Chapter Text
“I’ll be sure to have it ready by Silver Eve!”
Coco, right beside Agott, waved goodbye to Tartah as he closed the door of the bedroom. Agott crossed her arms, looking down at the girl at her side, who was smiling widely.
“Mm-hm.” She murmured, looking down at the other witch, whose features changed from happiness to confusion.
“W-What do you mean ‘mm-hm’?”
“No reason.” Agott sighed under her breath. Her chest felt weird. “Just forget it.”
“Huh?! But now I really wanna know!” Coco dramatically turned to Agott, her hands set in the stone floor between them, “And why are you looking at me like that?!”
Agott felt her face burn, turning away from the other girl to hide it. “Nothing.”
“Come onnn!” Coco grabbed the hem of her dress, making sure Agott couldn’t just walk away, but her grip was soft enough that Agott could easily pull away if she really wanted to.
She didn’t do it.
“Just– Curious. About your friendship with Tartah.” The weird pressure in her chest grew, “Didn’t know you two were close.”
“Oh!” Coco let go of the dress, hand coming to rub at the back of her neck, “He really helped me when I got sick and had to be rushed to the hospital in Kalhn. And I helped him back.” Coco smiled softly while Agott gripped her own sleeve tightly, “He promised to make a wand just for me, adapted exactly to how I drew. He was just checking how it felt.”
“I see…” Agott let go of her grip, sighing as the weird feeling in her chest subsided, “Thank you… For answering.”
Agott looked back at the girl who smiled and tilted her head. A different feeling bloomed in her chest as blood rushed to her face, and she broke eye contact, “Not that you need to justify your friendship with him for me or anything!” She said a bit more fast-paced than usual, her voice a bit shaky, “Again, I was just curious.”
Coco let out a small giggle, and the feeling in Agott’s chest grew. It made her a bit queasy.
She didn’t have time to ponder on it, for Coco stretched right beside her, interrupting her thoughts, “Well, I’m gonna go get ready for bed.”
Agott uncrossed her arms, looking back at the green-haired witch, following her gaze as she got up.
“Alri–”
Agott paused as Coco stood upright right beside her, as something dawned on her that she hadn’t noticed before.
She usually had to slightly tilt her head down to meet Coco’s gaze while standing up.
That was no longer the case.
Coco now meets her eyes at the same height as her.
Coco was just as tall as Agott now.
Agott felt her mouth go dry at the realization. It shouldn’t have mattered. They used to be just two centimeters apart. It isn’t a height difference like the one Richeh and Tetia share. But for some reason– it bothered her.
Agott was the youngest of all apprentices, but up to now, she was the second tallest of them in the atelier. She liked that, she liked feeling like she wasn’t the kid everyone had always judged her as.
But now– Coco was growing. Coco, someone who was an outsider less than 3 months ago, had caught up to Agott’s level. Even if it was just physically and almost imperceptible.
“Agott?” Coco’s voice, laced with worry, shattered Agott’s spiral, who snapped her head in her direction, “You okay? You just– Started staring at the wall with a… bad face.”
Agott didn’t know how to answer her. So she just kept staring at Coco now, gold meeting purple. The weird feeling she couldn’t name came back to her chest as she felt her face grow hotter.
At her silence, Coco stepped closer and put a hand to Agott’s forehead, “You are a bit warm, yes–”
Agott jumped back at the sudden closeness and touch.
“It’s fine!” She said, looking away from Coco and gripping her dress, “Just– stressed. From all the travelling and the things that happened in the Serpentback Cave and at the Great Hall.”
“Oh.” Coco’s worried expression fell, being replaced by a reassuring smile, which made Agott’s grip on her dress tighter, “Well, if you say so! Just– don’t hide anything if you think you’re sick!”
Coco’s smile grew, her eyes softening, and Agott felt like she was going to throw up the dinner they had right there and then.
“S-Stop.” She demanded, through gritted teeth, barely loud enough, “Stop looking at me like that.”
Coco’s features turned to confusion as she tilted her head, “Wha–”
Agott didn’t give her time, turning on her heels and quickly making her way down the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
She sat in her bed, grabbing her pillow, gripping it tightly before she leaned her head down on it, letting out a frustrated groan, muffled by the softness.
Finally, she raised her head and took a deep breath, calming herself.
Everything was fine. She was fine.
Why did it matter if Coco was the same height as her now? They’re kids at the prime age for sudden growth spurts. Soon, Agott would regain the familiarity with the angle she was used to.
Agott put her pillow back, looping those thoughts in her head as she lay down, staring at the ceiling.
“It doesn’t change anything,” she whispered to herself in the darkness of her bedroom. She was still the better witch. And she would prove it during Silver Eve. Not only to her atelier, but to her mother as well.
But as Agott let time pass by, she couldn’t stop thinking of the feeling of meeting Coco’s eyes evenly and the soft touch of her hands on her forehead.