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who: Taako & whoever wants in on this
what: Fighting monsters in a tunnel basically counts as a dungeon crawl, right?
when: Late March
where: Those tunnels!!
warnings: Uh, violence, eldritch horrors maybe, he's got some weird spells
notes: If you wanna do something that doesn't involve fighting hmu at

batsecretary!!

[Regardless of who asks, Taako will maintain that he had a shitty cleric back home, but suddenly being without one at all is making him appreciate Merle way more than he ever did. Not having a team to rely on makes battle a lot more uncertain; there's no Magnus to take the brunt of the damage, no Merle to heal or buff them as needed, no helpful NPC to swoop in and save the day.

But a threat to the city means a threat to him, so he's signed up to help cull the creatures in the tunnels. He needs the experience, too, if he's going to level up and figure out a spell strong enough to get him home.

Really though he's just hoping that these creatures are easy enough to dispatch, and mostly he's right. Compared to some of the shit he's had to put up with, over-sized lizards aren't particularly scary, nor particularly threatening, though the amount of them is concerning. Luckily he has a lot of area of effect spells.

In the interest of not immediately running out of spell slots, he starts with low level spells and his single attack cantrip, which results in a lot of frozen creatures leaving a trail behind him, although a few of them have also been on the receiving end of a magic missile, leaving them just straight up dead.

Eventually he moves on to stronger shit: a large sphere of fire moves through the tunnels, directed by Taako, held still when he comes across any allies so that they can move around it, and he'll encourage people to stick with him, since he's used to fighting in groups. At some point, a little troupe of water elementals follow after him, attacking any of the creatures that get too close.

It starts to take it's toll, though, both the spellcasting and the attacks that the creatures manage to get in. His clothes are torn and bloody, and he leans a little more heavily on the Umbra Staff at some points, just needing to take a breather. Finally, he realizes it's worth spending two spell slots on fixing himself up, and waits until he comes across a large group of the lizards.

Sleep knocks them unconscious, and Taako kneels down in the middle of them, reaching out with a hand wreathed in shadow. When he touches the creatures, they awaken for a very brief struggle, before they just... die. Taako's wounds knit themselves back together, he sits up a little straighter, and moves on to the next one and the next one until they're all dead.

And then he gets back to work.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[If there's one thing that Bucky knows how to do better than anything else, it's fight. He's not in any shape for it yet, but that's not going to stop him when he can finally be of some kind of help instead of hinderance.

Not that he's intending to let anyone know that he's helping out, he wants to stay on the fringes of the fight and snipe from a distance. It sort of feels familiar, different from the kills he made as the Soldier. Which is why he's wedged up high between some pipes in the tunnels, rifle pointed at the lizards to pick some of them off one at a time with silenced bullets.

Then Taako appears and he's about to slip away, find some other prey, before--

He drops down, landing on silent feet like a cat, and stares over at the other man.]

How did you do that?

[Because it sure as hell looks like he just killed something and used its life to heal his wounds, and that reeks of 'bad guy' to him.]

[Oh boy, it's his absolute favorite person.

Taako stiffens, standing up straight as his grip tightens on his Umbra Staff, just in case Bucky decides that a repeat performance of their last meeting is needed.]

Magic, pumpkin. Did you miss the part where I'm a wizard?

[He doesn't like this particular spell, it feels kind of gross and he's not really proud of resorting to it (or being caught doing it), but it's better than dying.]

I didn't miss it.

[He keeps a loose stance, not giving any indication that he's still wearing the splint beneath his pants, looking healed and ready to fight if necessary.]

But I did miss the part where you can take the life of something else to heal yourself.

So sorry, my man, I didn't realize I was supposed to hand over my spell book for you to have a read!

[There's a lot of sarcasm in that.

He's feeling extra prickly and defensive, mostly just because he doesn't trust Bucky at all, even less so when Steve isn't around.

Also, he only has a limited time on both the Sleep spell and Vampire Touch, so he's just going to... move on to the next lizard thing, though he doesn't take his eyes off Bucky.]

Have you ever done that to something other than a creature trying to kill you?

[He doesn't ask if Taako can do that, because he's relatively sure the answer is yes. Surely taking life is taking life, no matter who or what it's from. But the morality of the issue stands with the question he actually asks.

Stupid, to think he has the right to judge anyone for what they do. He's no hero. So why is he not backing down?]

Oh, for sure, I just go around sucking the life force outta whatever idiot I run into, you know, for shits and giggles! [Still with the sarcasm, and his grin is all teeth, not particularly nice.] And I'll just tell you all about it, 'cause you're my fucking dad apparently.

[He shouldn't get smart with the guy he's a little bit scared of, probably.]

[He takes a single step forward, but that's it. His expression and voice remain neutral, but his eyes are boring into Taako.]

No, but I'm trying to do the right thing, and if you're-- feeding on other people here, then I'm going to stop you.

Oh my god, chill!

[He can't maintain another spell on top of the two he's already got going, which means if Bucky comes at him, all these lizards are gonna wake up and be real pissed.]

Desperate fucking times, okay? I don't like doing this, I'd rather have a damn healer to make sure I don't die, instead I'm wasting spells on this gross shit.

[Chill isn't exactly in Bucky's vocabulary these days, but at least he doesn't come any closer.

He doesn't know anything about spells and magic, nothing about healers, and so all of this could so easily be a lie and he has no way to know.]

Wasting spells?

[They're not unlimited?]

Fucking--

[He's on edge and frustrated and kind of just wants to throw a tantrum, honestly, but he has to focus on the task at hand before he runs out of time.

Taako moves on to the next lizard. They haven't got a whole lot of HP, and he only heals by half compared to what he takes from them, so he needs to get as much done as he can.]

I can't just go shooting lightning out of my fingertips twenty four-seven.

[Even though the idea that this guy is literally leeching life out of something else to heal himself is repugnant, Bucky doesn't make any move to stop him.

What he does do is move to one of the other not-yet-dead lizards and check it over to see how long it might remain out cold.]

Then you need to go back and rest, not do this.

Do you treat everyone like this, or am I just real special?

[It's kind of condescending to be told he needs to go rest, when he's dealt with a lot worse shit than this. What he's doing right now is being smart, expending a few spell slots to heal himself up so he can stay and help for a few more hours.

More importantly for the moment, though, is the fact that Bucky's approaching one of the creatures.]

You better be planning on killing that, they're gonna wake up pretty fucking soon.

[He's honestly pretty surprised at himself for telling Taako to go back and rest, it's really not like him now to pry into how other people take care of themselves.]

Call it repayment for the splint.

[A knife appears in his hand smoothly as if from nowhere, and the lizard is dead in another second or two.]

I'd much prefer a drink, my dude.

[If they're talking repayment, although like...

nothx at the whole hobo aesthetic Bucky has going on.

That's probably a thought for another time, though, since the lizards are definitely starting to stir, now. Taako stands up, leveling his umbrella at them as a beam of blue-white light shoots out, killing one, then another, then a third.

There's two left, if Bucky wants to take care of those.]

[Those sudden beams of light make Bucky tense up completely. Taako is a lot more dangerous than he gave him credit for to begin with, and all his instincts are telling him to take him out before he has chance to attack first. He pushes those instincts down as much as he can.

It's the lizards that get the brunt of his tension instead. The remaining two are dispatched completely silently and with an expert stab of the knife to each skull right through the eyesocket, leaving them all dead in a very short time.]

What the hell are you?

Do I have to fucking spell it for you?

[He feels like they've been over this by now, at least twice.

He hasn't even broken out a spell above level four yet, around Bucky, so the stuff he's doing really doesn't seem all that threatening to him. They're basic spells, shit that he learnt in his first six months with the Bureau.]

Yes.

[It's just as blunt in return.

He's not ashamed of being ignorant of things, he's spent a long time knowing that he's forgotten pretty much everything and that sort of thing drums any shame over ignorance away effectively. And what Taako's species is and what he can exactly do are definitely things that he's ignorant of.]

[Wait actually he can do this a fun way. Which is mostly just a "being a show off and obnoxious dick" way, because he casts Prestidigitation and makes little sparks appear in his hand, shaping them to spell out wizard.

He's kind of tired of having to explain this, but he'll give Bucky a bit more, maybe just because he doesn't want to get stabbed.]

I learn spells, and I cast 'em. There's no like... it's not inherent or whatever. I'm self-taught, this is all Taako, and I'm one of the good guys. So you can stop looking at me like I'm gonna cut your heart out and eat it or whatever the fuck it is you think wizards do!

[Wizard really isn't that much of an explanation, not when it covers such a wide array of nonsense.]

I don't know what wizards do, we don't have them where I'm from. The closest is an Asgardian who tried to take over the planet and killed a bunch of people.

[So forgive him if magic makes him a bit antsy.]

I don't even know what that is!

[They don't have Asgardian gods, and logically he realizes that his frustration at not knowing something he's feeling is the same as what other people are feeling when he talks about magic but he's... lonely.

It's lonely, when no one understands the world he comes from. There are people that seem to follow similar rules, but it's not the same.]

You don't have to believe me if you don't want, I give no shits, but before this place decided to drag me in, I was trying to save the goddamn world, and actually doing a pretty fucking okay job of it, go figure!

[And now he's here, feeling useless and trapped and maybe that's really why he was so eager to come fight. He just wanted to throw magic at emotionless monsters until he felt better.]

[Who is he to judge?

Maybe Taako was trying to save the world, maybe he is in the presence of another hero. He's certainly got enough blood on his hands that he has no right to be potentially taking Taako to task for his actions. He feels wrong-footed, sort of like an idiot, but he just nods shortly.]

You helped me before, didn't have to, I guess that means I'll believe you in return.

[For now, at least.]

Come on, I'll escort you out of here.

Thanks, pumpkin, I really appreciate it.

[Maybe he should tone down the sarcasm now that Bucky has relented a little, but, well, Taako's an asshole sometimes.]

But I don't need to go back. I'm fine.

[As if to make a point, he waves a hand over himself and casts prestidigitation, cleaning off all the dried blood and dirt, to show that underneath it all he's faring pretty well, now that he's healed himself with the HP from those poor lizards.]

[He visibly tenses slightly when another spell is cast, especially when it sluices off all the dried blood and reveals that he's doing fine. That's not right, Taako has been down here for hours and has been hurt, it's worrying that he can heal himself to that degree.]

Fine.

[He looks reluctant, but he steps forward to place himself at Taako's shoulder as if in a silent offer to fight with him until he is ready to go back.]

[What.

Taako's eyebrows shoot up, because he kind of expected that fine to mean bye, since it seems like Bucky has made it pretty clear how he feels about Taako and his whole magic thing.]

Are we doing this?

[A team up or whatever.]

[He rolls his left shoulder, the only indication of discomfort that he gives before he nods.]

I owe you.

[He might not have appreciated the help, or said thanks properly, but he wants to pay his debt for the use of his leg.]

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