╸𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌 : Charles/Charlie "Cash" Deacon | Previously Carlo Dicenzo

╸𝘈𝘎𝘌 : 42 | 10/13/1933

╸𝘐𝘋𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘛𝘠 : masculine│he/him/

  bisexual | biromantic

╸𝘚𝘗𝘌𝘊𝘐𝘌𝘚 : Vessel

Charlie is no ordinary human. He is a Vessel and one of the last of his kind. Vessels are born with symbols on the base of their necks, indicating their powers. A Vessel can exorcise demons by forcing them into their bodies to be cleansed and released but at the expense of the Vessel's wellbeing. It is very taxing on the body and can be incredibly dangerous if not conducted properly. Vessel training starts at a young age using strictly categorized demons to introduce the work with only the weakest demons in the Overworld.

 ╸𝘎𝘌𝘕𝘌𝘙𝘈𝘓

Cash is a tall and lanky man who is bordering on the look of being emaciated. His skin is a tan color but tends to be more sallow-looking. Charlie is covered in gnarled, red scars from head to toe, a result of his Vessel work, though what is visible on his face is a lot more faded and can be mistaken for general scarring. They crawl up to his neck and grow red hot when he does his work. His hair is shaggy and almost black, except for the solid streak of white that he has for bangs because of his poliosis. His eyes are a yellowy amber and appear to be sunken in. He usually hides his sickly form beneath a thick fleece-lined leather jacket and a black turtleneck, as well as a worn-out pair of jeans and boots. Above all, he wears a gold chain with the cross of Jesus, and a heart locket with a picture of his wife in it.

╸𝘉𝘖𝘋𝘠 : 5'11 / 180cm│ 140 lbs / 63 kgs

                            ━ “You're not worth my time."

╸𝘍𝘈𝘊𝘌 :

               𝘦𝘺𝘦 : amber 

               𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 : black and white

━━━━━━

━━━━𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

╸𝘎𝘌𝘕𝘌𝘙𝘈𝘓 : callous

Cash is a very cold and standoffish man. He has no connections with anyone, not even his family, only those he considers allies all across the states. He does things strictly for business and never sticks to one place for too long. What he lacks in empathy is completely replaced by apathy and what care he has only for himself and his cause. He will show the bare minimum care for a client when it comes to exorcisms but that is where it ends. The only time he may appear a bit more kind than usual is when there are children involved with his work because he too was once a child exposed to the dangers of demons at far too young an age. Cynicism radiates off Charlie like radioactive bile and although he has very few people who know him personally, those who do can see that he is a dead man walking.

                            ━ “I don't really believe in God but I sure as hell believe in myself."

╸𝘛𝘙𝘈𝘐𝘛𝘚 :

               𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦: resourceful, survivalist, decisive

                𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦: addict, apathetic, antisocial

                             ━ “Don't get too comfortable. I'm not sticking around.”

╸𝘏𝘈𝘉𝘐𝘛𝘜𝘈𝘓 :

                𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴: drinking, smoking

                𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘦𝘴: …

               𝘱𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴: having a phantom itch he literally can’t scratch because he can't feel.

               𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴: ???

╸𝘐𝘓𝘓𝘕𝘌𝘚𝘚 :

               mental illness: severe depression

physical condition: poliosis

Cash was born Carlo Dicenzo in the rolling hills of Rome, Italy on October 13th, 1935. He was the youngest of seven, making for a tight household amongst the Dicenzos. Cash, however, doesn't remember much of Italy, at least not while he was living there, because the Dicenzos moved to the States in search of stronger jobs when he was only three. They changed the children's names to something more American, which made Carlo turn into Charles. Aside from that, his childhood felt...normal. New York City was the place to be it seemed, albeit he remembered his parents cursing the casual racism from streetgoers. They visited Italy whenever they could though. Most of the family was still there, cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents...

One could argue that it was fine.

On the outside, at least.

For all of two years, things were normal. 

The Beginning.

"Charlie, you have to say the words!!"

The house rumbled.

"You have to say the words or else it won't work!"

Screams were scratching against Charlie's ears.

"Charlie, this is your duty, you have to fucking do it!!"
Charlie quivered in his boots. He stared right into deep, gaping voids of black eyes on a creature that could no longer be human. Charlie, who had barely grown out of toddler clothes, was now face to face with a demon ready to consume him whole.

But he is a Vessel. He should be fine.

"Mamma-" Charlie whimpered, his fists shaking and his lip quivering. He felt his trousers grow damp.

"Charlie!!"

"Nullus daemon inferni huc intrabit!"

The pentagram beneath Charlie's feet began to grow red as Charlie's eyes grew dark. He felt his throat burn and tighten. "It hurts-!" he cried.

"You're doing it! Nico, he's doing it!! Charlie, keep going!!"

Charlie continued. The aggressive voices of his mother and father were nothing but mere whispers in his ears. His fear of the demon and his fear of disappointing his parents seemed to conflict and explode before immediately neutralizing to make way for his one true calling. Latin flew off his lips like a geyser, each syllable causing the demon to screech and moan, its bones contorting and its body seizing. So too did Charlie's. It made his skin grow red, his eyes turn black, and an oil-like ooze burst from his nostrils and stream down from his eyes.

This was what it meant to be a Vessel: self-mutilation for the greater good.

Love Festers.

Charlie groaned and let his head fall back, causing his salt and pepper hair to fall across his shoulders. "Ugh, if Coach Jennings goes on about commitment and "becoming the bat" again before the game tomorrow, I think I will actually just pay the other team to whack me with one."

Laughter erupted from the group of boys as they walked towards the baseball diamond with their sports bags slung over their shoulders. The sun was beginning to dip down into the sky as the later afternoon began to tick away. Being only fifteen and already a star player on the boy's varsity baseball team was a lucky move for Charlie, and sure, he was grateful, but it didn't make Coach Jennings any less annoying. At the very least, he got along well with the other boys despite being the youngest out of all of them.

"Sounds like a surefire ticket to the pearly gates, Charles. Or you could just tell that to Jennings' face, take your pick!" said his teammate Paul, causing the boys to continue laughing. It was always like this when the five of them were around. There was Paul the smart-ass, Steven the dumb-ass, James the wise-ass, Charles the jack-ass, and finally, Dennis the kiss-ass, though everyone saw him be more like a big brother.

Dennis sighed. "Any louder and coach will walk by and hear you and it is extra laps for our next practice. Does that sound like any fun to you?"
The group groaned. "Kill joy," Paul mumbled. 

As silence fell over the group, the sounds of giggling girls began to hover. Stephen suddenly threw his arms over Paul and Charles' shoulders, his eyes growing wide and his voice going quiet. "Oh, fellas, look! The cheerleaders are still here!"

Charlie almost lost his balance with the sudden weight on his shoulders. He fixed his baseball cap on his head with a roll of his eyes before lifting them up to the girls who were practicing out on the field. He never cared too much for the cheerleaders. They weren't too interested in him. He was much too scrawny compared to their quarterback boyfriends on the football team. He still hadn't quite gotten his growth spurt yet, making him a lot shorter than others too. It damaged his ego a bit but Charlie kept that to himself.

"Oooo, the cheerleaders, awesome! We came, we saw, now can we-?"

Curly ginger hair, freckles, and blue eyes made Charlie's words fall short of his lips.  He stood still,  his amber eyes wide as he did little to hide the fact that he was gawking at the girl in the distance.

Steven smirked and stood with crossed arms as though he were proud of himself. "Uh-huh, just as I thought, Charlie."
"Who-? Who is that? The ginger one?" Charlie asked, his eyes never leaving the heavenly profile of that cheerleader.

"Oh, the ginger one? I thought you would be looking at Nancy...uh, that one is Kristabel Wallace. She's new to the school."

"Kristabel Wallace," Charlie repeated, his voice soft on his vocal cords as though he were repeating a prayer. The girl was short and stout, with full lips and a pretty smile. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a white ribbon, revealing freckled arms and shoulders.

And Charlie was certain that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

"Okay Charlie, pick your jaw up off the floor before you choke on a fly," Stephen mumbled. "We're about to walk past."

"Yeah, I get it, now get off me!" Charlie shoved Stephen's arm off him as they got closer to the cheerleaders. The girls were in the middle of a conversation, most of it was muffled to Charlie's ears when all he could focus on was Kristabel. What a pretty name. Eventually, the girls looked their way. Maybe the guys smiled at them, or maybe they even gave a wink or a smile, but Charlie didn't pay a lick of attention to anyone else. Kristabel's blue eyes were piercing his and it made him weak in the knees. 

And then, she spoke.

"What are you-?"

"Charlie!!" 

"...What?"

"Charlie. M-My name is Charlie, you...were going to ask my name, right?"

"No. No I wasn't."

"...Huh?"

Charlie blinked at Kristabel as all of his friends behind him busted out laughing. "Damn, real slick, Charlie!!" James cackled. The sound of it all made Charlie's face grow red hot with embarrassment and he pulled down on his baseball cap to hide it, though it did little to help him considering the girls began to giggle too. "Well, damn, excuse me then," Charlie scoffed.

"Maybe don't expect a girl to talk to you when all you're doing is gawking at her like she's a piece of meat, Charlie."

"I was not!"

"So you're calling me blind!?"

"When did I ever say that?!"

"Maybe you didn't, but it sure sounded like it!"

"Listen here, you-!"

Dennis groaned. "Oh, good lord." A hand gripped the back of Charlie's collar and yanked him back like a dog on a leash. Charlie choked on the air that got forced from his throat as Dennis began to drag him away. The girls were all giving him smirks while Kristabel gave him the evil eye. 

"Charlie, you might know baseball enough to be on varsity, but we have got to teach you how to talk to girls."

Love Grows.

Hard to believe that the two who argued the most could ever become a couple.

One week, they were madly in love, and the next they were arguing in the hallway over something so stupid.

But when night fell again, Charlie always found himself thinking of Kristabel. Kristie. And he'd call her up and hog the telephone all night just to talk to her when he knew they shouldn't be. But Kristie didn't make it easy for him, oh no. Kristabel made sure he chased after her.

___

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me, Charles Deacon, you will not be getting a date just like that."

"Who-? What? What do you mean, how else am I supposed to get a date? I asked!"
Kristabel slammed her locker shut and turned to look up at Charlie with a glare of annoyance. They had known each other a year now, both sophomores who had been butting heads since the moment they met. In a year, Charlie had grown much taller, and not a single day went by where Kristie didn't hate it because she would make sure to always bring him down to her level. Charlie pulled back a bit from the glare he was slapped with, almost like a puppy backed into a corner. 

"Really? You asked, which means you deserve it?"
"...maybe?"

"Oh good god, you are hopeless."

Kristabel 

Ripped.

The Road Ahead.