Clint Bennet

Clint grew up in southern Louisiana out in what was considered the sticks. Having an abusive father and an absent mother, he preferred to spend his time out in the wilderness, enjoying the company of gators, raccoons, and whatever other wildlife he shared he space with over that of his family. When he was 10, his older brother of 16 ran off to escape his father’s abuse, leaving Clint to take it all on himself, it didn’t take long before his father gave him a blow to the head at 13 that resulted in his deafness. While it was a hard adjustment to make, Clint was able to adapt by learning lipreading and sign language through his school. At 15 a few DCF calls resulted in Clint being removed from his home and his father’s abuse. A double edged sword, while he was saved from the physical and psychological violence he was also removed from the only sense of normalcy he knew and was instead shifted from foster home to foster home, having no real connection to any extended family nor the families he was homed with. He tried to get away on several occasions, becoming a frequent flyer and a regular face in the town jail to wait to be picked up by the social workers and returned back to whatever foster facility they placed him in. At 18, when he was released from the foster system with with the assistance of the social workers he was able to get his own low income apartment. He was able to support himself through becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none, jumping from job to job ranging everywhere from a construction worker, to a bartender, bouncer, shipyard laborer, anything that could earn him a dollar. He continued with this life through his 20’s and picked up some destructive habits such as alcoholism and drug abuse, he could also tend to be manipulative  to those around him, finding it easier to push them away rather than live up to the perceived expectations they had on him, something that followed him from his childhood abuse.

The end of the world happened to be a wake up call for Clint, no only being forced to sober up cold turkey but also his lack of connections could be the end of him. He realized that he wouldn’t survive without the assistance of others, though his time in nature as a kid helped him hunt and survive on a basic level, he became all too aware that the slightest injury without the right supplies or support would eventually lead to his death. He spent the first year trying to survive on his own, until an injury lead him to seek help from a small community, they were kind enough to help, he tried to pay their help back staying with them for a few months, helping defend the community and providing a steady stream of game until the outbreak overtook them too. For the next few years, Clint spent his time jumping between living on his own to gaining support from communities while contributing what he could, sometimes he left on his own accord, but other times his disability was found out and he was ejected from the community, suddenly being seen as a burden and a liability. One such community introduced him to his dog, Luna, who alerts him to sounds he would otherwise not be able to hear, he received her from another member who passed away, she was one of the first that he willingly opened up to and was grateful for his inheritance of Luna. A few months after her passing he was found out again and kicked to the curb.

A half a year, Luna and Clint survived on their own again until they came across Redwood. It was larger than any other establishment he had ever seen, and it seemed much more secure. Figuring he had nothing else to lose he approached the community and turned himself in to be processed, claiming Luna was a pet rather than an asset to him and promising she wouldn’t be a burden at all on the community as he would get her food and needs himself. He was accepted in and given a job as well as the run down cabin on the outskirts that he was able to refurbish to the best of his abilities to a place he and Luna could live in.

Headcanons:

Clint can come off as very open around others but has a tendency to keep people at arms length when it comes to serious topics especially about himself

He masks a lot with sarcasm and humor, a coping mechanism he learned from his childhood. At times, especially if Clint is feeling anxious or unsure how the other will react, it’ll be hard to get a straight answer from him.

Clint is not completely deaf, he is Hard of Hearing (HoH) and can hear pitches of peoples voices and sounds past a certain decibel, if someone is talking softly, he won’t be able to detect their voice, but if he does hear someone talking he’ll normally turn his attention to them in order to read their lips

Reading lips is not an exact science and requires Clint to do a lot of guess work using context clues. Sometimes he’ll mess up or need to ask for clarification if he’s unable to fill in the blanks himself.

If someone is speaking to him, he needs to look directly at them in order to understand them.

If Clint gets drunk, he has a harder time understanding what other people are saying even if he focuses hard on their lips, usually in those situations he just gets quiet.

Luna alerts Clint to nearby sounds by pressing her nose against his leg and facing towards where the sound is coming from.

He has gotten pretty good at hiding his struggle with hearing, and unless someone figures it out or if he feels close enough to someone to open up to them about it, he’d rather keep the struggle to himself for fear of how they would react and how it would affect his place in the community.

For those that Clint cares about, he’s extremely loyal to them and protective. He would do anything for the happiness and safety of those he loves.