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Coco arrives at the Atelier, and Olruggio can hear the alarm bells ringing.
Don't…feel safe.
She is tied to dark magic. It makes sense. The most sensible thing to do is turn her in to the Knights Moralis, and he knows this.
But Qifrey stops him, and the one person Olruggio can never say 'no' to is Qifrey. Ever since the day that Qifrey stole his tassle, the two have been bound. No, even before that. Ever since Qifrey was the first person that Olruggio could save, their fates were intertwined.
Though he'd never be caught dead saying it, Qifrey is the single most important person to Olruggio.
Don't…Qifrey…safe.
Coco would never hurt Qifrey, so he has no idea why the words keep echoing in his head. But he sees the way that Qifrey smiles at the young girl, bright and almost empty of worry, and his heart seizes in his chest.
He is not jealous of a child. He doesn't need to tell himself this.
He doesn't know what the emotion is, but it is not jealousy.
The closest approximation he can find is fear. The fear that the life they are living is fragile, that it will fall apart any moment. They are all dangling on a precipice. The secret that Coco is carrying is one they are all implicit in, and it could cost them everything.
…let Qifrey feel safe.
He doesn't dislike the girl, really.
If anything, she's endeared herself to him.
But despite how much he likes Coco, Olruggio loves Qifrey.
One could call it brotherly love. One could call it romantic love.
Neither convey the full depth of Olruggio's emotions.
Given the opportunity, Olruggio would give up everything to see Qifrey happy. He doesn't know how far he would go, and he prays he never has to find out.
He can't turn Coco in, because it would break Qifrey's heart. Because Qifrey cares for the girl. Because, no matter what secrets Qifrey is keeping, Qifrey would be heartbroken if something were to happen. Olruggio doesn't, can't, know for sure why Qifrey was so insistent on training the girl.
But he knows that Qifrey cares more than he'd ever let on, and that alone is enough for Olruggio to never report her to the Knights.
Don't let Qifrey feel safe.
He wakes up in a cold sweat, and he can't even remember the dream that troubled him so.
A swarm of sigils fills his mind, but he can never quite make out the lines. There's a spell there, one that he knows he's cast before, but he doesn't recall where or why.
There's a cycle, one that's been repeated many times before. The same point of failure, time after time.
When closing the circle, one must always come back to where they've started, after all. And he feels himself close to returning to that point once more.
But what that point entails, he doesn't know.
He just knows that he's left with a faint idea: He shouldn't, under any circumstances, let the most important person to him feel secure.
Is it a secret disdain? Is he jealous of his friend? Does he still carry his guilt from all those years ago?
Olruggio doesn't know.
But he does discard the idea entirely.
He would make sure Qifrey felt safe.
Olruggio would move heaven and earth if it made Qifrey happy, consequences be damned.