Work Text:
Warm sunlight on his face is the first thing Qifrey becomes aware of on this particular morning. He knows it's cold outside, winter inching closer by the day, but the room is cozy and his skin is swimming in a pleasant glow from the beams filtering in through the window. It's nice, so much so that he exhales contentedly and rolls over to try and find his bedmate. Unfortunately, he comes up empty handed.
Sitting up, he rubs his eyes more out of habit than need. After removing the Silverwood seed the best his remaining eye can see is vague shapes, the difference between a lit room and a dark one. It had been a daunting reality to settle into at first but now he finds himself more than capable of handling it. He knows the sounds of the tiles and the railing would guide him all the way to the kitchen if he wanted to go start his morning. He knows he could find the makings of tea easily in the tidy kitchen. But he doesn't particularly feel like getting up, so he flops back into the mattress with a soft huff.
His blindness makes him sleepier; something about his body's internal clock not understanding day from night. But he doesn't have any plans of actually going back to sleep. Instead, he lays and listens until he hears footsteps trail into the room and up to the side of the bed. A blur appears overhead, splotches of dark colors here and there, and the smell of chichory root tea and cooking fire kindling greets him. There's the sound of a tea cup being set on the side table next to the bed and a weight dips the mattress next to him, followed by a warm body slumping down on top of him. Qifrey makes a small, muffled noise of protest and coils his arms around his attacker, nuzzling his face into the warm skin and pulse point of his neck.
"Good morning," Olruggio's voice rumbles pleasantly in his ears and Qifrey squeezes him closer. "Planning on staying here all day?"
"Maybe," Qifrey replies.
"Should have told me," Olruggio chuckles, "you know I'll always clear my schedule for a day laying about."
In reality, they can hardly stay the whole day. But they have a bit longer to linger, a bit longer to enjoy the closeness they were both denied for so long.
"Come here, let me see you," Qifrey murmurs, pushing against Olruggio's chest lightly until he lifts up off of him and rolls to the side on the bed.
It's a well understood process for both of them by now. He lays on his back and takes Qifrey by the wrist, guiding his hand up and over to his face before going peacefully limp. His face melts into a soft smile that Qifrey only discovers as his fingertips graze over the scruffy hair on his chin and to his lips.
The shape of him below where Qifrey is, up on one elbow, is pleasant enough but impossible to make out the details of. He knows Olruggio by heart after all these years but time and day to day life changes someone in ways he aches to know; so, in lieu of seeing them, he touches them. His fingers skate across a warm cheek and briefly scrunched nose, up and along the curve of one eyebrow, and gently under the eye below it. Here, Qifrey pauses.
"You've been staying up too late again," he tuts softly, gently rubbing his thumb against the puffy skin under Olruggio's eye.
"Just this week," the reply is quick and adorably pleading, knowing he's been caught. "I'm almost done, just have a deadline to meet."
Qifrey sucks his teeth and rubs his thumb to the corner of Olruggio's eye, lingering over the way it crinkles into crows feet under his touch. "You can't burn the candle at both ends forever, you know. You're getting to old for that business."
A laugh. "I only have a few greys, thank you, unlike someone."
"Careful," Qifrey says, sliding his hand down to brush his thumb along Olruggio's bottom lip, mapping the spot mentally before dipping down to kiss him. "You'll be catching up to me in no time." His intent to kiss is understood and met eagerly halfway, hazy blur that is his star lurching up toward him the second he starts to lean in.
Arms wrap around him, pulling him in until Qifrey finds his chest flush with Olruggio's. When they part he can feel how deeply the other man has to inhale, having lost himself for a moment longer than his lungs were able to handle. Laughing, he rubs his thumb against the scruff on Olruggio's chin.
"What are we having for breakfast?" he asks after a moment, still idly petting his thumb over the spot. "Am I cooking?"
"The girls are making pancakes." Qifrey must make a face, his concern showing, because his beloved laughs and adds, "I made sure they didn't get too creative with things before I came to get you."
Relaxing some, Qifrey smiles and finally let's Olruggio sit up. He stretches, yawning, and hears the clink of the teacup again. When he holds his hands out to accept it, Olruggio gently slides it into them, his own hands cradling the outside of Qifrey to help him gather the teacup in a proper hold before letting go. It's still warm, even with the time it's spent sitting on the side table, and Qifrey taps his fingers against the bottom lightly.
"A new prototype?" he asks, then brings the cup to his lips to take a sip of his tea.
"Mm," Olruggio hums an affirmative. "I think a tea cup that never goes cold will do well. I'm surprised no one's done it before…"
Qifrey shrugs. "You're simply more creative than they are," he says.
"I also have a partner with a habit of getting distracted who I still want to enjoy his warm tea every morning," he adds.
"Such sweet magic, as always," Qifrey coos the words and knows without having to see that Olruggio's ear tips have gone bright red. It's only confirmed when he gives a sheepish little cough before changing the subject.
"Do you have plans for today?"
"I told Coco I'd show the girls the things we've been working on for my magical work aids," Qifrey explains, still nursing at his tea idly. "If you have a moment to assist with that I'd appreciate it."
Olruggio's smiles always reach his voice somehow. Qifrey is thankful for it every day now. "I can always spare some time for you."
"Good," Qifrey says, then adds, "but later…" He feels Olruggio shift before his head settles down in his lap. Qifrey reaches down with one hand, the other still cradling his tea cup, and runs his fingers through his hair. "Let me just… savor this morning a bit longer."
"As long as the girls don't start a kitchen fire," Olruggio offers with a chuckle, curling his body closer to Qifrey, around him.
Qifrey laughs again, louder this time. "We can hope that won't be till after I've finished my tea at least."