#/// Gray’s mentor that I’ve mentioned a few times and finally made a profile for him

[grayfxce]

Character profile:

Sir Daniel Finley

“ A gentleman but an enigmatic figure shrouded in layers of mystery... ”

Gray first met this gentleman after meeting the Kunoichi, Kasumi. Upon falling asleep, Gray awoke to find himself in a dreamscape where the gentleman revealed himself to Gray. Persuading the entity with calculated words that he knew Gray would without a doubt be reeled in with, Sir Finley took the emotionally unstable entity under his wing with the entity’s goal to become strong enough to be someone that could protect the ones he cared about. Despite being Gray’s mentor, the entity knew very little in comparison to what Daniel knew of him…

Daniel Finley is a charismatic and mysterious gentleman with slick back brown hair and a goatee. His stature is commanding yet friendly. He dons a well-tailored black and white pin-striped suit that enhances his impressive physique, speaking volumes about his keen sense of style. He has been invisibly intertwined with Gray's narrative right from the start — silently observing — calculating the apt moment to shape this raw entity. Being empathetic of Gray’s inner turmoil and understanding that trauma could be a potent catalyst for maturation— He patiently waited for Gray to reach a point where he was ready - emotionally mature enough - to embrace his tutelage. His entry into Gray's life bears testament to careful thought and planning interwoven around the concept of ‘there’s always a time for everything’.

To put it simply: Over one 'real-world' night – they spent what felt like two intense years honing skills && building character within the dreamscape. Molding an immature, broken boy into a budding, disciplined martial artist over the course of one real-world night.

His voice carries sophistication and warmth that can put anyone at ease instantly. It's smooth as velvet but bears an underlying tone of authority—reflective of someone who yields knowledge beyond common understanding.

Sir Daniel Finley is evidently patient and composed. He seems to possess an intense level of wisdom, more than he lets on.

A man whose smile barely leaves his face; even when delving into grave talks—maintaining an air around him that feels light-hearted yet dauntingly serious —a duality seldom achieved by many.

Sir Daniel Finley exudes a magnetic allure. His fighting style could be described as graceful and precise, much like the delicate dance of wielding a rapier—a finesse that belies its lethality—like a ballet of mortal combat, his strikes as graceful as a conductor conducting a symphony. His martial arts style possesses an elegance that one could only liken to a dance with rapiers—swift, neat and lethal. His movements are fluid yet encompass firmness that makes him appear untouchable—an epitome of control and mastery over one's physical capabilities.

Every movement Finley makes obscures his true intentions with mesmerizing performances, causing opponents like Gray to feel as if they’re boxing with phantoms. A testament to his incomparable mastery over martial arts is when he deflects assaults single-handedly while savoring tea without spilling a drop—an display of resolute calm amid volatile chaos.

Daniel moves with such speed that he creates after images—a literal phantom blurred by the swift grace of its movements. Even at these moments when they cross blows, those directed towards him pass through as if striking air itself — further highlighting his abilities;

Daniel is a reservoir of unfathomable power yet carries an air about him so disarming that you wouldn’t suspect until witnessing it firsthand. This attributes enigma to his character - both terrifying and awe-inspiring simultaneously.

His battling prowess transcends physical excellence alone: He understands Tōshi—the power flowing within each entity—akin to chakra/chi—in exquisite detail—not just harnessing but teaching it && mastering it beyond anything else Gray has seen. Although he holds back certain aspects during training sessions with Gray—thereby maintaining the mystical allure around him—it's done so for encouraging independent thinking rather than “breeding carbon copies”.

Adding further layers to his complex persona, Sir Daniel Finley's stern && jovial exterior belies a dry and playful sense of humor that has a knack for surprising Gray. His nonchalance about profound knowledge carries the subtle thrill of unpredictability — an additional facet that keeps those around him on their toes as when Gray earnestly engaged in hunting down mentors skilled in Nanto Seiken—a rare martial art form from 'Fist of the North Star'—it was Daniel who casually revealed his familiarity with such combat style—or at least something akin to it using Tōshi.

Upon Gray asking why he didn’t mention this before, his seemingly jovial remark, “You didn’t ask, my friend” which held much more than jest: It subtly demonstrates the profound depths of Daniel’s wisdom—that there are sides to him yet unexplored and bits of knowledge not yet shared. This revelation underscores his vast understanding and mastery over varied techniques - each adding another string to his bow while inviting intrigue around what else might he be concealing. An enigmatic Pandora’s Box waiting to be unraveled…

[dawnover-dusk]

Starling { Seungcheol } (3)

genre: crime!au, mystery

word count: 1,463

summary: when monsters from 5 years past come back to play

warning: death, blood, if you can’t watch crime dramas do not read

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“Please tell me you have something.” Seungcheol gazed at his frustrated team as he spoke on his phone in the corner of the conference room. Boxes of case files and evidence bags littered the round table while Jun stood at the board at the front of the room, pinning up photos of past paintings. Jihoon, with a new laptop, was typing away to isolate the video and the voice recording while writing a code to counter the SD card’s virus.

“Lab results are in. You’re not going to like this; the guy was in the system. Jiyong Kwon, misdemeanor for vandalism when he was a teenager. Not much of a history after that. I’ve sent you his file.”

“Thanks, Wonwoo,” Seungcheol sighed and hung up. He turned to the group of detectives occupying the room. “We have a name: Jiyong Kwon. Joshua and Jeonghan, review his file and talk to any living relatives and associates. Jun, it looks like our perp was a graffiti artist, so take a look at his art too. Jihoon, are you ready?”

The detective in question nodded and gestured for Jun to pause his work. Minghao, with his curiosity overcoming his restraint, followed the taller man and peered behind him at Jihoon’s screen. The sound of birds followed by a hoarse voice cut through the hum of the office.

“His voice sounds regretful,” Jun mused.

“Well, he did murder six women in the span of ten months,” Jihoon spat sarcastically.

“No, if he was regretful of the killings, he would’ve confessed. But he mentions his ‘mentor’ status first, so he probably feels regretful towards the mentee in some way. Perhaps the partnership fell apart? And he mentions ‘responsibility,’ like he’s been taking responsibility for his mentee’s actions—”

“So what, is the mentee the one doing the dirty work?”

“No, he would probably feel more resentment if he was taking the blame for murders. But it sounds like he’s taking credit for something—” Jun snapped his fingers and rushed to the board, pulling out his tablet in the process to look at the works which Jiyong had been arrested for. His eyes widened and he waved Seungcheol over. “These last two paintings are by a different person! There’s a precision in the brush strokes and blending not present in Kwon’s work, but you would never know if you weren’t looking for it. The writing that appears in the newest case also copies Kwon’s handwriting. This subordinate is an excellent forger.”

“Seungcheol,” Minghao called. The lieutenant turned to face the bomb specialist, surprised that the quiet young man had spoken up. “I don’t know if this is important, but I’ve been watching this video over again and at the 46 second mark, that’s not a normal starling call.” Jihoon replayed the moment over again. “That’s a crow call. Starlings are invasive and known for their mimicry—”

Jihoon shot Minghao a look while the latter shrugged in response. “What, I like birds.” Jun’s eyes widened as he ran over to his friend, grabbing his head and planting a kiss on his cheek. Minghao stared, horrified, and mumbled about workplace harassment while Jun bounced excitedly to Seungcheol.

“I can write up a preliminary profile. I won’t mess up this time.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Seungcheol responded, patting the psychologist on the shoulder. Jun gave a wan smile and returned to his position at the board, marker poised and scrawling out messy notes.

Joshua and Jeonghan entered the small business with their badges out. The heavily tattooed man at the front spared them cursory glances and continued counting the bills from the register tray without a word of greeting. The pair put away their identification and Joshua cleared his throat. “Did a Jiyong Kim use to work here?”

The man stacked the bills back into the register and slid the tray back into the machine. “That son of a bitch finally got arrested or died, yeah?”

The two detectives exchanged glances. “Excuse me?”

“I haven’t seen that bastard for years. Just stopped showing up to work, no warning. Had to offer all his clients tattoos on the house since he was booked months in advance.”

“Do you know if he had any friends or clients who would know more about his disappearance?”

“Nah, he was a temperamental artist all right. Kept to himself. I think he always wanted to be famous, but I guess being big in the tattoo community wasn’t enough.”

A tinny ringtone echoed throughout the empty tattoo parlor. Joshua excused himself while Jeonghan nodded to the man in thanks, following his partner out and into the car.

Seungcheol’s voice came through on speakerphone. “Jun’s original profile holds for the first Starling killer. Male, fascinated with death, saw his crimes as art, but not terribly sociable or strong enough given his pattern of transients and runaways.”

“I think we can confirm that Jiyong Kwon was the guy. We unsealed his medical records and found that he was diagnosed with cancer right before the first murder happened, and his former boss said he wanted to be famous. Probably wanted to go out with a bang.”

Jeonghan followed Joshua’s soft voice with a scoff. “You know, for someone who we couldn’t catch, the motive is still so utterly boring.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line as a door slammed and footsteps shuffled. Seungcheol returned to the phone. “Well, boys, be careful what you wish for. They found another body.”

The line went dead as Jeonghan started up the unmarked black car, racing towards the address texted a few moments later.

You found yourself standing in a cemetery in Queens with your boots crunching in the melting snow. Your windbreaker did nothing to keep you warm from the winter chill as you turned to take in your surroundings: crowded rows of tombstones, bare black trees against a gray sky, cars whizzing by. The cemetery was small, entrapped by three major highways in a triangle, and you idly wondered if those who were lain to rest here expected that their eternal slumber would eventually be disturbed by the noises of city traffic.

Seungcheol’s eyes locked onto yours and he smiled warmly, causing your chest to tighten with fondness. He was holding two cups of coffee in his bare hands and held one out to you. You took the cup gratefully and held it with both of your hands while bouncing a little on your toes to keep you from shivering.

You were staring at the crime scene when a cloth suddenly draped around your shoulders. The weight of the scarf surprised you, and you turned to see Seungcheol, now with his zipper pulled all the way up, leaving your side to speak with Wonwoo.

Chuckling, you finally made your way over to the body, pulling on latex gloves after wedging the paper cup into the snow by your feet. Mingyu was already taking notes on the state of the body.

“First time in the field,” you commented. “How was the commute?”

“I only live a fifteen-minute drive away,” Mingyu shrugged. “Must’ve been terrible coming from Manhattan traffic, though.”

You nodded in agreement and smiled. “Okay, newbie, tell me what you’ve got.” 

The younger doctor walked you through his findings while you confirmed them. The corpse lying in front of you was of a young man, early to mid-twenties, with numerous stab wounds to his chest and abdomen. The snow around the body had melted into a sickly mixture of slush and blood. The nearest tombstone had a canvas taped to it with another painting of a starling. 

“What do you think, babe?” 

From your squatted position, you reached your arm back to hit Seungcheol’s knee. He yelped while Mingyu looked between the two of you. “Wait, he’s the boyfriend?”

“So much for keeping work and personal life separate,” you said. “I would estimate time of death around a month ago. There’s a puncture wound in the neck, so probably the same mechanism of death as the previous murders. Can’t say for sure but stab wounds look post-mortem.” 

“Makes sense why he wasn’t discovered until now. The cemetery’s been closed ever since the blizzard, and they only started cleaning out this sector at the beginning of the week.” 

You heard the faint crunches of snow as two more people sidled up to Seungcheol, peering at the crime scene. A velvety voice teased, “How are you two lovebirds?” and stepped back just in time to dodge another one of your well-aimed punches to his kneecaps. Joshua laughed before commenting, “Looks like overkill to me. Definite rage, and aside from the starling, clearly a different person at work.” 

Jeonghan quietly agreed. “Looks like our new Starling is forging their own identity.”