Some people have been known to call him 'roguish,' which he's fine with, especially when it's followed with '-ly handsome.' Others might just call him 'relatively clean.' (That's something he tries to be: a soldier known for his regular showering.) Massey has also been known to be called short at 5'9", though he'd argue he's really more like average. He's fit in a slender-but-muscular sense, never one to complain about PT (unless it's extra because he's gotten himself in trouble) but not enormously concerned with his physique either.
His coloring and features are fairly garden variety standard Hispanic background: dusky skin and thick black hair, dark brown eyes. That thick black hair is somewhat on the shaggy side, but generally kept slicked back just enough to not be in his face without looking overly gelled. He also has a near-perpetual five o'clock shadow.
Massey is as well-dressed as the circumstance allows.
He's a laid-back jokester, Eli; while he's never one to step out of line or actually seriously challenge authority, he does like to play at most things. He's a crackerjack shot, but has just as much fun toying around with clay pigeons as he does in real combat situations. Despite his usual comeback to being called short being that he's tall for a pilot, he's /not/ a pilot … but he does actually love being in shuttles and flying around. Were he to encounter a Threadfighting sled, he'd think it was the greatest thing ever.
That laid-back jokesterdom is held in check, however, when the time is actually serious, and it's pretty much always just that: joking. He won't be joking about fiery deaths if someone's recently experienced one, for example, even if he normally makes sarcastic comments about them. He takes the rank he's been trusted with very seriously, and the joking is never made about weapons or anything else that might be /genuinely/ dangerous enough that people under his command (something he's still in a little bit of shock about! he got command! he'll pretend externally that he knows he's right for it, but internally's a bit nervous at times) might take him at his word that something is Totally a Good Idea and get hurt. He hopes that his outrageous suggestions are very clearly outrageous to all involved.
While he flirts, he doesn't entirely know what he's doing with it most of the time. People don't generally see interest from him as any form of commitment. He is definitely not a romantic; he's actually fairly sentimental, but sees it as a negative trait he keeps bottled up much like he keeps any doubt that he's the right man for command.
There's also a little bit of genuine OCD to him — he's repetitive and mildly compulsive, clean and organized — but not enough to have knocked him off eligibility for the military. That's another thing he's able to keep in check and keep hidden from most people; it would take knowing him well and thoroughly to discern it as anything other than a mildly unusual habit.
​The son of a non-commissioned officer, who was in turn the son of /two/ non-commissioned officers, and so on and so forth back as long as they can track, Eliseo Massey's family was definitely military through and through. What they weren't were of particular stature and definitely not of particular wealth — they ended up in the military in the first place simply due to a want to survive. Enlisting is a great way to handle things when you haven't got any money. And so it became the status quo: they never became richer, they never became well known, but within the FSP military structure, Masseys were at least known as /reliable/.
Eliseo started out in lower level, average Poor Kid School; he showed an interest in enlisting that was truly his own, and not familial pressure, at around 12. Starting there, he practiced his marksmanship until he really was something to contend with — a lot of shuffling got him into higher levels of training, and he was able to join up as a proper recruit at sixteen after all. The trust put in him from the start was based on knowing that his parents and grandparents were good people.
Flash forward ten years of hard work: promotions to private at eighteen as appropriate, and then working up the ranks on short tours, training missions, and even a couple of actual skirmishes. They were definitely ten years of excitement in terms of work, and of making a lot of friends and connections that also had him known as a fun sort of fellow to be around; Massey got a positive reputation from his cohort and commanders alike. Lucky for him, even the couple of relatively long-term romantic partners he'd had don't have much negative to say about him except for his tendencies to be distracted and not very good at romance.
The Amherst was his first mission after being promoted to sergeant, and his first tour of truly substantial length. He wasn't entirely sure how he managed all of those things at once: a good, long tour, a promotion, a commander who saw more promise in him than he did … but he wasn't going to look that gift horse in the mouth.
Even if the mission was going to end pretty badly.
For once he had not even the remotest consideration that it might have somehow been his fault.
Description: Non-enhanced little gold snappy beast.
Kynadroth is nothing short of adorable. She’s a sweet-looking little green that’s all soft edges with large bright eyes and an expression that says she’s just perfectly harmless. Her build is along the lines of a gangling puppy, all legs and length without much control over them. Even as an adult she’ll still look a bit like she’s stuck in the middle of an awkward adolescent phase.
Kynadroth is dear, but hopelessly and notoriously clumsy. It’s really not for lack of trying, but she may never seem to get a handle on her body and is regularly knocking into things or bumping into the others. And sometimes it’s a little bit hard not to get distracted or not quite pay attention to where she’s swinging her tail. There will be some worry about how she’ll perform when it comes time to fight Thread and it will take a fair amount of extra practice to make sure her muscle memory is solid enough that she’s not considered a danger.
It’s really difficult to be even a little bit angry with her, however. Kynadroth is such a laid-back thing with so much good humour that it’s hard to stay upset about anything she does. And in the end she will be able to fight well, as well as be able to absorb a whole lot of damage before being affected. She’ll heal from injuries quickly and bounce back from rough situations with infectious cheer so she’ll prove to be an invaluable creature from a morale standpoint alone.