Here's the ever tired daddy-o! [hider=Priest & Hawthorn Employee File: McCalister, Jacob B.] [b]Name:[/b] Jacob Bartholomew McCalister [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Race/Species:[/b] Human [b]Age:[/b] 40 [b]Appearance:[/b] A middle aged man that appears perpetually tired, Jacob stands in at 6'2", putting him typically several inches taller than many of his cohorts. Jacob has a sinewy build and broad-ish shoulders, but is neither bulky nor lanky. His wavy hair is relatively short and generally brushed to the side and kept out of the way, the gray and dark brown hair somehow always manages to appear neat, yet casually unkempt at the same time; and his chin often sports a stubble that is likely several days old. His eyes are a sharp gray, and his piercing gaze is analytical and critical but belie a lurking sadness. His facial features were once strong and defined, but have grown gaunt and thin, and his mouth is often pressed into a thin line. His prominent features and build would lead one to believe that in his heyday, many would consider Jacob fairly attractive, though years of work and being a single father have clearly taken its toll. Most of Jacob's wardrobe consists of well fitted suits, specially reinforced by PHI to be more durable and comfortable than the average suit. The vast majority of Jacob's footwear are leather dress shoes, clean and professional enough to wear with his suits, but comfortable enough to walk or do activity in for days on end. Jacob wears a leather shoulder holster over his shirt, and typically makes no effort to hide it. On his left hand Jacob wears a silver wristwatch, along with a golden wedding band on his ring finger. He keeps a picture of his daughter in his wallet. [b]Personality:[/b] A serious man with a strong work ethic, Jacob, while generally kind enough, often has a no-nonsense demeanor and is typically impervious to the jokes and wisecracks made by his coworkers. Only rarely willing to crack a grin for his close compatriots, Jacob is for the most part incredibly blunt and to the point, though not confrontational. Incredibly strong willed, and somewhat hard-headed, Jacob is a man of conviction and his beliefs are hard to shake. Despite his callous attitude, its fairly plain to see from his actions and interactions that Jacob is honest and well-meaning, but doesn't have the easiest time expressing it. He isn't afraid to get his hands a little dirty, and is jaded, and somewhat cynical. Despite possessing a well developed moral compass, Jacob will often ignore morality and act in what he believes are in the best interest of himself and his compatriots. Generally slow to trust those around him that he isn't well acquainted with, Jacob is skeptical of most strangers, and is a firm believer of "If it seems to good to be true, it is". He takes almost everything with a grain of salt, and rarely accepts things at face value. Jacob is for the most part calm and patient, and requires a fair amount of goading to lose his cool. As a part of his fatherly instincts, Jacob is extremely protective of his daughter, and will often react aggressively when something involving her well-being seems to be threatened. As a result of his wife's murder, Jacob is usually distrusting of supernatural creatures- particularly vampires, and is quicker to aggression when one is involved. While technically capable of acts of magic, Jacob for the most part considers himself as mundane as the average man or woman walking around the streets of Chicago, and prefers to deal with his problems from the perspective of an average man or woman. He prefers to deal with issues as they arrive head-on, and avoids beating around the bush when a problem can be solved with the application of strong words, a mean look, or in extreme cases, a silver bullet. Not completely at peace with his wife's murder, Jacob struggles to balance his desire to find closure, and his need to make Chicago a safe place for his daughter to grow up in. Between work and family life, Jacob has little time for much else, including sleep and proper self care. While there's no doubt that he's good at what he does, he can only do it for so much longer. [b]Powers, Traits, and Abilities:[/b] Jacob possesses an innate magical talent, and has the ability to cast the simplest charms and spells (think jedi mind tricks), and can telekinetically move smaller objects, such as books, pens, wallets, and coins. He has yet to bother pursuing further mastery of his magical talent, too busy with work and family to take the time to focus on practicing magic. Well aware of his shortcomings as a more-or-less human, Jacob is well read on a variety of magical and supernatural creatures, and is knowledgeable about the physiology of many them as well. He spends a great amount of time reading, recording and adding to the records of supernatural creatures in the PHI library. Amongst his compatriots at PHI, Jacob is considered the resident expert on supernatural monsters and methods of dealing with them. While by no means an Olympic athlete, Jacob is no slouch. In rather good shape for someone his age, Jacob possesses a powerful mental and physical fortitude capable of taking a considerable beating and can hold his own in most situations that are physically or mentally taxing, from lifting and moving objects, to chasing down suspects or even withstanding torture and interrogations. While not a brawler, Jacob knows his way around a fist fight and can be a formidable foe when provoked. Though not an expert marksman, Jacob is well versed in operating firearms and firearm safety, and is a good shot with his sidearm or even a shotgun or rifle. Jacob is a smoker, and smokes regularly. Despite his good shape, and regular workout habits, its clear that the years of smoking have taken a toll on his overall stamina. Jacob has also been starting to develop a drinking habit, and has begun using cigarettes and alcohol as a vice. It hasn't affected his work yet, but its clear his body won't be able to maintain his more physical line of work much longer- though getting him to admit it would be an effort in futility. Street savvy and smart, Jacob knows his way around Chicago, and does especially well at night, when most decent folk have called it a night- his stature and attitude often give the seedy types pause. As an investigator, Jacob is capable of many tasks, from surveillance, to opening doors that aren't meant to be opened, and even a bit of interrogation. As a single parent, Jacob is also fairly adept in common household skills, he knows his way around the kitchen, and can grill a mean steak. Jacob currently holds the record as the highest scoring Ski-Ball players at PHI- which is surprising because he's never actually played the game himself. Whenever Jacob is invited out to play with his colleagues, he brings his daughter out with him, and lets her play in his place. Amanda insists that his coworkers are taking it easy on her, but Jacob assures her that she is just a ski-ball prodigy of some sort. [b]Background:[/b] [hider=Jacob & Amanda]Glazed in the golden glow of midday, the interior of the little shop was absolutely aromatic, a mixture of coffee and baked goods filled the air and almost took Jacob to days long past. Once the sparse cloud cover blocked out the golden sun, Jacob was slowly brought back to reality- a paper cup of the cheapest, strongest coffee he could buy and the loud voice of the Starbucks barista calling out to the next customer. He sat at a short, small wooden table, his knees bumping against the bottom of the wooden surface. Across from him was an empty chair nursing some sort of strange, pinkish-purple and blue concoction that was apparently a frappuccino of some sort. Jacob took a sip of his coffee absentmindedly as he regarded the pale pink puffy jacket drapped around the back of the chair- Morgan had gotten it for Amanda a few weeks back, said something about him having a terrible taste in children and women's fashion. It wasn't designer, but it wasn't cheap, Jacob was curious how Morgan managed to afford buying gifts for his daughter so regularly- her salary couldn't have been that much higher than his after all. Looking up as a head of dirty blonde hair skipped back to the table, he couldn't help but touch the golden band on his finger fondly. While Amanda had his eyes, nothing else about his daughter looked anything like him. She did however, take after her mother almost perfectly, the round face and soft features- Jacob liked it better that way, his wife was the pretty one in the family anyway. "Did you wash your hands?" Jacob asked pointedly as Amanda sat down, grabbing at the drink with notably dry hands and sipping on the straw. Amanda finished a long sip of her drink before she looked away sheepishly. "Yes..." she lied, not very well. She Also took after her mother in that regard. "Then why are your hands so dry?" Jacob asked suspiciously, Amanda hated hand dryers, and the brown paper towels only ever got [i]most[/i] of the moisture off. "No they're not!" Amanda insisted, rapidly rubbing the sides of her drink, collecting the condensation onto her hands before shoving them out and showing them to her father, "See! They're still wet!" "Amanda..." Jacob chided softly as he pulled a small bottle of hand sanitizer out of his pocket and dropped a dollop onto his daughter's outstreched hands. "Now hurry up, we've got a lot to do today." Half an hour later, and the two McCalisters were at the Pier Park, Jacob watching as his daughter went on a spinning ride for what must have been the fourth time. This was Jacob's first full day off in weeks, so Amanda had written out an itinerary for her self titled 'Best day off day ever, ever'. They were already done with most of the list- breakfast/brunch in bed, followed by a matinee showing of The Incredibles 2, late lunch with 'Auntie Morgan', and a trip to the arcade. After a coffee break, the two came to the Navy Pier, where they'd ride rides to their (Amanda's) content, and watch the sunset. As Amanda got off her fifth ride on the swinger, she giddily- and dizzily made her way over to her father, giggling all the while. Hugging at her father's waist Amanda let out a tinkling little laugh. "Hey daddy, are you sure you don't want to go on? Its really really really fun!" "Ah you know me," Jacob said with a nonchalant wave, "I'm not too fond of heights." "But you're a detective! You're not supposed to be afraid of anything?" Amanda insisted, looking up at her father. "Now where on earth did you get that idea?" Jacob asked, as he resisted his daughter's pull towards the large swing ride. "Besides, don't you think you've been on there enough? You can barely stand straight!" "I can so!" Amanda replied with a huff and a stomp, not noticing as she brought her foot down onto her father's shoe. "See! Watch!" She said as she began to walk away from Jacob, standing upon a line in the cement tiles and walking foot in front of foot, her arms out to her sides to help her keep balance. Unfortunately, that type of walking made the already unsteady Amanda even move unsteady on her feet, and after a few short steps, she stumbled forward, catching herself with a few stuttering steps and a pair of hands being thrown forward. "Well, I don't think we have enough time to go on the ride again anyway," Jacob said as he trotted over to his daughter, pointing at the sun. The sun had dipping closer to the horizon, turning the sky from a light blue into the darker prelude of evening. "If we don't get on the ferris wheel now, we'll miss the sunset. The threat of missing the sunset must have been a strong motivator, because next thing he knew, his daughter had grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards the steadily growing line of the park's ferris wheel. Through some stroke of divine fate, or perhaps a bit of trickery on Jacob's behalf, the two McCalisters managed slip through the lines and get themselves high into the sky just as the sun began falling past the horizon, the sky now noticeably mixed with a wash of orange and purple amongst the blue. The younger McCalister stiffled a yawn and leaned against her father. Jacob placed a hand fondly on her head and ruffled it a bit. "Daddy," Amanda asked, stiffling another yawn, "What was mommy like?" Jacob blinked a few times, his hand curling up and slowly retreating from his daughter's head. "Hm? Where's this coming from?" "I've been trying really hard to remember mommy, but I cant remember a thing." Amanda muttered, pawing at her eyes with a small hand. "What was she like?" "Your mother?" Jacob replied, absentmindedly touching his ring, "Well," "She was everything."[/hider] [/hider]