OOC: Application for dirtyvegasrp
OOC
Name: Feus
Contact: begabterMusiker
Age: 26
Current characters: Austria
IC
Name: Kline, Russell
Age: 43
Appearance: 6'3" and 215 lbs, Russell is no one's definition of thin. He's well muscled so he can keep up with both his prey and his competition and his body hair is sparse, a sprinkling across his chest and a happy trail and that's about it. His hair is dark and long enough that he can style it or just leave it be, though he usually does something to it, and he generally has stubble of some type unless he's pretty freshly shaven. He has bright blue eyes with the beginnings of smile lines around them, but they can go from friendly and taunting to calculating in a moment. He has to wear glasses, but only when he's reading.
He likes to smile, whether it be something close to genuinely friendly to one that's a lot more predatory, some have called it wolf-like and he never protests when they do. He has three tattoos; a set of "meat tags," dog tags listing his name (Russell A. Kline,) religion (none,) and blood type (B-) on his right side along his ribs, a brunette pin up girl on his left bicep, a tribal style wolf's head on his right bicep, and a knotwork Mjollnir on his right pectoral.
World info: Russell's world is set in the near-ish future, one hundred and fifty years or so. The mafia has a much larger presence in this world, to the point where they're more corporations than anything else, and while they are still technically illegal, they have enough politicians and law enforcement in their pockets that it does not tend to be an issue. They have their own small armies, well armed and well trained, recruited from those that have the ability to be in the military but not the discipline, as well as from the more conventional sources.
Medical science has advanced enough to enable implants to enhance sight and hearing and to enable mental implants for communication similar to that used in cellphones or radios. Automobiles and motorcycles are capable of low altitude (10 feet or so) flight or for standard road use. Unsurprisingly this has not improved road congestion terribly much. Drugs have also become much more advanced, and the mafias have taken advantage of these newer, stronger and more addictive drugs. Anything to make a quick buck.
Though the mafias in general have much more leeway than they do in our world, even they have work that they don't want to be easily traced back to them. That's where people like Russell come in. In general he's an assassin, but he does a bit of everything, bombings, small smuggling jobs, he's even done "information extraction," though he doesn't like to. He'll let others do that.
History: Russell Kline was the only, illegitimate child of Marian Kline. He was the product of a one night stand, and Marian never really intended to have a child, especially not at the age of 18. But she tried to do what she could for the boy, and if they weren't rich they had enough to get by, and she tried to do her best as a mother for him. He still writes her once a month and tries to go home for Christmas when work allows. Call him a mama's boy and he will shank you.
Russell always wanted to be in the military, and there was never a time in his life where he thought about doing something else. The games he played as a child were always war games, and he routinely beat any children who dared to question his command, especially the older ones. When he became old enough to go to a prestigious military academy, he didn't think twice about enlisting himself. He knew that if he excelled he could get an officer's commission straight out of the academy, and he was always at the top no matter what he did... until it came to submitting to authority. When push came to shove, he was steadfast against following orders of those he deemed lesser and inexperienced, whether it be fellow classmates or even instructors. Suffice to say, he found few he respected and trouble followed at his heels. It was only his prowess in his classes and the promise of so much potential that spared him expulsion after many incidents that escalated quickly in scale during his last two years. During the time he was discretely encouraged by one of his instructors, a man named Peter who unbeknownst to him was a recruiter for SPAWA, the local mafia organization. Peter would leave his mark on Russell in more ways than one, passing on many of his traits to the protégé he took under his wing. He found him jobs with SPAWA, small ones to get him interested that slowly became more and more illegal. Russell ate it up, the thrill and the danger and the money, though he tried his best never to get caught. With Peter helping him out he was able to fly completely under the legal radar. But then, as planned, Peter made sure he was caught, betraying Russell and counting on the younger man's dependence on him (and the fact that they had been lovers for several months prior) to give him time to work the other man over to his way of looking at things. Russell didn't even give him the chance, shooting his mentor and managing to escape by the skin of his teeth. He never went back to the academy, never said goodbye to his classmates, he just left, leaving it all behind. He refused SPAWA's offer of a steady job, turning instead to mercenary work. Since that day he never looked back.
Using the contacts he had gained from his time doing mercenary work, Russell found that he had little trouble supporting himself outside the strictures of the Organizations. He was intelligent, street smart and highly motivated. He wasn't going to be anyone's bitch he decided, he was his own creature, now and always. Luck and wits would see him through the many scrapes he would get into until experience taught him better. He was good, at the top of his game, working in the dark behind the scenes and doing the dirty deeds even the Organizations wanted to keep under wraps. He made good money, and if he made as many enemies as allies, what did that matter? He was alert enough to keep from getting killed, picking up bits of info and contacts as he went until he had quite the network going. It was during this time that he would meet Itsuki Fox, a doctor who never asked or cared where the injuries he needed stitching up came from, and who had provided needed backup more than once. While Russell's natural caution about the man never really led him to think of him as a friend, he was a co-worker, and someone who gave him a much appreciated base for his contacts in the SPAWA territory, who had never really forgiven him for shooting their recruiter and then turning down their job offer. Thanks to the older man's occasional advice Russell was able to build a good base for business in the SPAWA sector. Not that he ever acknowledged the help except when it suited him.
Russell would meet Blaine Thorps in his mid-twenties during a meeting with Itsuki, the young man's uncle, just as his mercenary work was starting to take off. It was a brief meeting, and while it would have an impact on both men, it wouldn't be felt until years later. It was during an extended stay in SPAWA territory, a few years after their first meeting, that Russell would change. He saw potential in the boy and subtly encouraged his interests in weaponry and combat, eventually successfully bringing him into the life of a mafia enforcer. He would become his unofficial teacher, showing the young man everything he knew of weapons and strategy, subjects that Blaine showed great interest in, an interest which has persisted to the present day.
Russell would rebuff Blaine's first few (bad) attempts at flirting and seduction for several months, but he would eventually take the younger man as a lover when Blaine was seventeen and he twenty-seven. It was still more a teacher-student relationship than one of equals, with Russell as usual taking the lead. It is an attitude that persists even today, and Russell is still very much in the habit of taking command when it comes to their relationship.
Russell was unable to stay still for the most part, though he would return to SPAWA territory, it was only sporadically and for brief visits. At least, until Itsuki called to turn in a favor, one of many Russell knew he was owed.
It was a strange favor, and smacked of foul play, neither of which had ever proved to be something to make Russell even flinch in the past. Then he finds out that the other person involved is Blaine, his sometime student and lover and Itsuki's nephew. He almost refuses, but curiousity and a still strong attachment to the boy (who is now very much a man) cause him to accept. And so, ten years after they first went to bed together, he witnesses Itsuki's failed attempt to rebuild Blaine into something he was not. He helps "rehabilitate" Blaine after the incident, unaware of Itsuki's plan to transfer Blaine's feelings from his college friend to Russell and he plays the part of a concerned friend and lover far easier than he would ever want to admit. Close to the end of the whole thing, Blaine tells him everything that's been going on, though Russell had pieced together most of it already. The whole thing leaves a slightly bitter taste in his mouth and he leaves, on "business" as it were, and has not seen Blaine in the intervening months, and has no real intention to ever again.
Personality: For the most part, Russell isn’t a bad guy. Okay, so maybe that’s not the truth. He is a freelance mob assassin for starters, a job that doesn't tend to attract the nicest sort of people. His personality tends toward the more sarcastic, cynical and jaded while still managing to charm the pants off almost anyone he meets, usually literally. He's definitely the "love 'em and leave 'em" type, and while he might harbor some fondness for past lovers, actually earning his loyalty is a very hard thing. He’s a sarcastic bastard, sex fiend, way too blunt about certain things, and makes no apologies about it. There is a decent person buried underneath, provided Russell doesn’t toss a couple more shovelfuls of dirt on top of him, but for the most part he doesn’t like the fact that he can be genuinely nice to people and that there are parts of him that care still. He prefers to think he can just use people without getting involved with them emotionally, but that doesn’t stop him from helping someone he cares about for no other reason than the fact that they need him. He justifies it to himself later, reburying the 'decent man' that tries to surface and adding on a few more inches of dirt just in case.
While he does have a nice streak, that doesn’t mean that he’s a 'nice man'. Thanks to a lifelong desire to be on top, he doesn’t take losing or getting beaten easily or well. If you managed to beat him at anything he prides himself on, even if it's just a little, he'll make sure it never happens again. Not only won't it happen, he'll make sure to crush you in return, should you dare try to play up on it. Otherwise, he likes to tease and poke fun at other people. It's usually, though not always, goodnatured. After knowing a person for more than a week or two, he is very good at knowing where to draw the line, but if he steps over it, you can safely assume that he did it quite deliberately. And don't expect an apology either, or at least not a genuine one. Admitting he was wrong is not something that comes easily to him. He can do it, but only if it was a really huge screw up and he cares about the person in question a lot. So far the only person to get an actual apology from him that wasn't his mother is his former lover Blaine.
Powers/Abilities: Russell can shoot any modern gun, pistols, rifles and shotguns, extremely accurately (he's an assassin after all) and is decent at hand to hand combat. He has survival and demolitions training, though he doesn't use it that often so he's gotten a little rusty
Equipment: Wearing: Jeans, t-shirt, a leather jacket and boots. Weapon: .45 cal pistol Misc. Wallet, containing $250, ID, fake ID, two credit cards, and some pictures. Wood rosary, two condoms, pack of cigarettes, Zippo lighter with the always tasteful reclining nude lady. Items confiscated: Gun, wallet, rosary, cigarettes, lighter
Prose sample: Russell Kline did not consider himself a sentimental man. You really couldn't be in this business. The tide of his business could change so quickly that he had more than once been paid to take care of someone he had been on quite intimate terms with, sometimes the night before. Just because you fucked someone didn't mean that you loved them, hell it didn't even mean that you liked them, at least not when you were Russell. No, there was little room for sentimentality in Russell's world, and that suited him just fine. At least, in general it did.
His bag had been packed since before Blaine had come home that afternoon. He had considered leaving before the other man had come home, indeed that had been his original plan. Just let him come home to an empty apartment, that would have been the easiest way. But in the end Russell had stuck around until he had gotten home. He'd fixed something simple for dinner, nothing fancy, nothing to arouse suspicion, just some burgers on that little indoor grill thing. Anything could make Blaine suspect something was up, so as much as he wanted to say something during dinner, he kept it to the same subjects that were normal for the pair. Nothing to sweat right? Just the same thing he'd done a hundred times before. It didn't mean anything, just a job.
Not that he wasn't pissed off at Itsuki for tricking him like this. Part of him wanted to rip the son of a bitch's throat off and spit down his throat for doing this shit, to him and to the man's own nephew. But no, he couldn't afford to, not yet. One day he'd have his hands around his throat, but right now he still needed the man as a contact. But eventually he'd be expendable. Eventually everyone was.
So now he stood in the doorway of the bedroom he shared with Blaine. The younger man was sound asleep, having been fucked into sweet oblivion just an hour before. And maybe if Russell had made it just a bit better than normal, had kissed him more or made sure to use every trick he knew to make it extra pleasurable for him... well that was just to make sure that he stayed asleep.
He stood there for another minute, slowly counting off the time in his head. His job sometimes required staying still for long periods of time, so standing there in the doorway and watching was nothing he had a hard time doing. He wondered what would happen if Blaine woke up and saw him standing there, fully dressed with an old duffel slung over his shoulder. He wondered if he wanted him to. Bah, he had to get away from this kid, he was messing with his head enough as it was. Blaine would be fine, despite everything he was tough, he'd figure out a way to deal with things, and it wasn't like he needed Russell around. This was the best option. It was the only option.
He turned away from the sleeping blond without a single word spoken, walking out the door of his (their) apartment with no more noise than a cold breeze. Maybe he'd look him up again, maybe he wouldn't. Russell told himself it didn't matter either way as the night swallowed him up.
Links: itaughtyouthat.livejournal.com/1449.html