Chapter Text
A roll of fabric is extended with care over the table, Coco takes a deep breath before meticulously measuring the cut, her hands glide over the material, marking the exact place to make the cut. The scissor cleanly slices through it, steady and firm, she smiles at the client before packing their purchase and thanking them for their patronage.
Or at least, that’s what Agott assumes Coco is saying to them, because she can’t hear her words since she’s looking at her through the window.
From the other side of the street, hidden on the branch of a tree.
This had been a small habit of hers, ever since she had finally found the town Coco and her mother had been relocated to after going back to her old life as an outsider, Agott always ‘dropped by’ to check in on them once a week. Or well, at least from afar.
Because this was probably the best distance she should keep. Unfortunately, this method was not seen as effective by her new companion.
Tetia turns to her now colleague with exasperation and a hint of pity, “I thought you already had talked to her before!”, she gestures towards the shop before taking the last bite of her scone.
“…I only said that I found her”
“And then you told us you had been ‘checking on her’, I thought you had gone inside and bought something- anything to at least make small talk with Coco!”
“I’m being subtle and prudent”
“So you have been just staring at her from a distance, hiding on a tree all this time?? What, are you waiting for something to break and then walk in to offer your help and”-Agott looks away, her face flushes with embarrassment- “… Oh my god Agott”.
Despite everything, this was far from the first few times she had spent a good couple of clock marks sitting on this tree. At first she couldn’t help but feel the itch of a thousand sentences forming in her mind. Their amalgamation producing all sorts of things she longed to say and ask to Coco, clawing at her throat to be let out.
“How have you been doing? Is your mother doing well?”
“Is there anything you need, anything that worries you?”
“You let your hair grow... you look beautiful”
But she had to control the impulse to just walk through that door, hell, she wasn’t even supposed to know where Coco was, let alone talk to her. Not that it had completely stopped her from looking as discreetly as possible to avoid any attention.
Yet, an opportunity to at least say a couple of words to Coco came soon enough, as Agott landed on the outskirts of the village during her next visit she mentally rehearsed what she could say to her with not one single idea of what she could say to Coco.
“Four years of living under the same roof and dating for a few months before your mind was wiped and you still make me trip over my words”
Maybe it was the last part that made her nervous. Even if the circumstances were different, it seemed that talking to someone you used to date, even if it wasn’t for that long, is quite awkward. Even if… they don’t even remember you exist.
Before she knew it she had finally reached the front door of the tailor shop. Master- Well, Qifrey, she still wasn’t used to not being his student after graduating a couple of months ago, just before her seventeenth birthday- had given her a reason, that felt more like an excuse, to go inside.
Brushbuddy had 'accidentally’ ripped a few holes through his winter coat and needed to fix it. Sure, since ‘Brushbuddy’ so obviously had claws that cut cleanly the way scissors did, it totally hadn’t been his own doing.
She was greeted by Coco the second she stepped inside, her heart beating painfully at the smile directed at her. She wanted to say a billion things, but she knew she shouldn't say any of them.
“Welcome, what can I help you with?”
Her voice comes out as if she had been rolling a rock up a hill, “I need to get this coat fixed… I have the measurements here, in case you need them”.
“Surely, I can get started on it soon, I’ll just finish up cutting this”
She looks around the shop for a bit, she spots Coco’s mother talking to other clients on the other side of the room, she looks in good heath as far as she can tell, “good” she thinks, before sitting down on a nearby stool. She continues with her habit, the difference now being that she sat in plain view and the distance was significantly shorter.
Agott simply watches, because that's all she can- should do.
Her eyes catch the scar on her face, wondering if Coco ever got self conscious over a mark she didn’t remember getting. Her gaze drifts to the way she held the stone to mark the cut on the cloth, Agott wondered if Coco had lost the muscle memory to draw a steady circle.
Agott wonders if Coco had lost her love for magic, and the way her face lightened up the world when talking about it.
She holds in the gnawing feeling of tears forming in her eyes, because that would be weird for everyone around. What kind of person tears up from watching someone that doesn't have any relation to them? She takes a deep breath and squeezes her eyes shut, forcing the tears away.
“All done, I can take care of your coat now… Miss?”
Agott opens her eyes once again and tilts her head up, she finds Coco looking at her with slight concern, “Y-Yes, sorry, here you go”. She hands out the torn clothing towards the girl, who carefully takes the coat from her and begins her work.
She continues watching, Coco examines the damage for a few seconds and Agott swears she can see the same small gestures she used to make when coming up with a new idea or solution when she drew her spells. She can’t help but be enchanted by the amount of care Coco puts in her work, she threads the needle before skillfully sewing the pieces of fabric together one again, the stitches so meticulously done that it almost seemed as if there hadn't been a single problem at all. She folds the coat, packing it inside a paper bag and looks back at her, breaking her out of her trance.
“Your coat is ready, hope to see you soon!”
On her way back to the atelier Agott repeatedly reminds herself that her words are just a standard thing said to customers. But the pending tears still flow, she has to land for a bit before continuing her travel back to the atelier as her vision grows blurry, strangely it also feels like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders.
“Did Agott check on Coco today again? I feel like something is up with her, she was quieter than usual at dinner… You wouldn’t know anything about it, right?”
Olruggio leans against the table in the middle of the kitchen, waiting for an answer that he already knows, Qifrey stops cleaning the last plate for a couple of seconds before resuming the scrubbing motion with the sponge, “She did a favor for me today, one of my coats needed a little repair, she was there as a customer…”
“You should be more careful with this matter, even if it’s been a year, if this gets out-”
“Still, Olly… I owe them at least this much”
“… It wasn’t you fault, it was either-”
Qifrey puts the plate a little strongly on the drying rack next to the sink, after a few seconds of silence he apologizes and bids Olruggio a good night. As he moves to his own room a part of him wishes that this had not guaranteed him a very solid barrier against his curse.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel like this had been a parting gift from Coco and unknowingly for him, Agott didn’t blame him or at least not anymore.
After that day Agott started to become a constant presence in the tailors shop, coming in with various kinds of small repairs. As her patronage slowly became common, Coco had started to make small talk with her, nothing really deep but by all things on the land, she was content to hear her voice once again. As if irony decided to be present in town, her initial idea had become a reality.
“-And now how we will get this order done?”
A month after her first visit, she walked in on Coco and her mother fretting over a cart with a broken wheel, it had been fully loaded with various rolls of fabric and lace, and some of the materials had fallen to the ground. She could tell it was an urgent matter as Coco muttered something about a time of delivery.
“I can be of service, after all”-the eagerness to be of aid to them is barely concealed from the two tailors, Agott pulls out the pointed cap out of her own cloak and elegantly places it on her head- “it is my duty as a witch”. An airy feeling fills her heart, that is now beating with something heavy and sweet set on it as Coco’s eyes light up in excitement at her reveal, even if it was slightly toned down than in her memories, Agott felt utterly elated seeing that her love for magic had somehow been reignited, but still felt a hint of the burning sting in the corner of her eyes.
To dissipate the feeling, she quickly kneels and begins to examine the damage under Coco’s captivated gaze, now making her feel like this was one of the most important spells she would ever cast, after a few seconds she stepped back to analyze the situation; the wheel had snapped away from the axle arm and with it a couple of it’s spokes had also been damaged.
“A rewind spell underneath the axle could do the trick very easily for the spokes, I could also bind it back to the cart… The spell would go inside the hub, I’ll need a place to work on it”
She turns back to ask them to lend her their workshop, only to find the girl's face over her shoulder. Agott almost trips over as Coco jumps back in surprise, she looks away as her face burns from the proximity. She takes a couple of breaths to still her heart, faintly hearing Coco getting scolded by her mother. She grabs the wheel, and stands up as she clears her throat with embarrassment, so much for acting like a fully fledged witch in front of of them.
“I’ll need a space to work in, do you mind if I use your workshop?”
Coco doesn’t take more than a couple of seconds to agree, much to her mother’s exasperation at her antics before she starts to pick up any items that had fallen of the cart. Agott follows the other girl to the door, as Coco opens it and allows her to go inside. For a moment Agott lets her follow before remembering a crucial detail, she’s not supposed to let her see her working.
She stops in her tracks and turns towards Coco, she tries to convey her words with tone that is as kind as possible to avoid coming off as rude to the young tailor, “U-uh, sorry, could you please guard the door for me?”.
Coco sometimes couldn’t help but feel that something was missing from her life, like something important had disappeared from her. Maybe it was the magic picture book she had bought when she was a little kid and had been lost after moving from her village, but that didn’t feel quite right. Oddly enough, a lot of things felt… out of place; she didn’t really remember a lot of her early teenage years, like how they had ended up moving from the village she had lived her whole life in to this much bigger place. Or the scar that covered her left cheek, even if she wasn’t uncomfortable with it on her face, even if others around her age muttered about it when they thought she wasn’t listening, it still gave her a sense of unease; because she was sure she would remember ever getting hurt like that.
Her mother also had gotten a few compliments over looking a little younger than she was, despite the well meaning words, something felt off about it.
But neither her or her mother knew the reasons of this and many other things, and they couldn’t just spend all their time attempting to fill in the blanks in their minds. So she just worked hard to become a good tailor like her mother and tried to live as happily as she could. Her normal routine would consist of waking up, eating breakfast, doing chores and working with her mom until the last clock marks of the afternoon, then spend the rest of the day out on town or on other activities to entertain herself and finally helping prepare dinner and sleep. Rinse and repeat, sure it could get a little boring sometimes but recently something quite interesting had happened.
A girl, that seemed to be her own age, had become a very regular customer at their shop. Bringing in all kinds of repairs, even if they were the smallest hole she still watched her work carefully, little by little starting to exchange words with her, for exception of her name. Although it mostly consisted of thanking her for her job.
Coco knew she probably shouldn’t be prying but she couldn’t help but notice a little air of sadness and melancholy surrounding her, her eyes almost reflecting a sense of loss.
Her reveal of being a witch happened not so long after, it was their salvation from failing to complete a delivery for a merchant that would be leaving town the next day, Coco couldn’t help but get that excitement she used to feel in her childhood, even if it felt like it had been a lifetime since the last time. Before she knew it she had tiptoed closer to the witch, she glided her hands over the splintered wood with analytical intent, her eyes had left that sadness behind and were now full of focus, that in her opinion suited her better. Coco probably would’ve stayed there forever if l she hadn’t turned and came face to face with her. For a split second she could see a deep purple, shining under the midday sun, before she toppled backwards, almost falling on her back.
The embarrassment of getting caught staring and her fascination had motivated her impulse to accept the witch's request to to use their shop to work, the witch had almost bashfully asked Coco to stand guard on the door, that had been a few minutes ago. For some reason, it felt oddly familiar.
Agott drew the spell with the utmost care, and as she closed the circle inside the hub she contemplated with satisfaction as the spokes reverted to their unbroken state, and on the axle the binding spell laid almost complete. The spell would activate once both pieces came together, thanks to a mark that would complete the seal when she placed it back on the axle arm. She knocked on the door, signaling Coco that she was done.
Coco and her mother held their breaths as the witch pushed the wheel back on its place, it held firmly against the ground, making the cart work once again as if nothing had happened. Her mother fished inside a pocket for a few coins as a messenger sent by the merchant took away the cart, “I can’t thank you enough, here, take this for your help”.
“There is no need ma’am, this is what magic is for after all-”
“That’s amazing, it looks just like new, miss witch!”, Coco looked at her with awe and she could not help but smile in return, “Oh, I should probably ask for your name, you’ve been one of our most devoted costumers so far after all”
“Agott, my name is Agott”
“Nice too meet you, Miss Agott! My name is Coco”
“I know… -I mean, I’ve heard your mother call for you before, and just ‘Agott’ is fine”
Coco lets out a little laugh over her fumbling and Agott feels her chest constrict painfully, “Well, thank you for your help, Agott”
“Anytime, Coco”
“Anytime, anywhere, for you… Always”