[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]

"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."

[solarisirius]

"I wonder the same thing, some of them I swear got on due to pity," Kravitz says, shaking his head and wrinkling his nose. "I'd have to try some of your baked goods before I could say for sure if you would kick ass on there." His tone is light and teasing, because again, he doesn't want Taako to feel obligated to cook or bake for him considering how unhappy he looked at even the thought earlier. "I don't know how well I'd do with cleaning the fish and stuff, honestly. Just thinking about it makes me a little squeamish." Which is hilarious, considering he regularly scoops the intestines out of human beings and burns them.

[monstertea]

Taako laughs when Kravitz says it makes him squeamish, thinking very much the same thing about his work. "Are you kidding me? You do I don't even know what with dead bodies, scooping their guts and junk out, and a little fish gunk bothers you?" He's laughing still, like this is the best joke he's heard in days. "There's not even like, half as much blood and guts to deal with! You're so weird!" He punctuates this last line with a light push at Kravitz's shoulder; he's serious in the the declaration, but he isn't trying to be mean-spirited about it.

[solarisirius]

"I'm not having to eat the people!" Kravitz protests, laughing when Taako pushes at his shoulder. It's hardly a sincere push, so it just makes him smile. "There's a specific room in a specific building where I do that sort of thing for work, it's not something that's meant to be pleasurable like eating is! So it's very easy to divorce myself from what it is I'm doing!"

[monstertea]

"And there's a specific room where you clean the fish versus where you eat it," Taako reasons, throwing his hand up like he's giving up. "Here I was thinking if I taught you that at least I wouldn't have to deal with some wimp who can't handle some of the grosser aspects, but nooo. Does it bother you if your food looks back at you, too? Can Mr. Weird Food not do fish head?"

[solarisirius]

"My kitchen and dining room are the same room," Kravitz points out mildly, mostly to be a shit. "Oh, no, that doesn't bother me. I eat dried anchovies with the heads on, fried shrimp heads, it's all fine. It's...." Sighing, he makes a face, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "It's too much like what I do for work. Like you said, I pull the guts out of humans and other bipedal creatures like myself on a near daily basis. Performing those actions on something and then eating it? My brain translates that to cannibalism."

[monstertea]

Taako considers this, finishing off his glass of wine and reaching for the bottle to help himself to more. "Well, that makes sense," he says as he pours his drink, offering to pour more for Kravitz too. "Wouldn't want to ruin your appetite for something because you're thinking of corpses. I'll mark that off the lesson list."

He adds hastily, after a moment, "If I decide to teach you, of course." Because of course he's pretty much decided he's going to give it a try. Worst comes to worst, he'll have a break down and never be able to face Kravitz again; he figures the man is bound to get tired of him at some point anyways, so what's it matter when.

[solarisirius]

"Yes, especially since I'm trying very hard to make a good impression. Throwing up and then maybe passing out aren't very conducive to that end," Kravitz sighs forlornly, waiting for Taako to pour what he wants before adding to his own glass.

Of course, the elf isn't fast enough to add his little addendum before Kravitz realizes what he's said and begins to smile. "Oh, of course, we haven't decided yet if you're going to teach me, that's right," he says benevolently, taking a swig of his wine. "But if you do, it's good to know that we won't be including that in the list."

[monstertea]

"That's right we haven't decided yet," Taako says more decisively. He's distracted from thinking about cooking by Kravitz's comment about trying hard to make a good impression. When was the last time someone put effort into impressing him? Especially someone completely out of his league like Kravitz. "Making a good impression will help that decision, of course. You're doing pretty well so far, handsome. Skeletons, body drawers, wine, you've pulled out all the stops."

[solarisirius]

Kravitz flushes a little, as is pretty damn typical of him at this point, when the elf calls him "handsome". It makes his heart flutter, and he can't help but wonder if Taako would find him handsome in ratty jeans and thin, overwashed t-shirts as well as when he's all dressed up for work. "I don't let just anyone see the body drawers," he says seriously. "I think Istus is the only other person who's seen, and she didn't last thirty seconds. She thought it was creepy as hell, and I'm lucky she even comes in here to feed me."