Callim

**Callim** is Mind's pet dog from an alternate reality. He made one appearance and functions as the (rather unsuccessful) care dog for the heavily braindamaged Mind in the story.

Callim is a black and white Saluki who bears a visual resemblance to Dennim. He's roughly 6 weeks old when found and given to Mind by her demented caretaker. Where he came from or how he survived the dead environment created by Dennim is unknown. Callim lives up to become 20 years old.

As a puppy, Callim's form is similar to young Dennim's, but when grown up, the dog looks more like a regular Saluki and mimics Dennim's adult design. Personality-wise, he's a cheery animal that likes to cuddle and be held. Another characteristic is that he makes relatively little sound and has never barked, cried, or howled once. When especially excited, he bops his head and rapidly pats his front paws on the grounds. He also seems strangely addicted to the feeling of getting kissed on the head and will silently stand still to receive it.

While the dog appears to have little relevance to the plot; having known Callim is what made it possible for Mind to recall Dennim after she snapped out of her vegetable state. By staying exposed to his image for all those years, she was able to remember her friend and her past with it, as Dennim was part of it in its entirety.

After his passing, Dennim offers Mind to either bring him or her caretaker back to life. Mind chooses Callim, as she feels like she wasted his life.

## Relationships

### Mind

Mind's initial relationship with Callim was less involved than the one after he got reanimated, as she was unable to really acknowledge his existence before that.

When she saw him for the first time, she commented that his appearance reminds her of someone, but as she had lost her memory, she didn't think about it anymore after that. Callim got relatively little attention from Mind, but liked to pretend she was involved with whatever he's doing. He was unoffended by her long silences and expressionless face, which might only be because his cheerfulness leaves no room for intelligence.

When he gets regenerated by Dennim, he starts off cautious, as Mind's lively expressions and loud approach makes her appear a stranger to him. Mind reassures the puppy by reinacting her deadpan stares, whereafter he welcomes all her unfamiliar attention, though she needs to repeat this act multiple times in order to keep his trust.

### Mind's caretaker

Because Callim's presence was often unnoticed by Mind, Mind's caretaker was the one who fed and cleaned up after him. Despite this, Callim considered Mind his owner and always returned to her bedroom.

Mind's caretaker treated the dog with respect, but never forced a relationship onto him. Both characters were more interested in Mind.

### Dennim

While he isn't hostile towards him, Dennim thinks their shared likeness to be creepy. He also gets rather jealous at the kind of affection the dog receives from Mind, waking the strange implication that Dennim wants to be pet and talked to like a dog by her as well. At the same time, the revived puppy recognizes his past adult self in Dennim and is convinced that he too is a dog, making him uneasy whenever he gets physical attention from his mistress.

They sometimes have a passive aggressive battle for Mind's attention, but they are not considered enemies.

## Made appearances

*This character appears in the following stories (the size of their role portrayed in the number of asterisks pictured):*

* Reformed Insanity (\*\*)

## Trivia

* The name "Callim" is spawned from the question Mind's caretaker asked her on "what she wanted to call him". Mind absentmindedly repeated the last two words of his sentence, whereafter he thought that to be her pick;
	+ At the same time, the name comes close to Dennim's.