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There is nothing wrong with asking for this, Agott reminded herself, shifting her weight from one foot to another while she waited by the door.
Professor Qifrey himself had been the one to assure her on her first day that the uniform was merely a base, free to be modified as per her wishes so long as the hat was left untouched and the cape long enough to conceal her hands while she drew magic.
That did not mean Agott had taken him up on the offer. No, all Agott had done back then was add a belt that kept her dress from swishing around too much, and called it a day.
It didn't matter that Professor had personally accompanied Tetia to the tailor to get her dress hemmed because she wanted its length to be short enough for the patterns of her petticoat to be visible, or that he had bought Richeh a new set of uniforms altogether because she wanted hers to be long enough to reach her ankles — clothes were simply clothes, and bothering anyone with unnecessary adjustments had always felt frivolous at best.
Any uniform that was not the one of her House's mattered not, in the end, when that was the one she would once again don one day: as a full fledged Librarian who had earned back her place in the House by her own merit, who had earned the right to look down her nose upon the family that had rejected her as she wore their colours once again.
Or so she had once thought.
Even now, the request still felt frivolous, but…
"Agott?" Coco asked, her face right next to Agott's, very nearly making Agott jump out of her skin. "Do you have a spell to show to Professor Qifrey as well?"
Eyes shining bright, head slightly inclined, leaning forward with her hands behind her back, she looked genuinely excited at the thought of seeing Agott's magic — though of course, Agott had brought with her nothing of the sort.
Immediately, thoughts of wasted time flooded Agott's mind again, especially with Coco in front of her — Coco, who had never felt the need to modify anything about her uniform.
Of course, this was the moment Professor Qifrey had to choose to step back into the atelier from the backyard.
"Good morning, Agott, Coco!" He greeted with a smile, setting the basketful of harvest down on the counter. "Well, aren't you two up early? Did something happen?"
"I wanted to show you the new spell I've been practising right away!" Coco instantly exclaimed. "I don't know what Agott wants, though."
Of course she just had to add that in the end —
"It's nothing," Agott hissed through clenched teeth. "I just happened to be here when she came in."
"Is that so?" Professor Qifrey asked, the look in his eye exceedingly patient. "If you say it's nothing, then it's nothing, but if something is indeed bothering you, Agott, then — "
Weren't you going to be more true to yourself?
"It's about my uniform!" she quickly blurted out before she could change her mind — a little too quickly, in fact. The master-disciple pair stared at her with matching expressions of concern.
"What about your uniform?" Qifrey inquired. "Did something happen to it?"
"No, it's just that — " Agott stared at her shoes, clenching her hands into fists. True to yourself, she reminded herself. "I would just like to get the length of the dress shortened a little."
"Oh!" Qifrey sighed in relief. "Well, then go and change into one of your spare clothes, and grab all the sets of your uniform dress that you have — We will go to Kalhn and get all of them hemmed from the tailor."
"Why, though?" Coco asked so innocently, and Agott's stomach dropped.
It was a perfectly valid question, she reminded herself, as her mind raced through the countless justifications she had kept prepared for this. Coco was not in the wrong for asking.
Agott still wished Coco hadn't — not about this, and not her, of all people.
Perspective as ever, Professor Qifrey's eye travelled from Coco's innocent expression to Agott's distressed one, and he opened his mouth to speak, but —
"I mean," she continued before Agott had even been able to put together a reply, "I could be done hemming the dress before Professor can even find out where Kalhn's tailor shop is."
A knot in Agott's chest dissolved itself, and Qifrey breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, I do admit that we have a skilled tailor in our midst now, but was the last part really necessary, Coco dear?"
"Well, it's my job to bother Professor," Coco sweetly replied with a secretive smile, hugging her notebook close to her chest.
"I suppose it is," Qifrey replied, his own smile a little strained. "And if Agott is alright with it, I also suppose I can leave you two up to this, then?"
He looked at Agott then, but she only had the eyes for Coco's expectant gaze. "Sure," she replied past the sudden dryness of her throat, bobbing her head for good measure. "If that's what Coco wants."
"I'd be delighted to help!" Coco exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear — and this time, the smile wasn't a lie.
After breakfast (Professor Qifrey's insistence), Coco dragged Agott into their room, the sewing kit under her arm. ("I suppose you already know where the sewing kit is by now," he had commented as she had confidently dashed off to fetch it.)
"Ok, stand right here and hold your arms out like this," she instructed, and Agott obeyed. "Now, tell me how short you want the length to be?"
"I…" There was a lump in Agott's throat. She nervously swallowed, running her tongue along the back of her teeth. "...Short enough for it to stop being a dress."
She could practically feel the weight of Coco's eyes on her, sharp and searching. She refused to look into them. The silence was deafening, with questions unasked lingering in the air, in the interlude between their conversation.
"Okay," Coco hummed thoughtfully at last, indulging her. "I'd say we should leave about two hand widths below the belt like so for it to look good — I'm assuming the belt stays?"
"It does," Agott replied, a little stunned by the the lack of questions — or rather, the lack of the questions that she had expected.
Coco hummed again, making a small mark against the fabric with a charcoal stick. "But this length wouldn't really suit our pants, though. For that, I'd recommend — "
"I have a pair of plain ones," Agott interrupted.
"That'll work," Coco nodded in approval. "Now, just give me this dress and bring your spare sets as well, and I'll probably be done before it's lunch time."
"Wait," she said, the words making something twist in her stomach. "Stop. Don't."
"Why?" asked Coco. "Is there something else you'd like to modify?"
"No, that's not — I'm wasting your time, making you do this!" Why had she ever agreed in the first place, knowing just how much time was of essence was for Coco?
"Of course not!" Coco protested. "It's such an easy thing to do!"
"It's unnecessary!" Agott shouted, making a silence heavier than the last fall over them both.
"No, it isn't!" Coco said at last, grabbing Agott's hands to pull her down into sitting next to her on the floor. "You know how Tetia once mentioned that clothes were a form of magic? It reminded me of what my mother used to say back then — how the way people dressed reflected on their self respect. I was a little too young to understand it back then, but… " Coco squeezed Agott's hands in comfort, making her face turn bright red. "I think I understand now, and if there is anything that I can do to help Agott be herself with pride, then I refuse to consider it as wasted time."
With her eyes looking into Agott's so earnestly, how was Agott ever supposed to refuse?
With the simple snip of Coco's sharp scissors, it was too late to turn back, and Agott walked down to lunch sporting a tunic that fell down to her thighs, with Coco by her side and her head held high.