts). The small group of military men had taken to drinking and talking, but the conversations turned a bit sour, which lead to a fistfight...which lead to broken bottles, broken noses, and another scar across Hans' cheek. They were punished accordingly, sure, but the scuffle reminded Hans why he did what he did. He liked the thrill of it all, the fighting and violence, and being stuck back at home with nothing to do was just so....dull. Maybe that was why Hans quickly found himself getting into more and more fights and more and more trouble (in addition to having a few illicet substances, of course). It finally came to a head after he punched a lieutenant and broke his jaw. He was put on trial, sentenced some time in the military jail, and then finally discharged due to bad conduct around the age of 26.

After that, he had terrible luck finding any decent jobs, much less any thrills that would give him the same sensations he had come to enjoy. But that was before he moved and before he was made aware of the organizations that vied for power in the city. Rather than choose to join one over any of the others, four the past four years, Hans has been working as an independent contractor--a hitman for hire, nontheless. Besides, as he reasoned it: "I may as well do what I'm the best at: fighting and killing."

Relationships:
Gilbert -  He's seen him a few times. Usually with his nose buried in a computer...and assaulting/throwing a duck... Whatever. He introduced Hans to the Chronos family and works through him whenever a contract is required.

Kiku - He's met him maybe once, but doesn't have much of an opinion on the guy since he's really only ever made contact with Chronos through GIlbert.
 
Ana - They had a job together and paid him to sleep with her...which really he had mixed feelings about, but hey. Money and sex--...oh she meant literally sleeping with her. Oh well, they've become something akin to Friends with benefits since then, and neither of them seem to be catching feels anytime soon.


Other Things Worth mentioning:

- Has both nipples pierced, his tongue, and rocks a Prince Albert as well as a partial Jacob's Ladder.

-Other than hand to hand combat and sharpshooting skills... he's dabbled with a bit of torture techniques and bombs. Super easy if you know what you're doing--and it's great skills to have in his line of work.

- If you're willing to pay, he'll play as a body guard, hitman, kidnapper, torturer, or...just about anything that falls into his "usual" line of work.

- So mashochistic it hurts, but he has a very high resistance to actual pain.

- He does rather love visiting the brothels that the Phatoms run.

- Being called the "Big Bad Wolf" really amuses him.

- Has taken up MMA to keep himself a bit busier and to acheive that high he longs for... or something similar to it. Also it's great for keepin' in shape and on your toes.

-He didn't think it wise to use his old military codename, which WAS related to his surname, so he adopted "Omega" instead. It sounds ominous and cool, but it is typically associated with "the end". It's fitting though, since as a hired killer, he brings an end to his victim's life.

[Feliciano Vargas]

Name: Feliciano Vargas
Age: 22
Organization: Chronos
Position: Sniper
Code Name: Orion [formerly Leo Minor]
Appearance:

While on the job, Feliciano will wear a wide array of disguises in order to not be recognized for what he is; he has posed as a handyman, janitor, secretary, call girl and call boy, nurse, a homeless man, and many more things. When he's at headquarters for official business, Feliciano will range between suits and dress suits in dark or jewel tones: his favorite men's suit is a dark emerald accented with black and gold, while his favorite dress suit is black accented with wine red and silver. However, he has suits and dress suits ranging through black, navy blue, pinstriped, tweed, and dark gray in textiles such as silk and wool. He has expensive tastes, and the disposable income from his portion of his parents and grandfather's inheritances as well as his missions means he can feed those tastes without worry.

In his free time, Feliciano will wear just about anything he pleases: short skirts and crop tops to flannel and cargo pants to overalls to simple jeans and t-shirts. All are tailored to his figure, and most are designer brands. He has both masculine and feminine accessories, especially footwear and wigs. He can make dozens upon dozens of combinations. Feliciano prides himself in his ability to disguise himself as whoever or whatever he pleases, just as highly as he prides himself for his stellar marksmanship.

Regardless of his outfit choice for the day, Feliciano generally takes great pains to straighten his normally-curly auburn hair (though there's ONE stubborn curl he cannot straighten to save his life and it juts out the worst of all his soft curls, but his scalp is sensitive there and he doesn't even like touching it). He also applies make-up daily, though whether he goes for a "natural" look or something more pronounced depends on the outfit of choice. Feliciano is extremely fond of bright jewel or metallic tones for his pronounced make-up when at headquarters. When not working, Feliciano's make-up may consist of electric colors or pastels. Depends on his outfit and his mood, mostly. Feliciano has few self-esteem issues about how he looks without makeup, but he definitely gets a confidence boost after getting his make-up just right.

Personality Changes/Quirks:

• Confrontation: Feliciano is by no means afraid of violence, how could he be raised in a family like this? However, Feliciano is also known as a ranged fighter, and a good one at that. His brawling skills aren't too shabby, but Feliciano brings a gun to a knife-fight for a reason. Should he be caught mostly unarmed or too close for a gun to work? He will run away and let someone else handle the clean-up. There's no shame in knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are. Feliciano doesn't generally speak up against the few people in the family higher ranked than he is, though, even if it might benefit him more to speak up.
• Crybaby: Crocodile tears, which generally only show up on the rare non-sniper missions, or trying to weasel something out of someone. Occasionally to act as a hysterical bystander. Feliciano rarely cries legitimately, public or private, except in moments of extreme pain. There's no shame in crying when you need to cry, but Feliciano has other outlets for his emotions. Namely shooting people.
• Control: While Feliciano generally avoids confrontation with higher ups, Feliciano vastly prefers being in control of his own life and his own actions rather than following orders. This is partially because, as the grandson of the family head and being raised as the future co-leader of the family, he was a bit spoiled in private (though definitely not as coddled as his brother by comparison). It's also because Feliciano chafes under the fact that his life has been directed for him from practically day one, and even as he was raised to help lead the family in the future, he was trained generally to defer to his elder brother in most ways.
• Family: While Feliciano loves his birth family (or what's left of it), and the close friends of his chosen family, Feliciano has little love for the organization he was raised in. He has no qualms putting down or taking out people who insult or threaten himself or those he cares about (when they're low-level peons or common folk). However, Feliciano also actively judges both his birth and chosen family members against a personal criteria, to make sure they pass. He won't hesitate to "divorce" or "disown" someone if they cross a line that cannot be uncrossed.
• Superior: Feliciano doesn't generally think of himself as "better" than others, the way he might have as a child when his grandfather was still alive, but he does chafe harshly against those who do look down on people. Especially people who look down on him.
• Trigger Happy: As stated a few times already, Feliciano will shoot people as a solution to his problems. Perhaps a side-effect of being raised shooting people to solve other people's problems. Please don't push him too far--he's even shot his own brother with a BB gun when they were kids, once or twice, right in the butt. He won't be so kind to the rest of you.
• Dissociation: As a sniper, Feliciano has to compartmentalize and detach from a situation or his surroundings and focus all of his attention on the target(s) at hand, for hours or even days at a time. The downside to this is during particularly stressful situations, Feliciano has a bad habit of dissociating and running on autopilot. This habit only exacerbates Feliciano's issues with the "lack of control" he has over his life.
• Feelings: Not to say that Feliciano is stone cold, heartless, and unfeeling--and if that's how you compartmentalize and cope, that's fine! Feliciano isn't judging, considering his own dissociative tendencies. But more than that, Feliciano has learned that in the crime life, there's nothing without an ulterior motive behind it. He cannot trust claims of "honest" affection and love, and has a hard time feeling them himself. He tries to rationalize them away, but only if he feels them at all. It's safe to say he has commitment issues in general
• Trust: Feliciano doesn't really trust anyone anymore. What was ultimately a small betrayal by a mere grunt strengthened by a powerful beating from his grandfather ultimately damaged Feliciano's ability to show emotional vulnerability in front of anyone. Everyone is ready to take advantage, and Feliciano is constantly on guard around everyone, even when it doesn't look like he is. This has only further exacerbated Feliciano's ability to emote properly.

Backstory:
Feliciano was born to expectant parents Riccardo and Noemi Vargas almost exactly a year after his elder brother, Lovino Vargas. Feliciano's birthday is March 25th, a mere week and a day later than his brother's March 17th birthday. One of the only exceptional things about his birth was the fact that his parents are influential members and leaders of the crime family Chronos, with his paternal grandfather being the head of Chronos. At first, little social pressure was put on infant Feliciano compared to his brother, Lovino, since Feliciano was the second-born son and thus not the newest heir to the family.

That changed when Feliciano turned two, and his parents were murdered. While out on a date during Christmas-time, Riccardo and Noemi were gunned down, along with many other Chronos members, during a police raid of one of the family's front businesses. It wasn't until Feliciano was a teenager that he learned the specific circumstances of their deaths, though he realized much earlier than Lovino that their parents weren't "on an extended vacation". After all, most of the stories their grandfather told explained how much Riccardo and Noemi loved their children, so it made little sense to young Feliciano that their parents would be gone for years and years on "vacation". His own searches into ongoing missions by Chronos members failed to mention anything about Riccardo and Noemi, so they weren't doing something dangerous that the higher-ups felt was impertinent to mention to Lovino or Feliciano.

The loss of over a dozen Chronos members, along with the follow-up leader Riccardo Vargas, dealt a severe blow to Chronos still felt even today. However, Feliciano's grandfather decided to make Lovino the new follow-up leader instead of someone older and more qualified. As such, Feliciano was also named follow-up co-leader. This accelerated the training regime originally scheduled to the young ones, with Feliciano beginning at age 5, the same day Lovino started his own training. Lovino was codenamed "Leo" for his supposed bravery and ferocity. Feliciano was codenamed "Leo Minor", representing his place as Lovino's second.

However, Feliciano's training was different from Lovino's own in that Lovino's was focused much more heavily on the political and business manners of the family. As such, Lovino was rushed through more traditional weapons training--which Feliciano blames his brother's blatantly terrible aim on. Feliciano, on the other hand, was placed at the bottom of the barrel and had to work his way up. That way, Feliciano would have an understanding of the dynamics along all levels of the family, making him more useful as an adviser to his brother. (Not to say Feliciano didn't spend his childhood and early adolescence sitting in on his own share of important meetings, but he was not to speak up in any capacity whatsoever. He was there to observe the room and quietly advise his brother should anything of concern come up. They weren't the most important meetings, since allowing children to decide the future of the family is just asinine, but it still taught the two brothers how things ran)

Feliciano excelled where his brother failed ninety-five percent of the time, and was still passable even where Lovino succeeded. Their grandfather applauded Feliciano in his growing ability with weaponry, telling him all the ways such skills could support his brother and the family in the future. His skills with a gun were prodigal, especially when he grew large enough to practice with a sniper rifle (much sooner than Lovino, though Feliciano never told his elder brother he'd moved to actual guns with live ammunition a full year before Lovino graduated from bb guns and balloons). Not to mention, Feliciano's softer features and acting skills made him a prime candidate for shake-down missions as a child. He could lull most adults into false senses of security and instill a protective streak in them that helped Feliciano lead them into ambushes. The child's skill with a gun left him exceedingly capable of defending himself or taking out enemies on his own, which only increased his value as a Chronos member.

By the time Feliciano was ten, he had taken down a full dozen targets for the family, and was thus rewarded with praise and toys and honestly anything he could ask for. However, Feliciano's grandfather often spent more time Lovino than Feliciano, because Lovino was taking over the leader position and needed the hands-on training. By this time, Feliciano rarely saw his own brother outside of evening meals and bed-time, because Feliciano's training took up all of his working time, and Feliciano used his free time to train solo. He had to be the very best, because he could not shame his grandfather or his brother with mediocrity. He was to be his brother's shadowy adviser, after all. The one closest to him in most ways, and Feliciano took to that duty seriously.

At least, until they hit the ages of twelve and thirteen, respectively. While Feliciano had already gone on more missions than he could honestly count--they all blurred together at that age, as busy as Feliciano as--Lovino had finally begun going on actual missions himself. None of Lovino's missions were solo, due to his importance in the family, and Feliciano bristled over the fact that he was not chosen as Lovino's support.

Feliciano had a hard time adjusting to life when Lovino began missions with his "new guard". Lovino spent time with the guard even when not on missions, and Feliciano rarely saw Lovino even during their usual shared time together. And yet, their grandfather only admonished Feliciano for "attempting to limit his brother's growth", as it was put. "Your brother is too important to go through the same training you are," Feliciano was told. "He has to learn how to navigate missions with allies around him, because as leader he will never be working alone. Your jealousy will only hinder your brother's growth. You are only here to support your brother, and make sure he succeeds."

It made sense logically to Feliciano, since he had by then learned that their parents had been shot down together by the police, and it was too risky to let the future heirs go on missions together. Still, he chafed: why would they beat into Feliciano, figuratively and literally, that the whole point of Feliciano's existence was to support his brother, only to reject Feliciano's support on legitimate missions?

That blatant conflict on everything Feliciano had known about his life affected him greatly. It made him think. Was their grandfather only pushing these positions onto Feliciano and Lovino to further his own goals? What ulterior motives were there that Lovino would be rushed through practical training and allowed to go on missions with someone who would finish the jobs and try to cover Lovino's piss-poor performance? Why did Feliciano not get that same treatment if he was supposed to be co-leader, the second most important position in the family?

What was Feliciano here for?

Feliciano spent a lot of time thinking, after that conversation with his grandfather. At first, Feliciano's own performance on missions fluctuated, a few resulting in outright failures. The leader ripped into Feliciano for those failures, and halted Feliciano's promotion from grunt-work for another year in response. Lovino continued to rise up in terms of power within the family, which chafed not only the grunts' opinions of the follow-up but even Feliciano. It was legitimately unfair that Lovino not be held at the same standards their grandfather put on himself, Feliciano thought. It strained his relationship with his brother, at least at first, until Feliciano realized that it wasn't his brother's fault he received preferential treatment. It was their grandfather's, for choosing to coddle Lovino rather than legitimately train him, and instead heap all the responsibility on Feliciano as co-leader.

That realization left him wondering just how much their grandfather actually did for the Chronos family, and whether the newer co-leader, Kiku Honda, was doing more than anyone realized.

It also left Feliciano with more to think about, and more pressure to live up to. Feliciano didn't like the idea of taking over the family with Lovino, only for any of Feliciano's accomplishments be credited to his brother. Nor did he like the idea that he was expected to follow this path regardless of his own wants or needs. But more than anything, Feliciano didn't like the dichotomy he was hearing in the lower factions of the family: the way they praised Feliciano for actually working with them and learning with them, while Lovino was able to breeze through everything with a silver spoon in his mouth. Feliciano agreed to an extent, of course, but he also knew that it had nothing to do with either his or Lovino's choices. He hated the idea that their grandfather's plans for them could lead to further schisms within the Chronos family rather than strengthening it.

So many of the problems Feliciano saw in his life, Feliciano realized, were only there because Feliciano wasn't allowed to speak up for himself. He wasn't allowed to challenge his grandfather, who was not only his elder and guardian, but the leader and highest power within the Chronos family. He felt too uncomfortable going to Kiku or Lovino with his troubles, either, because neither seemed to see what was wrong in the first place. The one time he'd thought to mention feeling uncomfortable with something to what he thought was a kind ear, Feliciano was sixteen, and it was on a mission.

Feliciano and another up-and-coming sniper were assigned to work together on a mission. The man was only seven years older than Feliciano, which was smaller an age gap than Feliciano was used to in his younger years. While they were preparing their roost, Feliciano had questioned whether the target before them was worth all the effort to assassinate: the woman worked as the secretary for the chief of police of the city, and her death was supposed to send a message to the police chief to keep her nose out of Chronos business. They had to leave just enough evidence for people to know what family was behind the assassination, but no other traces. A calling card, if you would.

He had sat there, rifle tucked into his shoulder and scope to his eye as he watched the woman go about her nightly routine, and wondered why they were here, instead of at the police chief's home and watching her wife, instead. After all, why would the death of the secretary keep the police chief in line? She could simply hire someone else. In fact, wouldn't it be better to kidnap the secretary instead, and torture her for information? In fact, Feliciano was so taken by the idea of changing gears for the mission that he'd set his rifle down.

Feliciano had worked with his fellow sniper for a few mission before, when multiple eyes were needed to keep the targets in sight, or if multiple targets needed taking down but they wanted different ballistics to make it more difficult to decipher why the targets were taken down, and by whom. Feliciano had listened to the older man, in his early twenties, complain about his family's money problems, and his girlfriend problems, for hours. Complain about the political environment of the nation, and how turning to crime and assassination was the only way he felt he could make a difference in the world while still supporting his family. Feliciano had thought he could talk to his acquaintance the same, question the way the family worked and vent his problems.

What Feliciano received was a bloody contusion and a concussion, courtesy of the sniper beating him over the head with the butt of his rifle. From there, the other sniper finished the mission, cleaned up the mess, and dragged Feliciano back in cuffs for a meeting with his grandfather for insubordination. That earned him another beating, because the middle of a mission is not the place to speak of his misgivings, especially not someone of "Feliciano's position and stature", his grandfather said. After all, as the future co-leader, he had to show an unflappable air in front of the grunts, who would gladly take any indecision as an attempt to usurp him. "You only brought this on yourself," Chronos's leader said as he broke his own grandson's nose against the edge of the table. "Everyone else here will take advantage of you if you give them the chance."

It took a few weeks of house arrest for Feliciano to recover, and weeks more for him to be cleared for missions once again. The minute he was given permission to carry a gun again, Feliciano hunted that sniper down, and shot him point-blank in the middle of the training grounds. To this day, Feliciano regrets shooting him between the eyes to start with, because he'd rather have made the bastard suffer longer before he died. This time, when Feliciano was dragged in front of Chronos's leader, Feliciano earned a laugh and a clap on the back for "defending his own honor". This place is a dog-eat-dog world, and the best defense was a good offence, and every offense dealt to someone of Feliciano's stature deserved the highest price be paid.

Feliciano stopped talking to anyone, including and especially Lovino, about his problems after that disastrous mission. Instead, he bottled up his problems and started "making trouble" in little ways. He tried putting on make-up to see if anyone noticed, and stepped up his game to blouses, then skirts, then outright dresses as well. At first, they were a way to rebel, gain at least a little control of his life. But as he got better with his eyeliner, he simply and legitimately enjoyed wearing these outfits for himself, and incorporated these elements into his work life as well as his private life. He ignored the leader's attempts at reprimand, and his brother's derision for wearing "girl clothes", because these were his choices and that was all Feliciano wanted: being able to choose things. To have control of his life. He constantly switched up what weapons he took on missions. He shot anyone who sneered at him. Feliciano happily paid people for sex, and let people pay him for it as well. Chronos's leader lamented Feliciano for giving himself over to all these "terrible vices", but Feliciano had long since personally disowned the man as his grandfather so his opinion didn't matter.

In fact, Feliciano wasn't even upset when the man died of a heart attack by the time Feliciano turned twenty one. Or at least, it was an upset in a vague, distant sort of way, and Feliciano couldn't wrap his mind around it so he ignored it, instead. Nor was he surprised when Kiku Honda stepped up to be co-leader--Lovino wasn't even remotely ready for the position, in Feliciano's opinion. He was actually planning to ask Kiku to re-start Lovino's training when Kiku approached Feliciano with an offer to take over as co-leader, as Chronos's previous leader had wanted Feliciano to all along.

Feliciano barely hesitated in his denial. His excuse was that he was meant to be Lovino's co-leader, and felt more comfortable attempting to help Lovino gain some competence with a gun and earn some loyalty with the other members of Chronos. Kiku took it in stride--when Feliciano reassured Kiku that he was not, in fact, planning on trying to usurp Kiku in the future, anyway. Because that was the truth. Feliciano wasn't planning on strengthening Lovino's standings and then staging a coup. In fact, he requested a code name change after his refusal of the position: a means of placing distance between himself and Lovino. Kiku may have taken it as a show of solidarity despite turning down the co-leader position, but to Feliciano it was more than that. He did need to put distance between himself and Lovino on a political level, yes, but he also needed to put distance between himself and the idea of being co-leader.

In fact, Feliciano wants to leave Chronos entirely. Fuck being co-leader. Fuck helping Lovino take over. Feliciano wanted to drop the family like a hot pocket and become an independent contractor, if you will. Take assassination contracts as he saw fit, or play a sweetly poisoned honey pot instead. Feliciano hadn't decided that far in advance, because honestly once he was out of the family he could do whatever the hell he wanted. The problem was figuring out how to leave: Feliciano didn't want to leave his brother or Kiku, as distanced as he'd become emotionally to the both of them. However, Feliciano had no doubts that if he vocalized his desire to leave, they'd both beat the "rebellious streak" out of him, or just kill him as callously as Feliciano shot the bastards who liked trying to call him a slut or a trap or just take advantage of him in the darker corners of headquarters. He was desperate for freedom, not an early grave. As such, Feliciano was taking his time planning and re-planning how to leave, and putting up a confident, cheerful air when he wasn't in the privacy of his own apartment.

Relationships: 

• Lovino Vargas: Lovino is Feliciano's elder brother by just over a year, and their relationship is an odd one. Feliciano was raised to be Lovino's co-leader once Lovino took over the Chronos family, but more than that, he was raised to be the support to his brother: excel where Lovino failed, be his voice of reason when Lovino's emotions got the best of him, etc. Feliciano saw it as being Lovino's shadow, because despite his accomplishments, he was always in his brother's shadow. Feliciano doesn't hold resentment to Lovino for that, because despite Lovino's abrasive nature he never put Feliciano down (except during fights in which Feliciano gave as good as he got). However, that has influenced Feliciano's relationship with his brother, in an awkward way. Especially since Lovino is still angry with Feliciano for turning down the co-leader position after their grandfather died.
• Kiku Honda: Feliciano doesn't know much about Kiku's history before coming to Chronos, by which he knows absolutely nothing. However, Feliciano has never saw fit to ask, because Kiku has been a semi-constant presence in his life since Feliciano was born. Feliciano sees him as sort of a pseudo-brother-uncle, since Feliciano's grandfather had taken Kiku in as a sort of adopted progeny the same year Feliciano was born. However, Kiku was too old to be much of a playmate for Feliciano, and acted more as a mentor helping train and teach Feliciano once he got older. Feliciano doesn't think his relationship with Kiku is estranged due to Feliciano turning down the co-leader position a year ago, but Kiku is much more reserved than Lovino and that much harder to read.
• Ana Albescu: Ana is one of the few blood-cousins Feliciano knows of, and he finds her exceedingly odd. She played more with Lovino than Feliciano--in parts due to Feliciano's more intense training regime compared to Lovino's--but he does have fond memories when they were very small. She vanished for a long time, though, so he's attempting to re-learn how to interact with her. She likes to accost him at his home and steal his snacks and make her drink with him. They have very strange conversations during those times, a few of which he only remembers in bits and pieces.
• Gilbert Rothenstein: Feliciano isn't particularly skilled with hacking, so he doesn't have much reason to go down into the depths to visit the hackers while they're working. However, Gilbert seems cheerful enough for how he got dragged into the underbelly of the city. Feliciano thinks his rubber duck is cute.
• Lucia Bianch: A fellow sniper for Chronos--Feliciano has worked with her on a mission or two, and he respects her prowess when he sees her training at the shooting range. However, he finds her arrogance in her skills off-putting and ill-earned, considering her newer status in the family. He doesn't see her as much of anything else, though; just another member of the family.
• Alexis Miller: Another newer member of Chronos, with a bit of arrogance Feliciano isn't sure is perfectly justified. Especially since she only works for Chronos as a means of feeding her desire to shoot things; certainly not the first time Feliciano's seen something like that, but still. He's wary of her, because her loyalties might be swayed. It's too bad Feliciano wasn't able to talk to her earlier on in her career, because Feliciano would have recommended her to independent work with some contacts he has, instead. She's at least capable with a rifle and doesn't fail many missions, same as Lucia.
• Hans Wulfstein: Awwwwooo, baby. Feliciano has worked with him on a few smaller missions in the past, but usually Feliciano catches glimpses of him while he's out bar-hopping and clubbing. He's fine on the eyes and a good wall of muscle when you need back-up, but Feliciano hasn't yet approached him outside of a 'work' environment.

**If you see any changes you'd like made, just message me!

Other Things Worth mentioning:

• Gender: Feliciano has no qualms about experimenting with his gender presentation. He will wear dresses, he will wear pants. The higher-up members of the family know better than to comment negatively on it (regardless of their opinion), while the grunts will quickly learn to keep their mouths shut if they don't have anything nice to say. Feliciano has shot more than one mouthy newcomer calling him a "trap" or a "disgusting cross-dresser".
• Grace: Feliciano is not. I mean, when he's doing the murder walk in six inch stiletto heels? Not a wobble. With a rifle? Feliciano hasn't missed a target in years. When he's just walking around, Feliciano may very well walk into the narrow end of an open door. Breakable items are in danger once his hands start waving in time with his speech. He's odd like that: put in a situation where being clumsy is expected, Feliciano will show a grace most don't expect from him; put him on flat ground in sensible shoes and he'll still find something to trip over.
• Artwork: Feliciano's fingers are just as slim and "artistic" looking as they always are, but he's never picked up a paintbrush in his life. He is a connoisseur of the arts, sure, but he's never had much free time to contemplate making art for himself, of any kind. Though he did enjoy fingerpainting as a child, and he'll occasionally linger at the site of one of his shootings to enjoy the "artistic arcs of blood signifying a job well done".
• Weapons: While Feliciano is best-known for his prowess with semi-auto or bolt-action rifles, Feliciano is by no means shabby with hand guns. Shotguns or full-automatic rifles, Feliciano generally avoids because they don't rely on accuracy, precision, or long-distance range, which Feliciano excels in. Feliciano isn't called in to kick down a door and clear a room. He'll clear a room of targets from three buildings over, thanks. He still knows how to handle at least most types of modern guns, and how to clean and take care of them. He simply prefers his rifles and handguns. As such, Feliciano has no one preferred model, because he both prides himself with his versatility and abhors the idea of linking his missions together by using the same model every time, let alone the same weapon.
• Sniper Skills: Considered one of, if not the, best sniper in Chronos in terms of accuracy. This may have something to do with the fact he did receive accelerated training from the best before him, as well as the fact he's been a part of the family since birth and was first given a gun and a target by age five (the same year Lovino started his training). He's had plenty of time to practice. He doesn't have the highest mission-success rate, partially due to the fact he simply doesn't have as many missions under his belt as the older members, but he's definitely one of the most reliable snipers in Chronos.
• Thot: No slut-shaming in this house, because Feliciano enjoys prettying himself up however he pleases and having a bit of fun with whoever catches his fancy. He's safe about it, he's smart about it, and even if he wasn't he'd do it anyway and shame on you for judging.
• Touch-starved: Despite his thot nature, Feliciano is a bit touch-starved. He's conditioned himself to think physical contact is mostly sexual in nature, due to his general inability to comprehend motive-free platonic and intimate emotions and contact. Feliciano just really, really needs a hug. Preferably one lasting 35-45 minutes.
• Scars: Feliciano has a plethora of scars, though most are relatively faint or pale with age; times when his unskilled self got his ass handed to him. There's a darker little patched scar across the bridge of his nose, which is slightly crooked now, after the previous leader of Chronos bashed his face into a table and broke his nose. However, it's easy enough to pass off as simple discoloration or a birth mark if people ask, and he's never told anyone the truth about that one.

[Roderich Edelstein]

Name: Roderich Edelstein

Age: Roderich’s age is a mystery that many people have tried and failed to find out. The few people who know keep quiet about it and the prevailing guess is somewhere in his thirties’ due to his lengthy (and also very mysterious history), because looks-wise he can range from twenty-something to forty on a regular basis.

Organization: Former head of Das Orchester. He’s neutral to all organization and the law itself. Though there might something to that rumor he got his start two decades ago in Chronos.

Position: Owner/proprietor of Mittnacht Lounge Hotel, Independent Negotiator, Illegal Weapons Shop Owner

Codename: Members of his former organization who deal with him/or talk about him might mention him as ‘the Conductor/der Dirigent’ or as ‘Grandpiano’. He might have some older code-names from who knows where. They matter little unless who know them address him as such.

Appearance:

Roderich is a little more active in this universe so he actually has some muscle to him. It’s hard to tell with his tailored suits, made in such a way to give him a rather powerful and, yet, stylish look to him. He’s attractive in a very put together way, but coupled with the air of mystery surrounding him, it gives him a bit of a dangerous air to those in the business. He can be a bit of a chameleon, however, and so can make slight alterations to his looks and ways of presenting himself that can make him seem like a very different person.

Personality Changes/Quirks:

• Firm Neutrality- Whatever the reasons behind it, Roderich loathes to get involved more than necessary in the squabbles among the organizations – he’s firm in his position of not taking any sides. Thus, while he won’t start fights, he can sure end them. And it won't be pretty.
• A Finger in Every... Torte? - That said, Roderich’s informational network and ability to make things happen is truly useful for retaining his dicey position. He might have information on the most mundane things, connections in the strangest places.
• C.R.E.A.M. - Roderich's motivations are quite simple - information is power, weapons are power, and so is money. He wants to have a healthy amount of all three at his disposal.
• Balancing Act - Running the business he does would be a monumental challenge without all the illegal ventures added - Roderich's always mindful of the tightrope he's walking, with both the organizations and the laws eagerly hoping he'll slip up and fall eventually. Luckily, he's been practicing this routine for years.
• Ice King - Roderich's cold, callous, and confident. Insecurities don't keep the lights on (or his sheets high-thread count Egyptian cotton), nor do they keep him alive, so he has little use to constantly doubt himself after so many years. Not that he's over-confident - Roderich knows he might have several prices at his head at this point, so he gets little sleep.
• Doesn't Get Messy - Gone are the days when Roderich would go into the field, rifle in hand. He's grown used to underlings cleaning up for him. But anyone trying to get into a shootout with would be...sorely mistaken,

Backstory:

Roderich’s early life is no less mysterious than the rest of him – those old enough may recall a scrawny, withdrawn, and surprisingly sensitive young boy with a peculiar accent somehow joining Chronos. There wasn’t a shortage of boys joining the organization but Edelstein was neither a lost soul nor a hothead seeking thrills.

No one knew where came from – he wasn’t dressed well but the clothes had obviously been repaired several times over. The boy seemed sheltered in some strange ways – certain behaviors shocked him, as if he’d been sheltered from the world in certain ways. But not violence. That didn’t phase him at all.

In fact, the only thing truly off about the child they called Lyra besides those impeccable manners and composed way of caring himself was that the boy always looked hungry. But not for food.

He made a good lookout in those early days, coming back with information that might not have even been asked for – but always paid off. He also occasionally came back with some treasures, showing a slight of hand that gave him even more potential. Soon higher ups started taking notice and handed him off to a very high-level member.

Roderich got training in a variety of different areas– it was plain to see that he’d always be more than hired muscle, partially because he was so much better in long distance combat, and that his skillset was far more cerebral.

And then it all went to shit.

It happened on Christmas Day. Roderich was still in his mid-teens, still training when the police raided the same exact place he was currently sitting with his mentor at. He watched as his new ‘family’ were gunned down, only managed to survive because his mentor had decided to shield his apprentice with his body.

He can remember seeing the last few breaths of the future Head, Riccardo Vargas, reaching out for his wife, whose brains were strewn all around her.

And then…the police.

Luck would have it is that no one knew who Roderich was in the scheme of things. He only got pulled in for being in the wrong place and wrong time and he sat silently as the police threatened him with all sort of things – just to get him to talk. He sat silently, hoping, waiting for someone in Chronos to bail him out.

He might still be a minor, might still be training, but surely they’d want him, right? This was, afterall, the family he’d chosen.

No one bailed him out. He got released when the police finally relented and realized that the goldmine of information they thought they got out of the raid ended up being not worth it. They located his biological family and suddenly, after five years of running away, Roderich was back where he’d started.

Days passed, and Roderich still waited. And waited. Not his father’s beatings, his mother’s screams, and all his siblings could kill his desire to be something more than them, more than cycle of piety and poverty he’d been born into.

No one came and a valuable lesson was learned; you are only worth something to yourself, first.

He left again, making sure to take everything he could pawn from his parents, taking great pleasure when the only heirloom they had in their house, a silver menorah that had survived the holocaust, was sold off for a few hundred dollars.

But that wasn’t enough to tide him by for even a month – so Roderich threw him back into odd jobs he could. Still underage, he quickly realized that without Chronos, which he had no intention of returning to, he had little to fall back on. He had no rifle and no proof to a client he could actually get the job done, no one wanted to hire a smartass teenager for their team anyhow, so Roderich used the one thing he’d left.

Truthfully, if Roderich had been any less smarter, he would have been content with his new lot in life. Being spoiled by a multitude of wealthy people in exchange for his affection would have been so comfortable and easy. But the raid had showed Roderich how fragile that could be, how it wasn’t enough because depending on others made him so damn expendable.

He returned to less easy ventures, helping plan heists to begin with before finally getting his hands dirty. Eventually his notoriety began piling up and Chronos, once more, took notice. They sent several people, including an old friend of his who went through training with him, to try and bring him back.

Roderich merely walks away every time they tried.

It’s lucky he was not an important member, still mostly in training – otherwise they’d send some to actually kill him. But Chronos was severely weakened in the years after the raid and spending effort on one former member wasn’t a priority.

Roderich began strengthening relationships with the other organizations, just in case.

Over the next few years a few thing became apparent:

• If you wanted to make an agreement with no violence or threats, even, Roderich’s your man.
• If you wanted information on someone or something, find Roderich
• If you wanted someone to mediate between two conflicting parties, find Roderich.
  
• Otherwise, Roderich Edelstein doesn’t work alone.
  
  

He fell into that last one accidentally. A boyfriend of his was already in the same business and they started doing work together. And it was truly in the situations where Roderich was free to take a step back to plan from the outside where he shone brightest.

It was strange, considering he sorely believed he need to stand on his own two feet, but the people he worked with generally were expendable to him. Without him, jobs wouldn’t appear, or plans would fall through. Edelstein became sought after and finally he was wanted.

And what’s a man to do with all that power?

Das Orchester was born.

He wasn’t the only leader, despite holding the ‘Conductor’ title.

No, there was also the Concertmaster, or First Chair. A brilliant person who truly held the organization together and was also probably one of the most powerful people Roderich has ever met.

And…she was also his wife.

He’d finally made his family. And for almost a decade the Orchestra disrupted the balance among the organizations. Seen as arrogant upstarts among the more established families, the Orchestra offered a makeshift sort of family – one full of killers, liars, and thieves. Of course the other organizations began to chip away at the foundations.

He can’t blame them, either, it was a perfectly justified tactic to deal with a competitor. A well-placed rumor there, a big stack of cash there. Within a few years he found himself in a house of cards, with him on top with the furthest to fall. Dealing with mutinous members had been terribly taxing and he’d been so unkind but it’d been worth it – as long as she and him can keep together, this empire could be salvaged, made anew.

And then, it couldn’t.

Everything crumbed so suddenly – the hits came on all sides, both rivals and the pesky feds who’d been making his life hard. And he’d had to deal with it alone because his wife left him with a broken criminal organization, a warrant on his head, and divorce papers.

Everyone was surprised, a year later, when Roderich Edelstein reappeared. Not as he used to, and not with the Orchestra, but the owner and manager of a lounge and hotel in an area known to be hotly contested by the bigger organizations for fronting businesses. The hotel itself is reputable. No matter what goes on, Roderich insists on making it respectable. And with the changes in leadership across the organizations, he’s been allowed to operate his business as he sees it and this time he’s making sure neither the organizations or the law will take it away from him.

Relationships:

TBD

Other Things Worth mentioning:

Mittnacht Lounge and Hotel (Details to be updated)