Profile
Birth Name: William Oliver Rhodes
William--English, meaning "protector"
Oliver--Latin, meaning "olive tree". Of course, in multiple circles the olive tree is typically associated with peace, which might also be a second meaning for it
Rhodes--Greek, meaning "field of roses"
Put it all together, and you get something akin to "Protector of the peace in the field of roses". Mmm, yay for poetic license.
Angelic Identity: Sadriel, angel of order. He makes sure that when you ask for a burger with no pickles or tomatoes, you get a burger with no pickles or tomatoes. XD
Place in the Spheres: Will is an undergraduate student in his third year at the University of London. He's busy trying to get a degree in analytical chemistry at Birkbeck College, and enjoying every second of it. Crazed lunatic. He lives in a flat in a block of student housing in northwest London with his singular roommate. Will's practically a fixture in the building, having not moved once since he arrived in London. The way he sees it, living there works well enough, so he's inclined to stay there for the moment. He also works as a part time lab rat for one of the chemical research laboratories on campus.
Age: Twenty
Birthdate/Astrology: April 25, sun in Taurus, moon in Taurus, ascending in Cancer. Basically this translates to "Oh, hi there! Well, we're going to be working on this little thing here, and I know it's going to go like this, so we know what to expect, and--HOLY SHIT what the hell is going on it's not supposed to be BUZZING OMG."
Likes:
Strategy games, puzzles, etc: Yay for mind challenges! Will loves puzzles and the like that give him the chance to exercise his brain in different, entertaining ways. Brainteasers, jigsaw puzzles, the occasional strategic game, all of these are great fun to him. His Rubix cube is well worn, and he'll take up almost any challenge to a game of chess, regardless if his opponent is a beginner or an undefeated champion. One idea of a fun evening for him is a few friends, some good food, and a big-ass jigsaw puzzle.
Computers and other things with electronic bits: This like appears to be somewhat mutual, as will be addressed in skills, but Will enjoys playing around with computers or other electronics. He likes fussing with circuited things, trying to figure out what they can do, and so on. If he needs to pass some time (assuming he has some free time to pass), he can very easily do so by puttering around on his beloved computer.
The tabloid press: Not the rumor-type that has the latest pictures of who's sleeping with who; we're talking the "I saw Jesus in my tuna sandwich and then got abducted by aliens and gave birth to Elvis!" type of high *cough* quality *cough* journalism. Quite simply, Will finds them to be utterly, completely, hilarious. Bat Boy, alien doubles, angels fighting evil in London--seriously, who the hell believes this stuff? He doesn't know who writes it, but he revels in the fact that the stories are hysterically, aghastly wrong, and obviously not an accurate picture of how the world works. Usually, Will just reads the headlines as he passes by and chuckles to himself. However, he has been known to purchase them when he needs a mood lift. Call it a guilty pleasure.
Caffeine: Best. Molecule. Ever. Will doesn't hesitate to get ahold of some coffee or other caffinated drink when he's in the middle of working on something to give himself the energy boost they provide that allows him to keep going. He considers it a wonderful thing when he's on a roll with a task and can't stop now. Though on a more negative point, the fact that he can use caffeine to give himself a jolt means it's that much easier for him to work himself to exhaustion. Not that he pays particular attention to that point, though.
Old movies: As far as Will is concerned, there has been a rash of Not Good movies lately. Now mind you, there are a few gems out there, but for the most part, he feels that most of it is not worth paying the price of admission for. The endless stream of disaster movies (he's waiting for "Deadly Fog" to come out), the neverending love stories that are *always* gag-inducingly the same--seriously, people go to the cinema to see these? Therefore, for entertainment purposes, he looks to old movies. They may not be in color all the time, and they may not have all sorts of interesting shiny effects, but at least the acting and stories are typically good and have some thought put into them. When he's with people to see a movie, he's never consulted about what to see, as he would rather watch something old and obscure, which doesn't make for really good group-movie viewing. He does, however, like going down to the local cinema when they're playing something up his alley.
Poetry: Will doesn't always necessarily like (or understand) the content of poetry. What he really goes for is the sound of it. He loves the rhythm and rhyme that comes with poetry that you don't necessarily get with prose, and has been known to occasionally pick up a book of poems and quietly read it aloud to himself, just to hear how awesome the words sound when they're given form. Will has tried writing poetry once or twice, and, well, it falls flat. He gets way too bogged in conforming to a set structure, the result being the words kinda end up in a constrained mess. So he leaves writing to the professionals, and sticks to being a fan of the patterned word. His current poet of choice is Robert Frost.
Random likes: Rice pudding with jam, chess, large umbrellas, unusual antique kitchen devices, the game "Civilization", flannel blankets, nutmeg, magnetic stirrers, Cadbury creme eggs
Dislikes:
The weather: Will hates the weather, the weather hates him, it all works out. <3 Quite simply, the problem Will has with the weather is that he can never predict it right. Ever. He always requires the help of the local weather reports in order to get any sort of grasp on what the day will be like, because if he tries to predict it himself, the weather will hate on him. If he wears shorts, then despite the fact that it's been sunny and warm, it'll be bitingly cold. If he forgets his umbrella, it'll rain, and vice versa, and so on and so forth. He can't simply look at what the past couple of days have been like or stare out the window in order to predict what the weather will do, and he finds it somewhat frustrating. Therefore, he's adopted the practice of checking the weather reports religiously and carrying an umbrella with him at all times. And the times he forgets it? He gets drenched.
Philosophical Questions: Basically, this qualifies to him as any question that is generally considered to have no discernable answer, like the age-old query, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound?". Such queries are so damned roundabout, and Will cannot accept the fact that questions of this nature may not have a concrete answer and subsequently exist for their own sake. There has to be an answer--it's just a matter of finding it. The problem is, it's damn good at slipping away from him when he thinks he has it solved, and that drives him crazy. "I set up this recorder in the woods, and I'm certain that that noise in the background is the sound of a tree falling. What? No, it was just the recorder there. I wasn't present. No, a recorder DOES NOT substitute as someone being there. How can a recorder act in place of a human? I SWEAR IT COUNTS. ARGH."
Mysteries/Surprises: Note that this isn't Sherlock Holmes-type mysteries. Those are defined in Will's book as puzzles. What really bothers him is when stuff happens that has no explainable cause and is something that he can't reason out, either before or after the fact. Those sorts of things really get to him on a very deep and disconcerting level. Not all surprises, however, are unexplainable. For example, say his friends threw him a surprise birthday party. This wouldn't faze him too bad, because he can quickly reason that it makes perfect sense, because it's his birthday, and his friends like throwing surprise parties, so there you go. But say a flask full of liquid in the lab suddenly and mysteriously turned purple, and there was no discernable reason why it would do such a thing. That? Would drive him up the wall. He doesn't like mysteries in his life, and will unrelentingly search for an answer to them in order to put his mind at ease. A bit more on this down in personality.
Alternative Medicine: When it comes to treating ailments, illnesses, and the like, Will believes that nothing can beat the research-supported reliability of modern medicine. It's something he can understand, and not just because he has a grasp on some of the chemical reactions behind why certain medicines work for certain illnesses--he feels it's rather logical, what with tests designed to figure out what exactly is wrong and medicines intended to treat certain problems. He is ever skeptical of alternative healing methods, which, he perceives, are much more loosely worked. He feels that using such methods only prevent a person from getting 'real' medical attention sooner and subsequently having a better chance of recovering. No, his headache was not caused by a bad aura or because the feng shui in his room was off--just give him some aspirin, he'll be fine.
Snakes: Never minding the fact that Will has never seen one in real life, he is rather frightened of snakes. They are quite possibly his only truly irrational fear. When he was young he once caught part of a documentary on pythons, and the idea of a big, slithering thing with scary eyes and big teeth eating something that's as big as he was at the time gave him nightmares for a week. Ever since, he has mentally established that snakes = Evil Satan Spawn. He avoids discussions on snakes, reptile exhibits at museums, and will clam up and tune out if a discussion moves towards belly-crawling animals. They're unpredictable, they can squeeze you to death, they can poison you, all of which add up to 'bad' in Will's book. In general, he hopes he'll never have to encounter one in a more intimate situation than on a movie screen. He knows it's ridiculous to be afraid of them, especially since they're easily avoided in London, usually, but he just can't shake it. The fact that he can't really bugs him.
Random dislikes: Instant oatmeal, stains, cracks in the sidewalk, fake pine scent, the way water warps the edges of pages of a book when it gets wet, threadbare clothing, moldy cheese
Is Neutral On::
Chores: Really and truly, Will doesn't look at chores with any sort of disdain of sense of inconvenience. At the same time, he doesn't feel any sort of innate desire to get the floors clean to the point where he can see himself in them. Chores are simply something to be done so that you don't live in an unsanitary pigsty, and he'll do them without a fuss. He likes things neat, but he also doesn't need to do the white-glove test before being satisfied. In fact, as long as he doesn't need to put his shirt over his nose when he goes to the loo or discovers the leftover beef stew giving him financial advice, he's good. His space is something of an organized mess--it looks cluttered, but he knows where everything is. In fact, he gets irritated if someone tries to move stuff, since it means his mental map for the location of things is now useless, and he won't be able to find anything, be it his shoes or his toothbrush.
Hobbies:
Cooking: There is something Will finds very appealing about slinging together a bunch of ingredients in right proportions, mixing them up, and making something tasty. It all started when he decided to help his mother one day while she was making a pie, and grew from there. Since coming to London, the little cooking area in his flat has all but become his own personal kitchen, considering how often he's in there. He enjoys cooking both for himself and for others, and several of his fellow students have been known to pop in when he's in the midst of it in hopes of snagging something fresh and tasty. As a result, he has gotten into the habit of cooking more than he would if he was making something for himself, in anticipation that someone, the guys down the hall, the girls upstairs, his roommate, someone, will eat it. His bread is rather well-known in the building, which is somewhat woeful for him, because he's usually lucky if he gets more than a single slice before it's all wolfed down. Damn those ventilation shafts.
Squash: Will took up squash thanks to his father, who was looking for some way to bond with his singular boy. On occasion, Will will be seized with the urge to go smack a ball off of a wall for a little while. For him, it's great stress relief. With a lot(really a lot) more time and practice, Will could theoretically become a great squash player--he has a knack for predicting where a ball is going to end up, thanks to being able to judge the angle at which it bounces off the wall. The problem is getting himself positioned such that he can actually do something with it, as, well, he's not exactly in the type of shape where he could get in just the right place every time.
Research: No, seriously. Give Will a question or something unknown, and he'll be more than happy to go off and search relentlessly for an answer. He loves to explain the unexplained, and is the master of the library search. If Will is nowhere to be found, try looking in the library. He's most likely there, scouring the books to find out things like why lip balm is so good at softening chapped lips.
Aspirations/Dreams: On a mundane level, Will would really like to get that chemistry degree and go on to do something Nobel prize-winning, like find out how pop tarts work. On a more cosmic, instinctive, and unattainable level, he wants to learn how the world works in general--why things are the way they are, why unexplainable stuff happens, and so on. Because that whole liquid-mysteriously-turning-purple deal? That still bothers him, and he won't accept the fact that things sometimes just happen; there's a reason somewhere--it's just a matter of finding it. He would also like to be able to go outside without always having to carry an umbrella with him.
NPCs
Daniel Archson: Will's roommate. A first year history major, Dan is something of a quiet sort, almost to the point of being antisocial. The two of them, however, manage to get on fairly well, despite their differences and occasional conflicts over leftovers in the fridge and the like. Dan looks up to Will to a certain extent, since he has much more experience in this whole collegiate thing, and occasionally goes to him bearing questions or seeking guidance. While they aren't best buddies, they aren't mortal enemies either, and generally mind each other's businesses. However, Dan has been known to sometimes tag along with Will to the cinema when there's a good movie playing. He's a little on the short, stocky side, with brown eyes and brown, shortly cut hair.
Dr. Thomas Kelby: A professor of chemistry at the University of London, specializing in organic chemistry. He's in charge of the lab at which Will works. A tall, older man in his mid-50's, with brown hair that's nearly gone completely gray, blue eyes, and spectacles, Dr. Kelby has something of the quintessential professor look about him. He's a very intelligent man, curious and enthusiastic, though a little absent-minded, notorious for leaving his glasses in unusual places and forgetting where he put his coffee mug. He gets very excited over chemical reactions, and is always interested in what the students in his lab have come up with today. Some of the other lab rats joke occasionally that Dr. Kelby is Will in fifty years--hence why they get on so well. In general, though, he is well-liked by his students.
Speaking of which, it should be noted that Dr. Kelby's pack of student lab rats will likely be popping up occasionally, seeing as Will interacts closely with them on a regular basis, and, subsequently, can be used for monster food or other plot point bits.
History
Once upon a time there were two people, Marcia and Anthony. Marcia was a vivacious artifact and antique restorer. Anthony was a businessman. One day they met, fell in love, and decided to do the whole marriage thing. After a while, they moved to Ipswich and pooled their resources to start a small antiques shop. Soon after that, baby-producing began, beginning with their first daughter, Jenna, a rather rambunctious little character. A couple of years later, along came little William.
Compared to his mother, Jenna, and his younger sister (Carrie, who came four years after her big brother), Will was a bit more sedate. However, considering how energetic the three of them were, that gave him a lot of wiggle room. Will was an incredibly curious little tot, renowned for managing to get into anything and everything. Any items his parents didn't want to be accidentally broken had to be kept under lock and key, because Will would find a way to get at it so he could examine it thoroughly. Furthermore, he had to be watched almost constantly, considering that if he couldn't get at something he wanted to look at, he would find a way to, even if it meant climbing on the top of a dresser or otherwise putting himself in potential danger. Much to his parents' relief, his overcurious tendencies mellowed out a bit as he got older, even though he still had a tendency to ask tons of questions about the most mundane things, like how toasters work or why stairs exist.
While a very inquisitive soul, as he got older, Will eventually came into possession of a certain degree of responsibility that his mother and siblings seemed to lack. They were so full of the desire to go go go yes go let's go! that they frequently lost track of time, or forgot to do things like make sure the stove was off before leaving home. Thus, Will became the unofficial family timekeeper and secretary. He'd remind people that it's time to go to school, or that Mum shouldn't rush out the door without forgetting her purse, or that Jenna will need to remember to meet Carrie and him after school so they can all walk home. This tendency of his was generally considered to be rather cute by grown-ups, and was something that was maintained well into teenagerdom and beyond.
He did have one issue, though, that turned out to be rather troublesome: Will was the most gullible little kid you ever met. Tell him something, like that the stars are made of sugar, and he would ABSOLUTELY, UNEQUIVOCABLY believe it, subsequently becoming very distressed on cloudy nights and begging his mother to let him raid the sugar bowl so he could put the stars back in the sky. His classmates, being kids, took complete advantage of this, taking great delight in convincing him of things like that snakes can actually fly--they just keep their wings hidden under their scales. Of course, when he went to his parents about this, and they reassured him that no, he's not going to have to worry about snakes flying into his room at night, he would end up with two conflicting statements. The end result was a confused, muddled, very upset Will, uncertain what to believe and wishing he could just get a simple, straight answer that he could trust from someone.
Thankfully, though, his gullibility ended up ultimately being worked out of him, the turning point coming right around Will's tenth birthday. One of his classmates, a fellow that took particular delight in driving Will up the wall with bogus statements, convinced him that if you stand outside in a rainstorm for at least an hour three times, the rain fairy will come and grant you a wish. Will, of course, believed him, and took up the hobby of rainstorm standing, much to the chagrin of his elders. While he did manage to stand out in three rainstorms for an hour each (and actually did it a fourth time, just to make sure it took), no rain fairy came to him, and he didn't get to make a wish. In fact, the only thing he got was a very nasty case of strep throat. Bedridden for a week, he spent most of the time resting, hoping that Carrie wasn't being sent out wearing just knickers and rain boots, or thinking about what had been going on and what it was getting him. By the time he was well, he had come to the realization that he really can't believe what anyone tells them unless he can find some proof of it. The end result was a shrewder, much more skeptical Will that went back to school. When the classmate that had ultimately gotten Will sick tried to convince him that butterflies are actually out to kill us all, Will told him to sod off. While he still occasionally had to sit back and think about what was being told to him before he found himself automatically believing it, he made a progression to a much less neurotic, flailing mindset. He would draw his own conclusions about things from now on.
Life went on fairly normally for a good number of years. His family continued to look to him once in a while to figure out what the heck was going on next and where they had left things, and his classmates no longer used him for entertainment purposes. His days were spent on a number of various things. He spent a sizeable amount of time helping out at his parents' antiques shop. In particular, his main job, which he seemed rather suited for, was to decide how objects coming in should be categorized--whether that vase goes in with the decor things or the kitchen things, and so on. He also took it upon himself to do research on particularly odd objects, trying to figure out where exactly they came from and what they were used for. When not helping out there, he was either reading or at school. While he wasn't a naturally good student, he was possessed of such a voracious need to learn that he pretty much couldn't help but do well, since he would not stop working on something until he completely understood it. Despite his curiosity, though, he was rather aimless in terms of what sort of direction he wanted to take his life, and it wasn't until the first day of his tenth year that he actually figured it out. He was going to be taking a chemistry class, and as a way to start things off with a bang (of sorts), the instructor did a little demo for the students. She put sugar in a beaker, added copious amounts of sulfuric acid, stirred, and waited. The resulting reaction was not only very cool, but piqued Will's curiosity in a way it hadn't been before. This was TOTALLY unusual. How could one take something edible and mix it with an acid that could seriously maim you, and end up with a smoking pillar of carbon that smells like burnt brown sugar? Obviously there was an explanation for it, but what was it? Thus, Will threw himself into study to find out why the reaction worked. From then on, it was an intense love affair with molecules and Bunsen burners.
Eventually, it was time to do the college thing. He applied to several schools, and was accepted into the University of London's chemistry program. He shipped off with some crying and tears (and a joke from his father that they'll have to get a paper calendar now), and started in on his work as a studious learner of the art of finding out why chemicals do Interesting Things. He settled into college life rather well, and eventually got a reputation as nice, but a little bit odd.
Near the end of his first year, Will was in one of the campus computer labs working on an assignment one day when he overheard the lab worker in a bit of a predicament. The girl he was talking to kept insisting that she needed someone to help her use the computer, else it would start doing nasty things. The worker kept telling her that was nonsense, and he had other things to do then stand over her shoulder while she worked. Finally, at a loss, he threw up his hands and pointed the girl in Will's direction, telling her that she should talk to him, as he's really good with computers. Puzzled by the girl's apprehension, Will agreed to help her with her project when she approached him. Hence was the first meeting of Will Rhodes and Lindy Naaktgeboren, and the beginning of one of the world's most impossible friendships. Despite coming from two completely different worlds, they somehow manage to get along rather well, to the bafflement of their respective circles. That's not to say they don't bounce off of each other once in a while, though. Even though Will expects her to have boundless energy and knows she likes to change causes at a high frequency, that doesn't alter the fact that it's tough to keep up with her. And despite Lindy's many attempts to get Will to join the Hippie Brigade, he has never budged, thanks to his skeptical nature. He does remain, however, more than happy to listen as she goes on about her causes of the week, though they have ended up involved in the occasional debate over things like whether or not hemp is better than cotton. Despite their differences, they have maintained a strong friendship, reinforced by outings and occasional trips to Will's kitchen for a home-cooked meal. <3 At times, their relationship could be considered almost symbiotic in nature--Will helps her when she has to face things with copious amounts of circuitry, and Lindy is there to snap him out of his self-imposed ivory tower when he gets into one of his single-minded-food-is-for-the-WEAK ruts (in fact, she seems to be one of the few who is capable of effectively getting through to him when he's in this state). They are each other's support, in that sense.
In general, he has continued to putter on, and has recently joined Dr. Kelby's lab as an assistant in hopes of getting some honest-to-goodness lab experience. Except for the occasional Inexplicable Event that throws him for a loop, life is pretty good for Will, and, most importantly, stable. Just wait until the zombies start popping up.
Personality
Will has been described as being something of an odd duck. While he is generally perceived to be a stable, reliable individual, he has moments where he seems to go a little bit funny. From his point of view, though, he's perfectly normal. It's just that everyone else doesn't understand how he does things.
To the average man on the street, Will is a fairly likeable sort. He has a generally cheerful demeanor, the sort of guy that laughs easily and enjoys being with people. While he is a hard core scientist, he's more than happy to go out with friends to the local pub (it has been noted by some that he is something of a loud, happy drunk, on those blue moon-rare occasions he lets himself go that far, and during those bouts has a tendency to yell rather entertaining things, like about how gold atoms are the pushovers of the chemical world). He doesn't necessarily go up to random folks on the street and engage them in conversations, but on the other hand, he doesn't shy away from interaction either. He can hold himself fairly well in a discussion, and has been known to have a very reasonable mind. He's regarded as being pretty good at looking at a situation and discerning the most logical course of action, or taking a group of things and finding the common thread between them, which can be rather useful. In general, the fact that he has a logical way of looking at things leads him to prefer not to blindly jump to conclusions. To him, it seems downright ridiculous to immediately assume something without having some way to back it up. After all, you're just making wild accusations otherwise, and that really won't get you anywhere efficiently. Since he almost exclusively follows logic when making decisions, though, the trade-off is that he has a very hard time following his gut. Even if someone is certain that one decision is correct rather than another, unless they can give Will a good, logical reason for why it would be right, he won't put any weight on it. For these reasons, though, despite his lack of instinct, people look to him for help with making decisions, and they're usually not disappointed. In most cases, anyway.
One of Will's core beliefs is that everything happens for a reason, that there is a certain logic to the universe. It could be the result of the workings of some little old man that you meet when you die and subsequently laughs at you (which Will would likely find amusing, but anyway), or it could be some sort of invisible force, but whatever it is, there is something that makes sure that things don't just happen. To him, the idea that stuff happens for no ultimate rhyme or reason is inconceivable. Everything has to have a point, and it can be eventually discerned by thinking things out logically--he suddenly got sick because he was visiting a friend who was ill, for example. When confronted with something that can't somehow be eventually explained, though, he can become rather distressed, and since things happen on rather frequent occasions that have no source or motivation, he would be reduced to a constantly petrified, neurotic mess if he didn't do something about it.
As you can imagine, Will thrives on stability. Once he settles into a groove regarding something, whether it be what day he does laundry or how he spends his holidays, he likes to keep things that way, indefinitely if possible. In his idea of a perfect world, you can plan for events without worrying about something suddenly changing things at the last minute, like a meteor striking the building where you were supposed to have that meeting. Instead, everything is expected, and something that happens will eventually come around again, without fail. However, this is not The World According to Will. So to cope, he runs his life according to a mental, frequently unconscious set of rules in an attempt to give himself some predictability and reason in an unpredictable and unreasonable world. They aren't always accurate, by any means, or even reliable themselves, but they give him something to hold on to, some sort of belief that there are concrete reasons for why things happen, and that they don't happen just because.
For him, these aren't just standard common-sense rules like "Don't play in traffic" and "Don't stick your fork in that outlet", but lists of schedules, ideas, common events in certain situations, people's quirks, how to arrange his sock drawer (which, by the way, he does by age of the socks, rather than by color or style), and so on. When you first meet Will, you might find that he's a little more distant and quiet than he is normally, and you may catch him staring quizzically at you--he's trying to figure out what rules to establish in his head regarding what you're like. Once he's made his set of rules, he returns to his normal, cheerful self, as he feels he now knows what to anticipate from you. As a result, Will appears to be a rather accepting person, tolerant of people's oddities and the like. The thing is, though, is that he's so tolerant because he expects them. If one of your attributes is defined in his head as "Has a tendency to be late", then he will simply smile, unsurprised, when you show up ten minutes after you were supposed to have arrived. The rules he creates, however, can sometimes make people look at him a little strange. Not exactly the sort that talks about everything going on in his head, he doesn't share them with others, so when he does things like carry a blanket with him to meet people, or hops over a particular part of the sidewalk, it might seem a little odd or off, but for him, it makes perfect sense--two of the people he's meeting always end up getting cold a couple hours later, and that part of the sidewalk he hops over he has a notorious problem with tripping over, so he simply sidesteps it. As far as he's concerned, it's not odd. He's just following the rules.
While this method of dealing with things is all well and good, they do lead to Will being something of a stubborn hard-ass at times. Because he relies so much on knowing what's going to happen from one moment to another and believing that things are ever-constant, he's really reluctant to make any revisions to his rules. He'll add to them without any problem, but if he's already established in his head that he uses blue pens to take chemistry lecture notes, then by golly no other pen will do. This can lead to strange looks as he searches about in a panic for the proper color writing instrument, because for him, it's downright necessary to have it. No, he cannot use a black pen. It's not right. It'll mess things up. If he can't fulfill his self-imposed rule for some reason, he has a tendency to get rather agitated. Furthermore, if he continues to be unable to fulfill his rule, because of one reason or another (to continue the blue pen example, for instance, if the local shop is out of blue pens when he goes to get one), he can get irritated and snappish, his normally even, kind demeanor turning rather prickly and grouchy, because THIS IS DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE. There's a reason he uses blue pens for chemistry lectures, damnit! These reactions from him aren't limited to little things, however. People's demeanors changing, life-altering events, anything that significantly upsets his world, really, can make him rather distressed. In the case of something simple, like, say, someone who is punctual suddenly arriving fifteen minutes late can provoke agitation and a barrage of nearly-panicking questions from Will upon the person's arrival ("Why were you late? Did you miss the bus? Did you get caught in the rain? Did your bike break?" etc), because according to his rules, unless there's a good explanation for the lateness, and there are times when a logical explanation can placate him, there is no reason for that punctual person to arrive behind the clock. An unexplained event that is much more disastrous and world-overturning, such as a fire in the building or an illness in the family, however, can have a profound effect on him until he manages to explain it to himself and give it some reason as to why it happened--he becomes quiet, withdrawn, passive, and generally very unobtrusive. In a sense, it's almost as if he closes himself up from other stimuli that might cause his world to go even more out of whack.
Tying in in a similar fashion, Will can be a very shrewd, skeptical individual. Once he has accepted something as fact, he looks at any sort of possible alternative that's presented to him, whether it be a new chemical theory he's heard about, alternative ways of cooking shrimp, that one pub's chips are so much better than the ones at another, and so on, with a raised eyebrow and an "Oh, really?" on his lips. Subsequently, he finds things like tabloid headlines, 'miracle' cures, and other such bogus come-ons to be utterly hilarious because of how completely, absurdly wrong they are. In general, unless someone presents him with some rock solid evidence to the contrary, he'll stick by his original stance on a subject, and will stubbornly defend it. He'll find research that supports his defense, and will continue to debate as long as the info holds out. While on one hand, this aspect of him can be a good thing, since he's not particularly gullible and is good to have on your side of a debate, on the other, he's a horrible hardhead, and as long as there's doubt on a subject, he'll stick by the original thinking, even if the new viewpoint is ultimately an improvement on the original. Typically, only when he's buried with evidence to the contrary will he change his stance on something.
Because of his tendency to stick by his ideas about what's right, Will has no problem debating his viewpoint. He'll be polite about it, but, as long as there are facts supporting his view, then he'll stand by his side of the argument. Even when he runs out of items that support his viewpoints, he'll go out and find more, because surely there are others out there. He knows he's right, so that must mean that there are more supporting facts for his side than for the opposing one. On a similar point, Will really doesn't like being out of the loop. If something's going on that concerns him, then he wants to know about it. It's tough to keep secrets from him, because if he manages to catch wind of it, then he's not going to stop until he wrings out exactly what's going on. Trying to arrange a surprise for him can be bloody difficult, as a result.
Switching gears slightly, the fact that he resists ideas that don't jive with what he perceives to be accepted fact in his mind can sometimes get him into trouble, in more than one way. For instance, since his rules aren't perfect (though he may think otherwise), he has been known to misclassify things, thinking that something or someone is one thing when it's actually another. When confronted with a zombie for the first time, his reaction may go something like, "...that's not a zombie. Zombies are never female. They don't wear jewelry. They have tattered clothing and blue faces. Therefore, that person lurching towards me can't be a zombie. And besides, zombies don't exist, so there has to be a perfectly logical explanation for this." He'll eventually be compelled to revise his rules, but not before nearly having his brains eaten while trying to prove that it simply can't be a zombie. Along the same lines, he has also been known to accidentally stereotype people, which has had some nasty results. If he has established, for example, that tall people don't mind getting things for people shorter than them, then he might end up offending someone when he automatically asks them to get that book on that high shelf for him when there's an obvious stepladder. He has been accused on occasion, as a result, of being somewhat tactless. This is probably one of the very few instances where he actually revises his inner rules fairly quickly, since doing such things are a source of great embarrassment for him.
Will is all about the knowledge. He has a deep passion for learning, one that he expresses with every fiber of his being. For him, the pursuit of knowledge is not just something to do while in the middle of this whole formal education thing--it's something to dive wholeheartedly into on a lifelong scale. He has been known to get very excited when confronted with something completely new, poking and prodding at it with fascination while trying to determine where it falls within his head's organization, advancing his ever-continuing quest to Understand Things. While he may be a skeptic and reluctant to revise his views, that doesn't stop him from expressing interest in learning about other theories or angles on an idea (if nothing else, it'll help him to understand why someone would take the opposing side, and it'll help beef up his arsenal when someone challenges his viewpoint). Aside from wanting to learn about people he meets so he knows what to expect, he has a very strong sense of curiosity--he's that guy in the tour group asking the guide a bazillion questions about everything he/she points at. He loves learning, and sops up knowledge like a sponge. He's not in chemistry because he wants to build a better mousetrap or something like that. He's in it because he wants to learn about how the world works on a very intrinsic level. You can bet that, when the time comes, he'll throw himself into trying to find out why demonic hellbeasts can even exist and why it is that by saying a string of words he suddenly sprouts wings and is thrown into some very odd-looking clothing.
Will's passion for Learning All There is to Learn has been known to cause him to forget certain important things, like eating, or perhaps sleeping. When he gets into something, he gets completely into it, possessed of a certain single-mindedness that causes him to block just about everything else out--he'll work himself to near-exhaustion without even realizing it. When he's in this state, it can be rather hard to get his attention; you have to practically wave your hands in front of him while calling his name before you'll get a response out of him, and even then, he might not realize that someone's talking to him. He has, on several occasions, been known to answer "Yeah, okay, just let me finish this one thing," to someone asking him to take a break, and then completely forget he said anything of the sort. Check on him in an hour, and he'll still be right there, plugging away, possibly not having even registered that he said he'd stop. While his focus is incredibly good when trained on one thing, his multitasking, conversely, is horribly poor. There are only so many things he can juggle in his head before he simply picks ones that can wait (whether or not they actually can or not, however, is another question) and blocks them out. While this determined stubbornness can be bad for his health (and his social life) at times, it does have some advantages. When he is given a problem, then by God he will not let go of it until it is solved and done with. Don't ever ask him to find out whether the chicken or the egg came first. Doing so could cause him to die of starvation.
Generally speaking, despite the fact that Will is trying to understand as much as he can about as many things as he can, he's been known to act like a bit of a know-it-all, automatically correcting people whether or not they asked to be. While he tries to bite his tongue before saying something that might inadvertently insult another's intelligence, sometimes someone will say something that he knows is wrong, and just can't help himself. It might not be so bad, except for the fact that when he corrects someone, he corrects them and then some, including other bits of information related to whatever point was just made--he won't just tell you that no, a duck's quack does in fact echo, but that there have been studies done on it, and here are some references for those articles, and, oh, while we're at it, I can give you a lecture on what I know about sound waves. In essence, hit him on the right subject, and you might end up with a dissertation surrounding whether or not salt has any health benefits.
While not necessarily a natural-born leader, that doesn't stop Will from trying to be one. When he gets it into his head that a certain method or plan is the right one to use to achieve a certain goal, he's thusly convinced that it's the only way to go, and that no other way will be as perfect, or as efficient, or as satisfying in the end. As a result, in what can be perceived as bossiness, he'll end up trying to take control, or at least steer the group he's with in that direction, whether or not they want to, because he's certain that the only way for things to work out right is for him to handle directing it himself. In those cases where things don't work out while he's in charge, though, Will lapses into a similar state to when he's confronted with something inexplicable--he questions it endlessly, trying to figure out what went wrong, wondering why things didn't work out when they were supposed to. If someone with a stronger will to lead comes along, he'll eventually back down, but secretly, he'll be grumbling that they're not going to get to the most successful conclusion if they don't go his way. If things turn out in the end, he'll concede that okay, it worked, but it still would've turned out better if they had gone his way, and conversely, if they don't, he can't help but be a little quietly smug. Yay for tactlessness!
Despite the fact that he has been known to get rather distressed himself over things, when someone else is upset or angry, he generally finds himself at a loss over what to do. It's one of the few things he has difficulties classifying in his head over what to do about it, simply because he finds standing in the face of someone very emotional overpowering to the point where he's kind of dumbfounded. When confronted with someone laughing uncontrollably, things aren't too bad, as he can just ride it out without much trouble. If he's faced with someone being angry or dissolving into hysterics, though, it's a bit harder. He has a tendency to just stand around, look uncomfortable, maybe try to offer a few (very few) words, and hope that someone comes soon that will help to alleviate the situation. If the person is someone he's particularly close to, he may sometimes revert to "Give hug" status. It always worked with his sisters, so over time, that action has become his default response in such situations.
Will is something of a responsible person, with a good work ethic. He does his best to take care of the things he's charged with, and when you give him a task, he'll make sure he gets it done. While he does his best to do well, he doesn't rush things, working slowly and carefully to make sure things are done right the first time, as he doesn't like having to go back and do things over again. Because of his tendency to make sure things get done, he is a rather reliable sort. You can depend on him to do the things you ask him to, and to be where you asked him to be at a certain time. Along the same lines, his sense of morals is very strong. He can't stand cheating, and he pays particular attention to maintaining accuracy when collecting data in the lab so as the results aren't skewed inappropriately. Heaven forbid.
In so many words, that's Will. In general, he's a good fellow, stable and reliable, but secretly, he's flailing to make sense of an inunderstandable world. The things he has concluded about it may not be accurate, or even right, but they give him something to hold on to, and that's ultimately what counts.
Good Stuff: Cheerful, reasonable, accepting, diligent, reliable, hard-working, patient, kind.
Neutral Stuff: Curious, intelligent, ethical, punctual.
Bad Stuff: Unadaptable, has no gut instinct whatsoever, stubborn, tactless, doesn't handle unexpected things well, incapable of multitasking, bossy.
Appearance
Hair: Will's hair is a very pale blond color--not white, mind you, but if he decided to bleach his hair he could probably get there with a bit of work. It's somewhat long and stick-straight, reaching down just past his shoulders, with no bangs to speak of. For utility purposes, he pulls his hair back in a low ponytail, every hair neatly in place. Simple, yes, but he does take care to make sure it's neat and clean, and the style has the advantage of requiring minimal time in a barber chair.
Eyes: Medium green in color, Will's eyes have a rather mature look to them. There is a certain degree of stability and reassuring calm in them, framed by medium-length eyelashes with thin, pale blond, expressive eyebrows.
Face/Skin: Will has something of a kind face, the angles more soft than sharp. His lips are thin and pale pink, and his smile is cheerful. Thanks to the positively SUNNY London weather and the fact that Will doesn't get out much, he is somewhat on the pale side of things. His skin is in fairly good condition, with the exception of a light, irregular patch of scar tissue about 2x3 inches on the outside of his left forearm, the result of an incident in a first year chemistry course involving a beaker of hydrochloric acid and a hung over lab partner.
Build: Standing at 5'9", Will has what might be considered a light to medium build. He has a bit of muscle in his arms and legs from playing squash, but on the other hand, he doesn't play on a particularly frequent or religious basis. Therefore, what muscle he has isn't very well-defined, and he isn't exceptionally strong. As a teenager he was rather gangly, with long arms and legs, although he appears to have become better proportioned since then, with the exception that his legs are still rather long in comparison to the rest of his body. His chest isn't particularly broad, giving him a sort of straight, stick-like appearance. It should also be noted that his hands, while fairly average-looking, are extremely steady.
Carriage: Will walks with purpose, moving quickly and steadily. However, he does have a tendency to keep his eyes averted downwards, not necessarily out of introverted tendencies, but to try and watch out for obstacles that might be in his way. Despite his steady-as-a-rock hands, when it comes to walking anything more than crossing a room, Will suddenly becomes the Clumsy Special, and has to pay attention to where he's going. He has a horrible time with stumbling, his feet somehow managing to find anything that would cause him to trip up. It makes carrying a conversation with him while walking down the sidewalk a rather interesting experience, sometimes.
Clothing: Will typically dresses rather simply, preferring solid-colored shirts with either jeans or slacks, the latter for those instances when he needs to dress up a bit. He tries to be neat, and upon getting something on his shirt will immediately go about trying to rectify it, because he hates looking like a slob. He can be almost always be found wearing plain, comfortable sneakers, and if you catch him while he's in lab rat mode, you'll likely find him with goggles, either on his face or slung around his neck (if he's not near anything really dangerous. Safety first!), a lab coat, and a pair of gloves. He is never, ever seen without his black-banded watch.
Abilities
Computer whisperer: On one hand, incredibly useful, but on the other, really not. While he's already a little on the techie side of things, Will and computers have an Understanding of sorts. Even the most riled-up of computers will calm down when he sits in front of it and starts interacting with it. Computers behave for him, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he can actually fix them. The moment someone else sits down at it, unless he managed to do something to fix it, it'll go right back to flashing the Blue Screen of Death. He's useful to have around, though, if your computer is going loopy and you need to get your term paper off of it pronto.
Culinary goodness: Over the years, Will has become rather good at taking a recipe, putting together the ingredients in the right way with the right amount of heat, and coming up with something tasty. Experience has taught him just how long bread needs to stay in the oven before getting just the right amount of golden brown, how to chop vegetables at lightning speed without hacking off a few digits in the process, and how to whip up a mean stir-fry. And yes, he's more than happy to cook dinner for you some night.
Quick calculator: Simply, Will is very good at performing fast, simple calculations in his head. Basic arithmetic is usually no problem for him(though if he gets into anything more complicated than that, he usually has to whip out the paper). In particular, he's gotten very good at switching numbers between measuring systems, which is useful when you're trying to measure inches as centimeters.
Precision: An invaluable skill to have when in the lab, Will is incredibly good at getting the meniscus in the graduated cylinder right at the desired line, on the first try, no guesstimating, no pouring liquid out and getting more. When you want ten milliliters of the blue stuff, he will give you ten milliliters of the blue stuff on the dot. It's also useful when he's measuring flour for his latest bready creation.
† The Angelic
Color: Sadriel's color is essentially white with a dose of gold added in. For simplicity's sake, we'll call it old parchment, hex #D8D384. It's the color of...old papers! Upon which stuff was written! Like theorems that try to explain how the world works, postulated by really old dead guys!
Symbol: The symbol for peace and order, right side up. It consists of a non-filled-in circle with a dot in the center, with a smaller non-filled-in circle directly underneath it, and an even smaller cross underneath that.
Key to the Kingdom: An old, bronze key, fairly basic in design. Its head consists of a large, round ring filled in by a smooth, slightly rounded stone, old parchment in color. The teeth on Sadriel's key are, well, not really teeth. It's more like a singular flat rectangle that acts as the teeth part. After acquiring it, Will keeps it on his key ring because hey, that's where all the other keys go. It only makes sense then that this key should go with them.
Voile: Sadriel's voile is pretty simple in appearance. The base consists of loose pants and an equally loose, long tunic reaching down to his thighs, both in his soul color of old parchment. His hair is down, with a bronze ring encircling his head. He appears to have a thing for bronze rings, seeing as he also has one around each ankle and one around each wrist. Two strips of bronze cloth attach to each wrist bracelet, which are then wound up his arm up to just above his elbow, crossing over each other as they go. A bronze-colored cloth ring is situated just off his shoulders, wrapping around his arms and upper torso. To complete the ensemble, Sadriel wears a bronze-colored belt at his waist, with a strip of cloth attached to it at each hip in (you guessed it) bronze, and left to hang free. His halo is of the regular gold variety, and he wears no shoes to speak of, which means fighting is going to be a bitch when it snows.
Wings: As far as wings are concerned, Sadriel's are fairly standard issue--white, medium sized, nondescript shape, capable of keeping him and possibly a little extra weight afloat, nothing really spectacular about them. The only item worth noting is that Sadriel's wings are kept meticulously neat and clean. There's not a feather out of place on them.
Weapon: Sadriel carries around what might be known as the hula-hoop of death. Or at least the hula-hoop of DEEP HURTING. Or at least it would be if it were big enough to be a hula-hoop. Or--right. Sadriel's weapon is a chakram made of bronze, about two and a half feet in diameter on the inside circle, with a width of about one and a half inches. At each quarter around its circumference is a round, smooth cabochon made of the same stone as the stone in his key. Its edge is blunt, so Sadriel won't be doing much cutting or slashing, though that sucker can hurt if you get bashed over the head with it. Technically speaking, it can be thrown, but it's so large and unwieldy that throwing it takes a hell of a lot of work, so Sadriel prefers to use it as a hand-held weapon to smack the bad guys around. Or, at least, that's how he'll prefer to use it once he manages to figure out how to handle it, seeing as it can be a little cumbersome at times.
Climbing The Sephiroth:
Crown: Will holds his key aloft. As he says the word, there is a blinding flash of light from the key, and his hair undoes itself from its ponytail.
Wisdom: He closes his eyes and brings the key close to his chest, the central stone glowing. It sends out what could probably be described as a visual 'pulse', causing a translucent sphere in his soul color to form around him.
Understanding: A flash of light occurs, which fades to reveal the sphere now as an isosahedron, its edges glowing brightly, and Will now wearing his pants and tunic.
Mercy: Another flash to dodecahedron, and he gets his ankle and wrist rings.
Strength: Another flash to octahedron, and his belt with streamers appears.
Beauty: Yet another flash to cube (epileptic yet?), and he gets his head ring.
Victory: Yet another flash to tetrahedron, and he gets his halo and wings.
Splendor: One final flash, and the tetrahedron becomes a vertical line, appearing to bisect Sadriel.
Foundation: The line shortens and then rotates, revealing that it has become Sadriel's chakram. He opens his eyes, reaches out, and grabs it with one hand, giving it a little twirl.
Kingdom: Sadriel finishes off brandishing his chakram, feet spread apart, hoping that he looks manly enough to intimidate some evil-types.
Gifts:
Jedi Mind Trick Resistance: Thanks to his incredibly logical, reasonable mind, and the fact that he's so self-assured in what he believes is true and what's bogus, Sadriel has a certain degree of resistance against things like illusions or attempts to alter his state of mind. He's not entirely immune, but he has a great deal better chance of saying that that person who claims to be his great grandmother is a fake than others.
Attack
Structural Reduction
Shiny Goodness: Sadriel glows his soul color and raises his free arm to the sky, saying "Structural". A set of about twenty spheres, old parchment in color and about a foot in diameter, appear around him (fun fact! The spheres are a mathematician's wet dream. You can measure them any way you want, at any level of precision, and no matter how you do it, you'll find them to be infinitely, geometrically perfect). He lowers his palm to face in the direction of the target, causing the spheres to fly forward and surround him/her/it. If there happens to be someone within very close proximity of the target, such as locked in mortal combat, then that person will also be surrounded by the spheres and affected. As he says "Reduction!" the spheres send out beams of light towards their fellows, creating a sort of net. They glow brightly for a moment, shielding the target from view for an instant, and then disappear, revealing the target as The Amazing Average Person.
Happy Fun Effects:
Okay, this is gonna be complicated, so bear with me. In a nutshell, Sadriel's attack causes the target to temporarily lose all innate traits, right down to physical appearance. It's easy to tell who's been affected by Sadriel's attack, but if there's more than one person affected, it's nigh impossible to tell them apart. The affected person assumes what might be considered a 'baseline' appearance. For angels/demons/mortals, this appearance involves a set height and build, unexceptional facial features, blue eyes, and no hair. Girls wear a simple white (or black, in the case of bad guy-types and brown for mortals) dress, while guys are clad in a white (black, or brown) tunic and pants. Angels receive a standard set of wings, similar to Sadriel's, while LoH's get standard demonic bat wings. For non-humanoid opponents, baseline appearances will probably need to be discerned as stories need.
On a more practical level, since spheres and gifts are innate, these abilities are temporarily lost as well. In essence, it renders the target magicless, in both an active and passive form. On the other hand, skills/abilities that are not innate, such as physical strength, are unaffected. So, for example's sake, let's say Sadriel casts this attack on Duriel. For the duration of this effect, Duriel wouldn't be able to cause people to feel the pain of old wounds, but he could still easily pummel Sadriel into the ground in a straight fist fight. When I say all innate traits, however, I mean *all* innate traits, so if the effected individual has a detrimental innate trait, such as a genetic disease, then the effects of this trait will also be negated for the duration of the effects.
There are, of course, limitations on his power. He can only cast it three times a day, and the duration of each is for three minutes, after which there is a flash of light and the affected returns to his/her normal self, perhaps with a moment of disorientation as they get their bearings once again. The power can't be blocked or countered (with one exception, see below), but if you're quick, and can step out of the sphere matrix before the light beams connect the spheres, you can avoid the effects of the attack.
Special Orfiel Exception!: The effects of Sadriel's attack are diametrically opposed to Orfiel's 'Pandemonium Rearrange'. As a result, implementation of one will negate the effects of the other, and restore the target to normal. However, as in any other situation, the effect lasts only three minutes, so you have that long with your normal self to do whatever it is you need to do before you're back to being feathered and growing breadfruit out of the top of your head. If someone is experiencing the effects of Sadriel's attack when Orfiel unleashes hers, then Sadriel's effects are essentially quick-stopped, and the individual gets a Get Out of Jail Free card, avoiding the effects of Orfiel's attack. You may wonder why Sadriel's power doesn't act as a more thorough cure-all against Orfiel's power. My reasons are as follows: One, being able to completely negate Orfiel's power might be godmoding. Two, it seems to me that Sadriel and Orfiel, being two opposites that balance each other, would have the same power level, the difference being that Sadriel uses a lot more precision and control. The result is that Sadriel has a lot less oomph to show for his effort.
NPCs: Tiny people with wings should exist even less than big people than wings. That is to say, no, because Will'd probably test the little thing to death trying to explain its existence.
Past Lives: Sadriel probably knew Orfiel. How exactly though? I have no idea. We'll burn that bridge when we come to it.
† Writing Sample:
The mechanical whirring of a magnetic stirrer hummed, undertoning the soft, drip-dripping of liquid falling into liquid. Will watched the landing of the drips, his hand poised on the valve that would cease their descent, waiting. A drop fell, turning the water-like fluid in the flask pink, a color that then promptly disappeared. Drop, and clear. Not yet. Drop, and clear. Wait for it.
A drop fell, and the liquid turned pale pink, obstinately refusing to change color again. Stop. Will twisted his hand, the drops ceasing before more liquid could treacherously leak out and throw his measurements off. He leaned up in his chair to get a closer look at the long, glass tube filled with clear fluid above the flask, reading how much solution had been used. 12.04 milliliters on the dot. Picking up the pen he had left at his side, he recorded the number in his notebook, writing with one hand while the other began busily punching numbers into a calculator.
Intent on his calculations, Will didn't notice the sound of shoes clicking on the speckled lab floor, their owner approaching, stopping just behind him and leaning over his shoulder, tapping it--he'd plod along with his calculations, oblivious to the fact that someone was behind him otherwise. "Still at work, are you?"
Will turned to find fellow lab assistant Abigail standing over him. He smiled. "Yeah. I've got a little time left, and I'd really like to try and get a head start on the next part of the study."
Abigail glanced at his calculations, then folded her arms over her chest, casting a knowing look at him. "Will. This'll all still be here tomorrow. I don't think you need to be worried about the laws of chemistry changing overnight."
"I know, I know, but I'm really interested to see the results." Will replied, setting his flask filled with pale pink liquid aside and grabbing a fresh one.
"Well, yes, so am I, but you can't be cooped up in here all night. Like I know you will be if somebody doesn't forcibly extract you."
Will grabbed a bottle of solution, opening it up and refilling the buret. "Hey, I know my limits! I'll take a break. Eventually." He stopped pouring liquid at just the right moment so that the meniscus was exactly at the zero mark.
Abigail shook her head, emitting a good-natured sigh before smiling at him. "Uh huh." She watched as Will measured out liquid into the flask and went about adding a few drops from a nearby eyedrop bottle. "So, speaking of breaks, are we still on to meet Kevin and Lizzy for dinner, or not? We've been planning it all afternoon."
"Hm?" Will said, his distracted tone betraying the fact that at the moment, the buret was far more interesting than the prospect of food, "Oh, yes. Meeting after Kevin's lecture, right?"
"Yeah," Abigail replied, folding her arms across her chest, "Which gets out in ten minutes. We need to get going if we're going to meet them on time."
"That late? Well, alright, let me just finish this one thing." He dropped a fresh stirrer into the flask, setting the speed to low. His hand moved to the buret stopper, turning it and beginning the drippings of liquid once again.
For a few moments, Abagail left Will alone to his titration. As the minutes started to tick by, however, the dripping coming from the buret was joined by the sound of her shoe tapping on the floor. "Will..." she started.
No answer. Drip. Drip. Drip.
"Will..."
Drip. Drip. Drip.
"Will!"
He turned the valve to stop the flow, spinning in his seat to regard her. "What?"
"Are you coming, or not? Come on, you need to eat some time."
"Oh, well, alright. Let me just finish this titration--"
"Will. Leave it for tomorrow. If we don't hurry, we're going to be late."
This time, the word 'late' seemed to register in Will's brain. "Right then," he said, "I suppose I can finish up tomorrow. The reaction's not going to run away on me, right. At least I hope not." He gave the liquid a mock-suspicious look before setting about emptying the buret and putting beakers and flasks away. "I hope we won't keep them waiting. Why didn't you warn me earlier?"
In response, as was rather typical when Will was involved, Abagail simply rolled her eyes.
† Resume:
Name: I am the Ru! I like blue and the old woman who lived in a shoe! Don't you?
Contact information: roseyru AT gmail IT'S DOT com
Experience: Yes'm.
† Your Thoughts
Firstly, just to let people know, I checked with Tami about the interactions between Will and Lindy, and she okayed those parts.
And now, some extra thoughts. To me, order is as connected to life as chaos is. In fact, I kinda see them as two sides of the same coin. In order for life to exist and thrive, you need both chaos and order. Order is very circular to me, in that it's the security that knowing something that happens will come around again (hence Sadriel's circle motif). In the same token, it's the reason why complex chemical reactions necessary for life occur. Unless step one occurs, you can't do step two, and you have to *know* that step one will happen in order to even have a step two, otherwise you'd be wasting resources. As my biochem prof once said, when you lose all order in a biological system, death is the result. Order is the reason why you can rest assured that your heart will still be beating, and that your muscles will still move from one moment to the next. Chaos, on the other side, is the reason why we're all not still a mass of primordial ooze churning away at chemicals. Chaos has to be there to stir things up a bit, cause random mutations, and make things evolve.
And I've totally waxed complicated on this point. I'll stop now.