As cookies baked and soup bubbled on the stove, Vivi absentmindedly played with one of the cookie cutters she had laid out. Outside it was snowing, and kids were running around, throwing snowballs at each other and generally having a wonderful time. It brought her back to one of her happiest memories she had as a kid; playing tag with her family in the snow. It was just pure joy running around chasing each other and she remembered it being one of the happiest nights of Solstice they spent together as a family.
Happy screams and shouts could be heard all over the village where Vivi and her family lived. Kids of all ages were outside playing in the snow. Her family was no exception. One of their favorite games to play, especially during Solstice, was tag! Instead of playing tag normally where you touched the other person to tag them, they played with snowballs! To tag someone, you had to make sure you hit them with a snowball. If you didn't, it didn't count!
Vivi loved this because by the end they usually had forgotten all about actually playing tag and just had a mini snowball fight. They would all end the night covered in snow and soaking. When they finished up for the night, they went back inside and made hot chocolate and warmed up by the fire, fighting to see who could stay up the longest. Big surprise, Vivi never won.
Vivi jumped back to the present and started smiling mischievously. She headed towards the living room where Vanora was decorating their the Solstice tree. "Hey Vanooooora?" She asked in a sweet, sing-song voice. Vanora looked up from what she was doing, which was trying to untangle garland and it was not going her way. "Uhh... yeah?" Vanora replied nervously, wary of the
tone in which Vivi asked that question.
Vivi chuckled and blushed. "Do you wanna... maybe... go play tag?" Vanora stared at her for a moment and then laughed. "Oh is that all? Yeah of course we can go play tag." Little did Vanora know she was about to be bombarded by snowballs, not being aware of how Vivi played tag.
As soon as they got outside and found a good area to play in, Vivi gathered together a big clump of soft snow and lifted it above her head. Vanora turned around just in time to see Vivi hurling the giant snowball at her, whopping her square in the face. She was stunned for a whole moment while she tried to process what just happened. Vivi covered her mouth, trying to contain the laughter. "Tag... you're it!"
Vanora was bewildered but amused at how cute Vivi was, acting so mischievous. "Oh that's how you want to play it, huh? Well get ready!" Vanora had started gathering her own clump of cold, wet snow and Vivi's eyes widened. She turned to run away from the snow monster that was her girlfriend and squealed with delight at the excitement of playing this nostalgic game. They played for hours into the night, not even realizing it had gotten dark. They didn't care, however, just happy to be together and enjoying their first Solstice together.
art by Qtepaon