Post by Dr. Xavier Foster on Jul 27, 2009 23:40:29 GMT -7
The Handler
Name: Xavier Clyde Foster
Nickname: Often goes by Doc or by his last name.
Classification: Human
Gender: Male
Age & Birthday: 45 & May 17th
Appearance: Xavier is a tall man, but his 6’3 frame is nothing out of the ordinary amongst his family. Everyone, minus his dear mother, is six feet and over. His slight frame however is an oddity and despite being exceptionally tall he weighs only 156 lbs. He hasn’t been called a walking skeleton for nothing. He has a gangly look to him, as if his pale skin is stretched tightly across his body defining each bone and little muscle with frightening clarity. There doesn’t seem to be a ounce of fat on the man’s body but he does take care of himself, making sure to eat the right foods and occasionally work out when he remembers. Sometimes. His job keeps the rest of him in shape and while it may seem like he stands around all day, a breastbone isn’t going to crack itself. Long arms, long legs, long neck, everything about him seems to be extended as if he stretched like taffy. His stomach and arms are where his most prominent muscles are and it is more of a marvel that pride that he has retained the tautness of his abs.
A narrow nose and small thin lips fit his long oval face, his bone structure is prominent giving his eyes a slightly hollowed look and dimpled cheeks when he smiles. With ears that would be too big on anyone else, they are sculpted to fit the curve of his head and don’t stick out as his brothers. His eyes are a soft shade of mousy grey and the deepest lines of his face congregate around and below his eyes. A receding hairline, he doesn’t give it much thought as growing his hair out to cover it is too much of a bother. He wears it short as it has a tendency to curl and become one big bush. A light brown in color, it has a touch of red and graying along his temples. Foster simply chocks it up to a large forehead and continues on his merry way.
Foster is a man of many emotions and though he may not express them all with his voice, his body has become his voice. From his high school years in drama class he has learned to use his body to accentuate his words and is a man that talks with his hands. The rest of his body just seems to follow along and the more excited he becomes, the more entertaining he is to watch. Usually seen with a frown of concentration, that have caused two horizontal lines across his brow, it doesn’t take much to get a frightened rabbit look out of him. From the years working in the medical field he has the perpetual undertone of formaldehyde and ammonia, a sickly sweet smell that clings to his skin and hair, no matter how many times he showers.
Attire: Work wise for clothing, which seems to be forever and a day Foster pulls off a professional form of chaos. He wears classic three piece suits, usually of neutral colors of beige and tan and a starchy white long sleeved buttoned shirt. His ties vary in darker tones but are either black, navy blue or brick red. During work hours he steps into white medical shoes with a enclosed toe incase of fluid spillage. Square, black rimmed, reading glasses, they’re either perched atop his head or hanging from his mouth and occasionally stuffed into a pocket, forgotten until he searches for it in a attempted quest to gain its power of sight. Over this he wears a white cotton lab coat that falls thigh length with at least two pairs of disposable gloves shoved into one pocket and 2 ballpoint pens, one black ink and the other blue. He often wears a water proof watch having learned the previous three times.
When at home, his work clothes usually remain on unless they’re dirty, he just loosens his tie a little and untucks his shirts. Xavier prefers his brown penny loafers that actually have dimes in them via his son. Very rarely will you see him in jeans and t-shirts unless he’s doing something that’ll work up a sweat. His nightclothes are a little unconventional but he wears his favorite cotton nightshirt that looks more dress then anything else, slippers for slumping around and a red flannel robe.
Those few special objects he holds dear to his heart are kept with him on a daily basis. Xavier still wears his wedding ring even after so many years. He is not quite sure if he still wears it to remember all the happy times in his marriage or a stinging recap of the mistakes he made. It is a simple band of white gold with an inscription on the inside that reads “Forever and ever.” Around his neck he sports a necklace made of hemp, twisted and braided it rests just below the hollow of his throat where a single pacific pink and white shell dangles about the size of a quarter. It was made by his son for a Father’s Day gift. He has never taken it off and cherishes it greatly, usually when he’s in deep thought he’ll fiddle with it.
The Creation
Name: None
Power List: None
Detailed Power: None
The Potential
Alignment/Occupation: Unaffiliated/ Medical Examiner
Weapons: Weapon wise, the only dangerous thing he has is a can of pepper spray. One can never be too careful in Trenton and Xavier has seen his share of victims that didn’t get away.
Personality: If there was one word to describe Xavier it would be absentminded. It spans from his personal life to work, he has always been a spacey child forgetting what his parents told him to taking down important messages from the telephone, all in favor of something else. It could have been a bug or a cartoon that was playing on the television in the next room, Xavier had to explore the new until he grew bored of it and moved onto the next interest. Now as a grown man he has never corrected his faults and has lead to a semi chaotic lifestyle. What might seem like an aloof, distant and dreamy man is in fact a sharp calculating mind, musing quietly over theories on current cases.
When in a one on one Xavier has a habit over talking and over sharing, which many have referred to as “Going to that creepy place.” It’s nothing to him to go into detail about strangeness of necrophilia or why blood pools and creates a bruise after a body has been deceased for some time. In groups he’s considered the shy geek that raises his hand to answer the question no one else can. Whether or not he’s aware of this, Xavier doesn’t do it to spite but out of simple compulsion. In sort of a middle child syndrome he must answer first to be heard or have his opinions and thoughts lost. He also a tendency to talk to the bodies while examining them, another creep factor that weirds out his technicians. Xavier cares deeply for the deceased, referring to them as “sweetie” or “baby” in a paternal fashion. He will tell his technicians that they are the last voice for the victims, if they do not speak for them, who will? Thus he does not tolerate any disrespect for the dead and has literally sent doctors to stand outside the morgue and think about what they’ve done.
Easily absorbed with details, its not uncommon to have to come down to the morgue to get him personally for a meeting. Some say even a shiny surface will attract his attention, which has left to a few cruel jokes from former colleagues. Working long hours has become a habit, which he can sink himself into work and crack down on unsolvable problems. He’s perfectly happy to live in a constant state of disorder which allows his imaginative mind to let loose to seek clarity and concrete understanding which has developed into a feeling of personal responsibility to solve cases and help society move towards a higher understanding.
At home, when the business suits are tossed into the hamper, a different man stands before you. At work, it consumes him and while it does trail behind like a lost puppy, Xavier is sure to leave it outside. His apartment is his safety zone. While he’s still the scatterbrained individual its okay to let down the wall and relax. He enjoy his music; a eclectic array of oldies, Jazz and R&B which helps soothe the storm and calm his mind, slowly unwinding after a long day. Rarely does he watch television; the radio is his best friend, but when does he finds his way to old romance movies with Humphrey Bogart or Ingrid Bergman. This stems from his lack of commitment, since his divorce he has been on a grand total of three dates, all ending disastrously. He has associated romance with those in the movies and unconsciously he is waiting to find his princess to sweep her off her feet. However he doesn’t put himself out to be noticed and simply fades to the background for more boisterous personalities.
As far as hobbies go, it’s a joy to search old shops for records to add to his growing collection. On his days off he spends it wandering the city, trying something new be it an art store to the newest restaurant that opened. His cats (Named Bill, Zelda and Macbeth) act as surrogate family until his visitation dates come around. The weekends he has with his son are important and cherished but there are times when he feels inadequate as a dad, his forgetful nature has caused damage and the repercussions of forgetting a doctor’s appointment or a school recital has added up over the years. His estranged wife doesn’t help matters and when she’s not dropping off their son she’s nosing around for extra money. Though he gets angry, Xavier does give in, in an effort to get her to leave. Though he’s no pushover he does go out of his way to avoid confrontation, often bypassing subjects completely playing into his weaknesses. As a single dad with a full time job, he does his best with his son to provide a good stable life and in the end that’s all he hopes for.
Skills: Xavier is a qualified medical doctor who has completed training in anatomical pathology, the diagnosis of disease based on the gross, microscopic, and molecular examination of organs, tissues, and cells. A licensed forensic pathologist, he is board certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic and Forensic Pathology. He determines the cause and manner of death, usually for criminal law cases and civil law cases in some jurisdictions, by performing autopsies on the deceased through examination of wound and injuries, tissue specimens and Interprets toxicological analyses. Xavier received the same doctorate training, and undergone the same medical licensure process as other physicians. Thus he has the basic scope of medical knowledge as your local general/family practitioner would have which include treating acute and chronic illnesses, providing preventive care and health education for all ages and sexes.
Foster has the ability to confound and annoy those around him, only he can give a 2 hour lecture on the hemoglobin structure and then when asked a question, completely forget what he was talking about mere seconds ago. He also has the knack to pull through in the end, if by the skin of his teeth, with work related assignments and cases. He can dial up Chinese food faster than you can blink… well, no not really, but it is pretty darn fast. Xavier has a vast knowledge of oldies music and he can quote any musician, song and year you ask him. A useless talent and more often than not goes unknown and unused.
Strengths: A good sprinter, it’s not necessarily the speed but the distance he can cover in less time with his giraffe legs. A heavy and deep sleeper, the subway train that slides by his apartment at all hours of the night could wake the dead but Foster has simply gotten used to it and is able to get by on 6 hours of sleep a night. An encyclopedia of useless knowledge, he enjoys reading and absorbs any material he can get his hands on. Foster is a good man and hasn’t been cowed by colleagues to drink, smoke or do drugs and does his best to be an upright citizen. He’ll tell you the one thing he’s good at is being a dad, it’s everything he wanted and he will do his best to provide for his son and make sure the boy grows up right.
Weaknesses: Xavier is a coward, he will be the first to admit it so don’t let his size fool you. He will be the one to buckle and spill the beans, even if it’s not what you asked. A high metabolism and while many consider that a strength, Foster is eating constantly to keep himself at his current weight. If he goes half a day without a bran muffin or peanuts, he becomes light headed, shaking and weak and on occasion a grump. He has learned in the past to always keep his desk stocked with energy and protein bars. His lower back and shoulders seem to be taking the brunt force of age and when he stands for hours at a time everything starts hurting and aching. A sweet man, he is easy to manipulate with pretty words and a soft voice, his ex wife was a master at it.
The Story
History: Xavier was born in Annville Pennsylvania, the second youngest of five children. His great grandparents emigrated from Holland when his grandfather was 5 years old, settling down alone with several Dutch German families to create a community of well knit people. Xavier’s parents were never well off to do people, simple citizens who held simple jobs in town. His father Frederick followed the family trait and was an English professor at the Lebanon Valley College while his mother Ruth remained at home with the children. Frederick helped shaped the passion for knowledge in his children, letting it blossom to offer a world to find their true calling.
As far as he’s concerned, Xavier had a boring typical childhood. The most exciting thing he remembers at the age of twelve was his brother Christian, a year older than him fell out of a tree and broke his arm. They had been playing after dinner, racing off to the park alone with their youngest sibling, Maria at age eight. Being the eldest of the group, Christian wanted to climb the tallest tree and succeeded in goading his siblings into following. Maria had gotten five feet off the ground before freezing, leaving Xavier to help her down. Unfortunately Christian beat them to the ground first. Maria went screaming for help while the elder stayed with his brother. The trip to the emergency room had been almost surreal but remember vividly the brilliant white coat of the doctor that had taken care of his brother. This sparked a new interest in the young boy’s life.
High school was rough for Xavier for he never settled down long enough for one class before becoming antsy. He would always be looking for what was next and during his Jr. year he filled his free time with electives from drama, choir, track and field to the local chess club. He learned to deal with chaos coming from a large family and carried it over into schooling. He become fast friends with others interested in the medical world but it wasn’t until his college years did he finally decide on a specific field, centering in on becoming a medical examiner. Xavier moved across the states to go to Stanford School of Medicine in California. First year medical students took Surgery 203 (Anatomy) in which he was to dissect a cadaver. Their Jane Doe had died in a car accident and since names and background were never divulged for student’s sake, Xavier imagined a life for the woman going as far as to call her Lily. Other than creeping out his colleagues he made the decision to give the dead one last voice to tell the world about their lives.
Xavier earned a B.S. (Bachelor of Science) degree with a major in Biology and minor in English. This allowed his to enter and complete the four years in medical school and dove straight into medical residency. It was a long rough road, paved with hardship and struggles but during this he met a sweet young woman named Amelia Reinhardt. They immediately hit it off and became study buddies but like any young love it didn’t last long and the two grew apart over the years and it wasn’t until Amelia was ousted of school for plagiarism did the two finally separate their ties. It wasn’t until Xavier had received his MD title did he ran into Amelia again, he had just turned 30 less than a week before. It was like rekindling a old fire and Xavier was on cloud nine and the walls dropped and when he proposed to Amelia barely a year later, she accepted.
Xavier was 31 when Amelia bore their son Elijah. He took time off from working to help raise their child. During their son’s first year in life, the couple moved a total of five times, each one bringing them closer to the east coast before finally settling in the Bronx, New York. Xavier took a job at the local morgue while his wife watched over Elijah and worked odd end jobs. Life would get better now that they had a stable place to live, but life is hardly fair. In 2001, Amelia filed for divorced. Things had become harder with her, it was as if she had become a different woman over the years. She began drinking and carousing with the wrong crowds when Xavier would work late and she began to steal from him, using that money to gamble and sneak out behind his back to have affairs. It was all too soon her philandering ways and gambling caught up with her and soon the Foster family was 30,000 in debt.
A mandatory separation period for one year was in order and during this time Xavier took a promotion to work with the New York Police crime lab and moved to Queens, finding a small rent controlled apartment from an elderly couple. It was a one room, one bathroom but it was a mansion compared to his old life. In the end the divorce was granted but custody battles were a nightmare. Elijah was eight when Xavier lost the case. Amelia had several attorney friends and they worked hard, pulling strings to gain custody over the boy. Having a father who worked with the dead was not the proper sort of life for a young man. Amelia was the parent who was home the most with their son. Xavier’s absentminded past was used against his, each little forgotten doctor’s appointment or missing a school play was laid bare and in the tragic end, Amelia gained custody over Elijah. Xavier retains every other weekend visitation rights and during the summer he has two weeks with him. Today, Amelia and son live in Trenton, New Jersey, moving there three years ago to be closer to her mother. To compensate, Foster asked to be transferred and just last month the final call was put through and Xavier packed up his cats and belongings and made the trek over to Jersey.
