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

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

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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"I suppose you could say that," Kravitz chuckles, starting to get tickled now the longer Taako laughs. "My family's mortuary has been here as long as the city has. It wasn't my intent to take over, but life happens. I also didn't intend to buy and live in a morgue, but it was the only building I was really interested in when I was looking at the market, so of course it would turn out to be a morgue and of course it would have a rather charming skeleton inside."

Seeing Taako with the skeleton's arm over his shoulder makes him smile even wider. "You can take a selfie with Jenkins, if you want, since you both look so dapper."

Taako makes a noise of sheer delight when Kravitz says he can take a selfie with the skeleton. "Here you go, babe, you gotta have your hat back for this," Taako says as he leans up to perch the hat back on the skeleton's head. Even with his heels on, it's just tall enough for him to have to reach and it's only with years of practice that he doesn't stumble in his heels.

"So," he goes on while pulling his phone out of a skirt pocket that it only barely fits it, "do you at least like your job? I mean, I'd assume as much since you kind of totally have the whole mortician vibe going for you, but you know they say about assuming."

"A deadly pair," Kravitz compliments once the hat has been returned to Jenkins's head, extremely pleased that being allowed to take a selfie with the skeleton is taken to be the honor that it is. No one outside his family has actually even seen the thing, so to have Taako so pleased with it kind of makes him want to show him the unfinished basement in all it's creepy glory.

"It's a living, no joke intended," he says with a little shrug, taking a half step forward like he's concerned that Taako might fall going up on his tip-toes in his heels like that, but it appears like the elf has complete mastery over the deadly footwear. "I was actually going to be a musician, but my father passed, and I came back home to run the family business. I enjoy it well enough, there are certainly worse things I could have ended up doing."

Taako steps just in front of the skeleton, holding both it's arms around his shoulders with one hand while he holds his phone up with the other, trying to find the right angle. He has to get a good photo because this one's going on all the social media. There's the tell-tale sound of the camera snap when he finally gets the angle he wants, and then he's letting go of the skeleton, still careful in his handling of it.

"That seriously fucking sucks," he says when he turns back around, his smile replaced with a somber expression. "Like, sure, it isn't the worst, but to lose someone and have to give up what you want to do at the same time is the pits."

As Kravitz watches the scene playing out in front of him, he wonders if it would be too forward to ask Taako to text him a copy of that picture. It probably says something slightly disturbing about him, but he finds it incredibly cute how the elf ends up posing, almost like he's standing with a high school boyfriend for a prom photo or something like that. Maybe he'll ask later, if he can gather the courage, because the last thing he wants is to make the other uncomfortable by giving him the impression that he might want the picture for anything other than fondness.

"Someone had to do it," he says, as if that's all the answer that the statement needs given. "I appreciate that, though. It wasn't an easy decision to make." And sometimes, it still isn't.

Before the mood can completely sour, he steps out into the smaller courtyard, motioning for Taako to follow him out.

Taako is happy to let that topic fall, because hoo boy he does not do feelings. It sucks, and he sympathizes with Kravitz, but that is not a thing he talks about or thinks about any more than he can. Nope, he is ready to be all business again if that means avoiding that serious conversation.

"You sure there's no ghosts out here?" he asks once they're both outside. Much like the first, it's clear no one has done anything with the courtyards since the place was last used. He doesn't even care about nature like Merle does and he thinks it's a sorry sight. "Cause I am feeling all kinds of dead energy out here. I'm expecting your boy Jenkins to have a buddy start climbing out of the ground."

"Maybe the ghosts of the poor plants that were once out here," Kravitz says, looking a bit forlorn at the sorry state of his own courtyard. "They were in this state when I purchased this place, and my first priority was to make the main two floors livable before anything else, so unfortunately this had to take a back seat for the time being. If any of the neighborhood kids have seen these things, I'd understand why they think I'm a lich." Dead flowers, rotting plants, all that jazz, does not exactly make for an encouraging atmosphere.

"Probably too late to stop those rumors at the school," Taako laughs as he looks at the space pensively. "But you can at least be a lich with a couple of nice gardens. Put some... put some life back into this place." His heart wants to go for a big, ostentatious center piece, but that's not Kravitz's style. "What do you want out here? Just something nice to look at and take care of? Just your typical garden, nothing particular in mind?"

"Kids," he sighs, shaking his head, but his tone is fond. There's probably worse things they could call him than a lich, and considering he owns a mortuary and lives in a morgue, well...it's understandable why they would think that. "Yeah, that's about it. I work from home a third of the time, and it'd be nice to have something visually appealing out there considering I share a glass wall with the thing. It's just damn depressing to be in here." He wrinkles his nose at the thought. "I'm open to suggestions, so long as it's pretty."

"Not exactly the best view, no," he agrees. He'd have filled the place with lawn ornaments, but to each his own. Color, at least, was something everyone could agree was needed. Color was something Taako was thinking Kravitz needed in his life altogether. "I can give you pretty real easily. I'm thinking maybe some flowering vines, a fountain or small tree or maybe some kind of statue, like get a custom grim reaper made."

"A fountain would be nice," he says, warming up to that idea immediately. "And if not a fountain, a water feature in general would work just as well. Initially, I'd thought about a fountain of some kind, but I was worried about it maybe looking too tacky. If you think it would work, then I'm definitely happy to take your word for it." A smile tugs at his lips. "If we're going the fountain route, maybe a custom grim reaper who shoots water out the end of his scythe?"

"Now you're catching on!" Taako gives an approving nod at the idea of the grim reaper fountain. "Don't wanna go the crying skull route if you're wanting to freak people out less, for sure. But no, yeah, a fountain would be great, just gotta get the right size. And not one of those tiered monstrosities people shouldn't be allowed to install at their homes, something subtle up against the wall, matching the brick."

"I'm not very fond of the tiered monstrosities myself, that's why I hesitated to bring up a fountain," Kravitz admits honestly. "I'm woefully uneducated in the design area, so I wasn't sure what other options there were. Something against the wall sounds perfect." They've been talking for a while, and Kravitz feels like he's being a bad host. "Can I get you something to drink? I have water and juice and I think some soda."

You're always supposed to refuse these offers, Taako knows that much; it's as unprofessional as it can be dangerous. But he finds Kravitz as threatening as a puppy and he's already thrown professionalism to the wind long ago. "A drink would be fantastic, I feel like I haven't had a drink in days," he says, leading the way back inside without thinking about it. "I'll pick out some fountains to show you next time, find some that are tasteful as fuck."

"That sounds excellent, I'll be looking forward to it." Not only because it means he'll get to meet with Taako again, but he's genuinely excited at the prospect of getting all this started and under way. It's going to look so nice once the job is finished, he can already tell, and he plans to give Taako a pretty hefty budget to work with.

Once his offer is accepted, he intends to lead the way back to the kitchen, but Taako takes the head as they move inside, which he finds highly amusing. "Do you know where you're going?" he asks, arching an eyebrow as he follows.

"No idea, my man, your office is just more welcoming than the courtyard god forsook out there," Taako answers. He's maybe feeling a little too at ease, because normally he's most comfortable meandering behind everyone else. He literally and metaphorically does not let other have his back. "Please," he says, gesturing widely with both arms. "Lead the way."

"I would have been kind of freaked out if you did know where you were going, since this is supposedly your first time here," Kravitz says, moving around Taako to take over the lead. There's a large arched doorway at the back of the living room that opens up into the kitchen and dining space. There's a large picture window where the table and chairs are situated, but most of the space is dominated by the literal restaurant-quality kitchen, all sleek metal appliances, warm granite counter tops, the best custom designed cabinetry that Fantasy IKEA had to offer, the whole work. It had cost a small fortune, but Istus made this delighted cooing noise every time she came in, and cooked dinner for him twice a week, so it was worth the investment in his opinion.

"Can't say I'm not curious to wander around, see if you missed a skeleton or just have another one tucked away somewhere," Taako says. He opens his mouth to keep going but as they enter the kitchen he goes silent. For a moment, his mind just blanks out and he's walking into the kitchen with eyes wide. He looks like a kid in a candy store. "Shit, look at this place! Didn't skimp on a single thing in here!" All pretense of being a guest is lost as he studies the oven, the stove, runs his hands over the counter tops, barely contains himself from going through drawers to see what kind of cookware is stowed away. "I could get my fucking cook on for days in a kitchen like this!"

"Unless there's some hidden in the drywall in the basement, I really doubt there's anyone here besides Jenkins," Kravitz says, heading for the fridge to retrieve something for the both of them to drink. It visibly startles him, though, when Taako exclaims like that, suddenly moving through the kitchen as if he's in some kind of trance, checking out the oven and stove, running his hands greedily over the flawless marble of the counter tops.

"Do you like cooking?" he asks, smiling fondly as he removes a water bottle for himself, only to hesitate when he realize he doesn't know what Taako wants. "What do you want to drink?" he asks. "I can see you're about to crawl out of your skin, you want to snoop so badly, so go ahead. I'm not hiding any body parts in any of the cabinets, so let me know if you find any; I'll have to have words with my sister."

Taako is knocked out of his trance the second Kravitz asks if he likes cooking. He visibly deflates and for a moment he almost looks lost. "Water," he answers. What he really wants is to chug a bottle of wine, toss it straight back like rain quenching a drought.

He's not sure why he does it. Maybe it's fact that he barely knows Kravitz that makes it so easy to say, or maybe it's just the spell the kitchen has cast over him. He doesn't play it off with a joke, though. "Used to be a bomb-ass chef. Cooking was like, the whole reason I got out of bed. I was gonna be the next Emerill Lagasse, but shit broke bad and all that's out the window like so much trash," he says, laughing mirthlessly.

Nodding, Kravitz grabs another bottle of water from the fridge before closing it, setting one of the bottles on the island's counter and keeping one for himself. It's sort of odd to see Taako just...deflate, like that. Even though he hasn't known the elf for very long, he can tell by the way people like Angus and Merle deal with him that high energy no bullshit with a strange dash of optimism is the way he rolls. So the somber expression and mirthless laugh strike him as oddly vulnerable, and he feels like the least qualified person in the world to offer comfort to anyone else. He's just not good at it, hasn't had nearly enough practice to be.

"That makes you uniquely qualified to understand the shitty feeling of having to give up doing what you really love for a living," he says, his expression not pittying or sympathetic, but merely soft, as if to show he's listening to what's being said without judgement. "It's always a raw deal. I'm sorry things went south for you, you didn't deserve that."

Taako swallows past a lump in his throat, not looking up at Kravitz. He catches a glimpse of his expression and for a second he thinks he's gonna lose it and just let everything out. He can't do that shit, though, not to someone he barely knows; preferably not ever. Kravitz isn't looking at him with pity, thank fuck, but he seems plenty uncomfortable, too. He is not fucking doing this.

"Didn't do a damn thing to deserve it," he agrees, some levity returning to his tone. He grabs the water bottle sitting on the counter, opening it to take a long drink. "Not like I killed people or something, just boring old story about getting fucked over by a dirt bag." He takes a smaller sip, leaning against the counter. "What about you and this music thing? You play some instruments still or anything?"

Kravitz lets Taako have the moments he needs to collect himself, opening his own bottle of water and drinking from it, opening the dishwasher to check and make sure it ran it's cycle properly (of course it did, it's brand new, but he's not going to stare like some sort of alien while the elf looks so very, very close to some kind of precipice of a breakdown). "In the entertainment industry, it seems like there's three of those for every decent person," he says, not minding at all that Taako has shifted the subject away from something that so very clearly is still a raw wound.

"I do, actually. Piano and guitar are my primary loves, but I can play several instruments besides those. I'm planning on turning the basement into a studio, so unfortunately my piano is still in storage while the renovations down there are still yet to be finished," he says, glancing from side to side as if checking to see if some mysterious third party is listening before leaning forward, tone of voice secretive. "Do you want to see the body drawers?"

He feels some kind of relief to hear that Kravitz is still a musician, even if it's not what he's doing for a living. Taako wouldn't wish having the thing you love spoiled for anyone. "You got me beat, I can only just carry a tune," he says, not showing how impressed he is, because he doesn't doubt for a second that Kravitz is talented. Probably one of those assholes who can do everything well.

He quirks an eyebrow when Kravitz looks around and leans in and then fights back a grin. "You are fucking with me, you do not still have body drawers in your house! Who lives in a house with body drawers? Like, this place was a functioning morgue! Those things have to be so gross!"

"I'm sure you can carry enough of a tune to sound lovely when you sing," Kravitz says, his tone of voice conveying that yes, that's a genuine statement, because no, he doesn't really understand or use sarcasm. "Do you cook, still?" And....hmm, maybe that's not a smart thing to ask, but Taako had been rather candid in telling him that things ended on a sour note with his professional cooking career, so hopefully he isn't stepping on any toes.

"Just like Jenkins, they've been bleached and cleaned," Kravitz says sensibly, although he's grinning rather unabashedly. "They're a central fixture of the original building, how could I not keep them in tact? All that storage just built into the walls."

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