ꫂ᭪݁ the moment qifrey's feelings for you solidified .ᐟ
content ahead contains ; oblivious fem!reader, qifrey as an unofficial girl dad and yearner of the century, briefest mentions of olruggio and alaira.
it was a humid summer evening, and the valley's rolling hills were bathed in the soft, golden glow of the setting sun as it slowly dipped beneath the horizon. crickets buzzed amongst themselves somewhere in the far distant shrubbery, just beyond the opened windows of the atelier.
the cozy kitchen was just as bright, with three girls huddled around the table, ink wands clutched in their delicate, stained fingers. corked vials of ink and sheets of paper, many with half-drawn spell circles, covered most of the wooden surface, showing what they'd been up to.
you rarely had extra time to leave the great hall since you spent most of your days hunched over stacks of old spell books, nose deep in the pages of parchment. deciphering the ancient scrawl of spells in an attempt to modernize them was never an easy task, but the job was nonetheless enjoyable.
the only downside? your view was mostly stone walls and wobbly shelves. so, you started writing letters via bird of light beacons to stay in touch with your companions—one of which was qifrey.
word traveled quickly in the community that an outsider discovered the secret of their magic. in all honesty, you weren't surprised in the slightest that qifrey had taken on the young girl as an apprentice, according to reading his latest correspondence. he always had a peculiar way in attracting waywards.
within that aforementioned correspondence, he'd gushed at how well the young girls were fairing. tetia with a smile that could rival even the brightest of stars, richeh's unshakable individualism. he'd expressed his initial surprise at how well agott was adjusting to coco now training alongside them.
(olruggio and alaira were secretly betting at how long it would take the arklaum daughter, but that was neither here nor there.)
as you perused the remainder of his extensive writings, you were quite surprised to discover the request at the conclusion of the page. qifrey expressed a desire for your presence, hoping you might impart some of your knowledge and experience to the four young ladies, thereby expanding their perspectives of the magical world.
this must have been a jest of some sort. the reason why qifrey sought your assistance, despite your perception that your colleagues' talents surpassed your own, remained unclear. as did the motive behind his gifts that frequented your desk.
indulging him is how you found yourself here—thoroughly looking over coco's attempt to draw a sigil meant for her own sylph shoes and attempt to keep up with tetia's never-ending chit chat.
"your lines need some work in regards to the curves surrounding the centered 's'," you softly inform coco, pointing to them with a finger.
"got it," coco mumbled. she quickly tossed the paper she was holding and jumped up from her seat, rushing out of the kitchen towards her study, probably to grab more supplies since she was almost out. "i'll be right back!"
seeing her curious and willing to learn from her mistakes instead of being bummed out made you smile. that, in your opinion, was the real magic—enthusiasm.
tetia giggled and leaned back in her chair, which was next to yours, as she twirled one of her pink pigtails on top of her head. "you are such a good teacher, miss! it is no wonder master talks so highly of you."
richeh, with a mouth full of sweets she had acquired in kalhn, nods. "his cheeks flush feverishly while doing so", she says. "even if he believes no one is observing," she quietly adds, dabbing away a smudge of chocolate from the corner of her mouth with a cloth.
you immediately feel a sense of confusion. could a witch have used forbidden magic on you and qifrey, causing him to feel unwell each time he spoke your name? has a curse been placed upon your name?
there was no opportunity to contemplate such a possibility, as coco re-entered the kitchen with an armful of documents, accompanied by an elated qifrey and a deadpan agott.
"my sincerest apologies for my delayed arrival, ladies," qifrey stated. he gently rested a hand upon agott's head and offered a soft smile. "my lesson with agott extended longer than anticipated, but i believe neither of us found that to be an issue, did we?"
you suppressed your amusement as an expression of irritation appeared on the arklaum girl's face. she gently removed qifrey's hand and cleared her throat, attempting to feign neutrality.
"education is a valuable tool," agott reasoned, approaching the table to take a seat. "it would be foolish of me to depart from an insightful conversation."
the three other young apprentices were overcome with laughter, their joyful sounds echoing through the air and proving to be quite contagious. you relished in the blissful atmosphere.
a minute or two after their boisterousness subsided, you kindly assisted tetia in clearing the table, returning it to a pristine state once more, before placing small stacks of fresh paper in front of each girl. "let us practice sigils that are slightly more complex, shall we?"
leaning against the surface of a nearby counter, qifrey couldn't help but silently marvel at the scene before him. he watched you carefully, tilting his head just a fraction as you carefully began demonstrating how to draw a rather complicated spell.
he always tended to fixate upon these smaller details about you, for how could he not? from the way a piece of your hair fell in front of your eyes as you leaned over to inspect richeh's work, to the way you tapped your foot against the kitchen's covble floor. everything about you captured his attention.
but what really made his heart thump wildly that evening within the confines of his chest, beneath the cloak draping his shoulders, was seeing how you interacted with his apprentices.
your voice, a soft murmur, praised coco's precise lines, and you offered gentle criticism regarding richeh's incomplete circle—a sound he would endeavor to hear daily from that point forward.
you always wrote how you'd never take on any of your own, explicitly stating how your area of expertise would never offer much for their impressionable minds, or how your patience level was quite temperamental most days.
but oh, how strongly he disagreed with that sentiment right in this very moment. you charmed him furiously, and tormented him in detail.
at last, you feel eyes on you, so you look up from your paper and see qifrey's assessing gaze. a look of surprise dawn's across his face—he hadn’t anticipated being caught. you raise a curious brow and inquire, "is there ink on my face?"
qirey blinks, scared he misheard you for a second. but when he saw how serious you were, he couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. "not at all," he responds, waving your question off. "i'm merely observing. please, do carry on."
you casually dismiss the matter and continue with your impromptu instruction, once again unaware of his persistent observation.
the day your naivete finally waned would, in qifrey's humble opinion, be one of a great reckoning, for if you were to ever look at him in such a manner, he was sure he'd never recover.
↪a/n : this was meant to be much shorter, but i got carried away hehe! thank you angels so very much for 405 followers. your support means the absolute world to me. i hope you enjoyed! ♡⸜(˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝
⋆˚࿔ 🏷 : @kalatiii , @jiyuspassion , @lilithkleia @xxvendettaxx , @yoonsucks , @yorikae , @paninsoup , @xqce , @mimuju , @chloeee20 , @qifries .
©suganoms 2026. do not translate, copy, repost, edit or feed my written works into any generative ai platform.