it takes him a moment to realize that his name is being called, having dissociated a bit as his thoughts had swept him away. he isnât hesitant at all as he stands and heads over to the person whoâs calling his name. the person heâs supposed to be training with, he assumes. ârhys?â he asks as he approaches, accent peaking through even with just the verbalization of a name.
he doesnât have to wait long before his calls are answered. rhys is grateful; patience is a virtue he doesnât possess in spades, and as much as he likes camp, the place usually drains him of it by noon. tucking his phone back into his pocket, he assumes a friendly, non-threatening smile as the other fire guy approaches, his voice carrying a hit of an accent rhys canât place. he looks pretty young; that probably accounts for why heâs being forced to train with rhys, but rhys doesnât know how heâs supposed to help him. he may be older, but not wiser, and definitely not some kind of role model.
pushing those thoughts aside for now, he gives chengcheng a half-hearted wave. âyep, rhys, like reeseâs pieces. get any and all jokes out of the way now.â heâs tired of it. tired. reeseâs pieces suck anyway. âdo you go by chengcheng or something else?â itâs a cute name. he just hopes he isnât pronouncing it wrong. âwhere are you from, kid?â rhys figures itâs worth the ask. with the new programs, they have campers from all over the world coming here.
cracking his knuckles, he stretches and jogs in place, trying to curb some of his apprehension at the thought of bursting into flame by choice here. rhys doesnât like to use his powers, butâhe canât complain now, he chose to come here. âsoâŠâ he begins after a heavy pause. âhow good are you with your powers? what can you do with âem?â
when faced with the option of any lake-related activities and the craft shack, rhys will, without a doubt, always pick dry landâand by proxy, art. he calls it self-preservation, though the majority of his friends see it as evidence of something else. itâs okay, hydrophobia is a real thing, one of them tells him before running off (sans lifejacket) and jumping into the cool water. rhys wants to yell out that he isnât scared of anything, thanks, but his friend is presumably drowning or something by now and rhys wants nothing to do with them. suffer, sure.
he doesnât mind cycling through the various stations at the craft shack. as a kid, he thinks he remembers wanting to be an artist, or maybe he just liked coloring books and drawing on the walls? whatever it was, he recalls enjoying expressing himself in such a way. now that heâs older, he wonât claim to have any artistic talent whatsoever, but rhys is friends with enough creative people that he thinks he wonât completely fail whatever he attempts. their genius rubbed off in him in some quantity, right?
with that in mind, he approaches his canvas with confidence. what style to try and emulate, however⊠dressed in a smock and tapping his lips with a clean paintbrush, rhys stares at the cavas as if it holds the answers to the universe. should he go for an impressionistic style? fauvistic? no, heâs just a beginnerâmaybe something abstract, yeah. just follow his heart and his instincts on this. with a decisive nod and the beginnings of a grin forming on his lips, rhys dips his brush in the paint and begins.
it⊠resembles nothing and the canvas looks like itâs been shot in several places, but rhys doesnât seem to notice. he blissfully continues painting, stopping only when his eyes land on a box of glitter. hey⊠that would be highly unorthodox, but isnât art about innovation? he shifts closer to it. maybe he shouldâŠ
   â was dinner filling for you?â he hums, shoulder-to-shoulder with his friend on their path. idle talk doesnât suit them, but noel wouldnât take offense if rhys chooses to ignore his question. he knows noel well enough not to entertain his mindless comments, but itâs always worth a try.
you learn something new every day. his shoulders shake with the effort of holding his laughter in at noelâs words. rhys isnât concerned with being stealthy; itâs still technically free time so they can go and come as they please. none of his cabinmates seem interested in their little excursion or exchange, so just as well. though even if they were, he wouldnât really give a shit. whatever does it for them.
with casual ease, he hangs back with a smirk and says, âyour pleasure, huh? iâm flattered.â he prides himself on usually being able to tell if someoneâs joking or not, but with noel, he never knows. âthink iâm a bit too selfish to share, but your offer is noted.â itâs⊠interestingâfar from boring, at least, and he thinks he enjoys the anticipation, the puzzle behind his friendâs eyes, words, mannerisms. because he is a friend, or something close to it. rhys has never been a fan of labels. maybe itâs just enough to say that noel is.
despite his warning (perhaps because of it), noel keeps pace with him easily. to be fair, rhyâs current setting is somewhere between âleisurely strollâ and âalmost power-walking but not quiteâ; heâs not moving terribly fast, content to take the time to enjoy the scenery. everything is transformed under the cover of night. beautiful, in an eerie, fractured sort of way.
when noel breaks the silence, he starts in surprise, tearing his eyes away from the shadowy greenery he was admiring earlier. âreally? small talk? youâre doing this to me, noel?â he could always choose not to respond; obligatory conversations bore him, and he doesnât like to be bored during his free time. âif youâre going to torture me, at least make it interesting. use props. i like handcuffs.â
but underneath the glib remarks, he understands the need to break the silence sometimes. âit was fine,â rhys says eventually, his voice flat. âbland, but fine. what i wouldnât give for some dakbokkeumtang right now.â he glances over at noel, their shoulders bumping lightly as they continue to walk. the spot heâs heading to is close, just near the lake. âhow about you? was the food good enough for your refined palette?â
sure, go ahead and pair the two campers with fire-related abilities together for control exercises. if you ask him, itâs pretty on the nose, but rhys has never been one to complain about these kinds of thingsânot publicly, anyway. arguing about it requires a kind of passion and indignation he doesnât want to muster; better to save those emotions for something that actually deserves such a response from him. the matter of control exercises is more easily dealt with: he just wonât go. wouldnât be the first (or last) time he flaked out on an obligation.
butâcall it boredom, idle curiosity, or the fact that he really has nothing better to do with his free time than to âparticipateâârhys shows up at the allocated location ten minutes past when he was supposed to be here. he stopped to grab some lukewarm coffee, and though he regrets it, itâs always better to show up late for this stuff than early. one might think he was actually eager to get involved otherwise, and then where would he be? on the road to becoming an actual functioning member of society? no fucking way.
draining the last of the horrible coffee, rhys chucks the paper cup into recycling and scans the area for the person heâs supposed to meet. someone with⊠fire constructs? heâll be damned if heâs supposed to know what that looks like. pulling out his phone, he squints down at the name in his notes. âfan chencheng?â rhys reads aloud. âanyone named fan chengcheng around here?â heâll give the guy five minutes before splitting.
   â heading out again? â his words come out soft in contrast to their invasive nature. heâs seen rhys wander out many nights before, but this is the first in which heâs been curious enough to ask. hopefully it wasnât an appointment of lascivious nature.â would you mind me coming with? â
@chrhys
according to his phone, itâs supposed to be lights out in less than an hourâbut when has curfew ever stopped rhys from doing what he wants? one of the things he looks forward to about camp is the fresh air, the clear sky, and the myriad of stars visible from his favorite place on the grounds. trying to map constellations and trace the path of the stars is tough even at university; too many artificial lights clouding up the purity of the nightâs canvas. no, the view he so desperately craves can only be found here.
which is why heâs itching to head outside. every minute spent in this cabin feels like torture. the ceiling is drab and boring compared to what he could be looking at, and with a sigh, he swings his legs off the top bunk and jumps down with a soft thud! slipping his arms into the sleeves of his jacket, rhys makes for the door when he hears a soft voice behind him.
raising an eyebrow, he glances back over his shoulder at noel, lying in his bunk with a book in hand. this isnât the first time rhys has snuck out of the cabin and noelâs never said anything before. he wonders what makes him want to tag along now, of all times. âyou sure you want to join me?â rhys asks after a pause. a slow grin spreads across his face. âi never considered adding a third, but for you, iâll make an exception.â he waggles his eyebrows in a silent invitationâbut none of his words are serious, of course, and noel likely knows that.
the playfulness fades from his face a moment later. with a shrug, rhys turns back to the door. âyou can come with if you really want,â he offers, before slipping outside into the crisp night air. he doesnât think noel will find his excursion all that exciting, but who is he to say no? âjust keep up, your highness. i wonât wait for you if you start lagging behind.â
hello hello! this intro post is kind of overdue i forgot what time acceptances were happening but iâm finally here and super excited to get things going! i bring to you a hot mess named rhys kim, twenty one years old and a student at haven university during the year. this year heâs staying in the kingfisher cabin but heâs been ~around camp since summer of 2015. his power is firebird physiology which grants him a couple different things, namely feathered wings + regenerative healing + some limited fire powers. he low key hates all of them but youâll never catch him saying that, haha. heâs a slippery boi but please plot with him regardless!!Â
i have his profile, background, and plots pages up, but iâll drop some points about him under the cut as well. you can contact me via tumblr im if youâre interested in plotting, and i have a twitter & discord available upon request! oooooor, you could just hit like on this post to plot and iâll pop into your ims!
like i mentioned, been at camp for the past three summers, loves it here though wonât admit it lmao. itâs much better than going home, at any rate
attends haven university during the year, pretty well known around campus so if your muse attends uni there as well, they mightâve heard of him or known him from there
originally hails from canada ( eh? ), vancouver in particular. misses canada, misses tim hortons, please any fellow canadians bond with him
middle child of three, mom & younger bro are both mutants but dad & older sister are not... a lot of family drama associated with him but tl;dr: parents are divorced and dad & older sis want nothing to do with their mutant familyÂ
rhys... blames himself for the way things worked with all of, probably not undeservedly since his volatile & out of control powers did contribute to the breakdown of their family
troublemaker & general broody wild child during uni, the counterpart to his brotherâs Good Responsible Boy shtick. powers were out of control all the time because they were tied so closely to his emotions
mellowed out a bit once he started attending haven university, mostly because they taught him a) how to actually get a handle on their powers and b) that he wasnât the biggest mess there
personality wise, rhys is... complicated. heâs really good at playing the charming, charismatic flirt, comes across as friendly and genuinely nice but itâs rarely sincereâŠÂ
also enjoys messing with people by making them feel desired/accepted/wanted in a way he never was. is very aware itâs a dick thing to do but canât seem to stop
he really just cares about his own well being and pursuing his own pleasures, not very good at being considerate of others. can be callous without meaning too just because heâs lost interest in someone or moved on in his own head
really flighty, never follows through with what he says, runs from his problems, runs from his emotions, runs from anything that makes him vaguely uncomfortable or has the potential to make his powers flare up
low key very cynical and sarcastic, bitter but doesnât show it ( his grip on his emotions is tenuous but he knows enough to never show the ~real him~ to people )
idk i donât think he has many redeeming qualities but people think heâs something other than he is and heâs cool with that
participation in camp activities fluctuates like some days heâs super into it and some days he just canât be arsed??Â
not really competitive so you wonât see him try hard during games... just here to chill and have a good time after all
donât give him any responsibilities he doesnât want them!
lurks around after curfew mostly just to get some time to himself. heâs not doing anything bad necessarily... i donât thinkÂ
a bit reckless/puts himself into dangerous situations and doesnât care because eh, he wonât get hurt permanently anywayÂ
he likes craft time
idk what else to add and my brain hurts but please plot with mâboi!Â
