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I wish I could say the day had been a peaceful one, but that would be a lie.
In fact, none of the last few days had been particularly peaceful.
Olruggio had been more stressed than usual. He'd taken on too many commissions again, as he often did, and was now completely overwhelmed. Qifrey had been having trouble sleeping, as he often did, and was in a foul mood because of it.
They'd had a few small arguments over the course of that week, but nothing serious. Nothing like this time.
Coco and Tetia were helping Qifrey cook dinner — a hot chicken broth to help everyone get through the coming winter cold.
"Coco, dear," Qifrey called as he chopped some vegetables, "could you grab some carrots from the pantry?"
She nodded, beaming with enthusiasm.
Qifrey couldn't help but smile every time he saw how excited she got, even over simple chores.
"Careful not to cut yourself, alright, Tetia? Hold it like this." He gently helped the girl, who was struggling a bit with her knife. "There you go, much better."
"Master Qifrey," Coco called from the pantry, "I don't think there are any carrots."
Qifrey walked over, puzzled.
"There should be…I told Olruggio to buy some yesterday."
Sure enough, in the basket where they usually kept their vegetables, there were only two potatoes and a pumpkin, kept fresh by a preservation spell.
Qifrey sighed, exhausted.
"Olruggio!" he called as he and the girl walked back into the main room.
A few seconds later, Olruggio appeared in the doorway, ink-stained hands, deep circles under his eyes, and very little patience left.
"What is it?"
"Didn't I ask you yesterday to pick up some carrots?" Qifrey asked.
Olruggio sighed, dragging a hand down his face.
"Yes, yes. You did. I forgot, I'm sorry." He turned to head back to his room.
"That's it?" Qifrey said, indignant.
"What do you want me to do, Qifrey? I'm not going out now. Just make the soup without carrots, it's fine."
Qifrey stepped closer, clearly losing his own patience as well. Coco and Tetia exchanged a worried glance.
"It's not just about that. You've been impossible lately. I can't count on you for anything." He accused.
"You can't count on me for anything?!” Olruggio repeated, completely offended "I'm sorry, Qifrey, but I have way too much work to be arguing over nothing right now."
"You think this is nothing?" Qifrey looked around them, at their home, at everything they'd built together.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it."
"Look, Olruggio—" Qifrey stopped mid-sentence and turned around. "I'm sorry, girls. I need to talk to Olruggio alone for a moment. I'll finish the soup myself. I'll call you when it's ready."
Coco and Tetia nodded, a little ashamed and sad, and walked off toward their rooms.
"Master Qifrey looked really angry," Coco murmured.
"Do you think they're going to divorce?" Tetia asked, frightened. "If they get divorced, would we never see Master Olruggio again?"
"Well, Master Qifrey is the only one who's officially our teacher, so..." the other girl answered, sounding miserable.
"We can't let that happen!" Tetia shouted, refusing to even consider it. "We have to do something. Let's go talk to Richeh and Agott."
Within minutes, all four girls were gathered in Coco and Agott's room.
"You really think they're going to get divorced over carrots?" Agott asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's not just about the carrots!" Tetia replied dramatically. "Master Qifrey thinks Master Olruggio doesn't care about any of this" — she did her best impression of the gesture Qifrey had made just minutes ago, sweeping her arm around the room.
"Oh." Agott frowned. "And what does Master Olruggio think?"
"He's been so stressed with work he's on edge all the time," Coco said.
"We could make them fall in love again," Richeh suggested in her usual low voice.
Coco tilted her head. "How do you even make two people fall in love?"
Tetia jumped to her feet, suddenly excited. "Okay, first you have to get them completely alone together, and then it has to start raining—" Her smile vanished instantly. "...That won't work. Master Qifrey hates the rain."
"What if we made them a romantic dinner?" Richeh offered. "We can cook something nice, light some candles. That always works."
"But how do we get Olruggio to stop working?" Coco asked.
Tetia grabbed a sheet of paper from Coco's desk and some paints.
"Look, this is the kitchen. Normally, before dinner, Master Qifrey goes for a walk around the fields. While he's out, Master Olruggio will be in his room." Tetia started sketching what were supposed to be their professors onto the paper. "Richeh and I can handle making dinner, but we'll need you two to make sure they both actually show up for it."
"I could ask Master Qifrey to help me with a spell — he always says yes to that," Coco suggested.
Agott thought for a moment. "Master Olruggio is way too busy. He won't agree to help with something like that right now."
"Tell him the kitchen's on fire" Richeh said
"That's actually a really good idea" Agott nodded.
Tetia finished her little drawing with enormous pride.
"This is going to work, I can feel it." She placed her hand in the center of the table, and one by one, the others stacked their hands on top of hers. "Operation Love begins."
"We really need a better name for this," Agott laughed.
Evening was settling over the atelier, and the girls were a bundle of nerves.
The four of them lined up by the door as Qifrey got ready to head out for his walk.
"Is something wrong, dears?" he asked, confused, finding all four girls standing in a row, watching him expectantly.
"Nothing at all! Enjoy your walk! It's totally fine if you take a looooong time coming back!" Tetia beamed, far too brightly.
Qifrey laughed, bewildered.
"Alright. See you all in a bit," he said, and stepped out the door.
The second it clicked shut, they sprang into action.
Richeh and Tetia got to work in the kitchen, following Qifrey's recipe book. Meanwhile, Agott and Coco set the table, decorated the dining room with all sorts of little spells, and kept watch for either teacher coming back too early.
In under an hour, they'd managed to put together a decent dinner, and now came the exciting part: getting the two of them there.
Agott and Coco nodded at each other and split off in opposite directions. Richeh and Tetia dimmed the lights in the dining room, leaving it lit only by candlelight on the table.
"Master Qifrey!" Coco called.
"Master Olruggio!" Agott shouted.
"Could you help me with a spell, please? I can't get it to work." Coco put on her best sad face, even managing to summon a few real tears.
"Of course, Coco! Don't cry, sweetheart." Qifrey crouched down, immediately concerned. "Come on, let's go. I'll help you."
"Agott, now's really not a great time," Olruggio sighed, not looking up from his papers.
"The kitchen's on fire," she said, completely flat.
"Damn it." Olruggio bolted out of his chair, already drawing a spell to smother flames.
When he burst into the kitchen, he found Qifrey standing there instead, wearing the exact same look of bewilderment.
"What... is this?" Qifrey asked. "Is this your doing?"
Olruggio looked around, and felt every ounce of stress drain out of his body at once. A table draped in what was unmistakably one of his old cloaks as a tablecloth. A single candle burning with a soft pink flame. Two grilled cheese sandwiches. And dozens of glittering crystal spirals hanging from the ceiling, Richeh's spell, without a doubt.
"Would someone like to explain what's going on?" Qifrey said, smiling with his heart full.
The four girls shuffled into view, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
"Did you four do all this together?" Olruggio asked.
Tetia stepped forward, squeezed her eyes shut, and shouted it all out at once.
"We don't want you two to get divorced!"
The two men looked at each other, baffled.
"...What?"
"Coco and Tetia said you'd been arguing," Richeh explained, her voice cracking.
"And if you get divorced, Master Qifrey's the only one who's legally our teacher. We'd never get to see Master Olruggio again," Agott added, clearly upset.
"And we don't want you two to be apart," Coco finished, eyes welling up.
"Hey, hey, girls. Who said anything about a divorce?" Qifrey said gently, crouching to their level. "Grown-ups argue sometimes too, but that doesn't mean we stop loving each other."
"Besides," Olruggio added with a soft laugh, ruffling Agott's hair, "Qifrey and I aren't even married. Can't get divorced if you're not married."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT MARRIED?!" Tetia exploded. "What exactly are you two waiting for?! Aren't you like... ancient?"
"We're not ancient! And, I mean..." Olruggio started, feeling his face heat up. "We just haven't really had the time, we've both been so busy, and—"
"He hasn't asked me yet," Qifrey said quietly, clearly enjoying himself.
"And why does it have to be me who asks?" Olruggio shot back, with mock offense.
"Because I asked you out first. It's only fair it's your turn now." Qifrey crossed his arms, looking very pleased with himself.
Coco's eyes suddenly lit up.
"I have an idea! Wait here — don't move!" she said to her teachers, then turned to the others. "Girls, come with me!"
A few minutes later, the girls came rushing back, giggling.
Agott and Richeh each took one of Olruggio's hands and pulled him to one side of the kitchen. Coco and Tetia did the same with Qifrey, leading him to the other. Both men went along, bewildered, hearts melting a little more by the second — and, if they were honest, more than a little nervous.
Tetia cast a small spell that sent flower petals drifting down from the ceiling. Agott followed it with another, a gentle breeze carrying soft music that swirled the petals through the air. Richeh nudged Olruggio toward the center of the kitchen; Coco did the same with Qifrey. Step by step, the two men found themselves walking toward each other.
Waiting for them in the middle, perched on the counter, was Tetia wrapped in one of Qifrey's cloaks, which was comically too big for her.
The other three girls settled onto the floor in front of them. Qifrey and Olruggio stood face to face, both a little flushed, both biting back nervous laughter.
"Ahem! Thank you all for coming," Tetia announced with great theatrical flourish. "We are gathered here today, in this kitchen, to join Master Qifrey and Master Olruggio in marriage."
The girls broke into enthusiastic applause, and both men couldn't help laughing.
"Master Olruggio. Do you take Master Qifrey to be your husband, forever, with no divorces ever allowed?"
Olruggio let out a quiet laugh and took the other man's hand.
"I do," he said.
"Wonderful." Tetia gave a solemn nod and two emphatic thumbs-up. "And do you, Master Qifrey, take Master Olruggio to be your husband forever — even when he forgets to buy carrots?"
"I do," Qifrey laughed, and meant it.
“Well done”. She smiled reassuringly. “Coco, your turn”
Coco stepped forward, holding out two rings made of wire — clumsily twisted together just minutes earlier.
She held them out to the two men, who looked down at them, completely overcome.
Olruggio took one of the rings carefully, mindful not to bend it out of shape, and took Qifrey's hand with the same gentle care. He slid the ring onto his finger without looking away from his eyes, and brushed his thumb tenderly across his hand.
Qifrey took the other ring and slipped it on just as carefully, and the two of them stood there, hand in hand.
"Great! Then by the power I have granted myself," Tetia declared, clapping her hands together, "I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss."
Olruggio gently cupped Qifrey's face and kissed him.
"Ewwwww!" "Gross!" the girls groaned in unison, dissolving into giggles.
The two men pulled apart quickly, both laughing now too — and for the first time in days, the whole atelier felt warm again.
Later that night, after the girls had finally gone to bed, worn out from an evening of scheming, cooking, and staging an entire wedding, Qifrey found Olruggio in the doorway of the kitchen, two cups of tea in hand.
"For what it's worth," Olruggio said, handing him one, "I really am sorry about the carrots."
Qifrey took the cup, smiling into it. "I know. I'm sorry too, I know how much you've had on your plate lately. I should have noticed."
"We're alright?"
"We're alright." Qifrey leaned against the doorframe beside him. "Although, for the record, our apprentices just married us in a kitchen with sandwiches and wire rings. I feel like that's binding now. No backing out."
Olruggio laughed, the sound easy and warm for the first time in days.
"Well," he said, bumping his shoulder against Qifrey's, "I suppose I'll have to actually ask you properly, then. Someday. Soon."
"Take your time," Qifrey said softly, resting his head on the other man’s shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere."
Olruggio pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head, and let his own head rest against Qifrey's.
Down the hall, four small heads were quietly peeking around a corner watching, and four small hands quietly linked together in silent, triumphant celebration.
Operation Love: success.