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The seconds felt like hours on the nights that Olruggio was away.
Qifrey made sure never to change their routine, regardless of whether Olruggio was attending dinner. The girls still helped set the table, and they enjoyed their meal together, speaking at length about what they had learned and experienced that day. Afterwards, chores were done, baths were drawn, and pajamas were on. All the same, nothing ever changed as far as he could help it.
Yet every moment feels less full, less safe. Qifrey throws himself into shielding the girls from the unease he feels.
“Good night, Master Qifrey!” Coco yells as the girls race past him to their rooms.
The other girls echo Coco. Qifrey smiles, his heart full despite its tremble, and waves them off to bed. They’ve all faced darkness, but laughter fills the house.
It gives him hope.
Their footsteps echo in the quiet atelier. Muffled voices chatter, although they should rest. Someone squeals in delight. A story is being shared, and bonds continue to be formed into something solid, something forever.
If he were a cruel teacher, Qifrey would be better off stomping upstairs, scolding them for their disobedience, and disciplining them. But their peace gives him a comfort he doesn’t think he quite deserves, so he would give it to them.
Soon, the night stills, and he sits at the open window. He can smell rain in the distance, and he hopes Olruggio returns home before the storm rolls in.
“You should have been home by now, Olly,” Qifrey whispers into the starlit sky. “What is keeping you from us?”
Fear still lives in Qifrey, even if the curse no longer does. For the comfort he so yearned for, he did not realize the companionship it had with dread. Now that he has Olruggio in his bed, could taste his skin and draw marks with his teeth, he cannot escape these new horrors.
For a moment, Qifrey allows himself to close his eyes against the cool breeze. He thinks of his lover, his warm body and smile full of wicked thoughts and tender care, and places his own cold fingers on his neck. His touch is nearly painful in response. He is desperate to feel the warmth only Olruggio can bring.
So instead, he focuses on the wind, which slowly picks up speed and warms as the storm approaches. In it, he thinks he can hear a clear whistling tune. It sounds like a folk song that Olruggio sings from time to time in front of the fire, tapping the beat on his knees, so the girls can dance. Qifrey has since learned the tune and remembered the rhythm, so when the girls are asleep, he can dance with Olruggio in their gentle sway.
A gentle voice disturbs his daydreaming.
“When will Master Olly come home?”
Agott’s question draws him out of his cherished memories. She is standing in the doorway, her new nightgown too long even with her recent growth spurt. She is growing, as they all are, but it's questions like this that remind Qifrey she is still a child that he is responsible for.
“Soon,” Qifrey answers.
“It’s going to rain.” Sleep fills her voice, and Qifrey wonders just how much of her is still in the waking world. The poor girl has been known to sleepwalk on hard nights. “He will get drenched.”
Qifrey smiles. “Then I will dry him.”
“With magic?”
For a moment, Qifrey ponders why this leaves a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach. The girls do not know. They cannot know, for a Watchful Eye is not meant to allow the things Qifrey is doing. Lines are being crossed, ethics jumbled, but then again, Qifrey can no longer truthfully say that they were right to begin with.
So all he can do now is reassure Agott and, one day, figure out how to make it all align.
“Yes, with magic. Rest now, dear girl. Let dreams take you to new places.”
Agott rubs her eyes and nods, clearly satisfied with his answer, and she is gone again. Qifrey turns back to the window and finds that in the distance, the storm has begun. He can see it now, the sharp lightning, and can feel the rumble of thunder. He draws his knees up to his chest and rests his head against them. He will wait as long as he needs to.
Another hour passes, and by the time heavy rain thrums on the roof, it’s clear that something has delayed Olruggio. Qifrey’s concern mounts. He leaves the window and paces, conjuring small magical creatures from the rain—horses, birds—to comfort himself, until the front door slams open.
Qifrey races down through the parlor, ignoring the small half-finished circles on sheets of paper and books left open. His heart pounds in his chest, pulling him forward, until he finds the man he has been waiting for.
Olruggio looks like a wet cat. His coat is soaked, and his cap is crushed under his arm. Mud is clear up to his knees, and his hair is heavy with rain.
“Olly!” Qifrey calls and hears Olruggio’s frustrated groan in response.
“Damned road washed out!” Olruggio curses. “Carts stuck all the way back. Had to get ‘em out. Would’ve been back sooner if–”
Olruggio’s words are cut off as Qifrey seizes him in a fierce hug. Olruggio protests, warning Qifrey that he’ll get drenched, but Qifrey would brave worse things than wet robes just to have Olruggio close.
“Stubborn fool.” Olruggio drops his cap and gives in.
Nothing would ever feel better to Qifrey than embracing Olruggio without having to sacrifice something in return. There is no pain to follow this. Only Olruggio’s sturdy, warm body against his own.
The very sweetest of delights.
“Oh, love,” Qifrey sighs as he draws back and looks Olruggio over. “Let me draw you a bath.”
“Only if you’ll join.”
The sparkle in Olruggio’s eyes said all Qifrey needed to know.
“You missed me as well?” Qifrey asks as he pulls Olruggio to his washroom.
“I ain’t even been gone a day,” Olruggio argues.
Qifrey turns, cupping Olruggio’s face in his hands, and kisses him deeply. He tastes of strong coffee sweetened with cream, and Qifrey knows it will keep Olruggio up half the night. Olruggio falls into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Qifrey’s waist and drawing him closer.
“I thought you didn’t miss me,” Qifrey says into the kiss.
“I missed ya,” Olruggio chuckles. “I miss ya every moment we are a part. Been that way since we were little and will be that way when we are old.”
Qifrey kisses him again before he pulls them both into the washroom. It’s a large space with a deep, built-in tub. Windows high in the tiled walls bring in little starlight, and Olruggio uses magic to light the candles around the room as Qifrey fills the bath.
“Warm it for us?” Qifrey asks.
Olruggio’s eyebrows raise. “So you will be joinin’ me?”
Qifrey points to his soaked robes. “It would appear so.”
Olruggio warms the water with a spell as Qifrey sets a jar of scented soap, towels, and their bedtime robes nearby. He turns to find Olruggio stripping off his heavy cloak and haphazardly removing his soaked clothing. There was seldom grace in Olruggio’s day-to-day actions, but Qifrey knows him better, knows how his body can move under him.
Qifrey blushes when Olruggio tears away his drenched shirt. Qifrey had the honor of watching Olruggio grow into the man he is now. Qifrey had watched in curiosity that quickly turned into desire as his Olly’s body filled out, his shoulders widened, and his firm muscles formed under his soft flesh. Thick, dark hair began to grow across Olruggio’s chest, stomach, arms, legs, and all the places that were forbidden to Qifrey until now.
“Gettin’ an eyeful?”
Caught, Qifrey giggles and covers his face in shame. “I suppose I was staring.”
“Come on, now,” Olruggio teases and pulls Qifrey to him. “Help a pitiful man out of his clothes, would ya?”
Qifrey looks down at Olruggio as he places his hands on his shoulders. For being out in the rain, Olruggio is warm. Freckles line Olruggio’s skin, and light-colored stretch marks paint his body in all the places that grew too fast.
“Already took care of my shirt,” Olruggio whispers. “Somethin’ is a bit more pressin’.”
“Patience, Sir Witch,” Qifrey answers. “Let me learn you.”
Olruggio laughs. “Learn me? I believe you have learned every inch of me over all the nights we’ve had, darlin’.”
Qifrey doesn’t know how to tell Olruggio his fears, so instead, he moves his hands over Olruggio’s arms, squeezing the muscle and flesh, until their hands meet. He draws them up to his lips and kisses each finger, fully aware of how it makes Olruggio’s cheeks grow red, and his knees grow weak.
Gently, he places them back against Olruggio’s side and places his hands on Olruggio’s chest and digs his fingers into the thick hair that grows there. Qifrey’s body hair is light and sparse, unlike Olruggio’s. Qifrey follows the hair down to Olruggio’s soft stomach, proud of how he kept Olruggio fed even in the witch’s most locked-away times with the most urgent deadlines.
Finally, he is at the skirt’s band. He digs his fingers between cloth and skin, and Olruggio sighs at the touch.
“How I yearned for this,” Qifrey whispers as he traces along Olruggio’s waist. “To see you bare of these wretched robes is the highlight of my entire day.”
He pulls the skirt down, revealing Olruggio’s cream linen braies with lace trim, and further down, his stockings held up with garters.
Olruggio always made his best attempt to hide how bashful he was as Qifrey undressed him, but the dark blush starting in his cheeks and working its way down his neck gave him away.
“That’s enough,” Olruggio grunts and steps back from Qifrey.
“It would be unwise to bathe in such conditions.” Qifrey reaches out to trace along the edging of the braies, feeling the warmth his body provides. “Let the master of this home help his dearest Watchful Eye, won’t you?”
Olruggio rolls his eyes, defeated, and pulls Qifrey to him, and they are kissing again. Qifrey feels the hunger in him grow, and he pulls down Olruggio’s braies as he sinks to his knees.
Before him, Olruggio is already hard, his cock heavily hanging near Qifrey’s face. Qifrey is well acquainted with this part of Olruggio, but each time he is taken aback by just how beautiful it is. Thick and nestled against black curls, Qifrey has experienced wonders from his lover’s cock, and he knows just all the ways Olruggio likes it to be touched, tasted, and worshiped.
“Don’t, darlin’,” Olruggio warns. “I’ve been travelin’ all day. After the bath, you can kiss and touch all you’d like.”
Qifrey pouts, but obeys, instead focusing his efforts on the garters and stockings, though he does give the tip a small kiss, licking away the bead of cum. He tastes Olruggio, the sweetness he craves, but he holds back. There was no use in doing what he wanted if it would bother Olruggio.
Instead, he guides Olruggio to the bath and coaxes him in before undressing himself. He does it unceremoniously, throwing clothes this way and that, and if it wasn’t for Olruggio’s quiet whistle, he wouldn’t have thought a thing about it.
For a short moment, he glances at himself in the mirror before turning away. He doesn’t like to see the scars on his pale, lithe body. He doesn’t wish to see his own sharp shoulders, stomach, or cock, for he is a poor figure next to Olruggio, though he knows his lover would laugh him out of hearth and home if he ever said it.
Bare of his robes, Qifrey turns to the tub where Olruggio waits, hair already soapy, and is met with a soft smile.
“Have I told you yet just how beautiful you are?” Olruggio asks.
The question is genuine, honest, and true as the stars in the sky, but Qifrey hates it. He doesn’t want to see himself and all that is wrong with him, but instead all the goodness before him in a man who stayed by his side too long to be sane.
“You ask me that every day,” Qifrey teases as he steps into the warm water.
Olruggio nods, offering his hand to Qifrey. “And one day you might just believe me.”
It’s a trick, a joke that Qifrey knows Olruggio doesn’t understand, so Qifrey doesn’t press. Olruggio is far too good to see how much it hurts, and one day Qifrey will be brave enough to tell him, but for now, he feels he deserves this pain. It's the least he could put up with for all the suffering he had forced onto Olruggio.
It strikes him like a whip. Each time he has taken Olruggio’s memories fills his lungs, veins, and head until he can no longer see the witch in front of him, so he dunks his head into the water. Here, he can only hear the water moving around him. He used to despise it, but now, it feels almost peaceful.
Drowning can be peaceful in the right light, he supposes.
But he can’t stay there, so he breaks through the surface and shakes his head like a dog, flinging water across the room.
“Hey!” Olruggio hollers and wraps his arms around Qifrey. “You are goin’ get the towels wet.”
Qifrey squirms in Olruggio’s hold, and before long, they are splashing each other like they are children in the river again. His laughter soon fills from the hollowness as Olruggio pushes him against the wall of the sunken tub and nips at his neck.
The pressure of his teeth forces Qifrey to draw a breath, sharp and sudden, followed by a happy exhale. Olruggio knows exactly what to do and begins to suck at the delicate skin as he grabs a fistful of Qifrey’s wet hair to tug his head to the side.
“Does this excite you?” Olruggio whispers into his ear, his voice so deep that it makes Qifrey tremble. Olruggio’s hand skirts down Qifrey’s stomach and takes hold of Qifrey’s cock. “Looks like it does, my good witch.”
“Everything about you excites me,” Qifrey answers. “But here is not the place. I have things I wish to do that would be better suited for our bed.”
Olruggio tenses. “Your bed, you mean.”
Here they were back at the thorn in their side.
Qifrey draws back to meet Olruggio’s gaze. “You know-”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Olruggio spits as he pushes away from Qifrey and retrieves the soap. “The Watchful Eye must live apart and at a distance, whatever.”
Neither of them wanted this fight as they both knew better. Perhaps one day, they could challenge it, but their wounds were still too fresh. Each time Olruggio announced he would be going to The Great Hall to change some minds, Qifrey begged him to wait just a little longer, just until the headaches went away and the girls settled back into their teachings.
But even though his body’s burden was gone, the headaches remained, and the girls all had new worries they never should have experienced.
“Come here,” Olruggio instructs, lathering up his hands with the scented soap. “Let me wash your hair.”
Qifrey allows himself to enjoy this comfort. He has to kneel slightly for Olruggio to scrub against Qifrey’s hair, but the feeling of Olruggio’s strong fingers against his scalp is glorious. Using his nails, Olruggio drags the soap through Qifrey’s hair, causing shivers to spark down his back. Qifrey followed Olruggio’s motions, allowing his head to be dipped back into the water and the soap to be rinsed.
Olruggio moves from Qifrey’s head down to his shoulders. Using his thumbs, he presses circles into Qifrey’s tensed body. He moved down his arms, down his spine, down his sides, and finally to his hips. He pulls them back so Qifrey can feel Olruggio’s erection against his backside.
“Let’s make this quick,” Olruggio suggests. “I believe you mentioned somethin’ about a bed?”
Qifrey turns in Olruggio’s hold and swallows a moan when their hips meet. He wants to take both their cocks in his grasp and stroke, but Olruggio has the look of someone committed to his idea.
“Tell me then, love,” Qifrey whispers. “Tell me what you want. To ride, or be ridden?”
Olruggio chuckles deeply. “You know my answer.”
Qifrey does, and he grabs Olruggio’s ass as a promise of what is to come, before he moves on to washing with careful speed. He doesn’t offer the massage Olruggio has given him, mostly because he worries that Olruggio will curse him for taking too long. Another day, or even perhaps after what awaits them, he can give Olruggio a proper wash.
They dry themselves off quickly, wrap themselves in their long morning robes, and quietly race through from the Qifrey’s washroom to his bedroom. There would be no reason for the girls to be in his wing, but he wouldn’t risk the chance.
They did know never to go into Master Qifrey’s bedroom without a very good reason, and even then,only with permission. He was thankful he had that rule for the moment he shut his door, he was free to tear Olruggio from his robes and pull him to bed. They land against the unmade bed with far too many quilts and pillows.
“I’ve thought of this all day,” Olruggio says as he pushes Qifrey onto his back. “It’s all I could think about as I was knee deep in the mud and pelted with freezing rain.” Olruggio draws Qifrey into a kiss before pulling away. “I helped this old woman and her cart full of vegetables safely to where the road wasn’t washed out, and all I could imagine was what it would be like to fuck in it.”
“The cart?” Qifrey laughs.
“Oh yes,” Olruggio pushes a knee between Qifrey’s thighs to part his legs. “You naked among the carapace yams, me in your lap with your prick up me.”
“Don’t be crass,” Qifrey laughs, pretending he has an ounce of modesty.
“How long has it been?” Olruggio continues as though Qifrey said nothing. “Feels like weeks at least.”
Olruggio lies his heavier, warmer body over Qifrey, and Qifrey’s hips thrust in response, and they are kissing again. Qifrey wants to feel nothing but Olruggio’s skin against his, and he could stay here forever. Olruggio digs his hand under Qifrey’s head to grab at his hair, and using the hold he has, rolls Qifrey on top of him.
“Olly!”
“Too much for ya?” Olruggio teases and nips at Qifrey’s bottom lip.
Qifrey manages to escape Olruggio’s hold and reaches under his bed. “You are needy tonight.”
“As I said, it’s been a while, so let’s get movin’.”
Qifrey retrieves the diamond-shaped bottle from under his bed. It contains scented oil, something he bought at the market that is safe to use for purposes other than cooking.
When he turns back to Olruggio, he finds he has shifted up on the bed so he is reclined against the pillows, with one being tucked under his ass. His legs are parted, and his knees rest lazily against the sheets. He strokes himself tenderly, clearly in no rush.
Qifrey could spend at the sight before him.
“Go on,” Olruggio moans, his voice impossibly low. “Get me ready for ya.”
Qifrey crawls until he is between Olruggio’s parted legs and sighs deeply. Olruggio’s thick thighs are covered in hair, and Qifrey wants to rest his head against them. Instead, he opens the bottle and pours a generous amount into his palm.
“Warmin’ it up for me?” Olruggio asks, his eyes focused on Qifrey’s every move.
Qifrey grins and rubs the oil against his hands until the temperature matches his own. Placing his left hand on Olruggio’s thigh to steady himself, he uses his right to breach Olruggio’s body.
“Good?” Qifrey whispers as he slowly presses a finger into Olruggio. “Is this too much?”
Olruggio’s eyes never leave his face. “Is that all you can do?”
Qifrey’s eyebrow raises at the challenge. “Olly.”
“Darlin’.”
The boyish competition sparks, and Qifrey leans forward just enough to take Olruggio’s cock in his mouth.
“Qifrey!”
There it is. Olruggio was all tough until Qifrey had his mouth on him. Qifrey continues to work the finger into him as he sucks Olruggio’s cock, taking special care to take the entire length at a terribly slow pace, matching the speed of his finger. Eventually, he adds a second, and then a third, and he is pumping his fingers into Olruggio until he is squirming.
“You horrible man,” Olruggio gasps, his hands grabbing Qifrey’s hair. “Horrible, terrible, man.”
Qifrey lets go of Olruggio’s cock, knowing that he has taken the lead in this friendly, unspoken competition. He pulls his fingers from Olruggio’s ass and wipes them against his abandoned robe.
“How is that for ‘all I can do’?”
Olruggio is a wreck below him. His hair is sweaty against the pillow, and his eyes burn with desire.
“Fuck me already,” Olruggio begs. “Come on, Qifrey.”
Qifrey hums and cocks his head to the side. “I don’t know, you look quite pretty like this.”
Olruggio growls. “I swear I’ll leave this bed-”
Qifrey moves with speed, scooping Olruggio’s legs over his shoulders and nearly folding the poor witch in half so he can kiss him. Olruggio makes delicious noises against his lips, and Qifrey uses the distraction to pour more oil into his hand and coat his cock with it. There is no time to warm it up, as Olruggio is begging underneath him for Qifrey to fuck him.
“Please, darlin’, I want to feel you,” Olruggio pants. “I want your cock in me. What are you waitin’ for?”
Qifrey hears Olruggio’s desire, his need for closeness, and Qifrey obeys. He pushes himself up onto his hands and presses into Olruggio. He gasps at the heat and tightness, and forces himself to watch Olruggio’s face. He needs to know Olruggio is enjoying this. Nothing else matters but that.
“Finally,” Olruggio groans between clenched teeth. “It’s been too long.”
Tears stream down Olruggio’s face, but Qifrey knows this isn’t a bad thing. It's a relief for Olruggio, and Qifrey presses forward a little more as Olruggio’s body relaxes, until the last muscles give, and he is fully seated. Their hips are pressed flush, and Qifrey lowers his body so Olruggio’s cock is pressed between them.
“Can you manage this position?” Qifrey asks.
“This is perfect,” Olruggio answers. “Kiss me?”
Qifrey kisses him, and he is grateful for the extra height he has over Olruggio.
Below him, Olruggio is lost to the night. He's groaning, panting, and his body tenses around Qifrey’s cock. Qifrey has to take a moment so he doesn’t cum right there, and when he feels he can brave it, he pulls back only enough to thrust back in hard.
“That’s it,” Olruggio cries out between uncoordinated kisses. “There, Qifrey, right there!”
Olruggio doesn’t need any special work, no fancy moves, just Qifrey against him and hard but steady movement. Qifrey can hardly keep up, but he refuses to let Olruggio down. He digs his knees deeper into the mattress as he works in and out of Olruggio.
“You’re fuckin’ me so good,” Olruggio moans as his hands come down to cup Qifrey’s face. A moment later, he says in a softer voice. “Look at me, Qifrey. I want to see you.”
Olruggio’s thumb wipes at Qifrey’s cheek, and he realizes then that he is crying.
“There is my best friend,” Olruggio whispers. “How lucky am I? Luckiest witch in all the world to have you, my sunlight.”
Qifrey can’t look at Olruggio’s softness right now, and breaks away from his hold to bite and suck at his neck. Olruggio offers him a kindness by not forcing him back and instead wraps his arms tightly around Qifrey’s shoulders and begs him not to stop.
“I’m nearly there,” Olruggio gasps. “Fuck, Qifrey, I’m right there-”
Qifrey kisses Olruggio again, forcing his lips open with his tongue. Their movements are messy, almost embarrassing, but he wants to be as close to Olruggio as possible. He doesn’t want to feel the air around them, the sky above, and the ground below, just them, in the safety of their home with their girls slumbering peacefully with no danger in sight. No curses, no monsters under the bed, no hard decisions. Nothing, none of it, just this warmth that his Olruggio gives him.
Olruggio cums with a deep moan, and Qifrey feels his friend’s spend between their bellies, sticky and warm. Qifrey knows that Olruggio is going to complain about it getting in his body hair, and he almost smiles at the thought, but Olruggio's words take his attention.
“That was so good, darlin’, that is what I needed, that is what we needed, I’ve missed you, damn it all, I’ve missed you, my Qifrey, my Qifrey, my sunlight…”
And that is enough for Qifrey. He cums in Olruggio in an ungraceful jerk of his hips. He calls out for Olruggio, and he feels strong arms holding him close. It's enough to bury his face against Olruggio’s warm neck and just breathe in his scent as his body comes down from his pleasure.
He never wants to forget, and he feels that he didn’t deserve it.
“Olly.” It’s all that Qifrey has in him to say, and he feels Olruggio’s lips press against his forehead.
“You did well,” Olruggio reassures him. “Rest.”
Qifrey takes a breath, and then another, and he finds himself still buried in Olruggio’s body, falling into a peaceful, quiet sleep.
***
Qifrey wakes at daybreak, curled up around Olruggio. Sometime in the night, Olruggio must have cleaned them both and helped Qifrey into a nightgown. Qifrey doesn’t remember any of this, but it doesn’t surprise him. He tends to get his best sleep when he knows Olruggio is next to him.
Olruggio snores so softly that it's nearly just a deep vibration. Qifrey puts his ear to Olruggio’s gown-covered chest and listens to his heartbeat as proof they are both here, calm and settled, and that the darkness around their home cannot enter.
The girls will be up soon.
Qifrey knows he has to wake Olruggio and force him back to the tower, but he still has time.
Olruggio mutters something in his sleep, and he pulls Qifrey even closer.
“What was that?” Qifrey whispers.
“Just sayin’,” Olruggio mutters. “I adore ya.” Olruggio takes another deep breath. "My sunlight."
Such a simple affection, but it tears Qifrey asunder. All the guilt he feels rattles in the chains he keeps behind when he is granted this softness. One day, he hopes he will feel deserving of it, and that is the hope that keeps him going when so much else is whispering for him to go.
The girls and Olruggio, and that is more than enough for him.
Qifrey smiles. “I adore you, my starlight.”
Together, they hold each other as a light rain falls onto the roof, luring Qifrey back into a happy slumber.