Archive of Our Own

Coco leans back in her chair, groaning as she drops her pen to the ground. She cares little about where it ends up or whether it will leave a stain on the floor. Later. She'll clean it later. When she's in a better mood and her fingers aren't cramping up. Her entire body feels like it's about to shut down any moment now.

'Perhaps you should take a break.' Agott suggests from behind her. Coco can tell that she didn't even lift her pen up to say that. No one will ever understand how Agott can draw and talk at the same time. A special skill only she knows. One that has likely been mastered after years of hard work. It's so impressive. The way she does it so effortlessly.

'A break?' Coco repeats, turning to look at her.

'Studying without a single pause for hours is only going to hinder your memory and drawing skills.'

'You think so!?'

'I know so. From experience, unfortunately.'

Agott sets her pen down and turns in her chair to make eye contact with Coco. Her chin lies on top of the backrest, and her hands wrap around it.

'So... You're telling me I just wasted hours... on nothing!?'

'I wouldn't call it nothing. You DID learn that those hours were inherently useless. Did you not?'

'You couldn't have told me that a bit earlier...?' Coco complains, closing her eyes and nearly breaking down in tears.

The thing is, Agott is right. She doesn't remember anything she read, and regardless of how many times she draws the same spell, it refuses to be transferred to her long-term memory. It is as if she has been asleep the entire time.

'Maybe. But I had a feeling you'd figure it out on your own.' Agott says while stretching, nearly falling out the chair as a result. Coco is forced to bite back a chuckle.

'I'm a fool...'

'Don't say that.'

'It's true! I should've realised it by hour two or so...'

'Listen, mopping isn't going to get you anywhere. And it is also ruining my own study session. Why don't you go grab some fresh air or something? Preferably far away from here if you're going to be a nuisance.'

Agott turns back, rolling her eyes and picking her pen up again, as if she has never let go of it in the first place. Coco observes her for a while too long. Agott is so clever. So talented. So thoughtful. There is no one else Coco would've loved as her roommate as much as Agott. Everything she does stands out so much to Coco. She's unlike anyone Coco has ever met before. If given the chance, she could stare at her like this forever.

...

But she really does have a point. Coco shakes her head. Admiring Agott can wait. She gets up from her chair and spins around in circles, scanning the room for something relaxing to occupy herself with. Right when she gets dizzy, she spots the window and decides that some fresh air couldn't hurt. She runs over to it, nearly tripping as her mind calms down from all the twirling. The room is spinning in circles, making it hard to walk in a straight line.

'Don't fall to your death...' Agott murmurs, the strokes of her pen sounding rough, as if it had been pressed against the paper too hard.

'Don't worry! I won't!'

Coco gives her a thumbs up despite her not even paying much attention and makes her way over to the window. With a swift turn of the handle, Coco opens the window and leans out to see what's going on in the outside world. As soon as the air hits her, she takes in a deep breath and closes her eyes. The sun hits her face, reminding her that there is so much more to life than practicing spells all day. The warmth is like a loving hug from nature, inviting her outside to walk through fields of grass and lie in it all day until the moon is up.

When her eyes flicker open, she's forced to create shade with her hand. The light is simply that strong! ... Or it has something to do with Coco not leaving the atelier for days. It hurts! Is the outside world rejecting her for wasting so much time? Is this yet another sign from nature that she's too big of a fool to become a witch? After everything, maybe the best course of action would be to give up and return her cap.

She sighs and is about to look for something else to do that doesn't lead to negative thoughts when a peculiar shade of red catches her attention.

It's a flower. A single one planted inside of some high-quality soil, sitting in a pot that can only be described as exquisite with how many golden details are on the white ceramic. The flower itself consists of four stamen all meeting up at the very top of all the bundled up petals, with large leaves peeking out from the soil.

Coco has seen it before. Her master had once used it to teach them all how to make throne tea. And before that, there was another instance that Coco doesn't think she'll ever be able to forget for as long as she lives. One so memorable that she often replays it in her mind.

This is a diadem herb.

A flower that only grows on the Dadah Range.

Most people don't have access to the entire flower and are instead given its petals for tea or leaves for medical purposes. Which could only mean one thing.

She turns only to see Agott already staring at her. The work on her desk entirely abandoned.

'You kept it?' Coco asks, her voice low in surprise.

'I- I couldn't just let it die after you left it on my table! That would've been a total waste of such fine flower!'

'You kept it.' A smile spreads across Coco's face as she glances at the flower again. It has been taken great care of. The soil is slightly wet, and the bundle of petals shows no damage despite Coco's sloppy manner of retrieving it. And the sun is hitting it in just the right spots. This plant is thriving.

'S-stop getting so emotional! Why is this such a big deal!?'

'Because I thought you got rid of it. Master said you weren't that fond of flowers.'

Agott blushes, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

'Was he right...?' Coco asks, coming closer to Agott until she's standing right in front of her, blocking her from looking anywhere but right at her. 'If he was, then why did you keep it? It's a single flower that you could've preserved from your own test if you liked it that much...'

'U-uhm...'

'And if this was indeed the flower that YOU took back home, then I wonder why you didn't take mine when I offered you it. It wouldn't have made sense for somebody who likes flowers to allow one so special to wither. We did have our differences back then, but-'

'It IS yours!' Agott blurts out, covering her face and scooting away in her chair. 'And I do like it! In fact, I love it! It's the prettiest flower I have ever seen!'

Coco tilts her head.

'It is?'

'Of course!' She peeks through her fingers to look at Coco. Soon enough, her face will become the same colour as the diadem herb. She's already tomato level of red. Is she sick!? Perhaps Coco should go and fetch Master Qifrey just to make sure-

Agott stands up and turns around so that her back is facing Coco. Judging from her shadow, she's fidgeting with her hands.

'Are you... okay?' Coco stands there frozen. Unsure of what to do.

'G-give me a moment.'

'Do you want me to-'

'Shut up!'

Alright, then. Coco waits, watching as the fidgeting calms down, and Agott drops her hands to her sides. She takes one deep, shaky breath and starts speaking again.

'I didn't want you to find it... Which is why I placed it in the corner by the curtain, hidden from your sharp eyes...' Agott admits. 'Back then I- I hated myself for not accepting the diadem herb. It had nothing to do with its looks. But the person it came from...'

'Huh...?'

'I never in a million years would've expected you to actually get it. B-but you did! And...'

'And?' Coco crosses her arms and decides to look at the ceiling in hopes of making Agott more comfortable.

'A-and... A-and that was one of the bravest things I've ever seen anyone do! I couldn't- I couldn't fall asleep that night. I kept thinking of the flower. Of how you offered it to me as if it didn't symbolise something important to you... Why... why would you do that!?'

'Isn't it obvious?'

They both look at each other at the same time, and Coco steps closer once again, this time playfully flicking a curl of hair that has fallen on Agott's nose.

'No, it's not!'

'I thought it would impress you...' Now it's Coco's turn to get embarrassed. To want to leave the room and lock herself in the basement, never to see the light of day again. But she doesn't. She fights the urge. One of them has to. Otherwise, where would that leave them?

'I-impress me?'

'Yeah... from the day we first met... I haven't been able to stop finding you so incredibly... cool. I thought that if I gave you the flower, that could have been my own...odd way ... of seeking approval. If somebody as awesome as you had accepted me, then I shouldn't have had any doubts about succeeding as a witch.'

'Coco...'

'... I see that you did approve of me.'

Coco hugs her, not expecting her to return it. She waits as Agott tenses and then slowly eases into the hug. Her hands reach Coco's elbows but refuse to go any further.

'Of course I did! Do you know how brightly you shine when you pull off things like that!?'

'Shine...?'

'Whenever I look at that cursed plant, it motivates me to keep going. I tell myself, 'If Coco can do it, then so can I! Her light is strong enough to light my way, too, as long as I'm near it'. Ridiculous... huh?'

Ridiculous? How dare she consider it ridiculous!? Coco wants to lecture her about it and ultimately chooses not to. It has taken her so much effort to say all this. Coco can't ruin it now.

'I'll gladly accept you being near me. Stay for as long as you'd like.'

'... Even if it blinds me? If it keeps me from focusing on things that actually matter? And... what If I'd like to have that light in my life forever...?'

'Then so be it. If it makes you happy, then I'm not going to judge. I might have to buy you sunglasses, though.'

'Huh?'

Coco laughs out loud, pulling away from Agott and offering her a hand.

'I'm hungry. Let's go downstairs and look for some snacks!'

'B-but I still have a lot to do!'

Agott acts as if she hasn't been studying right across from Coco all these hours. If she had taken a break, Coco would've known. It's hard not to notice somebody who takes up most of her heart.

She takes Coco's hand despite her protest, and they both head downstairs while holding hands.