[open + starters] Take a look inside my book of recipes

[mydude]

Who: Taako and all you good good boys (with a starter for Lup)
Where: The magic study room thingy, the kitchen, wherever Lup takes Taako,
When: The week of October 23rd
Rating: PG???
Summary: Taako fucks around with some magic, experiments with kitchen appliances, and Lup forces Taako to spend quality time with her.
The Story:

A | The Magic Study Room | Open

So he hasn't exactly been earning like, tons of EXP or whatever lately, but he can still practice his magic like, the normal boring way. Which admittedly is pretty much the ideal way to do it, given how often he almost dies or definitely makes other people die when he goes adventuring. Still, doing awesome magic shit when nobody's around to see it feels like a waste.

Which is why it's a good thing there's this magic study room for him to just casually do awesome magic shit in in the hopes that somebody comes by and sees him being totally baller. Like right now? He's just repeatedly shrinking and expanding the same vase over and over again. One second it's teeny tiny! The next it's taller than him! It's! So impressive!

Or it might be to anybody walking in. But if Taako's vague waving of the Umbra Staff is any indication, it's boring the shit out of him...


B | The Kitchen | Open

Now this is actually interesting. Taako hasn't gotten a chance to cook much since he found out he's not a mass food murderer, and he'd sort of forgotten in the intervening years since that bullshit happened that like. He really likes it? Like it's a fucking blast, with or without magic, and right now he's not even bothering with spells. There's too much normal non-arcane shit to fuck around with.

"What even is this thing?" Taako's got a pile of appliances and foodstuffs surrounding him on the counters, but for right now he's got his eyes on this...pitcher? With blades in it? Like, what's the point of them? Maybe they mo--

"Hachi machi!" Yeah, those are definitely blades and he is bleeding. Damn. So they're definitely not just for show. That's one theory crossed off the list, anyway.

Taako sticks his bleeding finger in his mouth and starts shaking the pitcher, trying to get the blades to spin that way.


C | Taako's Room | Closed to Lup

As much as the Taako who is living his truth is the Taako who actively avoids danger and complications, Taako is not an anxious guy. He's a guy with a penchant for denial and definitely has his problems to deny, sure, but he's not anxious about them because he's just that good at the denial thing. And when you've literally got no real way to think about something properly thanks to a fucking fish eating your memories or whatever the hell is going on, you'd think you could just go on pretending nothing is wrong forever.

But Nope. This Thing that is Wrong has a name apparently and she just made a date with him. And even Taako recognizes that this is probably a Thing that will become Less Wrong if he addresses it. But that doesn't mean he has to be pleasant about it.

So when she knocks at his door, he opens it. But he already looks kind of miserable.

"Alright. We're hanging. The hanging has begun and we are doing it." Maybe that's enough and he can just...close...the door...

Comments

magic study!

[voidfished]

When she sees him at first, as she's out exploring, her first instinct is to duck back out of the way.

It's been... odd, coming here, to say the least. Being the apparent furthest along of anyone in their story gives her the unique advantage of knowing what's waiting for them, but also puts her in the most precarious position; not that it's a place she's unused to occupying. The last year and a half has been an up and down dive of keeping herself distant, and she was doing fairly well for a while, she thinks. But ultimately, she misses them; misses the way it used to be on the Starblaster, watching the lively scene around her. Misses being part of that, even if she has no power to change it now.

Eventually, her desire wins out, and she takes a few measured steps to lean on the doorframe, staff in hand.

"Getting some practice in?"

[mydude]

Taako's hand instantly tightens on his staff. He manages to keep the rest of his body from noticeably startling, but as he turns there's still some tension running up his arm. It flows into the tight smile that crosses his face but doesn't reach his eyes.

"Yeah. I guess. Nothing to train for, obvs, but might as well." He shrugs. "After how hard you ran us before we left for Wonderland...A, I guess?, uh, kinda surprised we aren't back on the regimen or what have you."

He gestures and the vase-- which was massive and just about to teeter on top of them --shrinks down to the size of his thumb. He catches it out of the air and stares at it as it rests in his palm.

"Y'know, at least Wonderland A had like, reasons for being the way it was, kinda? Like we had theories. Here they just found out about what happens if you die too many times and people have been here for years. And that still doesn't touch what this place is or who actually runs it."

He shrugs again. "Gonna have to fight a fool eventually no matter which letter Wonderland I'm in, though, so. Here I am."

Here he is. Ready to fight a fool if need be.

[voidfished]

She knows he has no reason to really be happy to see her. Knowing Lup's arrival, Taako has to have questions he's not asking if he heard static fall from her lips, and Lucretia is always the source of that answer. But she watches, listens to him speak, and tries to put that out of her head for now. If he's not going to ask, she won't breech that conversation. Frankly, without Fisher, she doesn't even know if she could.

"Yes, it's... not ideal, our situation here. I never thought I'd be saying anything like this,but Edward and Lydia were at least rather outspoken about their intentions. The forced neutrality of this place is making it difficult to discern anything at all, especially since the locals don't appear to be very chatty."

She wants to say it reminds her of being back in the cycles, of finding themselves in a new world with only each other, but... well, she's already had that conversation in her head. About how much she's holding back. So Lucretia pushes it from her mind, and continues forward. "I'm sure we'll get our answers in time, but seeing as we supposedly lose memories the longer we exist in this space, I'd prefer to know what's going on sooner than later. I appreciate you being prepared."

[mydude]

Taako yawns, waving a hand as he moves to sit at one of the tables. "Yeah, well, least I can do. Don't think I'm gonna figure out anything more than the people who've been here for years, so at least I'm on my grind for when we inevitably gotta fight for our lives."

There's a crystal ball in a stand at the center of the table. Taako picks the ball up and weighs it in his hand, messing with it vaguely as he avoids looking Lucretia directly in the eye. He realizes that he's acting suspicious, but he's not ready for this shit. He doesn't know if he'll ever be ready.

"Have you figured anything more out?"

[voidfished]

Lucretia's still braced for him to say something cryptic, show his cards and put her on the spot. Taako's never been that kind of guy, but his flair for the dramatic is always hard to track. But she keeps herself closed off, arms crossed, watching him as carefully as he seems to be avoiding her.

"Not especially. I've been testing some boundaries here and there, trying to determine the liminal nature of the mansion. Unfortunately, it makes absolutely no sense." She sighs, shifts her weight a bit between her feet. "It has to be some kind of magic, but I can't dispel it, and if this isn't illusion then it's incredibly powerful. Not something I can likely handle alone, but I don't know where I'd even begin with making a plan against it."

[mydude]

"Yeah, if it only took one person, then I'm sure somebody would've figured it out by now."

Even with how crazy powerful the Director is, this place is even worse than the Wonderland in their world, and she almost died in there. People legit die here all the time, repeatedly. And if the Director hadn't pulled him into the Bureau, if he hadn't been made to care about these dumb idiots who are stuck with him, maybe that'd be fine. Who cares if he dies, right? But if Magnus dies? Ango? And he's even starting to care about Lup, despite...

His hands still on the crystal ball as he forces her out of his head. No. He's not thinking about her while Lucretia's here. He's not putting himself in that position just yet. The time will come.

"Have you met anybody here who's, like, on our level, magically-speaking?" He forces a yawn leans heavily on the table. "I was putting it off in the hopes that maybe I'd just go home instead."

[voidfished]

She hums in response, actually thinking about the question instead of getting lost in subterfuge.

"I don't think so, but I confess, I haven't been actively looking. There are undeniably warriors here, but magic seems not to be consistent between worlds. There are others with power, certainly, but it's hard to have a good scale of strength."

She's considered it, of course. Who here to ask for help, who here she thinks could help and actually might. But she hasn't been here long enough to get all her ducks in a row, so to speak.

"You've been here longer than I have. Do you have any leads?"

[mydude]

Taako screws up his face, trying to think of anyone he's met in this Wonderland who seems particularly powerful. (Because, shit, if those two crazy elves were here? They might have a chance, maybe.) But ultimately he shakes his head.

"Nah. There's a lot of people here, though, and I didn't really feel up to mingling."

Which is weird, actually. He's been pretty good at it in the past. But that was on missions with clear(ish) end goals, and...and he had Merle and Magnus, then.

Huh. He has been more interested in figuring this shit out now that more of his-- now that more people from his world are here. Weird.

Taako looks around, then gestures vaguely at the room at large with the hand holding the crystal ball. "Maybe we just hang out here until someone magic shows up?"

[voidfished]

She chuckles just a bit in response, even if it does make her a tad mournful. Always better with people. Always stronger with his bonds.

"Do you think we simply start a club and see who appears? Now taking applications: spellcasters, unless you're terrible. No bummers."

This is going much better than expected. But maybe she's just more inclined to be happy when she can trust Taako, or pretend she can.

[mydude]

"We'd need a test. Which I'm happy to design, obviously. And the best part is, if anyone dies, they'll just come right back."

He's going to need a giant water tank, hundreds of gallons of hot sauce, and a high quality snorkel.

[voidfished]

"Oh, absolutely. Listen, a good initiation test should never be worried about lethality. If you all could make it through the Bureau's, I'm sure it's fine."

She also would just adore to see what Taako would come up with... provided she isn't the one who has to run it. She's sure it'd be nothing short of stunning.

[mydude]

"Yeah, hey, wait a minute. You definitely almost killed me that time. And in almost all of our missions I almost died too..."

Taako narrows his eyes. Has she just been almost killing him over and over again for a year now?










Well, he's gotta respect her tenacity.

[voidfished]

She can't help the little quirk of a smile, something cheeky that she can't quite cover with any Director-esque mystery.

"Well, I did say they were dangerous, didn't I? But you, Magnus and Merle have always pulled through. I have, and always had, complete faith in your abilities to not end up super dead. Really."