Describe yourself from your point of view.
Caelric rarely looked in the mirror when he could help it. The habit had started at a relatively young age around the time his father, considered such only by the biological contributions provided in his conception, had taught him to see only weakness in himself. In his adult years, Caelric had never really gotten over it. Similar reasons were behind his evasive gaze and why he rarely made eye contact with others. He feared that they would see the same things he saw in himself.
But what did he really see when looking at his reflection?
He caught sight of himself after washing his face and could not help but wonder. This time he looked. He really looked. What always struck him first was the bitterness present in his eyes, giving his visage a harsher look alongside the hard set of his jaw. There was something animal in his expression, distrusting even when looking upon himself. It was mixed with a wash of shame. A deep sense of guilt and trepidation that persisted with a haunting intensity behind his eyes for all the things he'd done and for all the things that had been done to him. It made him look a little older. Sterner.
It presented the primary reason behind his grins and smirks and the main reason why he rarely smiled. A smile was too much, and too comfortable which admittedly wasn't a common experience either. He could fake a lot with ease, but his genuine state of being was ultimately distrust towards others coupled with a deep unhappiness and longing for things he'd never quite had. He could not help but assess and deduct at those around him and it was obvious even in how he analyzed his own visage. Like the man in the mirror might not be real.
He knew that most that saw him did not look beyond the surface of tattooed flesh and lethal musculature. They saw a man that looked like he could handle himself, because that's what he wanted people to see. They did not see what was always present: Fear. Worry. Concern. For himself, for others, for the things he held dear. He never felt powerful, or strong even if he looked it. More often, he felt like he was barely able to hold on to what he cared about. When he couldn't, that was his deepest shame and inadequacy and he had experienced far too much of that.
Deep beneath it all though, he saw something else. The spark beyond the darkness that always kept him going. A word he hated and loved in equal measure: Hope. It festered somewhere deep inside, rebellious as his spirit and unwilling to be beaten down. The reason he always pushed forward beyond the pain and suffering. Hope that he might actually find peace. That he would be worthy of the unerring love so few had given him, and that he could measure up to whatever people like Vaza or Lucien saw in him. He was never entirely sure that he did, but he had been more willing to exist within that belief more often than not.
He stood a little taller after that, not quite sure what he'd made of himself after such introspection. With all his impressive insight that he could make of others, he rarely turned that talent inward. The wounds left behind by others were too deep and too long standing to fully heal, but he felt a little more...comfortable. Like he wore his skin a little better than he'd ever had before. He thought maybe, just maybe, he could begin to see himself as others did. Proud. Strong. Dependable. He supposed he was those things as well. His most daring steps forward were only just beginning, but he figured this might be a good start.
For a second, he stood uncertainly in front of the mirror and watched himself before very slowly, attempting the smallest of smiles. It was a meek kind of expression, something that seemed unfamiliar and he realized belatedly that he'd probably never seen himself smile as rarely as it occurred. There was a bit of youthfulness that returned when he did so, a boyish and almost unbothered expression that surfaced. It was odd to see, but not unwelcome, and he saw why Vaza enjoyed seeing the expression surface. He felt a little better after that and left the bathroom, all the while his reflection watching him depart.
Brief mentions of @vazaymir & @glowinggunmetal. Enjoy! (: