Vivisepulture | Orufrey Fic | Completed
Rating: PG-13 (Teens)
Relationships: Qifrey/Olruggio
Characters: Qifrey, Olruggio
Summary:
"Obviously. You're a professor to four kids now. Talented kids at that too."
"Could be our kids too if you took the final test,"
Qifrey is a lucky witch. Maybe too lucky, in fact.
word count: 1652
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Witch Hat Atelier, or any of the related characters. The Witch Hat Atelier series is created by Shirahama Kamome and owned by Kodansha Ltd. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. I am not making any profit from this story. All rights of the Witch Hat Atelier series belong to Kodansha Ltd.
Qifrey should have died years ago.
Specifically, he should've died the day his memories were stolen from him, thrown into a waterlogged coffin, and buried beneath a tree. More specifically, he should've died when the Knights Moralis found him, took his memories away again, and threw him back to the world of the Unknowing. However, a witch took him in as an apprentice and now he is alive. In that sense, he might be considered lucky.
He was taught the history of witches, instructed to draw magical glyphs, warned about the consequences of forbidden magic, all under the guidance of the now powerful Sage Beldaruit, all conducted in the protection of the Assembly. He is incredibly lucky.
He should have died years ago.
The more hours he's alive, the more Qifrey feels the rage simmering within him. One day, he's not sure if it will burst or cause him to collapse. Either way, he is destined for woe.
Sometimes, his luck feels like another form of torture. He is a successful witch, with his own atelier, with his own brilliant students to care for, with a best friend who stays by his side. One misstep and he knows he could fall from what little grace he has, lose his beloved kids, and at worst, push Olruggio far too much to the point he would never return.
Qifrey sighs and returns to redrawing glyphs on his boots, ensuring the keystone is perfectly straight and the ring perfectly round. The rain hasn't let up for about an hour and the noise wouldn't allow him to sleep. He originally got up to get a cup of water and a light snack before heading to bed again, but he realized he forgot he needed to cook something up for their outing the following day. One thing led to another and there he is now, redrawing the glyphs on his boots.
"Aren't you and the kids heading out early tomorrow?"
At the sound of that voice, Qifrey looks up and sends Olruggio a tired smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I forgot to cook us breakfast and lunch and well, I might as well redraw these," he says.
Olruggio frowns at him but says nothing, choosing to head to the kitchen, steps surprisingly light for someone who has such a big presence.
Or maybe that's just him. Qifrey puts the soles of his boots together and encircles the glyphs he created, satisfied with his work. Olruggio has a warmth to him that causes Qifrey to gravitate to him no matter what. Setting his boots aside, Qifrey walks into the kitchen and smiles when he sees that Olruggio is warming up the soup in their cooking pot, two bowls already set on the table.
"Not cooking tonight?" Qifrey asks, leaning on the doorway.
Olruggio snorts. "Remember last time we got carried away? You need to sleep at least six hours tonight and this is the best way we all come out happy."
Qifrey sits across Olruggio's chair and watches him pour him a bowl, slightly entranced, or maybe just dazed from how tired he actually is.
"Perhaps we should add noise cancellation glyphs in the bedrooms," Qifrey mumbles, taking his spoon and mixing his food. "I doubt the kids are sleeping peacefully."
"Maybe not all the noise though. Reduction?" Olruggio suggests.
"Yes, that would be better. Or maybe a charm they can hang up on days like these? I'll have to think about it tomorrow. Remind me?"
"Sure, sure."
For a few moments, they eat in silence, only broken when their spoons occasionally scrape their bowls and the sound of rain hitting the roof and the occasional bouts of thunder. Sometimes, Qifrey finds himself staring at Olruggio. His eyes stray at his left hand placed on the table, fingers drumming against the wood; at how his dominant hand has splashes of ink running across his fingertips and the burn that's only recently begun to heal; at the way his hair falls in front of his eyes, and Qifrey laments at how he wishes he could push them away so he could see them a bit more clearly.
And like always, he's caught.
The first time he was caught, he was bashful enough to look away, cheeks hot with embarrassment while Olruggio said nothing, just a poke with his wand and the urge for him to take his studies seriously. The next time he managed to look at Olruggio's eyes for a second before it became all too much and he looked away while the traitor laughed at him. The next ones were all unremarkable experiences unto themselves, but Qifrey holds each moment close to his heart anyway.
And with age comes experience so this time, Qifrey holds eye contact and smiles as Olruggio rolls his eyes despite the corners of his mouth pulling up into something like a smile.
Way too dangerously close to his heart.
"You know, we met on a day like this, didn't we?"
Qifrey tilts his head. "We did. I hated getting wet so we hid in a cave."
"You still do, and we hid there for hours. Our masters were livid with us, weren't they?" Olruggio has a smirk on his face and Qifrey is reminded again at how mischievous he actually is.
"Of course they were! We were gone for hours." Qifrey smiles at the memory of Beldaruit's face nearly hitting a branch when he tried to get closer to a much younger version of Qifrey, robes all dirty from the mud and the ashes of the burning logs that kept them warm. "I understand their worries a bit too much now."
"Obviously. You're a professor to four kids now. Talented kids at that too."
"Could be our kids too if you took the final test," the words are out of Qifrey's mouth before he even realizes it. Maybe it's just a testament to how tired he actually is.
Still, Olruggio takes no offense and just shrugs, a different outcome from how he usually reacts to similar lines. "It would only be a formality at this point, wouldn't it?" His tone is exceedingly gentle and Qifrey is reminded of the fact that although the stars were shining, it was close to daytime already. His heart is beating like the first time he drew a sigil, and his insides feel like the first time he flew by himself. But Olruggio makes it feel like everything is steady, like it's supposed to be like that. Winfrey gives out a shaky laugh and he smiles.
"It would be, wouldn't it?"
Still, it'd be nice if you could be their teacher.
For the rest of their late-night snack, their conversation moves onto lighter topics, edging away from the inevitable fight—small, but still, a fight—that might come out from discussing it further. They discuss the kids' progress on their studies, the syllabus Qifrey prepared (alongside Olruggio's many contributions), the items they need to pick up the next time they go to the Assembly, and of course, Olruggio's job.
"I'm going to be gone for the next few days, alright?" Olruggio says, taking their bowls away to clean.
"What if I say no?" Qifrey teases, resting his chin on his hand. "Would you stay?"
Orugio pauses then shrugs. "I would stay thirty more minutes, arrive late and apologize for the delay due to some made-up accident," he puts the bowls away and leans on the counter, hands supporting him with the ledge. "And they couldn't get too mad at me because they know they can't afford to."
At that, Qifrey laughs. Actually laughs and remembers, yes, Olruggio has always been a mischievous person, despite his looks. That's exactly why they're best friends and the reason why after all these years, they still regard each other with fondness.
When he stops laughing, Qifrey inches closer to Olruggio until there's hardly any space between them. He reaches for his best friend's crooked collar and sets it right, ignoring his eyes for what he might see or what he might not see.
"I'm so glad you're here, Olly. I'm happy right now," he says, words whispered once before and will be said again in the future. "Thank you."
Olruggio's voice comes out strangled as he eases the distance between them, a healthy foot away instead of that meager centimeter. "You don't need to thank me for being your best friend," he says, putting his hand on his forehead, almost like he's expecting his hat to be on his head so he can hide his eyes (but he can't and Qifrey can see the embarrassment, the adoration, and the reflection of himself. He wishes the hat was there). "I wanted this."
"I know. I trust you. But I'm thanking you anyway. You're one of the reasons I'm still alive right now, you know?"
Terror rises in Olruggio’s eyes. “You don't m-"
"Of course not. No, I'm quite happy I'm alive, considering what happened," Qifrey says, quick to reassure Olruggio. "But it would be meaningless to live a life without joy, right?"
"I make you happy?"
The raw joy in Olruggio's voice makes Qifrey snap out of it in an instant. He cannot have Olruggio be marred by himself, by his being, by his feelings. Olruggio is a star, and what is Qifrey but the darkness? His luck can only bring him so far and Olruggio is not a risk he's willing to make. When he pushes again, Qifrey won't only take memories of the truth, but also of tonight's conversation.
Qifrey smiles, the joy not quite reaching his eyes. "Of course you do. Good night, Olly."
As he returns to his room, all alone, he reaches for his hat and unpins the triangle cloth from the top, and sighs.
One day, Qifrey will die, but right now, as long as he can, he will kill the man who loves him.
a/n: Beta read by Moon @nxnagojo on twitter! Thank you so much for making this so way more coherent than what I had originally written!
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