CIVILIAN . FLORENTIUS, CROSS

Crossificio Florentius

EMPATHETIC. RESERVED. CHEERFUL.

Cross. Named after his Italian grandfather, his parents thought it would be a good idea to nickname him "Cross" to differentiate between the two. Not that he minded; too many people butchered his name when pronouncing it for his liking.

TWENTY-TWO YEARS-OLD

November 17th of 1989

MALE

Homosexual

CIVILIAN

Florist. Having grown up with a mother and grandfather that loved flowers, it only seemed natural to Cross to become a florist. He already gained so much knowledge about flowers just by being around them for most of his life; hell, he even helped his mother and grandfather make arrangements when he was younger. Despite the fact that many people question his capabilities as a florist, it's a job that he absolutely adores. His flower shop, Fiorellini, has been in his family for years and is located in the downtown Los Angeles area.

RESIDENCE

Seeing as he loves the flower shop that much, he currently lives in the studio apartment building across the street. It's not the best thing in the world, but it's a roof over his head and the price isn't all that bad. He has the basic necessities, so he really doesn't care too much.

APPEARANCE

HEIGHT & WEIGHT

5'9.5 and 162 lbs.

EYE COLOR

Topaz gold. Cross very much inherited his mother's eye color. Even though they are nowhere near as bright and warm as his mother's were, he knows the color is the same.

HAIR COLOR

Red. Yes, he knows his hair is a little loud, but he can't help his genes. Actually, he kind of blames his father for his red hair and often wishes he had brown hair like his sisters. But he loves it all the same because it makes him unique.

CLOTHING

Cross' clothing mainly consists of button-up shirts and black pants. He likes the way it looks on him, so he has loads and loads of shirts in different colors. He rarely ever wears t-shirts and other comfortable clothing unless he's sick or extremely lazy. Being presentable is a must for Cross; would you want to buy an ugly looking flower?

OTHER

Cross is actually very fit, meaning that his body is well defined to the physical activities that he does. No, he is not overly buff like some guys, but he does have muscle on him.

Personality

PATIENT. Considered one of his strongest points, Cross is the type of person that's willing to sit there and listen to someone if they have a problem. He's a fairly calm individual and figures that everything should be done in its own time. Also, he doesn't give up easily on a task and pushes on through as calmly as possible. Getting upset over nothing is generally something he tries to avoid doing.

MOODY. As patient as he is, Cross is fairly snappy when he's annoyed. He's got a quick temper on him and he has a tendency to show it off when he's pushed to his limit. But just as he is quick tempered, he can actually become depressed and pouty about everything. He tries his best to restrict this behavior, but he slips up from time to time. He's only human after all and all humans have those times where they can't help but let their emotions govern what they do rather than logic.

TOUGH. Cross is the type of person that won't take anyone's crap. Sure, he's fully capable of being pushed around by friends and family, but don't think that he's a doormat to anyone. Cross isn't scared to stand up to anyone for anything; he'll gladly put someone in this place if they think he's some sort of toy to be played around with. To add to his tough nature, the fact that he's stubborn as hell on certain things and won't be told otherwise makes it so much worse (or better depending on your point of view).

LOGICAL. Cross may be a moody person some of the time, but he can manage to put those rampant emotions on the back burner sometimes to think things through. He's the guy who actually likes to think things through so he doesn't accidentally make a stupid decision that will bite him in the ass later. However, that doesn't mean that he never lets his emotions get the better of him; he's human after all, so it happens from time to time.

RESERVED. He likes to keep to himself. Cross isn't one for just talking to people out of the blue or talking unnecessarily. He speaks only when he feels like it or when it's necessary. He's perfectly fine with silence and isn't the slightest bit unnerved by it. This quiet private nature of his carries into most of the things he does; if something doesn't involve a person, he thinks that they should typically stay out of it unless they are asked to get involved.

SUBTLE. There is nothing loud about Cross if people actually think about it. He likes blending into the crowd and not having the spotlight on him; he will gladly redirect attention to something so much more interesting. He has roundabout ways of mentioning things, briefly hinting at them without making his intentions or thoughts completely obvious. Besides, if one pays attention to his behavior, they can usually tell what's going on.

SASSY. For all the times where he's quiet and patient, Cross can be just as much of a smartass. However, like almost everything he does, it's subtle with the words he uses. But the thing that's glaringly obvious when he's being sassy is his sarcastic/deadpan tone. He generally gives attitude to those that try to either boss him around or try to put their noses into his business.

SINCERE. Cross will never ever lie about the way he feels about something; it's just not in his nature to lie or deny his emotions. He accepts all his emotions and has his own ways of letting them be known. If he's angry about something, he'll express it just like when he's happy about something. He really hates it when people think that his feelings are insincere or that he lies about what he's really feeling. There is no point in hiding how one feels to him.

METICULOUS. Cross is a very specific person. He likes things done in a very certain way, so it's a rare moment when Cross just does something in a lazy manner. That's not to say that he's anal retentive; he's just really meticulous when it comes to certain subjects. The main thing you'll see him be picky about is flower arrangements. If there is so much as one little thing out of place, he'll redo an entire arrangement all over again until it's perfect.

ROMANTIC. Cross is a hopeless romantic through and through, and he's a very loving person. Love songs, little terms of affection, he loves it all. He's one of love's greatest fans and he isn't at all scared to tell someone he loves them. It's because of this that he's actually very affectionate with his loved ones. He's even more loving with guys he dates. Of course, that usually scares them away, but he's convinced that if he dates someone that truly loves him, they won't run away from his affection.

History

From what it was told to Cross when he was younger, his mother Camellia Moretti and grandfather Crossificio Moretti moved to the U.S. to escape some harsh times that had befallen them in Italy. They had traveled over various parts of the country until they decided to stay in the lovely city of Los Angeles. There, the father and daughter duo opened a flower shop named Fiorellini (or "Little Flowers"). It was because of the flower shop that Camellia met the man who would soon become her husband.

Derrick Florentius was this twenty-nine year-old real estate agent who had fallen into some very hard times. He had been fired from his job due to a misunderstanding in the work place and had basically lost all that he owned. Derrick had taken to living on the streets, working for anything he could get to feed himself. It was on a cool winter night that he encountered a kind older man that offered him a place to stay. Swallowing his pride, he accepted the offer and went with the old man.

When Derrick walked into the humble abode, the very first thing he saw was this beautiful woman running around in the kitchen. The elder man then quickly introduced himself as Crossificio Moretti, introducing his daughter a few moments later. It was on that night that Derrick fell in love with Camellia; it was love at first sight for him. For her... well, not so much.

For the next few days, Derrick stayed in the Moretti household as he tried to find work and perhaps a place to temporarily live. Of course, Derrick would steal glances at Camellia every chance he had, not so much as getting a look from her in return. It was at this time that Crossificio offered Derrick a job as a delivery man for the flower shop. Without so much as thinking about it, Derrick immediately accepted it; it meant more time with Camellia and he was all for that.

Days at Fiorellini flew by quickly and was filled with life. Even though the flower shop had been warm and inviting with just the Moretti duo around, the addition of Derrick made it all the better. It wasn't until Derrick was at the shop for four months that Camellia actually saw him in a different light. He had been so kind to her and was just absolutely wonderful to everyone he encountered.

Camellia and Derrick soon married after they dated for approximately three months. They were in love and couldn't possibly live without each other. And soon after, they started a family once Derrick got a brand new job.

Cross is the second of three children born to Derrick and Camellia. Him, like his two sisters, are results of their parents being very much in love. It was because of this that they showered their children with the utmost love. They accepted their three children for who they were and never asked them to be anything different; in fact, the couple encouraged their children to be themselves.

Cross grew up doing sports and a lot of the other stuff little boys did. However, he often went to work with his mother and grandfather to look at all the flowers. Flowers were where his heart was and his grandfather knew it. It was when Cross was about eight that his grandfather started teaching him on how to make beautiful flower arrangements. Naturally, Cross took to it and quickly started to help out his mother and grandfather at the shop.

As Cross grew older, he slowly began to help more and more with the shop. When his grandfather died when he was sixteen, Cross took to working much more at the shop. It was around this time that Cross slowly started noticing something about himself: he was very much attracted to men rather than women. What made him realize this all the more was when he saw these two men in the flower shop kissing, he couldn't help but want that. Sure he had had one girlfriend at the beginning of his freshman year of high school, but that quickly ended since he didn't exactly want to take things as quickly as the girl then. That, and he wasn't all that attracted to her.

When he turned eighteen, he came clean about being gay to his family. His parents and elder sister took well to it (despite the fact that Camellia wanted grandchildren out of him and Derrick wanted him to carry on the last name), but the one that had a problem with it was his younger sister. Regardless of that, they remained a strong loving family.

When Camellia grew sick, Cross became the sole worker of Fiorellini when he was nineteen. Because of this, he went to from being a full-time college student to a part-time student for degrees in botany and business. Due to his hard work during high school and summers, however, he was allowed to graduate a semester earlier.

Nowadays, Cross still runs Fiorellini in the downtown area of Los Angeles. He has no plans on ever closing down the shop so long as he lives. For now anyways.

EXTRAS

• Cross' younger sister, Mariana, has a very big problem with him being gay while his elder sister, Nicola, encourages him. It is because of this that he is much closer to Nicola than Mariana.

• Being as obsessed with flowers as he is, Cross studied really hard to learn all about floriography. In other words, Cross learned about the language of flowers. He'll sit there and happily explain to someone about the significance of a flower if they so much as ask me.

• Despite being someone who expresses his emotions fairly often, Cross uses flowers to express himself better. It's because of this that he likes making flower arrangements using the language of flowers; it gives the arrangements so much more meaning.

• Cross' favorite flowers are lilacs and violets. In fact, he adores them so much, he often tries to convince customers to buy them instead of the typical roses. Mainly because lilacs signify first emotions of love while violets stand for faithful love.

• Cross isn't all about flowers no matter how obsessive he seems. He actually enjoys swimming and running. He generally does one of the two after work or during the days where he actually keeps the shop closed (which is rarely ever).

• He speaks two languages: English and Italian. He learned both from his mother and grandfather.

• Whenever Cross is annoyed or upset, he has a tendency to pout a lot.

Roleplayer Information

ELLIE

Nemesis Arkwood, Viktor Krupin, Belinda Salvatierra, Maximilian Lexington IV, Shax Barakiel & Faith Thrainsson.

AFFINITES

Fate pick.

FACE CLAIM

Hakuouki ─ Harada Sanosuke