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[Rin has been gone for about three weeks, Kravitz has been gone for about three days and both of them are difficult in their own ways. Taako knows that he'll likely never see Rin again but at least he can hope that he finds happiness wherever he is. But the version of Kravitz he spent a bare handful of hours with is gone forever because he was never real in the first place and that's.... difficult.

(Bryn is gone, too, and that's one more thing he's trying to deal with).

Moping around the house is all well and good except for how it isn't, all it does is make him feel shittier, but he equally doesn't want to spend time with people he knows because he doesn't want to deal with all the questions. Strangers are safer, strangers are easy, and there's a particular kind of catharsis in finding a very loud club where he can get drunk and dance until he forgets, at least for a little while.

It's an alright kind of night, at least until he's walking home past some slightly-less-bouncy bar than the one he was just in and some dude comes at him with a knife and a demand to hand over his wallet.

Taako laughs, a startled sort of thing and waves a hand like nah thanks, which really doesn't help matters. The guy steps closer and Taako's self-preservation kicks in over the alcohol, so he tosses a scorching ray in the general direction of his new least favorite person. It misses, of course, sending a nearby trash cane up in flames and it's lucky it was only a cantrip, considering booze and magic aren't a good mix.]

Well, fuck.

[This is about to get not fun.]

[Sending is a third level spell, something that he could probably do with a text message but that would require movement and he hasn't worked his way up to that, yet. Kravitz disappeared like fucking sand between his fingers after barely twenty four hours of showing up in this place and Taako's, well...

Let's just say it fucking sucks.]

Come to the spare room.

[He doesn't think he needs to offer an explanation just yet. Lup will find him, she always does.]

[ Karen is much in the same position in forcing herself to go out into the city. Can't just stay in her apartment and go to work and vice versa. Meeting Diana helped in easing some of the pain she's been experiencing but it wasn't a complete balm (she doubted there was one for something like this). So, when she does go out, it's to the bars.

Her feet are finding their way to one when she hears a commotion around the corner (literally). She goes to look and her jaw goes a little slack. ]

What the hell --

[ But when she can recognize one of the figures near the fire - more by the hair than the outfit - she runs over, ]

Taako?!

[There's an annoyed who the fuck are you? from the dude with a knife, as Taako sort of laughs again, because yeah okay this is maybe bad but isn't it weird that Karen is here? That's weird.]

Karen, what's up! You probably should not be here, I think this chucklefuck is serious about the mugging schtick.

[He makes a shoo gesture at her even as he takes a couple steps back from Knife. Despite the casual attitude, he's ready to try another scorching ray if it's necessary.]

[ Of course she does.

There's a crackling sound as she teleports right into the spare room as soon as she hears her brother's voice, leaving everything she was doing behind without a second thought.

Lup gives him a concerned look and goes to join Taako, reaching out to push his hair away from his face so she could lean her forehead against his. ]

Hey. I'm here.

[It was a stupid fear, but a small corner of his mind had worried that maybe Lup was fake too, that no one here was real except for him. Having her right beside him eases that fear. He'd know, he'd be able to tell.
]

He was-- [Taako's voice cracks and he realizes there's no way he can get through this explanation. Instead, he uses mage hand to grab his phone, pressing it into Lup's hand. She knows his passcode and the article he showed Kravitz is still open, a piece about the holograms in the Quarantine.] He's gone.

[ She's not fake... aside from the fakeness of her body. She's warm and soft and right there, and fuck every world in the multiverse for hurting her brother yet again.

Lup takes his phone, glancing at Taako as she puts in his pin and finds the article. She frowns, something that becomes frustration and sadness pretty quickly. Her heart breaks as she hears Taako say those words, and she's back to hold him at once.

Honestly, she doesn't even know what to say. If Krav had been a hologram... Taako just kept losing and losing and it's not fair to him.

He keeps looking tired and sad every day and she can't just punch something to make it better. ]

I'm fucking killing who ever was responsible for this.

Edited 2018-02-26 22:34 (UTC)

[Once Lup's full attention is back on Taako, he wriggles until his head is tucked under her jaw, effectively kind of just hiding against her.]

I'll help.

[It's short and clipped because he doesn't trust himself to handle more than a few words at a time without bursting into tears again. He never really cried about Rin leaving, maybe it's all catching up to him now.]

He was-- fuck, Lulu. He was so scared.

[Which makes it clear that Kravitz knew, that he didn't just disappear leaving Taako to solve the mystery, though that might've already been obvious from the lack of panic.]

[ She's more than happy to just let him hide there, hands coming to soothingly run through his hair in a comforting way. Close like this, it felt to her as if their hearts aligned, beats matching up. If she stayed calm and focused, maybe it would mirror on him as well.

Anything to make him feel less lost and abandoned. After Rin... fuck, everything was so complicated in this place.

Hearing that Kravitz had been scared makes her frown, though, and Lup glances at the top of her brother's head. ]

Shit. [ She says softly, fingers itching to grab a wand and fix this ] I'm really tired of this place, Koko. I love some of the people here, but enough is enough. It can't fucking do this to us all the time.

[ They had suffered enough already. Taako had. ]

[It helps; Taako matches his breathing to Lup's without even thinking about it, just falling into a rhythm that's as familiar as his own heartbeat.]

I thought-- I dunno.

[Seeing Kravitz here had been troubling because it forced Taako to confront some shit that he'd been trying to ignore, but... it had helped to talk about it. Now he feels like he's back at square one.]

Can we go home?

[It's a cruel question to ask when Lup can give that to him.]

[...and fuck, it is painful to hear such a pleading question because while Lup would do anything to make that happen for him... she can't.

She closes her eyes at that thought, letting his presence try to dial her frustration down. It was a good thing, being this close. Handling each others weaknesses.]

Maybe I can talk to the people in charge. Make them fix our portal thing quicker.

[Her grip tightens slightly around him.]

I'm not going anywhere, Taako. I am never fucking leaving you again, and I'd rather set this entire shit world on fire than to let this bullshit keep fucking you over. Never again.

[Taako honestly hadn't been trying to get this particular promise out of Lup but god is he glad to have it. He's selfish, enough to have wanted it but not quite enough to have asked and now he can almost ignore the guilt that might eventually accompany Lup staying even if the portal aligns with her time before his.

He wants to say thank you, but the words are a little too difficult so he just holds her tighter and hopes the message gets across]

It's all luck. [The portal, whether or not it goes where it's supposed to.] I guess... uh, guess the liches took more than I thought.

[He knows that isn't how it worked, but it feels like that right now.]

Fuck them too!

[ Lup mutters against his skin, before she pulls back and gently takes her brother's face between her hands. Looking into their identical eyes, she then presses a quick kiss to his forehead - somewhere between affectionately and angrily. ]

I'm done with this. I'm getting into my stupid body and we're not taking any more shit, you and I. Everyone else can just suck it.

[ It might be impossible to do anything about it, but Lup is angry and her heart is full of the need to protect Taako from any more pain, and apparently the best way right now is to call everything bullshit repeatedly. ]

Hey.

[It's not quite an admonishment, just a sort of quiet reminder that's accompanied by his hand steady on her back.]

Not really-- not really into the anger right now, bubbale.

[Sometimes he is, sometimes it's nice to have someone get incensed on his behalf, the reminder that Lup will fight for him no matter what. But there's nothing to fight here, not really, and he's just tired.]

I know. It's... all I got, though.

[ It feels stupid to admit, but it's true. All she could do in the end was to be angry for him and to hold him close.

If the anger didn't work, holding it was. Lup falls quiet, tucking him in against her neck again. ]

Love you.

This is enough.

[There are things that he's gone through here that he knows would have been unbearable without Lup. Maybe he should at least be thankful to whoever happens to be pulling the strings of fate right now for at least giving him one good thing.]

Love you too, Lulu. I'll be-- it'll be okay.

[It might take a little while before he really feels himself again, but Taako is resilient; nothing has stopped him yet and nothing ever will.]

You will, you're so damn strong.

[He got through all the shit back home and here. Her brother is unstoppable, and she plans to make it stay that way.]

Drinks and bad movies?

[Something to take his mind of things for a while.]

You fucking sap.

[There is, as usual with any curses directed towards Lup, no heat in the statement. If anything, he gives her a brief squeeze before letting go so he can climb out of bed.

He doesn't know if he feels any better, but he's calmer.]

Can we watch one of those Korean dramas I got from Hana?

[ Well this is certainly something.

Having had the introductory spiel and asked his fill of questions, none of which were answered particularly to his satisfaction, Kravitz's initial confusion has faded a little to be replaced with a vague irritated frustration. There's a lot to take in, a lot of things that don't seem to make sense - and apparently no expedient way to return home. Or to Faerun in general. Because of course things couldn't just be that simple.

The first thing he does, thrust out upon this new world, is to examine the communication device they gave him. It's unfamiliar, but not too difficult to work out, and it's such a forlorn stab in the dark to find himself looking through a list of inhabitants that he doesn't even allow himself to admit that he's looking for a particular name until - there it is, in black and white. And he's honestly genuinely amazed. So amazed that he almost hesitates to press the call button.

Almost hesitates. ]

[It is, in all honesty, a nice morning. Enough that Taako isn't too bothered by the fact he's only just on his way home after a very long night out. The air is crisp, he has a coffee, and thanks to the fact he went easy on the alcohol in favor of the powder dusting his skin, he's not hungover.

It means he's tired but clearheaded as his phone rings, and he knows exactly who it is when the username 'Reaper' pops up on screen. There's a brief temptation to not answer, to avoid reopening this particular wound, but that would be unconscionably cruel to someone he cares about. Not to mention it's hardly a ruse he can pull off for long, the city is too small for that sort of thing.

So he picks up.]

What's up, bone daddy?

[Nailed it.]

[ The thought was just crossing his mind that perhaps he shouldn't trust all of this quite so easily, that for all the so-called welcoming committee had seemed sincere, perhaps there was some bigger deception afoot.

But no, that's... that's definitely Taako. It's so normal and welcome out of nowhere, like a sunbeam cutting through a dimly lit room, that Kravitz exhales a breath of incredulous laughter. It's not a secret that he's always heartened just by hearing Taako's voice, and even just those four words serve to make this entire situation a little easier to bear. ]

Hello, love.

[ He looks up and around as he speaks, wandering if only because standing still feels strange. It's definitely a nice morning. But morning it is, when it was definitely late afternoon, the last thing he knew. ]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you're already here. I take it you haven't found a way back yet, then?

[ Because of course he assumes that this must have happened to them at roughly similar times. He would have known, otherwise. And he's always known Taako to wriggle out of the most insane situations - so perhaps this won't be quite such a huge obstacle as it seems. ]

[That's... still strange to hear, both the particular term of endearment and the relief and affection that's obvious in Kravitz's voice. Taako has to hold the phone away from his face for a second so he can take a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

This sucks. But he can do it.]

I mean, there's definitely a way back it just uh, it's just totally random. [He doesn't say how long he's been here, that's a bit of a bombshell to drop on someone via phone.] Hey, can you still do your scythe thing? It's totally cool if not, I'll call you a taxi and we can do it that way, but I won't leave ya wandering around.

[And they need to talk, as much as Taako's sort of dreading it. Coffee was a good decision.]

[ Ah yes, the 'scythe thing'. They'd seemed very apologetic about the fact that that isn't going to work properly here - offered the fact that it should still work within the plane as sort of a consolation. Offering something that there should never have been a question of losing doesn't really make up for anything, but he hadn't had the heart to be too angry when they'd looked so genuinely sorry. ]

No, I should be able to come to you.

[ Automatically, he checks his watch, only to find that it's stopped. Of course. He gives it a flat look as if it did that on purpose. ]

Should I meet you somewhere? I can't say that I've seen much of this place yet.

Cool cool cool, um...

[There's a moment of silence while Taako sends a text to Kravitz, featuring the address of Casa Del Taako.]

If you click on that it'll pull up a map for you and I'm like five minutes away so we'll catch up there? The wards won't let you in, sorry bubbale, so I'll have to fix that, shouldn't be much of a drama though.

[It's easy enough to add an exception.

He doesn't really think about how domestic this all sounds, the implication of how easily he talks about this place and it's technology, as if he's settled.]

[ There's... a lot, in those few sentences. Taako's ease in using these things, the casual way he talks about it - and, what, wards? On what? Why? ]

Alright...

[ He obviously has questions - but supposes those can wait until they're face to face. ]

I'll see you in a minute, then.

[ Navigating the way these communication devices work isn't too difficult - it mostly seems based on being presented with options and touching your choice. He's seen magic do things like this, though it's impressive in such a small item. With the map located, he finds quickly that his portals within the plane really do still work, and steps smartly through one to find... not something he would have imagined would be attached to the idea of being warded. Though perhaps that's the idea?

Allowing his scythe to dissipate into a puff of black smoke that curls and disappears into the air, Kravitz tries to hold his speculation at bay when there's so little he actually understands as yet, and resigns himself to wait. ]

[closed]

karen

lulu

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