🦇 || Salem

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Name: Salem

Alias: None

Age: 23

Gender: Cis Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Unlabeled, just kinda goes with the flow

Species: Dog/cat hybrid (has mostly dog blood but the cat genes come out in the tail (long and fluffy) and claws (sharp and retractable))

Personality: Salem is a chill guy who's also really, really sleepy. He prefers to take the path of least resistance with most things in his life, and thus is known for being amicable, but lacking any sort of drive. He doesn't seem to crave relationships or interactions the way others do, and while he was always glad to have someone to hang out with to keep himself from being bored, it wasn't until high school where he actually made a best friend. He's certainly capable of being competent and charismatic, but his insomnia usually keeps him from having the energy to act like that. So he would just use all of his energy to get passing grades, and forget the rest. He wouldn't trade his current friends for the world, though, as they mean everything to him. 

One of the very few things Salem is actively passionate about is horror. He's a huge horror fan, and he especially likes the supernatural subgenera. Unsurprisingly, he's a big ol' simp that gets fictional crushes often, and he's especially fond of slashers and those with creature-like qualities. He will gladly engage in a conversation about horror with like-minded individuals for hours, and it's one of the times where he doesn't even look tired. There are very few things that can truly freak him out (in the fictional world, at least-- he's terrified of spiders), but analog horror is one of the few types of horror that can truly disturb him. If he had the energy to be paranoid like Shaw, it would certainly affect him a lot more. Luckily (or perhaps not), Salem seems to have an "if I die I die, they caught me slipping" sort of attitude when it comes to the idea of serial killers or murderous monsters. This probably ties into the fact that he's always willing to do stupid shit with Shaw and Aero Hyper. 

Other: Salem is an avid coffee drinker who always smells like he just came out from behind the counter at a Starbucks. Despite being a total coffee junkie, he has a tendency to fall asleep as soon as the caffeine wears off. He can often be found completely knocked out with his head and arms on a table, prompting his friends to wake him up by banging their own hands on the table, but since he's gotten used to it, sometimes it'll take two or even three good "thumps" before he wakes up. Used to be dominant in his left hand, but after an accident caused him to lose strength in that arm, he had to use his right hand as his dominant hand instead. His favorite fast food place is Subway.

Backstory: Salem's backstory isn't too interesting-- as a matter of fact, if you asked about his childhood, he'd say that there really isn't much to it at all. He was born in a middle class family as an only child, had an uneventful upbringing, and went through school with passing grades. He always had a couple of small friends, but none that really lasted when the schools went out for the summer. They were typically people he was just friendly with in class and who he would hang out with at birthday parties, but once they weren't really being forced to be in the same places anymore, they'd always go their separate ways. Salem never minded, he always preferred staying inside and hanging out by himself anyway. He'd read, or nap, or help around the house, and though he didn't hate having to hang out with others, it was just never really something he looked forward to. Salem's favorite pastime, though, one that would follow him all throughout his life, was watching horror movies. His dad loved monster movies like Aliens and Predator and Jaws, and would show him all the time. Salem loved snuggling up in his parents' bed and watching the movie until it was over, or until he fell asleep and his parents carried him off to bed. As he got older, he started to like scarier PG-13 slashers and supernatural films, which his mother would (somewhat begrudgingly) watch with him. Even after his tastes got too scary for his parents to handle, he would always look back on those times fondly. 

Salem started to have problems with staying awake when he was in middle school. While most kids wouldn't start drinking coffee until high school (not counting anything sugary from Starbucks), Salem had his in a steaming to-go cup on the first day of 7th grade. While preparing for the new sleep schedule, he and his parents had realized that getting up so early meant he'd periodically fall asleep during the day. So, somewhat worriedly, his mother allowed him to have a limited amount of coffee per day. To Salem's surprise, it was good! Everyone had always told him how bitter it would taste and how much he'd hate it at first, but Salem found that it tastes as good as it smelled. And coffee smelled good. He loved the stuff, and it gave him something to look forward to when he woke up, because at first his mother would only let him have one cup a day. Which, in the beginning, was all he needed. Salem didn't fall asleep during the day anymore, and he was awake and alert for all of his classes. He was even getting to bed earlier because that meant he could have more coffee faster. 

But, as the months stretched on, the coffee wasn't working as well as it had. Salem was falling after school at first, but then he was unwillingly taking naps in his classes following lunch. So, he asked for more coffee. His father laughed and tried to joke that Salem was becoming a coffee addict like him, but his mother was worried about his heart. She said that Salem couldn't bring coffee with him to school, so Salem, being truly rebellious for the first time ever, started sneaking off school property during lunch to buy coffee from the gas station down the street. Astonishingly, he never got caught, and was free to buy as much coffee as his pocket change allowed him. But this caused his coffee addiction to grow, spiraling out of control until it was absolutely something he needed to function. Gone was the energy boost it would give him-- now, all coffee allowed him to do was stay awake. By the time he was in high school, the amount of coffee he was drinking was worryingly unhealthy. 

Other than Salem’s increasing caffeine addiction which was set to hit its peak and then plateau sometime during high school, things still really didn’t change much for him. In popular culture, high school had always seemed like this monolith, some sort of massive trial to overcome which could dictate the course of one’s life for the rest of their days. Salem had expected things to change when he first stepped into those ivory white halls, but to his surprise, nothing did. He was still the quiet kid who got good grades and stayed out of trouble. He was still the loner with a caffeine addiction who didn’t really try too hard to make friends. He was still the wallflower who sat in the very corner of the lunchroom and only talked when spoken to. Salem wasn’t disappointed by such a turnout, just… surprised. And so he went along with life as he always had.

Salem made his first real long-lasting friend when he was in his junior year of high school. It had been any old lunch period, and he was sat in the corner of the lunch room as was typical of him. That's when, out of the blue, a freshman sat at the same table. They didn't interact other than a wave and a polite "hey" "hi" from each party, and ate their lunches in relative silence. But unlike everyone else who had taken a temporary seat at Salem's lunch table, the freshman returned. They were quiet and didn't really seem like they wanted to be noticed, but from the way they'd constantly take a break from eating to respond to something on their phone, it didn't seem like they didn't have friends either. A few weeks into the school year, Salem finally introduced himself to the underclassman. The freshman was surprised, no doubt, but instantly reciprocated the greeting. Salem was shocked as the freshman instantly started conversing with Salem, almost as if they had been waiting for an invitation to intrude on Salem's time and not just his table. In that conversation alone, in which Salem now knew the freshman as Shaw, they each learned that they had a whole bunch of things in common. From the music they listened to to the food they liked, from their problems with sleeping to their sense of humor, even the fact that they were both obsessed with horror movies-- the two were similar. Really similar. So, it was no surprise that they started hanging out, more than just sitting together at the lunch table. 

Their friendship was fast, but Salem didn't mind. He was nice to have someone that cared about him for him and not just having someone to make plans with when they were bored. His parents were also ecstatic that he had found someone he connected with so intently, and practically volunteered their time and money to make sure things stayed that way. If they needed a driver to take them somewhere, Salem's mother would offer immediately. If they needed pocket change to do something, Salem's father would provide. If they wanted to see a scary movie but couldn't get in because they were underage, Salem's parents would take turns taking them and sitting through whatever horrific things the two found entertaining. Salem was a bit embarrassed by this, but Shaw never seemed to mind. He told Salem that it was nice that his parents cared so much about him, that they would do so much just to make sure he was happy. As the years went on, the two got even closer. Even when Salem went off to college while Shaw had to stay behind, they promised to see each other as often as they could.

In current times, both Salem and Shaw are in college, with Salem in graduate school and Shaw in his junior year. They've long since outgrown the honeymoon phase of their friendship, but they're closer than ever. Their duo expanded to a trio with the addition of Aero Hyper (who Salem can't really remember how he met, but doesn't really care about that anyways), and though Salem has gotten better at maintaining relationships and turning acquaintances into friends, Shaw and Aero are undoubtedly his best friends. Some things never changed, like his coffee addiction and slasher obsession (which only worsened over the years), but Shaw and Aero love him not in spite of his flaws, but because of them. Things aren't always smooth sailing-- they've had their fights, and Shaw has gotten them into more than one stupid or dangerous situation over the years-- but they always get through it. Salem loves his friends and wouldn't trade them for anything, even if he sometimes feels like hanging around them has decreased his lifespan by a few years. But, that's a story for another day.

Relationships:

Shaw: Shaw is one of Salem's two best friends, and the so-called "leader" of their little trio. They met in freshman year of high school--Shaw was a freshman, Salem was a junior-- and stuck together like glue ever since. Shaw is aggressive and a bit of a hardass, and while he'll often poke fun at Aero Hyper and Salem, he's actually a total sweetheart. Salem finds it funny how drastically his mood changes when they're out and about versus when they're all hanging out in private. Shaw often seems annoyed at Salem's bad habits and his propensity for falling asleep in public, but he'll gladly take Salem out for coffee since they're both coffee addicts, Shaw just less so. Shaw will also gladly cuddle with Salem, with Salem having fallen asleep in his arms more often than he can count (not like he could ever tell anyone anyways, since Shaw would kill him). Salem knows that Shaw would never admit it, but he's pretty sure that Shaw is actually worried about the unhealthy amount of coffee that he drinks, and just projects that worry out as annoyance. 

Despite their energies being complete opposites of each other, the two have tons in common. They both love coffee, they both love horror movies, and they'd both rather hang out in private than in public. Shaw is also surprisingly clingy, as if he's worried that Salem will one day grow annoyed with him and leave him. Salem will happily put up with Shaw's clinginess and random mood swings, because at the end of the day, they're still best friends that have been at each other's side for the better part of eight years. Salem actually knows a secret about Shaw that he doesn't let on. Salem knows that Shaw has considered asking him out on a date-- however, he also knows that Shaw is terrified of "getting bored" of a serious relationship and dumping Salem, thus ruining their relationship. Salem would never say anything, and he doesn't think any less of Shaw for it. But he still knows. 

Aero Hyper: Aero Hyper and Salem get along quite well, with Aero often acting as a middle ground between Shaw's high energy and Salem's low energy. Aero is calm and quiet like Salem is, but lacks his common drowsiness. Salem finds Aero easy to talk to and even easier to vibe with, and respects Aero's level head. He has a sneaking suspicion that Aero has more to them than they're letting on, but figures that it's nobody's business but theirs, and that if Aero wants to talk to Shaw and him about it, they'll do it on their own time. Even if Salem isn't as physically close to Aero Hype as he is with Shaw, he'll balk at the mere idea that Aero is somehow the third wheel of their group, and cares about him just as much as he cares about Shaw. Aero, being by far the most financially well-off of the group (which Salem has no idea why, seeing as Aero is only 20), also buys tons of coffee for Salem whenever they're out. Salem hates having others buy things for him, because he feels as if he's taking advantage of their generosity-- but no matter how much he tells Aero to stop, Aero just keeps buying more coffee since Salem "always drinks it, so it's not being wasted". This exasperates Salem, but a part of him is always grateful, even if he hates to admit it. 

Techno: Techno is, in Shaw's words, "a persistent little pest who needs to leave the adults alone". In Salem's words, Techno is just a somewhat annoying senior who thinks that the trio is the coolest thing since sliced bread and is always trying to hang out with them. Salem finds this a bit odd, especially since Techno already has their own group of friends that he hangs out with regularly, but Salem can't really bring himself to care or get angry like Shaw does. He just tries his best to ignore Techno (because Shaw will get annoyed if he doesn't), even if he does find the kid's efforts a little bit endearing and makes a bit of small talk with him when Shaw isn't around. Salem has never raised any concern, but he is definitely aware of all the trouble that Techno gets into, even if the authority figures in the kid's life aren't. It would be hard not to be, seeing as how Techno is constantly bragging about them to try and make himself look cool. Secretly, Salem finds himself to be a little worried for the kid. He's already done some things that could have gotten him into deep shit if he had been caught, what else might he be willing to do to get their attention?