riverviewlogs | [open]

Entry tags:

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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.]

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I mean, shooting me would work.

[If Illya is ever worried about magic that Taako is casting, getting shot is definitely the sort of thing that would break his concentration.

Not that he's expecting Illya to shoot him at any point, just, you know, that fact is out there.

But - okay, he's going to shut up and watch Illya shoot.]

[And shoot Illya does, hitting the target right in the center. He’s not showing off, he’s a good shoot but not the best. But he did paint the target rather big so hitting the center is pretty easy for him.]

Would it, though? [He motions for Taako to give it a try as he talks.] Couldn’t you make a shield or something similar?

[Alright, he can do this.

Taako steps up beside Illya, flicking off the safety as he mimics the way Illya had been standing, the way he'd been holding the gun, the way he'd looked down the barrel.]

Spells take time, and concentration, and they sure as shit just don't fucking work sometimes.

[He had tried to cast blink, when Bucky attacked him; it failed and he'd ended up with a bruised and grazed back, from where he was thrown against the wall.

Taako exhales, and curls his finger around the trigger; the recoil wasn't entirely unexpected, but the force of it catches him a little by surprise, enough to throw the shot slightly off. It still hits the target, but just barely.]

Fuck' lemme try it again.

[This time he braces himself for the recoil, and when he pulls the trigger, the shot hits closer to the center. It's hardly perfect, but he's pleased with himself.]

[Illya doesn’t laugh (that would be quite the accomplishment, since not even Gabby really manages to), but his lips do twitch into a bit of a smile when Taako seems frustrated he didn’t hit the target fully on his first try.]

I hope you weren’t expecting to be a sniper right away. [He glances at Taako’s arm.] Did that hurt? I should have warned you about the recoil. It usually gets stronger the bigger the gun is. Or the bigger the bullets are, anyway.

I mean, I'm not bad at aiming with the umbra staff!

[He knows these two things aren't even remotely comparable, so he's mostly just being fussy for the sake of it.]

And I'm all good, I knew it'd have a kick, just didn't expect that much of it. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I don't need anything bigger than this.

[He's learning for the sake of his own comfort, really, he doubts he'll ever need to pick up a machine gun.]

I figure magic and ire weapons are very different. And bigger doesn’t always mean better, when it comes to weapons.

[He’s had to hide his weapons on his person plenty of times, and you can’t do that if you’re carrying around a rifle.] Now that you know what the recoil feels like it will probably be easier on you. You still look a little tense when you’re going to shoot, though- that probably won’t help you hit the target.

Just in every other way, huh?

[He adds a wink, because even if Illya hasn't been receptive to his shitty euphemisms so far, that's not going to stop him for trying for a laugh.]

Okay, so, chill the fuck out? I can do that, for sure, easy. [Which he does, breathing in and out slowly, then raising the gun again to fire. He doesn't get much closer to the center of the target, but the bullet hits close to where the last two did, so while he's a little off, at least he's consistent.]

[He should have known better than to word it like that, but he figures he can let Taako have that one. So no, he still doesn’t laugh but his lips do twitch upwards so Taako can count that one as a win.

He looks at the target, pretty satisfied. Again, he wasn’t expecting Taako to be a marksman right away (not unless he had some magic to help him, anyway) so this is pretty good.]

You’ll do fine with practice. But I still wonder what you want to shoot.

[One day he'll get a proper laugh out of Illya, no matter what it takes.]

Nothing in particular. [He lowers the gun, putting the safety back on so Illya knows that he's been listening and isn't just dicking around.] It's one of those things, like, they kinda freak me out a little? I thought knowing more would help with that.

[It's a little dose of honesty, but he does that sometimes.]

[Illya blinks because he’s pretty sure that’s the first time he’s ever heard him say he’s freaked out about anything. So he figures he should take it seriously.]

They are powerful weapons. [He admits, because even though he was trained to learn how to use them since he was very young he understands how dangerous they are. It’s a good thing that Taako has some level of respect for them if he’s going to be shooting.]

If we’re being honest, I’m still not exactly comfortable with magic.[Which is probably not a secret to Taako.]

I get it.

[Being uncomfortable with magic, just like he thinks Illya seems to understand where Taako is coming from when he says guns freak him out.]

But I know a guy who goes up against magic users with nothing more than his ax, and nine times outta ten he comes out on top. As much as I hate to admit any weakness, we're not infallible.

I think I’d like that ‘guy’.

[He says with a teasing tone in his voice. It’s not a surprise that there must be people without powers in Taako’s world, humans to go with the elves, but somehow Illya had not considered what it must be to be powerless in a world like that until now.]

It’s a good thing that you don’t grow too comfortable with your powers and try to branch out, though.

God, you'd get on like a house on fire. I'll introduce you if he ever shows up.

[He's pretty sure it would take Magnus like three seconds to challenge Illya to a wrestling match just for the fun of it.]

And yeah, I guess like... I don't plan to start carrying one of these around, but if push comes to shove and there's one on hand, I've got it covered.

[That is, if he goes up against someone armed, he can steal their gun and use it.]

Hey, actually, can you show me how to take the bullets out?

I'd like that.

[And he’s kinda surprised by the fact that he actually means it? He’s not the friendliest guy by a long shot, but he’s got a good rapport with Taako so far and he’s curious to see what kind of man he thinks he would get along with.]

I can do that. [He motions for him to hand him the gun.] I’ll teach you how to put them back in as well.

[He changes his grip on the gun to offer it handle first, since that's just polite when passing weapons to someone else and he figures the same tracks here.]

Are they all pretty much the same, or am I gonna run into weird shit?

[A shrug.] Some differences, but the idea is that once you know how to handle one gun you'll more or less know the others. Though most people have a favorite.

[He motions at his own Makarov PM.] This is mine.

Kinda like wands then.

[The basics are usually the same, a wizard can pick up another wizard's wand and use it with minimal issue. Taako's umbra staff is a slight exception, because of how powerful it is, and how tied it is to Lup.]

I don't think I'm ever gonna have a favorite gun, that might be a bit much.

I like guns.

[He says simply… because it really is that simple. His specialty is brawling, he usually ends up using his fists because it’s just the easiest way to get rid of a problem (and because it does wonder for his anger problems) but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy a gun in his hands. But he enjoys shooting at targets more than he enjoys shooting people.]

But not everybody does. It’d be kind of weird in fight if everyone used same weapons.

[He motions between Taako and himself.] We’re a good team in a battle, because we use very different weapons. But it’s good to learn beyond that. I would like to learn magic, if I could.

All we're missing is a healer.

[If they wanted to be a good team in battle, although really, Taako's little group is wildly unbalanced; they have no rogue, no ranger, and they could use something like a paladin, maybe.]

I'd offer to teach you, the whole magic thing, but one student's enough for me.

[He’s about to snort at the bit about the healer because he assumes Taako is joking- he isn’t thinking in terms of a team to go on a quest, he’s thinking of them being tossed into battle like the day they met, against the monsters. But Taako goes on, and it makes him frown as he grabs for his own gun. He’s getting ready to teach him how to take the bullets and put them back, but something Taako said makes him curious.]

So you could teach me. Or rather, I could learn?

The way anyone can learn a skill, you know? You might not have a talent for it, but the potential's there.

[He's gotten more careful about the way he words this particular discussion, because he's realized that people have certain ideas about magic, and he doesn't want to falsely get their hopes up. The capability is there, but that doesn't mean they'll be any good at it.]

[Illya doesn’t really care about being good at it. Or- okay, no, that’s not true. He cares a lot about being good just like he cares a lot about being the best he can be at everything he tries. But Taako already told him he isn’t going to be able to teach him so he isn’t thinking in those terms, because he’s pretty sure it would take him a lot to trust someone who isn’t Taako to teach him magic.]

I just thought Magic was an ability you were born with. Either you had it or you didn’t. You make it sound like everybody has a little magic in them.

Oh, everyone can definitely have a little magic in them, if they ask real nice.

[Flirting with Illya is a totally lost cause but that's fine, he can have fun with it.

Still, after a wink, Taako will move on, because he's not a complete jerk.]

Only sorcerers are born with magic, everyone else learns it.

[Illya rolls his eyes, but once more he barely reacts to it because he knows that’s what Taako is seeking.]

I think I understand. [Kind of. As much as he can understand anything related to magic when he comes from a world where (he will insist until he’s proven otherwise) magic doesn’t exist. He will need to think about it a little more, process it because he feels this changes things a little.]

Here, I’ll take the bullets out of my guns. You try do the same with yours.

[Taako makes a little note to himself to find some books on magic, to share with Illya at some point, something that'll give more definitive answers than he can, because it comes so easily and he's never spent a lot of time with the theory behind it all.]

Alright, let's do this shit. I'm all eyes.

[that's totally the saying, right?]

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