Nikita Chamberlain (District Eight)

No, Nikita is not the most masculine sounding name, and no, Nikita himself is not the most masculine of looking of guys. His hair is a darker shade of brown and somewhat wavy, he has a single beauty mark toward the bottom left of his lips on his otherwise pasty skin, and his light blue eyes can quite easily seem to be a striking shade of violet in most lights. He is not used to physical activity, as he lives a very indoor lifestyle that does not require much physical exertion. His hair is well kept, with a few wild strands that stick out, but other than that he is quite well groomed. Despite district standards for appearance being understandably poor, Nikita does his best to keep himself clean and in order, for his own morale if for nothing else, and greatly enjoys his rare opportunities to get "dressed up."

He is not muscular, but nor is he exceptionally skinny in frame. In that regard, he is quite an average guy, although he is quite frail for a boy his age, and tires quite easily. He is somewhat tall for his age and district, but again, not abnormally so. And what with most of his district filled with starving factory workers, this is hardly an accomplishment, Nikita feels. His poor vision requires him to wear glasses with very slim wire frames and which disguise his relatively plain features quite well.

Sure, not looking very masculine and not having a very masculine name is one thing, but to to most people, Nikita doesn't have many overtly masculine interests either. He enjoys music (as much as the average denizen of District Eight can, anyways,) and enjoys cooking for his family. He seems to enjoy baking the most, and he prides himself on his ability to be fairly creative with what little leftovers he has so that absolutely nothing goes to waste. He also enjoys art more than someone is his shoes typically tends to, and would often find cunning and resourceful ways to practice drawing on the hard concrete streets and passageways of the decaying urban metropolis that is District Eight. Sports and physical activity have never held his interest, and he tends to enjoy his off time much more than when he is working.

Life was not easy for Nick (as many people choose to call him, or Nicky, as his brothers prefer) as a young boy.

As if his appearance wasn't enough, his hobbies marked him as a target for bullying. And oh, the things that boy endured, sometimes even at the hands of the girls his age. Nikita is too patient a person to get angry very often, and he has considerable control over his emotions, but even HE has certain limits. The bullies and his older brothers learned quickly to run away as fast as possible when Nikita's vast patience finally gave out. Even his parents seem a little frightened of Nikita when he is very angry.

Beware the fury of a patient man. And DON'T mistake him for a girl.

... no, really, don't.

Even so, Nikita is generally more than happy to act as the housekeeper for his family, regularly cooking and cleaning his house, having an almost obsessive compulsive need to keep it clean and tidy. He tends to be quiet and easy going, with a more optimistic outlook on life than most people around him seem to have taken, even if he doesn't tend to smile all that often. He's not naive, nor is he stupid, although perhaps some people may seem him that way. Nikita is actually much more intelligent and wise than most of the people in the world that surrounds him, it just that he's so genuinely soft spoken (however eloquent he may be,) that he rarely and seems to have some amount of trouble voicing his opinions. But if you ask him his honest opinion, he WILL give it too you, no matter how much you may not actually want to hear it.

There are a lot of people in District Eight, and yet there seems to be hardly anything to do. Nikita is the youngest of six brothers, and is certainly the smallest and "most girly," a phrase he heard his brothers use to refer to him a myriad times throughout his childhood, much to his own chagrin. While he was the runt of the litter, his parents seemed to have a special spot in their hearts for their youngest son, and even his brothers wordlessly admit to themselves that Nikita has his uses, being the one who is always more than happy to clean up after their rowdy antics. Nikita also always gave off an aura of culture that his brothers could never hope to match, but given where and how he lives, this itself is a rather moot point. Nikita is the closest thing to a sister his older brothers have, and never shy away from treating him as such, along with all the brotherly overprotectiveness that seems to bring.

Nikita himself has begrudgingly assumed the role of "the only sane man" within his household, and is often forced (entirely unwillingly,) to participate in his brothers' insane shenanigans. His parents are factory workers who are often out of the house supporting their rather large family, wordlessly leaving Nikita with the tenuous, unspoken responsibility of making sure his brothers don't burn the house down with their zany antics. He tries, and more than often than not, fails, to prevent disaster. Nevertheless, his family gets by, whether it be from the coin their parents learn, or the often times overcomplicated and bizarre schemes his Nikita's brothers habitually carry out. It is a strange existence, but one Nikita begrudgingly enjoys living.

Even in the dysfunctional residential areas of District Eight, the Chamberlains seem to stand out. They are undeniably a happy and loving family in a world where families like that are sadly few and far in between. They are also incredibly eccentric, hard to understand, and at times, just flat out surreal. But in the harsh, decaying world of the districts of Panem, most people tend to pay no real mind to that.

After all, you only live once.

Finished!