Hayes

***SPOILER ALERT!***

Keep in mind that this page could contain spoilers from several routes.

Hayes is a dateable character in the game Hustle Cat. He's a talented barista at A Cat's Paw.

## Personality

Hayes gets nervous extremely easy, especially around people. He stutters a lot and his social anxiety makes him seem standoffish. Moreover, he's sometimes a pessimist and he's afraid of almost everything, except injuries. He has a snobbish side to him when it comes to coffee, since it seems that his coffee making skills are the only thing he's confident about.

In spite of that, he's described as sweet and cute by several characters. He's willingly to put himself in danger in order to not be an inconvenience to others, like when he tried leaving Avery's apartment by the tree outside of their window.

## Appearance

Hayes is a short man with messy light blonde hair and blue eyes. He wears a pink hoodie under a black pull-over, along with brown pants and shoes. He also wears glasses.

In his cat form, he is a Siamese cat with wide eyes.

## Background

   Hayes has been working at A Cat's Paw for two months when Avery is hired. He decided to apply there despite his social anxiety in order to get over his fear of interacting with people.

Not much is known about his past other than the fact that he didn't have many friends in high school so he spent most of his time reading and writing. He has two fathers whom he was adopted by, and they both work at the university where they met.

## Magic Abilities

Hayes's magic comes from his voice. The actions that he describes when he recites poems become actions in the real world. As explained by Graves, his poems don't depend so much on quality, rather it's the conviction of them that determines their power.

## Relationships

### Avery

Avery is Hayes's coworker. Like with everyone else, Hayes is afraid of Avery. He's quiet around Avery, and is appalled by their almost-accident with the coffee Landry made them at the beginning of the game. Avery tries comforting Hayes but ends up making Hayes even more scared.

In his route, he continues to stutter around Avery but instead of fear it's because of how incredibly flustered he is. He would rather put himself in danger than impose on Avery, shown by how he tries leaving Avery's house through the window. Despite this, Hayes pushes himself out of his comfort zone to make a big dramatic show of confessing his feelings and protecting Avery from Nacht. Avery views Hayes as a very kind and cute person, and can't understand why he wasn't popular in high school.

### Mason

Mason is Hayes's coworker. They spent more time together than with the other coworkers, since they both work in the kitchen. Because they're both very quiet people, they don't talk much but they're still able to understand each other well.

### Landry

Landry is Hayes's coworker. Because of Landry's kind nature, he's always trying to comfort Hayes. Avery is surprised when Landry put his arm around Hayes's shoulders to escort him to the kitchen, and Hayes doesn't cringe away like Avery expected him to. Additionally, they usually walk home together since they are neighbors. This suggest that they are close.

### Graves

Graves is Hayes's boss. Graves adore's Hayes's coffee and mentions that he doesn't know what he did before his coffee. Hayes is thankful for Graves's cat curse since it helps him cope with anxiety.

### Finley

Finley is Hayes's coworker. In Hayes's route, he is shown going to Finley for advice on his feelings for Avery which implies that they are familiar. However, this doesn't stop Finley from teasing him about his feelings.

### Reese

Reese is Hayes's coworker. They don't have many interactions, but Hayes is intimidated by him like he is by everyone else.

### Mochi

Hayes mentions that Mochi likes him, to which Avery replies that Mochi only likes canned food. To their surprise, however, Mochi happily goes to Hayes when called.

## Trivia

* Hayes would probably have a very soft voice, but deep too.
* Hayes enjoys bird watching.
* Hayes is the only character who Avery cleans up their apartment for before showing in. Avery also cleans their apartment for Reese, but that's after Reese has seen their huge mess.

## Reference List

1. ↑ Co-creator's tumblr.
2. ↑ Co-creator's tumblr.