CHARACTER INFO

[aaronmiller]

CHARACTER NAME: Aaron Miller

CHARACTER AGE: 26


BACKGROUND & HISTORY: The Millers – a family of witches – had been many generations strong living in Siren Cove. It was Emily – the only daughter of the current Miller generation -that changed all of that. Born with her family’s strong magical ability to sense emotions, it did not take long for her wanderlust and tendency to rebel to become apparent, much to the chagrin of her parents. At sixteen, she snuck out and began hitchhiking across the country. It was during her travels that she met Henry, an attractive twenty-five year old human, while stopping in New York for a time. They hit it off quickly, and for the first time in a long time, she considered settling down at the age of twenty-two. Five months into the relationship, she even realized she had become pregnant with her first – and ultimately only – child.

Though children weren’t in Henry’s plans, he initially was receptive to the idea of having one with her and even planned to marry Emily so they could be a proper family. They moved into a home together – funded by his well-paying financial district job – and things seemed to be falling into place. It all came crashing down, however, three months after Aaron’s birth, when Emily finally revealed the truth of her lineage. Fearful of her abilities, he immediately took steps to separate himself – and their son – from her. His considerable clout in the community insured she never had a chance of winning custody, and the last time she would see her son was at his first birthday party.

Henry would eventually marry another woman, who gave birth to a child when Aaron was two. Aaron himself was led to believe the woman – Joan – was his real mother, and he never knew otherwise. Still, it was clear he was to be treated…differently from his sibling. Though his sister was spoiled with everything she could want, Scott often found himself the odd person out in the family. It only got worse when, at the age of six, Aaron began stumbling upon his latent magical abilities.

It started with him correctly guessing the illness in the family dog. For days he insisted every time he touched the dog, he could feel it was in pain ‘in his tummy’, as he put it. His parents ignored him, thinking he was making stories up, until the dog began showing signs something amiss was happening. They’d find out later the dog had eaten something that had gotten caught in its’ stomach. It was the first of many times he correctly identified where an animal was in pain, though not all welcomed the ability. After telling a friend his older cat was sick and was probably going to die soon despite no sign of illness, he soon found himself the talk of his school when the boy began telling people his prediction had been the reason the cat died.

Instead of siding with his son when he found out what was happening, Henry made it clear, under no uncertain terms, was he ever allowed to say such things again, and that he would not raise a ‘freak’. It was a conversation that stuck with Aaron, and for the rest of his childhood, he more or less ignored the things he seemed to simply innately sense around animals. it often pained him to leave them suffering because of the shame taught to him, but his father’s wrath kept him silent.

It was only when he was a teenager that he came to learn his true lineage by accident. He stumbled upon a box of his mother’s things in the attic when his family was getting ready to move from his childhood home to a bigger place. Among the left items were journals where his mother spoke candidly about her life and made mention of Aaron himself eventually. His relationship with his father – which was strained to begin with – shattered that day as he realized he had been lied to for so many years. At eighteen, he left home and never looked back. As a final nail in the coffin of their relationship, he even changed his last name to his mother’s maiden name.

Devoting his life to animals was a no brainer after that. Long years of schooling and training finally made him a viable candidate for most zoos around the nation – his dream job. Aaron could have chosen a lot of places as his first pick, but there was only one zoo he ever wanted to work for. His extensive background – and innate abilities – made him an easy hire at Siren Cove’s Wildlife Refuge and Zoo.

He moved to the town not long after he got the news – the first Miller to live in Siren Cove since his grandmother’s death ten years before.

PERSONALITY: Aaron’s upbringing shaped who he would become as a person. On the outside, most people know him as a bit of an oddball – those weird rumors about him and animals never went away – but, at the very least, he was considered a funny oddball. Using his sense of humor and sarcasm as a shield, he managed to win over most people he met. That he was also genuinely kind to people didn’t hurt his reputation as someone you wanted to be friends with, and consequently he enjoyed a decent bit of popularity growing up. He gained favor with his teachers as well, as though his antics were sometimes disruptive, he was an excellent, smart, and diligent student, whose love of knowledge was evident.

The problem was, no one really knew him. Not all of him.

Suppressing his magical abilities and hiding it from the world took its’ toll rather quickly. He spent much of his childhood feeling ashamed of both what he could do and how often he passed up using his abilities to help things that were essentially helpless. He remained away from animals for much of the time growing up because of it, no matter how much he enjoyed being around them. It was all for the careful facade of a normal person he was putting forth and he never let anyone see past it to see who he really was. Though he has a better understanding of his place in the world since finding the journals, those chains he built around his heart remained. His tendency to make friends only at the superficial level continued all throughout his life, keeping people at an arm’s length to insure he kept up appearances. Though moving to Siren Cove essentially frees him from hiding any longer, he still isn’t used to being a very open person, especially about his magic – years of self-hate can do a lot of damage, as it turns out.

He’s trying to change, though. It’s a slow process, but one he started it just by making it his goal to return to his mother’s roots, someplace it was clear he could begin to show people all sides of him as a person.

OPINION OF THE RIVALRY: Though there was some talk in her mother’s journals about the rivalry, her mother cared little about it and he similarly doesn’t either, having not grown up to witness it firsthand. Whether or not more exposure to it will change his mind remains to be seen.

LIFESTYLE: Aaron has only recently moved to Siren Cove. Though he isn’t poor by any means with his new position at the Zoo paying very well, he chose a simple apartment overlooking the ocean to live in when he first arrived. The apartment remains sparsely decorated – the idea of setting roots is still a bit new to him – but he does share it with his seven year old golden retriever, Alex. If he is outside recreationally, he is probably with his dog – he’s quite attached to her.

When he isn’t working hard at his job at the town’s zoo, he tends to spend as much time as he can outside his apartment, be it doing outdoor activities or socializing in one of the many places the town has to offer. Though he wasn’t ever on a team growing up, he does enjoy basketball, and is sometimes found tossing some hoops to relax after a long day.

POWERS & ABILITIES: Aaron is a witch. His powers essentially are an offshoot of empath magic. Unlike his mother, who could read humans, Aaron’s abilities seem solely focused on animals. Through touch, he can feel their emotions as if they were his own, which he uses in his work to pinpoint problems and problem areas. Due to his upbringing, his magic isn’t strong yet and he hasn’t fully grasped the full extent of what he can do. Because of this, he has yet to realize he can influence their emotions with his own by projection, though the ability is there to discover.

PLAYED BY: Christopher Gorham