Malabar Rasbora, D4 [finito]

Narration
Thinks
Speaks
Other people’s speech
Exclamations

::Appearance::

Malabar takes after his father’s side of the family, with harder features and a widow’s peak, as well as a smaller body frame. His dark brown hair is spiked up—when he hasn’t spent the entire afternoon in the water—and he takes particular care to make sure he doesn’t look like the rest of the ruffians that walk the docs. He believes that there’s no reason someone who’s not as well off as some of the rest in the district not to look nice. Most of his clothes trend toward the more form fitting, and he likes to show off when he gets the chance. His pouty lips are from his mother’s side, perhaps the only thing that she gifted him, other than the enormous feet that help him as the talented swimmer that he is.

It’s a wonder, however, that he wears clothes at all. Most of the time when he’s stationed on his family’s vessel he spends most of the time in swim trunks or a pair of cut off shorts, thinking it easier to dry them than sweating in the hot sun. The freckles on his skin are especially prevalent after spending so much time in the sun, and he often complains about how weathered it will make his skin look—to which his brother, Malachi, and father, Adrian usually roll their eyes. All the same, Mal abhors spending too much time out in the sun. There is nothing worse to him than seeing someone in the district aged forty, looking as though their skin is about to slide off of their body.

He’s always been a bit insecure with how he’s looked, and as such tries to do as much physical labor as possible. His brother is much bigger than he is, taking after his mother’s family, with bigger arms, chest, and legs. He teases Malabar that he’s never going to get any bigger, even with all the work that he does on the boats. The two fight constantly over little things like who is stronger, with his brother usually winning. His own body issues are something of a trial: he’s never found himself particularly handsome, at least, not in comparison to his brother. Nearly every he’s known seems to favor Malachi, which would explain his lack of self-confidence.

::Personality::

He’s often been told that he needs to think before he speaks. Mal just can’t help but say what’s on his mind, and often gets himself into trouble doing so. It’s the forthright honesty that some can find so endearing—he just tells people what he sees—and people either are annoyed by it or realize that he will never lead them astray. It gets him into trouble, though, through all his well-intentioned truths rather than lies. No one wants to hear about how stupid their plan is, or that they could’ve done something differently after the fact. He comes across a know-it-all this way, and it can grate on the nerves of those even closest to him.

He doesn’t give in when it comes to arguments, either. He’d rather settle for a pyrrhic victory than a loss, and shouting matches are not uncommon. He thinks that the louder he yells to drown out the other side, even if he might realize that he’s wrong half-way through the argument, he can still win. Lord help you if you catch him in the middle of a tirade where he’s trying to prove someone wrong. He’s more difficult to deal with than scraping a barnacle off the side of the hull of a ship! It’s why he is seen as difficult because he would rather win than come to a mutual understanding. After all, where is the fun in losing?

He can be cruel to himself, too. He doesn’t like the way that he looks and is never satisfied with what he has in life. It’s hard enough to accept where he is—a fisherman on his father’s boat—and he knows that he will most likely wind up taking over the business somewhere down the road. But it’s not what his heart and soul wants… not that he knows exactly what that is, either. He thinks that never being satisfied is good, as long as it pushes him even further than where he is now. The problem comes when he feels isolated from others—both self-inflicted from his battles with friends and natural by choice—leaving him to contemplate just what the next step is.

::History::

The Rasboras aren’t the worst off in the district, for certain. They own a fleet of shrimping boats that bring in a fair amount of catches. Enough that they can have a bungalow for the weeks that they spend on land and a nice houseboat for the time that they’re at sea. Adrian and Melinda were married at sea by his father some twenty years ago, and have been blissful ever since. They are hardworking, salt of the sea types, that find pleasure in looking out at the sea and the first catch of the day. They have two sons, Malachi and Malabar, both close to one another in age. Their life has been relatively comfortable, with few hiccups to shake up their voyage.

The greatest troubles came for the two boys during their teenage years. Malachi took to heart that he would the one running the company with his father, rather than Malabar, who was much more interested in being a part of what was going on elsewhere. They would constantly fight and bicker over who was the better sibling, and it came to a hedge when his father suggested quite simply it was the one who put his whole heart into the family business. From then on Malabar wanted nothing to do with fishing, despite continuing to work with his father and brother on the boats. He was determined that he would find something else for himself other than the life at sea.

He began career training as soon as he was able, much to the dismay of his mother. He saw it as an option to get out of the drudgery of fishing life, and if possible, he could use his skills in the future with another profession. Not to mention it would help increase his bodily size and agility. His father did not protest—only hoping that this would settle Malabar—and consented that perhaps training was best for the boy. As such he’s taken marvelously to lessons because he wants so badly to escape from the menial tasks on board the ship. He’d rather be learning how to jab a knife through someone’s carotid artery than have to chop off another fish head.

His greatest task, however, might be to find a worthwhile companionship off of his father’s boat. It’s been difficult at time to find anyone willing to listen to Malabar for longer than a sitting. He’s tempestuous, prone to shouting matches, and finds a thrill in arguing. He’s a natural fighter if only because he has a drive to win. His not knowing when to quit, however, has driven some of his childhood friends away and left him searching for those that value what he has to say.
Codeword: odair
Notes: This is for a plot with Josh!