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To be honest, Juliette has no idea why she decided to visit the spice shop this particular afternoon. When the little bell on the door announces her arrival, she realises that she probably should’ve come up with an excuse in advance. Looking for Nick? Nick’s at work, something Rosalee has to know already - his Wesen friends see a lot more of him than Juliette does these days. Asking Monroe for yet another favour? Then why not try his house first?
So, no good reason, other than the simple fact that her whole life is upside down, everything is new and scary and moves much faster than she can keep up with. She tries, for Nick’s sake. Now that she knows, she doesn’t want to be horrid about something that got dumped on his shoulders. But there are still moments when she wishes that there was a way out of this. That she could go to a doctor and have some kind of test done and that someone would tell her that it’s all in her head, that she’s sick somehow, but there’s a little magic pill that will make everything better again, it will all be back to normal and she’ll wake up tomorrow and the past year won’t have happened, and Nick will offer her the ring again and she will say yes and they’ll live happily ever after, and there’ll be no more weirdness.
Rosalee comes out from the back room, smiling when she sees who her visitor is. The smile is real, no forced customer-service-politeness, and Juliette smiles back and hopes it looks just as natural.
Maybe she doesn’t need a reason to come here after all? Maybe it’s okay to just drop by to talk?
“Hi! Would you like some tea?” Rosalee asks. “I was just making myself a cup, it’s no trouble.”
“Yes, thank you, that would be great.”
There’s a sort of barstool by the end of the main counter in the shop. Juliette hangs her coat over the back and jumps up, taking a moment to study the interior of the place a little more closely while Rosalee goes to get the tea. She’s been here before, seen all this already, but there’s always been some kind of emergency going on and she’s never really had the time to take it all in.
The whole shop looks like it’s taken out of a movie, something with witches and magic (all of which is real, Juliette has to remind herself.) It’s cozy though, feels more like a home than a place of business. Juliette remembers Nick telling her that the shop has been in Rosalee’s family for generations. Maybe that’s why.
The shelves are full of jars and bottles. There are several big apothecary counters with tiny drawers, all labeled with terms Juliette couldn’t even begin to understand. There are plenty of books, old and leather bound, most of which seems to be in German.
It’s not all ancient and unfamiliar. On the main counter is an open MacBook and a few paperbacks, cheap romance novels. Juliette decides to focus on that, small little details that provide some kind of proof that if you take away the mystical and unexplainable, Wesen really aren’t that different from humans. Unless you count the shape-shifting and the magic spells and the enchanted cats and.... well, all the rest.
Rosalee comes back with two big tea mugs and puts one of them down in front of Juliette. She sips it and tastes peppermint and a little honey, sweet and fresh at the same time. It might possibly be the best tea she’s ever had.
“Is everything all right?” Rosalee asks, picking up her own mug. “You look tired. Did something happen?”
The laugh that wants to force its way out of Juliette’s throat is bitter and not at all nice, so she clenches her jaw around it. “I’ve been having some trouble sleeping,” she says. That much is true, at least.
“Have you seen someone about it?”
This time Juliette does laugh, a short sharp bark. “It would be a little difficult to explain the reason to a doctor.”
“You’re probably right about that.” Rosalee nods thoughtfully. “I think I have something to help.”
She turns around and her hands start moving over the glass jars on a shelf, fluttering like graceful little birds. Every now and then, she picks something up and studies the label before she puts it back again. A few items finds their way from the shelf to the counter. It takes a few minutes before she seems satisfied with the selection and turns back around. “All right, first things first. Are you on the pill?”
Juliette shakes her head and tries a shaky smile. “Nope, no hormones for me.”
“Good!” Rosalee picks up one of the jars she’s placed on the counter. The label says Hypericum perforatum in a beautiful script that looks more drawn than written. Inside are some dried up brown leaves. “In that case, I think we should start with St John’s worth, very good for mild anxiety and depression.”
“But I’m not...” Juliette begins, but Rosalee just tilts her head to the side, raises her eyebrows, and gives her a look, and Juliette thinks about all the sleepless nights, all the endless evenings wandering around the empty house, unable to sit down and relax, thinks about how she has to strain her memory to remember the last time she really, truly laughed. She thought it would get better once she had everything figured out, but it hasn’t, and it makes no sense. “All right. I suppose I could give it a try.”
“That’s good. Now, we’re going to take some Valerian root.” She picks up another jar, which bears the legend Valeriana officinalis. “That’s a mild sedative. I’m going to add some chamomile... wait, you’re not pregnant are you? Or allergic to ragweed?”
“No. No I’m not pregnant.” Juliette smiles. “And I’m only allergic to bee stings.”
“Great! Well, not the allergy of course, but that means I can mix you a tea from this. Drink it before bed, and you’ll sleep a lot better.”
Juliette watches her prepare the herbs. “So, this is Wesen medicine?” she asks, half to make conversation and half because she’s made it her personal mission to learn everything she can about this strange world Nick lives in, the world that she herself suddenly lives in now. Plus, she likes Rosalee. She could see them being friends. As a matter of fact, she wants them to be friends.
Rosalee laughs. She has a lovely laugh, bright and pearly, a laugh that makes you want to smile. “No, this is strictly human stuff. Most of my customers are Wesen, but we get the odd alternative medicine enthusiast so I’ve had to read up a bit. Trust me, you don’t want to give someone the wrong treatment. St John’s worth, for example? Deadly poisonous to Seelenguter.”
“Seelen...what?”
“Seelenguter. Think... sheep.”
“Oh! Well, that makes sense.” Juliette doesn’t work much with livestock, but has enough experience to know that you don’t want this particular weed in the pastures.
“Yes, and the Valerian? I get Klaustreich coming in here all the time asking for it. They buy it to get high.” There must be question marks written all over Juliette’s face, because Rosalee hurries to explain. “Klaustreich are like cats, sort of. Generally, they’re not very nice.”
“So... it’s like catnip?” Juliette suddenly finds herself laughing, imagining a big, scary cat-person rolling around in a pile of catnip, stoned out of his mind.
Rosalee seems to be reading her mind (Fuchsbau can’t do that, can they?) because she starts laughing too, until they’re both leaning over the counter, gasping for breath. Every time they look up at each other, it sets them off again, and it feels so good to finally be laughing about something small and silly.
“All right, I’ll never be able to look a Klaustreich in the eye again,” Rosalee finally says, straightening up and wiping her eyes. She takes a sip of her cooling tea.
Juliette giggles. “Maybe you should start selling little balls of yarn? Toy mice?”
Rosalee sprays tea all over the counter, only barely missing the little bags she just prepared. “Sorry, sorry! Oh, that is so wrong. When I start laughing at customers, I’m going to blame you!”
She dabs at the mess with the sleeve of her oversized cardigan and then she looks up at Juliette. “You’re going to be just fine, you know that, don’t you? I mean, most humans would be hiding under the bed and refusing to come out by now, but you’re here and you want to learn and you... you’re dealing. Everything’s going to be all right.”
“I’d like to be hiding under the bed,” Juliette admits. She digs in her purse for some napkins to help clean up.
Rosalee smiles. “Well, I’m glad you’re not.”
Juliette feels so much better now than when she arrived, even without the natural remedies Rosalee prepared for her, and she realises that she wants to do this again, just hang out and laugh, without any of the Grimm business.
She asks, “Do you want to have lunch some time?” and Rosalee says, “I’d love that!” and Juliette reaches for one of the novels on the counter because it looks suspiciously like one she keeps in her secret hiding place at home that Nick loves teasing her about. Everything is different now, that much is true, but some things really aren’t all that different after all.
-fin-