Eugene Butters - D6 - done

Euh Euh Eugene Butters! Butter me up, burn me down, but don't forget to get your toast for euh euh eugene butters is in the room.

Taunting follows genius. Jealousy rages around the smart. These are the words his "father" whispers each and every day. Eugene is not his name, not really, but nobody knows what his name is anymore. At least, nobody he knows, for his real parents, if they ever existed, are long gone or perhaps just forgotten. Unknown. His adopted father says he was a happy child, always smiling and asking questions, but Eugene thinks he was mostly just pasty. Why else would his new parents, who found him left for dead, or maybe purposefully abandoned, in a box near the children's home, call him Eugene? This was the name you named washed-out babies with greasy hair. If he looked happy, they would have named him something reasonable. Charles, maybe. Henry, Devon, Jason... anything but Eugene.

To compensate for such an unfortunate name (he says it was chosen by his wife, Mrs. Butters the beast) his father calls him Gene, and as a result, the few friends he has follow suit. His parents gave him an approximate day of birth - September 21st, though this is just a guess. Who knows how long the child cried before he was found? He was skinny, so skinny his pasty face was losing its new-kid fat, though long-limbed even as an infant. His "mother", Mrs. Butters, thought he had to be at least a month old, but if so, why was he left alone?

They never did find his family, and Eugene doesn't even know there is a family besides the Butters. Nevermind that his father has bright red hair and green eyes, and his mother blonde and blue eyes. Even his slightly younger brother (17.5, born just six months after Eugene was found), their actual child with a much-more sensible name of Louis, who has his father's flaming red hair and mother's blue eyes, didn't warn him something was genetically amidst. The pair couldn't look less alike, though they became each other's confidants throughout the years. The birth of their younger siblings, also red or blonde hair with blue or green eyes, didn't rouse Eugene's suspicion. He figures his parents would tell him the truth, and besides, he doesn't really care why they look different. The Butters are his family, and that's enough for him.

Like a dandelion among blades of grass, the skinny boy remained skinny but grew even more long-limbed, shooting up to 6'2" at just eighteen. He is still growing, but how much more his family couldn't say. His eyes, unlike theirs, are dark chestnut and warm, crinkly almost. Pretty eyes, but he tries to hide them in his indifference. They're stark and narrow, and show an abundance of emotions. He can't hide his feelings in his eyes, and as a result avoids eye contact as much as possible. His hair is raven black, and often shaggy and unkempt in his distaste of appearances. It usually hangs just above his shoulders. The first signs of stubble are starting to come in, but he's still young enough for it to not have kicked in too much.

When forced, whether by his father or employers, Eugene can look snazzy and well in a suit and slicked back hair. His family is naturally charming with their red hair and wide smiles. Eugene mostly looks perpetually cold since he hardly has a muscle on his lean skeleton.

There's nothing overtly unappealing about Eugene's features, but there is nothing entirely remarkable either. He wouldn't make the average woman swoon, nor would he likely try. He tries to be as unobtrusive as possible, and this includes avoiding wearing anything flashy or attention-seeking. Most of the time he's in his medical robes. He's been training as a doctor since he was a child (having a Doctor mother (however much she denies caring for him, she at least teaches him everything she knows) and a Nurse father sure does help...), and spends most of his time working or continuing his education.

Eugene's features are exaggerated. His shaggy hair frames large dumbo ears, large enough he might fly away, if he's not careful. Between narrow eyes he sports a long nose and thick lips, lips that can reach into a smile that consumes his entire face. Not that this smile is seen often, he keeps his features as stoic as possible, at least when he's in public and not around his family. With them he's warm and often amused by their colorful antics.

There is something mysterious about his ragged appearance. As if he has a certain quality about him that makes some people want to stare, and others do everything they can to avoid looking at him. There's a reason he's considered strange.

Eugene is not an outgoing person, and he's certainly not a people person. He's awkward, shy, and painfully intelligent. This always led to isolation, both in the normal and medical communities. The few friends he did manage to secure are flaky, awkward types like himself, and they seem to only have their shared introversion in common. This always suited him, and he spends his  free time hidden in libraries, wandering through parks, or buried somewhere in a hospital, deep in thought or study. His closest friend is Louis, but even they have their differences. Louis is not studious, nor does he come across as particularly smart. His brother expects this to be a facade, but doesn't question it. They still turn to each other anytime they are having a bad day, and this will never change.

It's hard to get a good read on Eugene, for he carries his emotions securely locked in his heart and avoids eye contact like crazy. Nobody ever seems to know quite what he's thinking, although the words never stop in his mind. He grew discouraged as a child by his mother's indifference, and learned to hide himself from the world. This makes him a neutral character, unpredictable and therefore, dangerous.

With patients, however, he can be quite kind. He does not say much beyond medical advice, but he is always willing to listen, even when it means their consultation might run past its scheduled end. This has caused a fair bit of conflict with his superiors, but he's a hard worker, and they let it go each and every time.

Despite his extensive medical knowledge and overall quiet mannerisms, Eugene can be quite clumsy. It started as a kid. He would break a glass on his hand, or drop a knife near his foot, and it father would rush towards him immediately. His father is a medical maestros, even though he's just a nurse, so any injury the boy got would be quickly patched up. As he got older and more in control, he learned to be careful with other people where he was not careful with himself. This gave him healing hands, aided by the many hours he practiced with his parents before he started training as a doctor.

Eugene can become quite passionate in moments, when he is interested in the subject matter and he has a willing audience, but these times are few and far between. Louis doesn't care about medicine, and he views his other siblings less as equals and more as children.

From an early age, Eugene thought he had his whole life figured out. He was fascinated with doctors and hospitals, always forcing his father back to work to look at the medical-employees going in and out of buildings. He asked endless questions, demanding answers for everything. When someone gets burnt by a fire-poker, what's the first thing they should do? If you cut your hand with glass, should you remove the shards first or check for any popped blood vessels? When he was ten years old, his father bought him a book of medicine. Every night, he would sit by the fire, wrapped in flannel blankets, and try to memorize the bones in the human skeleton and the different neural pathways of the brain. There was no doubt in anybody's mind what he would grow up to do.

His father is a nurse in the burn unit, and would come home most evenings with stories of his patient's courageous flights with flame. Sometimes, with a dramatic flare and a tip of his hat, he would share the particulars of the burn victims with his eager son, who would ask for more and more details so he could 'practice diagnosing treatment'.

His mother's flame is the bottle, and she spends most of her evenings after work sprawled out in front of the chattering television, watching reruns of the Games and muttering to herself about how to heal their injuries. This continues as she sips directly from a bottle of wine. Eugene always suspected she lost someone important in the Games, but he never dares to ask and she never cares to share. She spends her days as a Doctor in the same hospital as her son, but she isn't particularly talented or respected. Eugene works mostly in emergencies and grave injuries, and his mother spends her day with the elderly. She shares what she can with her son, when she's sober, but most of the time treats him with indifference and avoids him at work. She isn't cruel in her drink, but she isn't particularly engaged with anyone but herself either. Eugene had tried to gain her attention as a child, but soon grew wary of the task and learned to be indifferent back. It was with her he first learned how to carve his face into stoic features. She never seems enthused at any display of emotion.

They were never wealthy, but they were always content. They had enough money to fuel Mrs. Butters wine-habit and to feed the family, but not much more than that. Eugene gives most of his earnings at the hospital to his father to help run the household. He dreams of furthering his education and becoming a surgeon, but the long hours he spends at the hospital makes this education slow-going.

It was a great shock to the family when a oddly-dressed women showed up at his door a few months before his twelfth birthday. She introduced herself as a representative of the local medical school. One where Eugene could start training at a young age. His parents were confused at the offer for one so young (they hadn't started training until 16), and ignored little Eugene's desperate pleadings. "Don't worry, little one, I'll bring them around," promised the women who wore what looked like a shiny medical robe. She led his parents into another room and closed the door. Eugene pressed his ear against the door in vain, but could not hear even the slightest whisper. Moments later the trio emerged, and the lady, now Professor, explained to the eager boy that he had some of the best marks in medicine she ever seen and that he was going to be trained to be a Doctor earlier than most students.

This is where Eugene sits now. A highly trained, albeit socially awkward and painfully shy Doctor. Working slowly to becoming a surgeon.
He longs for the day he turns nineteen and can be freed from the chain of the Games. He longs even more for his brother and other younger siblings to be freed as well. Nothing would be worst than losing them, his precious brood. He would do anything to protect them, and everything to take care of them. They are his life, outside of his work. Live, love, and heal. Dr. Eugene Butters will protect them until the day he dies.