CrypticButterfly



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  1. Public Bookmark 29

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    A silence fell between them, filled only by the distant laughter of the girls outside. Olruggio’s hands found their way into his pockets, shoulders hunched. He hesitated, rocking on his heels before finally blurting, "About last night…"

     

    Qifrey startled, his eye darting briefly to Olruggio before flicking away, focusing on a loaf of bread left forgotten on the counter. "Forget about it," he said quickly, voice low, "I made it awkward. I always do."

     

    “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. You have a silver tongue, if anything.” Qifrey chuckled a little bit at that.

     

    Olruggio hesitated, then shrugged, trying for nonchalance but failing utterly. "If you want the truth… I wouldn’t mind if we did more than just talk about politics."

    OR: sad fluffy loving sex between two witch dads.

    Language:
    English
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    1/1
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    305
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    14 Jun 2026

  2. Public Bookmark 79

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    There it was, that thing Qifrey did, where he offered a piece of himself wrapped in observation about someone else, like a gift hidden inside a gift, and you had to decide whether to unwrap the second layer or pretend you had only received the first. Olruggio had spent half his life learning to read these offerings and in doing so he had become the foremost scholar of a language spoken by exactly one person in all the world.

    "I'm stubborn because someone has to be," he said. "You'd float away on your own mysteries if no one kept you tethered."

    "Perhaps." The maddingly sad smile again. "Perhaps that's so."

    In which Olruggio brings tea to Qifrey's study on a damp evening and finds him working in the dark again, the staff out and the fire dying.

    Language:
    English
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    2,753
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    1/1
    Comments:
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    464
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    14 Jun 2026

  3. Public Bookmark 59

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    On a good day, Olruggio makes it to bed before sunrise. On a great day, Qifrey shoos him into their bed at what may even be a healthy time.

    Olruggio had just finished his latest commission early, had a delicious dinner, and been smacked on the head for even joking about going back to work.

    “You're terrible and a nuisance,” Olruggio grouses as he slips into his soft silk pajamas to cuddle with his wonderful husband in their new bed.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    2,011
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    45
    Kudos:
    454
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    59
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    12 Jun 2026

  4. Public Bookmark 54

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    Qifrey and Olly have to talk about crushes in order to comfort Coco after she gets turned down.

    You don't have to have read the first in the series, but its short and backgrounds some of this conversation.

    -

    “I… I feel so embarrassed," Coco whined, blinking rapidly before swiping at her tears again. Qifrey quieted the urge to take the kerchief and treat her more gently than she was treating herself. He settled for smoothing strands of her hair away from her flushed face.

    Something about Olly’s phrasing, or tone, perhaps, caught in Qifrey’s mind.

    “I know,” Olly soothed again, his hand still tracing down her back and over the tips of Qifrey’s fingers. “Trust me, I know. But it’ll pass.”

    “You… someone turned you down?” She peered at Olruggio, biting her lip when he nodded. The snag in Qifrey’s mind ripped into a gaping hole.

    Series
    Language:
    English
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    5,869
    Chapters:
    2/2
    Comments:
    54
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    501
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    54
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    12 Jun 2026

  5. Public Bookmark *

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    “Come on, Olly.” Qifrey rolled onto his stomach to fix Olruggio squarely in his sights. The last few years of boyhood had rounded out Qifrey's sharpest edges, leaving him mostly handsome and amiable. From time to time, though, he still got this look in his eye like an impending tsunami.

    Olruggio had long since given up any illusions of outrunning the destruction.

    --

    Before the atelier and the apprentices, young Olruggio and Qifrey have recently passed the fourth, and final, test to become full-fledged witches. With their newfound freedom from the Great Hall, they decide to pay a visit to Ghodrey in the north--Olruggio's hometown.

    Between dealing with his embarrassing relatives and planning for life as an adult witch, Olruggio grapples with growing desires towards his best friend. He is unsure what the future holds for them and whether he can follow Qifrey wherever it takes him.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    19,464
    Chapters:
    3/3
    Comments:
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    702
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    126
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    01 Jun 2026