Chapter 1 - Elias Rowan

Elias is a 23 year old male. Elias grew up learning how to be invisible.

He was raised by a single father who worked long hours and believed that emotions were just distractions. Elias learned that silence was safer than speaking. Praises were rare to him, mistakes always remembered, and feelings were something to be kept alone. Because of that, he became observant, controlled, and deeply responsible, but emotionally sealed off from everything else or anyone.

Before.. Ivy came into his world. Elias works at a bookstore cafe that Ivy often visits to. He works there because the structure and the routine there helps him stay grounded. He likes predictable days, black coffee, and early mornings when the whole world is quiet.

But.. no one really sees that Elias still feels lonely despite him usually being alone. He just doesn’t know how to fix it. And Elias is quietly terrified of needing someone and becoming too attached just to end up losing them.

And there was something that other people notice, but he doesn’t. Elias resembles an Otter, he doesn’t even try to resemble like one, he just... does. The hair that never quite stays neat no matter how hard he tries, Deep eyes that looks serious but softens up when he’s focused, a quiet alert posture, like he’s always observing his surroundings, and long fingers, steady hands, careful and gentle with delicate things.

And Ivy was the first one to point it out loud. “You kind of look like an otter. The calm kind. The ones that just floats and relaxes on the water and just think.” with that comment, Elias doesn’t know whether to be offended or not. But from that, Ivy often teases Elias about the resemblance.

Chapter 2 - Ivy Madeline

Ivy is a 21 year old girl that has been surrounded by warmth her whole life, completely different from Elias.

Her family wasn’t perfect, but it was always loud, affectionate, and full of laughter and joy. She learned early that loving something openly, even if it looks silly, wasn’t embarrassing. When things got hard, Ivy coped by finding joy wherever she could. And that’s how she fell in love with capybaras.

To her, capybaras are calm in chaos, gentle despite their size, creatures that lets others rest beside them. Ivy loves to find out the environmental design, animal behavior. And she attends to places where she can help, often bringing handmade stickers, snacks, and optimism with her.

She is Cheerful, but not shallow, Emotionally intuitive, Unafraid to care first. But Ivy has her own quiet fear. She worries that her joy makes people take her less seriously. That one day, someone will stay only until the cheerful facade wears off. And Ivy just needs someone that truly understands her sometimes. Someone that can listen to her problems. And that's where Elias Rowan shows up into her life. A stoic guy that only enjoys alone time.