[ and a-keepin ol castro down ] joining

[hamlet]

-

[body.]

[align=center][div style="width: 450px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9pt;"]
Things that go bump in the night (or the middle of the day) are most likely better off being left alone. Not that he thinks he’s in any sort of danger, but Josef has been listening to crashes and clatters for most of his life and career, and it never means anything good. A wave of exasperation washes over him at the sound, but after a moment, he doesn’t really see anyone rushing over to investigate, and the lack of reaction is starting to bother him.

So, begrudgingly, he gathers up everything in his briefcase, packs it away, and hobbles toward the stable.

The door creaks open, and he finds himself in an unfamiliar territory. For a man that’s spent his entire life inside, hunched over a desk in a dark, dank room, animals and nature aren’t his expertise. Horses are the most terrifying creatures God could have ever invented, and the fact that several of them are gathered together here all in one place is … really giving him the thrill of his life, honestly.

Maybe it was just the horses knocking things over, like the bastard creatures they are, but … he doesn’t see anything of the sort. He does, however, see a quivering shadow in the far corner--which is either a fugitive hiding in the hay or just a trick of the light.

Rather than call out, Josef decides to venture further, and get a better look.

He’s actually a little disappointed to find this walking Christmas tree, adorned with--“Oh, bloody hell, is that a snake?”

Baumann immediately takes a step back or five, wielding his cane like a gun towards Sylvester. “What in the fresh hell are you doing in here?" He doesn’t even want to know what’s up with the bloody python.

[EDMUND.]

    Edmund always hoped that he'd never grow into his paranoid mind, and yet he felt rooted into feeling overly suspicious and on-edge than falling into the life of complacency he once lived. He was on guard when he was awake, when he was asleep, every single breath he took was so that he could continue onward and keep his family safe. After all, it'd been him who'd caused an uproar from enemies. It'd been him who unwittingly caused a shootout earlier in the year. He always assumed that he was passed all of that mobster shit ever since dad died, but obviously his intuition was no better than the old man's.

Alfred said he'd be home in a week - nobody would harm a hair on his balding head. That was laughable, really, especially because he hadn't been seen since.

Nowadays, Ed felt like he'd escaped the bear and fell to the lion. By putting an end to one group, it did little more than cause exasperation between many groups. A little bit like a domino effect. Many people who knew of the family's whereabouts. Many people who'd probably be willing to trek all away up this mountain and hide out in the stables for an unsuspecting victim. Nobody in Flintlock was safe anymore, were they?

It seemed that Baumann had been the one to fall victim.

Not too long after he saw the older man hobble his way into the stables, Ed followed suit, rifle held in his grasp for when he would inevitably fire at the intruder. Protect the lodge from the result of his naive actions. He trudged in, chin tipped upwards in preparation, eyes squinted, hand twitching to leap into action, and-

Shoulders slumped. Who let Benjamin Button in?

A man who appeared to be middle-aged yet the height of a pubescent boy, at least compared to Eddie's brothers who appeared the opposite - the baby faced Goliaths. This was far from what Eddie had been expecting. He was expecting from vicious shootout between another mobster, but that was only his paranoid mind working hard at making him wary and nervous.

Ed sighed to himself, lowering his gaze as he shrugged his rifle back over his shoulder, then tipping his head to warily look at the stable prowler before stating as dully as ever, ❝ Your snake would have a field trip with all the mice in this stable. I hope that is the only thing you're after in here, though. The horses aren't for anyone to take, nor is the hay. ❞

Call Ed blunt and oddly suspicious, but his heart was still left racing at the misinterpretation of the situation.

[align=center][div style="width: 350px; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana; font-size: 7px;"][spoiler=tags :: updated 07/20]basics.
⋟ edmund theodore stirling-moray // ed, eddie, moray
⋟ goes by the name edmund moray
⋟ male // he/him
⋟ twenty three // ages real time // born seventh august
⋟ member of flintlock lodge // formerly a traveler with his family
⋟ product of an organized crime family, his father the mafia godfather
⋟ joined FL two years ago

appearance.
⋟ faceclaim - finn cole
⋟ voice claim - finn cole (tw in video. blood & violence)
⋟ 5'9ft // stocky, well-built frame
⋟ muted blue eyes and dirty blonde hair
⋟ physical health - 100% // current injuries: none
⋟ mental health - 100% // N/A

personality.
⋟ quiet in nature but confident in himself
⋟ completely fearless, almost foolishly so
⋟ insensitive and callous // cares for very few
⋟ very calm and calculative // always planning in his head
⋟ disciplined and practices good self-control
⋟ very flirtatious and persuasive // overly lustful
⋟ aloof and untrustworthy // jealous and deceitful
⋟ tactful and knows how to get what he wants
⋟ can be very nasty when he wants to be
⋟ but can also be very protective and faithful too
⋟ has a strong set of morals // has the quality of honor

relationships.
⋟ alfred stirling x leonora moray // both deceased
⋟ three older brothers // alfonso, dominik & franklin
⋟ the fifth stirling-moray brother, thomas, died years ago
⋟ two younger half-siblings // henry & ida
⋟ bisexual but he stays silent about homosexual activity
⋟ husband to blake moray
⋟ father of thomas moray and charlotte moray
⋟ owns a west highland terrier, angus

interaction.
⋟ storage // playlist // pinterest
⋟ physically: very hard // mentally: hard
⋟ father taught him how to kill at a young age
⋟ insensitive towards injuring or killing others // will do so without hesitation
⋟ very abrupt with newcomers but also willing to help them
⋟ often found guarding the lodge with a rifle
[/spoiler]

[HAYLEY]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; color: #494949; font-family: karla; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; word-spacing: 1px; margin-top: 10px;"]
hayley was wary, distrustful, of everything and anyone that was not her own. her family, her people, her home; that was all she could trust anymore. perhaps the paranoia was unjust, perhaps she didn't have any more reason than the next person, but distrust was in her nature. when things went bump in the night, she pulled out her gun, but when they went bump or thud or thump in the day, she went for the kill then, too. trust was how you got killed, how your family got killed. she'd lost her husband, she'd nearly lost her daughter, and she was sick and fucking tired of trusting and losing. trust wasn't for the weak, it was for the stupid.

so when she saw some child tottering into the stables from her quiet crouch in the woods, dark eyes narrowed into thin golden slits, and she stood. she'd been out there looking for deer to hunt, or really any form of food, but she could intercept some thief while she was at it. he could be lost, she reminded herself, kept herself from marching in guns ablaze, but she still held her shotgun comfortably in her hands as she approached behind the other two, slipping in behind them, silent as a shadow.

of course it wasn't a child, just a... small man. a small man old enough to be her father, if he conceived her in high school. but still, she didn't lower her weapon, nor did she aim it at him. she stopped beside edmund, holding the loaded weapon in her hands, silent and peering at the man with silent, distrustful eyes.