{dev patel, thirty-four, cis man, he/him} || hriday âlouisâ bhatt is a mutant with the ability of empathy. theyâve been in new york for sixteen years where they spend most of their time as a professor at the xavier institute. when i think of them, i think of neatly folded shirts in the middle drawer, a note from a lost love resting atop their pillow, tying the same tie three times. they are affiliated with the xavier institute.
i believe i have found a loophole in the curse of mayâs second muses ! knock on wood !
QUICK FACTS:
full name:Â hriday âlouisâ hridik bhattÂ
date of birth: june 26th, 1963
zodiac big three: cancer sun, capricorn moon, virgo rising
gender & pronouns: cis man & he/him
sexual orientation: bisexual
enneagram: 2w1
mbti: infj
temperament: melancholic
moral alignment: lawful good
ability: empathy
affiliation: xavier institute
alias: moonstone
various inspirations: james wilson ( house, md ), pearl ( steven universe + future ), steven universe ( the eponymous (as a kiddo) + steven universe future ), honey sugarman ( bojack horseman ),Â
BACKSTORY:
triggers: terminal illness, death, luv self-inserting ocd
born in london to a telepath and a reality warper, hriday was not only #blessed to already have mutant parents, but to have loving mutant parents. they were in the middle class, but he hardly knew the meaning of the word âwantâ.
when he began going through puberty, his mother and father kept a close eye on him for any signs of the x-gene activating. of course, there was no way to know whether or not heâd be a mutant, but with two parents who had the active gene...Â
at twelve, he found himself in the middle of a fight between his friends... by which i mean literally, physically in the middle. he hadnât the spirit to fight himself, trying to encourage peace -- but their anger, disappointment, frustration, sadness, memories of the event they were fighting over -- all suddenly hit him. absolutely overwhelmed and on the verge of a breakdown, it was enough to make the kids stop and go get their teacher.
his parents performed various non-invasive, non-sadistic tests to try and narrow down what his ability was. his motherâs telepathy aided greatly, as they quickly learned it was something psionic when he was able to hold a link. although they didnât know the official name of it, they determined that it was tied to his emotions and the emotions of others. through their simple tests, they found they could project happiness onto him and he could do the same to them... enough to get started.
however, they soon found that, as he was trying to get his powers under control, school was becoming too much. they yoinked him out and home schooled him throughout what would, in the usa, be his sophomore year of high-school.
that said, it was around this time that his father heard of xavierâs. meant to be kept on the down low, the man was a respected and highly regarded mutant. word traveled through the grapevine, and he took the family to nyc to examine the school for themselves.
hriday spent a few weeks around it, but ultimately decided it wasnât for him and he would rather continue schooling in london. new york in general, though? why, he wound up going to barnard!
he met a woman by the name of iditri there, and this soft boy fell head over heels. it was a quick courtship (listen, he can feel other peopleâs emotions -- if sheâd felt annoyed or uncomfortable, he wouldâve backed off for sure) and soon he and iditri were spending night and day together. they ran in the same group of friends, shared interests, and were ultimately just love birds.
but there was a possibility she had an expiration date. her mother having passed from huntingtonâs chorea, the 50/50 chance was a risky one... but her mother hadnât even begun showing symptoms of the severe illness until she was in her early 50s, and hriday was one damn dedicated man!
during this time, hriday landed a job at xavierâs as a counselor. as a man whose powers centered on emotion, who better equipped to deal with them? ok, back to the story:
after four years, hriday proposed and the two got married. two years in, they began discussing the possibility of a child. he wanted her to get tested first, see if there was a likelihood that the illness could be passed on; she didnât want to know. a classic set up for an âaitaâ post.Â
well... you wanna know what settles arguments like that? a broken condom.
they named their daughter khevna, westernizing her middle name to make her school life âeasierâ and deeming her âearthaâ after eartha kitt -- a shared favorite musician, and realized... well... no point in getting tested if you donât want to know now, but their daughter...
of course, if khevna tested positive, then it would confirm iditriâs situation... if she tested negative, then it remained 50/50. thus, hriday was the only one allowed to look.Â
and she was positive. which meant iditri was positive.
of course, they donât start showing up until much later in life, right? ...in iditriâs case, wrong! at twenty-five, one year after khevnaâs birth, lesser symptoms began showing. tremors, general clumsiness -- things she would chalk up to other things, as she continued to beg hriday to not tell her. and he knew she meant it.Â
however, when her mind began to follow suit, there was no pretending. in a moment of clarity -- which she still had more often than not -- he had to tell her: you are dying.
he did his best to take care of his wife as she continued to deteriorate, hide the worst of her illness from khevna, and keep his job as a counselor -- but separating work from home was getting more and more difficult by the day. xavier offered him a job transfer, as the secretary had recently taken a leave and he had more than one counselor. the man was organized, and he would have to deal with far less emotions... so he accepted.
the suffering within his household was so strong, it was growing unbearable. the unbearable part being, of course, the fact that it was being emanated from his wife and daughter.Â
one day, when his wife had a moment of clarity -- rare now -- hriday encouraged khevna to say she loved her mother, that regret was a heavy burden to bear. but it had all terrified and frustrated the child so much, she couldnât bring herself to -- she had never known her mother as anyone but the woman who yelled for no reason, who needed help putting on a shirt.
that day, he turned up her morphine until she finally passed in a gentle slumber. but no tears could save her now.
he took a leave of absence from xavierâs after the event and started changing for the worse. he became more obsessive and rigid, organization and tics as a coping mechanism. if he didnât turn the lights off and on five times, khevna would die as soon as iditri did. he began going by âlouisâ -- a choice he says he made because itâs easier for americans to pronounce, but really made due to their first dance having been to âfalling in love with youâ by louis armstrong. he never untucked the sheets from what was once iditriâs side of the bed, never made it his own. he place a note she left for him once on her pillow: âout to get coffee, be back soon. love you! :-)â
with his parents an ocean away, and many regrets setting in, his support group dwindled. he was either really good or really bad at grieving.
it took seven months to realize that his income was also beginning to dwindle. he groveled to xavier, but the man was sympathetic. hriday, now louis, took position of english and psionics
which brings us to today. a sad little (6â˛2) man whoâs now just trying to be a good father (khevna about to turn ten, heâs been keeping a close eye on her) and professor... keyword: trying.Â
TIMELINE:
BORN -- in â63 london to a reality warping father and telepathic mother who both loved him very much!
AGE 12 -- his ability manifested when he attempted to intervene in a fight between his friends. he was incapacitated by their emotions. his parents begin doing their best to help him with his ability.
AGE 16 -- his parents see that heâs suffering in school, due to his untrained ability, and take him out. his father has enough ties to know about xavierâs. they look around, but hriday decides he would rather continue training with his parents... mainly because he got bullied :\
AGE 18 -- hriday returns to the usa to go to barnard university.
AGE 18-22 -- hriday meets and falls in love with a woman named iditri.
AGE 23 -- he and iditri get married. he picks up a job as a counselor at xavierâs.
AGE 24 -- he and iditri discuss having children together, but he wants to know if sheâs positive for huntingtonâs chorea -- what her mother passed away from -- before they make the decision. she doesnât. but a broken condom makes the decision for them.
AGE 25 -- khevna is born. iditri compromises and lets hriday test her, so long as he doesnât tell her the results. khevna is positive, which means iditri is positive.Â
AGE 25 -- iditri begins showing symptoms early on. he is switched to a secretary position at xavierâs, as being around so much emotion was becoming too much when his home life was... as it was.
AGE 25-31 -- her symptoms go from mild to terrible. khevna grows up deeply resenting her mother for things that were out of her control. at 29, hriday leaves xavierâs altogether.Â
AGE 31 -- iditri shows signs of awareness one day and requests, in not so many words, that hriday free her. so he turns up the morphine that the caretaker had carelessly left unlocked and she passes.
AGE 31 -- hriday goes through a total crisis. changes his name to âlouisâ after louis armstrong, their shared favorite musician. moves to cedarwood, but never bothers to decorate. his obsessive tics worsen greatly.
AGE 32 -- but at least he picks up a career as an ethics & english professor at xavierâs... :\
AGE 34 -- now heâs just a sad little man who canât get over his wife whoâs been dead for three years. has a very tough time connecting to khevna, but little does he know that her ability has manifested and... itâs literally apathy.
CONNECTION IDEAS:
tragic paramour ! this has been sent to the main, but it reads as:Â around the ages of 33-35. the relationship between them would look like (louis and y/m ran in the same circle. y/m had a close relationship, be it platonic or familial, with iditri, the woman who would be louisâs wife. as iditriâs mind and body began deteriorating, louis and y/m sought comfort in each other. but this comfort turned into something more... after louis mercy killed idirti, heâs been distancing himself severely as the guilt has been eating him alive... letâs have some fun this beat is sick...)
fellow staff ! iâd love some who were there before and after louisâs great transformation. talk about depressing...
students ! louis used to be the cool counselor whoâd turn his chair the wrong way to have heart-to-heart conversations with the rabble-rousers... then he was just there to file things away... and now, heâs around to teach english and psychology to the best of his ability.Â
support system ! he lost a large portion, but is slowly trying to gain some back. basically, good friends who are starting to wonder if he realizes that heâs still allowed to grieve... but some of the things heâs doing/done are taking it a bit far.
bad influence ! literally just someone who wants him to try to have fun.Â
dilf (or pilf) squad ! i think his kid (likely going by âearthaâ around other children) might be a little bit older than some (almost ten), but iâm not sure! in any case, he still needs some parent friends :\ he doesnât know how to raise a child by himself, much less one that went through everything his already has and has more fun in store!Â
more to come ! iâm writing this at 4:00am and i know i had more ideas but iâm so tired.
@c23introsâ
