[closed] There is a terrible cost to dark magic, but you know what they say

[spellslots]

who: Taako + various others (if u want something hmu!)
what: What it says on the tin! Catch-all for the next few weeks to save spamming y'all
when: mid July - when I decide I need a new one of these
where: Arounnnnnd
warnings: None yet, will update if necessary

Comments

sad trombone.mp3

[spellslots]

[After the distraction of Carnivale, Taako is starting to realize that not everything is going as great as he'd like it to be. The main problem right now is Lup and Lucretia, the frostiness there making the apartment an uncomfortable place to be, but when he stops thinking about that for a second he has to acknowledge the fact that something has been off with Eddie lately, too.

It's not nearly on the same level, but he's not completely oblivious.

The problem is that acknowledging means he has to actually do something, because as much as he's not exactly into this emotional confrontation shit, it's better than letting something stew. The last thing he wants to do is spring Eddie with a "we need to talk", no one's into that, so he waits until they're idly watching a movie one evening, Taako's legs stretched across Eddie's lap, his phone in his hand while he organizes a delivery for the next day.

When the order is done, he tucks his phone away.]

Hey, bubbale, got a question for ya.

[He keeps his tone light, at least for now, hoping this might just turn out to not be a big deal.]

[causational]

[The truth is, unless he's on the job, Eddie is definitely not good at confrontations of any kind. It takes him a long time to mull over what he's feeling, to decide if what he's feeling is appropriate, and then even longer to figure out what words to put his concerns into.

This is something that's been sitting stewing in the back of his mind, ever since he'd had that conversation with Cisco in the hospital after he'd been stabbed. It's been affecting how he acts, but he honestly hasn't realized it's affected him as much as it has.

At least until Taako looks at him and says he has a question. And no matter how casual it comes off, Eddie knows that no good comes of that.

Tilting his head back, he licks his lips.]

Shoot.

[spellslots]

Is something up? Like at work, or... whatever?

[Might as well dive straight into it, as much as he could beat around the bush or try for a delicate approach, it seems smarter to just rip the band aid off. Although maybe it's still a little bit of a cowardly approach to ask if it's work, instead of a problem with them.

But he doesn't want to always be the pessimist.]

sad trombone intensifies

[spellslots]

[It's been a long night, sitting with Lup and going over almost everything that's happened in
since they fell out the cycles, trying to catch his sister up on the life he led without her. The whole thing is still a mess, but the raw, pained anger that had taken hold of Lup seems to have passed, and that's enough, for now.

He finally gets Lup into bed, an activity that he wouldn't mind doing for himself, but he can't justify just fucking leaving Lucretia to walk into this mess without warning, so Taako takes himself into the kitchen, instead.

At 7am, he knocks on her door, a tray in his arms.]

Wake up sleepyhead, I'm coming on in.

is there any other type of trombone

[scholiast]

(She's actually already awake, curled into her armchair in her pajamas and scrolling idly through a couple emails on her phone. The knock at her door makes her pause with her finger on the screen, gaze flicking towards the door in surprise; Taako doesn't usually come calling so early.)

Come in, I'm up.

i've heard they play other music sometimes

[spellslots]

[The door opens with a mage hand, letting Taako in without him needing to juggle the tray at all. It's piled with a plate of french toast, syrup on the side, along with a mimosa and a mug of coffee made exactly how Lucretia likes it.]

I hope you're hungry, bubbale, cause breakfast is served.

[Everything is Fine]

gamora!!!

[spellslots]

[It was supposed to be a run of the fucking mill trip out beyond the inner fence, to check out some ruins that pinged when he cast detect magic, last time he was out here. So far he hasn't actually found anything worth taking back, but he wanted to give it one last shot before moving on.

The last thing he'd planned to do was stumbled onto... something, some nest of creatures that seem to be able to teleport, of all things, and he's not exactly doing great in this little fight. Almost every spell he casts misses, or barely catches one of the creatures, not enough to be a dent in the significant handful of them that are currently in the process of trying to like, eat him.

The forest around him is littered with burnt foliage and frost damage from his spells, and a couple of the creatures are dead on the ground, but the rest aren't making his life all that much fun. He's bleeding from bites and scratches, and after one of them finally manages to sink its teeth hard into his arm, sending a wave of pain all the way up to his shoulder, he decides to stop fucking around.

Even from a distance, the spell he casts is visible: a 60 foot circle of bright light flashes out in the forest, chasing away shadows in every direction for the few seconds it's visible.

And then the spell fades, leaving Taako face to face with the creatures that were apparently completely unaffected by his level eight spell.]

You've gotta be fucking kidding me.

[help]

crawls from the depths of hell IM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE

[godslay]

[ There's something to be said for the perimeter guard's availability. Part of the job means responding quickly and efficiently, and luckily for Taako, Gamora is ready to halt her patrol and make a direct beeline for his location as soon as the gigantic flash of light hits the sky. Even with her limited knowledge of magic, that was clearly some impressive display, and if someone was hauling out that kind of power to deal with one of the creatures beyond the fence, she can only assume that means trouble.

She's quick, leaping over fallen trees and effortlessly avoiding some of the smaller creatures that come out to investigate the sound of her moving through the foliage, and with Godslayer drawn, it doesn't take long to track down the sounds of chaos and fighting, with a little help from her enhanced hearing. She skids to a halt in time to spot a familiar face. ]

Taa—

[ Except, oh, hello, those sure are some teleporting monsters, and just as she's about to rush in and help, one of the creatures blinks into existence right in front of her, and she has to duck to avoid a set of vicious jaws.

She hits the ground, rolling and bouncing back to her feet. ]

What are you doing out here?

[ Other than nearly getting eaten, apparently. ]

its ok!! i am glad you survived hell

[spellslots]

[As soon as he hears Gamora he shoots a quick glance in her direction, but he doesn't want to take his eyes off the creatures for too long, even if looking at them doesn't really help, a whole lot.]

Getting my fucking ass handed to me by this little shits.

[It's frustrating; this is the first time he's run into anything that's given him enough trouble to burn high level spells on, even more so the fact that those high level spells aren't working.]

I dunno what they are, but my spells aren't hitting 'em. Tell me you're real good with a gun or something.

[ booze fixes all problems?? ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ A few days after the masquerade, Loki does his "friend" duty (or so he assumes. Again, the literature on the subject was vague. But Loki knew Taako well enough to understand what he likes). So he arrives with a bottle of liquor.

And Loki even knocks on the door instead of simply breaking in. ]

fuck dude it sure does

[spellslots]

[Knocking saves Loki having to magic his way through the wards on the place, and it means he's greeted at the door by Taako, dressed in tights, an oversized shirt, and an apron. If the apron wasn't indicator enough of the current situation, there's flour on his arms and in his hair.

Still, he grins when he sees Loki, immediately stepping back to let him in.]

Hail and well met.

[He thinks he's funny.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki raises an eyebrow as he steps inside. ]

Who are you and what have you done to Taako?

for some nerd

[spellslots]

[It ends up taking a while to get everything organised, for this little experiment, because they need equipment and a space, most of which Taako leaves in Cisco's hands to secure, since he's the one who knows what the hell he needs. All Taako needs is himself, and that's exactly what he brings to the clinic that Cisco managed to sweet talk someone into letting him borrow.

It's a little creepy, after hours, with no one there, but there are enough lights on to mitigate most of the spookiness.

Most of it.]

Should I have told someone where I was so like, they know where to look after we get murdered by ghosts?

[#helping]

wow

[franciscoramon]

[ It had taken some doing, getting all this set up. Not just because of the science involved, but due to the safety precautions, as well. Cisco remembers the last time, how Caitlin had told him he almost had a stroke. Even though this time, in theory, Taako's magic will be able to keep him from feeling quite that level of brain-frying fear, it's better safe than sorry. After all, he has no clue how his powers and magic will interact. It's possible Taako's powers will be completely incapable of doing anything to influence his vibes. It's also possible that his vibes will be utterly incapable of standing up to Taako's magic. Or there could be some third, messy option.

He goes way overboard on the sensors and setup; it's a smallish room, white and antiseptic, but it's crammed full of devices, mainly meant to monitor Cisco's body. He isn't hooked up to any yet, but it's clear most of them will be attached to him sooner or later. When Taako comes in, looking relaxed and cracking jokes about getting murdered by ghosts, it does, actually, help. Cisco laughs, a little too hard to be very subtle about the fact that he's nervous. ]

Hey, you're the ghost expert, not me. I don't know about the precautions for if Casper and friends decide to crash this party.

[ He hops up on the edge of the bed and starts hooking things up to himself. Electrodes here and there, two mysterious machines that connect to sensors he clips on his fingers. He even takes a tiny sample of his blood, which fortunately Caitlin had taught him to do. As he is working on that, he nods to the foot of the bed, where a pair of goggles are sitting. ]

That's them.

[ In case Taako wants to check them out while he's doing the prep work. ]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[spellslots]

You go on one date and suddenly you're the ghost expert.

[He's still honestly not sure if Kravtiz actually counts as a ghost, since he can create a body for himself and... all that, but he's some kind of undead thing, at least, so obviously that makes Taako the ghost expert.

Or maybe it's just that he's a wizard.]

They look kinda goofy, huh?

[Why is he likes this.]

rin!

[spellslots]

[There's nothing that Taako can specifically put his finger on that made him thought Rin would be okay with bending the rules a little; it was more just a few hints here and there, and a bit of a gamble in bringing it up, but so far, so good.

It's how they end up at an auction, for the first part of their evening, the only issue being that none of this is strictly legal; just like Fearun, there's some magic that even the openness of Riverview doesn't allow, and Taako had thought Rin might find it as interesting as he does. He, personally, has no plans to buy anything, but that doesn't mean he can't have fun with it.

(Taako isn't dressed up quite as much as he was at the masquerade, but he's still pretty happy with his dress, and his glamour is on as always.)

When the auctioneer brings out the next item, Taako tilts his head slightly, then very subtly casts detect magic, before leaning over to whisper in Rin's ear:]

That's fake as hell.

[imperceptus]

[ Rin does his best to seem innocent--or, at the very least, innocuous. Grave robbing comes with the territory when you're an adventurer of any stripe, though, and it's so easy for that predilection to extend into other types of robbing, too. And swindling. And shady deals. And so on.

(Rin, for his part, has definitely been hitting up the local hot topic. He likes the cravats.) ]

Right? Completely insulting that they'd pass it off as otherwise.

[ He rolls his eyes as the auctioneer goes on about the item--an urn allegedly filled with the magical, healing ashes of a sacred prophet. ]

It's probably his grandmother in there.

drew!

[spellslots]

[There's no denying that Taako loves to show off; he might not strictly be a performer (he would've made a great bard, if not for the silly outfits) but he had cooking show that was 50% actual cooking, 50% panache, and he thrives on attention.

So he's more than happy to shoot Drew a text with a time and place to meet up, just outside the inner barrier, where Taako can show off the whole dinosaur thing.

Taako makes sure to get there early, just to check there's nothing horrible lurking around, and then perches on a large fallen branch to wait, checking his emails to help pass the time.]

[willinglychanged]

[Drew had to admit he wasn't actually expecting a text from Taako with regards to his truly ridiculous request; after all pipe dreams were often left at that. But lo and behold came the text message with a time and a place and Drew was just off the rails when it came to his excitement. He was finally going to see a dinosaur.

Sure it was a magical kind of dinosaur but Drew was more than happy about that. He'd always been into the unknown in such a ridiculous way that it meant any chance to see something beyond the ordinary and he was ready for it.

He headed to the location just outside the barrier before using his sense of smell to locate the elf, a grin on his features as he sees him using his phone.] You come here often? [Yes. He was ridiculous.]

ipre emergency chats

[spellslots]

[It's been a handful of days since Magnus arrived, long enough that Lucretia has returned him from her work trip, long enough that Taako and Lup have tossed a few ideas between themselves, without settling on anything definite.

He gives Lucretia a few hours to get settled back in, letting her shower and unpack and do all that fun post-trip stuff, but he finally calls them both into the sun room, where there's a light dinner and two bottles of white wine, on the assumption they'll definite need it.

The flask of ichor is on the table, too, though it's a little less obvious what, exactly, it is.]

So, uh, this sucks.

[Good start. Nailed it.]

🚨🚨🚨

[scholiast]

It's nice to see you too, (she says, and takes a seat, shooting Taako a grateful look for the dinner.

Half an hour home and she's greeted with a warm shower, clean clothes and the promise of good food and wine. Despite the topic of the conversation they're about to have, Lucretia is pretty content right now. She's missed these dorks.)

But yes, by all accounts this blows. This looks amazing by the way, (she adds, helping herself to a set of cutlery set out beside the little stack of bowls,) may I start?

magnus "the hammer" burnsides

[spellslots]

[Nervous isn't really a feeling that Taako does often, at least if he can avoid it; but it's happened a few times since arriving in the Quarantine, and he's not really surprised that most of those times revolve around the crew. He's not sure how 'Magnus doesn't remember anything' stacks up against 'introducing Lucretia to someone who kind of wants to kill her', but neither of them were fun.

Still, he pushes it aside as much as he can, focusing on quickly cleaning up the place and changing into something more visitor friendly (fashionably ripped jeans and a loose blouse) before Magnus arrives. He's not sure what exactly he'll cook, so he decides to wait and let Magnus have some input, but he does do a quick check of the fridge and pantry to ensure he's got appropriate ingredients for most dishes.

And then he just has to wait, which mostly involves fussing with the apartment until he finally hears a knock on the door.

He makes sure to walk over at a normal person pace, so as not to seem like some weirdo who was loitering by the door, but he can't stop from smiling brightly when he opens it up to see Magnus.]

Hey, bubbale, you find the place alright?

[ohhmrburnsides]

[Guess who else is nervous! Yes, it was his idea, but Magnus has just agreed to hang out with a guy who either A) knows things about Magnus that he himself doesn't know, or B) is a total creepo stalker guy. He'll just have to play this out and hope he doesn't get hurt in the process.

Regardless of his nerves, he also manages a smile when Taako answers the door. Seeing him in person flips some kind of instinctive trusting switch in him. Hm.]

Yep! It wasn't hard. How's it going over here?

magnus burnsides 2: electric boogaloo

[spellslots]

[Things are still... strange, with Magnus, but it's getting a little easier to deal with as time passes. They have a rough plan for addressing the whole voidfish bullshit, it's just on the backburner, because it seems preferable to actually befriend Magnus first, instead of just dumping all this weird shit on him.

And maybe he'll be more likely to believe them, if they're his friends again.

So - it's strange, but acceptable, and Taako hadn't hesitated when Magnus asked if they could head out to look for a pokemon. He'd gotten some food off Letha, assuming that would help in their search, and then texted Magnus a time and place to meet. Namely: just after midday, at one of the exits from the inner barrier. Normally, Taako wouldn't be too worried about any kind of prep when going somewhere with Magnus, but this is before he relearned to really fight, without his axe or the chance lance, so Taako figures, in a real fucking weird twist of fate, that he's in charge of making sure they don't get hurt.

It means he's dress a little more 'fantasy bullshit' than usual, with trousers, a tunic belted at his waist, and leather boots. The umbra staff is hooked onto his belt and he even brought his short sword, though the latter is for Magnus, if he wants it. He's also got his trusty adventurer's pack, which has been through a lot with him, and still contains most of his items along with a handful of potions he picked up recently. It feels both unusual and familiar, prepping for a mini adventure with Magnus fucking Burnsides.

Mostly he's just hoping nothing will go wrong.

Taako gets there early and ends up chatting with one of the Perimeter Guard on patrol as he waits, asking a couple of (hopefully) neutral questions about any recent animal sightings. He wraps the conversation up when he sees Magnus approaching, and greets him with a wave.]

Hail and well-met, my man.

[ohhmrburnsides]

Hey, Taako!

[Magnus looks borderline ridiculous. With his leather boots, cargo shorts, and patterned scarf, he's dressed for three different kinds of weather. (Maybe more.) He's equipped with some rope and a tarp that he picked up at work, as well as his Grandfather's Knife™. An onlooker might think these two are preparing to hunt Bigfoot.]

Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long! I think I spent a little too much time trying to pick what to wear. I wanted to be fully prepared. You ready?