Post by Colonel Benjamin Devereaux on May 29, 2013 20:41:25 GMT -5
BENJAMIN MICHAEL DEVEREAUX
FULL NAME AND TITLE: Colonel Benjamin Michael Devereaux.
GOES BY: Colonel Devereaux. Benjamin. Ben.
AGE: 30
CLASS: Upper/Military
OCCUPATION: Colonel of the 7th Cavalry Dragoon Guards.
POSITION IN FAMILY: Second son.
FINANCES: £3000/Year
FACE CLAIM: Michael Fassbender.
EYE COLOR: Blue.
HAIR COLOR: Dark brown.
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 6'0"/Muscular.
DESCRIPTION:
While initially quite lean as a boy, his time in the armed forces of Britain and the campaigns subsequent to it have aided a great deal in transforming Ben into the lean boy he once was to the strapping gentleman he now is. While perhaps appearing a little narrow and unfinished around the mid-torso when compared to broad shoulders and a little too long in arm and leg if one really looks, he is regardless a man of fine bearing -- the years of standing to attention saw to that and rid him of any slouching or lazing about where living simply the life of a gentleman may not have. He is entirely a creature of habit (and not always intentionally so, a cause for much amusement) when it comes to the figure he cuts -- straight-laced and shoulders back from top to bottom, feet a little apart even at ease, a still sort of anticipation both bringing attention to and masquerading away the hard, powerful muscles of a real soldier and slightly less so to the observant, a contained, almost supine grace to his movements.
Skin already a light olive in nature is darkened further by the tan of the outdoors, a quality he manages to make look surprisingly attractive, though it is not without it's blemishments. His chosen vocation in life makes this almost impractical, to be free of trace and scar, and Ben has his fair share underneath his regimentals -- the star-shaped grotesqueness of a fencing sword running the contours of his right calf, a rapier slash long healed and all too close to the left pectoral of his upper torso, a permanent grazing where hot gun powder lay too long on the skin of his hand, the slight change of pattern in his hair on his forehead where an old head split left it's mark...to name a few. He's not riddled with scars, but each one has most certainly made an impression, and each one has it's story.
Colouration is what lends to Ben a great deal of his attractiveness, though his smile isn't worth a quick glance over either. While his jaw is perhaps too strong and his nose too high bridged for true beauty, Ben is an attractive man entirely in his own way. Dark hair cropped relatively short merely brings attention to those other features -- a smile that is wide and expressive and often wicked, cheeky, even...even when it might be that little bit predatory when the proverbial bait is scented, be it in the midst of battle on the field, or in the midst of battle amongst the equally savage rakes and blaggards masquerading as polite society. And then there is his eyes -- the absolute first and last thing you will ever notice about this man is his icy, sky-blue eyes. Whether one finds them icy or sky-blue is entirely up to their own judgement, for it may thoroughly depend on what the man thinks of you on any given day...though many may find it surprising that for such intensely blue a gaze, Ben's is a gaze that is surprisingly filled with warmth more often than not. But still, the sheer vivacity of them, the vividness alone, lends them them that intensity of quality that is both hypnotic and offputting...predatory, even, depending on the view of the one looking into them at any given time.
PERSONALITY:
Ben is a man that is both straight to the point and at times infuriatingly elusive. On one hand, he doesn't pull punches. He's honest about his opinions and honest about what he does, and he really doesn't have a lot of time for the foolish and the shallow. He's been raised just enough gentleman that he'll keep something of a lid on it in polite society -- because who in the world likes cutting honesty all the time? We're not all men (and women) of the military -- but you can bet your bottom dollar that after you've turned your back and he's put away that grimly playful smile, he's rolling his eyes at your shoulder blades and undoubtably will go off to find his cohorts at the time and let them know exactly how much of a sad sack of--whatever comes to his mind at the time he thinks you are.
Needless to say, though one might have already guessed this...Ben's just a little bit arrogant at times. It's well-founded, as he's come a long way in his life and barely relied at all
Another thing noting is this -- sensuality. Don't take it the wrong way; he doesn't go around bedding virgins and servant girls; he's got far too much honour for that. Every woman he might have ever bedded have been women of the world, women he's met on the continent, ladies entirely willing and thoroughly not innocent. It's not so much that, though -- that, you cannot really see lest you were one of those ladies, or are a learned lady...or a man close to his circle of friends. No, it's the way he moves that provokes the word. For even without those intense eyes is Ben a man who moves with an odd, infinite amount of grace -- for lack of a better phrase, he is like a cat. A big, black, shadowy, slinky cat of the wilds in India and Africa, confident in his movements even as the glimmer in his eyes gives nought but a playful taunt away. Enjoyable of the pleasures of physical sensuality; he moves as such, and he enjoys as such, from the touch of bare grass underfoot or the wind caressing his cheekbones, to the feel of warm skin under fingers kept at bay only by a dance and the flimsy softness of a feminine glove. He may be a soldier, but he is still a man nonetheless.
That being said, though...the man isn't nasty. Or he's not a complete jerk, for lack of a better word. He just knows what he wants, and he's just strong-willed enough that he won't let himself be beaten down too quickly. But he's not cruel. In fact, give him a bit of your time, and you'll find that to go with that rapier wit is in fact a nature that is genuinely...playful. The man is in fact just that -- an incredibly playful person. He loves children, and he's more than willing to entertain them. So to is he more than willing to entertain his younger sisters, tease them and laugh with them and playfully bully them even as he is protective of them. And protective he most certainly is, and not just because he's had it imbued in him for over a decade to protect his country; Ben's a man of an intensely protective, loyal nature. Almost overtly so at times, but God help the man who so much as lays a hand on his dearest and nearest. It's also worth noting, at least in the same breath as mentioning his sisters, that Ben is quite a softie under all of that; he'll smile at the antics and indulge children something chronic and will quite literally fuss over his horse like it's his child and cuddle a puppy or a kitten if it's thrust in his lap...but that doesn't mean he's a fop. Don't ever call him a fop. Ever -- he's liable to run his sabre through you for it. He just likes...he's just a bit of a softie. Just a bit. Somewhere in there.
When it comes to the softer notions of romance and matrimony, Ben is of two minds. Though not quite the rake the more sensitive might consider him to be, he's known his fair share of freedom and lovers over the years, and he quite enjoyed both. He's also not an idiot when it comes to romantic fancy -- perhaps he might not be inclined to marry purely for profit, but he's also well aware that even with the healthy enough sum both his commission and his family's recent wealth have allowed him, he knows it's very likely still not enough to upkeep the more distinguished (or avaricious) ladies of society. But at the same time, he can look you straight in the eye and tell you that no, he doesn't think he's quite fallen in love yet. Not enough time, you see...but he can also tell you he's come pretty damn close. Or he is pretty damn close, or as close as you can get given the situation. He's not fool enough to completely lose his head over anyone, and even should he fall in love, he likely never will. However, give him the object he's so begun to desire as of late, as hopeless as it likely is and as utterly, thoroughly flawed as that object is...give him vivid green eyes and red hair and a tongue that has left him laughing even if it's crossed daggers in his direction, and he will tell you that yes, he's pretty damn close to it.
RESIDENCE: Varies between wherever his Dragoon Guards are at any given time, though primarily East Sussex and his family's home in Nottinghamshire.
FAMILY MEMBERS:
Mrs. Josephine Devereaux (nee. Peacecraft) - Mother - Lady - age 63
Mr. Jonothan Devereaux - Elder Brother - Gentleman/Master of Riversmeet - age 34
Miss Evelyn Devereaux - Younger Sister - age 22
Miss Marianne Devereaux - Younger Sister - age 18
Mrs Amelia Devereaux (nee. Johnson) - Sister-in-law - age 30
Benjamin "Benny" Devereaux - Nephew - age 4
John Devereaux - Nephew - age 9 months
HISTORY:
Benjamin Michael Devereaux was born in a time both propitious and of relative unease for his family. His father, initially a coffee broker and a soujourner amidst the East India trading company, was a man who had come into his wealth fairly recently in the years prior to both Ben and his elder brother Jonothan's births, but it was still just new enough that it was still in it's period of transition. Thus, while Ben essentially grew up as a boy of the upper class, and learnt to mingle as such, so too did his parents pass upon him a need for sensibleness and frugality. Even if it was behind closed doors, somewhat, though the more viperous of the Ton would likely have noticed how, regardless of the extravegent fashions of the season, and regardless of how well they were presented, the Devereaux never really went far beyond what was absolutely needed to pass well in society. It was during these years that young Ben learnt young two things -- to never succumb to petty materialism, and to learn quickly the ways in which to survive the undercurrent of venom rampant in apparent polite society. And he did so well...almost too well, at times.
Despite the outside world, Ben still grew up in a family environment that was, for the most part, healthy and loving. If his father was a little stand-offish, that was okay. If his mother grew irrational on occasion as females do when faced with the upper echleon of society, it was something that always tended to pass in the end. As to his siblings, Ben competed and played with his elder brother and doted on his younger siblings, particularly his little sisters, whom he bullied playfully and loved dearly at every turn. But of course, being the second born son and not the heir meant that with maturity came time to venture out into the world -- something that didn't bother his adventurous side overtly, though it tried the familial devotion in him just a little. As such, when his father purchased the commission that got him into the British Forces, he took to it with gusto. Sometimes a little too much at times, admittedly, and he most certainly has a little black book somewhere of the people he likely trod on and the fights he got into, as he never quite enjoyed the implication that his rank was purely bought rather than earnt. Less so as the campaigns against and the tension with France escalated, though at the same time, what he learnt and witnessed during these times were what ultimately matured the boy into the man.
The five years immediately preceeding the current date were not easy years for the Devereaux family. Death isn't a thing one can control, and while the loss of their elderly father wasn't completely unexpected, Matthew Devereaux's death was. While not half as tenacious as his elder brother, Matthew had looked up to him regardless, and when the time had come to choose his own fate, he'd followed Ben into the military. Done quite alright, too, for even if he did not aspire as high as his elder brother had, he maintained well a promotion to Captain nonetheless. However, it was this very choosing of fate that would...well, choose his fate, and on the very same battlefield as his brother did the sweetest natured of the Devereaux lads meet his death, like so many other young men had and would in the future.
Blameless or not, buried deeply in his heart as it is, 'Matty's' death is something Ben has never quite forgiven himself for.
Life must go on, though, even when one does not wish it do so. So life did go on, and Ben followed it with his usual tenacity and the knowledge that his little brother required it and his sisters needed him to do so, even as his elder brother kept watch over their mother and their father's legacy. Ben himself went between his own company and the other, vastly different (yet all too alike) company found when entering polite society with his brother and little sisters, and if people couldn't quite handle the rapier wit of the man (or, admittedly, the deadly stares given when a lad chose to look at precious Marianne and Evelyn a little too long), then it was entirely upon them. It wasn't and it isn't to date as if Ben's actively seeking marriage or a partner in life...not overtly or obviously, anyway. As to children...he has his nephews to dote upon. That's enough, isn't it?
Even if he's struggling to get seagreen eyes and an equally driven wit out of his mind. Just a little.
YOUR NAME: Spooky.
YOUR AGE:
YOUR RP EXPERIENCE: MANY EONS AGO--
YOUR SAMPLE: See Fitzwilliam Darcy and Rebecca Levitt.
