OROZCO, Garrus Raphael

[garrus raphael orozco]

GARRUS RAPHAEL OROZCO

FULL NAME: Garrus Raphael Orozco.
NICKNAMES: None
AGE: Thirty-Four
GENDER: Male
SEXUALITY: Straight.
STATUS: Single.
GROUP: Citizen.
GRADE: N/A.
MAJOR: N/A.
JOB OCCUPATION: Disaster Victim Identification Forensic Agent.

HAIR: Brown, messy waves, but almost always longer than the average guy. He likes having something he can run his fingers through, and prefers it longer to short, but does cut it every so often because of neatness.
EYES: Brown.
SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: None worth talking about.
TATTOOS: He had a tribal design on his right shoulder/upper arm, flowers on his left bicep, and a heart with his mother’s name in on his left hand side, at the bottom of his ribcage. His sister’s name is on the opposite side in a matching heart. He has the name of his first love over his heart after she died. He has a hamsa hand on his right forearm, and a symbol of peace on the same wrist. Finally, there’s a geometric shape on the back of his right arm.
PIERCINGS: Both of his ears once, and left helix.
PLAY-BY: Maximiliano Patane!

LIKES: Bergamot, charcoal, being by the water, walking barefoot, music, his job, late night walks, fruit salad, hoodies, renaissance art, chocolate milk, poppets, antique markets, strong coffee, Italy, basketball, surfing, coin collecting, comfy clothes, pineapple chunks, bakeries, spiced rum, cool bedrooms to sleep.
DISLIKES: Mispronunciations, raspberry jam, feeling tired when he has things to do, watery soups, reality TV, phones in his cinemas, cats (allergies), laundry days, metal benches (how are they comfy?!), going to the gym, bitten down nails, glittery make-up, mumbling, honey, chewing gum, feeling like he’s wasted a day, facing the families..
FEARS: Undercooked chicken, losing someone he loves in a disaster, quicksand.
SECRETS: He won’t order chicken in a restaurant or café because of his phobia of it being undercooked.
PERSONALITY: Garrus is a good man. He values commitment above almost all other things. He has an artistic side away from his working life, but he has very little time to enjoy it as much as he would like. Garrus is an out doorsy man, who hates being confined inside for long periods of time. It drives him mad and frustrates him. There are times when Garrus can be stern, but given his career it seems unavoidable that he would find the serious side of life more often than not; the families and loved ones of those lost need it from him. His hobbies keep him from being lost to it though. He enjoys his pleasure on the waves or the court, and keeping active allows him a break from that darkness, that uncertainty that comes with working for Interpol. Balance is important to Garrus, who believes firmly in stepping away from his work from time to time, which is why he lives away from his work. He internalises his frustrations, which often means he comes across as a calm man, or at least one who silently seethes. Cupid hasn’t been kind to Garrus, but when love does cast an eye his way, he’s somewhat old fashioned. He prefers to arrive with flowers and hold open doors. His job doesn’t pave an easy road for romance, but that doesn’t mean Garrus will give up hope on such things.

MOTHER: June Caitlyn Orozco, 67.
FATHER: Jim Benjamin Orozco, 66.
SIBLINGS: Bianca Lucia Orozco, 27.
OTHERS: April Theresa Valentine, deceased, first love.
PETS: None!
HOMETOWN: Rock River, Wyoming.
HISTORY: June was not a fan of small town life, but Rock River was just that. Her parents had met and raised her there, and it seemed like she would never escape it. Jim’s car broke down in the quiet town, and when he was holed up for a few days waiting on parts, he fell head over heels for the dream filled girl and never left when his engine was good as new again. That was a damn good thing, but their passionate love affair had resulted in a pregnancy, and a few weeks after their meeting, June was clutching a pregnancy test and nervously telling Jim the good news. He vowed to stay with her, and got a job with the county fire department. They wed as her belly swelled, and soon after they welcomed their son, Garrus Raphael Orozco.

He was six when June was pregnant with his little sister Bianca. During her second pregnancy, June was very vocal about her desires to move elsewhere, to try her hand at city life. Jim had come originally from New York, but had been travelling the country when they met after completing college and spending a few years in mediocre jobs. He was happy enough to take her back home if that was what she really wanted, but they waited until after Bianca was nearing her first birthday before they packed up their home and moved to a small, homey apartment in the city. Jim worked for the FDNY, and June eventually went to work in a bank once Bianca was old enough to be at day care. June thrived in city life, even though parts of it were not as she dreamt they might be.

Garrus grew up in the heart of New York City. He had a moderately normal childhood once they’d settled in after the move. Despite the age gap he got along well with his little sister. He was the protective big brother, and had the cool friends she grew up to have her first crushes on. He was an athletic kid, but at the same time wasn’t one of the popular crew. He was a little too arty for them, grew his hair out and played with clothes he found in strange shops and thrift stores. He was attracted to an aesthetic they couldn’t understand, a cross between a surfer boy from out west, and a grunge kid rocking out in the nineties. Garrus felt lost though when it came to choosing his future. He enjoyed science and art classes, but couldn’t choose between them, and career guidance at his high school was extremely unhelpful. He wound up applying to college completely undecided on what to study.

It didn’t help that his final year of high school was also occupied by April Valentine. She was a pretty transfer student from Arizona, but she had only transferred to New York because of a hospital that would be treating her for a rare immune disease. It all looked hopeful in the beginning, and Garrus fell head over heels in the way only a teenager can. They made plans together, and when she was too sick for a date they would use the phone to call each other up and watch the same movie together. It was sweet, and April’s parents approved of how supportive Garrus was. He asked the right questions about her condition, understood when she needed space and time for her treatments, and was eager to surprise her and spoil her when she was well enough. In the early summer months, things took a turn for the worse, and an infection that had been going round the school got to April. It weakened her considerably, and then worsened when another infection hit, too. Within two weeks everything went from manageable to the worst it could be. April slipped into a coma, and then passed away while Garrus was gone for an away game with the basketball team. It was all so sudden, and no one had expected it despite how sickly she was. He was devastated. She had been his first love, and they had made so many plans together. Impulsively, he headed out and had her name tattooed over his heart; something he doesn’t regret because her parents died within a few years of April from various diseases, and he felt it was important that she be remembered.

His mind only settled on a career after 9/11. Thankfully, everyone he knew was safe, but his father was one of the firefighters who worked endlessly in the aftermath, and the horror stories he told late at night in the following weeks shook something inside Garrus. That tragedy changed his dad. He wasn’t quite the same ever again after that response, and who could blame him? But Garrus was aware that so many weren’t prepared for these disasters, and his father had been a firefighter all of his life, and had told some horrifying stories about what he had seen in the past, or things that could have been if they hadn’t made it in time. Garrus wanted to help people. He wanted to do something to stop emergency responders being thrust into situations they might not be equipped to handle. His dad had over two years of therapy after 9/11 and still there were nights when he couldn’t’ sleep. Garrus switched into a forensic science programme immediately, and began doing all that was required of him to head in the direction of the Disaster Victim Identification teams that were primarily part of Interpol. They were fairly new, becoming more prevalent in the wake of terrorism and natural disasters that were making headlines globally. It wasn’t a pretty job, and Jim tried to talk Garrus out of it, but he was having none of it. He needed to do something. He had been in New York that September morning, sleeping in because he’d swapped shifts at Starbucks with another colleague. Garrus felt like it was a sign he was supposed to chase the darkness and be a glimmer of hope for some poor family, at least provide them with closure that their loved ones were in a better place and not just lost.

A number of years and a number of labs for training and Garrus was accepted into Interpol, but the move to DC did not last long. He needed the distance from work. Going home after flying back from somewhere only felt like waiting before the next call to go for the next flight. He convinced his bosses to let him move back to New York. His position saw him travel for the scenes, and he worked from the local labs and facilities unless they were damaged or insufficient. DC was for meetings and training, which he could always fly in for. It was awkward at first, but at least going home felt like going home. There was distance between himself and the darkness of his job, and that gave Garrus the chance to have a life, even if it was just for a few days at a time.

YOUR ALIAS: Kim.
RULE WORDS: kidnappedbykim.
WHERE YOU FOUND US: In a colouring book.
SAMPLE:

Nope!

[kim]