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Coco and the other girls are practicing magic while also picnicking in the meadow near the atelier where they reside. Coco and Tetia are talking and eating the snacks for a break, while Agott and Riche are still practicing by themselves. Then one figure is approaching them, they thought it was Professor Qifrey, instead it is an unfamiliar figure.
You are not threatening, the girls can tell. You are holding a traveler’s bag and smile at Coco and her friends.
“Hello, girls, sorry for disturbing you,” you greet with a soft and friendly voice. “Are you perhaps Qifrey’s apprentices?”
The girls exchange glance to one another until Tetia pipes, “We are!”
Agott adds, “If you are looking for him, Professor Qifrey is currently at Karoon, running errands. He’s been away for two hours ago.”
You nod and hums to yourself. “Well, I’ll be waiting for him to return, I guess.” Then you eye the girls and grin. “Can I join you girls practicing magic? I am not a master at magic like your professor … but I can give you tips and tricks, how does that sound?”
The girls, especially Coco and Tetia, beam at them and nod feverishly. And so, the girls and the new person bond together in the meadow as the fresh wind rustle around them.
Sometime later, Qifrey finally arrives at the atelier he calls home. He enters the atelier and finds none of the girls home yet. So, he puts down the groceries at the kitchen counter and looks around to find his apprentices.
His hunch tells him the girls are in the meadow, so he goes there. As he expected they are there, but he stops his track to approach them because he didn’t think there is another person. He only sees the person's side profile, laughing with the girls, and he can hear the sound from this distance. The one who notices him first is Riche as she interrupts their chattering. She points to his direction, and everyone’s eyes follow her finger.
And the your eyes meet his. At a second, time seems to stop as he reminisces the day he met you for the first time, your first bonding, and then your last interaction as you went away to the other side of the world to fulfill your life goal. Your eyes squint at him as you smile warmly—even the sun is unmatched, for your smile brightens his everything.
He whispers your name in the air so softly that he knows you cannot hear it, but at least the world knows. At least the world knows how he misses you.
The next thing he knows is all of them are inside the atelier. The girls are talking to him how you are so cool, so amazing, etc.. He doesn't mind them, only nodding and smiling; but his eyes once in a while fixating at you as you chuckle and dismiss what the girls say about yourself.
He prepares dinner for all of them in the kitchen when suddenly you approach him. "Hi."
Qifrey's heart leaps from its place as he turns around rather clumsily; he knocks down the mug, and you quickly catch it before it falls onto the floor.
"Qifrey! Careful!" you chide before putting the object on the table farther from the edge. You huff and look back at him. "Sorry ... did I scare you?"
Qifrey himself chuckles nervously as he rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry. I didn't hear you entering. Besides ... it's been awhile since I met you, and you look—uh, good." He gives a sheepish grin.
You quirk an eyebrow. "Just good? After years of not seeing each other? Oh, okay."
"No! Not like that, uh—" Qifrey wants to hit his head. He inhales and exhales. "Sorry, I meant you look great. Healthy. Glowing. Like your life is fulfilled. I assume you have reached your dream?"
You smile falter. "Well, yes and no."
Qifrey blinks at that answer. Before he asks further, you cut him off by changing a subject. "Anyway, do you need me to help you with dinner?"
The man stares at you for a second too long before he slowly shakes his head. "It's okay. I can handle this just fine. You're a guest here, after all."
"You sure?"
"A hundred percent. Why don't you go to the girls while I'm preparing meals? They seem like they like you already." Qifrey smiles. "And after dinner, perhaps we can catch up later?"
Your lips stretched upwards. "Yeah, 'course. I know you don't want me to ruin your kitchen."
Qifrey chuckles before you disappear from the kitchen area.
Half an hour later, the dinner is served. Everyone digs in and has small conversation in-between bites. You praise Qifrey for his wonderful cooking, and he tries so hard to hide his flush. Luckily none of you or his students take notice of his reddening ears. Instead, the girls are fixated to you, and they keep asking you questions. Some time later, they ask about your relation to their professor, and you answer that you are his old friend. Then you tell the girls about a small glimpse of your past story with Qifrey, and he adds some with his.
Each time you tell a story, Qifrey's eye darts toward you. He has an adoring gaze in his azure eye. The way you use your tone, hand gesture, and even face expression are enticing to him. Adoring, even.
When dinner is finished, Qifrey orders his students to go rest for the night because it is almost their bedtime. You want to help him to clean the dishes, but he declines and tells you to just relax. You are his friend and guest in this atelier. That stays clear.
When he's done, he finds you outside, staring at the moon and stars with dazed eyes. When he calls your name, you turn your head and smiled at him.
"It's cold outside." He approached you and draps a blanket over your shoulders. "I know you could get cold easily. Is it still the same?"
You chuckle and nod, nuzzling to the warm blanket that somehow smells like him. "Yes, but I'm warm now. Thanks to a certain white-haired man beside me."
Qifrey let's out a huff of laugh and shakes his head. Then he stares at the sky. "You know, you gave me a vague answer."
"Hmm? What answer?"
"The answer to my assumption about you reaching your dream."
He can see you fidgeting beside him. "Oh. That." You say lowly.
He hums. "Yeah, that." Then, he looks at you. "Wanna talk about it now? I'm all ears."
You then tell him about it slowly. You tell him about how you thought you already figured out your life, but instead everything seemed like it started from the beginning. You tell him you found no interest with that goal you had shared to him many years ago. You tell him how when you reached your destination, you still looked back.
Then came the questions, the hesitations, and the uncertainty. The dreams you once held tightly felt unfamiliar in your grasp. Instead of mulling over it, you decided to change your course—or, how you calls it, reroute. And along the way, you find the closest thing to the truest form of yourself.
Now you look happier, more free. Qifrey can see it now. The version of you now is lighter somehow. This version of you is alive.
Qifrey listens well when you tell him everything, never interrupting. When you're done, he says softly, "I guess that's life, huh? Thinking you got everything figured but somehow not everything does as it seems. Life keeps moving, and so do we." He gazes back at the sky. "Maybe that what makes it beautiful. Your life is already full of colourful stories. Black ink and vibrant colours one. They're messy, honest, but alive."
His head tilts towards you, and you can hear his voice grows softer. "No wonder you are animated like today. I don't remember you like this. I like it."
You blink your eyes several times before you gulp the lump in your throat. "Oh ... wow. Thank you for noticing. But I mean, wow, Qifrey?!"
You suddenly jab his forearm, and he quickly winces with an exaggerated gasp. "Ouch—what was that for?!"
"I didn't know you have poetic soul in you," you cackle, a teasing edge to your voice. "But you called me animated today, so you think years ago I was boring to you?"
Qifrey rolls his eye. "That's not what I meant. But honestly, I miss the era where you didn't randomly assault me like this." He rubs his forearm where you jabbed earlier for an emphasis. "The one who keeps their hands to themself."
A slow shrug, and then he continues with a soft glint in his eye, "but boring? No. You're never boring. Never were. It's just that, today, you smile so easily, laugh so loudly. It's new. Refreshing."
And also, so radiant. He thinks to himself.
Qifrey looks back at you and notices the blanket on your shoulders slip slightly. He reaches out and pulls it back up like he has done this to you several times. Like it is the most natural thing in the world to him. "Do you want to go inside? You might get cold at this point. I can make something warm for you."
You hum and nod. "Chocolate?"
He huffs amusedly. "Sure, I have it stocked for my girls."
Qifrey leads you back to the atelier, leaving the cold air, dark sky, and the past behind. When you step inside the home of his and his apprentices, you decide you don't want to look back.