fandom: witch hat atelier (tongari boushi no atorie)
characters: qifrey, olruggio, original male character, (mentioned) beldaruit
relationships: qifrey & original (child) male character, olruggio & original (child) male character, (hinted) qifrey x olruggio
tags: fluff, sfw, original character (oc) insert, original male character, original child male character, general backstory details, found family, platonic relationships, future dads
word count: 1258 words
series: tales of an atelier: light of dawn
masterlist: tumblr masterlist
description:
First came surprise.
Second came fondness.
Third came affection.
part 1, [part 2], part 3, tba.
author's note:
thank you for taking interest and reading! honestly i had a bit of fun trying to figure out how to write this. hopefully i can finish the next idea i have soon!
When they came to visit the Great Hall for supplies that had gone out of stock in Kalhn, the last thing that Olruggio expected to see was a young boy sitting by the roots of one of the silverwood trees of Argentgard. His hair was cut short, though the uneven parts of it made it seem as if it was out of necessity rather than preference. His lack of bangs made it so that his eyes were impossible to hide—one of them was a brilliant shade of light blue, while the other was a darker shade of the same hue.
The first time Olruggio spotted him, he had to look twice to see if what he was seeing was real.
The boy was a spitting image of the man that stood next to him—of Qifrey.
It was almost uncanny how similar they were at first glance. If the boy’s hair was longer, Olruggio would probably question whether or not they had accidentally walked through a wormhole that sent them into the past rather than the entrance to the Great Hall.
As Olruggio stared, he could see Qifrey stiffen from his peripheral vision. Olruggio could only guess that he had spotted the boy as well, and was just as surprised as he was when he realized that it was like staring into a mirror of the past.
When he looked, however, Qifrey’s face was largely unreadable—like a blank slate of marble.
If Olruggio stared for longer though, he could almost see the way Qifrey’s eyes grew wider by just a fraction—how his eyes shook just enough to be barely noticeable.
To him, that reaction was more surprising than the boy.
Was he… afraid?
As for why he would be—Olruggio had no clue.
At some point, Beldaruit had spotted them and began making light conversation after sending the other children off to play amongst themselves for a while. That’s when Olruggio learns of who the boy is.
Eos, no last name. He was an orphan of entirely unknown origins, found at the steps of the orphanage he’s lived in his whole life. No one knew who his parents were, and any speculation they originally had faltered from lack of evidence.
The more Olruggio listened, the more the boy reminded him of the man who stood right next to him.
They weren’t exact copies of each other, but the similarities felt so strong it was almost uncanny.
Surprisingly—although Olruggio thought that he really shouldn’t be surprised at all—it was Qifrey who approached the boy first.
Olruggio could still remember the way Eos’ face lit up in that innocent child-like wonder when he conjured a small ball of light from his palm quire. If such simple magic could make the child smile like that, then Olruggio couldn’t help but wonder how big that smile would grow if he showed him other spells he’s created over the years.
That was how it all began—their little song and dance.
They would come back to visit the Great Hall a number of times, trying to subtly seek out Eos. Something about the boy drew them in more than they could ever admit out loud, though given the way Beldaruit watched them from afar, Olruggio had a feeling that they were being the complete opposite of the word subtle. They pretended that they wanted to be shown around the winding streets of the fortress—even though they knew its pavement like the back of their hand, just like any other witch who grew up here at some point in their lives. It was a flimsy excuse to try and spend more time with the young child, but said child didn’t seem to mind at all.
A part of Olruggio wondered if it was because they were the first people to genuinely show that they wanted to spend time with him specifically. From what he had observed, Eos was a lonely child, often sitting in the corner while other children played just a few ways away. Never too far, but always just out of reach.
The thought of it made something inside him ache.
It didn’t help that the more they interacted, the more fond Olruggio grew. He discovered that, despite his body’s tendency to easily tire and leave him out of breath, the boy surprisingly loved to wander around outside and just… admire things. From the occasional flower growing through the cracks to even moss clinging onto the side of a rock. It was strange how easily infatuated the child was.
It made him all the more endearing, though Olruggio never had the heart to admit it at the time.
He knew that the more time they spent together, the more attached he grew towards Eos.
How could he not, when the boy smiled in such a lovable way at even the simplest of things?
It was another difference between Eos and a younger Qifrey. Eos was truly a cheerful little ball of light, once you let him come out of his shell. It was a sharp contrast to how gloomy Qifrey used to be when they were younger.
‘He’s also more well-behaved,’ Olruggio sometimes mused to himself.
Olruggio really ought to stop comparing the two. They had no relation to one another, other than the similarities in appearance, although Eos’ white hair and light eyes were apparently a result of some genetic condition—though it was hard for anyone to fully conclude when they didn’t even know where Eos came from—or, rather, who.
It answered a lot of their questions, to an extent—like why Eos’ lighter blue eye seemed to gleam red under certain lighting. It was simply because his eyes lacked a lot of color, so the blood beneath it shined through—something like that.
It wasn't anything dangerous, though some children found him scary regardless.
Children tended to fear what they couldn't quite understand, and Eos, in their eyes, was akin to a strange anomaly. In turn, Eos seemed to readily accept being pushed to the side and would rather stay away if being close meant making others uncomfortable.
Beldaruit had apparently tried to integrate Eos back into interacting with others his age, but any and all efforts proved futile. It was difficult to get the boy to open up to his peers when he had been rejected so vehemently in the past.
It was probably why he stuck to Qifrey and Olruggio like glue.
To Eos, almost all Great Hall witches were untrustworthy because they distrusted him simply for how he looked. However, in his eyes, Qifrey and Olruggio were not witches of the Great Hall. They were something unprecedented in Eos’ mind, and that made him more willing to give his precious trust.
Olruggio held that trust in the palm of his hands like it was made of the most delicate of glass.
At some point, while eating dinner back in the atelier that, at least by that point, held no actual apprentices, Qifrey suddenly asked the question that had unknowingly been burning in the back of Olruggio's mind as well.
“... Should we… take him in…?”
Just like that, a decision was made that same night.
The next day, they came back to visit Eos in Argentgard.
However, this time, they weren't just there to spend time under the guise of a faux tour.
They were there to ask the boy if he wanted to come home with them.
To this day, Olruggio thought it was one of the best decisions he had made in a long time.
