#I kind of love Azul and his shady yet fluster nature | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

it-happened-one-fic · 2 years

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Pretend this Love Isn't Real - Azul

Author Notes: Fair warning this one is longer than my other fics at 2129 words. I wrote this to the KIRA remix of the ChiruChiru cover by Rachie. I also got the title from one of the lyrics from that song. It was actually quite a bit of fun to write since Azul seems like the sort who be kind of frustrated and frenzied when in love. Reader is gender-neutral and the prefect.

Type: Fluff/romantic/pining

Word count: 2129

Azul templed his hands as he listened to Jade report his findings with an annoyingly amused smile on his face, “The prefect remains a mystery. There is no trace of them anywhere. In fact they do not seem to exist when one just looks at records. They have no social security number, hospital visits, memberships, or even any email accounts. All told, they have no digital footprint or records.The only information to be gained is that which they share themselves.”

Azul nodded, at this point he wasn’t even surprised. He’d had Jade looking into the prefect since they’d first become an object of interest. First surviving and defeating the Riddle overblot and then Leona’s. They were definitely something special. That had only become more obvious when they’d beaten his contract and handled his overblot too.

From there his curiosity had spiraled, especially when they’d shown an interest in his past. If they were going to dig for his secrets he could do the same. It had seemed like a fair trade.

Thus far it had been anything but fair though. While they could get information on him there was nothing on them. The only things he knew were, as Jade had said, what they had told him.

“Why don’t you just try to befriend Shrimpy and find out about them that way?” Floyd’s bored-sounding voice interrupted his thoughts and shined a light on the situation. Azul looked at Floyd with wide-eyes.

How had he not thought of that? People were always more open with those they deemed close and the prefect was open to friendship anyway. They’d made that obvious when they’d asked about how he was doing post-overblot. “That’s… That’s actually a good idea Floyd.”

Floyd only rolled his eyes in response and Jade chuckled as if that solution had been obvious. Ignoring their amused but blessedly silent mocking, he stood.

Snatching his hat and coat from the hooks in the office, Azul glanced towards them, “I’ll be back shortly. Jade. Floyd. You two take care of the lounge till I get back.”

They both nodded, differing smiles on their identical faces as they chorused their matching answer, “Yes sir.”

It didn’t take him long to get to Ramshackle. It wasn’t that far from the school, but then it was far enough that Azul couldn’t imagine walking the distance every day was pleasant. That said, walking the same distance for lunch at a Monstro Lounge offshoot would have been acceptable had his business venture worked out.

Azul rolled his shoulders as he stepped up on the porch that had seen better days and calmly knocked on the door. The answer was prompt as the door swung open to reveal the infamous prefect peeking out at him, Grim winding his way through their legs to look as well.

Azul found he was struck, once again, by how average they were. There was nothing particularly outstanding about them. They were attractive enough, but nothing stunning. Their grades were as good as one could expect for magicless person attending a magic school, but certainly not top scores. They were friendly but not overly so and though they had a decent number of friends the number wasn’t unusual. Yet despite their overwhelming mundaneness they were always found at the center of anything of interest that happened at NRC.

Unaware of his less than glamorous review, their eyes widened in a comical fashion as they opened the door a bit wider, “Azul?”

Azul feigned a warm smile at them, “Hello prefect. I was wondering if you could help with something.”

Their eyes narrowed almost immediately at his words and they started to shut the door, “No.”

Azul caught the door with a single hand, his other palm pressing to his chest, “You wound me prefect. I only come bearing the offer of a job.”

They did not look impressed with his make-believe hurt but he didn’t let that stop him, “I heard you were in need of excess funds for your continued refurbishing of Ramshackle dorm. If you would be willing to help out at Monsto Lounge I will pay you handsomely.”

Their eyebrows arched and, ignoring Grim’s comments about how shady Azul was, they released their pressure on the door, “And what do you get out of my working for you?”

Azul released the door, no longer concerned about it slamming in his face, “I remember how quickly you and Jack cleared out that crowd at Monstro Lounge when you first visited my establishment. Having someone of such skill working for me would doubtless ease the press of serving all of our many, many customers.”

They frowned but glanced back at the house, most likely looking at something Jade and Floyd hadn’t worked on during those three days of repairs. When they looked back at him their unimpressed defiance was slipping, “I can’t work often, Crowley keeps me pretty busy.”

Azul immediately nodded, a picture of compassionate understanding, “Of course, I can work out a schedule that takes your prior appointments into account.”

He watched as they shifted, knowing he already had them hooked. Their uncertain expression gave everything away, “That could work… But Crowley doesn’t really tell me when I’ll be busy with his…” They waved their hand in the air for slight emphasis, “Jobs.”

Well, he had them baited, hooking apparently was going to take longer. Unconcerned, he rested his hands on his walking stick in a relaxed manner, “That won’t be a problem, you can just be a part-time employee. Someone we call when things get to be too much for our usual workers.”

In an unexpected turn, they narrowed their eyes at him, “That sounds nice, but you're going awfully far to hire me.”

Well, they weren’t a person of interest for nothing. When dealing with Ramshackle’s prefect there were bound to be surprises. Azul had never been one to back down from a challenge though, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now.

So he sighed, shaking his head slightly, “Things are just that difficult for us prefect.” He met their gaze in a pleading manner, “The usual crowd is bad enough but the lunch rush is pure chaos.”

They sighed, a sound of long suffering, but nodded, “Alright. I’ll do it. When will I need to show up?”

Azul had to bite back a smug smile, instead settling for a polite one that better fit the image he currently needed, “How can I ever thank you? We’ll call when your assistance is needed.”

Azul’s return to the Lounge was marked by Jade and Floyd looking towards him with curious gazes that he replied to with only a smug smile and a nod of his head.

He had gotten the prefect. Now it was just a matter of patience. It wouldn’t be long before he cracked their code and learned exactly what made them such a force of nature despite their mundane personality.

It was about a week before he called them though. True to his word he waited till there was an influx of customers. When he finally told them their assistance would be needed, he allowed himself a smug smile. After all, everything was going perfectly according to plan. He would likely know what made them special by the end of the night.

Or at least that’s what he thought.

They worked all evening, putting out exemplary effort that would impress even the Great Seven. They left no opening for him to step in and assist. In fact they merely met him with a smile at the end of the evening.

“I must say… I’m impressed Prefect.”

They shook their head, smiling all the while, “Call me Y/n. Prefect sounds too… lofty.” Well, not a total loss if they were requesting he use their name. Azul allowed himself a smile as he handed them their check. Perhaps this venture would pay off then.

He waited only a short while before he called them in again. This time he fully intended to have a nice chat with them since there weren’t quite as many customers.

Instead, they worked closely with Jade that evening but his vice-housewarden didn’t learn anything of interest. Or at least that’s what he said. Azul knew they’d had conversations. The only question was why was Jade not telling him what they’d said?

Had they somehow won his loyalty? It seemed unlikely and the thought of them two becoming close was rather annoying for some reason.

So he called them in again. This time they worked with Floyd who only reported they quite liked his cooking. Nothing truly important there, everyone liked Floyd’s cooking. That’s why he was the preferred chef.

It was strange though. Azul couldn’t help but find himself questioning if they would like his cooking.

So he called them in for a fourth time and asked them to help him in his office. He wasn’t going to let them slip away with one of the twins this time. Especially since those two refused to tell him their findings for frustratingly vague reasons.

“If you could, sort those in the order of importance so I could go through them more quickly.” They nodded, a surprised look flashing across their face. But then they probably weren’t expecting him to request they help with a job that was so seemingly important.

Despite their initial surprise they met him with a follow-up question “Do you want the least important first or…?”

He was rather delighted, a good worker who ensured they did their job correctly. His smile wasn’t fake this time when he answered, “Most important first please.”

They nodded and dutifully started their work, scanning each sheet carefully before stacking them accordingly. And he watched them as he worked, carefully observing how they went about their duties.

Nothing really stood out about how they completed their task. But something about having them in his office with him was pleasant despite the fact there was no conversation occuring.

“Do you need something?” They looked up from their work, casually meeting his gaze and startling him.

He faltered only briefly though, hurriedly coming up with a response to their nonchalant question, “I… No. I was just thinking that you're quite the hard-worker.”

They tilted their head, a common gesture from them, “Is it that odd? That is why you hired me after all.”

Azul nodded, his ability to spin webs of half-truths as flawless as ever. Especially since he couldn’t deny their work was impressive, “That is true. But I suppose I’m just impressed. Few people can keep up with Jade and Floyd.”

It was strange that they were so relaxed with him even though it was just the two of them. Few people were. Yet another mystery to add to the mass of the curiosities that made up the Prefect.

“They aren’t so bad. Once you get to know them they can be kind of nice at times.” Azul’s eyebrows rose at their words. So they didn’t mind Jade and Floyd. Perhaps his suspicions were correct and they were becoming close to the twins.

He fought against the urge to frown at the thought. There was nothing truly wrong with them getting along with coworkers.

“Well, yes. I tend to surround myself with loyal people,” He almost missed their amused grin.

“Is that so?” He frowned immediately, confused by their playfully lilted question. Confused enough that he only responded with a slow nod which only seemed to amuse them further.

“Is that you asked me to work with you specifically?” As soon they spoke he understood. He’d inadvertently implied that since he’d been calling them in frequently they too were loyal.

Azul floundered at that amused, too-observant glance that they cast his way, “I… Well, you seemed like the best choice for the job.” They hummed in response, opting to go back to their job and the conversation fell flat.

Though it had been brief, their exchange trailed innumerable questions behind it. Why were they so comfortable with both him and the twins? Why were they working so hard at a job that didn’t really do anything for them? Why were they here? Why did they occupy his mind so often? Why did he enjoy them being here? The list went on and on.

Azul shook his head and decided to follow their lead and go back to working. Such questions treaded too close to a dangerous area of his thoughts that he didn’t want to approach yet.

Best to pretend there was nothing lurking beneath the still surface of his thoughts regarding the mysterious but fascinating prefect of Ramshackle dorm. Best to ignore the thrill he felt at the thought of being close to them. Best to pretend that this love wasn’t real.

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