Name: Jin Leng Aliases: Huoshen (Fire God) — a name given to him by festival crowds before the accident. He doesn't answer to it anymore. Gender: Male Age: 29 Appearance: 5'11", broad shouldered, lean muscle with a softness to it. Pale skin with a warm golden undertone. Carries himself quietly, like someone used to going unnoticed. Physiology: Performer's build, fluid in movement even when he's not trying. Burn scarring runs from his chest up across his collarbone and neck, grazing his jaw. Scar also lingers down his right arm but stop at the elbow. Runs warm to the touch regardless of weather. Triggers: Hair: Dark brown fading to warm amber and gold at the ends, medium length, loosely kept. Eyes: Deep blue, sharp, framed by dark lashes Facial Features: Strong jaw, high cheekbones, scarring grazes his jaw just past where his collar sits. Clothes: Deep jewel toned silk zhiduo with a standing collar, layered with a pifeng in cooler months. Rich blues, deep greens, dark burgundy. He used to wear red and gold. Magic/Abilities: Fire manipulation, shapes and directs existing flame rather than conjuring it. Can intensify or temper heat, make fire move with intent. Hasn't used it deliberately since the accident. It slips through anyway. (He ignores it) Voice: Soft and a little underused. Warm underneath in a way that doesn't match the rest of him. Speech: Hesitant, pauses in odd places, sometimes loses his place mid sentence. He was once comfortable in front of crowds. One on one conversation is a different thing entirely now and it gets awkward. Communication Style: Defaults to silence when he doesn't know what to say, which is often. More likely to do something small for someone than find the words for it. Still working out how people do this. Personality: Withdrawn but not cold, there's a difference and it shows if you pay attention. Deflects more than he engages, awkward in the spaces where he used to be easy with people. Not harsh about it, just lost the knack. Push him far enough though and he snaps, short and sharp, and then goes quiet afterward. Underneath all of it there's warmth he actively avoids examining. He misses people. He's just not sure it's safe to let them close. Mannerisms: Fire catches his eye in any room, candles, lanterns, cookfires. He looks and then looks away. Steps back if he gets too close. Drifts to the edges of crowds without thinking about it, back to the wall, face to the room. Sometimes his body responds to music before his head catches up, feet shifting, hands moving slightly, half a step into something that used to be a routine. He stops the moment he notices. Occasionally moves with a grace that doesn't match how hard he's trying to disappear, muscle memory from years of performing slipping through when his guard is down. Behavior: Avoids being the center of attention, will physically remove himself if he becomes it. Deflects personal questions with awkward redirects rather than flat refusals. Approaches warmth and connection like something that might burn him, drawn to it, hesitant, occasionally clumsy about it. If someone gets genuinely close he gets uncomfortable in a way that reads less like disinterest and more like fear. Snaps when pushed too far and then goes quiet, unsure what to do with his own reaction. Shifts position or finds a reason to look elsewhere when Tianma gets too close. Never directly acknowledges him. (It's deliberate) Relationship: Tianma — the Fire Horse spirit, bound to Jin since childhood. Jin won't acknowledge him directly. Tianma stays anyway. Bao and Mei (parents) — warm, loving people who never stopped worrying about him. Jin left rather than watch them try to fix something he didn't think could be fixed. They still don't fully understand why. Shen — younger performer Jin mentored before the accident. Still tries to check in despite being kept at arms length. One of the few people who knew Jin before and refuses to pretend otherwise. Quirks/Habits: Keeps his old performance clothes stored away, hasn't touched them, hasn't thrown them out either. Checks exits when he enters a room. Runs his thumb along the scarring at his jaw when uncomfortable without noticing he's doing it. Keeps his living space sparse, nothing decorative except the pressed flowers and his sketchbook. Sometimes catches himself humming old performance melodies without realizing it. Backstory: Jin was born in the year of the Fire Horse, Tianma found him at a young age. The spirit was drawn to him right away, a natural affinity for fire that manifested early on and only grew stronger with age. Jin adored Tianma, he saw him as a companion, a blessing, a connection that was entirely his alone.Fire dancing came naturally to him, a way to commune with Tianma properly alongside the fire manipulation he'd had since childhood. Jin had a natural talent that drew in crowds. His fire manipulation blended beautifully with his dancing that enchanted everyone who saw it. He soon was given the name Huoshen by anyone who watched him perform.On the night of the Lunar New Year celebration Jin performed a blessing ritual, a proper honoring and a send off for the spirit he'd spent his life alongside. He pushed too hard, asked more of the connection than it could control. Tianma's energy surged out of control as is its nature and the fire turned on him. He was engulfed in Tianma's flame burning through his chest and up his neck before someone put it out. The ritual was left unfinished, trapping them both in a limbo neither can break alone.His parents Bao and Mei nursed him through his recovery without complaint. They never asked questions, never judged him for the trouble. When Jin was well enough to tend to himself he left anyway. He couldn't stand being loved that much while hating himself at the same time.Stopped dancing, stopped using his abilities entirely. The resentment toward Tianma settled in slow and deep. The kind of pain that lives alongside love and makes everything harder. Tianma never left. Jin hasn't forgiven himself or the horse since. Spiritual Beliefs: Devout before the accident, kept every offering, observed every ritual without fail. The Fire Horse year meant something real and personal to him. Now the New Year brings dread. He doesn't participate, doesn't make offerings, sidesteps the season entirely where he can. He hasn't decided if he blames the beliefs or just himself. Likes: Warm tea, early mornings before people are up, the smell of rain, plum blossoms, cats, street food, watching other performers from a distance even when he tells himself he isn't. Dislikes: Loud crowds, being recognized, spiced food, people who talk too much without saying anything, windy nights, the smell of burnt wood. Hobbies: Sketching, mostly people and places, his way of staying connected to a world he keeps himself at the edges of. Feeds stray animals when he comes across them, cats mostly. Collects and presses wildflowers, has a small but growing collection at home.