riverviewlogs | ( open ) ; tell me about the days where your body feels nothing like a body

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( open ) ; tell me about the days where your body feels nothing like a body

who: Taako + you
what: A spa day, a fight with a god, and a bad time
when: Novemeber
where: Around!!
warnings: Violence in the threads with Thor & Dodger. Vague Thor 3 spoilers in the thread with Thor.

cisco; tired little laughs, gold-lie promises

[They've all had a shitty month and it feels like a perfect excuse to splash out a little at the fanciest fucking spa Taako can get them into; he catered an event here a few months ago and made sure to keep in touch with the event manager, so the discount isn't anything to scoff at, and he's gone all out in the treatments they're getting.

But after a massage (nice), manicure (even nicer), and a dip in the pool (hella nice), Taako has dragged Cisco to try out the sauna where they can chill for a little while. He tried to bring a glass of sparkling in but was gently deterred by one of the staff, which is rude but probably for the best, since he's already on his way to decidely tipsy.

On the plus side, that helps him finally bring up something that's been on his mind for a while; once Taako is comfortable and the room is full of steam, he casts a lazy look at Cisco.]

Can I ask you a question, my man?

thor; what's a god to a nonbeliever?

[If he's being honest with himself, this is probably a very bad idea, but Taako tries not to be honest with himself and anyway, he's been itching for another fight since the tangle with the cultists, as if that wasn't quite satisfying enough. Or maybe he's just finally remembered how fun it is to wreck some dipshits, since things are so damn quiet in the Quarantine. Either way, there isn't any real danger in what he's doing here; Thor might hurt him, but he won't kill Taako, and there's not much else that a potion can't fix.

It's been a long time since he's had to prepare for a one on one, but Taako doesn't get too involved with it (a lot of his attention has gone towards studying the books he borrowed from the cultists), he gets dressed in his regular adventuring gear and makes sure he's got all his useful items on him, just in case he can use any of them. The umbra staff is in his hand, as per usual, and he has a little mental list of spells that he thinks will work for this. He can't exactly predict how the fight will go, but he knows what his personal priorities are and has a handful of backups in mind. His hair is braided out of the way and he's left most of his jewellery at home, just in case.

Between Bryn, Loki and the members if the IPRE in the Quarantine, they've got a little crowd nearby to watch the show, and that only makes Taako more into it, because he gets to show off.]

You ready to go, or are you gonna need a little more time to warm up?

[He's just being a shit, but it's good natured.]

open; now I've got you here I'll never lead you back

[The month starts of… mostly fine; there's the awkwardness with Magnus and Taako finds himself a little more irritable than usual, but he's brushed it off as a side effect of everything dredged up by the ghosts and the memories he's been forced to share and relive. He'll get over it eventually, and at least he has a project to throw himself into. The handful of books he brought back from the cultists hideout are full of weird and interesting magic that he wants to decipher, if only to make sure no one does that shit again.

By the fourth, he's starts to feel as though someone's watching him whenever he leaves the house, and he starts picking up the pace whenever he has something to do outside, eschewing taxis out of some misplaced worry that they aren't safe. He ends up on Garyl a lot, since he's faster on Garyl than he is on foot, and no one can mess with the illusory horse that he summoned. It makes of a bit of a curious look, this stupid wizard elf making his way through the streets on a unicorn, but it offers him a sense of safety that he's struggling to maintain, right now.

As more time passes the feelings start to get worse, enough that a visit from Cisco and way too many security cameras don’t help to alleviate the paranoia. He has a feeling it must be someone from the cult, having escaped during the fighting and coming back for the items he took, which makes him more eager to figure out the magic in them so he can know how to protect himself.

Every day, he carefully reinforces the wards around their house, stretching them out a little further each time, bolstering them with small spells that don't just block, but also harm anyone who tries to get past them. The magic around the houses shifts from protective to violent, something that's echoed in the way Taako conducts himself.

He's short and sharp with people whenever he has to interact with them, whether it's at the markets or clothes shopping or out at a bar. For a long time, he tries to push past the paranoia to maintain his usual routine, but that just gives him more places to feel snappish and irritated, and it paints a bigger target on his back for whoever's watching him. Even going out for a drink becomes a struggle; he picks a fight with someone because he's sure they were watching him and ends up getting swiftly escorted out after throwing a bunch of lightning around.

Despite everything going on, he's always immaculately put together, more so than usual, as if he can cover up how rattled he's feeling by making sure his outfit and hair are always perfect. The same can't be said for the state of his room; while he's not the tidiest person in the world, it grows worse during the month, as he eschews things like cleaning up in favour of practicing spells and still trying to decipher those fucking books.

It's gonna be a long month.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Didn't think a god would have trouble with a little wind.

[There's a strain in his voice from whatever the hell Thor did while he was strangling him, but Taako's never let something like an injury get in the way of talking shit.

But he wouldn't mind healing it up, so when Thor launches at him again, Taako doesn't try to dodge, instead bracing himself for the hit, dropping the whirlwind spell in order to cast something new.

As soon as Thor is upon him, Taako reaches up with a shadow-wreathed hand, grabbing onto whatever skin is closest and draining away Thor's life force to bolster his own.

Vaguely, he remembers saying he'd never use this in another person, but, well, he knows Thor can take it. Taako's hardly going to kill him.]

[Thor can certainly take it, but he's not overly fond of the feeling. The sensation of having your strength drained from you is unpleasant, and if it didn't hinder his speed so considerably he'd be pushing Taako away a lot faster.

All bets are off, Thor is throwing a punch with the strength he can muster. Anything to make it stop.

He knows he's running out of options, and if he were willing to risk grabbing the staff he would. Instead, he can feel a crackle at his finger tips once again. He's reluctant to come at Taako with gusto when he doesn't know what will happen, so there's visible hesitation before he makes a move to try and kick him. Now he's avoiding using his hands.]

[Even at part strength, that punch is enough to knock the wind right out of Taako, and he's pretty sure he feels something crack in his chest, bad enough that he cries out in pain before pulling away from Thor. He narrowly dodges that kick, but his breathing is shallow and he stumbles a little as he steps further back, using the umbra staff for balance.

He can't take another hit like that.

So he throws out a hand towards Thor and a bright, blinding light streaks from his palm, hitting for a considerable amount of radiant damage and, well, that blinding part is literal. At least for a half a minute.]

[Thor has legendary endurance, but Taako's spells are wearing him down. He's gone from overly confident to desperate, now. He's eager to protect his pride and he wants his goddamn hammer back.

The light from Taako's palms is painfully bright and it stings Thor's eyes to look at it. It feels as if it's a final resort, which surely means he's close to wearing Taako down. It's easier said than done to simply endure the spell and the seering pain coupled with desperation is all Thor needs to push him over the edge.

What happens next seems out of his control. He holds his ground and tenses up, and before he knows it he can open his eyes once more. They're glowing again, flickers of electricity sweep over Thor's arm and chest. The sky rumbles, which is damn near the only warning sign anyone will get before Thor contests Taako's blinding light with one of his own.

He's completely in the moment and he doesn't have the capacity to consider what he's doing or how he's even doing it. The lightning seems to burst from his hands and chest at Taako, and Thor is only just able to veer it off a direct path to him.

He won't take a direct hit, but it's going to hurt.]

Uhhhhh, Thor....?

[There's a hint of concern in his tone as he glances between Thor and the sky and then there's no room for much of anything; when the lightning strikes he tries to reach for anything, a spell to stop it, a spell to get him away from there, but he's in too much pain and too startled to find the focus necessary.

The force of it sends him to his knees and he'd scream if he could open his mouth, but his jaw is clenched tight against the pain and he can't even ask Thor to stop. He just has to hope this doesn't kill him.]

[The unfortunate part of raw, uncontrolled power is that Thor has absolutely no idea how to stop it. Once he's aware of what's happening, it's almost too late.

It seems to happen in slow motion, he watches the power fizzle from him, he glances up at the sky curiously and then he glances toward Taako who is seemingly paralysed with pain.

Thor can barely comprehend the situation, but his immediate thought is that he's killed his friend.

Once he processes that much, he's propelling himself toward Taako and skidding to the ground in front of him. He doesn't stop to think about whether he should touch him, but it has no impact on him whatsoever when he grabs Taako by the shoulders and gives him a small shake.]

Taako? Taako! Don't die- I'll die if you die. [He's both mournful and pleading here.]

Edited 2017-11-09 13:58 (UTC)

[At some point he dropped the umbra staff and he doesn't know when it happened, just that his fingers open and close uselessly as he reaches for it, barely noticing Thor until he manages to cast a glance down and spot it whole. It's okay, and that's what matters most.

He's breathing shallow and fast and there are tears in eyes and burns on his skin (especially where his jewellery is, the metal having overheated) but at least he's breathing.]

What. The. Fuck?

[It's hissed out and he's kind of grateful that Thor is holding onto him because it stops him from toppling over. But still.]

[Thor has electrocuted many, many enemies in his time. The smell of burning hair and flesh is nothing to him, but the sight of Taako in this state is extremely distressing.]

I don't know. [It's all he can say. He hates how helpless it sounds. He isn't blameless in this, but he's never known this to happen before.]

I can't do that without my hammer. Not before. [He says, as if this didn't just happen. He's never been without it in battle for so long. It's been with him since he was old enough to lift it.]

It doesn't matter now. Do you need a healer? [He casts a pleading look at the crowd. He doesn't know what to do.]

Edited 2017-11-09 14:13 (UTC)

[Healer? No.

Really angry twin? Yes.

Forget the cheerleading, now she's screeching like a banshee from the audience, rage creating red lightning around her as she makes a beeline towards her brother and Thor with fire at her fingers.]

You bastard! I'm going to fucking kill you!

[He feels as though he's missing some important puzzle piece, but his thoughts are fuzzy and he hurts, which is why his first priority is to get a potion, something he actually opens his mouth to say before Lup's voice cuts through.

Shit.]

Get us up, c'mon.

[Taako's already moving; he's trembling but Thor is at least something solid to use to leverage himself back to his feet. As soon as he's up, he turns to Lup, managing to hold up a hand.]

Lulu. [It's firm without any heat, just trying to cut through her anger.] It was an accident, it's okay, just-- there's potions in my pack. Hook cha boy up?

[The last thing anyone needs is for Lup to lose hold on her form.]

[Given that Thor has absolutely no healing ability, he's happy to do what he does best in this situation. He pulls Taako up and easily bares whatever weight he wants to lean on him.

He's not even sure how to begin apologising, but at least he has the good sense to know that his words are useless right now.

But Lup is incoming, and she's furious. He feels a pang of guilt, because he knows he'd act much the same if someone did this to Loki (unprovoked). At the same time, he feels a bitter, jealous niggle at the strength of their relationship.

He lets Taako do the talking, but he offers his words in a firm but gentle tone.]

I didn't mean for this to happen. [But it did.]

You can take it up with me later.

[She skids to a halt in front of Taako, and only his firm but soft reassurance that he's okay stops her from setting most of the area aflame. Instead she is touching her brother's face with more concern than the anger in her chest, partially culled by his easy drawl.

Alright. She can do this.]

Okay.

[It's quick, clipped and almost automatic, like the aftermath of battles both as children and in the IPRE where she was too tense to voice any other opinion than anger.

She mage-hands one from his pack (packaged in a gatorade bottle, because Taako), all while watching Thor with anger still evident in her eyes.

As soon as the man opens his mouth, she glares at him and puts a finger up in front of Thor, like he wasn't a big muscly thunder god but a disobedient dog.]

You. Shush.

[Lup is trying to cool down, realizing that it wasn't a deliberate thing and that Thor is sorry, but fire starts quickly yet can smolder for a long time.]

[The amount of weight that Thor needs to support is pretty much all of it, but Taako isn't too worried, he's fairly sure he weighs as much as a bag of grapes, to someone like Thor. It means he can lean into Lup without worrying about toppling over. He breathes for a moment, quiet and steady and unconcerned about Thor right beside him or the audience around them.

He pulls back once she has the potion, drinking it quickly. It's not enough to heal him completely, but he feels steadier as the pain eases, some of the burns starting to heal.]

Hachi machi. [Time for damage control, which means straightening up to give Thor a pat on the cheek.] I'm almost fucking impressed, my dude, even more so if Lup doesn't kill you in the next twenty minutes.

[He shoots her a warning look, but he's smiling. He's by no means immediately better, but it's easy to act like it.]

Lup, you wanna get him his hammer back so it's a fair fight?

[He's too rattled to cast anything right now.]

[Thor pressses his lips together in a thin, disapproving line when Lup shushes him, but he doesn't argue with her. He hangs back and lets them talk amongst themselves, watching curiously as Taako drinks the potion and regains a little more strength.

He's become a little pensive, now that the shock is passing he can start to think a little deeper about what just happened. He wishes it were as easy as going home to talk to his Father, but he's stuck with his confusion now.

The only thing that snaps him out of it is Taako's hand on his cheek. His eyes unglaze and he glances between Lup and Taako with a raised brow.]

Is she going to finish your fight for you? [His tone isn't judging, more curious. Thor rolls with the punches.]

[Lup rolls her eyes at Taako's warning look, but she's being good. She's not yelling or exploding anything! She's not even giving Thor that much of a crazy demolition sister look any more.

It's sad, honestly, because she had been enjoying this fight so much and would have been okay with a loss as long as it was fun, but fun did not include losing control or whatever he had done and frying her brother.

She sighs again as Taako asks her to retrieve the hammer, and she almost does that when Thor opens his mouth and words spill out.

Curiosity, maybe. Sounded like a challenge to her.]

Oh, hell yes. Bring it.

Edited 2017-11-10 01:02 (UTC)

Nope, nuh-uh, the fight is officially over, congrats big guy.

[It's not ego here, especially considering he's admitting that Thor won, it's just a desire to stop this getting more messy than it already is. Thor can't control... whatever's going on there, not without the hammer, and--]

Oh. [It's clear something just clicked; he looks at Thor, at the tree where he cast the door, at the umbra staff, back at Thor.] It's a focus. The hammer is your focus.

[When Taako brings them back down from one hundred to zero, Thor shrugs. He isn't bothered either way, but it probably is a good idea to hold back and disengage.

Taako's revelation doesn't translate for Thor, he narrows his eyes.]

The hammer is a hammer. [Plainly.] My hammer.

Okay, okay.

[She overdramatically snaps her fingers, casting the spell to open the pocket dimension again so the hammer could be called.]

You behave, okay?

[She gestures two fingers to her eyes and then towards Thor before she backs off so Taako can have a chat about hammers.]

[He sort of vaguely waves his hands, as if that can explain it, before getting sidetracked by Lup telling Thor to behave. He gives her a quick peck on the cheek before she backs off, then returns his attention to Thor.]

A focus is like... a way to channel power, magic, usually, but I dunno if that's what I'd call your shit. Like my umbra staff, or a wand or a stave, whatever you wanna use, cause like, I can cast magic without it but it's messy and dangerous and I could end up killing myself or someone else.

[He gestures between himself and Thor; like what just nearly happened.]

[Thor holds out a hand when Lup opens a portal, waiting a moment before mjolnir flies out of the portal and into his palm. He's gripping it pretty tight.

He nods at Lup, ppinting at her casually with the hammer.]

Next time. [He jokes, then lowers the hammer. ]

I'm no wizard. Loki is the one with magic, our mother taught him everything. Our father taught me to fight and, I must say, he made no mention of dangerous, uncontrollable magic that I need to harness.

[He considers that for a moment.] But it wouldn't be the only thing he kept from me. From us.

[He glances at Loki in the crowd.]

[softly: don't]

Maybe you wouldn't call it magic, there's all sorts of words for the shit people can do, and gods are like, a whole other kettle of fish. The point is the function, not the semantics, yeah? And that - [He points at mjolnir] - my dude, is a focus.

[He's not getting caught up on whether Odin lied, because it doesn't matter for this one way or another.]

[Thor glances down at the hammer when Taako points at it, brows furrowed.]

I thought it all came from in here. [He gives it a shake.] I've been without it before, but I've never done... [Vague gesture.]

..That. And I am sorry, by the way. I'm only glad I didn't do worse.

Well, surprise, I guess.

[He doesn't see any reason to question how long Thor went before realizing this, maybe there's a reason it's happening now that Taako isn't privy to, or maybe it's something else entirely. ]

And don't sweat it, I'm kinda pissed you won, but I feel like I got a few good shots in. You should probably learn to control that shit though.

I'll work on it.

[He's not sure how, but it's something he'll be looking into at the very least.

Thor holds out a hand for a shake.]

You had me worried. No doubt, that's why I lost my composure.

[Taako would offer to help, but he might save that for a later conversation because he's pretty sure Lup would destroy them both, so for now he just grins and shakes Thor's hand.]

I'll take that. [Wait, he has to be a little bit terrible, just to convince everyone (and himself) that he's not rattled by what happened.] This was my first time with a god, after all.

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