Chapter Text
The rustle of parchment, the shifting of pages, the scratching of a pen and the occasional sighs of young witches was the usual background noise at Qifrey’s Atelier in the afternoon. After lunch and chores, the four students would dutifully sit down at their workshop desks until it was time to prepare dinner.
A sigh emerged from the newest inhabitant, which caused Agott to pause, her pen-wand poised above her practice sheet. Next, she head the familiar shuffle of Coco getting up from her cushions and quietly heading out of the room.
“Bathroom,” Agott thought to herself idly.
Half a clock mark later, Coco had not returned. Agott’s forehead crinkled and she turned, for the tenth time, towards the stairwell. She tapped a finger impatiently against the desk.
“Did she fall sick again?” she wondered and was about to head downstairs to check, when a familiar tip tap of shoes came echoing from below.
Coco re-entered the room to find Agott staring at her.
“Erm, sorry, did I disturb you?” she apologized, clutching her hem with one hand and a rumpled paper in the other.
Agott gave a curt shake of the head and noted, “You were gone a long time.”
A second later she added, surprising herself, “Are you alright?”
Coco gave an exasperated smile, “Oh yes, I’m fine. I was, well, having trouble with this spell. I thought I’d go and ask Master Qifrey. I searched for him everywhere. I went to check in the garden and then the grove of mountain apples on the ridge hill, but no luck. Then I tried Master Olly's room but he wasn't there either. Then I ran into Tetia who said he’d used the Window Way straight after lunch and wouldn't be back until this evening. Then I thought I’d ask Tetia about the spell and she tried her best, but she wasn’t sure either...”
Agott listened carefully.
“Sorry, I must be rambling,” Coco winced.
“Can I see the spell?” offered Agott.
Coco’s eyes widened just a bit and she nodded, proffering the worn piece of paper she clutched in her left hand.
“This is one from the primer isn’t it?”
“Yes, but no matter how many times I copy it, it doesn't seem to work properly. The water droplets are too misty and they fly away quickly,” explained Coco.
Agott studied the crumpled sheet, eyes carefully scanning the lines, straight and wavy and everything in between.
“Hmm, well I can see one issue,” declared Agott. She waved Coco over to her busy desk and the other girl obliged and sat down.
Agott reached for her own well-worn, leather-bound primer and flipped it open expertly to the spell in question. Then she pointed to Coco’s paper and showed, “See these triangles? In the primer, they are all equilateral and the ones drawn here are slightly isosceles. These two sides are longer than this one.”
“Wow, you’re right, I didn’t notice before. You’re so observant Agott!” beamed Coco.
Agott never considered herself exceptionally observant, but she had noticed herself watching Coco more than usual lately. She observed Coco’s light airy hair, so unlike Agott’s dense moody curls. She observed Coco’s ink stained hands, fingers occasionally cut by an overzealous grab of paper or pen nib. She observed Coco’s delight in eating meals together in rain or shine. She observed Coco’s unbridled excitement at working through a spell, simple but purposeful. Agott observed, but always kept quiet.
Agott swallowed and muttered, “You can always ask me for help too, if you’d like. I’m certainly not as skilled as Master Qifrey, but for things out of the primer, I know them pretty well…” she trailed off noticing Coco’s intense gaze. Heat rose to her face.
“Really? You don’t mind?” exclaimed Coco happily.
Agott, her face still burning, only nodded.
“Thank you Agott! I have so much to learn!”
“Me too,” thought Agott immediately, but then she wondered what she had still to learn about.