Things settled down for a little while, just Chivy and Sefton travelling and often crossing paths, but then Sefton's face started showing up on wanted posters. That made it harder for the two of them to get work and stay under the radar (Sefton because his face was on wanted posters, Chivy because he is a stubborn child and didn't want to leave Sefton to fend for himself). It all came to a head when the wrong person recognized Sefton at just the wrong moment, and Sefton was brought into custody for who-knew-what. Although he tried, Chivy couldn't find a way to get Sefton free, but luckily the other teen was released a few days later — thanks to the meddling of a man named Devon who seemed to have the boys' best interest in mind. The posters thinned out again, but both of the boys were much more wary about life in general — Sefton because he had been abducted by the government, and Chivy because he felt responsible for what had happened to his friend.
Immediately following the abduction, Chivy stuck near Sefton, worried that if he got too far off something bad would happen, but about a month afterwards (having learned more about Sefton's father and how he worked with the government to find his son) he realized that most of the reason Sefton had been found was that Chivy was easily noticed. He tried to cut back on how often he stuck by Sefton. It helped that he was able to stay in touch with Devon, who was trying his best to offer guidance and help, and get to know Adria, Devon's niece.
The next year, Sefton happened to be working in a music repair shop when Galvin, Chivy's father, walked in with his guitar. Noticing the resemblance (and with Galvin's name for future retrieval of his instrument), Sefton was able to let Chivy know and Chivy finally found his father. It was a somewhat awkward reunion, but it did have the positive effect of forcing Chivy to confront the fact that he'd been avoiding Lynna for no particularly good reason, and just in time. Chivy dragged Sefton along to go and see her, which was a much more emotional experience (for Chivy and Lynna, at least). She passed away about a month later.
Sefton had started work toward getting his GED, Galvin had been found, Lynna had died... Chivy was feeling rather at a loose end, especially since he didn't really have anything resembling a long term goal. In true teenage fashion (he was just at the tail end of nineteen), he moped about it. Sefton, Devon, and Adria tried to help, suggesting different things he could do to occupy himself, but nothing really stuck. He did end up with a pair of glasses, when they discovered, through their efforts, that he was farsighted and the glasses made it much easier to read. Chivy wasn't super appreciative, though, losing the glasses fairly frequently. (Which, really, was more effort than it seemed, considering he's a walking itemfinder.) After he managed to actually break them, he ended up getting a new pair with yellow lenses, which he considered neat enough that he actually deigned to wear them.
During this time, he grew much closer with Adria, who was a big help in keeping his spirits up. (Sefton helped, too, inasmuch as the prickly was able, but he also was focused on his own pursuits. Of knowledge.) They even ended up dating for a time, which was a positive experience on both sides. They broke up not because it wasn't working, but it just wasn't quite right. They were close enough as friends, although neither one regretted giving it a shot.
Shortly after he and Adria broke up, Chivy happened to end up hitching a ride with a courier, who spent most of the ride talking about his job and life. Chivy was fascinated. It sounded like almost the perfect plan — he still got to move around, he'd get to talk to all sorts of people, and he would have a hand in making sure things ended up where they belonged. After a bit of fact-finding (and a little fundraising), Chivy purchased a bike of his own and started work as a courier.
He's been working as a courier for almost four years now, not bothering to try expanding or anything since he's perfectly content doing it on a fairly small-time basis. He still meets up with Sefton occasionally, and is in touch with both Devon and Adria, and things are continuing rather smoothly.
Powers/skills: In canon: Put simply, Chivy finds things. More specifically, he has a knack for sensing the location of lost objects and people. This manifests itself as a mental urge to move closer to whatever nearby lost object that grows stronger the more he tries to resist it (in essence, a headache that decreases as he goes in the right direction). He doesn’t have to follow the urge as long as he actively focuses on going in a direction that isn’t the one the object is in, but if he doesn’t the headache amplifies itself, which isn’t a fun experience.
One would think this kind of thing would make a person popular – who hasn’t wished for a foolproof way of finding their keys once or twice in their lives? – but actually living with it is a little more problematic. At first, you might be happy to have a random person show up asking if this necklace (that one you swear you put on your nightstand) might belong to you, but after a little while you begin to wonder if he’s taking things to somehow get credit for finding them or just planning on making off with them in the first place.
In-game: Pretty much the same as he had outside of the game, but with more control and less stamina. Instead of being in a kind of always-on state, he'll be able to focus on finding things — and be able to focus on finding something specific, which is something he never really got the hang of back home. He also wouldn't be able to return to the always-on state if he tried — it would tire him out (mentally) too fast. If he's looking for something (or someone) specific, he has to be familiar with it. The less familiar, the more difficult it will be. If he doesn't know anything about what he's looking for, he's better off sticking with the general "are there lost things nearby" kind of way.
Skills: He has a lot of experience living outdoors, reading maps, falling asleep in uncomfortable situations, and judging the average worth of random objects (as they are in his world, at least). He also has a pretty good sense of direction.
City Name: Trevor Kirby Position: Daycare helper History: Trevor's mother was living in the middle ring of the Diamond City when she gave birth to him — she only met his father the once, and never saw him again. For a time, she was able to take good care of Trevor, although they were often low on funds. By the time Trevor was seven, though, she had fallen into gambling, which quickly meant that they had to move further and further out in the rings. They had almost run out of distance to cover when she got sick, and died a short time after. Trevor ended up on the streets, on his own, for a few months before someone realized he was without a caretaker and he was taken into the foster system.
He ended up moving between foster parents fairly rapidly, mostly because he had a tendency to take and hide possessions that were in the home around him in an attempt to feel more secure. It wasn't until he was taken in by an older woman that he was able to settle down for a time. He was with her until nearly his seventeenth birthday, but her finances had hit a rough spot. He overheard her telling someone that she wasn't certain she would be able to continue to support him and afford her own lifestyle, so he preempted her passing him on by running away.
He drifted throughout the Diamond City, trying to find some kind of work that would stick, before finally ending up as a helper for a daycare in the middle ring. Proof: A picture of Trevor with about five children all attempting to use him as a very short jungle gym in front of a sign for DC's Day Care.
Playing First-person sample: Why did I even bother counting this? They talk so much. Third-person sample: Life had fallen into a rhythm. Wake up, drop off the key if he'd stayed indoors (or just pack everything up if he hadn't), and hop on his bike to get to wherever he was needed next. He'd thought a few times about getting a car of some kind, but the physical exertion was part of what made the delivery work worthwhile to begin with -- sure, it sucked in poor weather, particularly the colder months, but it was all manageable. Adding a vehicle to the mix would mean he would have to take on more jobs to make sure he broke even, considering the cost of fuel and repairs, which would then mean he wouldn't be able to spend as much time per job.
Not that it wasn't possible in the future. Anything was possible if you went far enough out, look at where he'd ended up. From a teen with no ties to anything or anyone to a man with a few rock-solid friendships, the ability to go where he pleased, and a growing network of mostly professional contacts. And, really, the friendships were what mattered the most. Without Sefton, Adria, or even Devon, day-to-day life would be a much bleaker prospect. Not that they kept in constant contact or anything, everyone had their own lives to lead in their own ways, but just the fact that he could dial up any one of them and have the possibility of a conversation was a comfort. Or, if he really needed to, drop what he was doing and actually head their way. Things were much more settled now, even if he was still mostly on the move -- he had a support network, made up of good people who he cared for, and who cared for him.
And that wasn't to say everything was perfect. Not by a long shot. The bike was periodically in need of repairs, miscommunication about deliveries happened, sometimes there just wasn't anyone in need of things delivered. He'd gotten pretty good at quickly identifying bike fixes that were within his realm of understanding and finding the right people to go to for everything else. Plus he had enough set aside that, barring some kind of major injury or other catastrophe, he could handle most work-related setbacks. His lifestyle wasn't the most expensive, day to day, and he'd never really gotten into the habit of spending a lot. He did sometimes buy random things to send to his friends, particularly if he hadn't stopped by in a while. Not out of a sense of obligation, but honestly because he was thinking of them and whatever he'd run across was something he thought they'd appreciate -- or simply something he appreciated the thought of giving, like the little blue hedgehog he'd sent to Sefton, or the water-gun camera he'd gotten for Adria.
The whole point, though, was that life went on -- and that was anything but a negative. Every day, easy or hard, was an experience worth having, which meant it was past time to stop daydreaming, get on his bike, and face the day ahead. Did you read the rules? Couple of times.
Chivy Darrell // 2/2
Immediately following the abduction, Chivy stuck near Sefton, worried that if he got too far off something bad would happen, but about a month afterwards (having learned more about Sefton's father and how he worked with the government to find his son) he realized that most of the reason Sefton had been found was that Chivy was easily noticed. He tried to cut back on how often he stuck by Sefton. It helped that he was able to stay in touch with Devon, who was trying his best to offer guidance and help, and get to know Adria, Devon's niece.
The next year, Sefton happened to be working in a music repair shop when Galvin, Chivy's father, walked in with his guitar. Noticing the resemblance (and with Galvin's name for future retrieval of his instrument), Sefton was able to let Chivy know and Chivy finally found his father. It was a somewhat awkward reunion, but it did have the positive effect of forcing Chivy to confront the fact that he'd been avoiding Lynna for no particularly good reason, and just in time. Chivy dragged Sefton along to go and see her, which was a much more emotional experience (for Chivy and Lynna, at least). She passed away about a month later.
Sefton had started work toward getting his GED, Galvin had been found, Lynna had died... Chivy was feeling rather at a loose end, especially since he didn't really have anything resembling a long term goal. In true teenage fashion (he was just at the tail end of nineteen), he moped about it. Sefton, Devon, and Adria tried to help, suggesting different things he could do to occupy himself, but nothing really stuck. He did end up with a pair of glasses, when they discovered, through their efforts, that he was farsighted and the glasses made it much easier to read. Chivy wasn't super appreciative, though, losing the glasses fairly frequently. (Which, really, was more effort than it seemed, considering he's a walking itemfinder.) After he managed to actually break them, he ended up getting a new pair with yellow lenses, which he considered neat enough that he actually deigned to wear them.
During this time, he grew much closer with Adria, who was a big help in keeping his spirits up. (Sefton helped, too, inasmuch as the prickly was able, but he also was focused on his own pursuits. Of knowledge.) They even ended up dating for a time, which was a positive experience on both sides. They broke up not because it wasn't working, but it just wasn't quite right. They were close enough as friends, although neither one regretted giving it a shot.
Shortly after he and Adria broke up, Chivy happened to end up hitching a ride with a courier, who spent most of the ride talking about his job and life. Chivy was fascinated. It sounded like almost the perfect plan — he still got to move around, he'd get to talk to all sorts of people, and he would have a hand in making sure things ended up where they belonged. After a bit of fact-finding (and a little fundraising), Chivy purchased a bike of his own and started work as a courier.
He's been working as a courier for almost four years now, not bothering to try expanding or anything since he's perfectly content doing it on a fairly small-time basis. He still meets up with Sefton occasionally, and is in touch with both Devon and Adria, and things are continuing rather smoothly.
Powers/skills:
In canon: Put simply, Chivy finds things. More specifically, he has a knack for sensing the location of lost objects and people. This manifests itself as a mental urge to move closer to whatever nearby lost object that grows stronger the more he tries to resist it (in essence, a headache that decreases as he goes in the right direction). He doesn’t have to follow the urge as long as he actively focuses on going in a direction that isn’t the one the object is in, but if he doesn’t the headache amplifies itself, which isn’t a fun experience.
One would think this kind of thing would make a person popular – who hasn’t wished for a foolproof way of finding their keys once or twice in their lives? – but actually living with it is a little more problematic. At first, you might be happy to have a random person show up asking if this necklace (that one you swear you put on your nightstand) might belong to you, but after a little while you begin to wonder if he’s taking things to somehow get credit for finding them or just planning on making off with them in the first place.
In-game: Pretty much the same as he had outside of the game, but with more control and less stamina. Instead of being in a kind of always-on state, he'll be able to focus on finding things — and be able to focus on finding something specific, which is something he never really got the hang of back home. He also wouldn't be able to return to the always-on state if he tried — it would tire him out (mentally) too fast. If he's looking for something (or someone) specific, he has to be familiar with it. The less familiar, the more difficult it will be. If he doesn't know anything about what he's looking for, he's better off sticking with the general "are there lost things nearby" kind of way.
Skills: He has a lot of experience living outdoors, reading maps, falling asleep in uncomfortable situations, and judging the average worth of random objects (as they are in his world, at least). He also has a pretty good sense of direction.
City
Name: Trevor Kirby
Position: Daycare helper
History: Trevor's mother was living in the middle ring of the Diamond City when she gave birth to him — she only met his father the once, and never saw him again. For a time, she was able to take good care of Trevor, although they were often low on funds. By the time Trevor was seven, though, she had fallen into gambling, which quickly meant that they had to move further and further out in the rings. They had almost run out of distance to cover when she got sick, and died a short time after. Trevor ended up on the streets, on his own, for a few months before someone realized he was without a caretaker and he was taken into the foster system.
He ended up moving between foster parents fairly rapidly, mostly because he had a tendency to take and hide possessions that were in the home around him in an attempt to feel more secure. It wasn't until he was taken in by an older woman that he was able to settle down for a time. He was with her until nearly his seventeenth birthday, but her finances had hit a rough spot. He overheard her telling someone that she wasn't certain she would be able to continue to support him and afford her own lifestyle, so he preempted her passing him on by running away.
He drifted throughout the Diamond City, trying to find some kind of work that would stick, before finally ending up as a helper for a daycare in the middle ring.
Proof: A picture of Trevor with about five children all attempting to use him as a
very shortjungle gym in front of a sign for DC's Day Care.Playing
First-person sample: Why did I even bother counting this? They talk so much.
Third-person sample: Life had fallen into a rhythm. Wake up, drop off the key if he'd stayed indoors (or just pack everything up if he hadn't), and hop on his bike to get to wherever he was needed next. He'd thought a few times about getting a car of some kind, but the physical exertion was part of what made the delivery work worthwhile to begin with -- sure, it sucked in poor weather, particularly the colder months, but it was all manageable. Adding a vehicle to the mix would mean he would have to take on more jobs to make sure he broke even, considering the cost of fuel and repairs, which would then mean he wouldn't be able to spend as much time per job.
Not that it wasn't possible in the future. Anything was possible if you went far enough out, look at where he'd ended up. From a teen with no ties to anything or anyone to a man with a few rock-solid friendships, the ability to go where he pleased, and a growing network of mostly professional contacts. And, really, the friendships were what mattered the most. Without Sefton, Adria, or even Devon, day-to-day life would be a much bleaker prospect. Not that they kept in constant contact or anything, everyone had their own lives to lead in their own ways, but just the fact that he could dial up any one of them and have the possibility of a conversation was a comfort. Or, if he really needed to, drop what he was doing and actually head their way. Things were much more settled now, even if he was still mostly on the move -- he had a support network, made up of good people who he cared for, and who cared for him.
And that wasn't to say everything was perfect. Not by a long shot. The bike was periodically in need of repairs, miscommunication about deliveries happened, sometimes there just wasn't anyone in need of things delivered. He'd gotten pretty good at quickly identifying bike fixes that were within his realm of understanding and finding the right people to go to for everything else. Plus he had enough set aside that, barring some kind of major injury or other catastrophe, he could handle most work-related setbacks. His lifestyle wasn't the most expensive, day to day, and he'd never really gotten into the habit of spending a lot. He did sometimes buy random things to send to his friends, particularly if he hadn't stopped by in a while. Not out of a sense of obligation, but honestly because he was thinking of them and whatever he'd run across was something he thought they'd appreciate -- or simply something he appreciated the thought of giving, like the little blue hedgehog he'd sent to Sefton, or the water-gun camera he'd gotten for Adria.
The whole point, though, was that life went on -- and that was anything but a negative. Every day, easy or hard, was an experience worth having, which meant it was past time to stop daydreaming, get on his bike, and face the day ahead.
Did you read the rules? Couple of times.