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It was another day trip in Kalhn, initiated by Qifrey with the aim of food-shopping. After saying their goodbyes, Agott and Coco split up from the two other girls. Agott's direction was set, a nearby bookshop, and all Coco had to do was follow.
Inside, the musty smell of books filled the air. It was one particularly nostalgic to Agott, and one perfectly stimulating for the ever-so-excitable Coco. The two stepped through the aisles, Agott stopping momentarily at a section encompassing biology.
It wasn't long before Coco discovered a book of interest, one she didn't hesitate to bring it to Agott. “Oh, Agott~” she sang, “Are you a library book? Because I'd like to check you out.”
Agott turned around at the disturbance, her eyes narrowing at Coco after the awful line. “What?”
Coco, unfaltering at the expression on her, popped her arms forward. Her hands held onto a book, and she practically hid behind it at the distance Agott was to the intruding object. Agott stepped back, directing her focus to the book, reading the title, ‘The Courting Collection: A List of Lines for Your Courting Needs.’
Agott watched as the book lowered, and pulled back, Coco's face reappearing with eager eyes.
Agott rolled her own. “What bookshop keeps this sort of book in stock? Don't tell me that line was from this.”
Coco nodded with a grin, her finger pushing into a random page and flipping into it. Agott observed as Coco's eyes skimmed the page, each flick bringing her eyelids lower in a way that typically accompanied a genuine smile. Coco brought her eyes back up, with confidence rivalling a scalewolf in its territory. “I'm writing an essay about the beautiful things in life. Can I use you as an example?” Okay, Agott did admit, hearing Coco say that was a little, emphasis on ‘little’, shock for her heart.
After gathering herself, Agott motioned her hands for the book. “It sounds like it has quite the range of lines. May I see it?”
Once received, she too flipped to a random page, pausing for a moment before letting out a cringed, “Oh come on, ‘Are you a torchstag? Because you've lit my heart on fire’. Does this work on anyone?”
“Hey now, put more passion into those words. Yagotta read them to me like you mean it!”
Agott's ears reddened at the implication, and her eyes perused for another line. She discovered one, eyes peeking up at Coco before returning. What a nightmare. But she'll go with Coco on this little whim of hers, she's much too curious now on the other contents this book has to offer. And hearing Coco's voice say those lines… she pushed that thought away. It was certainly for the curiousity.
“D-do you have any raisins?” Agott began sheepishly.
Coco tilted her head. “No, I don't.”
“How about a date?”
Coco's eyes lit up at the pun and, without delay, replied, “I'll be the perfect calendar for you. ”
“I see this book has already been rubbing off on you,” Agott mentioned with a smile, passing it back.
The motion of flipping, skimming and reading was repeated, Agott observing a small blush travel across Coco's face. Her viewing resulted in a flinch as Coco swiftly flicked her head up, eyes once again determined.
Next thing Agott knew, Coco had pushed her against a nearby bookcase. On either side of her head, Coco's arms trapped her. She's grateful there was a wall behind it, and that there was nobody else in her line of sight.
“Do you live around here often?”
Agott's awestruck expression crinkled, and then morphed into a deeply amused one.
“There's no way that's in there.”
“It most certainly is!”
“It's idiotic.”
Coco giggled, Agott's eyes following the girl's movement with a soft expression.
Coco stepped back, lowering her hands and letting Agott breathe the air she so desperately lacked. Once again, Coco passed Agott the book. However, instead of opening it, Agott lifted it up slightly, waving it. “Let's put this away now. I'm sure Master Qifrey's just about done. Mind holding onto something for me?”
“Sure, what is it?” Coco asked, waiting for Agott to pass her a separate book.
Instead, Agott outstretched her free hand confidently, Coco eyeing it with momentary confusion before beaming and taking the hand before her. Coco was grateful she had an excuse now, she wasn't going to let go any time soon.
Agott turned around, beginning to walk, distractedly, to where she believed the book was obtained. A hint of a blush was visible on what little of her ears and cheek remained in Coco's sight.
“Was that also in the book?” Coco asked curiously.
Agott looked back at Coco with a grin. “Of course it was. What do you take me for?”
It's easy to forget that witches still walk with the elements, despite their keenness on controlling it directly. Coco's sylph shoes were the victims; and for Agott, it was a simple need of hers to learn to fight against the external influences to her spells.
Coco stepped outside, her shoes now hosting a newly dried sylph shoes seal. Her eyes cautiously traced the ground, refusing to step in another puddle and accompanying mud so soon. Once she reached a good distance from the Atelier she pressed her shoes together and shot up. Her last ones were sensitive to even the slightest lean, allowing for air acrobatics similar to a silver-faced swallow. For this reason, it was a little strange for Coco to require slightly more extensive movements to maneuver, but to learn her new partner was the very reason she came outside.
-
Agott began to draw, her palm-quire unmoving and hands steady. First, it was light, an element affected by the relative humidity. She looked up at the sky earlier, it was generally clear with an exception of some scattered cirrus uncinus: a sign of more coming rain. Add that to the fact of last-night's rain still evaporating, and it seemed like a suitable time to learn. The effect on the light was minuscule, compared to that of the Great Hall. It was strong, mostly unwavering (she attributed the remaining part to her skill), the only difference being the visibility. It was brighter, with more spread than in the Atelier. There wasn't much to learn as far as control goes here, she moved on.
Next was fire, with the main enemy being wind, and a lack of air. What easier way to counter wind with wind itself, she thought. Her hand drew a simple pyreball spell, taking a piece of paper and burning it. Embers were the most wind-influenced form of heat, affected even by the hot air of a fire. Maybe she was getting ahead of herself with this challenge. She assumed she just had to study their movement, and counter it, without snuffing their lingering fire. They aren't affected greatly by the hot air. Perhaps she simply needed to use the pyreball's own rising air similar to the way one can create form to fire by controlling where it could breathe and how it could spread. She watched as the final embers died off, ending the pyreball and beginning anew.
Next was earth, it being affected most by water and moisture. Then air, affected by itself. And then water, affected by wind and itself. She didn't do badly, but there was a lot of improvement needed. It was a side of spell-casting that was left mostly untouched by the majority of witches, with an exception of those who excelled in a specific element. It's for this reason that she rushed towards it to prove herself.
She looked up to the sky once again in thought, noticing a distant speck. A bird? No, there's a little bit of light and it's still much too large for any of the species around the Atelier. It was a witch.
Her curiousity got the best of her, and she flew up to investigate. The closer she got, the more she recognised the familiar form of Coco. The girl didn't notice her, so Agott took the chance to play around with her, a little bit of de-stress one could say.
Coco felt a tap on her shoulder, spinning around and becoming confused at the empty air. Her head tilted up and down, then it turned left and right to no avail. Was she imagining that? She spun around again, still nothing.
She heard an amused voice behind her, “You're a little wobbly today.”
“Agott! So there was someone!”
“I hope it didn't give you too much of a fright.”
“Only a little. And to the wobbly thing: new seal.”
Agott returned a little ‘aha’. “Any different?”
Coco nodded. “A little with the steering side of things, it's hard to gauge the speed though.”
“A race sounds like it's in order then,” Agott replied, eyes reflecting confidence.
Coco returned the look. “Perfect idea as always.” She spun her body, pointing to a distant hill. “How about over there?”
Agott followed the hand, calculating an approximate distance. “You can give us the countdown, then.”
“3” Coco started, the two preparing themselves
“2”
“1”
There was no ‘Go’ yet, Agott looked over to Coco, the girl's expression mischievous as if waiting for the distraction. “Go!”
Agott jolted into action, a little later than Coco. But she eventually managed to catch up side by side with her, thanks to her angle towards the finish line. “You little rascal!”
“You never mentioned anything about cheating!”
“Oh? We're allowing cheating?” Agott mused, ramming into Coco.
She felt a revenge-fuelled attack. “Can't hurt!”
The two rushed towards the hill in the final spurt, dodging attacks from one another, and finding inventive ways to slow the other down. In the end, Agott arrived at the hill first, gliding over it before slowing down and landing. Coco followed suit, and once landing, she collapsed onto the grass with a contented sigh at solid ground, having been in the air for much longer.
Agott sat beside her. “It seems you've been consistent with your sylph shoe seals.” Agott quickly added to that statement, realising the double-meaning, “That isn't to say you haven't improved, far from it. I'm sure it was purposeful this time.”
Coco giggled. “I know what you meant. And yes, it's hard to go back to the normal ones.” She touched her hand against Agott's, intertwining them after a returned press.
“I'm fond of them, as well.”
Coco smiled, closing her eyes. “Master Qifrey mentioned you probably were.”
“Master Qifrey? When was this?” Agott asked, watching the girl adoringly.
“During the second test.”
“He picked up on that quite fast…” Quite the teacher, she thought.
The two rested there, enjoying each other's presence, the gentle squeezes of their entangled hands and the sounds around them. During which, Coco reopened her eyes to watch the flowing cirrus.
“You know, the sky reminds me of you a little bit.”
“The sky?” Agott repeated, her head tilting upwards to it, and her mind thinking of the possible connections.
“Yeah. It's so vast, I want to reach for it and learn more. The stars, they direct you when you can't yourself and the constellations they form are almost like decorative keystones, which is a very you thing. That night during Silver Eve is proof.” She paused, considering whether to say her next words. She's being cheesy already, so she might as well say it too. “It's also beautiful. I could really keep going. You know, birds, sylph shoes, high places…”
Agott shrunk slightly in embarrassment, Coco noticing and grinning. “Give your-sylph some love and accept the compliments.” Agott suppressed a laugh, bringing her free hand up to her mouth to cover the growing smile. A similar smile appeared on Coco. “It wasn't a weird thing for me to say, was it? The sky thing.”
“I don't find it weird, even if I’ve never received words similar.” She looked back down at Coco. “You have a little romantic side in there.” Coco blushed, Agott continuing, “I suppose that makes you the earth then.”
Coco returned her gaze from Agott to the sky, ever so aware of the earth she pressed her back against. “That sounds a little sad. They're so far away from each other.”
“Well, you can't really be far away from something if you're inside it.” She realised the words practically admitted that Coco had filled a hole inside of her. Agott blushed, it wasn't entirely wrong. “But that aside, you're that opposed to being away from me?” Agott teased.
“I guess I am,” Coco replied softly, stretching her limbs with a groan, Agott feeling the hand grip her harder unintentionally, and slumping back into the grass lazily. “We should probably go back.”
“Probably," Agott repeated.
These past few days have been strange. Coco noticed, many times throughout each day, lingering stares on her. Of course, they weren't coming from strangers, it was Agott; and they weren't menacing stares either, it was as if Coco's face was speckled with ink stains, but the look was fonder. Coco could feel embarrassment rise each time. She wasn't entirely against the attention, but it was an awkward way to give it.
Usually, Coco would only glimpse at the offender, resulting in some form of reaction from Agott and a stop to the staring. Although, it wasn't a prevention measure in the slightest. Coco decided right there that she'll give Agott a little taste of the treatment.
They were at their desks when Coco looked around to Agott, discovering that she was not alone in that action. Upon being caught, Agott directed her eyes to her desk. But Coco didn't leave it there; she continued to watch. As she expected, it wasn't long before Agott turned around again, as if too distracted to focus on the work in front of her. Her eyes widened for a moment at seeing the unchanged position of Coco, furrowing her eyebrows slightly, eyes practically screaming an embarrassed, ‘What?’
Coco returned a teasing look, Agott flusteredly hiding away with a turn.
-
Even during dinner, Coco was not safe from the gazes directed at her. She tried her best to focus on the food before her, and the surrounding conversation, only eyeing Agott in return from her peripheral vision. Otherwise, she knew that the other members of the atelier would lock into their shared glances eventually.
Richeh and Tetia were in a heated debate, with Coco and Agott adding a couple of lines in between their bites. After lowering her spoon, Coco properly looked up from the bowl to Agott, confirming that she was in fact watching her again; but her gaze seemed lower than before, and she absentmindedly swirled her spoon… wait… lower? Coco flushed a beet red, quickly distracting herself by scooping more of her food. She wasn't alone in that action; she could hear a tiny embarrassed noise from the other girl and the sound of a bowl being scratched clean. After that moment, Coco noted the complete lack of peering eyes.
-
That same night, Coco returned to the workspace after bathing, her eyes landing on Agott's studying figure. The girl looked up curiously to investigate the intrusion, almost immediately becoming softer. Upon seeing this reaction, Coco chose to inch closer, her eyes unwavering. Once she reached Agott, she sat down and covered the girl's eyes. “You've been staring a lot, lately.”
Agott didn't move away from the hands nor attempt to take them off. “You're distracting,” she stated simply.
Coco could feel the warmth radiate off the girl. She lowered her hands, the softness in Agott's eyes almost too much for her. “How so?”
Agott lifted her hand to Coco's hair, eyes looking at it and fingers pressing the strands slightly to confirm her suspicions. “Well, right now, your hair is still wet.”
“And how about the other times?”
A hint of a blush appeared on Agott, accompanied by a guilty expression. “Let's not go there right now. Turn around for me?”
Coco shifted around, feeling the towel around her neck be taken off. It dug gently, and efficiently, into her hair's roots; any lingering moisture easily exchanged to the towel. “As much as I like the instant warmth of the drying link rings, I much prefer this.” She sighed, closing her eyes at the rather ticklish, and affectionate touches.
Coco's ears picked up on the sweet voice behind her, “Your hair seems like quite the joy to work with. Thin, short and wonderfully straight.”
Coco's face heated at the compliment. “Yours seems just as easy.”
“For drying specifically, it certainly is. That is, while short. When I had longer and thicker hair, it was like a sponge. Treating it with care like this was time consuming, and wringing it out was much more efficient.” Agott began to trace the towel down the strands of Coco's hair, her voice becoming quiet and melancholic. “Mother disliked when I lazily dried it, because it got all frizzy, and took it up to herself to do so. It was nice.”
After a few more minutes of spoiling Coco, Agott brought the towel down and folded it. She bent forward and placed it on Coco's lap, arms grazing her side. When she leaned back, there was no distance created. Coco was laying against her now, the contact made awkward by the fact that Agott's legs were crossed in front of her. Agott supported herself with her hands at the weight, watching in bewilderment as Coco now looked up at her. “You're distracting too, and sweet.” Agott's eyes widened even more, the blush that began from the contact growing into a deeper red.
With Coco's new proximity, she could, almost imperceptibly, feel Agott's racing heart; it brought her over the moon to know the effect she had on Agott.
Agott gained some unsupported balance by bringing the two forward, resting her legs on either side of Coco to bring her closer. Her head now sat in the crook of Coco's neck. Coco's heart leapt at the sudden affection, breath hitching once Agott slid her hands across her waist, holding her like a stuffed animal. “Thank you.”
Coco, still too stunned to speak, only hummed shakily in response.
After a moment, Coco heard a whisper, “Sorry, is this weird?”
She gained the bearing to speak, “No, I like it…” she paused for a moment, breathing out, “love it, even.” Agott smiled, listening to the girl she loved. “I just didn't expect it from you.”
“You make it hard not to.”
“You do too. Is this what those stares have been about?”
“Maybe.”
Coco hummed. “What other forms of agaffection were you plotting, then?”
She could feel a light laugh. “Not sparing me, are you?”
“It's too perfect of a chance.” Coco countered.
“When you're at your desk… I imagine a position like this.”
Coco teasingly cooed. “And at dinner?”
Agott's voice became embarrassed as she shared further, “I imagined feeding you. And those crumbs marking your face were hard to ignore too.”
“You're a messy eater too, sometimes. It's adorable.”
Agott closed her eyes. “Is that so?” She brought her head down.
“Don't get too relaxed, now.”
“Why's that?” Agott mumbled into her shoulder.
Coco giggled at the sensation. “We'll regret falling asleep here.”
“That is true,” Agott started, pulling her head back slightly, “I can take it, though.”
“You're not making this easy, you little cuddlebug,” she teased fondly, gently prying the arms off her.
Agott tightened them. “Not yet.”
Coco supposed she could let the girl, and herself, indulge. “At the very least, can we lie down soon?”
Agott nodded, and after a few minutes of peaceful silence in the embrace, she brought the two down. Coco repositioned herself at Agott's side, before asking, “Do you sleep here often?”
“Sometimes. Not as much as you.”
“I'll need to keep an eye on you.”
The girls were scattered in the living room as usual, Coco laying, stomach down, on the sofa. She had one arm curled beneath her head as a makeshift pillow, the other cautiously traversed the space between her and Agott, who sat on the floor against the sofa. Her finger landed on Agott's nape, the cold and sudden sensation leading Agott to tense and shudder. Once she relaxed, Coco began to trace a heart, watching the hair rise and goosebumps follow. The reaction gave Coco the strength to continue with her designs and add more fingers into the mix. Agott didn't say anything; it was clear that her focus was lost to the sensation.
Tetia stared at the two, perplexed at the display of affection. “Are you two dating?”
Agott tensed again, her focus now on Tetia, preparing potential excuses. “What makes you say that?”
“That's just gotta be a rhetorical question, do you see yourselves right now? Coco hasn't even stopped yet!”
Coco looked at Tetia coyly, halting her tracing. “Not yet.”
That wording got Agott turning around curiously, the fingers on her tickling a line across her neck with the movement. Agott felt Coco move the fingers again, choosing to trace her jaw idly. Tetia and Richeh parroted Coco, “Yet?”
Coco pulled back her hand, now covering her face. “W-well… Uhm. That was- may have been a little wrong. We just-” She looked at Agott for permission to submit to the interrogation of the two girls, receiving a small nod in response, “-haven't considered it, officially?”
Tetia sighed. “You two are almost like Master Qifrey and Master Olruggio. Maybe a little better than them, at the very least. I don't know what's up with them, but it feels like they get super close and then suddenly they're not.” She stood up, patting her dress energetically and spinning to Richeh. “Come, Richeh! Let's give Brushbuddy some training.”
“Alright.”
After the two left, Agott moved to take Coco's hand back, turning her body back around to the empty space and tracing a similar heart on the palm to what Coco did.
“Yet, huh?” Agott repeated sweetly.
Coco blushed. “Well, yeah… You feel the same way, don't you?”
Agott, too, reddened. “I do, yes. I'm sure that night made it clear.”
“What were we thinking, waiting this long?”
“Perhaps it didn't feel needed.” Agott looked back at Coco with a dashing smile. “You'll be my girlfriend, then?”
Coco smiled in return. “Yes, and you'll be mine.”
Agott lowered her lips to the hand before her.
“Charming.”
“Only for you.”
They took each other in for a moment, Coco propping her head up and shifting herself to lean closer. The hand of hers that was held in Agott's own now slipped from the grip to tenderly cup her cheek. She scanned Agott's eyes for discomfort, only being met with a shy eagerness, before placing her lips on Agott's. She felt Agott exhale and relax into it, pressing into her. Her hand lifted up to cover the one holding her face, deepening the kiss further.
They separated, opening their eyes to the sight of the other's dilated pupils. With both girls refusing to gaze away from one another, Coco spoke up, “Can we stay here for a little longer?”
“Of course.”
The two seemed to have gotten even more blatant, Tetia having walked into them one too many times being all lovey-dovey. She's glad that she now has some targets for love-talk; but at the same time, she'll have to get used to seeing Agott looking like that.