name: Nathaniel "Nate" Levitt
appearance: Nate's got the stereotypical Englishman's pasty complexion and dark brown hair, with a set of eyes the color of clover flower honey. His expressive face is, despite the laugh lines and dimple in his cheek, the sort that always makes him appear younger than his true age. Nate is prone to blushing, the sort of flush that spreads across his pale cheeks and up to the tips of his ears any time he's embarassed. He's got a snub of a nose, and his hair is wavy and thick. His lips are naturally a fairly bright shade. He's more likely to burn than tan if he sits about in the sun.
In build, Nate is thin, but stocky, with narrow waist and shoulders. His face is heart-shaped, and, with his large eyes, gives him an owlish look. The constant dark smudges under his eyes from lack of sleep don't help much. Nate is about 1.65 meters (5'4") tall, and weighs in at 125 lbs. He tends to be very.... smiley, and there is a hopeful and possibly endearing innocence about him.
He frequently wears bright colors, seems to like thumb-holes in his sweatshirts, and is never seen without a small circular charm on a chain around his neck.
personality: The main thing about Nate is that he's an optimist, and a naive one at that, in spite of anything that happens to him. He's cheerful and bubbly, a well-meaning, clumsy, geeky young man with a big heart. He is more judgmental than he'd like to be. Nate can be impulsive, going with gut feelings and reacting to his fears rather than thinking decisions through like a proper scientist, perhaps to avoid his natural indecisiveness, which has caused him to freeze up in the past.
Nate is reserved, a socially awkward dorky near-genius who is also an extrovert - he not only enjoys interacting with others, but gains energy from it as well. Being left alone for too long is detrimental to his emotional well-being. He's a dry sense of humor, and enjoys wordplay - puns. Criticism gets under this amateur inventor's skin far too easily, and his self confidence is pretty low. While he loves attention and praise, it also often embarrasses him. He won't ask for approval, but he needs it like he's got an addiction. He enjoys quiet alone time to think and build, being challenged, and meeting new people. Being a slow reader, Nate doesn't get through many books, but the ones he does finish are treasured like precious things.
Nate is a scientist, in a broad sense of the word more than any one specific sub field. With that comes the frenzy of a new idea, hours spent testing hypotheses and building gadgets, minor explosions and theories written on walls, loo roll, and even his own skin on occasion if there is no paper nearby. Enthusiastic and bright, Nate is also anxiety-ridden and afraid of many things. He's quite brave when in the moment if need be, but absolutely doesn't believe he is, mostly because he has a skewed idea of what bravery is. (Nate thinks he shouldn't be afraid at all to be brave, though the truth is that bravery is more doing things in spite of fear). Nate always places himself last in a scale of most to least important, not because he doesn't like himself, but because he values others far more highly.
He's helpful and trustworthy, but can be gullible, too interested in assisting to notice if his good nature is being taken advantage of.
Nate is a bit like a puppy, trips over his own feet and sometimes over air, and tends to babble and ramble on. Call him your friend and you'll have the most loyal person at your back. Hurt his feelings and he'll just accept it. Hurt his friends and you better be careful 'cause he's not the most forgiving in that circumstance.
Not very outdoorsy normally, but enjoys nature all the same. Nate loves tea like a stereotypical englishman as well... it just worked out that way.
Also loves anything sweet.
Nate was born in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England - a market town by the river Swale. It's the sort of romantic little town that's met with an influx of tourists frequently, since it sits near a national park and all. Having lived there all his life until the moment the PIF whisked him away, Nate can only say that though he loved Richmond, he never saw what was so amazing about it for people
who, well, didn't live there.
But then, maybe that's the point.
His parents own a store, back home, nothing special,and his mother writes as a hobby. They've never been rich or anything, but he's pretty much always been decently well-off, even as the eldest of 4. Nate missed out on a fair bit of childhood taking care of his younger sisters while his parents worked, though, which might explain his peter-pan-esque attitude towards life. Or maybe that's just in his nature.
Apart from that, though, he's had what you might call a 'sheltered' life, protected from hardships that less fortunate people might experience, and unknowing of the dangers of the world outside his town. His mother was born in Richmond as well, but his father moved there from America, and fell in love with his mum. Nate's listened to family stories with his siters before, so he knows that his mum fell for his dad just as quick, and it was't long before they were 'together'. They travelled a bit in the UK, and visited his dad's family in the USA, before settling down in Yorkshire.
Nate was a quick learner as a child, passing exams with ease... while at the same time public speaking terrified him enough that he nearly failed a class for it. He was always a quiet kid, shy really, and something about the small stature he's been handed to by genetics, and the interest in learning he displayed, apparently made him perfect fodder for the bullies. He internalized the cruel words more than he thought he did, and the bullying only made his anxiety disorder rear its ugly head earlier than it would've otherwise.
Books, films, comics - the world of imagination and fantasy and science fiction - held - and still hold - an appeal for Nate. His desire for adventure but fear of danger limited him to experiencing it vicariously through the stories of others. Tales of dragons, stories of inventors, magic and quests, accounts of great scientists and the ways they shaped the world filled his young mind. (And unfortunately that left him a target for just as much bullying as his height). He's always had a fascination with heroes, both real and make believe.
While Nate protests any suggestion that he could be a hero, could be brave, there is one time that he admits freely that he may have acted in a heroic manner back home. (since being PIF'd here, he's obviously had more experience of this sort, but still denies any heroics... even if he has done some courageous things to help friends.) It was a few months after his 16th birthday...
He'd taken his littlest sisters to the playground one day, cheerfully sending the 7 year old twins off to play on the equipment while he was sat on a bench where he could keep an eye on them. Nate'd brought a comic book with him, and was making his slow way through a page, when he overheard something that caught his attention.
A low voice, and it sounded threatening; a lighter voice responded, sounding fearful... A slap that made Nate jolt even though he wasn't the one who'd been hit. He put down the comic and got to his feet, marching over impulsively to where a young man, bigger and stronger than Nate, towered over a younger boy who looked shocked. The bloke had then moved as if to hit the kid again, and Nate had shouted, grabbing the young man's arm. He'd lowered his arm and stared at him in surprise, but his expression shifted swiftly to anger, sending a trickle of fear up Nate's spine. He'd almost backpedaled, but the little boy looked more frightened then he was, so he'd done his best to tell the bloke off, staying between him and the girl. In response, Nate had become his target.
Eventually some people in the playground - adults - had noticed a fight going on, and broke it up. The older boy got in trouble with his parents, the younger gave Nate a hug and thanked him, and Nate wandered back to his comic book with a black eye and a story to tell. His sisters thought he was a superhero for weeks.
He was on his way home from college one day, when suddenly the world seemed to tilt, and he felt like he was falling... his vision went dark... and then he opened his eyes and found himself lying in a field in the middle of nowhere. No welcome sign, nothin', but he soon learned he was on a Planet called Isnit, his new home. And life has been pretty much crazy ever since.
