Chapter Text
The weather had grown cold and Coco wondered if it was going to start snowing soon. Was the atelier even in an area that got snowfall? She had little way of knowing just how far away she was from home; she only knew it was farther than she'd ever been.
Home. When she thought of the word, what came to mind were cosy memories, rooms tucked away in an old house, filled with rolls of fabric, wooden furniture and shelves stocked up with pickled vegetables. The backrooms always smelled like linen. She liked running her hands across the little labels on the merchandise, fingertips taking inventory of all the different textures. The kitchen was warm and rich with delicious scents. Her mother was always there, in those memories. The same rooms did not feel like a home without her embrace.
All of those things belonged to the past now. Coco pulled her knees up to her chest and tried not to cry as an overwhelming homesickness befell her.
Some days, she was almost able to forget how lost she felt. When she was caught up in her new, magical world, practising her Primary Tetrad for hours until her hands turned black with ink, or fooling around with Tetia and Richeh in the living room, she barely thought about her previous life. She was ashamed to admit this. She did not want to forget her mother. Every joyful experience at the atelier seemed like a betrayal—How could she be joyful when her mother was turned to stone and she was at fault?
"Coco!" a squeaky voice called out for her from the study that she shared with Agott. It wasn't Agott, though. "Are you in your room?" The voice did not wait for a response and only a moment passed before Tetia was tumbling through Coco's door.
Her pastel pink curls were unbound and she wasn't wearing her apprentice's uniform, indicating that she'd only just gotten out of bed. Coco had yet to get dressed as well, even though she had been awake for an hour. She hadn't wanted to leave her room. Upon stirring from her nightmares, she'd curled up on the windowsill, gazing out at the rising sun. She wondered if Agott was still sleeping. Knowing her, she was probably already up and studying.
"Oh, no! Are you crying?" Tetia's grin turned into a frown as she ran up to Coco. "What happened?"
Coco would have preferred it if Tetia hadn't seen her tear-streaked cheeks, but the other girl's concern was somewhat comforting. She wiped at her eyes. "Nothing. Just a bad dream."
"I hate those," replied Tetia, hopping onto the windowsill next to her. She did not ask about the nature of Coco's dream and perhaps it was for the better. Instead, she tilted her head curiously. "When's your birthday, Coco?"
"My birthday? The 25th of May," said Coco, a bit startled by the sudden change of topic, even though she welcomed it. "Why do you ask?"
"Because we don't wanna miss it, of course!" Tetia's grin was back, as bright as ever. "We always celebrate our birthdays at the atelier with cake and presents and fun! Professor Olruggio's birthday is coming up, you know."
"I didn't know that."
"Eh. It doesn't matter anyway," said Tetia with a shrug, "He's always busy. Usually, he's gone on one of his work trips over his birthday. But us apprentices always celebrate each other's birthdays! Mine is on the 9th of October."
"Oh, that's not so many days away."
"I know, right? I'm so excited!" She giggled and kicked her feet.
Her excitement turned out to be a little too big for Coco's room. One of her legs hit a small table by the window, consequently knocking it over. The table fell to the floor with a loud thud. Numerous papers, a few books and a single candle in a holder which had been resting on the table were taken down with it, spreading out across the floorboards. Luckily, the candle wasn't burning.
Tetia and Coco yelped.
"Oops," whispered Tetia when silence settled around the aftermath of her little accident.
"I-it's no problem." Hurriedly, Coco began gathering up the various things that had been knocked over. They did not belong to her—everything here belonged to Master Qifrey; they were his books and his papers and his candles and candle holders—and she made sure to check none of the items had been damaged.
Tetia helped as best as she could while uttering her apologies, "I'm so sorry, Coco!"
"Don't worry about it, Tetia. It was just an accident, right?"
"What is the meaning of this?"
Both of them snapped to attention at the sound of a sharp voice.
It was Agott who had spoken. She was standing in Coco's doorway, hands on her hips, frown on her face, clearly upset at all the noise they'd been making. When she saw the mess on the floor, she sneered.
Behind her, Richeh was peering into the bedroom as well. It seemed the loud bang of the falling table had brought all of them together. Great. Coco only hoped that Master Qifrey would not be joining them as well. The last thing she needed was for him to see this mess.
"It's my fault," exclaimed Tetia, "I got too excited talking about everyone's birthdays and I knocked over the table."
Agott sighed, but she went over to help bring the table into an upright position again. Together, it was not too heavy to lift.
"Birthdays?" asked Richeh. She knelt down to pick up a few pieces of wax that had splintered off the candle. "Were you talking about wishlists?"
"Don't be childish," said Agott.
"It's not childish to wish for things," argued Tetia defiantly, "You wish for presents, too, Agott. Right? I know you asked Master Qifrey for that fancy casting seal paper!"
"I overheard this, too," said Richeh.
Agott gave an unintelligible sound of frustration. Evidently she was unable to deny these claims, so she merely asked, "Why were you talking about birthdays anyway?"
"Tetia asked me when mine was," explained Coco, "and then she told me you celebrate each other's birthdays every year. When is yours, Agott?"
"In July," replied her purple-haired roommate, "If you're planning on gifting me something, don't bother! I don't think our tastes align."
Coco flushed a little, if only because she had indeed been thinking about what to gift the others for their birthdays. She felt that there was little she could give. What skills did she have that her peers weren't already much better at? She had no way of acquiring pretty things either.
"I wonder," said Tetia as she placed the final book on top of the rearranged, newly-upright-again table, "When Master Qifrey's birthday is!"
"You don't know?" asked Coco, surprised. They'd been living with Master Qifrey for years, no? They had to know when his birthday was, at least roughly.
"Master doesn't talk about it," explained Richeh softly, "It is a mystery."
A mystery? Coco was quite intrigued by those.
"Ooh, maybe we can find out," suggested Tetia who seemed to be of a similar mind.
Agott, usually loath to go along with such schemes, tapped a thoughtful finger to her chin. "Hm," she mused, "It will not be as easy as simply asking him. He's evaded the question at least once before."
"We could try to trick him into telling us." Tetia's eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Trick him?" Coco was doubtful of that idea, as much as she loved Tetia's enthusiasm. "I think Master Qifrey is too smart to be tricked."
"I have an idea," said Richeh suddenly. She was wearing a very small smile on her face, a clear sign of trouble, and in their case, perhaps a sign of impending success. "There is at least one other person who must know when Master Qifrey's birthday is."
The realisation dawned on all of them at the same time.
"Of course," Agott agreed, "We only have to convince him to talk."