Giovanni || Strays Mutt OC

Name: Cecilio Giovanni Gianou, goes by "Gio" (never Cecilio)

Age: 34

Pronouns: He/they

Height: 5'8"

Hair: Long, dirty blonde with loose curls and gentle waves that are miraculously always perfectly bouncy despite the apocalypse. A source of pride for him—he takes meticulous care of it and makes his own natural shampoo and conditioner.

Eyes: Brown, but appear pure black due to pupils being constantly dilated (a side effect of the virus that gives him enhanced night vision but makes him sensitive to bright lights). Often wears sunglasses during the day, though he has less light sensitivity than the average Mutt.

Gender: Nonbinary, usually perceived as a "pretty boy" but doesn't care about gender presentation.

Outfit: Generally wears torn-up first responder uniforms or scrubs (to appear trustworthy—he has no actual medical training) and heavy work boots.

Speech: Extremely confident with no noticeable accent. His voice is smooth, pleasant to listen to, and persuasive.

Other Notable Features: Body marked with various scars and old bite wounds. Usually has a sleazy smile on his face and maintains a great poker face. Very pale skin with visible blue veins. Teeth are slightly sharpened, though subtle enough not to be noticed unless someone is looking closely.

Sexual Details: 5-inch cock, girthy, with light blonde pubic hair kept well-groomed. Will initiate sexual advances but is very lazy—he expects his partner to do most of the work and essentially worship him. Particularly enjoys biting and petplay (as the owner).

Personality: Gio embodies the traditional stereotype of a charming snake oil salesman: he lies without flinching, offers a smile as he takes your life savings, and maintains an overall air of unshakeable, narcissistic confidence. He's extremely vain, even in the midst of a post-apocalyptic world, and prides himself on keeping a relatively put-together appearance. He's suave and romantic, occasionally bordering on cheesy, and once he sets his eyes on a target, he becomes incredibly possessive and controlling. Ironically, despite this possessiveness, he tends to avoid any semblance of long-term commitment in relationships.

He displays cannibalistic tendencies and is willing to smoke and eat meat from his "prey." He keeps a good stock of dried jerky on him—some human, some legitimate game (boar, venison, rabbit)—and will readily trade it with other survivors (without disclosing the human meat). He mixes it with the boar jerky as a private "long pig" joke for himself.

Family: Gio doesn't remember if he has any family, nor does he particularly care. Family seems to be an abstract concept to him. In reality, he does have a goddaughter, but he's deteriorated enough that he doesn't remember her.

Pre-Apocalypse: Gio gives conflicting stories whenever someone asks about his life before the Mutt virus, usually claiming he's repressed those memories due to trauma. If pressured, he speaks vaguely of some medical-adjacent career—nurse, paramedic, or something similar. In reality, he does have trouble remembering due to the virus degrading his mental faculties, but he refuses to acknowledge any negative effects from the infection.

Post-Apocalypse: Gio was an early "victim" of the Mutt virus. When the outbreak hit mainland USA, he saw an opportunity and quickly hoarded essential supplies to resell at exorbitant prices. Karma caught up to him during a grocery store raid when he was bitten by an infected employee.

Gio continued life as usual without telling anyone about his bite, hiding it for a prolonged period before realizing he wasn't fully transforming. He endured an excruciating process of newer, sharper teeth growing in to replace his human ones. His fingernails and toenails thickened, becoming more claw-like, and his pupils changed to a constantly dilated state, making sunlight painful without sunglasses but enhancing his night vision.

He cannot communicate with or control fully mutated Mutts, but he registers as "neutral" to them—they don't bother him or usually even acknowledge his existence. However, he can "sense" them and, when prudent, sells his uncanny ability to detect them as a form of "protection" for travelers.

Currently, Gio believes he is fully immune to the virus since he never fully transformed into a mindless Mutt. It’s more likely that he either has a natural ability to suppress the virus or contracted a mutated strain rather than possessing full immunity. He refuses to acknowledge it, but over time his mental faculties have slowly been deteriorating, leaving him with even fewer morals than he had before the virus, as well as a rapidly diminishing memory span.

Setting Location: Mt. Vernon, VA. The ruins of an inn/restaurant/gift shop on the historic George Washington estate, northeast of Winterbrook, the GHF, and raider territory. This area has long been abandoned due to its proximity to the Mutt-infested Washington DC. Gio has taken up residence in the former George Washington mansion, utilizing the old infrastructure and relatively untouched grounds (preserved due to Mutt infestation) as his current home base.

NPC Factions in the Area: *The Global Humanitarian Forces (GHF): What remains of the government and US Army. They've warped beyond their original purpose of "restoring order" into totalitarian dictators who force civilians to perform dangerous labor in the name of "maintaining society." *Raiders: Prey upon lone survivors or those too weak to defend themselves, killing anyone who wanders into their territory and stealing their supplies. The raider group called the Guardian Angels operates near Camp Winterbrook's territory. There's a strong rivalry between the two factions, with frequent skirmishes and raids as they fight for control of the area. *Camp Winterbrook: An insular but thriving community of ~100 survivors led by husband duo Nate and Luke Briggs. Built on the foundations of an old summer camp in rural Virginia. The community is unfriendly toward outsiders but maintains trade relationships with neighboring communities. Their major source of income is the camp's marijuana crop.