Gut Feelings (Varian x Witch!Reader)

Phony Scientist

As time went by more and more people were stopping by my stand. Even uncle Monty stopped by! I of course gave him a free piece of amethyst as a thank you for the sweets he gave Varian and I at the festival. Surprisingly, everything was going really well! I had gotten a lot more money than I expected and just about a third of the stands merchandise was already gone.

Soon a man walked up to my stand. He was very tan, old, and was wearing a very expensive looking suit. Following him was...'Wait is that Cassandra? He must be in a higher class to have a personal escort.' "Hello sir! Hey Cassandra! Is there anything specific you're looking for?" I asked with a soft smile. He simply looked at me up and down before scoffing and continued to look around. Cassandra looked at the man before giving me an apologetic look. "No (y/n) were just looking." I smiled at her. "Of course! Just let me know if you have any questions." I watched as both of them went around the stand.

"So Cassandra are you an escort now?" I asked genuinely curious. "Something like that." She smiled at me. "That's great! I personally think you're too over qualified to be just a simple escort, but hey what do I know?" I said with a soft laugh. "This is my first real guard job and it's very exciting." I nodded along telling her that I was listening. "Are you going to take a break during the contest to be sapphires assistant?" I asked with my head on my hand. I watched as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Well...about that..." 'Uh oh...does Varian not have an assistant?' Before I could ask I heard the man clear his throat. I glanced up at him. "Oh sorry sir! Did you need something?" I asked smiling. He picked up a large piece of honey calcite. He simply held it between two fingers before staring at me directly in the eye, and letting it slip between his fingers.

My body reacted faster than my mind and my wand was already pointed to the crystal with a pink mist surrounding it right before it touched the floor. It took me a moment to process what happened. I gasped and dropped my wand causing the crystal to gently fall on the floor. I glanced up at the man terrified. 'Now you've done it! He's going to tell the king and queen! I'm done for!' A million thoughts ran through my head as he smirked at me.

"Are you joining in on the exposition?" He asked. I shook my head no. "I'm Dr. St. Croix. You should consider entering. With piazzas like that you're sure to win." He said moving so he was right in front of me. "With all due respect sir, this is a science expo. There is nothing I have to bring to the table when it comes to science. Besides, I'm only here to sell my items and support my friend." He rolled his eyes at me before turning away. "That's quite a shame really. I would've made sure you won." He said turning away from me. "I'm correct to assume you're the one judging this competition?" He turned back slightly. "That's correct." "For personal reasons I would never join a competition that is judged by a man who hides behind his wealth and status. I also wouldn't want to join a competition where the judge knew nothing about what he was judging." He then turned to Cassandra. "You dare let some petty witch criticize me, let alone live in your kingdom?! I demand that you arrest her! She should be hung for that smart mouth of hers!" I saw Cassandras eyes widen. "Of course not sir! Don't worry I'll take care of it." While she was talking she glanced between my wand and I a couple times.

I understood her message and grabbed my wand creating a circle above my head as I disappeared. When I reappeared I was in front of Varian's invention. I saw the lower half of his body peaking from underneath the tarp covering it. "Hey sapphires can we talk?" I heard him let out a high pitched scream as he popped his head from under the tarp. "Oh I mean...ahhhh" he did a fake deep scream. I only laughed, but then I remembered about what had just happened. "Varian this is serious." His smile dropped as he looked up at me. "What's up?" I sighed. "I met the judge at my stand. He's a complete phony! He only cares about 'piazza' or whatever. He doesn't care about the true science of the science expo."

I heard him sigh as he looked down. "Look (y/n) I don't have time for this. If you didn't want me to join the expo you could've just told me." I was taken back. "I'm sorry? Varian what did you say?" I asked. "You know you didn't have to come with me. And if you didn't want me to win you could've just told me." I looked at him confused. "Varian what are you talking about?" He sighed and rubbed his face with his gloves.

"I know you didn't like helping me with this project (y/n)! Every time I even brought up the project, or asked if you could come help me, or anything that has to do with this, you've been looking at the ground all upset over I don't even know what!" He said getting louder and louder and closer and closer to me.

"And now you're trying to get me to quit on the expo?! Quit on all I've worked on for the past month?!" He just kept going and going but I tuned him out. Tears started forming in my eyes causing my vision to become blurry. "Sometimes I just think you only come by so that you get something out of it! Like your stupid wand!!! You know what?! Maybe witches are just as cruel, heartless, and horrible as everyone says." My eyes widened even more at what he said. I was utterly speechless. I watched as Varian paused for a moment.

"Is that what you really think Varian?" I asked glaring up at him. I could feel my tears falling down my cheeks. "Varian you and I both know that I would do anything for you! I helped you with this project because it's what you wanted to do! I haven't even brought up my wand because I know that this is your top priority right now! And yes maybe I was a bit ticked off when I was helping you because guess what Varian! I really like you! And to watch you create a whole new element for someone you barely know hurt me more than anything. But I still stuck around and helped because I knew I would get to spend time with you and I knew that this was really important to you." I took a few deep breaths after basically spilling everything that's been running through my mind nonstop. I saw something unfamiliar flash in his eyes. "(Y/n)." He said softly trying to reach out for me, but I avoided it.  I walked out of there not looking back. I kept wiping my tears as I headed back to the stand.

Thank goodness Cassandra and that phony scientist weren't there. I quickly and carefully packed everything up. I quickly pulled out a piece of parchment and started writing.

'Dear Rapunzel,
You have no idea how grateful I am to have been given a chance to sell all of my items! All of the people here are extremely kind and gracious. I left something for you and Cassandra somewhere in the stand. Call it a thank you gift if you will. Again, thank you so much for everything! I'm sorry I am unable to give you a proper goodbye, but something came up. I have to get back to the meadow as soon as possible. I just had a gut feeling that that was where I needed to be right now! I hope to see you again sometime!
Love,
(Y/n)'

I continued to wipe my eyes as I started creating circles over all of my things with my wand sending them home. I walked out of the stand and glanced out at the stage where the competition was currently taking place.

On stage was Varian. Cassandra was standing by the phony scientist and in the spot where Cassandra was supposed to be was a very old and short man who looked to be drunk off his mind. Varian's eyes ended up catching mine. I quickly looked away. I started walking out of the kingdom and into the forest. I know I can just magically get myself home, but I just wanted to take my time and think about what happened today. Even if that meant that I'd get home we'll into the night.