ABOUT
Coming from a very, very, bad background, Valentine has managed to get lucky enough to (mostly) escape his past thanks to Robin's help, who for all intents and purposes has become his adoptive father. Maybe not legally, at least not at the current moment (going through the system for that is a chore that Robin is not exactly in the mindset for recently, it was difficult enough trying to help Valentine simply just legally exist within the country, let alone trying to handle adult adoption when Valentine very recently turned 18 after meeting Robin.), but he still takes Robin's last name, and they speak about eachother as father and son.
Valentine's past has meant he's had a lot to try and catch up on. Having an extreme lack in education, almost no normal life experiences, and more trauma than anyone his age should have ever had to face. He's at least lucky in that he picks up on new concepts easily, and Robin's extreme amount of excess money is handy in trying to access resources that can help, like classes and tutoring, and whatever else he shows any interest in. But that doesn't mean things are easy, Valentine might be catching up well educationally, already showing some interest in looking into architecture one day. Socially, however, is an entirely different story, and there's not much Robin's money can do to help that. Nor is Robin exactly the best at being a guide for that either right now.
| Height: | 4'2" | Eyes: | Very Dark Brown |
| Build: | Average | Skin: | Greyish-Tan |
| Hair Style: | Very Curly | Hair/Fur Color: | Black/Orange |
- Almost always entirely covered when out in public. He's comfortable enough to wear shorts at home with Robin. But outside of the house (or on very rare occasions where Robin has visitors over) the most he'll ever do is maybe roll his sleeves up a bit. It's both a mix of disliking the feeling of being 'exposed', as well as practical, since his fur has a bit of a rex-texture to it and doesn't retain warmth as well. He's not super picky about what kind of clothes he wears, as long as he's covered up. But he does tend to lean toward warmer colors, and isn't very fond of wearing blue or purple, especially blue.
- His eyes might be dark brown, but art-wise they normally aren't seen as such. He's always sort of got a bit of a vacant stare, even when he's feeling well.
- Tends to either always be fidgeting with his hands or holding them completely straight down. Doesn't move his tail a whole lot, it's usually just in whatever pose it happens to naturally fall in.
PERSONALITY
Valentine is a very quiet person, sort of eerily so. It's not so much that he doesn't want to talk, he'd like to speak to people more, but he feels like he usually can't get his thoughts across properly, and being misunderstood makes him anxious to the point he would rather just not say anything. Mostly caused by the fact that he can hardly even remember the language from where he came from (and even if he could, it would be at a 1st grade level) and his main exposure to the country he's in now's most common language was through two sources, TV Shows, and the one who was abusing him for about 12 years. He's still fluent, he can hold a conversation just fine, but lacking any proper education on it means he's a bit behind compared to others his age, and phrases some stuff oddly. It's easier for him to talk with Robin, since he's very patient and understanding, and it would likely be the same for anyone else Valentine might get close with. But getting close to anyone is hard when it feels so impossible to talk. Even with Robin he's still quiet pretty frequently. Writing is a different story though, he never really had any reason nor chances to write before, he's caught up enough by now that he can read at a decent level, the shows he used to watch helped with that. But trying to write something himself is still a bit hard, misspelling things pretty often. He's getting there though!
Besides his issues with speaking though, Valentine is a very nice and generous person. He always wants to do for others what he wishes he could've had. Especially encouraged by having someone like Robin being the one taking care of him, who's also just as generous with things. Valentine is always sharing things like food or money. It's not unusual for Robin to give him some money for when he's outside of the house and him ending up giving away most of it to anyone or anything asking for donations, or using it to buy food for people who look like theyre struggling or lonely. He might be skittish, but it's easier for him to push past it in order to do something nice, even if he often tends to quickly shuffle away afterwards. He wants to be kind, strangers are just a bit scary still.
While he might struggle catching up with language a bit, he picks up on other things fairly quickly. Math, physics, and things in a similar vein where there are hard rules as to how they work mesh well with his brain. He's good at memorizing strict rules like that and how to put them into use. This and some interest in visual design has brought him into finding fun in the idea of building things. Right now he's still catching up a bit on the actual knowledge, but he certainly has the skill for it. It comes to him naturally enough that when he's not in any classes, he's often trying to make things out of lego, and he's damn good at it. The stuff he can make from lego after only a few months of living with Robin could rival a lot of people who've already been doing it for years, having a lot of fun making really complicated and detailed buildings out of them, even some that look like they should be toppling over, but don't somehow. Sure lego bricks are a bit sturdier than actual heavy building materials, but he still manages to really stretch their limits. Eventually he'd like to try building a treehouse in the giant tree on their property. Might not the best kind of tree for that sort of thing, but Valentine thinks he could figure it out.
Unfortunately though, Valentine still struggles with a lot of things emotionally. After the situation he was stuck in for so long, it takes very little to make anxiety start flaring up in him. Loud noises, people suddenly touching him, breaking things, even people just raising their voice a little too suddenly can all lead him to start panicking. Usually his response to try and run and hide, but at its worst he sometimes will start screaming and crying. He can handle it better at home, usually just running to his room and locking the door until he calms back down, but it's much harder in public. He's accidentally made a scene quite a few times while at the classes he attends, or in the street on the way to them. Robin's had to call a few places where Valentine goes for his education to warn them ahead of time. Robin's never told Valentine that he's done this, but he's overheard some of the calls, and he feels guilty that Robin's had to do so. He's trying to get better, but those wounds are still too fresh for him to not have some level of anxiety 24/7. Messing up before often led to awful results, he's still getting used to the idea that he's not in that situation anymore, and he knows he probably never will fully get away from it. But having Robin helps.
LIKES
- Architecture
- Lego
- Helping People
- Robin
- Bowties
DISLIKES
- Blue
- Loud Noises
- Strangers
- Sudden Contact
- Misunderstandings
TRAITS
- Quiet
- Generous
- Organized
- Anxious
- Creative
TRIVIA
- *Valentine's age is written as '17' since all the ages on these pages are set as what they would be at the time of Jan 1st 2346. But he should be considered as 18, since the current stage of his life is after meeting Robin. I wrote myself into a weird hole here with the timing of him meeting Robin being after the 'starting' timeframe for the ages. The same would technically apply for Robin, he'd be 37 instead of 36, but it felt more notable here with Valentine, since I'm usually thinking of him as an 18 year old, because it's rather relevant to the situation going on with him and Robin (That being that Robin isnt sure if he can find a way to properly 'adopt' Valentine, because of how recently he became an adult)
- Tends to keep everything as neat as possible. Seeing things messy makes him a bit anxious. It's not as bad if it's someone else's mess (because god knows Robin isn't exactly the best at taking care of the house currently), but with his own stuff, it always needs to be exactly where it's supposed to be if it's not currently being used. It sort of works out for the two of them. Robin struggles to keep on things, and Valentine finds cleaning to be anxiety-reducing. So often if he's not doing anything else he'll just go around the house and tidy random things.
- Can handle strangers a little better if he's outside, that's where theyre supposed to be. But sudden visitors at home make him more anxious. Robin doesn't have people over often, and even when he does it's often when Valentine is out of the house. Home is nice because it's very predictable, visitors make it less predictable.
- Robin is pretty much the only person he's comfortable having prolonged contact with, and even then he'd still rather initiate it first. Robin is at least aware of this, he's never trying to hug Valentine out of nowhere or anything, usually asking instead and waiting for Valentine to either agree or disagree. But Valentine will usually agree when it comes to Robin, unless he's feeling particularly bad. Robin's hugs make him feel safe.
- Valentine hasn't really considered relationships at all. For one thing, most of his life he sort of had more pressing issues at hand. But even after moving in with Robin, he's mostly avoided thinking about it. He knows he hates the idea of sex, but whether he'd ever consider a romantic relationship? Just hasn't really come to mind at all, he'd rather focus on catching up on other things right now. So whether he's straight, gay, bi, or just uninterested, who knows.
SHORT BACKSTORY
Born in a different country, Valentine had a pretty typical life there for his first 5 years of life, but when his parents died in an accident, he was sent to live with another family member, who turned out to be not as kind as his parents had thought they were. Before Valentine knew it he was suddenly in the hands of someone else, in an entirely different country. In the most basic terms, it was a horrific situation. No education, trapped inside, abused in every way. He would eventually successfully run away, and manage to meet Robin, who now takes actual care of him.
FULL BACKSTORY
Valentine was originally born in Janam, until about age 5 he was raised by his two parents. His life up until then was fairly regular. Shortly after starting school though, an earthquake had happened in the area. He had been at school, which managed to stay, relatively, unscathed. But his parents who both worked at the same location weren't as lucky. His father had died instantly from the rubble, while his mother was very injured, only managing to live long enough to tell who she wanted to take care of Valentine in case she didn't make it. As a result, Valentine was sent to live with his aunt and her husband. As far as he knew, they were good people, and while he was deeply upset over the loss of his parents, he was still able to adjust to living there instead. They'd visited at home before, and he liked the two of them well enough. Once again things seemed fairly normal for a little bit, though they had far more money troubles than his parents did. For reasons unknown to him, one day his uncle decided that he and Valentine were going to go on a trip together to the Mownyien Republic. Valentine was too young to think about questioning it, he said that it was for work and he wanted Valentine to see new places with him, and his aunt agreed, thinking it would be nice for him to go experience new things to help take his mind off the loss of his parents. Things seemed normal for the first few days over there, but one day Valentine was told that he was going to be watched over by a friend of his uncle's for the day. Once again he hadn't questioned anything, only beginning to get a little nervous when he realized he was being driven rather far from where they started. He never saw him again, and still has no idea if his aunt was in on this, or if she had no clue what his uncle had done and presumed Valentine to be missing or dead.
The first year wasn't as bad, the one he'd ended up with acting...mostly normal at first. He was still being taken care of, though not allowed to leave the house at all, not even to play in the yard, and was no longer being sent to school. But he still didn't like it, he missed his aunt and would constantly ask when he'd get to go home again. The answers tended to be excuses at first, saying things had come up and it might be awhile longer. But eventually they would get more irritable at the question and shut it down immediately, until Valentine was finally told the truth that he wasn't going home. Things would then start to go further downhill afterward.
Why the first year was relatively calm, Valentine doesn't know, and doesn't care to think about it really. But after it, things would quickly escalate. The person he was living with now would get far more touchy, and was quick to aggression anytime Valentine did something 'wrong'. Nearly anything that would typically expected of a 7 year old, accidentally breaking things, leaving a mess, or even just getting a little too loud would result in physical punishment and loud yelling. If it had stuck to only that, it still would've been horrible, but more...'tolerable'. But it didn't, continuing to go further into sexual abuse as well, which would keep happening the entire time he'd be there for. By this point Valentine was essentially being treated as a prisoner in the home, eventually he'd start getting yelled at just for even talking, his captor getting sick of him speaking the language from where he came, since they weren't as fluent in it, only knowing enough to give simple responses in it. Home-security systems on most exits making it very difficult to leave the house if the person was home, and being locked inside his room down in the basement when they weren't. The most he was allowed to have was a TV inside his room, which ended up being what he spent most of his time on when he was alone in the house, and also even when he wasn't, though he'd have to play it much quieter. It did at least help him somewhat learn the language of the country he was in now, thanks to playing a lot of kids shows, and eventually other ones as he got older. None of this would let up over the next decade, sometimes there were better days, but the majority of them were always something going wrong.
The TV would stay as his only real form of escapism from facing all of this. Any other form of getting away just led to things being worse. If he tried to leave the house he'd be punished worse, even just trying to hide or fight back would end the same as well, so he'd stopped trying and became complacent, hoping that maybe if he just went along with it that he might at least get more peaceful days a little more often. A little after turning 15 though he started to realize that this might just never end though, he'd try to kill himself a few times over the next 2 years, but would fail each time, either through getting caught or simply not having the means to. He'd already tried to sneak phone calls to the police multiple times over the past few years, after learning the number in a show. But nearly every time he was stopped, and the one time he did manage to get through and have them show up, they were managed to be convinced that Valentine was just a naughty kid that thought it would be funny, thanks to the fact that he didn't know the proper words to really describe what was happening and had used much more vague ones. He never tried again.
About a few months before his 18th birthday though, he decided that he didn't care about what might happen anymore, everything was horrific anyway, either he'd face the same shit he always had, or maybe they'd finally snap and just kill him already. So when he was home alone again, he managed to break the lock on his door. He hesitated briefly, but then ran upstairs, grabbing the first thing he could find that could break glass, and using it to smash open the window, hoping that maybe breaking it instead of trying to open it might not set off any of the security. He was wrong, it still set it off, but with the house empty, he still continued through the broken window, ignoring the cuts he got from the glass, and began running as far as his adrenaline rush would carry him. Managing to get from the suburban outskirts all the way to the main part of the city. He'd looked like a mess before, but by the time he'd gotten there he'd looked even more like one, having tripped a few times and also running through plants trying to take shortcuts.
CurrentEven after reaching the city, he still kept running, until eventually accidentally slamming into someone, causing them both to fall over. The other man would manage to get back up rather quickly, but Valentine was finally exhausted by this point, having been running for hours. The person he'd run into would immediately look concerned, asking if Valentine was okay and to know what was going on. Valentine tried to explain a tiny bit as he attempted to stand back up, telling them that he was running from a very bad person, and that he was going to keep running forever. Even after he got back up though, he didn't have the energy to run anymore. The man offerred to call the police, but Valentine would refuse, thinking it would go as poorly as last time. He'd try to run off again, but collapse immediately afterward, the other person managing to catch him before he hit the ground. Drunk and not knowing what else to do, the person offered for Valentine to come stay at his house until they could figure out what to do. Valentine hesitated, but the rush he was on had finally worn off, and he was crashing hard. He'd already seen hell, and this person at least did seem to be actually worried. It couldn't really get any worse in his eyes. So he agreed. The man introduced himself as Robin, and helped Valentine back to his house, briefly went back out to buy some clean clothes that could fit him, and then pointing to where the shower and a room for him to sleep in was. After everything, Valentine would quickly pass out after the shower.
The stark difference between before and now was hard to get used to. Valentine would continue to stay extremely on edge for a few months, often willingly locking himself in the guest room, since it locked from the inside and not the outside. But Robin would always be patient, quickly backing off and leaving him be to calm down if he started getting overwhelmed, making sure to leave him food by the door and letting him know that he didn't ever have to come out until he was ready. Valentine would eventually start to open up a little, still nervous, but not wanting to just be holed up in a room constantly again, even if it was of his own volition this time around. Robin had asked for his name a few times before, but Valentine would never answer, 'Valentine' wasn't his real name, technically, and he hadn't wanted to share his old name. But one day when Robin asked again while they were watching TV, he decided to choose that name as a way of starting fresh. Eventually they'd start talking about what to do next, Valentine decided he wanted to stay here, both because he had nowhere else to go, but also because Robin had stayed consistently kind and patient so far. When asked how old he was, Valentine told him that the day just before was his 18th birthday. They'd have some more discussions over the next few weeks, and eventually Valentine would agree to the idea of going to some classes to try and catch him up on all the education he'd missed out on. They've been good so far, and Valentine's already shown interest in wanting to be an architect someday. Things aren't perfect, both him and Robin are messes thanks to different kinds of traumatic experiences, and sometimes their triggers will overlap in unfortunate ways. But as a whole, having eachother has been helping them both. Valentine starting to feel like he actually has a chance at a normal life someday, feeling safer around Robin, even if still anxious, and Robin finding some motivation to try and get a little better so he can watch out for Valentine properly. It's slow progress, but it's good, for the both of them.
BODY
| Strength | |
| Energy | |
| Dexterity | |
| Health | |
| Beauty | |
| Style | |
| Hygiene |
SKILLS
| Perception | |
| Communication | |
| Persuasion | |
| Mediation | |
| Literacy | |
| Creativity | |
| Cooking |
| Tech Savvy | |
| Combat | |
| Survival | |
| Stealth | |
| Street Smart | |
| Seduction | |
| Luck |
MIND/SOCIAL
| Intelligence | |
| Happiness | |
| Spirituality | |
| Confidence | |
| Humor | |
| Anxiety | |
| Patience |
| Passion | |
| Charisma | |
| Empathy | |
| Generosity | |
| Wealth | |
| Aggression | |
| Libido |
BELIEFS
| Higher Power | |
| Magic | |
| Destiny | |
| Soulmates | |
| Good/Evil | |
| Luck |
PRIORITIES
| Family | |
| Friends | |
| Love | |
| Health | |
| Praise | |
| Justice | |
| Truth | |
| Power | |
| Fame | |
| Wealth | |
| Other's Opinions |
Robin is absolutely the most important person in the world to Valentine. He was the first person Valentine ran into (literally) after running away from the situation he was in. And Robin immediately helped. Valentine won't lie and say he wasn't extremely anxious at first when Robin offered for him to come live with him. But Valentine didn't trust the police to help, and he had nowhere else to go. He figured it couldn't get any worse than it already had been before, and he's very glad he took the chance. Robin has been the exact opposite of what he'd experienced for most of his life. Robin cares very deeply for him, always tries to make sure that he's comfortable, doesn't force him to do anything and only ever waits until Valentine is ready to try something first. While he's still very nervous, he feels far, far safer in Robin's home, and especially in his own room there. Besides his usual lingering anxiety, the only real source of stress there is just the fact that Robin has also gone through some horrible things of a different variety. Robin's constant depression makes Valentine worry, he wants to help, but can barely help himself right now, not to mention he's so much younger than Robin, and still doesn't even really know what life is supposed to be like. The most he can do is try and distract Robin from his own thoughts, usually either by coming to give him a hug, or bringing him over to see what sort of things he's built with lego. He wishes he was less anxious about speaking, or he'd try and convince Robin to stay home more instead of going out to drink all the time. He still tries regardless, but its had mixed success. Getting him to focus on either watching some TV show or asking him to help him study tends to have the best results, but it doesn't always work.
Valentine... knows of them. Sort of. He doesn't know their name, or ever met them. But he knows that Robin has a friend that apparently helped him through some problems, and that he goes out to visit them sometimes. But that's all he's aware of. He doesn't really have an opinion on them. He's at least glad Robin has a friend.
Unfortunately, whoever this was is still out there. Robin wanted to help Valentine get this person locked up for good, but Valentine had no idea what their real name was, or the address where he'd been kept at. When he escaped, he just ran as fast and as far as he could, and didnt pay any attention to where he was. It's definitely a large part in Valentine's continued anxiety, knowing theyre still out there. He might be comfortable enough to walk around the city alone by now, but it's what makes anyone suddenly touching him so much more terrifying beyond just discomfort. He's... pretty sure that even if they did try to look, they'd never find him in such a large city. The place is so huge and so bustling that looking for him by this point would be a long waste of time. But fear isnt always rational. The only comfort he has is that their face is burned into his mind, and he knows that if he saw them he would recognize them immediately, and could either run and/or tell Robin.
Valentine feels guilty that he can hardly remember them by now. He misses them, but he also feels complicated about everything. He was too young to really remember a lot, but he remembers that they were genuinely good parents, he's pretty sure they had no idea that the family members they trusted to look after him should anything happen to them would have sent him off like that. But he wishes they had caught onto anything off at all about his uncle. If they had maybe he would have been given to someone else in their family and never ended up in that situation. He's glad to have a life where he got to meet Robin, he knows he can't change what's happened, so he doesn't dwell on it too long, but he still wonders every now and then what life might have been like if he still lived where he was born.
Valentine knows he hates his uncle. Whether what happened was on purpose or his uncle's 'friend' just sort of kidnapped him without their knowledge, it doesn't really matter to him at this point. He can't remember enough to figure it out, and either way it doesn't change much in his mind. Either he ruined Valentine's life knowingly, or he was dumb enough to trust that person. Him and his abuser are some of the only people Valentine holds entirely negative opinions about. His aunt he's less sure about. He wants to believe that she didn't know, she didn't seem like the kind of person who would do this sort of thing. But he was only a little kid back then. He's not going to try and seek her out though to attempt finding out though, he doesn't want to ever end up in any proximity with his uncle again. He can hardly remember the two's names anyway.