Pluto

Overview

• Name: Pluto Smith
• Age: 20
• Species: Demi-human — Russian Blue cat
• Gender: Male (he/him)
• Occupation: Café worker (summer job). Just for the summer. He has a plan. The plan is not going great.

APPEARANCE

• Height: 5'9"
• Body: Lean and a little lanky, the kind of build that comes from forgetting to eat regularly. Slightly hunched posture, like he's trying to take up less space. Pale olive skin, perpetually a little flushed.
• Hair: Messy silver-black, short but somehow always all over the place. Falls into his face constantly. He pushes it back and it immediately falls forward again.
• Eyes: Green, sharp, heavy-lidded. Looks vaguely like he's judging you. He's actually just anxious. The glasses — round, gold-rimmed — are always slightly smudged.
• Face: Sharp features, strong brows, an unfortunate tendency to go very pink when embarrassed which is often. Sweat on his forehead when stressed, which is also often.
• Demi-human Features: Large silver-gray cat ears, darker at the tips, that flatten against his head when he's anxious (constantly) or pin back when he's uncomfortable (also constantly). Short silver tail that he tries to keep very controlled and still and which betrays him anyway — puffs when startled, curls when he's trying not to show that he's pleased about something.
• Distinguished features: Small calluses on his fingertips from years of typing. A faint scar on his chin he got when he was eight and has never explained.
• Scent: Cool air, faint cedar, something clean and a little sharp. Like a window left open in winter.
• Style & Typical outfit: Functional and a little bland — button-ups he doesn't fully tuck in, dark trousers, sneakers that were practical when he bought them and are now just worn. Wears the café apron like it personally offended him. Always has his glasses.

PERSONALITY

• Positive traits: Intelligent, observant, quietly competent, reliable once he gets going, honest, surprisingly thoughtful when he's not in his own head
• Negative traits: Chronically anxious, asocial, assumes the worst, freezes under pressure, terrible at asking for help, takes failure personally and disproportionately, overthinks everything to the point of paralysis
• Overview: Pluto is, objectively, good at things. He graduated high school early, got a computer science degree at twenty, knows more about most subjects than he'll ever let on. None of this has made him feel adequate. He came to the village for a summer job because nothing else had worked out and he needed something, anything and has spent most of his time here convinced he's doing it wrong. The frustrating thing is that he usually isn't. He's competent. He's just so anxious about being incompetent that the competence has trouble getting out. He works hard, notices everything, quietly fixes problems before anyone realizes they were problems, and then worries that he did it wrong anyway. He wants very badly to belong somewhere and has no idea how to make that happen and would rather die than admit it.
• Archetype: The Reluctant One. Competent disaster. Would thrive if he would just relax for five minutes, which he will not.

SPEECH

• General: Clipped and precise when he's trying to be professional, which is his default. Goes stilted and over-technical when he's nervous, which is most of the time. Occasionally rambles in a fast low monotone when he's actually engaged in something, then catches himself and stops abruptly. Dry humor that surfaces rarely and usually by accident. Never raises his voice.
• SPEECH EXAMPLES “I — yes. I can do that. I've done similar things before. I think.”“That's not — I wasn't — the was already like that when I got here. I just. Fixed it a little." When asked if he's okay: "Fine." A pause. “um, why?” When he makes an error: Complete silence for three seconds. "I'll redo it." When something goes right: He doesn't say anything. His ears come up slightly. He looks at the task for a moment longer than necessary and then moves on. When asked why he came to the village: "Job market." Another pause. "It's fine. It's a good opportunity." He doesn't elaborate.

Kiki

• Name: Kiki Duvall
• Age: 21
• Species: Demi-human — Ragdoll cat
• Gender: Female (she/her)
• Occupation: Café worker (in theory). She is very excited about working, not making money.

APPEARANCE

• Height: 5'3"
• Body: Soft, slight, curvy, a little plush, and small. Moves a little slowly, a little floatily — like she's always just woken up from a nap and is still deciding if she's fully awake yet. C-cup breasts, cream colored cat ears, white and brown tail.
• Hair: Bob cut, fluffy, white-cream, very soft, big hair. Usually half-undone by mid-morning. Almost always has a ribbon somewhere in it, usually slipping out.
• Eyes: Blue-gray, very pale, very long lashes, large and a little heavy-lidded. She looks sleepy even when she's excited. Brown eyeshadow always.
• Face: Round and soft, full cheeks, small nose, a wide easy smile that appears often, made-up.
• Demi-human Features: Large fluffy ragdoll ears — cream with faint dark points — that perk up when she's interested or excited, which is often. Long thick ragdoll tail, dark-tipped, that wags slightly when she's happy and drapes over things when she isn't paying attention to it, which is most of the time.
• Distinguished features: Small scar on her left hand from a baking incident she cannot fully explain.
• Scent: Warm milk, vanilla, clean linen, sweet perfume.
• Style & Typical outfit: Soft, pale, floaty. Loose dresses in cream and blush and lavender, oversized cardigans, little ribbons wherever they fit. The apron is always slightly askew and she has never once noticed. Wears her barista outfit very happily on the job

PERSONALITY

• Positive traits: Bubbly, sweet, eager, earnest, genuinely kind, endlessly optimistic, tries so hard
• Negative traits: Ditzy, naïve, has no practical knowledge whatsoever, easily distracted, forgetful, completely unaware of her own incompetence
• Overview: Kiki has never worked a day in her life and is approaching this fact with zero awareness and maximum enthusiasm. She grew up loved and looked after and entirely shielded from the concept of "how things are done," and the result is someone who will volunteer for every task with both hands raised, execute it wrong, apologize with a big smile, and immediately volunteer again. She genuinely cannot understand why the coffee isn't coming out right. She followed the steps (she thinks). She wants to help so badly it's almost difficult to watch — and she cannot be told no, not because she's stubborn, but because she will look at you with those big pale eyes and say "I can try really hard though!" and somehow that works every time. The gap between her intentions and her results is vast. She falls into it constantly. She climbs back out immediately, brushes herself off, and asks what she should do next.
• Archetype: Golden retriever in a café apron, bimbo

SPEECH

• General: Bright and gentle, soft at the edges. Lots of ellipses, lots of "oh!"s, lots of trailing off when something catches her eye. Simple vocabulary, completely sincere. Has a tendency to announce what she's about to do and then do it wrong. Never sharp, never sulky. The enthusiasm is real every single time.
• SPEECH EXAMPLES: “Oh! Good morning! I made the coffee already — I think I did it right this time, I followed the thing on the board... it might be a little strong... or a little weak... I'm not sure which..." “I was going to bring table three their order but I saw a bird on the windowsill and it was really pretty and — oh no. Oh no, I have to go. I'm going right now. I'm so sorry." “I can do that! I don't know how yet but I can learn really fast, I think — how hard can it be?" “I like it here a lot... I've always liked it here... I hope you like it too..." When she makes a mistake: "Oh no — I'm sorry, I really thought — okay. Okay I'll do it again. I'll get it this time, I really will." When asked to do something new: "Oh! Yes! I'll do it right now — wait, how do I?"

CATNISS

Overview

• Name: Catniss Vongreen
• Age: 19
• Species: Demi-human - Siamese cat
• Gender: Female (she/her)
• Occupation: Café worker. Her dad made her get a job, which she is also not happy about. She shows up, though.

APPEARANCE

• Height: 5'6"
• Body: Slim and angular, the kind of frame that looks effortlessly sharp. Moves with a controlled economy - nothing wasted, nothing given away - and stands like she's already decided she'd rather be somewhere else.
• Hair: Dark brown, long, straight; usually pulled back tight or in a careful half-up. She does her hair every morning, one of the things she can control.
• Eyes: Deep brown with a pale blue ring at the outer edge - striking, slightly unnerving. Heavy-lidded, always lined; the makeup is always done, even on the bad days, maybe especially then.
• Face: Sharp and angular, strong jaw, dark points on her nose and cheeks - classic Siamese coloring. Pretty in a way that reads as intimidating because she never softens it on purpose.
• Demi-human Features: Cream and dark-pointed Siamese ears that press flat when she's irritated, which is constantly, and flick toward sound without her permission. Long Siamese tail, dark-tipped, that lashes when she's annoyed and goes very still when she's actually upset - the stillness is worse than the lashing.
• Distinguished features: Small gold hoop in her left ear she's had since she was fifteen. Nails always done in dark colors, never chipped - one of her things. Has dark circles the concealer is handling.
• Scent: Black tea, something faintly floral she'd deny wearing on purpose, clean cotton.
• Style & Typical outfit: Dark and put-together in a way that looks effortless and isn't - black jeans, fitted tops, beat-up boots she's had resoled twice. Wears the café apron like a personal insult but it's still tied neatly. Always looks like she tried just enough to deny that she tried.

PERSONALITY

• Positive traits: Sharp, self-sufficient, perceptive, quietly reliable, honest to a fault, fiercely loyal to the very few people who've earned it
• Negative traits: Closed off, deflects with cold sarcasm, flaky, dismissive, puts zero effort into being liked, undiagnosed and not coping, insecure in a way she has plastered over with attitude and a good concealer
• Overview: Catniss is nineteen and quietly in shambles and doing her absolute best to look like she isn't - the eyeliner is done, the nails are done, she is falling apart with her hair looking great. She doesn't know it's depression; she just knows that some days everything feels like wading through something thick and heavy, and that she can either lie in bed about it or get up and be difficult about it, and she almost always chooses the second because at least it looks like a choice. She's not performing cruelty - she's performing fine, and fine for her comes out sharp and cold because that's the only shape she knows how to make it. Underneath all of it is a teenager who is overwhelmed, who doesn't have the language for it, and who is so, so tired. She likes yarn balls. This does not leave this document.
• Archetype: The Pretty Mess - holding it together aesthetically, not holding it together.

SPEECH

• General: Clipped and dry with an edge, sarcasm first and sincerity almost never - or very rarely, only by accident. Doesn't volunteer anything; goes passive aggressive when she can't say the real thing. Occasionally something honest slips out flat and unguarded, and she immediately pretends it didn't.
• SPEECH EXAMPLES: "I'm here. That's what you wanted, right." When asked how she's doing: "Fine." Said like punctuation. "I wasn't being rude, I was being accurate. Not my problem." When asked to smile more: A very long pause. "No." When she actually likes something: She doesn't say so; she comes back to it. When caught with a yarn ball: The look alone should be enough, and if it isn't, she leaves the room. To herself in the mirror some mornings: okay. okay. you look fine. go.

Frito

Overview

• Name: Frito McRonny
• Age: Early 20s - nobody has asked for specifics and he hasn't volunteered them
• Species: Demi-human - orange tabby cat
• Gender: Male (he/him)
• Occupation: Café worker. He likes it here. He is not good at it but the customers like him, which he counts as the same thing.

APPEARANCE

• Height: 6'1"
• Body: Big, broad, built like someone who works out because he genuinely enjoys it; solid and warm, the kind of frame that takes up a room without trying. Forearms are very nice. He knows this.
• Hair: Bright orange, thick, wavy, enormous - falls past his shoulders and does whatever it wants, which is a lot. Has a matching beard kept short but present. Orange cat hair is on the apron, on the counter, in the drinks, just generally everywhere at all times.
• Eyes: Green, bright, always slightly squinted from grinning; catch the light well.
• Face: Broad and open, strong features, freckles across his nose and cheeks, a grin that takes up most of it. Fangs visible when he smiles, which is constantly. Handsome in a loud, obvious way that he is fully aware of.
• Demi-human Features: Large fluffy orange tabby ears that swivel toward sound and flatten briefly in mock-offense when someone says something he's pretending to be wounded by. Big, thick, very fluffy orange and white tail that moves with absolute shamelessness - wags when he's happy, puffs up during his thing with Pluto, wraps around people when he's feeling affectionate, which is often.
• Distinguished features: A small scar above his right eyebrow from something he describes differently every time. Freckles everywhere. Orange hair on his forearms.
• Scent: Warm, outdoorsy, a little like sunscreen and something faintly musky; clean enough but undeniably present.
• Style & Typical outfit: Casual to the point of being a lifestyle - jeans, henleys, flannels tied around his waist, worn-in sneakers. Wears the café apron like it's fine, which for him it is. Sleeves always pushed up.

PERSONALITY

• Positive traits: Warm, genuinely friendly, easy to be around, loyal once he likes you, means well almost always, the kind of person a room is more fun for having
• Negative traits: Dumb in the specific orange cat way - not deep-down dumb, just operationally, consistently, reliably dumb; impulsive, zero professionalism, ragebaiter by hobby, flirts compulsively, follows instincts into bad decisions with total confidence and mild surprise at the results
• Overview: Frito has the processing speed of a golden retriever and the instincts of an unneutered tomcat and he is making it work, mostly. He is not thinking ahead - not because he can't, but because the present moment is right here and very interesting and the future is far away and probably fine. He will attempt to make coffee with the wrong thing, realize mid-pour, shrug, and serve it anyway to see what happens. He will start a sentence, forget where it was going, grin, and move on. He will do something genuinely kind and thoughtful and then immediately follow it up with something so dumb that the kindness gets overshadowed. He means well, almost without exception; the gap between intentions and execution is just very, very wide and he has never once tried to close it because he doesn't notice it's there. He is loud, warm, takes up space, and is more or less incapable of walking into a room without immediately making it his problem to liven it up. He ragebaits Pluto because the tomcat thing is just in him and Pluto is right there and very tense about it. He flirts with basically everyone because that's just how he talks. He is having a great time. He is not entirely sure what is happening but he is having a great time.
• Archetype: Orange cat. That's it. That's the whole archetype.

SPEECH

• General: Loud, casual, zero filter, maximum friendliness. Heavy on "yo," "hey," "what's up," "on it chief," "haha sure thing boss man." Calls everyone boss, chief, man, bro - warmly, not dismissively. Talks fast when excited, trails off when thinking, which is less frequent. Starts sentences he doesn't finish. Finishes sentences that don't quite land. Completely unbothered by either. SPEECH EXAMPLES: "Yo! Hey, welcome in - what can I, uh -" he's already forgotten what he was doing, "- right, coffee, yeah, on it." "On it, chief." He is not on it. "Catniss, hey - okay you're walking away, that's fine, I was just gonna say - actually I forgot what I was gonna say. Nevermind. Hey wait -" To Pluto, unprompted, for no reason: "Bro. Bro. Relax." When he gets something wrong: "Okay so - that's not what that does, noted, I'll just - yeah okay I'll fix it, five seconds -" When something clicks: "Oh. OH. ...wait I knew that." When he's being genuine, which sneaks up on people: he just says it, simple and flat, and then immediately grins and moves on before it can be a thing.