Chapter Text
Olruggio's window is wide open when Qifrey arrives, a pale ghost in the night. He lands lightly on the windowsill, peering inside from under the brim of his hat— Olruggio, hunched over his desk, waves a 'come in' gesture without looking up.
Qifrey slinks inside, sylph shoes meeting the carpet soundlessly. He removes his hat, hanging it carelessly from one of the many warm lamps in the room as he walks past it. Olruggio stands, pushing himself up from the desk with a long sigh and a crack of his back, turning to face him.
Qifrey meets him with a kiss, draping himself over Olruggio's shoulders with a heavy exhale.
"...rough week?" Olruggio asks, amused, once they part, supporting Qifrey's weight with a hand on the small of his back.
"Mmph." Qifrey says intelligently, burying his face in Olruggio's neck. For a long moment, he just soaks up the other's presence, before reluctantly lifting his head with a sigh, "Not bad, just..." he absently picks at a loose thread on Olruggio's shirt, "Busy. Unimaginably so."
"Well, why don't you tell me all about it?" Olruggio says, guiding him over to the bed and pushing him down by the shoulders. Qifrey takes a seat with a huff, leaning back against the plush pillows and watching with half lidded eyes as Olruggio rummages through his wine cabinet, pulling out a bottle of willow-wine.
"I don't even know where to begin," Qifrey says exhaustedly, rubbing at his temples, "I... somehow, I seem to have found myself an apprentice."
Olruggio stops mid-pour, looking over his shoulder with raised eyebrows. "....really?"
"Really," Qifrey nods, "She's... a remarkably bright young girl. Honestly, she reminds me of you a little too much."
"Uh oh," Olruggio says teasingly, setting the bottle down, "You've got your hands full, then? How'd you even find her?"
"On a run for fabric, if you'll believe that," Qifrey huffs, before lowering his gaze, growing more serious. "I believe that the other brimcaps have their eyes on her, though. She... someone gave her a storybook with some truly awful spells. Her mother has been petrified."
"Shit," Olruggio says quietly, hands pausing, "That's... oh, Qifrey..."
"I won't turn her over to the Knights," Qifrey unclips his cloak, letting it slide off his shoulders, "They're more useless than fuck-all." Olruggio blinks at the swear— Qifrey keeps a level face, but this seems to have really gotten to him, "They would only erase her memory and do nothing to help. I... did not really see another option besides taking her in."
"I think you made the right call," Olruggio muses, putting the bottle back in its place and closing the cabinet door with a click, "You already sound like you're pretty invested in her wellbeing, so she's safe as can be. Plus, I mean... there's no way to undo something like that without more forbidden magic, right?"
"Indeed. That is... I believe that is why she agreed to come with me. I promised I would find a way to undo it. I've been doing my best, but the petrification spell is just..." Qifrey waves a hand in frustration, "It's going to take a while. I only hope I can provide everything she needs in the meantime."
"You wanna do the checklist?" Olruggio asks, turning around with two full glasses of wine, one of which he hands to Qifrey, who blinks at him.
"Olly, are you... planning to take the fifth test?" He asks, watching as Olruggio sets his own glass down to rummage through the haphazard stacks of paper on his desk.
"Nah," Olruggio waves a hand dismissively, pulling out a flyer-esque piece and squinting at it, "I know I don't have the time for apprentices. Not really cut out for that kinda thing. But they hand these things out at every bloody event." He picks up his own glass again and takes a seat next to Qifrey on the bed, "So, want to?"
"...yes," Qifrey sighs, taking a long sip of wine as he leans back against Olruggio's side. "Thank you, Olly."
"Yeah, yeah, such a big deal, reading words off a page. Oh how could you condemn me to such labor," Olruggio deadpans, taking a drink before smoothing the page out, "Okay, let's see... number one here is housing. Privacy and comfort, all the basics."
Qifrey hums, swirling the wine in his glass, "Coco has her own room. Adequate size, bed, dresser, desk..."
Olruggio nods, "Bathroom? Clothes, ink, paper, all that?"
"Bathroom, yes," Qifrey muses, "She said she would gladly make her own clothes if only I would provide fabric, which I still need to pick up... plenty of ink, plenty of paper."
"I could grab you some fabric, there's a nice shop down the road from here that I get discounts on."
"On account of being the famed Olruggio of the Torch?" Qifrey teases, taking another sip, "...I would like that, thank you."
"Sure. Uhm... she's getting three meals a day?"
"Mhm," Qifrey's gaze drops to his glass, "I do try to cook fresh every day, but leftovers for lunch are common..."
"Y'know, I'm getting sorta jealous of that girl," Olruggio mutters, shifting his shoulders so Qifrey's head falls into the crook of his neck.
"Oh?"
"Getting to have your cooking all day, every day..." Olruggio sighs wistfully, taking another drink of wine before looking down at the list, "You got medical supplies on hand?"
"Ah," Qifrey pauses, "I do need to restock those, yes..."
Olruggio raises an eyebrow down at him, "You're gonna have the regular stuff? You're not gonna, like... you know..."
"No," Qifrey says firmly, staring into the gently swirling wine, "Not unless she explicitly tells me to, no, I will not be using any magic on her. Besides... one shouldn't rely on magic for every little thing. I'm ensuring she knows how to start a fire without it, and how to purify water... how the Unknowing live. I believe it is important."
Olruggio is silent for a moment, and when Qifrey lifts his head to look at him, there's a fond smile on his face. "You know, I think you're gonna be a great teacher, Qifrey."
Qifrey stares at him for a moment, the faint beginnings of a rare smile beginning to tug at his lips, before he ducks his head again and busies himself with another sip of wine. "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Finish the list, Olly."
"Hmm. The rest of this is just curriculum... and, y'know, making sure she feels loved and safe and happy and all that." Olruggio takes another long sip, "Oh, and social interaction." He tilts his head, "She got any friends?"
"...I do not know," Qifrey says quietly, "I... oh, I don't think so. That..." he swirls the wine in his glass, frowning, "I've no idea what to do about that. Any of that, actually."
"I'm sure you'll figure out a curriculum easily enough," Olruggio tries, "And, hey... you shouldn't take responsibility for too much. Her mom's in trouble, she's gonna be dealing with that all the way. You just have to be there and do your best. Don't feel like a failure, okay? You have a tendency to do that."
"....thank you, Olly," Qifrey whispers, head tilted down. His bangs fall over his eyes, and his voice is small, "I'm not exactly a... a model of mental health, is what I worry about."
"You're alive, aren't you?" Olruggio says plainly, startling Qifrey into meeting his eyes. "You'll do fine. You care 'bout what happens to her, so you'll be extra careful. You've got a good heart."
Qifrey stares at him, mouth slightly open, before slowly closing it, gaze darting away. He swirls the wine left in his glass before draining the rest of it, setting it down on the bedside stand.
"...I will do my best," he murmurs, "It is all I can do." He sneaks a look at the paper in Olruggio's hand, "Is that all?"
"Should be," Olruggio muses, looking down at the list again, "Oh, actually," he chuckles, pointing to the bottom, "You're making sure she knows who to report to if she sees any signs of forbidden magic, right, Professor Brimcap?"
"Ugh," Qifrey rolls his eyes, slumping further into Olruggio's side. "Joy..."
"Well, now that that's over with..." Olruggio can't help a smirk as he tosses the list aside, setting his now-empty glass down on the bedside table. "Shall we?" He is the opposite of subtle with the up-and-down look he's giving Qifrey, who breathes out an "Oh god yes" as they collapse in on each-other, Olruggio hiking his leg over his hip as Qifrey's arms loop around his neck—
Knock knock.
They both freeze, eyes snapping to the door. Olruggio moves to shift, and Qifrey's arms tighten around him, keeping him in place. They exchange a look, letting the silence draw out...
Knock knock.
"Fucking..." Olruggio grumbles, reluctantly disentangling himself from Qifrey, who doesn't stop him, but makes his displeasure clear with a huff as the other clambers off of the bed, fixing his cloak as he steps over to the door.
"What—" He starts, voice sharp before it dies in his throat as he meets Aggot's questioning look. She stands outside his door, books held to her chest. Their eyes meet— Olruggio feels the irritation immediately vanish, guilt replacing it. She edges back, "...I can come back lat—"
"No! No, uh, I mean, I just..." Olruggio shakes his head, scrubbing a hand over his face, "I wasn't expectin' anyone tonight. Give me a second to clear off my desk, okay? Don't run off, I'm not kickin' you out."
Aggot eyes him skeptically, but after a moment, she nods, and Olruggio sighs as he closes the door halfway. He won't shut her out, but—
Qifrey, still on the bed, is frowning at him. As Olruggio turns around, the look on his face also lowers Qifrey's hackles, and he sits up.
"What is it?" Qifrey whispers, and Olruggio shakes his head, "A, uh... someone who needs my help with something. It won't take too long, just—" he looks around, before swinging open his closet door, "Go on, get."
Qifrey wrinkles his nose, but obeys, standing up and grabbing his cloak from the bed. "And take your bloody hat!" Olruggio whisper-hisses, waving at the very incriminating brimmed wicker cap still hanging on his lamp.
Once Qifrey— hat and all— is inside the closet, Olruggio shuts it carefully while watching the other flip through his palm quire for a light spell before the door clicks shut. He stares at it for a second, then sighs, and crosses to his desk, which is, in fact, rather messy. He sweeps the scattered pages to the side haphazardly and calls a "Come in," to the hallway.
After a moment, the door clicks open, and Aggot steps into his room, quiet as a mouse. Her gaze flicks around his room— Olruggio internally curses, she's too smart for this— but eventually returns to meet his eyes.
Olruggio tries for a smile. It comes out as more of a grimace.
"Sorry 'bout that," he rubs the back of his neck, pulling out the chair of his desk, "I've been real busy. So, what is it you need help with?"
Aggot crosses his room with another terrifyingly perceptive cursory look around, then takes a delicate seat at his desk. She sets the books she's carrying down, flipping the first open to a dog-eared page. Olruggio pulls up a stool for himself, frowning at the book— dog-earing isn't Aggot's style.
"Is this..."
"It's Richeh's." Aggot says curtly, pressing down on the spine to make sure the book lays flat. She doesn't meet his eyes as she takes her wand and a vial of ink out, "She was crying earlier. It was about this." She gestures down at the half-written spell. It's surrounded by many, many scribbled out sketches, and a few haphazard ink blots that look a lot like what happens when you stab something with a pen.
Olruggio winces.
"Her master again...?"
"He doesn't listen to her," Aggot mutters, uncapping the vial of ink. Her gaze is flinty when she finally meets his eyes, "She doesn't understand these, doesn't want to understand them. As punishment, he won't explain anything to her, but is still making her do it." Olruggio curses under his breath, leaning over to look at the sigil in more detail. He's heard a lot about this lately... might be time to report a certain someone.
"So you're doin' it for her?" He raises an eyebrow. She bristles, perceiving it as mocking, but doesn't back down. Her lips thin, "Yes." The look she's giving him is clear; problem?
Olruggio tries and fails to hide a smile. "You're a lot kinder than you think you are, you know that?"
Aggot blinks at him, brows un-furrowing from the glare, before she scoffs and drops her gaze back down to the page. "Are you going to help me or not?"
"Sure, sure, little cactus," Olruggio chuckles, leaning his elbows on his desk and ignoring the scowl he gets for it in favor of tilting the book towards himself, "Yeah, this looks... eugh," he mutters, resting his hand on a chin, "Definitely too complicated for students your age. Basically, this is a light pillar spell, but made to refract."
Aggot gives him that expression he's come to associate with her so well— nearly blank, an empty 'use words better, fool' look that just barely fails to cover a burning curiosity, a need to understand, to improve.
"Uh... how do I put this..." Olruggio sighs, imagining Qifrey, a few feet away, shaking with the effort it takes to keep his mouth shut, "Think of a hallway of mirrors. This spell is basically tryin' to form an outer shell of reflection and keep all the light contained inside. It's used for beacons, mostly. Like a..." he gestures and makes a 'whoosh' sound effect, "Big ol' laser."
The deadpan look Aggot gives him at his five-year-old-level hand-explaining is priceless.
"Why not just use a regular light spell with pillar signs?"
"Cause, uh... okay, lemme sketch this..." Olruggio reaches for the nearest page, covered in sketches, and flips it over to the blank side. With practiced ease, he pens out a light sign and surrounds it with neat, even pillar sigils. He draws a circle, closing the gap, and a white light pours from the page, aimed up towards the ceiling.
"See how it's flarin' out at the bottom?" Olruggio points, "It doesn't go far, either." He taps the page of Richeh's book, "This is basically designed to make a really long beam of light that stays the same strength all the way."
Aggot frowns contemplatively, glancing at his spell, watching the light dim and fade and die, then back to the one in front of her.
"That... makes sense," she muses, "I could explain that to her."
"Eh..." Olruggio sighs, leaning back, "To be honest, mirror spells are just plain rotten to figure out on your own. Especially if you're goin' for translucent ones. Like I said, this stuff is way too convoluted for you kids."
Aggot's expression sharpens— he holds a hand up. "Not callin' you dumb, remember? I'm callin' it irresponsible on her master's half. You lot aren't goin' to learn anything you can use from this. Needlessly complicated, non-intuitive bullshit... this sounds more like he's foistin' off his own homework onto his student. What rubbish..."
Aggot nods in grim agreement, eyes dropping back to the spell. "...So, how is it done?"
At that, Olruggio deflates. "I... think finishing it is a bad idea," he says slowly, "It's real sweet that you want to help your friend out, but if my hunch is right, if Richeh turns in something that works, he'll just nab it as his own. I don't want that to happen to either of your work."
Aggot looks at him, really looks, before muttering, "Then what do I do?"
"Don't," Olruggio says simply, "I'll go have some words with him."
Aggot looks mildly vindicated at that, and nods, before pausing. "I... won't turn it in," she muses, "But I do think that Richeh might really enjoy this spell if she understood it. And I want to understand as much as I can, too."
"Ah. So you..."
"I still want you to teach me the spell, yes."
Olruggio blows out a slow, heavy sigh, crossing his arms. He can understand the spell, sure, but he meant it when he said mirror spells are needlessly complex. "Well, to start, I think water is a better idea than a crystal mirror," he tries, "And water magic isn't really my thing, so..."
Aggot doesn't drop her steely gaze. Olruggio glances to her, then to the closet door, and then back to her, and groans.
"...I'm guessing you want to help?" He calls out to the closet door, which immediately slams open, revealing Qifrey, looking just as harried as Olruggio imagined he would be. Aggot jumps in her seat, expression hardening again.
"Who are you?" She says frostily— Qifrey pays no mind to the hostility, crossing the room with quick steps that betray the restraint he's been exhibiting the last few minutes. Olruggio blinks as he notices that Qifrey has covered his right eye with his bangs— the silver one, the one with the seal— and shoots him a grateful look.
"Uhm... this is a friend," he tells Aggot, whose eyes narrow to vengeful purple slits, "He's allowed to be here, it's fine." He lies— the Knights would have his head, famed inventor or not.
"A mirror spell?" Qifrey doesn't bother grabbing a stool, just leaning over the table, single visible eye flicking over the paper with quick, surgical movements. "Ah, I see. What you need to do in order to extend it is add a cyclic cause that repeats the entire spell, like so..."
Olruggio smirks and leans back so Qifrey has room to bend over the table and sketch on the paper.
"The water in this case needs to act as more of a skin— think of it like making a pillar of water, and then hollowing out the inside," he explains— Aggot, who has been regarding him with nothing short of suspicion, starts to pay attention without even realizing it. Olruggio has to repress a laugh— Qifrey's worried about his abilities as a teacher? Yeah, right.
"...Don't you have to make it really long, then?" Aggot asks after a moment, eyeing the sigil Qifrey just drew in about fifteen seconds flat with skepticism.
"Ah, but that's the thing, you make the extension part of the repetition. Imagine..." another few deft, precise pen strokes later, and a ring of water gently hovers above the page. Qifrey makes a circling motion, "Treat this as the base state of it. A disc of water, and inside, the light that refracts. Then, you take this base, and stack it vertically. Simply add a repetition clause here, like so..."
Qifrey pens a short addition to the circle, and the disc begins to spiral, layer after layer of thin rings gracefully sweeping into existence. Aggot watches with wide eyes, before peering intently at the sigil he wrote.
"...I didn't know you could repeat it in certain directions," she mumbles after the rings finish their construction, eyes narrowing once again in reluctant curiosity, "That's what those do... I see..."
Qifrey nods, unsmiling but, to Olruggio, clearly quite pleased. He leans back on the stool, watching Qifrey wipe his pen off with a chuckle.
"See? You're great at it." He teases. Qifrey glances at him over his shoulder, but his attention immediately snaps back to Aggot when she lifts the page with a quiet, "Is this right?"
"Yes, very good. Ah, but do be careful with the direction of the sigils. The open end of region governs the domain of the spell." he squints at her pen-work, "Goodness, what ink..."
"It's spare," Aggot mutters, cheeks going slightly pink as she lays the page flat again, "I don't like wasting Silverwood ink on sketches, and I don't want to risk accidentally activating one."
"Oh, no, I meant..." Qifrey peers at the vial curiously— Olruggio imagines the sigil on his right eye dilating as it always does when he looks closely at things, "It is Silverwood ink, just extremely diluted."
Aggot's pen stills over the page. "...what?"
"I can't imagine anyone having luck activating a spell with this," Qifrey muses, plucking the vial from the table and holding it up to the light, swirling it faintly, "But yes, there is magic ink in there. What an unusual thing to do..." He hands it back to Aggot, who takes it with a frown, studying it closely.
"How... can you tell? Is it the color?"
"....no," Qifrey says, single visible eye sliding to Olruggio in a clear 'help, I don't want to answer this question' gesture. Olruggio shakes his head, a faint smirk on his face. "Nah, I'm curious to hear this answer also. You're like a bloodhound for that stuff. How do you do it?"
"Well," Qifrey says, miffed, eye narrowing, "I'm allowed my secrets, Olly."
Aggot wrinkles her nose at him. "Olly?" She echoes, before giving a sharp look to Qifrey, "You never answered my question. Who are you?"
Qifrey and Olruggio exchange a glance.
"A... friend?" Olruggio tries.
"Acquaintance." Qifrey offers.
"Client."
"Appreciator of magical genius."
"A fan?"
"No."
"You're the person he got caught making out with at the festival last year, aren't you." Aggot deadpans.
Olruggio startles, a flush creeping up his neck, while Qifrey just looks mildly surprised. He blinks, tilting his head to raise an eyebrow at Olruggio.
"I don't remember being caught."
"Someone... someone came up to me after, they saw..." Olruggio buries his face in his hands, voice weak, "It's— it's nothing, nothing happened, it's fine... Aggot, how— how did you hear about that?"
"Tetia." Aggot answers simply, watching him groan at the answer.
"Of course..." Olruggio mutters, refusing to lift his face from his hiding spot.
"Another apprentice?" Qifrey questions, turning to Aggot, who nods. "You seem quite familiar with them."
Aggot tenses, a hint of defensiveness creeping over her face, but Qifrey holds up a hand before she can defend herself, "I apologize, that sounded rather judgmental. Really, I... I do think it's a wonderful thing." He folds his hands under his cloak, gaze dropping to the table contemplatively, "To have friends one's own age, studying the same thing..."
Olruggio, now that the conversation has turned and it's safe, lowers his hands to look at Qifrey.
Aggot just frowns. "It's not that wonderful," she mutters, picking up her pen again, "They're... loud, sometimes. And they bother you when you're busy. And they talk to you about things you don't care about."
"Mmm, isn't it nice?" Qifrey muses, visible eye going half-lidded, "I do wish there was a way..."
"A way to what?" Aggot questions, raising an eyebrow with some returning suspicion.
Olruggio glances at Qifrey, who gives a tiny 'go ahead' nod.
"He's got an apprentice too," he explains to Aggot, who blinks, "Thing is, they sort of live in the middle of nowhere, n' he's worried about her not havin' any company."
"Oh." Is all Aggot says, watching them for a moment longer before returning to her spell.
"I'll figure something out," Qifrey sighs, rubbing at his temples. It disturbs the hair covering his right eye, but thankfully, Aggot is no longer looking at them. "I suppose I should be on my way..."
"What? No!" Olruggio protests, before faltering as he realizes the implication. They both look at Aggot, who just closes her eyes with a heavy sigh and begins to gather her things.
"I'll go." She stands, holding the books to her chest. She doesn't meet Olruggio's eyes as she murmurs a quiet "Thank you" before heading for the door.
"I do wish I could find a way to bring her here," Qifrey sighs, watching the door close with a click behind Aggot, "I think Coco and that girl might be excellent friends."
"Coco," Olruggio repeats after checking the door, making sure it's locked this time, "That's her name, huh?"
Qifrey just nods again, drifting over to the bed and brushing his bangs out of his face.
"Well, that was fun," Olruggio slaps a muffling spell on the door, "Sweet kids, the lot of 'em."
"Mmm." QIfrey makes a vague noise of agreement, watching with half lidded eyes as Olruggio walks back over, standing over him. "Get down here, Olly."
"Whatever you say, Professor." Olruggio teases before obeying, knees hitting the mattress on either side of him as cold hands come up to cradle his neck.
"Please don't," Qifrey mutters with a good-natured pout, tugging at the straps of Olruggio's collar, "I would like to focus on you."
"Fine, fine," Olruggio braces himself on an elbow, "Finally... god, I've been waiting for you all week, you know that?"
"Mhm..."