[ wolfgang novogratz, cis male, he/him ] - was that tobias ātobyā rivers i saw by the lighthouse today? i heard that the twenty-eight year old who has been in nightrest for his whole life and works as a paramedic has a reputation of being benevolent, but also inhibited. they reside in low point & people in town usually associate them with sitting on a surfboard out on the water every chance he gets, petting every dog in sight, always feeling the need to step up, unexpected kind words to a stranger. letās hope the killer doesnāt go after them next.
trigger warnings: terminal illness, death
BASICS
full name: tobias james rivers
nickname: toby, tobes, tj
date of birth: march 4, 1994Ā
gender: cis man
pronouns: he/him
occupation: paramedic
birthplace: nightrest, massachusetts
sexuality: bisexual
height: 6ā²3ā³
BACKGROUND
born and raised in nightrest to an upper middle class family, his childhood was one that was filled with really happy memoriesĀ
he had one older brother who he looked up to so much and would always annoy, always wanting to be includedĀ
everything changed for him when he was still young. at twelve years old, his mother had been diagnosed with an aggressive case of lymphoma and he lost her the day after his thirteenth birthday
it became just him, his brother and his father
while the death made toby closer to his father than ever, it just made his older brother, tucker, more rebellious, meaner, less inclined to care about anybody elseās feelings but his own
he lashed out at toby and at their dad every chance he could get and it wasnāt long before toby could see the strain that it placed on his dad to not lose his temper every time his older brother pushed their dadās buttons
it was what made toby always strive to be better, because he felt like he needed to compensate for his brotherās behaviorĀ
straight a student, was part of the swim team, was student council treasurer but his one true love had always been the beachĀ
his dad sometimes joked that toby knew how to swim before he could walk and it can be seen with how much more comfortable he is out on the water
he loves to swim, surf, and even thought about taking a gap year after high school just to go on beach trips with his friends but because he had already placed all that pressure on himself to beĀ āthe good sonā, he instead took up a major that was deemedĀ ārespectableā
to be completely honest, he didnāt know what in the world he wanted to do for the rest of his life but going into pre-med seemed like a solid choiceĀ
plus, he liked the idea of making a career out of helping people out
currently, heās still really close with his dad, but his relationship with his older brother is extremely strainedĀ
tucker has a bad habit of making toby feel like the best, special, making him feel like their bond is something that can never be broken, only to drop him, then repeating the process all over againĀ
toby always tried to give his older brother the benefit of the doubt because while toby was closer to their dad, his older brother was closer to their mom and her death probably hit tucker a lot harder than it hit toby
however, toby doesnāt know just how much longer he could keep this up, because being around his older brother (during the times tucker would deem him worth of his attention) was EXHAUSTING
PERSONALITY TRAITS
+ benevolent, optimistic, thoughtful
- inhibited, hesitant, careless
FUN FACTS
HUUUUUUUUUGE golden retriever energyĀ
also has a golden retrieverĀ
very much a dog person
plays the ukulele religiously like itās his favorite instrument but he also plays the guitar
spends every free time he has out on the beach
really, really, really good surfer, will definitely teach you for free
is more of a relationship guy than a hookup guy but heās not opposed to either tbh
very much an old-fashioned gentleman, believes in the sidewalk rule, opening the door and letting the lady walk in first, etc.Ā
is a natural athlete, also loves basketball, football, volleyball and ultimate frisbee
loves his job but it really does take its toll on him, especially with the recent deaths that he felt like he witnessed firsthand
Toby smiled at his phone, happy that his plan to make things up with Vera seemed to be successful. It seemed like the past few days have been on a downward slope and things were finally, finallyĀ starting to look up. Every day without seeing Catherineās face to say bad news was a good day, in his book, and he was getting better at pushing away the mental image of Theoās head, as well as Biancaās foot. It was just one of the many images stuck in his head that he got from being a paramedic, and he made a mental note to start talking about it with Jacob, once they finally got together for their surfing session. Toby never liked talking his problems, especially ones that he feels like he signed up for being a paramedic, but heād been feeling shaken for a long time now. He just needed to talk about it, instead of bottling it in, and if there was one person he knew he could do that with, without any fear of judgment, it would be Jake.Ā
Swallowing thickly, Toby pushed all of that aside so he could focus on the task at had. It had been a long shift, but on the upside, he didnāt have to load up a bodyĀ today, and he also had plans to see Jieun after he went back home after walking his Golden Retriever.Ā He took the same route he always did, moving past Low Point to Fog Gate before circling back home. It was already late, and he didnāt want Jieun to be waiting too long, so his pace was brisk, but he paused when he heard a voice.Ā
Help! Someone please help. Help me.Ā
Toby inhaled sharply at the womanās voice, eyebrows furrowing as he stared into the darkness of the Salem Neck Trail. He used to include this in his route with his dog, up until Rhysā arm had been found here, and he decided it was better to be safe than to be sorry, and decided to only skirt along the edge of it, close to the sidewalk, on his way back home nowadays.Ā
Help me please!
The urgency of the voice cut through Tobyās hesitance, and he took out his phone to turn on its flashlight as he held onto his dogās leash tightly. There wasnāt really comfort in knowing he had his dog with him in case there was danger because Marley was one of the friendliest dogs there ever was. He used to joke with his friends that if a burglar came inside Tobyās apartment, Marley would lead the way to where he stashed some of his emergency savings. The thought made him smile, as he ventured deeper into the darkness.Ā
āHello? Are you hurt?ā Toby called out.Ā
Iām here and Iām hurt. I canāt move my legs.Ā
His training kicked in, and he went in the direction of the voice, finding it oddly familiar.Ā āIāll be right there. Are you bleeding?ā He asked, wanting to keep the person talking so he can pinpoint where she was.Ā
No.Ā
Toby paused, a chill running down his back as he realized the voice was a lot closer than he had anticipated.Ā
But you will be.Ā
āWha--ā He started to say, just as his Marley started barking loudly, just as he felt a vibration in his hand notifying him he just got a text message, just as he heard a laugh right as he felt something pierce his stomach. All these things happening in the span of a few seconds and Tobyās hand shakily lifted his phone to point his phoneās flashlight down to see who it was.Ā
āYou--ā Toby said, gasping loudly when he felt the sharp object leaving his stomach. No, no, no, he thought, hands releasing what they were holding to hold onto his stomach. He belatedly saw that it had been a knife that was stuck in him, and he couldnāt help but feel panicked because he could handle being stabbed. He knew that. Heād seen people survive graver injuries, but the knife wasnāt supposed to be taken out. He was taking short breaths as he pressed his hands against his stomach to stop the flow of the blood, just so she could stab his stomach again, clean through his hands.Ā
The cry of agony he let out had him falling down to his knees, and with whatever strength he had left, he grabbed the toy he always kept on him during their walks and threw it as far as he could, not wanting her to hurt his dog too. Toby hadnāt realized just how deep into the trail he had gotten until he turned back towards her, and he wanted to fight back, wanted her to stop, to demand answers as to why she was doing this, but he found himself being stabbed again.Ā
And again. And again. And again.Ā
And again. And again.Ā
And again.Ā
The adrenaline was gone, his strength was depleted and the pain was like nothing heād ever felt before, until Toby found himself flat on the ground, choking on his own blood. His thoughts strayed to how this would be the part he and his colleagues would try to distract the patient from the pain as they loaded them up into the back of the ambulance. He always hated that part. When death was all but confirmed, and there was nothing to be done. He knew it now. He could feel it, just as easily as he could feel the dirt under his hands, as easily as he could hear the laughter.Ā
His dropped phoneās flashlight was still turned on and it cast her face in shadow, and Toby had to turn his head to the side, not wanting this to be the last thing heād see. He closed his eyes after he felt tears pooling in them because he didnāt think this was fair.Ā
This isnāt how it was supposed to end.Ā
His father. The man he looked up to his entire life. The man who had to watch the love of his life go through something as horrible as cancer and lost her to it too. The man who had to see one of his children turn into a monster, despite trying his best to step into the role of being a single parent while dealing with his own grief. Toby always wanted to tell him he was a great father, that he appreciated his effort, especially because his father never said it out loud but Toby just knew he felt like a failure because of how Tucker ended up being, how he felt responsible for it. His heart ached for his father, knowing the man would have to bury another son.Ā
Jacob. His best friend for as long as he can remember. Someone who was practically his brother. He could remember being younger, playing with him, studying with him, feeling completely at ease around him while simultaneously sticking out whenever he was at the Oh residence. How Jakeās other friends were just as wealthy as he was, and it was never a sore point, just a clear indicator of how they were so different, yet so similar at the same time. They had the same values, the same heart, the same drive, the same want for the other to succeed. Toby never felt more understood, more himself than when he was with Jake and in turn, the loyalty between them never faltered. They always were in each otherās corners, no matter what. How he was the first person outside of his family he had called to let him know that his mother was no longer struggling, no longer in pain. He could remember putting his strength down and just crying in Jakeās arms saying Iām not ready. Iām not ready. How heād give absolutely anything for them to be out at sea again, surfing together. Or on the shore passing a football around. Jake was home, was family, his safe space. He always will be.Ā Ā
Lucia. His biggest what if. He knew he didnāt have the heart to stop her from leaving all those years ago, not when he knew she was going after her dream and he wanted that from her. He wanted, more than anything, to see her succeed. For her to have all the good things this life could offer, because she, of all people, deserved that. He always wondered what wouldāve happened, if he actually left Nightrest for her. He told himself this town will always be home, his father would always be here and he couldnāt just abandon him, and Toby felt like he didnāt need to be anywhere else, and ultimately, that was what made him lose her. They both wouldnāt dream of forcing the other to do anything they didnāt want to do, but those two words will always stay with him. What if. There was a whole other future that had been lined up for him had he taken the step out of this town. A parallel universe where maybe heād still be the one making her happy.
Gabriel.Ā They justĀ started being friends again and it wasnāt fair. Toby could remember being younger and being around Gabe, their hobbies vastly different, their personalities different as well, but they still worked. They were still incredibly good friends. Every time Toby looked back on his childhood, it was thought of with nothing but fondness and Gabe had a lot to do with it. They drifted apart. Years and years of trying to get back to the happy-go-lucky children they had been, but it was a struggle. Real life problems came and went and the rift just got bigger and bigger. Until this year. Until they tried again. Toby missed them terribly when they didnāt talk, and it was still something they had to figure out together, but he had been looking forward to it, to seeing the person they were now, to know all about what he had missed, and now, heād never get the chance to.Ā
Verity. Complete opposites, but ones that made sense. Heād known her for his whole life too, and yet, it took a long time for her to take a liking to him, to give him the chance to see underneath that rough exterior of hers to showcase what heād always known. The woman with a heart bigger than anybody elseās, whoād fight to the death for her loved ones, whose loyalty knew no bounds. You were lucky if she showed you that part of her, because only a rare few got to see it or feel it for themselves. Thatās how he always thought of himself whenever he looked back on his time with Vera. Lucky. Even when they fought. They ended their relationship on good terms, and he was grateful more than ever that he decided to ask for that favor from Efe today, because it always felt wrong when they werenāt okay.Ā
Apple. Tinkerbell. Someone who was already suffering because of losing her best friend. He tried putting himself in her shoes one night when he was alone, thinking of what it would feel like for him to lose Jake in such a horrible way, and he ended up crying. How would it feel to lose someone whoās so deeply ingrained in your soul? Especially someone like Apple, whose soul was fortified by the love she gave to people. Her soul wasnāt dainty, but it was strong. She was resilient, and he liked to make fun of her for her size, because it always amused him how someone so small to him, could have a spirit bigger than herself, bigger than him even. His sweet, beautiful, kind Tinkerbell who didnāt need to suffer through more to build her strength when she was already one of the strongest people he knew.Ā
Sarah. He liked her, that much was obvious. Heād never had a door slam in his face after asking someone out before, but after the initial shock of it all, he came to think of it as something that the two could eventually laugh about in the future. Toby wanted her to be happy, because simply put, that was what she deserved. Sarah was like sunshine, and he didnāt fault himself for wanting to be around her, for trying to be something more than just friends, for liking her for the person that she was because she isĀ loveable. Always had been. The light in her eyes dimmed after Theo, he could see that, but she had Jake, and Charlotte. She had her friends. Toby knows theyād take care of her.Ā Ā
Mariana. He really didnāt know where things went wrong with them but thoughts of his brother inevitably brought forth thoughts of Mari too. How horrified he had been when he found out what happened. How protective he became of her when he got her out of that situation immediately. How he vowed heād never talk to his brother again after that, before Tucker started fucking with his brain again, talking about how they would always be blood. He hoped Mari would never feel that kind of pain again, hoped that sheād come to realize she was a lot stronger than she thought she was.
Ezio. Someone who was like his younger brother. Toby always wanted one, always asked his parents for one so he could be to them what Tucker had been to him before their mother died. Someone Toby vowed to always protect from all the bad things in life, because they still had so many good things to see and experience, and he wanted to be there to see the look on their face when they were able to actually see and experience those good things. Despair clutched at him as he strongly wished someone would take care of them, now that he couldnāt.Ā
Jieun. Thereās pain there for the potential between them. He could remember how happy he was when she had been released from the hospital, how he celebrated her at Medusa, only to come home with her afterwards. How they never talked about it, until it happened again after the music festival. Maybe there was a reason the two always found their way back to each other. Jieun always made him think of moonlight, the only thing beautiful enough to cast his eyes away from the ocean. How a part of her will always be hidden, but that didnāt stop Toby from wanting to know her. It wasnāt just the intrigue, it wasnāt just the confusion. It was her. People in town were so easy to write her off as just another mean girl, but there was so much more to her than that, and Toby knew it. He could see it in the way her eyes lit up watching the fireworks after the music festival. He could see it in the way he held her close after sleeping together, and how sheād curl against him. He could see it in the haunted look her eyes would take when talking about her now dead friends. He could see it in her passion for creating, and he felt like he was being let in on a massive secret, seeing how happy it made her, how proud she was of it. How proud he was of her too. He could see it in the way she was like with her friends, how she treated them, how sheād do anything for them. He could see it in the way sheād let go of his hand, yet linger. A push and pull that always ended with him getting just the tiniest bit closer. A mean girl. A good person. An influencer. A survivor. His secret. He hadnāt expected them at all, but he didnāt regret anything that happened with them, not one bit. Toby hated that their time was cut short, and he knew he wouldāve done anything she asked of him, his last one bringing what happened between them with him to the grave.Ā
His eyes were already closed and he could feel the pain from the knife entering his body over and over again start to ebb away, making way for a fading that was oddly like how he feels every time he was on his surfboard. Nothing but the vast sky above him, and the water below him, the salty sea air in his lungs, a smile on his face and his board between his legs. He liked it when he sometimes let himself fall into the water, and that feeling of the water enclosing around him, muting everything else, reminded him of something he hadnāt felt in so long.Ā
His motherās arms around him, telling him everything was going to be okay.Ā He could hear her voice now, saying the exact words he had told her on her hospital bed the day after he turned thirteen.
Toby: can you open deadlights a little earlier for me?
Toby: just this once, i swear
Toby: i just wanna leave something for vera before her shift
Toby: please please pleaseĀ
Toby: youāre literally the only one saying that in this entire town, jakeĀ š but i appreciate it
Toby: iāll see you on saturday, man
[ a few days later ]
Toby: this is so fucking fucked
Toby: theo???? bianca??????
Toby: yeah, i donāt know how sheāll get through it either. i donāt even know what i can do to help her, man
Toby: i donāt even know how to feel? seeing the body... parts was really something else
Toby: i felt like i was back in pre-med and having to face a cadaver, only this time it was people i knew. theoās head. biās foot.
Toby: i never EVER want to see something like that ever again. that was so fucking horrible
Toby: how are you holding up, jake? i know you have a tendency to take care of everybody else first, but you gotta take care of yourself too
Toby: sort of?Ā
Toby: iāve never even been out of the country, never stayed away from nightrest for too long. just did a couple of road trips to beaches a couple summers back
Toby: i donāt know, maybe itās time to think about doing some traveling, you know? seeing the world and all that
Toby: i never really gave it much thought until this whole town became a serial killer magnet
Toby: you ever been to either of those places?
Toby: i couldnāt agree more. nightrest is still home for me, but itās starting to hurt staying here, not knowing whoās next to go
Toby: oh?Ā a fellow been at nightrest forever-er?
Toby: wait, not even boston?
Toby: i found an old camera at this garage sale and the owner said it was still working
Toby: i looked it up and it's apparently really expensive if brand new??? i thought you might want to check it out, maybe even check if the guy's just pulling my leg. i told him i was just gonna get some money from the bank so he's holding onto it from me
Toby: and no this is totally not my attempt at trying to distract you from everything that's been going on
Toby: itās over at ashmore, iāll send you the address
Toby: i might also be coming back to that place with some iced coffee and dessert in case you wanted some š
Toby: can you open deadlights a little earlier for me?
Toby: just this once, i swear
Toby: i just wanna leave something for vera before her shift
Toby: please please pleaseĀ
Toby: if you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
Toby: don't think about it too hard, gimme the first place that pops into your head
Toby: sort of?Ā
Toby: iāve never even been out of the country, never stayed away from nightrest for too long. just did a couple of road trips to beaches a couple summers back
Toby: i donāt know, maybe itās time to think about doing some traveling, you know? seeing the world and all that
Toby: i never really gave it much thought until this whole town became a serial killer magnet
Toby: you ever been to either of those places?
Toby: itās not like thereās anything i can do, jake. the only reason people are suspicious is because of that video and i know kat and probably some others want to know what me and tucker were arguing about in it but iām not about to talk about someone elseās past just to make me look better
Toby: itās not like iām the one doing all this horrible stuff so when the person responsible gets caught, iāll breathe a little better. itāll be okay. weāll be okay, jake
Toby: tomorrow? itās saturday and i was planning on just hanging out at the beach the whole day. phone off, just the waves, some shrimp at cās for lunch, maybe some beach volleyball after
Toby: maybe you can also help me figure out where i should go on a road trip to at the end of the month
Toby: youāre literally the only one saying that in this entire town, jakeĀ š but i appreciate it
Toby: iāll see you on saturday, man
[ a few days later ]
Toby: this is so fucking fucked
Toby: theo???? bianca??????
TOBY: what, you think that fight ended and she hunted azra down just to what???? to finish the job???
TOBY: iāve seen those injuries, ji. someone wanted to kill her, and itās not vera
TOBY: look, iām sorry. iām not trying to be on anybodyās side here. i donāt like that this happened to azra any more than you do, but veraās my friend and i just donāt want people think the worst of her just because of one fight
TOBY: i donāt need to convince myself because i know she wouldnāt do this
TOBY: so if she fights with someone, sheās automatically the worst????
TOBY: azra fought her too. does that mean sheās the worst too???
āTOBY: i know you donāt like her but i still donāt think veraās the one who put azra in the hospital. sheās not like that
TOBY: ...youāre definitely still mad at me, arenāt you?
TOBY: what, you think that fight ended and she hunted azra down just to what???? to finish the job???
TOBY: iāve seen those injuries, ji. someone wanted to kill her, and itās not vera
TOBY: look, iām sorry. iām not trying to be on anybodyās side here. i donāt like that this happened to azra any more than you do, but veraās my friend and i just donāt want people think the worst of her just because of one fight
āTOBY: i know you donāt like her but i still donāt think veraās the one who put azra in the hospital. sheās not like that
TOBY: ...youāre definitely still mad at me, arenāt you?
