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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Taako fucking hates feelings. He hates feeling bad, he hates talking about them, and he hates that he appreciates Kravitz's words, that he can relate. "It's only been about three years, so maybe there's hope for me yet," he says. He doesn't believe it, but saying it isn't as hard as it should be.

He follows after Kravitz as they head down the hall and bites his lip against making a joke about getting a tour of the whole house. He's not sure if he'd pick up on the innuendo. So he lets Kravitz go down a few steps before he starts down the stairs. He doesn't fully trust them to support him and is glad when he reaches the bottom.

"So this is where all the ghosts are gonna be hanging out," he says. The rooms are giving him the creeps, which leads him to walking a bit closer to Kravitz. If something happens, he's gonna be the survivor. The room with the body drawers is easily the creepiest and most enchanting, though. "You could throw one hell of a Halloween party down here."

Edited 2017-03-18 02:41 (UTC)

"Maybe," Kravitz says in agreement, and is content to leave it at that. There's no sense in lingering on it any longer, especially not when it puts that look on Taako's face, like he's being hunted and is seconds away from bolting. It makes his stomach tighten unpleasantly, and although he knows intellectually that there's nothing he can do, the emotional part of him wants to help somehow, if he even can.

It flusters him when Taako starts following him so closely, clearly unnerved by the space, but it's definitely understandable and not some kind of flirting. "It'd be a terrible party," he confesses. "Me, my sister, and Jenkins. We'd really let ourselves go." Yeah, he doesn't really...do friendships, or social gatherings. Makes parties kind of a bummer.

Moving slightly down the wall, he indicates a drawer about on eye level with Kravitz, and therefore a little higher up than Taako. "This is where I found Jenkins," he says, probably needlessly, because scrawled on what looks to be an ancient index card, in messy cursive writing, is the name 'Jenkins'. "He was the only one."

"What?" Taako sounds truly offended. "You wouldn't invite me to your spooky party? Jenkins would be devastated. I bet he'd invite me as his plus one." He doesn't comment that Kravitz doesn't mention any friends. If left to his own devises, he wouldn't have any friends himself. He's never openly called them friends and they've all pretty much accepted that, thankfully.

Taako tilts his head back to look up at the drawer, steadying himself with a hand on Kravitz's shoulder to look at the index card. "Saying it that way sounds almost ominous. The only one left... was Jenkins. I love that you just use his real name. That is just bonus creepy, my dude, like just, hanging out in your office with this skeleton that you know the name of, that is a spooky thing you got going on."

"Would you come if I invited you?" Kravitz asks, and wow that...sounded a lot more honest and vulnerable than he meant. They're just talking about some dumb hypothetical Halloween party, but he has to go and get his big dumb stupid crush involved. It sucks. It sucks because Taako is gorgeous, and funny, and apparently finds how creepy he is to be endearing and not the crippling blow that makes people decide that his good looks aren't worth suffering through the literal skeleton in his office.

"Mission accomplished, I was trying to be ominous." That's a lie, but whatever, unintended bonus affect. "I don't know anything besides that. All the records got cleared out of here, so I don't know if that's his first or last name, how he died, who he is, none of it. He's just...Jenkins." A flush comes to his cheeks when Taako holds onto his shoulder for a better look at the index card, but he doesn't comment on it; only mentally prepares himself to steady the elf should he need help.

Taako gives his shoulder a squeeze before standing properly again and letting go. "Of course I would come," he answers, tilting his head to look up at Kravitz through thick lashes. He's entirely too much of an open book for his own good. "I'd much rather be invited by you than by boneboy up there. Just met and he wouldn't keep his hands off me! Real classy guy."

He taps on the body drawer at his level, not moving away from Kravitz. "I bet you haven't even used these for any sick photo ops. I'd shove Angus in here for a photo so fast."

The joke loosens the knot in this throat, and Kravitz is thankful for it; he really is too much of an open book for his own good (although he doesn't know that Taako thought that, the writer is using convenient parallels). "I'll have a word with him later about his manners," he says, clicking his tongue to show his disapproval.

"Please don't shove your.....ward into one of these," he says, not really sure what to call Angus since he's pretty sure the boy isn't Taako's son, at least not in any biological or legal sense. "I don't have the keys, so we'd be shit out of luck and he'd be stuck in there until the locksmith arrived." It's much easier to focus on the prospect of locking children into the body drawers than the fact that Taako is still so close to him, warm and smelling faintly of some floral perfume that Kravitz really likes. It's nice.

"Woah there, ward is a bit of a strong word, carries some responsibility to it. I don't know I'd call the kid my ward," he says quickly. There is a lot of responsibility in his relationship with Angus, which he tries not to focus on. He doesn't want to fuck the kid up, which means he shouldn't be in his life at all, but he also realizes how much it would fuck him up if he just up and left. "He's just a nerd I'm helping with magic. I guess he's my student, if anything."

"But yeah, maybe not so great to lock a kid in a body drawer. Now, Magnus or Merle..." He smirks like he's seriously considering a way to pull it off. Both of the men would be grossed out by it, but he'd bet money that Magnus would freak out.

"Sorry, I was getting kind of a Batman and Robin vibe from you two, which is why I went with ward," Kravitz explains, a little amused by how vehemently Taako denies any sort of responsibility for Angus. The two had seemed thick as thieves when he saw them outside his house, and it's sweet to know that the elf is teaching him or hanging out with him or whatever he wants to classify it as. "You're a wizard?" he asks, looking surprised.

"So long as I can claim plausible deniability," Kravitz says saintly, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't want your boss to sue me for wrongful endangerment on the job."

"Guess that hasn't really come up, huh?" Taako reaches into his pocket and after a moment pulls his wand out of what should be an impossible space. The wand tapers to a point, the handle gold with ornate designs that are repeated two other spaces on the otherwise pearlescent wand. "Great Wizard Taako, at your service."

"I'll come up with a distraction for you," he says. He can think of a number of ways he could distract Kravitz. He can think of a number of very, very fun ways. "Besides, it's hardly endangerment when I could open the lock."

Kravitz looks surprised, but then just quietly happy, like he's thrilled to have gotten another tidbit of information about Taako. "Your wand is really interesting," he says, leaning a bit closer to see better in the dim light of the room. At least he knows better than to touch. "It's gorgeous." It's gold and intricate, definitely not something a novice wizard would be carrying around with them. "What school do you focus in?"

Kravitz can also think of a few fun ways Taako could distract him, and while they're mostly innocent thoughts (cooking, holding hands, and if he's allowed to be racy, kissing), it's still enough to make his ears go pink. "I think he could still win a lawsuit since it's my fault he ended up in that situation to begin with."

"Isn't it a beauty?" He bites his lip when Kravitz leans in, glad for the wand in his hands to keep him from getting touchy. He holds his wand up for Kravitz to get a better look at it, but not enough to dissuade him from where he's moved closer. "Transmutation is the name of my game, my man."

He's really biting his lip when he notices the flush of Kravitz's ears. He doesn't even bother trying to filter himself as he says, "Depending on how I've distracted you, I think he might find out and forget about all that nasty body drawer business in favor of being the busybody he is."

"It really is, it's very unique," Kravitz says, smiling a little. "It suits you." Not just because it's unique, but because it's elegant and beautiful, both of which are words he would use to describe the elf standing in front of him. Admitting that would be a little too candid, though, so he doesn't. "Oh, that's impressive. It's not an easy area to work in, from my understanding."

Now it's not just his ears that are red, but his cheeks as well, but somehow Kravitz doesn't immediately straighten up and back up. "Well, even if he didn't....depending on how you distracted me, it would be worth the lawsuit," he says, voice hushed and a little shy.

"Not always the easiest, but easily the most interesting," he says, more than a little distracted at this point. Kravitz is only his usual type in being quite literally tall, dark, and handsome. Usually, Taako goes for people a bit more bold like himself, someone who can keep up with him. Maybe he needs to try something different, because that hushed tone and hesitancy is working for him.

He tilts his head as he looks up at Kravitz, smile sweet as sugar and voice a soft promise of illicit suggestion. "Oh, I could make it well worth a lawsuit."

Kravitz is having more than a little trouble focusing on the subject at hand (which is magic, he thinks?), especially when Taako is flirting with him like that, giving him this absolutely heart-stopping smile and speaking words that practically drip seduction. It's a little much for him all to drink in, but it's definitely worth it since it's directed at him. "I have little doubt of that," he says, biting his lip and steeling himself. "But I....feel as if I should take you to dinner first."

Taako's smile widens and he manages not to fumble his wand in his excitement. He thought he was gonna have to do all the work here, so his heart does leap at Kravitz's words. And thank god that he wasn't misreading the man, either. "Whatever you wanna do, my man," he says in the same tone of voice. "Dinner, coffee, whatever you feel's right. I'm up for any and all activities with you."

The relief Kravitz feels at not being immediately shot down, told he's being too forward or that he misunderstood things, is almost palpable. Honestly, it's almost enough to make him a little weak at the knees, especially when Taako's smile only widens at his invitation. "What about dessert?" he asks. "There's a little restaurant I frequent that does amazing chocolate fondue that's good with coffee."

"Oh, fondue!" Taako's tone lightens up, breaking the mood he was trying to build. He's forgotten already that he was angling for some physical action, even if it meant making out against some body drawers. "I love some good chocolate fondue, hell yeah." He shoves his wand back into the space he's magicked into his pocket, bumping Kravitz a bit because wow, really, when did they get this close without him taking full advantage of it?

Honestly, the thought may have crossed Kravitz's mind, but he's definitely not the kind of guy to push a hot elf he's only met twice now against the body drawers and get sloppy. (But he definitely would say yes if said elf were the one to push him against the body drawers to make out.) "I'd be happy to treat you, then," he says with a genuine smile, although his expression gets a bit flustered when Taako draws his attention (inadvertently) to how close they are. But...the other doesn't say anything about it, or back up or push him away, so he'd like to think that it means that their closeness is welcome.

Kravitz seems so easily flustered, he wonders what would happen if he did just shove him up against the body drawers to make out. As much as the thought has his cheeks warm, blood running hot, Taako doesn't want to push him too much. "Ooh, Krav." He presses a hand against Kravitz's chest, batting his eyelashes at him. "Your treat, on the first date? I must have really made an impression on you."

Kravitz feels his heart stutter when Taako puts his hand on his chest, batting his eyelashes at him in a way that's both comical and incredibly endearing and attractive. "You have," he admits honestly, unconsciously leaning in a little closer as he speaks, as if the hand that's touching him is drawing him inexorably nearer to it's owner. "I've never met anyone like you, Taako. I'm quite enchanted."

"And I didn't even have to use a charm person spell," he laughs, but a blush has crept across his face at Kravitz's words, at the way he leans in. He's doing a good job of seducing without realizing it. "One of a kind, that's the Taako guarantee." He hesitates–he hesitates–before sliding his hand up to Kravitz's shoulder, his other hand following suit. "I gotta say, it's been a while since anyone's had my attention like you do."

Kravitz looks positively side-swept by this information, his eyes going a little wide, his cheeks a little pink. "I....." He smiles, self conscious and so pleased. "Really?" It's not as if he's unaware of how gifted he is in the looks department, it's just that he's a weird loner who articulated a skeleton found in the body drawers of his morgue house. He's weird, and he knows he's weird, and he'd kind of figured that whatever allure he might have had initially is well and truly dead at this point. "This isn't enough to scare you off?" he asks, kind of distractedly gesturing at the room they're in, but being careful to make the movement small so Taako's hands aren't dislodged from his shoulders. The contact feels lovely.

Taako is dazzled by how everything he says and does effects Kravitz, how the man doesn't try to hide his reactions at all. It's refreshing and, well, enchanting. And maybbe he's a little into the weirdness of the guy; he can hardly make a claim to normalcy himself. "Puh-lease," he says, rolling his eyes and leaning into Kravitz. "It might be creepy if you, like, tried to be all secretive about it or something, but I don't think you could pull that off if you tried. Some lich you'd make."

Edited 2017-03-19 19:04 (UTC)

Kravitz can't help but laugh, reaching up to brush an errant strand of hair behind one of Taako's pointed ears. "It's hard, I know there are some thing that aren't exactly good for conversations in polite company, but my sister and I literally grew up in a mortuary, playing tag in the cemetery, putting flowers on all the graves that looked lonely. It was never weird to us, until people started telling us it was weird." And even then, it hadn't changed them much; they were homeschooled for elementary school, so by the time he started sixth grade, Kravitz and Istus both had embraced that side of them a little to vehemently to change it due to peer pressure. "So I'm glad, that it doesn't disgust you, or weird you out."

"Oh, it's pretty weird, don't get me wrong," Taako says, grinning. He only just manages not to shudder at the light touch at his ear. His ears are sensitive and as it is it has been a while since he's been with anyone. He's a little touch-starved, though he wouldn't say it. "But, uh, have you met me? Polite company?" He snickers. "You're not grossing me out unless next you're gonna tell me you explored your sexuality with corpses or something."

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