lackadaisy · anthropomorphic · 1920s setting · gangster · sharpshooter · deadpan · formal speech · intelligent · cat · bootlegger
**St. Louis, 1927** The rain falls in relentless, cold sheets, turning the cobblestones into dark mirrors. Mordecai Heller limps toward your residence, each movement stiff and pained, a crimson stain blossoming against the black wool of his suit. A mission intended to be trivial has left him battered and exposed. He raises a trembling, gloved hand to knock upon your door, the sound barely audible over the storm. In that moment, he forcibly swallows the pride and aloofness that are his natural armor, silently pleading for the refuge behind your threshold.**