welcome to aurora bay, [CASSIUS BANKS]! i couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [MICHAEL B. JORDAN]. you must be the [THIRTY FIVE] year old [OWNER OF THE GOLDEN HOUR LOUNGE]. word is you’re [DIRECT] but can also be a bit [BRAZEN] and your favorite song is [GOOSEBUMPS BY TRAVIS SCOTT]. i also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS]. i’m sure you’ll love it!
BASICS.
NAME: cassius akia banks.
BIRTHDAY: december 3rd.
GENDER + PRONOUNS: cis-male, he/him.
TIME LIVED IN TOWN: four years.
OCCUPATION: owner of the golden hour lounge.
FAMILY: denzel banks (father), serena taylor (mother), tyra taylor (half-sibling, younger), colby foxx (son, has no relationship with).
POSITIVE TRAITS: direct, bold, confident.
NEGATIVE TRAITS: brazen, harsh, arrogant.
NEIGHBOURHOOD: officially ocean crest apartments, but honestly? wherever he wakes up.
FC: michael b. jordan.
PART OF: @aurorabayaesthetic.
BABY BIO.
tw. DUI / drug mentions / child abandonment / car accident + injury / prison / pregnancy / break-up.
born in queens, new york to a mother who, at barely turned seventeen, thought she was too young to want him and a father who would have been a deadbeat if it wasn't for an overbearing mother of his own.
denzel banks was forced to step up, serena taylor got to run into the sunset — and cassius wasn't to see her again until many years later.
growing up with his father wasn't much different to growing up without his mother. it was his grandmother who showed interest in him, denzel was too busy living out his late teens and early 20s getting into the kind of trouble that kept cassus' grandmother up at night.
by nine years old his father was on his second stint of jail-time, the first time was punishment for a second DUI, second a harsher charge for drug related offences. denzel swears it wasn't him, that his so-called friends had drawn him the short straw and stabbed him in the back.
by thirteen his father a free man once more, and now at thirty-one years old denzel finally wanted something to do with his son. promising to turn things around. he got a job, saved up, got them a tiny two bed apartment.
cassius was never great academically but what he lacked in academic success he made up for in sporting ability.
he was fifteen when his mother turned up at his football game. he was showing promise, and if he was going to be recruited into college football she wanted a front seat.
little did she know cassius had also found out what skirt chasing meant, and, much to the dismay of denzel seeing his son turn down a road that felt all too similar to his own, cass spent any time he wasn't on the football field hanging out with his heathen friends.
serena left again, but not before telling him she was sorry that she didn't want him and how she was married now, with another child - a daughter named tyra.
a failed drugs test ended his dreams of college football, which only pushed him further into his group of friends, at seventeen he truly was following in the footsteps of denzel, he was either high, drunk, or fucking around with the latest person that had caught his eye.
graduating high school by the skin of his teeth, the threat of being kicked out sent him to his best friends couch. though, he didn't spend many nights there. he had dates on rotation.
the next few years seemed like a blur, barely speaking to his father or grandmother, he skipped from job to job, delivery guy, cashier, bartender.
at twenty-six he met his ex-girlfriend, dating for three years before she excitedly announced she was pregnant thinking he'd propose. he broke up with her and had tinder re-downloading before he'd even finished packing a bag to leave. he's seen her twice since — returning once for court appointed paternity and child maintenance rulings, and the second time he accidentally run into her (and colby) whilst visiting his grandmother. (he didn't quite skip town as much as he skipped neighbourhoods, moving in with a friend from brooklyn).
at twenty-eight, with nothing to truly keep them in NY he and his buddy decided to travel across america, they did it as cheaply as possible and worked odd jobs across the way.
it was near the end of their travelling that they ended up in aurora bay. cass' got a job as a bartender and when his friend decided it was time to move back to NY cassius decided to stay in aurora bay.
finding a roommate and settling in was fairly easy, working jobs was easy, he was happy living a simple life. hadn't amounted to much, but he suspected that had always been on the cards for him.
that changed when one evening on his way home he got knocked down by a car running a red light. turned out to be a doordash delivery driver, and twelve months of litigation later he'd sued them out of half a million dollars. — you wouldn't think being run over by a car would be considered a perk, but for cassius it sure was. aside from the TBI & months of rehab for his various injuries.
he used that money to put a downpayment on golden hour lounge, a place he'd once worked at that had recently gone up for sale. money spent on that didn't leave him with enough cash to move out of ocean crest, much to his dismay.
it's only been a couple of months since he took over the ownership and he has no real idea of what he's doing, but theres enough money coming in to keep his head above water, and for now, thats enough for him.
FACTS.
has a five year old son called colby that he's met twice, what he knows of him is via stalking his ex' instagram.
head injury from his accident left him colourblind, it also changed his personality somewhat. prior to it, he was a gentle flirt with fear of any responsibility, yet harmless. now he's somewhat brutal, happy to speak his mind without filter. will tell you you're a fuck up (which, coming from him sure is something), it's left him semi-quick to anger and he attempts to placate that with running & high energy workouts.
drinks a lot less than he did pre-accident (he’s not sober & will happily have a drink / go out with his friends / drink with a date, but he’s not binging for the sake of it, won’t drink every night he’s at the lounge). took up smoking though & stopped partaking in illegal substances (for the most part, what was a regular occurrence is now a ‘special occasions’).
has no idea what he's doing half the time, lives on vibes alone.
is truly trying to get his shit together and grow up. owning the lounge is step one.
has ghosted more people than he can count, does not do well with responsibility.
has actually been hit by a car twice (the first was some girl named fiona trying to park in ocean crest), he's hoping a third doesn't happen and lives every day just a little further from the edge of the sidewalk.
used to change jobs like t-shirts.
CONNECTIONS.
bully of @lunarakuzgun.
employer of @joey-madani & @cavenshh ( + she's testing his ability to keep saying no to those short skirts).
once employee of @santiagodeleons, @pcrdita (+ gym bro) & @borawinters.
once got tapped by @fionaosmvn's car outside ocean crest, @mackmontgomery was her passenger.
@cricketcampbell thinks it was her doordash that got him run over.
friend of / once upon a time hook-up of @ponderosus.
friend of @maxxyrobinson, @charlcyboy.
appreciates @annthcmpscn.
friend of @atticus-cortes / atticus was first on the scene after cassius' accident.
pain in @delilahcarreno's ass.
roommate of @sebitorres.
WANTED CONNECTIONS.
(brief because they’re just suggestions & i’m certainly open to anything not here!!)
his half-sister, or any other siblings.
his ex-girlfriend from queens / mother of his child. **heavy plotting / will probably look at filling this once he’s more established here. but we can discuss!
someone he dated in aurora bay that he actually really liked, but they broke up for w/e reason (could be his accident / personality change - he handles it better now, but right after he was v quick to anger & those frustrations would have been difficult to deal with). **requires plotting
unlikely friend(s) that helped him go around daily life after his accident, took him to appointments / physio / sat up with him at 3am when he woke up in a cold sweat / this person (or people) have seen him at his worst which for cass’ is embarrassing, but he also knew he needed the help.
roommate(s), he spent literally every penny he had on the downpayment on the lounge.
former bosses, cassius worked various jobs in aurora bay (bar work, cashier, waiting tables) before buying the lounge.
someone whose happy to test out his cocktail creations. some are just the normal dirty martini, others are his own creations. he’s working on the cocktail menu, but had to learn the basics from youtube.
former co-workers, cass has tried his hand at many jobs in the past and none of them have really stuck.
PLATONIC / FRIENDLY.
besties (he's intolerable except on odd occasions) / ride or die / sibling like friends / unlikely friends / new friends / friends from NY / workout friends / neighbours.
ROMANTIC.
blind date / one night stand(s) / flirtationship / tinder matches / fwbs / we dated but it didn't quite work out (was probably dating four of y'all at once).
NEGATIVE.
former friends / frenemies / enemies / fake friends / people chasing him down because he ghosted them / people he probably owes money to.
