Post by Gavin on Feb 17, 2011 20:55:29 GMT
Name: Gavin Marcus Murray.
Nicknames: Most people just call him Murray.
Race: Human.
Occupation: Sergeant; Miami-Dade PD, transferring to LAPD Narcotics.
Gender: Male.
Skin Colour: Caucasian with a good, Miami tan.
Nationality: American.
Age: 32 | July 10, 1974.
Clothing: Gavin's job doesn't often require that he wear the standard blues, but he does have a formal dress uniform and will wear it when required. Most of his day-to-day wear is practical and comfortable; narcotics officers must be able to blend in, as a lot of their work involves getting close to suspects on the street. Nonetheless, Gavin is nothing if not put together. Pressed button downs over t-shirts, well-cut slacks or jeans, a solid pair of boots – the man knows how to dress himself.
Height: 6'
Weight: 183lbs.
Tattoos: None.
Piercings: None.
Jewellery: He still owns his wedding band, but he hasn't worn the blasted thing in months. Maybe one day he'll have it melted down into scrap.
Body Modifications: A small, crescent-shaped scar beneath his left eye and one bullet scar on the right side of his chest.
Hair [/b]
Length: No more than a few inches all around. Somewhat shorter at the back of his head and around his ears.
Style: Always neatly trimmed. A small amount of product keeps Gavin from looking as though he just rolled out of bed.
Colour: Dark brown.
Facial Hair [/u]
Length: Never more than a quarter-inch – any more than a five o' clock shadow, and Gavin suddenly looks like a hobo.
Style: Clean-shaven.
Eyes
Colour: Blue.
Oddities: None.
Personality: Prickly might be the best descriptor when it comes to Gavin's personality. Blunt might be even better. He's never been the sweetest guy in the world, that's for certain and, given the home life he had growing up, that shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Gavin is very much self-sufficient, someone who is more than happy being left to his own devices, but he won't go out of his way to isolate himself from others. He knows the value of teamwork and being able to trust the people around him – hell, he wouldn't have become a cop if he was totally withdrawn.
However recent events – namely the way his ex-wife, Kate, destroyed him in their divorce – has left Gavin a bit more sullen than usual. The man is packing up from his home state just to get away from the woman he thought promised to have and to hold; obviously he's going to be a little busted up. He's not about to fall into some kind of languishing depression, but one might find him more inclined to find a skulk over a glass of whiskey these days.
Weaknesses: Mortality, alas – Gavin can be shot down in the line of fire just like any other officer, and he nearly was, at one point. A serious altercation with a suspect tore the rotar cuff in his left shoulder, and the joint will cause him some pain on occasion. Gavin's biggest problem seems to surface on certain cases – mainly, when he stumbles upon anything involving children. For a man as brusque and occasionally sour as him, he is surprisingly protective, which makes it very difficult when things turn for the worst. Gavin knows he can't protect everyone, it's impossible, but the faces of the kids he's been unable to help are stilled burned into his brain.
Abilities: Gavin is more on the slim side, as far as stature goes, but his is more than capable of holding his own, when it comes down to it. Besides the standard hand-to-hand training that he received in academy, he has also studied Krav Maga and some standard knife combat skills. Gavin has professional knowledge of how to fire, handle, and maintain firearms – some handguns and rifles, mostly – and he is fluent in Spanish. Given that Miami has a significant Latino community, a cop who knows how to speak the languages usually does better than the average gringo. His first job as a kid was in a cigar factory on Calle Ocho, back in Miami, so he has a pretty extensive knowledge of cigars, as well.
Weapons: Standard issue Glock. Gavin also carries a folding knife in his boot.
Prized Possessions: The one decent thing his father left him – his black 1973 Dodge Charger.
Home(s): A small, one-bedroom on Cole's half of L.A., though Gavin is unaware of any such boundaries.
History: When Gavin was growing up in Northern Florida, he came to understand what it meant to be terrorized. His father, Nathan Murray, was nothing short of a raging drunk, the kind of man who would go off to work in the morning and return that evening with the reek of beer all over him. Gavin received the full brunt of Nathan's abuse until his little brother, Chris, was born; then Nathan decided to spread his hatred evenly between both sons. The old man's reasoning was that a kid who was terrified of his father wouldn't grow up to be a "wuss"; Mr. Murray used his physical and emotional abuse to keep his sons in line and their mother was too frightened to stop him.
Things came to a head when Gavin turned 17. Thanksgiving that year turned into an all-out brawl, but when Nathan came at his son with the carving knife for the turkey, slicing his cheek open, that was the last straw. Gavin fought back. His old man was taken out with a wine bottle to the back of the head, and Gavin locked himself in his room for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Gavin left. Packed up what he could and walked out the front door. What money he had saved got him a bus ticket to Miami and a cheap motel room. He started working at a cigar factory in Little Havana, and signed up for training with Miami-DADE Police Academy a year later.
Kate happened when Gavin was fresh out of academy. He was just working his way into the Narcotics division of MDPD when a night out with his new partner threw the leggy blonde into his lap – literally, the woman tripped on her towering heels and landed right in Gavin's lap. The term "whirlwind romance" could apply here, and marrying Kate barely a year later is still the most impulsive thing that Gavin has ever done. They were good together, or so he thought, until Kate told him just after his 30th birthday that she had been cheating on him for the past year. Needless to say, it all went downhill from there; Gavin's even gone so far as to request a transfer to Los Angeles, because he can't stand being in the same city as his ex. Kate's certainly done a number on him, but knowing Gavin, he'll bounce back before long – it might just take a month or two of sulking.