"My witness is the empty sky." — Jack Kerouac
ɴᴀᴍᴇRiley Bowen
ᴀɢᴇ19
ɢᴇɴᴅᴇʀCisgender Male
sᴇxᴜᴀʟ ᴏʀɪᴇɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴBiromantic Homosexual
ᴇᴛʜɴɪᴄɪᴛʏGreek/Welsh
ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀᴛ ᴏʟʏᴍᴘᴜs ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍʏ4
"I’m so sick of (fill in the blank). Accomplish more, accomplish nothing." — Fill in the Blank by Car Seat Headrest
ᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀᴀɴᴄᴇRiley stands at a fairly average height of 5’8”, and weighs just a hair off 135 pounds, so it’s safe to say that he isn’t the most intimidating of figures. It also doesn’t help that he absolutely loathes standing up straight — a habit gained from long nights spent hunched over, working on his latest project. Most of the time, you’ll find him standing with his shoulders rolled forward, knees bent, hands inside his pockets in his signature ‘ignore me’ pose. He doesn’t like standing out, and his mannerisms reflect that.
There is a sickly sort of pallor to his complexion, and he could really use some sunlight every now and then. Coupled with the dark eye circles that have since made themselves a permanent fixture of his face, Riley constantly looks like he’s never had a good night’s sleep in his life. His manner of speech is very much the same; unless he’s excited or agitated, he has a penchant for speaking in a droll, crackling monotone, one that many have likened to a frog’s croak.
Despite his scruffy appearance, Riley possesses features that are often considered elegant — long eyelashes, hazel-green eyes, fine cheekbones that sit high on his face, and a thin, almost aquiline nose that he most certainly got from his mother. There’s a light smattering of freckles all across his face, a feature that’s only exacerbated by his paleness. In contrast, Riley’s hair is a deep brown, so dark that it’s nearly black. His hair isn’t something he pays very much attention to at all. Most days, right after rolling out of bed, he’ll simply rake a hand through the locks to untangle them, which is probably why it’s always kind of a mess.
As for what he wears, Riley really couldn’t care less. He usually just throws on whatever’s clean. Most of his clothes are either hand-me-downs, or from the bottom of a bargain bin, so there’s a lot of old t-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, and trousers. They don’t all fit him that well, but he’s comfortable in them, and at the end of the day, that’s all he can really ask for. His fingers are often adorned with rings of bronze and iron, though they’re mostly just something for him to fiddle with whenever he gets nervous.
ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏCreative ♦ Observant ♦ Perfectionist ♦ Aloof ♦ Self-critical ♦ Melancholic
To put it gently, Riley isn’t a people person. Far from it, actually. He has the temperament of a genius, though some might just call it ‘being an asshole’. In that regard, he’s quite similar to his father. Oftentimes, he lets his work take priority over interpersonal relationships, and can grow a little short-fused whenever he finds himself being interrupted. Still, he’s never purposefully malicious. While it is true that he rarely bothers to sugarcoat his words, he really does mean well, for the most part. He just doesn’t see the point in skirting around what he believes to be the truth, even if said truth might upset some people.
In social settings, Riley prefers to hover on the fringe of conversation. It gives him a sort of vantage point to observe the comings and goings of his peers from. Thanks to his attentive nature, he’s quite a good judge of character, and is usually able to guess a person’s intentions within a few minutes of meeting them. But when it comes to putting those people skills – or lack thereof – into practice, there is much room for improvement. It isn’t difficult to catch Riley off-guard, mostly because he never expects anyone to come and talk to him. Those who do will likely find themselves faced with a stunned, deer-in-headlights expression of shock as he stutters over a greeting.
There aren’t many that Riley can call friend, but to those precious few, he is undyingly loyal. Like everything else he does, he always makes sure to put all of himself into it. That said, he isn’t the type to perform overt gestures of affection. Riley instead prefers to show his appreciation for others in his own, personal way. If a friend finds themselves feeling a little under the weather, he’ll be there with a mug of hot chocolate, followed by a murmured affirmation that he’ll be there if they need him. Other times, he might simply work twice as hard to make sure that no one gets left behind. Rather than words, Riley is a man of action, small gestures that may often be overlooked in the grand scheme of things. It’s safer, he thinks, in that there’s a smaller chance for him to screw things up.
Riley’s pursuits make up a huge part of who he is. Like any craftsman worth their salt, he takes tremendous pride in his work, and throws himself into it completely. Pretty much the only time he emerges from his shell is when he’s talking about one of his projects. When asked, Riley enjoys explaining his ideas, though he can sometimes find it difficult to stop once he has gotten the ball rolling. He’s also something of a perfectionist, so much so that a paltry, inconsequential mistake is able to send him into a tailspin. While he may look at others through a critical lens, Riley often finds himself being the main subject of scrutiny.Born and raised in working-class Swansea, Riley’s upbringing was largely uneventful. Elain Bowen never quite took to the idea of being a mother. Instead, she dreamt of making it big in the music industry. An aspiring singer, she spent most of her time performing at local bars and lounges in the hopes of being discovered. One could say that she was too much of a free spirit to ever be a “proper mother”, and so, for most of his childhood years, the young Riley was often left in his grandparents’ charge. They never told him about who his father was, only saying that he was a wicked man who he didn’t need to worry about.
The Bowens were conservative, church-going folk, and believed in the age-old adage that children should be “seen and not heard”. As a result, Riley was often left to his own devices, which usually meant pulling things apart to see how they worked. He’s always been fascinated by the inner workings of machines, by all the tiny parts that came together to accomplish a single task. But the only thing his curiosity ever seemed to earn him was a thrashing from his grandfather when he found the television in pieces.
In school, teachers rarely noticed him. Unless he was being reprimanded for minor misdemeanours, Riley often disappeared into the back of the classroom, though he did have difficulty interacting with people his own age. Small in stature, soft-spoken, and pacifistic, he became a bullying target young, and at home, his grandparents offered very little refuge. As far as they were concerned, Riley could use some roughing up, learn to stand up for himself, but this “tough love” approach would end up having the opposite effect. By the age of eleven, Riley had turned almost almost entirely inwards. More of his time was spent reading books and tinkering with his “inventions” than with other human beings.
Nonetheless, he proved quite an intelligent child. Studying was something that came naturally to Riley, especially when it came to subjects like math and science. Unlike people, books were simple, guileless. All he had to do was read them, and he’d immediately understand what they were about. His fascination with technology stemmed from that very same reason — it was easy to find out what made a machine tick. He started out small, at first, making a radio out of parts salvaged from an old TV. Then, he moved onto bigger things, putting together his own computer when he was eleven. His work also served as a something of a distraction. For years, his mother simply flit in and out of his life as she pleased, never taking into consideration how he might be feeling.
A week before he turned sixteen, Riley finally met his father. It happened on a cold, dreary Sunday; right as Riley and his grandparents were leaving church, he saw a hulking behemoth of a man approach him. Things came to a head when the man revealed himself to be Hephaestus, Riley’s father. A long argument ensued, one that resulted in the authorities being called, and the whole thing was just a huge mess that took far too long to clear up. By the end of it all, his grandparents were understandably flabbergasted, though they recovered quickly enough to reject Hephaestus’ proposal to send Riley to Olympus Academy. Riley, however, insisted on going. What possessed him to do so, even he isn’t sure, but he knew that it was his choice to make. And so, that was how he ended up at OA.
While it took some time for him to adjust, he settled in well enough. Things are not much different here when compared to his old school — well, apart from all the crazy magic stuff that goes on, anyway. Riley’s still a whiz when it comes to memorising massive walls of text, and it it comes in handy with the more academic side of his education.
"Rather peculiar, that boy, but there’s a spark in there somewhere. He just needs to find a way out of his head." — Hephaestus
ɢᴏᴅʟʏ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛHephaestus, God of Fire and Forge
ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴsʜɪᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɢᴏᴅʟʏ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛHephaestus has largely been an absent figure in Riley’s life. Before meeting him at the age of sixteen, he didn’t even the slightest clue who his father was. Despite a niggling sense of resentment that continues to linger at the back of his mind, he has come to regard Hephaestus as someone to look up to. The god of fire and forge is unparalleled at what he does, and Riley believes that there’s a lot he can learn from him, if allowed. Unfortunately, their respective preoccupations leave time for little else. It’s not often that Riley gets the chance to meet with his father, so he always makes sure to come up with something that might impress him when he does.
ᴅᴇᴍɪɢᴏᴅ ᴀʙɪʟɪᴛɪᴇsMechanical Intuition - Riley is able to understand the structure and operation of mechanical systems with little to no study. This ability is constantly active, helping him to analyze any system that he encounters. For systems that he already understands (like computers), he can identify flaws in the mechanism with only a cursory inspection. Systems that he has never seen before require more extensive study, but he’s able to comprehend them far more quickly than your average person.
Fire Immunity - As a child of Hephaestus, Riley is more or less invulnerable to fire. Save for the all-consuming heat of dragon’s breath, all fire seems to do is keep him nice and toasty.
Phaedra - Riley’s pride and joy. Phaedra is an automaton wolf that he built in his second year at Olympus Academy. Made from repurposed circuit boards, scrap metal, and a charged crystal from one of the Hecate kids, Phaedra possesses all the capabilities of a real wolf, though a hydraulic mechanism in the jaw gives her a bite rivalling that of an alligator’s. While Riley has created many such creatures over the years, Phaedra remains his favourite. She usually follows Riley around the school, acting as his companion and protector from some of the rowdier students. Other times, she enjoys roaming the school grounds, seeking out treats of nuts, bolts, and motor oil. Fionn Whitehead | #F4F0EC
