Chapter Text
The first time was next to the librarian's lake under a blue sky streaked with clouds. Qifrey had confessed his past, his burdens, his fears to Olruggio, who accepted him wholly and completely. Qifrey was consumed with a relief he had never before known. As his branches stretched into the day he knew this was fate, he was always destined to die the moment he knew happiness. This was how it should be. His roots reached for Olruggio, but Qifrey would rather die than hurt him. In a way he would soon would. This was how it had to be.
The stars gleamed in the night sky as wind rustled his branches. When did night come? Qifrey stared at the flaming ball of warmth in front of him. Before its last flicker, Olruggio returned. He brought with him a pain, a guilt, and a sorrow Qifrey had never known before. He begged and pleaded and cried and ragged against Olruggio's plan. Tears streaked down his face.
After, Qifrey sat on the edge of the lake, feeling for all the world had come crashing down on him, knowing he would never know peace and he had robbed Olruggio of a future he deserved.
---
It was a few years later before Olruggio's next memory wipe. The two had been adventuring out more often. Exploring the world and helping those who crossed their path. They had spent a perfect weekend together and were headed back to the bottom of the ocean; refreshing beast warding spells along the road as they went.
A pack of wyverns flew overhead. Qifrey gazed up at them, never failing to wonder at their beauty. Wonderful creatures.
"Oie, planning to let that burn?" Olly yelled.
Qifrey hopped to his feet, pulling their dinner further away from the fire. The wind had picked up while Qifrey was distracted, the flames had grown in size and we're flicking more towards him. Qifrey mixed the stew to prevent burning on the bottom of the pot and took a seat a little upwind of the fire. Since his discovery, he has been more careful to stay uncomfortable.
Olly walked over with their sleeping bags in his arms. He tossed one to Qifrey who held onto it in his lap as he watched Olly spread his own out inside the tent.
"Did you see that old man juggling in town?" Olly asked.
"I did." Qifrey said not sure why Olly was bringing it up now. They were a few days away from the bustling markets and friendly faces.
"I think he was flirting with that grandma." Olly mused as he sat down next to Qifrey. He was a little too close. He was warm.
"I'm surprised you noticed that." Then Qifrey laughed, "But I guess it did take you a whole three days to."
"What?" Olly gawked. "You don't think I can notice these kinds of things?"
"Not usually" Qifrey got up and served each of them some stew.
"Well, I'm much better at reading the room than you are." Olly reached up from his seat on the ground to grab the wooden bowl from Qifrey.
"Absolutely not. Name one time you read a room that I didn't." Qifrey sat down a little farther away from Olly than he started. Olly eyed him and Qifrey wasn't sure if that was in response to the jibe or an acknowledgement of the newly added distance.
"Remember those two apprentices in the hallway by Master Giallae's atelier?" Olly asked.
"Meadie and Bairea. Yes..." Qifrey didn't like where this was going because he didn't know how he could have possibly read that situation wrong.
"You said oh they must be such good friends to have those matching bracelets." Olly smirked and Qifrey groaned. Where was this going? "That clearly they must be very good friends"
Qifrey eyed Olly suspiciously.
"And then the girl said they're not matching." Olly said, eyeing Qifrey back.
"Yes, she made it clear the two of them just happened to have the same bracelet."
"Then the boy ran away. Do you know why the boy ran away, Qifrey?"
Qifrey groaned, this is what he missed. "No..."
"They were clearly a new buddin' romance!" Olly smirked at Qifrey. "You embarrassed the poor girl and in trying to deny it she hurt the boy's feelings. Young love is fragile, Qifrey."
"I see... well I suppose that's certainly one interpretation of the events." Qifrey said through spoonfuls of stew.
"Oh? And what's yours?" Olly queried any eyebrow.
"Well... now it's that one too." Qifrey said while pointedly not looking at Olly.
Qifrey consented to defeat and the two talked on late into the night. Stars twinkling overhead. It was times like these that felt like they could last a lifetime yet somehow ended so soon.
Too distracted by how much fun he was having just talking to Olruggio, Qifrey missed the tell tale creak from within. He couldn't hide the tree branch that sprouted from him. He couldn't hide from Olruggio that he knew exactly what was happening to him. Olruggio was confused; he asked a lot of questions but urgency of time became apparent as Qifrey grew at an alarming rate. There was a clear hurt on his face. Yet he didn't try to blame Qifrey, he didn't complain like he does about everything, he didn't scold Qifrey like he does about everything. He took Qifrey by the hand. He consoled him. Told him he forgave him for lying to him. Qifrey cried, he wailed, he didn't deserve such kindness for deceiving the person closest to him. And to Qifrey's horror, Olruggio offered the same path out as last time.
Olruggio wiped his own memory. A perfect day gone.
---
Olly has been talking about the future more often these days. Qifrey loved to hear about all the things Olly had in mind. From the mundane wants, like changing the material his hat is covered by but still keeping it black. To the grandiose, like becoming the greatest witch to ever live.
"You have no idea how uncomfortable sleeping on a hammock everyday is going to be." Qifrey said as the two made their way through the Great Hall.
"Hammocks are comfortable." Olly replied, "Have you ever even seen one?"
"I've seen one." Qifrey snapped. He had not.
"Oh yeah? Where?" Olly poked his nose in Qifrey's face.
"In a book on outdoor living." Qifrey pouted.
"See? You have no idea." Olly grinned triumphantly.
"Well have you slept in one before?" The white haired witch smirked, knowing he got the other one with that. Sure enough, Olly just waved his hand in the air and dismissed the idea with a half hearted excuse. It was nice, the rhythm they had fallen into, chatting about nothing and about everything all at once. As if the world was some grand experience waiting for them. Qifrey knew better though. It was not what waited for him.
A few topics and stair ways later, Qifrey realized he wasn't sure where they were walking to. He tried to take a step to the door way on their right but Olly kept on the path, he had a destination in mind. So Qifrey followed his friend. He would follow him anywhere. Wherever it may lead.
Eventually Olly slowed to a stop in front of a water doorway. Qifrey looked outside admiring a school of fish swimming by. Not as cool as a herd of wyrms flying overhead though.
"Hey Qifrey" Olly said as if the two hadn't been talking together this whole time. Qifrey tilted his head to get a better look at Olly who was looking down. "What do you picture when you think of the future?"
"Hmm?" Qifrey leaned back against the arch pillar of the water door, "I picture rolling hills of grass and a wide open sky."
"Yeah..." Olly said, still looking down at the ground.
"Why?" Olly already knew this, they talked about it a bit at the old pasture house.
"Well..." Olly hesitated but Qifrey waited patiently for him. "When I picture the future there’s always something different." Qifrey hummed in confirmation, he knew this. Olly's plans have been changing and evolving at a rapid rate these days. "But there's one thing in all of them that's the same."
Olruggio lifted his head to meet Qifrey's eyes. "You."
Qifrey stared into those dark beautiful eyes that drew him in with an irresistible pull. His heart ached with want and fear. Fear; fear as he felt a slow creeping spread across his back from within. Despite himself he was leaning in, closer, and closer to Olly. His pointers and thumbs holding his two hands together in a nervous habit he couldn't shake.
Olruggio took a step closer. One had bracing against the wall behind Qifrey as he leaned in. One hand hovering over Qifrey's cheek.
"Qifrey?" Olly asked without asking and all Qifrey could do was lean into that warm hand he knew so well. They were almost the same height now.
Soft lips pressed shyly against Qifrey’s.
All the world faded away. For one perfect moment, there was only the two of them. Then he heard Olly, "Qifrey! Qifrey! Are you ok? Can you hear me?"
He was on the ground, cradled in Olly's arms. He could feel it. He didn't have long before Olly would be face to face with what Qifrey really is. So in his daze, he told Olruggio everything. Almost everything. Qifrey tried to leave out the bit about memory wiping, maybe he could end it here.
"Qifrey, I don't understand. After all this after everything. There's something you're still not telling me. Why?" Olly begged him. It hurt Qifrey to see his friend's face contorted in pain like this.
"You can live a life Olly, please, just leave me be." Qifrey pleaded.
"What aren't you telling me, Qifrey, please." Olruggio pulled Qifrey close, cradling his face in warm hands. How could Qifrey deny this boy anything? He caved. Then, just like time, to Qifrey's horror, Olruggio forgave him, consoled him, and took his own memories.
---
Qifrey sighed into Olly's mouth. Gentle rhythmic movements pressed against desperate needy lips. Qifrey kept the other at bay with his hand tangled in a swath of raven hair at the nap of Olly's neck. His kisses were firm. Confident in what they want, more. Qifrey couldn't let them escalate too quickly though. This entire situation was a slow build up, easing himself into Olruggio's waiting arms over the course of a few months.
The two were sitting on Qifrey's bedroom floor, as they had begun to make a habit of. Olly had a bunk mate so they could never go to his room. Qifrey had his own room but the looming threat of Master Beldaruit 'randomly' popping in had kept the two out of here for some years. Luckily, Master Beldaruit was volun-told to join a committee council as part of his role as a Wise One to oversee the proceedings and decision making of major restructuring of education plans. Which is to say, he would be fully preoccupied for over a whole clock mark once a week for at least a few more months.
The two sat facing each other, their legs tangled together. Qifrey's hand tangled in Olly's hair. The raven haired witch's hands firmly on Qifrey's hips, the thumb of his right hand rubbing circles into Qifrey's hip bone. The room was quiet, except for the sound of breath and pleasant hums.
Olly runs his tongue along Qifrey's bottom lip, a tiny lick really, but one that sends jolt down Qifrey's whole body. Clearly noticing, Olly licks Qifrey's mouth more boldly, flat tongue running over reddened lips pressing them apart. All the while their mouths never parted.
Greedily Olly explores the inside of Qifrey's mouth. A foreign but not unwelcome sensation. Hesitantly, Qifrey's own tongue meets the other. The sensation of the two pressed together, sliding past each other, draws a deep moan from the back of his throat. He tries to pull back. Embarrassed and a little overwhelmed. But Olly closes the space between them, his hand sliding up Qifrey's back pressing their chest together. Qifrey tightens his grip in raven hair, he tries to pull Olly back for a little reprieve.
Olly groans into Qifrey's mouth. An unexpected response that sent chills down Qifrey's whole body. There's a sharp inhale of breadth as Olly raises himself a little higher onto one knee. Now slightly kneeling over him, Qifrey's head is tilted up and he can feel his free hand desperately clutching at Olly's bicep.
The firm had at his waist slipped under his shirt as Olly continued his ministrations along the white haired witch's side. Qifrey can distantly hear his own gasp as he squirms under warm hands. Olruggio's slowly working his way around and up his back.
He pauses. He pauses long enough to Qifrey to catch his breath. Olly rubs his thumb back and forth across Qifrey's back.
"Olly?" Qifrey asks, fully confused by the change in pace.
"I- uh" Olly said sitting back down on the floor, "This might be a weird question to ask you at a time like this but- uh- is you back ok?"
"What?"
"Well- I-, it's just that I think there’s like a lump or something." Olruggio said, rubbing the back of his own neck in a sheepish manner. Qifrey felt himself run cold, suddenly aware of the movements underneath his own skin, creeping to the surface. "It's just that some of the grandmas in the nearby village always said, if you find a growth you need to go see a doctor. So uh- yeah better sooner than later right? I can check it out for you first though."
What should he do? If he plays dumb there's no way Olruggio would just let it go without checking. The vines have never gone away fast enough after a make out session not to incur suspicion if he tries to stall before showing. He could confess everything all over again. As long as the vines stay at bay, he can just go cool down on his own and no memory wiping needed. So that's what he does. Again.
"That sounds..." Olly said, leaning back against his hands.
"You don't believe me?" Qifrey half laughed. It was a foreign concept to most.
"I don't think you'd lie to me either though. It's just, I guess I don't really understand it." Olly looked up at Qifrey, his head still pointed downwards.
"Would you like to see?" Qifrey asked, shifting in his seat.
"Are you okay with that?" Olly shifted back to give Qifrey some space to take off his top.
"mhmm" Qifrey hummed in confirmation as he unlaced his collar and pulled his shirt down his shoulders. Olly gasped.
"Does it hurt?" He asked leaning in, brows furrowed.
"A little." Enough to loom over pleasant moments but easy enough to drown out when Qifrey gets a little too happy.
"I'm sorry you've had to deal with this alone for so long." Olruggio looked down at the ground grimacing. "I'm sorry you had to lie to me."
"Oh Olly." Qifrey brushed a tier from Olruggio's eye. The other caught his hand and kept it held there against his cheek.
Through overgrown bangs he looked up at Qifrey, "I understand why you had to do it. I'd much rather have you in my life than a few memories here and there."
Qifrey's chest twisted into a tight ball. 'A few memories here and there' was that all their first kiss was now?
"Hey now, that's not what I meant." Olly said, pulling Qifrey in closer. Had he said that out loud? "Listen, people forget things all the time. And I'm glad you remember our first. I have my own first to remember."
Olly kissed Qifrey. And he kissed him again, and again. "Olly?" Qifrey laughed, shielding his face with his hand in embarrassment.
"See how nice that is?" Olly smiled at him. "I'd take a thousand kisses with you in the future, over one in the past."
"Oh Olly. How can someone be so kind?" Qifrey leaned his head against Olly's shoulder. Maybe things could work out. They had been taking it slow and nothing had really happened. If Olly knew the truth, the whole truth, then going forward they just talk. No secrets. That feels right.
Qifrey signed into Olly's embrace. This is where he's meant to be.
"Qifrey! Qifrey!" Olly's cry and shaking him. Why? What's wrong? "Qifrey please. Please don't die on me."
Oh. It's happening. He let his guard down. Of course he messed this up right as things were looking up. Qifrey could see silver branches growing on either side of him. He felt groggy.
"You keep it in your hat right?" Olruggio's voice was raspy like he'd been crying hard.
"No, don't do it Olly. It's not worth it."
Olruggio climbed back through the branches toward Qifrey, the white haired witch's hat in hand.
"It's going to be okay, Qifrey. I promise." Olruggio said before dawning the silver gray hat upon his head.