Chapter Text
Olruggio knew he was fucked. The second he walked out of the atelier and onward to his visit to Kalhn he’d had a terrible feeling, a gut twisting sense that something bad would happen. In his perspective, he was afraid that something bad would happen to the girls or Qifrey. But in hindsight he should’ve been expecting something bad to happen to him. Which, an hour later, unfortunately did.
So there he was, standing in front of his, their, atelier— hood pulled as far over his head as he could manage as he hesitated to open the heavy wooden door. He tugged his hood down a little more in fear of the two furry ears trying to peek their way out.
16 hours ago
He had settled with the gut feelings a while back after he left on his journey, the feeling just being shrugged off as paranoia. He waved a goodbye to everyone, the girls being dramatic about missing him and qifrey leaning up against the door with a small smile on his face. He said something about being careful on his journey, probably with a voice of concern as qifrey could always read him like an open spell book. But olruggio wasn’t quite remembering correctly as his stomach was doing flips with worry of leaving them. He knew noting bad would happen to his ‘family’, after all qifey was there so he really didn’t have any reason to worry. He told himself he was only scared for it was his duty as their watchful eye to want them safe and sound, but he knew on a deeper level it was just simply because he cared so much about them.
Shrugging the feeling off yet again, he reached his destination shortly— a small clearing of trimmed grass and a circle of flowers spotting around it. He stepped into the middle of the clearing before softly moving his heels together, and then his toes. Lifting slightly off the ground, he felt the vibration of the silph spell underneath him before taking off, soaring up and out of the land he was familiar with. His robe fluttered in the wind as he clutched it tight, reaching up to hold his cap in place as he continued onward.
Landing down in Kalhn, he smoothed his robe down and straightened his cap, securing his money bag tied on the inside of his robe before taking off down the crowded street. Witches were everywhere, families exploring the town, apprentices and their masters shopping for ink and pens, and children rushing around everyone fetching whatever kind of toy was flying around. It was busy but Olruggio didn’t mind, as he found it easier to stick to himself this way.
Slinking along the side of the buildings, he made his way to Mr. Nolnoas Starry Sword supply shop, gently twisting the handle open and slipping inside.
“Welcome to The Starry Sword what can I help ‘ya— Ay, Olruggio is that you?” The familiar voice travelled through the shop, the recognizable thick accent hanging heavy. Mr. Nolanoa himself peeked around the Silverwood Tree to confirm his sightings, pushing his glasses up with a finger as he beamed at the dark haired man. Olruggio lifted a hand to wave at the man, before making his way up the stairs to him.
“Greetings to you as well. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” His deep voice steady as he rolled his shoulders back and forward again.
“What can I help ‘ya with, good friend?” The man asked, already turning back to his work station. Olruggio wasn’t offended, though, like a normal customer would be as they were seemingly getting pushed off. Olruggio and the shop owner go way back, the same situation for his dear friend qifrey as well. They were comfortable around each other to be able to turn on ‘shop owner and customer’ mode for the time they held together.
Olruggio sat on the question for a second, trying to remember the list qifrey had given him. He insisted that he could do it, but olruggio didn’t want the white haired witch to push more on his schedule than he already had. Besides, ever since he got that tree removed he just wanted his friend to relax.
“We need 4 refills of ink, the little, uh— carrot shaped containers, for the girls. And I think Qifrey mentioned something about his pen getting worn, so whatever he usually gets I’ll get one of those,” Olruggio said, scratching at his neck softly.
Mr. Nalnoa hummed in response, already getting to work on the filling of ink for the apprentices before heading over to the shelf of pens. His hand hovered around a few of the boxes before he pulled out the familiar slender shape of Qifreys casting pen. Olruggio watched as the man cleaned up the edges of the pen before securing the lids of the ink, wrapping everything up nicely. He turned to Olrugigo, finally, and which olruggio just simply handing him his money and took the goods.
“Thank you, Mr. Nalnoa,” Olruggio nodded his head at the older man, who just simply smiled and ushered a “Oh- it’s not problem at all!” After saying their goodbyes, and even stopping bye to greet Tartah quickly, he made his way back out into the bustling streets of Kalhn once again, the crowd seeming to have formed even more from the last time he was there.
He grumbled to himself as he began weaving in and out of people, careful not to knock into anyone as he carried the goods securely. Shoulders bumped into his despite his efforts to avoid, and eventually he just got tired of the roadblocks-of- people before stepping into an alleyway- a change of route. He slowly strides down the narrow path, the lighting being noticeably darker down this path than it was out there. His thoughts were beginning to come back to him as the sounds of the busy Kalhn were being blocked out significantly. He wondered what the girls were up to, what kind of lessons qifrey was teaching them this time. He had to admit, he was very proud of the girls growth through the time he’s known them. And he was even more proud at Qifreys growth as well. He wondered what his friend was up to right now, wondered what he was cooking for dinner and what he was doing without olruggio there. He wondered if he was missed, if Qifrey just couldn’t wait for the dark haired man to get back home. Olruggio was going to have to restrain himself from jumping into the white haired witches arms, a warm embrace after a long day of traveling and being away from each other like a married couple would do.
Olruggio’s thoughts of his dear friend kept his mind occupied, a little too occupied to not notice the shadow of another person following him, the footsteps lighting falling in sync with his.
Only when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder was he jolted back into reality, whipping around to stare straight at a dark mass forming around him. He felt a cold embrace, chilling him to his spine, and before he even had a second to make a single move to defend himself everything snapped to black, his consciousness fading as he thumped to the ground.
Olruggio next rose with a throbbing ache in his head. His eyes flutter open peacefully to a starry night sky, walls close beside on either side of him. As if his brain had just finally loaded, and processed the events that were most fresh before waking up, he panicked. His eyes shot open and he lunged forward, climbing up and leaning against the wall for stability. His breath was racing as his head throbbed even more form the sudden jolt of movement. He whipped his body around, however, ignoring the pain shooting through him as he turned in all directions looking for the culprit.
But he was alone.
Letting his breath settle, he gave his wobbly knees a break as he slid down the wall behind him, sitting down with a soft thump. He wiped the sweat off his forehead before letting his head fall in his hands, the pressure helping his headache fade away, fingers buried into his hair.
And that’s when he felt it.
The ears.
Stilled from shock, his hands began to slowly move over the top of his head, feeling all around the lumps of soft fluff sticking up and out of his head. Ears. Some kind of animal ears, olruggio had to guess. He pulled out a quick spell, fingers shaking slightly as he drew himself a mirror. And that’s when he came to the embarrassing realization that they weren’t just any ears.
They were cat ears.
Olruggios jaw fell open, eyes widening again in shock. There’s absolutely no way someone knocked him out just to give him cat ears. This had to be some kind of joke. He felt around the ears, studying the mirror closely as if maybe they’d go away. He tugged at them slightly, a thought that maybe it was just some kind of costume crossing his mind, but when they stayed firm on his head followed by a little pinch of pain, he realized that thought was very wrong. His headache was long gone, only replaced by the shock brought on form his new discovery. And that’s when another thought came crashing into his mind.
It was dark out.
The last time he was conscious in this alleyway it was light out. He had no clue what time it was, and no clue how long he’d been passed out for. All he knew is that he needed to get back to the atelier as fast as possible.
He scrambled up, his legs more sturdy after the break he had given them, and he rushed out of the narrow path as quickly as he could. He worried that the girls, and Qifrey, were worried about where he was, or what was taking him so long. And that was the last thing he wanted to happen.
Running down the street, he passed a few people who were still wandering out and around and who were just finally closing up their street shops. It couldn’t have been that late, right? However, time wasn’t the only thing on his mind as he looked at the people lining the street. He was more worried about why they were giving him a look followed by a little laugh. His brows furrowed in confusion until he relaizedFUCK— the ears! His eyes widened as he remembered about his new addition, cursing at himself for not even processing that he probably looked stupid right now. His face heated up as he pulled his hood up and over his head, pushing it as far down as it could go as he continued his rush. Once he go to the edge of the city, he hastily pushed his feet together and lifted himself off the ground, soaring out and away from the lingering looks. The cool air rushing on his heated face was a heavenly contrast. Racing back to the familiar landing spot, he landed roughly with a thud, almost toppling over before steadying himself and getting back to running. The atelier was in eye sight and the lights were all still on. Maybe they were all eating dinner, his plate left forgotten as their laughter filled the room. That pulled a little at his heart, but he continued on his way until he reached the heavy door.
His heart pounded in his chest as he hesitated to open on the door. His face was flush with embarrassment, head hung low and hood pulled down as far as it could go as he swallowed thickly. He needed to hide the ears about to peek out from under his hood. he couldnt bear to look at them with a straight face and cat ears of all things. He really didn’t need to be this embarrassed, he knew that much at least, but he was and until he could come to terms with that then he would keep it hidden.
Turning the knob slightly and pushing himself in, he raised his head just a little to meet the sharp gaze of four worried pairs of eyes. He heard a gasp before he was tackled over to the ground by two little bodies.
“olruggio! We were — hic- so worried…” Coco’s small voice sobbed into his wrinkled robes. Tetia joined her sobbing as she dug her face into his robe alongside the green haired girl, both ranting about how scared they were when he didn’t come back at the expected time. He was taken aback by this reaction, hands coming up to pat the girls backs soothingly. Sitting up a little more, and making sure that his hood was still secured over his head, he looked up from the two crying girls to look at Aggot and Richeih. Aggot, being the child with little emotion, had concern painted on her features, eyebrows twisted up but slowly smoothing down with what the dark haired man could only assume was relief. Richeih’s cold features were even showing slight hints of trouble.
“Richeih was worried about Master Olruggio,” the blue haired apprentice softly spoke over the muffled cries.
“What took you so long?!” Aggot pressed, voice tinted with a little bit of her familiar frustration.
“I—uh,” Olruggio started, before being cut off by the racing of footsteps and a familiar figure rushing up to him.
“Olruggio— god, where were you? What happened?” Qifreys voice spoke out to him, voice slightly broken from worry. His hair was tousled and his glasses were crooked, his chest heaving slight and eye searching olruggios deeply.
Olruggio sighed, trying his best to smile. It didn’t reach his eyes, and he knew Qifrey could tell, but he continued on.
“Like I was saying, I just got caught up in the city— and, well, nothing really happened-”
“So something did happen,” Qifrey cut him off, brows furrowing in deeper concern.
“Well—”
“Don’t you dare try lying,” Qifrey warned. He wants going to let his ‘friend’ get away with whatever he was hiding.
Olruggio looked up at him through his bangs, locking onto the light blue eyes piercing his, searching for some kind of answer. An answer that Olruggio didn’t exactly want to give right now.
He nudges the two girls away from him gently, before rising and holding his hood secured.
“Just, give me a second to clean up,” He offers to Qifrey after a second, who studies his face for a minute before nodding slightly.
“You will explain yourself later,” He says, leaving no room for question.
“I will,” Olruggio nods as confirmation before turning and walking up the stairs. His stomach twists painfully.
God, he hoped Qifrey wouldn’t be mad at him.
-
Qifrey didn’t know what the hell was wrong but he knew he was going to find it out by tonight. He’s surprised he even let Olruggio get out of his sight with how worried he was, pacing around the kitchen whilst tugging at his short tufts of hair. But he respects the man enough to at least give him some time to clean himself up. After all, he did just make it back from a trip. Sighing, he brings himself back to the present situation, kneeling down to look at both Tetia and Coco in the eyes.
“He’s all right girls, there no need to worry anymore,”
“But how do you know that?” Tetia asks, voice wobbly.
“I’ve known this man since childhood— I can read him like a book,” Qifrey says gently, ushering the girls to stand up. “Besides, at least he came back- and in one piece might I add,”
The girls laugh softly, Aggot yawning into her hand.
“It’s late, why don’t you girls get to sleep,”
Once Qifrey got the girls settled in bed, making sure all of them were tucked in and drifting off, he made his way over to where his and Olruggios rooms were, swiftly walking past his own and stopping in first of the dark haired mans. He stood out front the door, thinking back to the events that unfolded earlier. The way his robe was slung lazily off to the side, hair a mess from what he assumes was him being in a rush to get here, and cheeks faintly red from some kind of embarrassment the white haired witch can only assume is from being pressed. He couldn’t lie to himself, the sight was hot. But qifrey wasn’t here to thirst over his ‘friend’. He was here to find out what happened. He just hopes whatever it was wasn’t anything serious.