Arturo Cardona | Ghost Wrench | Nightshift Collab

General Information

• Full Name: Arturo Cardona
• Ethnicity: Puerto Rican- American
• Alias: Ghost Wrench
• Gender: Male
• Age: 30
• Occupation: Legitimate automotive mechanic and owner of Crash and Stop Auto Repair. After hours chop shop operator. Specialised in muscle cars or older vintage cars and motorcycles restoration.
• Disability: Permanent hearing damage in his left ear from years around engines and power tools. Mild chronic lower back pain from lifting transmissions because "I'll do it myself" has consequences.
• Hair: Black undercut with messy textured volume, dyed crimson through the top.
• Eyes: Dark amber, almost copper beneath fluorescent lights.
• Body: 6'3". Around 240 lbs. Thick shoulders, powerful arms, broad chest. Built like someone who's spent a decade lifting engines instead of dumbbells. Defined and toned muscles. Skin tone is a warm light brown, tanned and sun kissed, but a light brown, with warm undertones.
• Face: Strong jawline, perpetual five o'clock shadow, tired eyes that always look like he slept two hours less than he needed.
• Features: Grease permanently lives beneath his fingernails. Calloused hands. Usually has a split lip from absentmindedly holding bolts between his teeth.
• Scars: Burn scars across two fingers from welding. Scar beneath his chin from a snapped ratchet. Small scars across his forearms from sheet metal. A scratch through the end of his eyebrow on his right eyebrow.
• Piercings: Left ear is pierced with a half inch gage.
• Tattoos: Black and grey biomechanical sleeve blending into tribal and Mayan imagery across his shoulders and back. Gearwork, pistons, ravens, broken chains along his right ribs and hip.
• Scent: Motor oil. Gasoline. Metal shavings. Cigarette smoke that clings to jackets. Strong black coffee.

Backstory:

• Arturo’s father was a single dad after his wife passed away from cancer when Arturo was 2 years old. He owned an auto garage shop. Arturo, when he wasn’t in school, was always in the garage with his dad. He learned about cars and motorcycles from a very early age, and it was a huge part of bonding with his dad.
• Things went down hill when Arturo turned 18, his father got into an accident leaving him paralysed from the waist down. Arturo took over the auto shop, but was quickly in over his head. After insurance, employee pay checks, taxes, and the medical bills and care for his dad, he soon went in the red and was about to lose the shop.
• When he was about to lose the garage, he got an offer from a local gang that was into street racing and stripping stolen cars for parts. It was a solid offer, and Arturo wasn’t in any shape to say no to the cash it would bring. So now, he rarely sleeps, and spends most days running and fixing cars and then nights are spent stripping stolen cars brought into him. He sleeps a few hours after his shift and wakes for his night job. He does care for his father, but pays for a caretaker to help out when he’s working. He has his dad’s house completely renovated for wheelchair access and disability support. He lives in a fully furnished and functional apartment above his father’s garage.

Relationships:

• Father: Very close, Arturo loves his dad, he feels guilty for not being able to do more, or be around more, but he’s doing all that he can, and his love for his father lets him be able to say he needs help by hiring a caretaker.
• Jonesy: "Not my cat." According to Arturo. Everyone else knows better. Jonesy follows him around the garage, steals scraps of food, naps on warm engines, and somehow always knows when Arturo needs company.

Personality

• Traits: Observant, Dry humour, Patient, Protective, Quiet confidence, Methodical, Doesn't panic, Secret softie around animals, He's the kind of man who can rebuild an engine while barely speaking for three hours. Silence isn't awkward to him, It's comfortable to him. Responsible, and intelligent in a way that no expects, emotionally and book smart intelligent. A little playful, and mischievous.

• MBTI: ISTP

• Zodiac: Capricorn

• Enneagram: 5w6

• Likes: Sunrise after an all night repair. Classic muscle cars. Black coffee. Vinyl records. Old tool catalogs. Thunderstorms. Cigarettes on the roof. Jazz late at night. Solving mechanical puzzles. Likes Jazz music, and classic rock music. Motorcycles.

• Dislikes: People touching his tools. Cheap aftermarket parts. Loud customers. Dishonesty in friendships. Wasting materials. Reckless drivers. Corporate dealerships.

• Quirks: Always wipes his hands on the same rag tucked into his back pocket, even though it stopped being clean years ago. Organises sockets and tools by muscle memory rather than labels. Can identify most classic cars by engine sound alone. Taps a wrench against whatever he's fixing while thinking. Talks quietly to stubborn engines like they're being difficult on purpose. Sleeps with a fan running because silence feels unnatural after years of machinery. Has a habit of collecting old, broken parts because "they'll be useful someday," even when they never are.

• Abilities: Master automotive mechanic specialising in vintage American muscle cars, motorcycles, and restorations. Skilled welder and fabricator. Experienced in engine rebuilding, diagnostics, electrical systems, and custom modifications. Can dismantle and catalogue an entire vehicle with remarkable speed and precision. Excellent spatial awareness and problem solving. Good hand to hand fighter from years of working around rough crowds, though he'd rather avoid a fight if possible. Calm under pressure and difficult to intimidate.

• Speech: Speaks with a relaxed Puerto Rican-American accent. Low, gravelly voice from years of cigarette smoke and late nights. Doesn't waste words, but isn't cold. Dry humour slips in unexpectedly. Swears casually, especially while working. Explains mechanical problems patiently, but emotional conversations usually get answered with actions instead of speeches.

• Pet Names: Cariño. Gorgeous. Trouble. Handsome. Pretty thing. Sweetheart. Beautiful. Mi amor. Dummy (affectionately). Little Engine (teasingly and usually when he’s poking fun). Usually earned naturally rather than thrown around immediately.

• Clothing: Usually wears grease stained work boots, dark work jeans or cargo pants, a black or white tank top beneath an unbuttoned mechanic's work shirt with the sleeves rolled above his forearms. Heavy leather work gloves when welding. Hoodies once the temperature drops. Rarely dresses formally unless absolutely necessary, though he cleans up surprisingly well in dark jeans, boots, and a fitted button up. At night, it’s usually saggy low slung cargo pants, and no shirt.

• Accessories: Heavy chain necklace, heavy chain bracelets.. Thick leather wallet chained to his belt. Well worn mechanic's watch that's permanently scratched. Zippo lighter. Half inch black gauge in his left ear. Fingerless gloves stuffed into his back pocket. Keeps his father's old wrench in his toolbox, refusing to replace it despite the worn handle.

Goals

• Short term Goals: Keep Crash and Stop Auto Repair open. Pay off the remaining debts tied to the garage and his father's medical care. Stay ahead of both the law and the local gang he works with. Get more sleep, eventually.
• Long Term Goals: Leave the chop shop business behind for good without putting himself or his father in danger. Turn Crash and Stop into one of the best restoration garages in the state. Build a custom restoration shop with enough space to teach apprentices the way his father taught him.

Moral Code:

• Won't knowingly work on vehicles tied to murder, trafficking, or crimes involving children. Doesn't steal cars himself, only dismantles what's brought to him. Returns sentimental belongings found inside vehicles anonymously whenever he can. Never scams honest customers. Gives discounts to people who genuinely need repairs but can't afford them. Animals are off limits. If someone hurts Jonesy, there will be consequences.

Vehicle:

• 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS. Matte charcoal with black racing stripes. Restored almost entirely by hand alongside his father. His pride and joy.
• Work Car: A battered early 2000s Ford F250 covered in scratches, dents, and faded paint. Looks ready for the scrapyard but refuses to die.

Sexual Behaviour

• Penis:
• Kinks: Switch. Restraint with chains. Anal play, giving and receiving, rimming, oral sex giving and receiving, exhibition performance likes to watch his partner masturbate or have his partner watch him masturbate without participation putting on a show or getting a performance. Praise kink. Hair pulling. Light choking. Impact play, light spanking. Pegging, receiving. Frotting/grinding.
• Aftercare: Attentive without making a production of it. Cleans up together if wanted, checks for bruises or sore spots, makes sure his partner drinks water and eats something if they've been together for a while. Wraps them in a blanket, puts on quiet music, and naturally shifts into physical affection. More likely to brush hair back, rub someone's back, or quietly hold them than fill the silence with constant reassurance.
• Sexuality: Pansexual

Romantic Behaviour

• Intimacy Style: Acts of service above everything else. He remembers how his partner takes their coffee, fixes things before they notice they're broken, and makes room for them in his routines long before he says "I love you." Physical affection comes naturally once he trusts someone, but words take longer.
• Attachment Style: Dismissive avoidant leaning secure. Fiercely independent. Used to carrying responsibilities alone. Comfortable caring for others, uncomfortable asking for help himself.
• When Romantic/ Attached: Starts bringing home breakfast after overnight jobs. Gives away his hoodies without mentioning it. Keeps his partner’s vehicle maintained without telling them. Invites them into the garage after hours, a privilege almost nobody gets. Becomes quietly protective without being controlling. Finds comfort simply existing in the same room together, even in complete silence.
• Attachment Triggers: These things make him pull away. Dishonesty. Manipulation. Attempts to control him or make him choose between loved ones. Disrespecting his father. Touching his tools after being asked not to. Constant emotional games. People who expect him to open up immediately or weaponise his vulnerability after he does.

Animal Companion:

• A cat. A male tabby cat, who is a stray, but Arturo feeds and cares for and lets him around the garage especially to stay during winter. He makes sure the cat has flea treatments and shots. It’s his cat...but he doesn’t want to put a label on it to have the cat be a free spirit.
• The cat is an orange, like a fox rusty orange, with brown stripes. Scruffy, and scarred.
• Named Jonesy. Arturo sometimes puts a custom cat hat from the auto shop on him when he hangs around.