name
samir ruth goldwyn
samir - from arabic,
meaning "air" or "wind"
ruth - from hebrew,
meaning "companion"
goldwyn - from english,
meaning "golden friend"
gender
genderqueer
they/them pronouns
occupation
moving truck driver/
smuggler
theme song
true colors
by zedd & kesha
At least, Samir hopes you see them that way. Smuggling is so much easier, both for them and their cargo, if no one can clearly remember you.
Smuggling is, according to Samir, a side job. They fill the moving truck with whatever junk Kalons want hauled from one house to another, and sometimes a Kalon or two that need to escape a bad situation happens to also end up in the back. Samir never requires or even wants money from those they're transporting - all they want is to know that the smuggled Kalon is now safe and far away from whatever made them end up in the back of their truck. While Samir is willing to add a few of the Kalon's belongings to the load they're hauling, and occasionally has smuggled just a Kalon's possessions and not the Kalon themself, they have very strict self-imposed rules about what they'll smuggle - good luck getting them to take weapons anywhere for you. Their strong dislike of violence means that the won't even fight if they're in trouble except as a last resort, even though they throw a pretty mean punch.
Another self-imposed rule is not to trust anyone too much - after all, they've been given good reason not to. Between their mother's constant demands and their father's manipulation, Samir is constantly wary of being used, and it's incredibly hard to have any sort of meaningful relationship with them. Their strong fear of abandonment and need to be self-reliant, as well as their job, leads them to be distant towards others, and on top of that they have a superb poker face, making it just about impossible to tell what they're thinking at any given time. In any given situation, Samir is much better at reading you than you are at reading them.
That's not to say that Samir is uncaring - they're very loyal to Kalons they've helped unless they do something truly awful, and once you work through their layers of quietness, suspicion, and vague hostility, you'll find that they love even the smallest things and get almost childishly excited about their interests. They're fascinated with codes, ciphers, the occult, and secret societies, though they aren't a part of any. The vastness of space is also something they love - ask them to point out a constellation, and not only will they do that, but they'll tell you the mythoses behind it and quite probably each individual star's name. Their last great love is chocolate, all chocolate. They'll eat questionable chocolate coins from a gas station with the same enthusiasm as they will imported chocolate truffles in a fancy box.
---
The house was too quiet. Granted, the Goldwyn home - hovel might have been a better word, or apartment if you were feeling polite - was never exactly a cacophony of sound, but Samir was used to waking up to the sounds of drawers being pulled open, dishes being scraped, a lone city rooster crowing insistently despite the hours before sunrise. The rooster was, as ever, going at it, but the house was still. Samir rolled over and glanced at the clock - Devmani should have already woken them up by now, a schoolbag on his shoulder and a bounce in his step, relishing the time before their mother awoke and the house's gentle peace was broken.
Bleary-eyed, Samir turned over to go back to sleep. He must be sick, and if so, their mother was going to be of no help. Samir might as well rest while they can. Their pillow crinkled, papery and disturbed, and Samir made an attempt to open both eyes at once. That was definitely not one of the sounds of the house. Reaching into their pillowcase, Samir pulled out a slightly slept-upon but neatly folded piece of paper. Samir smoothed out the wrinkles carefully, recognizing Dev's careful handwriting spelling out their name. The message inside was, as usual for the two, written in cipher, an easy one which Samir could just about sight read at this point.
Samir didn't read it.
What was the point, if they already knew what it would say?
Samir refolded it, tucked it back into their pillow, and pulled the covers closer. There would be time to savor Dev's words later, once their mother had finished berating Samir for being so irresponsible for losing sight of their sibling again, once she had flung herself dramatically around, once she had ceased pretending to be upset. Once the house once again took on its eerie stillness and Samir really had to confront their brother's disappearance.
But for now, the best thing they could do was rest.
