So this is an urban fantasy AU, but the fantasy part is going to be explained as the story continues. Fem!England is going by Audrey Kirkland, and Russia is going by Ivan Braginsky in the story.
Audrey stood in the center of her new apartment. The last time she had seen it there had been paint on the walls and furniture and a strong scent of incense. The previous tenet had stripped it of most of that when they had left, leaving behind white walls, an off smell, and scuffed wooden floors. They'd even removed their charms from the walls. She ran her hand over the cool wall, planning out which spells she'd paint onto them.
She turned from the wall to grab her belongings from the entry way and start setting up as much as she could before her furniture would be moved in. She left what little food she'd brought in the kitchen, brought her suitcase into her new bedroom, and put her toiletries in the bathroom. Again, she whispered a blessing for being able to find an apartment with internet included before retreating to her bedroom and pulling out her laptop. She sent a message to her mother that all was well before finding a movie to settle herself with.
Before going to bed, she recalled that the landlord had told her that the one thing left behind had been a brownie. She pulled out the honey she'd made sure to bring with her and set out a little bit of it for him on the kitchen counter. "I'm just going to need a little help with cooking," she announced to the apartment, hoping the brownie would hear it.
In the morning, she left her bedroom to find golden brown toast on the kitchen counter.
Audrey worked in a local and natural pharmacy, using her magic and study of plants to create the medicines. It had required less study than to become a doctor and allowed her more time with plants and less with people. She started creating a list of plants she worked with and wanted for her apartment.
After a few days with furniture, she went out to search for the most natural paints she could find. She pushed her furniture away from the walls and put on old clothes. She rolled up her sleeves and began to paint charms onto the walls in her loopy cursive writing. She didn't have the same sense of colors as she did plants, but she did her best to pick colors that would fit the rooms and the purposes of the charms.
She used green and gold in the main room with spells to keep her and her plants, once she got them, healthy as well as to help enhance her powers as she had set up her desk in the main room. The kitchen opened onto the main room, and she continued to use the gold, but the charms she used worked to keep the kitchen safe. She set aside a space for an area to enchant to use as a white board as she didn't remember the spell and would have to search for it.
For her bedroom, she used red, leaning more towards the color she wanted rather than one that would match her charms. She made sure to use charms that would keep the area safe and quiet. She put in a few to ward off nightmares and some to help with motivation and rejuvenation. A few other types of spells flew through her thoughts, but she decided not to add them.
She left the bathroom alone, not certain what she should put into it.
In the dying sunlight that evening, she pulled out her phone to snap a pic of the drying walls. She posted it to her Instagram, and the following day she went out and bought five potted plants to start her collection.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
"I'm okay, mom," Audrey said into her phone as she prepared tea.
"How's work going?"
"Okay, it's more tiring than I thought it would be. It seems to take more effort to do it for work than it did to do it for studying."
"Yeah, I remember feeling that way when I first started working. Make sure you do your best to eat well. I've found that's what helps best."
"Yeah, the brownie definitely helps out with that."
"I know, you're so lucky that your first apartment came with one. Treat it well."
"I will, mom," she said, rolling her eyes as the water finished boiling.
"Have you gone out and done anything fun yet?"
"Mom," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "No, I feel like I just got finished moving in and I don't know where anything is. I've hardly met anybody either."
"You'd think in such a big city you'd be able to find someone to hang out with."
"Well, I haven't," she snapped, beginning to steep her tea.
"Just give it a little time. Moving is a big change, and you've got lots of things to get used to. Relax."
"I'm trying," Audrey said, taking a deep breath.
"Oh, before I forget, you left some of your books here, and I thought you might want them. So I've sent them off to you."
"Alright, thanks mom."
"Don't be afraid to call me or you father. We love you."
"Yes, goodbye mom."
"Bye, sweetheart."
Audrey sighed when her mother hung up. "I forgot to ask her about the colors for the charms."
She shrugged and set her phone on the counter. She finished making her tea and sat down on her couch to drink as she searched the web for something to watch.
The package arrived several days later. Audrey opened the box, expecting to find some of her favorite novels, and pulled out spell books she'd changed the covers of years ago. Her heart pounded as she held the heavy book. It still held traces of the darker energy she'd carried during her more rebellious phase as a teenager, and it made her fingers ache after all the healing energy she'd cultivated in her apartment and at her work.
She dropped the book, breathing heavily. She dug through the box to find the one she'd read most often during that time. It contained spell after spell for summoning, but she'd never dared to try and use one while living in her parents' house. She held it gingerly in her hands and brought it over to the couch to sit and read it. She smiled as she flipped through the pages and read those familiar entries all over again.
She hadn't made it halfway through the book before her fingers began tingling, and she couldn't turn another page. She ran her fingers over the page just to increase the feeling, reading over the Latin as she revealed the page. It described how to summon minor demons. She sighed, leaning back and crossing her arms. Then she closed the book and set it on her coffee table.
The next day at work, she kept getting distracted by the thought of actually using the book. She had an opportunity now that she didn't live in her parent's house, and she had little else to do. She could summon a little demon then send it back, just to try it.
She started collecting the items she needed to perform the summoning.
She gathered the materials quickly, but had to wait until Friday so it wouldn't impact her work. After she finished eating, she pushed her furniture and plants aside to clear a space in the center of her living room. She laid out a tarp and painted the necessary diagram for the demon to come through in smooth strokes of white paint.
She set aside the left over paint and pulled the book towards her. She placed the necessary dried herbs at the exact places it described then took her spot at the edge of the circle she had painted. She chanted the spell. She looked around when she finished as nothing had changed. She had never had her magic be unresponsive like that before. She sighed and looked back to the tarp to notice that the painted lines had begun to glow a light purple at the center.
The light had little strength and oozed slowly down the lines. She frowned and considered poking it when the lit lines began to lift up and a man's head poked through.
She jumped to her feet. "Oh my goddess."
He began shouting loudly in a language she couldn't understand. She stepped over the tarp to kneel beside his head. "Be quiet," she hissed at him, trying to reach out and still him.
He glared at her. "You summoned me."
"No, I meant to summon a demon."
"Well you got about halfway."
She noticed the ice white horns he had protruding from his white blond hair. "Oh."
"Get me out so I can go back home," he growled.
"How am I supposed to do that? Only your head came through."
"I know," he said rolling his eyes. "I can in fact tell my body is somewhere else. It is not a nice feeling, but you summoned me. It's only one way."
"Alright, just don't bite me or anything," she said, getting to her feet.
"I should because you interrupted what I was doing."
"I could just leave you with only your head poking through. I could put the couch on top of you," she said, touching his horns.
"I'd curse you."
"Can you though? You're only half demon," she said, grabbing onto his horns and finding them cool and dry.
"I could skewer it with my horns then."
"You're not much of a demon are you?"
"You're not much of a witch if you could only get my head through."
"Hey, it was my first try."
"I say you should quit while you're ahead and get a different hobby."
"Oh, trust me, this is not happening again," she said as she began to tug him out by his horns. "This was a mistake."
"Yeah, you just happened to correctly paint the sigils necessary to summon a half demon."
"Maybe," she said, pausing in her tugging to shrug. "It was just supposed to be a minor demon."
"Half demons count for that."
"Is that some sort of technicality? At least now I've learned something," she said, getting him as far out as the tops of his shoulders. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"
"I was at home," he said, shaking his head and pulling his horns from her grasps.
"Sorry, just stop moving so I can get you out."
"Fine," he huffed.
She took hold of his horns again and tugged. When she started to get him up to his elbows, she said, "I don't think I can pull you up much farther."
He moved his head in a way that made her imagine him rolling his eyes. "I've got it from here."
He pulled his first arm out, moving like he was stuck in quicksand. He got his hand out onto the tarp and began to lever himself out. The lines on the tarp glowed brighter as he forced them to spread wider. Once he got both hands out and onto solid ground, he clambered over the edge like he'd reached the top of a cliff.
"Nice job," Audrey said, tearing her eyes away from his back muscles.
"Thanks, now help me get back home," he said, turning towards her and crossing his arms.
"I supposed that's fair seeing as I summoned you," she said, combing her fingers through her hair. "I need shoes and my phone."
"At least there's no snow," he said, examining one of his feet and showing that he really only had on sweat pants.
"It's not even October, why would there be snow?" she asked, pulling on her shoes and stuffing her phone into her pocket. "Let's go."
"What, not even a shirt for me?" he asked. "What will the neighbors think?"
"That I got a freaky lay? I don't know. Nothing I have will fit you," she said, pulling open the door. "Come on."
"Alright," he said, walking towards the door. He crossed the threshold and collided with the sudden appearance of a transparent purple barrier. He reeled back a couple steps, holding his nose. "What spell did you use?"
"For what?"
"To summon me."
"I don't know, a normal one?" she asked, peering into the doorway as the barrier faded. The color had matched the color of the light he had come through.
"Just show me the book."
"Fine," she said, striding across the room to pick up the book she'd used to summon him.
He glared at her when he accepted it then read. "Did you read the footnotes?"
"No, they were in Greek. I thought they wouldn't be important."
"Always read the footnotes. It's a contracted summons," he said, and frowned at her. "You know Latin, but you're too good for Greek?"
"No, I just only took Latin, and what do you mean contract?" she said and crossed her arms. "I'm not giving up my soul if that's what it said."
He dropped his arms, turning half away from her and sighing. "I can't even do that. I'm half demon. It's supposed to be a punishment for whoever summons a demon. For six new moons, I can't leave."
"So what, now I have to house you for six months?" she asked.
He looked ready to breathe fire on her. "I don't like this either, but it's not my fault. It's yours. This might be okay for actual minor demons who have this kind of spare time, but I don't. I can't leave my life for six months."
"I'm sorry, it's not like I singled you out to summon just to torture you," she said, throwing her arms out. "Hell, if I could read Greek I wouldn't have done it all."
"You shouldn't have anyways. You're not even any good at it," he said, gesturing to the tarp.
"Well shouting about it isn't going to change any of it now," she said, throwing up her arms. "We'll just have to figure it out, get your stuff sent here or something."
He looked around the room. "The only thing big enough in this apartment is the ceiling height."
"Hey, it's perfectly sized. You're the one who's too big."
"If you didn't want to share, you shouldn't have summoned a demon."
"I didn't know minor demons came this big or could be contracted for six months. Bet you're not as useful as the brownie."
"You have a brownie?" he asked, looking disgusted.
"Yes, and he's a nicer house guest than you are."
"I'm not a guest."
"Pest then."
"Prisoner more like it."
"Believe me, if I could send you back to where you came from I would," she said, putting her hands on her hips.
"You don't even know where that is, and it's not hell."
She rolled her eyes. "I never said it was and it's not like you know where we are now. There, we're even."
"That's actually a good point," he said, crossing his arms. "Where are we?"
"London."
He looked at her flatly. "Great, I'm from Moscow."
"I probably could have gotten that from the accent."
"Really? You were prepared to drive me home," he said, crossing his arms.
She shrugged, tilting her head. "I mean, it is possible."
He rolled his eyes. "Anyways, what do you intend to do now that you've got a half demon trapped in your apartment."
She crossed her arms and squared her jaw. "I don't know. I guess you could take the pullout couch."
"That tiny thing is a pullout?" he asked, pointing to her couch.
"I didn't get it with giant half demons in mind. It works perfectly well for humans."
"Doesn't look like it."
"Does it look like anything bigger would fit in the room? You're welcome to sleep on it as is if you think that would be more comfortable."
"I'll pull it out," he grumbled, glowering at her.
"Good, I can get you sheets," she hissed as she passed him on the way to the closet. She struggled to reach the high shelf she'd put them on, but she got them down alright. She returned to living room. "Here."
He looked down at her, towering over her with horns and too thick eyebrows and a sharp chin, then slumped his shoulders. He ran his hand through his hair, but got caught on his horn. "Thanks."
She frowned. "Your welcome. I'll just grab the stuff, and I'll leave you be. Just don't break anything."
She rushed to pick up all the herbs she'd set out for the summons and folded up the tarp. She returned the paint to the bathroom and set the tarp and herbs in the bottom of the closet. She came back to the living as he pulled out the couch. "There's snacks in the kitchen. Just don't piss off the brownie."
He twisted his lips. "I'll try not too."
"At the very least, don't eat his honey."
"I won't," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Good," she said, turning for her bedroom.
"Wait."
She turned back. "Yes?"
"What's your name?" he asked, tilting his head.
She blinked, realizing they hadn't actually exchanged names yet. "Audrey Kirkland. You?"
"Ivan Braginsky."
She nodded, scratching her jaw. "Good, nice to meet you. Goodnight."
He looked at her and responded in Russian. She just turned away, running a hand through her hair and more than ready to sleep. She could worry about the problem of having transported a Russian and then illegally housing him in her apartment tomorrow.
This is pretty much going to be my for fun fic. I'm not sure quite how long it will be, but I do have like the last third of the story planned out, and what's going to happen next chapter decided. I also have no idea how frequently this will be updated. We'll just have to see.
I hope you enjoyed. Please review!
