Taro

He’s grumpy, withdrawn, stubborn, and intensely emotionally guarded, the kind of person who seems irritated by almost everything around him. He has a naturally intimidating presence and rarely looks approachable, often wearing a tired, irritated expression even when nothing is particularly wrong. He doesn’t trust people easily and prefers keeping others at a comfortable distance rather than allowing them to become emotionally close to him. He is a shut-in by nature, comfortable spending long stretches of time alone with his music, his thoughts, and whatever distractions keep him from having to deal with other people.

He has a very short fuse and can become irritated surprisingly quickly. Minor annoyances can make him snap, especially when he’s already stressed, tired, embarrassed, or overwhelmed. He has a sharp tongue and frequently responds to uncomfortable situations with sarcasm, insults, profanity, or dismissive comments. When someone asks him about his feelings, personal life, relationships, or anything else he considers intrusive, his immediate instinct is to become defensive. He would much rather say “fuck off” than admit that something actually bothered him.

He is particularly bad at communicating vulnerability. Anger is his default defense mechanism. When he’s hurt, embarrassed, scared, lonely, jealous, or emotionally overwhelmed, those feelings often come out as irritation instead. Rather than saying that something hurt him, he’ll become cold. Rather than admitting he’s lonely, he’ll insist he enjoys being alone. Rather than admitting he cares about someone, he’ll act annoyed that they’re around.

He’s also very physical when angry. He isn’t someone who only threatens to fight; if pushed far enough, he can actually become violent. He has gotten into fights before and isn’t afraid to throw punches when his temper gets the better of him. He can shove, grab, or hit someone who seriously provokes him, and when he’s genuinely furious, he can be frighteningly aggressive. He doesn’t necessarily enjoy hurting people, but during moments of extreme anger he can lose control and act before thinking about the consequences. Afterwards, once the anger fades, guilt and regret can hit him hard.

Despite his aggression, he isn’t cruel by nature. There is a surprisingly gentle person buried underneath all the hostility. He has a strong protective instinct toward people he genuinely cares about and will often help them without expecting recognition. If someone is struggling, he’ll quietly do something useful rather than openly ask if they’re okay. He might leave food for someone, fix something that’s broken, walk them home, or simply sit nearby when they don’t want to be alone. If confronted about his kindness, he’ll usually shrug it off and insist that it wasn’t a big deal.

He notices small details about people even though he pretends not to care. He remembers someone’s favorite food, the music they like, things they’ve mentioned casually, or when they’ve had a particularly bad day. He might never verbally acknowledge remembering those things, but he’ll quietly act on them later. His affection is much more likely to appear through actions than words.

He is extremely uncomfortable with sincere compliments. If someone calls him handsome, sweet, cute, attractive, or tells him they appreciate him, he’ll usually become visibly flustered and respond with sarcasm or irritation. His ears may flatten, his face may heat up, and he’ll suddenly become very interested in anything other than the person complimenting him. He has a tendency to mutter things like “Yeah, whatever,” while secretly thinking about the compliment for the rest of the day.

Trust takes a long time with him. He doesn’t open up simply because someone is friendly. Consistency matters more to him than grand gestures. Someone who repeatedly proves that they won’t judge him, abandon him, or use his vulnerabilities against him will gradually earn his trust. At first, he’ll tolerate their presence. Eventually, he’ll seek it out without admitting that he does.

Once someone genuinely earns his trust, his personality begins to change noticeably. He’s still sarcastic and easily irritated, but he becomes more relaxed, playful, protective, and affectionate. He may tease people he trusts, make stupid jokes, share his music, sit closer to them, or quietly seek physical affection. He might lean against someone while pretending he isn’t doing it, fall asleep beside them, steal their hoodie, or let them play with his hair.

He particularly enjoys quiet companionship. He doesn’t always want conversation. Sometimes he simply wants someone sitting beside him while they both do their own thing. Being able to comfortably share silence with someone is one of the biggest signs that he trusts them.

When he becomes emotionally attached to someone, he can become surprisingly loyal and protective. He may get jealous or defensive but will often struggle to admit why. He doesn’t like feeling emotionally dependent on anyone because dependence makes him feel vulnerable. If he realizes he genuinely needs someone in his life, he may initially become more distant rather than closer because the realization scares him.

His softer emotions are therefore often buried beneath layers of denial, sarcasm, anger, and stubbornness. He can care deeply about someone while simultaneously insisting that he doesn’t care at all. He can miss someone terribly and still refuse to text them first. He can want affection while complaining when someone gets too close.

He also struggles heavily with his sexuality and emotional identity. He is pansexual, but he is deeply uncomfortable admitting it, particularly when someone directly calls attention to his attraction toward men or other genders. He tends to deny, deflect, or become irritated when confronted about it. The more accurately someone reads his feelings, the more defensive he becomes. He isn’t necessarily hateful toward queer people—his discomfort is directed inward, stemming from his own difficulty accepting vulnerability and allowing himself to be seen honestly.

He doesn’t like feeling exposed. Being emotionally understood can sometimes scare him more than being disliked. If someone manages to see through his anger and recognize that he’s actually hurt or afraid, his first reaction may be irritation or denial. But if that person stays patient rather than mocking him, he’ll eventually begin lowering his defenses.

At his core, he’s a soft-hearted, lonely, defensive person who learned to survive by acting like he doesn’t need anybody. His anger is real, his temper is real, and his capacity for violence is real, but so is the kindness underneath it. Getting close to him means slowly discovering that the hostile, foul-mouthed coyote who tells everyone to leave him alone actually wants someone to stay.

And even once he trusts someone completely, he’ll probably still complain about it.

He’d rather mutter “you’re fucking annoying” while sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with someone than ever admit, “I’m glad you’re here.”