forum Machinations of the Mind // Roleplay with Eris

Started February 02, 2020 by Deleted user

tune

Edit topic

@Nigori-Sake

I got a template

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Height:

Weight:

Sexuality:

Appearance:

Usual Outfit:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Backstory:

Fears:

Other:

Name: Ryan Fairfax

Age: 19 years

Gender: Male

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 210 lbs

Appearance: He had shortcropped hair, so short that in certain lighting he appears bald. His eyebrows, however, are a dark brown, along with the 7 or 8 hairs that sprout from his chin when he doesn't shave for a month. Despite his thick, muscled arms and legs, his stomach and chest have a certain softness to them, and his face is framed by a thin layer of chub. It would make his imposing physical statue more approachable if it wasn't for his sharp, judging hazel eyes and permanent scowl. Resting bitch face didn't accurately describe is typical expression. If one were to get close enough to him, they'd find that one of his arms was a convincing-looking clockwork facsimile.

Usual Outfit:

(That's pretty much him with long hair)

Personality: Ryan is the type of person to make the decision if he likes a person or not based on his first look of them. And more often then not, he doesn't like what he sees. He barely makes any friends, but it's by choice. People just…aren't his thing. However, a favor done for him never goes forgotten. He will go above and beyond to repay the smallest thing done for him.

Likes: The feel of metal under his hands, working with tools, and sweets

Dislikes: People. Like….all people.

Backstory: Ryan's parents were, surprise surprise, blacksmiths, making their living selling small metal toys they made in their home forge. However, Ryan saw more in those gears, pulleys and wires than just toys. At nine, he had made his first clockwork engine. It ran for about 5 seconds before falling apart, but it was longer than either of his parents could ever manage. They encouraged his endeavors, seeing the potential in him that they never had. Even when he lost his left arm in a freak explosion, they continued to support him. For his submission test into Illyria, he simply showed them his clockwork arm he had fashioned years ago, and was admitted immediately.

Fears: Wasting his potential.

Other: Nah

Name: Elanthea "Thea" Renaud

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Height: 5'6

Weight: 120 lbs

Appearance: Thick blonde hair that was once long, but she has since cut it herself into a more boyish style. Although it is still a bit on the longer side, it is jaggedly cut to frame her face and because it is so short now it curls slightly. She has deep brown eyes, that are sharp and stern, surrounded by thick lashes and framed by light brown brows. Her features are sharp, high cheekbones, thin pert nose, straight jaw, and thinner lips. She is rarely called beautiful at first glance, she's just to angry looking, but she is an attractive woman. She is thin for her age, and without the corsets and dresses she is forces to wear, she really barely has a feminine curve, it's there just not as pronounced as others, and she certainly likes it that way.

Usual Outfit:

Worn with a floor length coat.

Personality: Thea is incredibly intelligent and cunning, sometimes to the point of ruthlessness. She has an ability to project a cold exterior, despite the fact that she feels deeply and passionately about many issues. Although she is highly skilled in most everything she attempts, Thea has a tendency to be a bit hot-headed. She has a sharp wit and equally sharp tongue, which she can use to her advantage, although it can also get her into trouble. She chafes against authority but generally does what she needs to, regardless of the cost. Thea trusts and loves very few people, but she is fiercely loyal to those she does, turning frighteningly vindictive when they are hurt. Despite her vindictiveness, ruthlessness, and seeming coldness, Thea is actually quite compassionate towards those who suffer and those she loves. She can be quite kind and caring but rarely anyone ever sees that side of her.

Likes: Chemistry, sciences, knowlege, books, tea, cigarettes

Dislikes: fancy parties, dresses,

Backstory: Thea and her twin brother Marius were born to a wealthy doctor and his wife. From a young age Thea expressed an interest in her father's practice and she could be frequently found shadowing him around his private hospital. After an accident that left her scarred across her left leg, hip and partically on her stomach, Thea was forbidden to spend time at the hospital anymore. Her father's brother, a scientist, pitied Thea and allowed her to come to his lab with him where her love for chemistry was born. Her Uncle taught her everything he knew and she quickly became his star pupil mixing chemistry and clockwork machines. Unfortunately, Illyria was strong in it's was of not acceping women into their halls, so Thea devised a plan–along with her playboy brother Marius–to have him apply and her study in his place. So far the plan has worked like a charm…

Fears: Not being able to achieve her dream and show others that she is more than a broodmare

Other: blep

The duke of Illyria stepped forward to a podium and cleared his throat loudly, silencing the room of 60 young men and one woman in disguise. His blonde hair was parted down the middle in such a straight line that it seemed like wizardry, although in reality it was by a machine. His coat was a slick velvet, trimmed with expensive gold thread that shone in the daylight that poured through the huge windows in the cafeteria. Many of the men stared around at their surroundings with dropped jaws, but Ryan didn't like it at all. It was all so…inefficient. The roof did not need to be 30 feet tall. The archways did not need to e designed by the best sculptures in the country. And that damn vest did not need to shine like that. Everything was so…..extra.

"Welcome," the duke said, "to a new year at Illyria. It was founded by my father to bring the greatest young minds together and hone them into the best versions of themselves. The work is hard, but the benefit it brings you is worth it. The returning students know and have bought into the theology. You are here to learn and to work and to use that knowledge. Fail me in this, fail my father in this, fail yourself in this, and you fail the world. You were brought here to fulfill your promise. Your promise, and my father's promise to produce the best minds the world has ever seen. Do not disappoint us." The speech was impressive, but Ryan didn't join in on the applause. It was just stating the obvious for him.

The dorm room was….bigger than Ryan expected. And he had some high hopes for the place. For one, he didn't have to duck his head to walk into the room, an unexpected but welcomed commodity. He was extremely tall for this time in the world, so a ceiling that he couldn't reach up and touch would have been enough. It was essentially just a giant metal box will a couple of smaller ones leaching off of it. There was a door to the left that was cracked open slightly to show a shower. Well, at least there was running water. To the right, there were two closets, those doors wide open. And in the center of the room was 2 beds, barely a foot apart.

"Huh," he said out loud, tossing the bag held in his left hand over to the bed on the same side, missing it by about a foot. "Too close for fucking comfort."

Thea had sat through the Duke's speech with her teeth clenched. Young minds, he had said, as if it included the entire world. As if he was such a gracious man to bring in all these sparkling youths to better the world. She had snorted inelegantly at the prospect. Almost everyone worth speaking to knew that the Duke profited immensly from the allumnus of Illyria…But it was this establishment that would open man a door for Thea.

A devil she had to dance with it seemed.

She sighed, looking down at the paper with her written information on it. Why had they not used a typewritter for such a thing? Were they really so pretentious here? Of all the tings to be questioning–instead of the incorrect name at the top of the sheet, which she was ignoring with vigor. Hopefully, father and mother believed that she had gone to the school for women in France. Marius had promised he'd keep up the charade.

Something to stress about later as Thea approached dorm room 519. The door was already adjar with someone rustling around within. Her first test it seemed. How dreadful–and worrying–to share living quarters with a man. Thea paused outside of the doorjam wondering if she could really do this for the length of a university stay.

Uncle believed in her. He had been the one to convice Thea to do this. So naturally, she mustn't let him down. Rapping her knuckles against the door, Thea stepped inside. "Good afternoon." Short. Curt. Was her voice deep enough? Did men knock on doors when other men were in the room?

Ryan barely glanced up at the new guy who was standing awkwardly in the doorway. Great. The guy couldn't have just fallen off of a cliff on the way here? He looked prim and proper, born into money and status. The kind of people that Fairfax couldn't stand.

"I'm pushin' these beds apart," he grumbled in the general direction of the door, already leaning over and pulling his hands on the side of the bed. It made a loud, grating sound as the metal legs were dragged across the floor, but Ryan didn't seem to even notice.

"Keep your shit on that side," the big man said, turning so that his left side was exposed. His clockwork arm gears whirred diligently, making the minuscule movements seem so human that it looked like a sleeve instead of a solid metal device. "And we won't have any trouble."

"Naturally." Thea sniffed, striding forward to place her large case upon the bed the other man had indicated. Quite the introduction. She had already decided that she was going to refrain from spending at much time as possible within the room. Using it just for a place to sleep seemed the best way to keep her true idenity under wraps. Although, Thea wasnt sure how she was going to bathe properly. A slight glance to the left verified there was a door to the bathroom. At least the dorms weren't entirely barbaric.

Thea made to move her own bed, but quickly discovered that it was a lot heavier than the other man made it seem. She cursed under her breath. Well there was no use in not following through, he had already seen her struggle the first time. What man let a bed best him? Quickly she shucked her gloves and pushed, successfully moving the large piece of furniture on her own. There.

Turning quickly, she stuck out hand, only remembering at the last moment that she forgot to put her glove back on. Fuck. The pale, slim, and surprisingly dainty hand on display. Confidence–Marius had told her–would be her best friend other than her cunning nature. Thea had to be confident in her…..manhood. God, what a bother. "Renaud. Maruis Renaud. I'm in the Chemistry alignment. A pleasure to meet a fellow scientist."

She just so happened to stick out his left hand, so Ryan reached out with his fake arm and grasped her's in it's cold metal grip. He gave her a single shake before letting go and picking his bag up from the floor. "Ryan Fairfax. Mechanics alignment. And I ain't a scientist. Jus' a mechanic."

He noticed her glance down at his left arm more than once while they were talking and let out a long sigh. "I used to fuck around with chemistry sets when I was younger. Blew off my arm when I mixed gunpowder, chili pepper, and magnesium a little too close to a candle. Blew up the whole bloody house and fucked myself up real good." That was probably the most she was gonna get out of him for the rest of the day. Be cordial. He ain't done nothin' to you yet.

"Mechanics are just scientists of metal. No use in being humble here, my man, Illyria only accepts the best of the trade. Else you would not be here." Thea intoned with an arched brow. Humility was a fine trait, and probably a rare commodity in this university, so she was a bit taken aback.

"Next time you want to make flash powder for children I do recommend nitrate instead of gunpowder. Not as big of a boom per se, but it has the same effect–without disasterous concequences." Thea tilted her head to the side slightly as she always did when thinking about her trade. It was hard to tell from her sharp features but she was smiling just slightly. "Or were you trying to make fireworks?"

She leaned forward just a tad to get a better look at his clockwork arm. Hmming slightly at the craftmenship. Uncle would have loved to see something so smooth. Work like this made Thea believe, momentarily anyway, that she was in the wrong alignment.

"I was literally just trying to see how big of an explosion I could make," Ryan said, walking over to his bag and setting it on his bed. He began pulling out various objects from inside. A spare arm, although it was much less complex than the one he had on, a large hammer, a clock that could be attacked to his arm if he wanted to, and….a metal tube. Its purpose was unclear from its appearance, but Ryan only handled it with his real arm and genlty laid down on top of the pillow they were given for their beds.

My, my, he's sullen. "I see." The retort came with a purse of Thea's lips. Nothing irritated her more than carelessness. But then again, most mechanics tended to be. Nothing was fun for them unless it hurt, exploded, or moved on it's own.

Thea stepped back over the invisable line the separated Ryan's side from her's. It still felt odd to be in a room with a man–especially pretending to be a man herself–but she would just have to suck it up. Snapping open her case, Thea quickly unpacked. A surprising amount of books emerged first, which she placed in a particular order on the self over her bed. Then a leather pouch, one that was bulky and clinked ominously. A glass vial could be seen through one of the openings, it's green liquid looking dangerous and sickly. This strange puch went into the drawer in her nightstand with great care. Clothing items came next which she quickly moved into the closet, althoughshe was completely clueless on how to hang or fold them. Curses. Thea contemplated for a moment before deciding to hang it all and goddamn the rest. The last item she pulled out of her case was a curiously large tome that she placed next to her lamp. The blue leather shining dully in the afternoon light. A book of alchemy.

The chemist frowned, unsure of what to do next. Checking her pocket watch, there were still a number of hours before their welcome dinner. Curses.

Ryan was much more rough with what was left of the bag. Instead of bringing it over to his closet and setting it inside, he just tossed the rest of the shit towards the door and called it a day. Then he sat down on the bed with a loud thump and reached over for the small metal tube. Holding the base with his stronger mechanical arm, he gently began twisting the top end of it. The inside of the tube was threaded, so he unscrewed it and reached inside, pulling out a piece of paper. A delicate, impossibly thin piece of paper with three words on it. "We Love You." Ryan smiled as the paper disintegrated in his hand, gently screwing the tube back together and setting it beneath his bed.

"What did ya do to get in here?" His voice was a shocker in the awkward silence. His hazel eyes looked up at Thea's face, finding it oddly…..feminine. "Ya know, the entry submission?"

Thea sat on the very edge of her bed, resisting the urge to cross her ankles. Instead she sat with her knees a part, resting an elbow on one knee as she had seen Marius do a thousand times. It felt…ridiculously uncomfortable. Damn, she should have practiced more than a week with her brother an Uncle.

She refrained from looking the other man in the eye, though, instead turning her gaze to the window outside. "Ah–I merely showed them my reanimation research. The Duke seemed interested enough." Thea shrugged, careless. But the obvious note of pride in her voice could not be mistaken.

"I assume your submission was just your arm?" Looking back that the mechanism again, Thea wanted nothing more than to tinker with the insides and apply it to her own research, but it wasn't like she could steal the man's arm off his body. "It's impressive to say the least."

"An invention of necessity," he said, glancing down at the spinning gears that made up the surface of the arm. One would think keeping the arm raised so it wouldn't catch on anything would be difficult, but since it required no muscles to actually move it was quite easy. "It's powered by springs and a shit load of gears, levers, and joints. It uses my shoulder muscles for indication of how to move the upper arm, but the forearm took a lot more work. I have a large amount of wires that are connected to the various muscles in my torso so I can work each finger individually. For example, each time I flex my left pectoral…." The robotic arm raised it's middle finger and flipped off Thea. "It was a bit of a learning curve, but now it's all muscle memory for me."

It was difficult playing the part of her brother. Especially in social situations. Marius would have jumped to his feet and demanded either an apology or a fight for such a slight, the hot head that he was, but it was in Thea's own nature to file away the information the insult provided for use later. Ryan Fairfax seemed to be a brute, with little care for how he came off to others. Interesting.

A smirk curled the edges of Thea's mouth. "Don't strain yourself, Mr. Fairfax. I'm sure you need those precious brain cells for things other than childish gestures?" She strightened to her feet, arching a pale brown brow at the man. "Or perhaps that's all your 'muscle memory' could obtain? Pity I would have thought the maker of such a mechanism would be a star pupil at this establishment, but I dare say looks can be decieving."

"And I expect to look up when a man stands up in front of me, but I guess we're both doomed to be disappointed," he said right back, eyes narrowing. "Learn how to take a fuckin' joke, guy, 'fore I knock you on your ass. Nothin' was meant behind it." It was a misunderstanding between the two and that's why Ryan hadn't kicked Thea through a wall yet. This was the only time something like that would slide, though. Fuckin' shit, are all rich boys this stuck up?

Great. She'd played her part well. No need to make friends. The closer someone got to her, the easier it would be to find out her secret. Thea's smirk grew at Ryans's curt words and something harsh flashed through her eyes. Marius tended to be all bark and no bite, but Thea–Thea followed through with her promises. The amount of anger she had in her veins at the moment wasnt entirely helping either.

"Assuming you could knock me on my ass." Let Ryan hate her. It was fine. Most found Thea unpleasent even as a woman…what was one more person?

"I've seen breezes stronger than you. Hitting you would be a waste of energy best used elsewhere.." Ryan figured that the guy simply didn't like the fact that he came from a poor family. With his run-down clothes, poor grammar, and general roughness tended to rub people the wrong way whenever he met them, especially the upper class. The fact that he was smarter than almost everyone he'd ever met (until he walked into the school) just helped boost that wrong feeling into a hate. So empty words like this didn't bother him in the slightest.

"And I've seen flateware with more shine than you, so I suppose we're even." Thea miffed, more offended than she thought she'd be. If only she'd been as tall as Marius, it would have been easier to be imposing. Ryan acted as if she were nothing more than a gnat buzzing in his ear. A high class gnat, she figured, from the way he kept glaring at her clothing and belongings. His own appearance hadn't enlisted any form of hatred from her. Thea would spend all day insulting his intelligence, but never his station.

Well, at least they's established their mututal dislike for one another. It would just have to be enough for him to ignore her.

Thea thumped back onto the bed, scooting backwards enough so that her back was against the headboard. She picked up her tome and decided to ignore the other man. Breezes. How dare he.

Ryan, in contrast, picked the spare arm off of the bed and set it in his lap. It was much less complex that the one he had on right now, with a single oven-mitt appendage instead of individual fingers. It was the arm he wore anytime he went into the forge or to his workbench. It was much tougher and a shitload more strong due to the lack of fancy doodads inside of it. Simpler things were always stronger. That's why he was in this school.

"You seemed interested in my arm," Ryan said, not looking up from the hunk of metal in his lap. Suppose I should mend bridges a bit. "This is my secondary one and it's not as cool as the one I'm wearing, but it was what I started with." He held the metal device out with his real hand. A proverbial olive branch.

It didn't work? How–how was that possible? Was her blatant attitude not enough to deter him from building a friendship? Any woman Thea had spoken to like that instantaneously marked her as an enemy, but here Ryan was, lliterally extending an arm to her. Do men really get along with each other by throwing insults?

Thea silently prayed for Marius to help her. At this rate she was going to crash and burn before the week was out.

Ugh. Curses. She couldn't resist. Thea snapped her book shut, tossing it onto the bed as she gently snatched Ryan's spare arm from him. The metal was cool and smooth against her hands, barely showing any age or damage. "This would be incredible to apply to any alchemic research." She said, voice betraying her interest. "Can you imagine? Automatons!?"

"Not a fan of them," he said with a shrug, pulling out a screwdriver from his pocket and inserting it into his arm. "Find em creepy. There are enough humans on the Earth as it is, why would we need metal ones?" There was the sound of ticking and the entire device shuttered as he spun the screwdriver counterclockwise, getting slower and slower as if there was increasing resistance against him. After about 7 turns, he pulled the screwdriver out and put it back into his pocket. "I'm trying to figure out a way to get real-looking skin over the arm without it catching in the gears and fucking shit up."