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I.
Coco is new to the atelier, but even so, she picks up on things quickly. Magic isn't easy, but she's making progress! She can draw spells now, she's passed the test to become an apprentice, and she can say (albeit somewhat nervously, because self-doubt never really leaves someone) that she belongs there with the others.
Despite being the most recent resident, she has already picked up on some... things(?) between Master Qifrey and Olruggio.
She's not confident enough to say anything about it. Not yet. After all, she can easily be super wrong, and if she asks Master Qifrey if he's married, and the answer is no...
Well, it'll be embarrassing, to say the least.
Where does she get this idea? It's quite simple, really. Her mother had told her about love every now and again when she was young, and the stories were always quite sweet. Couples with rings on their fingers, people whose souls are intertwined, people who laugh and smile and lean into each other's orbits without even meaning to, because it is the most natural thing in the world for them to do.
And Master Qifrey and Olruggio do it all the time!
As soon as she notices it, it's impossible to not see. The way they move around each other so easily. How they always end up close together.
She first sees it by accident, and after that, she sees it constantly.
Coco wasn't meant to be awake when she first saw it, but sometimes it's hard to sleep. So on one of those sleepless nights, she had intended to take a small walk, to see if burning off excess energy could help tire her out. So she had crept down the stairs quietly to avoid waking anyone up, her fingers brushing against the texture of the wall to keep her steady. Her attention had been drawn by the slightest bit of noise; easy to miss, unless one was heading in its direction, like she had been. Coco had paused and, with even more care than before, got to the bottom of the stairs and followed the noise until it grew louder, and she was peering into the kitchen.
Master Qifrey and Olruggio were cooking something. It had smelled absolutely delicious, and Coco's stomach was rumbling just thinking about eating it! What was it? Some kind of broth? It was hard to see what was on the counter past their bodies.
What drew her attention next, however, was how seamlessly they navigated the space. Olruggio would slip past Master Qifrey with a gentle hand placed on the small of his back, and Master Qifrey wouldn't even acknowledge it! It was like watching a dance, elegant and intimate and so ingrained in their bones that it couldn't be anything except natural.
Olruggio said something and Master Qifrey laughed in return; his laughter was cut off by a sharp hiss, and he dropped his knife on the counter.
In an instant, Olruggio had Master Qifrey's hand in his, and was carefully looking over it. Coco could hear Master Qifrey's hushed assurances that it was just a scratch, see? No real harm done, my friend, but Olruggio kept fussing over him, like Coco's mother used to sometimes fuss over her.
Eventually Olruggio pulled back with a satisfied smile. "There. All done." He hadn't let go of Master Qifrey's hand, though. His thumb brushed the back of his hand, slowly and tenderly, and the two of them were smiling softly at one another.
It just looked so...
Coco felt heat rushing to her face and slipped away, practically racing back up the stairs and to her room. She shouldn't have seen any of that. That was- that was a private moment. Not meant for her eyes.
She didn't sleep much that night, but her thoughts were consumed not by her guilt, but by her curiosity.
Just what were Master Qifrey and Olruggio to each other, really?
II.
Agott is looking for Olruggio when she overhears it.
She doesn't mean to overhear anything. Not really. She's mainly looking for him to get some specific advice that she knows she can't turn to Master Qifrey for. Olruggio doesn't coddle them as much as Master Qifrey does (at least, not in the same way) and hopefully he'll be able to provide some objective insight into her dilemma. And it is with this goal in mind that she ignores the sign on the door and enters his workshop as discreetly as possible.
"Olruggio, are you there? I need to t-" Her voice falls when she sees that Olruggio isn't alone in his workshop.
Olruggio is hunched over his desk and furiously scribbling away, meanwhile Master Qifrey is attempting to cajole him into resting. His hands rest on Olruggio's shoulders and at first, Agott suspects that that's all there is to it.
Then she looks a little closer and sees that Master Qifrey's hands are rubbing Olruggio's shoulders.
With each second that passes, his writing gets slower. Master Qifrey is a master manipulator, she decides, watching as he initiates a double-pronged attack; sweet and tempting words paired with touches aimed to release tension and to relax him. It's rather clever as a means of getting Olruggio to stop working.
Agott hesitates at the door, contemplating whether it's worth it to try and get Olruggio's attention right now. She is certain that if she asked him to leave, Master Qifrey would comply without a doubt, but at the same time Olruggio seems rather... distracted.
Is it a similar distraction to the one she feels?
She shifts on her feet. One second melts into five, and it's hard to tell how much time she spends just watching the Watchful Eye of their atelier and her Master interacting like this. It's so casual and unremarkable, in the way that they act, which makes it all the more bizarre.
Agott is about to leave, deeming tonight a lost cause, when her presence is finally noted. "Agott! Is everything alright?" Master Qifrey asks.
His hands are still massaging Olruggio's shoulders. Neither of them comment on it, so Agott bites her tongue. She won't mention it if they don't.
"I was hoping to speak to Olruggio," She says. Then, as Master Qifrey's eye widens, tacks on, "Alone."
His expression dims a little, but it's gone as soon as it appears. He looks down at Olruggio and smiles, then leans down to whisper something into his ear. Olruggio's face contorts strangely in response.
"In that case, I'll leave you two to it!" Master Qifrey rests his hand on Agott's shoulder as he passes her by, and his smile softens; Agott can't discern what it's meant to mean. He disappears out of view.
Olruggio leans back in his chair and regards her. "Well?"
Agott takes this as an invitation to close the door behind her and approach his desk. "It's about Coco..."
III.
Tetia just knows that something's up between Master Qifrey and Olruggio. She doesn't know how to prove it (yet!) but it exists, for sure. Anyone can tell that there's something going on, and she's going to get to the bottom of it!
Is it ill-advised to be snooping so much into the personal lives of the only adults in their atelier? Maybe. Will it be absolutely worth it when she's figured out this mystery? Definitely!
Thus, Tetia puts on her metaphorical detective cap and starts snooping!
As it turns out, being a detective is actually kind of hard. Not impossible or anything, but it certainly proves more challenging than she'd first suspected. She doesn't find any handy diaries from either Olruggio or Master Qifrey to give her proper insight into whatever they have going on, nor are there any unsent written love confessions lying around for her to inspect.
What she does find, however, is a little confusing.
Olruggio likes to make things, super-duper cool things like the Snugstones, and so obviously he has a bunch of stuff like that lying around. Most of them are in his workshop, prototypes left around in tandem with a bunch of schematics for new cool things that help people. That's where they normally are, anyway. Unless he's given out drafts of various projects for them to try out, then most of his contraptions are left within the confines of his workshop.
So why is there a box with a bunch of them under Master Qifrey's bed?
She finds the Snugstone, which is to be expected, but there's so much more stuff there! Tetia doesn't recognise a whole bunch of them. How old are these things? What do they do? Why does Master Qifrey have all these things under his bed?
Are they gifts, maybe?
...Couples give each other gifts!!!
"Interesting, very interesting!" She whispers to herself, tucking the box back underneath the bed and scurrying away. She's found a clue! Finally!
Over the next few weeks, Tetia keeps a very close eye on the interactions between Master Qifrey and Olruggio. They don't act too out of the ordinary, as far as she can tell; in fact, it is suspicious how normal they're being! Occasionally she'll spot one of them staring at the other when they're not looking, only to drastically over-correct their behaviour later on. She starts to feel like her endeavour is pointless after a long time without anything substantial. How will the other apprentices believe her if she says that they're a couple when she doesn't have evidence?
Then, after so long with nothing, she's abruptly given a bunch of useful data!
"Qifrey," Olruggio catches him in the kitchen and one of his hands comes to rest on Master Qifrey's shoulder.
"Olly! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Master Qifrey beams at him.
Olruggio pulls something out of his pocket. It's small, circular, made of metal...
Oh! It's a new Link Ring!
...Wait a minute.
"I had spare resources laying around and figured I might as well make something useful out of them. See here?" He points at something carved into the metal that Tetia can't make out from this distance. If she leans too far forwards, she'll fall out, and then Master Qifrey will ask her why she's hiding in a cupboard, and she won't have a good excuse.
"Olly, you didn't have to-"
"I wanted to. I had the stuff to spare, and besides," He slides the ring onto Master Qifrey's finger, "it looks nice on you."
Tetia clamps her hands over her mouth. He's giving him a ring!! He's giving Master Qifrey a ring!!!! A squeal is lodged in her throat and it takes every fibre in her body to keep herself from making noise.
Master Qifrey doesn't say anything for a few seconds. Then, abruptly, he takes both of Olruggio's hands in his own and the smile on his face is incandescent. Tetia has never seen Master Qifrey smile like that before. There are small dimples in his cheeks, and his eye crinkles, and he smiles so wide that Tetia momentarily wonders how it's possible to smile that wide in the first place.
"I... Olly, I don't know what to say. It's beautiful."
Olruggio's face turns bright red and he turns his head to the side, suddenly flustered. "Well, it was no trouble."
This is the evidence she's been looking for!
As soon as they leave the kitchen, Tetia tumbles out of the cupboard and races to her room. A new piece of evidence to add to her collection! Soon, she'll be able to prove that they're a couple. She just needs a few more bits of information first.
IV.
Richeh is tired. After briefly losing her palm quire and practically overturning the atelier to find it (it had been a very brief disaster, but the prospect of losing her spells for any length of time at all was nothing short of distressing), she wants nothing more than to sink into her bed for the night. It will take far too much effort to drag herself to her room, though. She sends an appraising glance to the chairs near the fireplace.
Master Qifrey might be confused as to why she's not sleeping in bed, but Richeh is tired enough that she'll fall asleep anywhere at this point. She flops into the chair and curls up into a ball, shuffling around until she gets comfortable. It takes a bit before she finds a tolerable position to sleep in.
Her eyes slip shut and sleep starts to consume her, when suddenly her rest is disrupted.
"Come on now, Olly. You've had a bit too much to drink tonight," Master Qifrey coaxes, walking into Richeh's line of vision. Hanging off of Master Qifrey's arm is Olruggio, whose robes are somewhat scruffy and rumpled. He mumbles something, but his words are slurred enough to not be understandable. Whatever he tries to say, Master Qifrey seems to comprehend; he chuckles and cards his hand through Olruggio's hair. "Yes, yes, I know, but you should fall asleep in bed and not at your desk. Your back will thank you for it tomorrow."
Richeh does her very best to not be seen. Maybe Tetia will find this useful; Richeh found a book in her room the other day with a strange record of exchanges between Master Qifrey and their Watchful Eye. This interaction is in league with the ones that she's written down, for whatever reason.
The situation is a little queer, considering how Olruggio seems to latch onto Master Qifrey so intently. His face is buried in the crook of Master Qifrey's neck, one arm wrapped around his arm and the other hanging at his side. They are pressed quite closely together, as well. It doesn't seem to be an overly comfortable position to walk in. Is it just so that he doesn't lose his footing?
Olruggio mumbles something again, this time a little louder. Master Qifrey's face flushes; his eye darts down to look at Olruggio's face and he stops moving. Slowly, his arms wind around Olruggio's body, and his hands slide down to hold his waist. Master Qifrey's chin sits atop Olruggio's head, and he looks rather content to just stay there like that.
Richeh gets the feeling that she's intruding on this moment, inexplicably.
"Come along now. You need to get to bed now."
She only catches the latter end of whatever Olruggio says next: "...- with you?"
An indecipherable look passes over Master Qifrey's face. It's a little sad, a bit flustered, a tangled mix of emotions that Richeh doesn't know how to interpret. "Maybe tomorrow night."
They leave soon after. Richeh catches a glimpse of their receding forms, how closely they hold onto one another, like they're hoping that enough physical contact will allow them to fuse together.
She falls asleep not too long later, then sneaks into Tetia's room to write it down in her book.
V.
As soon as Master Qifrey is distracted, Tetia pulls all of them into her room and sits them down. Coco still doesn't know why she's being so secretive, but recently she's been acting odd. When she sits down, Agott sits down next to her, close enough that their knees and shoulders are touching (they're touching!!), and she tries very hard to pay attention to Tetia.
"What's all this about, Tetia? You've been acting weird all week." Agott has her hands in her lap, and her elbows stick out just enough for them to occasionally brush Coco's arms.
"You see, for the past few weeks, I have been hard at work gathering evidence!" Tetia pulls out a book from behind her back and flicks through the pages before turning the book around for all of them to see. The pages are full of writing, a good chunk of the space taken up either by questions or exclamations. Coco has to squint to read a lot of it, but she gets the gist pretty quickly.
"Why have you been writing about Master Qifrey and Master Olruggio?" Coco asks.
Tetia excitedly points at her. "Great question! It's because I've been collecting evidence-"
"Evidence of what?" Agott cuts in. "You know that this is a pretty big invasion of privacy? You've been spying on them for almost a month!"
"For a good reason! I needed proof to make sure you all believed me!"
"Tetia thinks that Master Qifrey and Olruggio are a couple." Richeh says calmly. She taps a sentence on the page. "I wrote this a few days ago to help."
"You were the one that did that? I've been trying to figure that out for ages!"
"It wasn't very hard to find."
Coco clears her throat. She can feel her face getting hot. "Um, you think Master Qifrey and Master Olruggio are a couple? Like they're married?"
Tetia strokes her chin and quickly scans through the book. "A very good observation! I... don't really know? They might be! I saw Olruggio give Master Qifrey a ring, so it's possible!"
Agott bites her lip. Then, she adds, "I went to talk to Olruggio about... something-" Why's she looking at Coco? "- and Master Qifrey was there. He was giving Olruggio a massage and was trying to convince him to take a break."
"I saw them in the kitchen at night 'cuz I couldn't sleep, and Master Qifrey cut his hand, and Olruggio patched him up, and they were holding hands!" Coco blurts out. As soon as she finishes, she ducks her head down and tries to not look in Agott's direction.
They're close enough to hold hands right now. Agott's hands have moved from her lap to rest on her knees, so it wouldn't be hard for Coco to just hold one of them. Her fingers twitch, as the impulse has taken root in her mind and now refuses to be ignored.
While the others keep talking, Coco slowly moves her hand and places it on top of Agott's. If she doesn't act like it's a big deal, it won't be! They're just two girls holding hands! She just has to not draw attention to herself.
AHHH I'M HOLDING HER HAND!!!!
Agott jumps, then glances down at their hands. Coco steadfastly does not look at her. If she doesn't look, then she won't have to see the look of disgust on Agott's face, and she's definitely crossed a line now, and they were just starting to get along-
Agott takes her hand back, but before Coco has a chance to start properly panicking, she grabs Coco's hand and interlocks their fingers.
She fights to not combust on the spot.
"Is there a way for us to know for sure if they're a couple?"
"We could always ask them."
"But what if we're wrong? Then we'll just make them uncomfortable! We can't risk that!"
"What if we lock them in a storage closet?"
"We can try to be subtle about asking questions instead of just asking outright. Maybe if we ask them about love and such, they'll offer themselves up as an example."
"An example of what?"
The girls all collectively let out a scream.
Master Qifrey blinks at them, frozen in confusion. The girls are likewise frozen, but for a very different reason.
Agott abruptly lets go of Coco's hand.
"An example of, uh..." Coco looks at the other girls for help. She swallows nervously. Her palms are so sweaty now, so Agott probably won't try to hold her hand again, and she frantically wipes her palms on her legs.
"Of incredible witches!" Agott quickly says. "You and Master Olruggio are incredibly talented witches, after all, so we were going to ask about how to get as good at drawing spells."
Master Qifrey smiles. "That's quite lovely, girls. I'll be sure to pass the message onto Olruggio, he'll certainly appreciate it." With that, he stands and walks out of the room, then stops just at the cusp of the doorway. "Speaking of, you haven't seen him anywhere, have you? I need to discuss something with him, but he's not in his workshop right now."
Tetia leans forward. She has a cunning look in her eyes, only exemplified by her question. "What do you need to talk to him about?"
"Ah, well, it's a bit of a... private matter, you see. Perhaps I can tell you later once the matter is resolved." Coco watches him carefully (she has no doubt that the other girls are doing the same) and notices that he seems rather flustered. Hmmm.
"We haven't seen him," Richeh states.
"Right. In that case, I'll be off." He smiles, then leaves the room.
The four of them slowly turn to look at each other, at the door where Master Qifrey just exited from, then back at each other.
"...If they're married, then hopefully they won't be getting a divorce anytime soon."
+1.
For once in his life, Olruggio is considering going to bed at a reasonable time. This is primarily because Qifrey is going to be taking the apprentices out to Kahln tomorrow, and Olruggio is planning on having a long, uninterrupted sleep, and the earlier he goes to bed, the better. A full day of peace, wine and sleep; in other words, a bloody dream come true. Olruggio is a simple man, really.
So he settles into bed and prepares to go to sleep when the door to his room opens and Qifrey shuts the door behind him. "There you are. I was looking for you, you know."
Olruggio shuffles over to the side and pulls back the covers; a clear invitation. It is not uncommon for them to sometimes join each other in their beds nowadays, and when it does happen, he tends to treasure the occasions.
Qifrey starts to undo his robes, allowing them to fall to the floor as he steps out of them. As he retrieves his sleepwear, Olruggio takes the chance to just take him in: the soft white hair at his neck; the vague outlines of his shoulder blades as he pulls his shirt on over his head; the ridges of his spine, winding down to his waist. He hums to himself as he carefully catalogues everything that he sees, committing it to his memory. It is a privilege to see Qifrey like this. To be in his life at all is a privilege, but to see him like this is a special kind of privilege. Olruggio has the unique ability to wake up every now and again to Qifrey wrapped around his body, face tucked into his shoulder and snoring into the silence, and to feel like he is untouchable. Like he is completely and utterly safe so long as he's at Qifrey's side.
"Liking what you see?" Qifrey says, grinning like the cat that got the cream.
"Just get in here before I kick you out." He rolls onto his side and feels the exact moment that Qifrey gets into bed with him, because it feels like the world has been swallowed up and they are the only people left. Arms wind around his chest and Qifrey's hands settle on his waist. He lets out a small huff.
"Did you know that the girls were talking about us?" Qifrey says apropos of nothing.
Olruggio glances over his shoulder at his face. "What were they saying?"
"I believe they were debating whether or not we were a couple, although they certainly tried to convince me otherwise."
He snorts. "And what was their verdict?"
"I didn't manage to hear. Just that they're curious."
It's only natural that they'd be curious. They're kids, after all. Still. "You don't find it the smallest bit weird that they're so invested in our love life?"
"I think it's rather sweet," Qifrey says. His finger traces shapes on Olruggio's shoulder blades and a shiver runs through his body. It takes a moment for him to realise that Qifrey is tracing sigils across his skin. "They care about us enough to want us to be happy in that way."
"If only they cared that much about their studies."
Qifrey laughs, and Olruggio can feel it, can feel his warm breath on the back of his neck. He shuffles back to press himself flush against Qifrey's body. This is wonderful. He turns his head so that he can press a kiss to Qifrey's head.
Then, rather abruptly, the moment ends when there's a loud crash from outside.
They look at each other for a split second, then clamber out of bed to check out the ruckus. As it turns out, they don't have to go very far, because right on the other side of the door are all of the girls. Tetia is on the floor, looking more disgruntled than injured, and the other three all appear at least somewhat sheepish at being caught.
"What's all this, then?" He fights off a yawn as he looks down at the children.
Coco opens her mouth to speak, then immediately shuts it. She tugs on Agott's sleeve (it seems like his talk with Agott may have paid off) and points at the space over Olruggio's shoulder-
Right. Because Qifrey is right behind him, and they're both currently dressed in nightwear.
"SO YOU ARE A COUPLE!" Tetia exclaims, jumping to her feet and victoriously pumping her fist into the air. "I knew it! I told you guys!"
"Yes, yes, we're a couple, now how about you all go to sleep now, eh? Big day for you lot tomorrow." His effort is in vain, however, because the girls show no sign of retiring to bed anytime soon.
"Do you two share a bed?"
"Are you two married?"
"Will you guys have kids? Then we can play with them and teach them magic, too!"
"How long have you been married?"
"Aw, I wish I could have seen it! I bet it was so pretty!"
"What if you guys have another wedding here?"
The questions keep coming. Olruggio sends Qifrey a pleading look, because he is too tired and he doesn't trust himself to keep his tongue in check around the children. Thankfully, Qifrey places a hand on his shoulder and smiles down at the girls. "Now, now, it's quite late. We can answer all of your questions at breakfast tomorrow."
It takes a bit more convincing (and bargaining) to get the girls to go to sleep, but eventually they acquiesce and retreat to their rooms. Olruggio only shuts the door when he's certain that they've all actually left and aren't hiding around a corner so they can go back to eavesdropping. He shuts the door with a tad more force than necessary and sighs heavily, collapsing back into bed, Qifrey following suit.
Olruggio wraps his arms around Qifrey and pulls him close, burying his face against his chest. Qifrey embraces him in turn; they fit together perfectly. It's a novelty that Olruggio isn't sure he'll ever get used to. "You're answering all their questions tomorrow."
"Of course I will, dear."