Thomas 'Tommy' Harker

27

Male

Aromantic Homosexual

Caucasian [Cajun]

10 Years Service; 7 Years in New Rome

Thibodaux, Louisiana

The quiet patter of raindrops on a windowpane, an undercurrent of fire crackling blending in with the soft slide of paper on paper. Everything so typical of a cozy, sleepy evening. Tommy fits the bill. An ever warm presence, content to just exist in a moment. On the verge of shutting his eyes and falling to the smooth warmth of a restful sleep. It's how Tommy approaches life, as if it is meant to be taken in, slow, lethargic, and with a meandering thought rather than the lightning urgency of real life. It's this "one glove fits all approach" that got Tommy in trouble a few times whether that be in school, with partners, or the ever present authority figures. Even in those situations, Tommy takes things in stride. Things happen and the only thing in Tommy's control are his own emotions.

Beyond that, Tommy has a myriad of interests and quirks. He's a tidy person despite everything, with a deep care for comfort and for making others feel that same comfort. In that, he's a very touchy person and will be glad to cuddle up beneath a tree with just about anyone willing, especially folks he considers friends. He has a strict boundary on what is platonic and what is not, concerned first and foremost with consent even in friendly touches. While Tommy is flippant about a lot of things, he does take boundaries incredibly seriously. Not a lot of people like being touched or don't feel comfortable with their partners being touched in certain ways. Tommy's alright with that.

In that sense, Tommy's a very reliable person to talk to. Maybe not a person you wanna ask to do or be anywhere at a certain time (he'll be late; that's a constant), but if there's anyone willing to listen, albeit half-awake, it's probably Tommy. His ramblings and musings are usually sound, if a bit on that 3 A.M. high on lack of sleep vibe side. Tommy cares in that very placid, almost lucid way where he'll lay there and offer a bite of whatever he's eating while attentively listening kind of way. It makes him very amiable and easy to talk to, easy to pour secrets too especially, knowing he's got his mouth shut and won't ever judge (outside of specific cases).

And boy does he give a mean back rub. But why wouldn't he? He's a licensed masseuse with special touch based powers.

⟢ His mother, a tall woman with hair that fell to her knees like dark willows catching wind, told him when he was tall enough to reach her hip that his father was a busy man. That she loved him for as much as she could but love sometimes isn't enough. He asked her if his love was enough for her; she said, "Always." There aren't many universal truths, but Tommy attests to that one.
⟢ They lived in a glass home in Louisiana, somewhere in near his place of birth, but off in the wild, dampness of the land's bayou. It felt almost incomprehensible that a house like this could withstand the environment that wrapped around it. Tommy, however, felt no such fear or questioning. He was an easy child who simply smiled when his mother explained to him that their home was very special. In a very special place, given very special permissions.
⟢ He loved when the rain would wet the glass and the vines that surrounded it. He loved the damp smell of his home and the perpetual green that shone in the yellow-orange sunrise that tickled his eyelids. Of all the things that surrounded him, though, Tommy would miss the gradually shifting music of the swamp that lulled him to some of his most restful sleep.
⟢ His mother met a man, tall, lanky, with severity in every jut and edge of his face. His nose wasn't particularly long, but it looked sharp. Like it'd popped his eye whenever the man bent down too close. His teeth were a perfect shade of porcelain white that hurt to look at. He wondered why his mother would marry a man who hardly ever smiled.
⟢ They left the bayou soon after their marriage. Tommy remembered packing up that day, remembered that his mother had to carry him out. He felt tired, but not in that cozy sleepy way. Walking felt entirely too hard and his eyes burned. Whimsical glass home wrapped in ivy and nestled into the vibrant greenery warped into a stark red French Quarter home with too much concrete and metal and very little in the way of natural decor. The strip of green grass on their stoop felt manicured and synthetic and the one tall tree stood lean and gaunt before his new home. The richness of Louisiana culture never hit their home in the same way it would others, whenever Tommy would pick in through curtains or doors that burst open to a myriad of scents and noises melded together in a way that brought warmth to Tommy's bones. His door opened to the dullest of greys and a quiet that burned a hole in his ear.
⟢ Living in a glorified greenhouse, Tommy felt at peace in the darkness. With no city lights to pollute the sky or peak out through the foliage, when the clouds covered a darkened moon, Tommy could tell no difference between opened eyes and shut. Here, though, the darkness felt claustrophobic. Instead of the warm cover of night he was used to, this darkness felt like crawling through a crumbling tunnel. But he made do. If anything, Tommy was very comfortable in tight spaces; nooks and crannies he could find and cozy up in with a journal or a nice book. Back home, his mother would often find him curled up in places she'd least expect. In those spaces, it felt like the world could shed off all pretenses and share its quiet secrets. Here, it was much the same, but the secrets weren't the kindest.
⟢ [EMOTIONAL SPOUSAL ABUSE] When his mother could drop her facade, she told him why she'd married Howard. That sometimes people hide their truth because they know, deep down, how terrifying that honesty could be. Howard presented himself as a severe man, that much wasn't an issue. He was kind and had a dry humor that, above all else, made Jasmine laugh. Sometimes, that's enough to make one ignore the subtle ways someone raises the hair on the back of their neck. It made Tommy wonder at the power some people hold over others physically and supernaturally more gifted than they are. Howard tore Jasmine down piece by piece, forced her reliance on him, made sure she couldn't leave as easily as she wanted to. Tommy never knew the extent until he was older, but he heard the sharp whispers in his hiding spots, the sudden whiplash of an angry, biting, insulting man to someone apologetic with a voice that dripped with honey. Jasmine assured him, though, that he never hit her. That, somehow, Howard knew that would be a fatal mistake.
⟢ On occasion, Tommy would sometimes see a man standing across the street, lit by a lone streetlamp and staring directly into his window. He'd wave and Tommy would wave back. He noticed the man would smile, not the kind he was used to, the kind he'd see in his own reflection. This smile felt bitten back, weighed down. And when Tommy blinked, the man would sometimes disappear.
⟢ [CREEPY CHILD] A boy can only feel so powerless at the face of his own mother's misery. It's something that burns inside, simmers like a frog quietly boiling in its own pot of water, oblivious to the rise in temperature. Tommy, very gradually, stopped sleeping. He'd sit in bed for hours at a time before he quietly carried himself to his parents' bedroom. At first, it was just a few minutes, Tommy would stand by his father's side and watch him sleep. The rise and fall of his chest, the huffs of air that pushed past his nostrils, the way his face sunk into itself. Minutes became an hour, became hours. He'd stand there, sleepless, walking ever closer to the edge of the bed. Until the night just before his 10th birthday. That night he stayed standing at the foot of the bed until his mother woke.
⟢ [DEATH/POTENTIAL MURDER] Somehow Jasmine knew. There was a shadow cast upon her son's face when she caught the dim shine of his eyes—a statue in a graveyard. Some sick, twisted version a La Pietà at the foot of her bed. She didn't bother shaking the man beside her awake, even when her eyes flickered down to see his steady breaths. She knew. So she hurried to pack her things, grabbed whatever bags she could find and stuffed them full for both her and her son. They fled.
⟢ Tommy never knew the extent of her mother's strength. He remembered her digging in their garden, carrying heavy bags full of what looked like more dirt, built with her bare hands fences and posts and an entire shed. This strength, though, felt different when she wrapped her arms around him. When she hefted him up and barreled out the door and almost into the man that stood there waiting. He escorted her to a car of deep, deep black, handed her the key, and grabbed the bags to stuff inside while she buckled Tommy into the back. He remembered him holding Tommy's door open, quietly exchanging some unspoken words before he bent down to press a kiss to Tommy's forehead. That's the first time he saw the man smile without the weights at the corner of his mouth. They left him there, left that too quiet home, left the street that felt too vibrant for a man so severe, and left that same man to rot in his own dreams.
⟢ The trip to California was mostly silent. To this day, Tommy never quite knew what his mother was thinking in that moment. Sometimes he wondered if she were frightened of him, but he remembered her eyes in the rearview staring back at him. Concerned. Worried. Like what was coming was a lot worse than what happened to them here. She only ever explained the hour before they arrived in Oakland. The demigod stuff, the Romans, Jupiter, the powers, everything.
⟢ His mother never came with him through the tunnels, but he knew she'd be there after Lupa. She'd be waiting for him after that long, grueling week, biting her lip and staring at the ground. She'd confessed when he was older that she still regrets not preparing him better, but that revealing everything before his time might have made life harder for them, especially alone out there in the wilderness. He never blamed her, still doesn't.
⟢ Life as a legionnaire was, oddly enough, never quite so eventful for him. He only ever rose ranks from 4th to 3rd cohort simply because he never truly cared for the responsibilities entitled to his station. Mostly, he did what was expected of him and nothing more. Despite this, his colleagues often preferred working with him. His presence was often soothing even when he kept them from sleeping during particularly long night shifts. Maybe that was his god given abilities, or perhaps Tommy was always the soft pillow someone could rest their head on or the warm blanket shielding them from the chores and tedium of the day.
⟢ When he graduated from service in the Legion, it was a rather unceremonious thing. Tommy picked a home right next to his mother's (who lived in another glorified greenhouse on the outskirts of New Rome) and took up higher education. From there on he'd open a little shop in Ceres's Garden called 'Torpor and Trifles' that acted as a place of comfort and relaxation for veterans and legionnaires alike. He's a professional masseuse and physical therapist (the latter of which he got his degree in). The store front looks mostly like a cozy lounge and spa, while the back has a lot of physical therapy equipment and dedicated spa rooms where he provides a massages and some other fancy spa things (hot rocks and the like!)

Somnus, God of Sleep

Aloof in nature, Somnus doesn't find himself visiting or talking much with either Jasmine nor Tommy. Still, when he does appear, often in the dead of night with but a wave or in Tommy's dreams, there's a perpetual warmth there. Tommy sometimes remembers half-awake moments in his childhood staring up at a dark figure bending low, hands curled over the messy edge of his blanket to pull it snug beneath his chin, then quietly fastening the stuffed sheep snug in the crook of Tommy's arm.

Occasionally, Tommy wishes he could know more of Somnus, both of his nature and of him as a father. However, Tommy's very content with his relationship with the god. Despite the fleeting nature of his visits, Tommy always feels a sense of peace, of acknowledgement there. Like he knows of Tommy, cares for him clearly and, honestly, that's enough.

☁︎ Hypnokinesis - Depending on the size, strength, and will of a creature, Tommy can induce sleep. He's been shown to do so indefinitely to things and people much, much weaker than he is (like his stepfather, or a non-magical animal), however this isn't something he can do to his peers or those more powerful than he is. For those of similar strength, Tommy can induce drowsiness and lethargy, though this usually comes at the cost of his focus—in battle it's much harder to do this, but Roman training is not a thing to scoff at. On the other hand, Tommy can also keep others from falling asleep, as well with the same stipulation. For those willing, however, it becomes as easy as breathing for both keeping awake and putting to sleep. With his training in the Legion, Tommy can utilize this power in bursts for magical enemies and those similar or tougher than him: in essence, he can knock someone out for a quick second. This is more costly in relation to his energy and used too much it can and will backfire (he's put himself to sleep this way overexerting it on a nasty group of basilisks trying to eat half his questing group; despite the danger present, it looked kinda funny watching ten or so basilisks and Tommy tumbling to the ground at the same time). At max Tommy can keep someone equal to him asleep for 4 days and awake for 2 with no negative side effects; his quick burst of forced sleep is 3 seconds max.
☁︎ Dream Walking - Usually with permission, though Tommy can attempt to brute force his way into dreams (this can be stopped and the person typically knows), Tommy can exude his own dreaming consciousness into another person's dreams. It's mostly useful for messages, but sometimes he likes to hang out with people he enjoys inside their dreams. He cannot harm a person or influence them to do anything against their will in a dream. The recipient will always remember this specific dream. And yes, he has done not safe for work stuff with guys in dreams before. Everything in a dream is at the whim of dream logic, too. This also works in groups, though he's only tested it with 4 people so far. He does not know the upper limit, but suspects it's 5 or 6. When dream walking with more than 1 person, they all have to be within a mile of each other.
☁︎ Dream Medium - Being the son of a chthonic god has its perks in relation to the dead and being able to speak to dead people in his own dreams is one of them. This can work in tandem with dream walking, but he's only ever been allowed to take up to 2 others with him to 'Dead Dream Walk' so to speak in his own mind. The deceased person has to be willing, and he has to fall asleep with an item they possessed in order to invoke their spirit. Has Tommy ever done anything untoward with a ghost man before? No... well...?
☁︎ Illusions - Taking a bit of the dream world into the waking world, Tommy can form auditory and visual illusions within 50 feet of his sightline or in a 20-foot radius. The former he has to keep within his sightline, while the latter he can maintain even in his sleep. This occasionally happens without him knowing while he's sleeping, as well, usually just small things like creating a windowpane that looks into a rainy forest, echoing the dim rumble of thunder or like soft clouds that puff around him. If he's not focusing on them, they are rather easily dispelled by others, but used in combat he can distract opponents rather thoroughly. When focusing particularly hard on one illusion, Tommy can add tactile sense to it, though is unable to harm or cause pain to anyone with it (like if he were to make the illusion of a purring cat rubbing against someone's legs, they might feel the softness of its fur).
☁︎ Cozy Comforts - Tommy exudes a faint aura of comfort around him that he can intensify with focus. For people it can be rather different (at their own subconscious or conscious will), but most common is the simple soothe of a comforter fresh from the drier and the soft give of a bed one's grown accustomed to. He can amplify this to allow people the full moment of relaxation for as long as they are willing and within his vicinity (it's large enough that he can move around his business freely and still allow people inside to feel it from opposite corners).
☁︎ Cloud Touch - Honestly, this is probably what makes him an absolutely amazing masseuse. Tommy can instill the feel of comfort through touch, causing muscles and joints to relax. He has had trouble with people who have somewhat addictive personalities because it works as an intensely good pain reliever. He uses it to aid in physical therapy to dull the pain and allow folks recover from especially nasty wounds they've had treated and healed. He's noticed that sometimes even fully, magically healed wounds can still produce physical responses that impede in a person's ability to move. This helps soothe that.
☁︎ Umbrakinesis [Minor] - Manipulation of darkness but to a much lesser degree than other chthonic children. Tommy's is more about visibility than it is using darkness and shadow in tangible ways. He can bend the dark a bit to help conceal people, especially at night. Less effective during the day, at least outdoors. As an extra of this ability, Tommy has incredible night vision.

Ceres, Goddess of agriculture, fertility, grains, and motherhood

☁︎ Floral Genesis[Limited] - The sudden creation of flowers, however Tommy can only ever create a field of poppies. It's a small plot that can only be made in proper ground and it's not that useful, but it's neat at least. Being that this flower is a symbol for his father, the poppies that Tommy creates and the seeds they produce don't come with the awful side effect of opioid overdose. The seeds themselves can't germinate, however, and therefore are only recreated through Tommy's power. Sometimes this occurs if he falls asleep on a patch of ground.
☁︎ Plant Identification - One of the many things Tommy adored doign with his mother at a young age was learning what plants were, their properties, and what they were used for. As he grew older, however, touch became all he needed to know most information behind a plant (mainly their properties, how they affected other living things, and the genus). It's great for aiding someone who might need to know what something could be useful for, but that was more so when he was in the Legion. Now, it's just a neat trick.
☁︎ Seasonal Resilience - A big reason why Tommy's typically able to wear sweaters and heavy layers in the summertime mainly has to do with this ability. It's like the opposite of Seasonal Affective Disorder. He always seems incredibly comfortable no matter what season it is. He could go out in shorts during the winter, if he wanted to, which he doesn't, but still.
☁︎ Fertility Boost - Yeah, that's about right. It works on both plants and people through touch. For people, it has to be a consensual thing. Tommy finds it very nice to help couples who've had difficulty conceiving, especially if they're unable to see anyone else at the time for assistance. Fun Fact: one person commissioned him around Tommy's first year in New Rome to help him win a giant plant competition. Tommy didn't know it wasn't for personal reasons (sometimes people just want big watermelons. Watermelons are great, so how could he blame the dude?) and the guy got banned from ever competing in any agricultural contest ever again.

Former 4th and 3rd

Veteran Legionnaire

Too Little, Too Late

Some people have a very bad sense of timing. Tommy's got this particular issue of not considering how truly serious something is until it's quite literally too late to make a difference. Sometimes, these situations are very much out of his control and have nothing to do with him (he feels guilty for not helping his mother sooner when he was just a child and couldn't have done anything outside of what actually happened, which he had no control over). And sometimes, it really is within his control, but he rose to the occasion too late for it to many anymore. Timing is everything and Tommy doesn't quite have the best grasp of that concept yet.

☁︎ Quietus - A composite bow made of oak with decorative mistletoe. The arrow tips are Stygian Iron that are barbed. The wood of the bow is enchanted by his mother to repair itself if somehow broken. Quietus is disguised as a bracelet around his wrist, half of it is a metal band and the other is leather where it's tied together.
☁︎ Placidus - A gladius made of stygian iron that can be retracted into a keychain that looks like a sheep sleeping in a squishy looking cloud.