"Listen, dipshit, I got an update for you. So I was talkin' to my mom, and she goes 'Nicky, that pool's for families', and I go, 'yeah, mom, I know', and she goes 'One dip from Enzo and they gotta shut the whole thing down, so tell him to stay away'." A shrug. "This is why you don't get scabies."
If the sidewalks were dust and the road between them baked beneath the sun, the way Nicky stopped and stared at Buffy might've looked like the final showdown in some old Western. Instead of reaching for the revolver at his hip, he reaches for his mango vape, takes one slow drag before pointing it at her. "What, you too precious to say hi now? The fuck?"
Tasked with moving the Current's remaining weapons between safehouses after the recent theft, Nicky hooks both hands beneath the edge of a wooden crate just as another pair reaches for the opposite side. "Whoa, whoa." He shifts his grip, tugging the crate closer towards himself. "Don't strain yourself, yeah?" Throwing her a look over the top, he flashes her a childish grin. "Big week comin' up."
Like clockwork, the annual meeting creeps closer, and Nicky pleads his case: "I don't even gotta say nothin'," he says through a mouthful of chicken cutlet, one elbow planted on the desk. "I'll stand by the door. I could stand by the elevator. Hell, I'll wait in the fuckin' car. I'm just sayin'... what if somebody tries somethin'? I don't trust half these fuckin' pricks, Frankie. Do you?"
starter: yasemin & niccolo russo [ @av4lancs ]
setting: a noice cafe ; late morning
There was a smile on Yasemin’s face upon seeing Nicky. Her romance with Francis might have ended a long time ago, but her love for his siblings probably never would. Rosa and Nic were the siblings she’s never had (despite actually having one), and there was a lot that Yas would excuse from them. She waved him over when the tall blonde stepped into the coffee shop and stood up to hug him tightly. ❝ How’s my baby doing today? ❞ She asked, finally pulling away. ❝ Alright, what coffee am I buying you? ❞
If anyone wants to find Nicky on a quiet afternoon, they usually start with the docks. With the annual meeting only a week away, though, he has been making an effort to stay out of trouble. A coffee shop seems about as safe as he can reasonably manage. And, as luck would have it, it also happens to be where Yasemin is. He returns the hug, full and affectionate, before letting her go. "Oh, you know, an extra strong black coffee for a tough guy like me. Aaaaand a caramel macchiato, extra syrup, extra drizzle, extra foam... For my friend." A boyish grin spreads across his face. "You ain't waitin' on anybody, are ya? We can hang out a bit?"
closed starter for @av4lancs ( nicky )
location: their mother's house, west of the island
"nicky--" the way rosa called out wasn't exactly loud, but it seemed loud enough. for once, the russo house was relatively quiet, no meetings held in the formal dining room, no faction members running across several floors. for once, it simply felt like a house, and if anything, that meant rosa had just called out as loudly as she could, because normally, she'd be even quieter.
she was carrying a stack of paperwork down from the top floor, had managed about two sets of winding stairs before the papers started sliding in the stack and it became too heavy for her to carry down the last flight. so she put them down. and with that, something else fell from her shoulders. because the house was quiet, and that meant their mother wasn't here. and rosa, who was normally so keen to chip in and get all her work done on time, looked at the stack of paperwork on the top step of the stairs, and decided something else was more worth it in that moment.
"nicky," she called again, this tremble to her tone, like she'd wanted to say more already, but was holding back. when the only response she received was once again the silence of the house, she finally let it slip. "nicky, m-mom's out, and i think she's left, like, the e-expensive wine in the kitchen. do you wanna--" go get it. because rosa wouldn't do it herself, but she also wouldn't say no if someone were to go and grab the nice wine and offer her a glass.
'Nicky--' Muffled and distorted, his ears are still full of the sea, hair still stubbornly damp from hours spent beneath the waters.
In the middle of trying to unlock another ability, Nicky stands before the aquarium, shoulders squared to the glass. On the other side, a fruit bowl sits on the console opposite, and with all of his determination narrowed into a single gaze, he wills it to move so much as an inch. "Don't fuckin' distract me," he mutters under his breath, assuming the interruption had come from Jeannie, the striped blenny, who drifts lazily past without so much as acknowledging him.
Nicky. This time, the voice comes from somewhere beyond the room. "No fuckin' way..." He follows the sound into the hallway, half-expecting to find a dog waiting for him. Then, he hears it again, clearer now. Before he looks up, he already knows it's Rosa waiting for him at the top of the stairs.
"Sorry," he says, pointing to his ears in explanation. Before she finishes her sentence, he nods enthusiastically as he disappears in search of the wine, returning with two glasses tucked under one arm. "Just so we're clear... If Mom starts askin' questions, I tried to stop you," he says, settling onto the step below her, pouring the wine into their glasses. "I practically begged. You just wouldn't listen. Alright?"
full name : christian lee. nicknames : none. birthdate : 22nd august ( 36 ). hometown : manhattan, new york. traits : diligent, conceited, dramatic, snobbish. gender + pronouns : cis man + he/him. orientation : bisexual. zodiac : virgo. occupation : unemployed, ex-politician. powers : dermal crystallisation. character parallels : moira rose ( schitt's creek ), zuko ( atla ), lestat de lioncourt ( interview with the vampire ), reynolds woodcock ( phantom thread ). aesthetic : silk robes abandoned beside hotel towels, wine-drunk monologues delivered like shakespearean soliloquies, staring at local news stations with visible contempt, polished shoes echoing through empty hallways, gold accents and signet rings, hand written thank you notes and perfect penmanship.
SUMMARY:
the lees are an influential political dynasty made of greatness, built on hypocrisy and greed. they are well known as being haughty individuals who generally look down on people who are not cut from the same cloth, and for bank rolling the directorate. traditional and self-serving.
grew up in a household that prized discipline above warmth and left little room for mistakes. powered people were spoken about with suspicion, if they were spoken about at all, and were viewed as unpredictable and dangerous. no society could remain stable if its laws answered to those stronger than them.
for christian, he navigated the high expectations and standards, which all but consumed him, and did everything that was asked of him and more. in return, he expected everyone around him to to demand as much of themselves as he did.
eventually followed the path of his parents and became a politician, though his passion had always lied in journalism. he was being quietly groomed to inherit the family legacy until, well into adulthood, his power finally manifested. it was easy to ignore at first: aches beneath the skin, strange pressure around his shoulders, sleepless nights. but when the crystals broke through, they were painful, hideous, and impossible to hide.
the lees refused to accept it. they called it a condition before they ever called it a power. threw money at doctors, specialists, researchers and suddenly the treatments turned into experiments. surgeries to remove the growths. drugs to stop them returning. every attempt left him with another scar and the same result. the crystals always came back.
he didn't realise stress was the trigger until the worst possible moment. halfway through a public address, the crystal broke through beneath his collar, climbing across his neck and shoulders in full view of the cameras for the entire nation to see.
overnight, the media painted him as unstable and disturbed, his family turned their backs against him, and the directorate found in him the perfect reminder of why powered people could never be trusted.
unbeknownst to him, this was not the first time it had happened. when he was a teenager, his twin sister developed powers of her own. christian was told she had died. the truth was she had simply been erased from the family, sent away before she could become an embarrassment. years later, whispers of a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to his sister began finding their way to him. with nowhere else left to turn, he came to halcyon island to find her.
full name : niccolo russo. nicknames : nicky. birthdate : 21st march ( 30 ). hometown : the west, halcyon island. traits : credulous, protective, impetuous, vengeful . gender + pronouns : cis man + he/him. orientation : heterosexual. zodiac : aries. occupation : soldier for the current aka attack dog. powers : aquatic telepathy. character parallels : sonny corleone ( the godfather ), christopher moltisanti ( the sopranos ), arthur shelby ( peaky blinders ), jesse pinkman ( breaking bad ). aesthetic : saint medallions swinging against an open dress shirt, motel neon bleeding through half-closed blinds, bloody tissues in the cupholder, thunder rolling over suburban rooftops, heavy boots pacing hospital corridors, hand gripping the back of his neck in crowded rooms, old rap songs rattling car windows, angry yells from the driveway at 2am.
tw: gun
SUMMARY:
the family attack dog. a rottweiler chained in the backyard of the house, standing silently behind older men in tailred suits, waiting for somebody to nod before he ruins a stranger's evening.
fiercely protective, dumb as rocks. too sensitive for his grand ambitions. would like to be a capo one day but he's also a little too obsessed with becoming a rapper. in another life, he'd be collaborating with EsDeeKid. for now, he's just a failed romantic.
as rowdy on the playground as he was at home, nicky was always seen as someone who wanted to be feared and respected, much like his father, his older brother, and the various other men around him. he wanted to be them, so that they would love him, and he could do what they do with them, which was to protect the family.
for all his bravado and penchant for starting fights, many were surprised to learn he only started carrying a gun at twenty years old. the night after the attack on her sister, and after his father stepped down. in his mind, it'd been too heavy of a thing to carry around, always claiming it was on his body whilst hiding it under his pillow or that he'd accidentally forgotten it. at twenty, it felt light as a feather in his hand.
before that, his brother had survived an almost fatal car accident. as the only sibling who hadn't been attacked by fate or purpose, nicky felt invincible. he believed there was a reason why no man or god had tried to touch him. he spun this myth for everyone to hear, and proposed it as a justification for him to climb the ranks within the current. no on took him seriously, though. no one ever did.
though he did not talk like the son of well-respected francesco and melissa russo, no one could deny his loyalty. his heart was bigger than his brain, and he'd be the first to lash out at someone who dared to threaten the family.
everyone knows nicky is yet to pull the trigger on someone, and leaves more mess than necessarily from bruised fists and a swollen forehead. he still has so much to prove before earning real trust from the family; he's just not sure what he's doing wrong, when he is doing his best. why isn't he a capo yet? he'd do anything for it.
as he grows older, he can't help but wonder if there's a secret everyone knows that he doesn't. first frankie, then rosa. was he next? he oscillates from thinking he is untouchable to thinking he is next. a pendulum swings on a daily basis, between arrogance and paranoia -- a balance he struggles to maintain.
feels insecure about his power as it's non-combative and rather useless, so makes up for it in other (unhelpful) ways, but at least when he's sad and goes out to sea on his boat, he's never alone
yousharknotpass
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