It’s time for chapter four! 💕 I’m really starting to feel like I’m getting my voice for this story. So now, let’s check in with our beloved Director! What’s an Asra story without yearning?
Ft. @theroyalmage Emrys Trevellyan and Kit Hunter. Nadia Satrinava, Portia Devorak, Julian Devorak, Asra Alnazar, Muriel, Lucio Morgasson, Godiva Köhler, Cleo Rosehyn, and Andi
Catch up here:
Chapter three is here! 💕 and I have a title!! Catch up here: It’s finally here! Chapter 2 of the Spy AU (it rhymed so I had to). Still no t
Bound By Ash and Smoke: An Arcana AU
Chapter Four: I Remember You
Director of the VSIA, Asra Alnazar, had managed to attain a position and respect at a very early age. The original concept for the VSIA had laid in a file that had been dormant in the Vesuvia Central Intelligence building for many years. Mazelinka Seafarer proposed the idea after an elaborate exercise where she herself broke into the VCI’s top secret department just to show how easy it was.
Needless to say, the department heads had not liked that.
Mazelinka’s original proposal to form an intelligence agency that was independent of the government was pushed behind a mountain of red tape. Not that it stopped the young agent for one second.
After years of arguing (and many successful break-ins) the Prime Minister took an interest and gave the go-ahead for this new agency. Mazelinka was an experienced agent by that time and ran the department like a tight ship. It was Mazelinka herself who advocated for young Asra to be hired in the first place.
The government was very opposed to inviting a young person who virtually had not existed until a couple years prior into the largest intelligence organization in the country. Luckily, no one listened to them.
Asra reminisced on this as he sipped a cup of steaming hot tea next to the large bright window of the “Animals Escape Café”. Rescues of all sorts roamed the rooms as morning goers stopped in for a hit of caffeine and affection before work. He’d only recently discovered the place but immediately took to the atmosphere. There was no sense of the rush that laid outside the doors and patrons were free to sit and relax as long as they liked. On the other side, rescues got the opportunity to be seen outside a shelter environment where they could interact freely.
The bell to the door chimed and Asra’s face whipped towards it. Only to be disappointed by another happy stranger coming in.
Not that he was expecting anyone. Certainly not. Why had he even looked? Well, because the Director of a secret intelligence organization needed to be aware of their surroundings?
A comforting squeeze on his upper arm gave away that not even his pet ball python, Faust, would believe that. He sighed and went back to staring out the window.
It just so happened that this café was the favorite of Andraste Ó Conail, a person the VSIA was very interested in recruiting and also Asra’s ex-lover.
Just a coincidence, of course.
The bell rang again and this time when he looked, he found exactly who he was looking for. Andi had definitely grown up since the last time he’d seen her and the pictures the recruiting department had taken didn’t do her justice. She’d cut off most of her long wavy blonde hair in favor of a short style that reached just below her pointy ears. While she was still only 5’3”, she’d filled out and toned her muscles during her years as an investigative journalist. Approaching the counter, she removed her large sunglasses and Asra drew in a short breath. A lot had changed but he knew those big bright blue eyes out of a thousand.
Unfortunately he too captivated by nostalgia to remember one of the traits that made Andi such a desirable asset.
Andi calmly collected her order, stopped to pet the animals that swarmed to her, and before Asra had time to notice, she was there in front of him smiling mischievously.
“Asra Alnazar, it’s been a while.”
Damn, she’d made him. Asra smiled back to her and gestured to the plush chair beside him.
“Andi Ó Conail, what a treat. Please join me if you have a minute.”
Andi’s brow raised slightly but she slipped into the seat. Curiosity winning out, she couldn’t help but look him over.
Just as Andi had changed, so had Asra.
The lanky teenager grew into a confident adult without a hint of the nervousness from before. Andi recalled a time when he couldn’t even look at her without blushing. Now here he was at her favorite café without so much as a waver in his voice. Although his soft fluffy curls and sly eyes remained the same.
“What brings you here?” Andi let one of the cats jump into her lap as she settled in.
“Would you believe,” Asra gestured to the snake coiled around him. “That this is the only café where Faust is welcome?”
Andi laughed and leaned forward to boop the snake gently on her nose. Faust leaned out closer to rest her head on Andi’s hand. Asra grinned.
“It looks like she remembers you...”
Their eyes met and they were briefly speechless. The meaning behind Asra’s words were as clear as if he’d said them.
He remembered her.
Andi’s cheeks turned pink and she sat back in her chair. Asra had to ignore to urge to move closer. The space between them seemed impassable now.
“It’s been a while...” Andi trailed off.
Memories flashed through their minds. Awkward teenagers meeting for the first time at the local outdoor market, Asra’s cheesy pick up line, that first confession, their first kiss, the sounds and feelings when they finally...
Asra shook his head.
“It has. Maybe it doesn’t have to be so long until we see each other next time?” That made Andi smile faintly.
“I’d like that,” she took out a sheet of paper from a notebook in her purse and quick jotted down her number.
“Call me? Maybe we can meet back up here on the weekend when we’re not so busy?”
Asra reached for the paper and gently brushed Andi’s fingers as he took it. He would have sworn it felt like a jolt of electricity. Andi quickly withdrew her hand and stood up.
“I, um, better get to work now. It was nice seeing you again” she hurried and strode off, not slowing down until she was out the door.
Asra still sat with his outstretched hand holding the piece of paper.
“Nice seeing you too...”
He smiled at the numbers and pet Faust under her chin.