[quote=@OliveYou]
vague references would be fine, as long it's like "this is a scientist who worked with ___ and was quite well known in the village" or whatever. the mechanics come from a large variety of backgrounds, so there would probably be more that we haven't met yet!    

[/quote]

I was planning on referencing really small things that hinted to a subtle history between the characters like inside jokes about chickens or vague references to incidents that happened in the past that he may have been around for. 

It's pretty important since I'm trying to take the caring good/best friend angle or if you prefer the "big brother" troupe with his attitude. I want him to care about the birthed pretty deeply on a platonic level so it may even come off as him being a little less serious than he likely should be in certain scenarios lol

The only person besides the older mechanics I can see that troupe swaying away from is Trixie since while she is more like the birthed than most mechanics having grown up there and being only 5 years older than the birthed, she's still older than him and could very easily hold seniority over him. If he were to have one friend he didn't feel obligated to try to be the optimistic type with it'd have to be her considering her circumstances. Not quite part of the adults that look after all the birthed, but also more of an example that they grew up watching. I would sum it up to a more childish admiration and respect for her?

So far that's what I'm seeing his character playing out as, with a slight distrust of the other mechanics except Fiore since she's 16 and would have grown up with the Birthed too. So she'd fall into that category of playful nonchalant attitude of Trey's personality.