Chapter Text
Qifrey had been Olruggio’s closest and dearest friend for as long as he could remember. From the adventures they shared as children, the time they exchanged tassels, and the home they made for themselves, there was no greater joy than being Qifrey’s companion. Olruggio had been quite content with their relationship; he had made peace with the nebulous boundary between domestic partners and lovers that they never dared to fully cross. However, after experiencing the joys of being Qifrey's lover, Olruggio wasn't sure he could bear going back to what they once were. Their relationship may not have changed much on the surface, but now Olruggio could give in to his temptations and kiss Qifrey’s soft lips whenever he desired. As long as they were alone.
Their romantic relationship was a recent development and they were not certain what to tell their apprentices. Qifrey had asked to keep things private for now and Olruggio had agreed. Keeping the relationship to themselves for the time being sounded ideal until it came to finding time to spend alone together. With a home filled with 12 year olds, they were resigned to stealing quick moments together: kisses during late night cooking sessions, flirting quietly while the girls studied, and heavy petting in Olruggio's wing. Olruggio was fine with their current pace, but one more instance of Qifrey worrying about the girls looking for them and leaving Olruggio with a raging erection might send him over the edge into needing a hospital trip.
Olruggio was more than alright with taking things slow, but he had an inkling that Qifrey was aching for it too. Perhaps he would be more open to consummating the relationship outside of their home and away from prying eyes. Olruggio's working theory came to mind one day while they were enjoying a drink (or two or three) at the pub in Kalhn after a busy day of errands. Qifrey had been somewhat anxious to head back to the atelier, but Olruggio insisted. It had been a long while since they had been out together and even longer since they had been able to relax alone.
"Olly, your face is so red," Qifrey laughed and traced the flush of Olruggio's cheek, it was an unfortunate side effect of drinking that plagued Olruggio. Qifrey seemed to remember himself and pulled his hand away. Olruggio caught it before it could retreat, cradled it to his own cheek and rubbed his nose along his palm. In his hazy, alcohol-induced brain fog, Qifrey allowed it to stay, heart bursting at the sight.
"We should probably go, I wouldn't want to do something stupid," Qifrey hesitantly said.
Olruggio kissed Qifrey's palm. “Like what?”
"Has anyone ever told you how cute you are? I wish I could kiss you," Qifrey blurted out.
Olruggio laughed too loudly, voice rising above the hum of the pub. "Remind me why that would be stupid," Olruggio said as he leaned in to close the gap.
Qifrey pressed a hand to Olruggio's chest to stop him. When his fingers brushed bare skin, he looked down to the deep V of Olruggio's collar and blushed. Qifrey took a moment to remind himself why it was a bad idea to pull Olruggio into a senseless kiss in front of everyone. "Word spreads so quickly, what would Beldaruit say if he heard from someone else we were being indecent so publicly?" Qifrey warned. Qifrey did not have the same poor reputation at Kalhn as he did the Great Hall, but the thought of the gossip reaching the witches there sent a shiver down Qifrey's spine.
Olruggio studied Qifrey for a moment. "Fair enough," Olruggio said, he knew well the controversy their relationship would stir, especially over something as salacious as making out in a public space. Olruggio moved back to give Qifrey space, but he hooked his ankle around one of Qifrey's; just one small point of contact to quell his heavy longing. The small smile Qifrey granted him made the restraint worth the effort. Although Olruggio had spent over a decade practicing restraint towards Qifrey, the knowledge that Qifrey laughed when kissed behind his ear made the endeavor ten times more difficult. The alcohol must have made him overly sentimental, because Olruggio's chest ached just gazing at the slope of Qifrey's nose and the way his finger tapped against the rim of his drink in time with the lutanist's playing.
"You're staring," Qifrey accused.
"Yeah," Olruggio said, leaning his elbow onto the table and resting his cheek against it.
"I didn't know you were such an exhibitionist," Qifrey scolded. He finished off his drink with one swig.
"Do you want to get out of here?"
Qifrey huffed out a laugh in surprise. "Are you propositioning me, Olruggio?" Qifrey raised his eyebrows and the slight condescension made Olruggio's gut clench.
"Definitely," Olruggio scooched his chair closer to Qifrey's. He looked around to make sure the sound did not alert any of the patrons. "I don't usually talk to strangers at pubs, but I saw you sitting here and I couldn't resist coming over."
Qifrey sighed like he would with a naughty child, but Olruggio knew if he didn't enjoy it, he wouldn't play along. "I don't take first dates home, so I'm afraid you're out of luck."
"Who said anything about going home?"
Qifrey gave Olruggio an incredulous look, "I am not doing this in a pub washroom, the void toilet is dangerous enough."
"Okay, okay." Olruggio held his hands up in surrender. "No washrooms, we'll find somewhere else. There's the inn..."
"We shouldn't spend the night, we told the girls we would return well before the day passed," Qifrey reminded him. He pulled out a coin bag and set some change on the bar. "This will not end well, I'm taking you home."
"We'll find somewhere where we can be quick," Olruggio said. If his mind were clearer, he might prefer to not rush their first time, but his thoughts were fully set on how lovely Qifrey sounded moaning and how he wanted to hear it again. He stood, grabbed Qifrey's wrist and pulled him out of the pub before he could react.
Behind the pub was a small alleyway, secluded from the rest of the town. It was dark at this hour and, Olruggio noted, the pub was near the outskirts of Kalhn, it was unlikely anyone would pass through the area unless a drunkard took a wrong turn outside of the back exit.
“How about here?” Olruggio said, pulling Qifrey to a stop.
“Olruggio.” Qifrey's tone was curt.
“Just one kiss and we’ll be on our merry way home where I will ravish you.” Olruggio grabbed Qifrey’s hand and gave it a kiss.
“The girls are likely still awake,” Qifrey reminded him. “You know how I feel about that. There will be no ravishing, and please never use that word again.”
Olruggio groaned, unable to fully sympathize with Qifrey's aversion to having sex in the atelier. “Then here is the perfect place,” Olruggio stepped closer to Qifrey and grabbed his hands, “If you don’t want to, tell me and I’ll drop it.”
Qifrey chewed his lip, it wasn’t that having a drunken tryst with Olruggio wasn't a tempting thought, but his apprentices were waiting for his return. “This is a terrible idea, but yes, I do want to kiss you.” Qifrey said, giving in and leaning against the cobblestone wall of the pub.
Olruggio grinned. He held onto Qifrey’s hand with his right and brought his left arm to lean against the wall next to Qifrey’s head, unbothered that he could not reach high enough to encircle Qifrey. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are? Because I should tell you more.”
“Just get over here,” Qifrey said as he grabbed Olruggio’s blouse and brought him in for a crushing kiss.
Every time their lips touched, Olruggio lamented how long they had went without the simple pleasure of sharing a kiss. Especially the rare kind where Qifrey let himself get sloppy with open mouthed kisses and scraping teeth such as the one they shared now. So often Qifrey was unfairly poised, it felt like a triumphant victory whenever Olruggio could get Qifrey panting and mewling against his mouth. Olruggio wrapped his arms around Qifrey’s waist and relished in the way his body felt pressed against his. Qifrey slid down the wall slightly to Olruggio's height and pressed their bodies further together, slotting Olruggio's leg between his own. Olruggio tightened his grip on Qifrey's waist to support his weight as Qifrey chased the feeling of grinding against Olruggio's thigh.
"Olly," Qifrey gasped against his mouth. "We're not really going to do this here, are we?"
"Whatever you want," Olruggio said before taking the opportunity to kiss up Qifrey's neck. He knew drunken lust was clouding their senses, but as long as Qifrey didn't say no, nothing would pull him away from the bliss of Qifrey's body.
Qifrey was falling apart in Olruggio's arms, holding onto his shoulders for dear life as he quickened his pace as his pleasure built. "I want you, I've wanted this forever, but if somebody comes..."
“Shh, it’s okay, we’ll be quick. Here, I have a better idea.” Olruggio pulled away from Qifrey, resulting in a soft whine. He kissed Qifrey deeply once more, unable to help himself, before pulling away and getting down to his knees. Olruggio wrapped his hands around Qifrey’s thighs and looked up with a sly grin.
“Olruggio,” Qifrey grasped the nape of Olruggio’s neck in anticipation. “Are you sure?”
“Do you want me to stop?” Olruggio asked.
Qifrey quickly shook his head and slipped the straps of his robes down to hang at his waist. “Just hurry.”
Olruggio swore he would be quick but he couldn’t stop himself from kissing down Qifrey’s stomach and stopping just before the belt of his skirt. He gave Qifrey one more kiss over his clothes before pulling down his skirt to mid thigh.
Oh. He had forgotten Qifrey’s bodysuit. He'd only caught sight of it a few times but never had the pleasure of removing it himself. The bodysuit had straps going to about mid thigh that wrapped around intricately. They laid over his pants which meant they could not be removed without undoing the bodysuit. All that is to say, Olruggio had no idea how to undress Qifrey.
“Stop teasing, you said you'd hurry,” Qifrey begged, and Olruggio would have melted at the sound of it had he not been distracted by carefully inspecting the straps.
“I’m not trying to - Qifrey, how do you put this on every day?”
“What are you taking about?” Qifrey gasped.
“Good gracious!”
Qifrey and Olruggio froze.
“Mr. Nolnoa!” Qifrey was nearly speechless at the sight of the old man. Olruggio swallowed and wordlessly lifted Qifrey’s skirt back to his hips.
Nolnoa boisterously laughed, wiping a tear away rather dramatically. “Oh, it’s just you two. I didn’t think you had this sort of scandalous behavior in you!”
Olruggio sighed in relief at Nolnoa’s anticlimactic response. Who would have thought that Qifrey’s terrible clothes would save them from infinitely worse embarrassment. Olruggio took the hand Qifrey offered to help him to his feet, brushing off the dirt from his skirt.
“Mr. Nolnoa, we are so sorry you saw that, we were being incredibly irresponsible.” Qifrey finally got over his shock enough to launch into an apology.
Nolnoa shook his head and waved him off. “Don’t worry your head about it too much, I’ve been young, stupid, and in love before.” He clasped Qifrey and Olruggio on their shoulders. “I’m just delighted to see you two together, I was getting worried it'd never happen.”
Olruggio fought to keep his eyes from rolling, he had feared this would be the majority’s response to their relationship and he wasn’t looking forward to it. He remembered the knowing smirks from his peers and his old professor trying to give him The Talk. The embarrassment had been enough to scare him away from his feelings for Qifrey for years. “We’re sorry again, Mr. Nolnoa. As you can see we’re indecently intoxicated and should be getting home soon.”
Nolnoa continued laughing, oblivious to Qifrey and Olruggio's displeasure. “Don’t let me interrupt, you two kids have fun!” He waved goodbye and chuckled his way into the pub.
Olruggio waited for Nolnoa to leave his sight before he pulled Qifrey down the alley. “He seemed a little too okay with the fact that he almost saw you half naked,” Olruggio remarked.
“Olruggio,” Qifrey covered his face with his free hand, “I can’t believe we did that. This must be the most embarrassing thing we've ever done."
Olruggio patted Qifrey's shoulder. "If it's any consolation, I can think of a few worse things you did growing up, and this doesn't even break top three for me."
Qifrey laughed in spite of himself. "We're fortunate it was Nolnoa who found us. As painful as it was, I don't believe he'd tell anyone."
"Qifrey, about that, he sure calls you handsome a lot," Olruggio said, genuine concern lacing his voice.
“Olruggio, that’s not funny.”