[attr="class","pdust"]


are probably scarce given Nate's reserved nature. He doesn't really go out of his way looking for them and feels perfectly comfortable spending time alone at home, but maybe your character is just exceptionally outgoing and/or determined and takes an interest in Nate because... god knows why. They'd also have to be willing to forgive him for his accidental ghosting, as Nate's forgetful as hell when it comes to texting and highly likely to cancel plans out of the blue because work came up. His schedule doesn't leave much time for socializing: he's working 70% of the time, asleep 20%, and catching up on housework/playing with his dog the last 10%. Potential common points of interest/discussion however are books, movies, and fancy coffee. Possible acquaintances are easier to find, since I can see him being on amicable terms with people he's encountered through his work at the hospital or police department. Co-workers, patients, friends and family of patients, supervisors, mentors, mentees... you name it.

are tricky too because verbal/physical assaults and general asshole behavior don't affect him much. He might feel irritation if you're being especially bothersome and impeding his work and goals, but otherwise genuine anger/distress is rare. Nate's very good at placating angry, unhappy people and smoothing down any ruffled feathers. That said, one-sided hostility could still be a possibility! Nate's apparent aloofness might put some off; he's polite, yet distanced. It could also be fun, I think, to do some sort of unhappy patient situation, where Nate errs in their care (in a small or a big way) and they hold it against him, justifiably or not.

I have some ideas here. To shed some light first on Nate's romantic background, it basically doesn't exist. He might've dated his best friend for a short while, but other than that, nada. Nate either says he's too busy for romantic matters or uninterested in them. Both excuses are true to an extent, but the underlying issue is that Nate has unrealistically high expectations of true love at first sight and doesn't realize it's something you have to work at. His parents are getting pretty impatient by now for him to marry and have kids, so he could humor them and go on a few super awkward dates, or even possibly agree to an arranged engagement. As for the real deal (or is it...), I'm really interested in exploring the suspension bridge effect concept — two people brought together in an especially dangerous situation and Nate confounding a fear response with attraction. Or maybe the other character's the real danger, heh. taken! \o/

Honestly, curiosity's probably going to kill this dude one day. Expect him to always be running towards chaos rather than away from it. If you want to throw out any other ideas or discuss any of the ones I mentioned, please hit me up! ♡