"If I had to chose to be around a lying, but good, man or an honest crook, I'll choose the crook every time. You know who you're getting with that bloke. The good man, not so much."
Whether or not this person meant to be standing so close to him or not, Isaac still stepped back several steps. “Watch where you’re going!” Isaac yelled without looking at who it was.
Rhett raised his hands, trying to look like he was harmless. “Sorry there, got a bit too close.” He nodded to the puddle besides them. “Didn’t want to get my loafers wet.” Chuckling a little out of embarrassment for both of them, Rhett looked at the kid. "Just trying to wait until I can cross the street safely and all."
“I think i know which on you’re talking about, I have a friend who lives there.” Him being a landlord definitely explained why he was dressed as nice as he was. She tapped her pen idly. “I’m pretty fond of that cafe too, they have good pastries.”
“Anyway, what sort of landlord troubles? If you don’t mind me asking?”
Rhett debated on a two options he could do right now. He could just answer the woman honestly, or he could just flirt shamelessly with her instead. “Well for starters,” He said, closing the book he was reading and giving the woman a brilliant smile “I don’t have a beautiful woman like yourself living there. Also it has old pipes.”
Luna spent a lot of time in the library studying for various tests she had coming up. It was a nice place, quiet, easy to focus in. That was until she caught sight of an attractive business man came in. She eyed him with a predatory gaze as he crossed in and out her line of sight. Her school work long forgotten, she focused on him as he settled at a table near her. She taps her pen on the table a few times, wondering if she should take the bait he’d inadvertently laid for her.
“House troubles?” She whispered loudly, loud enough for him to hear, hopefully.
Looking up to see a very attractive young woman looking at him a table or so over from where he was reading, Rhett couldn’t help but smile as he took a glance back down at the words he was reading. “Landlord troubles actually.” he explained in the same whispered tone as her. “Just started working in the Apartment Complex close to the Cafe in town .”
“I think so, too,” Alice confirmed, smiling up at him. She knew of course what Tony had done, but as far as she was concerned, if you held someone accountable for their misdeeds forever, they could never grow. And a life without growth was hardly a life at all. Tony had done so much good and sacrificed his life over and over, and she knew in his heart he was a good man, and a brave one who cared deeply for other people. She giggled. “Why, what does your neighbor Marty do?”
“Marty is a butcher.” Rhett started off with, leaning against a wall as he started to casually tell the story. “He started off with nothing but one whole cow, no bank wanted to loan him any money to help him get started, and he was pretty stuck with what he had. Now being a butcher you need more than one cow, but what Marty did was he sold all of the cow, from the guts to the rib eye, as if it was the best damn thing you’d eat. He knew who to sell what too and would make sure to season and cut it for them.” Rhett smiled “Because he did this, not only did he make enough profit to buy more than one cow the next week, he had such a high demand for his cuts that when he went back to the bank, he got the damn loan.”
Walking into the library in Paragon, Rhett felt slightly strange to be here. He had never gone to college, being in the mafia and already making bank why would he? However, he did enjoy learning things still since a smart man can sometimes save his own ass easier than a dumb one. Grabbing a few books on home and apartment maintenance, he sat down and started to read, quickly getting absorbed in information so he didn’t have to google every damn time something went wrong in the building. “Now how the fuck am I gonna get into a crawlspace?” He mumbled out loud in the quietness of the library . @midnighttigerluna
It was a little past noon when Riordan walked into the leasing office of the apartment complex he had his eyes on. The reviews he had read online were decent enough, and the price was good so as far as he was concerned it was a decent enough place to lay some roots, even if only temporary. His eyes instantly laid on a gorgeous man in a sharp suit, far too nice to be working here if he had to guess. “’Scuse me? I uh, called a bit ago. I was interested in renting a room here?”
Rhett had been able to clean the place up after the few weeks he’d been at the Apartment Building, the office now looking as if it belonged in modern times and the whole theme being more welcoming than what it was. Smiling at the handsome, he could admit the bloke gave off some very Heath Ledger Vibes, man the Capo got up from his seat from behind the main desk and went to shake their hand. “ Ah yes, welcome. I’m the landlord, Rhett Wilder, pleased to meet you.”
“Sure here’s my ID and I live at apartment three A. Its the corner apartment on that floor.” She didn’t know how much to describe the outside of her place. Ela started thinking that maybe she should get at least a door mat or put up a sign to distinguish her place a bet. “You are the land lord right? I just assumed you were since you’re in the office.”
Rhett looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, “Yes, I just started this week actually, the old one left after the bank heist happened.” a Heist was being kind, it was more of a break in since it looked as if the robbers had little to no difficulties stealing from the small bank. “You never saw the old landlord? Not even when you had a problem with something in your rooms?”
“Oh, uh-uh, not at all,” Alice admitted, with a giggle, shaking her head. “Which is kinda funny, considering what my dad does for a living and who a lot of our family friends are, but…” She gave a little shrug. “Daddy says being the smart one in the group is important too. I mean, it’s not like Tony Stark is dumb, and look what he did.”
Saving that interesting tidbit that this woman possibly has some very important family friends, Rhett gave a tiny shrug, smiling and keeping a light-hearted tone “Well I suppose so. He certainly is a smart man when it comes to science and other things. A good person to look up too.” Rhett was bullshitting that last comment, because everyone knew that Tony Starks money and inventions didn’t start out so clean and pure. It was covered in blood and gunpowder for the longest time and no amount of redemption could clean it all away. Not that Rhett could really criticizes the man, being a Capo didn’t come with clean hands and a good soul. However for a young girl who didn’t do well with violence and fighting, Tony Stark shouldn’t be their automatic person to look up to for a smart man who made the world a safer place story. It should be their cautionary tale. “ I however favor my neighbor Marty as the smartest person I look up too.”
Alice smiled at him brightly. “That would be awesome, thanks,” she said. She smiled and shrugged. “Pretty much anything,” she said. “All the classes that I took last year, plus some languages, some math classes…pretty much anything but hand-to-hand combat, I’m not so good at that.”
At the mention of Hand to Hand combat, Rhett raised an eyebrow at this. All he really knew about Paragon Academy was that was huge and had kids from High School and college. Rhett wasn’t a dad, didn’t plan to be one ever to be honest, and any news outside of crime in the city and what the sweet little old bittys on his block had was boring and he didn’t care about. “Hand to hand combat not really your thing darling?” He asked with a small chuckle.
“Hi I’m Elara Brock and I got locked out of my apartment. You wouldn’t mind having a spare key?” Normally this was something she would do when trying to get into an apartment to investigate but this time she was actually locked out of her place and it made her laugh inside. “I live on the third floor so going through the fire escape or a window is a hard. I have my id if you want to check to make sure I actually do live here.”
Seeing the girl and letting himself smile, Rhett sat down at the messy desk and looked for some of the apartment files to confirm she lived here. “That should be fine, can I see your ID and have the apartment number please?” He asked kindly. If it was a fake he’d know in seconds after handling and having to get those for himself and others far too many times.
Upon hearing what was really being housed in the boquet, Lu’s frown quickly turned to a big grin.·“Okay, I have to give you some cool points for that one.” She admitted as she moved from behind the counter to make her way to the door. As she locked up, Lu’s mind raced over the reasons for his presence. She wondered if she had slipped up somewhere and the trust Ulrich placed in her had suddenly ran out. It was a good thing Rhett brought along his little gift, because she would definitely need it to ease her nerves.·“Come on then,” Lu sighed as she walked back past him, hitting the light switch for the front end.·“I assume you need glasses for that?” She gestured to the bourbon.·“I’ve got some back here.” She nodded her head in the direction she was walking, to the back of the store, where they could·‘catch up’ and she could hear exactly why her Capo had come to Paragon.·
Grinning as he watched her close up the front end, watching as she fluttered about for a moment before following her to the back.·“So I suppose you want to know why I’m here in this-” Rhett looked around, gesturing with his now free hand around her shop.·“quaint area.” opening the Bourbon and getting it ready to pour, Rhett thought about how he could really word it to her, a frown happening on his lips in thought. Truth be told it had just happened yesterday and he was still letting everything sink in. He was happy with the outcome of course, but it had been an intense 14 hours.·
“I shot a cop.” He said plainly, figuring that was the best place to start.
The sound of the bell chiming, alerting someone had come into the shop made Lu a little hopeful that someone had something for her to work on. Until she looked up of course. With no hesitation, she let out a loud, exaggerated groan as her eyes met Rhett’s. She made a mental note to bitch at Volkner for not warning her about this. “Of course not!” Lu put on a mocking cheerful voice and a smile for about two seconds.
Eyeing the flowers, she scoffed. “Rhett, if you were seriously trying to butter me up you would have brought me some grass, not flowers.”
“Now darling,” Rhett started, letting out a few tisking sounds as he walked into the shop more, shaking his head as if he was disappointed “Do you think I’m so forgetful that I don’t know your favorite type of plant? There’s an ounce of top shelf at the bottom.” Winking at her, he gave her the bouquet and held up the bourbon. “Close up the shop early today Lu, we’re gonna need a bit of time to catch up.”
“Hi!” Alice smiled at him brightly. She held up the fliers that she had in her hands. “I was wondering if I could leave these with you? They’re just fliers advertising my tutoring services. I figure there are students living here who could maybe use some help sometimes.”
“Oh of course!” Rhett told the young woman with a grin. “If you would like, I’ll post some on the mail boxes so they can see them easier.” The man knew he had a lot of college age tenants here, and even though he had only gotten his High school diploma Rhett was a big fan of a higher education. There always was a need for more crooked lawyers or government officials in his main line of work. “What is it you tutor exactly?”
“Yeah, hi.” Eliza shouldered her bag as she walked up to the desk of the front office. “My name’s Eliza. I’m picking up my key. I was told to come in today.” Eliza had come down after work, eager to move out of the motel she’d been living in while her apartment was ‘made ready’. She didn’t have a lot of stuff, just a bag or two.
“Oh yes, I heard about that.” Rhett said as he shifted through the paperwork to find her apartment number and key. “I just started working here myself, so why don’t we go up together so I can make sure the old landlord did his job.” Finding the number, written on a sticky note with the young girls name, Rhett smiled and crouched down to go into the safe under the desk, noting to get a better security system for this as soon as possible as well. “So you’ll have one set of keys and it looks like there are 2 others pre-made in case you decide to get roommates or want someone else to have one. However just in case of emergency there will always be a spare in the safe down here in the office.” Looking around the clutter he sighed heavily at the mess. “I’d ask you to sign the documents to acknowledge this, but I have no idea where they are, or the rest of your final papers as of right now.” He told her apologetically.
Walking into the electronic shop the day after Ulrich asked him to go North for a bit until the latest event cooled off, Rhett stepped into Lu’s shop wearing a sharp blue three piece suit and a devilish grin on his face. He knew his Soldier, and bosses favorite, would be...less than pleased to see him. The Capo had come prepared though with a bouquet of flowers, hiding some very nice weed at the bottom of the stems of course, and a bottle of bourbon for himself held in his hands. Getting into the shop fully and letting the door shut, he looked at Lu and gave the woman a saucy wink holding up the flowers for her to see right away. “Hello Love. Pleased to see me?” He knew the answer, but it fun to mess with the woman anyway.
Sitting in the front office area of the apartment complex he was now landlord of, Rhett looked at the dismal and utterly repelling decor of the place and knew he needed to change up the place to make it seem a lot more inviting for new tenants. He’d personally go knocking on doors later to introduce himself to the existing tenants, but for now he had this hot mess of old paperwork to deal with. The old landlord was horrible at his job, and also a coward who turned tail after the bank heist and left town in the middle of the night. Hearing the bell chime, Rhett looked over and smiled at the new face. “Hello there, can I help you?” He asked with a kind and welcoming tone in his voice.
THAT LOOKS LIKE RHETT WILDER ! THEY’RE THE 35 YEAR OLD MAN. I HEAR THEY’RE CHARMING & OPTIMISTIC , BUT TEND TO BE RUTHLESS & UNFORGIVING. THEY ARE A CAPO FOR A MOB/ LANDLORD FOR AN APARTMENT COMPLEX AT PARAGON. HIS FILE SAYS THAT HIS POWER IS ILLUSION GENERATION.
Say hello to your little Capo (tw: Abuse mention, Killing, illegal activity, Death, Torture )
Oh Rhett Wilder, a man who can charm a room with a well placed joke and smile.
Grew up in a poor single parent home with a sick mother and deadbeat father. When Rhett was 16 he was able to scrape up enough odd jobs to get him and his mother out of the situation they were in and into an even shabbier, but a little quieter place. That was also the year his mutant powers kicked in. Before he and his mother left the family apartment, when he had been trying to hide her from another onslaught of abuse from good ol dad, he imagined them gone from here. When his father had come into the room, the old man couldn’t see them-even tho they were standing right there in front of the man. All he had seen was an empty room.
Getting the odd job or two for the Black Rabbits, a mob run by Ulrich who favored hiring mutants like himself, Rhett put his powers to good use by creating illusions that made it seem like he hadn’t come to pick up some goods yet until he was too far away for the ability to work anymore. It was around a year of being just a simple Associate when a Capo offered him a position on his squad as a soldier. Taking the better pay, Rhett worked hard and developed a bond with the mafia. Working hard meant being there at illegal gun sales, protecting territory and fulfilling any odd job the boss asked him too.
His mother passed away when he was 20, the sickness, which they discovered had been lung cancer, finally getting to her after all these years. He was glad that he had been able to give her 4 years of peace before she passed away tho. Some members of his Mafia family had come to the funeral, expressing grief and helping their friend with the arrangements. That’s when he knew he could never leave them now, they were family.
Around the age of 25 is when he got offered the promotion of Capo, an honor that he took gladly. His new team of soldiers had Ulrichs favorite in it. Lu. When he found out that the Bosses fave was in his team, he had to take a deep breath. The kid was a newbie to organized crime and he had to make sure she didn’t fuck up and hurt anyone in his team because she was too reckless. Lu was a thief and while Rhett would normally let her do her own thing to just get the good needed and get the fuck out, sometimes she was too independent thinking for his liking.
Now being a Capo for 10 years, Rhett has done many things for the mafia. With his mutation he’s normally the man Ulrich calls on to help with getting information out of people, showing them exactly what they want to see or the dead opposite. If he’s able to research and get information, Rhett can create an entire scene to convince the mark that they’re talking to someone completely different than they think.
There are still many times he’s had to get his hands bloody, like the reason why he’s here at Paragon. A crooked cop was harassing a single mom who lived in Rhetts area and she had asked him for a favor. Hiding in an alley, Rhett shot the cop as he tried to advance on the woman again in the kneecaps, getting the woman away from him and then proceeded to beat the crap out of the injured cop until he heard sirens. “Touch a girl in my area again and I don’t care if you’re blue, I’ll kill you.”
So Ulrich sent him away until the news found something better to report on and the cops in the area didn’t want Rhetts head. Where would the boss send him? Oh well to check on his favorite girl of course.
