(no subject)

[gentlegiant]

Planned PB: Nicholas Braun

Name: Peter Matthew Watson
Birthdate: 6/24/1992 (18)
Expected Graduation: post-graduate, class of 2010
Subjects Taught: lower school art, also has a studio apartment in Baxter Hall as an adult in residence
Gender: Male

Old Race:
When Peter was born, he was longer and heavier than the average infant, and it was assumed he was a Giant. He was watched closely, but by the age of two he was still tall, but not abnormally tall, and it was determined he didn’t show any other markers of the Giants, such as changing size, or strength. He was noted as normal, and fell off the radar.

Peter was a dreamy child, shy and quiet at times, his mind seemingly in the clouds. He didn’t talk about his experiences, his mind flying to other places, so his abilities went unnoticed until he was eleven. He went spiritwalking during lunch at school one day, and was found unmoving by the teachers. After much confusion and worry on the part of the school administrators, Peter returned to his body and had to try and explain what had happened. He was sent to Pelham Place in the middle of sixth grade, arriving partway through the year.

Peter has had difficulty gaining full control over all of his abilities. He is able to send his spirit out, leaving his body behind, and he is able to teleport over any distance to exactly one location: the senior art studio in Xavier Hall. He has never managed to walk through walls, or to handle short distance teleportation. He has remained at the school in the hopes of continuing his studies to improve his abilities.

Family:
Paul Drake and Shannon Watson grew up together in Springfield, Massachusetts. They were high school sweethearts, and when she lost her virginity to him after the prom, they swore that meant they’d be together forever. They both applied to, and got into, Boston College. The summer of 1991 was absolutely perfect, spent living in each other’s pockets, talking about how they would spend the next four years together, and how they would marry after they finished their college educations. Paul drove the van that carried all their things to move into the dorms for their freshman year, and both said goodbye to their parents before they ever left home.

For the first few months, everything was perfect. But in December of 1991, Shannon learned two things: she was pregnant, and Paul was sleeping with her roommate Maria, the girl Kasey down the hall in 4C, and a girl in his Introduction to Economics class that she never met, as well as with herself. She told him he was going to be a father the night she broke up with him.

Shannon’s parents and Paul’s parents both helped her with her education, so that she could find child care for Peter during her classes, and so that she could afford to have some spending money without needing a job. Paul’s parents were far more interested in their grandchild than Paul ever was in his son, and visited often. When Shannon graduated, she returned back to Springfield to get a job as a teacher, and to raise her son.

Shannon remarried when Peter was seven, but Peter never really got along very well with David Chatham. Peter retreated more from reality, traveling by spirit more often without telling a soul about it, and in some ways, both stepfather and stepson were relieved when Peter’s blood showed and he was sent to Pelham Place.

Peter loves his mother, but remains somewhat estranged from both her and his stepfather. He now has half-siblings -- Jenna, who is twelve, and Nathan, who is six -- and both of them are completely normal. Peter has always felt that somehow Shannon chose David and that new life over him, and that perhaps she was relieved as well when he was taken away.

This odd life has left him looking for a family of his own, which may explain both his hesitance and shy caution in forming relationships, and his need to stay amongst the familiar at Pelham Place.

History:
Peter doesn’t like to talk about himself. Or think about the past. This isn’t to say that he doesn’t, but that he doesn’t obsess over it verbally, and sometimes needs a bit of prodding to look into those parts of his life.

He’s well aware that his family is messed up. He knows he was a late bloomer, and that he started off at a disadvantage in school by coming in during Middle School. He knows he’s still a late bloomer because he can’t do things other Spiritwalkers can do so easily. And he knows he doesn’t connect with people easily, even though he wants to so very badly.

He can look back on his life and find break points, often failure points. Like the time he slipped out of his mind in the middle of getting changed after gym, and the next class came in to find him sitting on a bench, starkers because the previous class had snatched his towel. Or the time he tried to ask one of the girls in his History class out his sophomore year, only to have her misunderstand and spend an hour telling him about how much she adored some other guy. That one was enough to keep him from laying his heart on the line again for a year.

He’s aware of his failings in relationships. That he wants a best friend, but the last one he had said he was so cloying, he didn’t want to be around him anymore after their junior year. That he wants a lover, and a family, but he’s not sure what he wants, or who he wants, or how to go about it without making a complete idiot of himself like he did when he asked Macey Sheffield to senior prom, and when she actually said yes, he drank so much to relax himself that he puked in her cleavage.

Peter doesn’t like to look back. He doesn’t even necessarily like to look at the present. He likes to look out, at other places, where his spirit takes him. He just wishes he could go there too.

Potentials:
Peter wants friends. He wants his old friends, he wants new friends. He’d love a relationship, but he has no idea how to go about getting one. He’s helpful and sweet, and willing to offer advice or aid to anyone. He genuinely likes people, and has a tough time seeing the bad in most.

He has difficulty being a disciplinarian. Combined with his job, this means there might be a bit more chaos in Baxter dormitory than there ought to be. Also, his position in that hall means he’ll be required to interact with both the administration, and the students living there.

As a teacher, Peter works regularly with the lower school children. If any characters have younger siblings and would like to work with plot where Peter might need to bridge between them, that would work.

Finally, Peter is still working on his abilities, and there is the potential for mistakes and chaos as he continues to fail in those attempts.

Appearance:
The first thing anyone notices about Peter is that he’s tall. He’s still short compared to the Giants at the school, but it’s easy to see how he might’ve been mistaken for one as a child. Standing 6’6” tall at the age of eighteen, there is still potential that he might become taller yet if he has another growth spurt.

Peter often has a far away look in his eye, like he’s not quite all there, and honestly, sometimes he might not be. The one thing he has perfected is letting himself slip out of his body and leaving his eyes open and presumably wide awake.

He has a kind face, often shy, sometimes tongue-tied. He ducks a little, trying to make himself normal, but lacking the ability to do so magically. He’s sweet, and looks it, like he might be eaten alive by the cruelties of life.

Anything else?
Nope.