The Criminal AU Meme

[cerebel]

THE CRIMINAL AU MEME

Warning: This meme will contain violent content and possible triggers.



HOW TO PLAY:
1) Post a comment below, detailing your character and canon. For best results, DO NOT LEAVE THIS COMMENT BLANK; pick a role, or an AU, or write up a little on what you'd like to explore with your character.
2) Tag around and make magic happen.
3) If you get stuck, use RNG to select from the options below.

THE ROLE.
1) Criminal. (The one who committed the act.)
2) Law enforcement. (Cop, FBI, prison guard.)
3) Witness. (What did you see?)
4) Victim. (Probably not applicable in the case of murder. … Probably.)
5) Lawyer, judge, or paralegal. (Participant in the legal system.)
6) Private security. (Unaffiliated, but with an interest in keeping your client safe. Or in getting your target caught.)
7) Other. (Let your imagination go wild.)

THE CRIME.
1) ROBBERY. The crime of stealing via force or threat or fear.
You need the money. You're desperate. You have the gun, the convenience store is right there, and everything will be better once you've finished the job.

Or maybe you've been hired. Provide a little intimidation, and someone else will take care of all your problems.

Or it's a thrill. Rolling across the country, robbing banks as you go. A Bonnie & Clyde crime spree, and it can only end one way.

2) BURGLARY. Illegal entry into a building for the purposes of committing theft.
Non-violence, for you; you're just going to break in, take this one thing. Maybe a television, to sell for the cash. Maybe some jewelry, a computer.

Or maybe you're a master thief, dangling from a wire into a museum. Sliding through the air ducts of a skyscraper in search of a particular little item.

3) GRAND THEFT AUTO. The criminal act of stealing a motor vehicle.
You know your cars. And you can steal one in under 60 seconds. Better hope you don't get tripped up with one of those newfangled security systems.

4) MURDER. The act of killing another.
He had to die. He had to, and the guilt of knowing where you buried the body, of knowing that the police are coming after you -- it's starting to wear down your sanity.

5) SERIAL MURDER. A crime involving the killing of three or more people over a period of more than a month.
You have a drive to kill. Again, and again. Nothing satisfies it, nothing stops it. Maybe you hate yourself. Maybe you hate the human scum who only exist to go under your knife.

Or maybe you're a professional hit man. You've killed dozens, you know how it goes. It's just business.

6) CONSPIRACY. An agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future.
Mafia, Yakuza, crime families who keep their operations quiet under pain of death, dishonor, betrayal of the family. You're part of one of these operations, whether as a patriarch or a peon.

7) FRAUD. Intentional deception made for personal gain.
Blackmail. Cover-ups. Insider trading -- the marks of corporate crime. Perhaps you're a CEO who thinks they can do whatever they want. Perhaps your business is on the rocks and you just need a little time to make your golden parachute before you ditch it.

Or maybe you meant to destroy it. Maybe you're a professional con man, and you're stepping away from your latest conquest with plenty of cash in hand.

8) KIDNAPPING. The false imprisonment of another person against their will.
Do you do it for the ransom? For the money? For revenge?

Or is it a hostage situation, with dozens of prisoners, for some sort of political gain?

9) TERRORISM. The systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion.
For a religion, for a philosophy. But -- are you a terrorist, or are you a freedom fighter? It might just be a matter of point of view.

10) WILD CARD. For any crime not mentioned above.

Comments

):

[permit]

[ pleasantly: ]

Are you truly this unaware of your notoriety, or was that asked in the rhetorical?

[clansman]

Hah. And you're not?

[ notorious, that is. LOOK, IT'S A REALLY STUPID-LOOKING HAT. ]

[permit]

Arguably. Or not at first glance, perhaps.

[ unhurried, and most importantly of all, unruffled. his shoulders roll in a gesture supposedly meant to be a shrug, but there's nothing casual in his elegantly kept gait, in the way his eyes warm with something less like laughter and more like a simmering flame. ]

They're less likely to notice anything unusual about a man with rather common physical features, no?

[clansman]

[ ... taking the hat ...

and staring at it. all the bloody intrigue derailed for headgear, and a total inability to blow out the floor. THIS IS DUMB. ]

[permit]

[ for how he moves (slow and purposeful, a rolling stride that only just keeps itself from flowing into a prowl) it happens quickly enough -- his heels don't make a sound when he takes a few steps forward with his arm extended, fingers sudden and firm over the back of suoh's knuckles, over the hand holding the fedora. another blink, and the crown of the hat slips over the other man's eyes and forehead, gets pushed with a pressure just shy of biting when the hard material digs into the bridge of suoh's nose.

that's when he leans forward over the man's shoulder, pressing the man against his side and close enough to feel the metal edges of his own gun digging into his hip between the press of their bodies. there's a smile in his tone, in his voice pitched too low to be overheard despite the fact that they're alone in the dimly lit hallway. ]

It's not too tall an order for your family's safety.

Is it?

[clansman]

[ pressure and determination prevail -- the hat, dutifully, gets squashed over his hair. only mikoto laughs; only he turns his head too, undisturbed by proximity or edges. ]

So. [ languidly said, and very close, absolutely unmoved. ] You oughta start moving, right?

[permit]

[ it's close enough to catch the acrid scent of gunpowder coming off of suoh mikoto, and before he can help it, his expression lids with distaste.

but it happens before he arranges the hat properly on suoh's head after all, and therefore it's nothing so giving. still, when reishi clamps a hand over the other man's shoulder with his fingers digging into the bone, it says more than his businessman's smile ever could. ]

With your hands in your pockets. Back straight, if you could.

[clansman]

[ the hat settles, a little high on his skull but enough to cap the color of his hair. which means his free hand finds better purchase in munakata's collar. idle, disinterested, only tugging down slightly.

he hasn't yet looked away. ]

Think they're gonna be looking that close?

[permit]

[ he doesn't spare suoh's grip a single note of extra recognition.

he's still calm, cordial, almost friendly when he drops his hand from the top of the other don's head, crooking his elbow and patting the arm attached to him with all the unruffled (patronizing) air of an owner to his pet. ]

But I will be.

[clansman]

[ there's no spoken answer to that -- but his grip flexes, fingers twisting higher, catching the line of his collar and turning until the line's taut enough to bite. ]

[permit]

[ a show of teeth that earns, at least, the sharp intake of a single breath out of turn

-- and a thin smile. the light glances off of his glasses with the movement, as the muzzle of his gun gets wedged against the sharp angle of suoh's hip as quick and sure as clockwork, precisely above where the blood flows thick through the artery. he flicks the safety off with a click that echoes, that rebounds off the walls. ]

[clansman]

[ it doesn't dig in enough for pain, but he pays attention enough anyway. he doesn't let go; he waits. it's his time that he's wasting as much as anyone else's and it doesn't even matter when his grip, his eyes are fixed and glittering. ]

Are you gonna fire?

[permit]

[ for the added difficulty a blocked trachea poses for him, reishi manages exceptionally well. still, when his answer comes, it's a tad rougher around the edges, with a voice almost too throaty to be taken as civil. ]

If you give me reason to.

[clansman]

[ low, unhurried, thoughtless - ]

So. There's no problem s'long as you keep moving. Right?

[permit]

The leash, [ pointedly, with rumbling enunciation - ] I could do without.

[clansman]

. . . hah. Move back, [ equally precise ] and I'll let go.

[permit]

[ he recognizes a pointless exchange when he sees it -- and it's not so much backing down as it is walking away, in this case.

and so it's with the barest curve to his mouth that he does take a single step back, shoulders relaxed and fingers loose (where they're still holding the gun), his attention still set on suoh's expression.

... and even after all of that, and with his collar still stretched between them, there's an airy, polite tone in the way he offers: ]

After you.

[clansman]

[ his hold follows only for the first stretch of the step --

but it falls fast, because holding on is possibly a little effort too much for a point. a glance down the passage, and he gestures with only a little irony. ]

Here I figured you'd want the lead.

[permit]

Oh?

[ it all works well enough. the gun gets tucked away; he gently straightens out the wrinkles now marring his collar, and pushes at his glasses. ]

Don't you trust me with your back?

[clansman]

Nah.

[ an easy dismissal, his fingers still curled -- and it was never serious, but the pulse, at least, was honest. a heartbeat doesn't lie.

equably - ]

But it's still your plan.

1/2

[permit]

Your gesture of appreciation is too much.

[ it earns, at least, laughter from somewhere in the back of his throat -- somewhere behind all the bile, perhaps...

but that's quite enough of that; he removes his glasses and slips them smoothly into his suit pocket. ]

It still is my plan, you're correct. And if you truly know that much-

[permit]

[ from beneath his sleeve, his watch flashes once, a bright blue that peeks out from under the cloth. ]

Walk normally.

[ he says, in mild tones that doesn't sound anything like the warning it should be when his hand is suddenly firm on suoh's abdomen and pushing him backwards, towards the windowed walkway. ]

[clansman]

[ he turns, he walks, strides quick and sharp, obedience in every line of his frame.

or maybe just a lookout for future spite. whatever. either way: look at all this cooperation. ]

[permit]

[ it's truly appreciated if there was any doubt (even if he notes, almost regrettably, that effort looks just as sloppy on suoh mikoto as devil-may-care does).

but the walk goes easy, undisturbed. the people outside expect the routine, the stationed guards to walk through the skyway at the appropriate time, and so their two figures are given half-hearted glances, acknowledging nods and nothing more than that. it goes without a hitch, quiet and uneventful; it's what reishi wants. ]

[permit]

[ ... and then they enter the opposing hallway. of course, because nothing is ever easy --

the hallway is well-lit and empty. the shadows stretch across the far wall. fifty feet's worth of distance isn't enough to muffle the suspicious din of footsteps there, of raised, rancorous voices and clacking guns. the rug beneath their feet masks their footsteps, and he doubts their unsuspecting guests will catch wind of anything, but...

the ruffle of his suit nearly sounds like a hiss as reishi grabs hold of the suoh's elbow from behind, his grip firm as he attempts to usher them both into a side room before their uninvited company rounds the corner up ahead. ]