Toris Laurinaitis // Republic of Lithuania

Appearance:
Toris has thick, shoulder length brown hair with small bangs on the left and right that sometimes hang in his eyes, which are a warm green. He also ties his hair back when working or taking a picture at a really peculiar angle so that it won’t get in the way. He is taller than average, as is fairly common for people of Baltic/Scandinavian descent. His hands are rough and calloused from hours spent doing chores around the house, however they will probably be the steadiest hands you’ve ever encountered. He’s also rather slim, and doesn’t really have any muscles to speak of. Scars of varying depth line his back from his shoulder blades to his waist.

Being a practical and relatively laid-back guy, Toris prefers a casual/semi-formal choice of attire for his day to day activities. Simple clothes like dress shirts, t-shirts, comfortable jeans and pants of generally soft and plain colors like beige, forest green, cloudy blue, and white make up his wardrobe, plus the occasional pink apron. He’s not fond of shorts though, and wears large sunglasses, when the weather calls for it, to preserve his eyesight for the camera’s viewfinder because he thinks that ordinary glasses would just get in the way. Ever since the huge lightning storm, he’s taken to wearing gloves when going out, no matter what the weather. Whenever it gets chilly outside, he’ll opt for a long coat and a scarf to keep the cold at bay. The key words here are easy to move in, crouch, and clean in.

Personality:
With such an easy-to-take-advantage-of personality, some people wonder why Toris is still able to make a few very close friends. The secret is that his kindness and genuine warm-heartedness melts away most negative intentions. Even so, it was this attitude that had gotten him used and thrown away multiple times in the past.
He’s a serious introvert and is usually the one who’ll stand awkwardly along the wall at a party if none of his friends were there. Add this to the fact that he has a low self-esteem and the ‘serious’ bit is proved. He’s shy and timid, but comes with good manners, which make him popular with the parents of the children that he used to babysit. The littleuns liked him too.

Whenever he gets over-stressed or pressured, his belly will start to misbehave and give him the most terrible cramps (some of them are even worse than the ones you get from PMS). Thus, he has an overall weak stomach and can’t eat spicy foods. Every pair of pants he owns has at least one pocket somewhere, and in it you’ll usually find a small bottle of liquid painkillers.

Being a cloud-watcher, a park-walker and a nature-admirer, he is mostly a quiet and understanding listener more than a talker, but he does have several things that he gets gung-ho about. Despite all this, he has a bold side that rears its head up in certain situations, such as when people he care about are in trouble. He’s also interested in the martial arts and self-defense techniques, which kind of contradicts his personality, but it’s just the part of him that isn’t diffident showing that Toris is definitely not a pushover…at least occasionally.

If you ever meet him though, the first conversation tends to veer off in the uneasy silence direction. If you are able to bear with that and break the ice with something (preferably a topic about scenery, books, or the martial arts) and get him to trust you, then it’s guaranteed that he’ll open his heart to you in no time.

Likes:
- Cleaning – It was his main way of spending the day when alone at home. It also gives him a chance to relax his mind and let his body move in its automatic motions, or a way to multitask and mull over a problem and get the place spick and span at the same time.

- Cooking – Especially with rye bread, meat, potatoes, fruit and dairy products. They bring him back to his homeland in the most traditional way he can afford. His cooking is actually one of the scarce things he is proud about.

- Cepelinai – How could you not love the potato dumplings stuffed with minced meat, mushrooms, and cheese? A traditional Lithuanian dish, served with tenderness, is a sure-fire way to brighten up a droopy day.

- Taking pictures – The feel of a half-pressed shutter and the distinct click of the lenses is a reassuring presence in Toris’ life. He thinks that memories should be remembered, and he’s just the guy to capture them.

- Rain – The gentle pitter-patter of the rain on glass, wood or stone fills silent moments, yet doesn’t intrude too much. There’s also a refreshing feel when you stroll outside, just after the last drops fall.

- Baths – A nice, hot, and maybe aromatic soak in a tub is the best way for him to release bodily tension and relax the joints and muscles.

- Literature – He’ll go for any genre, so long as it’s well written.

Dislikes:

- Alcohol – It smells funny, tastes bitter, and muddles your senses. You can’t work properly and make stupid mistakes that can cause permanent consequences…

- Silence – Being at home alone for five days out of seven doesn’t do really good things for a small kid, like when Toris was still young. Silence equaled loneliness back then.

- The cold – Just having numb toes, fingers and noses is a terrible thought, not to mention the possible sickness. A pleasant chill is fine, but winter sees Toris indoors with a heater.

- People asking about scars – The people who actually know about his scars can be counted on one hand usually. He gets touchy, uncomfortable and tends to divert the subject.

- Grey – It’s a drab color really. Full of sadness and low spirits. Plus, it’s just not a natural color and looks strange in photos, except if they’re grayscale.

- Being pushed around – He knows when he’s being taken advantage of, but what frustrates him is that it’s hard to overcome his timid habits and actually do something about it.

Any other information:
He secretly likes to sing but, convinced that his voice isn’t that good, he keeps it for when he’s in the shower or alone at home. When he was young, he also had a great childhood friend (he doesn’t know what happened to him now) and a puppy-love crush on a girl he saw one day. He also speaks English with relative fluency, having been taught by his relatives who live in England.

History:
Born in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania on a snowy February 16, Toris was raised by his middle-class parents that were in generally caring people. His father worked as an accountant and his mom stayed at home, looking after the first and only baby Laurinaitis. Life was good and he went to the local kindergarten and went through his days happily and innocently. His uncle would come by every Saturday and let him play with his old camera, which dazzled Toris.

At the tender age of 7 however, things weren’t going really well for his father’s company, and the company came close to bankruptcy a couple of times. That’s when it all went downhill. On some nights, Toris would creep out of his room and hear his parents yelling, and as the days went by, his father started coming home later and later. If he came back when Toris was still awake, a bitter odor would be wafting off of his dad, and his mom would complain. After some time of this, his father started hitting his mom, and there was one day that he attacked a screaming Toris for trying to stop him kicking his mother’s unconscious body. That’s how Toris got the scars.

His father died in a drunken driving accident soon after that. Toris was 8.

His mother started looking for jobs and working outside to support what was left of the family. Toris was left alone and spent his time cleaning the entire house and doing chores for 6 years. Every room, every crevice, everything was washed, polished and dusted to keep his tears of loneliness away. Mom always came back late and looking tired out. Sometimes she didn’t come home at all. He grew to be independent, but in his heart there was still a part of him crying. His uncle still came on the much anticipated weekends to home school him. Eventually, he gave Toris his first camera, newly bought, and told the boy to start looking for his future, wherever it may be.

Toris moved to England to stay temporarily with some of his uncle’s relatives when he was 16, after his uncle promised to take care of his mother. He went to a local school and then attended university in Manchester to study photography. He lived in the dorm and hired himself out as a housekeeper and babysitter to support his living costs. He eventually saved enough to buy a couple of cameras and photography equipment. He’s always kept his uncle’s camera, even until this day. After university, he went job-hunting and landed one in London, working for the local paper. So he packed his bags and moved to Gracefield house when he was 22. He still works as a housekeeper-for-hire…old habits just don’t die.

Details of their powers:

Energy Transference – Activated by skin contact, specifically the hands. Toris is able to send out his own energy or suck in others’. It is possible for him to cause fainting and unconsciousness, and maybe even put someone into a coma. However, it is also possible for him to do these things to himself. The direction of the energy flow depends on Toris’ emotions at the time of contact: if he’s feeling positive, energy will go from him to the receiver, and if he’s feeling negative, the victim’s energy will be drawn into Toris.

Material Re/Deconstruction – Also activated with skin contact (hands). This power is easier to control than the energy transference, relying on Toris’ will and intent to determine either one of the outcomes. If he touches anything and wants it to break, it will, even if it takes a bit of time for larger or more complicated objects. If he wants to reform something, as long as it’s touchable and all the pieces are there, he can just tap it and will it to reconstruct. This only works on objects, not living things.

RP Sample:
Thunder rolled and brief flashes of lightning streaked across the dark, cloudy sky. Wave after wave of hard raindrops blasted against the window, creating a maze of dripping water on the glass. The bedroom was dark. Toris lay beneath the sheets, watching the storm with calm eyes and only flinching a little when there was a particularly loud boom of thunder. He was used to weather like this, and oftentimes he welcomed it; it’s what sometimes kept him company during the endless days of being at home alone. He closed his eyes, took several deep breaths and shifted to lie on his side, blanking out his mind in preparation for sleep’s embrace.

Suddenly, an intruder to the sounds of the tempest outside rang out three shrill notes. It was the tone of his cell phone, alerting him to a most unwelcome message. Toris sighed and bit his lip, then sat up and retrieved his phone from the bedside table. It was a note from his boss saying that he should try to photograph the storm, one of the fiercest that year, thanks Laurinaitis. Said photographer pondered the wisdom of bringing a camera out into a gale like that, but he got out of bed anyway, planning to just take a couple of shots through the window. As he rubbed his hands together to discourage the slight chill in the air, Toris shuffled over to the table where he put his camera. Just as he reached for the black bag, there was a spectacular explosion of light in the sky, and the whole room lit up for a split second, like someone had turned on the light switch, then snapped it off again. The next thing that Toris was aware of was the pale sunlight caressing his face and a weird, itchy tingling sensation in his hands.

~OOC~

Name: May, MC
Timezone/Country: GMT +7 (Thailand)
Age: 16
A little about yourself:
This is my attempt at getting back into RP-ing after a very, very long absence of years, punctuated by recent RPs on Tohla and things like that. Hopefully my skills are not as bad as I think they are, but please bear with me. Also, this is my first time playing Lithuania, so constructive criticism is very welcome. I have a time limit on the computer, so I may not be able to reply as quickly as I would like sometimes. Thankee~
Anything Else?:
Hmm...I'd have to say either black or red. Yep.

Lovely! You are, of course, accepted. Feel free to change your name and start posting!