Onyx: [d: Do you think I'm a good]

Onyx: [d: How much faith do you have in me as a friend?]

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Isabella’s feet hurt. She’s been combing Manhattan for clues since the early hours of the morning, and she’s only catching the Subway home right on the edge of midnight. Maybe this is the day she’ll learn - four inch heels are not for sleuthing.

The first train coming in on the Broadway line is pretty full, but she can’t bear to wait for the next. She steps in and thinks there’s only room for standing until she’s halfway to the back of the compartment, and spots two empty places on either side of a gentle, tired-looking man. 

Grim realization is quick to follow the initial confusion, as she watches the woman a seat apart from him pull her bag a little closer to her lap.

She hates them, she thinks, matter-of-fact as she makes her way to the back of the train and plops noisily into the seat next to him. Warm brown eyes slide right to look at her, and she feels pleased when a slow smile quirks the corner of his mouth. 

“Isabella,” she says, breaking the sacred, unspoken agreement between frequent riders of public transport.

“Cobalt,” he says back, his voice a deep, familiar rumble. 

[ p r i v a t e ]

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AU: Nickel is the Seelie changeling as opposed to the Unseelie changeling.

The lights are flashing in front of his face, and he’s got the big smile spread across his face as he charms people out of their money, livelihood, and dreams. There’s a hum in the back of his throat, warmth in his eyes as he teasingly flirts with the man at the end of the table. The round ends, Nickel winks, and then slips away. His shift is ending for the night, and there’s time enough for parties to be found in neutral territory, away from gilded flowers and shark smiles. As he passes the door, he stops, leaning up to kiss Cobalt’s cheek as he does every single night that they work together and he leaves before the larger fey. “Say hello to Willow for me,” he says, winking playfully up at the big man. It’s fun to flirt with him, even though there’s no one more loyal than Cobalt. He wonders what Cobalt would think of how Nickel feels about their king, what he would think of all of the elixirs back in Nickel’s apartment. They are not friends, and the big man is simply a fun target to tease. Nickel winks one more time, and disappears into the night.

6. What are they like in motion–in different environments, and in different activities? What causes the differences between these?

It changes with who he is around. The cause is the level of trust and familiarity he feels towards those that he is around; when he is not by himself or with Willow and/or Cobalt, he is always on guard and closed off to varying extents. Forming relationships and trusting who he is with takes time. He is almost always wondering if there is an ulterior motive to be had to safeguard himself against those that might aim to conspire. 

10. What energizes and drains them most?

Dealing has to be the most exhausting for Onyx because there is a lot to be conscious of at all times; there’s a lot going on beyond what he’s tasked to do, he has to watch for sleight of hands, eyes and coded speak, tantrums and fits. It takes a lot out of him and can also sometimes feel boring. 

12. How are they bodily expressive? How do they use nonverbal cues such as their posture, stance, eyes, eyebrows, mouths, and hands?

Onyx uses his body more than his words; he’s not a huge talker. He’s always had a way with his hands like any illusionist artist self-proclaimed as a magician. I think he keeps his hands close to himself unless he’s wanting to be theatrical, trying to misguide someone else’s attention or wanting to be intimidating by making himself appear larger. Purses and puckers his lips, puffs air into his cheeks, bits his bottom lip and inside of his cheeks, rubs his nape/crook of his neck, rolls his shoulders or squares them — it’s all mostly isolated in his face and upper torso and hands/wrists.

16. Do they dream? What are those dreams like?

Not regularly. Sometimes there’s a dream and he’s aware of it, knows that he had one but can barely recall the details as soon as he’s awake. Dreams are fleeting so he doesn’t really hold onto them or cares to remember them nor their details much. 

18. What kind of person could they become in the future? What are some developmental paths that they could take, (best, worst, most likely?) what would cause them to come to pass, and what consequences might they have? What paths would you especially like to see, and why?

While I am still developing him and am also not totally sure of his path, I think Onyx could go quite a few directions. There’s a great advantage in playing a character that is morally grey and goes where it best suits him because a lot of paths open up for him to become one way then another. He is fond of humans, could easily become even more captivated by them; he crosses into Unseelie territory despite the risk and knowing he’s on their ground, and he knows what kind of position the Seelie court is in. He sees everything for what it is and I won’t decide what direction he’ll certainly go in; I think, for right now and for a while, he’ll want to do good for the Seelie court and for his king so that Adare can continue to have strength thus the other fey as well. But, longterm? Not sure. I’d say Onyx has potential to be a wild card. And if I’ve come to understand him appropriately then I think he gets one hell of a kick out of wild/joker cards.

26. How do they view and feel about relationships, and how might this manifest in how they handle them, if it does?

There isn’t an active interest beyond associating it with a duty, and it’s a duty he personally doesn’t feel responsible in fulfilling but recognizes others may feel differently. I think, in time possibly, he may open up to someone or a few individuals and may want to have a relationship beyond friendship but as of right now, I think he sees it as a task that he has no interest in taking on. Like with the previous question, that could change. He leaves his options open — have backdoors are important to him after all.

32. Do they have any “props” that are a significant part of their life, identity, activities, or self-presentation somehow? What are they, how are they used, and why are they so significant? How would these props’ absence impact them, how would they compensate, and why?

As was touched on in a previous ask meme, Onyx collects and keeps photographs of people he’s met throughout his life thus far. He keeps the pictures above his computer area and in his bedroom and reflects on them for any given reason, for nostalgia mostly. Still has the first deck of cards he played solitaire with — there to remind him of what started his intrigue and had entertained him for a period of time before he moved onto other things.

35. How and why do they internalize knowledge? What effect has that had on them?

For Onyx, knowledge is power and being able to predict someone else’s next couple of steps is seen as an advantage to him; though, he is prone to overthinking as a result. He likes to be able to know what someone is going to do soon so he can plan, or improvise, accordingly. It has done a number of things for him — opened his mind to different worlds, different perspectives, different strategies and possibilities. He believes this has taught him how to read and understand others intentions.

39. What sort of questions or thoughts recur in their lives, either specifically or as a theme? Why are these never answered, or answered permanently to their satisfaction?

To say it had been a long night would be an understatement, that is not to say that Willow had not enjoyed themself. On the contrary it had been an almost two hours of non-stop conversation with Seelie and Unseelie alike, rubbing elbows and putting in necessary face time with possible leads and connections in the new year.

They had hardly seen Cobalt since leaving his side at their arrival, both unable to leave their duties at the door. Aside from quick drag of fingers across their back, or a wordless passing of a drink from their husband, Willow had been on their own for most of the evening. So when the strong fingers slipped into their own Willow simply gave a gentle squeeze back before starting to pull away intending to visit the VIP lounge next. But they were held in place, a soft “Oh.” of surprise lighting their face.

“Isn’t this a pleasant surprise.” Willow smiled, stepping closer to their husband.

[ p r i v a t e ]

5. How do they dress? What styles, colors, accessories, and other possessions do they favor? Why?

However the hell he wants? Nickel’s fashion is a mix of feminine and masculine articles, though he tends to simply tell society’s ideas of gender to get fucked. He loves leather and lace, uses glitter in a way that some might say is excessive. He has numerous piercings, and these tend to be rose gold. He doesn’t favor patterns so much, but he does enjoy accent pieces and bright pops of color. 

11. How are they vocally expressive? What kind of voice, accent, tones, inflections, volume, phrases and slang, and manner of speaking do they use?

(So here is a video of Matthew Daddario talking. Here’s another one. It’s weird how similar Nicky talks, surprisingly.) Nickel’s tones are pretty similar to those videos. He uses swear words rather often, and he tends to speak rather quickly, though not on purpose. After all, that doesn’t exactly fit the lazy attitude he’s trying to portray. He doesn’t really have an accent. It’s not like he’s walking around with that stereotypical New York accent, after all. He’s also not a very loud talker in general, unless he’s somewhere where it’s needed.

16. Do they dream? What are those dreams like?

Nickel’s dreams are painfully vivid. Everything is in full color and they can be completely overwhelming sometimes. Sometimes his dreams are simply messy, a mix of memories and fantasies that smash together to make for some very weird nights. He has nightmares as well, and they are just as vivid and real, to the point that he’s woken up gasping and crying more than once. 

24. How do they present themselves socially? What distinguishes their “persona” from their “true self”, and what causes that difference?

Answered here.

31. Is there anything that counts as a “dealbreaker” for them, positively or negatively? What makes things go smoothly, and what spoils an activity or ruins their day? Why?