[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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[monstertea]

"You're fine so long as you don't start thinking you know everything," Taako assures him. "That and people who insist on things their lawn just won't do are the worst. Well, I think the worst are the ones who wanna micromanage, but I just leave those people to Merle and Mags." At the mention of wine he perks up, clasping his hands together in front of his chest. "Now we're talking. I bet you got some good wine, too, nothing like the cheap shit I usually drink."

[solarisirius]

"Who's Mags?" Kravitz asks, leading the way back to the kitchen, whereupon he motions to the bar stools that set up against the far side of the island. "Please, have a seat." There's a little wine cooler under the counter, for all that he doesn't drink too much, and there's a nice, light red in there that was a birthday gift not too terribly long ago that he thinks should be fine. Pulling the bottle out, he keeps it in hand before finding a wine opener in one of the drawers, removing the cork with casual aplomb and no real apparent effort. From there, it's just a manner of grabbing a couple of glasses and filling them, handing one to Taako and keeping one for himself.

[monstertea]

Taako scoots the stool closer to the island so he can lean on it while he sits, legs crossed. "Magnus," he says with a sigh. "Don't you dare let anyone know I called him that, I'll never hear the end of it." He accepts the glass of wine with a murmur of thanks, taking a hearty sip. He usually goes for darker reds himself, but it's good. Clearly a matter of difference between what the grocery store stocks and whatever snobby winery this comes from.

[solarisirius]

"My lips are sealed," Kravitz says, miming zipping his mouth and throwing away the key. Of course, he immediately takes a sip of his wine, which kind of ruins the illusion of having his mouth zipped shut, but whatever. "I'm assuming he works for Dirty Plants also?" The flavor of the wine is sweet on his tongue, nice and smooth, and he's glad that it's not something stronger; he's not really in the mood to get tipsy.

[monstertea]

"Yeah, he's kind of the gopher with regards to manual labor, plus he's got that whole wood working thing which people just go gaga for," Taako says, waving his hand as if to say it's not that big a deal despite having previously praised his work. He takes a proper sip this time, savoring the sweet taste, the hint of fruit. "You'll meet and he's gonna offer you a carved duck, but don't encourage him, my man. I don't know what it is, he has some kind of weird fetish or something, I'm not one to stick my nose into someone else's business to begin with, and I really don't want to know what the duck thing is about."

[solarisirius]

"That's neat," Kravitz says genuinely, because as a musician, he appreciates wood working very much; most of his instruments are carved from wood, at least partially if not entirely. (That's probably not the kind of wood working that Magnus does but it still stands on principle.) "Am I not allowed to accept the duck?" he asks, his bottom lip poking out in a barely-there kind of pout. "Maybe I like ducks. Not as like, a fetish, because good lord I have seen what their genitals look like and no thank you, but just as animals."

[monstertea]

Taako sputters when he pouts. That is not fair in the slightest. He's the one who's supposed to do the pouting–his is perfect, he's practiced it in the damn mirror–but damn. A face like that pouting just isn't fair. "Only time I like ducks is when they're cooked right," he says, carefully twirling his in his glass. "For sure though, if you want the duck, I'm not gonna deny you."

[solarisirius]

"My mom makes a nice duck curry," Kravitz muses, sighing a little wistfully. The worst part about not living with his mother any longer is not being able to eat her cooking all the time. "I mean, I wouldn't refuse the duck, but I'm not sure if I want to take it if it's some weird fetish thing for him. I am not encouraging that."

[monstertea]

Taako snickers, waving his hand. "No, I'm sure it's really fine," he laughs. He does think the duck thing is weird, but a large part of it is just giving Magnus a hard time. He shouldn't give Kravitz too strange an impression of him. "Duck curry sounds good. Do you not cook?" he asks, leaning on the counter and resting his chin in his hand. "Or is this just a case of nothing as good as a mother's cooking?"

[solarisirius]

"No, not really," Kravitz admits sheepishly. "I get by well enough on my own, but most of that is because my sister steals away over here a couple three times a week to cook for me. This kitchen is for her, more or less," he says, looking around the immaculate space. "She and my mother still live in the house we grew up in, and it's a nice house, but the kitchen is a little old fashioned for her. My mother is a very traditional cook, but Istus likes to have the shiny new gadgets."

[monstertea]

Taako lets his gaze wander over the kitchen again. It's easily the nicest kitchen he's seen in a home, which almost grates on his nerves since Kravitz doesn't cook. The gears in his mind are already turning, pulling up all the things he could make here that his own pathetic excuse for a kitchen would never allow him to make.

He covers up his pause by taking a long sip of his wine. Even if he did cook, it's not like he could just commandeer the kitchen of someone he barely knows. "Glad someone is using it," he says. "Criminal to have a kitchen like this and not put it to use. Your sister needs to teach you a thing or two."

[solarisirius]

"I think I'd rather have you teach me," Kravitz says, as casually as he can, taking a sip of his wine after he's finished speaking. Of course he wants to see Taako more often, and while he knows that it's quite a sensitive subject still, he can't help but extend the invitation. "If you ever want to, that is. I'd much rather spend my time learning to cook from you than my sister."

[monstertea]

Taako hums thoughtfully, tapping his fingers against his chin. "I've never taught anyone to cook before," he says slowly, like he's considering it. He is considering it. He never thought he'd be teaching some kid magic, why not cooking too? Why not add an extra chance for things catching on fire to his life?

Managing not to laugh at his own thoughts, Taako looks up at Kravitz with a small smile. "You're gonna have to sweeten the pot for ol' Taako, though. I don't do anything for free, my man. As much as I am dying to work my magic in here, I'm not working with a novice for nothing."

[solarisirius]

"I'll pay for the ingredients, as well as provide wine suited to match," Kravitz says, a little too eagerly, when Taako asks him what he can do to make it worth his while to teach him. "And there will be my wonderful company, as well."

[monstertea]

Taako hides a smile with another sip of wine. How's he supposed to say no to that eagerness? Kravitz seems so thrilled at the idea, he can't just shoot him down. "I'll think about it." He sets his glass down with a smirk. "Though I take charge in the kitchen, don't expect me to go easy on you just because we've been getting our mack on."

[solarisirius]

Kravitz has the decency to blush at that. "I would expect nothing less. I'm a competent sous chef, it's the actual putting-everything-together bit that I don't particularly excel at," he admits, giving the wine in his glass a little swirl. "Thinking about it is all I can ask of you, so thank you."

[monstertea]

"If I don't have to worry about you cutting a finger off, that's a great start." He sits up a little, giving a little huff. "Started teaching Ango and he's all, 'well, sir, I understand the theoreticals of everything'," he says, mocking Angus's voice. "As if that's what really matters if you can't do even the most basic cantrips."

[solarisirius]

"Well, I can say with absolute certainty that I know more about cooking than I do about cantrips," Kravitz says, making a face. "While we have about a teaspoon of magic apiece, neither Istus nor I particularly excelled in our studies in that area. She did better than I, but not by very much."

[monstertea]

"So that's magic and cooking you're not great at," Taako says, holding up one then another finger like he's counting. "You're already know my digs pretty much, but what do you got going on besides probably bring some kind of musical Einstein and hanging out with the dead?"

[solarisirius]

"I....I'm not sure what you mean," Kravitz says, looking at Taako a little curiously, a little guardedly. "Are you asking what other things I enjoy and am good at? Or are you asking what other things sell me as a potential partner?"

[monstertea]

Taako nearly chokes on his wine, covering his mouth as he coughs and clears his throat. "Woah there, kemosabe, Taako doesn't do that whole sizing people up thing!" he says in quick clarification. "I'm just asking what you're into, yeah, like what you enjoy. Trashy magazines, long walks on the beach, wooden ducks, that kinda shit."

[solarisirius]

Kravitz can't help but burst into laughter, something like relief flooding him because his initial instinct was to feel like he was getting sized up and to be upset by that, so he's glad for clarification. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to almost kill you," he chuckles. "I really enjoy reading, particularly sci-fi, and I'll admit that I watch a lot of Fantasy Netflix. I enjoy trying whatever weird food I can get my hands on, my sister is always going to these weird out of the way grocery stores and bringing me things back to sample. I really like rainy days, as long as I don't have to go outside in them." It's a little like reading a resume, honestly, so he stops before he gets too carried away. "You have to tell me things now."

[monstertea]

Relief washes over Taako that Kravitz takes it in good humor, that the misunderstanding is easily cleared up. Then he's going on about himself and Taako is happy to sit and listen. He's a little excited to learn he's adventurous with food. There's a big difference between people like himself and his aunt, who enjoyed trying new things, versus too many people in his life who will eat just about anything that doesn't look or smell weird. He could work some culinary dark magic and make fried chicken macarons and Magnus and Carey would shovel them down without thought.

"Oh, me?" He sounds surprised, having gotten lost in thought about his aunt's recipes he bet Kravitz had never eaten anything like before. "Hmmm, hmm, what about me? Let's see..." He starts muttering to himself, "Got the magic... the landscaping thing... cooking, wine... you've seen me enough to get the fashion thing by now..." He takes a sip of wine before speaking up again. "I love reality shows? Like Fantasy The Bachelor and Faerun's Next Top Model. And then there's always good old Fantasy HGTV, love that. I like to go fishing sometimes, though I don't do that as often as I used to."

[solarisirius]

"You definitely have an eye for fashion," Kravitz agrees, eyeing the outfit that Taako is wearing appreciatively. His own fashion sense isn't anything impressive; he knows how to look nice, but he doesn't have much interest in it besides that. However, he's already incredibly interested in what the elf is capable of putting together, so maybe that's an interest that will only grow with time. "Oh, I love shows like that. I'm not up to date with Faerun's Next Top Model, but I just finished marathoning The Great Faerun Bakeoff and it was spectacular." A smile crosses his face. "Fishing sounds relaxing, but I must admit, it's not something I'd pictured you doing."

[monstertea]

Taako preens when Kravitz compliments his fashion, adjusting his shirt though it doesn't need it. "I would kick ass on The Great Faerun Bakeoff. I don't know what some of those people are even doing on that show." His tone is only a little boastful, like he's bragging about something that's just a matter of fact. "Fishing is great! Real meditative stuff. The preparation's not pretty, but nothing like cooking up some fresh fish."