#zainebio

[godsandvillainsrpg-blog]

ZAINE CHAMBERS twenty-two ♱ medical student + benefactor ♱ lefevre

“You are so pure, and it has nothing to do with your eyes or your smile, everything to do with your heart, all torn and weathered on your shirt for the entire world to see, so they can tear it up some more. You are so golden, and I fear that you don’t know how good you are - oh my, you are so good - because you cry when you get home most days, and you can’t lift your body from the ground. Is your body heavy from the people who have walked all over it? Why did no one help you? You are so kind, so kind, so kind to everyone that you forget to be kind to yourself.”

WE ARE PLAYING A GAME OF EMPIRES

When two souls, both powerful and depraved, combine it should result in a product even more dastardly than its elements. For Harland and Celine Chambers, though, it would not come to pass. Rather, their sins and their strength only managed to cancel each other out. Into this marriage built on a religion of twisted self-divinity, a child of virtue was born.

To his parents, Zaine has always been considered some cosmic joke. For years, his parents waited with impatience to see their eldest and only son shed his softness and put on the armor of supremacy he was destined for. But this boy possessed a heart of gold, and it would not be so easily conquered, not even by the combined will and wickedness of both his parents. Zaine’s plague was kindness, and it was incurable. But even this burden, as righteous as it may seem, came with its fair share of demons.

Whereas his family saw people as pawns – there for convenience and opportunity, to be disposed of when they no longer provided either – he saw their humanity. In all his years, Zaine has yet to meet a person he could not empathize with, one he did not find fascinating and worthy of his kindness and attention. A concept altogether foreign to his family, Zaine cares deeply about people. But this level of empathy comes at a price. The capacity to feel so deeply leaves Zaine emotionally drained. He is so used to playing the comforter, the one others unload to, but he has no outlet for himself. These feelings build up, wound so tightly that some days he wonders if his brain or his heart may actually explode from the pressure.

This was how he has spent the majority of his life. In his family, he took on the natural role of the mediator, even for those who reject his attempts to harmonize them. It is desperately important to him that conflicts be resolved. At his core, Zaine is a people pleaser, and he always has been. Even as a child, he was mocked as being the teacher’s pet. He was the one kid who made sure everyone received a Valentine (a practice that was actually uncommon at his elite private school) and made sure everyone was invited to his birthday parties. This desire for acceptance was only magnified when applied to his family, and most especially his parents. There was no question in his mind that he was not the son they had envisioned or hoped for. Zaine would not be the man to bring others to their knees, to thrive on the seduction of power; he was quite the opposite, actually. And he has spent all of his life trying to make up for that fact – but to no avail.

Harland has never known how to interact with him, while Celine disdains his existence. No matter what he does, he cannot be the son they want, and though he manages to hide it well, the fact cripples him. He is debilitated by the incessant thoughts that his parents wish he was never born. It haunts him, and he is plagued by inadequacy. But these are his deepest and darkest thoughts, and though they keep him awake at night, he shares them with no one. No one, that is, except one.

Despite the obvious incongruity of their values, Zaine has a certain co-dependence where his family is concerned. After high school, he moved out, but never did cut ties with his family. To say he has been on his own since eighteen would be a stretch, given the fact that he still lives as though he is under his parents’ roof. Perhaps it is the little boy in him still desperate for their approval, but when Zaine was not in class or with friends, he could always be found at the home where he grew up. He always imagined spending his days in the French countryside; the fast-paced city of Paris had never suited him. But the prospect of leaving his family was unthinkable, for one reason: it would mean he would never fulfill that which of highest important to him – their love.

This compulsion to make his family proud of him and accept him had an effect on his other personal relationships. After high school, he met a boy. Things between them were easy and simple, and Zaine often referred to him as his lifeline. But over time, Liam grew tired of competing for Zaine’s affection, even against those who never had any intention of returning it. Zaine ran himself ragged, perpetually jumping through hoops, and to what end? He was willing to sacrifice a relationship with someone who could actually love him, and it would be their undoing. For nearly three years, Liam had been the one to keep Zaine together, to keep him sane, but it was a burden the other boy was not prepared to maintain forever. This pattern of behavior was unsustainable, and though it a devastating blow to Zaine, he could not meet the demands of the boy he loved. He could not simply walk away from his family.

School had never been a real consideration for Zaine. His status kept him from any real need for an education. Harland would have likely pushed for law school, if he had any real interest in his son’s future, though his father probably saw little reason to seriously invest in Zaine’s career prosptects. Zaine, on the other hand, had always fancied the idea of medicine, in his mind, the ultimate caretaking role. Though he lacked the natural brilliance that some of his peers were blessed with, he made up for it in passion and ambition – perhaps the only traits he had rightfully inherited from his father. After the heartbreak of Liam, he needed a distraction, so he began the rigorous study for entrance exams.

It was during this time that his family announced their intention to leave for Rome. It was a shock to both he and Kiah. There was no expectation that Zaine would follow them, now that he was applying to medical schools, but the thought of being isolated from them was an impossible notion to bear. They did not ask him to come along, but he applied for school in Rome nonetheless. Whatever their reasons for going, he was sure they weren’t pure – nothing his parents ever devised was. He may have wanted nothing to do with this venture, but that was all the more reason for him to tag along.

Though he be virtuous, Zaine was not naïve. This city reeked of corruption, and so did his family. It was not difficult for Zaine to begin to connect the dots, to see how Christian and his new wife played into this scheme. As for the details, he wanted nothing to do with it. They were not only harboring criminals, they were paying for them to commit the most heinous of deeds. Knowing his input would not welcomed or received, he kept his mouth shut, still refusing to even acknowledge such a dark hobby.

Rather than take part in the new family business, Zaine has once again filled the role of caretaker. Though school remains his central focus, he has found himself reaching out to those who he deems in need of a gentle hand; and, in these new recruits, there are many. But the one person Zaine had not anticipated finding a place in his heart was Salvatore.

The other boy was a stranger when the two first met, and fate had once again dealt him a losing hand, though initially in disguise. His last name meant nothing at first, and naturally Zaine had not mentioned his mother’s family name. Sal was different from the other boys Zaine had fallen for; he was set apart because not only could he empathize, he could commiserate. They shared a desire to make their families proud, as well as an inability to do so. He may have been comforted in the past by Liam, but never had Zaine had someone who truly understood his struggle. This was solace, and the two quickly forged a bond – one that would not be broken even when he realized they were meant to be on opposite sides of this new battleground.

The inner torment Zaine struggles with now is of a different nature. Now that he has found a soulmate, he cannot imagine giving him up. Liam was one thing, but Salvatore? It has only been such a short time, and already he feels attached. The problem is the closer the two of them get, the more Zaine can feel Sal pushing him away. Their predicament is not an easy one, but now that Zaine has found someone able to fulfill him like no one else has, he is not so willing to give that up.

TAKE NO PRISONERS, LEAVE NO SCARS

LOVE No stranger at all to relationships, Zaine has had many boyfriends over the course of his young life. He is a sweet and caring guy, but he does come with some major baggage. Salvatore is the first person he has ever been with who is unbothered by his family problems…even if only because the other boy shares the same issues himself. It may be too soon to call it love, but Zaine already knows he cares about him more fiercely than he has anyone else ever before. He knows Sal cares about him too, despite his hot and cold nature. And Zaine is so intoxicated by the other boy, he is not willing to let him slip away.

LEGACY However much Zaine cherishes his parents, he knows they will never love him the way he desires. Harland finds every aspect of his son confusing, if not downright loathsome. Meanwhile, Celine will simply have nothing at all to do with him. He has happened to find somewhat of a kinship with his sister Kiah, though even she is not always open to his affection. His cousin Valencia, despite her hard exterior, is the closes to a friend within the family that he has. She is a straight shooter and though she makes no secret of how badly she wishes to emanate his mother, she has a good heart. Nico may new to the family, but Zaine has already begun to embrace him as one of the family. Still, he must be careful, otherwise he could alienate Val, who he knows secretly feels threatened by the sudden appearance of her “brother.” Lucien has always been somewhat of a mysterious figure, though he is remains close with Zaine’s mother. His uncle’s disapproval is not difficult to ascertain, but then it is not easily attained. His aunt Selena, however, is more like a mother to him than his own, and for that he is thankful. He could never understand why Valencia would envy his mother, while taking her own for granted. The two do share a close relationship, and he is glad at least someone else in the family shares his soft-heartedness.

ALLIES It is still too soon for Zaine to have made many friends – or allies. Miles is one Zaine almost immediately reached out to. Their discomfort was easy for him to pick up on, and in true Zaine style, he wants to make them feel welcomed. This family is not an easy one to fit into, and Zaine tries to make the transition as easy as possible, even if Miles may not seem interested in his help. Another new friend he has managed to make is Elijah. It is almost surreal to him, how Elijah can take this business so light-heartedly. Regardless, he is glad to have made a new friend, even in the most surprising of places.

ENEMIES It is not easy at all to be marked as an enemy in Zaine’s book. He is supposed to hate the Gordanos, he supposes, for the sake of family obligation…but his strong ties to Salvatore make even that difficult for him. Ideally, this feud would be put to rest and the whole thing settled. He is a lover, not a fighter, and that mantra rings true for every person involved in this pointless war.

THE REST At the top of Zaine’s to-rescue list is Killian. They have some serious issues, and Zaine knows he cannot even begin to imagine everything this kid has been through. He can sense a tortured past, though Killian refuses to let any of it show; Zaine wonders if they have ever been shown any ounce of kindness or love in their entire existence. He knows he cannot make up for a lifetime of evil, but he wants to at least try. And though Christian is his uncle, he hardly knows him – and meanwhile, he wonders if he knows how his mother and uncle play him like a marionette, not that Zaine himself would ever intercede to tell him so.

ZAINE is potrayed by JACOB ARTIST. He is currently UNAVAILABLE for auditions.