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1. A long and aching night at his workdesk makes for a slow rise the next morning, and when the first birdsong reaches Olruggio’s ears, he’d rather throw the pillow over his head and retreat back into good dreams. But if there’s any proper reason to start the day, it’s the soft press of Qifrey’s lips to the top of his bedhead. It promises good things are to come—so long as he can climb out of the sheets. But if he remains still and feigns gross morning laziness, will he get a second one? It’s worked more than once…
2. When they prepare breakfast, the girls still asleep, Olruggio kisses the hand that feeds him. Qifrey’s fingers are sticky with syrup for the griddlecake mix, making the pink of his knuckles pop and shine. His hands are weathered one way or another: dry from washing dishes, greased with cooking oil, or callused from the rub of a pen. Olruggio would never dare miss a morning prayer to hands that labor, hands that love.
3. Today The Starry Sword is having a blow-out sale so they can make room for fall trends. It seems like half the population of Kalhn has arrived to fight for good deals. The girls dive in and immediately are swallowed by the crowd, leaving Olruggio and Qifrey to struggle by themselves.
This extra-pressed spell paper is going for ten coppers , Olruggio half-shouts above the din. They’ve holed up against the shelves, sandwiched between other witches and standing hip-to-hip to keep the lane clear; a half-step backwards will have them nipping the toes of other shoppers. When he turns to hand the sheaf to Qifrey, they smush together. Their noses bump.
They linger in the moment, the noise washing around like a warm ocean, the line of contact between them lit like a candle. They’re tempted to make the kiss a real one, a good one . No one in sight would care or notice.
4. Later, Qifrey holds the morning lesson on the shaved-stone revetment where the shoal meets the lake. Little waves ripple across the water, brought about by the day’s rough wind. He explains the basics of crafting water sculptures: Keep the spaces in between the signs small and tight so that the sculpture can contain its form. Today we’ll work on creating basic ring shapes.
The girls start first by mixing resin and oil into their ink and then drawing on loose rocks. Olruggio sits with his back against the sun-warmed slope, his arms tucked behind his head. I think this is too advanced for them, he says. The complex, ever-flowing nature of water sculptures requires perfect measurements, not a squiggle out of line. But Qifrey replies, You should have more faith, as he watches Coco draw lines as straight and sharp as toothpicks.
When finished, the girls fling their spells into the lake. Only Agott manages to produce a ring. It spins like a small hoop that a child could jump through, but the wind whips it up and disperses it as mist. A fog falls over them and, as the spell continues to give water, it grows into a heavy blanket.
In the sudden blindness, Olruggio feels lips against his ear— Better than expected!— the words making his skin tingle. Good thing no one can see him blush.
5. Afterwards they attend Beldaruit’s birthday party. His apartment in the Great Hall smells of fresh herbal tea and beeswax candles. A fruitcake pebbled with the season’s best mountain apples sits half-eaten on the table. Olruggio peels away to greet friends and longtime acquaintances, bumping cheeks in an affectionate one-two-three rhythm. He knows so many people that in order to greet them he circles the entire living room. Just when he thinks he’s kissed everyone he knows, he runs back into Qifrey. The water witch is waiting patiently in the same spot that Olruggio left him.
Olruggio laughs at his mistake. If he’s going to greet every friend, he’s missed someone very important. He grabs Qifrey’s face and kisses him with extra enthusiasm. It may be Beldaruit’s birthday, but he shouldn’t forget to celebrate his favorite person in the room.
6. By the time they arrive back at the atelier, the sun has dropped into late afternoon. The girls throw themselves on the floor cushions and complain about having to study more. Even Agott is slumped from a day filled with travel and crowds and too much cake. Taking pity, Qifrey and Olruggio let them rest and head up to the loft to store the drawing wares they bought in Kalhn. A single sunbeam slants through a window. The floorboards creak underfoot, whispering secrets that only an empty room would know. Olruggio didn’t get to drink at the party, so he indulges himself by pecking the corner of Qifrey’s jaw. In return he gets a blink, a smile, a sigh. Another secret for the loft to tuck away beneath the floorboards.
7. While the girls wind down by reading in the library, Qifrey prepares tea. He plays with the flavors by mixing in different colors of quartz sugar. Plum for something dark and rich, pink for clean and pure. Olruggio tastes each cup that Qifrey puts in front of him, commenting on the nuances. Just as Qifrey is about to hand him the last one—flavored with his least favorite of spicy amber—he catches Olruggio’s hand and kisses his open palm. The fire witch sips and thinks that, this time, there’s no sweeter cup.
8. After dinner is eaten and the girls have gone to bed, Qifrey winds down with a book and a blanket. The heat of the fire kisses his face, warm as the man who lit it. It’s followed by a second kiss against the back of his neck, this one prickly with beard. Qifrey drops his head back to look at Olruggio. The dancing light wears down all the hard edges of his face, illuminating the soft man inside for all to see. There’s nowhere to hide, and right now no one wants to, not even Qifrey.
9. They say the 13th hour is the time for witchery. A time for kisses behind closed doors, kisses in the shape of a name, kisses of surrender, kisses that make even the moon shy away into the rise of morning. Olruggio taps the keep-out sign on his door as if to reinforce the message. Hand-in-hand, he and Qifrey venture inside. The door sighs as it swings shut. All that remains is the light shining from under the crack until that too is kissed away by the darkness.