Arik Leander

[Existentially Odd]

Name: Arik Jed Leander
Age [appearance]: Early twenties
Age [actual]: 10
Gender: Male
Species: Were-shifter (Human/Cougar)
Father: Tau Leander
Mother: Alacer Ferito
Siblings: Nebi (cougar), Cascabel (rattlesnake), Lyre (rattlesnake)
 
Appearance
Hair: Dark brown, short back and sides with some length on top. His hair curls if left to its own devices, though he usually styles it or straightens it with product to keep it smooth and professional-looking for work. He has a well-manicured partial beard most of the time, the moustache doesn't join the dark hair along his jawline. His hair will lighten if he's in the sun a lot. He has dark, curling chest hair and a trail of dark, shorter hair down the centre of his muscled abdomen leading to a private area as neatly-maintained as his perfectly-scruffy beard and sleek eyebrows.
 
Eyes: Light green-grey, they appear translucent in the light. Occasionally, the mix of blue inherited from his father makes them appear blue-green but this is rare. His eyebrows are straight - he has a habit of quirking the left one when his curiosity is piqued - and carefully shaped, matching in darkness to his long, thick eyelashes.
 
Nose: Straight, shortish and slightly upturned at the end.
 
Mouth: He has a curvaceous upper lip and a full, very shapely lower lip. He inherited his mother's plump, narrower mouth.

Height: 204cm (6’7”)
 
Weight: 98kg (216lbs)
 
Frame: Arik is extremely tall and it is generally the first thing people comment on when they meet him (he doesn't love it). He is heavily muscled with shapely legs, a narrow waist and broad shoulders. He is lean and powerful, his body perfectly sculpted from muscle and sinew, every bit of him toned and defined. He has a surprisingly long, muscular neck. He greatly enjoys being taller than his father.
 
Tattoos/Distinguishing Marks: A tiny brown mole/beauty spot sits on his right cheek, about a centimetre from and in line with the bottom of his nose.
 
Usually seen wearing: A suit at work and smart casual clothes outside of it.
 
Usually seen holding: His mobile phone.
 
Body Language
Common stance 1: In casual settings, he perches on furniture, squatting on his feet on the edge of the seat or on the arm or back, if possible. He likes to sit up high, his neck often craning to get a good look at what is going on around him, eyes large and watchful.
 
Common stance 2: When standing idly, his hands tuck into his pockets or belt loops (subconsciously directing attention to his groin) - he tends to spread his feet to evenly distribute his weight, ready to move in any direction and to dominate the area he's occupying. It isn't hard to do, at his size.
 
Visual Habits: Like most cats, Arik walks gracefully, his movements sinuous and fluid. He has a tendency to 'bounce' along on the balls of his feet, as if he's running through sand. His toes rarely ever stop moving; his leg or one of his feet is often flicking whenever he sits.

Interesting Facts / Quirks: Arik reflexively ducks when walking through doorways because he's been deceived by them and hit his head numerous times. He has never been in a relationship. He has a car licence and a motorcycle licence but owns neither vehicle. He lives at home with his father (when he's in the city) and hates it. He loves city life more than being in nature.

Hobby/Hobbies: Clubbing, wrestling with his sister, searching for a sire, investigating interesting smells, perfecting his ability to shift only parts of his body.
 
Likes: His father leaving him alone, hot men, loud music, speed (especially on motorbikes), being seduced, being worshipped.

Dislikes: Overcooked meat, people touching what he considers his.
 
Strengths: His physical fitness, endurance and reflexes, his ability to remain calm under pressure, his patience, his determination, his good looks (he actively uses them to his advantage whenever possible).
 
Appearance
Fur: The front of Arik's muzzle is white, while the sides are dark blackish-brown. He has black-backed ears and reddish brown upper fur with tawny belly, ruff, sides and legs.
 
Eyes: Greenish gold.
 
Nose: Pink centre with black edges.
 
Body length: 200cm

Tail length: 105cm
 
Weight: 98kg (216lbs)
 
Frame: Arik is a lithe killing machine in cougar form, very large for his species with the usual bigger front paws, small, rounded ears and a loose(ish) skin he's still growing into.
 
Tattoos/Distinguishing Marks: A slight freckle on the right side of the white part of his muzzle where his mole is represented in his fur.
 
Always seen wearing: Fur.
 
Occasionally seen holding: A dead animal or his phone in his mouth.
 
Body Language
Common stance 1: Poised, head raised and tail flicking as he observes the environment.

Common stance 2: Rolling around growling and wrestling his father, protecting his territory.

Visual Habits: Always watching and alert, head held high. When his pupils dilate, he's ready for action.
 
Interesting Facts / Quirks: Arik can leap up to six metres, straight up from a sitting position. He can bound over twelve metres forward. He is unable to roar but can emit a 'scream'. He purrs frequently and his claws are retractible.
 
Likes: Men, kinky sex play as a cougar, raw meat.
 
Dislikes: His father's disapproval, his father (at times), wolves, hunters/people hunting with guns, traps/trappers.

Strengths: His physical prowess. His compassion and willingness to help.

Personality: Arik is an Alpha. He's physically imposing, territorial and interested in letting everyone and everything in his vicinity know that he's in charge (and young and pretty enough that this attitude hasn't yet landed him in serious trouble). He doesn't have a great deal of time for females that aren't his mother or sister and hasn't advanced in his career because he's reluctant to do things conventionally or listen to his boss. Despite this rebellious instinct (based mainly on his issues with his father), he's always intrigued by new ideas or different angles and is curious to learn interesting things.

Beneath his anger about his limited future and his father's control, he's loving, quirky, tactile, affectionate and prone to becoming fascinated with people or things he likes - to the point of adoration. This, of course, could flip just as easily into obsession and possessiveness but he hasn't had any long-term relationships to understand this about himself. He's a dreamer and innovative at heart, wanting to wring the absolute most out of life that he can. He loves a good debate and will argue for the sake of arguing, relishing the challenge of sophisticated wordplay (he left his father in the dust when he was two) in the pursuit of getting his own way. He's happy to lose if he's deemed the contest fair and will concede if he's bested (by anyone except his father), which surprises many people.

His arrogance comes with a balanced dose of respect, though that doesn't mean he still doesn't go off half-cocked a great deal of the time.
 
Occupation/Job: Data entry at Harbinger Trade, a stock brokerage firm.

Weaknesses/Flaws: Silver, his curiosity, his arrogance, his youth, his willingness to judge a situation with minimal facts, his possessive and domineering nature, his belief that what is his is his.

History
The Past(0-4)
Until he was four years old, Arik was an easygoing creature that spent his life complying with his parents and daydreaming about life's possibilities. All that changed when his mother left his father, brokenhearted because her affections weren't returned.

Arik and Nebi were forced to stay with their father because they were cougar shifters like him and their mother had her hands full with the four year old rattlesnake twins. Arik blamed everything on Tau and Arik's previously quiet, gentle nature turned into something aggressive and challenging. He began doing the exact opposite of anything his father told him to do and relished the freedom when his father went off to the woods to be a cat or to visit Cascabel and Lyre.

Arik resented Nebi's casual attitude to it all and hated Morgaine, blaming her for his divided family, too. He was very pleased when his father was hurt by her relationship and Tau went away to sulk, feeling vindicated. When Nebi left to pursue her life, Arik just felt alone and began thinking and exploring ways to get what he deserved to get out of life - instead of waiting for life to inflict pain and misery upon him.

Current (5-10)
Arik has spent a lot of his last five years alone, living in his family's modest apartment and commuting to work in a daily grind kind of way. He's heavily into clubbing on weekends and has some close friends from work to hang out with - some of them aren't into guys but he doesn't care who knows that he is (for a while, it was just another way to piss off his dad but then he realised he really was into dudes and he threw himself into the lifestyle with gusto).

For the last year and a half, Arik has lived with a sense of rising panic. He's aware his looks will fade and he's terrified of dying young, so he hasn't shifted into his cat form in all that time, afraid of what he'll see looking back at him from the other side of the mirror when he returns to human. For now, he's frozen in time, doing his absolute best to find a sire to grant him immortality. He isn't picky, though he'd prefer a male - he just wants it to happen sooner, rather than later, before his looks fade.

Anything Else To Add: Arik hates the fact that his time is more limited than most. He will only live around fifty-five human years, appearing to have aged to the equivalent human degree whenever he shifts form. Instead of accepting this fact as a natural progression, Arik is determined to find a vampire to sire him so that he can live forever. His father strongly disapproves.

Roleplays featuring Arik

http://www.roleplaycity.com/forum/index.php?topic=6924.0 First Moon (Tau, Nebi and Arik go to help Dominik with the werewolves' first full moon shift since the Oligarchy disbanded a few weeks beforehand)
http://www.roleplaycity.com/forum/index.php?topic=7534.0 Man Crush Mondays (Arik stays out late on a work night and goes to The White Rabbit to meet Jake McCloud after the vampire contacted him via the Lovebite app)