Travis Brooks

[Travis Brooks]

The Basics

Name: Travis Michael Brooks
Nicknames: Trav, Brooks
Age: 22 (September 12, 1992)
Orientation: Bisexual
Desired Rank/Job: Farmer
Powers: Non Meta
Play By: Matt Czuchry

The Details

Hair Color: Dirty blonde/light brown
Eye Color: light brown
Any Piercings? None.
Any Tattoos?None.
Any Scars?A few small ones up and down his arms from basic farming stuff.

General Appearance: Travis isn’t the tallest guy standing in at 5’9”, but what he lacks in height he makes up for in spunk. He keeps his hair somewhat short, usually a dirty mess atop his tanned head. He has a year round farmers tan from working in the sun all day, his lean body rippled with muscle from hard labor.

Travis has a mischievous smile he flashes often and is visibly laid back. You’d be hard pressed to find a clean Travis, too. He showers plenty, but dirt seems to be embedded in his skin, which is often smudged. Even with a thick layer of cologne, the unmistakable smell of earth lingered on him, not in a rancid manure kind of way, but more like a freshly planted garden.

His wardrobe consisted of mostly jeans, plain T’s and flannels. He kept things simple, being a simple kind of guy. Nothing flash, nothing fancy, just like him. Dressing up usually consists of switching up his jeans for khakis, and even in his older age he tends to prefer hand-me-downs, or at least second hand stuff. He doesn’t see the need to spend lots of money on clothes.

Personality: Travis is a laid back guy, a side of himself he likes to show people in the beginning. It was when you got to really know Trav that you saw the mischievous side of him. If something’s gone missing, there’s a good chance it was Travis who hid it, always finding the joke funnier than his victims did. It was always in good fun, and if someone to become offended he would quickly apologize, but then insist it was merely a joke and not to get so bent out of shape.

He has a way with words, making him very approachable, especially when it came to the gentler sex. He could be a flirt by nature, but saved his finer, more romantic qualities for those he deemed truly worthy of them. There had been so few in his life who had seen that side of Travis. All in all he’s sweet and tends to not hold grudges for long.

Though he works the field all day, mostly alone, he likes to be around people. Being alone isn't something he's used to with coming from a large family. He likes being in a crowd, likes noises and getting to know people. He's not always the best at keep in touch, but he sure knows how to make a first impression. appearance.

Your Vices

Likes:
- put-put golf
- football
- baseball
- camping
- fishing
- hunting
- bars
- country music
- being outdoors
- fireworks
- bonfires
- barbecues
- video games
- the movies
- his siblings
- his best friend
- fried chicken
- pickles
- meat
- coca cola


Dislikes: 
- serious people
- most seafood
- foreign foods
- compact cars
- being alone for too long
- being inside for too long
- metal music
- conflict
- inequality
- judgmental people


Strengths:
- fixing up old cars (though he needs help)
- sports
- working the land
- Pretty positive outlook on life
- Sees the best in people
- quick witted
- Is a hard worker
- friendly
- loyal

Weaknesses:
- not very book smart
- tends to get himself into trouble
- doesn't know when to quit
- impulsive
- easily distracted
- easily swayed

Fears:
- Being a disappointment
- losing the ones he loves
- Going to Hell
- becoming paralyzed

Secret: He's in love with his best friend, who is also five years younger than himself. His parents would be devastated if they knew, and he feels very conflicted about his feelings towards Glads. Not because he thinks they're wrong, but because he's afraid of hurting the boy and their relationship.

Family Ties

Father: William “Will” Brooks
Mother: Jennifer “Jenny” Brooks
Siblings: Older brother Austin (23), younger brother Blake (20), younger sister Cassidy (18)
Any Other Important People: Glads Thompson count

History

Travis leaned too far back, his left elbow hanging out the window of his beat up old pickup as he drove north. The truck had been nothing but a pile of scrap when he and Austin towed it from Mr. Bessel’s yard. Told them they could sell it for scrap and make some decent cash, but the boys rebuilt it instead. They’d got it in good working order and though she broke down a time or two, she was still in decent shape after all these years. Travis knew he’d need something new in the future, but ol’ Bessy served him well, and having anything other than a sturdy old pickup didn’t interest him.

Willacoochee was a small nothing town in the middle of nowhere Georgia. Most of the buildings were outdated or falling apart, in most cases both. It was the sort of place you lived because you had no other choice, and then eventually hunkered down because you could only hold on to your dreams of escaping for so long. In the end it created a whole new generation of kids just itching to get away but unable to. In a town like Willacoochee, most people didn’t have the means to get too far. Travis, it seemed, might be one of the lucky ones.

Travis Michael Brooks was the second of four children. First came Austin, then thirteen months later he arrived. Blake was almost exactly two years younger and Cassidy rounded out the group nineteen months later. Their home was never quiet with three loud, rambunctious boys and a baby girl who screeched simply to be heard over the lot above her. Jenny and William were young when they’d met. High school sweethearts. Their story was redundant; football quarterback, cheerleader.. the rest was history. She got pregnant their senior year of high school and just after graduation they tied the knot. Will’s daddy was a farmer and rented out the old farmhouse on the far end of his crop farm to the small family. It needed a lot of fixing up, but it was a roof and it had the basic amenities. Will worked the fields and left Jenny home to care for her screaming infant baby, which quickly turned into four screaming babies.

It was a decent life. Not great by any means, but could be a hell of a lot worse. The family got by and Travis rarely went without. There was always food in his belly and clothes on his back, even if they’d been on the backs of two or three other boys before him. Everything was hand-me-downs. As soon as Austin outgrew something it went into Travis’s drawers, and the second he was through with it, it went to Blake. It wasn’t unheard of to see Cassidy running around in a pair of beaten old overalls, her blond hair a muddy nest of curls crowning her angelic smudged face. The family got by, though. They made things work, and every Sunday they put on their nicest outfits and went on down to the Willacoochee Church of God. That name always struck Travis as odd. Weren’t all churches for God? He never asked, though. The Sunday school teacher, Ms. Pritchett, was a nasty old thing and hers was the only class he ever behaved in.

Every family had their wise ass, and in the Brooks household it was Travis. That wasn’t to say the others didn’t get into trouble; it wasn’t unheard of for Austin and Travis to team up in order to execute their mischievous plans, and on a good day they would let their brother in on their fun instead of making him the target of it. He played pranks, weaseled his way out of chores and figured out how to sneak out well before Austin ever did. Travis was the brains of most operations in the Brooks household, being the more cunning of the group of boys. He was sharp and funny and could talk his way out of almost anything. These traits were almost endearing in his younger years, but as he got older they proved to be a nuisance. He was constantly getting detentions but never for doing anything serious. Usually minor infractions, things simply to annoy the teacher or disrupt class, like when he’d let a container of crickets loose in Ms. Willard’s history class. It was pranks like these that got him kicked out of the home during the summer. With hours of endless free time on his hands and too many willing accomplices, his parents made arrangements for Travis to stay with Jenny’s sister, Debbie. There was little instigating to be done two and a half hours from home.

Deborah had been one of the lucky ones to escape Willacoochee. She’d worked hard through high school and went off to college, finally settling and marrying a good man named Gerald Burgess. He’d owned multiple estates and plantations and was well off, though he was a bit older. Established, momma said. Gerry had even taken in a young teenage girl and helped raise her (“Wasn’t that awful kind?”), then her bastard son as she went off to finish her schooling ("Man must be uh saint!”). Jenny envied her sister, wishing she had the kind of money her sister did, but she’d made her bed and now she was lying in it. When Debbie offered to take Travis off her hands for a month or so over the summer, she was grateful. Having one less child around, especially one prone to idle hands, would be her saving grace.

Travis didn’t like the idea of spending so much time away from home. He liked instigating trouble with his brothers and picking on his baby sister. He loved a pick up game of tag football or baseball with his siblings and the other kids in his neighborhood. Setting up a tent in the backyard to camp in was one of his favorite activities, one he shared with his older and younger brothers. The boys were close and deathly protective of their kid sister. How could he go a whole summer without them? What fun would it be going all the way up to Savannah by himself? Besides, rich people were snooty and they’d probably make him bathe every night. The only good thing was he got to ride the bus all by himself. That, and the boy waiting for him when he arrived at the plantation.

Glads wasn’t like his brothers or sister. Glads was a different kind of kid all together, one Travis was unsure about at first. Small with sun soaked skin, a halo of gold curls and the kind of blue eyes that made ladies stop and stare. He looked like a painting. Travis disliked him immediately, but the boy grew on him quickly. He was, after all, someone to waste time with. He was a great deal younger than himself, but close enough to Cassidy’s age that the gap didn’t feel unnatural. Already a big brother, it was easy for Travis to fall into the role of the boy’s protector, not that he needed any real protecting, but Travis felt compelled to act as a role model. He took Glads camping in the backyard, tossed a football, played soccer and aunt Debbie even took them put-put golfing. Travis and Glads alike adored put-put golf, never having done it before, and spent plenty of time that first summer making their own courses in the vast yard, much to Gerry’s displeasure.

Five weeks passed quickly and before he knew it Travis was boarding a bus for Willacoochee. And so a tradition was born. Every summer, after school ended, Travis boarded a bus to Savannah and spent time away from his siblings in exchange for Glads. He looked forward to his summers in a new way now, liking the life there in Mr. Burgess’ estate camping with the younger boy, playing put-put, running around in the sunshine and playing video games he didn’t have at his own home. Meals were heartier, the beds were softer and the simple life pleased him even if he did need to bathe every night. Not that he didn’t like the rowdy life he left behind; no he preferred that, but it was nice to get away from it all for a while, and it was nice to have a friend in that other world he could share his time and life stories with. Glads was one of the few things in his life he didn’t have to share with his siblings. He was all his, and every year Travis appreciated the boy more for what he represented. It was no surprise that his friendship secretly grew into a sort of love, one that seemed to grow stronger with each summer that passed.

The year he was eighteen was the last summer he spent at Aunt Debbie’s home. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to.. if anything it pained him to know that he wouldn’t be getting to spend as much time with Glads away from the tumultuous life he lived at home, but now that he was eighteen, an adult who had graduated high school, he was expected to work. And work he did. With school not taking up his days and sports not taking up much of his free time in the afternoons and evenings, he found himself doing back breaking work on his grandfather’s farm all the time, not just on the weekends. The money wasn’t great, but according to his father it wasn’t about the money, it was about keeping the farm alive. It was their family’s bread and butter and without it they’d sink, but they allowed him his one last month to be a kid. After a month of working the farm he went up to Savannah for the last time.

Things had gotten complicated at the Burgess home and Travis was beginning to see the toll it took on Glads. He made the time count as much as he could, distracting the younger boy from drama between his mother and Trav’s uncle. Aunt Debbie wasn’t all too fond of the living arrangements it seemed and both boys could hear plenty of bickering once night fell. It wasn’t uncommon for Glads to find himself in Travis’s bed at night, a safe refuge from the world around him, and having siblings of his own he was used to sharing a bed. Not that this was the first time they’d shared a bed. In summers past Glads had snuck into his room, seeking company in the late hours, and Travis was always glad to offer it. When the younger boy fell asleep he never bothered bringing him back to his own bed, simply allowing him to stay. If anything, he looked forward to him coming. It was nice having the warm body beside him at night, the even breaths that came from the still small, lanky teenager. It was hard for Travis not to admire him, not to simply love him. He knew he was older, he knew how wrong it was to have the sorts of feelings he was starting to really have for Glads, but he knew on some level Glads shared them.

On his last night at the Burgess home, Glads, per the norm, found himself in Travis’s bed. It was the first night he allowed himself to hold the other boy as he slept, sliding an arm under his head and cradling it gently as he wrapped the other safely around the boy’s small frame. He’d miss this.. miss him.. but things were going to change whether he liked it or not. Nose nuzzled into the soft golden curls, he slept easier that night than he should have, simply knowing the boy he loved was with him, the comfort of his presence enveloping him. It was that night that he kissed Glads. It was the middle of the night and he’d woken with the dread heavy in his stomach knowing what waited for him back in Willacoochee. In their sleep the boys had shifted and Travis had looked down into the angelic sleeping face of the boy who had been like a brother to him. With his mind cloudy with sleepiness and grief he leaned down, lips pressing to the others, lingering for only a moment. It eased him and brought him guilt at the same time; Glads didn’t need something like this on top of what he was already dealing with. Travis pulled back and laid on his side, unable to sleep any more. How confusing this all was to him.

Travis kept in touch with Glads over the years that followed that last summer. He found he was often exhausted from the day’s work, but would talk to his friend whenever he needed. With every year that passed, Travis became more certain that this was not the life he wanted, and when the younger boy went off to school in Vermont he saw it as a possible opportunity to not only get away, but to be closer to Glads once more. When the boy and his mother were kicked out of Aunt Debbie’s home Travis knew the only way he might ever see Glads again would be to go to Vermont. He battled with the idea. Glads was so young still, he didn’t need someone like Travis around with his mixed up feelings for the boy, but he decided to save his money just in case he got the opportunity to go north. If the opportunity arose, he would make a decision then, and see what Glads thought of it.

Twenty two. Twenty two and he was on his way to Vermont to start a new life, hoping Ol’ Bessy had it in her to make the trip up north. He’d searched for months for a reason to go north, and one finally presented itself to him. A farm, not terribly far south of Pilot Ridge, was looking for diverse farm hands. They had been establishing a forest garden and were working on becoming organic certified, something he’d helped his grandfather’s farm establish not two summers prior. With his experience, he became a lead candidate and soon Steve and Laurel were offering him a job which included board. It was too good an opportunity to pass up and somehow Travis thought maybe it was destiny. Plus being so close to the school would maybe allow him to take some classes so he could one day get out of farming, not that he knew what else he might like to do. Any dreams of being a pro baseball player died years ago, but maybe something in the northern state would strike his fancy. So he hugged his momma tight, gave his dad a firm handshake, hugged his beloved brothers and sister farewell for now and packed up his truck for the north.

He really was going to be one of the lucky ones.

What About You?

Name: Harpence or Pam
Age: 31
Experience: too long
How Did You Find Us? Ad on a site, can’t remember which now.
Ready To Play? Yerp.

[Travis Brooks]

BUMP for finishing

Also, I'm sorry about the formatting. I have no idea why it's doing that and no clue how to fix it..

[Sydnee*]

Accepted!

You know what to do! I'm so excited to see Travis around the boards, Pam!