#apprentice atlas

Nadia was out of the Palace, had left to meet with her sister that morning, but he had stayed in on account of having business to take care of —he hadn’t expect to be done before Nadia was back, the amount of work had seemed greater.

Atlas gave one look to the big studio. Everything was in its place, the books in the shelves, the pestles and mortars in the cabinets, the plants growing on its pots, vines creeping through the poles set on one of the walls and the ceiling, leaves hung to dry off a string… All was neat and organized. And Atlas, he was bored.

He sat at the workdesk to enjoy the view of the city from the Palace. There was still about an hour of light before it became dark: too early to call it a day, too late to go into the city to try and find Nadia.

He played with the emerald pendant he always wore, trying to catch the golden light of the sun in it and amusing himself with the reflections it made on the walls and wooden desk, a soft smile to his lips.

The emerald had been a gift from Nadia, a token of affection from when he first went to the Palace. He always wore it and cherished it deeply. Nadia’s affection, however, was not the only thing the pendant contained, but it instead held an imprint of Asra’s magic in as well, strong enough that Atlas could sense it.

He wondered if he could reach Asra with it. Magicians better skilled at abstract forms of magic would have no problem, but spells had never been Atlas’ forte. But maybe with some help...

A mischievous smile stretched his lips, which he licked in anticipation. Well, the evening just turned interesting.

With that thought, he stood up and started gathering books and materials. He had long learned that where a strong connection to abstract magic wasn’t present, magical circles and runes could often help bridge the gap. His true skill set was plant-based magic, but his knowledge of runes was solid enough to at least try and experiment with it.

Atlas grabbed a piece of chalk and started drawing the magic circle on the floor, stopping to leaf at this or that book for pointers or grab this or that ingredient while he worked. He placed bowls of water on the cardinal points —a further connection to Asra— and made sure to include the runes for ‘distance’ and ‘feeling’ in the right spots on the circle.

He took a step back to have a look at his work when he finished, double-checking he had made it how he wanted.

“Here goes nothing,” he said then, and stepped inside the circle, letting his magic flow into it to activate it, hand closed around the emerald.

The magic circle glowed in the yellow-green hue of his magic, then stabilized into white as the magic circle channelled it and made the spell work. Just before settling into white, however, it blinked once in a faded purple with the residual magic coming from the pendant.

Atlas smiled at this. “Can you hear me?” he whispered as he seductively brushed a finger against the emerald, feeling Asra’s magic in it, more strongly than before.

All the way into the magic shop, Asra shivered as they felt the touch of a finger running down their spine while they wiped the counter. They frowned, confused at the sudden and very vivid, very familiar sensation.

It was a spell, they soon understood. They almost got alarmed before they could recognize the magic that was in it, and gasped when Atlas brushed the emerald again, sending a new feather-light touch across their skin. “Atlas? Is that really you?”

Atlas laughed, hearing Asra’s voice clearly inside his head. “So it does work.” He smiled wickedly. “Are you busy? I’ve never tried this before, but I have... ideas.”

This time it was Asra who chuckled. “Hmm, yes, I can imagine your ideas. Since when are you this good at spells, Atlas?”

Atlas couldn’t see Asra’s smirk, but he could hear the smugness in their voice. “Oi—” He thought of Asra’s throat and gently pressed the emerald between his thumb and forefinger. He could feel Asra’s heartbeat through the gem. “—be nice or I’ll be using this new power for evil. Are you or are you not alone?”

“This is wicked,” Asra said, reflexively trying to put a hand over Atlas’ at their throat and only finding their own skin there. “How are you doing this? Can I touch you too?”

“I suppose you could if you manage to find anything with an imprint of mine on the shop —the Arcana know I have shit at your home, but not even them know where you might have put it.” He brought the emerald to his lips to let his breath brush against it. “But I’m not giving you the time to check.”

Asra’s skin prickled at the feeling of Atlas’ heated breath on the back of their neck. They chuckled. “Alright, just give me a second to close the shop. And you have to tell me how you did this.”

The brat. “You’re in no position to make demands, dearest Asra.” He brushed against the emerald, thinking of their hip. The gem warmed against his finger, which made him smile. “I will tell you, if I can even remember how I did it. Now hurry.”

“Relish that power while you can, Atlas,” Asra said, locking the shop’s front door. “It will get back to you.”

Atlas carefully knelt in the centre of the circle, taking off the sash wrapped around his hips and chuckling. “You and I both know I won’t mind that, but for now…” He traced a finger upwards through the emerald, thinking of Asra’s inner thigh. “Are you ready?”

Asra lost their balance on their way back from the door and held onto the counter to avoid tripping. “Alright, alright. You impatient dork.” They slid to the floor, chuckling, back against the counter. “Go ahead.”

Atlas grinned wickedly, and wished Asra could see it. “I’m gonna eat you alive, you know?” He thought of their chest and licked the emerald. “But first I’m gonna make you suffer.” He slid one hand inside his pants and grabbed the emerald with the other. The gem shivered against his skin.

It was impressive how much it felt like Atlas was there, Asra thought as they felt his warmth, his touch, his tongue trace paths against their body. They wished for a way to touch him back, but without a focus, the only thing they could do were words.

“Ahh, finally found your motivation to work on spells? If I knew I would have—”

Atlas groaned. “Shut up, Asra,” he said, and bit the emerald while thinking of the muscle connecting their neck and shoulder. He couldn’t bite the gem as hard as he would have bitten Asra, but the way it seemed to startle against him when Asra jumped in the shop let him know it worked.

Asra clasped a hand to their mouth to stifle a groan as Atlas’ bite transformed into a series of nibbling and licking lower and lower down their torso. They slipped the other hand down their pants.

Atlas slid the pendant off his neck and held it between his lips as he took his vest off, getting heated. Cloth discarded and shirt unbuttoned, he took the emerald in his hand again and pressed it down his chest and torso, the gem noticeably getting warmer with the motion.

“Oh, gods.” Asra gasped. They could feel Atlas pressed against them, all warmth and sweat and tension. They drew an arm back to grip at the edge of the counter. “Atlas, please.”

Atlas smiled and pressed his fingers to the sides of the emerald thinking of Asra’s upper thigh. The gem pulsed between his fingers. “Please what?” he demanded, enjoying the moment; the gem was not the only hard and pulsing thing he was handling.

Asra groaned, and Atlas laughed when he he heard it. He knew they hated to surrender, which was why he loved to tease them so. He could feel their annoyance, but not for it any less lust, emanate from the gem.

“You really are a—” they started to say, but Atlas cut them off by putting the emerald in his mouth and thinking, finally, of their dick.

Asra gripped the edge of the counter harder when Atlas’ mouth closed around them, claiming them. They started breathing more heavily, and wondered in a distant corner of their mind what was Atlas exactly using as a focus, because whatever it was he was handling it so expertly. “Gods, you’re good at this when you’re not here too.”

Atlas took the emerald out of his mouth and pressed it against his shaft. “Flatterer bastard…” He was gasping for air too, and belatedly thought he should have taken off the rest of his fancy clothes along with the vest as well. He closed his hand a little more tightly around both the emerald and himself, keeping his aim at the floor.

Asra moaned loudly at the increased pressure just at the right moment, their back arced away from the counter and their eyes tightly closed. Atlas followed a moment after, groaning and cursing. He felt the emerald wet and sticky before he stained it, and when he licked it clean, it was not himself he tasted.

Asra rested his back against the counter once again, their grip sliding off the edge, a satisfied smile on their lips. He felt Atlas kiss them there and wished they could kiss back. “We have to do this more often,” they said. They really needed to find a focus for Atlas.

Atlas laughed and lay down on the floor, carefully as to not disturb the magic circle. “It‘s been great, indeed,” he said, pleased, staring at the ceiling. The pendant was back around his neck, the emerald resting warm and content against his chest. “Can’t wait to see what you come up with as vengeance.”