Aspen

Aspen is the 2nd oldest of 4 children, and the oldest brother. He does his best to live up to this role and to be a reliable member of his family. He and his twin sister, Willow, have been inseparable for their entire lives. The two rely on each other a lot, and have spent their whole lives sharing their friends and social circles. Aspen believes the two of them compliment each other well. He’s usually the instigator for things and is far more socially outgoing than Willow. Much like his sister, he’s a little socially inept but he lacks the sense to realize this. He jokes around often, sometimes to a fault. He helps Willow break out of her shell, and she helps keep him in check when he gets too out of line.

He’s confident, which is a charm point of his, but he’s also confident to a fault. This same confidence is enough to make him a bit of a flirt, but not enough for him to actually follow through on any of the flirty things he says. This is only made worse by how difficult he finds it to get attached to people. He’s gotten off pretty easily for this behavior thanks to Willow always being around but he’s realizing he needs to actually mind the things he says when she’s not there. 

When it comes to handling problems, he prefers to go with the flow and see where things end. He doesn’t actually like making waves or being the center of attention, so he tries to avoid any serious confrontation as much as possible.

Tldr: Local guy was just chilling and trying to be a good brother and son. Dad died on short notice and now he and his sister are trying to find their own ways to grieve and move forward. 

Aspen’s childhood wasn’t anything too extraordinary. He grew up with three siblings in a humble home in a mostly starborn community. His parents separated when he was still too young to remember it, but still lived together with their four children and remained friends over the years. His mother did the majority of the child rearing and caring for the home, while their father worked long hours in a factory, and would go out drinking with friends before coming home. 

The children spent a lot of time building the garden outside of their home together and their mother always had fresh, home grown fruits and vegetables in her cooking. Aspen isn’t much of a green thumb, but he loves cooking and often helped out in the kitchen voluntarily. 

His relationship with his father was more complicated. He was a lot like Aspen in many ways and had the same sense of humor, and Aspen always felt like he had a special relationship with him compared to the other siblings. Aspen got a job as a delivery driver that often led him to his father’s factory, and when he got the chance he’d join him on his lunch breaks. He never understood why Willow didn’t seem to share the same kinship with their father, but he also never worried much about it. 

He knew his father was “old fashioned” and had some nasty ideals, but rather than fight him head on he’d try to redirect. He didn’t believe his father could or would change, so he tried to just keep him away from those topics to avoid confrontation.

He was heartbroken when his father told them he’d be moving away to start a new life, but neither he nor Willow knew how to bring that topic up with him. They felt like they were being abandoned… left behind. What could be so valuable over the horizon that it was worth leaving your family behind for? 

He never got the chance to ask his father, because when the twins planned to confront him about it he made an announcement to them first. He was sick. Really sick. And he’d wanted to change careers because his health had been failing him and the factory was too much, but things had gone too far for it to be ignored. They decided not to broach the topic, understanding the gravity of the situation. The whole time he was sick he talked about his future once he was well enough to make the move, but it wasn’t meant to be. In a few months he was gone, leaving all of them behind. 

His mother moved in with his girlfriend, taking their two younger siblings with them, but Willow had other plans. He was shocked when she told him she wanted to take the ticket and go in their father’s place, but he didn’t stop her. It was too much to bear, and if she needed to run from it then he’d hold down the fort back home. He stayed behind to manage the funeral and legal matters, and debated on who he’d stay with. 

Would he stay here, in the town he’d been born and raised in where all of his memories were? Or would he follow his other half to see what was worth leaving them behind over? He was surprised how quickly his mind was made up, and he wrote a letter to Willow.

“I’ll see you soon, hold down the fort until I arrive, yeah?”