reanbeanmachine | Mafia AU

Mafia AU

[In a modern world that probably still has magical elements to it, Osborne is a feared name on the black side of society. The leader of a massive crime syndicate that's been expanding by absorbing smaller groups for years, there are many names in the Erebonia group that inspire fear. One of these names is Rean Schwarzer, alternately titled Osborne's demon or simply "the Ogre" he's been a top enforcer in the group for about five years now, despite being incredibly young. Rumor has it he's Osborne's son, other rumors have it he was born in hell and his cold attitude froze the place, and there are more rumors, there always are.

Rean himself defies most expectations. He's not terribly tall, nor short. He's not bulky, he's not covered in scars or chiseled muscles. He's simply a man of average to tall height with a lean frame and black hair. He dresses in a black suit and gloves, and carries a tachi, and his expression is always distant or cold. But as an enforcer, he's efficient and terrifyingly strong and fast.

Since his ascension in the ranks most transitions of power have gone much swifter and more peacefully--minimal casualties between groups and civilian involvement is almost unheard of.

Rean himself is... A bit of a mystery to even the top in the know in the underground. He's said to be a sociopath or a loner, completely uninterested in forming connections with others, not even the friendly criminal camaraderie even the most hardened bosses tend to form now and then.

But here he is, one face among a number of Osborne's upper management, all of them seated or standing around a lavish office in a skyrise in the central city of Osborne's power, all of them regarding the "tribute" offered them by the Jurai group, the latest little family to be absorbed into Osborne's every-growing power net.

The tribute in question is none other than Crow Armbrust, talented criminal and grandson of the late (assassinated) leader of the Jurai group. Instead of succeeding he's been handed over, an underling more willing to follow Osborne taking lead instead. After all, Crow wasn't willing to bow to the inevitable, he was too intent on fighting a useless fight.

The discussion has been what to do with him, and while most of the executives at the meeting are disinterested, the general consensus seems to be to execute him as an example of disobedience. Jurai wasn't a big group, but it was prestigious and strong to last so long outside Osborne's net, Crow's influence as the leader's grandson inspired annoying amounts of rebellious thought, it'd be a fine move for an expendable and useless piece.

And then Rean is stepping forward, silencing the contemplation, walking to Crow and leaning over where he's tied to a chair. Crow was gagged a while ago because his commentary was annoying. Rean is grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking his head up, looking coldly into his eyes for a while before announcing;]

I'll take him.

[A murmur from the rest of them, silenced by Osborne himself.]

Will you? And what will you do with him?

I like his face, I think I'd like to see how he begs.

[There's a few laughs, and the comment from someone in a corner;]

He's supposed to be feisty. Though I guess if it's you I feel a bit sorry for him.

[Rean shrugs, dropping his hold on Crow's hair and turning to face Osborne, ignoring the rest.]

So. Is he mine?

Mm. Can you show us how you'd handle him?

[Without a word Rean turns, yanks the gag from Crow's lips and kicks the chair over, pressing his boot to Crow's cheek and drawing his sword, the tip of it hovering over Crow's eye with dead steadiness.]

If you want that eye, lick.

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You are!

[How shocking. Crime family aside Crow's not usually the kind of person who'd pursue an unwanted advance, but he's just so... angry. He hates Rean, because he hates everything Rean stands for. He's so overcome by it that even though he knows he won't follow through he can't resist the urge to push, just to see more of that face.

So he follows, intending to push Rean over and climb on top of him. He should kill him, and he intends to, but first he just wants to see Rean flinch more. It hasn't occurred to him that Rean's reaction is based on being a nice person. He just assumes it's some kind of quirk. A rare area of weakness.]

That's fine. I'll be the one to hold you down if that's what you want.

[He shakes out of his deer-in-the-headlights shock as Crow gets in his space again. At this point in his life anyone this close to him is just registered as a threat automatically. He doesn't do friends or relationships because the facade he has is at complete odds with who he is. Letting anyone close hasn't been part of his life in a long time, whether emotionally or physically, whatever rumors he cultivates otherwise.

So he brings up his arm, making a bar with it across Crow's chest and pushing him firmly back before Crow can shove him down. He's still kind of cornered, with the wall not far behind him, but he's taken down bigger people in less space with his bare hands. He just doesn't want to resort to violence if he doesn't have to.]

Stop.

[This comes out firmly, though a little tiredly as well.

Crow's words are certainly giving him chills, and far from good ones. He's so tired of this life, he's so tired of the violence expected in every interaction. He's so tired that even while trying to do something good he can't just do it outright. Kindness isn't rewarded, it's a weakness to exploit, so every move he makes has to be calculated to make it look unkind.

And yet here he is with a move he hasn't calculated and a person he doesn't know what to do with, but he knows he can't kill him or throw him back to the wolves or risk trusting him either. It's exhausting.]

I'm tired. If you don't shut up and back off I'm locking you in a closet with a gag until you get less annoying.

[It's an empty threat but he's not sure what else to say at this point.]

I don't think you will.

[He's not trying to get at Rean past the block. Instead he takes Rean's hand in his, deceptively gentle. He runs his fingers over Rean's like an affectionate gesture, but what he's really thinking about is breaking every last one.]

Tell me the truth. What did you bring me here for?

[Because it's not what he said it was. There's no way. Crow just doesn't know what the truth is. Continuing to keep Rean off-balance, though, is a survival tactic. If Rean really is what he presents outwardly, then Crow could get killed at any moment.]

[It's the first time anyone has touched him gently in years, whatever Crow is thinking of while doing it, and frankly that's enough to spook Rean really badly, at how startled and painful it feels--not physically, but somewhere in his heart where he's a very soft person who's been starved for anything resembling affection, no matter how false, for a long long time.

He shoves Crow back roughly, but he's not capable of keeping how shaken he is off his face.]

You don't need to concern yourself with my reasons.

[It's hard to sound threatening when you sound shaken and, possibly, a little bit like you want to cry.]

I think I do.

[Because Rean reacted way more strongly to a simple hand-touch than he did to being groped and that's just weird. Crow is so confused. This isn't the Rean he's heard about for years. It's not even remotely the man whose boot he licked just a few minutes ago.

It's kind of frustrating. Crow doesn't want to feel bad for Rean Schwarzer of all people.]

You just pulled my head off the chopping block. If it wasn't for your pleasure, I want to know why. My life might depend on it.

[And he's done pretending to suck up. It's not working. He's just going to try to climb onto Rean with actual genuine force this time, and one hand on Rean's sword to keep him from drawing it.]

What the hell do you think you're doing, showing me such a weak face?

[This is already fucked beyond salvaging and the only way out of this safely is to just kill Crow. But he's taken a lot of risks in his life to avoid as much killing as possible and right now he'll take another because it's better to reach for the possibility of anything not violent than to dive straight for violence.

Maybe he'll end up having to kill Crow anyway, and there's no way he can trust him, but right now Crow's life is in his hands, even if Crow is on top of him and holding onto his sword.

He barely remembers what it's like to be honest.

He can't quite look Crow in the eye though he's still focused on him, a hand on Crow's hand on his sword. He's not lowering his guard any more than it is already, he physically can't. And he's not laying his heart bare to a total stranger who has every reason to hate him, but he can say one honest thing.]

Killing you would have been a senseless waste of life.

[It's the most un-mafia thing to say. It's also the most opposite of everything about his reputation.]

...What?

[That's so completely ridiculous Crow can't even parse it. Why would someone like Rean ever say that? Even if he didn't have a monstrous reputation, that's the kind of world they live in. Unnecessary death is just a side effect of getting what you want. Keeping control. Crow's grandfather was softer than most (softer than Crow, honestly) and even he understood that.

In one quick, rough gesture, Crow yanks Rean's sword from his belt, not to open it but to slide it away across the floor, out of reach. He's sitting straddling Rean's hips, but he wants that extra level of security in case Rean decides to fight him, when he goes to pin him to the floor.]

That's stupid. I'm never going to stop trying to kill your old man. Never. Only a complete fool would keep me alive just out of the goodness of his heart.

[He should be trying to kill Rean at this very moment, but he's not. Why? Why is Rean's sad face so damned heart-wrenching?]

You're full of shit, you know that?

[He doesn't actually need his sword to fight but he's certainly handicapped without it. He's calm though, or, mostly. He definitely doesn't want to die, but his own life has never been his motivation. He's done very stupid things, risked his life countless times on reckless moves to save others, and he's always somehow managed to scrape by. Half his reputation as fearlessly terrifying in a fight is simply his inability to let anyone else take risks when he could instead, his dedication to doing really stupid things in the hopes it minimizes casualties, but every time it works, every time skill seems him through, it isn't because he's trying to save himself.

He feels like that right now. He'd fight this second if Crow tried to kill him, he doesn't want to die. But he's not so attached to living that this situation or position scares him on a survival level.

Emotionally it's far more threatening, because he hasn't tried to be honest or explain himself or be anything but the mask he wears for years. It's confusing and upsetting, and being cornered like this by a stranger who justifiably hates him isn't great.

So what can he say? Crow isn't wrong. He is full of shit. Every day of his life he's full of shit, just to try to build up a persona that can help restrain the casualties from his father's criminal violence simply by being invoked as a threat.]

...

[He really can't respond, to defend himself or rebut Crow, either way, he can only make that soft unhappy Rean noise, almost involuntary. It's not like he thinks he should be acknowledged or thanked, so he has no interest in arguing how he's saved Crow.]

[He's holding Rean's wrists with bruising strength, but even though he keeps thinking of strangling him he doesn't do it. Part of him is telling him to just try, even if it fails, but another part just... can't. He can't fight someone who looks so sad.]

What were you expecting me to do?

[He's so angry. But his anger is coming up against no resistance, and that makes it deflate. Behind that is just a lot of pain -- he's still grieving, betrayed by people who were like family, left alone to die. But that's fine, if he can fight. If there's revenge to take he can deal with the rest.

Rean's face, that noise, isn't something he can take revenge on. He just can't. So then what's he supposed to do? How is he supposed to live if there's no struggle to keep him going?]

Did you think I'd just sit pretty and be grateful? You think I care about a "waste of life"? Where do you even get off looking so sad?! Answer me!

[Does he look sad? He's really let control of his face go in the last few minutes, which is alarming. More alarming than being painfully pinned by a guy who definitely wants to kill him and is yelling at him. Well, the yelling is alarming, it's the first time in years anyone's actually seen Rean as himself even a fraction, and he probably does deserve to get yelled at for it for one reason or another. Being weak, or sad, anyone's anger would be justified at being faced with such a letdown, let alone in an enemy.]

...I hadn't thought that far ahead.

[He admits finally, the truth, and said with quiet tiredness.]

It all happened so fast.

[The Jurai group pledging loyalty and delivering Crow, the meeting to commemorate it and decide what to DO with Crow, it was all quick, rapid changes that left Rean the choice of watch someone die or save them. He didn't have a plan after getting Crow out of that room, that's the whole problem.]

I didn't expect you to be grateful, or anything.

[Honestly even if Crow didn't have every reason to hate Rean, who would be grateful for such a half-assed "plan"? He doesn't want gratitude anyway, he was just acting on his own inability to watch Crow get murdered in front of him.]

I just didn't want to see someone die.

[He's seen it too much, and every time it hurts, it always hurts, it never stops hurting. He's not cut out to be in this line of work at all.]

Why do you care?!

[It's so annoying. Rean's supposed to be the enemy, so why is he being so soft? How does he even manage it when he's out there enforcing his father's rule? It makes Crow sick, not least because it makes him question his own violence. How stupid.]

People die in this business every day. You've killed them yourself, and so have I. Hell if I were you I'd have let me die. Now you're just-- If you're really that soft-hearted, then if you don't kill me tonight, I could out you at any time. You made a big mistake.

[There is no argument with any of that because it's all correct, facts. People die. Rean's killed a lot of them. But not as many as could have died otherwise. Though to Rean it hardly matters, sure, one life lost is objectively better than ten or twenty or more but it still kills him inside. And on the flip side, one life vs many is a choice he makes all the time, consciously, hating himself and still following through.

Today, the choice was a stranger's life versus his own. Now that Crow's seen he's weak, he could undermine Rean's reputation. If Rean lets him out of this suite of rooms he could ally himself with anyone who might like the idea of taking Rean down. A stranger's life over your own, compassion over practicality, idealism over pragmatism, it's never the right choice in this world. It's also the choice he'll always make.]

I know that.

[He says it with quiet resignation.]

I knew that was a risk at the time. I know it's one now.

[Vaguely. He hadn't thought it through but he knew the risks.]

You don't have any reason to like or trust me or want to work with me or anything, I'm not asking you to repay me for your life either, it was my choice, and I didn't have a plan.

Even so, I'd like to hope you'd be willing to work with me.

[Because, well, it seems they're both in a tough situation now, and while killing Crow would solve Rean's problems... He's just not going to. He realized at some point that even if Crow declares he's going to ruin Rean he's pretty sure he can't kill him. He barely knows him but he already admires the fire in his eyes and the passion of his anger, wishes he could have half that conviction and emotion.]

...Work with you?

[God Rean is just a bundle of surprises. Crow's grip on his wrist loosens though, and he sits back a little, running a hand through his own hair and telling himself to breathe a little.

Okay. So Rean doesn't want to kill him, and he can't seem to make himself kill Rean. That kind of leaves "working with him" as the top option here, depending on what that means. Crow's sure no one else here will be that soft, at least. If he ditches Rean... Well. He'll either end up scrambling on his own or actually having to kiss someone's boots.

He's not trusting it that quickly, though. He looks down at Rean with disdain, but at least he doesn't try to throttle him.]

What does that even mean? Do you have a goal or are you just asking me to play nice?

[He lifts his hands, rubbing his wrists in turn without wincing. It's painful but aside from the emotional attacks he's been suffering he's very used to just showing a blank face about things, actual physical pain included.]

...

[A goal... His goal has always been one thing, limit casualties. He's always been very alone in it, though. And he doubts Crow really cares about a goal like that. But it's the goal he has. It's barely even a half-formed thought but wouldn't it be nice to not be alone in his actual agenda?

No, he can't expect Crow to have any interest in actually supporting his aims but even still, if Crow works with him towards that... If more lives can be saved...]

It's not really... [How does he say this. He exhales tiredly.] I only want to keep as many people from dying as possible. That's all I've been doing.

[Where could Crow fit in, as a partner? They'd have to sell that transformation and change of loyalties. And Crow still hates his father... Not that Rean is fond of the man either, but...

Well even if the whole thought is pointless Crow did ask.]

I don't really care who dies.

[He just doesn't. He's not going to go kill people for fun, but if it'll progress his goals, Crow would do a lot more than shoot one guy in the face.]

All I want is to kill Giliath Osborne. If you're not with me on that, then you're just another enemy I need to get rid of.

[He's still not afraid for himself. Even if Crow decides to kill him right now Rean's confident in his ability not to let that happen.

Instead he's thinking about it. Could he save more people with Crow's help? If so, would the destabilization caused by his father's death cause more bloodshed? Is the balance worth it? How many lives... How many can he save, for the cost of one? The calculation he makes every day. How many? How many might he doom for the cost of one?]

I'll help you get to him on two conditions.

I'm listening.

[Rean's a better option for an ally than anyone else, he supposes. If the conditions are favorable... Better a softie than someone who's going to use Crow like a toy.]

Kill him in private. No public fuss. The less chaos around the power transition the better.

And until I can get you an opportunity... You help me keep civilians safe and out of harm.

[He's not saying explicitly but he figures it's a given that he's not helping Crow assassinate Osborne, but he will find him an opening to try, somehow, if Crow helps him save more people.]

...

[He has to think about that. He'd sure like a big public assassination, but that's not essential. It's just petty. What matters is that he's dead, and after a minute's thought Crow has to admit that this is probably the best chance he's ever going to get.

Besides. It's not like he's against protecting people. It's not a priority, but Rean's desire to do so is probably admirable. Probably. Crow doesn't trust Rean enough yet to have decided.]

Okay. That's good enough for me. But if you betray me I'll take you down and this whole place with you.

[Rean looks a little puzzled at the threat because it seems somewhat ridiculous. He could still kill Crow tonight, if he had that kind of intention. Making a deal to help assassinate his own father seems odd, in light of that. But he shrugs in answer, if that makes Crow feel better about all this. Rean's the one who should be scared of betrayal, there's no reason Crow shouldn't play along and then kill Rean after he gets what he wants for good measure.

But he's in this deep, he'll trust Crow to keep his word with no evidence or knowledge of Crow to back it up.]

We have to find a way to convince everyone I've turned your loyalty...

[Look Crow's pretty fluffed about betrayal right now. He can posture all he wants! He knows it's posturing, though, so he's glad Rean doesn't call him on it.]

We can fake it.

[He was prepared to debase himself, so it shouldn't really be a problem to pretend it. Whether he can be convincing, though...]

I'll do whatever I have to. Don't be too nice to hit me.

[He's grimacing at the thought, but pretending is all he does all day. It shouldn't be so hard to keep it up.]

I suppose that's the only real option.

[Faking it, making a show of taming Crow, like some Shakespearean play. Except more gross. But none of it will be real and Crow will even be in on it, so it... It should be okay.]

You've done worse than kick a guy around, dude.

[Don't look so miserable! Crow sighs, rolling off of Rean and sprawling on the floor. He's tired. What a horrible day.]

I'm sturdy. I'll be fine.

[He hasn't actually had to keep up a sustained fiction of gross abuse though, Crow!! He doesn't protest this, just rubbing his palm over his face and taking a breath before getting up slowly.

The "dude" should make him laugh, but he's tired, drained. He doesn't know what to feel because he hasn't been forced to acknowledge having feelings in a long, long time. He isn't sure he remembers how to laugh.]

If you say so. There's a spare bed you can sleep in and takeout in the fridge.

[He's going to pick up his sword. He wants to retreat and sleep, he figures Crow probably wants to be around him as little as possible as well. Just because they're allies now... Well Crow's made disliking him clear, and for every perfectly good reason.]

Sure.

[He's not wrong. Crow needs a lot of time to think about this, and a long time to be comfortable with Rean. He's hated the idea of him for long enough that he doesn't know how to reconcile this new information with his image of Rean. It's confusing, honestly. All he knows is that this is literally saving his life, and he can at least pay his debts.

So he'll leave Rean alone, eat his food and laze around his rooms until he feels like sleeping. Tomorrow... who knows what tomorrow will bring. For now Crow's just going to pass out hard -- he needs some sleep to make up for one of the most stressful days in his life.]

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