“ Can you believe it’s been a whole year since we first met? ” He wondered aloud. They were taking shelter in his small, minimalist trailer, that was only sparkling clean because she insisted on giving it a good scrub despite Thaniel’s protests that it wasn’t worth it. Outside in the night, the snow fell over the city, and the two of them were chilling on the bed with a heater at the foot, the shutters drawn partway on the windows, and a nearly empty pizza box on the table. Kinda cozy, something he wasn’t too used to. “ Time fucking flies, doesn’t it, Cassandra? ”
Obviously, no one was more shocked than Shel herself when her name was sprouted out of the Goblet of Fire. Thaniel was a close second, though. As far as he was concerned, she hadn’t put her name in there. They would’ve talked about it beforehand, she wouldn’t go behind his back like that. Didn’t take a genius to figure out someone else, maybe as a cruel joke, decided to go there and offer her name in secret. Well, whoever that was, they got what they wanted, and now, November 24, Shel was preparing to go face a dragon. Sure. A dragon. Nothing a seventh year student couldn’t handle without ending up dead or horribly maimed.
No one except the judges and the champions were allowed inside the tent that led each of them to the arena to face their doom the first task. Fortunately, Thaniel wasn’t one to follow the rules, especially when it meant this could be the last time he got to see his girlfriend before she was turned into a pile of ash. Screw the rules. Sneak-like despite his height and awkwardly muscled teenage body, he avoided the entrance and moved through the shrubs and past trees until he found an opening in the loin that he could use to peek inside. When he spotted Shel, he emitted a quiet ‘psst!’ to get her attention, praying he wouldn’t draw in someone else.
Usually, he waits for Cass ( he got used to calling her that way because ‘Cassandra is a goddamn mouthful’ ) to call him first before getting together. Thaniel just wasn’t in the habit of being the one dialing. This time was different, though. He was on his day off, sitting around in his trailer smoking and flipping channels, bored out of his mind. Didn’t feel like hanging with any of his usual friends. Then he remembered the chick who picked him up on the worst day of his life. He knew she was still in town. So without thinking much about it, he picked up his phone and typed three quick messages:
Okay, so it’s a weekend night, it’s 3.30 in the morning and Thaniel is drunk off his ass, which isn’t usually a recipe for anything good. He’s reaching that point where he’s getting antsy and the only way to calm his male urges is with one of two things: sex or fighting. Or both. Whichever came first. As the titan he is, he towers over virtually everyone in the cramped club he’s hanging out in, an empty glass of beer in hand cigarette between his lips while maneuvering his way around the dancing crowd and toward the bar for a refill. It’s hot in there, his white t-shirt sticking to his shirt from the sweat, but he’s grinning like a moron. In his opinion, he is living life. If only he could now find an outlet so he can go home and sleep it all off.
TATTOOS/PIERCINGS: Too many to count / Septum, frenulum and nipples pierced; 4 lobe rings and anti-helix on left ear; 3 helix rings and one stud on right ear
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual
JOB: Carpenter / Artistic wood carver
SMOKES/DRUGS/DRINKS: Yes / On and off / Yes
HOBBIES: Drinking, fucking, fighting. Occasional bass player and skater
LIKES: Sex, booze, tattoos, Camel brand cigarettes and burgers
DISLIKES: Anyone who gets on his nerves ( easy feat to accomplish ), Christmas, perfume, shrinks and sleeping
POSITIVE TRAITS: Selfless, thoughtful, courteous and funny
NEGATIVE TRAITS: Temperamental, bitter and gross
STORY: Thaniel is what’s popularly called a real bad egg. His father abandoned his family and left them in misery when he was only 8 years old, with a baby sister and his mother to look after. His teenage years were spent working instead of studying and although he managed to finish high school, he never moved on to university or college. He just kept working in construction until the day he got himself an apprenticeship in carpentry. But, although he was a hardworking boy, he was also rather troublesome. By the time he was sixteen he’d already been to jail for fighting, vandalizing, drinking and driving, going out with older women… A mess. Ended up running with the wrong crowd and joined a minor gang, smuggling booze and drugs around Detroit until the authorities shut them down.
It was in that gang that he met his future business partner and boss, Bobby Eva. Thaniel escaped prison by sheer dumb luck; he just happened to be at the right place and time when the cops arrived and was able to sneak away from the raid orchestrated on the gang’s “ head quarters ” ( a dump in the outskirts of town ), unnoticed. He quit the criminal life in his early twenties and focused on becoming a professional carpenter, something he is damn good at. At 21 he was opening a carpentry with his old buddy Bobby from the gang, whom he’d saved from a life time in prison during the raid.
His mom was proud, his sister was in school, away from trouble and doing a lot better than her brother. Then there was the car accident when he was 22. Thaniel was driving, he’d treated his family to a somewhat fancy Christmas dinner in a good restaurant since he finally had the money. When he saw the van coming straight at them after passing a red light, it was too late. His mother died instantly. His sister… He can still hear her screams in his head while the flames consumed the car wreck, mixed with his own screaming while his legs were burned to a crisp. He still has the scars, both emotional and physical, from that day. Christmas was ruined for him from then on and he took up drinking and fucking again. Probably an even worse mess than ever before.
