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They're walking through the woods in the late afternoon, golden light drifting down from the canopy, when Qifrey freezes in his tracks.
"Olly." He tugs on Olruggio's sleeve, "What— what is that. Olly. What is that."
"Huh?" Olruggio pauses, glancing back at him with a raised eyebrow. Qifrey points ahead with the air of someone about to spontaneously combust, and he looks to where his friend is pointing, "Oh! Brushbuddy!"
"What." Qifrey says weakly as Olruggio dashes off ahead towards the fuzzy creature, "What— Olly!"
"Woah... look how fluffy it is!" Olruggio marvels as he crouches down in front of what seems to be a tube of pure floof. It's a light grey, with thick, silky fur, demurely crouched on a rock, tail swishing behind it in lazy strokes. It regards them with round, beady little eyes, and yawns, "I've never seen one of these before! Qifrey, c'mere—"
"Olly, get away from that thing." Qifrey hisses, tugging at the back of his cloak, and Olruggio laughs at him, batting his hands away.
"C'mon, you're not seriously scared of that thing, are you?" He snickers, pointing at the brushbuddy, which is now grooming its tail in languid motions, "They're harmless! See, look..."
"Olly!" Qifrey protests as Olruggio reaches out, gently patting the brushbuddy on the head. It side-eyes him, but doesn't move, and doesn't pause its grooming. He grins and starts petting along its back, "It's so soft... Qif, c'mere, you've gotta feel this."
Qifrey hesitantly edges towards the brushbuddy, eyeing it with so much suspicion that Olruggio snorts in laughter.
"You're ridiculous, Qifrey." He tells him, amused, earning a grumpy look as Qifrey stands slightly behind him, peering over his shoulder.
He makes eye contact with the brushbuddy, which plants its little paws on the mossy stone, stretches with a big yawn, and promptly flings itself at his face.
Qifrey yelps as it lands on the front of his cloak and starts scrambling up, immediately flailing to try and dislodge it.
Olruggio can't help it— his friend is clearly distressed, but it's such a comical scene that all he can do is cackle his guts out, holding his stomach and bending over with full on belly laughs as Qifrey acts like he's being attacked.
"Qi— Qifrey! You're just scaring it!" He manages through copious giggles, and only laughs harder when Qifrey attempts to glare at him and fails spectacularly through his brushbuddy-dislodging shenanigans, "Just— just stand still, I'll get it off you, hold on—" he tries, only to burst into a fresh round of cackles as the brushbuddy jumps onto his head, knocking his hat off, and Qifrey makes a noise like a dying mouse.
"Olruggio!"
"Sorry, sorry, I— just stand still, hold on, hehe—"
"Stop laughing." Qifrey orders, face bright red as he finally goes completely still, though his hands shake violently. "Get it off me. Now."
"Okay, okay!" Olruggio finally gets his laughter under control enough to stand up straight, though he nearly loses it again when he meets Qifrey's face and finds him with the biggest pout imaginable. He keeps it together (barely) and finds the brushbuddy curled up on top of Qifrey's hair, looking very comfortable. Its silvery coat blends in pretty well with his white hair.
"I mean, it looks so sleepy.... I dunno, I'd feel bad about moving it..." he teases, a few giggles slipping through, and Qifrey glares at him.
"I will punch you."
"You won't."
"I broke Easthies' nose. I'll break yours."
"Yeah, I heard about that," Olruggio stands up on his tiptoes to peer at the brushbuddy, and carefully reaches out to scoop it up, lifting it off of Qifrey's head.
"There, see? All fine." He smiles down at the brushbuddy, who blinks up at him, miffed, while Qifrey immediately shakes himself out like an offended wet cat, earning another snicker, "You look so offended. It's just a little guy," Olruggio coos at the brushbuddy, which stands up on its little paws, giggling slightly as it tickles the palm of his hand. He watches it uncurl, trotting around the length of his palm like a cat pacing, before promptly turning to Qifrey again, who takes a sharp step back in utter terror.
"I think it likes you." Olruggio observes as the brushbuddy jumps down from his hands, lands gracefully the forest floor, and begins marching over to Qifrey, who starts backing away at a rapid pace.
"Qifrey! Just—" Olruggio laughs, but doesn't get lost again, watching with growing curiosity and a bit of concern at the actual fear on his friend's face, "Why are you so scared of it? It's not gonna bite you, I think it just wants to cuddle."
"It's—" Qifrey starts, only to lock up with an 'eek' sound as the brushbuddy scampers forwards in a sudden burst of speed and scales him like he's a tree, settling around his neck with a 'pweeeeeee' and kneading at the fabric of his cloak. Qifrey stands there, frozen, as Olruggio tries to bite back another round of laughs.
"See?" He says, grinning, walking over to poke at the brushbuddy, which bats lazily at his hand, "It just wants a nice place to nap. And you're the spot, apparently."
Qifrey takes a long time to start to unclench every muscle in his body, but finally manages as Olruggio scratches the brushbuddy's back and earns a soft purr.
"Woah, I didn't know they could do that..." he wonders, before glancing up at his friend with an 'ah?'
Qifrey looks uncomfortable. That's a standard occurrence.
"What... is it." He says stiffly.
"It's a brushbuddy!" Olruggio says with a bright smile, "Or brushbug, depending on who you ask. They're real nuisances, cause they're attracted to the smell of magic ink. I've always wanted one, but my master would string me up by the ankles if I ever brought one home. They're sneaky little bastards, always getting into the ink pots."
"Attracted to the smell of magic ink..." Qifrey echoes, glancing down at the brushbuddy curled around his neck, "...what about... does—" his voice hitches, "Is it just ink?"
Olruggio blinks at him, the grin fading as he cocks his head to the side. "Uh, yeah? I think so?" He studies Qifrey and the pinch in his brow curiously, "Why?"
Qifrey thinks for a moment, biting his lip, before shaking his head. "Nevermind. Maybe I spilled ink on myself earlier."
"It could be seals on your cloak, if there are any," Olruggio muses, tugging at the white fabric, "I remember Beldaruit saying something about water-repellent stuff?"
"Oh." Qifrey's eye softens, and he relaxes quite a bit, "Yes, that would..." he shifts, reaching up to hesitantly poke the brushbuddy, "That would make sense."
"You're a total wreck of nerves, you know that?" Olruggio tells him cheerfully, and receives a half-hearted swat for his troubles, "Hey! No fair!"
"How is it not fair?" Qifrey huffs, a small, smug smile tugging at his lips, and Olruggio pouts at him.
"I'm not gonna hit you back. That'd be mean."
"You're welcome to."
"I'm not gonna!"
"Why?"
"Uh..." Olruggio pauses, "...cause you're my friend?"
"The other boys hit each other all the time." Qifrey mutters, stroking the brushbuddy with one pale finger, "We're both boys, so it's fine."
Olruggio squints at him, before it clicks, "Ohhhh. I know you're not a girl, Qifrey. I just don't like hitting people. The other boys do it 'cause they're jerks and they think it makes them look tough. There's more than one way to be a guy."
Qifrey goes still, and Olruggio can tell by the way his eye narrows that he's thinking way too hard about this, but he doesn't interrupt this time. He knows with his ten-year-old heart that this is important for Qifrey.
Finally, Qifrey nods, seemingly accepting it, and Olruggio breathes a silent sigh of relief.
"Alright. Then I won't hit you either." He decides as they start down the path again.
"I mean, if I'm being annoying, I probably deserve it," Olruggio shrugs, hands behind his head, "So you're fine."
"No." Qifrey asserts, "I won't."
"You hit Easthies."
"Because he's a piece of shit."
"Woah!" Olruggio laughs, startled, staring at Qifrey in nothing short of awe, "That's a bad word, you know."
"I know," Qifrey sniffs, vindicated, "He deserves it. Fucking asshole."
Olruggio starts laughing so hard again that he has to stop and lean against a tree. Qifrey doesn't bug him about it, and every time Olruggio catches the pleased, evil little smile on his face, he can't help but grin so wide his face hurts.
— — —
"What? No birthday?!" Beldaruit laments, covering his mouth with a hand, "Now that simply won't do!"
"Why not?" Qifrey mutters, slinking after his master as they traverse the hallways of their atelier. "Where are we going?"
"Well, you've got to pick one, obviously." Beldaruit tells him— because it's so simple— as they enter a high-ceilinged room with all manner of glass apparatus, and his seal-chair steps over to a large round table, which he gestures to, "This is my calendar. Come, come!"
Qifrey, with much reluctance, follows him to the table and peers over the edge. His eye widens at the sight— it's massive, with many interlocked metal dials encircling a smiling depiction of the sun. There are many small, colorful tabs located around the circle, as well as a metal knob that Qifrey supposes is the current date.
"It's an astronomical clock," Beldaruit tells him proudly as he stands on a chair to get a proper look, "Perfectly accurate and excellent for planning. It can even tell the weather to some degree."
Qifrey does a poor job of hiding his wonder, earning a fond chuckle. "Well? Go on!" Beldaruit urges, gesturing at the apparatus, "Pick a day, any day! What's your favorite day of the year? Mine is January 30th, that blue notch right there, and it's always so dreadfully cold that I simply want to lay in bed all day! A spring birthday might be nice... nature always makes herself lovely, and it's a good excuse to escape the Great Hall for a bit..." Beldaruit rambles on before hearing several small metal clicks, and blinks to find Qifrey rotating the dial with pinched brows.
"Olruggio's birthday is here," he muses, sliding a black mark to land with a clean click, "September 20th. So then..." he grasps another flag, white, and pulls it around to line up roughly halfway between the black and the blue, before squinting at the mark, "November... something. The middle of November." He stares hard at the tiny metal marks, before giving up and announcing, "The 19th of November."
He studies his work, expecting to hear Beldaruit's reply any moment, but when it's silent for a beat too long, he glances up with a frown— only to find his master staring at him with a big smile, hands clasped.
"What a sweet idea!" He beams, reaching over to ruffle Qifrey's hair before his apprentice can shy away, "I think that's an excellent day!"
Qifrey swats his hands away, scowling, but glances at the apparatus again. "...November 19th." He repeats to himself, and nods.
"Oh, I suppose now I can update your medical records," Beldaruit muses, leaning back in his chair with a huff, "They've been badgering me about that for years. Oh, I'm so glad you've picked out a day!"
"Yeah." Qifrey murmurs, staring at the white mark in between the black and the blue. Picked. Chose. Him.
Whatever. What does a day really matter?
— — —
"Qifrey! Qifrey, where are you!" Olruggio calls down the long hallway, listening to the faint echo of his own voice before huffing and trying the next, "Qiiiiiifreeeeyyyy! I made something for you!"
"You what...?" He hears a sleepy murmur as the door to his left creaks open, revealing Qifrey rubbing his eye.
"Qifrey!" Olruggio exclaims, grabbing his hand and dragging him down the hall. Qifrey sputters, nearly tripping, the momentum forcing him to keep pace with Olruggio lest he fall, "Olly, what— what are you—"
"It's in here, I finally got it to work, I just have to show you," Olruggio explains, waving his free hand wildly as he pushes open the door to his own bedroom.
"Olly, do you know what time it is—"
Qifrey's voice falters into a gasp as warm light blossoms beneath him. He blinks, staring open-mouthed as Olruggio perches on top of a tiling stone, which is glowing.
"Tada!" Olruggio announces, doing a little mock-bow, "I call it... the Glow-stone Path!"
"You... what?"
"You gave me the idea, Qifrey!" Olruggio grins at him, stepping down and pushing Qifrey over to stand on it, "Remember when we were walking back to our rooms last week, and you were saying you hated how dark it always got? Well, I've been working on this ever since, and I finally got it working!"
Qifrey hesitantly steps up onto the tile stone, eye widening when it immediately flushes with golden light. He looks at Olruggio, unsure what to do with his face.
"You made this... for..."
"You!" Olruggio beams, nudging him off to flip the tile over, sliding off the top half, "See? It's pretty clever, right? The sigil is like this, and when you step on it..." he slides it back into place and presses down, lighting it once more, "It glows!"
He looks up at Qifrey with a big smile, only to be promptly tackled in a hug.
"Woah—" he staggers back, hands raised, unsure. Qifrey has buried his face in his neck, and— wow, he's hugging him tight, "Qif, you're gonna strangle me—"
"Thank you." It's so quiet he almost misses it. Olruggio gapes at him, before a huge grin splits his face and he hugs back tight, "Of course! You're my best friend! And I finally got an official Qifrey initiated hug, hehe..."
— — —