Ophidian
(adj). of or denoting to snakes
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Meet me by the east library, under the gargoyle garden. The scrap of paper curled in on itself and bounced away, almost falling of the desk. Rocio made a halfhearted attempt to snatch it before grabbing the edge of the chair. Across from them, Sarina blinked very very slowly. They'd been in at it for hours, rewriting their music history notes again and again until they could recite the entire biography of Paganini backwards in Aramaic.
As much as they complained about being summoned by Angelica, Rocio couldn't deny how delightful a break from studying sounded. The thump from Rocio almost toppling over brought Sarina back to attention. "Is that from Angelica?"
"Yep. She wants me at the east library." There were several libraries in Romaenyi and while they were all good for studying, most students chose the Cloud Rotunda instead. Half a dozen stories tall, the Cloud Rotunda looked like something out of a fantasy novel. The round room was made up entirely of hanging pavillions, mounted at different levels like a whimsical palace. Each pavillion was a different shade of silk, round cushions that could fit at least six in tangerine, saffron and cherry being held up by twisted gold and amber cables. The higher platforms were wrapped in white netting and were only accessible by rope ladder. Trains of honeycomb and billowing white silk hung from the ceiling, creating a hanging forest of texture.
Rocio and Sarina were currently nestled in a moss green pavillion, hints of golden yellow showing through the silk. The Cloud Rotunda had a full length window during the day and right now, everything was awash in the colors of the sunset. Rocio flopped down on the padded platform, wrapping themselves around a pillow. The cushions were so thick they threatened to swallow Rocio up. "I'll go. Give me five minutes."
"Get out of here." Sarina shooed them towards the exit. Rocio hissed but rolled over anyways. The prospect of not studying was growing more and more appealing by the second. Besides, Angelica hated when they were late. Angelica would be annoyed at them no matter what they did but at least that way they could start out tonight on a decent foot. Rocio shoved the rest of their study materials into their satchel and climbed down the ladder.
The east library wasn't a very far walk from the Cloud Rotunda. Angelica wasn't even there yet when Rocio reached the gargoyle garden. The gothic display was aptly named because of the net arching over the library entranceway, a murder of gargoyles staring down at all the innocent students who wanted to enter the library. It was downright creepy though Rocio was actually fond of the menacing little buggers.
Angelica's hurried footsteps rang down the hallway as she rounded the corner. She looked less harried than this morning, her coat billowing out behind her. The spectre pin, a golden owl perched on an olive branch, shone on her coat despite the fading evening light.
"You're late." Dammit. The whole point of getting here early was to not antagonize Angelica. But poking fun at the older spectre was so second nature it just came out. Rocio mentally kicked themself, even though their insolent grin never wavered.
"I was stopping a crisis." If anybody else said they were stopping a crisis, Rocio would side eye the hell out of them, but if Angelica said it, she meant business. "Professor Clover was having issues with her telescope and some idiot decided it would be fun to steal the calibrator so I had to finish yelling at her before coming down here."
