Amadeus Vaux [PK]

It was actually startling to his family how Amadeus the golden boy - so alive with untamed blonde curls and a scrawny build meant for energetic activity - blossomed further with age rather than suffering the anticipated deterioration of his delicately pale complexion once he struck his late twenties. Contrary to their expectation the once awkward yet charming adolescent flourished into a tall, elegant solider with a more muscular physique capable of handling the intense aspects of Peacekeeper training. He will never be the best-looking of the batch, nor will he ever acknowledge himself as a man worth swooning over, but when he isn't clad in Peacekeeper uniform he will try his hardest to express his inner passion for variety. Change is something he craves and everything he seeks, even if it involves something as petty as a change in hair color. This desire, having lied dormant for years after he escaped the stressful routine of a bickering family, shows through his choice in clothing. When he is off duty his attire is varied and unpredictable. Regardless of occasion he will wear whatever pleases him, whether it be something as simple a V-neck with jeans or something exquisite like one of his many expensive suits. Whether others judges him for his tastes reaches beyond his attention. He is much too tired to care.

His hair is also something he tends to play around with. His curls are naturally golden and wild, but there are days when he will gel it back or style it a certain way. Every once in awhile he will even dye it black or a darker blonde to add a dash of variety to his life. Several times he has grown it out, but nowadays prefers to wear it short and styled rather than anything too long, bothersome, or curly. Other than his hair and his clothes, there is not much about himself he can control. Despite being raised in The Capitol he limits himself to what trends he will follow, having learned from personal experience that vibrant colors to do not clash well with his complexion. In fact, he considers most capitol fashion statements ridiculous. He would rather his skin remain untouched by bright tattoos, colorful make-up or wild piercings. The only unnatural aspect to his appearance is his dyed hair, and that is as far as he will go. He still wants to make a positive impression, after all, and he cannot expect others to respect him or take his authority seriously if he succumbs to capitol fashion conformity.

While he has been known as the family's "golden boy", his shine has started to fade. The faint bags under his eyes are evidence of his exhaustion creeping up on him after years of following the same, dull routines repeatedly. A permanent frown as etched its way into his mask of apathy, and his blue eyes - on most days - are hollow and show very little interest in what he is doing. It won't be long before this lack of enthusiasm further deteriorates his health.

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Amadeus is very professional. He speaks formally and politely to coworkers and superiors, radiating the impression that he is kind and sincere. However, there is a hollowness to his eyes that makes every greeting and "thank you" feel empty. People describe him as distant, detached, and apathetic. Others see him as a secret sociopath when they watch him follow orders and execute brutal punishments without batting an eye. It is the former more so than the latter; he follows the rule book exactly in order to meet protocol and maintain the laws he promised to uphold, not for sadistic or guiltless pleasure - though he has learned to distance himself from any lingering feelings of guilt when dealing with misfits and criminals. He was once known as the star pupil during his Peacekeeper training, what with with his ability to handle miscreants without hesitation or mercy. He can be cruel without thinking twice about the matter, but contrary to popular belief he is not psychotic or twisted. He isn't emotionless, either, and he knows this. At least, he's pretty sure of it. He may have lost his connection to happiness but he knows that what he felt before the void was depression. Now, he isn't so sure what it is.

One thing people tend to notice during first impressions is that Amadeus rarely smiles. He may raise a brow or flash the faintest of grins once in awhile when something interests him, but the majority of the day he wears the same vacant expression as if completely oblivious to the active, passionate world around him. They say laughter and smiles are contagious, but Amadeus has reached beyond the capacity to create facades or mimic human emotions. In all honesty, it is the infection of boredom and exhaustion that has inflicted him with this new found indifference to life and activity. He grows increasingly tired of his bickering family, of his job (it is more like a chore or a mandatory duty than a successful achievement), of his routine, and of his lifestyle. His career as a Peacekeeper has become a hassle more than anything. He enjoys certain aspects of it, like the authority, the respect, and the handful of privileges, but he has grown tired of patrolling the districts and repeating the same processes, no matter how strange or in-humane. To him, it is all just law. It is something everyone is required to follow, and if they didn't he would be the one to bear the task of assigning punishments accordingly. Years ago it may have been exciting if not crude, but now it is merely another portion of his tedious routine.

Despite his apparent dullness, Amadeus has hobbies and passions just like any other human being. Literature, for example, is one of his favorite pastimes. The variety alone is what draws him in and separates him from his perpetually unchanging reality. From historical narratives to modern fiction he will enjoy any form and capture a small taste of every genre. Visual arts is another passion of his, more so looking than creating. He can draw, and others have complimented him on his skill before, but he can hardly sketch anything nowadays without dwelling over the fact that without color they will be too bland - yet if he does color them, they would not suit him. His life is not colorful in any way, so he doesnt want his drawings to be colorful either. He has almost ceased drawing altogether, having lost his creative touch and his inspiration. He still reads in order to distract himself from his unsatisfying lifestyle, but it cannot rid him of his melancholy completely. He may walk with proper posture and an air of authority and he may perform his assigned tasks almost flawlessly, making him the ideal Peacekeeper, but he has lost all sense of accomplishment. Life has ceased to be exciting, and the only way to alter this is through some kind of change.

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Amadeus was born with four siblings, all who wrestled in a competition for admiration. His parents were immensely successful and very, very wealthy, and with such wealth came a desire for aspiring children. With five children and only one "favorite" slot to fill, the environment was verbally brutal. Amadeus never chose to participate in the arguments - and that may perhaps be way his parents tended to pay him so much positive attention - but he was forced to listen to them almost every day. He learned to tune them out, but no matter how many times he tried to distance himself from their voices the noise would always catch up to him because the arguments always involved him. They would snap at him for wrongdoings he did not commit since he was the family favorite for several years. Of course, this would change as his siblings made notable accomplishments, but somehow the attention was always drawn back to him as if he were an unwilling magnet. Eventually he was left alone and his siblings bickered at one another instead, allowing him some time to enjoy his higher status, but he grew tired of their shouting voices and everlasting hostility. When it was time for them to grow up and find careers (preferably as Peacekeepers, because it was one of the most respectable jobs), Amadeus was eager to get away.

The "golden boy" reputation is not something he cares about anymore. It was fun while it lasted, but now that he is a Peacekeeper along with two of his siblings there is no reason to feel superior. The only memories he can conjure about his family are the ones filled with loud bickering and eternal disputes about future careers and expected behavior. Sure, his family is successful but that never seems to stop them from arguing about the pettiest subjects, even now when they've all found their identities. He only wishes that his siblings would accept one another and that his parents would cease their complaining about their children's careers. So what if not all of them could handle the Peacekeeping job? It was not built for everyone, and he doesn't think of himself as the family's golden trophy just because he made the slot early. On the contrary, he considers himself equal to his siblings.

Nowadays, Amadeus' life falls into the same routines of listening to his family members bicker when he visits and patrolling the districts. He enjoys traveling, but the excitement always falters when he is forced to perform the same tasks again and again. What started as an immense achievement has turned into another boring task, although he still tries to perform all tasks with precision in order to keep his reputation at an all time high rather than letting his career slip through his grasp and disappointing his family. It is a battle between what is expected of him and what he actually wants. As a Peacekeeper, he isn't sure what he wants anymore. He knows he craves change, but what type of change he is uncertain of. A change of careers it out of the question - so what, then? What is there to save him?

He has yet to find out.