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Agott hated gay people.
Well, perhaps that wasn’t worded properly.
She hated the specific type of gay Qifrey and Olruggio were, the way they danced around each other and their feelings, and had been since she first arrived at the atelier. Frankly, she thought they were cowards, and they should have kissed a billion years ago when they were still apprentices in the Great Hall.
Agott saw the way Olruggio made spells to help Qifrey all the time, of course he made them for the girls too but she’d have to be blind not to see the rest, the way Qifrey checked up on Olruggio when he disappeared for several days working on some commission or another, how Qifrey cooked his favourite meals, how Olruggio made sure Qifrey wasn’t overworking. God, she overheard their sickening domestic conversations in the kitchen after they thought all the apprentices went to bed.
So yeah, they were gay and they were pathetic.
I’d never be that stupid, Agott thought to herself, turning her nose up in the air with a sniff. “Boys…” She muttered under her breath. One thing she did think was smart, was making spells for the object of your affections… that was something Olruggio was doing right, at least. She sighed, gazing down at the scraps of paper covering her desk, each one filled with half-completed spells that she abandoned mid-way through drawing them because she realised they wouldn’t work for the purpose she intended.
It had been several years now since Coco arrived at the atelier, but one of the things that remained consistent was her terrible sleeping schedule. Not that Agott could say anything (hypocrite, she could hear a fond Coco say in her mind), but at least her sleep schedule was messed up by virtue of her staying up herself. Coco’s was out of her control, she had never slept well, apparently even before all the nightmares. She slept in choppy segments, interrupted by nightmares some days and just restlessness on others.
The snugstone Olruggio created early on in Coco’s stay was effective only for a short while, after that it seemed Coco got used to it, or it wasn’t enough to curb it. So, Agott, being the genius she was, got to work on something else. When she first arrived at the atelier, she slept in front of the fireplace a lot, and Qifrey would pile blankets atop her whenever she had a nightmare. She recalled those nights as being some of the best she’d ever slept. So, an idea was born.
Agott wanted to adapt the spell Olruggio used on the snugstones to fit on a blanket, but she also wanted to make the blanket heavier so it felt like a big, warm hug whenever it was on Coco. In theory, this was easy enough to say, but in practice it was more tricky. Most of the time, she didn’t even consider the spells she drew to be good enough to test, but when one passed the first inspection, she would test them on scraps of fabric just to see how the weight and warmth worked based on the size of the fabric and the size of the spell she drew.
Thus far, nothing had succeeded. She either made the blankets too heavy, or too warm. Occasionally, she even had the opposite effect. Worst still, she had the realisation that she needed to stitch the final spell onto the blanket she would give Coco because anything inked on might wash out when the blanket was washed, and she didn’t want to risk burning the spell onto the blanket. So, stitching it was. With that in mind, she had picked up sewing in her free time, keeping it secret from Coco because the girl had been a seamstress’ assistant, for gods sake, Agott must look pathetic in front of her.
Agott abandoned the paper, reaching under her desk to pull out the needle, thread and piece of fabric she had been practicing embroidery on. Her fingers were already pricked to hell and back because she refused to use a thimble, but she was making steady progress, she liked to think.
“Agott!” Coco’s melodious voice cut through the silence as the door to the study opened. “I brought you tea!”
”Coco.” Agott’s eyes widened in surprise and she tried to hide the embroidery things before Coco noticed, but the green-haired girl gasped.
“Are you embroidering?” She padded over, putting the steaming mugs down on Agott’s desk to fawn over the small flowers Agott managed to embroider onto the white fabric. “Pretty.”
You’re pretty, Agott thought. “Nothing crazy…” She mumbled, averting her gaze away from Coco’s sparkling eyes. She jolted through, whirling her head back around when Coco took her hands.
“Oh, Agott, you’re all hurt,” Coco whispered, lifting Agott’s hands to eye level to examine them, pouting as she looked at all the pricks and semi-healed cuts from the needle. “Wait, wait.”
”Coco…?” Agott watched as Coco scrambled to grab something from under her own desk, hurrying back with a box that she opened on Agott’s. “Is that…”
”Not medicine!” Coco shook her head. “Basic first aid that every person should know, nothing wrong with that.”
“Sure…” Agott’s lips curled up and she stifled a chuckle. Coco dotted a bit of cloth with some liquid from one of the bottles and dabbed it on Agott’s fingertips. “Ow.”
”Sorry, sorry!” Coco gasped. “I forgot to warn you, it’s supposed to clean the cuts so it’ll hurt just a little but I’ll be careful!”
”It’s okay.” Agott murmured. watching Coco’s brow furrow as she concentrated on cleaning up the tiny wounds on Agott’s fingers. Once she was done, she wrapped some bandages around them and pressed a kiss to each finger, gazing up at Agott with bright eyes and a slight flush to her cheeks. Agott’s own cheeks turned bright red. “What was that for?”
”My mum always used to kiss my wounds when I got hurt, she said it made it feel better, made them heal better,” Coco shrugged, rubbing her fingers over Agott’s knuckles in sweeping motions. Her hands felt so warm around Agott’s… the dark-haired girl never wanted her to let go. But unfortunately, she did. “Oh, the tea! Drink before it gets cold.”
”Okay.” Agott nodded, accepting the mug from Coco and mourning the loss of warmth from her hands. The warmth from the mug was a cheap replacement.
“What are you working on?” Coco tried to peer over Agott’s shoulder at the half-finished spell circles.
“It’s not finished.” Agott blocked her view.
“But you’ll show me when it’s done?” Coco tilted her head to the side, pouting slightly.
”You’ll be the first person I show.” Agott promised. I’m making it for you, after all, went unsaid.
“Okay!” Coco relented with a bright smile. “I’ll leave you to it, be careful with the needles!”
Agott watched, helplessly, as Coco picked her own mug up and curled over a book at her own table, her ink bottle and pen laying beside her. She turned back to her own work, reluctantly, abandoning the embroidery to give the spell circle another shot. Soon enough, the sun began to set and Tetia knocked on their door to summon them to dinner. Qifrey took one look at Agott’s face and passed her an extra piece of bread.
“Hard at work?” He gave her a warm smile.
“Mhm.” Agott replied, nodding her head.
“Making a spell, are you? I know that look on your face, it’s one I’ve seen Olruggio wear all too often.” Qifrey’s expressed went all soft, and gooey and fond. Agott thought he was pathetic for not being honest with Olruggio, but maybe men were just like that.
“It’s still a work in progress.” Agott pulled a face, grimacing at the reminder of her multiple failed attempts.
“You’ll get it, Agott.” He patted her head encouragingly and turned to pour Richeh another bowl of soup.
“He’s right,” Coco whispered, her shoulder brushing Agott’s. “You got this. I believe in you.”
Coco’s words had to be some form of forbidden magic, because the rush of warmth and joy that filled Agott just then was inexplicable. She merely pushed her own shoulder further against Coco’s and dug into her dinner with slightly curled up lips.
Now, Agott was a good witch, and she knew this. She wasn’t one of those people (ahem, Coco) who undermined their own talent and thought themselves weaker or less capable than they actually were. She knew she was talented, so it was no surprise when she eventually managed to figure out the spell.
The only thing left to do now was stitch it onto the inner lining of the gorgeous blanket she’d bought during their last visit to Kalhn. But she couldn’t do that without making sure it was absolutely perfect. And that was how Agott found herself knocking on Olruggio’s door.
“Come in,” She heard him say after a second. The door swung inwards, creaking slightly as she pushed it open to enter. The bricks beneath her feet lit up and she glanced down with a faint smile, remembering the story Coco used to tell of the first spell she’d ever seen and how these glowing tiles were what made her fall in love with magic. “Agott?”
“Professor Olruggio.” She looked up, snapping out of her thoughts.
“Need somethin’?” He quirked an eyebrow, approaching her.
“I’ve been working on a spell…” She began, fiddling with her palm quire and flicking the page open to the finalised version of the spell she’d settled on, tracing her finger over the incomplete circle. “It’s meant to go on a blanket, an adaptation of your snugstone…”
“Let me see,” He held his hand out and she passed him the palm quire. “On a blanket huh?”
“When Professor Qifrey first brought me to the atelier, I’d fall asleep in front of the fireplace and he put tons of blankets on me. I remember it was the best I’ve ever slept so I thought… if I could replicate that on a blanket…”
“It’s a brilliant idea, Agott,” He gave her a warm look, glancing up from the spell. “And I see no flaws in your spell. It’s perfect.”
“Really?” She practically sagged in relief. For all her confidence in herself and her abilities, nothing quite matched being affirmed that she did, in fact, do a good job.
“Good job,” He patted her head, his hand warm atop her dark locks. “How will this be goin’ on the blanket?”
“I was thinking I would stitch it into the inner lining.”
“Hm, yes. And the repetition sigil would make sure it didn’t need to be redrawn,” Olruggio hummed. “That’ll work.”
“Thank you, Professor.” Agott bit back her smile.
“How come you’re makin’ it though? Nightmares or somethin’ making sleep harder?” He asked, handing her palm quire back to her.
“It’s… not for me.” Agott replied stiltedly, cradling the palm quire to her chest gently.
“I see,” Olruggio made a sound of realisation, and she noticed a melancholic look in his eyes. “For Coco, I presume?”
“How did you…”
“Who else?” Olruggio said in a matter-of-fact tone. Who else truly, Agott thought.
“I… yes, it’s for her,” Agott nodded. “She’s never slept well, so I thought… this might help.”
“I’m sure she’ll treasure it dearly,” Olruggio said firmly. “Coco knows what makin’ a spell for someone means.”
“I hope she likes it.” Agott whispered.
“She will.”
“Thank you, Professor Olruggio,” Agott began heading to the door but paused by it, one hand on the handle as she turned back to Olruggio. “Maybe you should tell Professor Qifrey how you feel instead of making him another spell, though. I think that method’s outdated for the two of you.”
“I beg your pardon?” Olruggio’s eyes widened and Agott snickered as she left the room, leaving him to his thoughts. Hopefully he would act on them and spare the rest of the atelier from having to watch these two fully-grown (old) men pine after each other.
Many sleepless nights followed that encounter as Agott stayed up late to finish stitching the spell onto the blanket as soon as possible. What were a few days of lost sleep in comparison to all the time Coco lost out on? It was trivial to Agott Arklaum. She had just stitched the last line onto the blanket, connecting the ring and activating the spell when Coco burst into their workshop. Agott quickly flipped the blanket so the inner lining was back inside and the pretty outside was back on display.
“I’ve had enough! Agott, you’re going to get some sleep now!” Coco declared, marching up to Agott’s desk to kneel beside her.
“Coco?” Agott blinked in surprise.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed all the time you spend working at night when you should be sleeping! You’re always awake when I go to bed and I see the light from the workshop from under my door. Agott… don’t overwork yourself…” Coco frowned and Agott felt her heart swell with affection.
“I’m done with my project,” Agott replied softly, pressing the blanket into Coco’s hands. “It’s for you.”
“For me?” Coco’s eyes widened in surprise, looking pleased.
“Here…” Agott reached out to unfold the blanket and drape it over Coco’s shoulders, wrapping it around her tightly. The effect was instantaneous and the other girl sagged, eyes fluttering shut as the warmth surrounded her. “Good?”
“This is the best thing ever…” Coco breathed, before her eyes snapped open. “You made this for me? How?”
“I… adapted Professor Olruggio’s snugstone spell. Stitched it into the inner lining,” Agott traced her finger over the edge of the blanket. “It should help you sleep better. I hope.”
“Agott…” Coco’s face crumpled and the darker-haired girl panicked.
“What’s wrong? What did I do? What happened?”
“Nothing wrong, silly!” Coco laughed wetly, wiping her palm over her eyes and wiping away any traces of tears that might have slipped down her rosy cheeks. “This is the most thoughtful thing anyone’s done for me.”
“I just saw you struggling to sleep. The snugstone seemed to help for a while so I thought this would be better,” Agott shrugged. “I want you to sleep better.”
“So you made me a spell…” Coco whispered in wonder. “You’re amazing, Agott.”
“It’s no big deal…”
“It is, though! Making spells is hard, and you… you went to the trouble of stitching it for me…” Coco’s face lit up with a beautiful smile. “It means the world to me.”
Agott felt like she wasn’t fully in control of her body as she moved forward, as though her impulses had taken over and she simply surged forward to plant a kiss to Coco’s lips and jolt back with flushed cheeks. “You mean the world to me…” She muttered.
“Agott!” Coco said delightedly, tackling her to the ground and wrapping her up in the blanket too. Somehow, her lips found Agott’s cheeks and she pressed a flurry of kisses all over them and her forehead, sending Agott to giggles. “You mean the world to me too!”
“Stop, stop, it tickles,” Agott laid there, warm with the blanket over her and Coco tucked against her side. “That was easy…”
“Is it not meant to be?” Coco asked, lifting herself up on one elbow and looking down at Agott with a furrowed brow. “Talking to you is the easiest thing ever, I feel like I can tell you anything!”
“Me too,” Agott flushed even more. “I… I don’t know, I just saw Professor Qifrey and Professor Olruggio and I thought talking about feelings was way harder but maybe they just suck at it.”
“Should we make them talk about their feelings?” Coco gasped.
“If we do, we have to tell Tetia and Richeh too.” Agott hummed.
“Deal! We’re taking a nap first though, I’m so comfy I never want to get up.” Coco flopped back onto the floor with a sigh. Neither of them seemed to care that they were on the floor of their workshop, eyes fluttering shut as the warmth of each other and the blanket seemed to overwhelm all their senses.