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“Are you sure about this, Coco?”
Agott can’t help but whisper as they peek from behind a house. Their position would look extremely silly to anyone looking from outside. Two teenage girls whispering to each other as they watch villagers pass and go into the plaza of their town’s village.
“Yeah, why not, Agott?”
“It's just– We're supposed to be doing fieldwork in the neighboring village. I don't know if it's wise to come here to celebrate…”
“Come on! It's just one evening. We've earned a bit of a relaxing day, don't you think?”
Agott lets out a weird noise at that, something between a defeated sigh and a groan. It was true that they had been working their bodies off for the last couple of days, helping dozens of farmers and other families get in track with their duties as spring finally arrived. It would almost feel like too much for two girls their age, but being a witch meant you couldn’t deny help to those who asked, even if you’re just fifteen.
So that makes Agott wonder.
“I don't understand why we can't come as witches to this, though…” She says, hand running through her hair, feeling almost unprotected without her cap, her cloak also long gone back in the inn they had been sleeping in the town they were helping. She had lost count of the times she had instinctively reached for her palm quire since they left the inn and found nothing, panicking for a moment before realizing.
“Well, it's not that we can't.” Coco starts, giving Agott a smirk. “We totally could, but there are already witches here in the festival grounds, and if we're going in as witches, we'll probably be asked to help with something, and that's not really my idea of relaxing.”
“Alright…” Agott says, more apprehensive than she intended to sound.
“So, you know, just enjoy being an unknowing for a few hours. It's pretty easy; I did it for twelve years.” She jokes before stepping from behind the house, smoothing out a wrinkle in her dress and making a hand motion for Agott to follow her.
Agott would have loved to say she had hesitated, that the logical part of her brain had made her not just follow Coco into whatever crazy scheme she had. But that would be lying.
Agott is simply too weak for Coco, for anything she asks. Coco could invite her to fight a herd of Liongoats and Agott would trust her despite the reservations and her instincts. Because Coco is… Coco. Her inspiration for magic, the sun for her moon, Agott’s first crush and most importantly, her best friend.
So she follows Coco through the gates that read ‘Annual Spring Festival’, colorful streamers and flowers decorating the path inside.
“Hey Agott! Look!” Coco says, a bit ahead of her, “They have Master Olly’s glowstone path!”
Agott looks in the direction of where she is pointing and, sure enough, she sees people illuminated by the floor, children amazed by the glow under their feet. Coco gives an almost childish laugh before running to the front, her face illuminated by a smile that Agott recognizes as Coco’s smile for magic.
The sun isn’t set completely on the horizon yet, so the glow isn’t completely haloing Coco as Agott imagines it usually does, but even so, the happiness in her face is enough to make Agott smile and the butterflies that have lived inside her stomach since she’s known Coco dance.
And speaking of dance… Agott looks a bit ahead and sees at the center of the festival a bunch of people in synchrony, dancing to a song she doesn’t recognize.
She steps closer to Coco, standing shoulder to shoulder with her, as the girl continues messing with the same two stones under her feet, her smile not fading.
Well, that is until there is a clear change in the music being played by the bards ahead of them both, her expression turning to one of surprise before another smile took over her face.
“Wait! I love this song!” She says, looking between Agott and the dancers who are clearly getting into a new rhythm.
“The one they’re playing?”
“Yes! I used to hear it during parties in my old village!”
“Well, go ahead and have fun.” Agott shrugs her shoulders and motions with her head for Coco to go ahead, but the girl doesn’t move, her face now stuck staring down at Agott with something she can’t really discern.
That is until Coco grabs her arm and tries to pull her ahead with her. “Come on! Dance with me, Agott!”
At that, Agott plants her feet straight to the ground beneath her, rooting them in place, feeling heat creep up her spine. “What? No no! I- I don't dance.”
She tried to pull her arm away, but Coco was stronger somehow. “What? Yes, you do! We've danced before!”
“Yes, but it was ballroom dancing!” She’s an Arklaum; she’s been trained to dance in events like those since she started learning magic. “I know that. This…” She motions with her free hand at the dance happening in front of her, “...isn't it. I’m not good at that.”
“There's not much mystery! Pleaseee!” Coco gripped her arm closer, staring at Agott with wide and watery eyes, along with a pout that definitely shouldn’t belong to a teenager.
“Coco, those puppy eyes won’t win this time! They won’t…” Agott says, trying to tear her eyes away with a roll and trying to pull her arm again, but she is once again unsuccessful. Determined to win the battle, she looks at her again, trying to maintain her stance, but Coco keeps staring down at her, head tilted to the side and blinking her eyes.
Agott gulps, feeling her heart almost crack at the sight–
She loses the battle.
“Ugh, fine…”
Coco’s pitied expression disappears in less than a second, being replaced with a big grin as she celebrates out loud and pulls Agott in the direction of the crowd, the feet that were rooted to the ground now easily following Coco.
Coco easily finds them a place in the crowd, her body almost instantly following the quick tempo and the claps the others are doing. Agott, on the other hand, is static, her body rigid as everyone dances. Coco seems to notice that, raising an eyebrow at her.
“I-I told you! I don't know what I'm doing.” She whispers through gritted teeth to Coco. In turn, her best friend lets out a sigh and steps close to her, just a few inches between them.
“It's okay, Agott.” She offers her hand. “Take my hand and let me guide you.”
The knot in Agott’s throat tightens for a new reason, but she does as she is told. “A-Alright.”
Coco grips her hand tightly and guides Agott to not only follow her moves, but everyone else’s around them. When they jump, she must jump, doesnt matter if it's a bit later. If they start clapping, she claps, even if she is out of tempo.
The concept of being out of sync with the crowd is scary to her. In ballroom dancing, everyone’s steps are timed to the same length, making everyone do the same steps at the same time; if one person is out of beat messes with the whole harmony of the dance.
But with Coco holding her hand, telling her what to do, Agott feels safe to try. And before she realizes it, she is easily following the steps along with everyone else.
“See! You learn quick!” Coco says when they meet again after dancing through the crowd and linking arms with strangers, starting a new sequence of steps that, while Agott doesn’t know the exact order, she is eagerly following Coco’s movements.
“Well, you're a good teacher.”
Coco beams at the compliment, and Agott almost regrets giving it so freely when her friend looks so pleased with herself.
“I know.”
Agott rolls her eyes but gives her a teasing smile, and before she can come up with a teasing comment back, the sequence changes again.
The people around them break apart, some spinning away while others reach for the hands of whoever happens to be closest. Coco is pulled away, and for one brief, alarming moment, Agott loses sight of her entirely.
Her stomach drops, nervous of being alone in the crowd of dancers without Coco to guide her.
Then she appears again from between the dancers, laughing as she reaches for Agott's hand again. “There you are!”
Agott has barely time to take it before Coco is already pulling her along. They spin through the crowd, hands slipping apart and finding each other again.
At some point, Agott stops counting, stops looking at everyone else’s feet, stops worrying if she's a beat or two too late. She lets the music carry her forward, and whenever she thinks she might lose track of what comes next, Coco is there, laughing, moving, squeezing her hand before pulling her into whatever movement the crowd has decided to do next.
Agott finds herself laughing along with her friend.
Then as the music begins building towards its end, Coco suddenly steps closer. Agott expects another unfamiliar sequence, maybe a spin or one of those jumps that had nearly made her lose her balance earlier.
Instead, all of a sudden, she feels Coco’s hands on her back, and before she can ask what is happening, Coco winks at her.
“And… dip!”
And so she does. Agott does feel like she loses her balance for a moment, hands reaching for Coco’s shoulders just as the music comes to its timely end with an upbeat note. Agott opens her eyes and finds Coco smiling down at her with a cheeky grin, their faces too close for comfort, and the butterflies are suddenly back and crazier than ever.
“C-Coco!” She berates the girl who is still holding her halfway down. Agott can feel that her face must be completely red.
“Did I surprise you?” Her mischievous grin somehow is bigger now, coupled with a laugh.
“Yes! Warn a girl next time, will you?”
“Well, I did!”
Agott pouts, slapping Coco’s back lightly in protest. “You warned me as you were doing it!”
Coco laughs and finally relents, bringing Agott back up, the distance between them increasing, but not enough because, for some reason, Coco is still holding her waist and her back, and Agott can’t seem to let go of her shoulders anyway.
“I know, I'm just teasing you.” She winks at Agott with a smirk, a few stray giggles still escaping her throat. “You know I love seeing you so flustered.”
It’s not the first time Agott has heard this from her and possibly will not be the last, but, as always, she decides to pointedly ignore it to not become even more of a flustered mess in front of Coco.
“You wouldn't be laughing if you were in my place!” Agott tries to argue, but she probably sounds like a whiny child.
“Maybe not. Why don't you try?”
What?
“What?” She must’ve misunderstood what Coco is proposing. There’s no way–
“Go ahead, fluster me, Agott Arklaum.”
She didn’t misunderstand her.
Agott tightens the grip she has on Coco’s robes, scared she is going to pass out at any moment, her heart feeling like it’s going to jump out of her chest.
“Y-You say that as if it's the easiest thing ev-er!” Did her voice just crack? Stars, what the hell-
Coco pouts, looking to the side, seemingly deep in thought. “Maybe not the easiest, but it’s definitely easy.”
Scared of making herself look even more like a fool, Agott attempts to hide her face by looking away from Coco. They stay like that for several moments before her curiosity wins the best of her, and she sneaks a glance towards her best friend, who is just staring at her like a child on Winterfest waiting for their gift, eyes wide and earnest.
“I– Stop looking at me like that, I'm not doing it now!” Agott argues, biting her lip.
“Why not?!” Coco’s expression falls, and she pouts down at her.
“Because you're expecting it!” She tries to reason with her. “It's not going to work if you're expecting me to do it!”
Coco seems to finally give some thought to that before nodding with her head and raising her hands in what Agott assumes is a way to show she is giving up.
“Alright, alright, I get what you’re saying.”
Agott feels the absence of Coco’s hands on her waist and back like a burning pyreball to her skin, the slightly cold breeze hitting where she was being held and sending uncomfortable shivers down her spine. She lets go of Coco as well, not wanting to make things even more awkward. Well, at least to her.
Coco seems to be thriving, her smile not fading for a moment as she looks around, a new group of dancers gathering around them.
“I think I need some food and water before even attempting to dance again.”
Water could probably help cool down her face and slow down her heart rate.
Agott nods, stepping back and putting more distance between them as they walked away from the main square.
They walk with a few feet of distance between them, not daring to step closer as they walk through the stalls and check the vendors.
After exchanging a few coins they had brought for food and drinks, they decided to walk around some more while eating to find something else to do.
The sun is almost completely down the horizon line, and they’ve already finished their food when they finally stop by something that catches their attention. Or rather, catches Coco’s attention.
“Agott!” She pulls on Agott’s sleeve, directing her attention to a stall that she had completely skipped. “Flower crowns!”
And surely, a stall run by an older couple is filled not only to the brim with flower crowns, but bouquets of many sizes and colors. Coco lets go of her sleeve and runs to them, talking excitedly as she inspects the goods being sold.
Agott steps closer, standing right behind Coco and next to the pile of flower crowns, a medium-sized mirror hanging to supposedly help clients to see their reflection as they try them.
Agott’s eyes fall on a flower crown with purple flowers, fingers delicately touching the petals, scared to destroy the work.
“You can try them on, dear.” The old, unknowing woman says, and Agott hesitantly grabs it and awkwardly puts it on her head, moving her head in the mirror to see if it fits her.
“Agott, that’s adorable!” Coco coos at her, standing beside her in the mirror, fingers adjusting the crown. “Which one do you think looks best? I want one too.” She grabs one thats the same flowers as Agott's. “Maybe we can match?”
At that, Agott gives some thought, and while the thought of Coco and her walking around in matching flower crowns makes her heart skip a few beats, the colors clash a bit with her hair, the purple standing out with the green.
Her eyes then catch a glimpse of a crown with white flowers and a golden yellow center. Without thinking too much, she grabs it delicately.
She turns to Coco in the mirror, who is still trying to make the previous crown match, and delicately lowers her hand, putting the new one on her head, the white petals complementing her green hair and the gold center matching her eyes. She brushes a strand of Coco’s hair behind her ear.
“Here, this one suits you best,” Agott whispers to her, watching as Coco’s expression in the mirror changes from curiosity to amazement before settling on surprise, her face getting red and eyes widening.
Agott didn’t understand why until she realized how smooth and almost romantic she had acted, Coco and herself turning to meet each other's eyes away from the reflection, their faces again, too close for comfort and yet, an attraction that almost seemed to pull them together.
“You two are too adorable!” The old lady says, interrupting whatever was going on between them, “Did you two know me and my husband here met at this same festival fifty years ago? He gave me a flower crown as a gift as well.”
At the implication, Agott puts some distance between them, covering her mouth as she clears her throat, putting her hand in her pocket, taking a few more coins than necessary and putting them in the counter and stepping away, pulling Coco with her but refusing to meet her eyes.
“Y-You can keep the change!” She says louder than she intended, not looking in their direction.
For several long seconds as they walk through the grounds, neither of them says anything. Behind them, the old lady’s delighted laughter fades beneath the sounds of the festival. Coco’s hand is still caught in Agott’s, and somehow that makes the silence worse.
Finally, Coco opens her mouth, but in some way, Agott manages to hear her breath inhale and interrupts her, “Don’t.”
Coco closes her mouth before opening it again. “I wasn’t going to say anything.” She lies.
“You were!”
Coco presses her lips together, clearly trying not to smile. Agott, who is still staring intently at anything except Coco, only makes it harder not to.
Then finally, a small snort escapes her, Agott turning sharply towards her, cheeks red.
“What?”
“It’s just–” Coco covers her mouth with her free hand, but another laugh escapes. “You gave her all of your money, Agott.”
She freezes.
“I did not.” She doesn’t dare check her pockets, though.
“You did!” Coco says, finally breaking into laughter, “Agott, there were so many coins! I thought you were going to buy every flower crown she had!”
Agott bites her lip. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.” Coco pinches her fingers.
“It isn’t!”
Coco’s laughter only grows, and despite herself and her efforts to remain stoic, Agott feels a smile tugging at her lips. Soon enough, she lets out a breath that sounds suspiciously like a laugh. All of a sudden, they're both standing there giggling over something that moments ago felt too embarrassing to survive.
By the time their laughter dies down, the tension between them has softened into something quieter, softer, and much more precious.
“Agott?” Coco says, voice a bit shy.
“Yes?”
“Thank you for coming with me. I had fun.”
Agott looks at her friend; her smile is still there, smaller now, but still warm.
“...Thank you for inviting me. I enjoyed it too.”
Coco brushes a strand of her hair behind her ear, squeezing her hand before lowering her voice and stepping closer to her friend. Agott looks at her with curiosity, noticing the light redness returning to her cheeks.
“I knew you had it in you to fluster me.”
Before Agott can register the words, Coco lets go of her hand, giggling to herself and running ahead. When the words and the actions she had done earlier finally connect in her brain, Agott gulps.
“I-I didn’t do that on purpose!” She tries to explain herself, running after her friend, who just keeps laughing at her misery. “Coco!”
The laughter echoes through the grounds of the festival, mixing with the sounds of music and distant conversation, with the rustling of flower crowns and the soft chime of lanterns swaying in the evening breeze.
Beneath the warm glow of the lights, Agott’s indignant protests follow Coco down the path, and for a little while, neither of them thinks about what almost happened between them. They simply run, laughing side by side, carrying the warmth of the evening with them as the festival lights twinkle above.