[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]

Taako seems to consider this. Of course he can end the spell, but Kravitz's question poses an interesting thought in turn. "I'd put my seatbelt on, so I wouldn't like, be against the roof," he says. "But if I can't end the spell, I could need some help with like, getting in the car and staying seated long enough to get the seatbelt on. Might need some help with that, if you don't mind getting all up in my business."

[solarisirius]

Kravitz looks at Taako, his expression suspicious, but the elf always looks so casual when he says stuff like this, it's hard to tell if he's kidding or not. He knows that Taako is a better wizard than he gives himself credit for, but all of Kravitz's magic is latent stuff, things he can't turn on and off, so his understanding of how deliberate magic works is theoretical at best. "If you don't mind me being a tomato the whole time," he answers, stopping beside his car and pulling the keys out to unlock it, opening the passenger side door and looking at Taako as if to say "alright, let's see what happens".

[monstertea]

Taako lets go of Kravitz, patting him on the shoulder. "You know I love the tomato look on you, babe," he says, grabbing onto the car and pulling himself inside. "Look, I'll go easy on you." Inside the car, he lowers himself into the seat, ending the spell as he settles in. "I do appreciate the willingness, though. Maybe you can manhandle me some other time."

[solarisirius]

"I'm much more amicable to manhandling you if we aren't in public," Kravitz answers, looking impressed as he watches Taako maneuver himself into the car before ending the spell. At the very least, he would have been willing to kind of cram him into the passenger side if that helped make things easier, but Taako seems rather adept at getting around when he's weightless, so long as he has something to kind of pull himself along with. "Is that a spell you can use on other things, or just yourself?" he asks, genuinely curious. Once he's sure Taako is settled in the passenger seat, he closes the door for him (like a goddamn gentleman) before walking around to situate himself in the driver's seat.

[monstertea]

"I will certainly be holding you to that," Taako says, offering up a sweet smile as Kravitz closes the door for him. At least he can be semi-confident now that's it not like Kravitz doesn't want to do more. He knows Kravitz is shy, but... well, fuck, he can be self-conscious while still being aware of that.

"Oh, for sure," he says as Kravitz gets in on the driver's side. "I can levitate all sorts of shit. Only one thing at a time, and not for too long either. I forget what the weight limit of what I can use it on is. Pretty high, but it's not like I go around messing with things too much."