DEFEATISM

19

Even knowing there is a surprise waiting for them all downstairs, Callie cannot help but get herself ready. Maybe it's because it should be Christmas Eve, maybe it's just because Callie is Callie, but she begins her morning routine. After waiting for the shower to warm up, she steps inside and yelps.

It's ice cold.

So, she doesn't wash her hair and manages to get downstairs. Making a pancake breakfast for everyone theoretically would be a good idea, but she thinks everyone has had enough pancakes for a lifetime. It doesn't come up often, Callie's synesthesia, since it is lesser on the spectrum of synesthesia. Besides, she'd rather make a party trick of her art than of the way her brain is wired.

All of them have colours in the building, although most of them she hadn't noticed before now. Moonie is turquoise and always has been. It's an artificial colour, kind of like candy treats and the rippling waters in an edited photo. Maverick is red, but duller than one might expect. He is the colour of stop signs and solo cups and everything that is a warning. The two of them are opposites, kind of. Not quite though. Ro has always been brown, like black coffee and dimly lit streets on campus.

Some of the others are new. Benedict and Darlington compete in shades of grey. In some ways, it's hard to tell them apart, but the difference is there. Nearly joining them is Tempest, but her grey is much bluer. Almost like her eyes, though Callie doesn't usually try to make sense of the synesthesia. Marcellus is green in a way that isn't like trees, but like the artificial lighting in an arcade. Jerry is a kind of rust colour, like things old and worn but still kept around. Like Ro, Elodie is brown, though her colour is much creamier, like the kind of iced coffee, incense burning, soft girl she is. Galilee is brown too, but in a way that is colder than either of them. Her brown is like the spines of books in her parents' library, where Callie wasn't allowed to sit on the expensive couches.

This all comes to mind because her newest word association is pancakes. It's a light olive colour. Now, Callie wouldn't usually call colours ugly, but she is sure pancakes are terrible.

She gets down there while Moonie is putting the finishing touches of the ceiling. She is surprised they are awake at all. Moonie glances over at Callie, tucking out the chair.

"You did this all yourself?" Callie asks.

Moonie shakes their head, "Tempest left a note. Darlington helped her finish the job. The two have them have gone around for the wake-up call."

Callie nods, admiring the room. She wishes she could've been here to help with the finishing touches, not that it isn't perfect.

"Thanks for the paint, by the way," Moonie smiles. "Let me know what I owe you."

It's an expensive supply, but Callie brushes them off. Gifts are the kind of thing that are supposed to be shared at this time of year.

Satisfied with the state of things, Moonie and Callie wait outside the room. They whisper about the events of the evening, about Maverick's confession and their reunion, about the hours Callie stayed up last night finishing things, about how everyone is going to be so happy to see it all together.

Soon enough, the early arrivals are there. Jerry, hidden under his massive sweater, sits on the ground and rests his head on his knees. He's there even before Tempest and Darlington are back, who even divided and conquered the floors. The others continue to filter in over the next half hour. Galilee's camera is wrapped around her neck, a request from Tempest. She bends over to take a picture of Jerry, who has fallen asleep despite the loud noise bursting out of Maverick's mouth.

Soon enough, Elodie is there, and then they are all ready.

Marcellus is closest to the door, but Darlington jingles his keys, "let me, sticky."