` reicher nacht { entirely guilty by design

[Crush]

REICHER NIKOLA NACHT

name, Reicher Nikola Nacht; pronounced rye-ker; commonly goes by Nikola or Rei (pronounced rye); hates when people shorten Nikola, or pretends he does, at least
gender, Male
shifter, Yes; bengal tiger, black
age, Twenty years old
birthday, July tenth
position, Science teacher
orientation, Bisexual; leans towards girls mostly

height, Five foot nine inches
weight, One hundred forty nine pounds
hair, Dark brown, almost black; on the longer side
eyes, Light gray with a tint of blue
face claim, Ian Somerhalder
generally, Relatively thin, but still sturdy enough

With a relatively average build - perhaps even a little on the thin side, really - Rei is hardly unique, at least as a silhouette. He isn't spectacularly tall, nor surprisingly short, either. And yet, that doesn't leave him in the background. Even before he opens his egotistical mouth, he gets himself noticed with his slightly pale skin, dark hair and nearly-white eyes. The contrast catches eyes, and the pretty much perfect teeth and confidant smile keep them. That's not to say everyone loves him - though he certainly believes they do - and some even hate him simply for that smile, cocky and arrogant as it is. His clothing, despite typically being suits and dress shirts, often looks casual as he will usually get a size too big for a suit jacket, or not bother ever tucking in a dress shirt. That, coupled with regularly untidy hair might give teachers a bit of a bad name, but he really doesn't care - he thinks he looks just downright fantastic, and that's good enough for him.

when shifted, Lithe, relatively thin

This is his more unique form, though, then again, silhouetted, he still isn't too different. He's a relatively large tiger, but his body is thinner, built a bit more for speed than power in comparison to your typical tiger. That doesn't make him weak, however - he can still pack quite the weight and power behind any strike he makes. His coat stands out the most, a dark gray with black stripes. Many assume he's simply gotten himself covered in soot and not washed it off, but they are quickly corrected when it never, ever comes off, even in the slightest. His pelt is relatively devoid of stripes, with most being on his tail, legs and face, then with some along his back though almost all of them have tapered off by half way down his side. His eyes stay light and faded, though they're a bit more blue than gray in this form.

likes, Himself, being right, himself, being in charge, himself, wine, himself, keeping secrets (on occasion) .... oh, and did I mention himself?
dislikes, Idiots, being wrong, being told not to do something(not that he listens), those who try to get in his way, those who doubt his brilliance, those who torture others
strengths, Very smart, almost impossible to spot in the dark when shifted, can lie without you ever knowing
weaknesses, Ego(and occasional lack thereof) gets in the way, tends to be self-centered, mood swings
habits, Tends to have difficulty staying still or sleeping
secrets, Pretty much his whole history - he replaces the bad things with better things that leave you wondering how he ended up with such a twisted personality.
traits, acquired taste, sense of humour, noble, intellectual, actor, vicious temper, lack of confidence, caring, potentially suicidal

acquired taste,

Reicher can be, and has been, described as an "acquired taste". Unfortunately, this is very much true. His mood shifts and flies around as if he has multiple personalities, though he doesn't. One minute, he'll be calm, cool, collected and civil. The next, he'll be wildly ecstatic and excited, or perhaps even murderous if the moment so strikes him. It's unpredictable at best until you get to know him and his motives, and even then you might be grasping at straws a little bit to figure him out.

sense of humour,

He's the kind to tell a joke, usually dry, sarcastic humor, at the wrong time. It isn't that he doesn't recognize it as a bad time, either - it's that he truly doesn't care. Every time is the right time to him, whether you think so or not. This is caused, in part, by a sort of nonchalance about his life. He's a bit flippant about almost everything, and this is where that side of him really, truly shines.

noble,

He doesn't hold much regard for any sort of rules, not unless it pleases him at that moment in time, and so he is often being labeled as the bad guy. This isn't always true, mind you. Hidden deep, deep, deep down in his psyche is a truly noble side that would give his life for a close friend or someone he loves. This side, actually, was what turned him into what he is now - not that anyone in the clan knows that. The problem with this is that it shows itself so rarely now, and there is almost always something in it for him when it does. If you're lucky, that something is the thought of your company in the future, though don't count on it. It's probably something much more complicated, like you're a better hunter than he is and you've been feeding him. He thinks of himself first and foremost. If being the good guy will increase the chance of his survival, or the survival of someone he might need to help him in the future, then trust me, he'll be the good guy, no questions asked.

intellectual,

You can't deny his brilliance, even if you want to. He earns the title of "genius" with relative ease. He's able to think ridiculously far in the future and plan ahead pretty well, when he wants to. Some presume this is a side effect of being in tune with time as he is, though he'd rather think it's his own intellect that he would have had with or without his power.

actor,

He is usually brutally honest, often exaggerating the truth and making it hurt all the more. Don't mistake this for an inability to lie, however - if it suits him, he can lie straight to your face and never blink an eye, with no indication of if he's truthful or not. It drives others crazy that he can sit there and not care whether what he says is truth or not, but the thing is, he does care. He cares about which one will suit his needs better - after all, he's got to pretend he thinks himself far more important than you will ever be.

vicious temper,

For all his supposed self-control, Reicher has quite the temper. It might not be displayed all the time, but he isn't exactly hard to piss off. He'll growl and grumble and openly ignore you at first, and this is where you should stop. Those who don't end up in a whirlwind of rage, and friend or not, he can and will tear you to shreds. You've been forewarned.

lack of confidence,

He puts on quite the show, seeming rather "out there" and hard to hold down, as if he's high on life and nothing could ever bring him down. But, that's not the truth. He's not "all that" and his ego is very easy to bruise - because it isn't all that real to begin with. Watch what you say, or you'll find him in a downward spiral that you might not get him of for quite a few days. And a depressed Reicher is not a fun Reicher.

caring,

He'd hide it to his dying breathe if he could, be deep down, once he decides you're his, you'll never get rid of the guy. Ever. And, yeah, true, he might not always show he cares in a way you can understand, but he tries. When he's trying, that when you can get a glimpse into just how fractured apart this poor canine is, for he'll find himself at a loss for words or overcompensating for something that he knows he's lacking in. If you're "his," you deserve the best. Far better than he knows how to give - in his opinion.

potentially suicidal,

Don't get me wrong - he's not about to go drown himself in the ocean on purpose. As such, he isn't truly suicidal. Nor is he crazy, as proven by his clear and concise judgments. However, his lack of regard for his own life has caused him to be considered both crazy and suicidal. If faced with a whole pack, he will gladly stand up to them on his own to save another, if that other is deemed worthy of being saved. It is his twisted form of trying to prove to himself he's worth something - and he definitely believes his death is better than yours, even if he'd never, ever actually admit it out loud.

mother, Sophia Brown, unknown
father, Thomas Johnson, unknown
siblings, None
lovers, None
others, Jared Nacht, adoptive father, deceased; Carol Hawthorn, adoptive mother, deceased; Keith Hawthorn, adoptive step-father, deceased
pets, None
story, twisted and dark

Only sixteen when she had Reicher, Sophia was quick to give up her child to the first person who wanted him. It wasn't like the father was going to be in the picture - he'd made that very clear. Anyway, a soldier and his new bride seemed like the perfect couple to take care of the baby and so it would be. The problem was, Carol didn't want to be a mother and with Jared gone regularly, neglect was the first thing to touch this poor child's life. He was screamed at to shut up when she hadn't gotten enough sleep, occasionally ignored when he was hungry, left locked in a room for hours on end while she tried to get some sleep. He was resilient, however - no one could deny that. Somehow, he grew to be a relatively normal child - at least, what seemed normal until he started school. When most kids were struggling with the alphabet, he was already reading short stories. When they didn't understand addition, he was already a few grades ahead. It was easy for him, logic. He didn't exactly have friends, but nor did he really want them.

By grade two, Carol and Jared were divorced. The adoption hadn't been legal, so it wasn't like child services would know or care unless they got a report in that sounded worrisome. She quickly remarried the man she'd been having an affair with, and that's when it went beyond neglect and verbal abuse. It escalated to emotional, and when Reicher simply ignored what should have hurt him, Keith turned to physically abusing the boy. It didn't get bad until he hit high school - he was ten at the time, mind you. That was when he first shifted, and the abuse worsened. It wasn't that Keith hated shifters for no reason - in fact, he was a shifter himself. He simply hadn't come to terms with it and hated himself for it, so he took it out on an easy target.

Reicher lost himself in his studies, graduating high school at age fourteen with stellar grades, and planning to move on to university, where he could get away from the abuse. But, it wasn't to be - Keith demanded they follow the boy, "being as he was so young". Carol agreed, since she never argued with what he said, and so it was. Off to Oxford they went, and he spent as much time in the library as he could. He flew through school there, opting for taking classes all year round so that he had time away from home. He was fifteen, one year into the three it would take him to earn his bachelor's degree, when Keith had had enough. And that was the night Reicher nearly drowned, held underwater struggling. He tried not to shift - really, he did - but instinct took over and rage blinded him. Suddenly, everything was flipped around and Keith was being held down - not that he could fight any more anyway. Claws had sliced right through his throat. Disturbed by the noises, Carol came in, and she wasn't worried for her "son". No, she blamed him, and still in a fit of rage, she was the next victim.

Then he realized what he had done. He regretted it, yes - but hardly, and certainly not to the point he plead guilty. He claimed a tiger had come in - a shifter, it must have been - and done this, that he had returned home from the library to see this. It was accepted - after all, he was fifteen and already a university student, and he had just gotten home when the incident had started, so the difference in time wasn't enough for them to know it was a lie. He wasn't stupid, he'd thought it through first. He was granted emancipation so that they didn't have to put him in the system, and he finished his undergraduate degree, moving quickly on to his master's degree. He finished that before hearing of Innovation. He was hesitant to go - his experience with other shifters wasn't exactly the best - but he knew it would be better. They were still on the lookout for a tiger shifter, and getting caught wouldn't be in his best interests. So, a year in teacher's college, then he went there - as a shifter, they didn't turn him away. In his spare time, he works on earning his PhD, which was what he'd truly wanted to aim for after his master's degree. He never did learn he was adopted, either.

name, Crush
experience, Eight to nine years
other characters, Alice Genevieve Morel
read the rules, Yes

[Crush]

ACCEPTED

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