cobalt

When Cobalt was young, his family wasn't sure if he'd ever speak. They've been a quiet person since childhood, and when they finally started talking, it was in complete sentences at the age of three. They never had many friends, but that didn't bother them--they preferred to perch somewhere high up with a book instead of trying to play with the other kids.

Shapeshifting wasn't exactly unheard of in their family, but their parents were two humanoids. Nobody was expecting a ten-year-old Cobalt to come trotting home from school on four legs looking like a cat, but they feel far more like themself in non-human forms. It took a few years for him to really get the hang of his shapeshifting, but he's able to switch forms at will, up to a few times in a day. It can take a lot out of him and be pretty disorienting, especially when shifting into a new form, so he tends to stick with either his cat, bluejay, or humanoid forms. Especially without anyone to teach him how to harness his abilities properly, most of what he learned came from borrowed library books or things he could glean from his grandmother's diary.

He didn't have a bad relationship with his parents, per se, but as an only child who struggled to connect with his family and had wildly differing interests, opinions, and personalities, it meant that they grew up pretty isolated. They never made many friends in school, but that was alright with them--the local librarians all knew them by name, the nice barista at the coffee shop down the road had their order memorized, and their neighbor would always bring by reference books she "didn't have a use for" anymore. That was enough for Cobalt. They were glad not to have too much connecting them to their hometown, though, because as soon as they got the opportunity to, they left the warm area they grew up in exchange for the rainy mountainside city they now call home.

Cobalt now lives in a bustling city near the mountains in an apartment they share with their roommate, Kit. They're a photographer by trade, though it's not really their passion. They sell their work online and make custom postcards, and it pays the bills. With how reserved of a person they are, it may come as a surprise that they love the city as much as they do, but there are so many interesting things for them to observe, and they love the anonymity that comes with city life. In a small town, everyone knows you and you know everyone--your business is everyone's business, and Cobalt is not a fan of the vulnerability that comes with that. They like having a routine, they like having acquaintances, and they have a few close friends who refuse to allow them to isolate themself (despite their best efforts). Life is good.

If you looked around Cobalt's room, you'd see a humanoid-sized bunk bed with a desk/workstation underneath it, an easel by the window, and a cat bed on the floor. Attached to the wall are some strange-looking branches placed as strategic decorations, but if you looked closely, you'd realize that they're bird perches. The walls are a sensible grey, their bedding is simple and white, and their furniture is minimalistic, to put it kindly. Their walls, however, are covered in artwork--some their own, some from friends, and others still that they saved for months to buy from a gallery. There are bookshelves next to their doorway, stuffed full of books of all sorts--reference, fiction, biographies, you name it--filed two deep. Dirty clothes are strewn around their room, but not to a point where you can't see the floor--sometimes they just have better things to do than remember to put everything in its place. Their living room has much more color and life to it--most of it from Kit's eccentric decorating tastes--and there are more books and games there than any two people could ever go through. It's a home that, while quiet, is full of more life than Cobalt knew what to do with when he moved in. It's a feeling they're not sure how to put into words.

Cobalt's not much of a cook, but their roommate loves sweets, so he taught himself to bake in recent years. They spend most of their days walking around the city, photographing anything that looks interesting and taking their references home to paint later. Most nights, they're alone in their room painting or working, but Kit often comes in to join them in silence, playing around on its phone or reading comics. They don't talk much on nights like that, preferring to just share each others' company. Every couple weeks, though, they have small gatherings in their living room where their friends pile onto their couch and order delivery, playing video games, talking, and watching movies late into the night. Cobalt normally takes the whole next day to recover, but it's always worth it.