[open]

[spellslots]

who: Taako & various/open
what: Assorted adventures
when: Late May!!
where: Oot and aboot
warnings: None at the moment!



Loki - The Gramarye

[It's not a mystery that something is Up with his umbra staff, nor is it a mystery that obviously Lup is the cause for whatever is going on with it, but it takes Taako a while to really… do anything about it, because he doesn't want to give himself false hope that maybe it's her, in some way. Kravitz sensed the presence of a lich, but he also dismissed that it was the staff causing it, so Taako is of two minds about whether Lup has, in some way, attached her soul to the umbra staff.

Regardless of the answer, he can't find it out himself, that isn't the sort of shit he can do with magic, so he reluctantly admits to himself that he needs help.

It still takes him another week to actually do anything about that, but finally he makes an appointment at Gramayre Magic Research in the off chance they might be able to tell him something about what's going on with Lup's stupid umbrella.

Taako turns up a little early, somewhere between nervous and excited, and the first guy he sees when he walks into the building is wearing a sharp suit, with dark black hair, and for a second Taako's almost thinks it's Kravitz, until the guy turns around and well, he's very obviously not Kravitz.

Still, he can be polite.]

Hail and well met, my dude. I'm here to see a guy about an umbrella.

[Taako why.]

Llŷr - the river

[It's been a couple of months since the whole thing with the witch of the river, and although Taako has reached out to her again, he still heads out into the forest sometimes to leave an offering. It just seems right, and honestly he kind of likes the routine of it, collecting little bits and pieces that he thinks will be appreciated (food, flowers, gemstones) and making the trek to the same spot in the river he always goes to. He doesn't know why he picked that particular spot, just that it had felt right the first time he'd wandered his way along the banks of the river.

Today, he has a little bowl made out of magic, that will disappear back into the ether after an hour, filled with a handful of small colorful crystals, some berries, and a sprig of rosemary, and it sets it onto the water with care, then sits on the bank to watch it make it's slow path down the river.]

Peggy - wardrobe update

[Taako has a lot of fond memories of sitting on his bed in the academy dorms, while Lup tried on outfit after outfit in preparation for a date or an interview or a presentation or like, a walk across the campus that she'd decided was Important for whatever reason.

So when Peggy asks for a little advice on updating her look, he leaps at the chance, insisting that shopping is the first step in this very important mission to make Peggy look even more awesome than she already does. There may be some bribery involved through the promise of any kind of cake she wants, and Taako goes the extra mile to turn up with two coffees (they're both sugary frappe concoctions from Riverview Starbucks).

As soon as he sees Peggy waiting near the front entrance to the mall he picked, he holds the cups up with a little shimmy.]

You want the cinnamon roll or red velvet one?

[Either will taste delicious while also filling her with a sense of shame at how much sugar is likely in them, but this is how Taako rolls.]

Illya - shooting practice

[It's a bit of a whim that has Taako asking Illya for lessons in handling a firearm, but at the end of the day magic can only do so much, and while he isn't about to start carrying around a gun, he thinks it'd be wise to at least know the basics, considering how common they seem to be with humans and in the Quarantine in general.

And Illya agrees; Taako picks a spot outside the inner barrier to avoid anyone stumbling upon their unofficial target practice, since he's pretty sure there are laws about licenses and all that boring crap. In the interest of repaying the favor, and making this more of a chill day than just shooting at stuff for however long it takes until one of them gets bored, Taako made lunch for the both of them that's currently sitting in a hidden chest, because why not.

For now, though, he's sitting on a fallen log, kicking his heels against the wood as he waits for Illya.]

open - day to day

[Taako does his best to keep busy, wanting to avoid any time spent dwelling on things that can't be changed, or getting too caught up his grief, so he throws himself into anything that comes with way, with even more gusto than he usually musters. He takes to wearing more red; his robe and jacket are both long gone, so whenever he sees something cute that's in the right shade of deep red, he can't resist buying it.]

i; swooping

[His usual bright umbrella is magicked to look dark, attempting to avoid any attention from the creatures above as he goes about his business, but he's not completely heartless and if he sees any of the pterodactyls getting too close to other people, he'll shoot off a magic missile or two to scare the creatures off.

If that doesn't deter the damn things, he'll wave the person over towards him.]

C'mon, dumbass, I got shields.

[He can play escort.]

ii; fishing

[Things that might surprise people to learn about Taako: he enjoys fishing.

He doesn't do it very often, because that kind of ruins the enjoyment for him, but he's been in Riverview for a few months now and it's a good way to kind of just - chill and reminisce without getting too caught up in it. After a) buying a rod and b) inquiring about a good spot to go, Taako heads down to a section of the river within the inner barrier that he's been told is decent. It's in a quieter part of the city, and he cuts an interesting figure sitting on the grassy shore, his purple wizard hat clashing horribly with his red jacket, but he's enjoying himself, and that's what matters.]

iii; prijata

[As it turns out, shopping for gifts is hard.

He never celebrated Candlenights until the Bureau, him and Lup didn't really do traditional gifts so much as they just stole cool shit for each other, and they didn't exactly have time for gifts while on the Starblaster. Except for when Merle made them, and that was just a whole bag of yikes.

But he's recently come to the realization that his time here is fleeting at best, that he's likely going home to die, and that maybe he should like, appreciate the people he's befriended here, and what matter way to show that than getting in the spirit of the upcoming holiday, even if he's starting to get a little tired of holidays.

That doesn't make it any easier, though, and he spends a lot of time checking out various markets and stores, meticulously going over items as he tries to find The Perfect Gift™.

Or maybe he's flopped dramatically on a bench somewhere, with too many bags at this feet and an alarming looking coffee in his hands.]

Comments

[spellslots]

[Lucretia gets the first glass, because they're Wine Mom kindred sprits, then Clark gets his, and Taako pours his own last, before finally flopping into a chair.

As much as he loves the sound of his own voice (why), he doesn't have a whole lot to add to this particular little topic of discussion, so he's just going to sip his wine in peace. And be grateful that aside from that brief awkward little stumble, no one has died.]

[scholiast]

(She mouths thank you as Taako hands her a glass, taking a slow sip as she listens. How do you end up with a responsibility like that? It's noble, to be sure, but it sounds... stressful. It's not unlike the IPRE's mission statement, now that she thinks about it.

When Lucretia realizes she's been staring off in Clark's general direction with a finger sandwich halfway to her mouth, she clears her throat.)

That's really interesting. (She kind of wants to write it down, but she promised in advance there'd be no note-taking at the table.) How... uh, how's it going so far? Aside from your detour here, I mean.

[signifies]

[ He looks down into his wine glass self-consciously. ]

I stayed hidden most of my life, and only showed myself to the world a few months ago. There aren't any others, so I'm making it up as I go along. [ He's getting better at explaining what his world is like since coming to Riverview. ] I try not to do too much yet. Humans have a lot of cause to be afraid of me and my people.

[spellslots]

He's being generous, they're just dicks.

[That's a bit of an aside, muttered over the top of his wine glass in Lucretia's direction. Taako still thinks it's stupid that humans are afraid of Clark just because he's powerful.

Clark is probably the least scary person that Taako knows.]

[scholiast]

(Lucretia's also having trouble understanding why anybody would be afraid of Clark. She looks between the two of them, confused.)

But if you're helping to protect them, why would they be frightened of you? That doesn't make sense. Sorry, (she adds quickly, not missing Clark's glance into his glass,) we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.

[signifies]

No, it's all right. People don't mind so much here. It's not like that where I'm from. [ Taako's right. Humans are jerks. ] People are afraid of what's different from them. And I'm very different in a lot of ways.

[ It also doesn't help that his people tried to commit genocide on Earth, but Clark doesn't want to go into that right now. ]

So, I just keep passing as human. It lets me operate the way I want. I don't want to be out where a government might try to use me.

[spellslots]

Earth doesn't have a whole lot of variety, anyone with weird shit, especially some kinda power, it makes them real uncomfortable if they can't control it.

[What he's saying isn't that different from what Clark said, but he's adjusting it a little for Lucretia, since she's new and hasn't had a lot of run ins with humans yet.]

They're not down with magic either, that's for sure.

[Some of them are, but Bucky's mistrust, Tony's doubt, it leaves a bad impression.]

[scholiast]

I suppose.

I'm sorry to hear it, though. (It's kind of him, to continue to help regardless of the reaction he receives. She can tell Taako has all sorts of things to say about this: the stink eye he's giving his wine glass is palpable.)

Huh. So– no magic in front of humans? Can't they do anything at all?

(How odd. Especially because she's technically human too.)

[signifies]

[ Taako's a lot more blunt than Clark is. ]

The food's not bad. [ He's trying to lighten the mood. ] I brought some.

[spellslots]

Let's save the magic chat for later.

[That's to Lucretia, but it's not dimissive so much as just acknowledging that Clark isn't really the audience for that discussion, not when he has no real experience with magic beyond this place.

As for food, he rolls his eyes at Clark:]

Pie exists where we come from, I know that you know that, my dude.

[Not that Clark's pie isn't great, but if they're going to extol the virtues of Earth food they should probably go for something that doesn't exist in Taako and Lucretia's world.

Like tacos. (He hasn't told her about tacos yet)]

[scholiast]

(Lucretia nods, more than happy to talk about food, and by extension eating said food? Because the pie looks so amazing.

She gives Taako a friendly elbow in the side.)

Hey, don't be mean to those who bring food! It's super appreciated. Did you make it, Kal?

(Hopefully she's not throwing him to the sharks chef by asking that.)

[signifies]

I did. Cooking is a hobby of mine. [ Lucretia will learn that Clark has a lot of hobbies. ] If something doesn't exist where you're from, we can try it here. Taako has a great kitchen.

[spellslots]

[He nearly says something about having tried foods that he'd forgotten about, before he realizes that falls way way into the spoiler category.]

Hobby is underselling it, for sure.

[Look at that, Taako giving a compliment.

It's been known to happen once or twice.]

[scholiast]

(Just drop the spoilers already Taako, she's dyin over here.

Lucretia whistles, and helps herself to another sandwich.)

Guess I'm the odd one out then. (She's tried cooking before, to embarrassing result, but she thinks she'd very much like to be good at it. Maybe some day?) But I've never needed to know how, thanks to Lup and Taako.

[signifies]

I bet. [ He can take a sip of his glass. Lup is a painful reminder of what's going unsaid here. Clark doesn't know how Taako's dealing with this. ] I'm not ready to give him a run for his money yet, but if he's not careful, I'll get there.

What do you like doing, Lucretia?

[spellslots]

[He can compartmentalize better than fucking Batman.

Which is how he can super casually sip his wine while eyeing Clark.]

You don't wanna test me, I know great places to hide a corpse, alien or not.

[Fun for the whole family.]

[scholiast]

Um, I like writing. And I paint, too.

(She shrugs, and gently traces the rim of her glass of wine with one finger, oblivious to the little glances the both of them are trading back and forth.) Nothing very exciting or helpful obviously, but I'm pretty good at both.

[signifies]

[ He's going to ignore Taako's comment instead of sticking his tongue out at him, like an adult. ]

Do you write fiction or non-fiction?

[spellslots]

Fiction, totally fiction, calling it now in case you ever get a hand on her journals.

[There's probably a lot of incriminating shit in there.]

[scholiast]

(Rude.

Lucretia isn't above sticking her tongue out at Taako.)

Both! But mainly non-fiction. I'm a chronicler for the IPRE.

[signifies]

Were you assigned to a ship? I'm not sure how your organisation works.

[spellslots]

[He blows her a kiss in response.

No matter what the future holds, there's a familiarity with Lucretia that goes beyond friendship, beyond family. Living and dying together for decades tends to do that.]

There was only ever the one ship, you're looking at two out of seven of the best our world had to offer.

[A horrifying prospect tbh.]

[scholiast]

(Taako's statement said in the past tense is not lost on Lucretia, who merely hums, and swirls her wine around her glass.)

The Starblaster. And– you know, I think it was more that we were dumb enough to volunteer for the job? They made it sound like an opportunity.

(Which it is, just. It's also a one-hundred year long opportunity.)

[signifies]

I feel very safe.

[ He might sound like he's joking, but Clark knows Taako takes his job seriously. Lucretia seems like she does too. ]

[spellslots]

[He doesn't even notice his own slip up, but he does falter for a second at Clark's joke-that-isn't-a-joke. Because they failed, keeping people safe, and he doesn't know if they can defeat the Hunger.

But he recovers quickly.]

Listen, they didn't mention the whole end of the fucking world thing at the academy. I was expecting a chill vacation.