Solivigant
(adj): marked by solitary wandering
. . . .
"Is November fall or winter?" Lila flopped back on the grass, bangs flapping into her eyes.
"I literally don't have the braincells for this," groaned Syd.
"Just answer the question, lemon drop." Meredith nudged Syd gently in the ribs. The tall stately model was inclined to pass out every time Meredith got within breathing space of them, but they shoved that thought under the rug.
"It's fall. Obviously."
"Mmm." The brunette pursed her lips with the angelic smile that Rocio knew meant she was about to start an argument. "See that's where I"m gonna disagree with you sugar plum. You see, back where I'm from, snow starts falling right around thanksgiving. As soon as you see the snowflakes, winter's a comin."
Syd's eyebrows crinkled up in dissaproving confusion as Lila's eyes sparked with the suggestion of a disagreement. Rocio appreciated Lila's nose for drama, never starting it needlessly, but always good at provoking the harmless kind. Rocio glanced over at their best friend. Miriam was idly playing with Lila's hair, tucking the last of the flowers into Lila's pale locks.
"Where's the eggnog?" Mikan complained. She had her cold hands shoved down Rocio's sweater and the only reason that Rocio hadn't shoved her off was because there was no universe in which a sane Rocio would tell Mikan to move her hands. They'd happily freeze to death, concerned looks from Miriam be damned.
"Benji's running late. And you shouldn't be drinking this early." Angelica, to everyone's surprise, had decided to sit with Rocio at the annual autumnal brunch. The entire student and faculty body of Romaenyi gathered on the front lawns in the brisk morning to gossip, eat pastries, drink spiked fall drinks in the name of seasonality, and complain about classes. From what Angelica told Rocio, it was also a time for the faculty to scope out potential apprentices. Rocio didn't know how that was different from any other day, but whenever they mentioned that to Angelica, Angelica told them to be quiet.
Mikan didn't even bother responding to Angelica. They only smiled, and slipped their hands under Rocio's shirt. Rocio yelped, jumping from where they were sitting. It was cosmically unfair that their girlfriend and their spectre got along better than Angelica and Rocio did. "We're all drinking this early. It's a Romaenyi tradition. Who are you and I to spit on the traditions of our beloved founders?"
Technically, none of them were supposed to be drinking this early. The faculty frowned on the students drinking at a school function, but it was a rule that was said and never followed. Romaneyi balls were rife with sparkling wine and liquor the color of ripened fruit. When the underground clubs held mixers on Friday and Saturday nights, student mixologists created cocktails that tasted like herbs and fire and salt, meant to be chased down with the thrum of the base or the tongue of a lover.
Benji, the favorite upperclassman of the group, was tasked with bringing the spiked egg nog. Uncharecteristicly of Benji, he was late. The perpetually fashionably dishelved upperclassman was no where to be found, not even a skull emoji to Angelica explaining his absence.
"Who wants to come with me to get food?" June announced. "I need to start eating if I want to down six cups of eggnog."
"I'll come." Meredith got to her feet. "Syd, do you want anything?"
"Get him those grandma cookies." Syd shot Rocio a murderous glare.
"They're called biscotti."
"Same thing." Syd grew up in London visiting their grandparents. Apparently the one's on their mom's side happened to really love biscotti and always kept it in the house.
