Bewitched
➵ VAV: (warlock) Ayno x fem. reader / one shot, warlock AU, college AU / fluff
➵ warnings: none
➵ word count: 3k
➵ series: Baron, Ayno, St. Van, Ziu, Lou, Ace
To say your research partner is eccentric might be a bit of an understatement.
He sports at least one new hair color every week, snacks raw Ramen noodles and often takes his pet snake to lectures (he has showed you Baem only once so far, simply opening his backpack and saying: look, I've brought my roomie with me today. You still think you should have gotten an award for not screaming out loud in the middle of the lecture).
Still, Ayno is pretty fun to work with and you're actually making good time; your project isn't due for another two weeks but you're almost finished - most of which must be credited to Ayno, who might be just as intelligent as eccentric.
Thanks to making such good time, you promise some of your close friends to come to their annual Halloween party this weekend, even though you should probably be using the free evening for one of your other college projects (but one evening won't hurt anyone, right?). You're actually thinking about asking Ayno if he wants to tag along - he's fun to be around and you've grown quite close these past weeks. And you might or might not have a slight crush on the handsome man, who’s sporting blond hair this week.
The first time you two had met up (not counting your weekly meetings for your research project of course), was to binge-watched both seasons of the Sabrina reboot in one sitting (Ayno laughing during the weirdest scenes, shaking his head but not giving you any answers when you asked what was so funny to him). You had also tried cooking dinner together once - which might or might not have resulted in an evacuated building thanks to all the smoke coming out of your oven, activating the fire alarm. By now, visits to the local cinema just around the corner of your campus have become part of both your weekly schedules, mostly thanks to your shared taste in silly movies.
Almost two months into knowing each other, you begin to notice Ayno‘s lingering glances, or how his hands touch you more than necessary - pulling you with him to get the best seats in the cinema, holding the door open and gently pushing you through, his hand staying on the small of your back; sometimes even tucking a strand of hair back behind your ear. These sweet, simple gestures make your heart flutter, make you hope for more.
Ayno is absent during all lectures this week and even misses your previously set-up meetings. At first you are worried, but when you’re unable to reach him via text and he doesn’t even answer any of your calls, your worry quickly turns into hot, fuming anger. You can’t believe he’s actually ghosting you - not even considering your friendship (which, apparently, isn’t important to him at all), you were also making such good time with your project! And now you don’t even know if you’ll be able to go to the Halloween party tomorrow. You were really looking forward to dress up as a witch this Saturday, looking forward to Harry's (very strong) punch, to dance through the night and simply have some fun (with Ayno, but no one needs to know that). But no, he just had to go AWOL, leaving you alone with that damned project.
On Friday evening, you‘ve had enough. Storming across campus towards Ayno’s dorm, you wouldn’t be surprised to see steam coming out of your own ears. Minutes later, you’re standing in front of Ayno's flat, hammering your fist against the door of his shared apartment.
No one answers.
You cross both arms in front of your chest, scowling at the door and kicking it slightly. "This is so stupid. Men are so stupid!", you growl, kicking it again.
"Oh my, what has that poor door done to you?", an amused voice behind you asks.
You whirl around, still scowling darkly. "The owner of the door, more like it.", you huff, looking at the handsome young man in front of you, taking in his red-dyed hair and dark eyes, "Do you know where he is?"
The man quickly shakes his head. "Nope, sorry. Haven't seen him in a few days now, if I remember correctly - it's also unusually quiet. Normally, you hear all kinds of things: explosions, curses, I think I even heard a cat or something like that screech one time...?"
You raise both eyebrows at this. "Did it ever cross your mind to talk to the landlord about this?"
He just shrugs. "Not really, no. I don't mind, I'm not home that often and I'm a deep sleeper, so it's okay. I also really like Ayno, we often hang out and play video games. His roommate is nice, too. A bit weird maybe - but so is Ayno, I guess."
"Mhm.", you only make, leaning against Ayno's front door and closing your eyes. You have the feeling the young man is telling you all of this to calm you down. It’s working quite well, even though you're still seriously bummed out by this turn of events.
"Uh... I could, I don't know, text you, when I see him again? That way you'll know when he's back.", the young man suggests a bit shyly, scratching his head.
You consider his offer for a few seconds, before finally nodding. "That would be awesome. I’ll give you my number." You hold out your hand, take his phone and quickly save your name and number, before giving it back to him.
"Well, Y/N, I'll text you as soon as I spot Ayno. I'm Ziu by the way.", he says, smiling one last time before unlocking the door right besides Ayno's.
"Thanks, Ziu. I'll see you around." With that, you take your leave.
It’s Saturday evening and you're just trying to finish your (seriously frustrating) winged liner, trying to give your witchy make-up and outfit the last finishing touches, when Ziu’s promised text arrives:
You snort when you read his message, quickly opening it and typing away:
With that, you hurriedly finish your make-up, snatch your purse and pull on your dark coat and boots. Seconds later, you've already left your dorm and are pretty much sprinting towards Ayno's flat.
Thanks to that, you're out of breath when you reach the building, giving yourself a few seconds to calm down. You quickly take the lift to the sixth floor, stepping into the dimly lit hallway. Ziu stands in front of Ayno's door, looking like he would actually try to fight the slightly older man should he try to leave the apartment again. You snort at the picture, shaking your head.
When Ziu spots you, he waves excitedly. "Hey Angry Gir- uh, Angry Witch now, I guess. He's still in there!", he stage-whispers when you come closer.
"Thanks, Red Eagle. I'll take it from here.", you answer gravely, before playfully winking at him. He gives you the thumbs up, before quickly retracting into his own apartment. You smile slightly - he reminds you a bit of an overexcited puppy.
You take a last deep breath before knocking on Ayno's front door. You immediately hear footsteps on the other side, but still, no one opens the door. You knock again, louder this time.
"Ayno, I know you're in there! Open the damn door or so God will help me-"
The door flies open before you’re able to finish your sentence, a second later your research partner has already pulled you inside, quickly shutting the door behind you.
You stare at him, surprise written all over your face. "Your hair is pink!", you blurt out, mentally kicking yourself.
You're not here to look at his hair, you're here to tell him off for ghosting you!
Even though the bright hair color looks really good on him.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, it is.", he answers a bit distracted, twirling a few strands of his freshly dyed hair around one finger, "What... What are you doing here?"
His eyes dart around, looking at the door, at the ceiling, at the floor - never at you though.
"What do you mean, what am I doing here? I'm here to ask you where you were these last few days! Why you didn't bother to text me or call me or contact me in any way! I'm really angry at you right now.", you spit out, crossing your arms and scowling at him.
He sighs deeply, finally looking at you. His eyes widen when he takes in your costume. "Why are you dressed like that?", he asks perplexed, actually taking a step back.
You look at him in an incredulous manner, taking off the witches hat nevertheless. "It's just for a Halloween party. And I don't know why that matters right now! You still owe me an explanation. Where were you?!"
"Uhh..." He just stares at you, apparently unable to come up with a satisfactory reply.
Before you can continue telling him off, a door leading into the flat's hallway opens. A purple-haired man (seriously, what’s up with these bright hair colors nowadays?! ... not that you’re complaining) looks at Ayno and you, both eyebrows raised and a small smirk on his lips. "Just tell her and stop fussing around. By God, it won't be the end of the world.", he says, winking at you.
Ayno whips around, glaring at the other man. "Thanks for the advice, Dawon.", he replies venomously. The other man just shrugs before closing his door again. Seconds later, you hear loud music blasting from the room.
Ayno shakes his head, sighs again and takes your hand to pull you with him. He opens another door, gently pushing you inside.
You guess you're in his room now, it's just as messy as you thought it would be: clothes are strewn all over the place - on the bed, on the floor and on his chair; tons of notes as well as some old looking, leather-bound books are scattered on his desk and floor. Dark curtains are currently drawn together, the only source of light coming from Baem's terrarium standing on Ayno's dresser. It smells faintly of gunpowder and something else that burns your nose. Something like sulfur, maybe? Even though you don’t know why Ayno would have sulfur in his room.
"Well, now I finally know why you never wanted me to come over to your place.", you murmur, a small smile on your lips. While Ayno's room is complete chaos, yours is the exact opposite - but still, you don't really mind this mess. Ayno seems to have some kind of system behind his chaos (well, maybe except for his clothes, you guess).
The tall man beside you smiles sheepishly. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that. I swear it doesn't always look like this."
"THAT'S A COMPLETE LIE!", Dawon yells from across the hallway - you have no idea how he was able to hear his roommate, the loud music still blasting through the flat.
"BE QUIET, DAWON!" With that, Ayno quickly shuts the door, scratching his head when he turns to you, "I guess I owe you an explanation."
"Yep.", you simply say, sitting down on his bed and gazing at him with curious eyes.
He leans against his desk, crossing both arms in front of his chest. The way he looks at you makes your heart flutter, but you try to ignore it.
"As you know, it's Halloween.", he begins and you nod, "And, uh... That's actually a time where my Cove-... uh, my family? Yeah, my family has a kind of... uh, meeting. So that's where I was."
You blink a few times. "That's your explanation? You better be kidding."
"I'm not! There was no wifi and no reception and-"
"Ayno, even if that was the case... you could have just told me beforehand?"
He looks at you with big puppy eyes. "I... could have told you beforehand. That's... that’s absolutely right, yeah."
You pinch the bridge of your nose, sighing deeply. "What kind of family meeting, anyway? Is everything okay?”
He shifts uncomfortably, shrugging a bit. "Yup, it was just... about family stuff."
"Well, thanks for clearing this up, then.", you finally snap, standing up and turning to leave, but before you can to reach the door, Ayno quickly grabs your arm and turns you around to face him. He gazes at you with something like uncertainty in his eyes, biting his lip. You raise one eyebrow in a silent challenge.
"Tell me or I'm leaving."
"Iamawarlock."
You say those things simultaneously, which explains why you need a few seconds to register what he’s just told you.
"You're a what?!
"I'm a wizard, ‘arry.", he jokes in a terrible attempt at a Scottish accent, but when he sees your shocked and more than serious expression, his smile falters, "Uh, yeah, so... I'm a warlock."
"You're a warlock."
"Yep."
You feel like your world has just turned upside down, like earth itself has shifted beneath you.
You also feel like you should definitely sit down immediately or else you'll just faint.
"Y/N, y- you look a bit pale. Are you okay?", Ayno asks nervously, still holding your arm.
"I think I... I need a second.", you say quietly, letting yourself be led towards his bed. There, you take a few deep breaths.
"Do you want some water? Or some... I don't know, whiskey?"
You glare at the handsome man in front of you, who smiles apologetically. "Sorry, sorry. This is a bit of a strange situation for me as well."
You push a few strands of hair back behind your ear, noticing how your hand trembles.
There are exactly two possibilities: either your research partner is batshit crazy or he is actually telling the truth.
Obviously, the only logical explanation should be that he really is crazy.
... But if such things as warlocks really do exist... well, Ayno would definitely fit your image of one.
"Y/N? Can you please say something? Anything, really?"
You look up and right into the worried face of your research partner - who has become your friend these last few weeks.
Who has also become your crush.
Who looks at you with complete trust, his face displaying nothing but the truth.
"Strangely enough, I think I believe you.", you finally answer, squeezing your hands together in an attempt to stop them from shaking.
His smile is blindingly bright when he falls on his knees in front of you. "Really? You do? So, Dawon really was right all this time.", he whispers, taking your hands in his.
"I ALWAYS AM!"
You jump, looking around in search of Ayno's roommate - it sounded as if he was right there in the room with you.
"Where-"
"Unbelievable.", Ayno interrupts your question, making a weird and kind of dramatic hand gesture, shaking his hand, "That should teach him a lesson."
A second later, you hear a loud bang followed by an even louder yell.
"UNNECCESSARY VIOLENCE!"
Ayno giggles, before gazing back at you. "Sorry, Dawon's just really nosy sometimes. But I think he'll stop listen in on us now."
You're not quite sure you want to know what he just did to his roommate, so you just stay quiet.
"Y/N? Are you okay?", Ayno asks softly, reaching out to touch your cheek, before thinking better of it and quickly snatching his hand back. For a second, he just gazes at it like it doesn't even belong to him, like it has a mind of its own.
"Yeah. I just... uh. Don't know what to think about all this, to be honest. Doesn't this change everything?", you ask in a small voice. You have so many questions - is Dawon a warlock as well? Are all stories true? Do werewolves and vampires and demons and angels and and and ... really exist? But apparently, you're not quite able to process all of that right now. You can only gaze at your research partner, your friend, your crush - fearing that nothing will ever be the same again.
He quickly shakes his head. "No, it doesn't. I'm still me - I just have some pretty cool abilities and that's it."
"Some pretty cool abilities...", you repeat, trying to cope with all the new information.
"Y/N. Please, I'm serious. I'm still me. I still suck at cooking, but so do you. I still love going to the cinema with you, because I enjoy watching your over the top reactions to everything. I still want to finish that damn research project with you, getting us a high - or even better, the highest grade. And I still really want to finally take you on a date. I still really want to kiss you.", he almost whispers the last part, but you hear it nevertheless.
You can't help but smile at the slightly nervous yet hopeful expression on his face. It should be illegal to look this cute and hot at the same time, you think.
You take a deep breath and try to push any thoughts concerning the supernatural world aside. Right now, there are more important things to consider - for example, how bewitched you are with your eccentric, intelligent and absolutely lovable research partner. You notice you actually don’t mind him being a warlock - because he is absolutely right, it doesn't really change anything between you. So, you quickly make a decision.
"Well, I have one condition.", you finally answer, smirking slightly.
Ayno nods eagerly, his dark eyes locking with yours.
You lean forward. "Don't you dare turn me into a frog whenever we're fighting."
He snorts and closes the last few centimeters between you, gently nuzzling his nose against yours.
"Mhm, I think I can accept that condition.", he softly murmurs against your lips, before finally kissing you.
You guess all your burning questions can wait for another day.
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