Smidge

    Smidge is a sharp and dutiful kitbull, always on alert and watching its surroundings. It has to be, really; unlike your average magic-hoarding, relic-thieving little pest, Smidge is essentially employed, working hard around the clock as Cassander's service kitbull (and personal assistant). Its duties include opening and closing doors, guiding Cassander around obstacles, fetching and stowing various items, and of course keeping all those freelance tax forms filed.
    The two joined early on as browlet and kittle, and have been inseparable ever since. Smidge is deeply devoted to its work, and has become quite protective, even if it can get a little annoying when swatting at someone it deems untrustworthy.

    Smidge was raised for the express purpose of being a service kitbull. Screened early on for focus and discipline, it was put through rigorous training and passed with flying colours. This put the kittle at the top of the list when it came time to be issued to a new family; Cassander's parents wanted the best of the selection as they shopped around for a kitbull to send their son away to boarding school with, and so Smidge was brought home.
    Cassander latched onto Smidge quickly. They were introduced at a turbulent moment in time, with Cassander being shipped off to the Hinterleague School of Sound, where the young browlet found great solace in holding his plush new friend close. Smidge, for its part, had a strong sense of duty without the need for attachment, but something about having its charge crying into its fur struck a chord. Their friendship would prove to be integral to surviving the academic gauntlet, and when Cassander walked the stage to receive his diploma, it was Smidge who would guide him across--now decorated with sharp, pointy ears, dark reds and blacks, and the wings of a bat, manifestations of the misery that had coloured the browbird magic Smidge fed off of for all those years.
    Things picked up from there. Now on their own, the two were finally able to bloom into themselves, with Cassander rediscovering his music and Smidge always at his shoulder. Cassander attributes it to a little kitbull bacchanalia in a magic greenhouse, but the sprout that appeared between Smidge's ears during those years certainly seemed to coincide with this new wave of happiness ....

    Smidge has all the attitude of a stern secretary. With little tolerance for tardiness or half-assed work, it gets everything done on time if not earlier, and expects the same from everyone around it. If it had a watch, it would be checking it frequently.
    But despite that no-nonsense presentation, Smidge isn't heartless. Its work life and personal life intermix due to it never being off the clock. Never being late with its duties means its always on time to watch its favourite procedural drama, or to cuddle up to Cassander in the studio for a well-earned nap. It's also still a kitbull, and so has its own hoard of magical items, although it doesn't have much time to spend admiring them. It collects enchanted papers and pressed flowers, which are kept in a big tome that it sometimes totes around if it expects to find more to add that day.
    While mostly reserved, Smidge has been known to gesticulate wildly and thrash about to produce the strange sounds kitbulls are known for. What it's trying to convey is usually left a mystery ....

• Smidge is a fastidious cleaner when it feels obligated--but if it had a room of its own, suffice to say it wouldnt be all that neat ....
• It can be quite affectionate, but upon first meeting tends to be prickly. Try to pick it up at your own peril.
• While it can't properly fly with its wings (not large enough), it can glide, and get some height with some frantic flapping.
• It hates very much to get wet. When dried after a dousing, its fur puffs out hilariously.
• It's been known to write notes from time to time in a strange script. Whether it's literate in another language or simply mimicking the behaviour of those around it is unclear, but it certainly didn't learn from watching Cassander, and that script is awfully neat and consistent ....