Asra's hands flew across the counter as he wiped the surface with an old rag. It was the first day of spring. The windows were open despite the early hour, allowing a brisk but bitter breeze inside the shop. He hummed methodically as he worked to clean the downstairs. The magician was rather thankful that spring had arrived. Winter had seemed so long and bitter and even if it didn't get as cold in Vesuvia as it did in other places, the grey skies and dreary atmosphere were incredibly depressing.
Even Faust seemed happier for the change in seasons. The warmer air had revived her playful spirit. His snake familiar had impishly hidden away inside of the shop, playing a game as he cleaned the store area. He naturally had tried to find her as he cleaned any surface he could reach, but his search proved to be fruitless. He suspected she might have slithered off somewhere else while he was looking, which he would have to remind her was, in fact, cheating.
He could feel a gleeful buzzing in the back of his awareness. Faust had been taunting him by speaking every once in a while or by sending him bits of her pure joy she gained from evading him. Asra wasn't worried. She always loved playing games like this. Instead, he played up his surprise as he went around the entryway, talking to himself aloud about how well she was hidden. That always made her happy.
His lavender eyes drifted to the pile of clothes he had left on the floor. He had managed to grab most of the laundry when he woke up, but most of Aria's clothes were still upstairs in their shared bedroom. His apprentice had slept so fitfully last night, he hadn't had the heart to really look for things that needed cleaned or washed. He couldn't bear the thought of accidentally waking her up, not after watching her toss and turn for so long last night. He could grab the rest and clean the bedroom when she woke up.
He went back to polishing the counter, taking time to open drawers as he went, just to see if Faust had managed to slip inside one when he wasn't looking. All he found were a few shriveled plants. Asra frowned. He'd had to make another trip to replace the willow bark stock in the future. They were dangerously low.
"I wonder where Faust is hiding," he muttered aloud, taking great care to make his voice heard but still be quiet enough to not be heard upstairs. "I just can't find her anywhere..."
"Faust hide well!" Faust's voice slipped through his mind, making him smile.
"You've really improved," he complimented. "I can't even see your tail sticking out from behind a jar this time."
"Mean," she interjected. He closed his eyes and tried to listen for any sounds that would tip him off to her location. His hand absently abandoned the rag as he walked out from behind the counter. He could feel a pull near the table they used to do readings, but when he opened his eyes to look, it quickly disappeared. "Faust excellent hider. Asra jealous," she added teasingly.
Asra pretended to be wounded, a hand against his chest as he leaned against the counter. It was a display Julian would have been proud of. "It's true! I'm horribly jealous of your incredible hiding talents, Faust," he cried dramatically. "I'll never be as good as you in the art of stealth."
"Faust sneaky," she agreed. He crept closer to a bookshelf nearby and peered around it, but the space between it and the wall proved to house nothing but dust. He frowned. Just where was she hiding?
He momentarily heard footsteps on the stairs. His heart leaped just seconds before his apprentice bounded up to him. Asra turned and gave her a small smile. It faltered as he noticed the bags under her eyes.
"Good morning, Master," she chirped. Her eyes were bright with excitement despite her clear drowsiness. "Today's finally spring!"
"Good morning, Aria. That it is," he said, his voice light. "Please do excuse the mess. I'm still cleaning down here." When her eyes widened, he quickly added, "We can run to the market for a fresh loaf of bread in just a few minutes."
Aria took a step backwards and nearly stepped into the pile of dirty clothes. She stopped mid-step and stared at them. "Oh, are you doing laundry this morning, too?"
"Indeed I am." He grabbed the cloth he had abandoned on the counter and quickly dusted the shelves while he was still near them. "I hadn't grabbed everything yet, though."
His apprentice's eyes lit up. "I can grab the rest," she told him. She then quickly ran back up the stairs, leaving Asra a little amused.
"Aria," Faust asked, still nowhere in sight.
"Aria is indeed awake," he confirmed, leaning against the counter once again. "If you would like to say good morning, you'll have to come out first."
Faust gave a hiss of displeasure. The sound echoed more in his head than it did in the shop. "No! Find Faust!" Asra frowned. If they went to the market for breakfast, they'd have to take Faust with them. That would be rather difficult if he couldn't actually find her. It wouldn't be much of a bother except for the fact that he was getting hungry from all his cleaning.
Aria was much louder coming down the stairs this time, bringing with her a single set of clothes and the bedding. "I thought maybe we could wash everything together," she said, dropping the items in the pile before she looked back to Asra with a smile. "I can help you clean, too!" She frowned. "I can't believe you started cleaning the shop without me..."
He gently rested a hand on his apprentice's arm before thinking twice and moving it away. "It's not such a big deal, Aria. I simply started early since I couldn't sleep," he told her. That was more of a half truth, really. He hadn't been able to fall back asleep and thought that she could use more of the bed so she wouldn't wake from bumping into him while she tossed about in her sleep.
Her lips shifted into a pout. "I hope you haven't been up long, then." She glanced around the shop, clearly looking for something specific. "Where's Faust?"
He could hear a giggle in his mind. He tried not to let his lip twitch into the ghost of a smile. Instead, he let his mouth pull downwards with a serious frown. "She's been hiding from me all morning," he admitted. "I've been trying to find her as I cleaned, but I'm afraid I haven't found her yet."
Aria's face shifted into worry. "You haven't found her yet?" She turned as she looked around the room, this time her turquoise gaze picking apart everything she saw. Asra had an epiphany as he watched her look around. "Is she all right?"
He rested his elbows on the counter as he leaned into it and rested his chin in his palms. "I've searched the shelves, the counter, the stock... Faust is just nowhere to be found. I can still hear her, so I know she's safe." He glanced around as he heard a concerned hum in his mind. "I just wish I could find her..."
His apprentice took once glance at his saddened expression before she started to walk around the room, carefully moving things to get a better look. "Faust," she called, her voice noticeably more worried than Asra would have expected. His eyes widened just a bit. "Faust, where are you?"
Asra could hear Faust humming in his head, her voice buzzing as she tried to remain hidden and not give into the urge to comfort Aria. He smirked briefly in satisfaction as the buzzing grew louder, more insistent.
Aria paused her search to look back to her mentor, her brow furrowed. "Did you check upstairs," she asked him.
"No, I hadn't," he admitted. "I thought I heard her around here, but it is possibly she snuck past me and slipped back up the stairs." The humming was rather choppy now. Faust's willpower was breaking.
The apprentice took a few hesitant steps towards the stairs. She opened her mouth to speak but was immediately interrupted by Faust springing out of the laundry like a jack-in-the-box, a scarf draped over her head. "Here," she shouted, her mouth wide open. She slammed it shut as her tongue flickered. "Faust here, Aria!"
Aria quickly strode over and scooped the snake up in her arms. She held Faust gently, almost as if she was an infant, as she delicately removed the laundry from her head. "Faust," she sighed in relief. "There you are! Don't hide for so long! I was starting to worry that you had gotten stuck somewhere."
Asra pulled himself off of the counter and watched them in quiet joy. Faust pressed her head against the apprentice's cheek before she slithered around her shoulders and reappeared in Aria's brown curls. "Aria worried," she murmured. "Faust sorry."
The magician couldn't help himself. He chuckled a little, so soft that Aria couldn't hear it as she doted on the mischievous snake. Faust's eyes snapped open. Oh, but Faust had heard him. The two made eye contact and her eyes narrowed.
"Tricked!" She stubbornly lashed her tail at him, nearly smacking Aria against her cheek. The apprentice moved a hand towards Faust to ensure she was stable before she looked down at her shoulder. Faust leaned out of Aria's hair and pointed her snout at Asra, rearing up on the woman's shoulder as she did so. "Asra tricked Faust!"
Asra's eyes widened but inside, he was barely containing his laughter. His mouth twitched with a smile. "What? Why would I do something like that, Faust?"
Aria narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What's she saying, Master Asra?"
His smile faded as he lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "Faust is saying that I tricked her."
An eyebrow quirked upwards. "Tricked her? How would you have tricked her," Aria asked.
"Asra use Aria! Faust worry Aria," the snake elaborated. "Aria make Faust sad."
He made a point of staring at the ceiling. "She says that I made you worried about her so that she would feel guilty and come out of hiding," Asra explained.
Aria shook her head carefully, making sure she didn't make Faust lose her balance. "That's not true, Faust. I was really worried about you. You don't typically hide for so long," she said. "Usually you show us your tail or poke your head out to check on us. I was worried that you had gotten stuck in a drawer or behind something and needed rescued."
"Faust just hide good," Faust replied, her voice firm. "Faust never stuck."
Asra smiled with a breathy chuckle. Faust pouted at him as best as a snake could. "Well, now that we've found Faust, how about we all go out and grab something to eat," he suggested.
Turquoise eyes gleamed. "That sounds great! I'm starving." Aria looked down at Faust and shifted her arm so the snake could coil around her arm. Faust rested in her favorite spot, coiled in tandem with Aria's snake armband. "Are you hungry, Faust?"
Faust hummed for a moment before nodding her head and closing her eyes. "Faust want food."
The magician grinned. "That would be a yes." He looked around at the windows that he had opened. "Well then, how about we shut the windows and head out, Aria? We can start cleaning in earnest when we get back."
His apprentice grinned. "All right! I'll run up and shut the bedroom window." She then turned and ran up the stairs, leaving Asra with a wide smile on his face. His eyes lingered on the empty steps before he hurriedly went to shut and lock the windows.
Author's Note: Oh look, more Asra/Apprentice fluff.