driftfleet | 'cause it's better than nothing

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'cause it's better than nothing

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(last updated: 1/25/19)

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[ Oh my gods, a kid Taako - that's adorable. He smiles as he watches the scene unfold... until that fritz of static happens. He figures it out pretty quick - "I'll see who does it better." "You both are." Definitely Lup. Or, rather, the lack thereof.

Damn.

He looks down at the book, sees the picture suddenly embedded perfectly on the page - and this is such an invasion of privacy that he's not comfortable with. He can't even tell if it's helped anything, everything's just entirely different. He thinks it over, for a long moment, debating what to actually do about this...

... Eventually, he makes up his mind and turns the page. Just one more - just in case it really does do something more. ]

[Kravitz turns the page and the scene in front of him fades away with his aunt's voice...]

---

The warmth of the kitchen is gone. The pots and pans are put away and it looks as if no one has been at the stove in awhile. There's a fire in the fireplace, but even that warm glow isn't enough to replace what should have been here. Instead, Taako - a little older, maybe 14 or 15 - is hovering, concerned, hidden just out of sight in the doorway into a bedroom, ears perked as he listens. There's a large patch of static right next to him, eating away part of the scenery right behind his shoulder. Some cousins are in the bedroom, elves that resemble Taako in the way all relatives look a little like each other. They're older and gathered around the bed, which is piled high with blankets over his aunt while she sleeps, brows creased. His cousins are talking in hushed whispers, but it's loud enough for Taako to hear.

"She's been pushing herself too hard, trying to take care of them--" Suddenly, the scene freezes and reverses with a burst of static. "--trying to take care of him. I can't believe she collapsed in the middle of cooking."

"He's just too much of a burden. She's too old to care for kids anymore."

"We never should have let her take them--" Static. "--him in."

"I knew he was bad news. I knew it."

"Do you think we can send him to another house for awhile? Give her a break?"

"Maybe just one. If we give away both of them, she'll get mad when she wakes up."

Taako doesn't wait around to hear more, his eyes lingering on the fragility that plagues his aunt's once vibrant face. He backs up out of the room and disappears out the door, out to a barn that sits separate from the rest of the house. He climbs up to the loft where there's a little nest built in the straw there, blankets enough for two for some reason, and bags. Static comes up his side, tugging on his arm, and he turns to look at it before he takes it in his arms in a hug. The scene shifts and then there's nothing there and Taako stares at the empty space like he's looking for something - some sort of comfort that will never come. Biting back tears, he stuffs what he can into a bag and then descends the ladder again. Then with one look back at the house, he turns and runs down the road into the dark forest - alone - as the scene bleeds away.

---

[The wagon comes back and the recipe book is out of Kravitz's hand, back on the shelf. The door at the back of the wagon is open now and color, sound, and motion are back like nothing was ever wrong in the first place. Taako is missing and the pot is off the stove, but outside someone is moving, putting a cake into the oven attached off the back.]

[ The static is still jarring, even though he knows why it's there. Maybe it's because he knows why it's there - knows what's missing. And watching everything in duplicate, like it's "correcting" itself, just makes it worse. As for the whole of the situation... Kravitz had some idea of how hard it was for Taako growing up, but he didn't know the full extent of it. His heart breaks for him.

When he finds himself back in the wagon, with everything "normal" but Taako nowhere in sight, he's worried at first - but he hears movement outside, so he immediately heads there. ]

Taako?

[Outside, Taako is working sans wizard hat. He has an apron tied around him that reads "Caution: Extremely Hot as he closes the oven door. Dusting his hands against each other, he glances up as Kravitz calls out to him. There's a slight pause and then he smiles and gives him a wink.]

Wassup, handsome. What're you doing here?

[ Oh good. He returns the smile. ]

Looking for you, babe. And trying to, um, figure out what all of this is. [ He's seriously, seriously not a fan of these dream things so far, honestly. ] Also, that... is an excellent apron.

No idea!

[He leans his hip against the oven, grinning. Normally that would annoy him - the not knowing - but this is his mind and dreams are always wonky for him. Taako hooks his fingers in the apron's strings and pops it forward to better show it off.]

And the apron's awesome, isn't it? I'll have to try to get one in real life somewhere. Maybe I'l cook for you in it.

[He winks.]

And nothing else.

[ ... Y e p this is definitely Taako's dreamscape. If he had any doubts whatsoever, they're gone now~ He's just surprised enough that he can feel the blush forming in his cheeks, but he's grinning nonetheless. ]

What, dinner and a show then? You know I definitely wouldn't say no to that.

Kinky.

[He grins and lets the apron fall back against his chest, before kneeling down to watch the cake in the oven. He's quiet for a moment and when he speaks again, his voice is wavering on the edge of trying to stay light despite the subject matter.]

So? I guess you touched a bunch of stuff in there or you wouldn't be out here. See anything interesting?

[ Well that's quite a shift in subject matter, but it's a necessary one, obviously. Kravitz crosses his arms, leans against the wall of the wagon. ]

Uh, yes. Two things. -- I saw two things, I mean. And the first one... [ He cracks a small smile again. ] You were a cute kid, you know. But that isn't surprising.

And then the other one... [ He sighs, shaking his head. ] I had no idea you... were treated like that. I'm so sorry.

[Ah, so that's what he saw.]

Duh, I was a cute kid. It's how I grew up into such a bangin' hottie.

[He stands, tossing his hair over his shoulder with a casual shrug.]

But the family thing? That's just how the shit rolls, I guess. Nothing you gotta feel bad about.

[Except...Well, Kravitz probably reaped his aunt only a few days after Taako left. She hadn't lasted long from what Taako had heard later, when he'd been taken to another relative's house. He'd been found on the road and dragged along to someone else's house, then another, and another, always passed around, never kept for long. Still not Kravitz's fault though; death was a natural thing that had to happen. At least his aunt hadn't suffered long.]

It's not a big deal.

[ Yeah, Kravitz has a feeling that if it wasn't actually a big deal, then this place wouldn't be showing it off. But he knows if Taako doesn't want to talk about something, he absolutely is not going to talk about it. And while some conversations are worth pushing, he's already erring on the side of treading carefully while in this dream... space... thing whatever. ]

Maybe it isn't. But for what it's worth, you do have people who care now.

[ Still, if Taako wants to change the subject... ]

And I certainly didn't mean to stick my nose into something that wasn't my business. I do apologize for that. Was there any other uh, stuff in there I should have touched? Maybe instead?

Mmm, yeah, I guess so.

[Even if he is sure that Kravitz at least cares, and that Magnus cares, and probably Lup, too, it's not easy for him to admit it. They could decide to leave at any moment, and getting too attached would just come back to bite Taako in the ass. There were all out of time, out of place, out of sync, and he still isn't fully ready to risk a broken heart again.

But since Kravitz is going to change the channel on this conversation, Taako is going to eagerly let him. He shrugs again, tapping a finger against his chin as he thinks.]

Eh, anything's fine, Bones. It's not like I have much I can hide from you in here.

[Except?]

I don't recommend the berries though. Leave them and the Chalice alone. Otherwise, I guess you can do whatever you want.

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'cause it's better than nothing

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