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“Master Olruggio!” Tetia barges into his room, not caring for the message plastered on the door of his room. Those who knock will be cursed. At this point, the entire atelier is cursed, except for Olruggio himself, being the owner of this room.
He jumps from the sudden intrusion, his back cracking as he straightens up. Ouch.
“You people have no respect for warnings,” Olruggio grumbles, peeking down from his loft. He ought to change or remove the sign entirely, given its uselessness. He adds, more quietly, “like teacher, like apprentice.”
“Master Qifrey has no respect for warnings?” Tetia questions, uncaring for his dismissing behaviour, opting to happily come up the stairs.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that part,” he sighs, scooting over to make space on his window seat for the girl. “Why are you here?”
“Coco doesn’t know about witch mythology,” she states, nodding her head with a solemn expression. She plops down right next to him, placing one of the pillows on her lap. Tetia looks up at him expectantly.
Olruggio frowns, confused. He assumed so, as Coco had not been brought up as a witch. Awkwardly nodding back, he asks, “And?”
“And that’s not right!” She jumps to stand up, startling him from the unexpected show of emotion. “Coco is a witch now, so it is only right for her to know of witch bedtime stories!”
He doesn’t like where the conversation is headed. “I’m sure Qifrey would be delighted to share our mythology with Coco. Maybe he’ll even add it to his lesson plan. Why not go and ask him?”
Olruggio is sure that Qifrey would be delighted to share the stories every young witch knew about with Coco. He remembers that as a child, his friend would always pick up books from the library on fairytales and whatnot.
“Master Qifrey is busy in the kitchen,” Tetia unknowingly counters his deflection.
“I’m busy in my room.” He really doesn’t want to do this.
“But you’re always busy!” She argues, sitting back down. “So it’s not special that you’re busy now. Your normal is busy, while Master Qifrey’s normal is not busy. So when Master Qifrey is busy, he’s actually busy.”
Olruggio is too tired for this. He runs his hands over his face. “Can’t you tell her the stories yourself?”
“No way! That would ruin the magic!” Tetia exclaims, “she has to have the full experience of an adult telling her the myths as they tuck her into bed!” She grabs ahold of his wrist as she attempts to drag him down the loft. “C’mon, let’s go!”
He resists, pulling himself back. “What are you doing!?”
“Bringing you to Coco’s room,” she huffs as she tugs him harder. “Master Olruggio, you’re so heavy!”
“I’m not heavy!” He can’t believe he’s arguing with a child. “My weight is perfectly normal for a grown man!”
“The only thing grown about you is your beard,” she rolls her eyes.
“H-hey!”
A new voice unexpectedly chimes in. “What’s going on?”
If it isn’t the man of the clockmark. Tetia, without warning, relinquishes her grasp, causing Olruggio to stumble backwards and bump his head against the wall. “Master Qifrey!” She beams, leaning down to look at her teacher.
“Careful, Tetia, don’t stand too close to the edge,” Qifrey smiles back at her. “I heard quite the commotion coming from this room, so I took it upon myself to check it out. You left the door open, by the way. Mind if I ask what’s going on?”
“Master Olruggio refuses to help Coco.” She states, as if it were a grave crime. Although, now that he thinks about it, in Qifrey’s eye, it could be.
Her teacher raises a brow. He could be raising the other as well, but since it hides behind his hair, it is impossible to know for sure. “With what?”
Olruggio speaks up, not trusting what Tetia has to say on his behalf. “Tetia wants me to tell Coco bedtime stories of witch mythology.”
“Mythology?” Qifrey tilts his head to the side.
“I think Coco should have the full experience of being told the stories before going to bed.” She supplies, hurrying down the stairs to her master’s side. “Now that you're here, let’s go to her room so you can tell them to her!”
Qifrey blinks before he responds. “That’s… very considerate of you, Tetia,” he pauses, “but Coco’s still by the fireplace, with Agott and Richeh. I said I’d be preparing a dessert for you girls, remember?”
Tetia’s mouth forms an ‘o’ as her hands fall to her sides. “You did? So that’s why you were in the kitchen!”
“Mhm,” Qifrey smiles fondly at her as he places a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you go and join them? I’ll catch up with you shortly. Then, I can teach all of you of the mythologies of old.”
“Yes, Master!” Tetia exclaims, proceeding to run out of the room, the glowstone lighting up with each step of her feet.
The stone that Qifrey stands on top of glows as well, lighting up his silhouette in the dim atmosphere. His face turns up towards Olruggio, currently sitting upon the loft, a hand placed behind his head covering the spot that had unfortunately hit the wall earlier.
“Care to join us for dessert?” He offers, “I prepared a portion big enough for everyone.”
“I’ll pass,” Olruggio sighs, frowning. “I think I’m gaining some weight.”
Qifrey has a cheeky look in his eye as he speaks. “Is that so? I thought I overheard you saying that your weight ‘was perfectly normal for a grown man’ not so long ago.”
He feels his cheeks heat up. “What!? How long have you been listening?”
“Long enough,” Qifrey eyes him up and down. “For the record, I don’t see you gaining any weight. In fact, I think that gaining weight might do you some good.”
“Huh!?”
Qifrey ignores him, turning towards the door as he waves a dismissive hand. “I’ll be waiting for you, Olly. Don't take too long.”
—
As Olruggio nears his way to the fireplace, Qifrey nears the ending of the tale of the King of Dadah and the Witch Who Killed Him.
“…then the king, having used magic to assert his might across the lands, was finally put to end by a witch, for fear of his power growing too dangerous, even to his own kingdom.”
All four apprentices remain attentive, their eyes locked on their teacher as his story comes to a close. They sit in a circle on the carpet, the glow of the fireplace illuminating their figures. Coco is the first one to speak up. “I only knew that Dadah’s Range was a result of Forbidden Magic, but I never knew the extent to it…”
Qifrey nods. “Magic powerful enough to alter landscapes is dangerous magic. When magic like that is in the wrong hands, it would be fatal to many.”
“Like the incident at the river,” Coco’s eyes darken. “My spell turned the water into sand…”
Olruggio, deciding that now is the best time to announce his presence, theatrically clears his throat. The action causes all five heads to turn towards him, making him suddenly feel conscious. “I was told that a share of dessert would be waiting for me.”
“Ah,” Qifrey is the first to recover. He reaches towards one of the untouched servings and places it by the empty space to his left. He pats the unoccupied surface of the carpet. “Here is your dessert, Olly.”
My back’s gonna kill me after this, Olruggio thinks, but keeps it to himself as he complies. He attempts to stifle a grunt as he sits down, already wanting to retreat from the hard surface of the floor.
He takes a bite of the dessert, the sound of his chewing stark against the uninvited silence permeating the room. He swallows his food and speaks up, attempting to lighten the mood. “What story are we doing next?”
“Oh, oh, I know!” Tetia perks up, raising her hand up.
Qifrey smiles towards her. “What is it that you have in mind? Feel free to share your ideas with us, Tetia.”
“Coco should know about the ancient tale!” She practically buzzes in excitement. “The one with romance!”
“Romance?” Agott tilts her head as her brows slightly furrow. “You mean the poem?”
“There are a lot of ancient poems, Richeh can’t keep count.” The girl comments, speaking as she chews her food. Qifrey wordlessly takes a sip of his tea, opting not to comment on her manners.
“You mean The Song of the Princess Who Married the Wind?” Olruggio offers.
“No, no,” Tetia shakes her head. “I’m talking about the poem of the Tree and the Star!”
Qifrey chokes on his tea.
Olruggio is the first to respond. “W-woah there, you alright?” Instinct has him moving his hand to pat him on the back, but once he makes contact, he immediately second-guesses himself, reminded of his friend’s aversion to physical contact.
“I’m—” a cough, “—fine,” Qifrey insists, despite his words being followed by another series of coughs. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and Olruggio doesn’t miss the way he discreetly leans away from his touch.
He drops his hand back down by his side. Classic Qifrey. He ignores the way the rejection stings.
“If you say so,” deciding not to question his friend’s word in front of his apprentices, Olruggio refills his cup of tea instead. “Here, drink.”
Qifrey receives the cup, struggling to bring it up to his lips without spilling as he coughs, but manages in the end. He downs it in one go, five pairs of eyebrows rising in response.
“Thank you, Olly.” he croaks, immediately cringing from the crack in his voice. He awkwardly gestures his now empty cup towards them with a strained smile. “Sorry about that. Don’t mind me, carry on.”
“Um,” Coco rubs at the scar of her cheek, tentatively meeting her master’s eye. “Are you really okay, Master Qifrey?”
“I assure you, I’m alright,” he nods, the hand not holding his teacup moving to rub at his throat. “I simply mistimed my breathing.”
Olruggio snorts, freezing right after as a single blue eye gives him a stare that could rival the gaze of a Scalewolf eyeing its prey. A shiver uninvitedly runs through his body.
“Master Olruggio, are you cold?” Richeh inquires, “is the fireplace not enough? I can lend you my snugstone.” The girl retrieves said contraption from her pockets, offering it up to him.
“Um,” he redirects his attention back to Qifrey, the man now staring at the teacup in his hand as if it were the Brimmed Cap that took his eye. “I’m alright, but thank you.”
“If you say so,” Richeh replies, oblivious to his concerns.
“Well, as I was saying,” Tetia continues, “we should tell Coco of the poem of the Tree and the Star.”
Olruggio catches the way Qifrey’s fingers twitch as it holds the cup. A smile is plastered on his face, but his lone eye is now blank, unreadable and undecipherable.
“What’s that one about?” Coco questions, gaze unsure of herself. It’s a contrast against her usual eagerness for learning magic.
“Ask Master Qi—” Tetia excitedly turns her head towards her teacher, before backtracking after noticing how he’s not in the best mood. “Um, I mean, ask Master Olruggio!”
“Wh-huh?” Olruggio straightens his back, wincing when he feels it crack in response. “Wait— me?”
“Yes you,” Tetia places her hands on hips. Even as they all remain seated, Olruggio unreasonably feels smaller than her. “Unless there’s another Master Olruggio we don’t know about.”
“I’m not your master,” he grumbles for what feels like the millionth time.
“I’m not hearing a no~” Tetia says in a singsong voice, leaning forward to look him directly in the eyes.
Olruggio reluctantly caves in. “Fine.” If this were any other day, he’d leave it to Qifrey to give in to his apprentices requests. But as he eyes his friend, still bearing that blank expression, he supposes he should step up in his place.
The things I do for this man, he thinks to himself, as if he would have it any other way.
“Okay, so um,” he reluctantly begins after realizing that everyone was awaiting his storytelling. “Right, the Tree and the Star… uh,” Wait, how did the poem go again?
The poem of the Tree and the Star had been one of Qifrey’s favourites back when they were still apprentices. Olruggio is recalled once more of late-night visits to the library, where his friend, instead of reading textbooks on sigils and spells, would sometimes pick up books on poetry instead.
More specifically, poetry that had stars as one of its main subjects.
He is brought back to the present as Brushbuddy suddenly emerges from the confines of Qifrey’s cloak, making its way to curl up on Olruggio’s lap. He starts to pet it, wanting to calm down his nerves.
Don’t tell me I forgot. This is so embarrassing.
“Master Olruggio doesn’t know the poem," Richeh dutifully supplies, uncaring as she takes another bite of her dessert.
“Whaaat?” Tetia shakes her head. “No way! You mean I know it, and you don’t?”
“If you know it, then why don’t you be the one to tell it!?” Again, Olruggio can’t believe he’s arguing with a child.
“I already told you,” Tetia huffs, trying and failing to mask her humorous mood with a serious expression. “An adult should be the one telling children bedtime stories.”
“We’re not even in bed,” he crosses his arms, “we’re having snacks by the fireplace. That ‘rule’ doesn’t apply here.”
“Um,” Coco chimes in, albeit shy. “I don’t mind if we do another story.”
“But this one’s a classic!” Tetia insists. After a pause, she adds, “It’s a legend of how magic came to be for the human race!”
“How magic came to be?” Coco parrots, eyes lighting up at the mention of magic. “I thought you said that it was a romance?”
Tetia beams. “It is! It’s a tale of how the love of the silverwood maiden and a messenger from heaven made them share their magic with everyone!”
Coco suddenly freezes, her eyes, previously filled with wonder, now empty. “What?” Olruggio doesn’t miss the way her gaze quickly darts to her teacher.
“Just have Master Qifrey recite the poem,” Agott sighs, “it’s clear that Master Olruggio doesn’t remember how it goes.”
“We don’t have to do this story!” Coco insists, slightly panicking. “Really, I don’t mind!”
Qifrey finally, finally speaks. “It’s alright, I can tell you about the poem.” A smile is plastered on his features, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He sets his teacup down on the carpet. “In truth, it’s a favourite of mine.”
If it’s a favourite, Olruggio mulls to himself, frowning. Then what’s with that solemn expression?
“Master…” Coco trails off, sending Qifrey a worrying look. That seems to wake him up from the trance he had been in. He lightly shakes his head, now wearing his carefree persona that hides whatever emotion he truly feels. Olruggio feels out of the loop.
“As Tetia mentioned, the poem of the Tree and the Star tells of the legend of how magic came to be,” Qifrey begins, as if his mind hadn’t wandered stars know where not just a moment ago.
“Um, is it the same legend of how a silverwood tree offered her blood as ink and her branches as wands?” Coco meekly questions.
“…it’s still up to debate,” her teacher answers, “some scholars argue that they are two separate legends, while others insist that they are both merely variants of the same tale.”
“I think it’s the latter,” Tetia shares. “The Star is also mentioned to be a user of magic, so it’s possible that it’s the same witch.”
“I’d have to disagree,” Agott counters, “in the poem, it tells of how the messenger gives the silverwood maiden his magic, while in the silverwood legend, it’s the other way around. The tree is the one gifting her own magic.”
“Hey now,” Olruggio interrupts, scratching his beard. “You're spoiling the story for Coco. Why not wait ‘til your teacher’s finished sharing the poem before you debate on it?”
Both girls go quiet at that.
“Richeh is getting impatient,” the girl comments.
“Alright, alright,” Qifrey sighs, “the poem goes like this,
“Sail sleeping skies,
The stars like silver ships
Till rapt in branches,
Set course for world adrowse
To pass the gift of night to silverwood lips
And sink as fingers in her tousled boughs.”
“Woah,” Coco’s jaw drops in awe, before tilting her head to the side. “Um, what does it mean?”
Qifrey chuckles lightly, “It’s quite difficult to understand based on the verses alone, isn’t it?”
“Yeah…” all four apprentices nod their heads.
“Worry not,” their teacher adds, “even Olly had trouble with this poem when I first told him about it.”
“Watch it.”
“You’re the Watchful Eye, Master Olruggio!” Tetia laughs. “You watch it!”
“Hey!” He frowns, but there’s no real bite to it. “Wait— you said I’m the Watchful Eye, right?”
“Yup!”
“Then stop calling me master!”
“Now, now, children,” Qifrey scolds, mildly amused. “No fighting.”
Richeh smirks. “Master Qifrey called Master Olruggio a child.”
“You—!”
Olruggio is cut off as Qifrey claps his hands. “We’re getting off track, aren’t we? Let’s steer back to the topic at hand.”
“Yes, Master!” Tetia smiles politely, ignoring the way Olruggio grumbles.
“Well, to begin with, the poem compares stars in the night sky to ships sailing on water,” Qifrey begins. “Just like how the stars sail across the sky during the wake of Silver Eve, traversing the surface of the heavens.”
“Oh! So the messenger from heaven is the star that travels across the skies?” Coco confirms.
Tetia is the one to answer, enthusiastic. “That’s right! He travels until he meets the maiden, and then kisses her!”
Qifrey makes a noise. “That’s not what—”
“Huh!? It’s not?” Tetia pouts. “But the poem says to pass the gift of night to silverwood lips.”
“It does,” Agott confirms, “but passing something to lips could also mean simply telling her the secret of magic with words.”
“Really?” Olruggio joins in. “I thought it meant they kissed. The poem is literally about how the tree and the star fall in love.”
“Um,” Qifrey fidgets his fingers. “Well, what Agott had said is the interpretation I’m more inclined towards. It’s more… reasonable, given that the legend ends with the maiden sharing magic with the human race.”
“…right.” Olruggio pauses, then scoffs. “Imagine if the silverwood maiden had to kiss everyone on the lips in order to give them magic.”
Silence.
“I was kidding! Don’t—” Olruggio frantically waves his hands around, feeling his face heat up. “—actually imagine it!”
Four apprentices and their teacher shake the mental image away, a sour note left on their faces.
Richeh is the first to speak up. “Does that make the silverwood maiden a man-eater?”
“Where did you learn that term!?” Qifrey panics. Olruggio’s jaw drops while the other three girls tilt their heads in confusion.
Coco nudges Olruggio side with her elbow. “What’s a man-eater?”
“Um—”
“Is she?” Richeh interrupts him, continuing to ask.
“No!” Qifrey shakes his head with force. “She didn’t even pass the gift of magic through kissing! Right, Olly?” He turns to him, desperate for a save.
“Uh, yeah— I mean,” he pauses, thinking of the right words to say. “I was only entertaining the possibility. It’s not actually what happened… but— you never know.” He shrugs.
His friend frowns at him, clearly displeased with his reply.
“What?” Olruggio raises his hands in mock surrender. “Why’re you so defensive of this anyways? It’s not you’re the silverwood maiden accused of being a man-eater.”
Qifrey gives him a look. Olruggio has no idea what it could mean.
“I’m sleepy!” Coco suddenly shouts, before curling into herself in embarrassment. She yawns— a bit too theatrical if you ask Olruggio —before rubbing at her eyes. “I’m sleepy,” she repeats, quieter this time, “maybe we should go to bed?”
Their teacher straightens his back. “…Coco’s right. It’s getting late.” He begins to collect their tableware, before standing up and offering them an empty smile. “Let’s all go to bed?”
“Master Qifrey is ignoring my question,” Richeh frowns. “He’s getting one ang-Richeh point.”
—
With Qifrey escorting Richeh and Tetia to their sleeping quarters, that left Olruggio responsible for Coco and Agott.
Agott, however, managed to disappear from his sight, most likely to stay up late and study spells on her own. He’ll look for her later. Now, it was just him and Coco.
“Did you learn a lot of new things today?” He asks, wanting to get rid of the awkward silence as they walk to her room.
“Yeah, I suppose,” she answers, but her gaze is far away. She reminds him of Qifrey. Like master, like apprentice, right?
“Hey, don’t get stuck on that whole ‘kissing’ debacle,” he attempts, worried that he’s planted an incorrect idea in their heads. “That’s not true. I was only fooling around with your master.”
“Master Qifrey…” she trails off, before taking in a breath. “I didn’t mean to force him into telling us that poem.”
“What? You didn’t force him though,” Olruggio says, more like a question rather than a statement. “Besides, I don’t think he minded. Like he said, it’s a favourite of his.”
“He minded,” she frowns.
“Huh,” he frowns back, but not at her. “So you’ve noticed?”
“Noticed what?”
“Qifrey,” he shrugs, “with, y’know, how he gets sometimes.”
Her brows sink in further, deepening her frown. Her grip in her cloak tightens. “Yeah.”
“Yeah,” he shakes his head. “You’re more insightful then you let on, huh?”
“Not really…” Coco lets go of her grip and drops her hands to the sides. “I mean, I figured it out, but only because he told me so much already.”
That gets Olruggio to pause, both in his speech and in his stride. He’s confused. “Told you?” What would Qifrey tell her and not him?
“Mhm,” she nods, looking down at her sylph shoes as she comes to a stop next to him. “He told me how to help Custas, and it didn’t take much to connect the dots after that.”
“Custas?” Now Olruggio was very confused. “You mean… the boy from the river incident?”
“Wait,” she freezes, looking at him with an odd expression. Her similarities to Qifrey in this moment are too uncanny to ignore. “What do you know about Custas?”
“Hm,” Olruggio scratches his chin. “Well, after the ground collapsed in the river, he injured his legs right? I heard that the knights helped send him to a nearby hospital.”
“And after that?”
“After?” He tilts his head to the side. Where’s she going with this? “I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything from him since.”
“Oh.” Her expression turns blank, before turning into one of anguish. “Oh. You don’t know.”
“What?” He panics. Did he say something wrong? “Hey, what— what’s the matter?” Kneeling down to her eye-level, he tries to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, just as he’d seen Qifrey do for the girls.
Coco leans away from his touch, rubbing at her face and covering her eyes with her palms. Like master, like apprentice. “Nothing,” she whispers, “sorry, it’s nothing. I just…”
She knows something about Qifrey that he doesn’t. That, Olruggio is sure of. “It’s alright,” he stands back up, patting a tentative hand on her back. “Let’s just get you to bed.”
“I can go by myself,” Coco insists, turning around to look him in the eyes. Her gaze searches for something in his expression, but what she’s looking for, he doesn’t know. “Maybe… you should help Master Qifrey. With the dishes.”
He thinks he heard her wrong. “Sorry?”
“The dishes,” she repeats. “So he can go to bed too. He looked tired.”
He stares at her for a bit, before remembering that he’s supposed to answer. “Right. Okay. The dishes.”
Coco nods, but before she leaves him to walk to her room, she adds, “Goodnight, Master Olruggio.”
He meant to say not your master! but decided that now was not the best time. Instead, he says, “Goodnight to you too, Coco.”
—
Olruggio does the dishes. By the time Qifrey returns to the kitchen, their tableware has already been washed, dried, and wiped pristine.
“Olly?” Qifrey gasps, walking by one of the counters. “You did the dishes?”
“Yeah,” he huffs, scratching the back of his neck. “I did.”
“Thank you, but,” he frowns. “You didn’t have to. The dessert was my idea, I should have been the one to clean it up.”
“Don’t thank me,” Olruggio dismissively waves his hand. “Coco told me to.”
“Coco… what?”
“Mhm,” he leans on the counters, squinting at Qifrey’s face for any slip of emotion. “She told me to do the dishes, so that you could go directly to bed.”
“…Alright,” he squints back at Olruggio. “Is something on my face?”
“Your spectacles, for one,”
Qifrey raises a brow. Then again, he could be raising two.
“And your bangs,” Olruggio adds.
“That’s nothing new,” he shakes his head, “do I have eyebags?”
“No, why?” A pause. “Do I?”
“Well,” he shrugs, “you said Coco wanted me to go to bed. If I didn’t have eyebags, then why would she tell you that?”
“You’re ignoring my question,” Olruggio frowns.
“…Yes,” a pause, “honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen you without eyebags. Aside from when you wear that cosmetic mask.”
“Fair enough.”
“Mhm,” Qifrey looks around the kitchen. “Are you up for some custard pudding? I could make us a snack.”
“We’re still doing that?” Olruggio tilts his head. “I thought you said that we’re putting that off after the girls found us out.”
Qifrey smiles at the reminder. “I mean, a small snack wouldn’t hurt.”
“Didn’t we just have dessert?” He reasons. “Hold on— the entire point of me doing the dishes is so that you can go right to bed!”
“Quiet down Olly,” Qifrey shushes him, “you’ll wake the girls.”
“Are you even listening to me?”
“Yes, yes,” he sighs, shaking his head. “No custard pudding.”
“Seriously though,” Olruggio frowns. “Are you alright? Even Coco noticed your mood earlier.”
Qifrey’s light mood vanishes in an instant. “Oh.” Was that too direct?
“What even happened?” He inquires anyway. “You said that the poem was your favourite, but once it was mentioned you—”
“It’s nothing,” he cuts him off, before giving him an apologetic look. “Sorry. It’s just… the tea tasted off.”
“The tea tasted off.” He repeats.
“Maybe it was spoiled.”
“Qifrey.” He rubs his temples. ”Really?”
“Olly—”
“Would it kill you to just tell me the truth?”
“Yes.” Qifrey answers, a bit too quickly, with a sudden desperation in his eye. It catches him off guard.
Olruggio should let it go. He could always ask another time. Especially with everything that happened during Silver Eve… it wouldn’t hurt to give his friend the benefit of the doubt.
Qifrey turns around, looking out the window. “Sorry.”
He could answer with it’s alright, but it isn’t, so instead, Olruggio extends an olive branch. “…Honestly though, do you think it’s possible that the maiden kissed people to give them magic?”
“What?” Qifrey looks at him, confused, until his mind finally catches up with his words. “…oh. You’re still stuck on that?”
“I mean,” he shrugs. “It’s a plausible theory, no?”
“It’s really not.”
“Why are you so insistent on it?” Olruggio scoffs. “Like I said earlier, I’m not accusing you of kissing people to give them magic.”
“…Still,” he shakes his head with a frown. “I could say the same to you. Why are you so insistent on saying that the maiden gifts magic through kissing?”
“It’s an interesting theory, admit it.”
“I never said it wasn’t interesting," he counters.
“Then why are you so against it?”
“Because it’s—” Qifrey laughs— a real laugh, Olruggio realizes, and the thought makes his stomach flip, “so stupid!”
“It’s reasonable.”
“No, Olly, it really isn’t.”
“Now you’re just jealous.”
“Jealous?” Qifrey parrots, baffled. “Of what?”
“You’re jealous that I thought of it, instead of you.”
“I’m not!”
“Mhm.”
Qifrey scoffs. “You know what I think? I think you’re so insistent on this because you’re jealous that the maiden kissed all those people and that you weren’t one of them.”
“So you admit that I’m right and that the maiden passed on magic through kissing?”
“That’s not what I said.” Qifrey pauses, before giving him a cheeky smile. “Hold on, I’m not hearing a denial from you.”
“I mean… if the messenger from heaven fell in love with the maiden, she must have been beautiful, right?” Olruggio scratches his beard. He can’t believe he’s actually giving this some thought. “I suppose a kiss from her really would be magical, either way.”
“…”
“What?”
“…So you’re admitting that you do want a kiss from the maiden?” Qifrey scrunches his nose, his disbelief obvious.
“What’s with that face?” Olruggio defends. “I’m not exactly opposed to the idea. Don’t act like you wouldn’t want a kiss from a beautiful maiden!”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I don’t believe you,” Olruggio pauses. “Unless… you’d want a kiss from the messenger instead?”
Qifrey’s eye widens as his jaw drops. “…what?”
“If, y’know,” he scratches his head, “you’re not into maidens… I won’t judge you.”
“Oh,” he shakes his head with force, his glasses are knocked slightly askew. “Oh. I thought you were offeri…”
Huh? “What? I didn’t catch that.”
“Nothing!” Qifrey fixes his spectacles on the bridge of his nose. “It’s nothing.”
An awkward beat passes.
“You should go to bed,” Olruggio hates to have to ruin the moment, but Coco’s right. Qifrey has been looking tired lately.
“You too,” his friend smiles wearily. He gestures to Olruggio’s face. “Eyebags.”
He snorts. “Eyebags.”
Qifrey nods. “I’ll see you in the morning?”
“You mean afternoon.” Olruggio groans. “If you want me to be up that early, then you’re going to have to pray for a silverwood maiden to kiss me awake.”
His friend shakes his head with a soft smile as he takes his leave. “In another life, maybe.”
“In another life,” Olruggio repeats.
Before he disappears, Qifrey blinks at him, but for all he knew, it could have been a wink.