Chapter Text
Coco adjusted her glasses as she stared at the door of her atelier, the rainstorm outside pouring in as if there was no tomorrow. She was thankful for the sigils that protected her home from most of the water damage, but she could see a leak or two as water clawed inside through the cracks of doors.
It was her first rain season in the atelier, and she had no idea how bad rainstorms could get, filing away the observation into her brain so she could hopefully fix it later. But right now, there are more pressing matters.
Agott has yet to return home.
She taps anxiously against the teacup she poured for both her and her partner. They wouldn't get cold, the seals on the bottom of the plates made sure of it. But it was far later. At this time, both would already be in bed after having done their respective nighttime routines, but here is Coco, in her nightgown, robe wrapped tightly around her, and her anxiety getting worse by the second.
They hadn't had time to set up a windowway in their atelier yet, it just wasn't the priority in their minds. They weren't that far from Kahln or their old atelier, maybe ten to twenty minutes by sylph shoes, they could always use theirs while the one at their home gets done. But right now, Coco is deeply regretting this. If she had prioritized this, Agott would most likely already be home and not outside in the rain. She tries not to think of the worst. She just went to the Starry Sword for new supplies. It shouldn't take this long, it shouldn't, it shouldn't–
The door slamming open makes Coco drop the cup, the tea spilling all over their coffee table, watching with wide eyes as a figure steps through the door, haloed by the lightning, raindrops, and glowstone paths that lead to their home.
She immediately recognizes them as relief washes through her body as she runs towards the figure, not caring about the wet clothing and raindrops.
“Agott!” She holds the woman's face in her hands, not caring about the wetness in her skin, “Oh, thank the stars, you're okay!”
Her partner smiles up at Coco, a hand coming up to caress the back of the taller witch's hand. Coco immediately moves to hug her, but she sidesteps, escaping Coco's grasp by the last second.
“Sorry, love, let me at least remove my cloak so you don't get dirty.” She whispers, a hand moving to pull the hood of her cloak and cap off, letting wet bangs and curls fall into place. Coco wants to fetch the link rings to dry her, but her mind is too entranced by the way the water droplets fall across her cheek.
She watches with attention as Agott undoes the front clasp of her cloak and hangs it up by the door, putting a bit more distance between hers and Coco than usual so they don't get wet.
Agott hums satisfied and turns to the other witch with a sly smile, “Alright, now you can–”
Her words are cut off by Coco crashing their lips together, cradling her face in between her hands. She lets out an almost silent, surprised squeak but leans in anyway, hand coming up and brushing Coco's long hair off her face.
Coco’s dominant hand leaves her partner's cheek and grasps at her hip, bringing them closer as they can be and–
“Mrow.”
Coco pulls back at the sound, looking at Agott with a flush creeping up her cheeks. “Love, did you–”
“What?” Agott blinks, still a bit dazed by the kiss before a deeper flush crawls up her neck and cheeks, “NO! NO, THAT WASN'T ME–” She raises her hand, mortified.
“Then what–”
Coco looks down between both of them, and her eyes widen.
She hadn't noticed because of the cloak, but Agott is cradling something in her arms, pressed against her chest.
An owlcat kitten, wet and shaking. It meows again when it notices Coco's stare.
“Agott. Why do you have an owlcat with you?”
They meet each other's gaze before breaking as Coco watches as Agott cradles it closer to her chest, hand going to scratch the space between the ears.
“Oh. Uhm… I was on my way back from Kahln when the storm started. I decided to take shelter in the forest, finding a good covered area. That's when I heard something cry. I thought it was my imagination, but I looked inside a hole in the trunk and saw this baby.” She lays it on her arms like a newborn child, letting the kitten chase her fingers as she continued, “It was scared, so I tried looking for a nest on the top branches. I found it but–”
Coco watches as Agott’s throat bobs as she takes a big gulp before continuing, “I found it, but there were no other babies there, only blood. I looked around more and found what I assumed to be the mother who had fallen not too far away. I think the nest got attacked by a predator, the mom died trying to protect the babies, who got taken. This one is seemingly the only survivor, having hidden in a hole of the tree to escape.”
Coco paid more attention to the creature now. There were some clear gashes and open wounds, blood leaking into Agott's white sleeves. Nothing seemed too serious, at least not to her eyes.
“I couldn't– I couldn't just leave it behind. It was scared and–” her voice cracked, closing her eyes, “I just couldn't.”
Coco smiled, a hand on her partner's shoulder, making her look up to meet her eyes, who brushed away wet bangs with her other hand and planted a kiss on her forehead.
She did understand. For two people who went through what they did as children, it almost felt unfair to see something like this happening to an animal and expect them to ignore it.
“I know.” She whispers against her skin, and Agott relaxes, “We should take it to a veterinarian in the morning, these wounds don't look threatening, but they could get infected.”
Agott hummed, “Maybe we can at least give it a warm bath? Water could help clear the debris from the wound.”
“Good idea, love.”
They spend the next hour trying and failing at giving a bath to the creature, both women at the end having to change clothing because they were equally as soaked from all the moving and fighting.
Coco rubbed her temple as she looked at her wife, who had taken one of their many pillows and made a quick, improvised bed with a simple warming spell under the cover for the creature at the foot of their bed.
Agott had a smile on her face as she slowly encouraged the creature onto the pillow, tapping it slightly.
“Agott…” Coco lost count of the minutes Agott had been sitting on the floor waiting for it to stop circling or trying to smell furniture around and lay down, “Come to bed, love.” She pouted, pushing her glasses back in place, “It will go to bed when it wants to. Owlcats are stubborn.”
“But…” She turned to the woman with a hurt expression and wide eyes, as if she had been kicked into the streets. Coco sighed.
“Fine… Come to bed whenever you want to, it's not like I need you to fall asleep or anything.” She grumbles, bringing the covers up to her chin. She didn't exactly need Agott there to fall asleep. Agott was often busy with her work and would be out for days because of her work, and Coco could very well sleep on her own.
Didn't mean that having her partner next to her didn't make it easier to do it.
She curled into herself under the covers, facing her side of the bedroom. A few minutes later, she sees the lights in the bedroom dimming into complete darkness and the bed dipping under a new weight by her side.
The rustling of sheets is felt and heard before arms envelop her from behind, lips touching the back of her neck. Coco hums contentedly at the touch.
“Sorry.” Agott mutters into her shoulder, “It laid in the pillow when I stopped insisting.”
“Told you so.” She answers with a teasing tone, turning just slightly and sees her partner frown, a pout on her lips. Coco simply sticks her tongue out with a playful smile before craning her neck to kiss the frown away from Agott. It works as intended.
The kiss is quick, Coco pulling back, a hand tucking a strand of Agott's curls behind her ear.
“Good night.”
The other witch smiles infatuously, tightening the grip around her torso.
“Good night, love.”
Coco didn't accompany Agott to the veterinarian in the morning. She wanted to, but Agott insisted Coco stay and keep working on the commissions she had.
Coco didn't press much, waving goodbye to her at the door and silently wishing recovery for the animal in her arms and that they find a family for it.
Coco is in the middle of pinning fabric to the mannequin in her workshop when she hears the front door open. She peeks her head outside the door, seeing Agott through the open foyer, bags on her arms as she sets them on the counter of the kitchen. Coco didn’t remember her saying anything about getting groceries while she was out, so she raised an eyebrow at it, setting the pins down and skipping outside.
“Agott,” She calls, already going downstairs, “did you stop to get groceries?”
The woman looked up, removing her cloak and setting it down on a nearby surface.
“Uh… no.” She looks around, “These are for–”
Coco yelps when she feels something at her feet, looking down with eyes widened.
“Agott, why is the Owlcat here?”
The creature was looking around the floor, its wings and body with bandages and a splint on one of the back legs, limping on it.
“What?” The woman approached, crouching down and grabbing the animal in her arms.
“Didn’t you see her to the vet?”
“Yeah? Did you expect me to leave her there?”
“I mean– Not there– But there are animal shelters in Kahln, no?”
“Yes? Why would I leave our pet there?” She rubbed the head, fingers digging in between the feathers.
“What do you mean by our? Agott, did you adopt it?” Coco is not exactly mad. But she is confused because at no moment had Agott communicated that she had a wish to adopt the creature.
“I–” Purple eyes avoided golden for a second, bringing the animal closer to her, “Yes.”
“I–” Coco raised her hand and sat down at the bottom of the stairs, removing her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose.
“...Are you mad?” Agott asks after they stay in silence.
“...No I’m not.” She says truthfully, “Just– You could’ve asked. I wouldn’t say no. Just– It’s a lot of responsibility to take care of a pet.”
“Coco, you brought a Brushbuddy into the atelier the second day there.” Agott teases her, and Coco gasps, cheeks reddening, and she uses her foot to kick her shin playfully, which makes Agott laugh.
“I’d say a Brushbuddy is much more manageable than an Owlcat. Also, I was twelve!” Coco defends herself before sighing, “So… Is it official that you’re the owner?”
“Well… Technically, it’s not official yet. The veterinarian wants to check on her in a few days. He told me to just keep an eye on her, foster her until then.”
“I see.” Coco gets up, approaching the woman as she puts back her glasses and settles her hand on the low of Agott’s back.
“Want to check out the stuff I got for her?”
“Of course.”
Agott drops her hand from the caress of the pet and grabs Coco's hand, pulling her into the kitchen, where the bags she had brought in were.
“So, Owlcats are usually very independent. Usually, they don't need their owners to feed them for all meals, maybe the first one of the day. The rest, they will feed themselves by hunting and feeding on prey around the home.” She puts the animal on the counter, reaching for one of the bags, “But since she is small and can't fly until her injuries get better, we're going to have to hand-feed her.”
“What exactly do they eat?”
“In the wild, it's small rodents, fish, large insects, smaller birds, the things you'd expect from a bird of prey. Usually, it's important to give them the whole prey to accustom them to hunting behavior and teach them what they can eat. This is especially important since she doesn't have a mother anymore to teach her what she should or should not consume.”
Coco hummed, but her mind was somewhere else. She always loved it whenever Agott got passionate about what she liked and started rambling about it with no end. Coco had always thought her intelligence was one of the most attractive things about her.
“...Are you even listening to me?” Agott pouts when she notices Coco's dazed expression.
“Oh! Totally...” Coco wasn't exactly lying, but Agott pinched her arm playfully, making the taller woman yelp, attention fully back, “Sorry.” She apologizes, but Agott can tell she's not sorry at all about it.
“Anyway…” she opened a small wrapped package, small fish lined up together, and Agott grabbed one, offering it to the animal, who inspected it curiously before catching it with her beak and starting to devour it. “Due to seasons, it's nice to change their diet according to what's available outside or not. For example, we can feed more fish during winter because the water from rivers will be colder and she won't be able to fish them.”
“Did the veterinarian tell you all that?” Coco asks, impressed.
“He did, but uh– most of it I-I already knew.” Coco watches as her face gets red.
“Ah, yes.” Coco's tone gets playful, “How could I forget? You're obsessed with Owlcats.”
“I'm not obsessed! T-They’re just my favorite animal. And as a kid, I liked reading books about how to take care of them because I couldn't have one.”
Coco’s cocky smile fades, replaced by something softer as she grabs Agott's hand and squeezes it.
“I know, and I love how passionate you are about animals. A handsome woman with a heart of gold for the fauna? I got so lucky, wouldn't you say so?”
Agott's flush gets deeper, her ears reddening, but she doesn't deny it. Coco giggles and kisses her cheek before nuzzling against her shoulder.
At that, Agott clears her throat but doesn't make any effort to break away, “The veterinarian said she's about three and four months old. It's actually unclear if she knows how to fly or if she was too young to have all the fundamentals taught by her mother. He saw her move her wings and said that the muscle build is consistent with a kitten her age, so the basics she must know. We will just need to keep encouraging and training her until she gets used to flying on her own.”
“So… Does this mean we're moms now?”
Agott laughed, which Coco felt reverberate against her side, “I guess so.”
Coco followed her in her laughter, “Who would've guessed that our first apprentice wouldn't even be human. Do you think she can learn how to spell circles?” She jokes.
“You're an excellent teacher, love.” Agott brought Coco's hand to her lips, kissing her knuckles, “If anyone can teach an Owlcat how to do magic, it's you.”
Coco hums, feeling her cheeks redden. ‘An excellent teacher’, she had passed the fifth test just a few months ago, she doesn’t have a single hands-on experience with teaching, “I don't know about that…” Sh sighs before mumbling into Agott's shoulder, “But we can try our best to make her life the best we can.”
Coco feels Agott's lips against her fingers curl into a smile, “And we will.”
It's late afternoon when Coco finishes her work for the day and heads to the living room, Agott lying on the couch, a blanket on top of her legs, a book in her hands as her eyes scan the lines and pages.
Near the floor, the owlcat pounces around, playing with a tassel on the hem of the blanket, grabbing it and rolling around with it as if it were prey. Agott doesn't seem to mind, even if she pulls it back into position every few seconds after the animal has pulled on it.
Coco's heart warms at the scene as she skips a few steps down the stairs, walking towards them.
She wordlessly picks up the kitten in her arms, careful with the fresh bandages they had applied and the splint. At her grasp, she lets go of the tassel and looks up at her, dark eyes meeting gold.
Wordlessly again, Coco pulls the blanket off Agott, the other witch smiling at her as she sets her book down on the nearby table and opens her arms, and Coco lies on top of her, the kitten moving out of Coco's grip when she pulls the blankets off them. She doesn't go far, sitting in a space Coco hadn't lain completely on top of the woman.
They both look at it, the curious turn it gave around, the small squeak before it sat down, legs hidden under its weight, and rolled into a small ball, a satisfied thrill sound coming from its body.
“Aww.” Coco coos as she and Agott keep cuddling, “Are they usually this tired during dusk?”
“Adults no, but babies need more sleep, so they'll have quick naps after playing time to restore their stamina.”
Coco hums in agreement, nuzzling the side of Agott's neck, feeling her curls tickle her face.
“Do you have any name ideas? I assume the vet told you it’s a girl.”
Agott is silent for a moment before tightening her grip on Coco's back. “Yes, he did. And yeah, I have an idea.”
“What is it?”
“D-Do you not want to give your own?”
“You rescued her, and you had the idea of adopting her. I think it's only fair you name her. Plus, all of your ideas are lovely, I'm sure I will like whatever you're thinking of.”
Coco feels Agott's neck skin heat up at the words.
“I... was thinking ‘Laila’, it means night. It feels fitting for her.”
Coco smiles, raising her head to look Agott in her eyes. Gold meets violet before Coco leans down, capturing her lips in a quick but sweet kiss.
“It’s lovely, dear.” Coco praises, mumbling just a breath away from the other's lips.
Agott hums contentedly at the praise, capturing their lips together again, deepening the kiss by taking Coco's cheek under her thumb and caressing it, the feeling of Agott's calluses against her scarred skin making her melt.
They pulled away and touched foreheads together, eyes closed as they basked in each other's warmth. In the time they stood there, the sun that was lowering on the horizon and bathing the room in warm orange hues almost but completely disappeared, and the automatic lights of the room slowly came to life.
“Want to get dinner started?” Agott whispered, eyes fluttering open. Coco nods, and they slowly open their eyes, disentangling their limbs in a slow process. Laila woke up in the middle of it, before making herself comfortable on the couch once Agott set her down carefully. She rubbed between her ears before kissing her in between the ears.
Coco smiled at the scene, approaching Agott from behind, giving her a kiss on the top of her head in a silent praise. Agott stilled for just a moment at the touch before relaxing and grabbing Coco’s hand and turning back, a handsome smile paired with flushed cheeks. She pulled Coco closer, and they slowly made their way towards the kitchen, no protest from the teacher witch, who was too busy feeling her heart jump several beats in her chest.
In a few months, their atelier would be ready for nurturing knowledge between these walls, and despite Coco’s nerves, it was these moments that made things feel okay, that this was where she was meant to be all along:
In a house built with love, holding the love of her life as they cooked dinner, and their pet slept on the couch.
Maybe this life was really theirs to have and cherish. And she would do just that.