1. What does this character fear? He has a fear of being left alone. Since he was orphaned and then the orphanage eventually was destroyed to make room for industrial expansion in the area he is afraid to become clingy with any one place/thing. The only exception is Timur who took him in and Athena who has become like a younger sister. Instead of being afraid to lose them he is afraid he will become overly protective. He constantly has to remind himself Timur is much older and in charge and that Athena isn’t as innocent as she makes herself seem.
2. What does this character remember with guilt? Once when he was young back in the orphanage Alex did become close to another orphan by the name of Jesse. He and the boy were good friends but he was always jealous of Jesse’s position since he was considered more of an ‘upper class’ orphan. Jesse owned toys that were left on the step with him and even looked cleaner than the others. So one day Alex stole the model airship from under Jesse’s pillow and tossed it out in the garbage. Jesse cried for days but instead of comforting him, Alex called him a baby.
3. What is this character’s happiest memory? This would probably be the time he took his first flight. The technology wasn’t perfected yet but Timur (an engineer Alex lives with) promised it would function well enough for a test. With the engineer’s help he hooked a crude harness to the prototype version of his dragon wings and put it onto his back. It was heavy but the feeling of being weightless in flight has always stuck with him even though he’s flown hundreds of times since then.
4. How do they feel about love? Have they been in love before? Alex feels that love is a noose. He believes it will make him weak and will keep him from being able to give everything if the need arises. He tries to suppress any emotions that involve becoming attached to anyone besides his makeshift family of Timur and Athena. Though she is younger Athena has been trying to get him to notice her romantically for ages. He ignores it.
5. How much torture would it take for this character to give up their mother? Considering Alex was orphaned, he has mixed feelings about her. On one hand he feels that if she was cruel enough to give him up that he would do the same given the chance so she could suffer too. On the other hand he also believes that she perhaps had a good reason. What if she was a caring woman and just wanted him to live better by getting adopted by a family who was better off? Without knowing her real intentions he doesn’t know how much torture it would be to leave her by choice.
6. What is one thing this character would change about themself? If given the chance Alex would change his personality. On the job he is calm and calculating but once he gets back “home” with Timur and Athena he becomes more laid back and fun loving. He even has sibling style arguments with Athena over things like food. It’s not that this isn’t a good thing but he’d rather be more withdrawn. That way he feels more protected. It’s too late to fix his attachment to Timur and Athena now but he wishes he did in the beginning. Then he wouldn’t need to worry so much over them which he considers a distraction.
7. What is the one secret this character would never tell anyone? He will never tell anyone he actually is in a great amount of pain during flights. Originally the metal plates were put into his spine so the wings could be hooked into nerves and such as soon as Timur figured it out. However, the harness was meant to take the bulk of the weight. Since then the harness’s straps have become weaker and his spine is starting to feel more wear and tear. He’s more concerned with the raids than his own safety so he has yet to tell Timur about it. As an added bonus he doesn’t want to offend his father-like figure by telling him the design’s flaws.
8. What is the ideal life for this character? Ideally Alex would want to be one of the upper class citizens. They don’t have to worry about the city’s filth or the troubles of air ship raids. They don’t need to be concerned with surviving every night against elements of out of their control. Essentially Alex sees them as living in a bubble and he wishes he could be inside where he thinks life would be better.
9. Given the choice, would this character rather kill themself or kill a stranger? He would rather kill a stranger. His life has been based upon survival of the fittest and in some cases survival of the more educated. He would protect his own life at any cost (except maybe the cost of Athena and Timur’s lives) and would try not to have regret for those he’s killed. It never gets any easier so he only kills when he really needs to.
10. When this character sleeps, what do they dream about? Alex sleeps during the night while Athena sleeps during the day so raids can be consistent. He is a dragon while she is an owl so naturally during his sleep he dreams of being a real dragon. He always had a love for fantasy stories and since Timur taught him to read he is known to have stacks of books next to his bed. He often falls asleep shortly after returns from trips out to the pirate airships but when he has time he reads before he passes out. His dreams are adventurous and childish, often consisting of battles between wizards and dragons and are essentially comprised of classical fairy tale style.
—
“Are you sure this is going to work?” an eight year old boy asked as he nervously toyed with his messy hair. He wiped smudges of dirt off of his face and looked into the eyes of the man in front of him.
“Of course!” the man said. He wiped sweat from his brow onto a cloth he quickly shoved back into the front pocket of his engineer uniform. There was something about his tone that made him sound uncertain. “It has to work Alex, we’ve put so much time into it.”
Alex chewed his bottom lip a little. “If you say so Timur.”
The engineer nodded. “I do, I do. Now just relax. Turn around and hold up your arms please. I need to be able to get the harness onto you properly.”
“Sorry,” Alex said shyly. He tried not to squirm especially when a strap was placed under his armpits to support it across his chest. Once the metal wings were properly in place he tried to take a step. They were bulky but he could move. That was a good sign.
Timur waved his hands in a gesture. “Now shoo. Go on, give it a try boy!”
A shudder ran down the boy’s spine. He started to job toward the edge of the roof of Timur’s apartment building. When he got close to the end he stopped and stared downward. It was a long drop.
“Are you absolutely sure these are going to work? Not to doubt your amazing skills but I um…I don’t want to die.”
“Trust me Alexander, you are going to love it. Just give it a try! Besides, any engineer worth his weight in gold knows how to build a simple wing rig! You’ll be absolutely fine. I promise!”
Alex was starting to shake but he nodded anyway. “Alright. I just won’t look when I jump.”
“That’s my boy!” Timur cheered proudly.
It took another running start and closing his eyes but moments later Alex was in the air. He hung there a moment and started to plummet. He screamed. “I am going to die” kept playing in his mind.
“The button!” Timur shouted while he leaned over the edge of the roof. “Push the button!”
Alex’s shaking fingers pressed it. The wings extended and a small engine within them began to hum. He rose back to roof level and his eyes widened. “It-it works! Holy crud Timur! It really works!” He started to say in minor hysterics. Laughter bubbled up within him.
He flew a little loop and put his arms forward. He felt like a superhero! “This is incredible!” he shouted over the wind. “Woo hoo!” It was like nothing he ever experienced before. He was lighter than air and more amazing than ever.
“Alright Alex, come on! Get back over here!” Timur yelled. He cupped his hands to his mouth to make sure the flying boy could hear. Moments later Alex touched down shaking from the adrenaline.