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'Twas the dead of night. Stars overhead radiant against the inky night sky of the the Zozah Peninsula. Beneath the outspread raven blanket of night, sat a homelike, pleasant ateliar.
Within one of the chambers of said atelier, laid a pair of weary professors, legs tangled together. They were still coming down from making love prior, you see. Qifrey was lying on Olruggio's chest, which was currently rising and falling rapidly in attempt to calm his racing heart. Qifrey's face buried in his dear husband's neck, breathing in his scent, while catching his own breath.
“Olly…?" After a long moment of silence, broken only by the sound of their breathing, the white-haired man finally spoke up, fatigued by their recent activities.
Olruggio reached his arm out to grab hold of the blanket, which had been enchanted with a spell designed by the man himself to keep them toasty, regardless of how unforgiving the weather was outside. “Hm?" he replied, sending a rumbling vibration through his chest, which did nothing but urge Qifrey to persist in his requisition.
“Could you…” Qifrey hesitated, sheepish to continue. “Could you say something? I quite enjoy the sound of your voice." Olruggio was silent for a moment. He seemed almost dumbstruck by the request, his eyes flickering toward Qifrey, before settling somewhere else in the room. He seemed unsure of what to say.
“What am I supposed to say?" Olruggio questioned, lifting his arm and running his fingers through his husband's snowy hair. He could feel Qifrey's soft breaths tickling his collarbone.
Qifrey shrugged, “Anything." He tilted his head slightly, silently granting his lover's fingers more access of his hair. “Talk about your day, your newest creation, the girls, it doesn't matter," he elaborated drowsily. “I just need to hear your voice..." His sentence was interrupted by a yawn “At least until one of us dozes off."
Olruggio stared at the ceiling of their room, considering what topics he should speak about. After a few moments of quiescence, he starts rambling about his newest invention, something about an ever-burning candle that uses a tiny controlled fire spell and never actually consumes it's wax. “I made it for folks who keep forgetting to extinguish candles." He made sure to keep his voice hushed, careful not to disturb the tranquil environment before them.
Qifrey let his eyes fall shut. He was half listening to whatever topic Olruggio had chosen to speak about. The other half of him however, was relishing in his husband's deep, soothing voice rumble in the darkness.
It reminded him of years ago, when the two of them were still boys, when neither of them had quite figured out who they were going to grow up to be. He remembered the first time he noticed Olruggio's voice changing.
It hadn't happened all at once. One day, Olruggio had been speaking in that familiar, boyish voice of his, twinged with an accent, that Qifrey had known for years. Then, seemingly overnight, his voice obtained a deeper undertone. Something rougher around the edges.
Qifrey had found it fascinating. Not that he did not soon also undergo the awkward stages of pubescence, but his own voice had never resonated with the same intensities as Olruggio's had. He never told Olruggio that.
Instead, he'd kept finding excuses to savour whenever Olruggio talked. Whether it was complaints about another witch, a challenging project, or even deciding what to have for dinner, Qifrey reveled in the deep rumbling of his companion's voice, interwoven with that familiar accent that suited his character completely.
Qifrey could feel the persuasive yet comforting hands of slumber slowly seizing him. His breathing soon reaching that of one fully dormant.
Olruggio had just concluded his reprimands of a difficult customer when his eyes skimmed down to his husband, who had surrendered to sleep. He felt himself soften at the sight. His sapphire eyes tracing the outline of his lover's sleeping face, taking it every last aspect and trait of the man he'd come to love, so easily, over the years.
He reflected about how far their journey together had come, it seemed only yesterday they were adolescents, teasing each other about some matter that, looking back now, seemed wonderfully insignificant.
His thoughts wandered to the girls in the room over, Qifrey's unpredictable apprentices. Since he's taken them in as apprentices, their life seems to have changed for the better. Well, maybe with the exception of the amount of misfortunes that involve those who wear the forbidden brims and those who dealt with darker magic. However, the team of girls have proven themselves to be remarkably capable, utilizing their own unique magic to adapt to challenging circumstances.
Olruggio's thoughts were cut off by a yawn, his chest rising along with Qifrey on it. Thankfully, the movement was miniscule enough that he did not stir.
“Didn't realise just how comforting my voice was.” Olruggio mumbled into the darkness of the room, drowsiness starting to set in. And with that, he laid there, listening to his husband's soft breaths in their serene chamber, and it did not take long for the gentle thief of consciousness to wrap its effective arms around him, the same way it had his husband moments prior.