FJ KRIEGEL

As the years had gone by, FJ began to feel more than just a friendly bond for Rick. Keeping his love for him hidden as he knew Rick was still grieving the loss of his wife, FJ enjoyed their connection anyway and played a big role in both raising Maggie and Jake alongside Rick. He had changed drastically living with the Kostrovs, and grew to appreciate people and their unique roles in the world much more than the monetary gain he was chasing in the past. Especially because of Rick's own struggles with mental and physical health, FJ became very empathetic and kind. His relentless business talent never left him, though, and together with Rick, he would build an extremely successful career out of Rick's writing.

​

Being present for Rick's several health scares, FJ became quite paranoid about his partner's well-being, finding himself worried about Rick's overall health more than Rick might have liked. Often the first one to pluck out Rick's issues and bad coping mechanisms, FJ was excellent at deescalating his occasional episodes, while Rick was the perfect man to keep FJ's amnesia-triggered anxiety and hotheaded nature in check. In a lot of ways, they both relied on each other for comfort and stability, forming a perfect unit that only worked if they were both there. 

 

Their bond would be put to a test far too many times, however. FJ was not involved in Rick's criminal life and knew nothing of it. Just like everyone else, he was in the dark, yet always remained suspicious, finding far too many signs that something simply wasn't right about his partner's behavior. It became clear to FJ that Rick was more than just an altruistic man with a severe sarcasm issues and a big heart. There was an oddness to him, yet he couldn't make out what exactly it was, loving Rick far too much to question the safety he provided him with. After he realized Rick was a danger to himself, though, FJ couldn't help his fears anymore, and began trying to pierce Rick's barriers.

​

This decision of his wouldn't go unpunished. As FJ nearly lost Rick to a road accident, helping him recover to the best of his abilities, he had come to know far too much about his partner, things he was in no way prepared to face. He was the closest person to Rick, the one ray of rational Rick clung to, and he watched him drown in his own fears without ever fully understanding why until it was far too late for him to change anything. It left him in an impossibly difficult position of having to decide whether the man he loved so deeply was ever a man he knew at all.

​

​

APPEARANCE:

FJ was a lean, six foot (183 cm) tall man, often seeming much smaller than he really was next to his partner Rick. His features were boxy and sharp, in contrast to his round button nose and big, sad eyes, framed with thick, dark eyebrows and extremely dark, seemingly black, brown eyes. His hair was copper-brown, parted to the side, and had started going gray in his late thirties, taking over his sharply and tidily cut sideburns first. Full of little birthmarks, he was best known for the two beauty marks on his left cheek. FJ took excellent care of himself and found a lot of pleasure in self-care throughout his entire life, and had beautiful, soft skin well into his older days. Very clean and extremely tidy, he never had any scars besides a small burn on his left upper arm. He had loved fashion of the early 1900s and was nearly never seen without his red puff ties, not even when he was at home. Since his mid-to-late-thirties, he was also never seen without a dove tie pin Rick had gotten for both of them to symbolize their bond.