'cause it's better than nothing

[thespaceopera]

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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

N - P Otono-Tachibana Makie Pavel Chekov Peter Parker Pidge Gunderson Prompto Argentum Psycho Mantis

Q - S Randolph Lyall Remy LeBeau Sandalio "Biffy" de Rabiffano Sanza Stark Shin-Ah Sorey Steve Rogers

T - V Taako Thor Tim Drake Tyrion Lannister Ulaz Vash the Stampede Victor Frankenstein The Vision

W - Z Wanda Maximoff Zaveid

(last updated: 1/25/19)

Comments

Taako | The Adventure Zone

[abracafcku]

For those who have no previous CR with Taako

[abracafcku]

The room you see in front of you isn't really a room. It's a little clearing in a forest with a fire in a stone-encircled firepit in the middle. There's a single bedroll with a backpack next to it near the fire and several cleared stumps nearby that have obviously served as tables and chairs and gambling platforms for the numerous other travelers who have used this little pitstop before. Right now there's only one person at the fire: an elf who is sitting with his back to you. He wears a big wizard's hat that obscures his face from this angle, but in the fire is a small pot of stew simmering away. The elf turns and looks over his shoulder at whoever has just appeared, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, don't just stand there looking creepy. Come and eat so I know you're not about to stab me in the back."

He ladles out a portion of the stew into a wooden bowl and holds it out.

Take the stew or don't take the stew. It's up to you.

[straightouttacarbonite]

Generally speaking, Han is not a wandering-around-in-the-woods kind of guy. Sure, who doesn't appreciate solitude now and then, but you can find much better solitude in an expensive hotel with fantastic room service paid for by a successful heist with no complications and no running for your life.

Or, probably, there's something in the middle, but he prefers a middle with less wildlife and twigs.

But his options are wandering lost through the woods, or approaching this weirdo who seems to be enjoying sitting in the woods. It's not the best choice, but one option probably has marginally less carnivorous insects attached, so he strolls up cautiously.

"Uh, sure," he says, reaching to take the bowl.

[abracafcku]

As soon as Han's hands are on the bowl, the forest is gone. The sudden shift in scenery would likely be jarring if the replacement wasn't so intensely pleasant. Like a feeling of coming home, a deep breath of relief that rolls the tension off the back and shoulders, all rolled into a warm inviting kitchen.

The room isn't especially big, but it's cozy. An open kitchen attached to a well-used living room, a round wooden table with six or more chairs crowded in around it. It's obvious that there are more chairs than the table was built for, but somehow it's working out. An older elvish woman, hair rolled up under a handkerchief is at the kitchen counter as she mixes a cake. There's flour and sugar in bags nearby, eggs in a bowl waiting to be cracked, a glass bottle of milk, and fruit washed and dried. Standing next to her is a young elf - 12 or 13 years old - his blond hair is short and tied back in a small ponytail. It's obviously the elf that just gave Han the stew, but he's so young and so...unburdened? There's none of that caution in his eyes right now. He's just laughing as the elven woman scolds him in a gentle, matronly way. "Oh Taako. You always stick your fingers in before I'm done!"

"Shouldn't make it so easy to sneak a taste then, Auntie." It's the man Han just saw, definitely - that voice is lighter and higher in pitch, but definitely him.

"You're terrible. Go crack the eggs the way I taught you." She laughs again and moves the frosting bowl out of his reach. "I'll see who does it better."

He turns away and there's a fritz of static that races from the other side of his aunt's side, something moving but unseen. The entire scene dissolves for a moment into static as Taako looks up, his words eaten by the crackling sound. Then as suddenly as it appeared, it's gone and Taako has the eggs cracked in the bowl. He hands them to his aunt and laughs again, a joke eaten by static.

"You're getting better. You both are. Maybe one day you'll be as good as me." Taako beams, a feeling of true contentment effusive throughout this entire scene, and starts pouring the eggs into the batter as his aunt mixes. The static moves again, pressing in against Taako's side. The elven woman smiles and continues explaining the recipe as things start to go fuzzy again, the sounds of the forest bleeding through. "Now the important thing about this particular cake is..."

[straightouttacarbonite]

It's like being stuck in the fever dreams of someone really hungry. Better than the woods, though, in Han's estimation. He hangs back, first because he's bewildered and then because he's trying to puzzle it out, figure out what the deeper meaning of cake recipes could be.

But he doesn't think this is something he's going to sort out on his own.

"What, you're not gonna share?" he asks archly, leaning against a chair. Or is it a tree?

Sorry, kid.

For those who already know Taako

[abracafcku]

At first this room seems really cramped until you realize it's a kitchen, but not just any old kitchen. It's narrow, first of all, and long - a single aisle with counters and stoves on either side. There are pots and pans hanging from hooks on the ceiling, which is rounded. Utensils, spices, and knives hang on the wooden wall to the left, covering every available space. To the right is a long prep counter with drawers stuffed to the brim underneath, and to the left is a several burner stove and storage. The right side is open above the counter and outside is what looks like an empty amphitheater awaiting a crowd. The seats are lined up, but no one is in them yet. There's a table out there though, with a bunch of t-shirts lined up on them that read: Sizzle It Up with Taako! so there's sure to be something going on soon.

Inside the kitchen, a static image of Taako stands at the stove, caught in the middle of stirring a large pot there. He's grayed out, like he's frozen in time, waiting for something to happen.

There are several things laid about on the counters and stove, waiting for him to pick them back up. The odd thing about this place is that the colors seem...muted somehow. The wood isn't as rich as it should be. The lettering on the t-shirt should be bright and loud, but something about it just seems...off. The smells in this place also seem dulled even though there are things roasting in the pull-out oven off the back of this wagon - because that's what it is, a stagecoach for a traveler - and whatever Taako is cooking is right there in the pot in front of him. His food is always good - always smells good, but that appetizing scent is missing. Even the many myriads of fresh herbs drying right overhead don't seem to evoke the right scents.

There are, however, a few things in here that seem normal. On the counter is a bunch of rich bluish purple berries, so dark in color as to be almost black, adorning a plate like a garnish. Next to that is a swirling vial of rainbow colored liquid, uncorked and waiting. There are several fragrant cloves of crushed garlic, and next to that a gleaming and ornate silver chalice that entices those who look at it. And then tucked into the corner is a well worn book with a maroon cover with the title, Simple Recipes to Wow, written in simple pressed white letters on the cover. Hanging upon the walls just by the entrance is a green wool wizard's hat, flowers threaded through its band, but slightly singed along the edges. There's a star-like object on the countertop, encrusted with jewels and highly ornamented on each of its five slightly curved arms. And finally, there's a white birch walking stick so worn as to be almost smooth in several places. The only door out of the wagon is locked tight, bolted from the other side.

Somehow, it feels like one of these objects is they key to leaving this place and maybe to waking Taako up, but which one?

[CONTENT WARNING: semi-graphic descriptions of death and food poisoning with the berries and chalice]

[spellsteal]

[There is so much going on here that Belthazar doesn't say anything for a long moment. In fact, he thinks he direly mistepped here so he turns around to leave and... walks right into the door. There's a little cry of pain and some mumbling as he rubs at his face, and then he turns to really look at the rest of the car.

It looks like there's... some kind of show going on? And this is the... cart? Why is there a cart on a stage? He's so confused. But he does know food. The grayness of the frozen scene doesn't escape him either. Belthazar is well and truly freaked out. It's... wrong. So wrong.]

Um... Taako? Taako...? S-sorry for intruding, I didn't mean to...

[He glances at the table. Maybe one of these things can help him get out of here, or return Taako to normal... He swallows nervously, glancing at Taako and then the table, and then he grabs the rainbow vial. It looks like the most magical thing on this table besides the chalice, so.]

[abracafcku]

As soon as Belthazar picks up the rainbow vial, the entire room swirls with light. It's not a blinding light, more like the light of a million stars in the sky all twinkling and glittering around him or the light and color of galaxies, hundreds of realities, all swirling in an ethereal pattern. It's mesmerizing and the memory fades in from that until the light is contained and then it dims, and then it's gone.

In its place is a large tank, like a whale tank, filled with a dark, opaque water that's lit from beneath. There's something inside, but looking at it is like looking at static - disorienting and confusing. The more Belth looks at it, the more his eyes just can't seem to focus on what's in front of him. Until suddenly there are four people in front of him: Taako, a gloomy looking bard in ridiculously colorful bardic clothes, a short dwarf with a long beard threaded with flowers, and a large human man with auburn sideburns and a scar over one eye. The bard seems fine, but Taako seems ill and his ears are pinned back in annoyance at the fact that he's also experiencing the same vertigo that Belth is undergoing at the moment.

The bard sighs and puts a roll of parchment into a sliding panel at the bottom of the tank, then pulls a lever next to it. "There goes another great composition."

The parchment floats up into the tank and some sort of tendril rolls out of the inky blackness, curling itself around the paper, and then sucking it up into that confusing mass of static. And there is a tremendous sense of loss, a memory gone, leaving only the traces of what it used to be in its wake. The parchment had some beautiful music on it, composed by the bard, but all attempts to recall it are just...gone.

"Okay, feeding time's over. Uh. You guys ready for stuff to get weird?" The bard says as he goes over to a spigot on the side of the tank and fills three vials with the viscous inky fluid. He hands one vial to each person and says, "Uh, this isn't gonna taste great. It sort of-- sort of has the consistency of Go-Gurt, um, so not a lot of people get down on that. Um. But I'll warn you guys, once you drink that, um, there really isn't any going back."

The tall human asks, "Going back from what?"

Which is followed by the dwarf asking, "Going to what?"

The bard replies, "From not- from not drinking it." And then Taako and his companions begin to bicker and hem and haw over whether to drink these nasty looking vials. Taako, honestly, isn't put off by the texture description so much as the whole "everything" about this. The smell, the fact that there is obviously something in that tank of water, the idea of drinking what could essentially be pois--

"Holy shit." He turns as the human just suddenly and abruptly downs his in one go. He goes stock still, eyes glassy for a moment, and Taako and the dwarf stare at him in horror.

There's a tense moment while they wait and then the human bounces back, steady on his feet like the bard and bursting at the seams.

"Oh my god, you guys. Guys, it's all clear. I remember everything. Here's the thing, you guys. So basically what's going on is-" And then his words devolve into static. Even though his mouth is moving, focusing on the lips, trying to read what he's saying gives off that same unfocused feeling again, like trying to read while nauseous - nothing gets through that and the loud crackle of static in their ears. "--and in the cave, when we were looking for the---" Back to static for both Taako, the dwarf, and now for Belthazar as well.

Taako's ears flick back, his eyes narrowing and he gives a loud sigh. "Well, that's just annoying."

He stares at the vial in his hand and tips it back while internally screaming YOLO.

If Belthazar looks at the vial in his hand, it's dimmed from the rainbow colors to that same inky black goo that Taako is currently taking like a shot of vodka. Does he drink too?

[spellsteal]

Belth is quiet but observant, the invisible and somewhat queasy visitor, as he watches this scene play out before him. The... whatever the tank is, it's holding something so dark and incomprehensible that it terrifies him. He hugs himself, pulling at his own sleeves as he looks at it, and then at Taako and his... friends? They must be friends. They look like an adventuring party, though he can't quite figure out what the dwarf is supposed to do.

Then shit gets weird. His ears stick straight up as the human man spouts out static and more static. Belthazar takes a step back, hand on his chest. "What the hell?" Taako takes the vial and drinks it after that and Belthazar winces in empathy. Whatever it is, it can't be good.

In a moment he's out of the memory with this weird vial in his hand. He lifts it to his nose and gives it a polite sniff. It doesn't smell any better than it looks.

"I'm only drinking this because I read the book about that girl who falls into a wacky dimension and I'm fairly sure it'll help me. But if I die before I wake up, I will be very displeased." Despite his nonchalant manner, his fingers are trembling around the vial. He steels himself-- and tosses the vial back.

[deathcouture]

[ The lack of color -- really, the lack of sensory anything -- is immediately apparent to Kravitz. He knows damn well that anything surrounding Taako is absolutely vibrant, full of color and life. Let alone a kitchen! So with everything muted, and Taako standing there frozen to the spot, he's already worried.

He does't say anything, just carefully looks everything over... and he picks up the recipe book, wondering if maybe there's some kind of clue to be found there. ]

[abracafcku]

Picking up the book feels safe and warm, an intensely pleasant feeling of having come home after a long absence. The feeling is soft and gentle and entirely overwhelming until the scenery around Kravitz blurs away into sunlight. As it comes back, it brings with it a matronly voice that gently chides as she laughs. "Oh, stop it, you."

The new room isn't especially big, but it's cozy. An open kitchen attached to a well-used living room, a round wooden table with six or more chairs crowded in around it. It's obvious that there are more chairs than the table was built for, but somehow it's working out. An older elvish woman, hair rolled back up under a handkerchief is at the kitchen counter as she mixes a cake. There's flour and sugar in bags nearby, eggs in a bowl waiting to be cracked, a glass bottle of milk, and fruit washed and dried. Standing next to her is a young elf - 12 or 13 years old - his blond hair is short and tied back in a small ponytail as he laughs at the older elf.

"Shouldn't make it so easy to sneak a taste then, Auntie." It's Taako's voice, lighter and higher in pitch, but definitely Taako. He isn't as adorned as he is in his older years, but there are hints of it. His clothes are worn and patched in places with mismatched fabric in the shape of stars and he has no jewelry, but he has a flower tucked into his ponytail. And? He's smiling. He's actually happy here and it shows.

"You're terrible. Go crack the eggs the way I taught you." His aunt laughs again and moves the frosting bowl out of his reach. "I'll see who does it better."

He turns away and there's a fritz of static that races from the other side of his aunt's side, something moving but unseen. The entire scene dissolves for a moment into static as Taako looks up, his words eaten by the crackling sound. Then as suddenly as it appeared, it's gone and Taako has the eggs cracked in the bowl. He hands them to his aunt and laughs again, a joke eaten by static.

"You're getting better. You both are. Maybe one day you'll be as good as me." Taako beams and starts pouring the eggs into the batter as his aunt mixes. The static moves again, pressing in against Taako's side, then the entire scene melts away as his aunt continues explaining. "Now the important thing about this particular cake is..."

The scene pauses, and if Kravitz looks at the book in his hand, he'll see that it's open now and the scene in front of him is the same one as on this page. The memory is preserved here in place of a recipe, like a photograph that could start moving at any moment. There are more pages to the book. Does he turn the page or close the book?

[necromanswers]

[She doesn't recognize this kitchen. Everything about it is... weird, recognizably so, and Lup lifts her arms to hug herself uneasily as she steps further inside, looking the place over. "Sizzle It Up with Taako" doesn't ring a bell, but it slots neatly into place with what she's heard him talk about before, the bits and pieces of his mysterious past. A cooking show. "I used to be a chef." The fact that something had gone wrong, forcing him to shift careers to become an adventurer instead.]

Taako?

[She can't help but call for him at first, not liking the state that he's in. When she receives no response she turns back to the stagecoach, frustrated. The answer must be here, then. A few are recognizable, others not so much - at least, not how it pertains to Taako. What especially catches her eye though is the chalice. She knows that object- even at a glance she'd recognize it instantly. She'd helped Magnus through the process of making it, checking over his work to ensure that the arcana would function the way he wanted it to, since it wasn't his usual field. The moment that Taako and the others had grabbed the cup was one she thought about often- they'd all been frozen in place for that long, singular moment, staring at it, and when the moment passed it was obvious that something had happened to unsteady them. She'd wondered what it was, but she'd seen nothing from behind the curtain of the umbrella.

After a long while of staring at it, tempted but unsure, Lup finally grits her teeth and grabs the chalice.]

[abracafcku]

[The chalice gleams, inviting and waiting for someone to pick it up. It wants to be wanted, it craves being craved and as soon as Lup grabs it, there's an immense feeling of relief and an insistent call at the same time.

Use me. Use me and take it all back.]

---

And then Lup is pulled through a veil, yanked backwards through time even though she doesn't move an inch. The air becomes hot and humid, and the entire space bleeds out to an empty endless void made of an expansive white light. Taako stands watching a woman about 60 years old who is now holding the silver chalice. Taako's life flashes around him and everyone and large swatches of it are just static. An endless long stretch of static until it stops at a town called Glamour Springs. The set-up is familiar, but now she's seeing it from the outside: it's the same wagon that Lup was just in before touching the chalice.

The once empty amphitheater is now full of about 40 people - teens and older people, elderly and young housewives and househusbands, a few children, and a couple looky-loos hoping for a free show. Lup stands next to Taako who isn't aware of her presence, and instead has his eyes locked on the stage, hands clutched in his shirt.

There's another Taako who appears in the window of the stagecoach, calling out to the crowd, entertaining them with magic and cooking. People are having a great time and Taako is cooking thirty garlic clove chicken with gusto. He's young and confident, none of that tired, wary air he usually carries with him like a suit of armor. He's in his element, entertaining, being loved, explaining the dish without divulging any real secrets. A larger man comes up behind him, passes him some of the ingredients and disappears again. Taako hardly pays him any mind as he continues.

Past!Taako starts to offer samples of the finished product and talks with the crowd, laughing and selling merchandise. He goes to eat the last sample of the chicken when a young child reaches up and asks for seconds. Taako sighs and then hands it to the kid, patting him on the head - he does everything for his fans, after all.

The scene freezes and the woman turns to the Taako that's standing next to Lup looking stricken.

"You remember what happens next, don't you?"

His eyes are haunted as he watches the people frozen in the midst of talking with another version of himself, eating and chatting away, asking for tips, children playing. It's idyllic really and it fills him with such unbridled dread. The voice that breaks the silence is hoarse and barely recognizable as his own.

"...They died. They all died. Every one of them. Everyone who ate the chicken, they all died. I should have sampled it first, I usually do? I just... I got distracted." He bites his lip. "And they died."

The woman takes his hand and it's almost as if she takes Lup's too, as Lup is pulled along with this scene. "Come with me."

She leads Taako and Lup away behind the stagecoach to a smaller wagon and passes right through the wall of it, dragging them both inside. Inside is that bigger man who had been moving around in the background during the show. Taako looks confused for a moment.

"That's-- Sazed? My assistant? What is this?" He looks down at the woman, bewildered, but she motions him forward to watch. And it's almost like she's looking at Lup, too, in that moment, beckoning her to observe but not interfere.

Sazed is sitting on a small crate and looking extremely nervous, gripping his hair and staring intently down at the ground. In his hand is a bottle with an apothecary's note and Taako freezes, staring at the label in horror. He can't believe is happening, but it says it right there on the bottle: ARSENIC.

The woman looks back up at Taako and continues, "Well I-- I guess this must come as some small relief, right? All this time you thought your transmutation, your reckless magic, is what killed the town of Glamour Springs. In actuality, it was, you know, plain ol' jealousy. But....still, all those people died."

She snaps her fingers and they're all back out by the stagefront, where Past!Taako is handing out the samples.

"The people of this town died all the same and you fed them their death."

In the crowd, someone starts coughing and wheezing. The color drains from the memory like ink slowly leeching away. Someone else starts coughing. And then another. And another. Someone yells for help and Taako's head whips around as a young mother clutches his arm, grasping her chest as both she and her child start suffocating. The uneaten plate crashes to the ground as the boy from earlier starts to choke next to Taako. The cry for help turns into a wail and then screaming as everyone in the audience starts to wheeze and retch, their bodies convulsing, people clutching at their throats. Taako steps back and pulls out of everyone's grip, confusion turning to horror and horror to panic as the audience reaches toward him, crying for help. He stares at them for a moment, eyes darting over everyone's faces, hands up as his mouth tries to form words - then he turns and flees into the wagon, banging on the secondary car off the back.

"Sazed!! Sazed! We have to go! We have to go now!"

The larger man from before bursts from the car and jumps into the driver's seat. Without even asking why, he gathers up the reigns and they're off, Taako hiding out in the back of the wagon as it disappears down the road.

And suddenly, they're back in time again, back at the wagon again, the samples untouched on their tray, but ready. The woman turns to Taako, whose face is just a mix of shock and anger and something else entirely as he watches this scene unfold.

"This is the worst thing that ever happened, Taako, in your life. And you can fix it. If you claim me, claim the Chalice, none of this ever happened. Glamour Springs lives and you can keep doing your cooking show and you won't have this -- you won't have this horrible black mark on, what is otherwise, a heroic legacy." She holds the silver chalice out, her eyes glowing white and it's obvious this woman isn't a person at all anymore. Her voice expands as the entire scene bleeds into a bright white light. "Take the Chalice, Taako, take the cup, and you can fix it all...."

---

[That bright light bleeds away and Taako is staring at the Chalice again, but now it's in Lup's hands. He looks stricken, like he's just remembered something terrible, and then he raises his eyes to look at Lup.

There's a moment of confusion, memory overlapping with reality, and then he frowns.]

What? What're you doing here?

[dothelokimotion]

[ uncomfortable. something about this mind made him want to retreat, get away as far as he could. there's something wrong here, something twisted. something that reminds him of what the mind stone could do to a person. briefly loki touches the wizard's hat. ]

[abracafcku]

[And when Loki touches the hat, the memory pulls him in. There's a thrill of energy that arcs from the hat to Loki's skin, arcane magic that's both immensely powerful and somewhat meek at the same time. It crackles along the edges of the hat and across Loki's vision like a flash as the scenery changes in front of him.]

---

The wagon is gone along with the arc of and any spark of anxiety that it might have caused might melt away with it. In its place is something calm and quiet. It's a cafeteria late at night, just one or two lights on in the large mess hall. It's enough to illuminate two people sitting across from each other at one of the rectangular tables - Taako and a young boy of no more than ten years old with curly hair and glasses. Taako is sitting with his chin in hand, elbow on the table, while the fingers of his free hand drum lazily against the tabletop. The boy is pouring over diagrams laid out in front of him, a wand in one hand.

"So I just....need to keep this form this in my mind. Is that right, sir?"

"Yeah, I mean, it isn't rocket science, Agnes." Taako blows a strand of hair out of his face with a huff. "Memorize the spell and lock it in that big ol' brain of yours. Don't forget a single word of it though. You can do that, right? You're a nerd."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm a nerd, sir..." The little boy seems a little abashed by being called that, but he still keeps studying. The room goes quiet again as the boy begins painstakingly drawing the magical diagrams from one book to a waiting blank one. "And you know my name is Angus."

"Mmhm, whatever you say, Angles." Taako reaches over and picks up a pen, correcting one of Angus' lines as he copies the spell from one book to another. "I'll remember your name when you prove yourself."

"Um, okay then." The boy deflates for a moment, then he puffs himself back up, determination rising in his eyes. "I'll work extra hard to show you! I'll be a great wizard someday, just like you! I'll make you proud of me!"

Taako rolls his eyes as Angus goes back to copying the spell with greater fervor, but rather than quip back at him, the elf just nudges Angus' quill gently this way and that, making sure it's all done correctly. When they're about halfway through, Angus looks up at Taako shyly.

"...Why're you teaching me Shield though, sir? I thought, um, we'd work on something a little different tonight? I'm still working on Disguise Self like you taught me. I'm pretty sure I'll get it soon. And then maybe I can start being more useful for your missions, sir."

There's a moment of silence as Taako stares at Angus, the tip of something on his tongue. There's a brief flash of fear as he looks at this young kid, wearing a bracer just like his, barely 10 and already having to face dangers and potentially put himself in death's way. He thinks back on all the close calls he's had, the ones they all have had, even at their ages, and then looks at Angus - his feet barely reaching the floor. The Bureau missions aren't the same as his detective cases and Taako thinks that while Angus might know that, he doesn't realize how different they are - not yet. As quickly as his look of concern appears, it disappears and Taako gives an exhausted and exaggerated sigh, throwing his hands up in the air. "Do you want me to teach you magic or not, Ango?"

"I do! I do, sir! I'm sorry!"

"Then keep copying the Shield spell in your book, dummy, and don't question my motives." Angus goes back to scratching out the spell furiously in his book and Taako resettles at the table watching him, fingers drumming out a monotonous tone against the table as the memory fades out.

---

[The wagon comes back into view around Loki now, but all the color and sound and flavor is back - and the door is now open. The drumming sound is still going though and Taako is back to normal, but instead of stirring the pot, he's chopping herbs. He lifts his head as if he's just realized Loki is there and blinks.]

Whoa, uh? When'd you get here?

[rebuildyourruins]

It's a smaller space than Thor likes to be in, given his own size. He finds himself ducking automatically as he edges along the aisle, lest he slam his head into one of the pots hanging down. Kitchens are recognisable no matter the shape, though, so it's not too bad.

Not until he spots the oddly frozen image of Taako. He comes to a halt himself, staring at the scene as though willing it to start moving. But it doesn't. That in itself feels terribly wrong.

The tableau as a whole takes on an eerie feeling the longer he looks at it. The few objects that retain their normal brightness are like beacons by comparison. The golden-jewelled star stands out most of all - some kind of weapon? Coming from Asgard as he does, Thor appreciates some artistry in a weapon, though this is a bit gaudier than even the most ostentatious of Asgard's wares. In fact, it reminds him of something worse--

Shaking his head roughly to get the very thought of the Infinity Stones out of there, he reaches stubbornly for the star.

[abracafcku]

When Thor touches the star-like weapon, the memories that come to him/her are in a jumble. There are flashes of faces - Taako, Lup, a man with a scar over one eye that some might recognize already as Magnus, a dwarf with flowers in his beard, a little gnome man, a human with glasses, or a young woman all shy and bookish. But none of it makes sense as punctuated with static as it is. The roar of the white noise is deafening and it throws off the balance of anyone who hears it. It's like standing in a wind tunnel as photographs that should be familiar go flying around at a thousand miles per hour. A glimpse here and there, an image that might be something red or blue or even black? And then it's gone again.

The static claims everything until one final image pushes its way through:

There's a man that Taako can't remember seeing before standing in front of him. He's staggering backwards toward the railing of a ship and then disappears over it. Taako's heart leaps out of his throat and he rushes forward, but when he looks over the side, there's nothing there but darkness and static. He has no idea who that man was, and the static is creeping in toward him like some unbeatable monster, eating away at his consciousness as he is left with one and only one question.

"Who....?"

As the static overcomes everything, the wagon comes back into view. It's still as quiet and dead as before, but now Taako seems to be glitching out. Parts of him are in color and others are not, he keeps flipping between what he's wearing now and a vision of him wearing a red jacket over a red robe. He's frozen one moment, then looking at Thor the next, back and forth over and over again.

Hope I picked the right one?

[permanentlyexhaustedbird]

[Tim doesn't go to pick up an item at first; he walks up to Taako, tries calling his name and shaking his shoulder with no results. Only then does he look to the items to fix this.

The first item he chooses to pick up is the swirling vial of rainbow coloured liquid.]

No such thing as a wrong one!

[abracafcku]

As soon as Tim picks up the rainbow vial, the entire room swirls with light. It's not a blinding light, more like the light of a million stars in the sky all twinkling and glittering around him or the light and color of galaxies, hundreds of realities, all swirling in an ethereal pattern. It's mesmerizing and the memory fades in from that until the light is contained and then it dims, and then it's gone.

In its place is a large tank, like a whale tank, filled with a dark, opaque water that's lit from beneath. There's something inside, but looking at it is like looking at static - disorienting and confusing. The more Tim looks at it, the more his eyes just can't seem to focus on what's in front of him. Until suddenly there are four people in front of him: Taako, a gloomy looking bard in ridiculously colorful bardic clothes, a short dwarf with a long beard threaded with flowers, and a large human man with auburn sideburns and a scar over one eye. The bard seems fine, but Taako seems ill and his ears are pinned back in annoyance at the fact that he's also experiencing the same vertigo that Tim is undergoing at the moment.

The bard sighs and puts a roll of parchment into a sliding panel at the bottom of the tank, then pulls a lever next to it. "There goes another great composition."

The parchment floats up into the tank and some sort of tendril rolls out of the inky blackness, curling itself around the paper, and then sucking it up into that confusing mass of static. And there is a tremendous sense of loss, a memory gone, leaving only the traces of what it used to be in its wake. The parchment had some beautiful music on it, composed by the bard, but all attempts to recall it are just...gone.

"Okay, feeding time's over. Uh. You guys ready for stuff to get weird?" The bard says as he goes over to a spigot on the side of the tank and fills three vials with the viscous inky fluid. He hands one vial to each person and says, "Uh, this isn't gonna taste great. It sort of-- sort of has the consistency of Go-Gurt, um, so not a lot of people get down on that. Um. But I'll warn you guys, once you drink that, um, there really isn't any going back."

The tall human asks, "Going back from what?"

Which is followed by the dwarf asking, "Going to what?"

The bard replies, "From not- from not drinking it." And then Taako and his companions begin to bicker and hem and haw over whether to drink these nasty looking vials. Taako, honestly, isn't put off by the texture description so much as the whole "everything" about this. The smell, the fact that there is obviously something in that tank of water, the idea of drinking what could essentially be pois--

"Holy shit." He turns as the human just suddenly and abruptly downs his in one go. He goes stock still, eyes glassy for a moment, and Taako and the dwarf stare at him in horror.

There's a tense moment while they wait and then the human bounces back, steady on his feet like the bard and bursting at the seams.

"Oh my god, you guys. Guys, it's all clear. I remember everything. Here's the thing, you guys. So basically what's going on is-" And then his words devolve into static. Even though his mouth is moving, focusing on the lips, trying to read what he's saying gives off that same unfocused feeling again, like trying to read while nauseous - nothing gets through that and the loud crackle of static in their ears. "--and in the cave, when we were looking for the---" Back to static for both Taako, the dwarf, and now for Tim as well.

Taako's ears flick back, his eyes narrowing and he gives a loud sigh. "Well, that's just annoying."

He stares at the vial in his hand and tips it back while internally screaming YOLO.

If Tim looks at the vial in his hand, it's dimmed from the rainbow colors to that same inky black goo that Taako is currently taking like a shot of vodka. Does he drink too?

[scanninggaydis]

So. This is...uncomfortable. The mutedness of everything. The fact that Taako is frozen at the center of it. Felix walks through the small space, glances out the open side of the cart out into the amphitheater and then returns his attention to the inside.

He doesn't try to speak with Taako, just...visually inspects every object that isn't muted. He has a good idea of what he needs to do. Something in here is going to change the state of all this. Not that he's looking forward to it, particularly when even the form of Taako is...incapacitated.

With a muttered apology, he reaches for the book first. Because...it's a book.

[abracafcku]

Picking up the book feels safe and warm, an intensely pleasant feeling of having come home after a long absence. The feeling is soft and gentle and entirely overwhelming until the scenery around Felix blurs away into sunlight. As it comes back, it brings with it a matronly voice that gently chides as she laughs. "Oh, stop it, you."

The new room isn't especially big, but it's cozy. An open kitchen attached to a well-used living room, a round wooden table with six or more chairs crowded in around it. It's obvious that there are more chairs than the table was built for, but somehow it's working out. An older elvish woman, hair rolled back up under a handkerchief is at the kitchen counter as she mixes a cake. There's flour and sugar in bags nearby, eggs in a bowl waiting to be cracked, a glass bottle of milk, and fruit washed and dried. Standing next to her is a young elf - 12 or 13 years old - his blond hair is short and tied back in a small ponytail as he laughs at the older elf.

"Shouldn't make it so easy to sneak a taste then, Auntie." It's Taako's voice, lighter and higher in pitch, but definitely Taako. He isn't as adorned as he is in his older years, but there are hints of it. His clothes are worn and patched in places with mismatched fabric in the shape of stars and he has no jewelry, but he has a flower tucked into his ponytail. And? He's smiling. He's actually happy here and it shows.

"You're terrible. Go crack the eggs the way I taught you." His aunt laughs again and moves the frosting bowl out of his reach. "I'll see who does it better."

He turns away and there's a fritz of static that races from the other side of his aunt's side, something moving but unseen. The entire scene dissolves for a moment into static as Taako looks up, his words eaten by the crackling sound. Then as suddenly as it appeared, it's gone and Taako has the eggs cracked in the bowl. He hands them to his aunt and laughs again, a joke eaten by static.

"You're getting better. You both are. Maybe one day you'll be as good as me." Taako beams and starts pouring the eggs into the batter as his aunt mixes. The static moves again, pressing in against Taako's side, then the entire scene melts away as his aunt continues explaining. "Now the important thing about this particular cake is..."

The scene pauses, and if Felix looks at the book in his hand, he'll see that it's open now and the scene in front of him is the same one as on this page. The memory is preserved here in place of a recipe, like a photograph that could start moving at any moment. There are more pages to the book. Does he turn the page or close the book?

[universal_charm]

<sub>[ This... is quite a lot. And oddly makes his heart ache. It feels like a place that should be lively, that should be lit and crowded with if not cheering fans at least enraptured audiences. The title on the shirts suggests some sort of performance, cooking, perhaps. He realized it was Taako's when he saw the figure at the pot, but it was... off. No color. No life. Not in the way Taako had, and he didn't seem to be responding.

Frowning, Kirk looked around the counter tops and tables. He eyes them all, one by one, and with no visible way out he knows he has to make a choice. Not pleasant, to say the least, but Atroma wasn't very concerned with their desires, was it?

Slowly, he reached out, taking the green hat in hand... ]</sub>

[abracafcku]

[Picking up the wizard's hat sends a thrill of electric energy through Jim's fingertips, magic crackling along the edges, as the memory begins.

---

The room blends away to become a cafeteria late at night, just one or two lights on in the large mess hall. It's enough to illuminate two people sitting across from each other at one of the rectangular tables - Taako and a young boy of no more than ten years old with curly hair and glasses. Taako is sitting with his chin in hand, elbow on the table, while the fingers of his free hand drum lazily against the tabletop. The boy is pouring over diagrams laid out in front of him, a wand in one hand.

"So I just....need to keep this form this in my mind. Is that right, sir?"

"Yeah, I mean, it isn't rocket science, Agnes." Taako blows a strand of hair out of his face with a huff. "Memorize the spell and lock it in that big ol' brain of yours. Don't forget a single word of it though. You can do that, right? You're a nerd."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm a nerd, sir..." The little boy seems a little abashed by being called that, but he still keeps studying. The room goes quiet again as the boy begins painstakingly drawing the magical diagrams from one book to a waiting blank one. "And you know my name is Angus."

"Mmhm, whatever you say, Agnes." Taako reaches over and picks up a pen, correcting one of Angus' lines as he copies the spell from one book to another. "I'll remember your name when you prove yourself."

"Um, okay then." The boy deflates for a moment, then he puffs himself back up, determination rising in his eyes. "I'll work extra hard to show you! I'll be a great wizard someday, just like you! I'll make you proud of me!"

Taako rolls his eyes as Angus goes back to copying the spell with greater fervor, but rather than quip back at him, the elf just nudges Angus' quill gently this way and that, making sure it's all done correctly. When they're about halfway through, Angus looks up at Taako shyly.

"...Why're you teaching me Shield though, sir? I thought, um, we'd work on something a little different tonight? I'm still working on Disguise Self like you taught me. I'm pretty sure I'll get it soon. And then maybe I can start being more useful for your missions, sir."

There's a moment of silence as Taako stares at Angus, the tip of something on his tongue. There's a brief flash of fear as he looks at this young kid, wearing a bracer just like his, barely 10 and already having to face dangers and potentially put himself in death's way. He thinks back on all the close calls he's had, the ones they all have had, even at their ages, and then looks at Angus - his feet barely reaching the floor. The Bureau missions aren't the same as his detective cases and while he might know that, he doesn't realize it - not yet. As quickly as his look of concern appears, it disappears and Taako gives an exhausted and exaggerated sigh, throwing his hands up in the air. "Do you want me to teach you magic or not, Ango?"

"I do! I do, sir! I'm sorry!"

"Then keep copying the Shield spell in your book, dummy, and don't question my motives." Angus goes back to scratching out the spell furiously in his book and Taako resettles at the table watching him, fingers drumming out a monotonous tone against the table as the memory fades out.

---

The wagon comes back around Jim and the door is now open. The drumming sound is still going though and now Jim isn't alone in the wagon - Taako is standing before him with a knife in his hand, chopping herbs. He glances over as he notices Jim standing there and smiles.]

Well, isn't this a surprise. What're you doin' here, handsome?

[tsunergy]

[The kitchen feels curiously familiar- he's used to small quarters, since there's never much space working alongside other cooks at the Iskaulit, and their houses back in Elysia were never that large, either. This is even more cramped than that, though, and Mikleo can't help wondering how anyone cooks in here. But Taako clearly must have, since whatever this "Sizzle It Up" thing is, it surely involves cooking.

When trying to get Taako's attention doesn't work, Mikleo lets his curiosity get the better of him and starts poking around, seeing what might trigger a reaction. His hand instinctively goes for the book first, because of course it does.]

[abracafcku]

[Picking up the book feels safe and warm, an intensely pleasant feeling of having come home after a long absence. The feeling is soft and gentle and entirely overwhelming until the scenery around Mikleo blurs away into sunlight. As it comes back, it brings with it a matronly voice that gently chides as she laughs.]

Oh, stop it, you.

[The new room isn't especially big, but it's cozy. An open kitchen attached to a well-used living room, a round wooden table with six or more chairs crowded in around it. It's obvious that there are more chairs than the table was built for, but somehow it's working out. An older elvish woman, hair rolled back up under a handkerchief is at the kitchen counter as she mixes a cake. There's flour and sugar in bags nearby, eggs in a bowl waiting to be cracked, a glass bottle of milk, and fruit washed and dried. Standing next to her is a young elf - 12 or 13 years old - his blond hair is short and tied back in a small ponytail as he laughs at the older elf.]

Shouldn't make it so easy to sneak a taste then, Auntie.

[It's Taako's voice, lighter and higher in pitch, but definitely Taako. He isn't as adorned as he is in his older years, but there are hints of it. His clothes are worn and patched in places with mismatched fabric in the shape of stars and he has no jewelry, but he has a flower tucked into his ponytail. And? He's smiling. He's actually happy here and it shows.]

You're terrible. Go crack the eggs the way I taught you. [His aunt laughs again and moves the frosting bowl out of his reach.] I'll see who does it better.

[He turns away and there's a fritz of static that races from the other side of his aunt's side, something moving but unseen. The entire scene dissolves for a moment into static as Taako looks up, his words eaten by the crackling sound. Then as suddenly as it appeared, it's gone and Taako has the eggs cracked in the bowl. He hands them to his aunt and laughs again, a joke eaten by static.]

You're getting better. You both are. Maybe one day you'll be as good as me.

[Taako beams and starts pouring the eggs into the batter as his aunt mixes. The static moves again, pressing in against Taako's side, then the entire scene melts away as his aunt continues explaining.]

Now the important thing about this particular cake is...

[The scene pauses, and if Mikleo looks at the book in his hand, he'll see that it's open now and the scene in front of him is the same one as on this page. The memory is preserved here in place of a recipe, like a photograph that could start moving at any moment. There are more pages to the book. Does he turn the page or close the book?]