Hey who the hell is this guy? (Open & Closed)

[quizpersona]

Who: A man who isn't going by "Gogol" right now
Where: Aldrip (now with better accuracy!) The Inn, an abandoned house at the edges of town, at a diner.
What: The assorted shenanigans related to a certain local murder clown who has faked his own perma-death to assume a different identity. There will be various toplevels in the comments. This is "closed-ish" because it's not 100% closed but there's a lot of ooc plotting and scheming going on so please come join in on the plotting scheming instead of blitzing in with a "hey you guys that's obviously Gogol" when other people are investigating.

Getting short-lived CR with the nice, helpful, and well-mannered salaryman is 100% open though because frankly that's funny.

Edit: now including a top level for his sentencing failure.

Warnings: Kidnapping, nsfw dialogue, law advice for the dubious, torture (includes finger trauma).

Comments

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[quizpersona]

[ It's a risk to attend anything out in public when the description for a salary man has gone out-but the way the invitation comes in out of all the things makes it seems like a risk worth entertaining. It's only half risk assessment anyways... the rest of the motivation backing his appearance today is intrigue.

The point behind the salary man is his lack of presence. It's by no means silent when he pads over to stand at the table indicated on the invite—but it is incredibly ordinary. The salary man clears his throat, and then speaks up quietly in an even keeled tone. So different from how Gogol would throw himself into the scene but it is what it is. ]

Excuse me, Sir. I think you dropped this.

[ A soft clink signifies the moment he presses the gold charm onto the table with a neutral expression. A few seconds pass as he examines the man sitting at the table before he pushes the charm along the surface and towards him under his index and middle finger. ]

cw: balloon animal violence??

[notthekingpin]

[ Game has to recognize game: Gogol is good at this. He blends in so well that Matt doesn't realize it's him until he moves close, and then it registers all at once who he must be.

But Matt doesn't let himself appear surprised. In fact he doesn't turn his heard towards Gogol at all until he hears him sliding the little charm across the table. Matt turns his head more or less towards him and then slides his own hand across the table to find him, fingers groping for the charm until he "finds it."

Just the charm. A smile plays on Matt's lips for a minute as he imagines this mild mannered man destroying the balloon animal. Something about the idea of enacting violence to something so cartoony--and the satisfying pop it must have made--sparks joy. Especially coming from someone so skilled at hiding their true appearance (again, both metaphorically and literally).

Of course, he doesn't know if Gogol killed the little red balloon dog. But it makes for a good story.

In any case he pats the charm and shakes his head. ]

Oh, no, that was for you.

[ Then he gestures to the booth across from him. ]

Why don't you join me? My name is Matt Murdock. I'm a lawyer.

[ he flashes a grin. Shark like lawyer teeth, Aleksei had called them. Fitting. ]

[quizpersona]

[ From Matt's perspective there's a lapse in time where the salary man doesn't offer up another sound. It must mean that he's standing stock still—wrapped up in considering the implicit beginning of something being laid out on the table.

Seconds pass and a mild scuff of a dress loafer as he slips in across from the lawyer is the first real indication that he's taken the opportunity to have a discussion.]

Thank you for the invitation, Mister Murdock. If I'm truly not intruding then I think I'll accept it.

[ He watches the expression of mirth play out on the lawyer's face with his own private amusement kept at bay. Wonder what's on his mind? There are a few things that can be observed about the man who is inviting boogey-man secretaries to his table. The first— ]

Please forgive me if this is too forward... But are you blind?

[ and he produces a tp tp sounds by tapping the lenses in his fake glasses for effect. ]

[notthekingpin]

[ Matt picks at one of his fries but doesn't eat it, while he waits for Gogol to decide. He's patient. He can be patient.

When Gogol sits he slides over a basket of untouched onion rings to him -- ] If you want anything else, feel free to order. My treat [ -- and then comes the question. He's heard it plenty of times. ]

I am. Tragic story, really. I was born just fine but my mother and I were in a horrible accident when I was a child and I lost my sight. Luckily, you don't really need to be able to see to practice law. You just have to understand the law.

[ This is delivered dramatically, accompanied by a short laugh at the end. As if anyone could understand "the law" like it was one uniform thing and not a bunch of malleable rules that made it easy to bend. ]

Unless you have a problem with my being blind...?

[quizpersona]

My condolences. What a tragedy. Of course—I have no complaints.

[ In all the right places he offers sympathetic enough sounding hums. Come to think of it, there are quite a few dangerous blind men out there. That Hunting Dog back then was just one example. It really doesn't do anyone favors to let your guard down for such a stupid short-sighted reason.

Fastidiously unfolding the paper napkin left out in front of him the salaryman then lays it out on his lap neatly as to catch any crumbs that might fall down. Only then does he consider taking one of the onion rings. Time is taken to look them over in order to select the most uniform one out of the batch. ]

I heard it can be quite the time-consuming occupation. Practising the law, I mean.

[ and just for a split second there's some sort of quality to his voice that doesn't match up with the neutral tone. When he parrots back The Law(TM). Someone with a less trained ear wouldn't hear it: but there's a hint of amusement there. ]

I've recently arrived myself, so I'm not all too familiar. Yet I get the impression that you won't find a shortage of clients here.

[ ...It feels like that mirth could've remained for this part too. It doesn't though. He takes a politely small bite of his onion ring. ]

[notthekingpin]

[ The level of practice to everything here, down to picking the most uniform one. Matt seriously wants to applaud, but he's not going to just blow this man's cover. ]

No, I don't think it'll be an issue. Especially with...recent events. From what I understand, the allegations of past crimes aren't the only issues.

[ No, some people want a gold star and keep doing crime. And really good for those people.

Matt reaches into a pocket and slides over a bright red business card with his name, a phone number and email (useless) and "the devil you know" printed on it too. Then he slides that over generally in Gogol's direction. ]

I specialize in difficult cases. They're the most fun. Not that you'd know anything about that. [ A double layer here of course: the man sitting there wouldn't (so it is true) but the man beneath the mask just might (so it is ironic). ]

[quizpersona]

No, of course not. However I believe I may know someone who might interest you.

[ Ooo, someone did his homework. Such a shame he can't be upfront about asking this man for his impressions of his hard work so far. The glaringly red business card gets a quick glance over before there's a flick delivered to the edge of the paperstock—the first sign of any unnecessary flair coming within the usually boring salary man.

One side of his mouth quirks upwards subtly as the salary man slips that card into the interior pocket of his suit jacket. ]

His schedule has been packed as of late but I'll ask him to get in touch with you at his earliest convenience. It... uh, It sounds very troublesome, and like I shouldn't inquire further... but...

[ A pause. It's taking advantage a little bit to get to know this man while under a persona that's ultimately unknowable but take advantage he will. It's a mimicry of a anxious tell when he fiddles with the fit of his glasses. ]

What about any of that is fun? Some very serious crimes have been committed recently.

[notthekingpin]

[ Goosebumps, really. Listen to him go. The anxious gestures with the steady heartbeat. Beautiful. 10/10. ]

Of course. You tell him I'll be here when he needs a listening ear. It's all confidential, anyway, like confessing to a priest.

[ What about any of this is fun indeed... Matt takes a moment to consider that, shifting his weight crossing his legs under the table. ]

It's gallows humor, I apologize if you find it disquieting. But the thing is...the more serious the crime, the harder the defense. I like a challenge. I like getting my hands dirty and digging down and figuring out how to get all the little pieces to line up nicely. Justice is best served by an adversarial system, and I have no problem playing the devil's advocate.

[ he moves the salt and pepper shakers and lines them up with the jelly holder and the napkin tin, making a neat little row, and with each piece that he puts down, he articulates it with one of the following: ]

Kidnapping, torture, murder, arson. Those are all complicated crimes. Complicated crimes have complicated elements, and each element must be proven. Easy crimes are a dime a dozen, but what's the point? Why play around with the local pussycats when you can be a tiger?

[quizpersona]

[ "Like confessing to a priest" pulls out a sensible little chuckle, but the tail end of the sound ends up as something a bit incredulous. As the makeshift chess pieces get lined up he watches along like it's the most intriguing puppet show in the world. ]

So, in other words, it's all about finding something that'll actually pose a challenge to you in the first place.

[ It's the last statement that's the most interesting though. Makes it sound like there's some kind of ambition. Disrupting the neatly ordered line of items he plucks the pepper shaker up, seemingly for scrutiny, but his eyes slide over the top of it to settle on the law man instead. ]

What's that? ...Do you consider yourself to be a tiger, sir?

[notthekingpin]

Of course. Can't you see my stripes?

[ Matt loves making jokes about sight, they make people so uncomfortable you see.

But this is more than just ambition--this is confidence. He's so certain. He knows he's better than the rest. ]

[quizpersona]

My apologies, I suppose not. You camouflage quite well after all. Although, something tells me that I'll still be able to spot you out in a crowd.

[ Pinching another onion ring for the road he slides out form the booth and offers a polite bow to dismiss himself. He could stay longer and honestly is tempted to for a moment. But he's got plucky teenagers who have stolen his property to teach a lesson to. ]

...He'll be in touch.