Frey Strelitz

Frey basically inherited her job from her mom: ferrying dainties from planet to planet, solar system to solar system, galaxy to galaxy—wherever you want to go, she'll get you there. She was raised on her mom's old ship half the time and in her dad's commune the other half. It was on an Earth-like planet and, whenever she was there, she was dressed like her father's people—brightly-feathered humanoids who dressed to match. She became more and more self-conscious of being “gaudy” as she got older and spent more time noticing all the stares she got when off-planet.

As an adult, she realizes it was stupid, but she's still none too keen to wear anything as bright and colorful as her father. She low-key loves lace, corsetry, embroidery, beading, color gradients, sparkles, glitter...pretty much everything most dainties seem to be into when it comes to clothes. But she feels self-conscious wearing it, still worried in the back of her mind that she's too gaudy. Frey will only go all-out when it comes to lingerie or leather that might as well be lingerie. And even then, only sometimes. She admires people who can just wear stuff like that in public all the time, she's just...not brave enough to wear any of it herself. Most of her clothes do have some lace or frills to match her stockings, though, or have feathers that she's shed or other little bits of jazz for an otherwise understated outfit. She dresses in mostly dark colors to make her plumage “pop.”

Her dad hates it. He sees it as her snubbing her entire heritage, which in turn makes her feel insulted for insinuating that her dainty heritage doesn't count somehow, and they go back and forth like this for hours. It doesn't help that when she visits, everyone else in the commune is on his side and criticizes her for being too bland. She loves her dad, but if her mom hadn't started living with him full-time after retiring she might never visit again.

Her mother, of course, is a dainty like herself. She was born on Earth, where Frey's grandparents still live, but got into space exploration as a teen and never looked back. Even after meeting Frey's father, she only lived with him part-time and took Frey with her into space whenever she left. Presumably so she could meet other dainties and visit family. She still has her old ship and takes on passengers occasionally—but honestly, she mostly uses it to unexpectedly show up and bother Frey.

The scars on her face are a mystery because she never tells anyone the same story twice. Sometimes it's space pirates or a demonic cult or a murderous customer or an attempt on her life because her heart belongs to a mysterious prince across the universe (this is also the reason she gives for not getting into any romantic relationships) and his betrothed wanted her dead or a mysterious creature made of solidified light emitting from a gemstone trying to capture her and use her for grim experiments in a flying lab shaped like a mollusc spire.

Or maybe the hatch of her ship wasn't properly secured one day and slammed down on her, snapping an antler, scraping it down her face, and nearly blinding her right eye.

She's very strict about following safety protocols on her ship these days.