Work Text:
9:03 am
“Asra, you promised this potion would be ready by sunrise.”
The client, a well-dressed noblewoman with a sharp gaze, tapped her fingers impatiently against the shop’s counter. Asra forced a charming smile, though his fingers twitched at his sides, and his eyes were uncharacteristically crinkled around the edges.
“It would be, if my star assistant hadn’t—” He cut himself off, casting a pointed look at Faust, who was curled up in an innocent little coil atop a stack of books.
Her tongue flicked out, unbothered.
The missing ingredient—a rare, silver-veined lunar root—was nowhere to be found. Asra had placed it on the table just minutes ago, right before turning his back to grab his mortar and pestle. And now? Vanished.
Asra crouched, checking beneath the table, behind potion bottles, even lifting up the edge of his flowing robe just in case. Nothing.
“Faust,” he said sweetly, resting his hands on his knees as he looked up at her. “Where is it?”
She blinked at him.
The noblewoman huffed. “If you’re unprepared—”
“Not at all!” Asra stood, still smiling, though his eyes flicked toward Faust, pleading.
Faust stretched lazily, then, as if this had all become very boring, slithered off the bookshelf and straight into the nearest boot.
Asra narrowed his eyes. No.
He stepped forward and plucked the boot off the floor, shaking it upside down. Sure enough, the lunar root tumbled out, landing in his palm with an infuriatingly soft plop. “... I don’t even wear these anymore,” he muttered.
Which technically, was true.
After taking Asra under your wing when they were an unpolished magician at the tender age of 19, and after letting them apprentice in your magic shop, you had made a large effort to welcome he and his familiar into your home.
That included outfitting them both with an entirely new wardrobe (which consisted of three new shirts and two new pairs of pants; the shop was very small, after all, there was no extra space to keep extra clothes).
It was a small collection, but it would do.
Asra—who had previously bought his clothes from the scraps he earned doing odd jobs for The Count—was eternally grateful just to have a consistent roof over his head after stealing sleepless nights under the Palace canopy.
These boots were once his prized possession. They meant that he had finally earned something of his own, something that no one could take from him. But, bigger than that, when he wore them, it meant that he could go anywhere. He could be anyone. He was no longer just a street kid scraping by—he was Asra, a magician, a traveler, someone with a future beyond the city walls.
These boots had been a favourite of Asra’s.
He looked at them and then to Faust.
...
Now that he thought about it, you had been spending a lot of extra time away from home, dedicated to helping Nadia with the new automail design in the Palace.
He had barely even seen you when you stopped in last night...
Faust, now draped around his arm, gave a slow, satisfied blink.
With a deep breath, Asra turned back to the noblewoman and held up the root. “Right where I left it.”
The noblewoman frowned but said nothing.
Faust flicked her tongue against Asra’s cheek, as if to say, You’re welcome.
9:38 am
Faust thought that she had done a mighty good job at giving Asra the hint he needed to drop what he was doing to go and see you.
She wanted to see you.
And she knew Asra wanted to see you too.
So why were they still in the shop?!
Asra was just about to finish his sale when the client gasped.
“Oh! What an adorable little—”
The second noblewoman of the day reached out. No one could resist the soft, silky scales of a well-cared-for serpent.
Faust, sitting primly on the counter, flicked her tongue and promptly stole a very expensive hairpin from the woman’s pocket.
Asra’s heart stopped.
Faust, with zero shame, twined herself around his arm, the stolen pin obviously clutched in her tail.
The noblewoman narrowed her eyes, taking her pin back with a pointed huff of disapproval.
“... I’ll just wrap that up for you,” Asra said quickly, nudging Faust behind his back. “And we’ll pretend that didn’t just happen.”
Faust grinned.
10:01 am
Faust was getting bored.
Fine, she thought. Maybe the fault was hers. Maybe she was being too subtle.
Asra turned just in time to see Faust draping herself directly over the ancient, cursed amulet.
The one he had specifically told her not to touch.
The one that could rip a whole in the very fabric of the universe if activated.
“Oh, come on—”
The amulet pulsed. The shop lights flickered. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled.
Faust froze.
“Faust. What did you do?”
The amulet’s glow intensified. The air hummed with magic.
Faust gave a single, uncertain blink.
And then the entire shop shook.
11:26 am
Asra had just finished containing... whatever that was before he took a seat to catch his breath.
Never a dull moment with—
BOOM.
A cloud of pink smoke filled the shop.
Asra coughed, waving a hand in front of his face. “Faust—what did you—”
His voice stopped short. A ribbit coming out instead.
His hands were… green.
Slowly, dreading what he would see, he turned to the mirror.
He was still Asra. But... frog-shaped.
A tiny, very guilty-looking Faust was perched on the table, inches from an extremely misplaced vial.
She gave a hesitant flick of her tongue.
“Helping,” was the only thing Asra heard before he went on to have his very first—very short—experience as a Iberian ribbed newt.
“... Faust, you are so lucky this wears off.”
1:11 pm
“I know you miss them,” Asra started, picking Faust up and putting her very far high up, and very far away from his current project. “I need to finish this. If I don't, they're just going to have more work to do.”
Faust nodded. Asra sighed, glad that she understood the severity of the situation. Asra knew how you could get. Curiosity consuming you until you worked yourself past the point of exhaustion. It was why he insisted you sleep at the Palace and not trek home each night... To make sure that you got enough rest...
But Faust didn't care.
She wanted to see you.
Through her bond, she could feel how much Asra wanted to see you too.
She couldn't understand why Asra was away from you in the first place...
Asra sniffed the air and frowned. The cauldron wasn’t supposed to smell like… cinnamon?
His eyes darted to Faust, who was suspiciously coiled beside the worktable, tail twitching.
“Faust,” he said slowly, “what did you do?”
The little snake flicked her tongue.
Asra peered into the cauldron, only to find his carefully brewed elixir now a swirling, glittery pink—definitely not the deep blue it was supposed to be. A familiar bottle lay tipped over nearby, its contents suspiciously absent.
“…Did you dump an entire vial of love potion in here?”
Faust blinked.
The cauldron burped out a heart-shaped puff of steam.
Asra groaned, and got ready to leave the shop. He was not dealing with that right now.
2:54pm
Unfortunately for Asra, no matter how much one wished to see their partner, they cannot neglect their duty.
Especially when one is a magician who’s made accords with nobility to bend to their every whim in exchange for security and resources.
The dreamscape shimmered around Asra, his vision hazy as he peered into the swirling mists of his spell. The answer was just beyond reach…
And then something cold and scaly smacked him right across the face.
Asra yelped, the vision shattering into a million pieces.
Blinking awake, he found Faust perched directly on his forehead, staring at him.
“Faust, why—”
Did she need to flick her tongue her tongue again? Asra knew the answer.
Asra groaned. “That was a very important vision, you know.”
She did not care.
3:38pm
The noonday sun was passing.
Soon, it would be nightfall.
And Faust was nowhere close to seeing her favourite magician.
Faust wondered when her master had gotten so careless as she planned her next attack.
Asra strolled through the market, humming to himself. Sure, he had taken a few detours on his way to the Palace to see you, but he had just bought a rare starfruit. He remembered how much you loved them when you tried one on your trip to Nopal. Asra had just allowed himself to feel pride over finding your favourite snack when—
“HEY! WHO STOLE MY RINGS?!”
Asra blinked.
The merchant across from him was glaring wildly at everyone in the vicinity. Asra felt a sinking suspicion settle in his gut.
He looked down.
Faust, ever so subtle, was curled contentedly around his wrist… with several shiny rings hanging off her tail.
“Faust,” Asra hissed under his breath.
Faust flicked her tongue.
Asra turned back to the merchant, already preparing his most apologetic smile.
9:48 pm
You laughed as Asra wrapped an arm around you, pulling you closer while flipping through a book with his free hand.
Finally, you were back together. As partners.
All was right in the world.
All was as it should be.
Faust, watching from a nearby shelf, was not pleased.
With deliberate precision, Faust slithered onto Asra’s shoulder and bonked her head against his cheek.
“Mm? Oh—hello, Faust,” Asra murmured, distracted. He turned his attention back to you, pressing his face into the warmth of your neck.
She bonked him again.
“Alright, alright—” he chuckled, scratching under her chin. But the second he tried to turn back to you—bonk.
You laughed. “I think she’s feeling left out.”
Asra sighed. “I think she’s jealous.”
Faust flicked her tongue.
Absolutely, she was.
No one had thanked her for her hard work.