Full name: Desmond Thomas Ross Gender: Male Age: 21 Sexuality: Bisexual Nationality: American Languages: English & French PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Height: 5'10" Weight: 145 lb Figure/build: Slender, lightly toned Tattoos: Planets tattoo on right inner forearm Piercing: Small helix piercing on both ears Scars/distinguishing marks: Appendectomy scar, small dark brown birthmark on his shoulder Preferred style of clothing: Comfort with a flair of professional. He prefers soft sweaters or quarter sleeved dress shirts with skinny jeans and plain tennis shoes or dress shoes. He limits his jewelry to his earring and a simple necklace, most days. Frequently worn jewelry: Saturn Pendant, Dinosaur Bone Necklace, Helix earring Costume: Forest green one pieced suit with slim armor pads on legs and arms. The suit is short sleeved but features high tech shoulder pauldrons and arm braces. Darker green armored toe shoes, included. HEALTH Smoker? No. Drinker? No. Drug User? Which? Technically no, but he got his cancer from secondhand smoke. Addictions: None. Allergies: Pollen Any physical ailments/illnesses/disabilities: Lung Cancer, Emphysema & Severe Asthma, Hearing Loss (caused by chemo) Any medication regularly taken: Pain medication, steroids, chemo PERSONALITY Likes: Dogs, smoothies, clearance sales, Disney movies, planet stuff, dinosaur stuff, loaded nachos, mini cucumbers, camping, stargazing, cats, frogs, shopping, mystery novels & mascots Dislikes: Coconut anything, missing a sale, slugs, June bugs, monkeys, salads with nuts, tap dancing, white chocolate, smokers, his grandmother & soft pasta Fears: Having an asthma attack, monkeys
Favorite color: Powder blue
Hobbies: Reading mysteries, escape room mobile games, reading conspiracy theories, camping & stargazing/searching. CAREER Level of education: High School Diploma & 1 year of college Former job title and description: n/a
Backstory: Desmond spent the majority of his life at his grandmother's house and that so happened to be where he acquired his first ailment. His mother who was young and in the prime of her life decided to leave her son with her mother so that he could live a normal life. She was in the process of becoming a star and was often moving from place to place. She wanted him to be able to stick to one neighborhood and make lifelong friends like she had as a child. She trusted her mother to care for him as she had cared for her. For the most part, Josie Ross (or gam-gam, as Desmond called her), was an upright citizen with morally correct ideals but she had her vices and one of the biggest ones was that she was a chain-smoker. She'd smoke up to three packs a day and get cranky if she missed a smoke. She never lashed out at Desmond though, she loved the boy to death. But despite her unconditional love for him, she couldn't understand what her bad habit was doing to the kid. She'd smoked like a chimney while she carried his mother, and while she raised her and she'd turned out fine!
It was at Desmond's little league soccer game where Josie realized that her grandson wasn't made out of the same stuff as his mother. He collapsed on the field, wheezing and gasping for air. He was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with emphysema and severe asthma. Josie was horrified and she wanted to quit, she truly did but she just couldn't. She'd smoked since she was thirteen! She couldn't imagine a life without a cigarette. She tried to make Desmond's environment cleaner though. She started going outside to smoke but that wasn't enough. Her entire house, clothing, Desmond's clothing and the car smelled of smoke and she didn't have enough money to get them replaced. But two weeks later it turned out that she wouldn't have to worry about any of those things. Desmond's doctor called to inform her that his team had missed something when they'd examined the boy initially; a small tumor in his right lung. Desmond had stage 2 lung cancer.
He was admitted to the hospital at seven years old but chemotherapy was not started because his mother was technically his guardian and her approval was needed. She flew back into town immediately and after signing the papers she tore her mother a new one and cut ties with the older woman. She blamed her mother for son's condition but more than that, she blamed herself for being so careless and selfish. Seeing her son hooked up to tubes and machines broke her heart, but she stuck around and gave up her glamorous lifestyle to become a car model. She used her actress funds and new income to buy a two bedroom apartment for her and her son. She decorated his room with everything he liked but Desmond was rarely ever able to come home.
The hospital was like Desmond's home and his mom's apartment was a timeshare. His lungs were so sensitive that he could barely handle natural air and relied heavily on machines that pumped sterile air into his lungs. The emphysema made it hard for him to do much of anything, so he became a bit of a bookworm. His mom bought him a little bookshelf with all sorts of books but he liked the mystery novels the best. He liked being able to figure out what would happen at the end. It made him feel wholesome and safe even though he had no clue when his ending would come and what would happen.
Over the years, Desmond's condition improved wildly. The doctors said that his lungs were stronger and that with the help of the chemo, the tumor on his lung was almost gone. He was able to go home at sixteen, and only come back to the hospital a few times a week for check-ups. His mother was thrilled, he was thrilled--they thought the worst had passed. Desmond was able to go back to school (he'd been attending classes via video chat up until then). He graduated from high school and immediately enrolled in college at the local university. He wanted to be a writer.
At the end of his second semester at the college, Desmond went out with his friends. They were celebrating surviving their first year as freshmen. Suddenly the voices of his friends began to fade out, then fade in, then out and the cycle continued. Desmond freaked out and went outside to call his mother. She assured him that she was coming to pick him up and...nothing. He couldn't hear her voice anymore. He couldn't hear anything. Not the sounds of car horns blaring in the street, not the sounds of patrons streaming in and out of the bar--everything was silent. He began to hyperventilate, or maybe he didn't? He couldn't hear his own voice. He could feel his heart racing, as he fell to his knees and curled into a ball. He felt hands on him--one of his friends had come outside to check on him. Her mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. It was getting harder to breathe as he struggled to tell her what was wrong but couldn't hear the words come out. Everything went black and he woke up in the hospital.
The chemotherapy had caused hearing loss, the doctor told him via notepad. It was a rare side effect, but sometimes it happened. To make matters worse, he had had a panic attack that triggered his asthma which triggered his emphysema. The doctors were also worried that the cancerous tumor was back.
His world was falling to pieces. In the days to come, Desmond fell into a deep depression. He could barely eat, or drink. He refused to learn ASL. Sometimes he didn't even allow his mother to visit him.
On the days where she was turned away at the hospital, Desmond's mother would return home and watch reruns of old movies on TV. It was during the commercial break of one of these movies that she saw the advertisement for Coretonic and with only her son's best interests in mind but not his permission, she made contact.
Miscellaneous: He has had no contact with his grandmother since he was admitted as a child. He blames her for his affliction and doesn't know what he'd do if he ever saw her again. (If she's even still alive.)
He's always wanted a dog but his mom was afraid that the urge to keep up with a puppy's energy would affect him adversely.
He has a half-finished mystery novel in the works.
He's dated, two women and one guy. Random Power: The ability to stick to any surface Random Physical Mutation: A fully functional arm grown from last lumbar vertebrae.
