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❝the world gets cold and lonely when no one's around ❞
Evan smiled at her. He couldn't talk much about his past. The ex mercenary couldn't really talk about it at all. Everything he had been doing since age 19 was strictly classified. Strictly. The company would definitely find out if he was running his mouth to every cute girl at the bar. He didn't want that. Not after how he left like he did.
"Life's been uh... Interesting. But yeah, I must have done alright I mean look at this fine establishment." Evan smirked at his own words. It was nothing more than a bar. Just a plain, old, by-the-book bar.
❝the world gets cold and lonely when no one's around ❞
Evan never really considered himself changing as he grew older. Once he manifested he always felt the same. Well, not at first. In the beginning he was buzzing like a bee from place to place almost high off of his Physical Prime. Nowadays, he was used to it. Sure he could never really get sore, and it would take another plague to get him sick but it all just felt...normal.
"Different huh? Yeah. I can thank my ability for that. After high school I uh-" Evan had to keep it vague. He knew he did. "Well lets just say I started working out... a lot." He rubbed the scruff on his face. "This is new though," He paused with a sigh, "It only took until about age 23 to grow in."
Evan smirked at the brunette. Alex's compliment was quirky and comically put. "I appreciate that. Truly." He told her as he brought his glass of water up to his lips for a drink.
❝ the world gets cold and lonely when no one's around❞
Evan shrugged. "I suppose", he said breaking off into a stare. "Maybe they would rather just go numb than to feel whats inside, truly haunting them." He too-sometimes were worse than other-would sit at home drinking glasses of jack trying to drown the guilt and pain. The loneliness inside.
He stood there in silence for just a moment long enough for him to realized how oddly deep he had just gotten. Evan shook it off. "Yeah well, I shouldn't condemn that poor women as my practice dummy should I?" He cracked a forced grind at the joke trying to change the subject entirely. He turned away to stack some vodka on the shelf and asked the brunette:
"What time do we close tonight, again?" One of the many questions he asked, yet knew the answer to in hopes of saving himself, from himself.
❝the world gets cold and lonely when no one's around ❞
The blonde cracked a smile at her response. "Me? Piss off?" He raised his hands in the air and stepped off jokingly. He reached down and grabbed another glass to wipe down and made his way back over.
How long did it take him to recognize her? No time at all. His mind had been trained to categorized faces directly with names and association. "It took me a little bit." He scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "Ya know, it's just been so long since high school." Lying about what he knew what more of a habit than anything. Also, he didn't want to be creepy of course. With that said, she already seemed a little awkward. Evan knew it was nothing he had done so he tried to help with some sarcasm. What better solution?
"Ah, thanks. It's taken years to perfect that one. Very complex drink."
❝ the world gets cold and lonely when no one's around❞
Evan worked away. He always tried to get lost in it, as he did with work previously. Truly, it was the greatest distraction. Busying himself took away the possibility of actual self examination. Evan Smoak had already accomplished a depressing year and a half of that. He was determined to never let his demons get the best of him like that again. There was no reason for it.
He heard a voice as he made another drink for a second costumer. Evan continued pouring. Luxanna Cross. His learning curve for names was non existent. A previous life didn't let him forget names or faces. She was cute, as Evan found most women. The brunette had seemed nice enough, though he'd barely had anytime to get to know her at this point... Anyone can seem decent on the surface.
There was one thing that stuck out to Evan. Her voice. Luxanna had a soft, soothing voice that warmed Evans body. Little things like that stuck out to him.
He passed the drink across the bar. "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I just fucked up that martini." Evan moved next to her and leaned up against the back shelf . "I mean, its her sixth one so I'm guessing her quality gauge, at this point, is out the window." He cracked a smirk as he looked over to the woman with the red blouse and horribly done eyeshadow.
❝the world gets cold and lonely when no one's around ❞
She seemed confused so he could help but crack a grin as he mind seemed to be searching. As he stood there enrolled in her facial expressions he recognized her. Layla Harlow Alex Harper. She was a little younger than him he recalled. A pretty one for sure.
No fucking way? He smirked, "You know you're in a bar ri-". Somehow the first remark was a mistake. Evan cracked a chuckle. "Coming right up." He walked over to pull the jack off the shelf and fixed her the drink. He placed it in front of her and whispered, "You don't happen to have superpowers do you?" He leaned over the bar and raised a brow.
He couldn't stay serious. That was always a funny way to reintroduce himself to old Bellefonte faces. Most didn't know how to respond.
❝the world gets cold and lonely when no one's around ❞
Another night at the bar. The job had grown on him. He enjoyed serving drinks and talking to costumers. Very laid back and stress free. Tonight had been easy nobody was too fucked up yet.
His eyes followed a brunette as she walked in a sat away from the rest. He stopped wiping the inside of a beer mug and made his way down to the end of the bar. He threw the towel over his shoulder with a calm,"What can I do you for?" She stayed staring at him. "Uh-" His eyes shifted from side to side. "A drink, can I get you a drink?"
He didn't even take the time to recognize the girl as he stood their waiting for her to say something.
❝ the world gets cold and lonely when no one's around❞
So... this was work. This was real work. Rules, regulations, hourly wages, a boss. That was really something he'd have to get used to. He was happy though. The past year he had some time to think about his life. Evan took a good look at what he wanted to do now that his mercenary days were in the past and over with. His life hadn't been risked in a little over a year. He had convinced himself it was a good thing. Safe and comfortable was a good thing.
Moving to Oregon was the first thing that he didn't have to convince himself of. Being near Bellefonte made him feel at home even if it wasn't in Montana. In actuality, he hated Montana. Oregon far better suited him. The past few months he had been settling in, getting all of his duck in a row. It kept him busy for awhile. But then the boredom came. His craving for a purpose came. It wasn't his fault, it was ingrained in his being.
A job would do. Bartending seemed like an exciting one. He figured if any bar fights broke out he could handle anything to come his way and drunks sure were good entertainment.
Tonight was his only his third night on the job. The drink he poured was 'the strongest this ya got'.
"That's the best I can do for you." He passed the drink the poor sap across the bar.
► What is your plotting philosophy? I am a fan of all plots. Most ideas I am down with. However, I am about character development. I prefer to stay away from the stale meet and greets that end up as nothing more than an excuse to thread. With that said, I am not opposed to two characters making small talk in a quick exchange as long as there is an end goal or a general plot we are working towards.
ACTIVITY
► How often can you reply to a thread? It all depends on my muse. I hate to say it, but it's true. I try to stay as consistent as I can but when I force the posts they come out subpar and bland... Quality over quantity right! I also am working full time and schooling part time so things do get hectic at times which might slow me down.
► How long are you willing to wait for a reply to a thread? An eternity. I am in no rush whatsoever.
► What about volleying? Case by case basis.
► Tagging Tag me until I get my lazy ass out of bed and respond. Spam me with all the tags.
► Contacting you? I may throw up a plot page once I muster the motivation. The easiest and fastest way to reach me is on Discord.
► Anything else? Nah gangsta.
LIMITS
► Godmodding I am pretty easy going, not too much of a stickler on godmodding as long as it stays true to my character. For fights and things of that nature I would like to plan it out beforehand. Also, asking is always the best way.
► Romance Romance is great. It's a huge part of character development, I think. I enjoy planning ahead of time as well as letting romantic plots develop natually. I enjoy all romantic plots. Rip my bae's heart out or coddle it with sweet love all the way to marriage, I love it all. Rejection, one night stands, age differences, sounds good to me.
► Violence Bring on the violence. I prefer to leave ftb for the sex stuff but I'm not opposed to it if something gets too gnarly for PG-13. ► Sex I prefer to stay away from deliberate smut writing. Just not my thing. But, I'm not afraid to let things get hot and heavy. When the pants are off and things are taking to the bed, it's probably best just to fade to black. For the PG-13 regulations, of course.
AGE: 26 GENDER: Male ORIENTATION: Heterosexual POSITION: Bartender, Ex-Mercenary
♦ THE ABILITY ♦
POWER: Physical Prime Evan's bodily functions are enhanced to the pinnacle of human conditioning; therefore, his strength, speed, stamina, senses, agility, reflexes, accuracy, longevity, durability, healing time, and flexibility are greatly heightened to the human body's fullest capacity.
Peak-humans, people like Evan, are superior over the most conditioned of Olympic-Level athletes and normal people. Some examples of his enchantments are the abilities to: punch an individual through a wooden/thin metal door, break thin steel bars with his bare hands, fast enough to catch-up or outrun moving vehicles, he can exert himself to peak capacity; therefore, eliminating build-up fatigue chemicals, producing top-endurance and lung capacity; agile enough to climb the tallest of buildings, leap to high feats into the air and distant yards; reflexive enough to quickly dodge incoming attacks and react better to fast motions, accurate enough to achieve smaller and further distant targets, capable of living longer than the average-person, peak durability, he can heal himself in shorter-periods of time, flexible enough to co-ordinate his limbs optimally and his combat skills easily outdo most professionals.
LIMITATIONS: His ability is merely physical. His mental abilities are average. His advanced combat and tactile skills have been achieved through experience not an advanced learning capacity. Only two aspects of his ability can kick in at once in a normal state (has been improved over the years). However, in an adrenaline rush (depending on intensity) all of them can be accessed, need be. His abilities are merely human attribute taken to the fullest extent of a human's capacity. Nothing about his powers are "superhuman". For example, he wouldn't beat a super strength mutation in a contest of sheer strength, or a super agility mutant in a contest of pure agility. He cannot decide which part of his abilities to use. Evan's subconscious chooses what he focuses on and what is needed to fit best in a certain situation. He is still able to be cut and bruised, though he heals and is more durable around a fifth above the average human.
SIDE-EFFECTS: Increase calorie intake and need for sleep to compensate for his heightened level of operation. Muscle tensing if not exercised. Overstimulation and fatigue in intense situations when he abilities peaks. Because his mind is not as quick as his heightened reaction time, it can seem like a twitch because of his subconscious kicking in to react for him.
♦ THE FREEFORM ♦
Paul and Heather Smoak were killed in the dead of night leaving their 6-year-old son parentless. Tragically, their house had collapsed in the dead of night amist an extreme earthquake. Evan, luckily, wasn’t home. He had spent the night at aunt Jenna’s house while his parents had enjoyed a wonderful night out together. Little did they know their own ceiling would crush them to death in their sleep.
Evan was more confused than anything. At his age, he wasn’t able to grasp the weight of what had actually happened much less feel the full effects of the incident. His aunt, Jenna, was there to comfort and ease most of his trauma.
She was the only close family he had. From there, she ended up adopting him and taking on life as a single mom. She dropped out of college and took on two jobs to support the both of them. Raising him was a wild ride. The both of them had to mature fast. There wasn’t any room for either of them to be childish. Jenna was barely a grown up herself for most of his upbringing. This slowly allowed Evan to-away from Jenna- turn into somewhat of a wild child. He was never criminal, just mischievous. Always wisecracking and always spontaneous. He never gave Jenna a hard time. He was always respectful but the two basically raised each other. They had a mutual understand of what they meant to each other. The good times and bad, they made it through. Their bond was inseparable.
At least, they thought it was inseparable, until one day when everything changed.
Evan never could stand bullies. One day, when Evan was in middle school, he peered into the distance only to see a group of boys slowly gaining closer and closer as he sat across the field. Each one with anger plastered across their face. No one broke there lock on him. The boys mumbled amongst themselves snarling comments and crude remarks about the things they would do to him. Typical scene, really.
The leader of the group approach Ev with nothing more than a smack upside the head. “We know it was you fucker! We know you did this you little bitch!” The big one yelled inches away from Evan’s face while the rest of the boys reassured him with more name-calling. They all slowly raised up their soaking wet backpacks in pure rage.
Evan took the abuse calmly and tilted his head to get a better view of all the soaking wet property they were oh-so upset about.
Earlier, Evan had left class early for an “emergency pee break”. In reality, he had snatched their bags from the P.E. locker room and thrown them into a giant puddle outside where it had rained the previous night. Weeks earlier, Evan witness the same boys beating a smaller kid form the class senseless. The reason? Reminding the teacher of the homework that she had forgot to assign. Sure Evan wasn’t fond of the kid’s doing but no one should be punished like that.
Anyways, Evan was fed up with the previous beating taken, yet still waited for the right time to make a run for it. That’s right. Evan was very scrawny. There was no way he could take these guys down. Also, he was a coward.
As they continued to taunt him Evan stayed until the biggest of the boys bent down and grabbed him by the shirt unexpectedly. “You are gonna wish you were never born you little prick!” The boy yelled into his face with a finger jammed behind him. Evan braced as the kid raised his fist for a punch. He had never let anything get this far. A spike of adrenaline rushed through his body and something set into place. Little did he know that at that moment, when everything clicked, he had manifested. Evan Smoak became a mutant in that split second.
Before he could even think, his body reacted. Evan threw an elbow straight to the boys face and pinned him with one knee on his chest. The punches started to fly as the boys face began to bloody. Not knowing what they were dealing with, the others jumped on his back and began to punch wildly. Evan managed to throw a series of punches hitting every necessary in order to break away. He definitely couldn’t have taken them all. Mentally at least.
He grabbed his bag and sprinted home. He couldn’t tell Jenna. No. She always had too much on her plate to begin with.
Later that week, Evan could do everything better. He was soon recruited to Bellefonte and everything was made clear. Sure Jenna was devastated to see him go, but Evan Smoak was a mutant. He woke up every morning feeling amazing, like he could do anything. He was the epitome of health. He performed amazingly in every aspect of athleticism he could think of. At fifteen, his was in the his prime. It was some sort of miracle.
He was doing better there even though he missed Jenna and home. Bellefonte made him feel like he belonged somewhere.
Evan’s life took another huge turn when he met Mr. Conner. It was career day. Evan was fifteen or so. Still adjusting. He wandered through the booths when an all black booth aught his eye. He glanced over towards a tall man in a black suit. It was towards the end of the year when people where graduating and Evan just happened to be in a tank top and shorts. Apparently he had caught the man's eye like he did most on hot summer days. It wasn't like he was a bodybuilder but his mutation allowed him to be in absolute best shape for his personal body type and age. His lean yet built features showed every muscle. Conner knew that he wasn’t getting the proper exercise for his potential. In order to grow, he would have to be on a strict and rigorous workout schedule if he ever wanted to progress.
The man had asked him if he was interested in becoming a contractor and Evan gave a simple shrug. His ability was questioned. "Physical Prime." Evan told him. Sure, it wasn't the most flashy ability on the outside. He couldn't shoot fireballs or read minds but it sure was useful. The man asked him to do a few simple tasks and his interest was grabbed. Evan can only barely remember a man throwing a few tennis balls at him or something but whatever he did, worked. Before Evan knew it, Mr. Conner had given him all his contact information and told him that he would be waiting for him to graduate. Evan had something to look forward to. Something to work for. After the fair was over, Evan started receiving checks from the successful businessman. Evan had told him that he was an orphan and was living off the academy but it wasn't for pity. He didn't even know to think that something like that was possible.
Drew changed his life. Paid for his first car and all of his expenses until he turned eighteen. The two exchanged many short phone calls as Mr. Conner's made sure he was training hard and doing well in school. The man from the fair gave him purpose. Evan couldn't help but grow a somewhat of a father like connection towards the man. One sided or not, it was all he had.
After graduation, Evan started his promised training with the company. Drew had forwarded his specific regimen to Evan’s trainer which had helped immensely in most of the initial training. Mr. Conner kept a close eye out.
He showed a remarkable response to the training right away. Before he knew it, Evan was making his way up. He performed immaculately on almost every mission. His great work favored him among the other contractors and also put a few bucks in his pocket. As soon as the cash started coming in, so did the large checks that went out to his aunt Jenna. He knew how hard she had worked while he was a kid and this was payment for it all.
Drew Conner trusted Evan with some of the most sensitive information and gave him top priority on every mission. His seven years at the company were the best of his life. It was his niche. He became addicted to the action and genuinely liked making a difference that he could actually watch happen. All in all, he was Conner's golden boy and he never wanted anything more.
Everything was going just as smoothly as every other year when Drew disappeared. Never left a note, never said goodbye. The company's CEO position was switched over to man's son. Evan couldn't believe that Conner would just leave and cut all contact. I mean how could Evan have the same passion with the brat of a son that was no in charge? Once Conner's was gone, the whole meaning and purpose of why he was with the company in the first place just completely diminished. It got him thinking that he had been at fighting bad guys for long enough. It was time for a break. A change. Something new, he told himself.
So, he left Helios without a resignation just as Drew had done and decided to start a new life. Evan had plenty of money so for the first year, at 24, he traveled the country and some of the world. He just took a year to experience it all but found that his life lacked structure or a purpose, something that he'd had every since Bellefonte. More than anything, he missed home.
Since then he's back working as a bartender. He doesn't have to work but what else is going to keep him busy?
♦ THE PLAYER ♦
USERNAME: Rook AGE GROUP: Newborn. EXPERIENCE: First day on the job. WHERE DID YOU FIND US? It was a dark and stormy night...