❝ the ocean's rising / open . ❞
#1
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// tw: blood, violence mention

Serenity, feelings of comfort and safety shattered by a sudden menacing presence invading. Trinkets and knick-knacks rattling and rolling off the shelves as the front door slammed open, all but ripped off the hinges entirely. A middle-aged man, thin-legged and lanky in stature with whiskers covering his jawline, sharply gasps and scrambles back against the wall in shock, "Wh... W-Who are you?!"

Nikolai strolls forward, possessing a certain confident swagger. He had brought a knife and was armed with his brass knuckles, but he can already tell that this was going to be easy. "I was told that you were a lil' behind on your payment, Johnny. You'd better cough it up." Nik rushed forward and yanked the older man by the collar of his shirt before shoving him against the wall of his home.

The man hyperventilates, quite obviously scared for his life and realizing just who Nikolai was. "Oh, you're from- Ohhh, yes yes! Of course!" He reaches an arm out to a dirty side table, grasping a small pouch of bracelets and rings. Offering it shakily to Nik, he stammers, "Here... t-take this. Please. Tell the bosses that I'm... still working on my payment. I'll have it ready in full in three days. Promise."

Nikolai pauses. There's no telling what he's thinking, whether or not he'll show mercy or not. "So, you're late." His tone is oddly calm, though his next actions contradict such. He lands two punches across his jaw, which draws blood, and he ends up accidentally socking him in the nose as well.

Johnny coughs and wheezes, blood spattering onto Nik much to his distaste. As pathetic as this man was, as much as he wanted to further knock his face deep into his skull, Nikolai had simply been instructed to rough him up. He had to be able to fulfill the rest of his deal. "Three days. No more, no less. If you ain't got the payment by then... there'll be more of where that came from." He gestures towards the bloodied nose he's inflicted upon ol' Johnny-boy before letting go of the white-knuckled grip he had on his shirt.

He smears fresh crimson onto his own clothing; his fingers are sticky. Nikolai goes to head out the door, but looks over his shoulder and states icily towards the cowering man, "Pleasure doin' business with you."




The young man trudges back into town that evening, after a long day's worth of travel. He had been at the targeted man's residence for, what, a total of five minutes or so? The encounter hadn't lasted long; just enough for him to walk in, give the guy a shakedown, and walk out. It was nothing new to Nikolai, as he had dealt plenty of beatings in his time. This job had been a walk in the park, an easy way to prove that he was loyal to this place... Not that Nikolai particularly held any strong sentiment towards the city nor its members. Nikolai did not yearn for the approval of some pompous, blonde-haired snob. However, Nik desired the ability to remain here long enough to rest, snoop around for some information on his uncle, and dip out if he had to. So far, though, the climate was nice and the location was desirable. Nikolai supposed he could stick around and keep himself doing jobs so he didn't turn into a lazy sack of shit. Besides, earning a reputation in this infamous group didn't sound too bad either... as long as he was able to tolerate Teddy and his band of cronies.

His appearance is fairly disheveled, with ruffled dark hair and dirt-smeared skin. Dark crimson, albeit dried and old, stained his knuckles and was lightly splattered onto his shirt. It didn't appear to be any of his, considering he was free of open wounds and his face was clean.

In his hand was the small pouch full of silver and copper goods; he had no particular use for them, but he was sure Teddy would get a kick out of it.


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* ✰. ━━━━━━━━━━ I MADE A FIST AND NOT A PLAN
CALL ME A RECKLESS WRECKING BALL
[align=center][div style="width: 340pt; font-size: 12px; color: ; font-family: arial; line-height: 15px; letter-spacing: 3px; margin-top: 1pt;"]nikolai ━ made man of the badlands ━ click for tags
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#2
[align=center][div style="width: 450px; text-align: justify; font-family: andale mono; font-size: 6.5pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 1px; line-height: 14px; color: #484a4d"]Teddy was there.

No, not in the flesh, but in spirit. In the actions of every person he barked an order at. According to Theodore Knope, he was every one of these people in The Badlands, and they were a part of him. Every action of every man, in the name of his wicked intentions, lingered the influence of Teddy. Even though he wasn’t there in the flesh, Johnny would know that the beating was a message from him, sealed sweetly with crusts of dry blood and black eyes. Once one made a deal with The Badlands, they ought to stick to the agreement religiously. Oftentimes, these agreements were made by desperate men with little choice but to turn to the Knope’s enterprise for help. Teddy would be generous in giving with the understanding that in return he’d receive all and more back.

Teddy was pleased to notice the return of Nikolai, small pouch in hand as he wandered back through the streets of The Badlands. The dishevelled hair and splatters of crusted blood was all the evidence needed to prove that Nikolai was willing to do anything in the name of The Badlands, and the small pouch of valuables only further showed that Nikolai was ready for his initiation from Prospective to Made Man. He’d make a useful fighter, Teddy would note; someone that Teddy could use at his disposal. Approaching the Prospective, Teddy’s lips curled into a smug grin as his gaze lingered on the pouch of goods like a magpie in pursuit of something to engage his curious, materialistic mind.

❝ What did Johnny have to say for himself then? ❞ Teddy questioned, tipping his chin upwards as he halted in front of Nikolai. Hand outreached, waiting expectantly for Nikolai to hand over the pouch, Teddy tipped his head to the side as he added, ❝ Mais c’est tout en sucre.[sup]1[/sup] Regardless of what he had to say, I’m thinkin’ you’re ready for your initiation. Are you ready? ❞ Teddy quirked a brow. An initiation was an agreement to remain loyal to The Badlands for life. If Nikolai wasn’t ready for such an extreme devotion to the group, then he would eventually be as good as dead, as many failed Made Men had come to find after attempting to escape the group. If a person could not belong to Teddy's cause, then Teddy would refuse to allow them to belong to anyone's cause.

[sup]1[/sup] but it's all good (cajun french)


[align=center][div style="width: 400px; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify; font-size: 6pt; line-height: 1.4; letter-spacing: 0.5px; word-spacing: 2px; margin-bottom: 5px;"]✧・゚: I'VE BEEN IN LIKE A THOUSAND TIMES, DATED EVERY WOMAN IN THE ATMOSPHERE. I'VE BEEN TO EVERY CONTINENT, BROKEN ALL THE HEARTS IN EVERY HEMISPHERE, AND IF I'M NOT THE TYPE OF GUY YOU LIKE TO CIRCUMVENT, JUST REMEMBER NOT TO LOVE ME WHEN I DISAPPEAR. I GRADUATED AT THE TOP, I LIKE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE BOURGEOISIE . . .
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