"Write a quote here....."

Personality

Davide is friendly, fun-loving, and fairly outgoing but he does not have to be the center of attention. Instead, he tends to be a bit of a wallflower, soft-spoken and an excellent listener. Around strangers he has a classic sort of politeness one would associate with his somewhat noble background. It is only around those he is most familiar with that his playful sense of humor and snarky nature come out. He can even be rather snooty about numerous things, quick to judge poor food prep and architecture by people he knows should do better.

Davide makes for a loyal friend but can be a bit hesitant when it comes to conflicts. In fact, a major flaw is that he is ultimately not sure what he wants to do with himself and sometimes (plenty of times) this has led him to be dragged according to others whims instead of his own. That, or he doesn't allow himself to pursue what he wants if it goes against the wants of others. More than anything else, he's an all-around good guy that can be "too good for his own good". He has a very hard time saying no to people and this is in large part due to his need to "people please" caused by his Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria.

Davide is really into the arts and was classically trained in piano (his mother, being a musician, valued musical skill) and the french horn but he favors the former. He's also into drawing but he never works with color or "living subjects" really, he just uses the medium to draw places he likes in order to "capture them"*. Davide is quite sentimental like that. As he got older this interest combined with his love for architecture so he likes to draw any interesting building he sees and study lithographs of famous classical buildings.

Another hobby he enjoys is baking (and cooking, albeit to a slightly lesser extent) and is quite good at it. He mostly likes to dabble in any bit of foriegn cusine he can get his hand on, including dishes from the Far East and their even harder to find ingredients. While staying at [the house] he even grows many of these rarities brought back by Wright. Davide is as experimental as a scientist in the kitchen but despite his culinary breadth, his favorite food is something simple and nostalgic like ajo blanco, sesame ficelle, or a decent brew of coffee. He has a bit of a snobbiness when it comes to food.

Davide is really drawn to fantasy and enjoys tabletop RP games as well as reading novels. He's not a huge sports person but he has a soft spot for soccer (or more specifically, its players) and enjoys swimming recreationally. He hates running with a burning passion and doesn't know how Taylor does it.

*One could easily argue this is a grounding exercise for his dissociation issues. Davide feels very "out of time and place" frequently, like as if the ground opened up and he's not really sure if he's really /here/ or that the world is just happening around him. His interest in drawing places of importance to him is a way of connecting to his observations and memories, to make them feel more real and him in more control. Furthermore, it is highly likely his dissociation is in part caused by his close proximity to ██ from an early age.

History

Davide was born in Paris, France to the Gerou family (he gets his surname via his grandfather who is biracial but the rest of his immediate family is, for all intents and purposes, predominantly what we would call "black"). Davide is the eldest child, making Illah Gerou his younger sister. He also had a younger brother but he died due to an inluenza outbreak in Paris, the tragedy (not uncommon in this time) is what prompted the family to move to the countryside. This brought them to Admesnil for the rest of their children's childhoods. The small town offered a nice house in exchange for having another much-needed doctor.

There in Admesnil, Davide was enrolled in a grammar school for young children which was co-ed (due to town's size, co-ed institutions are very uncommon still). Used to the big city and its diversity, Davide felt like a near-literal "black sheep" in the classroom. To make matters worse, he had to start school with an eyepatch due to a recent amblyopia diagnosis caused by his far-sightedness. Despite this, he rapidly curried favor with a certain peer, Taylor, and his crew due to his intelligence as well as the fact he was a "fancy-talking" transfer student who captured Taylor's curiosity with the world outside of little Admesnil. They inducted him under the nickname "pirate" (because of the patch). Even after the novelty of his Parisien accent died down, his unusual kindness and loyalty earned him a permanent place in Taylor's friend circle. In fact, he went on to become Taylor's closest friend and confidante as the two's houses were rather close to each other, within a few miles apart, allowing them to wander and see each other halfway or meet up at Davie's house.

This life continued for Davide until he turned 11 (and Illah 7) when his family moved back to Paris so their children could further their education now that they were not so young and vulnerable to disease. As Davide got older, he increasingly struggled more and more and would not talk about why. In reality, he was developing depression and anxiety on top of struggling with his sexuality. His academic performance suffered, causing his parents to get more strict with him. This only made the situation worse.

Eventually, unsure of what to do and too afraid of reversing their rules,  Davide's parents took him and Illah to Andalusia (country south of France) where they would live with the paternal side of Davide's family. While Andalusia became somewhat of a home for Illah, Davide never quite got fully acquainted with Andalusian Arabic and really struggled. He made some friends and began to do great in school once again but he now felt so hollow, like it was all only a performance. He eventually moved back to Paris, France when he came of age in order to begin medical school but a few years and mishaps later (read: those anxiety issues and depression) he found himself once again with Taylor, only this time in Macon. There, he is trying to sort out what he, not his parents, want him to do in life.

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