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"Coco!"
Tetia dropped herself onto Coco's back as the cloud shifted from the sudden weight. Coco stopped her reading as she looked back to her, "Tetia, what's wrong?"
Tetia rolled to her back. "You know 'bout the fair I was talking, right?"
Coco did recall she was rambling about it last week. "Mhm, what about it?" She suddenly felt Tetia rolling over to her front as she zooms her face in to Coco's.
"I got in again!" She then stood up as she striked a pose, "And a big booth to add!"
Coco smiled at this. "Oh, will you add your old contraptions?" Tetia raised her chin up, "Not only that, I also got permission to add my new ones—Oh! What about adding yours?"
Coco can already see the excitement in Tetia's eyes as she beams. But before they could get into brainstorming, Olruggio hummed inside the blanket.
"You sure you got perms from the Knights?" He asked, the blanket now moved to reveal a haggard looking man.
Tetia nodded. He slowly groaned as he rose up. "Got any paper to validate that?"
Tetia looks at him for a moment before she leans her head at the side, "Um, Mister Utowin just gave me a heads-up. Does that count?"
Olruggio and Tetia did a stare down before Coco giggles at the them. "Why don't we go back to Mister Utowin and get that approval paper?"
Coco gets up as she grabs Tetia's arm, to which Tetia nodded immediately. Olruggio yawned. "I'll come along. Who knows what that guy's deal when it comes to these things," he mumbled as he tries to get up before a crack sounded the living room.
Coco and Tetia grabbed each other's hand at this as they stared at the his face progressively going pale. "Master Olruggio!"
"And so to add this contraption in my Master's name," Tetia sniffs. "I hereby bestow 'The Torch that Stands'!"
The crowd was impressed as they watch an old man going over on the front, his face was in awe as he stood proudly. Tetia nodded at the way how the line of the cloth snuggingly circling around the old man's torso—supporting his back.
Before her contraption was approved, she did have doubts in it but with the help of other apprentices' input, Coco's encouragement, and the urge to lighten Olruggio's back—she managed to get it approved, albeit at the expense of fueling Utowin's barking in the Great Hall.
Twirling over in front of the stand, she excitedly wiggled her hands as she presented her own cutesy stand, "It'll be here for only three days so get one yours today!" she exclaimed. Coco was already at the stand, beaming brightly.
By the time they get to lunch, they managed to sell more than half of the stocks. "If we keep this up, we can close the store more earlier today," Coco said, taking a bite to her food. She saw Tetia smiling at this. "Good thing we got Agott and Richeh doing the resupplying."
Then the curtain opened as Qifrey's head poked out, "Sorry, girls but how much is this?" he presented one of Tetia's contraptions, to which Tetia immediately supplied as she takes a moment with Qifrey for another infodumping.
Coco softly smiled at them, remembering their first fair. Tetia running around with her panicking face, Richeh managing to get her cool under control but still making mistakes here and there—It was chaotic. But fun.
The back curtain was folded as Custas and Tartah comes in. "Hey, Coco! How's the business?" Custas approached with his signature smirk on his face. Coco brighten up immediately, "Custas, Tartah!" she greeted. Tartah sent a small wave before Tetia chimes in. "You guys are early."
Tartah huffed out in amusement before his hand went over the back of his neck, "Yeah, it was supposed to be this later afternoon. But this ball of joy here got himself excited over your gifts so here we are." Custas gave a small pout as he eyed Tartah, "It's not like I'm the only one who got excited, you know."
Tartah only shook his head as a small smile blossomed from his face.
As Coco watched them exchange, the only thought crossed her mind. Gifts? She never recalled Tetia talking about gifts. Hm, maybe because it's just for the two of them that it didn't need to be said, she thinks.
When Tetia went back, she had the gifts in her hands. Coco remembered Tetia saying it was already reserved for. So it was for them. She watched Tetia giving their gifts over to them, their smiles and laughs now etching to her mind, Tetia's whole demeanor brimming with joy as a stroke feeling passed through Coco's chest.
…?
Coco subtly looked down as she wondered. Before she could address it, Custas' arm was already over her. "What? No gifts for Coco?" She immediately looked at Tetia, whose eyes met in an instant. Tetia only smiled, "Nope! Just the two of you."
Then just like that, the stroke felt stronger like a knife carving in for Coco to bear as she dismissively waved her hand on the air. "Yeah! I already have gotten way too many things from her anyway."
Sensing she can't look at Tetia in the eye, her eyes went to the two, who seemed too excited to notice her demeanor. "Oh, okay—" A voice then called out Custas. "Shoot, it's Dagda."
Custas unlatched himself away from Coco as he grabbed Tartah. "Come on Tartah, let's run," he said as Tartah gives him a piggy-back ride. "Thanks again, Tetia. Good luck on your business!"
Custas yelled as Tartah only bowed before bolting out of their tent. Coco soon felt anxious as she realized they were alone. "Hehe, they're more lively than me," she heard Tetia. She then felt hands cupping her own, causing her to look up.
"What's wrong, Coco?" she can see Tetia's brows furrowing in concern. Perhaps this feeling Coco's in is just trivial after all, seeing Tetia wasn't that bothered—it was only herself... She'd hoped it would also be gone by the end of the day. She prayed.
"Nothing! Let's go back now. Master Qifrey's probably panicking by now."
In Coco's unluckiness, it didn't vanished by the end of their shift. Instead it had gotten to a point that she was already mulling over what she had done to Tetia. What if she also given the other two a gift too? No, no, no. That's not the Tetia she knew. Even if she did, she had no obligation to give one to Coco.
She silently sighed at her predicament, her head now leaning the table. "Coco." she immediately rose up before looking at Tetia. "Yeah? What's up, Tetia?" she forced a smiled, to which she noticed Tetia furrowing her brows.
"Um so," she fidgeted. "I don't know if you're upset but," she rummages inside of her cloak. "Here, if it makes you feel better." Coco was then handed by some—card? She accepted it, albeit hesitating. "I was supposed to give it to you this morning, but then it got busy so I missed my chance."
Coco then realized it was a bookmark, her thumb caressed the soft material. Her mind went through many questions before settling to one, "Why didn't you just give it to me when Custas and Tartah visited?"
Tetia puts her hands at the back as she lowered her head, "I wasn't gonna let them see it, considering I gave them one of the items we sell." She then raised her head back as she pouted. "And I just know Custas will complain about it, saying I'm just giving him second-hands!"
As she listened Tetia rambling, the festering inside of her soon ceased. Her shoulders now felt lighter. Her eyes then fell down to her gift—a moving picture that seemed to changed as she moved it.
"Why a bookmark?" she asked. This causes Tetia to smile. "You always read books," she said as she held the other end of the bookmark. "So what better gift to give you than a bookmark!"
Coco smiled at her reason. Then the tip of their thumb touched as Coco wouldn't have predicted what Tetia says next.
"This way whenever you close a book, this bookmark will always have you reminded of me."
Coco felt her chest tightening as she only stared at her.
"Tetia! What about this box over here?" she heard Master Qifrey outside calling for Tetia, who immediately sauntered off with a smile, leaving Coco alone to process what she had heard.
Her mind went blank for a moment.
This bookmark will always have you reminded of me.
She felt her face getting warmer as Tetia's words rings through her mind. She knew how honest to a fault Tetia is but this—What was that supposed to mean…? She only crouched down on her chair as she held Tetia's gift in front of her face, feeling the warmth spreading from her thumping chest.
Then a knock from the table interrupted her, "Hey, are you still open?"
Coco stood up immediately, promptly shelving her predicament for another time as she wondered the back of her mind what made her mood turn one-eighty degrees that day.