[TAZ] i know i like to draw that line when it starts to get too real

[monstertea]

The problem isn't that the kid is too young to walk himself home, it was the neighborhood. Taako doesn't live in the slums, but his neighborhood isn't really a place for kids to wander around alone, either. Especially a boy detective who does't know how to keep his nose out of other people's business. That's why he's stuck with the kid in the first place, or so he reminds himself when his brain starts to think too fondly of him.

He walks at a languid pace next to Angus, knowing but not acknowledging that he's in no hurry to go home. "You keep working on that mage hand," he says as they walk through a neighborhood much nicer than Taako's. "Just don't go trying anything fancy on your own, little dude." It's a historic area where buildings have been converted into homes and quickly filled by the hoity-toity type of people who like white picket fences and employ other people to take care of their homes. It's easily the nicest foster home Angus has been in yet. So Taako could have dropped him off at the corner, it isn't a neighborhood that sees trouble. He tries to avoid run-ins with Angus's family, but he always has an excuse to see him to his door. At least with this neighborhood he has the easy excuse that it's just interesting to look at the houses, to answer Angus about what each building used to be. Yeah, he knows shit, too. He's just trying to remind the kid that he isn't smarter than him, he's not trying to impress him.

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[solarisirius]

"I know, I know," Angus sighed, because honestly, he set one of his books on fire studying his cantrips one time and it's like he's an infant again. At least Taako hadn't just straight up refused to teach him any longer, which really had been the most upsetting prospect of the whole ordeal; he'd convinced himself that Taako was going to rat him out to his case worker and then saunter jauntily out of his life because clearly he was a danger to be around. Luckily, his worst fears didn't come to pass, and they continued their magic tutoring and their time hanging out in general without any need to find additional blackmail to keep Taako around. "At least my mage hand actually looked like, y'know, a hand this time."

The neighborhood they're walking through is weirdly nice to Angus as well. Being in the system, he's been in just about every kind of family situation possible, but the dwarves he's ended up with this time are nice. A little quiet, a little cold, but their house is really nice, they have loads of food, and they passed their home inspection on the first try (which is almost never the case, in his experience). As they walk, he can see a familiar, strange looking building, one that brings a shiver to his spine without permission. "Sir, you know what a lich is, right?"

[monstertea]

Taako scoffs. "Do I know what a lich is?" he repeats, tone insulted. "Do I know what a vampire is? A ghost? Really, what kind of question is that?" Looking down at Angus, his brow is raised in a high arch. He's as curious as he is insulted. Angus asks questions about everything all the time, he's used to that, but usually there's some relevancy. "You have to be good at magic first if you're wanting to be one."

[solarisirius]

Angus has the good nature to blush, hard enough that it's visible even with his dark skin tone. "I don't want to be one! It's really hard, and most of the time, it doesn't even work out right. I read that 85% of magic users who try to become liches end up falling apart and becoming these terrifying power-hungry zombie monsters!" The closer they get to the weird house, the slower he walks. "Mookie came over the other day, and he said that a lich lived in that house." He points, indicating the white building. "And he said that the house used to be a morgue, and the lich feeds off all the dead bodies still in the basement, and that's how it stays alive."

[monstertea]

"Mook's right," Taako replies without hesitation. The house Angus has pointed out was a morgue previously and a damn nice one at that. It's a beautiful house; he always thought a morgue should look more like a place people don't want to visit, so this particular renovation is appreciated by him. He wonders for a moment what it's like inside, if there's any signs left of what it once was. "Definitely used to be a morgue and absolutely inhabited by a lich."

[solarisirius]

"What?" Angus squawks, his eyes comically wide behind his glasses. "My house is only three down from this one, I can't live three doors down from a lich! You're just pulling my leg, right sir? Nobody would actually live in a place where a morgue used to be, that's just crazy."

[solarisirius]

With the upper two floors of the house completed, Kravitz is about as sick and tired as humanly possible of paint fumes and sawdust. Admittedly, it looks amazing, exactly how he'd imagined it, but he's made the executive decision to put the basement renovations on hold until he's finished the courtyards first. It's starting to get warmer out, which makes it the perfect time to get started on the landscaping. Of course, he has to research the different companies in the city and pick the best one, because 1. if he can afford the best he wants the best, and 2. they have to be skilled enough to design multiple small courtyards in a house that used to be a morgue.

His lawn is pretty much non-existent, but the architects of the morgue left several areas built into the side of the house open, and in the past, they'd held small courtyards for families to sit and collect themselves. They've fallen into disrepair like the rest of the house had before he purchased it, and with the rest of the house looking like something straight out of a magazine, he needs the Gardens bit of Home and Garden.

According to Magical Yelp, Dirty Plants is the best landscaping business in the city, with a really impressive portfolio and the unique ability to do pretty much everything in house. They grow their own plants, design and build their own ornamentation and furniture, and design the landscaping themselves. It's impressive, and honestly, he's a fan of the one stop shop kind of deal, so he'd called and set up an appointment for a consultation. If he liked what they told him, he'd have them come by the house to look at the courtyards so they can give him a better estimate and their design ideas.

Dressed for work (which, honestly, do we even need to go into this? assume he's in a suit unless otherwise specified), Kravitz finds himself at Dirty Plants exactly ten minutes before his appointment. A small bell rings overhead as he walks in, and once he's inside, he looks around curiously. It's a cute little front shop area, with all sorts of lawn ornaments, wind chimes, bird houses, bird feed, and a plethora of plants all set out in the little area. It looks like there's more stuff behind all the rows of planters and flowers, but he's not really going to just wander back there without prompting.

[monstertea]

With the warm season rolling in, business for Dirty Plants has been slowly picking up. Magnus is happy to be busy again, though he's usually kept working throughout the year either way (he can make a damn nice coffee table). Merle is always happy to see his business thriving. Only Taako bitches and moans, having reveled in the winter's freedom to sit around most of the day doing whatever he pleased; the only thing motivating him is the promise of the seasonal pay raise.

"I know that address!" he had shouted in the morning when looking at the customer information for the consultation that day. He didn't know what house exactly, but it was in Angus's neighborhood. His eyes were bright and shiny as he told Merle not to offer any cut corners and to go for premium pricing. "Trust me, this's Angus's street, they can afford it."

Merle had to admit the idea of up-charging was enticing, even if business was doing well. Too much money was the opposite of a problem and he'd be happy to take some of it off the hands of someone well off. Unfortunately, Magnus had heard them and put in an argument against such unsavory tactics and damn if Merle couldn't shake his voice from his head. Why did he employ someone with such a sense of morality?

Right. His custom work brought in some big spenders.

"Right with you!" Merle calls out from somewhere in the back of the store. He checks his watch and realizes it's nearly time for that day's appointment. He walks quickly to the front of the store, wiping his glasses with a corner of his bright floral Hawaiian print shirt as he went. He pauses to look over the man in his store, dressed to the nines in a suit. He stands out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of the rustic shop. "You're the one who called about the consultation, I take it?"

[solarisirius]

Kravitz was in the process of looking at some sort of lawn ornament that just looks like some (admittedly very nice) hand blown glass orbs on metal sticks when the man comes out of the back. He'd seen on Magical Yelp that the proprietor of the business was interesting, and that certainly seemed to describe the dwarf who comes out to meet him. The Hawaiian shirt at least seems to blend in with the the whole floral theme the place has going on, even if it is eye-searingly bright.

"Ah, yes," Kravitz says, straightening up. "I'm Kravitz Malveaux, I had an appointment for a consultation at 3 to discuss something for my home."

[monstertea]

"Right, right, Malveaux," Merle says and manages not to bumble through the surname. "Good to meet you. I'm Merle, talked to you on the phone. Let's see if we can't get something started for you." He walks towards door with a glass window as he pulls out a wad of twine holding a few keys. He tries two before he gets the right one, unlocking the door and motioning Kravitz into the room.

The office contains a beautiful rosewood desk, a matching chair for Kravitz and a old beast of an office chair behind it that Merle climbs into so he's sitting high enough to be more or less at eye level. There's no windows in the room, which accounts for the lack of plants, but bookshelves are stuffed with relevant books and a couple of file cabinets sit in a corner. There's a laptop on the desk, but Merle grabs a notebook and pencil instead. "Done some work in your neighborhood before," he says, scribbling something down. "Nice area. What kind of stuff are you looking to have done?"

[solarisirius]

"Kravitz is fine," Kravitz says helpfully, because yeah, his surname is fancy and difficult in a way only French names can be, and if it makes the conversation a bit easier for Merle, than he's only too happy to waive formalities. When Merle heads through the store, he trails behind like a duckling, following him to the door with the window and waiting patiently while he fishes through his keys until he finds the right one. Once the door is open, he heads inside first with a courteous little nod of the head.

It's a nice office, a little dark since there's no windows, but nice all the same. The desk is absolutely gorgeous, and he has half a mind to ask where he got it; he's not nearly so attached to the one in his home office, so upgrading is definitely an option. Once the dwarf is seated in his giant office chair, Kravitz sits in the other little chair, making a contemplative noise in response to his question.

"The areas I'm needing worked on are a bit....unique, so really, I'm not sure where to even start," he says, reaching into the inside pocket of his suit and producing a small stack of photos, which he hands over to Merle. The photos are of the two courtyards from several different angles, showing the decently sized space, surrounded on three sides by the clean white-painted brick of the outer walls of the house. "It's a historic building I purchased from the city, and it already had these courtyards built into them. They'd fallen into disrepair a long time before I bought it, so I haven't a clue where to start."

[monstertea]

yo krav its taako. you at work or home? cause im ready to turn up whenever youre ready for me

Taako had shown great restraint in not texting Kravitz until Thursday. He had spent more than a little time with a new text to Kravitz open without typing anything, just thinking. He wanted to talk to him but he didn't want to seem too eager. So, he had spent his time trying to put together an outfit and that had been a headache and a half. He'd left work early one day just so he'd have plenty of time to run around town to multiple stores, dragging Ren with him. He'd shot down most of her suggestions, though she had found him a pair of shoes that were killer even if they didn't suit the look he needed for his date-not-date.

Despite the build up, Taako is cool as a cucumber as he rings the doorbell to Kravitz's house. He's about fifteen minutes past when Kravitz suggested he come over, which is a little too early to be considered fashionably late. If he hadn't taken the bus, he would have been later, but there was just no way he was going to walk across town in these heels. His legs looked fucking good between the heels and his pencil skirt with a slit on one side and that was worth the fact that he was definitely kicking them off and walking home barefoot after this.

[solarisirius]

On Thursday, Kravitz had headed home around lunchtime, knowing himself well enough to realize that he wouldn't get much work done that day anyways. There wasn't much to do at the mortuary that day anyways, just a few services he'd already done the work for and was no longer needed to oversee, but that was about it. Kissing his mother on the cheek and promising her an update on what the landscaping people thought would look best, he headed home.

And proceeded to panic, which he'd done an admirable job of not doing up until that point. The house was already spotless, so it wasn't as if he could stress clean. But what was he supposed to even wear? Something comfy and casual like he usually wore at home, or should he stay in his suit? Would that just make him look stuffy?

I'm at home, feel free to stop by at your leisure.

He managed to stop panicking long enough to text Taako, and then went and stood in front of his closet for god only knows how long. In the end, he decided to shed his suit jacket and tie, leaving him in just the button-down and nice slacks. A little more casual, but not grungy jeans and a t-shirt casual. That should be good, right? Right?

With that crisis dealt with, he puttered around in the kitchen aimlessly before huffing his way to the office to try and do some bookwork from his laptop. At the very least if that didn't work, he could distract himself watching animal videos on YouTube until Taako arrived.

[monstertea]

Taako had sent a short text to let Kravitz know when he was heading over. He dawdled before leaving, not wanting to be too early. Once there he rings the doorbell and steps back so he can see his reflection in a window, checking himself over. The trouble with taking the bus across town is he didn't have reflections to look at in store windows along the way and now he's wondering if he's not casual enough. True, he'd wear the outfit out and about normally, but Kravitz doesn't know that.

Kravitz can just take it however he wants. He spent way too much time into this look to question it now. Well, he does question that he didn't put enough jewelry on. He should have gone with more necklaces.

[solarisirius]

Setting his book aside when he hears the doorbell, Kravitz ends up doing the same thing as Taako, although he has no way of knowing. Before opening the door, he makes sure his clothing is settled properly, that not a strand of hair has escaped from his hair tie or is out of place. Well, this is about as good as it gets if you're him, so with a deep breath to steel himself, he opens the door.

And....apparently didn't steel himself enough, because wow does Taako look good. He's wearing these heels that do incredible things to his legs, and dear lord is his top sheer? It's a small miracle that he doesn't just pitch forward out the door and onto his face, but he's been walking upright for over thirty years now and isn't so easily felled by gravity and a beautiful elf on his doorstep.

"Good afternoon," he greets after what he hopes isn't nearly as long as it felt. "Thank you for stopping by. If I could bring my courtyards to you to make things a bit easier, I would, but I can't. Um, please, come in." He steps aside, making a gesturing motion for him to enter. "You look lovely, as usual." Which is probably a stupid thing to say, but all three times he's encountered the elf, he really has looked stunning, so it's a deserved compliment.

[monstertea]

There's a definite pause when Kravitz opens the door and Taako tries not to preen too much at the gaze. Instead he takes the chance to check Kravitz out in turn, dressed down only barely from usual but he likes the look so no complaints from him.

"Good afternoon," he answers brightly. He laughs at the comment about bringing the courtyards to them. It's hilarious coming from someone who looks so stoic. Is he babbling or just a dork? Both are endearing.

"Well, thank you!" He smoothes the back of his skirt when he's stepped in past the doorway. "You would not even believe how few compliments I get despite deserving them. Not a problem you probably have, looking at you." Morgue or no morgue, he's surprised Kravitz doesn't have people lining up to date him.

[monstertea]

Once a week, Taako picks Angus up from school. Sometimes, when he's in a good mood, he'll offer up an extra day, making sure to make a show of how saintly he's being, of the time he's giving up. He enjoys spending a little extra time with Angus, though he'd laugh in the face of anyone who suggested it.

It's a nice day, so Taako has chosen a cafe for them to sit at. The cafe is a small one, but he lovs them for their desserts; best ones he had found in town. Since they aren't working on magic like usual, he's relaxing with an iced coffee and working at a danish fruit tart bigger than his hand. He's decided it's a good day to "just chill and get some sun", which he insists Angus and his books don't do nearly enough.

"You gotta just take some time to just relax and be," he says as Angus works on homework. He's half tempted to take his books from him.

[solarisirius]

Angus would have a much easier time admitting that he enjoys these little extra days immensely. Taako is an important figure in his life, whether the elf wants to admit it or not, so these afternoons when they aren't having lessons and are more or less just hanging out are some of his favorites. Sure, he has friends at school, and he spends a lot of time with Mookie considering they're the same age and their parents/guardians work at Dirty Plants, but there's just something different about spending time with Taako that he can't put into words but treasures all the same.

"What I'd like to be is early for this assignment," Angus says mildly, not looking up from his book as his hand flaps around distractedly before landing on his muffin, anything else he might say lost in the giant mouthful he takes of the impressively sized sweet.

[monstertea]

Taako rolls his eyes, pushing the plate with the muffin closer when the boy reaches for it without looking. How he can enjoy his food while tolling away at schoolwork is beyond Taako's understanding.

"Do you know what sort of people finish assignments early, Ango?" He leans in, like he's sharing a secret. "Do you know what we call those people? They're nerds, of the first degree, and you are headed straight down that path. I am trying so desperately to save you from that fate, kiddo, but you are making this so hard on me. What kid hangs out with the coolest person they know and does homework?"

[solarisirius]

"I'm a huge nerd," Angus replies without seeming bothered, flashing a smile at Taako when he moves the muffin closer to him for future ease of eating. "I'm honestly the biggest nerd I know. My fate was sealed the moment they put these comically huge glasses on my face when I was like, five, I've been reading detective novels and watching terrible sci-fi movies ever since. There's no hope for me, sir, but I appreciate that you try."

[monstertea]

Taako heaves a sigh, leaning back in his seat. "I don't know why I try when you've just given up and accepted your fate like that. I'm not doing this for myself, you know." He takes a bite of his danish, a considerably smaller bite than Angus took of his muffin. The mention of sci-fi movies has him thinking of someone else who mentioned they enjoyed sci-fi. For just a second, he imagines the three of them watching a movie together and then he shoves a bigger bite of the danish in his mouth, putting his frustration at his own traitorous brain into chewing the mouthful of pastry.

[monstertea]

Despite the number of dates they've been on, and Taako not owning a car, he's managed to avoid having Kravitz anywhere near his place. He's plenty familiar with Kravitz's house, he knows how this man lives. While he doesn't think he'll judge Taako for the apartment itself being shitty, he knows he's going to judge him for the inside of his apartment. Normally, he just says fuck you to his friends when they comment on it–it's his space and he'll live however is most comfortable for him, thanks. He's not going to stress himself to the fuck out over making his apartment look like he's expecting the realtor any time now. But it's different with Kravitz, because he's not just a friend, and Taako really likes him. His apartment could easily be the deal breaker for them continuing to see each other and so, yeah, he's had to really push that he enjoys the trip across town, that he couldn't bother Kravitz to pick him up or drop him off when he's already driving them around most the time, but he's avoided it so far.

As always for date night, Taako is dressed at the top of his game. He's wearing a front-tying crop top that shows off a considerable amount of skin, a faux snakeskin pencil skirt, and all of his favorite Gucci accessories. Most importantly, his single pair of Gucci heels that he literally tore from a woman's hands at a sale years ago. He can count the times he's worn them on one hand, because they're for special occasions. Special occasions like out-dazzling himself from his last date night outfit. He loves the open expressions on Kravitz's face when he sees him dressed up and damn it if he isn't going to try to get that look every time.

Having a good night, wondering if he might be able to push their relationship a little more physical tonight, of course it happens. He's wearing his favorite heels, so of course.

They're on their way out of the restaurant when he hears a snap and stumbles. He goes to right himself and stumbles again, grabbing Kravitz's shoulder to steady himself. His left heel isn't connecting with the ground and when he looks down, he sees what has happened. He levitates the heel of his shoe up to his hand, horror dawning on his face. "Damn it!" he snaps, starting to let go of Kravitz only to teeter and grab at him again.

It just had to be the Gucci.

[solarisirius]

It's a very true statement to say that Kravitz enjoys the way Taako dresses. Upon first meeting Kravitz, one might assume that he knows how to dress well, given that his normal attire is a well-fitting suit of good brand name, but honestly he really only knows how to put together two types of outfits: his suit for work, and his grungy ex-music student attire that hasn't really changed since he was still in college. So the fact that the elf he's currently seeing knows how to dress well in a variety of outfits, different looks and styles, is absolutely a delight. He makes it no secret that he likes it, and showers compliments on him copiously (which of course, he eats right up).

Tonight is no exception, although he must admit, it flusters him a little to see how much skin is on display. Their relationship thus far has remained chaste, and yes Kravitz knows that it's largely on his behalf since he's so damn shy, so it's rather distracting to see him with his midriff bare. But at least he doesn't spend the whole evening staring at him like some sort of uncultured animal, so he considers that a plus.

As they're walking out of the restaurant and debating what to do next (the weather is warming up, and there's some sort of garden thing going on in the park downtown that Kravitz kind of wants to check out), Taako suddenly stumbles, which is unusual because Kravitz has seen him masterfully prance around in heels much higher than what he's wearing tonight. Instinctively, he reaches out to catch him by the arm, which ends up being a good decision considering the elf almost immediately stumbles again, grabbing his shoulder in return.

Taako levitates something up into his hand, and looks horrified, but Kravitz has no idea what it even is. "What happened?" he asks, looking confused.

[monstertea]

"My heel," Taako answers, voice hollow. From his tone and the look on his face, it's like someone has died. As far as Taako's concerned, someone may as well have died, in fact. "These are brand name!"

Still holding onto Kravitz, he uses mage hand to undo the buckles on his shoes, stepping out of them with that same look of despair. "I can't believe it," he mutters, picking the shoes up to examine the broken one. "I told Ren that woman put a hex on me for grabbing these, but this." He holds the shoe up to show Kravitz. "This is possibly the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Do you see this? These are Gucci, Krav! Gucci!"

[solarisirius]

It's situations like this where Taako is probably grateful that Kravitz is hot, because he's...not exactly well versed in the fashion houses of the world. Pretty and dumb, at least when it comes to this. "That's an expensive brand, right?" he asks slowly, blinking a little owlishly as he keeps holding on to Taako's arm to keep him from potentially toppling over as he steps out of the (admittedly very nice looking) broken shoes.

"You really shouldn't be walking around barefoot like this," he says, a slight frown on his face. "I drove, after all, I should take you home."

[monstertea]

Taako looks at Kravitz with what can only be described as heart-breaking pity. "Yes," he says, sighing. He looks forlornly at his shoes. "Gucci is a very, very expensive brand."

It's a matter of fact that he could use magic to fix his shoes, but that's not really an option. You don't use magic on brand name things, it's just not done. He briefly glances around, considering if there's anything he could transmute into a pair of shoes. He's never done something like that before, though, and he's certainly not going to make some sort of pauper's slippers to run around in the rest of the night.

"It's not a good look," he admits, cradling the shoes in one arm. He's not ready to end the night, but if they just swing by his place for him to grab a change of shoes he knows it would be rude of him to just make Kravitz sit out in the car. So, he guesses, this is going to be a thing. Forget all about big plans for getting some action, the night's big show is going to be Casa de Taako. "Alright, then. My place it is." He lets go of Kravitz, giving him a convincing smile. "Let's get this show on the road."