WHO: Apollo and Rosario WHEN: Friday evening, 11 March WHERE:Rosario’s Apollo’s apartment building WHAT: Just Apollo, looking after his daughter WARNINGS: TBD
The wind up on the roof of Apollo’s latest purchase was cold, icy fingers raking through his golden hair like an angry lover, but between gusts the air carried a mildness that sang of spring. All up, Apollo had high hopes for the coming season. Things with Cin had never been tighter or hotter, Brody was blowing everyone away with how well he’d taken to the violin, and next week, of course, was Spring Break, and the whole of the frat was heading down to dominate South Padre Island for the week. Yup, the whole world was starting to tilt back toward the sun, and Apollo couldn’t have been more pleased.
It was a little before six, and the sun was on the verge of setting, the whole of the western sky was lit in a display of pinks and oranges. Silhouetted against the sky, Apollo had mounted the lip that ran around the edge of the roof and stood at the very corner, toes of his shoes hanging over the drop toward the street (Gucci trainers, his shoes were; distressed white leather, a 1970s vibe at a 2022 pricetag, but if you didn’t look at the gold Gucci logos – and well, they were subtle – they could have been beat up old sneakers like regular people around here wore.)
Rosario should be arriving home around now, and according to Jem, who he’d taken out for a drink last night, the roof was somewhere she was likely to come. Maybe not till later, though it was a clear evening, and perhaps the draw of a number of asteroids in the sky tonight would pull her up. With a small telescope Massalia was visible this evening, and Psyche, and Fortuna. Melpomene, too, but not till much later, and he wasn’t even thinking about her so he didn’t give a shit about her asteroid anyway.
Or maybe his daughter would simply come up to get some quiet, some air. Jem had told him about what this roof meant to Rosario and Lyra, and Apollo had already found the chairs Jem had mentioned, seen Lyra’s initials and a date from a couple of weeks ago in fresh marker on the wall nearby. He’d searched through the rest of the graffiti, wondering if any of it had been contributed by Rosario over the years, but then the sun had been setting and the beauty of the sky had drawn him over to the edge of the roof.
It really was a spectacular sunset. It really was going to be a spectacular spring.