Appearance

Aidan is tall, dark, and handsome. Bronze tan skin is pulled over a lean, well-muscled composition and stretched tight over old scars. His face is angular, proportionate, and smooth, though his mouth always seems to be stuck in a mild frown.

His round eyes are an electric blue and are framed by thick eyelashes. The storm gray undertones only reflect and enhance his serious, dangerous nature. A long scar runs from the middle of the left side of his forehead across his eye and down to the end of his upper jaw. Aidan's hair is black and is cut in a sort of grown-out crew cut, where the top reaches about two inches long and the sides are shorn closer.

Aidan stands at 6'4 and weighs in in the 180s at most. His body is definitely more of a lithe build, but his wiry strength is obvious and not to be overlooked or underestimated. He holds himself straight and walks with confident, almost prowling movements.

He is most often seen wearing chaps over his pants, a button up shirt, and occasionally a dark-dyed leather vest. Aidan wears a weathered black baseball cap most of the time, and he has an old, beige bandana tied around his belt. His leather boots are plain and obviously well-worn, but they've withstood the tests of time and nature.

Aidan is clean shaven or, sometimes, shows a bit of stubble, but he can't grow a beard and he has given up on such attempts. Besides, a clean face looks more dangerous than a beard does, right? Or is he just saying that?

Personality:

Aidan is fiery, but it rarely shows through his mask of professionalism. When it does show, all Hell breaks loose and he becomes a danger to anyone opposing him. This has never happened to or around his friends and fellow ranchers, and he tries extra hard to keep his irritation to himself around them. The cattle sometimes get sworn at, though.

He is an extremely stubborn individual, but he will listen to reason and follow orders. Aidan is as mentally capable as he is physically, and he is definitely more of a leader-loner personality type. He does not stand for disrespect or dismissal. Those who offend him or get on his bad side will know it; he will make no effort to hide it. Aidan will only show respect or loyalty to those who he deems worthy.

Aidan is altruistic, believe it or not. He will put himself in danger to save another, especially someone in his group. He takes duty seriously and will always try and find a solution in which the fewest lives are placed in jeopardy. Every loss takes a toll on him, but he does his best not to show it around others. Him breaking down is an uncanny sight to behold, though not many have ever seen it.

Aidan likes weapons, likes the surge of adrenaline just before a fight. He likes order and strategy, but he's completely fine with wreaking havoc. He will occasionally do math problems for fun, and he knows animal breeding enough to pop out some random facts about the raising, breeding, and training of horses, cattle, and dogs; it is one of the few topics that can get him rambling.

Aidan hates the part of the adrenaline rush that makes you feel like you have to pee. The feeling happens too often for his liking, and it ruins the moment. Along with that, he hates the feeling of other bodies being pushed up against his own. It's gross. Arguments, losses, most vegetables, insubordination, and teenagers are some of his least favorite things in life. And poor attitudes. He is very much a "suck it up, buttercup" sort of person.

Strengths:

Aidan is extremely versatile with weapons. He excels at sniping, or long range shooting in general, and is very accurate. Hitting small targets with a rifle from a long distance is relatively easy for him, and, when he can, he will almost always use this tactic. He is also well-versed with knives, pistols, and other throwing objects. He jokes that he ought to be an actor for "one of them old-towney larping places."

Aidan is very physically capable. He can keep up a brisk jog for hours on end if he needs to, and, while he is not bulky, his body is hard and wiry. He packs a good punch and can hold his own when fighting dirty; it's when he is locked brute force against brute force that he begins to falter.

Strategy and mind games are favorites of his, and he uses them often -- mostly against his enemies. His methods usually follow the rules, but occasionally he... overdoes it.

Weaknesses:

Aidan has a temper. It's a fiery, violent eruption when he goes off, and he does go off. He doesn't show his emotions at all until they've been built up for so long that he just explodes.

He works well in a team -- but he doesn't do well in submissive positions. He is not a sheep, and he does not like to be treated as such. Aidan will hold a grudge forever, especially when it pertains to how the recipient regarded him as a blind follower.

Due to a recent explosion he was near, Aidan's left ear has ceased to function for the time being. He is slowly regaining hearing in that ear, but, for now, he is partially deaf.

While he is decent at hand-to-hand combat, he does not excel at it and often avoids that kind of confrontation; the chances of him winning a short-range encounter without a gun or knife are slim, and that bothers him.

Other:

His horse is a 4-year-old stallion named Coyote. Coyote was wrangled off of a shady dealer, who stole the stallion from a mayor, who had purchased the animal from a herder who had captured a group of mustangs. Aidan is the only human who seems able to get close enough to Coyote to ride him, and one of a small handful that the horse has a friendly bond with.

This horse stands above 15 hands but below 16 and is a powerful, sure-footed creature. He is not the fastest or the strongest, but his stamina is hard to rival and his temperament is fierce enough to ward off most potential predators and dreamy-eyed horse girls. He acts more like a dog than a horse at times, and he's bombproof when he decides to be.