Julian Devorak x Reader/Self-Insert

Chapter Two

Synopsis of Chapter Two: Shopping with Asra and meeting the characters

The next morning, I awoke to the smell of incense and chamomile tea. It was a welcome smell, something of Asra's morning ritual. He was always burning some incense to cleanse any bad energies in the morning. He believed it would bring good luck throughout the day, and most of the time, he was right. Asra smiled as he greeted me.

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead," Asra said, not looking at me as he poured himself a cup of honey chamomile tea. I groaned to him in response.

"Mornin'," I answered, resting my head on the bar as I crawled onto a barstool. Asra hummed, setting a cup of tea down for me as if he had already suspected that I was going to ask for one. Asra leaned on the bar, sipping his tea.

"Are you excited?" he prodded at my head, getting me to sit up. I straightened to sip my tea, raising a brow at him.

"For what?" I said, sleepily.

"Meeting the friends, picking out furniture for the shop, you know?" He smiled, ruffling my hair and smiling his soft morning smile. I had completely forgotten about meeting his friends. I sighed, eyeing him. Asra laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun! They all said they could meet for dinner tonight. Nadia made reservations last night!" He smiled widely talking about Nadia. I knew Nadia was well known but, I didn't know Asra knew her. I didn't know he was friends with her.

"Nadia? Isn't she that fashion designer? Model? Actress?" I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Asra smiled, shaking his head. He must've known her in high school too. How in the world did Asra know all these people? Yes, he was smart, easy-going, and fun to be around but, just because you're friendly, it doesn't mean that you have tons of friends.

"Yep, she was the Valedictorian of my class. A real smart cookie." he laughed. Asra hummed, remembering his high school days.

"She was great, still is." He spoke in an almost whisper. I nodded in acknowledgment, I was still not awake enough to comprehend that he was talking about Nadia.

The day continued to drag on, Asra and I walked to a few furniture stores and a few shops that were within walking distance. A book shop, a clothing store, a record store, a quaint little coffee shop, and lastly, a smaller shop dedicated to oddities. Oddities such as taxidermy, rare species of snakes and fish, odd wooden carvings, crystals, and the like. Asra ended up buying a tarot deck or two while I bought a plush. It wasn't considered an oddity but, you wouldn't find an accurate Mothman plush just about anywhere. As we leisurely walked down the way, we talked about the things we'd seen, things we'd have to order online, and talked about if we knew where a certain shop or two would be. Asra checked his phone when it dinged, handing me his matcha and butterfly pea latte.

"Who's that, your boyfriend?" I teased, knowing Asra hated it when I talked about his love life.

"You know damn well it's not." he laughed, furrowing his brows at me.

"Well?" I questioned, prodding him with my elbow due to my hands being full.

"Nadia texted and said she was at the table, we should head that way too. I know where it is so, it shouldn't take too long to get there." he smiled once again.

"Wait, what about all of our stuff?" I lifted my arms, gesturing to the bags upon bags hanging from my arms. Asra shook his head, taking back his latte and laughing at me.

"Nadia will think it's funny. Don't worry about it! It'll be okay!" he nudged me before taking some of the bags in his arm. We continued walking, taking our time and Asra told me stories of the city. He told me about the beach and how he and his friends would meet there and hang out just about every other afternoon or go support those in after-school clubs such as track or the school play. Asra loved being in theatre at college, it's actually where we met. We were fast friends and bonded quickly. It was as if fate had put us together somehow. Asra talked my ear off until we made it to the restaurant. It was surprisingly smaller, more like a bar and grill. I was glad we weren't dressed too inappropriately. Asra was in a fitting outfit. He wore a lilac tunic with black leggings and black and white Doc Martins. He was decorated with large amethyst crystal earrings and black jewelry galore. The only thing that didn't match was a beaded bracelet I had given him after our first production. It was black, gold, and silver, decorated with stars, and said his name in white letter beads. He never took it off, well, if he did, I would never have noticed. I was dressed accordingly. I wore black leggings, white Converse, and a blue button-up shirt, not buttoned for the aesthetic with a white tank top underneath. I wasn't as covered with jewelry as Asra was. I had a few silver rings from high school that I never took off, as well as a gifted silver bracelet and a bloodstone bracelet I had gotten from a museum at one point.