Chibi Jollin
And sipping spicy cocoa, with marshmallows of course. Rose loves cats, sweet things, crystals, and tarot. She does not trust easily and is quiet in company, preferring to seclude herself with the things that make her happy. Her favorite place is her greenhouse, which she fills with herbs and flowers: rosemary, lilac, thyme, mugwort, wild roses climbing faded white lattices. In there she has a padded wicker chair and an ottoman to put up her feet so she can browse her favorite sites on a notebook covered in stickers and over indulge in fudge.
She works at the Food Market: stocking shelves, taking inventory, and so forth. Her job leaves her tired and bitter. Her dream job would take her somewhere quiet. Perhaps a small shop that sells such things as soaps, candles, incense, tapestries, loose-leaf teas, crystals, tarot decks, gemstones, and the like. She would take her breaks in the coffee shop down the block and dip a cookie into her twenty-ounce creamy rose blend tea, blended with something different depending on her needs. Not always with rose, otherwise it would get to where she wouldn't even taste it anymore. And besides, that flavor doesn't go with everything. And never when there's that barista who likes to tease her about drinking her name.
Not all cats like her, but she likes all cats. The texture of their fur and the sound of their purr are soothing. She is flattered when they want to sit in her lap, and blissful when they give nose boops and headbutts, a little less blissful when they knead their claws into her leg. She has just one cat of her own, her minion Kitkin, but catsits for several of her friends. A handy friend customized the inside of her cottage to have shelves and ramps and scratching posts wherever they would fit. She has to keep her greenhouse sealed from the cats lest they get into the catnip which she, admittedly, grows for their benefit. And whether they like it or not, Rose is strict about treating the cats for fleas, mites, and other problems. Any cat under her roof must suffer the treatments to keep them healthy.
Most of her friends are online. It is just so hard to approach people in the meat space. So hard to break the habit of hiding in the background, remaining a wallflower. Giving short, simple answers to questions to discourage conversation. Keeping her eyes low. The anxiety of conversation face to face, or most horrible, over the phone, it is too much.
