some more heroes application

[stabber]

Player Information

Name: Scarlett
Age: 19
Current Characters: n/a
Contact: plurk: walpurgisnacht, skype: rosebrides, aim: teapotcannon, email: cornerbeauty@gmail.com

Character Information

Name: Cyril
Age: At the time of this writing, he doesn't have a canon age. He's pretty obviously, however, an adult, and considering the ages of everyone else in the webcomic, I'd say he's around 25. At youngest, 21.
Fandom: Todd Allison and the Petunia Violet
Appearance:

Cyril is the tallest character of the cast, tall, dark and handsome. He's taller than Petunia by about a full head and shoulders, he's taller than Todd by a slightly smaller margin, which admittedly isn't much of an accomplishment since Todd seems to be a bit below average. My point is, he's pretty decently sized, and I'd peg him as being over six feet tall, or just at it. In addition to his height, he's pretty well built, which is likely a side-effect of his job. He isn't built like a body builder, but he has a strong physique. He doesn't seem to have any scars or anything of the sort -- well, none in places you can see. He's also the palest character in the cast, to the point Nozmo has joked he's a vampire. It's a pretty sharp contrast to his dark hair, which is (stupid) fashionably messy and frames his square face. It is, depending on your view, long, but it things out quite a bit at the ends. It's so messy, but just in that perfect way that accentuates his face. His eyes are sharp, and a shade of brown so dark they look black. He's regarded as very handsome in his canon, and this is noted by a character. He's pretty aware of it himself and likes to use it to his advantage.

So, in conclusion, this.

History:

Todd Allison and the Petunia Violet takes place in Australia. Specifically, it takes place in Melbourne, Victoria. It's set in the 1920's, and that's about as much as we know about Cyril's past at the moment. We know he's an adult male who lives at The Eighth Lagoon, and we know he has two jobs. His day job is pretty harmless on the whole, he works as a tram conductor. When the day's over with on the tracks, however, Cyril begins his job as a mercenary. At present, it is not known how he came to work in this line of work, and he has 'rules' in place to keep people at a distance. Cyril is an enigma, he's currently shrouded in mystery. Not much is known about him prior to his appearance in chapter two, but here's what is known:

Cyril's really good at his job. He's so good, that Elijah feels fine with contacting him with work. Cyril is contacted and they have a drink as they discuss business. This isn't the best drink with a client that Cyril has ever had -- actually, it leaves a rather bad taste in his mouth. Still, he takes the job. It's a hate experiment, Elijah says, and Cyril's like "well, whatever the fuck gets you to pay me," so he sets up this dude he sorta knows. Todd Allison. Cyril is aware that Todd works for the government and that's the job-- set up someone from the Violet Investigative Unit with people who hate the government. Really, it's pretty simple, he gives Todd a map that leads him straight to them. Todd falls for it because Cyril just seems like "your friendly neighborhood conductor."

Things get weird when Cyril's patrolling around the building where Elijah is.

Cyril discovers Petunia Elkwood, and hauls her off to Elijah. He has no idea what exactly is about to happen, but you know, he kind of likes Petunia Elkwood. Petunia is a bit different but she's kind of fun and she's pretty so Cyril doesn't have anything against her. It's up to Elijah, what happens to Petunia, but Elijah doesn't do anything to Petunia. Not really. There's no way an older brother would actually hurt his little sister. I mean, that just doesn't happen, right?

Well, Petunia spills the beans. The guy Cyril got is Todd Allison. Fortunately for Todd Allison, Elijah can't have Todd dying just yet, so after their short reunion, Elijah makes Cyril fix things. Cyril doesn't like it, but he has to go save Todd Allison and he has to take Petunia along with him. Of course, he does give Petunia a bit of protection -- he asks her if she can shoot a pistol. After she confirms she can, he gives her one.

So then the duo were off to save Todd Allison. It's a weird team, with Petunia shouting things like "Aren't they your friends?" when Cyril kills someone and Cyril fighting off laughter because she's just... so funny. They do the job, though, with a minor hiccup. Petunia runs out and makes herself known after Cyril quickly guns down four men on his own. This is a problem, of course, because Cyril wanted to do this simple and quick, but now he has to go down there and stab these guys himself. Thing is, Cyril isn't in the best mood, and what Elijah said is still pestering him.


"Isn't it better to watch them slowly bleed to death?"

That's not how Cyril does things, though.

So after that little debacle, short-lived and bloody as it were, Elijah and Meredith arrive on the scene. Petunia's run off to where Todd Allison is, and the problem is: There's someone else in that room. Someone with a gun. When Cyril says that, he also says he gave Petunia a pistol, and that he was hoping to see what happened. Spoiler: Petunia and Todd live. They get out scot-free and Cyril's pretty pleased with this, except Todd recognizes Cyril instantly. He's the guy who conducts the tram that Petunia and Todd take, so while Petunia didn't recognize him at first, now that she can place his face in the uniform... well.


The morning after is nowhere near as hectic. Cyril gets up, goes to work, but something is bothering him, so he goes over to Todd Allison's place of work and drags him and Petunia out behind the cafe. He invites them to his home because, in his own words, he doesn't like leaving things unfinished. Todd being alive is... well, not what the job was, originally, so it bothers him and he wants to conclude things.

Of course--that means Todd Allison and Petunia Elkwood visit Cyril's home, The Eighth Lagoon. It's underground and hidden behind a secret passage. Totally Cyril's obnoxious style. They enter and Cyril isn't there yet, so Petunia decides to take a pee break. Totally normal stuff so far.

But then Petunia's walking down the hall, making her way back from the bathroom. She notices a door is open and even though it's... Cyril's house, and she's scared of him, she looks. Opens the door, looks inside, and sees a photo. "...That's Cy--" And then she takes a step back, and bumps into Cyril.

Most people would be angry, finding someone in their personal space, but Cyril cracks a grin and calls Petunia a bad girl instead. It's probably enough she's already scared. He does chide her for snooping but it's nothing really terrible, since he's got things he wants to do.

So then, Cyril and Todd get to business.

Drinking business, that is.

They have a drink and start getting drunk, well, Todd does, Cyril just kind of provokes him. And then Todd says something that stuns everyone in the room: "Work for me, Mr. Cyril."

Of course, Todd's drunk. This isn't any kind of serious discussion, so Cyril gets (understandably) angry. He tells Todd off and yells in his face, then he gets called out for a job. Just before leaving, he approaches Todd, placing his hand on the table, and leaning in.

"My job is not joke," he says, "so you better be fucking serious."

And then he leaves, pulling Petunia's hat down over her face on his way out.

Canon Point: Post chapter 8.
Personality:

Picture this: It's a bright, sunny day. Not too hot, not too cool, just the right temperature. Also, you're in 1920's Australia for some reason. Because it is 1920's Australia, you have to take the tram to get somewhere, if you don't want to walk. You run into a conductor, a very handsome conductor, and he's pretty nice, for the most part. Except he tells you to speed it on up so he can get the tram going, but that's pretty normal isn't it? He's polite, maybe he even helps you get onto the tram. He does his job well, drives well, and all in all it's a pleasant enough experience. You thank him and go about your day, not really thinking much of that tram conductor.

For the most part, that's what people think of Cyril. He's just Mr. Conductor, maybe a bit too friendly at times, but not exactly someone they're afraid of. Sure, he might call you "dollface" or "honey" or something like that, but if you'll pay attention, he uses pet names for everyone. Everyone gets a term of endearment, whether you're an attractive lady traveling alone, or a young man falling asleep in your seat. Or if you're Todd, you're Pumpkin, or if you're Petunia, Lady Petunia. My point is, you wouldn't think too much of Cyril on most days.

However, that is most days. Todd probably didn't think much of him, either, until Cyril duped him into walking right into certain death. But that's another story.

Let's just say you get to, for example, work with Cyril. Not too intimate, but you still get to know him pretty well. Your impression probably won't be too deep. Unless you work with Cyril -- directly with him, that is -- you'll still see him as the guy who's pretty friendly. He likes to talk and he's pretty relaxed. He's got no problem introducing himself and telling you about himself (or rather, his numerous girlfriends) and your impression is pretty good. He might be a womanizer, but when he's around, things aren't boring, and it's not like he's put a gun to your head or anything. Maybe he's an annoyance, but really. He's kind of got a shit-eating grin on his face all the time, too, but hey, who cares? He doesn't really have a problem with covering your shift and sometimes he does weird shit like fall asleep in the bathroom. It's entertaining and he pulls his weight. You can't complain, he's pretty professional with the customers, too. All in all, he's a pretty okay dude.

Let's make the hole a little deeper. Let's say you work directly with Cyril. You work the same shifts and are, more or less, partners at your little crappy transportation job. Then you'll know he's a little... too friendly. He likes to lean in, he likes to pick on you, he likes to flirt with everyone. And he likes to punish people a little bit too much -- for example, once he insisted you should buy him a drink as compensation for something and after you refused, he demanded a kiss. Regardless of your gender. Look, the point is, you'll soon figure out he's ... formidable. Formidably friendly.

Oh, but that's for another time. What's likely going to stick out to you, about Cyril, is his flirty nature. He likes to talk about his girls, he likes to hit on people, and he uses pet names like "dollface" or "dolly" or "love", and he doesn't necessarily use them ironically. Cyril is pretty aware he's attractive, and he likes to have fun with it. He's a narcissist, and even a conversation with him in it will likely turn into him talking about himself. But I digress -- again, what tends to stick out about Cyril is he's pretty fond of flirting. In fact, one of his appearances in chapter two is him jokingly saying, to his current employers, upon being spotted just... creepily staring at them as they conversed: "I was just taken aback by such... beautiful people." And while not a canon example, the author, Nozmo, draws quite a few extras on her blog. One of them was an office au, which was requested by someone who said Cyril would be that weird employee who played awful music instead of doing his job. Nozmo opted to draw him flirting with someone on the line, instead. While not canon, it's a pretty good example of how people expect Cyril to be and how he's... actually quite flirtatious, rather than silly.

That canon example, however, he follows it up with, "Just joking, fuckers!". That's Cyril for you. In fact, a lot of things are like that with him: he's pretty sarcastic. He laughs at Petunia's odd behavior, for example. When she refuses to look at him while he's looking at her, he bursts into maniacal laughter and states he'd hate to shoot her (But, it's not his choice to make, so, yanno, nothing personal.). He tends to take things rather good-naturedly... usually. Well, if it's not related to his job, that is. He likes to joke around, even if he's doing something serious like looking for Todd and Petunia so he can finish up business with Todd. He'll flirt with the waitress, goof off a bit and revel in the attention, even if it's negative. Even on the job, when he gets some free time with someone, he makes them pull up a seat so he can tell him about one of his numerous girlfriends. Cyril loves the attention he gets and it shows.

But let's cut the crap and get right to it: Cyril might be a tram conductor in the daytime but when the last pretty lady's made her way off the tram, he's on his other shift.

It's pretty much a fact that no one knows what the ever loving fuck Cyril is thinking at any time; chapter 3 is the best example of this. He displays a surprising amount of professionalism when he catches Petunia, especially when you remember in chapter ten, he has no problem attempting to kiss his co-worker in front of a customer. That doesn't keep him from flirting with her, saying he'd hate to shoot a "sweet little girl" like her, calling her "dollface" and threatening to blow her "pretty little face" to pieces. He bursts into laughter at her antics, too, asking her what the hell she's doing and -- well, his relationship with Petunia is a lot like that. She keeps trying to avoid him because he scares her and he keeps laughing in her face. He brings Petunia directly to Elijah, though, and says he has no idea how he usually handles these "kinds of things" but he'll be right over there if you need him. He's professional and to the point, doesn't bother beating around the bush. Then he's left alone with Meredith, and he goes on and on about girls he'd been with. He tells Meredith about that one time he dated The Little Mermaid and Meredith isn't too into it but you know, as long as he can hear his own voice he probably doesn't care. When Elijah comes back, he pouts and says, "Aw, they're back." Then he's right back to being professional, as though he didn't just recount a love affair to someone he doesn't even know moments ago, and had been about to tell them about the next girl.

Cyril is pretty serious about work, actually. That might seem a bit surprising, considering how capricious he tends to come off as. However, he does kill people for a living, even if he says that robbery and blackmail is part of the job, too. It is also noted on the author's blog that Cyril sleeps restlessly and when he gets free time, he tries to sleep. Additionally, she notes that while Cyril has nightmares every night (this is the cause of his restlessness), they don't bother him anymore because he's used to them. He does seem surprisingly adjusted, even though he's basically the axe murderer boyfriend you should avoid. He does seem to crack, though, just a bit, in chapter five. Stabbing that man so many times -- it seemed directly related to something that had been bothering him. Elijah, during their business discussion, had said that there was no fun in simply killing someone; you should torture them, too. Cyril's features sharpen, his eyes narrow, he stares Elijah down. He's clearly thinking about this, what he's saying, and it sticks with him, until he blindly begins stabbing that man. "Slowly bleed to death.... isn't how I do things!," indeed.

He also lives with Landon, but Landon doesn't really know much about Cyril. He keeps life and work separate even at home. Landon's just there to keep after The Eighth Lagoon, though he's seen Cyril coming back from work, of course. It's likely rarely a pretty sight, since people tend to fight back when someone is trying to kill them. Landon doesn't seem too bothered by it, but he does call Cyril an honest, hard-working man. Mind you, that's Landon.

The thing is, Cyril keeps his life and work distinctly separate. He even has a set of rules that he explains to Elijah and Meredith in chapter three. "Rule number one: you don't know me. So don't try to know me, which leads to rule two. I'm not your mate nor do I ever want to be one so don't make any assumptions. I don't care what sort of shit happens outside of the job. And rule three, don't waste my fucking time. Capisci?" Cyril's pretty up front about those rules, the third one especially. More than that, though, he hates unfinished business. Elijah orders him to save Todd Allison, and Cyril does so, but it entails having to kill all the men he gathered for the purpose of killing Todd Allison. He picks them off pretty quickly, showing off just how efficient he is with this whole mercenary thing. Petunia, though, is pretty disturbed by this and asks Cyril why he had to kill them. Up until now, he's dodged or laughed at her questions, but this time: Cyril shrugs and says, "I hate unfinished business." This is not a throwaway line and comes into play again in chapters six and seven: his annoyance with Todd.

Cyril was hired to kill Todd Allison, but Todd Allison is alive so this is unfinished business. In order to fix this, Cyril invited Todd and Petunia over to his place. They have a few drinks, argue, get drunk and in general it's a pretty awful time because Todd and Cyril are abrasive in their own unique ways, but Cyril is just that committed to his job. This leads up to Todd pissing of Cyril royally, which we've only seen once in canon. He yells at Todd that there's "a fucking process" when it comes to hiring him. He invites Todd into his home to solve this unfinished business thing, but as for Petunia, well, he just likes her. Again, no one could actually tell you what Cyril is thinking, half of the time he's all business and the other half, he's hitting on you.

So far, we have a general idea of Cyril: He's a flirtatious, friendly guy who's actually pretty sour. He works as a tram conductor during the day, and at night, he kills people for money. The truth is, Cyril isn't really that simple -- we get small hints here and there, but the most notable is something that hasn't really been picked up yet.

Cyril has a conversation with Petunia, just before they go out to save Todd, and during this conversation, he clues in on Petunia not trusting him, and states, leaning in on her and with a rather nasty expression, "I don't trust myself, either!" To be fair, he's probably committed some truly heinous crimes, and he is noted on the author's blog as having nightmares whenever he sleeps. Of course, with this being Cyril, we don't actually know if he's joking, saying what Petunia wants to hear, or being honest. He didn't really have reason to mess with Petunia at that time, however, but again, Cyril is about as predictable as the stock market.

Speaking of unpredictable, there's also that picture that Petunia peeked at. You would think Cyril, a man who is a complete enigma, would do more than drag her out and throw her into Todd Alliso while chiding her for being a snoop, but Cyril's reaction was just that. In fact, he seemed angrier with Elijah for how he wanted the job done: slowly killing someone instead of doing it quickly. It says something that despite Petunia prying into his privacy, Cyril was content with dragging her away and tossing her into Todd after calling her a "bad girl". Very few things seem to actually bother him, likely a side effect of working as a mercenary. The only times we see Cyril genuinely angry are when he stabs that man in chapter 5, after he calls Cyril a rat, and then again when Todd makes light of his job while drunk. It makes sense, after all, it's a very dangerous and draining job. Then again, there is another instance where Cyril was angry, but he handled it in a completely different way; he was trying to get Todd and Petunia to visit him at home so they can finish things. Todd, however, is pretty adamant about not going and insults Cyril a few times for good measure. Cyril responds by essentially blackmailing Petunia into going so Todd will go with her; he tells Petunia that if she doesn't come, he'll tell Todd about Elijah and Meredith. Petunia agrees, which Cyril explains would mean it would just be Cyril and Petunia. "It'd be just a rendovous with me and the Mademoiselle," he explains while looking bashful and twirling his hair around his finger, which prompts Todd to remember Hana telling him that Cyril is the kind of man who would break any woman's heart. He agrees so Petunia won't alone, and Cyril quickly threatens them by saying if they don't show, he'll come and find them. The whole scene is incredibly childish, but it's also a good example of how Cyril always manages to get what he wants. He's emotionally manipulative and it is his job, so he's very good at it. It's not the most mature move but clearly Cyril's not the most mature adult.

Cyril likes doing what he wants but he's also pretty aware that he has to do certain things -- turns out he's scarily efficient at those things.

Though, we don't know if Cyril is his real name, which would mean he's even more efficent than we think.

Game Specific

Suitability:

Cyril is actually a mercenary in his canon, so this would be nothing new to him. Killing for money is mostly what he does, though he also does robbery and blackmail. He describes himself as a Jack-of-all-trades. His job has affected his abilities fairly well. Due to his line of work, he's a very skilled fighter, and he manages to take out a whole crowd of men on his own. I'll explain a little more on that later, but Cyril is, in general, strong enough to do his job. That in itself is note-worthy. Petunia's brother, Elijah, contacts him for a, in Elijah's words, "hate experiment."

You see, Cyril's a mercenary, and this is very important to remember because once you find out about his secret double life, you will see Cyril in a very, very different light. Cyril is adept at all of the things he's listed, which means he's capable of, in addition to murder, blackmailing and stealing. He's very good at all of these, to the point he very likely would charge extra if the task is too boring for him. The point is: He's a sleaze, and it shows in his abilities. He's a handsome devil and he'll prove it by stealing your stuff and killing you afterwards.

That said, while Cyril is a mercenary, he seems to favor guns to do the deed. In previously mentioned chapter five, Cyril takes out a group of four men on his own, at long distance, with a shotgun. He's quick, a sharp-eye and not a single man knows what hit him, even if he saw the guy next to him get shot. Cyril quickly fires off just four rounds, killing each man before he has a chance to retaliate. It is worth noting that the shotgun is not the most accurate gun in long range, and Cyril likely had access to guns that would allow for more accuracy at this range. The only other weapon he picks up is a knife, so this says something about his comfort with using a shotgun at long range. It says volumes about what a sharp eye he is, too, if he's capable of taking down four men in mere seconds with a shot gun.

Additionally, he's seen patrolling outside where Elijah is. Actually, that's how he meets Petunia (well, if you exclude his day job)-- he points a pistol to her, presses it against her cheek and tells her not to move, lest he blow her "pretty little face to pieces."

Cyril is very, very scary, is my point.

And while it likely doesn't count for much, he's probably got one hell of a liver. Cyril is a heavy drinker. Not an alcoholic, no, but he enjoys a good whiskey.

Weapon:

Cyril's weapon will be a Remington Wingmaster Model 870 Express Tactical 12ga shotgun. It is, as noted in the link, the most popular shotgun, and has been for a while. It is regarded as both a hunting gun and a self-defense gun, but it's also used in police forces and armed militaries. It's simple and efficient, easy to handle, and has 4 rounds in it. ... Basically, your standard shotgun, but don't expect it to bother him any.

Samples

Log/Third Person Sample:

It is inevitable that, when on the job, he gets a few punches thrown at him. Maybe a knife thrust at him, into him, if he's unlucky. Sometimes he gets a gun pointed at him. He's careful to avoid that, because one slip up means he's dead, and dying isn't exactly on his life of things to do. Unfortunately for death, the list is incredibly exclusive, and at all times it only includes, booze, women and work. The first two are his idea of fun, so it's not like one could call Cyril a stuffed shirt. The list might include work, but it's a list of things to do. Work is pretty important, after all.

The thing is, this time work leaves a worse taste in his mouth than usual. It's normal for people to fight back when they're being assaulted: No one wants to die. No matter how badly they don't want to die, though, Cyril has to afford the first two things on his list, and money talks. It might take a while, but the job is eventually over and done with and, not unlike the Grim Reaper, Cyril is kind enough to lead the target to the death.

The thing is, sometimes these targets are hardy and strong, capable of taking a swing at him, or they come in groups and they fight back. They fight back, and that's the worst part of it. He's only had a few people not struggle upon seeing him, seeing what he was doing, and he had to admit it was preferable. It was probably sad, maybe, the way those people just gave up on living, but who gives a shit? He's got a job to do, and he doesn't owe them anything. He's there to kill them, they're not resisting, might as well do them both a favor and put a bullet in their head. It's the quickest and easiest and it's the best he can offer in a situation like that. Not that, you know, he would offer. There's no point to offering a dead man a glass of water, is there?

Then there are those targets that knock him in the nose. They make him bleed, red on white and red in black. It pisses him off, the copper taste hot in his mouth and sticky on his tongue. It pisses him off more when they manage to struggle enough to get room to lay another punch on him that leaves a black and blue mark. Fuck, it really pisses him off when they do that, because then he has to explain away a goddamn black eye and that's really not fun. It's especially not fun to treat a black eye. He kind needs that eye, asshole, to see the road when he's on the clock at his other job. Got it? Of course they do, which is why they stab him in the arm and make him bleed there, too. Well, fuck you, he can just stab you a couple hundred times and be done with the whole thing.

That's the problem with this job, he thinks, people are too fuckin' well-built. People are built to deal with major stress, and have survival instincts. They can scream and fight back and survive, somehow. It's something that's been happening for years, now, before even his grandparents were born.

It puts him a shit mood. He goes home to the Eighth Lagoon, and he doesn't want to fucking deal with anything. He just wants a glass of scotch, the first aid kit and some silence. It's the natural reaction, isn't it? It's funny how he's having a natural reaction just like those guys were. It's almost ironic, or something, but you know, he doesn't care, because he had a job to do, not some sympathy to give out, so he sits down at the table and pours himself a glass. He gets the feeling Landon wants to ask about the gash on his arm, but he can tell the boy knows better because he doesn't. Good. He's not in the mood to talk. He just wants the liquor to burn his throat the same way his nose burns with every inhale and exhale.

Instead, he sits there and he takes out his tools, one by one. He wipes himself down, first, because the blood is getting in his mouth again. It doesn't burn but it tastes like metal, like iron, and it's unpleasant. Who the fuck eats metal? Cyril doesn't, so it's not important if someone does or doesn't. He wipes his nose and mouth and he wonders what to do about his black eye. He doesn't think there's much to do about it, though, so he leaves it be. His nose isn't broken, just bloody. It'll pass soon. Maybe once he's drunk it'll stop and he can sleep.

It's a hard job, but someone has to do it, don't they? People throw cash at him for everything. "Steal this painting from Madrid," they say as they wave a wad cash in front of him. "Blackmail this politician," they ask, and he doesn't even have to exert any energy to do it. What is it with politicians and being greasy fucking liars? They ask him to kill someone and that's normal. We all want someone dead, dollie, just depends on if you can pay to have them murdered. Turns out, quite a few people can afford to have the knowledge that they had someone killed. He doesn't know how they cope with it. He doesn't care. Once the job is done and over with, he only contacts them once to let them know the job is over and that's that. Some of them look shocked, some of them look delighted. Thing is, once the high is over, that's when the nightmares start and -- the point is, you can't predict how a person is going to react once they've killed someone. Cyril might be the one pulling the trigger, but he's the middle man. He's more like the bullet in the gun than anything. There has to be a command given, something to spring him into action.

It's not fucking easy, but really, there's no one but the client to impress and it's not like he's going to be mates with someone he's worked with. There's rules for things like that, and he's not one for slipping up.

"Shit," he remarks as he inspects the gash on his upper arm. "I might need stitches." He pulls out the needle and thread from the box, and downs his glass in one gulp. He'll need the alcohol, in a moment.

Journal Entry/First Person Sample: Here's his tag at Holly Heights, if that's cool?