(no subject)

[bythehand]

who: finn and OPEN
what: tdm prompts (dreamshare, big robits)! canon updates! and a general february catchall.
when: backdated late january through all of february. various.
where: idk, dreams. big robits. generally around.
warnings: violence towards Big Beetles, nightmare content (which includes death, more violence, and maybe vague body horror idk). spoilers for the last jedi. will add as things crop up.

[ splitting starters off into the comments below to save on wall-of-text properties! can be reached by PM or at comatoseroses for plotting! ]

Comments

[bythehand]

[ Finn doesn't need siblings to understand the cut of that jib. The miracle of understanding bridges so many gaps. ]

Fair enough. Almost sounds like how I grew up.

[ But learning that about Taako, it almost... makes things make more sense. The thing is, Finn's lived in close quarters, practically on top of everyone else, his entire life. Even if he never quite fit, even if he was always on the outside somehow, there were other cadets and trainees with him almost constantly.

That's only twenty-three years, give or take. His whole life, sure, but a drop in the bucket compared to the idea of a century. Not even counting Taako's sister beyond that, since he doesn't know what the situation was there.

He doesn't like being alone. At all. He doesn't like having too much space.

So part of him is kinda like, you know what, maybe Taako makes one percent more sense now. ]

[spellslots]

It sure is something, huh?

[In a lot of way, Taako has been trained out of his fear of being alone, mostly due to sheer necessity after what Lucretia did. It never made sense, that nagging sense of how wrong it was to be alone despite the fact he'd always been alone.

It's not something he particularly likes thinking about. His fingers drum idly against the neck of the bottle before he seems to reach some sort of internal conclusion as he straightens up.]

You wanna watch a movie? I'm, uh, I'm guessing you're not sleeping cause I'm not sleeping and you're already here, so...

[Might as well do something.]

[bythehand]

[ Honestly I wish Finn were the kind of person who would just blow a raspberry in answer to that first question, because that's his personal spiritual take on it. He shrugs one shoulder instead. ]

If you're willing to have me. I can always still leave if you want.

[ Taako hasn't struck him as indecisive whenever he's talked to him. He doesn't strike him as a person who feels obligated to offer things he's not willing to offer. But Finn broadly prefers to establish choice where he can. Plus someone saying "you showed up at my house in the middle of the night, get out" has a lot more bearing than whether or not they still felt lonely and sad afterwards. He's pretty sure. ]

[spellslots]

[It's a little bit motivated by a guilt-adjacent emotion, since he feels kinda shitty that Finn is dealing with his shit, even if neither of them made the decision to be in this situation.

But he also wouldn't hate company, and it's right here, without having to wake up Lup or Magnus.]

It's cool, I'm not gonna kick you out. [This is Taako speak for 'I'd like you to stay' because he's bad at verbalising when he wants things relating to his emotional state.] Do you want like good or a drink that isn't fifty percent alcohol? The fridge is always pretty well stocked and I think I've got some danishes left over?

[bythehand]

[ When you've felt one shitty emotion, you've felt em all. Truly this is the lifestyle. Open emotional communication who??? Tonight no one knows her. ]

A drink would be fine. Not big on eating late. [ His insomniac routines are all their own. Mostly they involve lying there pretending to not be awake, while Poe is like 4 feet away in the same weird living room couch fort, also pretending not to be awake. ]

Can I ask you a question? I don't think it's too personal, but that can be your call. It's about something I saw.

[spellslots]

[Rather than ask Finn what specific drink he'd like, Taako just pulls a jug of iced tea from the fridge and pours a glass. It's mint and apple, nice and refreshing.

As for the question, he responds without missing a beat:]

It's cool, I think I know what you're gonna ask. [This is about where Finn's fear response should kick in, because it's Taako and he knows what Taako is like by now.] Yes, my dick is that big.

[There's a grin, before he waves a hand to dismiss his own shitty joke.]

Hit me with the question, bubbale.

1/2 i mean u know i had to hit this back immediately

[bythehand]

[ No Fear
"I think I know what you're gonna ask."
One Fear

And how well-founded it is. Why does he try to ask this man normal questions. Why does he like him and care if he's really sad in the middle of the night. Finn dies inside. He ascends this plane. Okay, that's being overdramatic.

But there is 100% a moment of legitimate eye-widening alarm?

Finn looks like he believes Taako deadass really thinks that's his question for a second, and he sets his cup down harder than necessary in the beat before Taako waves it off. Not hard enough to break it. He just instinctively embodies that run vine with the umbrellas and it's like, well shit, I need to do an action before I try to explain this, but I only have this glass. ]

2/2

[bythehand]

[ Hot update: it takes like less than a second for Taako to let on that he's not being serious, and Finn still hates this. ]

Taako, I'm gonna start carrying things around that I can throw at you.

i did know

[spellslots]

[It's such a shame that it's the middle of the night and Taako lives with other people that he doesn't want to annoy by waking up at an ungodly hour. So he has to stifle his laughter, an action that's only moderately successful despite covering his mouth with both hands as he nearly doubles over.]

Ohhhh my gods.

[Like it was an okay joke? But Finn's reaction is so much better?]

It'd be fucking worth it, holy shit.

[bythehand]

[ This is exactly why people keep doing this kind of thing to him. Finn will never develop enough chill to nip it in the bud.

But hey. It's a genuine spike of humor. And he knows without even a little doubt that it's not his, so it's easy to compartmentalize that bad boy.

He rolls his eyes. ]

Yeah, of course it would.

[spellslots]

[After another few moments Taako has calmed down enough to be a real person again, the laughter fading to the occasional little chuckle. He still winks at Finn as he reclaims his glass and heads into the living room, just working on the assumption that Finn will follow.¡

Gimme the actual question, pumpkin, the curiosity is killing me.

[It isn't, but if it's something personal he'd like a chance to lie about it at least.]

[bythehand]

[ A fair and accurate assumption. ]

All I wanted to ask was why you put anything that looks that much like a torture device anywhere near your eyes.

[ But go off about dicks, he guesses??

He could ask about the thing with the face changing. He's curious about it. But he prefaced with not too personal. And secondhand eyelash-curling is kind of horrifying when you've never watched someone do it before. ]

[spellslots]

[It takes him a second to understand what's being asked, which mostly involves Taako squinting at Finn as he gets comfy on the couch, but eventuality it clicks.]

You mean an eyelash curler? It just like... it makes your eyelashes look nicer? It doesn't hurt or anything.

[It doesn't occur to him that Finn might not have seen one before because surely he has at least one friend who's vain. Surely.

It also doesn't occur to him that this means Finn saw his morning routine and all that involves, but he'll get there in a moment.]

[bythehand]

[ It's too late to feel shame. Taako threw embarrassment out the window. Now Finn, local nerd, is on the hunt for knowledge. Sorry, his two best friends are Poe "doesn't need to try" Dameron and Rey, who he loves above everything but who is also a sand gremlin.

An eyelash curler.

This is incredible. ]

So someone came up with that because they wanted their eyelashes to look better.

[ Like, he won't judge pride and effort in appearance as a principle. One can assume he gets it to a certain extent because otherwise he'd look like a shaggy disaster. It's just so specific. ]

[spellslots]

Uh, yeah? Eyes and lips are kind of the big ones when it comes to make up and all that shit, eyelash curlers just make ya eyes pop without worrying about mascara.

[This is vanity 101, Finn.

More importantly, though, Taako grins a little.]

You wanna try it?

[bythehand]

[ It's like he's speaking-- okay, not another language, we're not in a 90s sitcom. Finn gets what he's trying to say. And on the conceptual side he gets why people go so hard into it.

He's just never seen it in motion. Or tried it. Consider him definitely thinking about it. ]

Are you trying to say my eyes don't pop? [ Gosh? We can't all be Poe or Rey in terms of Eyes That Are Very There. It's just not realistic. ]

[spellslots]

I'm saying you seemed kinda curious and I highly fucking doubt any of your friends know how to do this shit, so if you wanna try it now's your chance.

[Taako can be a rude little shit, but he thinks Finn is plenty attractive so he's not about to say anything about his appearance one way or another.]

[bythehand]

[ Finn is beautiful and his eyes pop, got it, self esteem levels raised.

Pros: trying something new that won't kill him, giving Taako another not awful thing to think about
Cons: not sure yet but probably absolutely something. He thinks that about everything, though, so it's negligible. ]

Sure. Yeah. Why not?

[spellslots]

[Taako levers himself off the couch before offering a hand to help Finn up.]

C'mon then, been a while since I've taken a dude to my bedroom.

[pls]