Elderberry Reprise

by Weevilo707

Summary:

Angus had been interested for the free meal. Ever since his grandpa died and he ran off on his own, food was a little hard to come by. He was instantly enraptured by the fantastic displays of magic the elf chef had put on display though, and on top of that the food had been fantastic

It became all too clear all too quickly that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

---

As he sped away from Glamour Springs, all Taako could think about was how wrong everything had gone. He hadn't meant to do that. Fuck, he hadn't meant to kill all of those people. So when he found one of the members of the audience hidden away in the back of his stagecoach, there was only one thing he could think to do.

There was no fucking way he was going to let this kid die.

Chapter 1: The Last Showing of Sizzle It Up With Taako

Angus couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. The entire time that he'd watched the show he found himself mesmerized. It was incredible, he’d always loved magic but this was the first time he’d gotten a good look at some up close.

He hadn’t come for the magic at first. He’d heard about the little performance because of the free food. He’d lost the group he’d come into this town with a few days ago, and he was starting to get the feeling that they’d already moved on. Or maybe it was more than a feeling. Glamour Springs wasn’t a very big town, if they were still here he would’ve been able to find them by now.

It was harder to scrape by on his own. It wasn’t the first time he’d been struck by the thought that maybe things would’ve been better if he hadn’t gone off by himself. If he let them take him to the orphanage and listened to the adults who kept insisting on not listening to him. It was a little too late for that though, he didn’t particularly want to go back anyway.

He’d been looking for the small caravan that abandoned him when he saw the advertisements for the cooking show, complete with free food for the guests. It’d been a while since he’d gotten a good meal, it had seemed like as good a chance for that as any. Even if it wasn’t good, he was starting to get real hungry.

His focus quickly shifted from the food to the actual performance once a bright and loud elf walked out onto the stage. The decently sized crowd almost instantly started cheering, and Angus got the feeling that this wasn’t his first show in this town. There was a familiar sort of excitement in the people gathered around. It wasn’t too hard for Angus to squeeze his way towards the front, he was small enough that most people didn’t tend to notice him.

That used to bother him, but it had started to come in handy since his grandpa died. It was easier to find a place to rest where people wouldn’t notice him right away. Helped him to slip out of places he maybe didn’t want to be.

Right now though he wasn’t thinking about any of that, he was completely wrapped up in the show. There was a flourish with every spell the elf cast, and on top of that the food looked and smelled delicious. It looked like the kind of food he used to have back when he was living with his grandpa. Everything he’d had to eat lately was always so bland. Bland and old and never enough to make him feel not hungry anymore.

Maybe he could learn magic. It’d make living on his own a lot easier. He didn’t like being without food. He didn’t like being on his own, but magic couldn’t solve that one at least. It could fix some things though, and that was the important part.

Plus, it was really cool, regardless of everything else.

“And it’s done! I know you all have been waiting forever but you gotta have that slow cook to really get the flavors in there, but I promise it’s worth the wait in gold!” the elf, Taako of Sizzle It Up with Taako announced. Angus was going to have to remember that name. Maybe he’d stay in town for a bit longer and Angus could see if he could catch another show after this one.

Once he started handing out samples Angus manages to jump up fast enough to be near the front of the line. The elf handed him a plate with a smile, before instantly turning to the next person. Angus didn't mind though, he had a show to run and a very long line of people. Heading off once he got his food, he sat down in a quiet spot behind the stagecoach where the show had taken place. There weren’t a lot of people around there, and Angus enjoyed the privacy.

He also very much enjoyed the food. It was incredible. He didn’t actually end up with much of the chicken, but he got a good helping of the elderberry garnish that he quickly devoured. He wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t gotten anything very good to eat in a long time, but it tasted even better than the stuff he used to have at his grandpa’s. It was possible that the elf was just that good of a chef though. He certainly seemed to know what he was doing.

In almost no time at all he managed to finish his food, and Angus considered going to see if he could get some more. Maybe he’d wait a bit to make sure everyone else got some and then if there were any left overs he could ask the chef if he could have seconds. It was delicious and he didn’t know how long it would be before he could eat something like that again.

As he waited though, something started to feel off. It didn’t take very long for Angus to realize something was wrong.

He felt sick. There was a stabbing pain in his stomach and his mouth felt unnaturally dry. When he tried to stand up he almost instantly fell back down again. There were a few seconds where he just had to sit there, trying hard to keep his breathing under control. He was dizzy and sick and he didn’t know what was going on. Was he allergic to something in the food? It didn’t feel like his throat was closing up or anything like that though.

It felt like he was dying.

He just. He just needed a place to rest for a little while until he felt better. Someplace safe until he stopped shaking and his insides stopped feeling like they were cutting themselves up into little shreds. He didn’t have the strength to actually look around for someplace like that though. He barely had the strength to think at all. He just knew where he was, which was behind the stagecoach.

Without thinking twice he pushed himself back up onto unsteady feet, holding onto the side of the cart as he walked around to the back. It took some doing, but he managed to climb inside without passing out. He hoped no one noticed him, because he hadn’t been paying enough attention to make sure he was being super stealthy. Everyone was probably busy eating the rest of their food anyway, he’d ate fast. Maybe too fast? He couldn't tell anymore.

Crawling into a corner, Angus curled up behind a stack of old pots and pans and some colorful looking clothes. He pulled something that was most likely a coat down on top of him, partially to hide, partially because he could feel himself shaking, even if he wasn’t sure if he was actually cold.

After that it got hard to focus. At one point he thought he felt the stagecoach jerk beneath him as it started moving, but it all hurt too much to focus on.

Why did everything hurt so much?

—

Taako didn’t know what happened.

Glamour Springs was retreating behind them, just a few lights in the distance and Taako was sitting stunned in the back of the stage coach. He didn’t know what went wrong. He’d done that recipe a million times. He hadn’t seen anything fuck up. There was barely anything to fuck up. Just chicken, garlic cloves, some olive oil and the elderberry garnish. A real simple dish he’d done because it was easy and he wasn’t really feeling the cooking that night. There wasn’t anything that should’ve made people start dropping dead.

He would’ve seen if something else was there. He would’ve noticed, right? There wasn’t anything that could slip by him like-

Oh.

The elderberries.

Another sob caught in his throat as realization dawned on him. Fuck. Fuck. He was so stupid. How could he fuck up a transmutation that badly?

It had been a while since he cried like this. He couldn’t fully remember when the last time even was. He vaguely remembered being somewhere high, but that was about it. Even though there were tears streaming down his face and the occasional sob wracked his body, he felt numb. At least he wasn’t a loud crier, he was almost silent despite the occasional hiccup that overwhelmed him.

As it was, he looked up in a daze when he started hearing another sound in the back of the stage coach. It was barely noticeable over the sound of the wheels rocketing underneath them, but it was there none the less. Not bothering to stand up, Taako moved over to where he could hear something back behind the old pans and shit he didn’t actually use in the show.

Moving a coat, Taako felt his stomach drop out from under him.

“Sazed?” he called, and it didn’t even sound like his voice. It was croaked and quiet and so not what he was used to. There wasn’t any answer from the front of the stagecoach, and Taako took an uneven breath to try and pull himself back under control some.

“Sazed?” he said, louder this time. His voice was still shaky, and he couldn’t look away from the small form he’d found. Fuck, he was so small. There was still no response, the stagecoach kept moving at full speed.

“Sazed!” he yelled finally, because he didn’t know what to do and he needed help.

“What?!” Sazed snapped back, and Taako couldn’t usually give a shit if people yelled but this time he flinched despite himself. He sounded so fucking pissed, and Taako could understand why.

“There’s a kid back here,” he said quietly. He thought the issue was that he hadn’t been able to hear him before, but that obviously wasn’t the problem. He just didn’t want to talk to him, which yeah, considering the circumstances Taako didn’t want to talk to himself either.

“What?” Sazed asked again, and this time he sounded less angry and more confused and unsure.

“There’s a kid. I-I think I remember seeing him at the show,” Taako explained. He heard Sazed curse under his breath, but he didn’t slow the stagecoach any.

“Is he dead?” Sazed asked, his voice curt and unhappy. Looking back down, it was pretty obvious he wasn’t dead yet. Every so often he’d whimper or groan, flinching in clear pain. He was curled up in a ball and shaking and he was so fucking small. A human, he couldn’t have been any older than seven or eight maybe. Fuck.

“No, still alive,” Taako said, and it felt hard to speak. It felt hard to fucking breathe.

“Throw him out of the coach.”

“What?! No!” Taako finally managed to look away from the kid, his head snapping towards Sazed in shock. There was no way he heard that right. What the fuck was he thinking?

“He’s gonna die anyway! I’m not about to get caught with some fucking dead kid because of you,” Sazed snapped back and Taako felt himself shrink in on himself again. He was probably right. He was right. This was- this was his fault. Everyone was dying and it was all because he fucked up the elderberries and he should just listen to Sazed and get rid of this kid before he fucked up even more.

When he reached forward to pick up the kid just barely managed to flinch away from the touch.

God damn it.

He couldn’t do it.

“No, no okay, it’s okay. I can- I can fix it. I can do this,” he started mumbling, pulling open the cabinets next to him and just rifling through the food inside. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. His hands were shaking as he moved, but it wasn’t like he could screw up any more than he already had. Kid was gonna die at this rate anyway, at worse he’d just make it happen a little faster.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Sazed asked, actually bothered to look back at him now. Taako didn’t bother saying anything, trying to figure this out. Nightshade. What can help treat nightshade poisoning?

There was something, charcoal binds the poison. He transmuted a potato into some, and he was probably fucking up more but he couldn’t just do nothing. Water, he should try and flush the kid’s system. He didn’t need to transmute that, they had a bunch on the stage coach. There were other things to help with poisons too. He didn't care what kind of poison at this point, he was just throwing shit at the wall to see what stuck.

“Taako, I told you to get rid of the kid,” Sazed growled, speeding up the cart some more. He was probably going to run the horse dead into the ground at this rate. Whatever, just one more thing dying tonight.

“No, no listen. It’s not- he only ate it a little while ago, I can fix this,” he insisted. Sazed grumbled but didn’t argue with him, and Taako didn’t give a shit right now anyway.

He just needed to focus on doing something to help this kid.

He just needed to keep one person from dying tonight.

Notes:

new fic new fic. It's NaNoWriMo and this is what i'll be doing for the month. I've actually got a decent amount written, I just don't want to break out of my flow too much to go back and do the editing required for posting. i've gotten a lot done though and I'm excited, so I thought I'd at least get one chapter out.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~

Chapter 2: Alone and Awake (but not both at the same time)

Taako had figured that he wouldn’t actually be able to save the kid. It wasn’t because he wasn’t trying, but he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. He wasn’t a cleric or whatever, and for a while it didn’t seem like he was getting any better. All Taako could really do was throw every poison remedy he could think of at it, even if it wasn’t specifically for nightshade. Anything he could remember hearing secondhand, any tips from when he was out on the road.

At one point it seemed like he’d gotten worse. The kid didn’t seem conscious, or if he was he was too sick and in pain to actually say anything. Which wasn't that much better. The shaking had turned into what were nearly full out convulsions, and Taako wanted to get the poison out of him yeah but the amount of vomiting that started happening seemed real fucking unhealthy. Sazed wouldn’t pull over the coach when he asked, just insisting that they had to keep going. Taako had to hold the kid with his head over the back of the cart so he wouldn’t fall out as he emptied his stomach instead. His glasses had almost fallen off and onto the road then, but he managed to snatch them up and put them on the counter.

Taako had stopped crying at that point. That was a relief at least, he didn’t need the distraction. He could just focus on trying to keep this one person alive and try and block out how so many other people from the show had to be in similar or worse states right now. He wondered how many had died at this point.

Whatever. Not his problem right now. He had no fucking idea how long it’d been, but Sazed hadn’t stopped the cart yet and it felt like it’d been over a day. They’d slowed, because the horse could only take so much and it seemed like Sazed at least realized that if that went they were screwed.

The kid was still alive, although sometimes it seemed like it was just barely.

There was one point, where his heart stopped for a moment. Longer than a moment, way too fucking long. Taako felt himself panicking, heard Sazed grumbling distantly about how he didn’t know what Taako expected. Without thinking he’d cast the lowest shocking grasp he could manage on the kid, which thankfully was pretty weak. He wasn’t trying to hurt him any more than he already had, but it managed to get his heart beating again.

Taako wasn’t sure where he’d learned that trick. Probably out on the road somewhere, but he couldn’t remember where. He guessed it didn’t really matter. It managed to keep the kid alive and that was the only goal he had right now.

He wasn’t sure why he was so determined to save him. He just didn’t want this whole thing to be a complete fuck up. He wanted to fix something here.

It was two days at least before Sazed finally stopped the stagecoach longer than the bare minimum the horse needed to keep going. They were out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere as far as Taako could tell. That was probably a good thing, people had to be looking for him by now after what happened. Fuck, he needed to lay low. He’d be fucking killed if anyone ever found him, which he probably deserved but also fuck that.

“You should get some sleep. You’ve been watching after that brat for two days now,” Sazed said, and it was the first time he’s spoken to Taako in a way that didn’t sound completely pissed or disgusted since they started running. He was right too, he hadn’t slept since they left Glamour Springs. His excuse was that someone needed to watch the kid, but he also didn’t think he would’ve been able to.

“Yeah, I uh, I’ll just meditate real quick so you can get some sleep too. You’ve been driving all this time. Watch the kid for me? You don’t gotta like, do anything, just wake me up if he starts dying,” Taako said, and he had to put so much energy into forming complete thoughts. He really was exhausted. At least that should make the whole resting thing a bit easier.

“Sure thing,” Sazed said, and honestly Taako would rather watch the kid himself, Sazed still didn’t seem convinced he was going to make it. Neither was Taako, but he was at least invested in trying. He’d seemed mostly stable for the past half a day or so though. He could go the hour that he was gonna meditate for.

Folding his legs up underneath him, it took a bit before Taako was able to fall into a trance. He didn’t meditate often, sleeping always felt more comfortable. When he was meditating it was usually because shit wasn’t safe enough for sleep, which didn’t help the process. Still, after a while his mind managed to slip into a blank state. He was a bit thankful for that, thinking wasn't too wanted right now.

When he came to again Taako instantly knew he’d been out of it for longer than an hour like he’d hoped. He wasn’t a super good judge of time, but he’d say it was closer to three hours instead of one. Which was closer to actually having nearly decent rest, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

Jolting up, Taako breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed the kid was still breathing, curled up on the bed where Taako left him. He didn’t seem any worse for wear from when Taako had started meditating, but Sazed had said he’d wake him if anything happened.

Sazed had…

Taako frowned, looking around the empty stagecoach back. It was just him and the sleeping kid though. Peaking forward, Taako didn’t see him sitting up at the driver’s seat like he normally was either. He also didn’t see the horse hooked to the front of the cart. Maybe he unhooked it and tied it up to a tree so that it could get some rest?

“Sazed?” he called out, looking around for some sign of where he might’ve gone. Several other things came to his attention one by one. A couple of cabinets were open and looked cleaned out of supplies. Most of Sazed’s personal belongings were missing. Getting up, Taako walked over to the locked drawer where the money was kept, starting to have an idea of what was going on.

It was almost entirely empty. There was maybe enough left in coppers and silvers to last him a month, if he lived like he did back when he was traveling with caravans and shit as a kid. He still had a pouch of personal spending money on him, which would help some, but last time he checked there was probably less than 100 gold in there. It wasn’t safe to carry a lot of money on your person if you could help it after all.

“Sazed?” Taako called again, poking his head out of the back of the stagecoach and hoping despite himself that there would be some sort of answer.

There wasn’t one of course. He was alone.

He couldn’t blame Sazed one bit.

—

When Angus was conscious enough to think, he was pretty sure he was dying.

That didn’t happen much though, being conscious that was. He had no idea how long he spent like that. At one point he thought he woke up enough to throw up, and remembered someone holding him and the sight of the ground moving fast below, but he couldn’t be sure. It was hard telling the difference between real things and dreams. Everything felt wrong. He couldn’t tell if the fleeting moments where he was almost awake were increasing or decreasing. He didn't know which option was better.

He just knew he was scared, and everything hurt, and he wanted to go home.

He had no idea how long it had been when he actually woke up. Not a hazy maybe-dream awake, but really awake. He hadn’t opened his eyes, but he could think. Sorta. His head was fuzzy. So was his mouth, and everything else actually. He was grounded enough to tell it was real though, and that was something that hadn’t happened for what was probably a long time. Felt like a long time. Felt like forever.

It took a few moments before he could manage to open his eyes. He didn’t recognize the ceiling he was staring up at. He didn’t have any idea where he was or how he’d got there, his brain was still too jumbled.

The ceiling was curved though, like he was in some sort of caravan cart, and it was pretty dark. Maybe it was night?

There was a stabbing pain in his stomach, and Angus whimpered and curled in on himself more. He’d thought those were real, but he’d been hoping all the pain was just a dream.

“Yeah, I know it fuckin sucks kid,” a voice said, sounding absent and like it was talking more to itself than to him. It still surprised Angus quite a bit. He hadn’t realize he wasn’t alone. He felt something cold and wet get placed on his head. A rag? Was he sick? He certainly felt sick. When the shooting pain died down some he tried to push himself up to see what was going on.

“Wait, shit fuck you’re actually awake? Hey, shit hey now, stay down don’t move you’re still real messed up,” the voice said, and Angus didn’t try to fight the hands carefully pushing him back down. He was still much too exhausted and hurt to. He did manage to look over to see just who it was that was with him though.

There was an elf. He looked familiar, but Angus’s mind was still too hazy to place where he’d seen him before. When he opened his mouth to ask who he was or what was going on or something all that came out was a horsed cough.

“Oh, fuck okay maybe sitting up would be a good idea. Here let me, uh, damn it how do human kids work?” the elf grumbled before helping Angus sit up against one of the walls. He could see that he was in a bed now, and probably inside of some sort of caravan car or coach or something. He couldn't focus enough to make out any real details. “Uh, can you drink?” the elf asked, pulling out a glass of water and holding it out for him. Angus didn’t try to speak again, instead taking the glass from him with shaky hands, slowly sipping tiny bits. His mouth was so dry, but his stomach felt all tangled up in knots and he didn’t want to shock it or something.

“What happened?” Angus finally managed to ask after after maybe ten or so minutes of sitting there sipping his water. He hadn’t even finished half of the glass yet, but it was something. He felt dizzy. The elf just kind of hovered around the entire time, looking like he had no idea what to do.

“Uh, you kinda, ate a thing. That people shouldn’t eat if they wanna keep doing the living thing. You’re still alive though, and being up and shit probably means you’re gonna stay that way,” he said. Angus nodded slowly, and he realized he was squinting because he wasn’t wearing his glasses.

“Where are my glasses?” he asked, and it hurt his throat to speak. The elf jumped up some, quickly looking around before grabbing them off of a counter where Angus hadn’t noticed them.

“Right, here ya go kid. Uh, didn’t think they’d be comfortable to wear when you were lying down,” he said. Putting them on, he could see the elf clearer and he realized where he’d seen him before.

“You’re Taako,” he said, the memory of the fantastic cooking show coming back to him. That was, right, that was what he was doing before he got sick, right? Taako said he’d eaten something he shouldn’t have. The elf’s shoulders slumped some when he said him name, looking not too happy about him realizing who he was.

“Yeah that’s- That’s me alright. You were at the show, weren’t you? In Glamour Springs,” he asked, and Angus nodded. He remembered getting the food, and it was so good, but then he’d started to feel not so good.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, wishing he could think clearer. He was really tired still. He took another slow sip of water. He couldn’t tell if it was helping or hurting, but his throat and mouth was so dry he probably needed it.

“You’re alive?” Taako said, and Angus wasn’t sure how reassuring of an answer that was. “I uh, I can get you back to Glamour Springs if you need. Or something, I don’t know,” he added, but Angus just shook his head. He didn’t need to go back to Glamour Springs. He was too out of it to think about whatever it was he needed to do anyway.

“Is it alright if I go to sleep for a bit more sir? I’m really tired,” he asked, his voice still scratchy despite the water. He still had some left, but Taako took the cup from him when he held it out, which was probably good. His hands were still shaking real bad and he was afraid he was going to drop the cup.

“Yeah, yeah not a fucking problem pumpkin. Get rest, don’t die, those are the only rules here,” he said. Angus nodded, slowly lowering himself back down as not to jolt himself too much with the movement.

He was out as soon as he closed his eyes.

Notes:

okay, so do not get used to such frequent updates from me, but i was impatient and this fic got such a good response so i figured why not put the second chapter out too. Gonna try and keep them a bit more spread out from here on out though, but still hopefully pretty consistent since I do have a nice backlog with the way things are going in nano.

Also fair warning, the stuff for the arsenic poisoning and recovery will probably not be completely scientifically accurate. I did do a bit of research, but most results were pretty much just 'You Are Going To Die Call Poison Control Now' so yeah, if there's any inaccuracies sorry but this is for fun and it's fantasy arsenic okay

As always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans Aren't Anywhere Close To Existing Yet

Taako had no fucking clue what to do when the kid actually woke up. That was a good thing though, right? Not that he didn’t know what he was doing, but the whole waking up thing. It meant he was gonna live, or something. Hopefully. He managed to sit up and talk some and drink on his own, and it’d only been for about fifteen minutes before he went and fell back to sleep, but that had to be an improvement. Anything was an improvement from the hairline away from death he’d been at before.

The only issue now was the fact that this kid was probably (hopefully) going to live, and he didn’t know what to do. He had to of lived in Glamour Springs. Fuck, he hoped his parents hadn’t been at the show. Or at least not both of them, one would be manageable. Taako couldn’t actually remember the faces of anyone in the crowd, he couldn’t say for sure if it looked like the kid had been with anyone. He’d barely ever payed attention to the crowds besides their praise. Even if the kid wasn’t though and had come on his own, Taako couldn’t go back there. He’d be arrested and killed.

He couldn’t leave the kid only half alive on the side of the road though either. He was an asshole yeah but he wasn’t a fucking monster. Or at least, he wasn’t one intentionally.

Maybe he could take the kid to the edge of town or something. Close enough that he could get back on his own, far enough away that Taako could slip off again before anyone saw him. There might be actual doctors and clerics in the town who could get him back up to full health or whatever. He could ask him when he woke up. It was a small town but they had to have something.

Yeah, okay. That was the plan. He was gonna get the kid back as far as he could, and then he was going to…

Fucking.

Something.

He didn’t know what. His life was goddamn ruined. There had to be people after him by now. Sazed might’ve gone to a town and told them the location of the cart and they could be coming at this very moment. He wouldn’t blame him if he did, although it would really suck for Taako.

Whatever, he just had to wait for the kid to wake up again and then he could get moving. He wasn’t sure which way was back to Glamour springs, but he could figure it out. Probably. He had maps. Sazed had always been the one to read them and plan their routes, but it couldn’t be that hard. Taako had always had a terrible sense of direction though. For someone who traveled so much as a kid he didn’t know where fucking anything was. The names and places from when he was little were all blurred together, he couldn't remember shit.

“Sir?” Taako nearly jumped out of his skin at the quiet voice. He hadn’t noticed the kid had woken up again. He still looked pretty bad off, but he had sat up on his own this time, since yeah, Taako hadn’t realized him being awake was a thing. It’d been like eight or so hours since he’s fallen back to sleep, although Taako wasn’t sure if that was a long or short time for a kid right now.

“Hey there pumpkin, how you feeling?” he asked, pouring some water for him. Water was important for this, even Taako could figure that one out. Stay hydrated, flush the system, all that good stuff.

“Still not very good. Dizzy,” he said, and Taako just nodded as he handed him the glass. He didn’t have any idea how to fix that. He didn’t have a clue what he was doing at all actually, but somehow something had worked. Something worked and he was alive and Taako wasn’t going to think about that too much or else he’d probably jinx it.

“That should go away soon,” he said, not sure at all if that was actually true. “What’s your name kid?” Taako asked after a moment. It didn’t matter much since he wasn’t going to stick around with him for a lot longer, but maybe if he was nice the kid wouldn’t turn him over to the police as soon as they got close to a town.

“Angus McDonald,” he answered, voice scratchy. “And you’re Taako, from the cooking show,” he added. Taako had been hoping that maybe he wouldn’t recognize him, but that was dumb. Everyone recognized Taako, he was one of a kind.

“Yeah, that’s me alright. Hey, Listen Ango, we’re pretty far away from Glamour springs. I can get you back and like, to your family and shit, but I just need to ask you to um, maybe keep meeting me on the down low? Gotta uh, keep a low profile, for the press and all,” Taako tried.

“Oh, I don’t have family in Glamour Springs sir,” Angus said very matter-of-factly, and Taako blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even considered that. He didn't know why some kid would be in a rinky dink town like that unless he lived there.

“You don’t?” The kid shook his head, not seeming bothered by this at all and taking a sip of water before speaking again. His voice still sounded pretty fucking shitty, and he should get him to drink a lot more. That’d be easier now that he could actually stand to be awake.

“Oh no sir. I was just passing through with a caravan. I lost them though, and then I saw your show and now I’m here,” he explained. He sounded a little confused about that, like he couldn’t quite piece together what had happened yet. Still that certainly changed things. Taako couldn’t help but breath a sigh of relief at the idea of not having to go back to Glamour Springs.

“Okay, cool cool, that’s fine kid. So uh, where were you passing through to?” he asked. He would repay this kid for nearly killing him and get further away from here all in one go. Plus, he had no fucking idea where to go and any sort of direction right now would be appreciated.

“Um, nowhere I can remember. Didn’t have any particular destination in mind. I think the caravan I was with was heading to Goldcliff eventually?” Angus said, and Taako wasn’t liking the sound of this. The easy relief was starting to fade something fierce.

“Right, Goldcliff, not sure if I’ve been there before or not,” he could never keep the names of places straight. Memory wasn’t his strong suit. “Whatcha traveling with caravans for? Your parents in one? You look like you’re like, five,” he asked. Please, fuck, let this kid have parents he could find and shove him back to.

“No, I was living with my grandpa, but he died. Also I’m eight,” he said.

God fucking damn it.

“Yeah, no we’ve all been there,” Taako mumbled. Okay, change of plans. He needed to find a town, any fucking town, and drop this kid off somewhere relatively safe. Another caravan or something. Taako knew from experience that those definitely weren’t relatively safe a lot of the times, but they were better than being on your own.

“Um, sir?” the kid asked.

“Hmm?” Taako hummed absently, trying to think of where the nearest town was. Besides Glamour Springs that was. He still wasn’t sure which way Sazed had taken their cart. They could be anywhere.

“I’m hungry,” Angus said, and shit yeah. Taako had mostly been trying to fucking empty his stomach to get the poison out, kid had to be starved.

“Right, might wanna take it easy because you’re still pretty weak and shit, but food is a good idea,” he said, standing up and walking over to the stove. What was good for being sick? Did poison even go by regular sickness rules? Whatever, soup was probably a good catch all. Something easy to go down and with lots of proteins and vegetables to get his strength and energy back up.

Grabbing a pot out from a cabinet, Taako found his hands shaking when he placed it down on the stove.

The kid still looked a wreck. His skin had an ashen appearance, despite its natural darkness, and his hands were shaking ever so slightly as he continued to hold and sip from the cup of water. He kept grabbed his stomach and flinched every so often at what had to be shocks of pain, although it was clear he was trying to hide that from Taako. He looked so fucking tired.

It was all his fault. If he fucked up again, he’d die. No way he could survive something like that again. Taako could try and taste the food like he was supposed to and go kill himself.

He couldn’t. Fuck, he couldn’t do this. Not yet. It was still to risky.

Quickly, he put the pot back into the cabinets before starting to route around for something else. He had to have something, anything, he loved to cook but he was also lazy as fuck sometimes.
Of course, usually then he’d just transmute something, but there was no fucking way he was gonna do that right now either.

After a minute he found a couple loaves of bread. He’d planned to do these fancy bread bowls at his next show, he’d forgotten about that. The kid needed something simple for his stomach anyway, this would work.

“Here, eat this I guess? Take it slow and shit,” he said, handing Angus one of the loaves of bread. He nodded, pulling off little bits of bread and carefully eating them.

It was quiet in the cart after that, and Taako left the kid to eat so he could go look at the map. He could find Glamour Springs easily enough, and after some searching he managed to get Goldcliff too. It seemed like a pretty decent distance away, but he still had no idea exactly where they were. He’d have to find a road and go along that until he got to a town for some sorta marker.

There probably wasn’t one too far. Sazed would’ve had to go somewhere. He’d taken the horse though, so distance wouldn’t have been as much of an issue for him. Whatever though, he’d find someplace.

Taako didn’t know where he was going, but he guessed right now it didn’t matter as long as he just went.

—

Angus sat quietly as he ate the bread Taako had given him. He still felt dizzy and sick, but the hunger had overwhelmed that enough that he could eat. The elf had seemed kind of distracted, and he guessed that was fair. He could think a bit clearer now that he was more awake, despite how awful he still felt.

He’d been poisoned, that’s what he’d managed to gather at least. Poison or an extremely bad allergic reaction, but he didn’t have any of those that he knew of.

He still didn’t know enough of what had happened to figure out how though. It had to of been the food, but if Taako had been trying to kill a bunch of people it didn’t make sense why he was still alive. Why he would save him.

Angus managed to finish about half of the bread before he started feeling nauseous again and the stabs of pain in his abdomen became too much. He stopped eating at that, putting the half of bread back down on the little side table by the bed. He’d been so hungry and he’d barely ate anything, but Taako had said to take it easy.

“Um, sir?” he asked, catching the cook’s attention again.

“What’s cracking bubula?” he asked back, not looking over at him from where he was leaning over some paper Angus couldn’t see.

“How long has it been?” he asked. He felt like he’d been sleeping forever, but that probably wasn’t quite accurate.

“Since the show? Uh, like three or four days give or take,” Taako said, and he genuinely didn’t seem to know the exact answer.

“Oh okay, thank you,” Angus said. He was getting real tired again. His stomach didn’t seem too happy with the food, but he needed to eat to keep his strength up.

Taking one last sip of water, Angus put the cup next to the remains of the bread before shifting so that he was lying back down again. If he moved too fast the sharp pains would go off in his stomach even more, and he was trying to avoid that as much as possible. Despite the nausea and the dizziness he managed to fall back to sleep after not too long.

When he woke up this time it was brighter, and pushing himself up to look around he would guess it was about the middle of the day. He didn’t see Mr. Taako anywhere immediately around in the cart though.

He was really thirsty again. The cup of water was still where he left it on the bedside table and Angus took a few slow drinks of it. The half of bread he hadn’t eaten was still there too, and Angus nibbled some at the other end that hadn’t gone too stale yet. Food and water were important.

He wondered where Taako had gone. Of course, he couldn’t see too much from where he was set up. The bed he was in was holed up in the corner, looking like it was put to be as out of the way as possible. Maybe he should get up and look some? He still didn’t feel very up to moving though. He didn't know if he even could get himself to his feet.

Before he could decide what to do he heard movement outside, and then after another moment Taako was climbing into the back of the cart. He seemed surprised to see Angus awake, although he seemed surprised pretty much every time so far. That wasn’t a lot of times though.

“Hey, look at you all awake and shit, how you feeling today?” Taako asked, and he seemed a bit less unsettled and shaky compared to the last few times Angus had seen him.

“A little bit better, my stomach still hurts but I don’t feel as dizzy,” Angus told him, which was most of the truth. Taako nodded, seeming satisfied with that answer.

“Cool, you’re probably pretty clear of the whole dying thing at this point then, like, if you were gonna die you should’ve by now,” Taako said.

“Uhuh, I guess so,” Angus said uncertainly. He didn’t like the idea that he came so close to dying. He was feeling better though, for some degree of better. Taako didn’t seem worried about the idea anymore, so he was probably find now.

“Need more water? Should stay hydrated just in case,” Taako asked, and Angus nodded, holding the glass out for him to take. “So uh, I was out looking around. We’re pretty off the beaten path right now, but I think I found the way to get to the nearest town. Can head over there once you’re feeling good enough to move and like, I don’t know, this is a work in progress,” he spoke as he filled up the glass of water and gave it back to Angus.

It wasn’t a very full plan, but Angus hadn’t had one of those since his grandpa died and he left on his own. He didn’t see why that should change much now.

“That sounds good sir,” he said after taking another sip of water. He couldn’t tell if the water was helping or if he was getting better enough that his mouth was a bit less dry. Maybe a bit of both.

“Right, so just uh, rest up for now. Should try to get moving in the next couple of days,” Taako said.

“We can leave whenever you’d like to sir. I’m well enough to ride in a cart,” Angus told him, not wanting to be a bother. It would probably make his stomach a bit more upset to be moved like that, but he could handle it.

“Yeah, no sorry but that ain’t happening. Not that I don’t think you could or anything, but uh, don’t got anything to pull the cart, and I’m sure as fuck not getting out there and doing it. These hands don’t do manual labor, let alone pull a whole fucking stagecoach all the way from the middle of goddamn nowhere to whatever passes off as civilization around here,” Taako told him. Leaning forward, Angus looked to see the front of the cart and yeah, where a horse or oxen would usually be tied up there was nothing.

“Oh, I’m sorry sir. I’ll try and get better fast so that you’re not stuck here,” he apologized. He wondered what happened to the horse. He remembered there being one when he watched the show.

“What? No uh, not a worry there. Don’t got anyplace to be um, anymore. So no rush,” Taako told him, and Angus couldn’t help but relax a bit at that. He didn’t want to be a burden. He wasn’t sure how this had happened, but Taako had clearly been trying and succeeded in saving his life, so he didn’t want to inconvenience him too much. As soon as he felt well enough to think clearly he could piece it out, he was sure.

“Thank you sir,” he said. Taako nodded, looking a little uncomfortable again.

“Yeah alright sure,” he said quickly. “I mean, don’t go taking forever because I do got shit to do, but ya know, no worries,” he added. Angus smiled and nodded, glad to still have time to rest.

“Of course sir,” he said. He probably shouldn’t trust Taako yet. It was entirely possible that he’d been the one who poisoned him in the first place, especially since it was most likely his food that had caused all of this.

But he saved him, and it really, really didn’t seem like he’d done anything bad on purpose. There was still an unease to him that made it seem like he wasn’t dealing very well with all of this, like he hadn’t meant for whatever happened to have happened.

He seemed like a good person, and Angus felt like he had a pretty good judge of character.

Notes:

I managed to wait longer than like a day this time, yay for the bare minimum of restraint. Thanks for the positive feedback on this fic so far, I'm glad people seem excited thus far. Hopefully I can keep that up. Taako's trying real hard, but he's got negative idea of what he's doing. Angus would know what he's doing, but he's got negative energy to try.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4: A Lot of Going Nowhere Fast

The kid seemed to be getting better every time he woke up. For a value of better at least. He still couldn’t eat much, but that wasn’t surprising given the circumstances. He’d stay awake for longer and talk more and his voice was starting to sound less horrible.

He was still sleeping a whole fucking lot, but humans tended to sleep a lot to begin with anyway he supposed. He was still doing more than regular healthy humans would, but Taako figured it wasn't by too much. There were a few times when he was awake where he managed to get up and move around some himself, although he seemed pretty exhausted afterwards.

There was one time though, Taako had left the cart for a couple hours. Ya know, to get some time alone to himself and maybe freak out about having no idea what he was doing anymore where no one could see him. When he came back he found Angus out of bed, passed out on the ground by the sink. Taako had no fucking idea how long he’d been there for and maybe freaked out a little while he picked up the kid and put him back in bed. He was out cold but he was still shaking so fucking bad. Taako pretended he didn’t spend the next four hours waiting by the bed until he finally woke up.

When he did wake up, he insisted he was fine, just got a little dizzy when he went to get some water was all. Still, after that Taako made it a point not to go as far away from the stagecoach for quite so long. He’d already put so much effort into keeping the kid alive, he guessed there was no point in stopping now.

After another two days though, Angus seemed to be past the worst of it, at least as far as Taako could tell. His hands still shook sometimes and he was tired pretty much constantly and couldn’t eat much, but dying didn’t seem like it was in the forecast anymore. Or at least not in the immediate forecast. He still wasn’t exactly in the position to get up and walk to another town, but Taako couldn’t stand the idea of sticking around much longer.

He was never used to staying in one place to begin with, and now he had no idea how long it’d be until someone found him. He was still too close to Glamour Springs, he had to fucking leave before that happened. Plus, they were gonna start running low on supplies and shit soon anyway, they couldn’t stay here anymore.

“Good morning sir,” Angus said when he came into the back of the stage coach. Taako had been walking around the end of the perimeter of the little area they were tucked away in, making sure no one had gotten close during the night. The kid looked like he’d only woken up a little bit ago, and Taako wondered if it was because of the way he kept coming in and out. It was probably making noise, but it didn’t matter. They needed to get a move on anyway.

“It certainly is a morning. How you feeling today bubula?” he asked, sitting down in front of the small dresser he had and started sorting through his clothes. He could only take a couple. How many exactly though? He had to have room in his bag for other things after all, food and supplies and shit. Three outfits, plus what he was wearing right now. That could work.

“Better, I think. The stomach pains seem to be gone for the most part. Or not gone but they're not as bad. I’m actually pretty hungry,” Angus said, and Taako nodded, pausing in his attempt to decide which of two shirts to bring and which to leave to answer the kid.

“Yeah, that’s probably good. Should have some fruit left in that pantry over there if you wanna grab some,” he said, not bothering to get up to get it for him. Kid needed to build up his strength again some anyway, or something. Taako was alright with him getting up and moving around if he was around to make sure he didn’t push himself or shit.

Now let's see, should he bring cooking supplies? Obviously he needed to bring whatever food they had left, but what about his pots and pans and shit? He could tie them onto the outside of the bag, at least his favorite ones. They’d be a pain to lug around but he didn’t want to just leave it all behind. It was his fucking life’s work.

Of course, he wasn’t going to cook again anytime soon. It might give him away too, if he was walking around looking like some traveling chef. Best to not risk it.

“What are you doing sir?” Angus asked in between bites of an apple or something, Taako wasn’t sure what he had in there. He never really specified the fruits he got, those were one of the things he transmuted the most.

“Packing, thinking we could get going to the next town today if you’re feeling all rested and shit,” Taako said.

“Oh, um yes I think I can manage that, do you know how far the next town is?” he asked and Taako shrugged.

“Not a clue my dude, but setting up camp is always an option if we gotta stop,” he said.

“Right, that makes sense. Do uh, should I pack up too? I don’t really have anything. I had some things on the other caravan I was traveling with, but I guess they took them when they left without me,” Angus said, sounding noticeably disappointed at the loss of whatever was on that caravan.

“First rule of traveling on your own kid, never leave your shit alone. If it ain’t something you can carry on your person, then you don’t need it, and if it is something you can carry, don’t ever leave it,” Taako told him. He had lost quite a few things when he was younger that way, but he learned. You just couldn’t trust people. This kid was lucky to get some sage advice instead of having to learn from repeated mistakes.

“That’s probably a good idea. It wasn’t anything too important, just a bit of clothes and a few books. I guess I can always buy more if I can get some money,” he said. Taako was pretty sure he managed to pick the clothes he wanted. He closed the dresser before he could change his mind. If he didn’t he’d never leave.

“Yeah, that kinda shit is pretty replaceable. Uh, if you’re feeling up to it, you can maybe pack up some food and shit in a bag? Whatever you can carry without being too shaky,” Taako said. He didn’t want the kid to try to push himself, better he carry something light and be able to move farther than burdening himself up and only being able to walk like five steps before collapsing.

Taako packed up a bit of survival shit in his back while Angus finished off his miscellaneous fruit. He kept things for a campfire and junk in case of emergencies, out of habit. Never knew when your life was going to go to shit and you’d be on the run.

Somehow, he guessed he saw this coming in a way. Yeah, he knew it’d been way too fucking good to last.

“I’ve got some food packed away like you asked me to sir,” Angus said. Taako came over and looked into the bag he had, there was the rest of the fruit he had in that cabinet, as well as what remained of the bread and some dried jerky and berries and junk. Enough to last them until they got to town probably. It better at least, because they didn't have any other options. It looked kind of heavy, so Taako grabbed most of the fruit and put it in his bag before handing it back to Angus.

“Okay, think we’re ready to get this show on the road,” Taako said, rolling up a blanket and pillow from his bed before stepping outside. He had to help Angus down, because the kid looked like he was gonna fall on his ass if he didn’t.

“Thank you,” Angus said when he placed him on the ground, but Taako ignored that.

“Mhmm, okay take a step back from the cart for me will you?” he asked, taking a few steps back himself.

Angus didn’t seem too confused by the request, nodding and walking the distance away from the cart with Taako. Once Taako was pretty sure they were far enough away he sent several fire bolts at the stagecoach. He didn’t know a lot of offensive magic, but it was always good to know at least a couple cantrips in case you ever got into a pinch.

“Oh gosh, sir what are you doing?” Angus asked, alarmed at the action. Taako just shrugged, watching as the stagecoach started to go up in flames. It was a bit slower than he would’ve liked, but the wood was catching none the less.

“Ain’t gonna use it anymore, not a big deal,” he said, starting to walk in the direction he was pretty sure the road was in. Angus followed after him, continuing to look back at the slowly blazing flames.

“I suppose so,” he mumbled, sounding real disappointed or some reason. Taako had no idea why, it wasn’t like it had anything to do with him. It wasn’t his stagecoach. Taako was fine with it, and it was all his shit.

It was the only proof that he actually managed to do something with his life. Sure he was a fucking idiot but he managed to do this. He didn’t even know how but he got this stagecoach (from an anonymous loan, someone had seen something in him for some reason) or how he kept the show running for years (Sazed handled the routes and the finances and the merchandise, everything Taako was too dumb to do) but his audience loved him and his cooking (and he just fucking killed them he just killed so many people and he couldn’t cook anymore or it might happen again).

He guessed it was only a matter of time before his luck ran out and he drove it all into the ground.

Whatever, he was used to starting over.

—

Angus followed after Taako as they walked away from the stagecoach. His bag wasn’t too heavy, but he still felt like he wouldn’t be able to carry it for too long. Hopefully he could suck it up for a bit so that he didn’t have to bother Taako too much.

It was hard to tell, but the elf seemed upset. Or, he seemed like he was trying really hard not to be upset. Angus could understand why. He’d seemed happy doing the show, and now he couldn’t do it anymore. Something had gone horribly wrong and Angus intended to find out exactly what once he was feeling better.

Angus wasn’t sure how long they’d walked for, but it couldn’t have been very long at all. It felt like they’d barely left the burning coach behind them. He was already starting to feel dizzy though. The bag on his back felt so heavy, even though it’d only had a bit of bread and some jerky and berries in it since Taako had taken the fruit out. He knew he was still really sick, that his body was still recovering, but it was so frustrating.

He could go a bit further before he had to say anything. Maybe ten more minutes. His legs were starting to shake a little underneath him but it wasn’t too bad yet, he’d be alright.

“Kid? Hey Agnes, you dying back there?” Angus jolted somewhat the at the sudden voice. He’d almost forgotten he was walking with someone else somehow. He was tired.

“’M okay,” he mumbled, trying to take another couple of steps. He was staring at the ground to try and make sure he didn’t trip on anything, so he didn’t notice the elf had gotten closer to him until there was a hand on his shoulder stopping him from moving.

“Nah, enough of that. Sit down,” Taako said, and Angus reluctantly did as he was told. His head was spinning as he tried to catch his breath, feeling nauseous. “Damn it,” he heard Taako mumbling quietly. Angus's brain felt too stuffy and full of cotton to make out if he sounded annoyed or concerned.

“I’m sorry sir, I just- I only need a minute. We can start moving again soon, sorry,” he tried to apologize. He didn’t want to bother him or take too long. He didn’t want Taako to leave him behind if he was too much of a burden.

“What? No, you’re good, ain’t your fault,” Taako said, still not sounding too happy with this whole situation and Angus couldn’t blame him for that. He hated this and there was nothing he could do to fix it but wait and rest.

“I’ll be okay in a minute sir, I promise,” he insisted. Taako just sighed, and Angus could see him out of the corner of his eye, sitting down as well.

“Sure, whatever you say kiddo,” he said. Angus tried to take a few deep breaths, telling himself he’d count to ten and then he’d be good to move again. He got to ten though and he still didn’t feel like he could stand back up. Maybe ten more seconds and then he could go again. He found himself sort of counting to ten over and over again, using that to almost regulate his breathing.

He didn’t realize what had happened, but when he opened his eyes again it looked significantly later in the day. Taako was across from him, leaning against a tree with his hat pulled down over his face.

“Um, sir?” he asked, not sure if he was awake or not. After a moment one of his hands moved and lifted up the hat some.

“Hey there kid, could’ve sworn you died,” Taako said, and it sounded like he was joking. Maybe he wasn’t too upset with him for passing out like that.

“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” he said, but Taako waved away his concern.

“Eh, don’t got anywhere to be, no rush here,” he said, and Angus nodded. Even still, he pushed himself up to his feet because they should get moving again. They'd never make any progress if they kept going at this rate.

“I think I can walk for a bit longer now if you want to move again,” Angus said, and Taako stood up from where he’d been sitting, stretching his arms up lazily above him. It all seemed a little bit too exaggerated to be genuine.

“Yeah sure, sounds like a plan,” he said, starting to walk without any sort of fanfare. He quickly passes Angus, and he had to follow after him again.

He wasn’t feeling quite as horrible as they walked this time, although he still felt like he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere near as far as he would have liked. His mouth was dry and after a few minutes he figured he should do something about that.

“Um, do you have any water?” he asked, and Taako nodded, flipping his bag over his shoulder and pulling out a small canteen.

“Right, you need to keep drinking and junk, hydration and all that good stuff,” he said, handing him the water. Angus sipped it every so often as they walked, trying to make sure it would last. It did seem to be helping some, it took quite a bit longer for him to start feeling too horribly dizzy this time compared to the last.

Even still, he felt like he had to stop much too early. “I’m sorry I can’t move faster, I guess I’m still too sick,” he said once they’d sat down. Taako was absently moving around, setting up a small camp for them to rest for the night. Angus would offer to help, but Taako had insisted he rested. Plus, the elf was moving around like this was second nature to him. Angus guessed he used to camp a lot or something.

“It’s cool bubula, no stress. Cha boy don’t got anywhere to go anyway,” Taako said casually, starting a fire. After a moment Angus nodded.

“Yeah, me neither.”

Notes:

I reached the 50k word goal for nano today! So I thought I'd update to celebrate that. The 50k isn't entirely this fic, but still a good chunk for sure. I'm planning on continuing throughout the rest of the month to see just how far i can get, hopefully up to 100k because why the fuck not.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5: Any Progress is Slow Progress

It ended up taking a couple of days to get to the next town, longer than he would’ve liked but eh. Taako couldn't say he was surprised after that first day, with the way Angus had to keep stopping and resting. It felt like they didn’t get any progress done at all, and he had to keep an eye on the kid. If he didn’t then Angus wouldn’t say anything until he was just about passed out on his feet and even then some.

Like, Taako got it. Don’t wanna get left behind and shit, can’t seem like too much of a burden, but he wished the kid would cool it some. There were a few times where Taako had gotten distracted and forgot to watch out for how Angus was doing, and when he looked back finally he was like 100 yards away and slumped up panting against a tree. So then he’d have to double back and wait for him to gather up his strength again before they could start moving again, if they even could that day. Sometimes he was just too worn out and they'd have to start setting up camp for the night because there was no way anymore progress was gonna happen.

Taako hated the way he felt fucking responsible for this.

Well, he was responsible for it, but the constant reminders of how shitty it all was sucked.

All of the stopping and starting though made what should’ve been a day long trip at max take a little over three, and Taako couldn’t help but feel twitchy about it. Once he got to the town he could figure out some way to ditch the kid someplace safer, then he could really book it. He still had no idea where to go but somewhere far away, someplace big too. A busy place with lots of busy people, somewhere no one would notice one elf.

Relief washed over him when they finally started to see some buildings signaling the outskirts of a small town. He’d rather not show his face around people right now, but he also vastly preferred civilization over forests and camping. Plus, he could maybe find somewhere for the kid to stay, or at least a cleric or something that could get a good look at him and do some cheap healing. Angus seemed to perk up at the sight of the town, starting to push himself to walk a bit faster.

“Pumpkin, gotta let me know if you need a break,” Taako said when he started to slow again. He guessed he was trying to get the kid to tell him what he needed more. Taako didn’t fucking understand people, he couldn’t read shit unless it was obvious so the kid had to put in some work here too. Sure he was getting a little better, but it was clear that the poison had done a number on him. The fact that he kept fucking pushing himself couldn't be helping either.

“I’m fine sir, we can rest when we get to the town, right?” Angus said, and Taako sighed. He did want to get to the town already. Grab some cheap room at an inn and sleep inside for once before trying to figure out what the fuck he was doing.

“Yeah, alright,” he said, starting to walk again, staying slow so Angus could keep up without too much stress. After a bit though it became clear that he was super in need of a break again.

“No, no it’s fine sir, it’s only a little bit further now,” Angus insisted. Taako knew stubborn people, he was stubborn people, and this kid had turned out to be surprisingly strong willed as well. You'd think coming within an inch of death would make someone less insistent on shit. With a sigh, Taako walked over to where Angus was still trying to walk and picked the kid up. He wasn’t the strongest person in the world by a long shot, but the kid was small and had probably (definitely) lost quite a bit of weight since he got poisoned and shit.

“Don’t complain, we both want to get inside and it’s faster this way,” Taako said, feeling Angus nod more than seeing it from the way he was holding the kid. He seemed to relax in his arms after a moment, slumping against him. If he had to guess Taako figured the kid was half asleep after only a few steps. He fucking knew he needed a break, stubborn brat.

Thankfully, they weren’t far from the town at that point, because even with how light he was Taako definitely wouldn’t have been able to hold him for a super long time. He went straight towards the first shitty inn he saw, because rest in a safe place was the first order of business for sure. He could figure out where he was actually gonna leave the kid and what he was gonna do from here on out and all that after he got some fucking sleep.

“Hello, how may I help you?” the lady at the front desk said, whispering and Taako wasn’t sure why for a moment. Then he realized there was a kid sleeping on his shoulder and okay, that made sense. God, this whole situation was fucking weird. The sooner he got out of it the better.

“Yeah, uh, you got a room we could use for the night? Uh, two nights? Two nights sounds good,” Taako asked. He had no idea how long they were gonna stay here. Or well, how long he was gonna stay here. He didn’t know about Angus either but that wasn’t gonna be his problem for long hopefully.

“Yes, of course. For two nights that’ll be four gold all together,” she said, and Taako had to shift Angus around to get at his money pouch. At least this place was pretty cheap. It was still gold he should probably save, but he’d find a way to make some more sooner or later. Sure, cooking was out now but there were other things he could do. Or at least, other things he could pretend to know how to do until someone realized he couldn’t.

“Thank you, have a good day,” the receptionist lady said after Taako handed her the money, giving him the keys to one of the rooms and pointing him off in the right direction. As soon as he got inside Taako went and dumped the kid on the bed. Fuck his arms were tired, manual labor was not his shit and that included carrying children around like big old sacks of potatoes.

“Mmhhh,” Angus mumbled, not seeming fully awake but definitely knocked out of his sleep some from the movement. Taako sat down on the edge of the bed, kicking his shoes off before shifting the kid some so that he had a pillow under his head.

“Back to sleep Agnes, we’re at an inn,” he said before yawning himself. Angus made a vaguely annoyed sound before rolling over again and seeming to fall asleep again. Taako stretched before grabbing a pillow off of one of the chairs in the room. It seemed like it was supposed to be decorative more than anything else, but it’d do with Angus taking the one that came with the bed.

Lying down, Taako was surprised at how fast he managed to fall to sleep.

—

When Angus woke up the first thing he noticed was that he was in a bed. There was a moment where he thought he was back home, in his bed at his grandpa’s house and everything that had happened in the past few weeks had just been a particularly unpleasant dream. Then he opened his eyes and the room was unfamiliar and when he rolled onto his other side there was a weirdly familiar elf passed out on the other side of the bed. Right, he'd been traveling with Taako ever since he got sick, that made sense.

It took a second, but Angus remembered Taako picking him up to take him the rest of the way to town. He guessed they got there while he was asleep and now they were at an inn or something. There wasn’t any light coming in from the windows, so it must’ve been night. It’d been day when he fell asleep, at least he was pretty sure it was. He couldn't tell how long he'd been asleep though, but it didn't feel like it was enough. He would've gone right back to sleep, but his stomach was bothering at him to eat something.

Trying to make sure not to wake up Taako Angus slid off of the bed, walking over to where they’d dropped their bags on the way into the room. He didn’t dig through Taako’s or anything like that, just opening it to grab one of the few pieces of fruit out and the water canteen. They had pretty much no supplies left. They’d have to go shopping tomorrow, now that they were in a town.

Or well, Taako needed to go shopping. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He was lucky that Taako had decided to let him spend the night with him in the inn today, but he couldn’t be sure if he’d keep sharing his supplies and looking after him or anything like that. He didn’t have any obligation to after all, no more than anyone else he’d met on the road so far had.

He was still surprised that Taako had worked so hard and gone so out of his way to keep him alive. He probably just felt guilty because it was his food that had caused him to get sick in the first place.

Eating the fruit and drinking some water, Angus was starting to feel a bit more like a person again. When he ate he wasn’t getting the stabbing pains in his stomach all of the time anymore, only some of the time. He’d still get nauseous if he ate more than the bare minimum, but he was pretty sure that was improving too. He was probably almost completely rid of the poison. He hoped. His hands would still shake sometimes but he tried not to worry about that too much.

If nothing else, Taako would leave once he was sure Angus was well enough to take care of himself again. Or once Angus managed to convince him he was.

Going over to the window once he finished eating, he tried to guess what time it was by the night sky. It was pretty dark, the moon high up in the sky and no signs of anyone out and about, so solidly middle of the night. He should try and get back to sleep. Even if he was getting better, he still felt like he needed a lot of rest.

Angus found he couldn’t sleep though. He couldn’t stop thinking about what he was going to do once he was left on his own again. He’d had some money before, but he'd lost it all along with the rest of his things when that caravan left without him. Angus was starting to think that they hadn’t left him behind by accident anymore. They’d seemed well, not like nice people, but passable enough. The idea that they might’ve stolen from him wasn’t all that shocking though. It was kind of obvious actually, he'd been trying not to think about it before though.

Because of that though he had nothing and nowhere to go and he was tired and didn’t want to be left alone anymore. He liked Taako but he knew the elf wasn’t going to let him stick around forever. He was just watching after him because he felt bad for getting him sick and he’d hidden in his cart and couldn’t leave him dying out in the woods, but now they were safe and he could leave and Angus would be alone again and-

The more he thought about it the more upset he got. It was stupid, he knew it was stupid he kept trying not to but soon enough tears were starting to prick at the corners of his eyes and he was just so tired.

“Huh, what’s…? Oh, fuck, uh,” Taako was mumbling from the bed. Angus tried to quickly stop the tears and quiet little sobs that had begun working their way out of him but he couldn’t.

“Um, hey Ango?” Taako asked, getting up off of the bed and Angus wiped at his face to at least get some of the tears away, not that it helped much. Even if it did it wasn't like he hadn't seen him crying already.

“Sorry, it’s- It’s nothing. Didn’t mean to wake you up, sorry,” he said, taking a few breaths to try and steady himself. It seemed to slowly be working, his little hiccup sobs starting to lessen as his breath evened out.

“Eh, elves don’t need a lot of sleep, no skin off my bones homie,” Taako said casually. At least he wasn't making a big deal out of this. “Did you have like, some sorta bad dream? Or something? Fuck if I know what to do with a crying kid, sorry my dude,” he added and Angus shook his head.

“No, it wasn’t anything like that. You don’t have to do anything, you’ve already been so nice to me. Don’t worry about it,” he said, and when he glanced over at Taako he seemed to flinch the slightest bit at that.

“Niceness is relative,” he mumbled under his breath. “So uh, any particular reason for the crying at all then? Like, no pressure if it ain’t something you feel like sharing, I know how it is, but cha boy doesn’t give a shit if you feel like telling me either,” he said, speaking at a normal volume again. Angus took one last deep breath, wiping away what was left of his tears as he got himself back under control.

“It’s not really, um, it’s nothing you have to worry about. I just don’t know where I’m gonna go after this. I don’t have any money or anywhere to go and I guess I just uh, got a little overwhelmed as I thought about it,” he explained. Taako stared at him for a moment before sighing and walking back over to the bed.

“Yeah, that shit can be pretty daunting, traveling around like this isn’t always the best thing in the world,” he said and Angus quickly nodded in agreement.

“I don’t like being alone,” he said. Taako didn’t respond to that, and Angus figured he couldn’t blame him. There wasn't anything he could do to fix that after all, and it wasn't even his place to.

“Come on kid, it’s late as fuck and you’re still sick. Now is definitely not the time to be thinking of whatever bullshit you gotta deal with in the future. Get back to sleep,” Taako said after a long moment and Angus slowly nodded, picking himself back up off of the floor.

“Okay sir,” he said, coming over and crawling into the bed. It didn’t seem like Taako was going to lie down, so maybe he had gotten all of the sleep he needed before. He never seemed to sleep much when they were traveling so far after all.

It took a while, but Angus eventually managed to fall back to sleep. Taako was right, now wasn’t the time to think about the future.

Notes:

So i've been writing a whole lot of new oneshots and little short fics for taz this month and then i remembered, hey, you should probably actually update that fic you actually set out for nanowrimo. So here's another chapter! I remember why i used to have 8k word chapters on some of my old fics, my actual pacing in fics can be kiiiinda slow sometimes. Hopefully that should pick up soon with the next couple of chapters.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6: What You're Supposed To Do

Taako woke up with the kid still passed out this time, which was a relief. After last night he wasn’t sure what the fuck he was supposed to do. Angus had taken everything pretty casually up until that point. Which was maybe a little concerning since he was like eight or some shit and had nearly died and was on his own with a complete stranger. All of that should’ve had more of an impact on the kid, but whatever, it wasn’t Taako’s problem.

Right now, his problem was just figuring out what he was supposed to do.

They were in a town, so restocking and all that shit needed to happen. He couldn’t stay for too long though, he were still too close to Glamour Springs to risk it. One more night was the max Taako could be comfortable with. He also needed to find a healer, someone to take a proper look at Angus. It was a pretty dinky town, but hopefully there was someone. A good cleric would be the best thing, but he’d take whatever was cheap. He was alright on money for now, but in the near future he’d have to start trying to figure out some new way to make more.

There was just one thing he couldn’t figure out. He didn’t fucking know what to do, and honestly the whole crying thing last night was making him more and more unsure, as much as he fucking hated it.

What the fuck was he supposed to do with Angus?

He couldn’t leave him in this town. It was too small for him to hve a good chance of getting picked up anywhere, unless some random fucking family was really hankering for a new kid to add to the collection. Taako wasn’t gonna count on that though. He couldn’t leave the brat alone either, not after the whole ordeal from last night.

Or well, he could. There wasn’t anything stopping it, and it wasn’t like Taako had ever gave a shit about another person before. Angus would get over it, shit like that built much needed character. There wasn’t anybody out there who was gonna coddle you or watch your back on the road, that was a fact. Taako knew that and Angus needed to learn as well, if he was gonna have any chance of surviving out there.

But it was his fault that Angus was in this situation at all. If he hadn’t fucked up that damn transmutation so spectacularly, the kid probably would’ve charmed some other caravan and been halfway to Goldcliff by now. Taako could own this, this one was on him.

So at the very least, he needed to make some adjustments and plan to keep Angus around until they reached the next actually decent sized town. That wouldn’t be too hard. The kid was always making an effort to stay out of the way, which was a plus. He lucked out not getting stuck with some needy brat.

Still, he needed to get him to a healer, and maybe some new clothes or something. He only had the one set of clothes, and Taako had been there, okay. Not having at least one other outfit to change into made everything so much more awful.

So, one, maybe two outfits for the kid, get him to another town, and then ditch him.

Except the image of Angus crying last night about not knowing what to do and not wanting to be left alone came to him whenever Taako thought about ditching him. Taako knew it was only because he was feeling bad for nearly killing the kid, but damn it he still felt bad. He wasn't used to that shit.

But he didn't tend to fuck up so bad as to result in so much death, either.

Whatever, if he was lucky by the time they got to the next town Angus be over it and Taako could leave him in peace. That’s what he hoped would happen, anyway.

Once Angus woke up when Taako had started trying to scribble some notes to himself in his spellbook. Just little things he needed to try to remember, try and figure out how much money to could afford to spend, that kinda shit. He'd never been the one to keep those kinds of records before. He let Sazed deal with that stuff, because Taako could barely keep track of what was what most of the time. He couldn't do math for shit either. Sazed had been teaching him some, because not knowing had been starting to bother Taako, but he could only do basic shit. It was enough to at least try and figure out something of a budget though now. He didn’t acknowledge the kid as he sat up, chewing his lip as he tried to figure out how long he could afford to go without a steady income.

“Good morning sir,” Angus said, and Taako barely nodded, his eyes flashing up towards the bed before going back down to the book. It’d be best to figure out how much the shit they needed cost before trying to make a budget, or something instead of trying to guess the amount they'd have. He really wasn’t good at this.

“Morning pumpkin, what’s the status?” he asked. A part of him hoped he was magically all better and they could avoid going to a healer at all. He knew that wasn’t an option though, the kid was already downplaying his symptoms and shit.

“Okay. I think the rest really helped, I don’t feel too shaky today,” he said, and that was about what Taako expected. “Kinda hungry, actually,” Angus added, and that was good. He didn't ask for food often. Taako nodded, closing the book and figuring it was time to get this show on the road.

“Yeah, I’m pretty starved myself bubula, we can get something to eat after we get you to a healer,” Taako said, pushing himself up and out of the chair. Angus looked surprised at that, hesitating as he got out of bed.

“We don’t have to sir. I really am feeling better,” he insisted, and Taako shrugged, throwing his hat on.

“Cool, I’m pretty sure you should be dead though so it won’t hurt to get a lesser restoration or something done real quick,” he said. Angus didn’t argue after that, nodding and throwing his shoes on before following him.

Heading down to the front desk where he’d gotten the hotel room, Taako hoped the lady there wouldn’t question why they needed to see a healer. He tried not to look suspicious when she looked the two of them over, smiling at Angus partially hidden behind him.

“I’m sorry, we’re a real small town. There’s a church over in Hableton, it’s only a day’s ride away. People here tend to go to their clerics for anything we can’t fix ourselves,” she said, and Taako nodded. Made sense, he thought this place might’ve been a bit too small.

“Mhmm, and how would we get to Hableton?” he asked, and the lady got out a small map and showed them the road leading to a slightly larger town. Once he was pretty sure he had an idea of where to go he smiled and excused the two of them.

“Alright, change of plans then, we go get something to eat, get some new shit for the road, sleep and then head out tomorrow,” he said once they were outside. That seemed like a halfway decent plan. He could manage that on his own.

“Um,” Angus started, sounding pretty hesitant about whatever it is he wanted to say. Taako raised an eyebrow as he looked back at him, waiting for the kid to continue. “You really… don’t have to. I can go on my own if it’s too much effort,” he mumbled, and Taako sighed heavily. The last thing he wanted was for this kid to keep trying to give him an out.

“Cool, cool, but I ain’t got nowhere to be anyway. If you want you can fuck off after we get you to a cleric,” Taako said, starting down the street to some place where it looked like they could find something to eat. Angus followed after him, still kinda looking like he wanted to argue.

“I guess so,” he gave in. Taako nodded, telling himself again that this wasn’t a big deal. He was getting rid of any possible ‘I owe yous’ he could have towards the kid by getting him somewhere safe. Finding him some medical attention made up for the whole nearly killing thing. He didn’t like people having any ability to try to hold shit over his head.

Whatever, right now he was going to get them both some food and not think about any of this stuff.

If there was one thing Taako was good at, it was not thinking about stuff.

——

Angus was quiet as they walked through the town, trying not to argue with Taako about letting him stick around. The elf wanted to make sure he was alright physically after everything, and that made sense. He blamed himself for what happened, that was obvious as anything, so the fact that he’d want to make sure he got to a healer before leaving him tracked.

“Come on, there’s gotta be something that constitutes as a restaurant in this place,” Taako said as they continued to walk. Angus liked the sound of going to a place to eat despite himself. He was tired of eating the same dried food and bread and fruit all the time but he wasn’t sure if this was a good idea.

“Should we spend money on that? I mean, you can if you want, but I don’t have anything and I don’t want to make you pay,” he said. He also wasn’t too sure how well his stomach would agree with it, but Taako rolled his eyes at him.

“Um, I’m Taako? You know, from TV? Don’t even worry about the money, I’m not gonna make a literal toddler pay for shit, alright?” he said, and reluctantly Angus nodded.

“I’m not a toddler,” he mumbled after a moment regardless. Taako didn’t seem to care much, continuing to lead them both further into town. Everything was real spread out here, like maybe there were plans for the town to eventually get bigger.

After a while Taako caught sight of an old looking place, starting to head off in its direction. Angus trotted along after him, making sure to keep pace with the much taller elf. It wasn't a long enough distance for him to get out of breath or anything like that.

“The food is probably shit here but it’ll work,” Taako said, walking up to a worn down old tavern. Or at least, that’s what he was pretty sure it was, he’d never been in one before. He wasn’t sure if he was even allowed in one technically, but he was hungry enough to follow along if no one would point it out.

Heading inside, a man behind a bar glanced up from where he was leaning against the counter, reading a book. It did look very quiet in here, but Angus guessed they got most of their business at night. That was when adults seemed to like to drink the most after all. The man looked quickly at Taako to Angus, and back to Taako again, and it was pretty clear he was either debating saying something or trying to figure something out. Maybe both. After a moment though he seemed to let it go, standing up straighter to address them.

“Hello there strangers, something I can help you with?” he asked, and Taako quickly nodded and walked up to the bar. Angus followed close after him, and this place was empty so it wasn’t like he’d lose him, but he figured it’d be best to stick close.

“Absolutely my man. Me and the kid are passing through town and we’re famished, you don’t happen to serve breakfast at this joint, do you?” Taako asked, smiling brightly as he leaned onto the bar. He looked a little bit like he was putting on a show again, but not quite as extravagant. A little more subdued, but still a bit of the theatrical charm in his voice and movements. The barkeep seemed a little taken aback, but nodded after a moment.

“Yeah, we got breakfast. Not enough choices to constitute a whole menu for it, but can whip up some eggs and bacon if you want, and um, I can see if we maybe got stuff for pancakes for the kid?” he suggested. Taako’s smile widened the slightest bit more as he pulled back some from where he was leaning.

“Perfect, you’re a fucking lifesaver,” he said, and the barkeep nodded again.

“Not a problem. You two can take a seat wherever while I get it started. Anything to drink while you wait?” he asked.

“Coffee, please, and a glass of some water too? Uh, what do you want Ango?” Taako asked him.

“Um, could I have some apple juice?” Angus asked. It wasn’t his favorite, but he was tired of plain water and he wanted something with more flavor, but he figured he should also stick with something easy on his stomach. He wasn’t sure if pancakes counted as easy on the stomach, but they were too tempting to turn down.

“Coffee, water and apple juice, you got it,” the barkeep said before disappearing into the back. Once he was gone Taako walked over to one of the tables and Angus quickly followed after him, sitting down as well.

“Thank you again for buying food for me,” Angus said after a moment, but Taako waved his hand nonchalantly at him.

“Told you not to worry about it, alright kid? It’s my fault you’re in this position anyway,” he said, not seeming to think as he spoke. Angus didn’t say anything about it though, he already knew that whatever happened, Taako definitely blamed himself for it. He couldn’t fully tell if it was completely his fault or not though, at least not yet.

“It’s probably gonna be bland as shit anyway, nothing to get too excited about. That should be good for your stomach anyway I guess?” Taako added, and Angus chuckled a bit. This seemed like a nice place to him, if not super fancy or anything like that. Definitely a different vibe than the one Taako’s cooking show had given though.

“You could make the food better?” he asked, and Taako was instantly nodding.

“Oh you better fucking believe. I doubt they got any seasonings in here besides salt and pepper, and I'd bet they don't even know how to use those. Honestly, it’s a crying shame, but whatcha gonna do?” he said, sounding rather proud when he talked about his cooking.

“We could buy some ingredients and you could cook instead,” Angus suggested. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be well received, but the way the smile instantly dropped from Taako’s face was still disappointing.

“Yeah, how about we don’t do that,” he mumbled, and Angus felt bad for suggesting it. He hadn’t seen Taako cook at all since the show, but it was his job, so maybe it was something he didn’t particularly like to do on his free time if he didn’t have to. That didn’t seem like the case with how much he seemed to enjoy himself on the stage and the way he talked about cooking.

Before either of them could say anything else the barkeep came back out to the main room of the tavern, a little tray of glasses in one hand and their food in another. He put them down at their table, the coffee and water in front of Taako and the apple juice in front of Angus.

“Here you two are, hope you enjoy,” he said as he placed the plates down as well.

“Thank you sir,” Angus said, Taako making a quick noise of agreement. The server nodded before heading back to behind the bar, leaving the two to eat. Slowly Angus starting to pick at the pancake, trying not to overwhelm his stomach too much. It really wasn’t all that good, like Taako had guessed. He was too hungry for it to care though, and the syrup was sweet enough to mask most of the burned taste anyway.

Besides, even if the food wasn’t that well cooked, it was still the best meal he’d had since the food Taako had cooked that night. It was the first real meal he’d had at all since then, and even after going so long, this food still paled in comparison to his memory of how Taako’s dish had tasted.

It was weird how something that had nearly killed him had managed to taste so good.

Notes:

This chapter required a lot of reworking and ended up getting split into two. I do hope that I can start picking up the pace soon after this, get things rolling and really on the move, but for now Taako and Angus are both real awkward and don't know what they're even supposed to be doing.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 7: Starting The Day By Day

Taako was quiet as they ate, and he tried to ignore the uneasy feeling of having an actual meal after so long. It wasn’t like he was worried about the food, since it wasn’t even like he made it. It was just a little weird was all. He was ignoring it, but it was still there in the back of his head.

Once they finished their food (or mostly finished. Taako ate all his but Angus had barely picked at the pancakes. He kept insisting he wasn’t that hungry) Taako went up to the barkeep, smiling and putting on a friendly show as he paid him for the meal. It was as cheap as it was bland, which was definitely an upside.

“Hey, y’all got a supply store in this town? Someplace where we can refuel our shit before hitting the road again? Maybe get some new clothes for the boy?” he asked, trying to sound casual. Doing the show was always a small level of exhausting, putting out so much energy between the act and using up spell slots. This was on a much smaller scale performance, but somehow it felt so much more draining. The barkeep didn’t seem to notice any though, nodding.

“Yeah, there’s a general store down the way here, three building’s down, can’t miss it. As for clothes, there’s a thrift shop if you go down the opposite way, turn right and it should be on your left,” he said and Taako nodded gratefully.

“Thanks again my dude,” he said before starting out of the tavern. Angus followed after him, and without even looking down Taako could tell that the kid was staring at him.

“Sir, you don’t have to buy me clothes, the things I have now are fine,” he insisted, and Taako figured he’d try and argue. He’d been hoping he wouldn’t because it went and drew more attention to the fact that he was doing these things.

“Kid, you need some new clothes. How long have you been wearing those?” he asked. Angus shrugged, not seeming too bothered by the idea that he’d been in the same clothes for however long it’d been.

“Um, the other clothes I had went missing with the rest of my stuff, I think that was two days before your show? And then since I got sick I’ve been in these,” he said and Taako nodded.

“Exactly, you’ve been sick and practically dying in that shit. If anything you should get something new for health reasons,” he said. Angus frowned at that, seeming to think that idea over before reluctantly nodding.

“I guess that’s a good point. I’m real sorry about this,” he said, but Taako just shrugged.

“I’ve wasted money on way stupider shit, don’t worry,” he said, walking into the store as they came up on it. It was small and cramped inside, with racks of clothes and knickknack's and all kinds of weird odds and ends. Taako ignored most of that, heading straight to what looked like kids clothes. Angus followed after him, and Taako was immediately glad he didn’t seem like the type of kid to get distracted by some toy and demand they get it. He definitely would’ve dropped him on the first person they came across if that was the case.

“Got any idea what size you are?” Taako asked, starting to pick through the clothes, looking at Angus to try and judge. They couldn’t be too picky on style, but Taako figured he could at least try and get something that looked in the same vein as what he had already. Unless the kid wanted to go for something else entirely. Taako wouldn’t object to some experimentation in the slightest.

“Um, not really? People usually brought my clothes for me,” he said, and looking over what he was wearing again yeah, Taako could see how that was the case. The clothes were dirty and worn down at this point, but they definitely looked like they’d been expensive in the past.

“Well, just gonna have to try some shit on then, not a problem. That’s the best part of shopping anyway,” he said, although Angus didn’t look too sure about that. Taako was already flipping through the stands of clothes, trying to find some stuff that looked like it’d fit without being too completely hideous. There was ugly in a wonderful way, and then there was just ugly. If he was going to go out of his way to get someone clothes, they were at least going to be decent shit.

“I don’t know if that’s really my style sir,” Angus said, frowning at the shirt Taako had pulled out. It was a bright purple with a white floral pattern that just straddled that line between good hideous and bad hideous.

“Eh, not everyone's cut out for fashion, your loss kid,” he said, putting the shirt back. After a few more minutes of searching and Angus shutting down another shirt, this one a bright yellow with green chevrons (it was bad hideous, he mostly suggested it to see Angus’s face) the kid pulled out something as well.

“Um, how about this?” he asked, holding up the shirt in his hands for Taako to see. It was extremely plain, a gray long sleeved button up shirt. Taako sighed and shrugged, still looking through the clothes.

“Your choice kid, pretty fucking boring in my opinion but if that’s what you like, some people can pull off that clean, simplistic style I guess,” he said.

“I think I’ll try it on at least,” he said, and yeah, Taako couldn’t argue with that one. Never hurt to try something on. Except for that one time when Taako got hurt trying something on and then had to buy the hideous thing because of the fucking bloodstains.

After a bit more looking they managed to find a few more shirts (Taako at least managed to get him to try on some with stripes and in more colors than just gray, even if it was only blue) and a couple pants and shorts for him to try. Looking around the store, Taako managed to catch sight of a halfling lady behind the counter. She wasn't paying them too much mind as she did something probably related to running the store, Taako wasn’t particularly invested in what it was.

“Hey, do you got a place here where the boy can try on some of these clothes?” he asked, tilting his head towards Angus as he asked. The woman looked up from her work before nodding and pointing towards the back of the store.

“We got a dressing room in the back, behind the shoes. You can try them on back there dear,” she said, smiling down at Angus
.
“Okay, thank you ma’am. I’ll be right back sir,” Angus said before heading towards the changing rooms with his arms full of clothes. Taako was tempted to head back there as well, to look at the shoes. He’d specifically been staying out of the sections with anything he’d want though, because he didn’t have the money or space to get new shit right now. His impulse control wasn’t the best either, so it was good to stay away entirely.

“So, what’s your story?” the halfling lady asked, breaking the silence. Taako frowned as he turned back towards her, not sure why she was asking. Definitely wasn’t any of her business.

“Oh, that’s a long one, you’re gonna have to be a bit more specific,” he said, smiling as he leaned against the counter. If he joked about it maybe people wouldn’t ask too many questions.

“Don’t see too many new people traveling through here, it’s a little out of the ways is all. Especially don’t see elves traveling around with human children,” she said, and right, Taako hadn’t thought about how that might look a little strange. Angus definitely wasn’t his kid, and he was a little relieved people wouldn’t accidentally think that. It made shit a little less conspicuous, but he was so fucking not comfortable with people thinking he was a dad.

“Yeah, we’re actually a little out of the ways ourselves. You wouldn’t happen to know the direction to uh,” damn it, he couldn’t remember what was around here at all. “Goldcliff?” that was where Angus had been heading, and it was far but it was a big city so it was probably a reasonable enough request. The woman raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“Long ways from Goldcliff. You’ll want to head east along the road when you leave town, once you get to Hableton you should be able to catch a train to Goldcliff,” she said. That didn’t sound too hard, and Taako didn’t actually care if they ended up there or not, as long as they got further away. He was pretty sure Hableton was the town with the church where they could find a cleric anyway. “So, the boy?” she added, and Taako had really been hoping she’d forgot about that.

“Yeah, Ango’s just uh, my apprentice,” he said, blurting out the first thing to come to his head. “Kid doesn’t have any family, so I’ve kinda taken him under my wing and all, teaching him wizardly magics, you know the deal,” he said. She nodded, and Taako had no idea if she believed it or not.

“I finished trying on the clothes sir,” Angus said, cutting off any other conversation that could have been had. Taako couldn’t help but be relieved by that, not wanting to push this any further than he already had.

“Cool, cool, anything fit?” he asked, Angus nodding.

“Yeah, um, two of the outfits fit. I can just get one if you want,” he said, sounding nervous. Taako took the clothes he indicated fit and put them up on the counter.

“Just get both, we’re here to get you clothes after all,” he said. The halfling lady started ringing them up, and Taako told himself he only had to play like he cared about this kid for a little bit longer. Just so no one would suspect shit until he could leave him somewhere not awful.

“That’ll be six silver for the lot,” the woman said, and Taako fished around in his pouch for some silver pieces. Once that was done Taako grabbed the bag of clothes and started out of the store, Angus following behind him.

Taako wanted to go back to the inn and hide away for a bit after all of that, but they still needed to buy food. Angus was already starting to slow down though, and he’d barely eaten anything at breakfast. Ugh, they really needed to hurry up and get him to a healer.

“Here, you head back to the inn and rest, I’m gonna go grab some more supplies so we can leave tomorrow,” he said, handing Angus the small bag of clothes. The kid seemed a little uncertain at first, but nodded.

“Alright sir. I’ll see you back at the inn?” he asked, like he suspected that Taako would bolt. Which, honestly wasn’t the worst idea. The kid would have a place to stay for at least one night, and Taako had no real obligation to watch after him.

Taako also kinda wanted a place to stay for the night though, and it was just simpler this way.

“Yeah sure thing, don’t even worry,” Taako said, and with that Angus started back in the direction of the inn. Taako turned to go to the store that the tavern worker had mentioned before, doing another tally of his gold as he walked.

The clothes didn’t make much of a dent thankfully, but it was still money he wouldn’t of spent if he didn’t have the kid with him.

That was his fault though, so he could spare a few fucking silver to make sure he had shit to wear.

Shopping was strange. His first instinct was to pick up ingredients he knew would last and make several meals, plus things he could transmute easily, rice and cans of vegetables and shit. But ingredients meant cooking. Which he wasn’t doing anymore. He especially wasn't transmuting shit. Instead he ended up buying some blocks of rations, shit he hadn’t eaten since he was real fucking down on his luck. The shitty spots between caravans and things like that, where he had no way to make money or bum a real meal. It made his stomach twist, being back here.

He thought he was finally done with struggling like this.

The rest of the stuff was easier to handle. Water, some dried fruit and jerky for snacks and shit. Those were things you could buy because they were convenient, not because everything was awful.

Once the shopping was done Taako headed back to the inn. He was definitely too tired to sneak away at this point even if he wanted to. He didn't particularly want to either. When he went inside, Angus was wearing one of the new outfits they’d gotten, the long sleeved gray shirt and simple darker gray pants.

He was also asleep, curled up on the bed and looking absolutely exhausted.

Dropping the groceries, Taako went and curled up in the chair. He could meditate, it would’ve been more comfortable, but instead he let himself fall asleep as well.

He had a feeling he wouldn’t have the chance to sleep for a long time after this. It was too dangerous to sleep out on the road. Might as well take the chance to do it now.

—

Angus walked back to the inn after Taako had told him to, and he was a little bit grateful for that. He was starting to feel quite tired despite himself, even though they’d only had breakfast and gone to one store. He hoped he would be able to kick the rest of these lingering side effects before they got to the next town so Taako wouldn’t be forced to take him to a cleric. It didn’t seem like that was going to happen though.

When he got back to the room they were staying in he sat down on the bed, looking at the two outfits Taako had gotten him again. He really hadn’t needed to buy him things, but the elf had seemed determined to anyway. He guessed his old clothes were getting pretty bad at this point. Looking them over, Angus decided it might be best to put on one of the new outfits.

He tried to stay awake until Taako got back. He wanted to know if the elf had anything else planned for them today.

He also wanted to make sure that he was actually going to come back to the inn. He had said he would, but Angus just couldn’t be sure.

Despite his best efforts though, he ended up falling asleep before Taako got back. When he woke up, there was a short moment of panic where he was certain that Taako must’ve left him after all. He’d left because he didn’t have any obligation to stick with Angus. He knew Taako had no reason to care about him, but the terror of being abandoned still struck him.

And then he saw the elf curled up asleep in the chair across the room. Angus breathed a sigh of relief, wishing he hadn’t gotten so worked up over it in the first place. If Taako wanted to leave he could. He’d already done more than he needed to, taking care of him and buying him clothes and letting him rest somewhere safe for the night.

He didn’t want any of that to stop though, a selfish as it probably was.

Angus didn’t wake up the elf. It looked like the sun was only just setting, and wow, his sleep schedule had gotten pretty messed up because of all of these naps. Hopefully he would be able to sleep tonight still. He knew Taako wanted to leave in the morning after all, he’d need to have rest if he wanted to keep up with him.

Right now though, the only thing he could focus on was the fact that he was really hungry. He’d only had those pancakes much earlier in the day, and he’d barely eaten them at that. It was too much flavor and smell, as much as Taako has said they were bland.

Getting up as quiet as he could as not to wake Taako, he went over to the bags with the groceries by the door. Hopefully Taako wouldn’t mind him grabbing something small. He managed to find several packets of dried fruits and started snacking on some of those.

It was maybe an hour later when Taako did finally wake up, stretching in his spot in the chair and blinking at Angus. He'd started stacking some of the dried fruit he hadn’t eaten yet, popping whatever ones fell off the tower into his mouth. He was insanely bored. He’d looked all around the room for something to do, but it was pretty much completely empty except for the furniture and their own things.

He couldn’t even read his books again, because those were lost along with all of his other stuff.

“How long have you been awake for?” Taako asked, and Angus shrugged, eating one of the dried oranges when it fell to it's untimely demise.

“Um, about an hour I think. I ate some of the dried fruit you brought, is that okay?” he asked, and Taako just nodded, not seeming upset by that at all. That was a relief, he pretty should’ve woken Taako up and asked first, but waking him up felt rude too.

“Yeah, no problem. Starving myself actually,” he said, getting up off of the chair and heading over to the bags of food. He didn’t look all too pleased at the ration he pulled out, but he started nibbling on it none the less.

“You said we’re gonna leave in the morning?” Angus asked after a moment. Taako nodded, still looking like he was waking up.

“Yeah, we got the room for the night though so might as well take advantage, ya know?” he said and that made sense to Angus. He kind of wanted to say something, but there wasn’t much else to discuss. Taako didn’t look too interested in talking either, slowly eating his ration with disdain and pulling out that book he’d been working in before.

Angus would’ve gone back to building his little tower, but he’d eaten all of the dried fruit he’d grabbed. There wasn’t much else for him to do, and he wasn’t tired enough to go back to sleep either. After a few moments of silence Angus couldn’t help but sigh, picking at the corner of the old blanket on the bed. He wasn’t going to complain, he should be resting anyway. He was just so bored though.

“Whatsa matter with you?” Taako asked after a moment, looking up from his book.

“It’s nothing sir, I’m sorry,” he tried, but Taako didn’t seem to buy it at all.

“Come on, I’m not gonna listen to you sighing all forlornly every couple of minutes. Spill,” Taako insisted. Angus shrugged, pulling a few loose strings from the blanket. He tried not to ruin it or do anything too noticeable, he didn’t want Taako to get in trouble if the person who owned the inn inspected their room.

“I’m just a little bored is all. There isn’t really anything to do and I’m not tired enough to sleep,” he explained. Taako nodded and he actually looked a little surprised by that. He started glancing around the room some like he hadn’t realized there wasn’t anything for him to do.

“Oh yeah, I guess you don’t actually have any shit of your own anymore, right?” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Yeah, I used to have these books that I would reread whenever I had downtime, which was a lot, but I lost them,” he explained. He should’ve been more careful with his belongings. He was going to keep a good eye on the clothes Taako had brought him from now on. He didn’t want to lose anything else.

“What kinda books were they?” Taako asked and Angus couldn’t help but perk up a little at that.

“They were um, they were this series I like to read. It’s called Caleb Cleveland, Kid Cop and it’s really good! I want to be a detective like the main character, but not a lot of people are interested in letting me solve real mysteries and crimes yet, because I’m so young,” he explained.

“Yeah, I mean people’ll hire kids but usually not for stuff like that. Manual labor or other odd jobs they feel like they’re too busy or good to do, but not really for things that require like, actual skill,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“I really am good at it though, not the world’s best yet but I am still pretty young and haven’t gotten a lot of chances for experience,” he said. Taako laughed a little at that, and Angus got the feeling he wasn’t taking this all completely seriously, but that was a thing adults tended to do a lot. He wasn’t being completely dismissive of it though, which was more than most people tended.

“Hey kid, stick with it, if you wanna be a detective you do you,” he said. He sounded kinda flippant about it, and he obviously didn’t have any stake in this. It was still more encouragement than Angus usually got.

“Oh, I’m going to stick with it, no worries there,” he said, and Taako still looked amused, but it didn’t seem like he was making fun of him. “But yeah, I used to read those but now I can’t because I don’t have them anymore,” he added, shoulders slumping a little when he remembered why he was talking about them in the first place.

“Right, shitty cavern stole your junk,” Taako said, and Angus just nodded. There was no point in thinking otherwise anymore. “Traveling around can be a whole lotta boring when you don’t have things to pass the time with,” Taako added. He kinda looked like he was trying to think of something, but he was a hard person to read. Angus had realized that pretty quickly over the past little while of traveling around with him.

“What book are you reading, sir?” Angus decided to ask. It didn’t seem like Taako had taken a lot of stuff from the stagecoach, so whatever he had brought with him was probably pretty important. Taako seemed surprised by the question, looking down at the book in his lap like he’d almost forgotten it was there.

“Oh, this is just like, everything. A notebook, my spellbook, the ledger for Sizzle it up, all of the above,” he said, holding it up some so Angus could see. “It’s also a copy of Seven Habits of Highly Effective Elves that I write in the margins of, but details, details,” he added, and Angus couldn’t help but laugh a little at that.

“You should probably keep those things separate, and also not written in the margins of some other book,” he said. Taako shrugged exaggeratedly, a halfhearted smile on his face.

“Hey, it’s worked for me so far, don’t see any reason to change now,” he said, and Angus could argue with that, but he wasn’t going to. It fit Taako for him to do all of his important work like that.

“Your magic was really impressive at the show,” Angus said after a minute, and some of the ease seemed to seep out of Taako some.

“Eh, wasn’t as good as it looked, apparently,” he mumbled, and right. Something had messed up to make everyone sick, Taako had made some sorta mistake. “Guess I still got a few kinks to work out,” he added quietly, looking down at his book but it was pretty clear that he wasn’t actually paying any attention to it.

Angus didn’t say anything, and he was still bored, but he didn’t want to bother Taako anymore.

It didn’t seem like this was something he wanted to talk about, and Angus could accept that.

Notes:

hey i technically managed to update before a whole month passed, that's better than i can say for other things. This chapter is a lot longer than the others but i also feel like the pacing is kinda slow still, so i'mma try to kick that up soon. Luckily they should start moving next chapter and things should get more interesting from there.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!!!

Chapter 8: A Good Thing

Taako tried to force himself to meditate some before morning came. Angus fell back to sleep at around one in the morning, which he guessed was later than a kid should go to sleep, but he’d been napping all day so it worked out. Somewhat, he guessed. He just knew the kid needed to rest as much as possible until they could get him to a fucking healer.

So Taako tried to meditate to pass the time, but his mind kept getting stuck. There was a part of him that kept going back to that fucking night now that Angus had brought up his magic. He screwed up, and it wasn’t the first time he’d transmuted something into something else by accident. It happened sometimes. There were moments where it felt almost like there was too much magic built up inside of him when he tried to cast a spell, and then the whole thing came out sideways because he didn’t know how to channel it all.

That was dumb though, because he wasn’t a sorcerer. The only magic he had was the bits and pieces he’d managed to scrape together while traveling. Still, it was a thing that he’d gotten used to happening every so often.

He didn’t remember having that feeling on stage though. It had been a good night, as far as the show went. His mind had been elsewhere though, he remembered that much. He’d gotten into another not-argument with Sazed right beforehand and he’d been all caught up on that.

He hadn’t tasted the food. He knew it was good and his stomach had been in knots from the fight. He didn’t want to eat, he didn’t feel like something as strong as garlic, but he’d already had that dish set up so he hadn’t had a choice.

Still, he’d enjoyed the cooking. He let himself get lost a bit in the theatrics of it all, in the way the crowd marveled at his spells and the heat and energy of it all. He’d never had much of a home, but he felt closest to having one when he cooked.

That didn’t matter now though, since he couldn’t chance anything like that happening again. It would be bad enough if someone else got a hold of something he screwed up and died, but he didn’t want to risk poisoning himself either.

In the end Taako managed some choppy meditation by the time the sun came up. He wasn’t sure what time they’d get kicked out of the inn, but he still waited a couple hours past sunrise before waking Angus up. The more energy he had the further they could go. From the looks of the map, walking at normal speed would take them two days? Maybe three to get to the next larger town. Probably add on a fourth for the breaks Angus would need, even if he was feeling somewhat better he was still like, a kid.

Fuck, he hoped four days would be alright. He seemed stable but having to wait that long to get him some proper fucking help made Taako’s stomach sink.

“Mm, good morning sir,” Angus mumbled as he woke up, blinking tiredly up at Taako.

“Get up and eat, gotta get on the road today,” he said, handing him one of the rations he’d brought the day before. Angus nodded, pushing himself up and taking the food from him. Taako had already nibbled on his own before he woke the kid. They were as bland and horrible as he remembered, and he could make them taste better with transmutation like he used to do, but like fuck was he chancing that.

By the time Angus finished eating Taako had managed to get everything packed away in their bags. He tried to keep the one Angus would carry light, only putting the kid’s extra clothes and the dried foods in there. The heaviest thing was a canteen of water, but he figured it’d be good for the kid to have one of those on him instead of having to ask Taako every time he needed it.

“Is everything ready to go sir?” Angus asked as he put his shoes on and Taako took one last look around the room before grabbing his hat off of the back of the chair.

“Yeah, let’s fucking ditch this joint,” he said, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Ugh, this trip wasn’t going to be enjoyable in the slightest.

Taako kept the map within easy reach as they left the inn, making sure they were heading in the right direction as they left the town. It was kinda hard to get orientated, but that was because he was an idiot who couldn’t read a map right most of the time.

Whatever, as long as they were heading away from Glamour Springs and towards some place that could help Angus, it didn’t matter.

They didn’t run into anyone as they left the town, at least no one who tried to stop and talk to them or anything like that. It was a pretty nice day out all things considered, the slight wind cool enough to keep them from getting too hot but not enough to make them cold or anything like that. It was quiet as they walked, and it didn’t take too long before they were out of the small town and left with an empty dirt road stretching in front of them.

They left pretty early, not as early as Taako would had if he’d been on his own, but early enough that he didn’t feel like he’d wasted too much time. He wasn’t sure if Angus was feeling better or pushing himself more than he should, but whichever one it was they managed to walk at a slow but even pace until about noon before he had to stop for a break.

“Sorry sir, I think I’m doing better though,” he said as he rested against the base of a tree. Taako wasn’t sure how true that was, the kid looked absolutely winded and covered in a sick sheen of sweat. Still, he shrugged, digging through his own bag to grab one of the packs of dried fruits he’d left for himself.

“Was getting hungry anyway, could use the break,” he said, because he probably would’ve stopped to rest sometime soon anyway if he was on his own. Or not, he might’ve kept walking and ate while he did. Didn’t particularly feel safe stopping when he should be on the run, but he didn’t need to let the kid know that.

“I suppose that’s true,” Angus relented, taking a drink of water. They ended up having to stop a couple more times throughout the day. Each time was a bit closer together until it was about  six and Taako figured they should make camp anyway. He made sure to move away from the road, a good enough distance that anyone riding by wouldn’t be able to catch sight of them. If the kid noticed how careful he was about keeping them hidden he didn’t say anything about it.

“Have you traveled like this before?” Angus asked pretty out of the blue. They were sitting around the small campfire Taako had built, Taako reluctantly shoving a ration into his face while Angus nibbled on some of the jerky. “I mean, you just seem to know what you’re doing. You’ve talked about going around with caravans like you’ve done it before too,” he explained when Taako didn’t answer right away.

“Kid, if you’re trying to get to my tragic backstory you need to go up at least six more Taako Levels to gain access,” he said, only partially joking. He guessed there was shit he didn’t like to talk about, but honestly, most of his life kinda blurred together. Too many people and towns passing through to make any sort of impact on him. “But yeah, I’ve roughed it with caravans and shit, can’t you tell from my chiseled and manly physique?” he said, and he couldn’t even pretend to be offended with Angus laughed at that.

Angus didn’t say anything for a moment, chewing on his jerky as some thought clearly ran through his head.

“Does it ever feel less lonely?” he asked finally, and Taako couldn’t keep himself from sighing at the question. This fucking kid man, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.

“Nah, not really. Get’s better though, if you’re lucky,” he said, and then frowned. “Well, until your transmutation magic goes out of control and you accidentally poison an entire town of people, then it gets a whole lot worse again.”

Angus didn’t seem too surprised by that, although Taako guessed he did seem like a pretty sharp kid. He definitely had to know something was up with the food at the show and Taako doubted he would've stuck around even as sick as he was if he thought he'd done it deliberately.

“Hopefully that’s not like, a common problem,” he said and Taako couldn’t be too sure if he was joking or not.

“Well, in my experience this is a first, but you can never be too sure I guess,” he said. It got kinda quiet after that, Taako finishing his miserable meal and Angus eating as much as his stomach would still allow him. It wasn’t like, the worst thing in the world. It would've been simpler if Taako could’ve gone off on his own. He’d be at least twice as far away by now and with even less of a trace, but he guessed it would’ve been kinda shitty if Angus had died after he did try to save him.

Or if he’d listened to Sazed and threw him out of the cart. The thought still made a shiver run down his spine. He could get what Sazed was thinking, they were in full blown panic mode at that point, and he hadn’t actually seen him. It was probably easier, not seeing him. But still, it had been a fucking cold suggestion, even for Taako.

At least he’d been thinking clear enough not to listen. Or not thinking clear enough, he had no fucking idea which one this fell under. There was a part of him that was kinda relieved that Angus was alive, even if it was an inconvenience lugging the kid around.

He wasn’t going to say that, and it was a small part anyway. He’d be even more relieved when he could ditch the kid somewhere and really make himself scarce.

As Angus curled up next to the small fire and Taako prepared himself to try and keep a watch for the most the night, he was glad despite himself that he wasn’t completely alone right now.

—

When Angus woke up the next morning he was a little disappointed to not be in a bed again, but instead on the hard ground with only a blanket as a barrier. He quickly pushed the disappointment though, yawning and sitting up. The fire they’d had set up last night was out, and Taako looked like he was in the middle of meditation. The sun was starting to peak over the horizon and it was that early morning kind of chilly. Angus wrapped the blanket further around himself, digging through his bag for something to eat for breakfast while he waited for Taako to wake up.

He thought about the small conversation they’d had the night before. Taako had pretty much told him what had happened in Glamour Springs, and he supposed that made sense. There had been a lot of transmutations and magic displays during the show. Angus hadn’t seen anything go wrong, but he didn’t know enough about magic to be able to tell something like that anyway. Plus, if Taako hadn’t noticed he would’ve had to be paying pretty close attention to have seen something. As rapt as he’d been with the display he hadn’t been watching like say, a detective would.

He was just glad that Taako had been able to treat him and help him recover from whatever exactly happened. He distantly wondered if anyone else had managed to recover, or well, how many people hadn’t been able to. He tried not to think about that too much though. It was probably best that he didn’t know the answer to that for now, and Angus usually felt like having as much information as possible was the best thing.

It wasn’t too much later that Taako came to from his meditation, his eyes blinking open and slowly focusing on the world around him.

“You’re up early,” he said, grabbing some of the jerky Angus was holding and eating it. He’d been about done anyway, he still couldn’t make himself eat too much, as much as he tried.

“It’s cold,” Angus said, because he was pretty sure that was what had woken him up. Taako nodded, not seeming too bothered by the temperature.

“It’ll warm up when we start moving,” he said simply, and Angus guessed that was true. Taako didn’t bother with any of the rations this morning, chewing absently on some of the jerky as he started gathering up the camp as much as he could. Angus considered rolling his small blanket back up on top of his bag, but he was still pretty chilly. Instead he let it stay draped around his shoulders as he waited for them to be ready to leave.

Eventually Taako seemed done with everything, and Angus struggled a bit to sling his bag around him with while still wrapped in the blanket. He managed it after a moment though, quickly following after Taako as he started back towards the road.

“How long do you think it’ll take up to reach the next town?” he asked, trying to stand on his tiptoes as he walked to get a better look at the map Taako had out in front of him.

“Couple days? Hopefully we should only have to camp like, two more nights, tops,” he said, and Angus hoped that was the case. Traveling in caravans hadn’t been very fun, but at least he’d had some semblance of a roof there and could be up off of the ground. He didn’t mind this so much, but it would be nice not to have to do it too much. Plus there was the fact that he still felt weird and couldn’t eat much, but he was trying not to pay too much attention to that.

Taako was right, it did warm up as the sun rose and they walked, and that was quite a bit better than it had been in the morning. He had to pull off his blanket and quickly pack it back up on in his bag. They were quiet throughout most of the day, and for as showy and energetic as he’d been on stage, Taako didn’t seem like a super talkative person. Angus wasn’t sure if he’d call it reserved, but he definitely wasn’t as out there as he first seemed. That had been a performance though, so he guessed it made sense.

They did end up having to camp again that night, and the night after that. Angus couldn’t help but feel like that was his fault. They kept having to take breaks when he’d get too tired, and it only seemed to be happening more and more often. He was pretty sure there were still some after effects of the poison, as much as he tried to ignore it. When he’d get too tired his hands would start to shake and if he pushed himself too hard there would be shooting pains throughout his nerves and get dizzy and nauseous. So far Taako would notice and make him stop before he went and hurt himself too badly.

On the third day of traveling though they started to see signs of a town up ahead. A few scattered farm houses, more roads starting to merge and Angus definitely noticed the slight sigh of relief Taako had gave as they got close.

He was relieved too. He definitely knew how to handle himself better around people and not off in the woods. He wanted to get to town so that there were more places to rest and not have to worry about something jumping out from behind the trees and attacking or anything like that. That hadn’t happened yet, but with how worried Taako seemed to be all the time his mind couldn’t help but wander.

He was also just, a little nervous though. He’d never been to this place before, and normally that would be fine.

But once he got there, he’d be on his own again. He was pretty sure Taako didn’t want him sticking around too much longer. Once they got to a bigger town, he was going to take him to a healer and leave him there. Which was fine,  he couldn't blame Taako for that. But it was still... he didn't want it.

So maybe he wasn’t too excited for that part. But he could understand why Taako wouldn’t want him to stick around forever, so he could do that with no complaints. He’d already helped him enough after all, they were even for Taako accidentally poisoning him, as far as Angus was concerned.

“Okay, so this should be um, Halistom? No, Hableton, not the big one with the trains that the people from that other town were talking about, but not a fucking hole in the wall either thankfully. Should be a church with some fucking clerics or something,” Taako said, putting away his map. Angus nodded, and it seemed like a decent sized town. It was a little late into the day when they finally got there, and there were a whole bunch of people going about their business.

Taako looked a little nervous, pulling down his hat some in front of his face as they started towards the main part of town. Angus wasn’t too sure of which direction they should actually go though, and it didn’t seem like Taako had too much of an idea either.

Eventually he guessed he got tired of wandering around and caught some person’s attention to ask for directions to the church. The man explained the way, and it was a pretty normal conversation, except for one thing that left Angus snickering once they walked away. Taako quickly noticed, shooting a look down at him.

“And what the fuck are you laughing about?” he asked, and it was kinda hard to tell how Taako was feeling, but Angus was pretty sure he wasn’t actually annoyed with him.

“You made your voice all deep and weird when you were talking to that man sir. It was uh, pretty obviously fake,” he said, and Taako huffed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, it was a perfectly believable fake voice,” he said, and Angus didn’t argue with him. The church was coming into sight anyway, and he was trying to ignore the fact that he was starting to feel a little faint again. It felt like they’d just rested before coming into the town, it was dumb that he was so tired already. He’d barely managed to eat anything this morning though, only a few small bites of a ration before his stomach was protesting again.

He guessed he was pushing himself too hard, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.

When they got to the church it was the one of the biggest buildings in this town. Angus couldn’t tell too much about it from the outside, it looked rather nondescript as far as churches went. He couldn’t tell exactly what god it was for, so it was possible it was for multiple gods. Taako seemed to hesitate at the door some, looking very unsure about what to do before finally knocking.

“Oh, hello!” a gnome woman said brightly, opening the door and smiling at them. She had blond hair so light it was nearly white, and was wearing blue and silver plate mail, a golden holy symbol around her neck for a god Angus didn’t recognize.

“Uh, hail and well met,” Taako said, and he wasn’t using the fake voice this time. “Do um, does this place have any healers?” he asked, and the gnome woman quickly nodded.

“Probably, I’m only passing through myself. I am a healer though if you need something looked at?” she said, and that made sense, she certainly looked like a cleric.

“You’re passing through but you answered the door to the church?” Taako asked, sounding confused. Angus guessed he was more out of it than he thought, because he hadn’t even thought about that, but it was a little strange.

“I- ah,” the woman hesitation, holding her fist up to her mouth in thought for a moment. “I see your point. That was weird of me. Do you need healing?” she asked, and Taako quickly nodded.

“Yeah, uh, maybe? The kid here,” Taako started, and Angus felt him place a hand on his head, “ate some uh, bad shit? A little while ago? He’s not dying anymore but kinda figured,” he finished, waving his hand around haplessly at the church. The gnome woman nodded, ushering them both inside.

“Okay okay okay,” she said, leading Angus over to a chair to sit down. She was only a little bit taller than him, and a little more so when he was sitting. “What bad shit did you eat dear?” she asked.

“Uh,” Angus actually had no idea, glancing over at Taako who was just kinda hovering now.

“Nightshade,” he mumbled, and Angus saw the woman’s eyes widen somewhat, and there was a scar across one of them. Angus could understand her surprise, he was surprised too. He hadn’t known what exactly it was that had done it to him, but that made sense.

He’d eaten so many of those berries. He couldn’t believe he was still alive.

“Oh dear, okay okay. Dear, I’m gonna do a lesser restoration, lemme know if you feel any better,” she said, and Angus nodded. The cleric reached out, one hand tight around her holy symbol as she quietly and quickly said a few words in a language Angus didn’t understand, and then there was a light and a warmth rushing through him.

When it faded, Angus still felt sore, his muscles and nerves tired and worn. The nauseous that had become a bit of a subtle constant at that point was gone though, as well as most of the dizziness he’d been feeling.

“How you feeling pumpkin?” Taako asked, and Angus forced himself to smile, since this was a good thing.

“So much better! Thank you ma’am,” he said. The hunger was definitely starting to hit him now, but he was still a bit too tired to be bothered by it.

“Don’tcha worry about it,” she said brightly.

“Cool, cool. Uh, I don’t know really how churches like, work? Is there like, a spot people could stay for the night?” Taako asked, and Angus tried not to let himself get too disappointed. He knew Taako was going to leave as soon as he was feeling better, so it wasn’t like he was particularly surprised.

“Oh yes, there are a couple rooms you can stay in, but um, you might wanna ask some of the people who actually work here,” she said, and Taako nodded.

“Right, c’mon Ango,” Taako said, and Angus followed after him. He really did feel better, even if it didn’t seem like a complete fix. That was probably because it took so long to get him to a healer, but there wasn't anything they could do about that now. Taako found someone who was actually a part of this church, who showed them to a little backroom they had for travelers.

Once they were left alone, Angus expected Taako to make a quick exit, so he was kind of surprised when he let his bag drop and slumped onto one of the small cots. Maybe he was taking advantage of the free room. That made sense.

“How you feeling for real my dude? You don’t look quite as dead,” Taako asked, and Angus was kind of surprised. He guessed he was making sure so he knew he was good to leave.

“I’m feeling a lot better sir. I’m still a little sore, but the nauseous and dizziness are both gone now,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“Good, that’s good,” he said, and Angus nodded, sitting down on the other small cot. It was good.

So it was dumb how scared he was, but that didn’t change the fact that he was terrified. He was tired enough to go to sleep, one thought stuck in his mind as he dozed off.

What now?

Notes:

+10 nerd points to you if you know who the gnome cleric in this chapter was. Look, they needed a competent healer, and it certainly wasn't going to be merle. We've pretty much finished the first main little arc of this fic now though! Which is cool because there's a lot of fun stuff I can't wait to get to in this fic.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 9: The Right Decision

When Angus woke up, he was alone.

It wasn’t, well it wasn’t exactly surprising. He’d been expecting this for a long time now. He knew Taako was doing more than he needed to getting him somewhere safe and with a healer. They’d even talked about parting ways eventually. He couldn’t blame Taako for slipping away before he woke up. It wasn’t like he had any reason to stick around anymore, and they certainly weren’t close enough for Angus to expect some sort of goodbye.

It was expected, and understandable, and nothing he had any right to be so upset over.

But he was alone. And it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to that and had been preparing for it, but it still hurt more than he’d expected.

It was a dumb thing to cry over, and he tried not to but it’d never been too hard to get him to tears. He wasn’t sure what time he’d woken up at but after a bit of sitting in the cot trying to pull himself back together (and hoping maybe, he’d only run out for a bit. He could be coming back. Maybe he wasn’t alone. As he waited longer and longer though the possibility of that dwindled more and more) he knew he should figure out what he was doing.

Getting out of bed, his nerves still ached somewhat as he moved around, but he really did feel so much better than before. He could deal with a little soreness after all of that.

Angus was surprised to see that the bag he’d been carrying up to this point was still there. Taako’s larger one was gone, but he guessed he was nice enough to leave him the bag for his clothes. Just meaning to do a quick glance inside of it, he was somewhat shocked by the contents.

Most of the food they had were in his bag, and his water canteen had been filled to the brim. Which was nice. Nicer than Taako needed to be to him, but he guessed he’d mentioned being on the road when he was younger before. He probably knew how hard it was when you couldn’t find food.

So while it was unexpected, it was a kind gesture Angus could accept. What he felt like he couldn’t accept was the small pouch he found under a couple of rations.

It was a coin purse, and the fact that Taako would give him any money when he was stuck on his own with no way to make any more now that his cooking show was gone boggled his mind a bit. Then he opened it, and there had to be some sort of mistake. He knew Taako was a lot nicer of a person than he tried to come off as, but he couldn’t have done this on purpose.

It had to be half of all the money he’d had on him. Angus had seen him counting the stuff a few times, and he didn’t have a lot. This was way more than he could afford to give away. There had to of been some sort of mix up.

Throwing the coin purse back in the bag, Angus quickly threw on his shoes. He shouldn’t have spent so much time moping. Maybe if he hurried he could catch up to Taako and give him back all this gold.

Rushing through the church, Angus wasn’t sure where to start. Taako had never given an actual destination for where he wanted to go, other than away from Glamour Springs. Looking around he caught sight of the gnome cleric that had helped them yesterday and ran up to her.

“Um, excuse me miss? Thank you again for healing me, I feel a lot better now,” he said, catching her attention.

“Not a problem, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said, and she genuinely sounded like she meant it.

“Right um, have you seen the elf I came in here with?” Angus asked, and the gnome hummed in thought for a moment before shaking her head.

“No, I’m sorry I haven’t seen him since last night, is something wrong?” she asked, and he quickly shook his head. He didn’t want anyone else getting worried about him. He cried a little yeah but now that that was out of his system he was fine.

“No, I’m sure he just went out for supplies or something, thanks again,” he lied, leaving before the woman could question him any further. Once he was outside of the church though he felt at a loss. He needed to find Taako. Not to travel with him or anything like that, he was well aware that the elf didn’t want that anymore. He needed to return the money.

He had to figure out where he would’ve gone, and how long ago so he could guess how far he might’ve gotten.

Taako had to of left early in the morning. Elves didn’t need to sleep as long and that way he could leave before Angus or anyone at the church saw him. He spent that time packing Angus’s bag though, and that also meant he was real low on supplies. Even with the shortage of money he had now, he must’ve stopped by a market or something to restock.

He would’ve had the time to do all of that already, so it wouldn’t be worth it to check the stores and such in this town. It probably wouldn’t even be worth it to stick in this town. It’d been pretty obvious that Taako had been wanting to move fast and keep away from people. He wouldn’t of stuck around in this place any longer than he needed to.

So, where would he have gone once he left?

There were two options he had for hiding himself, really. He could go somewhere far out of the way, small and unheard of where no one would know who he was and no one looking for him would think to look. Or, he could go somewhere large and bustling and full of people. Let himself blend in with one of the hundreds of interchangeable faces that swept by every day, become a needle in a haystack to find.

Which one would Taako prefer though? At first glance, it seemed like he’d be all for being in huge crowds and with a ton of people. If Angus had only seen him during his show, he’d have gone with that option.

But Taako didn’t seem to like being around a lot of people when he wasn’t putting on a show. He’d made it very clear that he didn’t plan on doing those anymore. He’d probably see all those people as potential chances to be caught instead of a way to hide.

So, somewhere small and out of the way was the most likely option. Angus started off, trying to look for a place that would have some sort of local map to get an idea. He could only vaguely remember everything that had been on Taako’s after all.

Focusing on this was good. Having some immediate goal helped to distract him, and figuring out mysteries like this was what he was good at.

He could focus on this, for now. He could find Taako and give him back his money, and then he could try to figure out what he was doing with his life.

Figure out what he was going to do on his own.

He loved mysteries, but that wasn’t one he saw himself liking the answer to.

——

As Taako walked out of the small town, he kept telling himself that he made the right choice. Of course he made the right choice. Hell, the only wrong choice he might’ve made was being too fucking nice and leaving the kid so much of his shit. He wasn’t sure what the fuck he’d been thinking with that. He probably hadn’t been.

He just woke up, early in the morning. Much earlier than he knew the kid was going to wake up, and he was fucking struck with the stupidest goddamn realization.

If he didn’t leave now, he wasn’t going to. He would be stuck with this damn kid and that would be bad. That would be really fucking bad. He didn’t want to take care of a kid. He didn’t know how to, and fuck, no one should trust him around one anyway.

It was his own damn fault that Angus almost fucking died to begin with. He shouldn’t be an idiot and keep putting him in that kind of danger. Even if Taako never cooked again, there was no telling he couldn’t fuck up in other ways.

Maybe he’d be hurt by it or whatever, but Taako was doing the brat a favor by leaving him behind.

And maybe to lessen the blow he made sure to give the kid some food and gold. If anything, it was more of a bribe to keep him from running to the authorities. And like, Taako had been there. It was a lot harder trying to get by as a kid. People were a lot less likely to shoo you away when you asked for a job as an adult.

He’d be able to make up the gold a lot easier than Angus would, so it honestly wasn’t a big deal.

So, once he had all that situated away he bought a couple more rations and dried meats and shit from the earliest opening store he could find and fucking left. He didn’t pay too much attention as to where at first, only making sure it was in the opposite direction they came in from. The highest chance of being away from Glamour springs. Once he was out of the small town he walked a bit of a ways off the road and sat down. Pulling his map out, he tried to figure out what he was going to do.

Ugh, he barely knew where anywhere was. There were a few places that had names that stood out because he’d passed by them several times on his tours. He only really remembered the big towns though, because they’d spend the most time in those. Not that any of that mattered, he couldn’t go to any town he’d done Sizzle It Up in, he needed to keep a low profile.

The longer he stared at the map, the more overwhelming it all became. He didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. He was a goddamn idiot, the fact that he’d made it this far was a miracle in and of itself.

He was going to get caught, and he was going to be killed, and he’d fucking deserve it.

Well, he was still going to try and put that off for as long as possible.

Doing another quick glance over the map, he picked a town that looked kind of out of the way, close by enough to walk in a day or two, and away from where they’d been before. Hopefully it’d be small enough no one would recognize him. He could find some shitty work to replenish some of his gold and lay low for a bit before moving on.

Rolling the map up before he could change his mind, Taako picked himself up off the ground and started off in the direction of the town.

The walk was quiet, almost overwhelmingly so. It wasn’t like Angus was super chatty, but there was something about having someone else there. It was something to do, checking on the kid every so often to make sure he hadn’t gone and passed out.

Before, when he’d been traveling with Sazed, he’d talk the poor dude’s ear off between the shows. He hadn’t talked back much either, and at first that was because Taako never gave him much of a chance to. More recently he’d seem to of been purposefully ignoring Taako a lot of the time, but whatever. He didn’t give a shit and it certainly didn't matter anymore.

And before that, he’d been entirely alone. This was his goddamn baseline, his normal, like slipping back into a pair of well worn shoes.

But for some reason, walking silently down the path by himself felt wrong. Setting up camp by himself when darkness started to fall felt wrong and like it shouldn't be taking this long.

Whatever though, he didn’t care how long it took. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do. It was probably a good thing that finding a safe place off the side of the road and starting a fire and all that junk took for fucking ever.

Sitting in the makeshift camp, Taako halfheartedly forced himself to eat some dried jerky. The only real sound was the crackle of the fire as it hurriedly burned away at the dried sticks and twigs he’d thrown in it.

Something about the quiet felt almost suffocating. Unnatural.

He couldn’t complain though, he made the right choice.

He made the only choice.

——

Angus managed to find a small local map hanging up in the front room of the main inn. It didn’t give him a very good idea of much, but he could see a couple of the larger towns a bit further away, and a few of the smaller ones closer by.

He couldn’t be entirely sure which one Taako would go to, but he could at least be reasonably certain which direction he would go, which narrowed it down. If he hurried, he could catch him on the main road before he turned off to anywhere too specific.

So, taking note of a few likely towns in case he didn’t run into him on the road, Angus started off.

He was pretty sure that the nice cleric lady really had been able to help quite a bit, he didn’t feel nauseous and dizzy after walking for too long. He did keep getting winded more than he felt like he should, but he tried to push past it.

Taako couldn’t have been too far ahead, if he didn’t go taking forever then he’d be able to catch up. So even though there were a few times where he was sure the elf would’ve made him stop if he’d been there, times when his hands started shaking and shooting pains ran down his legs with every step, he didn’t let himself rest for too long. As soon as the pains stopped and he’d caught his breath he’d start off again, moving forward.

He was sure Taako wouldn’t be too happy to see him, but Angus kept telling himself he’d leave right away. He just wanted to give Taako his money back. He didn’t deserve all of that after all.

It felt like he’d been walking forever when the sun started to set, and Angus figured he should make a camp for the night. Taako had been pretty adamant about not camping right on the side of the road, and Angus figured that was a good thing to stick by. So he kept walking, moving a bit off into the woods and trying to look for a good place to stop.

It didn’t feel like the sun set as fast when he was traveling with Taako, but he guessed he had a better handle on gauging that sort of thing.

That didn’t help him out now though, because he wasn’t with Taako. So instead of being able to find a place to camp safe for the night, he was alone, with no real idea of where he was, and completely in darkness.

It was okay. He was okay, he’d spent nights in the forest before after all. Those hadn’t been alone though, and he’d had a fire to see by, and a safe little camp cleared away. He didn’t have any of that now, and every strange sound that came from the darkened woods around him felt too close and too loud. He was tired and his legs hurt and his hands wouldn’t stop shaking and he didn’t want to be alone anymore.

He didn’t want to break down and start crying, so he guessed he only technically did one of those things. He couldn’t quite keep himself from crying, but he forced himself to keep walking. Keep looking around for something.

He wasn’t sure how long it’d been, but after some time of wandering he started hearing something rustling in the woods near him. Freezing in place, Angus tried to stop the whimpers and sniffles that kept trying to make their way out of him.

Shit, shit. Whatever it was, it was making its way closer. He was going to die because he couldn’t keep quiet.

“What the absolute fuck? ”

Angus’s head snapped up at that, and it was too dark to see anything other than the slight silhouette of a tall elf with a very large hat. Angus wiped at his eyes, he stood up straighter and tried not to look like he’d been absolutely terrified a second ago.

“Oh, hello sir! I uh, I’m sorry for disturbing you,” he said.

“You fucking followed me out here?” Taako asked, something like shock in his voice, but Angus quickly shook his head. Taako at least had dark vision, so he shouldn’t have a problem seeing him.

“No, I mean, I did come out here to find you. Well I did but I didn’t come to stay though, I promise,” he said, pulling his bag around and starting to search through it. He still couldn’t see anything in the dark, so he was working just on touch.

“You managed to find me out in the middle of goddamn nowhere?” Taako asked, sounding almost impressed. Angus nodded, his hand finally catching hold of the coin purse.

“I told you before I’m a real good detective. Um, I just came out here to give you this back though. I really appreciate it but I can’t take this much money from you,” he said, holding out the coin purse. He couldn’t make out Taako’s expression, but after a moment there was a long sigh. Closing the distance, he took the pouch of gold from him, and that was it he guessed. He’d given back the money he’d been planning to and now he needed to go before he overstayed his welcome anymore than he already had.

Before he could though there was a hand on his shoulder and Taako started pulling him along.

“Come on you brat, camp’s right over here. Lucky as shit you managed to stumble by so close. You know if I was human or some other shitty species I probably wouldn’t of been able to hear you bawling out there,” he said. Angus tried to pull away some, but Taako actually had a pretty decent grip on him, and he was so exhausted.

“Sir, I don’t- you don’t need to do this. I know you want to move on by yourself, it’s fine,” he tried, but Taako didn’t seem to be listening to him. After a few more steps Angus could start to see the faint light of a fire, and then Taako was giving him a little shove into camp.

The light and safety of the clearing was a welcomed relief, but that didn’t change anything. He couldn’t stay here.

“I promise sir, I just wanted to give you back the money, I can go,” he tried to insist. Taako didn't seem to care about what he was saying though, taking a seat down by the fire.

“Would you sit already? You look fucking dead on your feet. I don’t want to have to find you a second cleric,” Taako said, and Angus reluctantly sat down. His legs at least seemed to be incredibly thankful for the relief.

“I’m sorry. I promise I’ll leave in the morning,” he mumbled, and Taako made a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a sigh.

“No, you fucking won’t. Just- God fucking damn it,” he said, rubbing at his temples. “Listen. Okay, that was shitty of me. That was a shitty thing I did, but not much of a surprise there I guess. I’m a shitty goddamn person. But you don’t have to leave, if you don’t actually want to. You can stay, or whatever. I don't care,” he finished. Angus felt like he was pretty good at reading people, you needed to be to be a good detective.

And it actually seemed like Taako was telling the truth.

“I really don’t want to be alone again,” Angus reluctantly admitted.

“That makes two of us then,” Taako said, but it was so quiet that Angus wasn’t even sure if he’d heard right for a few seconds. Taako didn’t seem interested in repeating himself though, instead looking Angus over for a moment. “When was the last time you ate?” he asked suddenly.

“Um, I uh,” he stumbled, trying to remember. He knew he drank a lot of the water Taako had left for him while he’d been walking, but he couldn’t remember eating. Apparently his non-answer was enough to get the point across, Taako sighing loudly.

“Holy shit, holy shit this is a goddamn fucking disaster. This is the worst thing imaginable,” Taako whispered just loud enough for Angus to clearly hear that one. “Fucking eat something and then go to sleep. I didn’t leave you all that food so you could still go and starve yourself to death,” he said, much louder and clearer. Angus nodded, opening his bag and pulling out some rations to eat. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until he actually put food in his mouth.

He managed to finish the entire ration and that was the most he’d eaten at once since he got sick. By the time he finished eating he was almost asleep where he sat, and he barely had the mind to pull his blanket out before lying down. After that extremely long day, he was asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes.

When Angus woke up the next morning, it was much later in the day than he would’ve liked. The fire from the night before had been put out, and most of the camp seemed to have already been packed up.

Taako was sitting with his back up against a tree, the map out in front of him while he made notes in his book. He quickly noticed Angus was awake and started to pack those things up as well.

“Get up and get something to eat pumpkin. We got a lot of ground to cover today,” he said, and Angus nodded. Taako didn’t seem intent on bringing up the fact that Angus wasn’t supposed to be there, so he guessed he wouldn’t either.

It was a little hard to believe, and he probably didn’t deserve it, but it didn’t seem like he was going to have to be alone anymore.

And somehow that felt like a greater weight off of his shoulders than even the lifting of the poison had been.

Notes:

all of you who guessed the gnome cleric was pike you get a fun point! (for the ones who have no idea who i'm talking about, watch critical role please).

Okay, now we're at the Turning Point for taako and angus. things can start truly moving forward hopefully and we can have some fun.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 10: Burning (In More Ways Than One)

When Taako woke up Angus was still asleep, which was a bit of a relief because he needed to fucking get his thoughts in order again. That had not gone as planned. That hadn’t gone anywhere close. That pretty much went as far off plan as he could’ve imagined.

He should be pissed that the kid had managed to find him again. Taako wasn’t a babysitter. He wasn’t interested in taking care of some brat, especially when he was stuck on the fucking road again with nothing.

He wasn’t as angry as he should’ve been though, which was more annoying than anything. But it was whatever, and he’d already accepted the fact that if he didn’t get rid of the kid back at the church then he was going to have to live with this. He wasn’t sure why Angus wanted to stick with him, but he wasn’t going to question the kid’s motives. He could do what he wanted, the whys weren’t any of Taako’s business.

Besides, sometimes having a second person around was useful. He only barely consider Angus a person since he was a little kid and all, but he at least seemed to be a competent one.

The fact that he’d managed to find Taako all the way out here spoke to that, even if he’d been terrified and crying once he finally did.

Which, thinking of that, Taako had his map out now. He was- He’d been heading towards Pendleton, some rinkydink little hole in the wall where he could lay low for a while and make some cash.

But now he wasn’t so sure.

Angus had managed to find him, and that meant he was findable. Which was the opposite of what he wanted right now, so time for a change of plans.

Angus woke up after not too long and didn’t bring up last night as they gathered up camp, which was a relief. The less they talked about that, the better. Taako wasn’t good at emotions and the fact that he was letting him tag along was good enough for him, no need to talk about it.

“Are we heading to Pendleton sir?” Angus asked as they started moving and he seemed to be in better health than before. That was good, that meant the healer actually did the trick.

“Nah, heading to Rockport,” he said, and Angus perked up some at that, seeming surprised.

“Oh, I thought you were going to Pendleton, or one of the other close by towns,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“I was, but then you found me, so that’s out of the question,” he explained. Angus frowned, not seeming to understand.

“Why did me finding you change plans? You don’t have to accommodate for me sir, I promise whatever you want to do is fine,” he said, and Taako almost groaned at that. At least this time he wasn’t changing shit to make it easier on Angus. He would’ve been annoyed if the brat managed to call him out on that again.

“Not changing it for you kiddo, it’s just like, you found me. You figured out where I was gonna go, so I can’t go there now, you get it? I’m trying to keep a low profile here, and I don’t wanna be predictable,” he explained, and slowly Angus nodded.

“Oh, that does make sense sir. To be fair though, I don’t think the fact that you were going there was very obvious. You seem like the kind of person to like big towns to someone who doesn’t know you very well,” he said, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that.

“Uh-huh, and what about to someone who does know cha’ boy?” he asked.

“Well, you seem to like your privacy, even if you weren’t trying to hide, and so I figured a smaller town would be better,” he said, and huh, guessed that made sense. His reasoning was that less people around meant less chances of getting caught, and he tried to go to decent sized towns with Sizzle it Up because they had a higher chance of making money. Still, it was solid reasoning.

“So you’re saying you know me pretty well huh?” he asked, teasing somewhat.

“Oh, oh no sir, I didn’t mean- I know I only met you a little while ago. I’m just a very good detective is all,” he insisted, and for some reason that was kinda cute.

“Yeah, I guess you are pretty good. Hopefully anyone looking for me isn’t quite as quick as you,” Taako said.

A proud smile worked it’s way onto Angus’s face at that, and Taako ignored it and continued walking. He hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true, so it was whatever.

The walk was quiet, and he hated to admit that for some reason he felt a lot more comfortable today than he had yesterday. He figured it wasn’t Angus himself, it was having someone else around at all. Yeah, it definitely wasn’t the kid, because it wasn’t like he’d be anything but a detriment if something did happen. But still, there was at a perceived strength in numbers, so he guessed that worked.

Rockport was further away than Pendleton by a bit, so it’d be another week’s walk before they got there, but it also seemed to be a bit bigger on the map. That was a bit uncomfortable for hiding, but longer also meant further away from Glamour Springs, and more opportunities to find work. If they were lucky they could find a caravan. Taako wouldn’t be able to do kitchen work on it anymore, but there were usually some sorts of odd jobs that needed done.

The first day passed without much incident. Angus didn’t bring up when Taako tried to leave him, which was a relief. He seemed to be better at walking and shit now too, which was also good. Slower than Taako would’ve liked, but he was also like, six. Eight? Taako couldn’t remember and didn’t much care, it was all practically infants as far as he was concerned.

As annoying as it would be to camp out for a week, staying on the road for a while wasn’t a bad thing. Much less likely to run into people out here. Much less likely to be get caught by anyone.

Still, when Taako figured it was time to set up camp for the night, Angus pretty much collapsed instantly. He guessed he wasn’t paying as much attention as he’d been before when the kid was sick. He hadn’t realized he was so exhausted.

“Hey, if you need a break you gotta tell me you know,” he said, and Angus nodded, still looking pretty winded.

“It’s fine sir. I knew we’d be stopping soon so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to press a little further,” he said, and Taako shrugged. That was pretty fair he guessed.

“Alright then, well here, I’m gonna set up the sleeping shit. You know how to make a fire?” he asked, tossing the flint and starter over to Angus. The kid fumbled for a bit but managed to catch them. Then he just kind of staring down at the items.

“Um, I’ve never tried before sir, but I’ve read a few survival books. I can uh, I can give it a try,” he said, and Taako nodded, turning over the area as he started getting the rest of camp set up.

“Cool cool. Use the little bits of twigs and grass and get those caught first instead of trying to light any big pieces of wood,” he said, before thinking for a moment and adding “and don’t burn yourself.”

“I won’t sir,” Angus said, gathering up a bunch of kindling and starting to focus over it. Taako left him to that, clearing out the rest of the camp and doing a double check around the parameter. It seemed like a decent enough spot. He couldn’t see the road anymore, even with his dark vision, which was good. He didn’t want anyone to catch sight of the fire in the darkness and come after then.

“Sir? Um, Taako? I don’t- ouch, fuck ,” Angus said, and Taako swung back around from where he’d been squinting in the direction of the road. There was a pretty decent fire going, he was impressed. It wasn’t an easy skill to pick up, he’d had a hell of a time figuring it out the first couple of nights. He guessed he was rusty from when he used to make them when he was on the road.

So yeah, impressive fire. The only problem was the majority of it didn’t seem to be in the pit Taako had made.

“Oh fuck,” Taako said, running over and yep. There was a bunch of kindling he had too close that got caught and started to spread.

“I didn’t- I didn’t mean to!” Angus was yelling, backing away from the fire. Pulling out his wand, Taako set off a couple prestidigitations, snuffing out the fire on the kindling and grass outside of the pit and then kicking it all away before it could catch again. Getting down on his knees, Taako started throwing a few more rocks around the pit for good measure.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t- It was an accident,” Angus kept apologizing. Taako waved a hand dismissively, throwing some more sticks into the now very contained blaze.

“Ain’t a problem bubula. Nothing got damaged. Honestly, it’s impressive that you actually managed to get a fire going at all, gotta be sure to keep the area clear next time is all,” he said absently. There okay, that seemed good. Angus nodded, inching his way back towards the fire again.

“I’ll be more careful next time,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“Sure thing,” he said, before glancing over at him. “You didn’t get burnt, did you?” he asked, looking Angus over carefully. He heard him yell earlier, and it sounded more from pain than surprise if he had to guess (Taako wasn't sure if he was supposed to scold the kid for cursing. He figured it wasn't his kid though, so it didn't matter). Angus's eyes were shining with unshed tears, but that could be from the kid getting worked up and upset. He had his hands bundled up to his chest in a way that Taako couldn’t see very well though.

“I um, no, I mean, it’s not bad, it’s fine,” he said, and Taako sighed.

“Let me see,” he said, holding out a hand. Angus reluctantly walked over and sat down before putting out a hand. His palm was all red and shiny, obviously burnt.

“What the fuck? How’d you manage that?” he asked, grabbing his wrist to pull it closer to his face.

“I tried to pat out the fire,” Angus admitted. Taako let go of the wrist and started searching through his bag for the aid kit he took from his wagon.

“You’re lucky I was a fucking cook and would be even more of an idiot than I already am not to keep burn cream on hand,” he said, digging out the cream. “I swear, who’s idea even was it to let a toddler start the fire?” he grumbled, and that got a smile back onto Angus’s face. He hadn’t been trying to do that, it just went and happened.

“I believe it was your idea sir,” Angus said, keeping his hand held out for Taako to apply the cream to.

“Yeah well, I never said I was a bright one,” he said, rolling his eyes. Angus flinched somewhat as he spread the burn cream on him, but he didn’t go to pull his hand away or anything. “Tip though, don’t use your hands, and if you gotta don’t hold them on for as long as you did. Just real quick pats,” he said. Angus nodded, listening intently. Looking at the burn, they weren’t too bad. He figured they would be good with only the cream, but he started pulling out some bandages just in case. Kids were real fragile, right?

“Thank you sir,” Angus said, pulling his hand away once Taako was done. “I um, I meant to be fast, but it uh, it took a minute before it actually started to hurt,” he added.

“Guess it took your brain a minute to catch up? Either way, it’d be real appreciated if you would stop getting hurt so I don’t have to keep saving your life and shit,” Taako said, putting the supplies away and pulling out some rations while he was at it.

“I don’t think I was going to die from a small burn,” Angus said, taking the ration when Taako handed it to him. He was smart enough not to grab it with the hand he’d just fucked up thankfully.

“Maybe, but I don’t know how human children work,” Taako said, taking a bite of his food.

“About the same as children for most other species, I think,” Angus said, and Taako shrugged, letting him eat and making sure to keep an eye on the fire this time. He shouldn’t have left the kid to start it, but he needed to learn this shit eventually. Still, it would be best if he actually like, watched him next time or something. Just so he didn’t go burning down the whole camp and kill them all or some shit.

It was just easier to have someone coming along if they could pull their own weight, and it didn’t do any harm to try and teach Angus some of these things. At the very least that way if he ever wised up and realized what an awful fucking idea it was to travel with Taako, he wouldn’t be completely loss on how to survive.

But mostly it was because it was convenient. At least, that’s what Taako told himself.

—

Angus tried not to focus on the way his hand would sting and hurt whenever he’d move it too much. It was doing a lot better with the burn cream Taako had gave him, and the bandages prevented him from moving it around too much by accident. But it still felt tight and hot whenever he would end up trying to use it, so he tried to limit that as much as he could.

He knew he shouldn’t have tried to put out the fire with his hand, but the pain hadn’t hit him right away and he didn’t want to get in trouble and make Taako leave him.

Luckily, he didn’t seem mad and he was able to put the fire out without any sort of issue, so Angus was trying to put that behind him. Taako had seemed impressed that he had managed to get the fire going at all, even if he’d junked it up some.

He’d used magic to stop it from spreading, and Angus hadn’t seen him use magic since the show (no, since he saw him burn down the stagecoach). It had been a lot less flashy than it had there, and through the pain and the panic it had taken him a moment to realize he'd used magic at all. Now that he had though, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“Um,” he started to speak, before second guessing it and stopping. It was enough to get Taako’s attention though, since there wasn’t much to do at this point.

“You say something?” he asked, and Angus figured he could always say no and more on. But it was just-

“The magic you did to stop the fire was really cool,” he admitted, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that.

“I mean, yeah, but not really. It’s just, uh, prestidigitation, simple spell. Real fuckin- real easy, babies can learn it,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Um, do you think I could?” he asked hesitantly, and Taako frowned as he looked over at him. He didn’t look annoyed by the question though, instead he seemed kind of confused.

“Think you could what kiddo?” he asked.

“Do you think I could learn magic?” he clarified, pretty well prepared for Taako to shoot down the idea. It was rather surprising when he didn’t immediately blow off the idea. In fact he actually seemed to be thinking it over.

“I mean, you don’t have to. It’s just that you said that pretty much anyone could learn it and your magic is cool and I’d really like to learn. You’ve already done so much for me though I can understand if you don’t want to teach me magics on top of all of that,” he added quickly. Taako didn’t answer for a long moment, taking his time eating a little bit of his ration and Angus was pretty sure he was trying to find some way to let him down gently. He could appreciate that he was trying to be nice about it at least.

“Yeah sure, why the fuck not,” he said finally and Angus’s head shot up at that. “I mean, traveling is a lot of sitting around doing nothing, doesn’t hurt to have something to do, to practice and shit. You were complaining you were bored and didn’t have anything to do earlier, weren’t you?” he said, and Angus nodded. That had been kind of a while ago, he was surprised Taako still remembered it.

“Uhuh, I mean, it’s not an issue if you don’t want to. You’ll really teach me?” he asked, not quite believing it and Taako nodded once again.

“Sure thing, I mean, you gotta take it easy though. Magic can take a lot out of you and uh, you fucking toasted your hand there, but cantrips shouldn't bother you much. I think? Maybe, I don’t know,” he said and Angus couldn’t stop smiling at this point.

“Thank you sir! I really- I really appreciate it,” he said, the pain in his hand completely forgotten even though he’d just brought it up. Taako shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal again.

“Don’t even worry bubula,” he said, and then seemed to think something over. “Well uh, maybe we shouldn’t start you off with prestidigitation though. It can do a lot so it’s kinda confusing for a first spell sometimes. We can start with something even simpler, like uh, mage hand maybe? Can’t fuck anything up with mage hand. I used to use it in my show even, to carry shit around,” he said and Angus was surprised that he brought up the cooking show on his own. He’d been trying to avoid mentioning that.

“Can we start learning tonight?” he asked and Taako seemed alright with that idea.

“Can start teaching you the incantation I guess, maybe we shouldn’t go so far as trying to cast it until after you sleep some and shit though. Plus, it requires hand movements and you should rest yours,” he said and that was fine by Angus.

Over the next hour or so Taako taught him what to say and showed him how to move his hands in order to cast the spell. He wouldn’t let him actually move them though, since his hand was messed up. It was tempting to try, but Angus was doing his best to listen. He didn’t want the first thing he did when learning from Taako to be not to listen to him. After a bit of practicing on how to say the words and such a thought came to Angus anyway.

“Sir, how am I supposed to cast this when I don’t have a wand yet?” he asked but Taako shrugged the question off some.

“I mean, you can use mine until we get you your own. Besides, you don’t actually need a wand to cast mage hand, so for this spell and a couple others you’re good. Should be sticking to the real simple stuff for now anyway, since you’re like an actual baby,” he said and Angus pouted some at that.

“I’m not a baby, I told you I’m eight,” he said and that didn’t seem to deter Taako any.

“And I’m an elf, I’m like a million years old compared to you, you’re absolutely a baby,” he said, and Angus huffed.

“No, you’re just old,” he argued and Taako frowned at him, crossing his arms indignantly. He’d be worried about mouthing off to Taako after he’d decided not to kick him out, but even though he was making a show of it he didn’t actually seem to be upset any.

“Rude child,” he grumbled and Angus laughed somewhat at that.

“Sorry sir, but you’re the one who said you’re a million years old,” he said, and he doubted that was exactly true. Elves lived really long times, but Taako still seemed kinda young. He could be wrong, but he doubted it.

“Yeah yeah whatever,” he said flippantly. “Shouldn’t you be getting to sleep about now anyway? It’s getting late as fuck, you can practice more in the morning before we head out,” Taako added and Angus reluctantly nodded. He didn’t particularly want to stop, but he was right, he should rest soon.

“Alright, that’s a good idea,” he said, laying out his blanket near the carefully contained fire and curling up to sleep. “Goodnight sir,” he added quietly.

“Mhmm, night pumpkin.”

The next day of travel went well, and Angus kept mouthing the incantations for mage hand under his breath as they walked. He wanted to try the somatic components too, but he kept getting shooting pains up his arm from the burn on his hand. Those didn’t stop him from walking though, and Taako didn’t seem to notice them either.

That night Taako didn’t let him set up the fire again, but he said it was because it’d be hard to strike the flint with a bandaged hand, and he supposed he was right about that. It still didn’t seem like he was upset about anything, so Angus wasn’t going to complain.

Taako guessed there was maybe three more days worth of travel before they got to Rockport. Which seemed like a lot, but Angus supposed as long as they didn’t run out of supplies it would be fine.

After another day Angus was sure he had the incantation down for mage hand. He wanted to try the movements but at this point the burned skin on his palm had gotten hard and was difficult to move, even if it didn’t hurt as much anymore.

There were still shooting pains that ran down his nerves, but he didn’t think that was much because of the burn anymore. Mainly because they were concentrated in his legs, and seemed to be from all of the walking.

On the fourth day, he was trying really hard to ignore it. Taako was looking for a camp spot, they were going to rest soon so he just had to hold out for a little bit longer.

Unfortunately, his legs didn’t seem to be on board with that plan, giving out underneath him. He couldn’t focus on what Taako was doing as he sat in the dirt and tried to focus the shooting pains to stop.

“Well alright then, I guess this spot works,” he heard Taako say after a moment, then he heard footsteps, and when he glanced up the elf was crouched in front of him. There was a frown on his face as he squinted and looked him over.

“Hey, I thought that cleric healed you. Do I need to head back there and demand my money back?” he asked.

“I, um- it was a church. You didn’t spend any money, sir,” Angus said, but that didn’t seem to matter to Taako any.

“Metaphorical money kid, try and keep up,” he said flippantly. “Now seriously, what the fuck?”

“Um, the cleric healed me, honest she did,” he said, but Taako didn’t seem to buy it much. Which was a little frustrating, because he was telling the truth here.

“And so you just like to collapse for fun then? Gotta say, if you’re that bored we can work something out,” he said, and Angus shook his head. Situating himself so he was sitting down in a more comfortable position, he was mostly stalling to try and figure out what to say.

“I didn’t collapse because I was bored sir, and um, I was healed. I’m not going to get any worse and the nausea and stuff is gone. It’s just, um,” he started picking at the grass, trying to avoid looking straight at Taako as he explained. “I think the poison might’ve, um, caused some more permanent nerve damage. It’s okay though! It just hurts sometimes and we’ve done a lot of  walking and I didn’t want to say anything,” he finished.

“Oh,” Taako said after a long stretch of silence. When Angus chanced glancing back over at him, his face was carefully blank. “I didn’t… didn’t know nightshade caused nerve damage,” he mumbled.

“It doesn’t?” Angus asked, perking up some. Taako shrugged, standing up and starting to clear the area for camp. It wasn’t as nice of a spot as they usually picked, but it didn’t seem like Taako was going to make him walk anymore.

“I don’t know. It probably does. I don’t actually know shit about poison,” he said, and Angus nodded. He made a mental note to look into some of the effects of nightshade the next chance he got though. It was- he’d honestly been shocked when he found out it was nightshade. He couldn’t remember much from that night, but he was pretty sure he ate a lot. He couldn’t believe he was still alive, thinking about it.

It was quiet as Taako went about setting up the camp, and Angus couldn’t help but feel awkward.

“Is there something you want me to do to help?” he asked, but Taako shook his head.

“No, you rest kiddo. Just- just rest,” he said, and reluctantly Angus nodded, staying put as Taako set up a fire and started clearing spots for them to sleep for the night. Reciting the incantation for mage hand, he started practicing the motions with his non-burned hand.

He hated feeling useless like this, and maybe if he learned magic he could be more of a help to Taako.

Notes:

this chapter kept being difficult but i'm finally happy enough with it so here it is. I also have a structure somewhat of how this fic is going to go until we finally get to Gerblins so that's good. taako, do not let an 8 year old start a camp fire unsupervised, that is not a responsible decision.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy!

Chapter 11: Rockport

Taako tried to push anything Angus might’ve revealed to him the night before out of his head. So he kind of permanently damaged a kid and now he’d be in mild pain or whatever for the rest of his life or whatever. At least he was still alive. Taako was willing to wager a bet that there were quite a few people from the show that night who couldn’t claim that much. Maybe if he’d gotten Angus to a healer sooner or whatever it wouldn’t have been as bad, but they had to take what they got.

And what they got was kinda shitty yeah, but it wasn’t as shitty as it could’ve been, so whatever. He was taking care of the kid now, wasn’t he? He didn’t need to do that, he was making up for the shit he caused. Or fucking, he was trying to. He didn't know much about what he was doing but he was giving an honest fucking attempt here.

Plus, it had been an accident. He wouldn’t have- he was a shitty person yeah, but fuck, he’d never meant to do something like that.

It was whatever though, he was trying to not think about that kind of junk right now anyway. Luckily, a distraction was pretty well in order, since they were finally coming up on Rockport. He needed to go and stop thinking about stupid mistakes he’d made and focus on things like staying hidden and getting a job and junk.

Maybe he was walking extra slow as they started up the day and reached the town, but that was because he wanted time to gather his thoughts and figure out a plan. It wasn’t for any other reason, Angus had done fine keeping up at his normal pace, there was no need to adjust it for him.

Heading into Rockport, it seemed like a pretty average town. Kinda industrial, a big train station that was clearly the reason it had managed to grow as bit as it had.

The one odd thing about the town was the fact that at least half of the people who lived here seemed to be the same person. Which, yeah, was kinda freaky. Still, Taako wasn’t going to draw any attention to it and break some weird social code and get kicked out. It’d be a little hard to blend in with a population so weirdly uniform, but he’d definitely never done a show here before, and he needed to find a fucking job quick. Now wasn't the time to get picky over what shade of bizarre shit he was willing to put up with.

“So um, what do we do now sir?” Angus asked as they stopped near the outskirts of the town.

“Well, cha’ boy is gonna look around for an opportunity for some quick cash,” Taako said, before glancing down at the kid. He couldn’t tell if this was the kind of place that put a lot of stock into child labor laws or not, it could go either way. Still, he should probably not make the kid try to get a job, especially with his goddamn perchance to get hurt whenever Taako’s back was turned.

“You can do whatever it is kids do I guess? Uh, you’re a nerd right? Maybe go find out if they have a library or something here? I don’t know,” Taako said, shrugging his shoulders. Angus frowned somewhat, probably at being dismissed like that, but nodded after a moment.

“Okay, should I just stay at the library until you’re done?” he asked, and right, needed to set up some kind of meeting place so that he could find the kid again later. He’d suggest meeting back here at a certain time, but Taako had no idea how long it would take to find a place to work and stay and shit like that.

He remembered before Sizzle it Up, sometimes he’d get lucky and be able to find a job and shit in a couple hours, but sometimes it went and took days before he managed to catch a break. He was really hoping for some luck here. After everything he'd been through so far, well, he didn't deserve it, that sure as fuck wasn't it. He would appreciate it though.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Should be back by nightfall, if I’m not I probably got lucky and managed to land a gig. Either way, just wait there until they kick you out or whatever. You got food on you in case it takes a while?” he asked and Angus nodded once again.

“I have two rations left in my bag,” he said, and right, whether or not Taako got a job today they’d have to restock tomorrow. He hadn't meant for them to cut it so close with running out of supplies. He also hadn't been planning to head all the way to Rockport when he left either though.

“Cool cool, now to just…” he trailed off, reaching up and undoing the braid in his hair. He took his hat off for only a second to run his fingers through his hair and get it all lose. He always had his hair tied back for the show, this wasn’t a great disguise, but it was something. “How do I look?” he asked after straightening his hat once again.

“Pretty?” Angus said, more of a question than an answer but Taako would take it.

“Well duh. Okay, now go read some nerd books or whatever, cha’ boy’s gonna hit the pavement,” Taako said.

“Good luck sir,” Angus said before starting off in what was probably the direction of the library. Maybe. Eh, the kid was smart enough to find him out in the middle of the woods, he could find a public building.

Once Angus was gone Taako sighed before steeling himself and heading out to start asking around for available jobs. He wasn’t even sure what kind of jobs were out there that weren’t cooks and like, construction workers and farmers and shit. He wasn’t exactly Mr. Beefy Man Beef either, so he doubted construction work would land well with him. This town didn’t seem to have a lot of farms either, all being A City On The Move and shit.

It took talking to more people than he was strictly comfortable with at the moment (mostly Tom Bodetts, and the people who weren’t Tom Bodett didn’t seem to notice or comment on the large percentage of said Tom Bodetts) but he managed to some someone who was willing to hire him on to clean in one of the factories. Definitely not the most glamorous work, it was gonna be a lot of sweeping and mopping and scrubbing machinery. Tom Bodett was giving him seven silver an hour for it though, and  he wasn't going to argue with that right now.

It was already getting late when he managed to strike up that deal though, so he wouldn’t start until tomorrow. Leaving Tom Bodett with an exaggerated goodbye and a dopey smile, Taako started off to try to find the library. The sun was starting to set, so it seemed like he was about on course for what he’d told Angus.

It took him a little bit longer to find the library than he would’ve liked, but he managed to pass an inn during his wanderings. Running in there, he quickly rented a room so that was taken care of before he went back to Angus.

When he did find the library, the person running it didn’t seem to be a Tom, but there were a couple of them working there. Heading over to the kids section, Angus wasn’t there. Taako wanted to just call out for him, but this was also an easy place to dump him during the day. It’d be annoying if they got kicked out and he couldn’t do that while they stayed here.

Thankfully, while it was a pretty big library, it wasn’t completely unmanageable and it didn’t take him too long to find Angus. He seemed totally engrossed in whatever book he was reading, half a ration abandoned off to the side. Sneaking up behind him, Taako draped himself over the back of the chair, surprising the kid.

“Yeah alright, guess the library is def a good idea to keep you busy,” he said. Angus quickly straightened up in his seat, turning around some to face him better.

“Oh, hello sir! Is it that late already? Did you have any luck finding a job?” he asked, his voice a careful whisper. He seemed more comfortable than he could remember seeing him. Taako remembered the way Angus had looked when he first found him. Not the sick and nearly dying part, but his clothes. They’d been worn and dirty, but it was clear that at one time they’d been nice. Plus there was the way Angus always insisted on calling him sir, and that the one thing he remarked on being sad that he lost were some books. He'd mentioned other people always being the ones to buy his clothes too (he hadn't mentioned it being parents though, like most kids would've).

Taako wasn’t some great detective, but if he had to guess Angus had been a pretty damn well off kid who spent more than his fair share amount of time in libraries. It made sense that he looked so at ease here.

“Sure did. Cha’ boy starts tomorrow, we’ll probably be sticking around here for a couple of weeks. Now come on, I’ve already grabbed us a room,” Taako told him. Angus nodded, closing and gathering up the books that he’d had spread out in front of him. Taako gave a cursory glance over them. There were a couple that he was pretty sure were from that book series he’d mentioned before. That wasn’t much of a surprise, and also not something he gave much of a shit about.

There were a few books that clearly weren’t kids novels though, and when Taako read over the covers he had to keep himself from flinching. He hadn’t seen a lot, but he’d saw enough to realize they were books on poisons.

Which, yeah. Made sense that the kid might want to look into those kinds of things now. Figure out all the ways that Taako had fucked him up and shit.

“Um, is it okay if I check a few of these out? If we’re going to be staying here for a little while? I already set myself up with a library card while I was waiting, so it won’t take long,” Angus asked, and Taako nodded.

“Knock yourself out. You can just come back here whenever too, I don’t give a shit what you get up to while I’m out,” he said. Angus nodded, grabbing a few of the books (mostly some of those novels, but there were two on poisons from what Taako could tell) and ran up to the counter.

Taako waited by the door while Angus got that all taken care of, and after a moment they started off to the inn.

“So um, what sort of job did you get sir?” Angus asked as they walked. He at least actually seemed genuinely interested in knowing and wasn’t making mindless small talk for the hell of it. Not that Taako had never done that before, but still.

“Just some work cleaning shit at one of the weird industrial buildings here. Nothing glamorous but you don’t want that when you’re trying to keep your head down,” he said, and Angus nodded in agreement.

“That makes sense sir,” he said, and it wasn’t long then before they made it to the inn. It wasn’t a particularly nice one, but it was the first one he’d seen and it’d been cheep. It shouldn’t offset the money he was actually making to be able to stay there too much, which was the most important thing. Plus, it had a bed and a couch instead of some uncomfortable chair. Taako could actually sleep on a couch.

He guessed Angus realized that was what he was planning to do, because the kid looked all hesitant when he saw him slump out across the couch.

“Um, do you want to sleep on the bed? Since you have a job and everything you should be able to get lots of rest,” he said, but Taako waved him off, spreading out even more along the couch.

“Eh, maybe tomorrow or some shit, but I’m here now and I’m not planning on moving until I fucking need to,” he said. Angus seemed kind of reluctant but nodded, finally going to set his stuff up on the little end table by the bed.

“If you insist sir,” he said, and Taako nodded, not bothering to actually look over at him again. He was very intent on letting himself fall asleep then when he remembered that he’d been planning on going shopping tomorrow before he got this job. Ugh, he was faced with either getting up extra early so he could do it before work, or going after work when he was most likely going to be fucking exhausted. Neither option seemed particularly appealing to him.

“Oh hey, you wanna be of some use?” Taako asked suddenly. Angus’s head shot up from where he’d been reading one of the novels he’d grabbed from the library, quickly nodding.

“Of course sir! Is there something you need?” he asked, and that was about the answer Taako had expected. Definitely a people-pleaser this kid.

“You think you’d be good to go out and buy supplies for us tomorrow? We’re not gonna be traveling for a while, so you don’t gotta grab anything like that. Just some food to hold us over for a while. Maybe a week at most, we don’t need to stock up for the whole time we’ll be here after all,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Of course, I can do that,” he said, and cool, okay, that took care of that.

“Sweet, I’ll leave some money out for you and shit. I’ll be out most of the day so just get around to it whenever,” he said, closing his eyes to start getting to sleep again.

The next day he woke up early, and Angus was still asleep by the time he was heading out to start his not so fun new job. Still, money was money, and that was all he could be concerned with at the moment. Money and keeping his shit under wraps.

Putting on a little paper mask to start sweeping up shards of metal and wood from whatever it was they were working on in here, Taako got ready for a decent couple of weeks of being under wraps.

A part of him kind of hated having to be back doing menial shit like this, but he couldn’t really complain.

If he didn’t want to lose everything he’d worked for, he shouldn’t of fucked up and killed who even fucking knew how many people.

This punishment didn’t remotely fit the crime, but it was something, so he’d go along with it for now.

——

Angus was glad to be back in a city. It wasn’t something he’d realized he’d missed that much, but he had. There was a comfort in having a bunch of people around and lots of buildings and shops and all the normal things he was used to and had grown up with. Sure, there was something kind of weird about how half the people in this town seemed to be subtle variations of the same man, but he figured he could look into that if he got some time later on.

He had something else he needed to focus on at the moment, and he intended to get right back to that mystery as soon as possible.

First though, he’d promised Taako he would buy supplies for them today. When he'd woken up Taako had already left for his new job, which wasn't too much of a surprise. He hadn't said what time he started, but from everything Angus knew most jobs tended to start pretty early in the morning. He’d left a decent amount of gold on the side table like he’d promised though, so shopping was what Angus was going to do.

It didn’t take him long to find a small shop, a general store that sold both food as well as an assortment of other items it seemed. Once he was there he definitely took his time. He didn’t want to waste money because he brought the first things he saw without comparing prices or anything like that. Taako was trusting him to do this and he didn’t want to mess it up like he’d done with the fire.

It was kind of hard judging how much food two people would need for a week. You’re supposed to eat three times a day, he knew that. Sometimes Taako didn’t though, and he hadn’t been before he got healed because his stomach couldn’t handle it. He was fine now though so he figured he should start doing that again. He guessed accidentally getting a little bit extra wasn’t the worst thing. They just wouldn’t have to go shopping again for even longer, and that was a good thing, right?

Grabbing rations and packs of dried fruit and such, Angus figured he should stick to what they’d been eating so far. Even if what they’d been eating this whole time was a little boring and pretty flavorless. Looking around, these were definitely the cheapest things, so it made sense.

Once his basket was full enough that he was starting to have a difficult time actually carrying it Angus figured he was about done. Heading up to the counter, it was another Mr. Tom Bodett who served him. The person at the other register was someone else, but that one had a longer line. Struggling a little bit, Angus managed to heft his basket up on the counter for the Tom Bodett to start checking out.

There were a few little things up by the counter, mostly candies and treats like that to tempt you to buy them on impulse. Which was a little tempting, but this wasn’t Angus’s money and Taako was trusting him not to go spend it on frivolous things. It wasn’t a very hard decision to make.

Or at least, it wasn’t until he saw the wands up on display behind the Tom Bodett.

Angus told himself to ignore them. He hadn’t even managed to cast a single spell yet, Taako had said they could share his wand until they had enough money to buy him one of his own. Still, he found himself staring a them, and all of his stuff was almost rung up. If he waited a little bit longer he’d be done and he would have to wait until later to ask Taako if grabbing one would be something they could do before they left town.

“Um, excuse me sir? How much do those wands behind you cost?” Angus found himself asking right as the Tom Bodett was finishing up with the last of his purchase. He quickly glanced behind him at the wands Angus was motioning to.

He wasn’t going to buy one right now. He just wanted to know the price so he could see if it was even worth bringing up to Taako later.

“Oh these? Cheapest is about seven gold,” Tom Bodette said, and Angus told himself that was too much. When compared to what he was getting everything else for it was so much more expensive for just one item. “You interested?” he asked and Angus forced himself to shake his head.

“No, I need to ask my- um, my guardian first. I’ll just take the groceries for now,” he said, and he guessed guardian worked for Taako. At least, when people asked about if he had people taking care of him or he needed to pretend to have parents. People tended to get concerned if they thought he was traveling alone. Tom Bodett nodded, and Angus paid for the groceries before grabbing the bags and starting back to their inn room. He was kind of disappointed about not getting the wand, but proud of himself for resisting the urge.

Before they left the town he’d casually bring it up to Taako as a possibility. If they couldn’t afford it that was fine.

Once he had the food dropped off he headed over to the library. He hadn’t checked out all the books he’d been looking at the day before, mainly because he hadn’t wanted Taako to get concerned about what he was looking into.

He knew the whole poison thing definitely unsettled Taako, and to be honest Angus hadn’t expected to find anything at first. He was mainly looking to be sure that he’d been totally healed despite the leftover pains, and to double check that nightshade caused nerve damage. If they didn’t that seemed like a pretty serious thing after all.

And he guessed this was serious, because from what he could find, nerve damage wasn’t a symptom of nightshade.

Which meant there was either something else wrong with him, or it hadn’t been nightshade.

Yesterday Angus had a bunch of books on poisons, seeing what other kinds of things could cause something like that. Turned out, there were a lot of poisons that could do that. Today he had sat down with a bunch of medical books, trying to see what else could cause the kind of dull shooting pains and delayed pain responses he got sometimes.

There were a few things he found that came close, but nothing seemed to fit his symptoms as well as the nerve damage like he’d first thought. Of course, this was only two days of research, he couldn’t draw any hard conclusions yet.

He hadn’t realized how long he’d spent at the library when he felt someone leaning on the back of his chair. Quickly glancing up, he relaxed to see Taako kind of slumped there, looking past him and at the book he’d been reading from. He’d gotten a bit distracted reading about nerve damage. It was a little less for the investigation now that he was sure that was what he had, and more to know about what he was dealing with. There was a strange look on Taako’s face that he couldn’t quite place.

“Good evening sir, did you have a good first day at work?” he asked. Taako blinked and his eyes seemed to come back into focus before he nodded.

“Depends on what you count as good but yeah, I fucking guess,” he said, pushing himself up from where he’d been leaning against the chair. “What’s important is that it’s money,” he added, and Angus supposed that was fair.

“I went shopping like you asked,” he said, starting to put away the books he’d brought out.

“Cool, that’s one thing off the list,” Taako said, glancing once again at the books Angus had stacked up. “You wanna get those?” he asked, his voice a little too nonchalant to be natural. Still Angus didn’t call him out on it, instead shaking his head.

“No, I’m pretty sure I’ve got everything I need from these. Besides, I can always come back tomorrow if I need to double check something,” he said, and Taako nodded. It looked like he wasn’t paying much attention, but it was kind of hard to tell with him.

Whether he was paying attention or not Angus didn’t ask, simply following him back to the inn. Taako seemed to approve of the groceries Angus had grabbed, which was a relief. They both ate some, and before Angus could ask Taako if he would prefer sleeping in the bed tonight he was sprawled out on the couch again. He decided not to call him out on it, instead hesitating a moment before speaking up on something else.

“Um, Mr. Taako sir? Do you think my burn is healed enough for me to try to cast mage hand? It doesn’t hurt when I move it anymore, it’s just a little stiff,” he asked. Taako sat up some, seeming to think it over.

“Lemme see your hand again?” he asked. Angus quickly scrambled off the bed and headed over to Taako, holding out his hand for him to see. He’d let him forgo the bandages a couple of days ago when it seemed to be getting better. Taako frowned as he looked at his palm, poking the shiny red bits a few times like he was trying to see if it hurt him any. After a minute he let go of his hand and shrugged.

“Yeah sure, why the fuck not. Won’t hurt for you to give it a try,” he said, and Angus smiled brightly at that. “Alright, watch and repeat after me,” Taako said. He slowly started going through the incantations and movements before casting a simple mage hand.

Angus copied him as best he could, and after a moment a jerky and vaguely hand shaped spectral lump appeared, dropping to the ground. It was a little grotesque and terrifying and he couldn’t help the distressed look on his face at the sight.

“Oh god it’s alive. Kill it Angus, kill it,” Taako said. Without thinking Angus stomped on it, the mage hand disappearing in a puff of smoke. Taako was snickering but Angus didn’t look up at him, staring at the ground and trying not to betray how disappointed he was.

“Sorry sir. I didn’t- that wasn’t very good,” he muttered. It was a good thing he hadn’t wasted that money on a wand if that was his first attempt at something magic.

“Huh? What no, that was great,” Taako said. When Angus looked up it didn’t seem like he was particularly lying either. “It was your first time. Yeah it’s not gonna be pretty but you still did it. That takes talent,” he said and Angus couldn’t help but perk up some at that.

“You mean it?” he asked. Taako nodded, laying back down on the couch and pulling his big hat down over his eyes to block out the light.

“Yeah, it’s not like I’d get anything out of lying to you about that,” he said, and Angus supposed that was true. “Now lemme sleep, cha’ boys exhausted and has to get up at fuck o’clock in the morning again tomorrow,” Taako added. Angus quickly nodded, even though Taako couldn’t see him with his hat in his face.

“Alright, goodnight sir,” he said, heading back over to the bed. He felt significantly less bad about the botched mage hand, and he wasn’t too tired yet. Instead of going straight to sleep, he pulled out one of the books he’d borrowed from the library and started to read.

It was one of the ones he’d gotten about different kinds of poisons. Angus was pretty glad they were going to be sticking in Rockport for a little while. He still wasn’t that used to traveling around so much, and he knew that a small inn room wasn’t a home, but there was still something nice about having this small break of stability.

Plus, it gave him some time to look into what had happened at Glamour Springs. He’d been fairly certain he’d understood what it was before, but now he wasn’t sure.

The only thing he was sure about was that it wasn’t nightshade. It wasn’t a lot of information, but he was a pretty great detective.

He just needed a little bit of time, and he’d be able to crack this one, no problem.

Notes:

heeeeey look i'm back to paying attention to my other fics again! Sorry for not updating this fic in a while, in case you hadn't saw i used the first half of camp nanowrimo to finish off my other taako and angus centered fic, heartstrings. feel free to go check it out if you haven't already! but yes, this fic, Ango is on the case.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 12: Unaffordable Thoughtfulness

The next week or so was exhausting but uneventful. He couldn't be entirely sure on how long, Taako wasn’t too good at keeping track of time, but he figured it’d about been a day or two past a week. They needed to grab more food soon, which was his current way of measuring that kind of thing. He'd gotten into a pretty agreeable routine in that time. He woke up, went to work, busted his ass cleaning, picked Angus up at the library, and then went back to the inn. He didn’t have to interact with many people, he got a decent chunk of money at the end of every day, and Angus seemed fine to entertain himself while he was gone.

Today broke that pattern though, because he got let out of the job early. Which, yeah that was less gold he could make today, but to say he couldn’t use a break about now was an outright lie. Fucking hell he was so tired. He’d made a lot during this week too. About fifty gold all together. Which didn’t seem like a lot when he thought about it, especially considering that was about one good showing of sizzle it up.

For some shitty cleaning factory job it was a lot though, and considering the standard he had to work with now he'd take it.

Taako considered going to the library to grab Angus early. The thing was though, he wasn’t even sure if the kid actually spent his whole days there. It was possible he just headed over a couple hours before Taako got out since that’s where they’d gotten into a habit of meeting.

So instead of doing that, Taako headed down to the store. They needed to restock on food and shit after all, and he had the time to kill.

Walking into the store, Taako kept up his habit of not making eye contact with anyone as much as he could fucking manage. It was a pretty easy thing to pull off, and no one seemed bothered by it yet. Plus, it kept him from focusing on how fucking weird this town was. He swore, every goddamn day there seemed to be more of that Tom Bodett dude. They were fucking multiplying. He was tempted to bring it up with Angus to see if he noticed, but he also didn’t want to sound completely and utterly insane.

Taako took his time shopping, since he actually could. He’d forgot how exhausting having a job he had to go to every single day was. Sure, he stayed away from the sections that used to be his favorites, sticking to all the pre-packaged stuff, but he told himself he was getting used to this. He could deal with packaged shit and not cooking, it wasn't like he didn't eat like garbage half the time anyway.

Sure it was awful, but that didn’t matter. People can get used to any shitty thing, and surviving off of nothing but preserved junk was a small price to pay.

Grabbing about another weeks worth of food, Taako figured they wouldn’t stay much longer than that. He didn’t want to risk being in one place too long, especially since this was a more populated area where news could spread easier. Still, another week would be good. They could save up a bit more money and stay under the radar before heading anywhere else.

Walking up to the counter, this store seemed to be completely manned by Tom Bodetts. The one ringing up his food smiled pleasantly and Taako didn’t make much of an attempt to reciprocate. Instead he started playing with one of the little keychain toys on the counter. Maybe Angus would like something like this? He doubted it was more than a couple of copper.

Taako was halfway through debating grabbing the toy when he saw the wands on the wall behind Tom and he paused. They looked pretty shitty, but that was about the price range Taako could hope to afford right now anyway.

He didn’t know a lot about what Angus did during the day, but he did know he practiced the mage hand Taako had showed him a lot. He was getting pretty damn good at it, especially considering how fucking young he was. He was a smart kid though, so it wasn’t the most surprising thing in the world.

“Hey my dude, throw in one of those wands for me while you’re at it,” he said, mostly on impulse. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the money. Sure, he was supposed to be saving that money, but he was never good at actually doing that shit. It was just a cheap wand, and he’d have this job for another week at least, he could make up the difference no problem.

“Oh, are you some sort of wizard?” Tom Bodett asked, grabbing a wand off the wall behind him and bagging it with the rest of the groceries.

“A shitty one yeah. It ain’t for me though,” he said simply, not feeling the need to explain any more than that. Tom Bodett nodded, telling Taako the total and yeah, the wand had definitely added a bit onto that. It was whatever though. The good thing about wands was that as long as you weren’t a complete dumbass they tended to last quite a while.

With all that taken care of, Taako headed back to the inn to drop everything off. Angus wasn’t there when he went inside, which meant he was probably at the library or whatever places he got off to during the day. Taking the wand, he stuffed it in his pack for safe keeping. He’d surprise Angus with it when they got back tonight or something.

He’d pretty much had mage hand down pat by now after all, he could teach him something else with the new wand. Pulling out his ‘spellbook,’ Taako looked over the easiest spells he knew. Pretty much all of the spells he knew were easy. He was a fucking shitty wizard, he hadn’t been lying about that. As long as he kept it away from food though, maybe he could learn some more shit so that he actually had junk worth teaching to Angus. He got a feeling it wouldn’t take the kid too long to master everything he knew after all.

So, Taako spent the next hour or so relaxing in the inn room planning the next spell he would teach Angus. He’d settled on light. It was a simple as fuck spell, and while Taako didn’t use it a lot since he had night vision, Angus was a human. He’d get a lot more use out of it than Taako ever would.

It was starting to get dark when Taako headed out to the library. It was a bit earlier than he would normally show up, but he figured the kid had to at least be a little bored of being at the library all the time. They could have an early night and he could teach the kid light. That seemed not terrible, it actually seemed kind of good.

He’d just opened the library door when something about half his size slammed into him. He hadn’t been expecting it, and when he looked up from where he’d sprawled on the ground he saw Angus in a similar position. He looked pretty spooked, but Taako told himself not to immediately panic. Maybe the kid had like, fuck, he didn’t know, read a scary story or something and freaked himself out.

“What’s the deal pumpkin? I know you’re like the only person who ever comes to this place probably, but you should still watch where you’re going,” he said, trying to stay lighthearted.

“Oh sir! I’m so glad you’re here,” he said, starting to scramble to his feet. Taako followed suit, looking over the kid again. He didn’t look like he was hurt or anything, but that didn’t mean some fucker couldn’t have still been messing with him.

“Yeah, I got off early today. Everything okay my dude?” he asked, looking around. There wasn’t anyone immediately around them. They were right outside of the library, and he’d only kind of been joking about Angus being the only one to come here. He was sure it was busier earlier in the day, but it always seemed pretty dead by the time Taako showed up.

When he looked back at Angus, he noticed he had a newspaper with him, that he gathered up off the floor. Taako felt like he had to remind his heart to keep beating. This didn’t mean anything. It didn’t- it might still be okay.

“Um, I think we should probably leave town sir,” Angus said, unfurling the newspaper so that Taako could see the article. It wasn’t center stage front page, but it was still a pretty large article near the bottom, the headline large and eye grabbing.

Forty Dead In Glamour Springs After Mass Poisoning.

Taako wasn’t sure how long he stood there, holding the newspaper. He was reading the article, but absolutely none of it was sinking in. The only thing he could think was forty dead. Fucking forty people.

“Sir? Taako, we should go,” Angus said, jerking his arm and knocking him out of his thoughts. Or lack of thoughts, he guessed. He was shaking bad, and he wasn’t sure when that happened. He fucking looked like Angus did whenever he overexerted himself.

“Right, fuck you’re- shit. You're right. Back to the inn, now. Gotta grab our stuff,” he managed to say. Angus didn’t protest, grabbing onto Taako’s arm as they rushed back to the inn. As they moved Taako tried to think of what the fuck they were supposed to do. It was- they needed to get away from people. Moving by foot was too fucking slow though, if news had gotten here already. He couldn’t risk being recognized either. What the fuck were they supposed to do?

Once they were back at the inn Angus went straight to packing up his stuff. He quickly noticed the new groceries Taako had gone out to grab earlier today.

“Went shopping, since I got off early,” Taako mumbled, and Angus just nodded. Taako started packing up his own shit, slowly forming an idea on how to get out of here. The main think was making sure that no one recognized him, that wouldn’t be too hard.

“Um, sir?” Angus asked, sounding hesitant to speak up.

“Hmm?” he hummed, not bothering with actual words.

“I um, I know we can’t go back to the library. I’m not- it’s just that I have a few books from there still, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with them now,” he said, not looking Taako in the eyes as he spoke. “I’m sorry, that’s dumb, I’ll just leave them. Forget about it,” he quickly added, sounding ashamed to have brought it up in the first place. Which, considering the circumstances it wasn’t exactly the most important thing right now.

“Which one’s your favorite?” he asked, and honestly it was good to have something else to fucking think about right now, even if for only a second.

“What?” Angus asked, clearly confused.

“The books you grabbed, which is your favorite?” Taako clarified. Angus hesitated for a moment, before digging through the pretty sizable stack of books he’d built up on the nightstand over the week and pulling one out.

“This one, I guess. It’s um, it’s a part of the Caleb Cleveland series,” he said.

“Leave the rest, take that one. They won’t miss it,” he said. Okay, he was pretty sure that was everything. He still had the newspaper Angus had handed him in a death grip. Folding it up in what he was sure was the wrong way, Taako stuffed it into his bag as well. Best not to leave this in the room for the cleaning staff or whatever to see and make the connection.

“Are you sure? Stealing is- I don’t-” Angus stuttered out. Chewing his lip, he hesitated for a moment before stuffing it into his bag. “I think that’s everything,” he said once he tied it shut.

“Yeah, just gimme a second,” Taako said, heading over to a mirror hanging on the wall. He didn’t cast this spell much, mainly because he never had any reason to before. He’d never wanted to be anyone but himself before this. Being Taako was too fucking risky right now though, so taking a deep breath to steady himself, he cast a quick disguise self.

The biggest change was that he looked like a human now, a little bulkier, with short black hair and a slight beard to match. The already subdued for him clothes were replaced with a plain, cheap looking brown suit. Most of his features he burrowed from Angus, with slight variations here and there.

“What do you think? I could be your dad, right?” he asked, lowering the pitch of his voice some.

No one would suspect a dad traveling with his kid. It would be fine.

“Wow, I- yeah, you could be. That’s really impressive sir,” Angus said, that starry eyed look of amazement back on his face again. It didn't last long though, the whole reason they were even doing this coming back after a moment. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Taako grabbed Angus’s hand before heading out of the inn.

“We gotta be fast. This’ll only last an hour before I gotta re-cast it,” he said, Angus nodding as he trotted along to keep up.

Heading straight to the train station, the sun was set at this point, so few people were out. No one seemed to pay them any mind either, but Taako didn’t let himself any sort of relief. He tried not to flinch when he brought two tickets for the next train out of town. The last minute purchase burning away a good twenty gold. So fucking much for saving up.

Within twenty minutes of arriving at the train station though, they were in their own sleeper car (the only thing still available at such short notice, and therefor more expensive) and leaving Rockport for Neverwinter.

Closing and locking the door before the train attendant could finish his sentence, Taako collapsed onto one of the pull out cots. He wasn’t planning on opening the door for the rest of the night, and he locked the door to keep anyone from coming in. The train wouldn’t arrive in Neverwinter until morning, so he let the disguise self drop.

When he looked over to where Angus had slumped down on the other cot, the kid looked like he was shaking slightly. Taako couldn’t tell if it was from nerves or all the sudden running around.

“Hey, you okay pumpkin?” he asked, Angus nodding wordlessly. He didn’t particularly look okay, but Taako wasn’t really- he didn’t have the energy to press him on it at the moment.

Besides, if he had to guess, he'd put it on the confirmation that the dude who was fucking taking care of him for gods knew what reason had killed forty people. That information certainly wasn’t sitting well with Taako, to say the least. He couldn't imagine a little kid reacting all that much better.

After a few minutes Taako shrugged the bag off his back, and he was about to toss it into the corner for the night when he remembered. He was half tempted to wait until some other time, since now didn’t seem particularly good. But fuck, he could use a distraction right now, however small.

Opening the bag, he pulled out the wand he’d brought earlier and tossed it over to Angus. He almost hadn’t managed to catch it, caught off guard by the stick suddenly thrown his way.

“I- what?” he asked, turning the wand over in his hands before looking up at Taako, bewilderment all over his face.

“Grabbed you a wand when I was out shopping earlier. Don’t really got it in me for a lesson right now, but it’s yours,” he said, shifting to curl up on the cot. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, but he could at least pretend to. He wasn’t bothering to look at Angus’s face right now. He wasn’t sure how he’d react, but whatever it was he knew he couldn’t deal with all that at the moment.

“Thank you sir,” Angus said after a moment, and even if he wasn’t looking at the kid he could still hear the disbelief and sincerity in his voice. And yeah, he couldn’t deal with that right now.

“Get some sleep, train’s gonna be pulling into Neverwinter pretty fucking early,” he muttered.

“Alright,” Angus said, and Taako could hear shuffling as he got himself situated in the cot. “Um, goodnight, Taako,” he added after a moment.

“Night,” he muttered back.

Just like he’d thought, he hadn’t gotten even close to sleeping that night.

——

Angus hadn’t expected things to move so fast, especially after the relative ease of the routine they’d fallen into over the past week. It’d been nice, although he felt bad with how tired Taako always seemed after work. He didn’t complain about the job though, and Angus wasn’t going to bring it up when he knew they didn’t have a lot of options at the moment.

Instead, he’d fully devoted himself to looking into what happened at Glamour Springs, because the more he dug through the less it seemed to add up.

He knew it was rude to look through other people’s belongings, but he figured Taako would be thankful enough to find out the truth that he wouldn’t mind. So one day when he was at work Angus had dug through his bag until he found his sort of all in one spellbook. He had a good feeling what he needed would be in there, and like he’d hoped it also seemed to be where he scrawled out all his recipes. It’d taken a bit, but Angus had managed to figure out which meal he’d cooked that night and saw exactly what had gone into it.

If it had been a transmutation mistake, nightshade made sense. Angus had compared pictures he’d found in the library to elderberries, and they really were close.

The big issue was that his symptoms didn’t match up with nightshade, so it had to be something else. It didn’t take much effort to exclude Taako from doing anything deliberate. It was obvious that he hadn’t wanted to kill a bunch of people and completely destroy his cooking show and be forced to live on the run. If it was something he’d done, it would've been a mistake.

And if it had been something on purpose, it had to of been someone else. Angus didn’t know enough about how Sizzle It Up had ran to have many suspects for that though. When he’d looked through the ledger part of Taako’s book, it seemed like there was only one other person who worked on the show with him. Someone named Sazed, but Taako hadn’t mentioned them and he hadn’t seen anyone else around that night.

During the week though, Angus had managed to get a pretty decent list of poisons that would match the symptoms and be able to be hidden in the food without noticing. It wasn’t a long one, and he felt like he’d made a breakthrough that day.

One of the poisons that best matched the symptoms Angus had was arsenic, although it wasn’t the only one. What had set that one apart though was the fact that he’d found out when it was heated it tasted and smelled like garlic.

The meal Taako had made that night had a lot of garlic in it. Or at least what seemed like a lot to him, he wasn’t a cook but thirty was a pretty high amount of any food thing. It had tasted great but it had been very garlicy. If someone wanted to make sure the poison they used was completely unnoticeable, it was the perfect meal to pick.

He’d been so excited by this discovery. If- if someone had something against Taako, or against Glamour Springs it was perfect.

Sure, he wasn’t sure if Taako would be happy to talk about glamour springs, but he’d probably be happy to hear that it might not have been his fault. So Angus had started quickly gathering up his books to leave. It was getting late, and Taako still wouldn’t show up for a little bit, but he wanted to wait outside for him.

He’d been on his way out when he caught sight of the newspaper stand by the door, and the excitement of having a strong lead stopped cold.

Reading over the article it was- it was pretty damning. People thought that Taako had killed all those people on purpose and that he might try to do something like that again. Angus knew that wasn’t true, even if he hadn't known Taako for very long in the grand scheme of things. Still, he was also aware that most people wouldn’t be willing to take his word on it, especially when he had no concrete evidence to put the blame on someone else. Even if he could prove was arsenic, people would just think Taako was the one to put that in there.

They needed to leave before someone realized who he was. They couldn’t get caught yet, not before Angus could prove that Taako hadn’t been the one to kill all those people.

Luckily, it hadn’t taken them very long to do just that. Taako had panicked, but that didn’t stop him from thinking on his feet enough to cast a disguise self to get them on a train.

Which was a lot of money, and they were barely even in the clear when Taako had pulled out a wand he’d brought Angus.

He guessed Taako hadn’t expected them to have to leave so fast and figured it wouldn’t hurt to buy one thing. It was one of the ones Angus had been looking at, and he hadn’t even gotten the chance to bring them up to him. He'd be less surprised if he'd hinted about them to Taako at all, but he hadn't. He'd been trying to think of a way to bring them up without it seeming like he was asking for one, but he hadn't found a way.

And without him saying anything, Taako had seen the wands and realized Angus would want one. He didn't only think of him either, but actually went and spent the money to buy him one when they were trying to save.

It was thoughtfulness Angus wasn’t used to, and thoughtfulness they couldn’t afford either.

He knew he should tell Taako to go sell it as soon as they got to Neverwinter (which was a whole other kettle of fish. Angus hadn’t been back to Neverwinter since his grandpa died) but he just- he wanted to keep it so bad. So he didn't mention it.

Taako had told him to get some sleep before the train got to Neverwinter, and he really did try. He made sure to carefully put his new wand away in his bag so that he wouldn’t roll over it in his sleep or anything like that if he tried to sleep with it (he really was tempted to try to sleep with it too. That seemed like a pretty childish thing to do though, and even though Taako wasn’t paying any attention to him he decided against it).

Despite his best attempts though, he wasn’t quite able to fall into any sort of deep sleep that night. He blamed it on his nerves combined with the occasional ambient noises of the train. Whatever the exact causes were, he was already half awake when Taako shook his shoulder and told him they’d be at the station soon.

Before they left the sleeper car Taako made sure to put his disguise self back up, and it was so strange to see. It really did look like he could be his dad like that, no one would think to spare them a second glance as long as they didn't draw attention on purpose.

Like Taako had said, it was only a few minutes before the train stopped and they were let off. The station was bustling and full of people, even so early in the morning. It was pretty clear that Taako was uncomfortable with so many people around, grabbing his arm and practically dragging him out of the station.

It was odd, Angus had been to this particular station a few times, he wasn’t used to knowing where he was anymore. He could probably direct them back to his old house from here without getting too lost.

“Uh, gimme just a minute,” Taako said before dipping into an alley way and out of sight. When he came back out he looked like himself again, although he seemed even more uncomfortable than he had been before. “Only lasts an hour, don’t want to to wear off and accidentally change in front of a buncha people,” he explained and Angus nodded. It made sense.

“Right, um, are we going to stay in Neverwinter for a bit? Or do you want to keep moving?” he asked. Neverwinter was such a big city, he was sure they could hide here without anyone noticing them if they had to.

Really though, Angus wasn’t too thrilled by the idea. It was unlikely that anyone would notice him for sure, but he couldn’t help but be nervous.

“We should- we should keep moving,” Taako said after a moment, sounding like he wasn’t sure himself. “That put a lot of distance between us and uh, ya know, but it doesn’t hurt to put some more,” he said, and Angus nodded. That seemed like it would be for the best, he definitely didn’t mind that idea.

“Should we go now?” he asked. He wasn’t too fond of camping, but it was still early in the day, so they could make a lot of headway if they wanted to leave right at that moment.

“Maybe, leaving is probably good. It’s probably- fuck,” Taako said, and he looked like he was a hair away from breaking down. There weren’t as many people out here as there had been in the train station, but it was still a lot.

If he had to make a guess, Angus would say that Taako was close to having a panic attack.

“Maybe we should go somewhere with less people,” he suggested and Taako nodded.

“Right, good idea. Fuck, you’re a smart kid,” he said, ruffling Angus’s hair absently before starting off in a seemingly random direction. Angus couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride at the praise before running after him.

“I know I am,” he said happily, and that actually seemed to get a small chuckle out of Taako. He still didn’t look the most stable, but it was something.

Angus remembered that he’d never gotten a chance to tell Taako about the possible arsenic. He decided he could tell him about that later, once they were alone and Taako had calmed down and it was safe.

That last one was a little more tentative than the others. He might have to forgo that one. Safety was pretty relative anyway.

Notes:

it's late but i had kinda a stressful day and already had this chapter written, so i figured it wouldn't hurt to edit and throw this chapter up. finally! things are happening! hopefully the pace'll keep moving with this and things.

as always thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 13: Truth of the Matter

Taako tried to keep himself together as he made his way through the way too crowded streets of Neverwinter. He kept trying to decide if it was worth it to duck into an alleyway and cast another disguise self. He didn’t have the spell slots to do that every hour through, and it was best to save a couple in case he got into some real hot waters.

Best now to keep his head down and hope no one noticed him. Hope that the news of a veritable massacre in a small frontier town hadn’t reached the big city yet.

A hand grabbed at his sleeve and tugged gently. Taako was already flinching away before he heard Angus’s voice and realized the kid had been trying to talk to him for a while there.

“Sorry sir, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he quickly apologized. Taako was already trying to school his face into something calmer and less like a caged animal. It wasn’t working all that well, but as long as he could give off the illusion that he was alright that was all that mattered.

“Ain’t even a thing bubula, whatcha need?” he asked, starting to walk again. He didn’t want to stay in the same place for too long. Angus didn’t look too tired yet. Hopefully the kid wouldn’t need a break for a while.

“Um, I was just wondering if you had any idea where we're going?” Angus asked, and that got Taako to stop once again. He’d been in Neverwinter before, he knew he had. Once or twice with Sizzle It Up, but that was in the heavily trafficked areas he needed to avoid now.

He had to of come through here a few times as a kid too. The caravans always passed through the big cities like this. He couldn’t remember anywhere concrete through. It’d been too long and changed too much from when he was little for him to pinpoint anything. Plus, he never cared about the places they went to. It was always an endless stream of interchangeable people and cities that would be gone again in a few weeks anyway.

“Not particularly. Never spent a lot of time in Neverwinter,” he muttered after a moment.

“Oh, well um, I grew up here, with my grandpa that is. I can probably get us out of the city pretty unnoticed if you want,” Angus explained. Taako tried to remember if Angus had ever mentioned being from Neverwinter before. For the life of him he couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t that important right now though. What was important was that the kid was offering some actual goddamn direction here. Direction he very sorely lacked.

“Hell yeah my dude, lead the fucking way,” he said. Angus glanced around before seeming to decide on a direction. Nodding to himself he started off, and this time Taako followed after him, trying to keep an eye out as much as possible without looking too suspicious.

After a bit they actually seemed to be in a sparser part of the city and Taako could breath the slightest bit easier. It was still way too many people for it to actually be safe, but it was an improvement. It no longer felt like there were hundreds of eyes on him no matter how much he tried to blend in.

“So, you grew up here, huh?” Taako asked. He had no idea how long they’d been walking in silence for, but it suddenly felt like it’d been way too long.

“Yes sir, it’s um, it’s a pretty nice city,” Angus said, and Taako nodded absently. It did seem alright, not that he could focus on that much at the moment.

He needed to figure out what they were doing, where the fuck they were going to go now. He didn’t fucking know shit though. He thought Rockport would be safe for a while and he’d been dead wrong on that one. If Angus wasn’t a big enough nerd to actually look at the newspaper he would’ve been caught for sure. He didn’t know which places were out of the way enough to be safe. His gut instinct was to never stop moving now, but he had Angus tagging along.

Taako wasn’t sure why that factored into his decision at all. He’d made it clear that Angus was under no obligation to keep traveling with him after all. If he wanted to leave he could whenever. Besides, Taako had moved around constantly as a kid too. It wasn’t the worst life in the world.

For some reason though it was still a life he felt weird dragging Angus into. Still, it wasn't his fault. As far as he could tell the kid was choosing this.

“Hey, what are you doing off on your own anyway? Don’t you have any family wanting to take you in?” he asked. He knew Angus had mentioned his grandpa dying and not having parents, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone left. Taako had been passed around by a whole smorgasbord of relatives before setting out on his own.

“Um, not really sir, I never had a very big family. It had pretty much just been me and my grandpa for as long as I can remember,” Angus said, and Taako supposed that was fair.

Taako stopped walking as an idea came to him, and maybe it was a bad idea. He needed some fucking time to collect himself and figure out what he was doing through. Just a day to look at his maps and form a new game plan and work out how to stretch the tiny amount of gold they had left. Angus stopped walking too when he noticed, frowning as he turned back towards him.

“Sir, is everything okay?” he asked, and Taako forced himself to nod even though that was far from true.

“Yeah, I was just thinking,” he said, and he supposed if it was a bad idea Angus would shoot it down right away. “Is uh, the house you grew up in, it anywhere around here?” he asked.

“It’s a little out of the way, but it’s not too far,” Angus said, and there was a suspicious look on his face now that Taako couldn’t blame him for. “Why?” he pressed.

“If it was just you and your grandpa you don’t suppose anyone else would be around right now, do you?” Taako asked and Angus slowly shook his head.

“I don’t think so?” he said, hesitance clear in his voice.

“You down to stay in Neverwinter for the night then? It’s not breaking and entering when it’s your own damn house after all,” Taako asked. Angus looked taken aback by the question, taking a moment to think it over. Taako could see the conflicting emotions on the kid’s face as he chewed on his bottom lip.

Eventually though he nodded, and Taako couldn’t help but feel some relief at the prospect of a small break.

“Alright, it’s this way,” Angus said, taking the next turn as they started walking again. Taako wasn’t too surprised as they began to approach a much nicer part of Neverwinter. He had Angus pegged as a former well to do kid since he met him. Even still, he wasn’t quite expecting the house they ended up finally stopping in front of.

“I knew you were a rich kid, but damn,” Taako said, looking in through the large gate surrounding the fucking mansion inside. It looked pretty damn abandoned, which was some good luck for them.

“What do you mean you knew? I don’t have anything anymore,” Angus asked, and Taako rolled his eyes, starting to look over the lock. Picking locks had never been a particular skill of his, might be better to climb the fence than try.

“Ain’t about the shit you have, although your old clothes were way too nice to belong to some poor kid, even if they were fucking filthy by the time I found you. Either way, you’ve got ‘noble kid’ written all over you. All the sirs and ma’ams and shit, gives you away like a big glowing sign,” Taako explained, starting to walk along the fence to find a good spot to climb. Angus followed after him, frowning slightly.

“It’s just polite,” he said, and Taako shrugged.

“Yeah, but no one without some social clout gives two shits about being polite,” he said before coming to a stop. This part of the fence didn’t look any easier to climb than the rest of it, but it was in the back corner of the house with the least amount of chance for anyone to see them. “Alright, you know how to climb a fence?” he asked.

“Um, I think so,” Angus said, taking the bag off his back and shoving it between the bars first. That was actually a pretty good idea and Taako quickly followed suite. “Uh,” Angus muttered, just sort of holding onto the iron rod bars as he tried to think through how to do this.

“Okay, time for a boost,” Taako said, mainly because he didn’t want to be standing out here all day. Luckily Angus didn’t protest much when he grabbed him from behind, lifting him as high up as he could manage. Which wasn’t super high, Taako wasn’t the strongest elf in the world, but it was something. It was enough for Angus to get some sort of hold and pull himself up to the top of the fence.

Taako watched for a moment when Angus sat on top of the bars. It was clear as day across his face that he had no idea how to get down. When he started to try to slide down the bars on the other side it worked for all of two seconds before his grip faltered and he fell in a heap onto their bags.

“Ow,” he mumbled, slowly getting back up to his feet.

“You good?” Taako asked, starting to climb up as well. There were a couple false starts before he managed to get his foot to stop sliding enough for him to pull himself up.

“I’m okay,” Angus assured him. As soon as he was at the top Taako flipped around so that he could jump down to the other side, landing on his feet without any real issue. By that point Angus had gathered himself again and Taako grabbed his bag before heading towards the house.

“Okay, you know a way in that doesn’t involve breaking a window, and barring that, do you have a least favorite window?” he asked. Angus looked pretty amused by that, which Taako would get if he’d been joking at all.

“I don’t think we need to break any windows. There’s one that goes into the basement that’ll pop out real easy,” he explained. Taako was a little surprised by that but nodded, following the kid as he started off presumably to said window.

“Well that’s convenient, you sneak out a lot? You seem a bit too goody two shoes for that kinda stitch,” he asked. Angus came to a stop at a small little rectangle window, barely above the ground and mostly covered by the uncut grass. Taako got the feeling that the yard was better cared for when the owner had been alive.

“It wasn’t anything really bad. Sometimes I’d stay out a bit longer than I was supposed to though. If I didn’t come in through the front door no one noticed that I hadn’t been in my room the whole time,” Angus explained, easily popping the window out of place. It was dark inside of the basement, but Taako could see the large water heater Angus lowered himself down onto before sliding off to the floor.

Getting through the tiny window was a bit more of a squeeze for Taako, but once he was in it was no problem to drop off the heater and onto the floor.

“The door’s this way,” Angus said, starting towards the door. It was obvious that the kid couldn’t see shit in this dark though and Taako grabbed his shoulder.

“Darkvision pumpkin, come on,” he said, leading Angus to the stairs.

“Oh, right,” Angus said, following now. As they moved to the upstairs the house was completely silent except for the two of them. All the rooms seemed to be dark and everything had a fine layer of dust on it. If Taako had to guess he’d say that most of this house wasn’t in use even when people had been living here.

No one would notice they were here for a night. They might even be able to chance a few nights if they were careful. The risk on that he could figure out later though.

For now, it was safe. Just a night without having to worry about being caught.

It wasn’t much, but it was something. Right now Taako would just take what he could get.

—

It was weird, being back home. Angus hadn’t planned on coming back here ever really. It wasn’t that he disliked his home, it just seemed like too much of a risk. Plus it wasn’t like there was much left back here for him anymore. If he hung around too much he was just increasing the risk that someone would find him and he’d be stuck with people who didn’t like him and wouldn’t want to listen to him.

They needed someplace to rest though, someplace no one else would be. It was obvious that Taako needed a moment away from people, and Angus wouldn’t exactly complain at being able to stay in a house for a night instead of out on the road again.

Besides, it’d been a while now since he left. He doubted anyone would come looking at his house out of the blue after maybe two months.

Angus followed Taako as he wandered around the house. There was enough light still filtering in through the windows that he didn’t have issues seeing, but that would only last another couple of hours. Eventually Taako stopped in one of the sitting rooms. A lot of stuff had been cleared out from what Angus could tell, but there were still random bits of furniture here and there.

Taako sat down in one of the large old chairs that had been left and Angus scrambled up into the one seated on the other side of the little end table. He watched as he pulled out the map and set it down on the table between them, proceeding to just stare down at it.

“Where do you think we should go next sir?” Angus asked after a long stretch of sitting in silence. Taako shifted from staring at the map to glaring at it like it had personally offended him before slumping back and sighing heavily.

“Fuck if I know. Really shouldn’t stay in any place for too long,” he said and Angus nodded. It made sense. It was a lot harder to be found when you never let yourself put down roots. He was pretty sure it was a lot harder to make a living like that too though.

Looking down at the map, Angus guessed there were a few smaller towns they could stop in as they made their way out of Neverwinter and further away from Glamour Springs. They would probably be on foot again. That last minute train ride had cost a lot of the money Taako had managed to make while they were in Rockport.

When he glanced back up at Taako the elf was still slumped back in his chair. He looked so tired. Angus couldn’t blame him for that, the whole last day had obviously had him at his very edge pretty much constantly.

Angus wanted to tell him about the nightshade. Or the not-nightshade. He didn’t know if that would make things better or worse right now though.

He guessed that didn't matter much though. In the long run the truth was always the best option.

“Um, Taako? About Glamour Springs, I was looking into it back when I was at the library and-” he started, because even if it made Taako upset to talk about it he had to know that it might not’ve been his fault. Before he could finish his sentence though he was cut off.

“Want to learn light?” Taako asked, blurting the question out suddenly.

“I- what?” Angus asked, not quite comprehending the question.

“Light. It’s a cantrip. You’ve got a wand now you wanna put it to use?” Taako asked, his voice a bit tense and forced. It was so obvious how this was a rather poor distraction from the Glamour Springs conversation.

“Um, I’d love to learn more magic from you sir, but this is important and I think we should talk about it first,” Angus tried.

“Or we could not. Like, we could just not,” Taako said.

“But the poison-”

“Was deadly as fuck, end of story,” Taako snapped, standing up from his chair in a huff. He started leaving the room and Angus scrambled after him.

“Taako sir please,” he tried, but it was obvious that he didn’t want any part of this conversation.

“Fuck, will you leave me alone for five goddamn minutes?” he said, not showing any sign of slowing down as he started to stalk through the house.

“It wasn’t nightshade!” Angus yelled, because this was important and Taako needed to know it whether he wanted to or not. For what it was worth it stopped the elf in his tracks. He didn’t turn around or say anything, he was just frozen in the hallway.

Without hesitating Angus took the moment of complete silence to continue explaining.

“It doesn’t make sense sir. The symptoms for nightshade are different, they don’t cause nerve damage. Plus I think- it probably- I don’t think I would still be here if it was the berries.” He’d ate a lot of those. With how deadly he knew it was now, even with Taako doing everything he could it didn’t make sense that he’d still be alive if he’d eaten that much of the poison. “I think it was arsenic. The symptoms match better and it would’ve been easy to hide in the garlic,” he finished.

Taako just kept standing there for a long time. Angus was afraid to move around to see what kind of expression was on his face. He knew he didn’t want to talk about this right now but he thought it was the best option.

After what felt like way too long Taako finally turned back around to face him. It was hard to read his expression, and Angus got the impression that only half of that was because he was trying to hide how he was feeling. If he had to guess, the other half was because Taako didn’t know how to feel yet.

“Your point?” he asked, sounding like he was struggling to figure out exactly what all of that meant.

“It wasn’t- I don’t think it was you sir. Or your magic that is, it seemed more like sabotage,” Angus explained. At that Taako scoffed, and he still looked so hesitant about this whole thing.

“Right, sabotage. From who?” he asked, clearly sarcastic and sounding like he didn’t believe Angus yet. He wasn’t stomping off or anything though. He was still willing to listen, and that was all Angus needed.

“I don’t know sir, but it still points that way. Was there anyone who was angry with you, or with Glamour Springs, or who would want your cooking show gone? Did anyone else get near your food before you cooked that night?” he pressed. Taako huffed, crossing his arms and frowning heavily.

“No, fucking, the audience loved me,” he insisted, but Angus could see him starting to think the questions over. “No one ever got near the food before it was done besides me and Sazed,” he added, and Angus perked up at that.

“Who’s Sazed?” he asked. He’d seen the name in Taako’s book, and he seemed kind of like a general helper with the show. He didn’t have anything to make him a proper suspect yet, but from the hesitant frown on Taako’s face that might change.

“He was just like, you know, an assistant. Helped out with security, budgeting, merchandise, that sorta shit,” he explained, and Angus wished he had a notebook on hand. This felt like the kind of thing a proper detective would be taking notes of.

“He wasn’t around when I woke up,” Angus said, and Taako nodded.

“No, he fucked off before you came to,” he said. There was a frown on his face now that seemed a little bit more irritated than it was before. “Can’t blame him for not wanting to stick around, but he was still a fucking dick about it,” he muttered.

“But there was never anything wrong with him before then?” Angus asked, and Taako slowly shook his head.

“No, well, I mean… he wanted a part in the show, but it was my show. It wasn’t- it was an established brand already, you can’t mess with the format like that. Sure, he wasn’t happy about it but it wasn’t- he wouldn’t try to fucking kill me,” Taako insisted.

“Maybe not, but it makes the most sense right now,” Angus said.

He didn’t know what Taako was going to do with this information, but he didn’t expect him to suddenly slump to a heap on the floor in the middle of the hallway. Angus felt panicked for a moment before he saw that he wasn’t fainted or anything like that. He was still sitting up and wide eyed, it was just like his legs had given out from under him with absolutely no warning.

“Taako I- is everything okay?” Angus asked, hesitantly walking a few steps closer.

“You know he told me to throw you off the back of the stagecoach? When I found you?” Taako asked, and Angus opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He didn’t know what to say to that. Eventually he shook his head, because he hadn’t known that. Taako laughed, but it sounded almost broken.

“Yeah, I told him I found a kid and when I said you were still alive he told me to throw you off the back. That it didn't matter because you were already dead anyway. Which, hey, wrong on that one. Pretty good I hadn't decided to start listening to him then,” he said, and Angus just nodded.

“Right, I- thank you,” he said, and Angus knew he had come so close to dying when he’d been poisoned like that. He just hadn’t realized that there was a moment where Taako might not have tried to help him at all. It wasn’t that he’d taken the help for granted, but he hadn’t even considered Taako choosing to throw him away and not deal with him at all.

He knew Taako didn’t have to try to save him, but he never thought that there had been someone actively encouraging him to let him die.

“It’s whatever. I mean, what he said was bullshit. It was so obviously bullshit that even I didn’t fall for it, but ya know,” Taako said, although Angus really didn’t know.

It was quiet for a long moment, and he could see as Taako sorted through all of the new information as they sat in the dimming hallway.

“So, it was arsenic? Not nightshade?” he asked finally, his voice smaller and more hesitant than Angus was used to.

“From what I can tell yes,” he answered, and Taako sighed heavily before pulling himself back up to his feet.

“You know, you weren’t lying about being a pretty damn good detective kid. That’s- yeah, that’s definitely some shit you just sleuthed out,” he said, and Angus couldn’t stop the smile that started to spread across his face at the praise.

“So you believe me? You think I’m right?” he asked, and Taako shrugged.

“It- it makes sense, I’ll give you that. If the symptoms aren’t matching up I guess you’d be the best person to tell, and Sazed… shit hadn’t been great for a while there,” he admitted, and Angus nodded.

“I really don’t think this was your fault sir. I promise we’ll find some evidence that it was sabotage and clear your name, and then you can do your cooking show again,” Angus said, and Taako laughed again. It didn’t sound particularly happy or like he believed him though.

“Yeah, sure thing Ango. For now though let’s just play it safe,” he said, and Angus supposed that was for the best. He wasn't any less determined to clear Taako's name though, even if the elf wanted him to take it slow.

“Alright sir,” he said, watching as Taako took a deep breath.

“Okay, so light, you still want to learn it? I could use a distraction right about now and I don’t suppose you'd know if they left any alcohol in this joint?” Taako asked.

“I wouldn’t know, but yes I’d love to learn light,” Angus said, and Taako nodded.

“Cool, cool, go grab your wand,” he said, and Angus quickly hurried back to the sitting room where they left their bags.

This was progress. He knew he was right about this, and it was only a matter of time before he had some proof.

Taako had saved his life, even more so now than Angus had even known before.

Fixing this for him was the least he could do.

Notes:

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa its been waaaay too long. I'm sorry about the long wait before this update, i'd been doing some requests and such and I'm actually on vacation right now. I really wanted to get a chapter out tho so here we are. gonna try to get back on a slightly normal update schedules on my fics again because i've really been falling behind.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 14: A Break

When Angus came back with his wand and bag in tow Taako looked a bit more put together. Or at the very least, he’d gotten his normal poker face back up again. There were still emotions there, but it was hard to tell which ones and they were hidden under the surface again. He guessed it was best not to press him on it though and give him the time to process everything.

“Alright, let’s do this magic shit. Uh, maybe not sitting in the middle of the hallway though,” Taako said and Angus nodded in agreement. It didn’t take long to find a room that seemed good to use. It was an old guest bedroom, but it was either cleared or never stocked in the first place. Angus wasn't sure, it was hard to keep track of all the rooms he rarely used. It didn’t have any windows though. The inside was dark because of that, but it came alight after a moment, Taako’s wand glowing brightly.

“Okay, this should work. No one should be able to see the lights in here, and it’ll be easier to tell if you’ve managed to actually cast it and all,” Taako said, and that made sense.

“Can you cast it again sir? I didn’t see you do that one,” Angus asked, and Taako nodded.

“Yeah alright lemme just…” he trailed off, digging through his bag before finally pulling out some fruit. “Okay these should-” Taako started to say, before cutting himself off. A conflicting look crossed his face as he held the apples in his hands.

“Is everything alright?” Angus pressed.

“Yeah, yeah, shit’s fine. Just uh, maybe we should keep from casting magic on food,” he said, stuffing the fruits back into his bag before pulling out some shirts instead.

“But it wasn’t you, your magic is fine,” Angus insisted. He could understand Taako still being nervous about the idea of magic being mixed wit food, but he didn’t want to go along without saying anything.

“Yeah I got that, I’m in the clear. Still better to just be safe, ya know? Lets go with these for now,” Taako said, and Angus reluctantly nodded. Hopefully Taako would come around to being able to use magic with food again soon now that he knew the truth. Once Angus had some hard proof and that Sazed guy was in jail he’d probably go back to normal.

“Alright, so first things first, gotta teach you how to hold a wand,” Taako started. Angus sat with rapt attention as he began explaining how to hold a wand and set him through the motions of the light cantrip. He was pretty sure that Taako was throwing in some extra techniques for flair, but Angus wasn’t going to complain about that. Sometimes some extra dramatics were fun.

It took several tries of Angus watching the light spell Taako had cast jumping from object to object. Eventually though the Caleb Cleveland book he’d taken from the library back in Rockport began to glow faintly. It wasn’t anywhere near as bright as the spell Taako had cast, but it was there and a steady source of light.

“I did it! Sir look it’s glowing!” Angus said, jumping up and grabbing the book to be sure it really worked. The shadows all throughout the room shifted as he moved the book, and when he opened it the light got the slightest big brighter as the individual pages glowed.

“Hell yeah my dude, you picked that one up pretty quick,” Taako said, and Angus was beaming with pride. When he looked at the elf he still looked tired and run down, but it seemed like he was being genuine in his praise. “Here, if you try and cast it on another object the light should transfer over,” he added, and so Angus tried to cast the spell again.

Once again it took a couple of tries, but after a moment he managed to get the dim light to shift over onto Taako’s hat. The elf glanced up for a moment when it began to glow, and luckily there was an amused look on his face.

“Alright, maybe you aren’t completely hopeless when it comes to accessorizing. You can never go wrong wit some extra glitz,” he said, and Angus was pretty sure it wasn’t completely a joke.

“I thought it would suit you sir,” he said. Taako leaned back somewhat, tipping his hat to the side in an exaggerated manner as he did.

“Like I said, not completely hopeless at all,” he said.

They spent a bit longer in that room, Angus slowly getting the hang of getting his light to jump from object to object. After about an hour the light had started to fade before fizzling out, and Angus was feeling tired. He knew that cantrips weren’t supposed to wear you out, but he was still just starting to learn magic.

“Alright, probably a good idea to give the magic a rest for the day. Uh, so you used to live here and shit right? How about a grand tour or whatever,” Taako asked, pushing himself up from where he’d been sitting. Angus nodded, quickly following suit.

“Sure sir, I’m not sure how much stuff they’d took after my grandpa died, but it should be fun to look,” he said. Leaving the guest bedroom they’d found themselves in, Angus started to lead them back towards the main parts of the house. Taako still had his own light going, which was good. The sun was setting now and they probably wouldn’t have any light at all after much longer.

It seemed like the more heavily trafficked areas of the house (which wasn’t saying much) were more cleared out than some of the other parts. Most of the furniture in the front sitting rooms and living room were gone, as well as almost everything in the dining room.

“And this is the kitchen,” Angus said as they walked into the room, and he couldn’t help but think it was a shame that all their power and gas were turned off. If it was on he might’ve asked Taako to try to cook something since it should be safe now.

Maybe it was for the best that things weren’t working though. He shouldn’t push Taako too fast. He just wanted him not to blame himself for things that weren’t his fault.

“Oh wow, you’ve got some fancy equipment here. Did your granddad cook or something?” Taako asked, moving into the kitchen and starting to have a look around. Angus watched as he inspected the stove and opened the oven and fridge and such. There wasn’t anything left in the fridge, but as he started going through the cabinets there were cans and old boxes of things that had been left behind. Angus wondered if they were still any good. He hadn’t been gone that long, and as far as he knew things in cans lasted forever.

“Not really, we had cooks though,” Angus explained. Taako nodded, not looking very surprised by that.

“Oh right, fucking rich kid,” he mumbled, although he didn’t actually seem annoyed or anything. After a moment he seemed to have finished up looking through the kitchen, and Angus couldn’t help but think that while he’d been looking he had seemed happy. Taako belonged in a kitchen. With any luck it wouldn’t be that much longer before he properly got back into one again.

Once they left the kitchen Angus showed him through the rest of the downstairs before heading up to the second floor. The light spell was pretty crucial now as it was completely dark save for it. They’d probably have to stop and get some sleep soon.

“This was my grandpa’s room,” Angus said, opening the large oak door to the master bedroom. There was a part of him that braced when he opened the door, half expecting some awful smell to come out as he did.

The room was clean and fine though. Like a lot of the downstairs rooms, it had been almost completely cleared out. There wasn’t even a bed in there anymore, just an old dresser and some clothes that Angus could see hanging up in the still open closet.

He hadn’t been in this room since sitting with his grandpa as he passed away. He knew he had been taken away, had seen him in his casket at the funeral. Despite that though, there was a moment where he had half expected him to still be in there for some reason. It was a pretty dumb thing to think.

“And what about your room pumpkin?” Taako asked after a moment, drawing Angus out of where he’d gotten lost in his thoughts.

“Oh, that’s this way,” Angus said, leaving his grandpa’s room. Once Taako was out in the hallway with him he closed the door again. Maybe it would be best not to go in there anymore. It wasn’t like there was anything left there after all, and so there was no real reason to.

Heading down the hallway it was only a few seconds before Angus stopped in front of the door to his old room. When he opened it he expected it to be similarly cleared out. So he was taken a bit off guard to find it almost exactly as he’d left it the day he’d ran off.

“This was my room sir,” Angus said, heading inside. Taako followed after him, and it was easier to see once he was inside with his light spell. As he thought, it looked like no one had bothered to touch anything in here since he left. His bed was still there, unmade with one of his blankets on the floor. His bookshelf was still packed with everything except for those favorites he’d taken with him and then lost. His desk was in the corner, half done homework left out and forgotten. There were toys and stuffed animals that he'd kicked out of the way and shoved under his bed.

His grandpa would always buy him things, usually the same few toys over and over again as his memory got worse and worse. Angus had often felt like he was too old for them, but he guessed some were kind of nice. Still, he hadn’t wanted to waste space bringing things he knew he didn’t need.

“You sure left in a hurry, huh?” Taako asked, flipping through the homework left on his desk. Angus nodded, moving to go sit on his bed.

“I guess so, I needed to go before um-” Angus hesitated somewhat. He was pretty sure he hadn’t told Taako the whole story about why he’d left yet. He wasn’t even sure if Taako was actually interested in hearing why, or if he would agree with why he left.

“Before what? Ango, are you on the run?” Taako asked, suddenly a lot more serious than he usually was and Angus froze.

“I’m- I mean, it’s not-” he said, stumbling over his words. After a moment the small frown on Taako’s face started to crack, and then he started to laugh.

“My dude, chill. You think I’m gonna fucking take you down to the militia or something? Yeah, that’ll go real well for me. Taako, you know, the murderer?” he said, and Angus relaxed some at that. Okay, maybe he hadn’t been thinking it all the way through.

“You’re not a murderer though, you didn’t put the poison in there,” he insisted, and Taako  waved him off.

“Doesn’t matter to them I’m sure. At least not until we got some proof like you said,” Taako said, and Angus supposed that was fair. “Now, what had you leaving in a rush and shit? You framed for the murder of your granddad or something?” he asked.

“No! Of course not it wasn’t anything as serious as all that,” Angus insisted. Taako had stopped looking at his old homework at this point and came over to flop down on the other side of his bed.

“Cool, that only makes one of us fleeing for murder, that should make shit easier,” Taako said. It was a little weird how much he was willing to talk about Glamour Springs now. Angus supposed finding out it wasn’t his fault did help, at least a little bit.

“Yeah, it was well, after my grandpa died I didn’t have any family left. The people from the city wanted to put me in an orphanage and I didn’t want to go, so I left. That’s all,” he explained. It sounded kind of petty when he said it out loud.

“That’s fair,” Taako said with a nod, surprising Angus somewhat. He supposed it showed on his face, because he continued. “I mean, orphanages suck. Cha’ boy spent some time in one for a bit. By that I mean like, a week because it was awful. Left and spent the rest of my time going through caravans after that,” he said.

“So… you won’t make me go back to the orphanage or anything?” Angus asked, and Taako scoffed at the question.

“Fuck no, you made a smart decision getting out before you got stuck in it. I mean, you’re a smart kid and all so you might have been able to get adopted or something, but if that’s not your jam I get it,” he said.

Angus wasn’t sure how he expected Taako to react to that, but this was better than whatever he could have imagined. He guessed it made sense though if Taako had been through something similar at least.

“Um, well thank you sir, I really appreciate it,” he said. He hadn’t thought about getting adopted before, but the idea of having a normal family with parents wasn’t super appealing to him. He’d only ever had his grandpa and he’d always given Angus a lot of freedom to do whatever he wanted.

“It’s whatever pumpkin,” Taako said, not seeming to care much about this. Before Angus could say anything else though the light that had been illuminated the room blinked out and darkness surrounded them. Angus didn’t mean to yelp when it happened but he couldn’t help it in his surprise. A second later though the light came back as Taako recast the spell.

“Oh, sorry, wasn’t keeping track of the time I guess,” Taako said.

“It’s fine sir,” Angus insisted, not quite able to smother the yawn that slipped out afterwards.

“Yeah sure, it’s getting pretty damn late though, we should hit the hay,” Taako said. Angus nodded, because he really was getting tired.

“Okay sir, that’s a good idea. I can show you to a guest room to sleep in if you want,” he said.

“Sounds good pumpkin,” Taako said, standing up from the bed and stretching. Angus got up as well, leaving his room and heading to the closest guest bedroom. Thankfully it was also pretty must left untouched. There was a lot less inside than was in Angus’s room, but it had a bed and blankets and an empty dresser with a mirror hanging above it.

“Sweet digs Ango, I appreciate it,” Taako said.

“No problem. Um, goodnight sir?” Angus asked, and Taako nodded.

“Night kiddo,” he said, ruffling Angus’s hair absently before heading off into the room.

Once he was inside Angus shut the door and headed back to his room. It was strange being back in here. It wasn’t even like he’d been gone for that long in the grand scheme of things, it was just weird was all.

Well, they wouldn’t be here for long, so he guessed it didn’t matter much. It was just for the night, and then he wouldn’t ever come back here again.

And he’d never have to worry about being caught and sent to the orphanage or anything like that again either. Taako wasn’t going to make him go. He understood why he wouldn’t want to go back and was actually listening to him.

It was nice, having someone who understood him.

—

Taako slumped onto the bed the second Angus shut the door and he was alone.

It was- fuck.

That was a lot of shit he was still trying to process. Angus was smart, he knew the kid was smart but he hadn’t realized how fucking smart. He’d said he was a good detective, but he didn’t expect anything to actually come of it.

He certainly hadn’t figured he was going to find enough shit that didn’t quite match up with the whole Glamour Springs incident to actually make Taako think he might not be the one to blame here. That this might not be his fault.

It made sense. He hadn’t looked much into the symptoms of elderberry poisoning, but he’d been pretty surprised by the nerve damage. Angus had been looking into poisons, he’d know if something wasn’t matching up.

And Sazed had been acting weird. He’d been moody and upset for a while, ever since Taako hadn’t let him have a full spot in the show. He hadn’t figured it was that big of a deal though. Never expected anything like fucking trying to kill him over it. He just figured the dude would eventually get pissed enough to quit. Which would suck because Taako wasn’t good at people and finding someone who was patient enough to put up with his shit was hard.

Trying to kill him though? Letting him take the fall when shit backfired spectacularly? Nothing that drastic had ever come close to crossing Taako’s mind.

In the grand scheme of things though, none of this really mattered. Sure, it was good to know it wasn’t his magic that’d gone and fucked everything up, but that was about the only bright side. His show was still taking the blame for it, and forty people were still dead at the end of the day.

Angus was convinced that they’d be able to find some evidence to clear his name or whatever, but Taako sure as fuck wasn’t going to count on that. He wasn’t going to crush Ango’s hope, but it was so obvious how he was still just a dumb kid who thought everything would have a happily ever after or whatever. If he wanted to look for evidence to prove it wasn’t Taako he wouldn’t stop him, but he knew the chances of anything being found were slim to none. Hell, he knew the chances of anyone caring about that kind of shit were even more slim.

People died and the blame had been set on Taako, so it was Taako’s fault.

So as far as he was concerned, the game plan hadn’t changed. He still needed to keep his head down, stay as out of sight and out of mind as possible. Cooking was still a bad idea, if just because he didn’t want to be recognized.

And besides. Just because he hadn’t fucked up this time didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen eventually. Maybe it was better to play it safe.

For now though, they had a break. This house was nice and abandoned, and Angus knew where everything was. They were safe for the moment, and it was a relief Taako wasn’t used to anymore.

He actually managed to sleep that night. He wasn’t sure if it was the bed or some modicum of guilt being lifted that let him do it, but either way he was grateful.

Taako still woke up early, and he knew they should leave first thing. Staying in one place for too long was a risk they shouldn’t take. They didn’t know how long this place would stay abandoned for. Sooner or later someone would buy it up from the city or whatever. They had no idea when that would happen, so they needed to fucking go.

But he was so goddamn tired, he didn’t even want to get out of this dusty old bed, let alone start traveling again. He was still trying to rearrange guilt and blame in his head over those forty deaths. Or hell, over all the fucking suffering he’d seen Angus go through, and he’d managed to live.

It really made sense now, Sazed telling him to throw him out of the cart. Of course he’d have no hope of him surviving. Taako hadn’t even realized it didn't make sense for Sazed to know what was going on. Taako had realized it was poison, had thought it was nightshade, but he’d never told Sazed. They’d just seen people starting to get sick, there had been no reason at that point to be so certain that it would be fatal.

At least, no reason unless he knew what kind of poison it had been.

Taako hadn’t realized how long he’d been laying in the bed, staring at the wall and thinking. He guessed it was long enough though, because he heard the door crack open and saw Angus peeking inside. There was a flash of relief across his face when he saw Taako, and he guessed the kid still wasn’t completely convinced that he wasn’t going to ditch him again. He couldn’t say he blamed him for that.

“Oh, you’re awake sir?” Angus asked, opening the door wider and looking a bit more relaxed. Taako nodded, forcing himself to sit up now.

“Yeah, just taking the chance to catch up on some chill time,” he said, and it wasn’t a lie. Now that he was up though he figured they should start getting ready to leave. They had to get to another town, and he had to find another job and this time try to not burn through pretty much all of the money at once.

Fuck, he just wanted a break though.

“Hey Ango,” he said, catching the kid’s attention. “What would you say about staying here for another day? Maybe two?” he asked. They shouldn’t be wasting supplies not moving, but he’d seen food that should still be good in the kitchen. Heating up cans of shit wasn’t really cooking, and magical flames were just as effective as a campfire. It’d be a waste not to take advantage of the free shit while they could.

“I thought you wanted to leave as fast as possible?” Angus asked, sounding confused. Taako supposed that was fair, he’d been pretty adamant about not wasting time before.

“Yeah, but it’s a pretty low chance of us getting caught here, right? I was thinking we could both do for a break about now, and this is our best chance to get one,” he said, and Angus reluctantly nodded.

“That’s true,” he said, seeming to think the idea over for a moment. “I guess I wouldn’t mind staying here for a few more days. Traveling is pretty tiring.”

“Alright then, hell yeah. Lazy day is a go,” Taako said, flopping back down dramatically onto the bed. After a moment he reached an arm out in Angus’s direction, although he was still way too far away from the kid to even come close to grabbing him. “Come here,” he demanded.

“Why?” Angus asked, amusement clear in his voice.

“Because,” Taako said, not actually answering the question.

“That sounds ominous,” Angus said, but despite that he still moved within Taako’s reach. As soon as he could he snatched him up by his shirt and dragged him up into the bed. Angus situated himself once Taako let go so he was sitting cross legged and staring down at Taako who was still sprawled out on the couch. There was a clear look of amusement on the kid's face.

“Um, what are we doing?” Angus asked, and Taako rolled his eyes at the question.

“Uh, pretty sure I already said. It’s fucking lazy day,” he said like it was obvious, because it was.

“Are we sleeping then?” he asked, and Taako waved a hand noncommittally.

“If that’s what you wanna do, pretty good choice for lazy day. Doesn’t really matter though, as long as you doing everything while laying down, soooo,” Taako said. Shifting himself up on an elbow, he pushed Angus back until he was lying down. The kid gave him an annoyed face, but he quickly grabbed a pillow and stuffed it back behind his head after a moment.

“You’re pretty ridiculous sir,” Angus said, and Taako shrugged.

“Nah, you’ve just clearly never had anyone but stuffy old men telling you how to spend your days and shit. No wonder you dress like a little butler or some shit,” Taako said.

“I like my clothes,” Angus said, although he didn’t actually sound bothered by the insult.

“Of course you do, you’re a dork,” Taako shot back easily.

“Aren’t you a dork too?” Angus asked. At that he sat up, leaning back on his elbows to get a good look at the kid.

“What could have possibly given you that fucking impression kiddo? Speak carefully now, your answer will determine how these next few minutes are gonna go,” he asked. Angus was smiling though, not taking the threat seriously in the slightest. Maybe Taako should be worried about how well the kid was learning to see through him.

“You’re a wizard. I heard that all wizards are nerds by default,” Angus said.

“This is coming from the kid who was begging me to teach him magic,” Taako said, although that didn’t actually disprove Angus’s point.

“I fully accept that I am both a nerd and a dork sir,” he said, and he said it with such confidence Taako couldn’t help but laugh.

“Fucking, fair enough pumpkin. Embrace that shit, you do you,” he said. Angus laughed and Taako slumped back down to the bed. Neither of them said anything for a while, and Taako wouldn’t say shit was exactly peaceful but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to rest like this.

When he shifted up again to check on Angus he was curled up and asleep. Taako guessed he was more tired than he tried to show. He considered taking a nap as well, naps were pretty good.

He wasn’t actually tired though. He knew he should be taking every opportunity he could to rest, but he wasn’t used to that kinda shit anymore. He felt like he needed to keep doing things, keep moving forward.

Getting up without disturbing Angus as much as possible, Taako left the room and started wandering around the house. Maybe there was shit left here that they could take and sell. That would help with their money problem for a bit at least. Angus probably wouldn’t give much of a shit.

They were just going to stay here for this one day. This break was just that, a break. Soon it’d be done and they’d be back on the run and nothing would really be different.

Still, he appreciated it while it lasted. It was better than he’d had in a while, and he could be thankful for that. It wasn’t much, but it was more than he had before.

He guessed he had Angus to thank for that.

He’d have to do something for the kid to show his appreciation.

Notes:

another chapter relatively quickly because what is not hyperfocusing on a single fic. These boys deserved a break and some fluff before they start to get put through the ringer again and so here it is. they are good boys whom i hurt with love.

as always thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy~

Chapter 15: Worth It In Time

Angus didn’t mean to fall asleep again, but he guessed Taako had pretty much given them a mandatory rest day. He also supposed he needed the sleep, because he was feeling quite a bit more well rested when he woke up again. He was in the guest room he’d left Taako in, which made sense. When he looked around though he was alone, and there was a brief moment of panic that he needed to shoot down.

Taako wasn’t going to run off again. Angus was trying to make himself believe that more firmly. If he wanted to get rid of him he would’ve had plenty of chances to, the only reason he was still around was because Taako really was alright with them continuing to travel together. Angus wouldn’t go so far as to assume that Taako wanted him around, but he was at least okay with him being there. That was good enough for now. He couldn't ask for anymore than that.

Crawling out of bed, Angus left the guest room to start looking for where Taako might’ve gone off to. He would still be in the house after all, since they’d decided not to leave until tomorrow. He knew the elf wouldn’t risk going out in the open for the fun of it right now either, so he had to be somewhere around here.

Of course, that still left a lot of places to check, since the house was pretty big.

“Taako sir?” he called out as he moved through the long, dim hallways. It was maybe noon at this point, so there was light streaming in through the windows. They had been all dusty and old when Angus had been living here and hadn’t gotten any better in his absence. Still, it was enough to see by, which was good because he hadn’t thought to bring his wand with him when he’d went to go check on Taako this morning.

There wasn’t any sort of response when he called out, and Angus checked around most of the second floor before figuring he wasn’t up here anymore. There were signs of someone having moved around the rooms though. Doors left open that Angus hadn’t remembered leaving before and such. Peeking into them when he passed, they kind of looked like someone had gone through them, and he wondered if Taako had been looking for something.

Honestly, it kind of looked like how rooms would be after a thief turned them over. If it was Taako who’d done it, he couldn’t really blame him. It wasn’t like any of their belongings were doing any good here after all. Angus hadn’t gone inside of his grandpa’s room, and the door was one of the ones that was still closed, but he’d called inside and hadn’t gotten any sort of response.

Heading downstairs, it took Angus a moment to realize something was different. It wasn’t that there was anything dug through like there had been upstairs. No, the downstairs was pretty much untouched, and Angus would’ve assumed that Taako must have made his way into some far part of the house first thing. Or at least, he would think that if he didn’t notice the smell after a few seconds.

It wasn’t a bad smell. In fact, it was something that smelled really good. Sweet, like a dessert or something. Without a moment’s hesitation Angus headed towards the kitchen, not too sure what he expected to see. After all, the power was down and they didn’t have any ingredients, but he couldn’t deny the clear sign of someone cooking something.

Angus felt his heart drop when he saw the state that the kitchen was in. Any cooking supplies that had been left behind were out and had eventually gotten thrown to the floor. There was broken glass that he assumed had come from some cups or maybe a casserole dish or something, and there were also food supplies strewn along with it. Angus had no idea where he would have even gotten some of these things. It was fresh flower and butter and things like that, items he knew for sure that they hadn’t gotten in all the time they’d been traveling.

Among all of it was Taako, hunched over the kitchen table and muttering, not having noticed him yet. He couldn't tell what he was saying though, it might not have even been in Common.

“Um, sir?” Angus asked, not moving from the doorway yet. It caught Taako off guard, which he hadn’t been meaning to do. The elf jolted, looking like he was caught in the middle of something he wasn’t supposed to do. Which, considering the disastrous state of the kitchen was fair. Now that he’d sat up some Angus could see the pastries scattered about the table. They looked and smelled delicious, and he really wasn’t sure what was going on.

“When’d you wake up?” Taako asked after taking a few moments to find his voice.

“Just now. Are- is everything okay?” Angus asked, starting to carefully make his way into the kitchen. Before he could get more than a few steps though Taako was rushing over and pushing him out.

“Fucking- back up Agnes, gods damn you aren’t even wearing shoes and there’s broken glass everywhere,” he chided. Angus had been watching where he was going, but didn’t fight Taako on making him leave the kitchen.

“Why is there broken glass everywhere? Did you- how did you get enough ingredients to cook something?” Angus asked, because he couldn’t help but be curious at this point. An almost pained looked crossed Taako’s face at the questions. Which gave Angus a guess to where he'd gotten all the food.

“Listen it’s not important okay? It’s not- I tried some shit and it didn’t work out alright. Why don’t you just go practice your light spell and I’ll meet up with you once I get all this bullshit cleaned up,” he said, giving Angus one last little shove to send him away from the kitchen. Instead of leaving though Angus turned back around after a few stumbling steps. He didn’t try to get back into the kitchen again, but he wanted to know what was going on.

“But where’d you get the food?” Angus pressed, because he had a pretty good idea but he wanted to be sure.

“Fucking- transmuted most of it, happy? Just forget about it and let me clean,” Taako insisted.

“Can I have some?” Angus asked, although he already had a feeling he knew what the answer was going to be.

“What? Fuck no!” Taako said, snapping angrily before taking a quick moment to pull himself together again. Angus had pretty much expected that kind of response and didn’t let himself be hurt by it. “It’s not- listen, no one’s eating this food, alright? Just go already,” he added, and Angus frowned.

“It should be safe though, right? There was never a problem with your magic, and you’re an amazing cook.” Maybe he shouldn’t be pressing so much, but Taako must’ve gone through a lot of trouble to make this food with nothing. So he freaked out and destroyed some things in the process, that didn’t mean they couldn’t keep going and move past this. “Maybe if you let me eat some you’ll know it’s safe and-"

“I’m not going to fucking risk you like that!” Taako yelled, shutting Angus up immediately. He knew there was a chance he’d get mad at him, but he didn’t expect that. It even seemed to surprise Taako, the elf blinking afterwards and taking a moment to pull himself together again.

“I’m not- look, you already almost died once on my watch, we’re not doing that shit again,” he sighed. His voice sounded a little different than what Angus was used to. He wasn’t sure how to place it.

He had absolutely no idea what to say to that at any rate. The fact that Taako seemed genuinely terrified of him getting hurt again surprised him. A bit reluctantly he nodded and took a few more steps back from the kitchen. Taako looked so tired again, but there was a quick flash of relief across his face when he saw he wasn’t going to argue with him over this anymore.

“Do you want help cleaning up?” Angus asked after a moment, and Taako shook his head.

“No, it’s alright pumpkin, you can just go chill alright,” he said and Angus nodded. Hesitating somewhat, he watched as Taako started picking up some of the larger pieces of glass before turning to leave. He headed back up to his room, grabbing some breakfast from their bags since eating anything Taako cooked was off the table.

He wasn’t sure what to do now. He didn’t blame Taako for getting upset with him. Angus knew that he should give him time to get over the whole poison thing, but it should be okay now. It wasn’t Taako’s fault after all and that Sazed guy was gone, so cooking should be safe.

Angus knew it was more complicated than that. That emotions were more complicated than that. He just wanted Taako to feel better.

He wondered if he’d been looking through the rooms for things to sell, or if he’d been looking for things to transmute into food. He couldn’t tell without going back and looking to see what kind of things he’d taken. He considered doing that, if only for the distraction. It wasn’t a very important mystery to solve though, and it wasn’t getting his mind off of what happened, not really.

Well, if Taako hadn’t been looking through the house for things they could sell, that didn’t mean he couldn’t. It wasn’t stealing if it was his own stuff after all, like how they weren’t technically breaking in right now.

Remembering the spell Taako had showed him last night, Angus grabbed his wand and cast light on the end of it. With that, he headed off into the basement again. It looked like no one had touched it since they left after all, and there had been junk piled up high in there for as long as Angus could remember. Surely there had to be some old boxes of jewelry or silverware or something small trinkets they could sell.

Dumping out a box of dusty sheets, Angus started his search. Whenever he found something he thought might be valuable, he tossed it in the empty box. He could have Taako go through it once he was done and they could decide what was worth trying to sell. Maybe that would cheer him up and help get his mind off the cooking incident and everything.

Or at the very least, maybe it would prove to Taako that having him around really was a good idea. Even though he was a little boy he could pull his own weight. He’d get them some money and he’d prove Taako was innocent in the horror at Glamour Springs, and Taako would never think about wanting to leave him again.

——

Fuck, Taako had no idea what he’d been thinking.

Let’s cook again, after all Glamour Springs hadn’t been his fault! At least, not in the way he thought it was. Maybe in a more roundabout way, but he hadn’t put the poison in there. Surely, diving head fucking first into transmuting the fuck out of his cooking couldn’t go wrong at all.

He wasn’t even sure how he managed to finish the crepes all things considered. He wasn’t sure how he managed anything. Magicing up a flame for heat hadn’t been an issue, but once that was done everything else seemed to fall apart. He’d been shaking worse than Angus on his bad days by the end of it, and he kept dropping shit. Sometimes he’d throw shit. He was pretty sure the only reason he hadn’t woken Angus up was because the house was so goddamn big.

Even still, Angus had woken up and saw the huge fucking mess and the food before Taako could get up the nerve to either get rid of it or test it. Kid even wanted to fucking eat some, like he hadn’t nearly died the last time he ate something Taako cooked.

It wasn’t his fault though. Angus was the one to figure that out, so maybe he was better at being smart about this. It wasn’t exactly a surprise that a little kid was handling his shit better than Taako was.

At the very least, he managed to get Angus to leave him alone and not touch the food. Digging through the cabinets, Taako managed to find some trash bags that had been left shoved in a back corner and started throwing everything in it. Most of the broken glass and shit he used mage hand to grab. Without any hesitation he dumped all of the crepes into the trash as well.

It wasn’t a waste of food. It was transmuted after all, it hadn’t started out as food. He made sure it hadn’t started out as food. He didn’t want to risk ruining anything they might actually be able to eat after all. It was a good thing too, since he couldn’t fucking trust his magic anymore.

Taako had no idea how long it took him to clean up everything, but it felt like fucking forever. That was a good thing though, hopefully Angus had gotten distracted by this point and wouldn’t press him on it anymore.

He’d just wanted to thank the kid for figuring out what really happened. Instead he was just left dealing with more of his own bullshit.

Heading out of the kitchen Taako didn’t see Angus right away. That wasn’t much of a surprise though, this house was huge after all. He could be anywhere in here. Taking a guess, Taako went up and checked in his room first.

He wasn’t in there though, or the guest room Taako had slept in. Frowning, he started looking through the rest of the house, calling out for him every so often.

He wasn’t worried. This was his house after all, he knew it a hell of a lot better than Taako did. Nothing would’ve happened to him, he was fine. If he wasn’t, it wasn’t Taako’s fault. He couldn’t be expected to watch the brat twenty-four/seven after all.

“Ango? Seriously what the fuck, I know I didn’t teach you invisibility yet because I don’t even know that one,” he called. He’d made his way back down to the main floor at this point, and he swore the kid had to be somewhere around here. His ears twitched back at the sound of footsteps somewhere behind him. Quickly moving towards them he found Angus running up the basement stairs. He had a box he could barely carry in his arms and was covered in dust and cobwebs.

“Sorry sir! Did you finish cleaning the kitchen?” he asked, a smile on his face. Taako nodded, leaning forward and dusting some of the cobwebs out of his hair. It was mostly an excuse to try and peak inside of the box he was holding.

“Uhuh, whatcha got there?” he asked, pulling back one of the cardboard flaps. He blinked in surprise when he saw what was inside. It looked mostly old knickknacks, but there was jewelry and pieces of silverware and small dishes scattered about as well.

“I thought that since we’re low on money because we had to leave in a hurry we could maybe sell some of this stuff,” Angus said, setting the box down. It was a lot of stuff, Taako was surprised he managed to carry it up the stairs. Angus did look pretty beat though, heading over to a chair and quickly sitting down. Taako pulled the box over, sitting on the floor as he started shifting through it all.

“That’s a real fucking good idea my dude,” Taako said. He’d been thinking about hocking some of the junk that was left lying around here, but now he could do it with a clear conscious. Not that an unclear conscious would’ve stopped him at all, but hey, small perks. It was useful being on the same page with Angus when it came to this kind of stuff.

“You really think so?” Angus asked, clearly looking for approval. Taako nodded, examining some of the jewelry first since that would be the easiest to sell. It was all pretty old, a little tarnished, but it seemed real enough.

“Hell yeah. Selling this junk should at least get us enough money to get outta Neverwinter without much of an issue,” he said. He wasn’t sure where they’d go from there, but he’d never had a destination in mind before. He didn’t need one now either. They’d just keep moving, keep living day by day until…

Until what, he wasn’t sure. Until the manhunt for him died down, for sure. Until he could find something stable, he guessed. He’d never felt a need to stay in one place before though, he wasn’t going to start now.

“Should we go out and find somewhere to sell this stuff now? I’m not sure how late those kind of places stay open,” Angus asked, and Taako shrugged.

“I mean, pretty late typically,” he said, thinking it over. They needed to leave soon for sure. There might be more shit here they could sell though if they kept looking. Plus, it was already well past noon. There would be lots of people out and about the city now. More people who could see him and know who he is.

“We’ll go hock this shit tomorrow. I said today was a lazy day and so far we’ve been pretty shit at actually following through with that,” he said. Angus looked surprised by that for a second before smiling and nodding.

“Alright sir, that sounds like a good plan,” he said. Taako wasn’t sure if that actually qualified as a plan, but he wasn’t going to argue. “So um, what do you want to do today instead?” Angus asked, and Taako shrugged.

“Fuck if I know. What sorta shit did you use to do around here for fun?” he asked. If Taako was left to his own devices he’d take another nap or something like that. He was pretty sure Angus only woke up a little while ago though. Sure, he could still take a nap and leave the kid to entertain himself, but maybe he’d offer something more interesting.

Angus thought the question over for a bit, Taako watching as the kid chewed on his lip like coming up with a good enough answer was some huge undertaking.

“I read a lot. Most of my Caleb Cleveland novels are still here actually. Not my favorites, I took those and then lost them, but the rest are still really good,” he said, and that wasn’t a surprising answer. Before Taako could make some comment about nerdy kids books Angus continued. “You don’t have to read those though. We have other books. My grandpa had a study with a bunch of different things, you might be able to find something you’d like in there,” he said. Thinking it over a minute, Taako pushed himself up off the ground.

“Yeah sure, lead the way. Not like I have anything better to do,” he said. Taako kind of doubted he’d actually find something interesting in some old dude’s study, but he could at least make fun of the shit he did find.

“Alright sir!” Angus said, practically jumping up from where he’d been sitting. “My grandpa has some books on arcana and magic and stuff. I’ve never been able to learn spells from them, but I couldn’t cast magic until you taught me, and they were still really informative,” he added, and that actually caught Taako’s attention.

“Well, let a fucking professional at it then,” he said, and Angus laughed some at that.

“Sir, your spellbook is a seven healthy habits of highly effective elves you write in the margins of, I wouldn’t call that professional,” he said. Taako rolled his eyes at that, following Angus as he led him into the study. There were a lot of books in here, if there was magic shit he might actually find something useful after all.

“It gets the job done, doesn’t it?” he said, starting to look through the bookshelves. Angus must’ve kept a couple of his little nerd books in here too, because he quickly grabbed something off the shelf and curled up in the corner.

Leaving him to that, Taako started looking through the shelves for something that would be interesting or helpful. Something with magic. He didn’t have much else going for him right now, and he could just keep it away from cooking until things were okay again.

He managed to find a couple books on magic after a while, like Angus said. They weren’t anything particularly advanced, but thankfully he wasn’t a particularly advanced guy.

Taako wasn’t sure if it counted as something lazy, but he looked through the books, trying to find some spell he didn’t know that would be useful. He perked up when he managed to find something on the spell ‘alarm.' Honestly, he had no idea why he didn’t know that spell already. Having a warning that someone was coming would’ve done wonders when he was traveling on his own.

He started transcribing the spell over into his own book, and Angus might've had a point about it not being the most professional thing. Still, he made due. It’d take some practicing and he’d have to pick up the spell components next time they went shopping, but if nothing else learning this spell would make the extra day here more than worth it.

Taako didn’t notice how much time passed, focused on the books in front of him. He tended to get a little lost like that whenever he was trying to learn magic. Maybe Angus had a point about all wizards being at least kind of nerds, but he wasn't going to admit that. Taako taught himself as much of the spell as he could without the components before looking to see if there was anything else to could get. When he finally did look up from his work he realized how must he’d been squinting in the low light. Glancing over at Angus he had already cast light on his wand and had it nestled in his elbow as he read.

Pushing the books away from him, Taako yawned loudly and stretched his arms up over his head, leaning until his back cracked pleasantly. Angus had stopped paying attention to his book at this pointing, looking over at him.

“Hey, you getting hungry yet?” he asked, starting to pick himself up off the ground. Angus nodded, closing his book and getting a better hold on his wand before climbing to his feet as well. There was food still left in the kitchen they could eat, but Taako wasn’t sure if that was a good idea.

It was fucking stupid, that he wasn’t even sure if he could do that. Just heat up some beans in a can or some shit. He could do that, no problem. Just, maybe not in a kitchen. They’d take what they could and it’d be more shit they could have on the road, so that they wouldn’t have to stock up as much.

"Are we going to leave for real tomorrow?” Angus asked, once they were back up in the guest room and eating.

“Yeah, we’ll sell that stuff you found and hit the road. There anything you need from here before we go?” he asked, and Angus seemed to think it over.

“I could probably take some clothes from my room and stuff. I don’t want to try and take too much or anything and get bogged down,” he said. Taako nodded, made sense. When you’re on the move like this it’s always better to pack light.

“More clothes is always a good option. Do you want to bring like, a toy or something? Kids have toys, right?” he asked. He’d seen stuff in Angus’s room, so he figured it must be his.

“I guess I could bring like, a deck of cards or something? That might help to pass the time,” he said, and it wasn’t a horrible idea or anything.

“No stuffed animal or anything like that?” he asked.

“I’m not a baby sir, something like that would just be a waste of space,” Angus huffed. Taako shrugged, since it wasn’t like it mattered to him one way or the other what Angus brought along. He figured little kids liked stuffed toys and shit, but Angus was the type to try and act older than he actually was anyway.

“Well, just make sure you have everything you want in the morning. We’ll probably leave early, get the shit sold and get out of here before it gets too busy outside,” he said and Angus nodded.

“I’ll be ready sir,” he insisted.

The rest of the night went pretty uneventfully. Taako didn’t end up looking for more stuff to sell after all. They didn’t want to look too suspicious, and they’d already be selling a lot of stuff. It was money they hadn’t been planning on, so any gain at all was a net positive. Now wasn’t the time to try and push their luck.

Which was why they needed to leave in the morning. There was a part of Taako, a pretty damn large part, that wanted to keep hiding here. It seemed safe, out of the way, and it was a house. A nicer house than he’d ever fucking lived in before. Nicer than staying out on the road for sure.

They couldn’t risk it though, even if it seemed safe nothing ever truly was. He sure as fuck knew that now.

So the next morning Taako forced himself to get out of bed early, quickly packing up everything he needed. He’d brought the box of shit Angus had gathered up last night, and god, it was going to be annoying to carry until they could sell it. It’d be worth it for the extra gold though.

Taako just kept telling himself, somehow this would all be worth it.

Notes:

aaaaaaaaaa once again taking forever to update. sorry about that, life has been pretty busy lately, but i managed to get a chapter out. hopefully i'll be able to update some of my other fics soon too. I let my boys continue to have a mostly calming day before they get back out on the road again.

As always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy~

Chapter 16: Reassurance

Once he finished packing, Taako hefted the box of junk they were gonna hock up on his shoulder before starting over to Angus’s room. As soon as he got there he put it on the ground, wincing as it clattered about. Maybe they could find something with wheels they could shove it all into before they left. Taako wasn't exactly built for hauling shit around everywhere.

Knocking on the door, Angus sounded half asleep as he called out for him to come in. Taako left the box in the hallway for now, heading into the room. It did look like the kid had just woken up, rubbing at his eyes before reaching over and grabbing his glasses.

“Good morning sir, are we leaving today?” he asked, and Taako nodded.

“Sure are. Make sure to grab anything you need, or want, or whatever. Wanna get out early,” he said. It looked like the kid hadn’t really unpacked to begin with, which was good. It was best to keep your shit together when you were on the road. Never know when you’re just gonna have to grab everything and run.

“Oh by the day, do you got like, a wagon? Or a suitcase with wheels or something? Figured it’d be easier to carry the stuff we gotta sell that way,” Taako asked. Angus had gotten out of bed and was stuffing a few more outfits in his bag, which gave Taako an idea. “We can throw your stuff in there after we sell everything, that should be easier on you, right?”

“I can carry my stuff sir, it’s fine, but um, maybe check the hall closet? I think we might have something like that in there,” he said. Taako left, and it took him a minute to find exactly which closet he was talking about. Eventually though he did find something that would work. It pretty much looked like a large suitcase someone had stuck wheels onto, but they could make it work. Digging around a bit more, he found a belt and wrapped it around the handle so they had something longer to pull it with.

Dragging it out into the hallway, Taako dumped the valuables inside. There was still some space, so he brought it into Angus’s room where the kid was still figuring out what to pack.

“Throw some stuff in here, just make sure I don’t sell it later,” he said. Angus looked uncertain, but thankfully for once the kid didn’t argue. Instead he nodded, tossing in some clothes and a couple of his books and pens and stuff.

“That should be everything sir,” he said, and Taako frowned somewhat. It wasn’t his problem what Angus brought or not, but he didn’t want the kid complaining about not having things later.

Sure, Angus pretty much never complained, but still.

“You sure you don’t wanna bring like, a stuffed animal or nothing?” he asked.

“I told you I’m not a baby,” he insisted. Taako shrugged, not looking convinced.

“Your age is still in the single digits, you’re basically an infant,” he said.

“That’s not how humans work,” Angus insisted, but Taako just waved him away.

“Whatever, grab your bags so we can get going,” he said. Angus rolled his eyes but grabbed the bag holding the rest of his clothes and his wand. While his back was turned Taako snatched up the closest stuffed animal, a dragon halfway underneath the bed and jammed it into the suitcase.

“I saw you do that sir,” Angus said with a sigh, but Taako was already zipping the bag back up.

“No you didn’t,” he said simply, and Angus laughed. He didn’t tell Taako to take out the stuffed animal, so it was staying. It was a little difficult getting the suitcase down the stairs, but they managed it. Probably without shattering anything they were planning to sell inside even. Luckily, it was easier to get out of the house than it was to get in, and Taako made sure to cast disguise self once again right before they went out.

He still felt way too fucking exposed as they made their way through the streets of Neverwinter, but he kept telling himself that no one was giving them a second glance. He was just a regular Joe Humanman right now, out with his probably-son and no one was paying them any attention.

It felt like it took forever to find a shop that looked like it would buy a bunch of shady knickknacks and junk, but it was probably closer to twenty minutes.

“Come on, I’d say wait out here but honestly in this part of town you’d probably get kidnapped. I’m not wasting the money we’re getting here on ransom either,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Are you gonna do another funny fake voice?” he asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taako said, pitching his voice down and speaking with a bit of a drawl. Angus giggled but didn’t say anything.

Heading inside it was thankfully empty, which made sense. This didn’t seem like the kind of place that was ever real jam packed with people, let alone super early in the morning. There was a bored looking Lizardfolk standing behind a counter, and Taako saw his eyes flicker over to them as they walked in.

“You have a look around while your ol’ man does his business, alright sport?” Taako said, and that’s probably what dads sound like.

“Okay dad,” Angus said, immediately starting off into a random part of the store. God, it was fucking weird having Angus call him that, but Taako guessed it was good that the kid was able to go along with a scam without any hesitation.

Pulling the suitcase over to the counter, he flashed the lizardfolk a smile. “Hello my good sir, I have a few things I was hoping you might be able to take off my hands,” he said.

“Well, uh, sir, how about you show me what you got and let’s see if we can’t work something out,” he said, giving a toothy smile right back at him. With that Taako started emptying out the suitcase, and thankfully Angus had been smart enough to block the stuff he wanted to keep off with a row of books. It would've been pretty hard to mix up his stuff to begin with, but having an extra precaution didn't hurt.

It seemed like Taako had picked a good place to hock this junk. The lizardfolk didn’t ask any questions about where he’d gotten the stuff, and even though Taako was pretty sure the guy was ripping him off he was at least being quick about the whole thing. He got the feeling that a lot of the transactions made here weren’t entirely legal.

Plus, even if they were being ripped off, the dude was willing to buy everything for a flat 200 gold pieces. That was more than he’d made the entire time they were staying in Rockport. That was enough to last them a while, to get them somewhere out of the way and let them lay low for a time.

As soon the lizardfolk handed over the gold Taako shook his hand with a huge grin. “An absolute pleasure doing business with you. I’ll be sure to recommend this fine establishment to all my pals down at the club,” he said, and the lizarfolk just gave him an awkward nod.

“Thanks bud,” he said, taking his hand back and starting to put the items Taako had sold him back behind the counter.

“My dear boy, are you ready to make our exit?” he called out. Angus popped out from behind a stack of books that looked so boring  Taako doubted even he would be interested in them.

“I’m good to go dad,” he said. Still weird to hear, but shit was going well so Taako wasn’t going to jinx it. With that they quickly headed out of the store and Taako started off in a random direction.

“You know a place kinda secluded where we can get our shit situated?” he asked Angus once they were a couple streets down from the shop. Without saying anything the kid nodded, and led them a ways until they happened upon a small park. It had a decent amount of people in it, but it wasn’t hard to find a place back behind a couple of trees where it would be hard to see them.

As soon as they were mostly out of sight Taako recast the disguise self again, pretty sure he was getting close to the end of the hour.

“Alright. Alright, that went better than I thought it would. Here, switch your stuff over to the wheely bag so you don’t gotta be carrying shit while I figure out where to go next,” he said. Angus nodded, surprisingly not arguing that he was fine carrying his stuff. Taako pulled out his map as he started moving his stuff over to the new bag, trying to figure out their next move.

With 200gp they could get another train ticket if they wanted to. That would get them away the fastest, but they were already a long ways from Glamour Springs and Rockport. Might be better to head out on the road and save the money.

Soon enough Angus was done putting all his stuff into the case and Taako had a pretty good idea of where to go next. They had enough supplies to last then the walk to the next smaller town, so they should head there.

"You good to go Ango?" he asked.

“Yeah, um,” Angus said, and when Taako looked over at him it was pretty obvious now that something was up. He looked nervous, and if Taako had to guess guilty.

“What’s the matter with you my dude?” he asked, and Angus flinched. Yep, definitely guilty.

“Nothing sir!” he insisted way too quickly. Taako stared at him, hoping his expression would do the trick in showing how much he didn’t believe that. It seemed to work, because Angus kept talking after a moment. “It’s just, um, I’m really sorry! I know it was bad and we just got money so I really shouldn’t have, but it was just that the guy there sounded like he wasn’t giving you a very good deal and you got me a wand so I wanted to do something nice for you and I’m sorry we can go put it back if you don’t want it,” Angus said, still talking a mile a minute.

“Put what back?” Taako asked simply, pretty sure he had a good idea what was going on now. Sheepishly Angus pulled out a book he had tucked up under his shirt and handed it over without a word. Taako took it, flipping through it and realizing all the pages inside were blank. It was a notebook, and from the looks of it a pretty fucking nice one.

“I know you have your um, seven habits of highly effective elves, but I thought you might want something with a little more room to use as a spellbook,” Angus explained after a moment. “We can put it back, sorry,” he added when Taako didn’t say anything right away.

“Like hell are we putting this back,” Taako said finally, pulling his own bag around and shoving it inside. “Good fucking catch my dude, most of the shit in there was already stolen anyway. Gimme five,” he said, holding his hand up with a grin. Angus still looked uncertain, but gave him a meek high five none the less.

“So, you’re not mad at me for stealing?” he asked, and Taako scoffed, pushing himself up off the ground. Angus followed suit, using his new suitcase to help pull himself up.

“Hell no, I’m mad at myself for not thinking of it first,” he said. Angus laughed at that, and he seemed a lot less worried now.

“We probably shouldn’t make a habit out of it,” Angus said, and Taako just shrugged.

“Hey, if something works,” he said. Pulling off heists and shit was always easier with two people. Taako almost never got to do them as a kid, but he knew for a fact it was better to have one person distract while the other grabs shit. Angus wasn’t looking super on board with doing this on a regular basis though, and that was fair. They shouldn’t push their luck. Needed to keep a low profile after all.

“Um, we good to go then?” Angus asked, and Taako nodded.

“Yeah, let’s get the hell outta this town,” he said, taking one last glance at his map before putting it away again. He could say for certain that he wasn’t exactly a good influence on Angus, but it wasn’t like he was trying to be. Besides, this was good for the kid in the end.

Taking care on the road was hard, and sometimes it meant doing shit that wasn’t exactly legal. The sooner he could get on board with that, the better. He was a smart kid, he was definitely picking shit up faster than Taako had expected.

Taako was honestly glad to have him around. It wasn’t just that the idea of being alone right now was terrifying. He was just… glad to have Angus with him.

He was a good kid.

——

Angus still felt a little bad about stealing that notebook. He knew that all of the stuff Taako was selling that guy was worth way more than 200 gold though. He wasn’t surprised that Taako hadn’t argued with him over it, since they were tying to get out of here as fast as possible.

Still, it felt wrong, and well no one had been paying any attention to him. It’d been a split second decision to stuff the notebook under his shirt and he'd only started to regret it once they left.

Taako hadn’t been angry with him though. If anything, he almost seemed proud, and that wasn’t super surprising if he was being honest. Taako didn’t seem like the kind of person to be all that hung up over following the rules and laws under normal circumstances. It wasn’t that he seemed like a bad guy, but he’d made it pretty clear that you had to take care of yourself first and foremost.

Which, considering the circumstances they were in made sense. They didn’t have a lot of options, not until Angus could prove that Taako had been innocent in the Glamour Springs case. Until then they just had to get by.

And some of getting by might not have been totally legal. As long as they weren’t hurting anyone, he was sure it would be okay.

Walking through Neverwinter, Angus was glad Taako had thought to grab the wheeled suitcase before they left. He didn’t have too much trouble carrying his bags before, at least not after the Cleric had healed him for the most part. He’d grabbed some books and more clothes when they were at his house though (and that stuffed doll Taako had shoved inside), and he felt like all of that would have gotten heavy quick.

It was a little awkward pulling the bag around with the makeshift strap Taako had crafted, but it was a pretty big weight quite literally off his shoulders.

Angus almost didn’t notice it at first. He’d been keeping an eye on their surroundings, because even though no one would be able to recognize Taako with his disguise self, they could still recognize him. He was glad to be leaving Neverwinter, as much as it was nice to know the lay of the land again. Taako had said that he wouldn’t make him go to the orphanage, but he didn’t want to test how much he was willing to fight to keep him out of one.

Still, he’d been focused on the people around them for the most part, so he almost missed the flier. It was hung up with a bunch of others, a part of it covered and it seemed like it’d been there for a while. Despite that, Angus still felt a panic jolt through him at the sight of it, rushing over and pulling it down.

He guessed the sound of his rolling suitcase jerking loudly over the cobblestone alerted Taako, because he was staring back at him confused. Angus still wasn’t used to the way he looked with the disguise self on. It was even harder to tell what he was thinking that way.

“Everything good pumpkin?” he asked. Angus quickly nodded, shoving the missing child poster into his pocket before running to catch up to Taako again.

“Yes, we should keep going,” he said. Hesitating slightly, he grabbed Taako’s hand as they moved forward, keeping his head down more. Thankfully he didn’t question it or make him stop, continuing to head out of the city. Angus figured Taako was pretty tired of having to act like his dad, but it was a good cover and people seemed to be ignoring them like this.

He couldn’t be a missing kid if he was obviously with his dad after all. As soon as they were out of Neverwinter they could drop it.

Luckily, leaving Neverwinter didn’t take much longer. He knew Taako was in a rush to get out of there before the disguise self wore off, and the later in the day it got the busier the city became. Soon enough they were on the outskirts of town though and Taako ducked behind a building to let the disguise finally drop. It still didn’t feel like they were as in the clear as either of them would have liked, but they didn’t have a lot of choices.

“So, what was with that paper you snatched up?” Taako asked as they continued to walk. Taking a quick look around, there weren’t a lot of people around and none of them seemed to be paying any attention to them. Still a bit reluctantly Angus pulled out the poster and handed it over to Taako.

“Technically I guess I’m kinda missing,” he said. It was hard to read Taako’s face as he looked the paper over, even with the disguise no longer in effect. After a moment though he chuckled and handed it back over to him.

“Hey, you think they’re offering a reward? We could hand you over and then you could break on out again. Orphanages are easy as fuck to sneak out of,” he said, and it seemed like it was probably a joke. Even still, Angus was kind of nervous about the idea.

“I doubt it. If I had some family left still looking for me I’m sure there would be but I’m pretty sure it’s just the city, and I don’t think they care that much,” he said. Taako shrugged, and he thankfully didn’t seem too attached to this little scheme.

“Eh, yeah that’s fair. I’m surprised they went out of the way to make posters even. Don’t think they broke out anything that fancy when I was a kid,” he said. Angus relaxed at Taako dropping the idea so quickly.

“I didn’t know they had printed posters when you were a kid,” Angus teased. Taako frowned, raising an eyebrow in question at him.

“Whatcha mean by that pumpkin?” he asked.

“Just cause you’re like a thousand years old and all,” he said, and Taako scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Fucking brat. I’m an elf in my prime,” he said, and Angus didn’t actually doubt that was true. Sure, it was hard to tell elf ages, but Taako didn’t actually seem to be that old.

“How old are you actually sir?” he asked, and Taako shrugged.

“Fuck if I know, time’s hard to keep track of. Maybe like a hundred ten, hundred eleven?” he said, and it didn’t sound like he was being flippant. It really did seem like he didn’t have a real concrete idea on how old he was.

“Sir isn’t that like, actually pretty young for elves?” he asked.

“In my prime,” Taako insisted, and Angus laughed a little at that.

“Fair enough,” he relented. He guessed it didn’t matter that much after all. Taako was still a lot more of an adult than he was, and he seemed to know what he was doing for the most part.

The roads leading into and out of Neverwinter were still relatively busy, but most people seemed more interested in getting wherever they were going than in them. Taako still seemed worried about being recognized, but as they got further out he seemed to relax some.

“How long do you think it’ll take to get to the next town?” Angus asked, curious about how long they’d be out on the road again. He knew he shouldn’t complain, since they just spent a couple of days in a nice house and everything. Still, it was a good thing to know.

“Probably only like a day, day and a half tops. It’s not far and these roads are pretty damn well traveled so it should be sm- should be smoo- sma-” Taako’s words died in his throat, and when Angus looked up at him there was a look of terror on his face. He didn’t- everything had been fine a second ago.

Angus didn’t have to search around to see what it was that had stopped Taako dead in his tracks. He was very clearly staring off at something, and when he looked Angus could see what.

It just looked like a guy. He was up on a horse about forty or so feet down the road. It was kind of hard to tell from this distance, but he looked almost as scared as Taako did. He wasn’t moving towards them. He had his horse stopped in the middle of the road, staring.

“Taako, who’s-” Angus had started to whisper, not taking his eyes off of this guy in case he tried anything. He didn’t know who he was but there was obviously something going on here. Before he could get the full question out though Taako had grabbed his arm, yanking him as he started off in a full on sprint off the road.

“Hey!” the man on the road called, and when Angus glanced back he’d brought his horse up to where they’d been on the road. It looked like he was going to give chase for a moment before stopping. Angus was barely able to see him start off fast down the road again, back in the direction of Neverwinter.

“Taako! Taako stop!” Angus yelled, but it was clear he wasn’t listening to him at all. He was barely managing to hold onto the strap on his bag, which was being dragged behind him more than it was rolling on its wheels at this point. Angus tried to pull his arm free, but Taako's grip was way too tight. It was actually to the point of being painful, and it didn’t help that Angus could barely keep up with him.

“Sir! Taako let go!” he snapped, but Taako still seemed all caught up in a panic. Jabbing a foot forward, it wasn’t hard to trip him, sending them both spiraling to the ground. It seemed to break Taako out of the blind panic he’d been in at least somewhat, but he still looked like he was about to get up and start running again.

“That hurt sir! What’s going on, who was that?” he asked, rubbing his arm where Taako had grabbed it.

“Fuck, fuck that doesn’t- we gotta keep going,” Taako said, starting to scramble to his feet again. Angus didn’t stand up, he wanted some answers before anything else happened.

“He’s not following us, I saw him keep going down the road,” he said.

“Fine, fine okay but can we just- we can talk while we walk. Fuck, can you walk? I didn’t- shit,” he said, and it was clear how freaked out he was over this. Angus nodded, picking himself up off the ground and righting his suitcase.

“I’m okay sir,” Angus said, and there were a few scrapes here and there but nothing bad. He wasn’t sure if his arm was going to bruise or not from where Taako had grabbed him, but it was still a little sore. “Can you explain what’s going on now?” he asked. Taako nodded, starting to walk at a much more manageable pace. It was still fast, but it wasn’t the breakneck run it’d been before.

“That was him,” Taako said, and that didn’t explain much. It actually did give Angus a pretty good idea though. It was someone Taako knew, who he was terrified of, and who Angus at least had some idea about.

“Sazed?” he guessed, and Taako just nodded. Angus stopped walking, quickly glancing back in the direction they’d came. “We need to go back,” he insisted, and Taako’s head whipped back around towards him.

“What the fuck? Hell no!” Taako snapped.

“But that’s the guy who framed you!” Angus said, and Taako was looking at him like he was crazy.

“Exactly! That’s why we need to get as far away from here as fucking possible,” he said, which was fair. Angus couldn’t blame Taako for not wanting to be anywhere near the guy who tried to kill him and let him take the blame for poisoning all those people. Angus honestly didn’t want to be anywhere near that guy either. It was kinda scary, knowing he’d told Taako to leave him for dead.

“But if we catch him we can get some evidence to prove it wasn’t you!” Angus said. Taako was shaking his head before he could even finish speaking though.

“No. No fucking way. It’s not- you think he’s just going to confess? It’s not- we’re not going to prove anything. If we go back there I’m gonna end up in jail if not fucking dead, and you can have fun in the orphanage,” Taako said. Despite how upset and scared he looked, he seemed equally as determined. It didn’t look like he would be swayed in the slightest.

“But it wasn’t you,” Angus still tried to insist.

“And who’s going to believe that? Who the fuck is going to take the word of the guy who handed out poison to forty fucking people, and a fucking eight year old orphan who ran away from the city? We don’t have a choice here, we have to leave,” Taako said. Angus felt his shoulders slump in defeat, and he wanted to argue. If they could get some sort of evidence, people would have to listen to them.

He knew how little people had listened to him when his grandpa died though, and he knew how incriminating it looked for Taako. Even if they got some sort of evidence people might- the might not care. They might not listen.

“I’m sorry sir,” he mumbled after a moment. Taako sighed heavily, starting to pick out a few twigs that had gotten in his hair when Angus had sent them both tumbling to the ground.

“Ain’t your fault pumpkin,” Taako said, and Angus shrugged. He knew it wasn’t but he still wasn’t happy about this. “Come on, let’s keep moving,” he added after a moment. Angus nodded, following after him as they continued to walk. He wasn’t sure where they were going anymore, since they’d so completely left the road, but they were in a pretty populated area. They’d end up somewhere eventually.

“Sorry,” Taako muttered after a few minutes of walking in silence, the only sound Angus’s bag rolling over twigs and leaves. “I kinda freaked the fuck out there. Your arm okay?” he asked, and he sounded genuinely sorry. It wasn’t something Angus was used to hearing from him.

“It’s okay. I think it might bruise a little though,” he said, and Taako winced at that.

“Shit, yeah sorry. Wasn’t thinking. Didn’t want to risk leaving you behind,” he said, and that surprised Angus somewhat. Not that Taako hadn’t been thinking, that part had been pretty obvious. But the fact that despite that he’d somehow still been worried about leaving Angus behind. That in his panic he still made sure he was with him.

“Really?” he asked, and Taako nodded. It didn’t even seem like that part was a big deal for him. He hadn’t even thought twice about grabbing him though, even when all he could focus on was getting away.

“Yeah, feel free to mage hand slap me if I ever freak out like that again,” he said. Angus laughed a little at that and nodded.

“You got it,” he said. Taako actually seemed to relax some at that. He was still tense and wound up from what had happened, but the smallest amount of that seemed to ease away with the reassurance.

It was weird. Angus had kind of been hoping for some sort of reassurance that Taako really did want him around.

He just wished it hadn’t happened like this.

Notes:

hey i didn't take a full month this time, improvement! I did write this all in one night when sick though, so take that as you will. these boys are bonding and there's only the occasional bit of drama, which is pretty much this whole fic in a nutshell.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~

Chapter 17: A Sleepless Night

Angus couldn’t sleep that night.

He knew he should. They’d have a long day of traveling tomorrow, probably off roads too. He doubted Taako would want to go back out to open areas after what happened. He needed to rest so that he wasn’t holding Taako back. Even if he was fairly certain the elf actually wanted him around now, he still didn’t want to be a burden.

But he just couldn’t sleep.

He hated it, but he knew Taako was right. They had no way to prove it was Sazed, no way to prove that Taako hadn’t been the one to slip the poison into the food. There was no reason to expect they’d be able to get a confession out of him. Angus had loved trying to solve mysteries around Neverwinter, and he could remember how often people would try to dismiss his discoveries.

No one would take his word on something this big. Not when so many people had died.

He hated this.

Angus wasn’t sure what time it was when he finally gave up trying to get some sleep. It was late though. The smoldering embers of their campfire had gone out a while ago, leaving the area almost completely pitch black thanks to the trees blocking out the moonlight. He had to stare and squint for a long time before he was sure that Taako was deep in meditation.

Trying to be quiet he reached over to his bag, digging around until he pulled out his wand. The stuffed dragon Taako made him bring was still in the bag, and he left it there for now. He wasn’t going back to sleep right away, so even if he wanted to use it, now wasn’t the time.

Turning away from Taako, he tried to keep his wand covered as much as possible as he cast light. He didn’t want to risk knocking him out of his meditation. Angus had to blink a few times to get adjusted to the sudden brightness, but once he had he glanced back behind him to make sure Taako hadn’t woken up. He still looked deep in meditation, and Angus let out a small sigh of relief.

Carefully, he got to his feet. Taako had a rapier than Angus had never seen him even attempt to use, he kind of doubted the elf actually knew how to. Still, it would work for what Angus wanted, so he quietly slid it away from Taako’s meditating form. He was holding his breath as he did, but the elf didn’t even twitch.

As soon as he was sure Taako hadn’t noticed anything, Angus started off into the woods. In one hand he had his wand, lighting the path just enough for him to see where he was going, and in the other he had the rapier. Every so often he would stop and slash a mark into one of the trees around him.

He’d read it in one of his Caleb Cleveland novels. Caleb had used chalk though, and had been stuck in what was supposed to be an endless maze, but the concept was the same. He just needed a marker so that he could find his way back to Taako.

Angus knew that Sazed had most likely gone back to town. He’d seen him ride off in that direction. The only reason he might come back was to lead the authorities to them. If he was there with the militia Angus was taking a huge risk checking out the area.

But he had to be sure. As soon as he got to the road and saw there was nothing there, or at the first sign of trouble, he’d head back to camp. He wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks.

It felt like it was taking longer to get to the road than it should’ve. Of course, they’d ran most of the way leaving it, and Angus was being careful as he walked back now. He didn’t want to draw too much attention with his light, and he needed to make sure he wouldn’t get lost on the way back. It'd be bad if Taako woke up before he managed to get back and realized he'd been gone. Even still, he was starting to feel pretty exhausted when he finally came out to the road.

Glancing around, Angus tried not to feel too disappointed when he saw there was no one out there. Of course there wasn’t, that was what he expected after all. It was better than finding the police out here actively searching for them he supposed, but he still wished there was more.

Making a mark on a tree to show where to head in, Angus figured it wouldn’t hurt to check up and down the street some before heading back. He came all this way after all, he wanted to be thorough.

Walking up the road some, Angus definitely wasn’t expecting to find anything now.

So he was caught completely off guard when he happened upon a small camp on the side of the road.

He stopped in his tracks, and he was still too far away from the camp to make out much. Reluctantly, he turned off the light spell, not wanting to wake up whoever it was. He waited until his eyes had adjusted somewhat to the dark again, and at least it was a bit brighter on the road. Slowly, he started towards the small camp, and as he got closer he could make out more.

There was a horse asleep tied to a tree, and a man sleeping by the last lingering smolders of what used to be a campfire. It was hard to see if it was the same person from earlier from this distance though. He should probably leave before he risked getting caught, especially if this was the right person.

But he’d come all this way out here on the off chance that he might find him. If he walked away now the whole thing was pointless. He needed to see if it was him. He needed to see if he could find some proof.

Steadying himself, Angus started to creep closer. He tried to move as quietly as possible, freezing in place when the horse snorted some as he passed. The man didn’t move though, and this close now Angus could see for sure that it was the right guy.

A small smile spread across his face at that. Okay. Okay, he could do this. He could see a bag by the small embers of the fire, much closer to Sazed than he would’ve liked to get. But if he could find the arsenic bottle, or something proving he’d brought it, it could be enough to clear Taako’s name.

He quietly started towards the bag, and felt his stomach drop as his foot got caught on a wire. Before he could take another step, closer or further away, Angus didn’t know which he would choose, the sound of a bell ringing and a loud pop echoed around them.

Sazed’s eyes shot open immediately, and Angus needed to run.

He’d come so far for some proof though! He didn’t want to come back empty handed.

There was an obvious moment of confusion as Sazed woke up and tried to take in the surroundings.

He should’ve taken that moment to get as far away as possible.

Instead, Angus lunged forward, grabbing the bag before making a break for it.

“Hey!” Sazed shouted behind him, and Angus could hear him scrambling to his feet. He didn’t look back to see if he was coming close though, he needed to get back to where he’d made that mark. Once he was in the woods he could try to lose him.

Angus didn’t get very far though. Soon enough there was a hand grabbing him by the shoulder. Without thinking Angus spun around, trying to take a swing with the rapier.

“Ouch!” Sazed yelled, so he guessed he managed to hit something. It wasn’t enough to get him to let go though, and then the adult was quickly wrestling the sword away from him. “Fuck kid,” he growled once he’d managed to disarm him, and he had a firmer grip on Angus’s arm now. He tossed the sword so that it was out of reach before yanking the bag out of his grasp as well.

“Let go of me!” Angus shouted, trying and failing to pull out of his grasp. At this point getting proof wasn’t important anymore. He’d messed up, he should’ve checked for traps. Caleb Cleveland always checked for traps, of course he wasn’t sleeping out in the open without some kind of alarm system set up.

“Would you cut it out?” Sazed said, still not letting go of him. Angus shot his wand up at him, casting light directly in his face. He saw Sazed wince from the sudden bright light, but it still wasn’t enough to get him to loosen his grip.

As his eyes adjusted though, Angus could see the look of recognition and shock on the man’s face.

“Holy shit, it really was- you actually survived,” he said quietly, like he didn’t believe it.

“No thanks to you! Taako told me you said to throw me out of the cart!” Angus snapped. He’d taken to ineffectively kicking at Sazed’s legs at this point, for all the good it did. Sazed winced, although from the guilty look on his face Angus figured it was more from what he’d said than from the kicking.

“Yeah, I- fuck,” Sazed said, and he was looking even more guilty and panicked now. “What are you… did Taako tell you to come here? To steal from me?” he asked, holding up his bag for good measure. Angus could see a slash in his arm where the rapier must've caught him. It didn't look particularly bad though.

“Taako doesn’t know I’m here,” Angus said, wanting to defend Taako. He hadn’t put him up to anything. Immediately after he said that though he realized that might have been a mistake. Letting Sazed know that no one knew where he was wasn’t a smart move. If he wanted to try and get rid of him, it wouldn’t be as hard.

“Then what’s this about? What are you- why are you still with that guy? Is he not letting you go home? Didn’t he tell you what happened at Glamour Springs?” Sazed pressed, and Angus was straight up glaring at him now. Of course he was still trying to paint Taako in a bad light, and even though it made sense it still made Angus mad.

“Taako didn’t kidnap me!” he insisted, because that couldn’t be further from what happened. Taako tried to leave him, probably hadn’t wanted him around for a while there. Angus had been the one tagging along despite all of that. “And I know exactly what happened at Glamour Springs,” he added. He was staring pointedly at Sazed now, and in the sharp light of his spell he could see the man pale some.

“You… he tried to kill you, and you’re fine with just hanging around the dude?” Sazed asked. He was nervous again though, and Angus could tell he was lying. If nothing else, this cemented for Angus once and for all that Taako was innocent in the incident at Glamour Springs.

“It wasn’t his fault,” Angus said, still trying to pull himself free.

“What do you- of course it was his fault. He poisoned everyone,” Sazed said, his voice shaking the slightest bit with uncertainty. Like he hadn’t expected anyone to have doubts on that. It made sense, of course everyone’s first instinct would be to blame Taako. Even Taako himself had assumed it was his own fault, despite never wanting to do anything so horrible.

“No he didn’t,” Angus insisted. He could see the look of near panic on Sazed’s face now, so he continued. “He didn’t poison anyone! You did! You tried to kill him!” he shouted. He saw Sazed freeze up at the accusation, so Angus shot forward, biting the hand still holding onto his arm hard.

“Fuck!” Sazed shouted, finally letting go of him and pulling his hand away. Angus didn’t waste a second this time, immediately running off. Once he was a good distance away he glanced back, expecting to see the man running after him.

Instead, Angus could just barely see him way back where he’d left him. It looked like he was on his knees, and Angus slowly stopped running. He waited a few minutes, but he just kept sitting there. He knew he should take the chance to leave, but it was just… he couldn’t help it, he was curious.

Slowly, Angus started back towards him. He kept a good distance still, walking over to pick up the rapier again just in case. Either Sazed hadn’t noticed he’d come back, or he didn’t care.

“Um, sir?” Angus asked finally.

“How’d he find out? I don’t… how did he know?” he asked, and it sounded half like he was asking Angus and half like he was talking to himself. Angus’s grip tightened on the rapier some, prepared to run off again the moment Sazed tried anything.

“He didn’t. He uh, Taako thought it was elderberries. But the symptoms didn’t match up to what I had. You used arsenic, didn’t you?” he asked. Sazed stopped staring at the ground now, looking up at him in shock and confusion.

“Yeah, yeah it was… how the fuck did you figure that out?” he asked.

“I’m a very good detective sir,” Angus said, unable to keep a small bit of pride off his face. Sazed laughed, but it sounded a bit hysterical and very disbelieving.

“Right. Right of course, of course he couldn’t even figure it out himself. He had to make some half dead kid do it for him,” he said, and it was clear that he was just mumbling to himself now. Even still, Angus was glaring at him again.

“Taako didn’t make me do anything. I wanted to figure it out myself, Taako blamed himself and didn't even want to listen to me at first,” he insisted. It didn’t seem like Sazed was listening to him all that much though.

“What are you doing here kid?” he asked bluntly, seeming to come out of the shock of it all a bit. “If you knew I put the poison in there and Taako didn’t set you up to this then what do you want?”

“I want you to go back to Glamour Springs and turn yourself in to clear Taako’s name, that’s what I want,” Angus said. It was unlikely, but it was worth a try.

From the desperate way Sazed laughed at that, Angus figured it was just as unlikely as he thought.

“No. No I can’t… I'm not gonna fucking do that kid,” he said.

“Sir, why did you do it?” Angus asked. If he couldn’t get proof, and he couldn’t get Sazed to turn himself in, he at least wanted to know why. Because he hadn’t known this guy very long, but he didn’t really seem the type to want to commit mass murder. Taako hadn’t suspected him at all before Angus had questioned it.

“I wasn’t trying to kill everyone. It wasn’t supposed to- if he just ate it himself like he was supposed to no one else would’ve gotten hurt,” Sazed said. That was what Angus thought he’d been trying to do, it made more sense than killing everyone in the audience for no reason. It still didn’t answer his question though.

“But why? Why did you want to kill him at all?” he pressed. If he could just get this answer well, it wouldn’t be enough, but at least it would be something. Sazed was looking at him like it was a ridiculous question.

“It’s- you’ve been traveling with the guy, haven’t you? He’s not a fucking good person,” he said, and Angus frowned at that.

“He’s been nice to me,” he said. Sazed scoffed, and it didn’t look like he believed him.

“I did fucking everything for him, and he never once- it was always about him,” he spat, and Angus could hear the bitterness in his voice now. Could start to see how he could be driven to try and kill. This time when he turned to look at Angus, he was glaring. “Well, what else do you want? Go back to Taako if he’s so nice to you kid. You’ll see what I’m talking about eventually,” he added.

Angus didn’t know what to say to that. He wanted to tell him he was wrong, that Taako couldn’t be as cruel as he was making him out to be. It didn’t sound like he was lying though. Maybe there were other factors there, but he truly believed his reasoning for wanting to kill Taako should be self evident.

Angus wasn’t sure he wanted to think about that too much.

So instead of saying anything, Angus carefully turned away and left. He walked slowly at first, but once he was far enough away he started to run, only slowing down once he got to the tree he’d marked to show where to entire. He stopped to make sure Sazed hadn’t followed him, and then headed back into the woods.

That hadn’t been what he’d hoped to gain, but it was also more than he ever expected.

He still thought Taako was a nice person, and even if he’d been mean or selfish that didn’t make it anymore acceptable to try to kill him. It was even worse to let him take the blame for everyone else who ended up dying that night. He didn’t care what Sazed said, he doubted he’d ever ‘see what he’s talking about.’

Or at least, he really, really hoped he wouldn’t.

——

Angus left.

Taako didn’t know why, but it’d been hours now. He’d been knocked out of his meditation when the kid had cast light, but he didn’t- he pretended to stay asleep. If Angus wanted to do something, Taako wasn’t going to stop him. So he stayed perfectly still as the kid crept around camp, controlled his breathing as he stole his fucking rapier for some reason.

He didn’t follow after him as he snuck off into the woods. Maybe he should have. It was dangerous, and Taako doubted he actually knew how to use the fucking sword he took. Hell, Taako barely knew how to use the thing. It was just a last ditch means of protecting himself in case magic was somehow not an option. When all else fails, sticking something sharp and pointy in someone's gut was usually a pretty good deterrent.

But if Angus decided he didn’t want shit to do with him anymore, Taako wasn’t going to stop him.

He probably realized a bit too late that if Angus was meaning to leave for good he wouldn’t have left all his stuff behind. He definitely wouldn’t have stolen something off of him, especially not something like a rapier.

Which meant Angus had gone off for some other reason. In the middle of the night. Which a fucking sword. It was too long now for him to go off with any hope of trying to find him. So all Taako could do was sit there and wait. Hope he managed to get back and wasn’t eaten by a fucking bear or direwolf or something.

The sun was starting to rise when Taako finally saw a spot of light moving through the trees towards the camp. Scrambling to his feet, it seemed to take Angus a moment to see where the camp was. Taako could see the exact second he must’ve saw him though, as a look of panic instantly flashed across his face. It was quickly replaced with a forced smile as he trotted over to him.

“Um, good morning sir. When did you wake up?” he asked, trying and failing to pass as casual.

“A while ago,” Taako said bluntly. It wasn’t a lie, and Angus seemed to get the picture, wincing slightly. “The fuck do you have that for?” he asked, gesturing towards the rapier still in his hand. Giving it a quick glance over, Taako froze when he saw there was actually blood on it. Angus didn’t seem to notice though.

“Oh, I was using it to mark my path. So I wouldn’t get lost, I just put a little scratch into the trees,” he said. Taako took it from him, examining it closer and yeah, that was blood.

“Didn’t know trees bled,” he said, and that seemed to take Angus by surprise. He could see the kid straining to look at the rapier in the low light, but he noticed the blood after a moment.

“Oh. Oh yeah,” he said quietly, like he’d only just remembered whatever it was that had caused him to get blood on a goddamn sword. Taako did a quick glance over him to make sure he hadn’t gone and fucking stabbed himself, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Without a word he cast prestidigitation on the sword, cleaning it before putting in back into it’s sheath.

“Come on, fucking breakfast time I guess,” he said. Angus quickly nodded, following him the rest of the way into camp. Taako riffled through his bag before tossing a ration over to him. He just barely managed to catch it, starting to eat quietly.

“So, what’s up with the late night stroll? I woke up and you weren’t here, figured you had enough and decided to fuck off finally,” Taako asked after a long stretch of eating in silence.

“What? No sir, I didn’t- of course I still want to travel with you,” Angus said, sounding slightly panicked at the suggestion that he wanted to leave. Taako still didn’t quite get why he wanted to stick around, but he guessed that wasn’t important.

“Then the fuck were you doing off in the woods for hours? And what did you kill?” he asked.

“I didn’t kill anything, I was just, um,” Angus muttered. It didn’t look like he wanted to tell him, but fucking, Taako had been worried. He wasn’t good at this shit, but apparently taking care of this kid was on him now. If he went off and got himself killed in the middle of the night it would be- well, he wouldn’t be happy about it.

“Spill it, or else I’m gonna start making guesses,” Taako pressed.

“I just wanted to see if I could get some proof,” Angus said, and Taako tensed up some at that.

“Proof for what?” he asked, but Angus looked pretty unimpressed by the question.

“You know what sir,” he said simply, and yeah, he did.

“Did you… like, manage to find any?” he asked, hating the way he wanted to hope Angus had. He knew that if he had managed something like that it would’ve been the first thing out of his mouth. And just, that wasn’t something he should hope for. It wasn’t going to happen, trying to make it happen would only put them both in more danger. The best path was to keep laying low until eventually it blew over. He could never have his show again, but he might not have to be so paranoid someday.

“No, sorry sir,” Angus said, sounding disappointed. Taako shrugged, trying not to look like he cared much either way.

“Already told you it wasn’t gonna happen,” he said. Angus didn’t look happy at that, but hey, it was the truth. “So, the blood?” he asked, because he felt like that should be explained.

“Oh right. I think I might’ve stabbed Mr. Sazed,” Angus said, speaking like it wasn’t a big deal. Taako dropped the ration he’d been reluctantly eating.

“You did what?” he shouted, because holy fuck. Angus barely even seemed to give a shit, but Taako was a hair away from picking the kid up and starting to fucking run again.

“I mean, I guess I must’ve cut him somewhat? Since yeah the blood had to come from somewhere,” Angus said, like that was the issue right now.

“You fucking found him?” he pressed and Angus nodded.

“Yeah, I uh, I went back to the road. I found him camped out a little ways down,” he explained. He looked a little guilty again, like he just remembered that this was shit he shouldn’t have been doing. “I tried to sneak into his camp and steal his bag, because I thought there might be some evidence in there to clear your name. The poison bottle or something, but it set off an alarm and he woke up. He tried to grab me but I guess I managed to hit him with the sword and get away,” he added.

Taako couldn’t even say anything to that. He couldn’t understand why this fucking kid would go to such risks to try and prove his innocence. He couldn’t believe he’d let him go off on his own like an idiot. He couldn’t help but be a little proud of the kid for managing to defend himself and get away.

“I know I shouldn’t have sir. I promise I made sure he didn’t follow me,” Angus added when Taako guessed he’d been silent for too long.

“Yeah, you really fucking shouldn’t have,” Taako mumbled after a moment. Angus wasn’t looking at him anymore, staring at his feet and looking close to tears. Taako wasn’t fucking good with crying kids. He wasn’t good with crying in general.

“I’m sorry,” Angus said, the words nearly a whisper.

Without saying anything, Taako got up and started packing up the camp. When he glanced back over at Angus the kid still looked upset, and fucking exhausted. Taako wasn’t sure if he slept at all last night, and his own meditation had been cut painfully short if he was being honest.

They needed to keep moving. Sazed was close. He was probably pissed after what Angus did. It wasn’t safe here.

But Taako was fucking tired. He’d stayed up all night worrying about this kid that for some goddamn reason kept insisting on going out of his way to try and help him.

With a sigh, Taako stopped packing up camp. Instead he went over to Angus’s bag, pulled out the stuffed animal he’d grabbed from his room, and shoved it at him. Angus blinked at the stuffed dragon before looking up at Taako in confusion.

“Um, what’s this for sir?” he asked. Taako yawned loudly, stretching some as he went and sat back down in the spot he’d been meditating before.

“For sleeping with. You look fucking dead on your feet, and I barely managed to get any rest at all waiting up on your ass. Take a nap lil man, we’ll head out in a few hours,” Taako said. Angus looked hesitant for a moment, before reluctantly nodding.

“Alright sir,” he said, and for as much as he insisted he wasn’t a little kid and didn’t need a stuffed animal, he kept it with him as he lied down. “Good morning Taako,” he mumbled after a moment.

“Mornin’ Agnes,” he said, getting into position to meditate. It took a while before he actually managed to. Not until he was sure Angus had fallen asleep.

As far as he was concerned, the two things had nothing to do with each other.

Notes:

so i said sazed would only be in the first two chapters, but also, i don't control these fics and i should really know that i have no control at this point. things just happen and i appreciate the characters progressing the story without me.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~

Chapter 18: Getting Into A Comfortable Routine

It was later than Taako expected when he finally woke up. There was a touch of panic at seeing how high in the sky the sun was, thinking of how much time they wasted. Someone could be coming after them, they might not be able to get away having waited so long.

There weren’t any signs that anyone was coming though. The tiny patch of forest they’d slept in was clear and quiet, and even straining his ears came back with nothing. It was just him and Angus, who was still asleep with that stuffed doll wrapped up tight in his arms.

It was kinda cute, and Taako knew that kid hadn’t slept much last night. If he’d even slept at all, so it was kinda tempting to let him lay there for a bit longer.

They needed to keep moving though, even if no one had come for them yet. It was too fucking risky. His mind was still reeling from the fact that Angus had found and talked to Sazed all on his fucking own last night. It was something he wasn’t trying to think about, but he knew they couldn’t afford to waste time.

He didn’t get why Sazed hadn’t tried to turn him in yet. Maybe he was afraid of someone seeing through his lie, Angus sure had after all. Taako didn’t think he particularly needed to worry about that with most people though, but it was the only thing that made sense. Whatever the reason was though, he couldn’t count on it lasting forever.

Even still, he didn’t really need to wake up Angus. So he didn’t, quickly and quietly picking up what little of camp they’d set up. Once he had everything else put away he finally woke up Angus.

“Fucking rise and shine lazybones. We’re getting back on the move today,” Taako said, podding Angus’s shoulder gently with a foot. Angus grumbled for a moment, swatting at him in clear annoyance and making no move to get up. So Taako prodded him with a little more force. Angus tried to push him away again, and Taako snickered as he started pretty much rocking the kid back and force.

“I’m up sir, I’m awake,” Angus said, finally sitting up. “Oh, you already packed?” he asked, looking around the empty clearing surprised.

“Yeah, got bored waiting for you to wake up,” Taako said. He started digging around in his bag, pulling out a ration and tossing it at Angus. He just managed to catch it, fumbling a little as he was still waking up. “Breakfast homie, can you eat while we walk?” he asked, and Angus nodded.

“Of course sir,” he said, scrambling to his feet now. It only took a few moments for him to get his stuff packed up in his bag, and with that they were on the road again.

It was quiet. Probably awkward, but Taako couldn’t give much of a shit about that. The quiet was good for making sure they wouldn’t be noticed, but it was still irritating in a way he couldn't articulate. He didn’t want to think about shit right now, but that was all he could do as they walked through the quiet forest.

It was all he could do for the next couple of days. He couldn’t complain about the trip being uneventful. That was the best thing he could ask for. Angus didn’t run off again, no one else seemed to be taking this shitty path they were cutting through the forest. It was calm.

When they weren’t moving Taako could sit and work on transferring the spells he’d had in his Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Elves into the notebook Angus had stolen for him. Sometimes he’d catch Angus watching, and if he was bored enough he’d explain the basics of whatever spell he was working on. He started teaching him prestidigitation while he was at it, telling him it was good to have when they were tracking through fucking dirt and mud all day long.

It was peaceful, or at least Taako tried to tell himself it was. At every shifting shadow or cracked branch he’d look over his shoulder, but it was never anything to worry about. Even still, there wasn’t anything he could do to fight back the constant paranoia chasing at him.

Despite all that, it seemed like they’d reached some kind of balance by the time they got to the next town. Taako tried to fight back the panic of being around people who could recognize him again. They kept their heads low, didn’t interact with anyone they didn’t have to. Thankfully, the list of people they had to interact with was short and mostly consisted of busy shopkeepers and an overworked innkeeper. None of them seeming particularly interested in dealing with the two of them more than they had to, which was ideal.

Angus was clearly relieved as he dragged his bag into their room at the shady inn Taako had found, pulling it over to one of the two tiny beds inside. He never complained or bothered about it anymore than to ask how long it would be before they got to town. It was obvious though that Angus was more comfortable in society than he was roughing it out in the woods.

Taako rolled his eyes as the kid went through the trouble of carefully removing his shoes and casting the prestidigitation he’d taught him on himself to clean up some before actually getting into the bed. He didn’t bother to be as polite, crashing onto his own bed without so much as removing the bag on his back, let along his shoes or anything else. After a minute of laying there though he did toss the bag to the ground and lazily kicked his shoes off.

It was still quiet, although Taako wasn’t sure if it was as tense as he felt in the woods. Sure, he knew how to rough it if he had to, but that wasn’t where he was fucking comfortable. People were even more dangerous than usual right now, but it wasn’t as bad locked away in a shitty inn where no one gave a shit about what kind of people came and went.

“So um, how long do you think we should stay here?” Angus asked, and Taako pushed himself up from where he’d been lying face first on the bed.

“I booked us two days here, probably shouldn’t go any longer than that,” he said. Two days was shorter than he would’ve liked to rest, but after the last scare he didn’t want to take any chances. Angus nodded, and Taako figured the kid was a bit disappointed at not staying longer, but to his credit he didn’t say shit.

“You have any idea where we should head next?” he asked, and Taako frowned somewhat. Without saying anything he pulled out his map and started mulling over it. Angus hopped off his bed and crawled onto Taako’s to get a good look as well.

“I don’t think I ever took Sizzle It Up to Milstone, that might be good,” he said, kinda mumbling to himself. Even still Angus nodded, looking on the map to where Milstone was compared to them. Not far, another couple days walk. Taako didn’t know shit about the town but that was for the best. If it was someplace he knew, they ran the risk of people knowing him.

“That sounds good sir,” Angus said, still staring down at the map. Taako wasn’t exactly great at reading people but he kinda felt like he knew Angus well enough now to tell there was something on the kid’s mind.

He also had a feeling that he wouldn’t have to wait too long to figure out what that was. He was right, Angus speaking up again after a moment.

“If you don’t mind me asking sir, what’s the plan?” he asked. Taako felt genuinely confused at that, doing a quick mental check to make sure he’d actually been speaking out loud just now.

“I just said, we’re sticking around here for a couple of days then heading to Milstone,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“I know that sir, that’s not what I mean,” he said, which was still pretty confusing.

“Alright, so then what plan are you talking about?” he asked. He guessed maybe the kid was worried about money, which was fair. They had a decent stash from all that junk they’d sold, but eventually Taako would have to find another way to make some quick cash. That wasn't something he wanted to worry about right now though. He wanted to take shit by the day at this point.

“I mean in general I guess. What’s the- what are we doing?” Angus asked again, and after a moment it clicked for Taako. He stared at him for a few long seconds before letting out a laugh that was probably an edge too bitter.

“This is it, my dude. There ain’t any other plan. We just keep moving, keep our heads down until eventually this whole thing blows  over and people forget,” he said. Angus was frowning, and Taako could tell he wanted to argue.

“But what after that?” he asked, and Taako was quiet as he thought. He hadn’t even begun to think about the ‘after,’ and frankly he still felt it was way too early to start making those kind of plans.

“Fuck if I know. Can’t go back to cooking, I’ll have to find something else I don’t suck at,” he said with a shrug. Angus still looked unsatisfied with that.

“You know, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” Taako said suddenly. There was that look of panic on Angus’s face almost instantly, the one Taako had learned to mean he was scared Taako was trying to abandon him.

“I want to stay sir, I promise,” he insisted, and Taako wasn't surprised by that answer.

“Yeah, but you don’t have to,” he said, and Angus nodded hesitantly.

“I know, but I want to,” he repeated, which was chill. It Angus actually wanted to stay that was fine, no skin off Taako’s back, but he wasn’t entirely sure if it was true.

“You sure? You wanna keep wandering from town to town for fuck, probably a couple years at least? Like, this shit ain’t glamorous, I wouldn’t fucking do it if I didn’t have to,” he said. Sure, Taako was pretty much past the point of trying to get Angus to leave, he could get it if that wasn’t what the kid wanted in the slightest.

He hadn’t thought about the future, and Angus clearly was. If he realized constant running wasn’t what he wanted, Taako wouldn’t fucking blame him.

“I know it might not be all that fun sir, but I’d still rather stay,” Angus said, and Taako wasn’t sure why he felt a small bit of relief at that. He guess he kinda liked the kid, but he wouldn’t exactly be surprised if he left.

“Your call. In that case then yeah, the plan is that there ain’t a plan. We’re just fucking surviving,” he said, and once again Angus nodded.

“Alright sir, surviving,” he said.

That was the last time either of them mentioned splitting up. It wasn’t something Taako was keeping track of, but he’d felt like he’d given Angus as much permission to leave as he was gonna get. Angus never pressed him on if he wanted him around or not anymore either, which was a relief. Those conversations were always awkward as fuck and Taako was glad to be done with them.

Time was another thing that Taako always had trouble with, but he could say that shit was pretty uneventful for a while. They kept to the smaller towns, kept moving and staying in shitty inns and scraped together campsites. Never stuck around or interacted with anyone long enough for someone to recognize him.

They’d still get weird looks sometimes, but even that felt kind of normal. Taako had always been a head turner after all, couldn’t exactly blame folks for wanting to get an eye full. For the most part though, people minded their own fucking business, which was great as far as he was concerned.

It was stressful, and it was boring. It sure as fuck wasn’t what Taako wanted to be doing with his life. Traveling around the countryside like a fugitive (he was a fugitive) with some smart mouthed, know-it-all brat tagging along after him like a lost puppy.

But it was a routine he managed to fall into easily. Traveling itself had never been an issue to Taako. He didn’t mind moving from place to place, since it wasn’t like he’d ever known anything else.

Taako expected it to take some time to get used to traveling with another person. Sure, he’d had Sazed the past couple years, but that was wrapped up with all the other changes Sizzle It Up had brought him. Sazed had been as much his employee as he’d been- or well, as Taako had thought he’d been his friend.

Angus was just a kid who was traveling with him because he had nowhere else to go. Taako had never stuck around with someone for the hell of it before. It should’ve been weird.

Maybe it was because he was a little kid though that it wasn’t as hard as he expected. Sure, he was a sharp as fuck kid, but it was still a bit easier. The fear he’d have if it was an adult he was traveling with that they’d go and stab him in the back wasn’t nearly as strong. Not that he didn’t think Angus could, the kid could turn him in at any of the towns they passed through.

If a kid cried loud enough and threw blame on an adult, there were a fuck ton of people who’d believe them without a second thought.

So Angus could get him in a hell of a lot of trouble if he wanted to. Taako just didn’t think that he would, for some reason. He couldn’t understand it, but it wasn’t his problem.

He tried not to think too much about it. About all of this. About how easy it was, how it felt more natural than it should having someone by his side. About how leaving every name and place behind didn’t bother him at all. How he’d stopped bothering to keep track of the days and weeks that passed, and how they were getting into months at this point.

He didn’t think about any of that, because it didn’t really matter. They only had one plan, and it was to survive.

And surprisingly enough, it seemed like they were doing a pretty good job so far.

———

Angus wasn’t sure what to do once he realized he wouldn’t be able to clear Taako’s name. He knew he was innocent, but there was no way to get proof. Even if they could show Sazed had been behind it there was no way to convince people that Taako wasn't involved as well.

Maybe he expected Taako to be more upset with this than he was. He hadn’t talked about his cooking show a lot, but the few times he did showed just how much he’d enjoyed it. Angus expected losing all of that to hit him harder.

He’d been traveling with Taako for a few months now though, and he was starting to learn that it didn’t matter how hard something hit him. Taako wasn’t the type to let himself dwell on it. They had to keep moving forward, even if there wasn’t much of an end they were moving towards.

Even though Angus felt like maybe that wasn’t healthy, he was starting to accept it. After all, they’d been traveling together for a while now, and you learn to accept people after a while.

And as strange as Taako was at times, Angus found that he really did like him.

Traveling had a lot of downtime, and he knew that Taako didn’t have to try and entertain him for any of that. He was still teaching him magic though, still putting up with Angus’s insatiable desire for more. Despite his best efforts, he still couldn’t cast anything higher than a cantrip, but Taako still assured him his repertoire had grown into something pretty impressive for his age.

Angus didn’t see why his age needed to have anything to do with it, but he guessed he did have less time to learn things than older people had. He still felt proud of the praise though.

He taught him other things too. Angus could tell he hadn’t been thrilled to let him near a fire again, but he could start the campfire pretty good now. He’d only messed up once since that first time, and it wasn’t nearly as bad. At the very least, he’d managed to put out the fire that had caught on his sleeve before Taako had time to notice it. He didn’t even burn himself either.

Taako had asked him about school once, and Angus assured him he already knew how to read better than most adults, and he could do math perfectly fine. Still, whenever they stayed in town for a couple days, Taako would throw him at a library or a temple and tell him to ‘get some learning done’ while he went out and did odd jobs. Angus couldn’t complain about that, he loved to learn after all.

Taako acted like he didn’t care much for learning and things like that, but Angus would still catch him ‘skimming’ arcane books whenever they came across them. He couldn’t help but be happy every time he saw Taako using the spellbook he’d gotten him. He was really glad Taako actually found his gift useful.

A few times, Angus had woken up in the middle of the night. It wasn’t odd to find Taako awake at that time. He’d started casting alarm around their camps nightly when they were out on the road, but sometimes he liked to keep watch anyway. Angus didn’t make a big deal out of it, he couldn’t blame Taako for being worried still.

Sometimes when he’d wake up though, he’d find Taako reading one of the books Angus had brought from his house. He claimed to only be reading them out of sheer mind numbing boredom. He still let Angus pester him about how he thought of them and if he had theories on the mysteries and all sorts of things like that.

Taako always acted like it was annoying, but Angus felt like he’d known him long enough now to know when he was just acting.

Yeah, after staying with Taako for three whole months now, Angus felt like he knew him pretty well.

So he was surprised when they walked into a shop at the town they were currently passing through and Taako started heading over to the produce section.

“Um, sir? I’m pretty sure traveling supplies are that way,” Angus said, trotting after him. Taako had kind of a weird expression on his face, it was one he hadn’t quite figured out how to read yet. He didn’t know what he was planning, but Angus couldn’t help but be a little worried.

He remembered the last time Taako had tried to cook. He wished it hadn’t been bad like that, but it was and he didn’t want Taako to get upset again.

“Yeah, I know,” was all Taako said, picking up a bag of potatoes and inspecting it. He put the bag in the basket he’d grabbed on the way in, and Angus wasn’t sure what he was planning here.

“Right, but um, I just thought that, you know, you didn’t cook anymore,” he said. He hoped he wasn’t discouraging Taako if he actually wanted to start trying to cook again, because it was probably a good thing for him to try again.

“Uhuh, yeah no trust me, cha’ boy ain’t looking to go down that road again,” he said, and it didn’t seem like he was lying.

“The food then? I know rations don’t taste that great but I think I’d still prefer them over raw potatoes,” he said, and Taako snorted at that.

“Pff, you’re not wrong there,” he said, and Angus saw him reach for some chicken before stopping suddenly. After a moment, he grabbed some pork instead. “I don’t cook yeah, but how would you like to learn?” he asked, and it sounded casual. A little too casual, obviously forced in a way. Still, Angus couldn’t help but be excited by that.

“I’d love to! I- you really mean it?” he asked, and Taako nodded, not looking at him.

“Yeah, why the fuck not? I’m fucking tired of rations and the shit I’m getting is easy as fuck, even a baby couldn’t mess it up,” he said. Angus pouted a little at that, even though he was used to Taako calling him a little kid at this point.

“I’m not a baby sir,” he said simply, and Taako looked a little amused by that.

"Then you should have no problem," he said. The rest of the shopping went quickly. Taako brought a small travel pan and pot to go over a campfire, as well as a few knives and spoons and such.

They were on the road again after that, and when they set up camp that night Taako started running him through the motions of making a simple stew.

“Like I said, so easy no one can mess it up- wait no, don’t fucking cut the potatoes like that. I’m not a vampire and I do not want any goddamn blood in my food,” Taako said, and Angus adjusted the way he was cutting the potatoes.

Taako wouldn’t actually touch any of the food himself, but he’d show Angus the proper way to cut up the ingredients and tell him how much to put in and keep track of making sure the fire was hot enough. It wasn’t like the over the top performance his cooking show had been, these were more like the magic lessons. Simple and to the point, Taako being kind of blunt or teasing at times. Still encouraging though, letting Angus know whenever he did something well. There was definitely a nervous energy in him that wasn’t there during the magic lessons though.

If Angus was to tell the truth, he was kinda micromanaging. He was constantly hovering over his shoulder, checking over every little thing he did. Several times Angus had seen Taako’s hand twitch like he’d been about to grab whatever he was working on and do it himself.

He never actually did though, and Angus supposed he appreciated the instructions. He’d never tried to cook before and didn’t have much of an idea of what he was doing.

“Okay, now we just stir every so often and wait. Once the potatoes are soft it should be good to go,” Taako said. Angus nodded, that part seemed simple enough after everything else.

“It smells really good,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“Of course it does. That’s a genuine Taako recipe you got on your hands there,” he said, and even though the pride in his voice sounded real there was still that edge of nerves there. Angus knew there wasn’t anything wrong with the food though. Even if Taako had made it himself there wouldn’t be, but if Taako didn’t want to cook he wasn’t going to push him.

It wasn’t that much longer before Taako declared the stew done. He carefully spooned some into a bowl for Angus, before getting one for himself. Even though he knew the food was perfectly safe, Angus still felt nervous taking that first bite. Not because he was worried it would get him sick, but because he’d never cooked anything before. He’d followed all of Taako’s instructions, but he was still worried he might’ve messed up and it wouldn’t taste good.

Those worries were gone as soon as he took that first bite though.

“It’s good Taako!” he said, not able to hide the surprise in his voice. “I can’t believe I made this,” he said, quickly taking a few more bites. It was so much better than having to eat rations and dried fruit again. Sure they mixed it up every so often when they had the money, but they never had something homemade like this.

“I told ya, fucking foolproof,” Taako said. When Angus looked up at him, he was staring at him while he ate. His own bowl was clenched tightly in his hands, and the soup inside of it looked untouched.

“Yeah, um, what do you think? Did I get all the seasonings right?” he asked. Taako jolted slightly at the question, before giving him a fake, easygoing smile.

“Let’s fucking see,” he said, and he ate a quick spoonful. He seemed to think it over for a bit before nodding. “Yeah it’s- it’s pretty damn good. There’s not a lot to mess up. You were pretty heavy on the salt, but we don’t- there’s not a lot of other seasonings we got on hand anyway, so it ain’t that bad. Wanted to keep it simple to start,” Taako said, and Angus nodded.

“I’m glad you like it Taako,” he said, and Taako nodded. He very slowly ate the bowl, Angus having finished two by the time he was done with his one. Taako insisted he eat though, that he wasn’t that hungry to begin with.

“Thanks for teaching me how to cook sir. It means a lot,” Angus said once the food was all finished. Taako shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, although it really didn’t feel like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Don’t mention it Ango. Beats eating more rations,” he said, and Angus nodded in agreement.

That night, Angus might’ve rearranged his bag so that one of the Caleb Cleveland books he was pretty sure Taako hadn’t read yet was up near the top. If he’d had one eye open behind his dragon doll and noticed Taako taking it later on, he didn’t say anything. If Taako noticed he wasn’t asleep yet, he didn’t say anything either.

They’d gotten into a pretty nice routine over the past few months. There were a lot of things that weren’t necessary to say.

Notes:

we're finally getting into the part of the fic with all the timeskips. pacing is hard but i'm excited to start getting to bonding and future stuff.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~

Chapter 19: Semantics

After that first cooking lesson, they continued to happen every so often. They weren't a super consistent thing, but at least once when heading through a town Taako would buy up some meal for him to actually cook instead of sticking with only pre-made food. Once he'd taught him a few meals Taako would often buy something he’d already taught Angus to cook and let him do it for himself for the most part.  If he had to make a guess, those times were when he wasn’t feeling too great about everything that had happened.

Every so often though he’d buy something else new and teach Angus how to make it. He'd hover around to make sure it came out well and he didn’t screw up too bad, constantly making comments and despite the anxiety it seemed to give him, he also seemed pretty happy. Angus looked forward to those times the most, since it meant new good food and that Taako was in a good mood.

He still never did any actual cooking himself, but this had to be better than nothing. Angus hoped that as long as he didn’t try to press him on it or force him he’d eventually start getting back into it on his own. It seemed like it was taking a pretty long time, but Angus told himself not to be impatient.

Time was kind of hard to keep track of out on the road anyway. A lot of times he’d lose track of what day it was until they reached a town and he could check again and reorient himself. Taako didn’t even seem to bother doing that much, not putting any real care in the date in the slightest.

Angus guessed they didn’t need the date to know when the weather started to change. If he had to guess, he'd say they'd been traveling together for five, almost six months now. The leaves on the trees had started to change colors a while ago and the temperature had began to cool. Angus had appreciated it at first. Sometimes traveling around out in the sun all day would get hot, and fall was always a super pretty season.

Soon enough though the nice cool temperatures started to change from pleasant to sending a small chill through him, especially at night. The colorful leaves that had been on the trees were soon blanketing the forest floor as they walked from town to town, and without the thick foliage it felt so open as they moved between the trees.

When they set up camp that night it felt so much more visible than they were usually comfortable with. They were getting pretty close to the next town though, Taako said they’d reach it tomorrow. Angus pulled his blanket tight around him, the stuffed doll in his lap for extra warmth as he sat a little bit closer to the fire than he normally would.

Taako didn’t seem to be paying him much mind, crouched over the camp with a look of concentration on his face. It was obvious that there had been something on his mind for the past couple of days, but Angus hadn’t pressed him on it yet.

“You said we’ll get to Windell tomorrow right?” he asked, and Taako nodded a bit absently.

“Yeah, I mean, that Firbolg in the last town said it was about a three day walk in this direction. God, we need to get a better map, this one doesn’t have any fucking small towns on it,” Taako said, grumbling that last part. Angus nodded in agreement. They’d been trying to avoid the big towns and anywhere Taako had taken his show, and they’d gotten lost a couple of times because of it. A better map would probably help with that.

“Besides,” Taako continued, chewing at his thumb some, “we really need to stock the fuck up. Fuck, winter’s gonna suck without the caravan,” he said, and that was a good point.

“Have you ever spent winter out on the road before?” he asked, because it was something he'd been trying not to think about too much. Being stuck out without any real shelter once it started getting super cold didn’t sound fun. Taako scoffed at the question.

“I’m pretty sure I can count the winters I haven’t spent on the road on my hands little man, this shit’s old news,” he said, and Angus relaxed a bit at that.

“So we should be fine, right?” he asked, and Taako nodded once again, although he still seemed to be thinking stuff over.

“Of course we’re gonna be fine,” he said, finally rolling up the map. “I mean, it’s not fun. We won’t be out on the road as much though, it’s not- camping out in the winter is something cha boy tries to avoid,” he added. Angus couldn’t help but be very relieved to hear that. He knew sticking in towns for a long time was risky, but they were so far away from Glamour Springs at this point, it had to be a little bit safer.

The chill was definitely starting to seep in now, and they kept the fire up pretty high throughout the night to try and starve some of it off. Taako grumbled about having to get them both some good coats when he tossed one of his wizard robes at Angus to use as an extra blanket.

Sometimes when Taako did nice things for him like that, when he’d teach him to cook or new spells or slipped him little knickknacks from shops, Angus would think about what Sazed had said. How he’d see what he meant one day if he spent enough time with Taako.

He didn’t see it yet, and maybe that was because Taako had changed a lot since he knew Sazed. Sure, there were times when he was cold and a little cruel without seeming to think about it, but he didn’t come off as particularly malicious. Especially not to Angus. Sometimes it seemed like he wanted to mouth off or be rude to the people they had to interact with at inns and shops, but his fear seemed to hold him back in those moments.

Maybe he was a lot meaner before Glamour Springs. Angus couldn’t say for sure, but he didn’t really care what it was. Sure, Taako didn’t seem to care about a lot of people, but he was at least nice to the ones he did care about.

The next morning they gathered up camp pretty early to try and reach Windell as soon as possible. Angus kept the oversized wizard robe, wearing it over his regular clothes like a really big coat. It was Taako’s shorter one, since he’d taken to wearing the long one with the cold weather. It still snatched on twigs and drug along the ground as Angus walked though, but Taako didn’t say anything about it. The sleeves were way too long, but at least that kept his hands warm as he pulled his bag along behind him.

Angus was pretty sure he was the one to notice the change in the forest first. He didn’t blame Taako for not spotting it, since most of the trees had already lost their leaves anyway. The trees in this area were as bare as the rest of them, but when Angus looked they were much darker. It didn’t take very long to realize they they had been burned.

“I think there was a forest fire around here,” he said after a moment. Taako stopped walking, taking a closer look at the nearby trees before nodding.

“Huh, I think you’re right. Looks like shit’s started growing back though, so it was probably a while ago,” he said, and he was right. There were signs of new growth along the forest floor, even if it was starting to wither up for the coming winter. Angus wasn’t an expert in forest growth rates, but from the amount of it the fire must’ve been at least several years ago.

Angus had been paying attention to the burned out husks of trees, so he didn’t notice when Taako had stopped suddenly. He almost ran into him, managing to stop at the last moment.

“Taako? Is everything okay?” he asked. There was an odd look on his face, and Angus wasn’t sure what had caused the sudden shift.

“What… i s that?” he asked, and then Angus turned to look past the elf. A few yards away the burned out trees stopped abruptly, and the ground beyond them just looked black.

Instead of saying anything, Angus quickly pushed ahead. He heard Taako jolt and start rushing after him after a moment.

“Whoa, hold the fuck up little man, we don’t go running into strange black voids of death,” Taako called. Angus made sure to stop right at the edge, frowning as he crouched down to inspect the ground right where it switched from normal forest floor to hard and smooth and black. He heard Taako come up beside him, also not moving to step onto the surface.

“It looks like glass,” Angus said after a moment, and it really did. It was way too smooth and shiny to be any sort of stone.

“Glass?” Taako asked, and for all his warning at Angus to stay away, he picked up a stick and tapped it. When nothing happened he went and walked on, and it seemed to be find. There was a little ‘plick’ sound with each step he made.

Angus ran a hand along it, and it was cold to the touch. Probably because of the cool temperature and the fact that it was still early in the day. The sun hadn’t had time to heat this thing up yet.

“How did this get here?” Angus asked, standing back up and following Taako onto the black circle. Trying to get a proper look at the size of the thing, it was huge. It had to cut a half mile wide circle clear into the forest.

“Fuck if I know, but that dude coulda at least mentioned having to cross an ominous black void on the way to the next town,” Taako said, starting to walk across the large black disk. Angus followed slowly after him, still trying to take in as much as possible. He could see his reflection in the glass below him, and he looked pretty ridiculous in Taako’s robe, but it was warm so he ignored that.

“We’re still a ways off from Windell, right?” he asked, and Taako nodded.

“Yeah, we shouldn’t be getting there till like noon-ish,” he said.

It was quiet as they walked across the glass. It was often quiet as they traveled, but this felt different. Something about this whole scenario was unnerving in a way Angus couldn’t place, but he really didn’t like it.

“What could have done something like this?” he asked, because he really wasn’t liking how quiet it was. Taako shrugged, staring straight ahead and not seeming to pay attention to their surroundings as they walked. Which, that wasn’t like Taako at all. He tended to be a bit on edge and aware of everything around them, especially when something strange was going on.

“Something powerful I guess? I don’t- whatever the fuck did this, I don’t wanna find out the hard way, so come on,” he said. Angus guessed that was fair, he didn’t particularly want to find out like that either, even if he was desperately curious about what kind of thing could have this much power.

It didn’t take them too much longer to reach the other side of the glass circle. As they left the strange mark behind them, they slowly seemed to relax. There were signs of a forest fire on this side as well, but eventually they reached the natural end of the trees.

Taako had been right about them reaching the town by noon. It was a smaller town than they tended to stay in, but Taako said that they might be staying here for a bit longer than usual too. They'd been moving around pretty constantly lately, and they could use the break.

Angus was thankful for that. Not only for the chance to rest up from all the traveling and to stay out of the cold for a while, but now there was a third reason.

He wondered if anyone knew anything about that strange circle of black glass out in the woods. If they were staying a bit longer than usual, Angus didn’t see the harm in asking around.

——

Taako tried to put that weird encounter on the way to town behind him. It was strange and unsettling, but ultimately it was none of his fucking business what it was. As long as it left him alone, he'd be happy to forget about the weird sighting.

Besides, they had more important shit to focus on. Winter could be a bitch if you weren’t prepared, and so they needed to get on that. Taako had never taken care of a kid before, and Angus was pretty self sustaining all things considered, but he couldn’t let the brat keep walking around in his robes.

There was only one inn in this town, so it didn’t take them very long to book a room. As soon as that was done he grabbed Angus by the back of his robe and started pulling him along.

“Come on, shopping time. We both need some new duds,” he said. He let go of the robe after a moment so Angus could follow normally, and this town was small enough that it didn’t take too long for them to find a shop.

Walking in, there was a dragonborn woman who called out a greeting from the counter. Taako gave her the barest nod before moving further into the shop.

“Go find a coat and some warmer clothes, I’ll be over here,” he said once they got to the section Taako was gonna scour. Angus nodded, and he started to head off but then hesitation. “What’s up? Don’t remember your size?” he asked, and Angus shook his head.

“No, I think I’ve got that now,” he said, which was good because Taako didn’t actually remember it either. “I was just um, is it okay if I get a hat or something too? I promise nothing too expensive,” he asked. Taako was kind of surprised by the request, Angus didn’t ask him to buy a lot of extra stuff. He guessed they’d been traveling together long enough now that he was getting more comfortable with that sort of thing.

“Oh yeah sure, get whatever you need, just don’t go nuts,” Taako said, already starting to look through the racks of clothes. With that Angus nodded and headed off towards what was probably the kids section. With how small this town was, Taako wasn’t surprised that the store was pretty empty at the moment.

When the dragonborn woman at the counter started walking towards him he hoped he could look busy enough that she wouldn’t say anything to him. It seemed like she was one of those people who didn’t give a shit and would talk to whoever they wanted anyway.

“You folks new in town?” she asked, and Taako nodded, giving her a big friendly smile. No need to start off all defensive and make people suspicious. Especially since they were planning to chill here for a bit, best to at least try and come across as normal at first.

“Oh yeah, just passin through for the most part, might stick around for a little bit though. It’s a cute little town you got here,” he said.

“It is,” she agreed. “Speaking of cute, your son is adorable. He’s going through that stage where he wants to dress like you I imagine,” the woman said, and Taako found himself just nodding along.

“Yeah for sure,” he said, and then what she said actually processed in his brain. “Wait, I mean, he’s not-” he sort of fumbled over his words, gesturing with no real meaning. “He’s my apprentice, not my kid,” he said. That’s the line they usually gave, and Taako figured it wasn’t even a lie anymore. He was teaching Angus magic and how to cook and whatever the fuck came up, apprentice worked pretty well to describe it.

Sometimes they’d pull a whole father/son ruse on people sure, but that was only when they were gonna be right in and out of a place. They were gonna stay here for a little while, so having to make sure he had a disguise self up all the time was more work than it was worth.

They never tried to pull it off when Taako wasn’t disguised though, because it was pretty damn obvious Angus wasn’t his kid. Even if this lady couldn’t tell the clear differences between human and elves (which, she was a dragonborn, so it was possible) he and Angus didn’t look much alike.

In short, there was no fucking reason why this person should be casually assuming that. It was fucking weird.

“Oh, tomato tamato,” she said with a dismissive wave. Not the response Taako had been expecting, or one he liked very much.

“Sure,” was all he said though, turning to start looking through the racks of clothes very intently. He for sure wasn't going to get into an argument over this. Luckily the woman seemed to get the message and left him alone at that.

He’d managed to find a couple good items by the time Angus headed back over to him, his arms full of the clothes he’d found. Taako guessed if nothing else the lady was right about him being a cute kid, he looked like an even bigger dork swarmed in Taako’s robes than he usually did.

He wasn’t Taako’s kid though. There was a big fucking difference between that and an apprentice situation or whatever the fuck they were doing. Taako couldn’t do the parent scene.

“I picked some stuff out, it’s not too much is it?” he asked. Taako quickly flipped through the pieces of clothes and shook his head. He’d picked out a coat, which was the most important thing. There were also a couple of warmer shirts and pants. There was a fancy little blue hat too that almost managed to match the coat he picked out.

“Looks good pumpkin. Gimme a minute to finish up and then we’ll head back to the inn,” he said. He didn’t end up getting all that much, since they were still stuck carrying everything they had anyway. Still, it was nice having a couple more warmer options and a new winter cloak.

The dragonborn woman was still friendly when they came up to check out. So either she didn’t care about Taako giving her the cold shoulder earlier, or she had a real good customer service face. He guessed it didn’t matter which one it was in the end.

“Y’all find everything okay?” she asked as she started tallying up the prices. Taako nodded wordlessly, already starting to count out his coin.

“Yes ma’am,” Angus said helpfully, leaning up to peak over the counter. “Have you lived in this town long?” he asked afterwards, and it wasn’t too unusual for him to strike up conversations with strangers every so often. It was almost always because he wanted to know something and used being a curious little kid as a front. It tended to work pretty damn well too, so Taako let him.

“Lived here my whole life, so yeah, a little while,” she said with a laugh, smiling at Angus.

“When we were walking into town we saw a big weird glass circle out in the forest! Do you know how that got there? It was really cool and I could see my reflection in it,” he asked, and oh, so that’s what this was about. He was definitely playing up the excited child stitch, and the woman seemed to believe it completely.

“Oh gosh, that old thing? No one’s real sure when that got there, we mostly avoid it,” she said, and it didn’t seem like she was lying.

“The forest was all burned up around it,” he said, and the woman nodded absently.

“Was it? Been a while since I’ve been out there,” she said, finishing up tallying the last of the clothes and folding them into a bag. “That’ll be six gold and three silver,” she said. Taako quickly handed over the gold and silver, taking the bag when she held it out.

“A pleasure doing business with you,” he said, figuring he should say something. Angus got on him sometimes about being rude, and Taako didn't actually give a shit, but it was easier to go along sometimes than listen to the kid complain.

“You folks have a good day,” she said as they started to leave.

“You too!” Angus called back happily, and then they were out of the store. Taako waited until they were a few feet away as they headed back towards their inn to speak up.

“So what, you gonna start trying to figure out what was up with that weird glass shit? Cause that doesn’t seem like a great idea,” Taako asked. Sure, it was just glass, and it definitely wasn’t natural, but it didn’t- it didn’t seem like something someone would build either. He couldn’t even figure out how someone could make something that big, let along out in the middle of nowhere like that.

“I’m not doing anything dangerous. I just thought the people here might have a better idea about what might’ve caused it since they’re so close by,” Angus said, fake innocence in his voice.

“Well, it seems like they don’t got a clue, so I guess it’ll remain a mystery,” he said.

“That was just one person. It’d be pretty bad detective work to give up after asking only one person, and I’m a really good detective,” he said, and Taako couldn’t argue with him on that. Angus had proved time and time again that he was pretty fucking good at this shit.

“You might be a good detective, but you’re also my kid and I think trying to look into ominous fields of black glass is a bad idea,” Taako said. He was pretty sure he wasn’t being unreasonable with that. These types of things were usually like, the fucking epicenter of where an ancient and powerful demon was to be summoned, or shit like that.

Angus didn’t say anything for a moment, which was weird. Taako had been expecting a witty retort or pouting or something. When he glanced down at him, Angus had a goofy shit eating grin on his face. “What?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. To say he was suspicious of Angus with that kind of look was an understatement.

“Did you just say I’m your kid?” he asked, and Taako froze up for a moment. Fuck.

“No,” he lied, but Angus’s smile somehow managed to get even wider.

“You did! You said it! I heard you!” Angus insisted, and holy shit this was the worst. Angus was laughing and kind of bouncing as they walked though, and the robe he’d been wearing had started to come loose and was dragging along the ground. It was going to get dirty as fuck and Taako huffed in annoyance. He didn’t say anything though, cause whatever, he could magic it clean later.

“I said you’re a kid, get your nubby little ears checked,” Taako grumbled. He didn’t get why Angus would want to be his kid anyway. Taako would be a fucking terrible parent.

“I have excellent hearing, and my ears are perfectly normal for a human,” Angus said, somehow sounding proud of both of these facts. Taako rolled his eyes, and he grabbed the hat Angus had gotten out of the bag and shoved it roughly down on his head. Angus tried to pull away, but he was giggling the whole time.

“You’re an excellent fucking brat,” Taako said, but there wasn’t as much bite in his voice as he would’ve liked. He knew Angus could fucking tell too. He wasn’t even paying attention to the insult, reaching up and feeling that the hat was backwards.

“It doesn’t go this way Taako,” he said, taking it off and putting it back on correctly.

“Maybe if you’re a dork. I put it on you the cool way,” Taako said.

“What’s so cool about doing something wrong on purpose?” Angus asked, and Taako rolled his eyes at that.

“Fucking everything, duh. If you don’t know that then you’re definitely not my kid,” he said. Angus didn’t seem bothered by his continual denial about the kid thing, which was good. Or something. It didn’t really matter, since it was just a dumb slip of the tongue. Probably because that damn lady had insisted on calling Angus his kid. Which was stupid, because he wasn’t.

If Angus wanted to pretend he was or whatever, he guessed he didn’t mind. It wasn’t like it actually changed anything about them or what they were doing. It was all just semantics.

Notes:

yeah so I'm real excited to be getting to some stuff I've had planned for a while, and so we're probably gonna be back on pretty frequent updates for a little while. Or at least I hope so. I really like writing these two boys and will take any excuse to do such as much as possible. We're still full steam ahead on mostly fluffy bonding stuff (with some dramatic irony angst thrown in for flavor).

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy~~

Chapter 20: Snow Days

Angus knew that it was a pretty silly thing to get worked up about. He had more important things to be focusing on, and a limited amount of time to figure them out. Even still, he found himself in a really happy mood as they got back to the inn.

Sure, he knew Taako didn’t actually mean it like he was his son or something. He wasn’t exactly the parent type, not that Angus had too much experience with that in the first place. He didn’t think of Taako as like, a dad either. If anything he was more like an annoying older brother who liked to tease him and taught him a lot of neat things.

Angus guessed that was still thinking of Taako like family though. He wasn’t sure when he’d started thinking of him like that, but at some point he had. And apparently Taako had too, even if he wouldn’t admit it yet.

Other than teasing him about it at first though, Angus didn’t bring it up again. He didn’t want Taako to actually get annoyed with him or decide to not ever say anything like that again, even if this first time had been an accident anyway. So he just didn’t mention it again once they were back at the inn, even if he was in a better mood than usual. If Taako wanted to he could blame that on the new clothes they’d gotten.

The next day Taako went out to see if he could find some sort of job while they were here. If they were going to stay for a bit longer than usual might as well take advantage of the time and try to make some extra cash. It made sense to Angus and he promised Taako he wouldn’t go off too far or do anything stupid. He even intended to keep that promise.

He still wanted to see if anyone knew about that strange formation out in the forest though. Even though Taako thought it was dangerous Angus figured that it wasn’t an objectively stupid thing to do.

It was a mystery, and he had to at least try to solve it. If he wanted to be a great detective someday he had to get practice in every chance he got.

Unfortunately, every person he asked seemed to have absolutely no clue how it had gotten there, or even when. The most anyone could say was that it hadn’t always been there, but one day it was and no one could say exactly when or why.

It was incredibly frustrating. No one even seemed to remember the forest fire that had happened around the circle. That made even less sense, since it had obviously been a huge fire from the great swatches of trees that had been burned away. Something like that so close to a town was bound to gain someone’s attention. Even though it had clearly been a while ago it didn’t look old enough to have slipped everyone’s memories.

Angus guessed it was pretty obvious something was bothering him when Taako got back to the inn that night. He was frowning as he made little stars appear and disappear in the air around him, practicing the minor illusion spell Taako had taught him a little while ago.

“Got some temp work at a laundry place. I figure this town is so out of the way we could probably stay here for a week or two,” Taako said, dropping his bag by the door before moving further into the room. Angus just nodded, still deep in his own thoughts.

He was knocked out of them when Taako decided to use him as a hat rack, tossing his own large wizard hat on his head. He didn’t seem to bother with the fact that Angus was already wearing his own, placing it on top of that as well.

“What’s gotten into your head now?” Taako asked, going and flopping down on his own bed.

“I was asking people about that glass circle outside of town and it really doesn’t add up. No one knows anything about it, or the forest fire around it,” he explained. Taako sighed, rolling over onto his side to face him.

“Listen, we’re not gonna be here long enough for it to matter anyway. I know shit’s weird and you’re an insufferable brat who doesn’t know how to leave well enough alone-”

“Rude.”

“But you should probably chill on this one,” Taako finished, ignoring Angus’s small interruption. He guessed he did have a bit of a point, it wasn’t like there was much of a chance to find any leads in this town. He sighed and dismissed the minor illusion with a small flick of his wand.

“But it’s annoying me,” he said, and if he was whining somewhat he’d deny it later.

“Yeah, life’ll be that way sometimes little man,” Taako said. Angus pouted, but he couldn’t really argue with that. “Listen,” he continued, surprising Angus somewhat. “I don’t- that shit gives me bad vibes my dude. I just think it’d be smarter to keep away from all that.”

“It’s so strange though sir,” he said, because it was. People should remember an event that big, especially in a small town like this. “But I promise I won’t poke too far. There’s not much I can do without any sort of leads anyway,” he added. He could go back to the scene of the crime, but he got the feeling that would upset Taako. He really did seem to be genuinely unsettled by the whole thing.

“Cool, some mysteries are better left unsolved,” Taako said, and Angus made a skeptical face.

“Now I wouldn’t say I believe that Taako. No matter what, finding out the truth is always a positive,” he said with confidence. Taako laughed in a way that made it clear he didn’t feel the same way.

“Yeah, you would think that,” he said.

“What do you mean by that?”

“That you’re a nosy brat. Guess that works for the whole detective thing you got going on though,” Taako said. Angus pouted, although he wasn’t actually all that offended.

They ended up staying in that town for close to three weeks. It was the longest they’d stayed pretty much anywhere since their time in Rockport, and Angus couldn’t deny that it was nice. It was quiet for the most part, this seemed to be a pretty sleepy town. Taako spent a lot of time at the laundry job he’d managed to pick up, squirreling away as much money as he could while they were here.

Even though he said he wouldn’t push it, Angus tried to look into that circle of black glass more. There was nothing, no sign of how it got there, no sign of what had started the fire. Really, no sign that they had ever existed. It was beyond frustrating, and one day Angus even risked heading back there to look one more time.

The only thing he managed to find out with that though was that it didn’t seem like the glass had been placed on the ground. It looked more like it was the ground, which only added to the strangeness of it all.

That was the end of any new developments though, and after three weeks of staying in the same place it was obvious how antsy Taako was getting. So once he got paid for the last week of work they packed up and headed out again. Angus doubted they’d come back to such an out of the way little town, and it was even more unlikely that they’d run into anything like that strange glass circle again.

As much as he didn’t want to, Angus checked this mystery under unsolved.

Taako had been telling the truth about not traveling as much during the winter. They stopped at towns a lot more frequently, and stayed longer than usual when they did. It obviously left Taako worried, but people seemed to leave them alone for the most part as long as they stayed out of the way.

They were still moving though, even if it was only a little at a time. A night or two on the road wasn’t too bad in the beginning of winter. They were in a small city a week or so walk from Goldcliff when they stopped though.

“Shit,” Taako muttered, staring out the window of the room they’d rented. It was up above a bar, and they’d stayed in places like this a couple of times. Sometimes they could be cheaper than an inn, the downside was that they had to go through the bar every time they went in and out, which meant possibly interacting with more people. They’d gotten a good deal though, and Taako had been hoping to be in and out of this town pretty quick.

That didn’t seem like it was going to be the case now though.

“What’s wrong?” Angus asked, not looking up from where he was rereading one of his Caleb Cleveland books. He’d just gotten to the big reveal scene, which was always his favorite. If there was something super wrong where they needed to get out now Taako wouldn’t be so calm, so he wasn’t that worried.

“It’s snowing, and like fuck is cha’ boy gonna spend a week out in a bunch of white bullshit to get to Goldcliff,” Taako said. That got Angus’s attention, his head shooting up from his book.

“Wait, really?” he asked, and Taako nodded, still staring out the window. He was glaring out like the snow had personally offended him.

“Yeah. Fuck, hopefully it’s only a dusting and we can clear out soon,” Taako said. Angus could understand why he was hoping for that, they’d been planning to get to Goldcliff and spend the worst parts of the winter there. It was an expensive town, but it had a lot of run down places they could blend into pretty well.

Angus wasn’t thinking about their potentially ruined plans at the moment thought.

“Can we go outside?” he asked, not able to hide the excitement in his voice. Taako finally turned away from the window to give him a look of confusion.

“Uh, why?” he asked, and Angus’s joy deflated the slightest bit.

“Because it’s snowing,” he answered. Angus supposed saying it out loud it make it seem pretty silly and childish. Before he could tell Taako to forget about it though he shrugged.

“Sure, there’s not much sticking to the ground yet though, so it’s not like you can build a fucking snowman or something,” Taako said. Angus jumped up off the bed before Taako could change his mind and slipped on his shoes. When he ran out of the room and towards the stairs that led down to the bar he heard Taako shouting something about a coat, but he was only going to be out for a few minutes.

Taako was right about it not sticking to the ground yet, but the flakes that were falling were already large and seemed to clump together in the air. When he managed to get some to land in his hands, they took a moment before melting away into water.

A few minute later Taako made his way outside, not looking very happy still. “Ugh, look at all this bullshit,” he grumbled.

“Did you ever get to play in the snow as a kid?” Angus asked, staring up at the flakes as they fell down from the gray-white sky now.

“If by ‘play’ you mean ‘barely avoid getting hypothermia’ then yeah, I fucking guess so,” he said, and Angus’s smile faded at that. Right, Taako didn’t talk about his past too much, but Angus knew he’d been traveling on his own for a long, long time. He’d been pretty concerned about them getting through the winter too. It made sense that he’d have some pretty unpleasant experiences.

“We should do something fun if the snow sticks and we end up stuck here for a bit,” Angus said, trying not to sound too hopeful. Taako scoffed and started pushing him back towards the bar entrance.

“Let’s hope that doesn’t fucking happen. Now inside, I’m not taking care of your ass if you get sick again,” he said. Angus didn’t protest, since he really was starting to get pretty cold now.

“But if we do get snowed in?” he pressed, and Taako rolled his eyes.

“Fuck, fine. If you wanna get pummeled with snowballs so bad far be it for me to stop you,” he said. Angus laughed at that but didn’t argue against it. Taako was right after all, hopefully the snow would pass and they wouldn’t have to worry about it anyway.

——

They fucking got snowed in.

Taako had a feeling it was going to happen as soon as he’d seen the snow start to fall. He’d seen clouds like that before, and snow like that, and even still he’d been hoping it would move over them and wouldn’t be an issue.

When they woke up the next morning though there was a thick blanket of white over everything, and Taako groaned before falling right back onto his cot.

There was no use in bothering to get up now after all. They were stuck here until the snow cleared, and Taako had no idea what the weather was like in this part of Faerun. For all he knew, it might not go away until fucking spring.

It wasn’t much later though that Angus was up and out of bed. When Taako bothered to glance up to see what the kid was doing he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he looked out the window. He guessed he shouldn’t be surprised that he was excited. As mature as he pretended to be most of the time Angus was still only like, eight. He was still basically a baby, and he’d never actually had a hard winter before.

That would change soon enough, but for now it was whatever.

“Taako! Taako it snowed,” he said, clearly pretty jazzed about that fact.

“I noticed,” Taako grumbled, letting his head flop back down into the bedding of the cot.

“Can we go outside later? You did promise,” Angus asked. God, Taako should really know better than to promise shit if there was actually a chance for it to happen. Angus always had to go and hold him accountable for these dumb things too.

“Ugh, fine. But I’m getting out of this bed at my own slow pace and eating breakfast first,” he said.

“Of course sir,” Angus said, not sounding bothered by this in the slightest. Taako followed through with his plan of getting up as slow as elvenly possible, taking almost an hour and drifting back to sleep a few times before finally sitting up. Angus had moved from staring out the window to sitting on the little cot-bed they had set up for him, a book in his lap.

“Good morning!” he greeted, chipper as fucking ever.

“It’s cold as balls,” Taako said, drawing the blankets closer up around himself. Despite however much grumbling he might’ve done, soon enough Taako ate breakfast and started getting ready to trudge out into the fucking snow. This time Angus actually threw his hat and coat on instead just barreling outside with reckless abandon. Which was good, because when Taako finally followed him outside of the bar it was fucking freezing.

“Wow, there sure is a lot of it,” Angus said, and he wasn’t wrong. It almost came up to his knees, and sure he was a kid but that was still a fucking lot of snow. Way too much to travel in without some kind of wagon or a horse.

“Yeah, guess we’re stuck here for a while. Of course we couldn’t make it somewhere nice before we get hit with this kinda bullsh-” he started to say, mostly talking to himself. He was cut off when a loosely packed snowball exploded against his face. Wiping away the snow, Angus was standing a few feet away, a shimmering blue mage hand floating next to him.

“I think I’ve pretty much mastered mage hand now, what do you think?” he asked, a shit eating grin plastered across his face.

“Not bad, but I wouldn’t say mastered. Takes years of practice to master something like that,” Taako said, and as he spoke he summoned a mage hand behind Angus. “Maybe you can say you mastered it once you can do something like this,” he said, and then used his mage hand to dump a handful of snow down the back of the kid’s shirt. Angus yelped at the sudden cold before jumping away and dissolving into giggles.

“That’s no fair Taako!” he said, but Taako just shrugged.

“I didn’t hear anything about rules boychik,” he said, quickly having to dodge when Angus sent another snowball flying at him. Taako could move a lot faster than Angus could, but the kid was small and pretty hard to hit.

They ended up staying out longer than Taako intended, and even though they had coats on and shit he was still freezing by the time they both ended up plopped down in the snow, exhausted. Luckily there weren’t a lot of people out because of the weather, so there weren’t a lot to see the two of them being idiots.

Angus was panting in the snow next to him. Taako carefully plucked the hat off his head, filled it up with snow, and put it back on. Angus broke into another fit of giggles, taking his hat off and shaking the snow back out onto Taako’s lap.

“That was really fun sir,” he said, still smiling brightly.

“It wasn’t fun, it was war,” Taako said, dusting the snow off his lap before climbing to his feet. “But I will offer you a tentative truce, because it’d be sad to completely decimate an actual baby,” he added, holding out a hand to help Angus up.

“Bold of you to assume I wasn’t letting you win,” Angus said, and Taako let out an ugly snort of laughter at that.

“Yeah, I’m fucking sure you were,” he said, still chuckling to himself. God, it was cold as fuck now that they’d stopped running around like dumbasses. “Get up to the room and change into something dry. I already told you I’m not dealing with you getting sick again,” he said, pushing Angus ahead as they started back to the bar.

“I’m not gonna get sick. Did you know people don’t actually get sick from the cold? The reason everyone always catches colds in the winter is because everyone’s inside together a lot and so the germs are able to spread faster,” Angus said. Taako nodded, only kinda paying attention.

“Neat, I’ll still cut off your toes if I have to,” he said, and Angus rolled his eyes as they headed into the bar.

“I’m going, I’m going,” he said, swatting Taako’s hand away when he was still trying to push him forward.

“I’ll be up with ya in a second,” Taako called after him, and Angus nodded as he started up the stairs.

“Kay!” he shouted. The bar was pretty empty, probably because of the weather, which wasn’t a surprise. The bar tended was still there and the place was open, and Taako tried to keep a casual look to him as he walked up.

“Hey, you think we could get a couple of hot drinks for me and the boy?” he asked. The barkeep nodded, pulling out a couple of glasses as he started to get to work.

“Snow came down pretty thick last night, huh?” they said, and Taako nodded, having to hold himself back from leaning against the counter. His clothes were still wet and encrusted with snow, he probably shouldn’t make puddles of water everywhere.

“Sure did. We were planning on heading out soon, but it looks like we’re stuck here for a while,” Taako said.

“Not a problem, you can just drop down here and pay either me or Semil whenever you want to extend your stay,” they said, which was a relief. Taako doubted they’d be kicked out as long as they were willing to keep paying, but you can never be too sure.

“Oh, and if you wanna drag a Candlenights bush up there for the kid it’s not a problem. Just make sure to sweep up any leaves before you go,” they added, putting two mugs down on the counter.

“Hmm?” Taako asked, quickly paying him for the hot chocolates as he did.

“Not sure how long you plan on sticking around for, but since Candlenights is only a few weeks away I figured I’d offer,” they said, and Taako nodded. Right, Candlenights. He’d always forget about that. He never celebrated it as a kid from what he could remember, too much time out on the road he guessed. Lately the only reason he’d bothered to pay attention at all would be to do a holiday show for Sizzle It Up.

“I appreciate it, probably gonna have to take you up on that,” he said, giving them one last nod before taking the drinks and heading up to his room. Angus was in a dry outfit and had a blanket wrapped around him at that point, although Taako could still see how his dark skin was flushed from all that time out in the snow.

“Here,” Taako said, shoving one of the mugs at him before curling up with his own.

“Thank you,” Angus said happily.

Over the next few weeks Taako kept an eye out to see if there was any chance they could leave this town. It was a nice place, he didn’t really mind staying here. The only problem was that it was big enough that someone might recognize him, but not big enough where they could disappear in a crowd completely.

Every time it seemed like things might heat up enough for the snow to start to melt the weather would take another dip and a fresh fucking coating of the stuff would be dropped instead. Eventually Taako resigned himself to be stuck in this place until March.

Even though it wasn’t important, something else kept knocking around in his head as well. That barkeep was right about Candlenights coming up soon. People had started decorating around the town with garland and lights and junk. It was pretty, but it was also annoyingly in his face. Cause hey, maybe Taako didn’t want to think about Candlenights. He’d never celebrated it before after all, there was no reason for him to start now.

Angus wasn’t even pressuring him to or anything like that. He’d point out some of the nicer decorations whenever they were out, but he never mentioned wanting some or anything like that. Sure, Angus didn’t tend to ask for most things, but still.

If Taako started counting the days until Candlenights, it was only so he’d know when it was behind them and he could stop thinking about it. He didn’t end up bringing a Candlenights bush up to their room, or decorating in any other way. They had to save their spare change when they could after all. Decorations were not only temporary, but a completely useless thing to carry around with them afterwards.

Even if Angus acted like he wasn’t that excited for Candlenights, Taako still found himself shaken awake by the kid the morning of.

“Taako, Taako it’s Candlenights,” he said, and Taako grumbled and rolled away from him.

“So? It’s gonna be Candlenights all week,” he said, pulling his blanket up over his head.

“I guess so,” Angus said, and Taako could hear the poorly concealed disappointment in his voice. With a sigh Taako started getting up, more annoyed with himself for actually giving in when he could be getting some choice Zs at the moment.

“Yeah yeah, happy Candlenights. I never fucking celebrated it as a kid, what are we supposed to do?” he asked, and some of the excitement started to come back to Angus’s face.

“Well, mostly you’re supposed to spend time with family but since neither of us have any of that I guess we can skip that part,” Angus started to explain. Taako nodded, only somewhat paying attention as he still tried to wake up. “Other than that there’s usually food and presents,” he continued, and Taako nodded once again, turning around some in his cot.

“Right, yeah I do know that one,” he said, pulling a brown paper bag out from behind the cot and tossing it over to Angus. He looked confused as he stared down at it.

“You didn’t have to get me anything Taako,” he said, but Taako just shrugged.

“I figured if I had to choose between grabbing you some junk or fucking singing carols or some shit it wasn’t even a competition,” he said. Angus laughed at that, and Taako expected him to start opening his present already. Instead of doing that though he sat it down before running over and crawling under his own cot. After a few seconds he came back out with an awkwardly shaped mess of brown paper taped together. It was tall and pointy, with a wide brim.

“Is it a new spatula?” Taako joked when he handed it over.

“It’s a hard shape to wrap,” Angus defended. Taako snorted, starting to unwrap the hat.

“Hey, I didn’t even bother wrapping your shit so I guess you win on that front,” he said. The hat was a shimmering teal fabric with a purple band around the base. The inside was the same purple as the band, and it was honestly a pretty nice hat. It didn’t match much of the clothes he had now, but he could always get stuff that did match. Sometimes you don't even need shit to match anyway, it could still be a look. Taako put the hat on and started digging around for a mirror to look at himself in.

“What’s this?” Angus asked, inspecting his own present. He’d pulled the folded black pouch out of the bag and had unclasped it, and was now pouring over all the little tools inside. Taako didn’t have a clue what most of them were for, so he shrugged.

“Dude said it was some sort of detective’s kit. I figured you’d be able to find some use for most of that junk,” he said. Taako could see him getting progressively more excited as he looked it over now, inspecting all the little tools with the magnifying glass that came with it.

Taako managed to find a mirror at that point, nodding slightly as he looked himself with the hat over. Yeah okay, he could definitely pull this off. He hadn’t even had time to look away from the mirror before he had a child slamming into his side.

“Thank you, thank you! I promise I’ll put it all to good use,” Angus said, and he still had the magnifying glass gripped tight in his hand while he wrapped Taako up in a hug.

“Cool, can I have my lungs back now?” he asked, and at that Angus let go of him.

“Sorry, do you like your hat?” he asked. Taako adjusted said hat at the mention, pretending to think it over.

“Yeah, it ain’t bad. I guess you’ve managed to pick up some fashion sense from me along with everything else,” he said, and Angus grinned at that.

“I just picked out the shiniest one they had,” he admitted.

“What did I say, definitely learning,” Taako repeated. Angus laughed, and Taako adjusted his new hat one more time before stretching and climbing out of bed. “So, you also said something about food?” he asked, and Angus nodded.

“Yeah, people cook a lot at Candlenights,” he said.

“Well, we don’t have a kitchen here so how about we see if we can find a half decent joint in this town for breakfast instead,” he said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Angus said happily before starting to quickly get ready for the day. The pouch folded up in such a way that it could slip into a pocket, and Taako wasn’t surprised that he was bringing it along. Taako was wearing his new hat out, so he guessed it made sense.

Taako hadn’t exactly been looking forward to Candlenights, but he guessed it wasn’t exactly bad. They weren’t having some big celebration, but that didn’t seem to bother either of them.

It was weird, Taako was so used to winter on the road being fucking horrible. He’d been so sure that without the show this year it would be. And it wasn’t like it had been easy. They were still staying in shitty run down places and counting coppers and having to scrape by.

Despite all that though, Taako wasn’t feeling as miserable as he expected to.

“Taako! It has a thing to dust for fingerprints!” Angus said, and Taako hadn’t even noticed he’d gotten his little kit out and was looking through it some more.

“What, is that useful?” he asked, and Angus nodded emphatically.

Yeah, things just weren’t as shitty as he’d expected. It was nice.

Notes:

this is without a doubt the fluffiest fucking chapter so far. pure unfiltered sweetness because sometimes you just gotta write good boys having a snowball fight. i had a lot of fun writing it at least, I hope it didn't seem too horribly ooc.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 21: Improvements

The rest of the week of Candlenights wasn't much different from how things usually were, but Angus didn't mind. They didn't have people to visit or a home to decorate or extra money to spend on a lot of food, so it made sense that there wouldn't be much. It was still nice though. Taako said he’d never celebrated Candlenights as a kid, and so Angus explained as many traditions as he could think of. They couldn't do any of them of course, but Taako at least seemed interested.

Maybe next year.

It was still too cold and snowy to make the trip to Goldcliff once the holiday passed, and Angus was fairly sure at that point that Taako had given up any hope of leaving for a while. It was a nice town and the owner of the bar didn’t mind them staying up there, so Angus was fine with this arrangement.

Plus, it gave him plenty of time to stick his ear to the ground and test out all of his new detective tools. A part of him wished he could’ve had them back when they were at the town with the black glass, but he’d make due solving some less interesting mysteries here.

“Did you know they’re looking for someone to help with the bar downstairs? One of the waitresses slipped on some ice and broke her wrist,” Angus said when he and Taako were up in their room one night. Taako barely glanced from where he was reading some spellbook he’d gotten from the library here. For as much as Taako insisted he wasn’t a nerd, he did read a lot of magic stuff.

“I didn’t know that because I’m not spying on the entire town in my free time,” Taako said, going back to his book.

“I’m not spying, I’m just doing some light detective work,” Angus defended. He wasn’t even hiding most of the time after all, people just tended not to care if kids overheard them talking or not.

“Uhuh, sure thing. That’s fascinating gossip I guess but don’t see how it’s important,” Taako said, and Angus could tell by now when he was being purposefully dismissive. He was pretty sure Taako wasn’t even reading anymore, using the book as an excuse not to look at him more than anything.

“I mean, we’re gonna be stuck here for a while right? Usually you try to get a job when that happens, and since it’s right downstairs it’d be really convenient. You wouldn’t even have to go out into the snow,” Angus explained, even though he knew Taako was smart enough to figure all that out himself. Sometimes he just needed a little push in the obvious direction.

“Not sure if that’s really my style little man,” Taako said, which Angus supposed he should’ve expected. Still, it’d been so long since the incident at Glamour Springs, and Taako seemed to be getting better.

“I don’t think you’ll be cooking, it’s just waiter stuff, you should talk to them about it,” he pressed. Taako just hummed though, pulling his hat a little further down so that Angus couldn’t even see his eyes anymore. It was the hat he’d gotten him for Candlenights, he wore it a lot now.

Angus wanted to press this further, but he didn’t want Taako to start getting too defensive. Instead, he told himself he’d bring it up again later. Hopefully if he kept prodding Taako he’d start to consider it.

Except it turned out he didn’t have to bring it up again. When Angus woke up the next morning Taako wasn’t in the room, which wasn’t entirely unheard of. Angus wasn’t one to sleep in super late most of the time, but Taako was still an elf and tended to wake up before him more often than not.

Usually Taako would show up again after not long though, unless it was one of the times when he had a job. So Angus went about his morning expecting Taako to come back into the room at some point, but that didn’t happen.

It was strange, a while ago that would’ve made Angus panic somewhat. He’d be sure that Taako had gotten tired of having him around and finally decided to ditch him. Angus found that he actually wasn’t worried about that anymore though. It was strange, but he couldn’t see Taako abandoning him like that now.

So instead of panicking, Angus went downstairs to see if he could find some clue as to where Taako had gone off to. He didn’t end up having to look for long, because as soon as he walked into the bar he saw Taako walking into the back with a tray full of dishes in his hands.

“You listened to my advice!” he said excitedly, running up to him. He probably wasn’t supposed to head back behind the bar, but he wasn’t going to touch anything or get in trouble.

“Huh? Oh sup Ango. Yeah, can’t beat working from home I guess,” Taako said, dumping the dishes into the sink. He wasn’t wearing a hat, Angus had seen it up in their room anyway, and his hair was pulled up into a tight bun.

“Do you need any help?” Angus asked, leaning forward to look into the large sink full of dishes that Taako started working on.

“Nah, I’m not about to have you breaking shit and getting me fired first day out,” Taako said. Angus wanted to protest that he wouldn’t break anything, but he could understand Taako wanting him out of the way while he worked. “You go I don’t know, build a snowman or read a book or whatever it is kids do,” he added.

“You got it in one, building snowmen and reading books is pretty much the whole ballgame. Also ballgames, I guess,” Angus said. Taako snorted at that before starting to push him back towards the front of the bar. “Later Taako!” he called as he headed out.

They did end up staying in that town for almost another month and a half. Angus kind of got the feeling they could have pushed it to leave a little sooner than they actually did. There was something nice about actually having a routine and a place to stay where it seemed safe though, and neither of them wanted to give that up.

Eventually though the grounds were clear enough that they couldn’t justify not leaving, and Angus was pretty sure Taako was starting to get a little antsy anyway. As much as Angus hoped he would, Taako never actually ended up cooking while he worked at the bar. The closest he got was plating things, and he’d heard him telling the bartender that he didn’t know the first thing about how to cook. Which was fair, they didn’t want anyone getting suspicious after all, even with how long they’d stayed there.

When they finally reached Goldcliff the bitter chill of the worst of winter was behind them. The city was almost as big as Neverwinter, and much more modern. Angus had never seen buildings that tall before, and it’d been forever since they’d been in a big city like this.

They were on the outskirts of town, weaving through the small crowds. It was more run down out here and had the duel benefits of being more affordable and more likely no one would pay them any mind.

“We should find a place to stay, I’m not spending another fucking night outside,” Taako said, and Angus nodded in agreement. It’d taken about a week to get to Goldcliff, and even though the snow was mostly gone it was still cold and unpleasant.

The city streets were busy, even in the run down area they were in. Angus made sure to stick close to Taako as they moved through the streets, keeping his bag right by his side as well. Even still it was a relief when they finally entered a run down little inn, both to be out of the crowd as well as the cold.

“Hey, the boy and I here were looking for a room for a couple of nights,” Taako said to the innkeeper behind the desk. He was a half elf and quickly nodded, starting to look through a little drawer of keys.

“We can do that no problem. What kind of room were you-” he started to ask, and then he seemed to do a double take at the two of them. Or no, just at Taako. “Hey, I know you,” he said.

“Um, sorry?” Taako asked, and Angus could see how he was suddenly all tensed up in panic. He was hiding it pretty well if you didn’t know him, but the smile on his face was completely forced and insincere right now. Angus’s own grip was tight on the handle of his bag in case they needed to run.

“Yeah! Shit, I saw your show, the cooking one! Back in Tilleon, are you doing a show in Goldcliff? I’d love to come see it again,” he said. Angus was staring at Taako, waiting for some sort of sign that they needed to get out of  there. To his surprise, Taako didn’t turn to run or anything like that, instead smiling wider and leaning onto the counter some.

“Well, always a pleasure to meet a fan!” Taako said happily, catching Angus off guard. It was an act, but he was still surprised that he was managing to keep calm with all this. “Yeah, the show’s actually on hiatus at the moment. We’re working on a total revamp, bigger stagecoach, a higher production, the works! I’m actually in Goldcliff to work on some of the business end of it all, boring stuff, you know how it is. So about the room?” he asked, and the man quickly nodded again.

“Right, you said it’s you and uh, the kid? We’ve got some two bed rooms available at the moment, they’re a little cramped though,” he said.

“That should be perfect. We’re only going to be staying for a few days, it shouldn’t be an issue,” he said. With that the innkeeper charged them for the room and handed Taako a key.

“It’s room 118,” he said, and Taako gave him one last grin before heading off to the room. Angus followed after him, and as soon as the door was closed behind them Taako’s entire demeanor shifted. There was the outright panic Angus had been expecting.

“Fuck, fuck okay that was- fuck,” he said, pacing around the room.

“What do we do? He must not have heard about what happened,” Angus asked. It made sense that not everyone who’d ever seen his show would know about what happened in Glamour Springs. He doubted that did much to put Taako at ease though.

“We fucking leave! God damn it, we didn’t even get one night, what places are close to Goldcliff?” he asked, already pulling out his map.

“But you already paid for the room for the night,” Angus said. He knew the smart thing to do was to leave, but he’d been looking forward to staying inside for a bit again.

“Yeah, of course I did. We couldn’t run out of there with no explanation after asking for a room, that’d be too suspicious. It’s a loss, time to move on,” he said, scouring the map.

“Maybe we could go to a different inn for the night and then leave town?” Angus asked.

“But that fucker could tell someone, we should cut our losses and go,” Taako argued.

“I don’t think he will though,” Angus said. Taako looked like he didn’t quite believe that, so he continued. “It’s just that, he clearly hadn’t heard about what happened with Glamour Springs. If word was going to spread to here, it would’ve by now. Goldcliff is a big town and would get information fast if it was going to get it. Plus, that guy had never said your name, I don’t think he remembers it, or what Sizzle It Up was called. If he does end up talking to anyone else tonight, it won’t be by name, so it’ll be harder for someone to realize we were here,” he finished.

Taako still looked on edge, but slowly some of the urgent panic seemed to die down and then he let out a long sigh. He’d finally stopped pacing and slumped down on one of the beds.

“Fucking genius here, hell,” Taako said, muttering to himself mostly. “So, uh, you think if we keep the door locked and have an alarm set up we could stay the night? I’m- fuck I don’t want to go back out in the cold,” Taako asked, and Angus quickly nodded.

“We should probably leave early in the morning, but I think we’ll be okay for the night,” he said. Taako still seemed on edge of the rest of the night, and Angus couldn’t blame him for that. They’d gone so long without anyone recognizing them, and the fact that they weren’t leaving as soon as someone had was definitely a risk.

Still, it was one Angus figured they were safe enough taking. If anything happened, they should at least be able to get out in time.

Angus’s sleep had been a little choppy that night, but even if it hadn’t, he would’ve woken up when Taako started screaming.

“Wha- ah, what’s going on?” Angus shouted, practically falling out of his bed as he tried to get out while still tangled up in blankets. He expected to see or hear people trying to break in, for their alarm to have been tripped, or something. But a quick scan around the room showed there wasn’t anything of the sorts, and when he looked back at Taako he saw that his eyes were still closed. He was asleep, and Angus quickly realized what was going on.

“Taako! Taako stop screaming, it’s just a dream, wake up,” Angus said, trying to speak loud enough to wake him up but not alert anyone else around them. He didn’t know if it was a good idea to go over there and try to shake him awake or something though. After a moment, he grabbed the stuffed dragon he’d been sleeping with and tossed it at Taako’s head. He instantly shot up in a panic, but he was awake now.

“Wha- fuck what? Where's Lu- what’s going on?” Taako asked, stuttering over his words and disoriented.

“You were having a bad dream, are you okay?” Angus asked. Taako’s head shot towards him, like he’d forgotten he was there. He seemed to relax after a moment, the situation coming back to him before flopping right back down into his bed.

“Shit, yeah I’m fine. Haven’t had one of those in a while,” he said, and he sounded tired. It made sense, since it was the middle of the night and all, but it seemed more than that.

“Do you wanna keep my dragon for the night?” Angus asked. Taako sat up some at that, and only then seemed to notice the stuffed dragon where it had bounced off to the side. “I threw him at you to wake you up,” he explained, and Taako snorted at that.

“Good thinking. If I ever do that again just keep throwing shit at me till I wake up,” he said, and Angus nodded. “And nah, you can keep the dragon, I’m not a little kid,” Taako added, tossing the stuffed toy back across the room to Angus. He caught it, frowning somewhat at the dismissal.

“I’m not a little kid either,” he argued.

“You’re eight, you’re lucky I said kid and not toddler,” Taako said. It was good to see him acting more like himself again. It was kind of scary, seeing him that freaked out.

“Nine,” Angus corrected somewhat absently. Now that Taako wasn’t all panicked Angus was really starting to get tired again. He wasn’t sure what time of night it was, but he knew it was late.

“Uh, no? I coulda fucking sworn it was eight,” Taako said, which was a little surprising. Taako tended to get his age wrong a lot of the time, and Angus was pretty sure it was mostly a joke. It was still nice to see that he was actually trying to remember.

“I was eight, but I’m nine now,” Angus explained, not that there was much to explain. He was pretty sure Taako was familiar with the concept of aging.

“When did you turn nine?” Taako asked, and Angus had been untangling his blankets to go back to sleep and looked back over at Taako. It was hard to see him in the dark, but if Angus didn’t know better he’d say he almost sounded upset.

“Um, a couple days ago? It was sometime when we were walking to Goldcliff I think,” he explained.

“I didn’t know it was your birthday,” Taako said, and he kinda sounded like he was pouting now.

“I didn’t think it was important?” Angus said, and he hadn’t. They’d been between towns, Candlenights was only a little bit ago and he was still ecstatic with the present Taako had gotten him then. He knew they couldn’t do a party so he hadn’t thought to bring it up. He hadn’t been exactly sure of the date either, so he couldn’t pinpoint specifically which day it was.

“Well, you should tell me next time,” Taako grumbled. Angus laughed a little at that and nodded.

“Okay, I promise I will,” he said, lying back down now.

“Good, now get back to sleep, we’re leaving early,” Taako said, and Angus nodded.

“Alright, goodnight Taako,” Angus said.

“Night pumpkin.”

——

Last night fucking sucked. Goldcliff fucking sucked.

It was supposed to be some big fancy rich town, and sure they couldn’t afford that right now but Taako figured it’d at least be a good little break. He’d managed to save up a lot while they were stuck in that last town for the winter, and he was starting to think- fuck, maybe they could take it easy for a while.

But no, he was recognized right off the bat. They hadn’t heard about Glamour Springs, but they still knew the show, so it was too dangerous to stay. Except they did stay, because Angus was a smart kid and Taako was so fucking tired.

He hadn’t expected to have a night terror, it’d been a while. He used to get them back when he was first starting up the cooking show, but they’d died off over time. He guessed it was a stress thing or something.

So that sucked, and Goldcliff sucked, and he missed Angus’s birthday. That last thing wasn’t all that important, but it was still bothering him for some fucking reason.

Fuck, Angus was only nine. Like, he knew the kid was young but it was hard to remember sometimes. Especially since he was the one managing to keep a cool head and think through their situations instead of panicking and having nightmares and shit. He was a kid though, he was even younger than Taako had been when he’d first set out alone. And sure Angus wasn’t alone, but Taako was pretty sure he was doing a shitty job of being a- of like, taking care of him. Just remembering his actual age and junk.

And because Goldcliff was shitty, he couldn’t even make up for the birthday thing right away. They’d stayed the night and nothing bad had happened, but Taako didn’t want to push his luck too far. They didn’t leave town that day, but they went to the exact other side of the city and found another place to stay.

At least walking through the town had been nice, it was a pretty place. Taako could imagine in another life where things hadn’t gone to hell how Sizzle It Up could have finally broken big and he’d be one of the big shots living up in those fancy buildings. Well, elves lived a long time, this was bound to blow over eventually, people would forget. Maybe he could still do all that someday.

They left Goldcliff the next day, and they didn’t have another incident of someone recognizing him. One problem out of the way, which meant the other not-really-a-problem was bothering at him even more.

They’d stopped at a small town, because smaller seemed to be better. Taako fucking missed being the center of attention, but it was still way too dangerous. So small little hole in the walls it was.

The place they ended up staying at this time was a little nicer than the ones they usually did. They should've been saving money, but Taako could use something nice, and it wasn't like this town had a lot of options.

“I’ll be back in a bit, don’t run off anywhere,” Taako told Angus as he left their room. Angus gave a quick affirmative and with that he was gone. He didn’t have to explain where he was going, so he didn’t. Sure, Taako figured Angus assumed he was out looking for work or something, which was fine. He might do that later.

At the moment though, he went to the little corner grocery store. They were pretty set on travel supplies, but that’s not what he was getting.

It was weird, buying baking supplies after so long. It was a pretty simple recipe, or at least, it was for someone like him. He was fucking good at this shit. What happened hadn’t been his fault, or well, maybe it had been but it wasn’t the fault of his cooking.

So Taako quickly bought up all the supplies he needed, and when he headed back to the inn he greeted the old woman who owned the place with a fucking dazzling and charming smile.

“Hello there ma’am, I hate to be a bother but I was wondering if you had a kitchen I could borrow? My apprentice, the boy I came in here with? It’s his birthday and I was hoping to make him a treat,” he said. It wasn’t technically a lie. He was making these things for Angus’s birthday, Angus was pretty much his apprentice. He didn’t like, care as much as he was trying to sound, but it wasn’t a lie. Thankfully the old woman nodded.

“Of course dear, just be sure to clean up when you’re done. Cathy will have my head if it’s left a mess,” she said.

“It’ll be cleaner than when I found it,” Taako assured before heading back to where the small kitchen was. The inn didn’t have a bar or anything attached, the kitchen seemed more for personal use than anything. Which was fine, Taako could work with that. His own set up back in Sizzle It Up had been compact after all. It needed to be for the traveling part of it all.

He didn’t freak out. He couldn’t risk freaking out and someone realizing something was wrong. There was nothing to freak out about even. Angus had said it a million times, his food was safe.

There was still a moment where he finished the macarons that Taako came close to throwing the entire tray out. He hadn’t used any magic, there was no way he could’ve fucked up. There was no one else who could have gotten to the ingredients, he’d hadn’t let them out of his sight since he brought them. They were just cookies.

He ate one, and it was a damn good cookie. Taako spent the next hour cleaning down the entire kitchen, waiting for something to go wrong. It didn’t though, he was fine, because of course he was fine. He was a damn good cook, one person sabotaging one meal wasn’t going to change that.

Packing up the macarons, he headed back to his and Angus’s room. The kid was sitting at a small desk that was pushed into a corner, reading what looked like a book he must’ve found in one of the drawers. Taako walked over and dropped the box into his lap unceremoniously.

“Birthday,” he said bluntly, heading over to the bed and kicking off his shoes. When he glanced back at Angus he looked confused, quickly opening the box and inspecting the macarons.

“I- did you make these?” he asked, and Taako nodded. It wasn’t a big deal.

“Yeah, you’ve been complaining about me not cooking enough that I figured this’ll shut you up,” he said. Angus didn’t really bring it up a lot, but it was still every so often. He’d make hints when Taako was working at that bar, or when he’d be teaching Angus how to cook something.

Taako wasn’t holding his breath when Angus ate one, he wasn’t waiting for something to go wrong. He’d already tested them, they were safe.

“These are really good Taako!” he said after a moment, quickly eating another. For some reason that made Taako flinch, even though it shouldn’t.

“Don’t eat the whole fucking box at once. You gotta savor that shit,” Taako said, and Angus nodded. He still went and ate a third before closing the box.

“You didn’t have to do that Taako,” Angus said, and Taako shrugged.

“Needed an excuse to cook anyway. Besides, it was just some cookies. If you were hoping for a cake or something you’re shit outta luck,” he said. Angus laughed at that, and Taako guessed that was a good sign.

“I think I’ll survive without a cake,” he said, clearly happy with all of this. Taako guessed the kid hadn’t gotten any like, sweets in a while. It wasn’t something they went out of their way to buy, and Taako wasn’t cooking any. Until now, that is.

“Hey, you haven’t called me sir in a while,” Taako said. It was a rapid change of topic, but it was the first thing to come to his head. Angus seemed surprised, although Taako wasn’t sure if it was from the randomness of what he said, or if he hadn’t realized he’d stopped doing that.

“Oh, yeah I guess I haven’t. Do you want me to?” Angus asked, and Taako scoffed at that.

“Fuck no, do I look like the kinda person demanding to be called ‘sir’ to you? I was just wondering why you stopped,” he said. Angus shrugged, looking like he wasn’t too sure on the answer himself.

“I mean, you said yourself you’re not really a sir kind of person,” Angus said. Taako gave an offended look even though he’d quite literally just said that. “I don’t know, it seemed weird to call you sir after a while I guess,” he added, and Taako supposed that was fair.

When he looked back over at Angus, he was chewing something and the macaron box was open again.

“The fuck did I just tell you about not eating them all at once?” Taako snapped, but Angus grinned at him.

“But they’re really good! And they’re my birthday presents,” he argued.

“I can still take them back,” Taako grumbled.

“Not if I eat them all first,” Angus said.

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

Angus didn’t end up eating them all at once, because he wasn’t that dumb of a kid. He still ate more than he probably should’ve, but he didn’t get a stomach ache or anything thankfully.

If Taako knew that because he’d stayed up all night, waiting for something to go wrong that never did, no one needed to know.

Notes:

oh shit i updated during the day for once this is weird

we're getting so close to things people, i'm real excited. wow, i never realized how long this fic is going to be, we're probably like, just getting to the halfway point here. well, i hope y'all are just as excited for a lot of this fic as i am.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 22: As Time Passes

Taako wasn’t used to things going well, but that’s kinda what was happening here.

Soon enough winter was behind them, and they could start traveling around with a bit more frequency. They weren’t stuck staying in one place for weeks or even whole months at a time anymore, which was a relief. And even though they didn’t have to stay anywhere longer than necessary, sometimes they did.

It wasn’t ever a huge deal, sometimes it was just easier. If he had a steady gig and the town seemed pretty safe from anyone having heard about the whole Glamour Springs debacle it made sense to stick around. If they kept moving around at a breakneck speed after all eventually they’d run out of places to fucking go. Or at least, places that Taako figured were safe.

So, traveling was more chill. It was useful for both of them, moving around enough that Taako was able to lay low, but not too fast for Angus. He tended not to mention it, but Taako was pretty sure the kid still had bad days sometimes. He insisted he was fine most of the time, but sometimes after a long day of traveling Taako could see his hands trembling ever so slightly as they made up camp.

The only time Angus ever consistently admitted the pain was worse was during storms and shit. Which probably meant it was pretty fucking bad. Taako wasn’t a fan of camping out when it was raining, shit was cold and miserable, so they managed to avoid it for the most part. Of course, weather wasn’t exactly something Taako could predict with pinpoint accuracy. Or like, any accuracy.

The first time Angus had mentioned the pain being an issue during storms was some day in early spring. Luckily when the weather had turned they’d been close enough to town to run to an inn instead of spending the night out in it. They got there maybe an hour past sundown, although the sky had been pretty dark for hours by this point. Taako managed to get a room at an inn in record time, if he had to guess because the innkeeper wasn’t super thrilled about the fucking puddles dripping off him as he asked for one.

As they rushed into the room Taako threw down his bags and tossed his hat onto the bedpost. At some point it had gotten so soaked it wasn’t doing all that much to actually keep any water off of him despite the wide brim.

When he glanced over at Angus, he’d also stopped dragging his own bag along behind him, but that was about it. He was just sitting on the edge of one of the beds, hunched over and sort of holding his hands together. He wasn’t rubbing them like for warmth or anything though, so Taako wasn’t sure what the deal was.

“You dying?” Taako asked, and Angus shook his head but didn’t actually say anything. Taako frowned, not too sure what to do with that response. After a moment he huffed and pulled out his wand, casting a quick couple of prestidigitations to dry Angus off. It would be easier if the kid changed his clothes into something dry, but it wasn’t like it even cost Taako a spellslot.

Plus, sparing a glance at their soaked bags, it was kind of unlikely that any of their clothes were that dry right now. It was best to have that shit around the outside, so that any of their books and other paper shit was protected even if things got all wet. With that in mind, Taako cast the spell on himself as well, letting out a sigh of relief at the welcomed dryness.

“Thanks Taako,” Angus said after a moment, and he shrugged, moving to his own bed and pulling the too thin blanket over himself. He might be dry now, but he was still cold as shit.

“Was drying myself off anyway,” he said, even if he had done Angus first. Honestly, the kid seemed so distracted Taako doubted he even noticed the lie. “What’s with you? You just gonna sit there staring off at nothing for the rest of the night? Cause like, you do you if that’s the case, but it’s kinda creepy,” he asked, and Angus let out a small laugh at that.

“It’s um, I didn’t mean to be staring at nothing. I was just-” Angus hesitated, and he started wringing his hands a bit more. “I think the rain was just making my nerves flair up, and um, the cold too. The pains starting to calm down now,” he finished explaining. Taako knew his face fell hearing that, but he tried to ignore it, steeling his expression into something more neutral before nodding.

“You need anything? I don’t- maybe we can find something for pain at a shop in the morning,” he suggested. He guessed he hadn’t thought about the pain Angus had to be dealing with still in a while. He never really mentioned it. Sure, sometimes he was more out of breath or slow, but it was hard knowing what was from his nerves getting fucked up and what was because he was a kid.

“No, um, maybe? It should be fine once this storm passes, but I guess if it’s not too expensive,” Angus said. He was finally starting to move now, but it was clear how slow and deliberate his movements were. Taako watched as the kid got himself settled, wrapped up in the blanket the inn had provided them.

It wasn’t long before Angus was out cold, and after a bit Taako climbed out of bed. Pulling out their own blankets, he magic’d them dry before throwing an extra over Angus, and taking his own back to his bed as well. It wasn’t as cold as it had been during the winter, but the rain always made everything worse.

The next morning they had managed to find some herbs that apparently were supposed to help with pain. Taako actually knew most of them, knew some pretty good ways to make them into teas and other drinks.

Making drinks wasn’t exactly like cooking, but the next time there was a storm Taako tried to ignore the panic in his chest as he made Angus some tea. The kid was fine, and he said it actually helped to offset the pain some, so all in all a success.

As time went on sometimes Taako would make them drinks without any real reason. Not always to help with Angus’s pain, sometimes it’d be a new tea flavor he wanted to try, or hell sometimes it was hot chocolate or something like that. Every so often Taako would go so far as to cook something.

Nothing ever went wrong, because nothing had ever been wrong in the first place.

Taako didn’t pay a lot of attention to the passage of time, but he guessed it had been a while. He knew it wasn’t that long in the grand scheme of things. Maybe a year and a half, but that was apparently long enough for some of the panic to dull. He still wouldn’t let his guard down too much, but things were working out. Maybe things would be better sooner than he expected.

He couldn’t go back to cooking again, not professionally, not yet. Someday he hoped, but for now he was good to ease into it every so often, just for himself. And for Angus, he guessed. He tried not to panic whenever he made food for the kid, and he was slowly getting better at it. Angus for his part never seemed the slightest bit worried about Taako’s food. He’d eat it without a care, always complimenting the taste, and for good reason.

So, he couldn’t do cooking as like, a job anymore. Things were easing up though, but traveling was still something they needed to do. Taako had a hard time imagining a life where he wasn’t traveling. Even when he was happy he was moving. Still, the odd dishwasher job or couple weeks working at a laundry mat wasn’t what he wanted to do.

Finding shit he did want to do was hard too though. He was good at two things, cooking and magic, and he wasn’t even that fucking good at magic. He was picking shit up pretty well as he and Angus traveled around, but he was still mediocre at best, which wasn’t something Taako would say about himself for a lot of things.

Although, when it came to magic there weren’t a lot of options for people who were traveling around. There was really only one option for people in his position, or at least, only one easy one. He’d been kind of avoiding it though, because he was still a pretty fucking shitty wizard.

Plus, he was pretty sure taking a kid adventuring was like, bad form. Not that Angus couldn’t handle himself just about as well as Taako could at this point, but still. The kid was fucking nine, Taako was pretty sure he hadn’t even lost all of his baby teeth yet.

So, excuse Taako for being a little surprised when the kid came back to the inn they were staying at for the moment, having already fucking gotten a head start on the adventuring thing apparently.

“I solved a mystery!” Angus announced, running into their room. Taako blinked, not expecting that. The kid was always going on about his detective stitch and trying to solve crimes in every rinkydink down they passed through, but it never seemed like much came of it. Or at least, he'd never come in this excited about it before. Taako knew he was good, but they usually didn’t have the time to wait around for him to get shit done.

Well, more like they didn’t have the time to wait around for people to take Angus seriously so that he could actually start doing what he was good at. The actual mystery solving never seemed to take that long.

“Uh cool, what was it this time? You find a lost cat or some shit?” he asked. He knew Angus was a good detective, so he wasn’t trying to be that dismissive, he just knew everyone else was.

“I found three thousand gold worth of stolen gems!” Angus said, and that got Taako’s attention.

“Holy shit! Good job pumpkin,” he said, genuinely impressed. He wasn’t sure how Angus had managed to convince someone to let him on a case like that, but hey, he knew first hand out fucking persuasive the kid could be.

“Thank you Taako!” he said, and then surprisingly his enthusiasm seemed to dip. “Um, also, you weren’t wanting to stay in this town for much longer, were you?” he asked, which was suspicious. Taako was an idiot and even he could see how suspicious that was.

“Not particularly. Why are you asking?” he asked, and yeah, Angus’s excitement was quickly turning to nervousness now. It wasn't like Taako wasn't used to running at this point, so if they needed to he was down.

“Well um, so I’d been in town and I heard about this robbery and I talked to the guy who got robbed. He really didn’t seem to believe me when I said I could find his money, but he said if I managed to find it he’d pay me,” Angus began to explain. Taako could already start to see where this was going and nodded for him to continue.

“So, I found the stuff! I found it in three hours, he didn’t even have to wait that long! So I gave him his gems and stuff back but he refused to pay me,” Angus said, pouting now at the memory. Taako was starting to get pretty irritated as well. He wasn’t surprised, but it still kinda pissed him off.

“Fucker’s a dick. So, why do we gotta leave town now?” Taako asked, because he knew that was what Angus was leading up to. He was about to get up and start packing his shit when Angus pulled a small pouch out of his pocket and tossed it over to him.

Taako knew what he should’ve probably been expecting given the circumstances, but he was pretty sure he still had a dumbfounded look on his face as he started inspecting the gems inside. They were definitely real. They were real and they were fucking expensive.

“Holy- Angus did you steal these?” Taako asked, rolling a few pearls in his hand.

“No! I mean, he said he would pay me five hundred gold if I got his money back, and I did. So he paid me. He just um, might not have realized he paid me just yet,” Angus said, mumbling that last part. Taako stared in stunned silence for another long moment, before bursting out laughing and dumping the gems back into the satchel. Tightening it back up, he tossed it back over to Angus, who fumbled a bit before catching it.

“Fuck yeah little man! Don’t let anyone con you out of yours,” he said, still laughing. He got up off the bed, quickly starting to pack up his shit because yeah, they definitely needed to leave now. Some rich dick wasn't too much to worry about, but better not risk it. The last thing they needed was the militia trying to talk to them.

“I- you’re not mad?” Angus asked, and Taako scoffed, shaking his head.

“Fuck no. Why would I be mad about that? That’s some quality thief shit you jut pulled. Proud as shit of my boy,” Taako said, only realizing after it slipped out what he called Angus. That happened every so often. It was just- they’d mostly ignore it. It wasn’t really important.

“Oh. It was- I was just worried you’d be mad about like, drawing attention to us,” Angus said, and Taako paused. Yeah, that made sense. Still he shrugged, throwing his bag over his shoulder. Angus had started packing up his own stuff as well, and he must’ve already put the bag of gems away because Taako couldn’t see it. Smart, they didn’t need anyone else seeing that.

“Won’t be an issue if we get outta here fast enough. Besides, the scratch you made more than makes up for it,” he said. Angus seemed to accept that, and it wasn’t long before they were all packed up and rushing out of town.

That was the first time Angus’s detective shit really paid out, although it wasn’t the last. Of course, most of them didn’t end up being quite that lucrative, and Taako let the kid keep most of the money he made with that shit. Although it did mean he had to buy him less junk with his own cash. That was mainly because Angus insisted on paying for himself now that he had the means to.

Still, shit was going well, and some of the detective junk Angus did was actually kind of dangerous.

So, if he was doing that all on his own, it was probably time for Taako to at least try and start figuring his own shit out.

As long as Angus stayed out of the way, he was sure it wouldn’t hurt to take the kid on a few adventuring quests.

——

Angus was really happy with how things had been going over the last year.

He and Taako felt like a team now, and a pretty damn good one at that. His detectiving had picked up, although most people were still hesitant to hire a ten year old on anything dangerous. He got more jobs when he would bring Taako along, as the elf was always willing to start loudly and theatrically assure everyone of his talents. Which, Angus knew was for the most part so he could get the jobs, but it still made his insides bubble with pride.

He remembered one woman that had kept insisting that she should get a real detective look at her case. Taako had scoffed and rolled his eyes at that.

“A real detective? You’re looking at one lady. Ango ain’t just any detective, he’s the fucking world’s greatest detective, that’s a fact,” he’d insisted. Angus had liked that, and he figured it was mostly true anyway. He started going by the world’s greatest detective after that, which Taako seemed happy enough to back up.

Angus got a feeling that he appreciated the theatrics of it all. Taako couldn’t be in the spotlight anymore, so there was probably something fun for him to push someone else into it instead. Of course they couldn't have too high a profile, but there was still something nice about it.

Sometimes detective stuff was hard to come by though, or they had to keep their heads extra low, or people would just refuse outright to hire a child no matter how much Taako tried to angle for his talents. The elf had started relying less and less on little odd jobs at shops and cleaning factories and such.

Instead, he started taking the occasional adventuring job. They tended to pay better, and not take as long of a commitment. So far there was nothing that was too dangerous that Taako wouldn't let him come along. They were all simple things, a few escorting jobs, things like that. They typically weren’t all that dangerous, or even all that interesting.

The majority of the time he and Taako would be goofing off. Trying to see how many dumb faces they could make at the rich jerk they were escorting before they noticed. Or Taako playing sudden surprise catch with the valuable magic orb they had retrieved. The guy who they gave the orb to didn't even notice the large crack running down the side of it from when Angus had fumbled his catch and dropped the thing on some rocks.

They weren't making a lot of money with all of this, but it was enough to live on, and it was fun.

They’d been traveling around aimlessly for so long now, following where they could get work by this point. Things were going well, even if it was stressful a lot of the time and sometimes Angus wondered if things were always going to be like this. He tried not to focus on that too much, and he wouldn't mind if it was anyway. They had a system, and Angus quite liked it.

It was hard to imagine that it had been two years since Glamour Springs when they ended up in Neverwinter again. Angus knew they’d been kind of low on money lately, and Neverwinter was a lot more likely to have the kind of jobs they could take up than some of the other cities.

It was definitely weird, walking back into the large town. It’d been so long since they’d last been there, but not a lot of it seemed to have changed. Angus was almost tempted to suggest heading back to his grandpa’s house. The chances of it still being both there and unoccupied were slim to none though.

Still, it probably wouldn’t hurt to check it out, if he happened by.

“I’m gonna go see if I can scrounge us up some work. You wanna come or you wanna try and find some of your own detective shit?” Taako asked. It wasn’t uncommon for them to split up when looking for jobs in order to have a better chance of finding something. Sometimes they’d get lucky and he and Taako would both be successful, sometimes just one of them would be. Sometimes neither of them would find anything, and then they had to get creative.

“I’m good on my own if you want. Where should we meet up?” he asked. Taako was looking a little more nervous than he had in a while, but considering the last time they’d been in Neverwinter that was understandable. Angus kind of got the feeling that they wouldn’t actually end up staying here for very long.

“Library work?” he asked, and Angus nodded. They hadn’t checked in at an inn or anything yet, but sometimes it was better to look into what kind of work was around first. They’d gotten to Neverwinter pretty early in the day, so they still had time to figure all of that out.

“Okay, see you around sunset then?” he asked, and Taako nodded, starting to head off down the street.

“See ya pumpkin,” he called back casually.

“Later dad!” Angus said, turning to leave as well. Then he realized the words that he’d said and froze. He'd turned away from Taako at this point, so he didn’t know how he reacted to that. He was kind of afraid to turn around and see.

They’d been traveling around together for two years now. Angus knew that wasn’t that long for an elf, but that was a good twenty percent of his whole life at this point. In all that time he’d never made the mistake of calling Taako dad before. The only time he ever did was when they were pulling off some sort of ruse. Disguise self, making it look like they were father and son when they were in places Taako really didn’t want to be recognized.

Taako did call him his kid sometimes. Not a part of any sort of trick or play either, when it was only the two of them around. At first it had seemed to be an occasional slip of the tongue, but he did it more often now. Sometimes it was even intentional, a blunt ‘this is Angus, my boy’ when people would get skeptical about why he was around the elf.

They never really talked about what that meant though, and Angus had assumed it didn’t mean much. Taako definitely wasn’t like a dad. Angus always thought of him as like an older brother or weird uncle or something like that.

It still ended up slipping out though.

Reluctantly, Angus glanced back to see what Taako was doing.

He wasn’t there.

That was- it wasn’t surprising. It was entirely possible that Taako hadn’t even heard him in the first place. The street was kind loud after all. Plus, they were already heading their separate ways. Maybe he didn’t even care if Angus called him dad, since it was just another thing they pretended to be sometimes.

Trying to push all of that out of his head, Angus turned back around and headed down the road. Work. He was supposed to be looking for some detective work. Nothing that would take too long, since he didn’t think Taako would want to stay in Neverwinter too often.

As he walked through the town there unfortunately wasn’t much to find. Looking for something that paid well in a short time period was hard, and Angus might’ve still been a bit distracted.

Eventually, Angus had given up the pretense of looking for work. Hopefully Taako would be more lucrative, but as for now Angus was looking around at some of the old spots he remembered visiting when he was little. It had been forever since he’d been to most of them. The last time they were in Neverwinter they’d spent most of the time holed up in Angus’s old house.

Speaking of, he knew there wasn’t any point in going and checking the place out, but after a few hours of wandering Angus found himself only a few streets away. Figuring he might as well now that he was so close, Angus headed over to check out his grandpa’s old house.

It was still standing, which he hadn’t been sure would be the case. It was possible the city or some rich person would’ve wanted to buy it in that time and knock the whole thing down and build something new.

It was a good house though, so there wasn’t any real reason to knock it down. It did seem like someone had brought it though. The large lock that had been on the gate the last time they visited was gone, and the lawn wasn’t overgrown and dying. It looked nice, although it had been pretty radically changed from the way his grandpa had it.

Angus could see a few lights on inside the house too. He tried to get around the side to see if he could look inside of his old bedroom, but he was having a hard time actually remembering which window was his. It had been on the second floor, and to the right. As he looked from the place from the outside though, it was all starting to blur together after that.

It was strange, looking at the remnants of his old life now.

It was starting to get pretty late though, and Angus figured he should start heading over to the library to meet with Taako. Also before anyone noticed him creeping around the outside of a house he really didn’t belong at anymore.

Taako had said the last time they were here that it was obvious that Angus had been a noble kid. He wondered if anyone would be able to pin that on him now. He and Taako both had a weakness for nice thing, items they really couldn’t afford given their lifestyle and budget.

So he still had some nice things, but it felt different. His clothes were more practical for travel, sturdy and made to last. They kept good care of them too, but there was still wear that was inevitable when they were walking around and sleeping in camps most of the time. The type of wear his old clothes never would have gotten.

When Angus got to the library Taako was already there waiting for him. As soon as he caught sight of Angus he pushed himself off the railing he’d been sitting on and started walking over.

“I wasn’t able to find any detective work,” Angus said once they were in speaking distance. Sure, he hadn’t been looking all that hard, but he had tried somewhat.

“That’s chill. Got us a job taking a cart full of junk to some town, should be pretty low stress, although there’s a couple other chucklefucks coming too. We’re leaving tomorrow morning,” Taako said, and yeah, that was about what Angus expected. Simple job, leading out of Neverwinter.

“Sounds good! What town?” he asked, starting to follow Taako as they headed away from the library.

“Phandalin I think? I got a room above the bar we’re leaving from tomorrow morning, we can check the map when we get there,” he said, and Angus nodded. That worked, and it certainly seemed like the kind of job they’d been taking so far, it should be fine.

It wasn’t long before they got to the bar and settled in their room. Angus wasn’t all that tired yet, so he pulled out one of his Caleb Cleveland novels and started reading in bed.

Taako didn’t mention the dad comment, and Angus didn’t bring it up either.  It was like when Taako would call Angus his kid. They didn't need to talk about it.

Notes:

Behind the scenes of taako after angus calls him dad: spends an hour walking in circles, saying 'fuck' over and over, until he eventually gets to a certain bar and can't keep himself from transmuting tables into ground beef before finally getting distracted by an ad on craig's list.

so, i got majorly distracted and wasn't able to get this chapter out before nano started, hence the delay. sorry about that. the good news is the next chapter shouldn't take too long to come out because i'm so hyped to start on here there be gerblins and the rest of the podcast.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 23: The Last Job You'll Ever Need To Take

Angus wasn’t exactly sure what time he ended up falling asleep, but it must not have been too late. He managed to wake up pretty early the next morning, and Taako told him they would need to be on the road pretty soon.

He hadn’t done a lot of unpacking the night before, so it didn’t take him very long to get all of his stuff together and ready. They'd traveled around enough now that it was pretty automatic at this point. Taako was still fixing up his hair by the time he finished, and seemed to notice Angus standing around waiting.

“Hey, if you’re not doing shit you wanna go down and make sure the other chucklefucks on this job don’t leave without us?” he asked. It was a fair thing to be worried about. They didn’t tend to take a lot of jobs with other groups for a lot of reasons. The few times they had though they had to deal with people trying to ditch them once or twice.

“Okay, should the wagon just be out front?” he asked, and Taako nodded.

“Yeah, should be. We’re gonna be traveling with some human and a dwarf,” he added. It wasn't the most detailed description in the world but it would work. Angus grabbed the handle of his bag and started out of their room at that, quickly moving through the bar until he was outside. There was a wagon out front, so no one had gotten up super early to leave them behind. Slowing down, Angus headed over to the front of the wagon, careful not to startle the oxen hooked up as he pet them.

“Hey kid, this isn’t a petting zoo,” a grumpy voice said, and when Angus turned towards it he saw a dwarf heading over to him. Probably the dwarf that was coming with them on this job. He was dressed as an adventurer, from a quick glance over Angus could see a holy symbol around his neck. If he had to guess probably paladin or cleric.

“Just because they’re work animals doesn’t mean you can’t be nice to them sir,” Angus said, giving the ox one last pet before stepping back. He started heading towards the back of the cart to get set up when the dwarf started protesting again.

“We’re not taking hitchhikers kid,” he said, and Angus figured Taako hadn’t mentioned him. They did that sometimes. Better to show up with him and tell people to deal with it than asking if he could come along beforehand.

“I’m not a hitchhiker sir,” he said simply, frowning when the dwarf got between him and the cart so he couldn’t climb on. He looked like he was about to argue with Angus over that, but then his eyes locked on something behind him.

“Magnus, hey Mags, help me get rid of this brat,” he said. Angus glanced back to see who he was talking to and saw a tall human man. Probably the other person who was coming with them on this job. He had a large ax strapped to his back and a shield at his side, and it didn’t look like he had any sort of magical abilities. Some sort of fighter then.

“Uh, sorry kid, we’re not looking to buy any cookies,” this human, apparently named Magnus said. Angus wasn’t sure where he’d gotten that idea from and huffed in annoyance.

“I’m not selling anything. I’m coming with you all to Phandalin,” he insisted. That got a look from both of them, and Angus really hoped that Taako would get out here soon. He could hold his own fine but it was always easier with some backup.

“Er, no? I mean, this isn’t a free ride kid, we’re doing work, right Merle?” Magnus said, giving a quick glance over at the dwarf. Angus was about to protest that he was doing work too when he felt something tap him on the head. When he looked up he saw Taako holding the Caleb Cleveland book he’d been reading last night above him.

“What have I told you about keeping an eye on your shit Ango? Found this under the bed. You know I’m not buying you a new one if you lose it,” he said. Angus quickly took the book back from him, a wide smile on his face now that Taako was here.

“Sorry, it must’ve fallen down there when I was sleeping last night,” he said, putting it back into his bag. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Taako tended to do a pretty good sweep of their rooms whenever they left, and occasionally found things that Angus hadn’t realized he’d been forgetting.

Taako always insisted that he wasn’t going to buy him replacements whenever it happened. The few time he had lost things though there would usually be a new version just sitting with his stuff a little while later.

“Well, maybe you should be less of a nerd and not read until you fucking passed out. Just stare off into space and suffer in boredom like the rest of us," Taako teased. Angus stuck his tongue out at that, not actually bothered by the nerd comment any.

"So, what’s the stitch? We good to get going my dudes?” Taako asked, turning back towards Magnus and Merle finally. The two were staring a little dumbfounded at the two of them, but that seemed to knock them out of it.

“I guess so? Uh, you know this kid Taako?” Magnus asked, and Taako rolled his eyes at that question.

“Nope, never met the brat before in my life. Oh right, I grabbed this from the bar, didn’t see you eat any breakfast,” Taako said, pulling out a muffin and handing it to Angus. That would explain what had taken him a while to come out of the bar.

“Thanks, complete stranger who I’ve never seen before either,” Angus said, taking a bite of the muffin. Taako snorted at that, moving past Merle to climb into the back of the cart. Angus followed after him now that no one was trying to stop him, passing Taako his bag before climbing up as well. Magnus and Merle were still staring at them, and they both looked really confused. Like, more confused than people normally were, it was a little strange.

“Wait, so we are taking the kid?” Merle asked, not sounding happy about that in the least. Angus wasn’t particularly bothered, there were a lot of people who weren’t happy when he came along on things. As long as they never actually tried anything it didn’t matter.

“Huh? Did I forget to mention Angus last night? Yeah, he’s coming,” Taako said casually, dropping the not-knowing-each-other joke. It was pretty obvious that had been a joke too, so Angus wasn’t sure why those two were still looking at them like that. Sure, Merle mostly looked grumpy, but Magnus looked like he couldn’t comprehend this for some reason.

“Taako, do you have a kid?” he asked finally, like the idea had completely blindsided him. Angus wasn’t too sure why it seemed like such a big deal to this guy. As far as he knew, he’d only met Taako last night. Sure, Angus knew the elf didn’t seem like the kind of person to have kids, but most people got over it pretty fast. He wasn't even technically Taako's kid either, so that made the reaction even stranger.

“Uh, if we’re talking about Angus yeah, I fucking guess? He’s my magic boy, apprentice, kid, whatever you wanna call it,” Taako said with a shrug. Angus had settled to sit down on top of a crate next to where Taako was sitting. Reaching over, he grabbed Taako’s wizard hat off and put it on himself.

“Don’t you see the family resemblance sir?” he asked, doing a really bad impression of Taako’s voice for good measure. It got a snorting laugh out of Taako and a very awkward chuckle out of Magnus, who was still looking really uncomfortable with all of this for some reason.

“Are we going or what?” Merle asked finally, starting to climb into the back of the cart as well. Magnus quickly nodded, moving to the front of the cart and gathering up the oxen’s reins.

“Yeah, yeah we’re going,” he said. Taako rolled his eyes at the strange behavior before reaching over and taking his hat back. Angus didn’t protest, it had mainly been for the goof anyway. No one else said anything as Magnus started driving the cart down the road and out of Neverwinter. It was a little awkward, but it was always a little awkward when they had to travel with other people.

“So uh, we’re meeting Gundren and his body guard in Phandalin right? What was that dude’s name?” Magnus asked after maybe fifteen minutes of riding in silence.

“Barry Bluejeans,” Taako answered, which surprised Angus. Usually Taako wasn’t the best at remembering names. Also, that was a pretty silly name. Well, that might explain why he was able to remember it without much trouble. Magnus nodded so it seemed like it was the right answer.

“Yeah, him,” he said, and then it fell into another awkward quiet. Then Angus felt Taako tapping his arm silently. When he looked over he put a finger up to his lips to motion for Angus to be quiet, before pointing towards Merle. The dwarf was reading some holy book and seemed pretty intent on ignoring the rest of them.

Then Angus saw Taako make the motions for minor illusion, and when he looked back at Merle he could now see the image of a large spider crawling over the side of his book.

“Ah! Shit!” Merle shouted, throwing the book across the cart. Taako fell into a large fit of giggles at that, and Angus wasn’t able to completely hold in his own laughter. It was kind of mean, but he and Taako had to find some way of amusing themselves on long, boring jobs like this.

“What’s wrong?” Magnus asked, glancing back at them from the front of the cart.

“Nothing, just some damn spider on my book,” Merle grumbled.

“Spider? Where?” Magnus shouted, looking a hair away from jumping out of the cart to get away from the mere mention of a spider. That sent Taako into another fit of laughter, and Merle definitely noticed that and the way Angus couldn’t stop snickering.

“Calm down Magnus, pretty sure it was a trick from the magic brat duo back here,” Merle said, grabbing his book again before sitting back down with a huff.

“Sorry sir,” Angus said, not quite able to wipe the smile from his face despite that.

“No we’re not,” Taako contradicted immediately. Angus rolled his eyes but didn’t argue, and things started to settle again. Taako poked around at some of the boxes of supplies, and Angus was watching to see if he was pocketing anything, but it didn’t seem to be the case this time. Which made sense, as far as Angus could tell they were mostly transporting mining supplies. They didn’t have that much of a use for those kinds of things.

It was a nice day though, and Angus pulled out his Caleb Cleveland book and tried to figure out where he’d stopped before falling asleep last night. The road was clear and seemed to be well traveled, he didn’t see a lot of things going wrong on this mission.

Even Taako seemed a lot more relaxed than Angus had seen him in a while, at least when it came to traveling with other people. Usually that put him on edge, but he didn’t seem particularly tense around Magnus and Merle. It was odd, but Angus wasn’t going to point it out and ruin a good thing.

It wasn’t until Magnus stopped the cart suddenly and Angus looked ahead to see the forms of two dead horses a ways down the road. Only then did he start to think that maybe this job wouldn’t go as easily as he had originally thought.

——

This was supposed to be an easy job. This was supposed to be an easy job.

They’d been on tens of jobs like this one. It was always simple, the most difficult shit was usually stuff he and Angus would fuck up themselves. Like accidentally breaking the shit they were supposed to be delivering and things like that. If Taako thought a job he’d decided to take was actually fucking dangerous he wouldn’t be dumb enough to bring Angus along. Like he as a pretty bad caregiver or whatever the fuck he was, but he wasn't that stupid.

Things went bad almost as soon as they found those horses. They managed to make quick work of the gerblins that attacked them, although Taako had to grab a hold of Angus so that he didn’t go running out of the back of the cart to help. As soon as they were dead though the kid was out and inspecting the crime scene.

“Look at these big dead dogs,” Magnus said, and it was hard to tell if he was joking or not. Taako was keeping an eye out around them, because if someone could ambush them once then someone could ambush them again. Plus, Angus was looking over the horses and everything else, so he’d probably figure out what was wrong in a minute.

“Are those Gundren’s and Barry’s horses?” Taako asked after getting bored of looking around, turning to look back towards the others.

“I think so. Do you know how much earlier they left?” Angus asked, which was fair. He hadn’t been there when they’d been planning everything out, and Taako hadn’t taken the time to explain it all because usually that shit wasn’t important.

“They left last night, uuuh, right Merle?” Taako said. He figured he would know better, since this dude was like, his cousin or something.

“Yeah. Hey, quick question, why are we letting the kid mess with this shit?” Merle asked, and Taako rolled his eyes at that. It was pretty obvious right off the bat that the two were uncomfortable with Angus around, but that wasn’t exactly unusual. Taako got the impression that Merle didn’t like kids in general, or like, being around them. Although he supposed the distinction didn’t really matter.

“I’m the world’s greatest detective sir, please let me do my job,” Angus said, a very put upon tone to his voice that got a laugh out of Taako. “It looks like they were dragged off into the woods over there. There’s some blood but it seems like most of it is from the horses, they were probably captured alive,” he added, taking a step back from the bodies.

“See? The kids good at this,” Taako said, and Angus beamed at the praise. He wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t true though, so Taako ignored that and started looking off in the direction Barry and Gundren had been taken. “So uh, should we go after them? We like, need Gundren to get paid, don’t we?” he asked.

“Yeah, we should probably rescue them,” Magnus said. It didn’t take long to pull their cart off the road and hide it in some of the underbrush so that it wouldn’t get stolen. They were about to start heading out when Magnus stopped them.

“Wait, Taako, we’re not bringing your kid, are we?” he asked. Taako frowned, both because he wasn’t sure if they should bring Angus, and because it was weird when other people called Angus his kid. He could call Angus that, because that was different. When other people did it it was clear that they didn’t get it.

“Of course I’m coming sir,” Angus said, at the same time Taako said-

“I guess he could stay with the cart.”

Angus turned to him at that, clearly not happy with the idea. Taako hadn’t ever made him stay back on a job before, so he could understand the frustration.

“I don’t want to stay with the cart. It’s hidden enough, I want to help you solve this,” Angus protested. Taako wasn’t sure how much he could argue with him on staying back. The kid’s detective jobs were often more perilous than Taako’s adventuring gigs, it wasn’t like he couldn’t take care of himself.

“Yeah alright, just make sure to stay behind the meat shield then,” Taako said reluctantly. With that they started following the trail, and it didn’t take long to find the cave they must’ve been taken to.

This was all more danger than Taako was comfortable putting himself into. Angus seemed to be loving it though, and like, Taako couldn’t deny that some parts were fun. Angus even mostly listened to him and stayed back whenever they ended up fighting shit. Even if he did peak out from behind Taako to blast off a fire bolt or ray of frost every so often.

Taako had started teaching him more offensive spells once he started getting into the whole detective thing for real, so that the kid could defend himself whenever Taako wasn’t there. Right now it seemed like it'd been a pretty good idea.

It went well though, and soon after charming Klaarg they were walking out of there with a pretty dazed Barry Bluejeans. Gundren was still missing, but they had somewhat of an idea about who had taken him.

“Excuse me sir, could you please tell me everything you can remember from the time you were attacked to the time we saved you?” Angus asked, pulling out a notebook once they were all back at the cart. Barry jolted somewhat, like he hadn’t noticed that Angus had been there until that moment. He very well might not have. He’d been being pretty quiet, and Taako could tell when the kid was trying to take in as many details as possible.

“Uh, sure? Wait, who are you? Why is there a kid here?” Barry asked, which were all pretty fair questions.

“That’s Taako’s brat. Don’t know why we brought him along either,” Merle said dismissively. Barry still looked confused though, quickly looking between Taako and Angus.

“But he’s human?” Barry asked, and Taako snorted at that. There was one upside to telling people Angus was his kid, and that was dummies actually thinking that like, that was in any way by blood. It was a pretty stupid thing to think even if they weren’t entirely different races. Taako had never put much stock in family by blood. The family he had that way was rarely that good, and all of them were gone now.

“Adoption is a thing that happens sir. That’s not important right now though, if you could please answer my question,” Angus said, and it was always fun seeing Angus in detective mode. Kid got real serious and single minded and snippy, shit was great.

“I mean, it’s not a thing that happened legally if we’re getting into that,” Taako muttered. Besides the fact that both Taako and Angus had very good reason to stay away from any sort of legal authority for a long time there, it also never seemed to be a thing that was necessary. It wasn’t like Taako was sending Angus to school or anything like that. Hell, as far as legalities went, the two of them had been missing persons for a couple years now.

“Wait, did you illegally adopt Angus? Taako, isn’t that just kidnapping?” Magnus asked. Taako shrugged, not bothering with any better of an answer than that. As far as crimes he could be committed for went, kidnapping wasn’t the worst on the list.

“It’s not kidnapping if I have no parents and I wanted to go,” Angus supplied helpfully before turning back to Barry. The dude seemed to slowly be getting over his confusion there, and honestly Taako didn’t know why these three were being so weird about Angus. Lots of people thought it was weird that he traveled around with a kid, but usually it wasn’t much more than a passing comment.

“Right, uh, so what happened. It was real shitty, and I didn’t like it, and if you asked me I would not do it again,” Barry said. That wasn’t the best description of events, but with some prompting Angus managed to get something a bit more useful out of the dude.

It didn’t take much longer for them to get to Phandalin. The town was pretty damn similar to most of the middle sized towns he and Angus passed through on their travels. Soon enough all five of them were checked up in a tavern and trying to figure out how to get Gundren back.

There was a part of Taako that wanted to give up the gold on this job as a lost cause and move on. This shit was getting more dangerous than they tended towards, and usually at this point Taako would’ve decided to cut their loses and go.

But Barry was talking about riches beyond their dreams and somehow there was something even more tempting there. If this went well maybe they could stop running around and scraping by for everything. With enough money they might be able to prove that Taako wasn’t the one who was responsible for Glamour Springs. Or they could at least pay off some people to look the other way.

Maybe they could afford some proper treatments for Angus’s nerve damage or he could get the kid some actual schooling or at least let him live in a fucking house.

By the time Barry had managed to goad Merle into bleeding all over a piece of paper to reveal some weird spooky map, Taako had pretty much settled on seeing this shit through to the end.

“You guys can take my cart. Wave Echo Cave looks to be only a few hours drive by carriage,” Barry said, handing the weird blood map over to them.

“Wait, Barry are you not coming with us?” Taako asked, and he couldn’t blame the dude too much for that. He was beat all to hell and back. Taako didn’t know where this guy got off insisting he was a fighter, he looked like a huge fucking nerd.

There was something about the guy Taako liked though. If past experience proved anything though, he guessed he had a soft spot for huge fucking nerds.

“Yeah Barry, it’ll look pretty bad for your job if you don’t rescue your charge, right?” Magnus asked.

“It’ll be equally bad for my job if I just fucking died,” Barry said, and Taako snorted at that. Yeah, he definitely liked this guy.

Maybe him staying back was a good thing. Could make other shit a little easier.

They were packing up Barry’s cart when Taako turned to Angus. He looked like he was getting his stuff together to go as well, which was about what Taako expected. Still, Taako wasn’t exactly good at this shit, but he wasn’t as much of an idiot as he seemed to be.

“Hey pumpkin, I think you should stay back at the inn with Barry,” he said, and he wasn’t surprised by the instant frown that fell over Angus’s face. It wasn’t like they didn’t do jobs separately some times, but that was different from Taako telling him to stay behind on one they’d already started together.

“Why? I can help, you know I can help,” Angus said, and it was true. Taako fucking knew how much Angus could help. The kid tended to have his head screwed on better than Taako did most days.

“I know but this shit just seems like, crazy wicked dangerous,” Taako said.

“That’s all the more reason for me to come though,” Angus said, and Taako shook his head at that.

“Listen, I know you got your shit together better than most adults. Definitely better than these two chucklefucks that are coming along, but you’re still fucking ten my dude,” Taako said. He didn’t bring up Angus’s age often, but like, he was still just a kid. He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t a kid.

“I can still help,” Angus protested, and Taako nodded at that.

“Yeah, about that, I was thinking maybe you help by keeping an eye on Barry. The dude gives me a weird vibe, I kinda get the feeling he’s not telling us everything,” Taako said. Angus was looking at him with suspicion now, and it wasn’t like Taako was lying, at least not totally. He did get a weird vibe from Barry, but that was mainly in the fact that he liked the dude and it was weird for him to like people.

“Don’t patronize me Taako. But fine, I’ll stay,” Angus said, clearly not happy about that. Still, Angus being annoyed but safe was better than him being happy but in danger.

“Thanks pumpkin. I’d say we won’t be gone long but how knows with those two idiots,” Taako said, throwing his head back towards where Merle and Magnus had finished loading up the cart.

He didn’t expect Angus to slam into him with a hug, but after a minute Taako gave him a quick hug back.

“Please come back safe,” Angus muttered into his side, and it was easy to see now how worried he was. It made sense. This wasn’t shit either of them were used to.

“Sure thing Ango, don’t even freak,” he said, giving Angus one last pat on the back before pulling away. Then he climbed up onto the cart, and it wasn’t long before they were heading off in the direction of Wave Echo Cave. Angus stood out in front of the inn, watching them head off for a long moment before finally heading back inside.

Taako told himself it was going to be fine. They’d be back soon.

Notes:

phanadliiiiiin. we're finally into the podcast folks, and wow i did not intend to take this long to get here. I'm glad to be here though and excited to write all the little differences that are gonna happen with sudden surprise angus. also i just gotta say i'm really glad that the rest of you also seem really excited to finally be reaching this point and thank y'all for sticking with me on this story for so long.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy~

Chapter 24: Phandalin

Angus knew why Taako insisted he stay behind for the rest of this job. He could understand his reasoning and he couldn’t even argue with it all that much. Angus knew he was competent, but he was still just a little boy. A little boy who got winded too easily sometimes and couldn’t hold his wand straight on bad days.

So he could understand empirically why he had to wait back at the inn, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.

Taako didn’t want him getting hurt, but Angus didn’t want Taako to get hurt either! He thought they were a pretty good team too, they worked well together. He doubted they would've lasted this long if they weren't. If something happened to Taako while he wasn’t there Angus wouldn’t ever be able to stop thinking about what might’ve happened if he’d gone instead.

Taako was the only reason he was still alive, and Angus had never really managed to repay him for that. He’d never managed to clear his name from Glamour Springs, and since then Taako was always taking care of him. Sure, Angus helped where he could, his detective work brought in some decent money every now and then, but it never seemed to be enough of a thanks.

And now Angus was left waiting at some dumb tavern while Taako went off to do something dangerous, and there was nothing he could do to help.

Even worse, Taako had left him with a useless, unnecessary job to try and make it seem like this wasn’t to keep him out of harm’s way. It was patronizing and Angus knew that Taako didn’t even mean it that way. He just didn’t want Angus to feel like he had nothing to do, even when that was the case.

Watch Barry Bluejeans, find out what he could about him. It was obvious that Taako didn’t actually think that was necessary. If Taako had been surprisingly comfortable around Merle and Magnus, he had actually been somewhat positive around Barry. Angus wasn’t sure what to think about that, it was so different from what he was used to from him.

A creeping worry came to Angus, and he quickly shut it down. It’d been a long time since he’d worried about that, now wasn’t the time to start. Taako could care about more people besides him. Taako caring about other people besides him was a good thing, since he really did seem to shut himself off a lot. Taako wasn’t ditching him to go off with Magnus and Merle.

Taako had told them he was his kid. He would be back.

Angus tried to move his mind away from those thoughts. Taako had told him to keep an eye on Barry, and even though it was clear that Taako didn’t think it was actually an important job, Angus wasn’t sure if he felt the same way. There was something weird about this guy.

For one thing, he was clearly lying about being a fighter. Of course Angus figured they could chalk his and Gundren’s capture up to ambush. Even a skilled fighter could be caught off guard and outnumbered, that wasn’t what made Angus suspicious. No, it was a lot of other things that added up to something not being right.

Barry had a long sword, but it was clearly new and had never seen any proper fighting. Of course someone could explain that away with it being something he got new for this job, but it wasn’t the only thing. He was wearing armor, but he walked strangely in it and pulled at the straps in annoyance like he wasn’t used to the feel and distribution of weight. His ‘this isn’t my first time at the bodyguard rodeo’ had been said with confidence, but Angus could still hear the lie underneath it.

So, he was lying about the whole fighter thing, which meant he might have other things he was keeping secret. If he was pretending to be a body guard to get on this job, he must have some sort of motivation on that.

Except whatever motivations must not be particularly dire, since he hadn’t even decided to go with Taako and the others to the secret cave.

It was definitely strange. Plus, Angus didn’t have much else to do. If he could actually figure out something useful from Barry by the time Taako came back, maybe he wouldn’t feel like the time spent waiting had been a total waste.

“Hello sir,” Angus said, walking up to the table that Barry Bluejeans was sitting at. He had his eyes closed and had looked really tired. Whatever his real motivations were, it was clear that he at least had been telling the truth about needing to rest. He jolted some when Angus spoke, taking a second to focus on him.

“Oh uh, hey kid. You didn’t go with the others?” he asked, and Angus had to resist the urge to pout at him bringing that up again. He didn’t need to go acting like a little kid in front of this guy, it was obvious that he already didn’t take him that seriously. Instead he shook his head, pulling out a chair and sitting down with Barry.

“No, Taako thought it would be too dangerous so he told me to wait here,” he said. Angus had some money on him, so when a waitress came by he ordered himself a sandwich and a drink. It had been a pretty long day. As much as he wasn’t happy with being forced to stay behind, he supposed he was thankful for the rest.

“Yeah that’s uh, that’s probably a good idea,” Barry said. He sounded a little awkward, like he didn’t know what he was supposed to be doing. “Hey I’m not supposed to be like, babysitting you am I? Cause no one asked me and I don’t really know what the kids are into these days,” he added.

“I don’t need a babysitter sir. I’m perfectly capable of watching myself for a few days,” Angus told him bluntly.

“Oh thank fuck,” Barry said, letting out a sigh of relief. Then he seemed to realize something and grimaced. “I mean, thank shit. Or, shoot? Uh,” he stumbled over his words, and Angus couldn’t help but be a little amused at that. It was still somewhat annoying, but it was also funny.

“You can say fuck in front of me sir. Taako does it all the time,” he said. The waitress came over with their food then, and she gave Angus a look at overhearing that, but he ignored that. He thanked her politely for the food as she left.

“Right. Taako… your, uh, your dad?” he asked, still sounding a little befuddled by that. Angus shrugged, taking a bite of his food before answering.

“More or less,” he said, because it was easier than anything else. There was no real need to tell Barry that ‘dad’ was more of a shorthand for how Taako was his teacher in magic and cooking, and protective like an older brother and silly like an uncle and respected Angus’s opinions like a good friend.

He really hoped he was safe.

“Sir, can I ask you something?” Angus asked, trying to sound as innocent and unassuming as possible. It wasn’t hard, especially when people underestimated him the way Barry was. If people were going to treat him like a little kid, he might as well use it to his advantage.

“Shoot kid,” he said, sticking most of a chicken wing in his mouth afterwards.

“Why are you pretending to be a bodyguard?” Angus asked, still keeping a bright smile on his face like there wasn’t anything strange with him asking this. Barry for his part spent a moment coughing, trying not to choke on the chicken wing. There was definitely a panicked caught red handed look on his face, so Angus had been right.

“I’m not- where did you- I uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about kiddo,” he said. He was fumbling over his words once he was able to speak again, the tone way too fake sweet at the end. Despite that Angus decided that he didn’t seem like a bad guy. Whatever his reasoning for faking this was, Angus didn’t get a sense that they were evil ones.

“You’re pretty okay at lying sir, but you’re clearly not a fighter. It doesn’t look like you’ve ever used that sword before, and you seemed real uncomfortable in your armor earlier,” Angus said. He wasn’t even wearing the armor anymore, he’d taken it off almost as soon as they were out of harm’s way. He was just in a t-shirt and some bluejeans now, and his build wasn’t exactly like the fighters Angus had seen when traveling around.

Barry looked like he was trying to think of some way to keep protesting for a moment, before sighing heavily.

“Alright, okay. You got me kid, I’m not a fighter. Not sure how you managed to pick that up so fast but uh, I guess we’re doing this now,” Barry said. Well, it was certainly nice to have it confirmed, and Angus figured they were past the point of pretending this was a casual conversation. So he pulled out a notebook to start taking down some the of the information.

“So, if you’re not a fighter then what are you?” Angus asked, and Barry gave an exaggerated shrug.

“Nothing? I’m not anything, I’m just- I’m just Barry kid, I don’t know what else to tell ya,” he said, picking at his food some. The weird part was that he sounded genuine. He certainly seemed to believe that he wasn’t anyone special, and Angus couldn’t see any other marks that would give away what he might specialize in. He very well might not be anything, but that didn’t explain why he was on such a strange mission.

“Why did you pretend to be a fighter then? Was there something you wanted from Gundren?” he asked, and at that question he seemed a little more uncomfortable.

“Fuck, I don’t know. It was just- I felt like it was a good thing to do. Might not've been the best way to go about it, I will admit that now. Still, finding that cave feels important,” he said, and Angus frowned some at that. He couldn’t tell what it was about Barry, there was clearly something suspicious about him, but he wouldn’t label it as shifty or anything like that. He’d almost say that Barry seemed to have as little of an idea what what he was doing as Angus did.

“And that’s it? You pretended to be a body guard and almost died all because you had a vague feeling it would be important?” Angus asked, not quite able to keep the skepticism out of his voice.

“Listen kid I don’t tell you how to live your life, alright?” Barry said, finishing off his plate of chicken wings. Angus had almost forgotten about his own food at this point.

“Still, you have to admit it’s a little weird and um, hard to believe,” he said.

“Yeah, you could certainly say that. I had the shit kicked out of me six ways to Sunday and now I’m being interrogated by a gumdrop. Pretty cool- pretty chill day I’m having,” he grumbled. Angus supposed he couldn’t blame him for not being in the best mood after everything that had gone down. He still looked pretty put upon at the gumdrop comment. Sure he was young but that didn't mean he couldn't take these things seriously.

“I just want to know if you have any idea what kind of things they’re going to find in that cave,” Angus said. He had a feeling that Barry wasn’t going to be up to much more questioning and that was the most important thing here.

“I don’t have any idea of what it is they’re gonna find in that cave. I just- I feel like I trust those three to take care of whatever it is that’s going on there,” he said. It wasn’t any sort of information Angus could work with, but apparently Barry was a guy who worked mostly off of vague feelings and intuition. Not the most helpful to a detective by a long shot.

Angus wished he could do more, but as it was he was stuck here with no real answers and no real way how to help. He sighed heavily, shutting his notebook, having barely taken down any information.

“Well, thank you sir,” he said, and Barry just kind of shrugged. He really hadn’t helped all that much, but still, it was polite to thank him for at least trying to answer his questions. Not a lot of people did after all.

As it was now though, there wasn’t anything to do but wait for Taako to get back.

He didn’t come back that night, and Angus told himself it was fine. It was a bit of a trip to wave echo cave, and then who knew how long it would take for them to rescue Gundren and see if Barry was telling the truth about the vault inside of it.

Angus was trying not to just wait around nervously all of the next day, but he still spent a lot of his time in the front room of the tavern or hanging out reading by the front steps. Barry had slept in late, and didn’t get down with the others until around noon.

It was around four in the afternoon when it happened.

Angus didn’t know what Gundren looked like. He knew he was a dwarf and that he was related to Merle, but that was it. Even if he had known what he looked like though, he might not have been able to identify him when he came into the tavern. He was shaking, breathing heavily, and he was on fire.

“What the- Gundren?” Barry said, and that was the only reason Angus knew who it was. If this was Gundren there where was- oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.

“I’ll kill them. I’ll kill all of them,” Gundren said. Angus figured he should run. He needed to get out of here and find out what happened to Taako. His feet wouldn't move. He'd jumped up from where he'd been sitting at a table, and he was frozen there, shaking.

He could see Barry running around now, rushing panicked people into the back of the tavern. He must’ve been shouting, but Angus didn’t notice until he got to him and shook him by the shoulder.

“Angus, fuck- kid listen to me. Go back and hide with the others,” he said, but Angus vehemently shook his head.

“No! No, I need to find Taako,” he said. He could see Barry grimace at that, and he knew why. It was a reasonable thing to assume but he hated it anyway.

“Fuck, kid I don’t know if-” he started, and then Gundren was shouting. It was almost unbearably hot in the tavern now, the fire around Gundren growing.

“Nope, okay fuck this,” Barry said. With that, he grabbed Angus by the wrist, and the two of them ran past Gundren and outside of the tavern.

——

Taako had to get back to Phandalin fucking immediately. Scratch that, he needed to be back yesterday. Or better yet, he should’ve never fucking left.

That mission had gone so sideways, he wasn’t even sure how. They were just supposed to get Gundren and like, a bunch of treasure. He wouldn’t have even gone on the mission if he hadn’t thought there was a good chance for a lot of fucking money. For some reason a part of him had trusted Barry’s word, but something had gone wrong.

He didn’t know what that weird glove was, but well, it was certainly magic. Some real powerful shit right there. He didn’t like it. It was strong and scary and could hurt a lot and made Taako feel like an idiot when he tried to think about it. The most eloquently he could put his thoughts into place was ‘bad touch ouchy glove.' Sure he was a dumbass, but it wasn’t usually that bad.

All he knew was that it was dangerous, and Gundren was probably heading back to Phandalin, so they needed to get the fucking lead out and go.

So of course Magnus and Merle insisted on stopping to run off some slavers. They took care of em quick and the orc kid wandered off almost immediately, but it was still more wasted time.

“Can we go already? Cha boy doesn’t have all day, my time is fucking precious and you fuckers and going through it like it’s an all you can eat buffet,” he snapped as he got back on the cart. He couldn’t stop moving, tapping his feet and picking at the wood of the cart and a buzz with more energy than he was rightfully comfortable with. Thankfully the other three were right behind him. At least Killian also seemed pretty urgent to get back to Phandalin, but that didn’t really bode well. She knew more about this glove than the rest of them did, so she was probably aware of how dangerous the thing was.

“Say, is he okay?” Killian asked, and Taako guessed she was trying to be subtle as she asked Merle, but he could still clearly hear them.

“Uh, I dunno. Hey Taako, are you okay?” Merle asked, and Taako could see Killian roll her eyes at that. At least she also recognized that that was pretty fucking stupid.

“I’m fucking peachy, today had been great. Spectacular, ten out of ten, would never do again,” he snapped, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“Oof, sorry I asked,” Merle said. Killian was looking at him darkly now, but Taako couldn’t really care.

“Look, if you’re going to try and get the ga- glovey, from Gundren, I can’t let you get near him,” she said, and that took Taako off guard. He hadn’t even been thinking about wanting that thing, and like fuck was he going to let her throw him off this fucking cart.

“What? No, fuck no. You can have that fucking flaming fist of doom bullshit, I don’t want any part of it thank you very much,” he said. He knew they were still moving as fast as the cart would let them, but he couldn’t help but feel like their talking was wasting time.

“Wait, are you serious? Then what are you so worked up about?” she asked, and Taako had been planning on just ignoring her.

“Oh! It’s Angus, isn’t it?” Magnus asked, like the idea had just occurred to him and Taako shot a glare at him. Sure, he was right, but he didn’t need to fucking call him out on it.

“Yes, okay, what else would I be worked up about?” he snapped, crossing his arms and turning away from the rest of them as much as possible.

“Who’s Angus?” he still managed to hear Killian ask, despite her attempt at a whisper.

“Taako’s kid or something. We left him in Phandalin,” Magnus said, somehow doing an even worse job at whispering.  

“Oooh! Ouch,” Killian said, and Taako really didn’t appreciate that. Angus would be fine. He was a smart kid. He would know to get the fuck away from a giant flaming dwarf.

The rest of the ride to Phandalin was short, and it wasn’t hard to figure out where Gundren had gone once they got there. Of course, the literal blazing trail led them straight to the same tavern they’d left Barry and Angus at. Which. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Okay, it wasn’t like everything was on fire yet. Shit could still be fine. They could still be okay.

Before they could actually get into the tavern Barry came barreling out, and there was more relief than Taako would ever admit to when he saw he was dragging Angus along with him by the wrist.

“Holy shit you guys are still alive!” Barry yelled, and Angus tore free from his hold and slammed into Taako’s side immediately. Kid was smart, he must’ve figured out that was Gundren and came to some reasonable conclusions about what happened to the rest of them.

Taako wrapped an arm around him, still keeping his eyes focused on Barry and the tavern. Angus was alive and Taako couldn’t tell if his shaking was from fear or overexerting himself but they could figure everything else out once they were safe and not about to be killed by some fiery dwarf man.

“Barry, we need you to help us calm Gundren, you know him,” Magnus was saying, and it was taking every ouch of Taako’s willpower not to just start running. He wasn’t even sure why he wasn’t. He had Angus, he didn’t need to fucking stay here anymore.

“Taako, what’s going on?” Angus asked, still clinging to him like he was worried Taako would disappear if he let go. Taako couldn’t blame him for that, it wasn’t like he was exactly pushing him off of him right now either.

“Fuck if I know pumpkin, shit broke bad,” he said, his voice a lot softer than he was used to hearing it.

“We need to go. Taako we gotta get everyone out of-” Angus started, but before he could finish speaking Gundren burst out of the tavern. Taako knew it wouldn’t do shit, but he still pushed Angus so that he as behind him as he could manage with the kid still refusing to let go of him.

They couldn’t fight Gundren, and Taako sure as fuck didn’t want to be the one to try. They almost managed to calm him down, Merle had been talking to him and it had been working.

Then that fucking orc kid. Taako hadn’t even wanted to stop for him, but for once they decided to be good people. Hell, the last time he decided to be a good person to a kid he got Angus, was a pretty damn good net gain.

This fucking kid shot Gundren in the chest though, and everything started going to literal hell.

“Get to the well get to the well get to the well!” Killian was shouting. Taako already had a hand on Angus, he’d never let go of Angus to begin with. For an instant he went to call for Barry to hurry up and follow them but-

But right, Barry was dead. He’d just watched the idiot get burned to a smoldering pile of ashes. He didn’t know why his brain had just glazed over that.

Taako wasn’t fucking strong, but he still managed to heft Angus up and start running to the well. Sure the kid could run on his own but hey, he was fucking panicking. “Taako, wait!” Angus tried to protest, but he wasn’t listening to that. They needed to get out of here and Taako had never been more sure that they would fucking die if they didn’t.

He couldn’t help but be relieved when Merle and Magnus came running after them too though. There was something about those two chucklefucks, and he didn’t want to lose them either.

He jumped in the well after Killian, the feather fall working as intended. It managed to keep Magnus and Merle from landing on the two of them, although Killian still seemed to take the brunt of the force of all of them falling. Not that he could focus on any of that.

The sound of the fire burning above them was near fucking deafening. Angus had stopped trying to get out of his grasp at this point, seeming satisfied that at least Magnus and Merle were with them. He was clinging to Taako again, his face buried in his chest. Taako help him as close as possible, eyes shut tight and hoping that they were far enough down that they wouldn’t be burned.  

Taako couldn’t tell if it was Angus shaking, or if he was too, or if it was just the whole fucking world rumbling around them. Strong contender being all three.

Slowly but surely the sounds of the fire died down, and the heat that felt like it was threatening to bake them alive lessened. It was still hot as fuck, but they could breathe again.

After a long, long moment, Taako let out a breath and looked up. He could still see the sky up above them through the hole of the well, showers of sparks and ash floating through the sky, but surprisingly less smoke than he’d expected.

Angus was still alive, shaking and crying against him. Magnus and Merle were still alive, staring up dumbfounded as well.

Taako had no fucking idea what they were going to do now, but they were alive, so at least they could do something.

Notes:

see, it's fine! everything's fine! i will say i saw all of you who were worried i would kill angus or even just separate him and taako, and while i love your desires for angst i am a weak person who could not do that kinda Pain. there is an AU of this fic in my head tho where angus and taako got separated after traveling together for about a year and only meet back up in rockport limited tho, so like, the concept is not completely out of the question at least theoretically

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 25: Surprises, To Say The Least

“We… really suck at this,” Merle said, and Taako still felt fucking shaky as he nodded in agreement. They were at the bottom of a well, and they were alive, but fuck had that not been a favorable series of events.

“You alright pumpkin?” he asked, his voice softer than it had any right to be. He was carding his fingers through Angus’s hair, the boy still huddled up against him as much as possible. He could feel Angus nodding, still trembling pretty badly. Still, it was good enough for now.

“Oh yeah, I feel fine,” Magnus said, and Taako shot him a glare.

“I wasn’t talking to you my dude,” he snapped, and Magnus looked pretty sheepish after that.

“Oh right, your kid’s okay?” he asked, and he sounded like he was genuinely worried about that, despite the fact that he’d apparently forgotten about Angus’s existence for a minute there. Taako guessed he couldn’t blame him too much, there was a fucking lot going on right now.

“I’m fine sir,” Angus muttered, and Taako kind of doubted that but he wasn’t going to die so they could deal with everything else later. It was quiet for a long moment after that, none of them that sure what to actually do.

“So, does anyone know how to levitate or?” Taako blurted out, and that got a laugh from the other three. Angus still seemed pretty shaken up, but he finally pulled away from where he’d been clutched up against Taako. He was still in Taako's lap, but there wasn't much room for him to move away to begin with. His hands were shaking pretty bad as he wiped away a few tears, but Taako couldn’t see anything majorly wrong with him for the moment.

“I think we just live at the bottom of this well now,” Magnus said, and that got a snort out of Taako as well.

It took quite a bit of figuring out, but eventually they managed to get stock of their situation. Killian was out cold, but they could use a rope to pull her up and climb the well themselves.

“Hey Ango, I want you to stay down here till we figure this out, okay?” Taako said. Magnus had already started climbing up with the rope so he could help the rest of them afterwards.

“But-” he started to protest, but Taako shook his head. He was still- fuck. He was more shaken up by all of this than he was trying to appear, and he wasn’t going to risk Angus fucking dying again. That was too close. That had been way too fucking close.

“Just until we figure out if that glove’s still a danger. Just- please Angus,” he said, and he could see the boy’s resolve climbing before he nodded.

“Be careful. Let me know what’s going on,” he said, and Taako nodded. It wasn’t much longer before Magnus was up and they were making their own way out of the well, pulling Killian along with them once they were done.

As soon as they got out of the well Taako froze. Everything was gone. It was- he hadn’t recognized it in the safe, he’d thought they’d just built the thing like that for some reason. It was exactly like that weird circle of glass they’d found forever ago, the one that Angus had been frustrated with.

Well, he guessed this explained what the fuck had happened there.

In the center of the glass was the burned out figure of Gundren, just like how they’d found his dad. The glove was still on him arm, and Taako really didn’t fucking like that thing. None of them had any fucking idea what they should do with it either, because they couldn’t just leave the thing here. It was way too fucking dangerous.

Eventually, Merle managed to do something useful and healed Killian enough that she could start to explain some stuff to them. Still not a fucking lot, because of that weirdass static. Still, it was enough for Taako to go and grab the glove, shoving it into his bag immediately afterwards.

“Listen, I think we could use people like you. I promise I’m gonna bring the three of you in, and then we can explain everything,” Killian said, and that sounded good. An explanation was definitely something Taako could fucking use right now.

“Four,” he corrected, because that was important.

“What?” she asked, seeming taken off guard. Taako was already starting to walk back towards the well, not paying her too much mind. It seemed safe enough now that the glove was hidden in his bag. He figured Angus would start to get frustrated if he didn’t start trying to fill him in soon anyway.

“You’re bringing the four of us in. Or two. I don’t care what these chucklefucks do but I’m not going without Angus,” he said. When he peaked down the well he could see Angus staring up at him. Fuck, it was a long climb. “Everything’s good pumpkin. Do you think you can climb up or do you want me to send Mag’s down to carry you?” he called down.

“I can climb up!” Angus yelled back, and Taako wasn’t sure how much he believed that so he stayed sitting by the edge of the well. Or, the hole that used to be a well.

“Hold on a second now, I don’t- I’m pretty sure I can’t just bring a kid up to the- back to our base,” Killian said, and Taako shrugged.

“Sucks for you. Either Angus comes or we’re bouncing, at this point I couldn’t fucking care anymore,” he said. Fuck, he was tired. He just wanted to go somewhere safe and rest for like a month and make sure Angus wasn’t trying to hide any horrible burns from him.

“I don’t- I’ll need to get permission from my superior. Get the kid out of the hole and I’ll go see what we can do,” she said, starting to walk off, messing with that thing on her wrist.

“Um, Taako? I don’t think I can get up on my own actually,” Angus called up again, sounding sheepish. Taako glanced over and he could see Angus still at the bottom of the well, wringing his hands somewhat. He could remember how much the kid was shaking, he figured he probably wouldn’t be able to pull himself up when he was like that.

“No problem Ango,” he called down, and then turned towards Magnus. “Hey! Go get my fucking kid out of the well,” he shouted. Magnus seemed to pull himself out of staring around at the vast expanse of black glass and nodded.

“You got it,” he said. Taako watched as he carefully lowered himself down with the rope, getting Angus to cling to his back before starting to climb back up again.

“I don’t weigh anything to you, do I sir?” Angus asked once they were about halfway up. Magnus shook his head, not seeming bothered by the extra weight at all.

“Nah, it’s like holding a couple of grapes,” he said, and Taako snorted at that. It didn’t take much longer for them two to reach the top of the well, and Taako helped pull Angus up and to his feet once they were close enough to the top.

He could feel Angus lock up as he looked around them, and he knew exactly what the kid must’ve been thinking of. He looked horrified, and Taako couldn’t exactly blame him.

“Oh,” he said simply, and Taako didn’t know what the fuck he was supposed to do here. He wasn’t sure what any of them were supposed to do.

“You okay pumpkin? You didn’t get burned any, did you?” Taako asked, leaning down in front of Angus to try and get a better look at him now that they weren’t cramped up in a dark well. Angus just fell forward into him, clinging to him in a shaking hug.

“Everything’s gone,” he said, and Taako sighed, rubbing his back as he nodded.

“Yeah, shit got pretty fucked up,” he said. Killian was finally walking back towards them now, and he gave Angus one last pat on the back before pulling away and standing up again.

“Alright, I got you cleared. All of you, don’t worry,” she said before Taako could make a comment. “Come on now, we need a better place to call for transport,” she said. Taako made sure he had a hand on Angus’s shoulder as they followed after her, and slowly they made their way to the edge of the circle. Once they got there Killian did something with her bracer, and a few minutes and an awkward attempt at small talk later there was some sort of weird glass ball falling from the sky.

There were only four chairs inside, so Taako pulled Angus up onto his lap. “Oofa-doofa, you are definitely getting too big for this kinda shit,” Taako said.

“Magnus said I’m like holding a couple of grapes,” Angus insisted, and Taako snorted.

“You can fucking go sit on Magnus’s lap if you want then,” he said, but Angus didn’t move.

“I’d rather stay here for now dad,” Angus said quietly, and Taako nodded, not sure how to fucking respond to that. Angus didn’t exactly call him dad super often.

He’d been consistently referring to Angus as his kid all day today though, so he couldn’t really talk.

He didn’t have much longer to think about it, because then the sphere was rising up, and he figured there was a lot more important stuff to pay attention to.

——

Lucretia had been waiting by her stone of farspeech, not knowing when the call would come but hoping it would be soon. She needed this to work. If she couldn’t get them to join her up here, she didn’t know how she was ever going to fix all of their mistakes.

Finally she felt it buzz against her chest, and she quickly answered it.

“Madame Director, there’s um, a lot has happened,” Killian’s voice came in, and so far at least that was good. She was always worried when having to send in the regulators. She instructed them to stay away from the relics, but it was rare that they would be able to stay far away enough for the thrall not to reach them.

“Hello Killian, have you been able to apprehend Magic Brian and the Gauntlet?” she asked. She wanted to ask about more, but she couldn’t give herself away. Not yet.

“Brian is… he died. There were these adventurers? He managed to get the better of me, but they came in and killed him,” she explained, and Lucretia couldn’t help but feel regret about Brian. She would’ve hoped they could have gotten him back alive, but that was almost impossible once someone was in the thrall. It was impossible, if she was being honest and not hopeful.

“We uh, we did reclaim the relic though. Those adventurers? They, I don’t fucking know how but they were able to resist the thrall. They have the relic now and they're just... not using it,” she said, and Lucretia let out a huge sigh of relief. They were able to do it. She never doubted them but hearing that was like music to her ears.

“If you were indeed able to find individuals who were able to resist the thrall of the relic, we should bring them up to the bureau immediately,” she said, and she knew it was reasonable. So far they hadn’t found anyone who could be able to resist the thrall. People who could were invaluable to them.

“Yeah, there’s just um, two things before that,” Killian said, and she sounded extremely hesitant about that.

“What is it?” Lucretia asked.

“Well, first things first, Phandalin is, uh, gone,” she said, and Lucretia felt her heart sink at that. She couldn’t say she was surprised, but it was still- she had hoped they would have been able to get the gauntlet back without another tragedy. She guessed she shouldn’t have been so optimistic.

“The sooner you get back with the gauntlet and we can destroy it, the sooner we can be sure nothing like that happens again,” she said, her voice grim. “The second thing?” she asked.

“Uh, one of the adventurers who reclaimed the relic? He has a kid, and he’s refusing to come up unless we let him bring his son,” Killian said, and Lucretia almost choked in surprise at that. She hadn’t- she had kept an eye on them at first, but several years ago she’d lost track of them all. She got too busy building the bureau, she didn’t have the time to keep watch like she would’ve liked to.

She knew Merle did have a son, but she had kept tabs on his family. They were the only ones she had been able to keep track of, and she knew his son was still safely with his mother on the beach. He had been for the past several years, ever since she lost track of Merle.

It had to be Magnus. She hadn’t- she knew he had gotten married at one point, but she had no idea.

“It’s not typical procedure, but if these people are indeed capable of resisting the thrall, I believe we should go along and bring them up. Let him know he can bring his son and we’ll have him inoculated as well,” she said, and she figured that had to sound reasonable. They were in such desperate need of people who could resist the thrall, of course she’d make an exception like that. No one could tell if she was maybe playing favorites a bit.

“Alright, I’ll bring them up,” Killian said, and then the stone went quiet and Lucretia slumped back into her chair. She hadn’t ever imagined something like this happening.

It would be alright, this wasn’t going to change anything. They’d keep Magnus’s son up on the moon base during the missions, it would be safe for him up here.

The wait for them to join her was almost tortuous. When Killian came in and said that they had arrived, she quickly gave her the clearance to get the three, the four, inoculated. She couldn’t explain what they did here and offer them a proper job if they couldn’t understand her after all.

It wasn’t too much later that they walked in, and she was taken off guard by how different they looked. They’d aged, and she knew that was going to happen, but there were other things too. Differences that she couldn’t quite place more so than she could feel from the ways they moved and looked around.

Seeing them was still the best sight she’d had in nearly ten years.

There was a boy with them, older than Lucretia had expected. He had to be about nine or so, and he didn’t look much like Magnus other than the fact that they were both human. He must’ve taken after Magnus’s wife. Lucretia had always wished she’d at least gotten an opportunity to see her, even if they could never properly meet. His eyes were darting around the room, clearing trying to take in and analyze as much as he could. It was easy to see how sharp he was, even at a glance.

“Welcome, the thr- the four of you, to the bureau of balance. We’re very happy to have you, I’ve heard a lot of great things about your performance from Killian. Before we go any further I’m going to need you to hand over the gauntlet so that it could be destroyed promptly,” she said. As happy as she was to see them, she needed to get that squared away with first, it was the most important thing.

“But it’s our gauntlet,” Magnus said, almost in a whine. It certainly wasn’t the tone of someone under the thrall, so even though they weren’t handing it over right away she wasn’t worried.

“Yeah, that’s kind of the business we’re in. You know, we get stuff, and people pay us for it,” Merle added.

“Oh, you will be payed very- very handsomely,” she tried to assure them.

“Sorry ma’am, but that’s the kind of thing people say if by paying us you’re going to kill us,” the small boy said. Lucretia hadn’t been sure what he was going to be like, but she supposed that answered it.

“Yeah, major murdery vibes going on there,” Taako agreed, nodding thoughtfully.

“No, that’s not how the bureau works, give me a moment,” she said, stopping and calling for Davenport. Once he came in with the reward money and she assured them that they could be there to witness the relic’s destruction they seemed much more willing to hand over the gauntlet. As soon as it was in the disposal chamber and Lucretia activated the spell she felt an immense sense of relief.

This was happening. This was really starting, she could do this.

“We would be happy to hire the three of you on as reclaimers. Of course we’ll be glad to provide room and board for your son as well, Magnus. Let me explain, our organization-” she started, but before she could get into the workings of their organization Magnus made a face and quickly shook his head.

“Oh, oh no. Not- you mean Angus? Not my kid, nope, sorry,” he said, taking a large sidestep away from the boy for good measure. She paused at that, and she was sure for a few moments she wasn’t able to hide her confusion.

“I had assumed…” she said, and Magnus nodded emphatically.

“I get it, I’m human, the kid’s human, but nope. Not- not a dad,” Magnus insisted. Lucretia tried to school her face into a more neutral, reasonable level of surprised. She was looking between the four of them now, and she had thought that this boy, Angus, had been standing next to Magnus. Merle was off a little ways to the other side of them, and now how Magnus had moved away it was just him and Taako.

“Are you- is he yours?” she asked, not quite able to keep the disbelief out of her voice. She’d been prepared for them to show up, she’d even tried to prepare herself for Magnus having a child, but this was-

This was a surprise to say the least.

“Yes he’s mine I birthed him,” Taako said, and as much as she had missed their goofs, they weren’t helping right now. She wanted to say that the whole thing was a joke, but Merle certainly didn’t seem to have any inclination towards the boy.

“Taako, I think this is serious,” the child said, and Taako pouted at that. “Hello ma’am, I didn’t introduce myself properly. My name’s Angus, Taako’s my guardian,” Angus explained. Taako was still frowning somewhat through the explanation.

“Guardian makes me sound like I’m supposed to be responsible, ugh,” Taako grumbled. Then he reached over and roughly ruffled Angus’s hair, and Lucretia could see the affection in his face. He wasn’t even trying to hide it that much. “But yeah, the brat’s mine if you gotta like, ascribe ownership. You can go through me if you need to do stuff with him I guess, but he’s a lot smarter than I am so you might as well talk to him directly.”

“I’d rather you speak to both of us, we’re a team,” Angus said, and Taako nodded in agreement.

“Of course,” Lucretia said, forcing herself to be calm and civil abut this. She could process it later, when she was alone in her quarters.

She couldn’t stop thinking about it though. Taako had a son. They weren’t even denying it. Taako had a son. She knew Taako had a greater capacity to care for others than he let on, but she wouldn’t have ever expected this.

She’d been so worried about how the voidfishing would affect them, she’d seen how much it had changed Davenport. She wasn’t sure what this was, how the bits of themselves she’d taken away might have changed them.

She could see the poorly concealed care Taako had for the boy when he looked down at him though, and she decided that if nothing else, this one aspect was a good thing.

This had to be a good thing.

——

Today had been a very, very long day.

Phandalin was gone. Mr. Barry died. They were all taken to the moon and saw a giant jellyfish that could wipe people’s memories. It was a lot.

This explained what that strange glass circle they’d found so long ago was. Angus had been wondering about that every so often, and he’d wanted to know the answer. He was fairly sure he hadn’t wanted to find out like this though.

Once they drank from that strange, pretty voidfish they could actually know some of the details about what was going on. There were relics. They were incredibly dangerous, powerful things and Taako and the others had found one. They could have died. They almost did die and Angus still felt shaky about that thought but he was trying to hold himself together.

There’d been a war for the relics. It was too long ago that even with that strange static lifted from his mind Angus couldn’t remember anything from it. Maybe once he and Taako were alone he could ask him for some more details on it, but until then he only knew the basics. It’d been a terrible war, and things like what happened in Phandalin were happening all the time. To get it to stop this organization, the Bureau of Balance, had made everyone forget all about it.

And now the Bureau wanted to hire Taako and Magnus and Merle to hunt down these relics, because they had been able to resist using the gauntlet.

Angus really wasn’t sure how on board for this plan he was. He didn’t- it was dangerous.

He didn’t know what he’d do if he lost Taako to this.

They could talk about that later, once they were alone. It wasn’t that Angus didn’t trust these people yet it was just that, well, yeah he didn’t trust them yet. They’d all been nice to them so far, especially when the world had been so spiny and horrible as they walked around the moon base before getting inoculated. It seemed like they were doing a good thing here too.

It was all so much though, Angus didn’t want to make any calls until he heard how Taako was feeling without anyone else around.

He wasn’t sure if he would get that chance though. The director lady had been explaining that they needed to do some trial before they could be officially hired. Honestly, the organization did sound neat, and if they were going to stay here Angus wanted to know more about that seeker position. It would probably take some convincing for them to properly hire him though. Right now it seemed like they were only letting him stay because of Taako.

The director had seemed so surprised to find out he was Taako’s kid. Angus didn’t know what that was about with these people. He could understand her making the wrong assumption and thinking he was Magnus’s for some reason, but he could see the way she was trying to conceal her shock when she found out who his actual guardian was.

Angus couldn’t really think about that right now though. They’d been talking about a trial, and Angus wanted to object when Taako didn’t put himself as the smartest, but he didn’t know if that would be cheating or not. Still, they chose their positions, and then the Director had tapped her staff on the ground.

All three of them dropped to the floor in unconscious heaps, and Angus had his wand out and pointed at the director in an instant. Thank the gods he had his wand on him while he’d been waiting for Taako. A lot of his stuff had been up in the room they rented and was gone now.

“What did you do!? Wake them up!” he shouted, and he could see the surprise on the Director’s face. It quickly shifted into what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, but Angus wasn’t trusting it as long as Taako was unconscious at his feet without any sort of explanation.

“Angus, it’s quite all right. They’re just asleep. We want their trial to be a surprise after all,” she said, and it didn’t sound like she was lying. Angus still wasn’t sure how much he could trust her though. He didn’t say anything, still staring right at her and not lowering his wand. He doubted he could do anything to seriously harm her. He got the feeling she was an insanely powerful magic user, but he wasn’t going to do nothing.

“You can watch the whole trial of initiation if you would like, I promise that they will be fully prepped and awake before the trial truly begins,” she added. Reluctantly Angus lowered his wand and nodded. With that she clapped her hands and a few guards came out and started carrying their unconscious forms away. Angus rushed after them, and he could see they were all still breathing, they really were just asleep, but he couldn’t help but be worried.

They were taken to a large dome, and there seemed to be some kind of training area inside. Once there, one of the guards took Merle one way, and two others started carrying Magnus another. Angus made to follow the one carrying Taako, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Come with me Angus. We have an observation area where we’ll be able to watch the whole thing,” she said. Angus hesitated, looking off to where they were carrying Taako through these large metal double doors. “They’ll need to go through the trail on their own. I have full faith that they’ll be able to do it,” she said.

“Fine,” he grumbled reluctantly, starting to follow the Director. They got up to some big booth, and there were already two seats in it. That gnome from before, Davenport, was already sitting in one though, and the director called for a guard to bring another.

“Madame Director?” Angus asked once they were seated. He could see a guard bringing Taako into a large area now, placing him down on the ground. Another was strapping Merle into some device, and Magnus was being placed onto some catwalk up above the area Taako was in.

“Yes Angus?” she asked.

“I understand that you are a very strong magic user and have this whole fancy moon base backing you up. I’m just a little boy and I don’t know a lot of spells yet, but I’ve had a very long day, and if you kill my dad I promise I will take down this entire establishment,” he said. He knew trying to sound super threatening wouldn’t result in much, so instead he said it all casually.

“I promise you Angus that is not going to be an issue,” she said, and he could hear both amusement and fondness in her voice at that.

“For your sake it better not be,” he said, knowing that his threats probably meant nothing to her.

With that, she tapped her oak staff on the ground again, and the three started waking up. Angus leaned forward, trying to ignore the way his hands were still shaking, and started to listen in as the director began to explain the trail of initiation.

Notes:

holy shit 25 chapters in and we finally got a POV that isn't taako or angus. other POVs probably aren't gonna be like, super common, but ya know, they happen. finally got he boys at the bureau though, i swear i never actually intended for this fic to end up being so long.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 26: A Very Long Day

Barry Bluejeans slowly forced himself up through the black glass that had once been the town of Phandalin, his form shaking and erratic for a long moment. He’d been so close. His family, the gauntlet, they were all there. Where was Lup? Where were they?

Looking up, he could see a retreating pod that he knew was from Lucretia’s new organization, and he allowed himself a small bit of relief. They had at least managed to survive the gauntlet, somehow. Even if that meant Lucretia had it now. That she could finally put her plan into action.

But why wasn’t Lup with them?

Slowly, Barry started making his way from the destroyed town of Phandalin. He wasn’t far from the cave he’d picked out for his hideout at least. As he moved he let his mind unscramble the scattered mess of a century of memories that always came whenever he died. He also sorted through the new ones, trying to reflect on the things he might’ve discovered without realizing it while in a body. Any hint that could lead him closer to getting his family back, to stopping all of this.

It took longer than he was proud to admit for him to realize the very, very strange thing that had been going on when he met up with Taako, Magnus, and Merle. They had all been different, Barry could see the effects of the voidfish in them clearly now. They hurt to think about, but luckily there was something else that he could think about instead.

When the fuck did Taako get a kid?

Barry was about halfway back to his hideout when he had to stop in the middle of the woods and start laughing. It was in disbelief and a little bit hysterical, but considering everything Barry felt that was somewhat warranted. Shit. Holy shit. He hadn’t thought much of it when he was alive, because of course he wouldn’t, but now he could think clearly. He felt like Taako with a kid had been odd and boy howdy had he been right on the money with that one.

Fuck, he wished he’d gotten to spend more time with them. Of course he wanted that, all he ever wanted over the past decade was the chance to see his family again, really see them. This was a bit different though, this was a befuddling development that almost left Barry giddy as he thought about it. He was trying to piece together as much as he could, but neither Taako or Angus had talked much about it. Kid was adopted, which, obviously. Kid was not legally adopted, also not surprising.

Taako still considered him adopted though. That kid Angus had still called Taako his dad. Shit was fucking wild! Barry had a nephew! He was an uncle!

There had been moments, half wished thoughts in the back of his mind as they planned for a way to stop running, to defeat the hunger. The idea of actually getting to live a life without the constant fear of it being ripped away from them. The idea of maybe one day starting a family.

He hadn’t even talked to Lup about that. He didn’t want to get his hope up for things that might never happen, or pressure her into any of it.

Whenever Barry had thought about that sort of thing though, he’d never imagined Taako beating them to the punch on the whole kid front. It was almost funny.

Barry wished he could’ve spoken to Angus more. They talked for a bit in the tavern, and holy shit he was a sharp kid. He saw through Barry’s lies like they were nothing and had no problem calling him out on them either. Sure, Barry knew he wasn’t exactly slick, but for a kid who was like nine that was still pretty damn impressive.

He’d only known Angus for barely over a day, but Barry could see how he was the kind of kid Taako would want to take under his wing. Sure, the idea of Taako taking a kid under his wing at all was fucking mind boggling, but he could still see it.

Some hyper intelligent kid without parents, off on his own who wasn’t afraid to call out people’s bullshit. Yeah, he could see why Taako would like him.

Today had been an incredibly terrible series of events, more so than Barry could even describe. He got to see his family again though. He knew they were, at least for the moment, alive and safe.

He kept laughing as he thought about how serious Angus had been while trying to interrogate him, about the obvious care Taako had for the boy. It was one good thing to focus on.

God, he needed to find Lup soon. He could only imagine what a kick she’d get out of this.

———

Taako woke up after not remembering falling asleep. He was in the middle of some big arena like place. He could see Merle strapped into some weird canon and Magnus up on a long catwalk, both of them also waking up.

Looking around, he couldn’t see Angus anywhere. Before he could start properly freaking out about that the director’s voice began explaining the trial that they were going to be doing. It sounded dangerous as shit, and Taako was already starting to regret not volunteering himself as the smartest instead. He'd much rather be safe out there in some weird canon.

Maybe it was a good thing he couldn’t see Angus around anywhere right now.

“Do you all have any questions before we begin?” she asked, and Taako figured she meant about the test, but he wasn’t super concerned with that. At the basics, it was simple as fuck. Get some shiny rocks off the ogres, don't let them see you, no problem.

“Yeah, just one. Where’d you hide my boy?” he asked. These people seemed like they were pretty solidly good aligned, so Taako doubted they’d hurt him. Hell, he doubted Angus would let them do anything without a hell of a fight, but he’d rather have some concrete answers anyway. Taako heard a little bit of fumbling, like whatever the director was speaking into to broadcast her voice was being grabbed.

“Hi Taako! I’m watching you up here with the Director! Good luck I love you!” Angus’s voice came out over the same device the director had been using. Taako snorted, giving an exaggerated roll of his eyes to give them the best chance of being able to see wherever they were watching from.

“That answers that I guess, let’s get this show on the road then,” he said.

By the time they finished with the trial, Taako was wishing they’d asked more questions. Like, if there were any take-backs, or if there was a trial he could take that wouldn’t result in an ogre punching him so hard he almost fucking died.

He didn’t die though. Magnus rushed in and saved his ass, and then the umbrella he’d picked up in the cave started doing some magic shit and turned out to be a pretty damn powerful spell focus. He’d almost forgotten all about the thing with everything that had happened.

The second they were back in the director’s office Taako was almost knocked over when Angus slammed into his side. He couldn’t even pretend to be surprised, this was at least the second time today he’d done that. Fuck, today had been so goddamn long.

“Oof, careful there pumpkin. The ogre nearly killed me, I don’t need you finishing the job,” he said, only partially joking. There was still a look of concern on Angus’s face when he pulled back. His hands bunched up tight in Taako’s robes, and he could see how bad they were shaking. Yeah, there was no fucking way this wasn’t all hell on the kid’s nerves.

“I was worried. I almost lit madame director on fire,” he said, and Taako snorted even though he knew that wasn’t in the slightest bit a joke. At least when he glanced over at the woman in charge of this whole establishment she seemed both not charred and not bothered by the apparent attempted arson.

If anything, she had a pretty fond look on her face as she watched them. She seemed to hide it away pretty quick once he was looking up at her though. Taako tried to look a little more professional as well, giving Angus a simple pat on the head (because he’d been watching all of that and fuck today had been so long. This was like the third time he probably thought Taako was gonna die in the last 24 hours they needed a goddamn break) before pulling away. Standing up he tried to pay attention as she started congratulating them on passing the trial and officially joining the bureau.

When they brought out some of those bracers everyone at this place wore, Taako didn’t think much about putting on the one specially made for him. There was a slight hint of regret when the ‘immovable’ part was mentioned. And the apparent tracker inside. That could cause some issues if they ever needed to bounce quick.

Then he noticed Angus grabbing his own, and Taako snatched it out of his hand before he could slap the thing on his wrist.

“Hey!” Angus complained, trying to grab it back from him. Taako easily held it out of his reach though, Angus huffing in frustration. Taako was pretty sure Angus was small for his age. It made sense considering what he'd been though, but Taako tried not to think about that too much.

“Is something the matter?” the director asked.

“Are we playing monkey in the middle?” Merle added, and Taako rolled his eyes at that.

“What? No,” Taako said, crossing his arms but still making sure to keep a firm hold on the bracer so Angus couldn’t take it.

“Why can’t I have it? Everyone else here does, I want to be a part of this too,” Angus pressed, clearly annoyed. Taako couldn’t blame him too much for that, he didn’t normally ban him from shit. Still, this one seemed pretty reasonable if anyone asked him.

“Hey, I’m all for you joining the moon base too pumpkin, but she just said this shit’s immovable. It’s not exactly made out of something stretch to fit either,” Taako said. Angus looked a little more understanding now, although still not too happy with that. Taako turned towards the director, ignoring Angus’s pouting.

“Like, you get why that’s a bad idea right? You’re aware that humans like, grow? I swear the brat has like, doubled in size since I first got him and I’m pretty sure it’s going to keep happening!” he said, and he was definitely exaggerating there. His point still stood though, and Angus had grown, even if it was probably slower than it was supposed to be at his age. He didn't know a lot about how humans work though, so it might have been the normal amount of growing. Taako could see a sudden look of realization on the director's face as he pointed that out, as if she had in fact forgotten that human children grow.

“Oh, shit,” she said.

“I haven’t grown that much Taako,” Angus argued, but that didn’t change anything.

“No, no that’s an incredibly fair point. I’m afraid we haven’t had any children join our organization before, it had slipped my mind,” she said, and Taako almost laughed at that. She really had just fucking forgot. “Um, I’m afraid the bracer is also a key to most rooms within the bureau. We’ll get working on creating Angus a removable alternative right away,” she added.

“I guess that works too,” Angus said, not sounding very happy about that. Taako rolled his eyes, handing the bracer back to Davenport so that Angus couldn’t try and take it again. Normally Taako was cool with stealing shit, and like, encouraged it. He’d rather not steal things with trackers in them though, that could end badly.

“Until we have that finished, you can simply ask anyone in the bureau to let you into a room if it’s locked. Or you can stick by Taako, either way it should only take a few hours,” the director said, which seemed good enough for him. He wasn’t planning on letting Angus out of his sight in this place so soon anyway.

Taako was only halfway paying attention for the rest of this whole introduction to the bureau. At some point Angus had pulled out his little detective notebook and started taking down notes, so he figured the kid had it covered. They were given some fancy coins as payment in addition to the fuckton of gold. The Director only seemed to hesitate slightly before giving Angus one too.

They were heading to get those redeemed now, and apparently once they finished with that there’d be a room ready for them.

“Taako, can I see your umbrella?” Angus asked as they walked down the hall, a little ways behind Magnus and Merle. Taako had been pretty thoroughly zoned out but nodded, unhooking the arcane focus from his wrist. He’d asked the director, but she didn’t have any idea what it was.

“Yeah just be careful, it’s um, moody? I think?” he said, holding it out for Angus. He didn’t actually let go of the handle for a moment though, not until he was fairly sure it wasn’t going to try and blast his kid across the hall.

It didn’t, and Angus only gave it a cursory look over before handing it back. Taako figured he’d do some proper investigation later if this artificer they were going to didn’t have any answers. He couldn’t blame the kid for being too tired to get deep into it now.

“Where’d you get that? I don’t remember it,” Angus asked, and Taako shrugged, hooking it back around his wrist.

“It was in the cave. Stole it off some dead skeleton, you know, just like, random cool cave loot,” Taako said. Angus was smiling a little now.

“A dead skeleton, as opposed to a living one, right?” he asked, and Taako snorted.

“I’m fucking tired, okay?” he said, not a super good defense.

“Hey, skeletons are alive sometimes!” Magnus called back to them. Thankfully before they could get too into this argument they reached the dome with the artificer’s chamber.

Turned out the dude did know some stuff about the umbrella, apparently called an umbrastaff. It seemed like a pretty powerful artifact, so good score on that one. Taako didn’t pay much attention after that, the gnome going on about how the gashapon worked. Like, he knew how a gashapon machine worked, it didn’t need some in depth explanation.

So, he pretended not to know how the damn thing worked, trying to give Leon his coin and trying to turn the crank the wrong way. It left Leon about to pull his hair out and Angus practically giggling on the floor, so Taako figured all and all a pretty successful goof. He ended up getting a frosty ring out of the machine, which was pretty cool. Merle got some earring and Magnus got a tree-killing ax.

When Angus went, he almost wasn’t able to reach the slot for the coin. Taako peaked over his shoulder as he opened the shoe box sized capsule that came out. Inside was a dark blue robe, several silver stars around the shoulders. Angus was throwing it on as soon as he had the capsule open, and Taako helped adjust the hood. It seemed a little long for the kid, but he’d probably grow into it.

“Well, let’s see what you’ve got there,” Leon said, glancing between an excited Angus and his book. “Oh! This is- hmm, you’re sure you’ve joined the bureau and gotten a token?” he asked, and Angus frowned at that.

“Yes, I’m sure,” he said, used to adults being skeptical of what he could do. Even though it was a pretty common thing, Taako still found himself frowning in annoyance.

“Yeah, he helped get one of those relics. Let destiny or whatever do its thing,” he argued. It seemed to be enough to get Leon to go along with this.

“Alright, alright just making sure,” he said before starting to read from his book again. “This very fashionable cloak is called the robe of stars. Once a day you can peal one of those stars off of the cloak and use it to cast a very powerful magic missile. It also offers you a little bit of extra protection in battle, although I’m assuming that won’t be too much of an issue for you, as well as giving you the ability to escape away into another plane for a short time,” Leon explained.

“Hell yeah pumpkin, good score,” he said, ruffling Angus’s hair.

One of the guards told them that their room was done, and Taako was fully on board with heading straight there and passing the fuck out. The room was quite a bit less spectacular than Taako would have hoped, especially for a fancy secret moon base. It wasn’t as shitty as some of the places they’d stayed for sure, but the downside was that they had to share with the boner squad.

Still, Angus seemed excited, quickly climbing up to the top bunk of one of the two beds. Maybe a little forced with how tired he had to be, but otherwise pretty genuine. Taako flopped down on the bottom bunk, only vaguely listening in while Magnus and Merle tried to figure out who got which bunk on their side.

Well, this was happening. Taako wasn’t sure what they were going to do from here, but it seemed like they were in this now for the long haul. It was a fancy job that might get him killed, but fuck if it didn’t pay well. It made sense that Angus was excited. This was it, at least for now. Somehow they got roped into all of this and the moon was their fucking home for the time being.

Anything else, they could figure out when they weren’t dead tired. Pulling a blanket up around him, Taako didn’t even bother putting the umbrastaff down before he ended up falling asleep.

——

Angus was very tired and very glad that this day seemed to be over, for the most part at least. The trial had been kind of scary. He believed in Taako’s abilities, he was a pretty skilled wizard after all. Still, they didn’t really do battle often, and Taako was stuck alone with those three ogres.

He hadn’t been able to stay in his seat. Instead standing right up against the glass, trying to hide the way his hands were shaking from the nerves and how exhausted he was. The director didn’t comment on it though, not even when Taako got hit by one of the ogres and Angus rounded on her, demanding she stop the trial. She hadn’t been the least bit bothered at him pointing his wand at her again, his whole form trembling.

She just assured him, with a confidence and certainty that Angus couldn’t understand, that they could do this.

He guessed she was right too. In a second Magnus had jumped in and protected Taako from the ogres. Then the umbrella, the umbrastaff Leon had explained later, seemed to almost leap into his hand to help him end the fight. Angus had been trying to learn as much magic as he could under Taako, but he didn’t know much about magic items yet.

He did know that the cloak he got from the fantasy gashapon was incredibly useful. Sure, they said he wasn’t going to be in battle much, but Angus wasn’t on board with letting Taako go off on these missions on his own yet. It would take a lot of convincing, but he was going to try.

Apparently it let him jump into another plane too, but Angus wasn’t going to try that out yet. Maybe once he was a little less exhausted. Still, it was nice, and pretty, and swished around when he walked and spun.

After the trial and after the gashapon a guard led them back to the room they were going to be staying in. They were sharing it with Taako’s new adventuring companions. Angus wasn’t sure how he felt about them yet, but they seemed nice enough and Taako was comfortable with them.

The room was pretty small, but Angus didn’t mind, climbing up to the top bunk. He tried his best to be excited and upbeat, because this was all a good thing. This as a steady, high paying job where they got a place to live and helped make the world a safer place.

But it was so much to process. Too much while he was as exhausted as he was. Angus didn’t even bother taking off his new star robe, falling asleep almost immediately.

He wasn’t sure how much later it was when he woke up, but it felt way too early. Angus wasn’t even sure why he was awake at first, and then he noticed the knocking. It took even longer for Angus to remember what was going on and where they were, every so often the person on the other side of the door starting to knock again.

“Taako?” he asked, but all he got was a groan. When he tried to peak over the side of the bed, he saw him curled up under some blankets and pointedly pulling another one up over his head to try and block out the noise. Looking over at the other set of bunk beds Magnus and Merle both seemed to be out cold, not even acknowledging the knocking in the slightest.

With a sigh, Angus started climbing down from the top bunk, not quite able to fight back a yawn as he opened the door.

Standing there was the gnome that had been with Madame Director. Angus hadn’t been able to tell a lot about the man, other than the Director seemed to care about him a lot, and he only ever said his name.

“Hello sir, do you need something?” Angus asked, rubbing at his eyes some and pulling his robe back into place. It had gotten a little rumpled from sleeping in it, but he didn't mind.

“Davenport!” Davenport said, which was about what Angus expected. He held out a small metal band. It was thinner than the bracers, but it still had the symbol for the bureau on it. Instead of it being a solid metal loop, it was more like a bracelet that would loop around his wrist twice.

“Oh, is that for me sir?” he asked, and Davenport nodded.

“Davenport Davenport!” he said, motioning the band towards Angus again. He took it, and it fit snug twisted around his wrist, but he could definitely work himself out of it if it started getting too small.

“Thank you, do you need anything else?” he asked, trying to be polite. Taako didn’t care about that a lot of the time, but they were going to be staying with these people for a while, so it was a good idea to try and get off on the right foot.

“Davenport,” he said, shaking his head. Angus guessed this conversation should have felt pretty one sided, but Mr. Davenport seemed capable of getting across what he meant by inflection and body language.

“Okay, oh! Do you know if there’s a kitchen around here?” he asked, glad the thought came to him before the gnome left. Davenport nodded, and Angus was pretty sure he started going into an explanation of where exactly it was, based on all of the pointing. They weren’t the most usable directions by any means, but Angus nodded along anyway.

“Alright, I think I got the gist of that? Thanks again sir,” Angus said once Davenport seemed to be done. Davenport nodded, giving another friendly ‘Davenport!’ before heading off down the hallway.

Shutting the door, Angus headed back over to his and Taako’s bunk bed. Now that he wasn’t looking upside down, he could see that Taako had barely managed to throw off his bag before climbing into bed. He was still holding the umbrella even, his hat having fallen off his head and ended up shoved into the corner.

Instead of climbing up to his own bed, Angus climbed onto Taako’s. He had a feeling the elf was more awake than he was trying to appear, that suspicion confirmed when Taako almost immediately rolled over to face him.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping? You get a nightmare or something?” Taako asked, like he hadn’t heard the entire conversation Angus just had.

“Mr. Davenport dropped off my removable bracer,” Angus told him, holding up his wrist for Taako to see. Taako looked it over for a quick moment before nodding.

“Between the bangles and the new robe they’re really getting you fashioned out up here, good job,” Taako said, and Angus giggled at that. Then he stopped laughing, letting a serious look fall over his face. His back was turned to Magnus and Merle, but from the sound of it they were both still pretty solidly asleep.

“Taako, do you think this is a good idea? They seem like nice people but I don’t know if we can trust them? And it’s dangerous too, I don’t want you to get hurt! What was the war like, can you remember it? Do you know anything about those grand relics they were talking about?” he asked. Once the first question had come out the rest just spilled after it, his worry bubbling up again.

“Shhh,” Taako shushed him, and Angus could see the way his eyes glanced over to where Magnus and Merle were sleeping behind them. It wasn’t with suspicion like Angus had expected, or at least, not as much suspicion. Instead, he mostly looked conflicted. Over what, Angus couldn't tell.

“I’m way too fucking tired to talk about this junk right now,” Taako said, shifting so that he could throw the blanket he was using over Angus as well. “Get some sleep pumpkin, we’ll figure this shit out later,” he added. Reluctantly Angus nodded, snuggling a bit closer to Taako for good measure. A bundle of tension that had been building up inside of him loosened when Taako wrapped an arm around him.

He was still here. They were both still here and Angus wasn’t going to let that change.

But Taako was right, they could figure out everything else later. As it was, Angus was still extremely exhausted, already starting to fall back to sleep.

“Goodnight dad,” he said quietly, his voice a little muffled in the blankets.

“Gods, fucking… never gonna get used to that. Can you believe this shit?” Taako muttered, and it didn’t sound like he was talking to Angus. He wasn’t sure if he was talking to anyone really, it might’ve just been to himself.

“Do you want me to stop?” Angus asked anyway, and Taako jolted like he hadn’t expected him to still be awake.

“Huh? Nah, fucking go wild I guess. Do whatever you want, I don’t care,” he said, and Angus giggled some at that. He really didn’t believe that Taako didn’t care.

In his experience, Taako cared a lot, even if he didn’t always say it.

Notes:

kicking off the new year with some 1am updates! first of all, i gotta share this absolutely wonderful art of the previous chapter, because it makes me very happy. Also! I got to make Angus his own gashapon table, and he just so happened to roll the item that i was like 'i'll put this on here because it'd be really funny if he got it but he probably won't since it's super OP' so that's fun.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 27: An Adjustment Period

Taako wasn’t sure what time it was when he properly woke up. He didn’t much care either, he deserved to sleep for as long as he fucking wanted after all that bullshit. Plus, as far as he knew time worked differently on the moon. Maybe it was perfectly acceptable to sleep right through the whole goddamn day. If it was even day.

God, he’d lost track of shit six ways to Sunday. He'd figure out appropriate times to wake and sleep later.

Pushing himself up and looking around the room, it looked like the other two doofuses were off somewhere. If Taako had to make a guess where based of his own feelings, probably to find some food.

Taking a deep breath, he could deal with the hunger in a bit. Now that things were a little less dire he could actually try and think through this shit. They joined some secret moon organization. The best Taako could say about it was they didn’t seem evil.

This was still more than he was fucking expecting to get into with that damn job. It seemed like all their other easy gigs. Even when it started to be very much not that, he’d been expecting treasure, not conspiracy.

At least this place paid well.

“You awake Ango?” Taako asked, looking down at where Angus was still curled up in the blankets. He looked asleep, but sometimes it was hard to tell.

“I’m awake,” Angus said, and yeah, Taako had a feeling that might’ve been the case. He couldn’t say what tipped him off, since there weren’t a lot of obvious tells. Angus pushed himself up, still keeping the blanket wrapped around him some. Kid looked fucking exhausted, and Taako couldn’t blame him in the slightest for that.

“You sleep at all?” Taako asked, ready to slam dunk the boy right back into bed if he hadn’t. Thankfully he didn’t need to, Angus nodding.

“Yeah, I only woke up when you started moving around,” he said, which didn’t seem like a lie. “Where are Magnus and Merle?” he asked, having noticed the other two were no longer in the room.

“Probably trying to find some fucking food in this joint. Don’t blame them, can’t remember the last time cha’ boy got a chance to sit down and eat,” Taako said, and Angus nodded in agreement. It was a little weird, knowing those two Taako was surprised they didn’t try to drag him and Angus along with them.

Well, he guessed he didn’t really know them. They just seemed like the types with no respect for boundaries or whatever.

“Mr. Davenport said there’s a kitchen around here somewhere,” Angus told him, and Taako nodded.

“Cool, we’ll have to find that later then and break that baby in,” Taako said. He couldn’t help but feel distracted as they talked though. All of that seemed pretty trivial in the grand scheme of what was going on right now.

“Taako, we never talked about if this is a good idea or not,” Angus said, cutting to the heart of the matter. That wasn’t a surprise, he’d already tried to have this conversation once and Taako cut him off. To be fair, sleeping seemed much more important at the time. They should have this conversation though. Make a fucking pros and cons list, figure out how difficult it would be to find a way to remove the bracer, and decide if they were going to ditch or not.

The issue was, for some reason Taako didn’t want to ditch.

“Yeah alright, let’s fucking talk about this then,” Taako said, slumping back against the wall. He couldn’t sit up all the way with the bunk bed situation, but this worked too. “I mean, it’s a good gig. Can’t knock the pay for sure, place to stay, all that shit,” he started listing off. Angus nodded, but he still looked real fucking skeptical.

“It’s really dangerous though. The gauntlet destroyed everything in Phandalin,” Angus argued.

“Yeah, but we didn’t die,” Taako said, although it wasn’t a great argument. That had still been may more death than Taako was comfortable with. Way more death than had even been at Glamour Springs. Fuck.

“Barry did,” Angus muttered. Taako sighed, because for some reason that one had stuck with him as well. Wasn’t sure why, he didn’t really know the dude. Maybe because he was one of the few people they actually had to watch burn.

“Yeah, that one stings,” was all he said about that though. “Listen, I’m not gonna die. You fucking know that if shit starts looking sketch cha boy would get the hell out of dodge,” he said, and Angus reluctantly nodded.

“If we’re gonna stay here, I want to talk to Madame Director about those seeker positions,” he muttered after a moment. Taako grinned brightly at that, reaching over to grab Angus's glasses off the side table and handing them to him.

“Hell yeah, I had a feeling you’d want to get your nose all up in that junk,” he said. Angus smiled sheepishly at that before shrugging.

“It seems like a really good position for a detective is all,” he said, cleaning the glasses before putting them back on. Taako nodded, starting to climb off of the bed, Angus following suit. He reached back to grab his hat where it’d gotten crumbled in the corner, smacking it on his leg a couple times to get it back into shape.

“Alright. So, you said something about a kitchen?” Taako asked, and Angus nodded, fixing his new robe some. Taako did another glance around the room, and he didn’t see Angus’s bag anywhere. He grimaced some, realizing that they must've um, left it in Phandalin. “Then we can see what kind of shopping can be found on this moon. No use letting all that new gold go to waste after all,” he added.

“Sounds good Taako,” Angus said, putting his shoes on. Taako hadn’t ever bothered to even take his off, fuck he’d been exhausted. They both were. Hopefully they’d get some energy back after eating something.

“So I guess today’s not a dad day, huh?” Taako asked, trying to make it sound like a joke. The honest to god truth was that he had no fucking idea where they stood on this thing. It was still new and so much other shit was happening in the meantime and Taako wasn’t good at talking about this kind of fucking emotions junk even if he wanted to.

“You could get punched by another ogre or fall off the moon if you want to make it a dad day,” Angus answered brightly. That got a snort out of Taako, pretending to frown despite feeling quite a bit of relief.

He could work with that. As long as they could still joke about all this, it would be fine.

“Fucking brat, in that case we can keep right on with Taako all day every day,” he said, no actual bite in his voice as he ruffled Angus’s hair roughly. Angus laughed and stuck his tongue out at him, and Taako could feel himself relaxing that little bit more.

This didn't have to be a big deal if they didn't want it to be. They just had some fancy new job. Nothing had really changed.

Taako still wasn’t sure what time it was, but the halls seemed pretty dead when they went out. The sky was dark too, so squarely sometime at night. Probably. They were on the moon, but not a real moon. Either way, the kitchen was empty once they managed to find it, and Taako started scrounging around for something to cook.

Angus sat up on a counter, watching as Taako checked everything out. He usually helped out whenever they were in a kitchen together, but considering the day they’d been through Taako didn’t blame him for wanting to rest. He still looked pretty exhausted, and Taako started looking through the cabinets for what kind of teas they had as well.

“Hey Taako?” Angus asked after a bit. He’d gotten the water for some tea started, as well as some for mac n cheese. He managed to find some ground beef to throw in there as well for some extra protein. He could until the water boiled before starting that though.

“Yeah pumpkin?”

“What do you remember about the war? The one the director was talking about,” he asked. Taako paused as he was sorting through tea packets, trying to find a flavor he knew Angus liked.

“Not much, honestly. Pretty much what the director said, lots of people died, huge battles and that kind of stuff,” he said, finally picking out the tea he wanted. “Remember seeing a couple more of those glass circles. I think those must’ve happened a lot.”

“Nothing else?” Angus asked, and Taako knew that tone of voice. Kid was in detective mode now.

“Why the interest?” he asked back, and Angus shrugged.

“If you’re going to be going after these things it’s important to know what the others can do,” he said. He had a good point, Taako couldn’t argue with that one. He tried to wrack his brain for anything else he could remember from that time, but it was all kinda foggy.

“I don’t know, I think I mostly stayed the fuck away from all that. Didn’t want to get offed in the crossfire, ya know?” he said. Angus nodded reluctantly, and Taako already knew he’d be grilling everyone he could find on information about the relics whether they let him be a seeker or not. It’s not like people telling them no ever stopped them from doing that much before.

Once he finished the tea he shoved a cup into Angus’s hands, getting a quiet ‘thanks dad’ in response. Taako didn’t say anything to that, just went to start browning the meat for the mac n’ cheese. It didn’t take much longer until all of that was done, and Taako filled up a bowl for Angus. He didn’t bother with one for himself, instead jumping up on the counter besides Angus and eating right out of the pot.

“How are you feeling about all this?” he asked once they’d been eating in silence for a bit. He knew Angus was worried about him dying, but he wasn’t sure if that was his only complaint. Honestly, if Angus could lay out enough reasons on why this job was bad news, Taako wouldn’t hesitate to leave. No matter how weirdly comfortable he felt here, he trusted the kid’s judgment first.

“I don’t want you getting hurt,” Angus said with a sigh, resting his bowl in his lap. “If the other relics are like that gauntlet though, I think they’re doing a real good thing here, trying to destroy them,” he added.

“We’ll probably have less of a chance of dying since we’ll actually have some idea of what we’re going onto now,” Taako said, trying to be reassuring. Like, he definitely wasn’t planning to die for this. Good cause or not, he’d rather be alive thank you very much.

“That’s true,” Angus said, but it was obvious he was still worried about it. He probably wouldn’t stop worrying about it, and Taako guessed that was fair. He couldn't say he was ecstatic about the prospect of danger either. Angus’s bowl was almost empty so Taako dumped some more mac n’ cheese into it.

“You’re cool with everything else here though? Nothing else setting off your detective vibes?” Taako asked. Angus seemed to think the question over as he chewed a spoonful of macaroni.

“I mean, the whole organization is kinda sketchy, and I really wonder where they managed to get something as powerful as the voidfish and what kind of limitations it has. Their goal is definitely a good one though, and I don’t think anyone we met here so far has been evil,” he said. Taako nodded along, so far it all tracked. “Plus, you seem to really like it here,” he added with a grin.

“How’d you go and get that idea in that over-thinking head of yours?” Taako scoffed, although Angus didn’t seem deterred in the slightest. Taako hadn’t expected him to be, if he was being honest.

“You seem really comfortable here, and you get along with Magnus and Merle better than you do with almost anybody,” Angus explained. Taako rolled his eyes, and he’d be worried about the weirdly chill feeling he’d been having around these people being obvious if he didn’t know Angus was just like that.

“Sounds like a buncha bullshit, but okay,” he said. Angus giggled, and Taako knew the kid could tell he was right. It would probably be annoying if he wasn’t used to it by now.

A lot of things would be annoying to him if he hadn’t started caring so goddamn much.

——

Angus was still trying to get used to the whole moon base thing.

They’d been there for about a week now, and in that time things had calmed down considerably. The director told them that there would be free time between their missions, and that certainly seemed to be the case.

The second day there Taako had insisted they go shopping. Most of Angus’s stuff had been destroyed with Phandalin, other than what he had on him. Those things included the clothes he’d been wearing at the time, his wand and pocket detective kit, and his notebook.

Angus insisted he wasn’t that upset over it. After all, most of the stuff he’d lost had been old and worn from being on the road for so long. Taako had still dragged him down to the Fantasy Costco, giving him more gold than Angus felt was necessary and telling him to go to town. They had money and a place to keep their shit now, never a better time to shop.

There were a few things like his Caleb Cleveland novels that he would have to go back down planet side to replace, but otherwise Angus ended up leaving there owning more clothes at once than he had since he first left his grandpa’s house. Taako made him get a few other things too, like new shoes and some toys and such. Angus didn’t object, even if it was a little weird after having to watch their money for so long.

Other than that though, there wasn’t a lot to do. The first couple days of doing nothing were great and extremely needed. After that though Angus started getting kind of bored. Taako took a day to start to teach him the sleep spell, but other than that he also seemed kind of unsure of what to do with himself. They followed along with Magnus and Merle sometimes, and Angus supposed as he got to know them more they were pretty fun.

There was a library on base, and Angus really wanted to start tearing through it. He’d browsed a couple of times, but it was so much and he wasn’t sure where to start. He didn’t know what the most important information was for the things that would happen soon. He wasn’t even sure what things were happening soon.

He had so many questions. About the relics, what they could do and where were they. How close were they to finding them? How did they go about tracking them to begin with? Were they all locked away like the gauntlet had been, or were they still out wrecking havoc in the world? If they were out there, how were their effects not immediate and obvious?

He needed answers, but he knew that if he tried to get them without any guidance it would take forever. Angus didn't have forever, he wanted them now.

Which was why he was currently standing outside of the director’s office, going over the points he planned to bring up in his head. He’d told Taako that he wanted to see if they would let him become a seeker, and he’d thought it was a good idea.

He just had to convince the director he’d be good at it. He figured it wouldn’t be easy, she seemed like a pretty professional lady, even if she had goofed off some when they first met her. Angus doubted she’d be so casual about the mission they had founded this whole moon base for. He knew how hard it was to convince people to let a kid onto a case they were passionate about.

Angus hadn’t even gone in yet and he was already wishing he’d brought Taako along with him. He was sometimes able to help convince people that Angus really did know what he was talking about with this sort of thing.

He wanted to at least try by himself first though. He certainly didn’t want to give the director the impression that he couldn’t do anything without Taako by his side. Taking one more deep breath to try and steal himself, Angus knocked on the door.

“Yes?” Madame Director’s voice called through the door, and Angus hesitated for a moment if he should come in or not. The most polite thing to do would be to ask if he could come in and then wait until he was invited. Instead Angus creaked the door open and peaked inside.

“Hello Madame Director, sorry if I’m bothering you,” he said. A fond smile spread across her face when she looked at him, and she put the quill she’d been writing with down.

“Not a bother at all Angus, please come in,” she said, and at that Angus headed fully into the office, closing the door behind him. Doing a quick glance around the room, he saw that Davenport was sitting in a corner, reading a book. He glanced up and gave a nod at Angus before going back to his book, and he gave the gnome a quick smile.

“Hello Angus, do you need anything? Are you and Taako adjusting well to your new living arrangements?” the director asked, and Angus nodded.

“Oh yes madame, it’s certainly the nicest moon base we’ve ever lived on,” Angus said, and he saw her smile tick up the slightest bit in amusement at that. “There is something I would like to ask though,” he added.

“Of course,” the director said, and Angus figured it would be best to get straight to the point in this scenario.

“What is the process one had to go through to become a seeker for the bureau?” he asked, trying to convey through his tone that this was a serious question. She seemed to pick up on that intent, the amused smile shifting into something a little less readable. That was one thing with the director, she was not a very easy woman to read.

“All of our seekers must go through their own trial of initiation. Of course, it’s much different from the trial you saw, as the skill set our seekers require isn’t the same as the one we need from our reclaimers,” she explained. That was a good start, she wasn’t brushing off the question. It was also about what Angus figured as well.

“Madame Director, with your permission I’d like to take the initiation test for becoming a seeker,” Angus said as confidently as possible. He couldn’t be very surprised when she started frowning sympathetically at the request.

“I’m very sorry Angus, but I can’t in good conscious hire a child for something like this,” she said. He tried not to look too disappointed, he expected that she wouldn’t agree right away. He needed to convince her that he was a good fit for this job, despite his age.

“I can understand why you would feel that way Madame Director, but I can promise that my age has no hampering on my skill. And if you’re worried about the ethics of bringing a kid into your spooky mind erasure moon cult, well, that ship has already sailed,” he said. She laughed some at that, but she still didn’t look very convinced.

“I have no doubt that you’re a very smart boy Angus, but I’m not sure if Taako would want you taking on this kind of work,” she said. Which okay, at least that was something he could straight up prove she was wrong about.

“Oh no, he thinks it’s a great idea! If you would feel better with his permission I can go get him, but Taako usually lets me get my detective jobs on my own so I thought I’d talk to you by myself first,” Angus said. She seemed to hesitate some at that, and Angus got the feeling she was hoping that would be an easy way to shut this down.

“Well, I’d certainly be more comfortable talking to him about this as well,” she said, and Angus could hear the reluctance in her voice. He ignored that though, smiling brightly and rushing back to the door.

“Great! I’ll go get him right now,” he said.

“Wait, Angus I didn’t-” the director started, but he didn’t stick around to listen. It didn’t take long to find Taako and explain that the director wanted his permission before letting Angus try out to become a seeker.

“We’re back,” Angus said, forgotten to knock this time as when went into the director’s office. Thankfully she didn’t seem too annoyed by that, which was a relief. Angus really did try to be polite, but some of Taako's bad habits had rubbed off on him. “Taako, tell the director that I would be a good seeker,” he insisted.

“Kid’s a baller detective and would blow most of the fools you got up on this moon outta the water,” Taako said easily. The director was looking at them fondly, and that could be either good or bad. It could be good if it meant she was going to actually consider what they were going to say because she liked them, but if she thought this was all a goof to amuse a kid that would be frustrating.

“I’m sure, but he is still a child,” she argued.

“Yeah, so don’t send him out on dangerous fetch quests and that kinda shit,” Taako said, and Angus made a noise of disappointment at that. He'd been hoping to eventually angle to get to join Taako on his missions, but he was pretty sure no one would be cool with that. “But for real, let him help with research and that kinda shit. He’s fucking good at it,” Taako added, his tone more genuine and serious than Angus was expecting. He knew Taako felt that way, but even when he was bolstering Angus up to others he was rarely that sincere about it.

Maybe it was because he knew how much Angus wanted to help with this, and being a seeker was the only way he could figure out how to. Maybe it was because of that odd sense of ease Taako seemed to have around these people. Whichever was the reason, it looked like it gave the director pause.

“I… suppose, with such a glowing recommendation, we can at least allow him to take the trial of initiation for a seeker position. I will be very clear that this will be the standard trial all of our seekers take. There's only one chance to pass it, and it is not an easy task,” she said, and Angus was beaming now.

“I would be quite offended if you gave me anything less Madame,” he said. Taako was frowning now though, which wasn’t great.

“Wait, hold on. Not the same one we took, right? Cause I’m gonna have to put a fucking veto on anything involving ogres, sorry pumpkin,” he said.

“No, rest assured, the trial our seekers take is much less likely to result in any ogre based death,” the Director said. Taako still didn’t look too happy with that, but he nodded.

“It’ll be great Taako! I promise,” Angus insisted, pretty excited to start this. “When could we start? Can we start now?” he asked, bouncing on his feet some.

“I suppose I don’t see why not. Davenport!” the Director said, the gnome closing his book and looking up at attention. “Please begin the trial of initiation for Angus,” she said. Davenport nodded before looking over at Angus with a grin. Then he held up a hand, and for a second Angus thought he was going to cast a spell.

Instead, a golden ring on one of his fingers seemed to almost shimmer, and when he blinked Davenport was gone.

“Angus, the trial is relatively simple. Our seekers are tasked with finding objects that have been lost out in the world and hidden through a menagerie of misinformation campaigns and secrecy. You will have to find something about as well hidden,” she started to explain. Angus was paying rapt attention, while also trying to keep as good of an eye on the rest of the room as he could, since he already had a feeling about where this was going.

“You will be tasked with finding Davenport. He will be hiding somewhere in the public areas of the moon base. You may use any means you have at your disposal to locate him, but you are not allowed to enlist help. You have…” the director pulled a small stopwatch out of her robe, pausing for a moment before continuing. “One hour.”

Notes:

I was planning on having the whole test be in this chapter but I wanted to update today and it wasn't quite wrapping up as fast as I liked, so I thought this would be a fun place to end it instead. Also, my Big Goal for 2019 as far as fanfiction is concerned is to finish this fic. We still got quite a ways to go until then, but I think it's possible for sure.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 28: Initiation and Guilt

“Fuck yeah pumpkin! You got this!” Taako cheered as soon as the director had announced the start.

“Madame Director is it okay if I make a mess?” Angus asked, the words coming out in a rush as his eyes darted around the room and he tried to get a game plan in order.

“You may do whatever you need to fo-”

“Okay thanks!” he said, not worried with cutting her off. He started over where Davenport had been sitting, knowing he wouldn’t be there but wanting to check and hoping to get some sort of clue on which way he would have gone. He wasn’t there, but Angus quickly scoured the areas anyway before moving on.

It didn’t take long to determine that he wasn’t in the office anymore. There was only one way out that didn’t seem to be a restricted door to the Director’s private quarters. So Angus ran out, Taako giving him another cheer as he headed past.

Okay, he didn’t know a lot about Davenport, so he couldn’t figure out where he was most likely to hide by personality. Anything he tried to gather there would most likely be a stereotype and he doubted the gnome would let himself fall into that for a test that was supposed to be this difficult. Not to mention there weren’t really a lot of stereotypes about where gnomes like to hide on moon bases.

The good news was that in the week he’d been here, Angus had gotten a pretty good lay out of the base. Pulling out his pocket detective kit, he was extremely thankful that he hadn’t lost it in Phandalin. Sure, he could buy a new one, but this one was important to him.

Pulling out some of the fingerprint dust, he tossed a pretty large chunk out across the hallway in front of the office door. It wasn’t magic and couldn’t show him all the footprints that had been there, but it did show the direction the most recent ones had gone off to.

Left. It was all he needed to start, and he dashed off again.

The bureau was huge, there was no way he could search the whole place without narrowing it down somehow. Or at least finding a way to knock out a lot of space fast.

He didn’t know a lot of spells yet, nothing above level one at least. So, he cast mage hand, and he had it swing around through the air as he ran, trying to check for anything that might be invisible it might smack against.

The first large room he reached was the cafeteria, and Angus started running through it. Looking for any sign of disturbance, marks of someone trying to conceal that they’d been through there. It was a little difficult, considering there were people actively using it.

“Hey Ango! Uh, you lose something?” Magnus asked when Angus came, ducking his head under the table him and Merle were eating at. His mage hand swiped over the seats, so far still not hitting anything.

“Can’t talk sir,” Angus replied quickly before running off to the next table. He gave a few quick apologizes to anyone he disturbed, most of them just looking a little confused and accepting it. Angus couldn’t blame them for that. A few nodded at him and continued eating or reading or whatever else they were doing.

Glancing up at the nearest clock once he was done going through the cafeteria, he frowned at the sight. Between searching the office and the cafeteria it’d already been fifteen minutes.

Not wanting to waste anymore time Angus kept going. It was specifically stated that he would be in a public area of the bureau, so he held off on checking the dorm dome for now. Instead he ran into the training dome, and there were a few people already down in the pit. A couple others were watching them in the seats, but Angus only quickly scanned them before running down. He had an idea, and the director had said he could make a mess.

“Excuse me ma’am?” Angus asked, getting to his knees at the edge of the training pit. The ground was sand, to help soften their blows when they fell and things like that. One of the people training was a blue dragonborn that Angus hadn’t caught the name of yet.

“Yeah kid?” she asked, looking at him with amusement.

“Is it okay if I take some of this?” he asked, pointing down at the ground.

“Is it- the sand?” she asked, clearly confused.

“Yes. Please I’m in a hurry,” he said, and slowly she nodded.

“I- sure? I guess?” she said. Angus didn’t waste any time, taking off the robe he’d gotten in the gashapon and tying it up to use as a pouch. Slinging it over his shoulder, he started shoveling as much sand in it as he could carry. It wasn’t as much as he would like, but it would be enough.

Running back up, he tossed out the sand in small patches, trying to catch sight of anything invisible. He made sure not to walk through the sand either, not wanting to mess it up with his foot prints. It wasn’t an exact method, but he was throwing it out of the way of the normal walking paths. If anyone invisible was coming through those parts, he would be able to tell.

This method wouldn’t work outside, unless he got really lucky about where he threw the sand, but he went through two more domes, sprinkling sand in his wake. He kept an eye out around him as he did, trying to take in as much information as possible. He had to be sure he didn’t miss anything obvious.

Thirty minutes left. He started checking through the sand traps he’d left, trying to see if he could find any sign on if he was moving around or what. There was no way to guarantee that he was still invisible, if that was even what happened at first. He was fairly sure it was though, that ring looked like a ring of invisibility.

Some of the sand had been disturbed, mostly the stuff that he spilled in the main hallways. He didn’t pay too much attention to that, knowing that it was mostly regular bureau members walking through. Instead he kept an eye on the sand he specifically threw in the little out of the way places he’d gone through.

It was disturbed as well, much less noticeably than the rest of the sand, but still there. In fact, most of the sand he’d thrown down showed signs of someone having walked through it.

Angus didn’t need to be the world’s greatest detective to realize that Davenport was following him.

Looking around, he was in an office room now. One man was staring at him, looking annoyed and like he really wanted to ask about the sand. Another was a halfling sitting at a desk looking over some paperwork. Frowning, Angus left the room. Out in the hallway there wasn’t anyone there, and he couldn’t find any signs of someone invisible hiding, so he kept moving.

Forty-five minutes now, he only had fifteen left. He kept moving from room to room, hoping that he would be able to catch Davenport coming in to follow him or leaving after him or something.

Another five minutes passed, and Angus frowned in frustration. He was outside now, and there was still no sign of him. He only had ten minutes left, he couldn’t give up. There had to be something. What had the director said? The relics were hard to find, there was misinformation and secrecy. There had to be some trick here, something he was missing.

There wasn’t anything though. He was alone out here except for some halfing sitting on a bench reading a book and- wait.

Angus stared at the halfling. They weren’t paying him any mind, looking down at their book with a floppy hat covering their eyes. They were pretty unassuming, short brown hair and wearing a simple bureau guard uniform. Angus wouldn’t have noticed them at all, if he hadn’t seen them in the office with that annoyed guy.

They had been in the arena too, watching the people spar. And he remembered nearly knocking into them and getting a simple nod in the cafeteria.

“Excuse me sir?” Angus asked, walking up to them. They looked up with a questioning glance, not actually saying anything. Angus felt a smile start to spread across his face. “I found you,” he said.

The halfling grinned widely at that, reaching up and taking the hat off. In an instant the disguise fell away, and sitting in front of him was Davenport. “Davenport!” he said excitedly, standing up off the bench. He pulled a pocket watch out and clicked down on it, stopping the timer. He gave Angus another nod before starting off back towards the central done. Angus couldn’t stop grinning as he followed after the gnome.

“I found him! I did it!” Angus said as they walked in, almost exactly on the hour. The director looked up from where she was sitting at her desk, mild surprise on her face.

“Hell yeah! Put her there pumpkin,” Taako said, holding up a hand that Angus quick high-fived. Davenport walked across the office, handing the stop watch over to the Director.

“Well I’ll be damned, you actually did,” she said, and Angus supposed he couldn’t blame her for sounding surprised. Still, it felt very good proving her wrong.

“Davenport,” Davenport said, grinning and nodding at Angus again.

“Changing your appearance was- that was really clever sir. I kept uh, looking for someone who was… invisible, for a good while there,” Angus said, having to stop and catch his breath a few times. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off he felt absolutely exhausted.

Normally he would at least push himself to go sit in a chair or something, but he was so relieved he let himself flop down on the floor instead. Taako was crouching by his side in an instant, trying not to look too concerned and failing. Angus just held up a hand to let him know he needed a minute, and he nodded.

“Well, you really did it. I suppose I should apologize for not believing your qualifications before, but you have passed the trail of initiation. Of course, you already have your bracer, but we will allow you to help our other seekers find and decipher information about the relics,” the Director said. Angus wanted to show how excited he was, but now that he’d let himself sit down his energy was completely drained. The nerves in his legs were shooting with pain and it really hadn’t been a good idea running around carrying so much sand. All he could do was nod as she spoke.

“Is he- is everything alright?” the Director asked, clear concern in her voice. Angus nodded again, and when Taako sat down next to him and started rubbing his back he let himself lean up against him.

“I’m uh, I’m fine ma’am, thank you for asking. Just um, need a minute to catch my breath,” he said. The Director nodded, still frowning with concern. Angus saw Taako pick at the robe he still had tied around himself like a sling.

“Fuck you’d do to your new robe little man? You know this is like, a real cool magic item, right?” he asked, and Angus laughed a little breathlessly and nodded.

“I know, but um, it might need to be washed now. I used it to carry around a bunch of sand,” he said, just getting a confused look at that.

“Sand?” Taako asked.

“Yeah. Um, actually, a lot of the bureau will probably need to be swept. There’s um, a lot of sand. From the training pit, in the hallways and stuff,” Angus explained without really explaining. It got a snort out of Taako and a look of befuddled amusement out of the Director though.

“We’ll be sure to get on that,” she said. With that Angus tried to stand up, Taako helping him despite frowning in concern. Instead of letting Angus stand he lead him over to one of the chairs. Which was probably fair, his legs were still shaking enough to be noticeable.

“You good? I can go grab Magnus and have him carry you back to the dorm if you want,” Taako offered but Angus shook his head.

“I can walk, just gimme a minute,” he insisted. Taako rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

“Are you sure everything’s alright? Do you need anything?” the Director asked, a worried expression still on her face.

“I promise I’m fine Madame Director, this happens. I just overexerted myself is all,” he said, trying to reassure her. It was dumb and frustrating, he’d been working his strength back up for so long now. Sure, it was more of a nerve thing, but it was still annoying.

“Hey, how good are your healers here?” Taako asked suddenly, a fake casual tone to his voice. Angus’s head snapped towards him, a look of indignation on his face.

“Taako!”

“What? It’s just a simple question,” Taako argued, except it wasn’t.

“We have quite a few skilled healers and clerics. Is it- would you like me to fetch someone?” she asked, looking a hair away from doing it whether they said yes or not.

“It’s really not necessary ma’am,” Angus insisted despite that.

“It’s not like it’d hurt to just have them take a look pumpkin,” Taako said, and once again he was trying to be casual. Angus could see through it though, it wasn’t particularly hard to after all. It was clear that he really wanted to do this.

Angus guessed he couldn’t be surprised. Even though it wasn’t even Taako’s fault he still felt guilty about the whole thing. That was also stupid, in Angus’s opinion.

“Yes, even if it’s something minor it’s no issue for one of our clerics to look at it,” the Director said. Angus let his shoulders slump, quickly realizing that he was probably going to lose this fight.

“Yeah alright, I guess it couldn’t hurt,” he grumbled. He tried to shake off his annoyance at the turn this conversation had taken. “I’m still a seeker now though, right?” he asked, and Taako reached over and ruffled his hair at that.

“Fuck yeah you are,” he said, and Angus couldn’t help but beam at that. He was relieved when the Director nodded too.

“Of course, you’ve passed the test of initiation,” she assured. “Now, you said it wasn’t anything urgent, so if you would rather take the time to rest that’s fine. If not though I can escort you down to the med bay and you can explain to a cleric what the issue is,” she added. Angus pushed himself up off the chair, his legs still a little unsteady below him.

“I guess we can just do it now and get it over with,” he said. He wasn’t trying to be dismissive of this whole thing, except he guessed he kind of was. Sure, it would be great if they could magically heal him, but he didn’t really think that was very likely.

Still, he guessed Taako was right. It wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot.

——

Taako was proud as fuck of Angus crushing his test of initiation. He was pretty sure he could be safe thinking the director wasn’t going to send him out on anything dangerous, the kid would just be up on the moon studying. It was a good job for him and would hopefully keep Angus pretty busy.

He should have figured Angus would run himself ragged during the test though. Kid didn’t know how to quit, especially on something like that.

The director was gonna have some people look at him though. Maybe they’d actually be able to heal more now that they knew what the real problem was. They were old wounds at this point, but it was worth a shot.

Taako was just trying his hardest not to get his hopes up on this.

“Holy fuck pumpkin, you weren’t kidding about the sand,” Taako said as they walked down the hall. Angus smiled sheepishly at that, still somehow managing to look a little proud.

“Yeah, sorry again Madame Director. I can try and clean it up later if you want,” he said, but thankfully the director shook her head.

“Don’t worry Angus, we’ll have it cleaned up in no time at all,” she said. It didn’t take them very long to get to the med bay, which seemed to be pretty empty. Made sense, Taako hadn’t seen anyone else going out on missions since they got here. He also hadn’t been paying that much attention either though.

He was very much paying attention now though, as some cleric came out and the director started explaining that Angus needed to be seen over a non-urgent manner.

“You want me to come back with you bubala?” Taako asked once the cleric said they’d be happy to give him a look over.

“No, I can go by myself. Is it okay if you stay here in case we need anything though?” he asked and Taako nodded, immediately sitting down in a heap in one of the cheap chairs lining the walls.

“Sure thing, don’t got anything better to do,” he said. Angus looked a little relieved at that, giving him a smile before following the cleric into another room. It was only him and the director now, and he expected her to excuse herself and go on doing whatever important administrator duties she had to attend to.

“Excuse me Taako,” yep, what he figured. He wasn’t complaining, it’d be awkward silence if she stuck around after all. “I know it isn’t any of my business, but do you know what is causing these difficulties Angus has? In the event that there’s nothing our healers can do I don’t want to accidentally set off another episode,” she said, which wasn’t what Taako expected. It was a fair question though.

Taako glanced back at the door they’d gone through, wondering how much Angus would mind him explaining the situation without him there. He figured he was telling the cleric what was up though, and if he didn’t tell the director she could always look through some medical files to find out.

“Yeah sure. It’s uh, the best we can figure is nerve damage? It’s not too much of an issue anymore, tends to only flair up bad when he pushes himself or the weather’s shitty,” Taako explained, wondering how vague he could keep it. “Usually the kid’s better at knowing his limit, or, well no. Usually I’m around to slam dunk his stubborn ass into a bed once he starts to get shaky,” he added. The Director chuckled some at that, and there was a fond look on her face. She seemed like the type of lady who would overwork herself, she could probably understand what Angus was like.

“He’s lucky to have someone like you watching out for him. It’s clear how much you care about him,” she said. Taako shrugged, crossing his arms and kicking his feet up on another nearby chair.

“Stuck with the brat now. Guess it could be worse,” he muttered. She didn’t look like she actually believed he was that bothered by it, which was annoying. Taako wasn’t used to people other than Angus being able to see through his shit that easily.

“How-” the director started, seeming hesitation about asking whatever she was about to ask again. “Do you know what could have caused it? The nerve damage, that is,” she finished, and right. That was a pretty logical question. Taako sighed, trying not to look as bothered by the line of questioning as he was. He had no idea how well he was doing up against her insight though, probably not great.

“Arsenic poisoning. Kid got it pretty bad about two years ago, fucking miracle he’s even still alive considering,” he answered. A look of surprise and sympathy passed over the Director’s face at that, and she slowly nodded.

“I see,” she said, and yeah, so it wasn’t silence but it was still just about as awkward as Taako had imaged. “I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to do with it being that old, but we’ll try everything we can,” she assured. Taako guessed that was pretty nice to hear. Sure, Angus was always saying it wasn’t his fault, but it still was, in a roundabout way. He hadn’t been able to figure out what was actually wrong or get him to a proper healer fast enough either, and that was completely on him.

“How long have you been watching after him?” the director asked, and Taako didn’t look at her when he answered.

“About two years now, I’d say,” he said. He figured she’d be smart enough to make the connection. Whatever conclusions she was drawing from it, he didn’t have a clue, but he was sure there was something.

“Oh,” she said, and yep, definitely noticed. When he chanced a glance up at her, he could see the way she wanted to ask a million more questions about the situation. Maybe she could tell she was getting to the end of what Taako was willing to answer, maybe she figured pressing any further would be rude. Either way, she seemed to swallow the urge and nod.

“Well, I’m very thankful that you’re both here with us now,” she said.

“Natch, we’re pretty damn great,” Taako replied easily, because this was getting way too serious for his liking. She smiled some at that, and it was hard to tell with her if it was forced or not.

“Of course,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I have a lot of work I need to get back to. Please keep me updated with Angus, if you don’t mind,” she said, and Taako nodded, thankful for this awkward horrible conversation to finally be over.

“You got it,” he said, and with that she left the little waiting room they’d been stuck in.

Taako didn’t have a lot to do, he wasn’t sure how long Angus was gonna take when he came running in asking him to come tell the director to make him a seeker, so he hadn’t brought anything to entertain himself with. He’d consider going back to their room to grab something, it wasn’t that far. He didn’t want to be gone if they came out and needed something from him though.

So for the most part he just sat there, and after a while arranged four chairs so that he could lay on his back across all of them. He held his magic umbrella up above him and opened and closed it repeatedly in his boredom.

It was probably only thirty minutes later that they came back out, but Taako swore it felt like fucking hours. He quickly sat up, shutting the currently open umbrella and turning so that he could put his feet on the floor.

“What’s up? How we doing?” he asked. Angus still looked tired, possibly even more so than before. Made sense, usually after something that intense he’d immediately go passing out. Maybe Taako should have insisted he take a fucking nap first.

“It’s fine. Mr. Shilra cast a few spells and took some blood to test,” Angus explained. Taako looked up at the cleric, who’s name he definitely hadn’t bothered learning before.

“Any signs on fixing this shit?” he asked, trying once again not to get his hopes up. From the small frown on the cleric’s face, that was probably a good choice.

“I think I was able to repair some of the damage, but unfortunately it seems like it was left in too severe of a condition for too long for me to properly heal it. Some of the pain should be lessened now though,” he explained and Taako nodded. That was honestly about as good as he could hope for. “We took some blood just to make sure there aren’t any other underlying conditions caused by the poisoning, and I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we get the results back. Otherwise I’m afraid that’s about all I can do,” he finished.

“Sounds good. How you feeling Angus?” he asked.

“A little sturdier I think? Um, mostly tired though,” he said, and yeah, not a surprise there.

“Sounds about right. Thanks again doc,” he said, and thankfully the cleric took that as his queue to leave. As soon as he was gone Taako turned back to Angus a bit more serious. “For real, how you feeling?” he pressed, and Angus rolled his eyes.

“I wasn’t lying, I do feel a little bit better. I don’t think the shaking’s quite as bad as it was before,” Angus said, and Taako reluctantly nodded.

“Cool, let’s get you to bed then, you look fucking dead on your feet,” Taako said. Angus rolled his eyes in annoyance but didn’t argue, following along after him. It was quiet as they headed back to the dorm, and Taako couldn’t help but be a little amused as he saw sand still littering the halls.

Or at least, he would be if his mind wasn’t all stupid full of guilt.

“Maybe we can ask if they have anyone better. No one ever said if that guy was the best they got, he was just the dude who was on duty,” Taako muttered. Angus was frowning at the suggestion, which wasn’t a surprise.

“He seemed pretty competent Taako. The spells he went through with me were pretty high level,” he argued, and Taako shrugged.

“Still, it doesn’t hurt to ask. I don’t see a point not making sure we go through all the avenues they got here. Fuck, if I’m going to be risking my life trying to gather their dumb relics the least they could do is shell out the big guns for-”

“Dad please,” Angus cut in, and when Taako glanced back at him he actually looked kind of upset.

“Please what? If you’re afraid of doctors or something it’s whatever but I don’t see why we shouldn’t try to fix this,” Taako argued.

“We can try and see if they can do anything else but please stop feeling so guilty about it. It wasn’t your fault,” Angus said, and Taako had been prepared to argue, but his mouth snapped shut at that. He wanted to argue that it was his fault, but he knew Angus didn’t see it like that.

“Whatever. You still got fucked up and people still died from my cooking,” he said, and he could see Angus’s shoulders deflate at that. “Come on. Let’s get you into bed,” he said.

“Yeah, okay,” Angus agreed, still sounding reluctant about the whole thing.

“Congrats on the seeker thing by the way. Knew you’d blow that shit out of the water,” Taako muttered after a moment, and at least that got another smile on Angus’s face.

“Thanks dad, I knew I would too,” he said, and Taako snorted in laughter at that.

He really didn't deserve this kid.

Notes:

trying to write smart characters solving mysteries is hard when you're not smart and are terrible at solving mysteries. I hope Ango's game of high stakes hide and seek was good, i'm glad to have included more of davenport in it at any rate. He'd been using a ring of invisibility and a hat of disguise for anyone interested.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 29: Reclaimer Missions

Angus had an idea. It was frustrating to see Taako continue to blame himself for what happened at Glamour Springs. Even though they both knew that Sazed had been the one to poison the food, Angus had never been able to prove it to anyone.

There was something else he could do to fix it though. It wouldn’t change what had happened, but it was still something.

Unfortunately, he'd yet to have a chance to actually do it. He wasn’t sure how allowed it was and he didn’t want to push anything when they were both still so new at the bureau. Before he could figure out his game plan though they were all pretty heavily distracted.

Or maybe distraction wasn’t the best word, since they’d all been sleeping. Still, it was certainly going to take up some time.

Angus jolted awake at the sound of a voice over the intercom. He didn’t know what time it was, but it was late. Really late. He didn’t bother moving for a moment, and the voice on the intercom asked for Taako, Merle and Magnus to come to the director’s office.

Rolling over, without his glasses he could see the blurry forms of Magnus and Merle getting out of their bunk bed. They both looked a little dazed and sleepy, which was fair. Slowly Angus pushed himself so that he was sitting up on the top bunk, rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up some more.

“Come on Taako,” Magnus said, and Angus could see him trying to pull the blankets off of Taako. He was clinging to them pretty hard though, and after a moment Magnus pulled the whole blanket off the bed. Angus couldn’t help but snort in amusement as Taako hit the ground with a thud, still not making any move to get up. Putting his glasses on, Angus climbed down from the bunk bed.

“Wake up Taako,” he said, nudging his shoulder with his foot and getting a groan in response. He did get up to his feet after a moment though.

“This had better be mighty important to drag us out of bed,” he grumbled.

“If we do whatever it is fast we might be able to go back to sleep,” Magnus offered, which was a good point. "We might even be able to sleep during the thing, depending," he added, which was less good. The three started walking out at that, but then Merle hesitated. Angus figured he was going to point out the fact that they were all still in pajamas, but then he looked back at Angus.

“Wait, is the kid coming? They didn’t ask for him,” he pointed out. Taako seemed to think it over for a moment before turning back to him.

“Right, yeah no, go back to sleep pumpkin,” he said, and Angus pouted at that. He knew he wouldn’t be allowed to follow on everything, but he would very much like to know why they were being called out of their room at three in the morning.

“But I’m already awake,” he insisted. Luckily it seemed like Taako was too tired to argue, shrugging and starting back towards the door.

“Yeah fine, good enough for me,” he said. Merle looked a little put off by this but didn’t complain anymore, and it didn’t take long for the four of them to reach the director’s office. She was inside, looking over some papers when they got there with a worried expression on her face. That quickly turned into a look of annoyance when she looked over the group of them.

“What… are you wearing?” she asked, and Angus couldn’t exactly blame her for that.

“What are you wearing?” Magnus replied, ridiculously. Angus was still sleepy enough that he couldn’t help but laugh a little at that.

Then the Director started explaining what was going on and why they were there, and Angus was much more awake and not laughing. Even when Magnus started changing in the middle of the room. No one else seemed the slightest bit phased by that, which was weird. He kinda expected the Director to at least comment on it, but instead she continued on her explanation, so Angus didn’t say anything either.

They had found a relic, but someone had killed the original reclaimer before they could get it back to the base. So now the three needed to go down, pretending to be Leeman Kessler, and get the relic off of the train. It didn’t sound too terribly dangerous, aside from the fact that there was a relic involved and someone had killed the other reclaimer for unknown reasons.

“I wanna come,” Angus spoke up once the director asked if they had anymore questions.

“Oh yeah, can we bring Killian too?” Magnus added. The director sighed, not looking very happy about either thing.

“Killian cannot come, she is a regulator. The only way she would come down is if you take the relic and use it, and then that will signal her and she will come down and kill all of you,” the director said, which was fair enough. Angus would very much prefer that they didn’t have that happen. “And Angus, I’m sorry but you have to stay here on the moonbase, it’s simply too dangerous for you to be around a relic,” she added.

“But I can help, I didn’t go near the relic last time,” Angus tried to argue.

“Nah, she’s right pumpkin, this was the deal,” Taako cut in. Angus knew he shouldn’t be surprised by that but he was still disappointed. With that the Director told them to go get dressed and then meet Avi down at the hanger. Once they were out of the office and heading back towards their room Angus turned to Taako.

“So, that was a clever ruse right? I’m coming with you guys?” he asked. Taako frowned down at him, shaking his head.

“Uh, no, afraid not Ango. You’re staying right here on terra firma. Terra moona? Whatever,” Taako said, and Angus knew he should have expected that. Taako hadn’t let him come along to get the gauntlet before they even know how dangerous it actually was. There was no way he was going to let him tag along with this.

“But what if something happens? Or you need my help?” he pressed. He didn’t want to have Taako go off on another one of these missions without him. He hadn’t expected another one to happen so soon, they were still getting used to all of this.

They were back in their room now, and Angus barely had time to react when Taako tossed something at him. Looking down at it, it was a smooth rock with a couple of runes etched into it. “Brought these at the Fantasy Costco, we’ll be able to keep in touch,” Taako explained.

Angus let out a small sigh of relief. It wasn’t much, but short of sneaking down with Taako there wasn’t a lot he could do. At least this way he’d be able to check in on them and Taako could call him too.

“Just promise you’ll be careful?” he asked, and Taako rolled his eyes.

“We’re gonna go sit on a train for a couple hours, it’ll be fine,” he insisted. Angus kept looking at him with worry and concern etched all over his face, and it didn’t take long for Taako to break. “But yes, fine, I promise. It’ll be alright bubala,” he said. Despite the fact that Angus knew a promise wouldn’t actually keep him safe it still managed to make him relax the slightest bit.

“Okay, fine,” he relented, and Taako snorted at that.

“I don’t really need your permission to go, I’m like a billion years older than you,” he said, which was fair. Angus knew that he couldn’t technically keep Taako from doing what he wanted to, but that didn’t stop him from doing it anyway.

“No, but I could probably convince you to let me come along if I looked sad enough,” he said, Taako rolling his eyes at that.

“Yeah, sure you could,” he said, sarcasm clear in his voice.

“It’s how I got you to let me stay, isn’t it?” Angus said, and Taako paused at that, a look of thought on his face before he shrugged.

“Fair point, fair point,” he said, which got Angus to laugh. They’d finished changing into their proper adventuring gear now, which meant they were going to leave soon and there wasn’t anything Angus could do to delay it much longer. He shouldn’t do anything to try and delay it any longer. They had to get the relic so that it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands and hurt people the way the gauntlet had.

He didn’t want another thing like Phandalin to happen again. He didn’t want to be responsible for more people dying like Barry had.

Angus walked with them to the canons, and they honestly sounded pretty fun to ride it. He kind of wished he could go down with them just to try it out, but he didn’t say that. He figured they’d have to go back down to the surface at some point and he could try out the canons going down instead of up then.

Avi seemed concerned with him being there, and Angus wasn’t thrilled to explain that he was only seeing them off, he wasn’t coming along.

“We’ll be back in a bit my dude, go get some more sleep or whatever,” Taako said as they started climbing into the ball.

If Angus knew something like invisibility he could probably sneak along. He wasn’t quite that good of a wizard yet though.

“Call me on the stone if anything goes wrong, or you need my help, or anything,” Angus said. Taako nodded, and with that the door closed and Avi quickly yelled at them through the door about pulling the handle before hitting the ground, and then the ball was shot off.

And there really wasn’t anything left for Angus to do.

Reluctantly, he headed back to their dorm room. Once inside, it seemed way too quiet. He’d yet to be in it at a time when at least one of the other boys wasn’t in there with him. Sure, they’d only been on the moon for a few weeks, and before then him and Taako would do their own things a lot, but something about the silence still felt heavy.

Going over to the bed, Angus sat down on the bottom bunk and pulled out the stone of farspeech Taako had given him. Turning it over in his hands, it was smooth and silent without any sort of call coming through.

Sighing heavily, all he could do was wait and hope for the best.

———

All they needed to do was go on a train and get a thing out of a box. That was all, there really shouldn’t have been so many difficulties with this plan. Taako had pretty much meant it when he assured Angus that everything would be fine and they wouldn’t do anything too dangerous.

And the first half of the mission was pretty much that. They botched their cannonball landing and ended up fighting some slugs, but that was some magical bullshit Taako could deal with. Charming Tom Boddette when he started asking too many questions and getting suspicious had been some slight panic and wanting to get the interaction done with as soon as possible.

That was all fine though. Mildly inconvenient, but shit he wouldn’t have even been worried about bringing Angus along for. Once they were on the train things was even more casual. They fucked around with Jenkins for a bit and talked to the other passengers on the train. Neither of whom seemed particularly interesting to Taako. They checked out the pleasure chamber, and then afterwards things just seemed kind of… chill.

There was no sign of whoever had killed the real Leeman Kessler, there wasn’t anything to do. It really did seem like they were going to sit on the train and wait until they got to the station so they could get the relic out of the safe. The hardest part would be listening to Merle’s terrible fake fantasy-Scottish accent the whole time.

They’d been sitting in the dining car after getting out of the pleasure chamber. The beheader dwarf woman was ignoring them as much as possible, and Taako was trying to ignore Gram. When Jenkins came through with the drink cart, Taako felt he was very gracious in not even insulting him that badly in thanks for the very fine refreshment.

He didn’t pay much attention to what happened after that. Taako was fucking bored. He was half tempted to call Angus and see if the kid was still awake to complain to him about what a bore this trip was when Gram got up to go use the pleasure chamber again.

And a few seconds later was when he screamed.

Jess just glanced over towards the door before looking back out the window, and honestly? Taako could respect that.

Magnus and Merle were jumping up to go see what was going on though, and Taako followed along because at least it was finally something to do.

What they found was a very beheaded and behanded Jenkins.

“Nooo! If only he’d used one of his spell slots,” Taako yelled, and maybe it was too soon but it was still true.

“Gram too?” Merle said, noticing the wizard also lying on the ground. Taking a quick look at the human though, it was obvious he was still breathing. Also, they’d just seen him walk in there and heard him scream.

“He’s just passed out dummy,” Taako said, poking at Jenkin’s body, not sure what to do. He started looking for the transport rod thingy, along with like, anything else that might’ve been on the guy. There wasn’t anything though, which was weird.

They noticed it almost too late. Or well, Magnus did, glancing up above them with a confused look on his face. Taako wasn’t sure what the issue was before he grabbed Gram and fucking threw him out of the room.

Then it was a scramble to get out of the way before the weird crab monster burned them all to fucking ashes. Taako was very much of the argument of not fighting this thing, since you know, he didn’t want to fucking die.

So of course, they ended up fighting the stupid fucking crab, and Taako almost died again. Maybe if their cleric actually healed instead of casting zone of truth every goddamn minute that wouldn’t be as much of a problem.

The damn crab was dead now though, thanks to the wrestling dwarf lady and also punching it out a window. Those two things seemed to be about equal.

Like fuck they knew what to do now though, because Jenkins was dead, but everyone who’d been on the train had all been in the same room when it happened. There had to be some sort of trick, or someone on the train they didn’t know about. They’d asked the engineer though, and unless he was the one who did it there didn’t seem to be any other option.

Man, Taako had never been good at the whole detective case junk. Maybe it would have been a good idea to bring Ango along after all. Kid was a fucking great detective. The best, if anyone asked, because like fuck would Taako be hanging around with anything less.

Flipping the stone of farspeech over in his hand, Taako figured they’d reached enough of a dead end that this warranted a little extra help.

“Okay, I’m phoning a friend, because cha’ boy’s got nothing,” he announced. Magnus and Merle looked over at him in confusion before noticing the stone of farspeech.

“Hey pumpkin?” he said in kind of a singsong voice, not wanting to freak out Angus and also not super proud of having to call for help.

“Taako! I- is everything okay? Did you get the relic?” Angus’s frantic and not at all sleepy voice came in. Yeah, Taako had a feeling the kid wasn’t falling back to sleep after everything, but he’d naively hoped anyway. He sucked in a breath at that last question.

“Not quite. Still working on that one, we just figured we could use some of your expertise,” he said.

“Taako figured, we had no say in this decision,” Magnus cut in.

“A totally unanimous decision that we all voted on,” Taako insisted, ignoring the way Magnus and Merle rolled their eyes.

“My help? Yes, of course! What do you need?” Angus asked, sounding a lot more excited now that he was being included in this. Taako kinda figured that would happen, kid was always pretty eager to please. At least, when he wasn’t being stubborn and a deliberate brat.

“So, ya know how the real Leeman Kessler got killed before we came down here?” Taako started.

“Real Leeman? What is this guy talking about? Is that a kid on his stone?” Jess cut in, and right, Taako had kind of forgotten her and Gram were still hanging around. Oh boy, they were real bad at the whole undercover thing. Hopefully they could wipe this whole thing with the voidfish once it was all said and done. He wasn’t too sure how all that worked yet.

“Are you talking about this in front of witnesses Taako?” Angus asked, a slightly judging tone to his voice that was not needed.

“You wanna help or not?” Taako asked back.

“Yes, just tell me what’s going on,” Angus relented.

“Right, anyway, someone else got killed on the train, a real shitty wizard. Everyone but the engineer was with us when it happened, so like, it was the engineer, right? It seems a little obvious though, figured this whole detective stick would be harder than that,” Taako explained. He could imagine the way Angus would be biting his lip and the look of concentration on his face as he mulled over the information.

“I mean, that definitely makes him the biggest suspect? How was this person killed? Did he have any connection to the you-know-what?” Angus pressed.

“He was beheaded.”

“And behanded,” Merle added in.

“Wait, why would they take his hands? And why would they kill him at all? Tell me everything. Where’s the relic? Should I go get the director?” Angus asked, a pretty big barrage of questions, and Taako supposed he should’ve been expecting that.

“Whoa now, hold your horses, and now count them,” Taako said, moving to slump down in one of the passenger car seats. He was still pretty fucking beat from that fight after all, not that Angus needed to know much about that.

“Count them?” he asked, sounding extremely confused.

“Yes, how many horses do you have?”

“No- none. I don’t have any horses,” Angus said, his befuddlement clear.

“Then it should be real easy for you to chill out for five seconds while I get my story straight,” Taako said, hearing Angus snort over the stone. With that Taako started to explain the whole situation as they understood it. Honestly, it didn’t feel like they understood a lot, but whenever it felt like they explained everything Angus would ask something else and they managed to go into more detail.

Why would they need the hands? Because you need to open the safe by touching it for an hour. If the engineer killed him couldn’t he just open it with his own hands? Why take the head at all? Why take his wand as well? How exactly does a pleasure chamber work? Why were the cuts on his hands different from the ones on the neck?

A million fucking questions, and normally Taako would be pretty annoyed by it. He didn’t exactly join Ango on a lot of his detective stints, it wasn’t his jam. This was his job now though, so he supposed the help was somewhat appreciated.

He kept Angus on the line with them as they moved through the train, trying to figure out where the killer had went. Obviously the logical thing would be the cargo car, but when they got back there it was empty.

Except when Taako had tried to cast detect magic, his vision went fucking white as everything around him lit up.

“Bad news compadres, this place is magic as hell,” he said, dismissing the spell so he could see again.

“What place? You guys are in the cargo car now?” Angus asked over the stone. It would have been so much easier if they brought the kid along with them. Maybe he could convince the director to let them drag him along next time.

Taako guessed he’d feel pretty shitty if he ended up getting hurt because they brought him along though. That wasn’t particularly something he wanted. Spent so long investing in keeping the brat alive after all, it’d be a waste to screw that up now. Or something.

“You got it,” Taako said. Magnus was poking around at the crypt safe, and there really wasn’t a lot to do in here.

“Maybe if it’s super magic you probably shouldn’t be in there. You did promise me you’d be safe after all,” Angus said.

“Hey, we’re being plenty safe,” Taako argued.

“Didn’t you almost get killed by that crab earlier?” Merle shouted from across the room.

“I didn’t want to fight it! And maybe if some people were a little more loosey-goosey with their heals I wouldn’t have to worry,” Taako yelled back.

“Wait, what? What crab?” Angus asked, sounding worried again.

“Nothing pumpkin, we killed it out a window, it’s fine,” Taako assured him. He doubted it did much to actually convince him that everything was okay.

“Just please get out of that room dad,” he said, sighing loudly.

“You can’t just call me dad every time you want me to do something and expect it to work,” Taako said. The fact that he was leaving the cargo car was unrelated, Angus just happened to have a point that they should get out of there and Taako wasn’t a fan of dying.

“Of course not,” Angus said, not sounding genuine in the slightest. It was like he could fucking tell Taako was doing what he said despite not even being there. Which really wasn’t fair. Taako always figured someone knowing how he worked would be a lot more uncomfortable than it actually was. He’d never had someone who could reliably see through his bullshit the way Angus could.

Once they got out of the room through Merle cast locate object again. The rod was definitely back in the room they had just been in.

Taako would stand by the fact that they were a bunch of idiots and a kid who was having to rely off of there bad directions for any sort of context. Even still, they managed to make the leap that it wasn’t Jenkins who’d been killed at that point. He was back there, and had killed the engineer.

Now they needed a way to get back there and kick Jenkins some new spellslots.

“What if like, okay Taako. You could cast levitate on my shoes, and then push me out a window, and then I could get in through the back door,” Magnus said, and well, it was a shitty plan, but it was a plan.

“And then he’d have to fight Jenkins on his own?” Gram asked, and Taako shooed that concern away.

“No, he’d just have to distract him long enough for the spell to come down, and then we’ll be there to take Jenkins to brown town,” Taako said, grinning at that last part.

“Um, that sounds really dangerous. Taako? Dad, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Angus was saying over the stone of farspeech. They had figured out what was going on, and there was no reason to have Angus keep listening in and worry himself sick or whatever.

“Hey sorry pumpkin, I think we’re going through a tunnel. Gonna go kick Jenkin’s ass and then I’ll call you right back,” he said.

“You’ve been through a tunnel this whole time the train goes through the mountains. Taako, don’t hang up on me. Taako? Dad-” Angus was snapping, but Taako quickly shut the stone of farspeech off.

Maybe it was a little mean, but Taako never pretended to be a nice person. Jenkins was a super shitty wizard anyway, so this wouldn’t even take long. If he didn’t die in Phandalin, he sure as fuck wasn’t going to die on this stupid train.

He had people he needed to get back to after all.

Notes:

whoops, been a while since i've updated this one, did not mean to leave it for quite so long but i've been pretty busy for a bit. I wanna thank everyone for waiting though, and i'm hoping to get onto some more regular, if slightly slower than my previous rate of dates schedule. of course schedules almost never tend to go as planned so we'll see.

as always, thanks for reading and i've hoped you enjoyed!

Chapter 30: A Gift

Angus cursed to himself when Taako hung up his stone of farspeech, claiming to lose signal from going through the mountains. He knew that was a lie, not even a very convincing one either. They’d been through the mountains this whole time, it hadn’t been a problem before. It should be even less of one now, since they were getting towards the end of it.

He tried to call a few more times, but there was no answer on Taako’s end. Angus couldn’t say he was surprised, it sounded like they were getting ready to do some very dumb and dangerous stuff just then.

They would be fine. He kept telling himself that. They were going to be okay and they’d be back soon.

Even still, Angus couldn’t keep himself from pacing around the room as he waited. He’d been up since they left, unable to actually get back to sleep before they called needing his help. Now he definitely couldn’t sleep, and there wasn’t much of a point anyway because they’d be home soon.

Eventually waiting in the room because too much, and Angus decided to go down to the hanger. That way he could see them as soon as they got back and would be able to know for sure if they were okay.

Avi was still down there, starting to look tired and probably getting close to the end of his shift. Angus appreciated having a somewhat familiar face around instead of someone he didn’t know at all though. Of course, him and Taako hadn’t spent much time getting to know many of the other members of the bureau yet. Taako seemed pretty content hanging out with Magnus and Merle when he could.

Which was fair, that was already more people than they usually had around. Still, Angus supposed he wouldn’t mind getting to know all the people who worked here. Both because he was simply curious, and if Taako was going to go off on long missions it’d be nice to have other people to talk to.

Also because he still wasn’t entirely sure how much he should trust everyone here yet. They seemed like nice people, but their whole operation was still pretty sketchy. It was always best to stay cautious at first.

“Oh hey, it’s Angus right?” Avi said when he came in. Angus nodded, smiling and trying not to look as nervous as he felt.

“Hello sir. I just got a message from Taako and he said they would probably be back up to the base pretty soon. Is it okay if I wait in here for them?” he asked, and Avi quickly nodded.

“Yeah of course, not a problem,” he said. Angus would have stayed even if he tried to make up some reason why he shouldn’t, but it was good to know he had permission and it was polite to ask anyway.

“Thanks sir,” he said, pulling his robe close around himself as he sat down against the wall of the hanger and waited. He hadn’t brought much, just the stuff he usually kept on him, his notebook and wand and that sort of stuff. He probably should have brought a book too, but he’d been too worried to think of it.

It really didn’t end up being that much longer, but it felt like an eternity when his stone started buzzing again and Angus fumbled to answer it.

“Hey! How did everything go? Are you okay? Do you need more help?” he asked quickly, not quite able to pretend he wasn’t beside himself with worry.

“No assistance required we are all good here. Got the thingy and everything,” Taako said, and Angus felt his whole body relax with relief at that.

“Really? And no one got hurt?” he asked, and he heard Taako make a not too reassuring sound at that.

“Eeeh, I mean, Jenkins died, for real this time. That doesn’t really count though right?” Taako asked, and Angus shook his head.

“No, he was a murderer and was gonna take the relic, so I’m pretty sure that cancels it out,” he said. One bad person dying was certainly a lot better than an entire town of innocent people burning to death.

“Then yeah, we good! I mean Mag’s is a little banged up but he’ll be fine after a heal. We’re gonna take him to a clinic I guess cause someone used up all their damn spell slots making sure people weren’t lying,” Taako said. Angus could hear a muffled protest of Merle in the background, but he was too far away from the stone for him to make out the words. Still, it make Angus snicker some. “We’ll be right back after that cause cha’ boy could use a nap,” Taako added, and Angus nodded even though he couldn’t see him.

“Okay, see you soon, love you!” he said, and he still wouldn’t be totally relaxed until he saw them again in person, but this was good. This might actually work out.

“See ya in a bit pumpkin,” Taako said before hanging up. It turned out they were telling the truth, because it wasn’t very long before Avi sent a sphere down, and a few moments later it returned with Taako, Merle, and Magnus in tow.

As soon as they were out of the transport Canon Angus ran over and gave Taako a hug. He couldn’t help the fact that he’d been scared about them, it was a pretty reasonable fear as far as he was concerned. Avi was talking to Magnus and Merle about how impressive it was that they actually managed to get another relic.

“See? Told ya it’d be a piece of cake,” Taako said, giving him a quick side hug back.

“Last time a whole down burned down and hundreds of people died. You can’t blame me for being a little concerned,” Angus argued.

“Hey, last time we didn’t know what the fuck we were doing,” Taako said, which was fair. It really was good at they were at least going in with an idea of how dangerous this stuff was and they could prepare. Or at least, that’s what Angus was telling himself.

He followed along with them as they went to the Director’s office to dispose of the relic. He only got a glimpse of the actual item as they were putting it in the ball, standing kind of back so that nothing would go wrong. From the quick glance he got, it was just a simple monocle. There was something alluring about it though, and he caught himself wanting to get a closer look. Before he could do anything though they closed the sphere and the relic was being wheeled out of the room. Angus couldn’t help but give a small sigh of relief at that, earning a confused look from Taako.

“You good pumpkin?” he asked, and Angus nodded.

“Yeah just, ya know, glad it’s being destroyed,” he said, and the look on Taako’s face made it clear that he agreed with that.

The destruction of the oculus was just as flashy as the destruction of the gauntlet, and afterwards the Director told them some about what it could actually do. Angus felt very relieved that no one had gotten the chance to use it during this mission. It sounded like something that they wouldn’t have been able to fight against.

Angus hadn’t ended up sleeping a lot last night, since he hadn’t managed to get back to sleep at all once they were woken up at 3am. So he was pretty tired and not paying too much attention once the relic was destroyed. He knew the director was paying the three reclaimers, and if he needed to he could ask Taako how good they were on money later. Taako had been talking about wanting to go back down to the planet and do some shopping there at some point, so he was sure it would come up.

Because he was zoning out a little though, he didn’t catch what Taako was saying other than hearing his name.

“Huh, what?” he asked. He noticed then that Taako hadn’t been talking to him, but was looking at the director, who looked a little surprised.

“Oh, and why’s that?” the director asked, and Angus rubbed at his eyes, trying to wake himself up.

“Kid basically solved the whole dang mystery without even being there, right Ango?” Taako said, and Angus shrugged a little.

“I guess? I was just helping you guys over the stone a little,” Angus said, still not entirely sure what this was about. Still, whatever it was the director seemed to think it over for a bit before nodding.

“Alright then, if you think this sort of long range help would be useful in future missions, I suppose we can look into making it more official. Davenport! Please go get a payment for Angus as well,” she said, and Angus blinked at that. Oh, so that’s what they were talking about.

A moment later Davenport came back with another small bag of coins and a token for the fantasy goshapon. Angus wasn’t sure if he felt like he deserved it, he didn’t do nearly as much work as the others had done to get the relic, but he wasn’t going to turn it down either.

“Thank you madame, I just wanted to help as much as I could,” Angus said, and the director smiled at him.

“Of course. Next time we’ll see what we can do to help facilitate that,” she said. With that they left, and Angus followed after them. He couldn’t blame them for wanting to get the reward for their goshapon tokens right away, it was pretty exciting. They had to be a lot more tired than he was, since they had been fighting and running around a train and everything.

Taako was pretending not to know how to use the goshapon machine again. It was kind of a stupid joke but Mr. Leon seemed to fully believe that Taako was genuinely having trouble figuring it out. That was hilarious and Angus found himself falling into a fit of giggles. While Taako and Leon were arguing about who could put the coin in Angus went past and put his in, turning the dial.

A large package came out, and it was a bit heavier than the last one Angus had gotten. Leon had finally noticed from where he was trying to get Taako to take his coin back.

“Oh, let’s see what you got there,” he said, seeming pretty glad to have a reason to not keep talking to Taako. Angus saw him give a thumbs up and a wink while Leon’s back was turned, going and putting in his own coin.

Inside of the box was a pretty large glass sphere, a cloudy white with a blue tint inside. It seemed completely solid, a good heft to it when Angus picked it up out of the box.

“Ah, well that’s an easy one. Let’s see, yes. That would be a crystal ball you have there. With this here, you should be able to attempt to scry in on a person or place once a day,” Leon explained. Angus couldn’t help the large grin that spread across his face at that, holding it close to it so that he wouldn’t drop it.

“Taako! Taako, look when I got,” Angus said, running over to him. He’d gotten some sort of fan out of the goshapon, and didn’t seen entirely thrilled with it.

“Oh boy, cause that’s exactly what your nosy ass needs, an even easier way to spy on people,” Taako said, and Angus rolled his eyes at that.

“It could help me when you guys are on missions. If you need help I can scry down and get a better idea of the situation,” Angus insisted, and Taako snorted, ruffling his hair some.

“Yep, you won’t ever use it when not on the job, right?” he asked, and Angus frowned at that.

“I mean, it’s a useful item. It could help on regular detective missions too,” he argued, a slight pout in his voice of not getting to use the crystal ball more often. He kind of wanted to test it out right now, just to see how well it worked of course. Taako was giving him a very amused look at that, which was probably fair.

“Yeah, yeah alright,” Taako said, shaking his head. He seemed like he was in a pretty good mood though. Which was good. Angus didn’t like it when Taako was upset, even when he was hiding it well.

Looking down at the crystal ball in his arms, it was an incredibly useful item. He didn’t want to abuse it, but he did have something he wanted to do. This could help with that.

And he did need to test it out after all.

——

All in all the train mission had been a pretty okay success. Taako couldn’t say he was entirely surprised by that, since the biggest threat they were dealing with was Jenkins. Kind of impossible not to win in that case.

Still, there was definitely some relief being back and having the relic destroyed and all likable parties coming out not dead.

They just had to do this like, five ish more times? And they would be good. Out of a job, so Taako should be trying to save some money for after all this, but he also wasn’t entirely sure he’d live through all of these missions. Like, he’d almost fucking died two for two now. It seemed like the kind of thing that got progressively more dangerous as time went on too.

Angus tried to stay awake once they were back in their room after getting the shit from Leon, but he still ended up taking a nap. Which honestly Taako wasn’t far behind, and Magnus had passed out as soon as he touched a bed. They had to deal with a lot of bullshit on not a lot of sleep, naps were perfectly acceptable.

The next week or so was pretty chill. Taako didn’t expect it not to be, since there didn’t seem to be much to do between the missions. There was training, but he tended to skip out on that when he could more often than not. Every so often Mags and Merle would managed to trap him into going, or Angus would insist that he should really train so that he didn’t die on a mission, but most days had a lot of free time.

Today was one of those slow days, not that Taako was complaining any. He was mostly chilling in the library with Angus. They still needed to go down planet side at some point, but for now the kid seemed pretty content to scour the library for as many magic books as he could understand. Taako figured brushing up on some new spells was an good of an excuse as any to duck out of training. He was a wizard, he needed his research time.

He didn’t, most of this shit came pretty naturally to him, but he wasn’t gonna- better not to leave it entirely up to chance.

“Hey Taako?” Angus asked after a long bout of quietly reading. Taako looked up from the spell he was copying down, humming for him to continue whatever it was he wanted to ask. “I was just thinking, you know when my birthday is, but I don’t know when yours is. You’ve never told me,” he said. Which, that wasn’t what Taako was expecting. He shrugged, turning back towards the spell.

“That makes two of us,” he said simply, which got a look from Angus.

“You don’t know when your birthday is?” he asked, and Taako shook his head.

“Nope,” he answered easily, popping the p sound as he did. Angus was still giving him that look, and it probably wouldn’t leave without some sort of explanation. Kid was stubborn like that. “Never had much of a reason to celebrate it, I think the last time I did was maybe when I was like, twelve? Ancient goddamn history,” he said.

“Yeah, you are really old,” Angus said, earning himself a glare. He just giggled at the annoyed look though, and honestly Taako wasn’t sure what else he expected.

“Anyway,” Taako insisted, “like hell do I remember the actual date or anything like that. It’s not like it matters,” he said. Sure, he hadn’t been thrilled when he realized he’d missed Angus’s birthday that first time, but that was different. Angus was a kid, birthdays were important to kids.

“We should pick one out then,” Angus said, sounding pretty insistent for some reason. Taako snorted but shrugged because hey, it wasn’t like he’d go turning down a day all about himself.

“Yeah alright, why the hell not? You already got a day in mind or what?” Taako asked. Angus seemed to think it over for a moment, but if Taako had to guess that was mostly for show.

“Maybe this weekend? Saturday,” he said, and Taako gave a somewhat exaggerated look of thinking it over.

“Pretty short notice there little man, didn’t realize I was already turning two- a hundred seve- one fourt- the big one twenty-one,” Taako said, stumbling over his age only like, a little bit. He didn’t keep track of that shit. A lot of his life was a blur of repetitive traveling and junk, at least until he got his cooking show.

Also, he might’ve low balled it a little bit, just so Angus couldn’t keep insisting he was some old man. He was a young spry elf man, still at the height of his prime.

Angus rolled his eyes at the rapidly decreasing age, but otherwise he didn’t make any comment on it. Taako always knew his kid was smart.

“If you don’t actually pick a day Taako I’m just gonna pick one without telling you and surprise you,” Angus said instead, and Taako snorted.

“Saturday works for me, it’s not like I’ve got a super packed schedule up here. I swear you do more work than me,” he said, and Angus shrugged.

“If would be more work if you actually went to training,” he argued.

“Eh, Merle ditches just as much,” Taako said.

“I think Merle just keeps getting lost,” Angus said, which got a laugh out of Taako. It wasn’t even a joke and he probably wasn’t wrong, but it was still pretty damn funny.

With that Angus closed the books he’d been reading and stood up.

“Well, see you later then,” he said, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that.

“Oh yeah? And just where the fuck are you off to in such a hurry?” he asked. Sure, he had a pretty good idea, and the amused look Angus gave him only helped to further cement his suspicions.

“I mean, it’s your birthday in a few days. I’m pretty sure saying anything now would ruin the surprise,” he said, and Taako snorted. Yeah, that was about what he thought. Turning back to his spellbook his waved Angus off.

“Yeah yeah, go on then,” he said. Taako could hardly be surprised when Angus was rather secretive about whatever it was he was doing over the next few days. Not constantly, but it was clear he did something. The day before his ‘birthday’ Taako had tried to go into the cafeteria kitchen only for Angus to be immediately in his way, pushing him back out of the kitchen and telling him he could come back in an hour. Kid definitely got some sort of icing on his clothes as he pushed him out, and Taako was sorely tempted to sneak in and steal whatever treat Angus was making beforehand.

He’d be good and not ruin the kid’s fun though. He could hoard the cake or whatever it was all to himself tomorrow.

Tomorrow felt like it took fucking forever, but eventually it came. He wasn’t sure why though, he wasn’t that excited. Mostly he guessed he just wanted baked goods. If Ango’s turned out not too stellar he could still use it as an excuse to make something for himself. Still, the kid was getting better, Taako wanted to see what he'd managed to come up with on his own.

Even if he was excited for food though, he still wasn’t too thrilled with how early it was when Angus went waking him up.

“Morning dad! Happy birthday!” he said excitedly. Taako groaned and rolled over, and he could hear the others starting to stir now too. Great.

“Huh, it’s Taako’s birthday?” Magnus asked, sounding like he’d just woken up as well.

“How old are ya now? Like, elf thirty?” Merle asked, and Taako raised his middle finger at the dwarf, still not coming fully out from under his blankets.

“I’m four hundred and twenty, fuck you old man,” he mumbled.

“Dad, do you honestly not know how old you are?” Angus asked, like he was starting to realize this whole thing wasn’t a joke or Taako being cagey.

“Not important,” he said quickly, because well, it wasn’t. It was just something he never saw the point in keeping track of. He never celebrated his birthday after he went off on his own, never had any point of keeping track of his age once he was an adult. It was hard to tell with elves anyway, so it wasn’t like it was a big deal.

“So, you got something planned for the goddamn crack of dawn, or is it possible for me to get some more sleep before this whole birthday deal?” he asked. He could see an internal debate playing on in Angus’s head for a moment before he spoke.

“Your first present is that I’m letting you go back to sleep,” he said, and Taako snorted at that, letting his head fall back down on the pillow.

“Good fucking choice,” he said. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep again, and when he woke up on his own later it was a much more reasonable time of day. Angus was the only one left in the room right now, sitting at a desk between the two beds with a book. Taako spared a glance over at the boner squad’s bunks.

“Where’d those two head off to?” he asked.

“Emergency birthday present shopping. I wasn’t supposed to tell you,” Angus answered immediately, which got a laugh out of Taako.

“Yeah, figured as much,” he said, and when he looked back over at Angus there was something off. He looked a little nervous, but he had no idea what could be causing that. “So, what’s the plan? This is the first birthday I’ve had in a while and it seems like you’ve had some shit in mind,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Oh yeah, I do, it’s just um, can I give you your big present first?” he asked, and yeah okay, for some reason this was definitely what he was nervous about. Maybe he spent a lot of money or something, which yeah Taako wouldn’t normally be thrilled about him spending a bunch on him. Still, he wasn’t gonna be upset at the kid.

“Never gonna say no to a present my dude, bring it out,” he said. Instead of heading to the closet or under the bed like Taako expected, he reached into his pocket. Heading over to where Taako was still sitting in bed, he held his hand out. Taako was frowning in confusion now, but let him put whatever he was holding into his hand.

It was just a small slip of paper. Unfolding it, Taako felt his heart sinking as he read the words on it.

“Forty people became ill and died in Glamour Springs immediately after eating poisoned food from a cooking show,” he read quietly. This… definitely wasn’t something he wanted to be reminded of today. Or ever. Looking up at Angus, Taako couldn’t even guess the expression he had on his face right now. “Hey, pumpkin, what the fuck?”

“I fixed it,” Angus said, and Taako could feel his frown deepen even more in confusion. Angus could obviously tell, so he continued. “I fed a piece of paper just like that to the voidfish. Now no one will remember or try to arrest you, so you can start your show again. It wasn’t your fault and now you don’t have to feel guilty anymore.”

Taako figured he should say something. Thank Angus for such a smart move. It was smart after all. Now Taako could go back to cooking. They were stuck with the bureau for the time being but if he lived through all of this, he could fucking do the thing he was passionate about again. No one would ever know. Sazed wouldn’t even remember anymore. He was in the clear.

He should be ecstatic.

“Is- is it okay? Do you like it?” Angus asked, and Taako nodded.

“Yeah Ango, it’s perfect,” he lied. “Just… fucking. Perfect,” he added, hoping the shaky tone to his voice was taken as relief and joy and not the knot in his stomach threatening to make him vomit.

Taking a deep breath, Taako managed to steady himself the slightest bit. Holding the paper up, it only took a simple cantrip to make it go up in flames. Angus didn’t seem upset by that at all, his nervous smile starting to turn a bit more relieved.

“I love it,” Taako said, with more conviction than he managed before. There was still some obvious uncertainty in Angus’s face, which wasn’t a surprise. Kid was good at reading people. So instead Taako reached over and pulled him into a hug, Angus immediately relaxing against him and hugging him back.

“Don’t fuckin deserve a kid like you,” Taako muttered, and at least that was the truth.

Notes:

i've had this move planned for a real long time and i'm glad to finally get to it, angus is a good boy who is just trying to help. also, can't believe this story is at 30 goddamn chapters. i promise we're def over the halfway point by now, i never imaged this fic getting this long.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 31: Some Good Distractions

Taako tried to push Angus's gift out of his mind for the rest of the day. Or at least, he was trying to be upbeat about it. There was no reason to be anything but upbeat after all. Voidfishing it all had been a good thing. The kid was right after all, now he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

As long as they didn’t tell anyone else on the base, he and Angus were the only two people in existence who could even know it happened anymore. They could just move past it. Taako could move past it. There was nothing else to do here.

It still left an ugly twisting in the pit of his stomach, but it wasn’t bad enough that he couldn’t ignore it. He’d get over it in time. He didn’t have the effects of the voidfish, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try and forget too. He wanted to forget, pretend that it had never happened. That maybe he found Angus as an orphan on the street one day and the damn brat decided not to leave his side, that his pain and almost dying hadn't been Taako's fault.

And if he couldn’t convince himself it had never happened or make himself forget, at the very least he could always distract himself.

Distractions were in pretty good supply too. Only a short time after Angus had finished giving him his present Magnus and Merle came bursting back into the dorm, announcing that surprise! They had presents and knew it was Taako’s birthday the whole time! What a clever ruse they pulled on him earlier when they pretended that they didn’t know it was his birthday!

Taako let them pretend, if only because they did bring him gifts. Also because it probably wasn’t actually his birthday, not that he was going to let either of those two chucklefucks know that.

The rest of the day managed to be equally as distracting, and Taako was somewhat thankful for it. Also, he couldn’t knock a day where people were giving him stuff. Even if some of the stuff was like, an objectively terrible outfit Mags and Merle had somehow figured would be his taste. Like, he was gonna wear it, he could make anything work, but still. It looked like Pan had thrown up on a cloak and got half of it stuck in a shredder.

So yeah, he was totally rocking it, so he guessed they didn’t do too bad. At the very least, Taako was never above accepting free shit.

Other than that, he’d been right about Angus having been working on some sort of birthday food treat. He’d been practically bouncing as he dragged Taako to the bureau kitchen.

Taako was pretty sure that he could notice a difference since that healer in the med ward had seen him. It was clear it wasn’t fully healed. Sometimes after spending too long copying down a spell Angus would have to stop and slowly open and close his hands, or he’d run out of breath and have to sit down because his legs were killing him. They had a big storm once or twice, and those did not seem to be great for his nerves while they were up on the moon. Angus basically spent the whole day in bed when those happened, insisting the rain was making him sleepy.

Taako knew that wasn’t true, but he wasn’t going to call him out on it.

Despite all of that though it seemed like he had more energy than before. A higher pep in his step or whatever. Taako wasn’t sure how to describe it, but it was… good. Seeing Angus feeling better and able to do more for longer was real fucking good. Even if it wasn’t perfect, it would have to be enough.

“So, what you got in store now my dude? From the fact that we’re in a kitchen I’m gonna take an educated guess towards food. You putting all those cooking lessons to good use?” he asked as Angus let go of his arm and stopped dragging him along. Angus nodded, heading over to a cabinet and pushing some spare tupperware out of the way.

“Yeah! I mean, I tried, they’re not as good as yours but,” Angus said, pulling out a covered plate full of macarons. “You made them the first time we celebrated my birthday, remember?” he asked, and Taako chuckled some at that.

“I wouldn’t really call what we did celebrating, but yeah, rings a bell. Hand those bad boys over, lemme get a taste,” he said, and by now his grin wasn’t forced. Angus quickly handed over the plate, and when Taako ate one he was pretty damn pleased. He’d been teaching the kid cooking for a while, but they never did much baking.

“What do you think?” Angus asked as he chewed, and Taako nodded before swallowing so he could speak.

“Well, you’re right about them not being as good as mine,” he said, Angus rolling his eyes at that. “But pretty fucking stellar little man. You got the consistency down pat, and that’s the hard part. Could use a little more sugar? But all in all a definite eight, eight point five out of ten,” he said. Angus nodded along, listening to the advice intently, clearly taking mental notes for next time. Honestly, Taako was surprised that he wasn’t taking actual notes. If he had to guess he was trying to cut back on that since it was his birthday.

“I’m glad you like them dad,” Angus said, grinning and grabbing one off the plate for himself. Taako let him, since he did go through all the work of making them.

It still took him off guard sometimes, when Angus would call him that. Still having to work past the first instinct to shoot that shit right down. He managed to bite it back, shoving another macaron into his mouth.

“Cookies!” Magnus shouted, barreling into the kitchen with Merle. Taako barely managed to dodge out of the way of the two, holding the plate of cookies up above his head.

“Fuck off! My son made me these for my birthday!” he said, having to keep moving back so the cookies stayed out of their grasp. Merle kept trying to reach his grubby little hands up to grab at the plate, Magnus pouted, turning towards Angus.

“Aw, Angus tell him to share,” he complained. Angus snorted in a laugh, looking very amused by all of this.

“He’s right dad, you should share,” he said. Now it was Taako’s turn to pout, not looking very happy at the idea. After a moment he huffed, pulling the plate down and holding out two of the macarons.

“Fine, you each get one, because I’m feeling generous,” he grumbled. They were almost immediately grabbed out of his hand and devoured, which was about what Taako expected.

“Wow, Angus you made these? They’re pretty good,” Magnus said. Merle only shrugged despite trying to sneak another. Taako slapped his hand and moved the plate out of the way before he could.

“Yeah! Taako taught me how to cook. His are better,” he said, and Taako had already shoved another into his mouth by this point. He didn’t bother completely swallowing before he started to speak.

“Don’t go comparing yourself to carefully honed perfection pumpkin. Yours are hells of better than most of the junk you find in a store,” he said, Angus beaming at the praise.

The rest of the day went well. There weren’t a lot of other birthday things Angus had planned, so the two of them mostly spent it hanging out with Magnus and Merle. There was some birthday shopping and some not very successful trying to convince Garfield to give them a birthday discount.

Taako even managed to come around to cooking dinner for all of them. It’d been a while since he cooked for anyone other than him and Angus. Sure it was just Magnus and Merle, for some reason they didn’t quite count in his head, but still. The food he made was fucking incredible. It felt good cooking a big meal again for once.

“Did you have a good birthday?” Angus asked as they were going to bed that night, his voice quiet. Merle was already passed out on the opposite bunk, and Magnus was off taking a shower.

“Huh? Oh yeah, ten out of ten, best birthday I can remember, for sure,” he said. It was true, although he guessed Angus didn’t have too much to contend with.

“I’m glad,” Angus said, sounding relieved. Taako knew the kid had actually put a decent amount of effort into all of this. “Goodnight dad. I love you,” he said.

“Mhmm, you too,” Taako mumbled, crawling into his own bed. It was the closest he’d ever gotten to actually saying it back. He probably should, but Taako wasn’t good at this kind of shit. He figured Angus knew that, if he was expecting all that open affection junk he was coming to the wrong guy.

Still, there was a part of Taako that actually wanted to try and do better. Because Angus was a good kid, and Taako didn’t deserve him. The least he could do was try and put in the barest amount of effort.

———

Angus wasn’t sure how Taako was going to take it at first. Good, he hoped. Afterwards he still wasn’t completely sure. It had been a long time since he wasn’t able to tell how Taako felt about something, which maybe meant Taako wasn’t sure how he felt about it either.

Maybe he should have asked beforehand. Angus hadn’t been sure if Taako would let him though, or if the bureau would. He hadn’t asked, instead using his new crystal ball to sneak into the voidfish’s chamber while Johann was out and slip the piece of paper into the tank. It had seemed so anti climatic when he did it. The voidfish had grabbed the paper, and Angus hadn’t felt any different, but he knew the world would no longer be able to remember what had happened at Glamour Springs that day.

The rest of the birthday plans had gone well though, as had the next few weeks. If Angus’s gift had bothered Taako, he continued not to show it. Whenever it was brought up Taako acted relieved that it would no longer be an issue. So Angus decided not to press it anymore, glad it seemed to help.

If he couldn’t get Taako’s name cleared, making everyone forget was the next best thing. There was nothing they could do to reverse it now either.

Angus tried to push all of that to the back of his mind for now. Now that they were settling into life at the Bureau it wasn’t too hard to find things to distract themselves with anyway. Taako had training every so often with Magnus and Merle. Angus suspected he had it more often than he actually went to, but he didn’t call him out on it too often.

The times when Taako wasn’t training with the others, a lot of it they spent together learning new magics. Taako tried to act like it wasn’t a lot, that he wasn’t super into the whole studying and learning part and just liked being able to shoot magic ouchies from his fingertips.

He was almost always willing to drop whatever he was doing at the time to come with Angus to the bureau library when he asked though. He could lose track of time when stuck with his nose in a book just as much. More often than not he’d have another book or two or three opened up as well, that he’d randomly jump over to. It was kind of hard to follow his train of logic, how he would be halfway through copying down a spell before deciding to read about something else and have to come back to the spell twenty minutes later. It seemed to work for him though, so Angus didn’t question it.

Angus still wasn’t anywhere near as good as him at magic yet, but he was definitely getting better. Taako was still teaching him a lot, and Angus couldn’t help feeling excited every time he managed to get down a new spell. He had quite a few cantrips and a couple first level spells too. Just enough that he could start to get creative if he needed to get out of a sticky situation.

Angus was really starting to like the bureau. He still wasn’t completely sure if they could trust them, but he was starting to hope they could. He wanted this to work out. He liked being up here, and Angus could tell that Taako liked it too. He wasn’t staying holed up in their dorm, avoiding people at all cost. He wasn’t even just sticking around wherever Angus went.

He was hanging out with Merle and Magnus, and it seemed like they were having fun. If he didn’t like them, Angus knew that he would be able to avoid them as much as possible, even if they shared a room together. He wasn’t only seeing them during training and when they had to go off for a job though, and whenever he complained about them it was in the same way he would complain about Angus. The way where he didn’t actually mean it and he wasn’t able to keep himself from smiling half the time.

It made Angus happy to see Taako happy like this. It had been just the two of them for so long, he thought it was going to be weird at first. Taako seemed so comfortable around them though, like he’d known them his whole life. It was easy for Angus to end up being comfortable too.

Out of all of the things on the moon base though, one of Angus’s favorites had to be helping out with the other seekers. He didn’t get to do any ground work, but there were so many books and leads to look into for finding the relics, for figuring out what they did and how to track them.

It was hard detective work, and Angus could spend hours trying to make sense of it all. It was kind of frustrating, but in that fun way where every breakthrough felt like an accomplishment.

And right now felt like a real big accomplishment.

One of the leads they’d been looking through, one of the ones Angus felt was really likely for a relic, had turned out to be the real deal. The director confirmed it, the grim look on her face a stark contrast to the excited smile and bounce in Angus’s step as he listened in.

The Gaia Sash, a wooden reed belt that gave the wearer near godlike power of plants and the natural world. The person using it was currently terrorizing the city of Goldciff. That had been what had drawn Angus to the lead in the first place. He and Taako had only spent a night in the big city but the name had still stuck out to him with familiarity.

It was probably a good thing they hadn’t ended up staying there. If they had gotten caught up in the city and had still been there now, they would have been in a lot of danger.

They would still be in a lot of danger now, since Taako had to go down and retrieve the relic anyway. But now they knew what they were doing, and they could research what was going on and prepare.

Which was what Angus was doing now. The relic was currently in possession of someone called the Raven. She was a small time criminal that had recently turned into a very big problem that the Goldcliff militia had been dealing with for a while. A seeker down on the ground, Captain Bane, was the head of the militia there and was feeding them a lot of information. Every new thing Angus learned made him more and more excited. Thieves and magic and a struggling police force, it was exactly the kind of thing Angus loved reading about in all of his detective books.

He really, really wanted to be a part of this one. He just hadn’t thought of a way to make that happen yet.

He was running out of time too. Angus was waiting with the Director in her office. It was still pretty rare for him to be around her without Taako around too, but it was happening more often, especially with how much he’d been looking into this recent case. Plus, Taako was supposed to be in training right now with the other reclaimers anyway.

Or at least, he was in training before now. The director had just called for him and Magnus and Merle to come to her office to be briefed on their next mission. Angus was sorting through the summary he’d made of all the reports they’d gotten. His mind wasn't focused on that though, instead on the best ways he could convince the director and Taako to let him come along.

When the three reclaimers came in Angus grinned, giving Taako a wave from where he was standing behind the director’s desk. Taako snorted at that, not actually waving back but still grinning over in his direction. The director immediately launched into their next mission, only for Magnus and Merle to quickly distracted her talking about handshakes and Magnus’s new fish.

Then she really started getting into discussing the mission, and Angus listened intently, despite knowing everything already. It was less that he needed to know what was going on and more he didn’t want to risk whatever chance he might have to jump in with his request. When they started talking about Captain Bane, he figured that was his best in.

“We have a seeker on the ground that you can get more information from, that you’ll need to regroup with. He’s also acting discretely because his position is fairly high up and he doesn’t want anyone knowing he works for a shadowy cabal like ourselves,” the Director explained. Angus wasn’t surprised when the three immediately wanted a name and a clear direction to go down. “He’s the captain of the Goldcliff Militia, his name is Captain Bane,” she added.

“He’s given us a good amount of information on the Raven so far. She seemed to have been only a small time criminal before whatever led her to getting the sash,” Angus jumped in, flipping through some of his notes and trying to look as professional as possible about it. “He hasn’t sent us any direct police reports though, so I’m not sure what kind of crimes. Knowing the kind of stuff she went after before might better explain why she’s staying in a desert city and not moved off to a jungle or something where she’d be even more powerful. Maybe I could come down with you guys and talk to Captain Bane so we can get a better idea-” he started to suggest, only for the Director to cut him off.

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea Angus. Only reclaimers are allowed to go near the relics, it would simply be too dangerous to let you go with them,” she said. Angus made sure he wasn’t outwardly pouting or anything like that. He did not want them thinking of him as some little kid right now.

“Not on the mission madame, I know that’s off limits for a good reason. I could stay at the station with Captain Bane and help them out from a distance,” he said, but to his disappointment Taako was the one shaking his head now.

“Nah kiddo, we had a deal. You get to help out from the moon, that’s it,” he said.

“But I could really help with this one! This is exactly the kind of detective work I’ve always read about and I just… I really wanna…” he tried, but neither of them looked very swayed. Magnus and Merle were already gathering up their things to head out, and Angus trailed off, trying not to look too outwardly disappointed. Not too not disappointed either though, because that would also be pretty suspicious.

He really didn’t want to use his backup plan, but it didn’t seem like he had much of a choice.

Well, he could just not go, but there wasn’t any fun in that.

“Next time we aren’t chasing some super power death belt you can come along, alright pumpkin?” Taako said, the attempt at placating him not doing much. Even still Angus nodded, knowing it would be better if this didn’t turn into some big argument.

“Yeah, okay,” he muttered. When they started leaving Angus followed after them, immediately getting questioning looks. “I just want to see you all off at the hanger, I know I’m not coming along,” he assured. That seemed reasonable enough for them, and no one questioned it or tried to make him stay. After all, Angus had come to see them off with the last mission too.

Avi was at the hangers, and it seemed like he was the only one there, besides a few guards outside. That was good.

“Be careful, okay?” Angus said as they got into the canon. Taako gave him a reassuring grin, holding up his stone of farspeech.

“For sure. We'll call you on the stone the second we need any of your detective wisdom,” he said. Angus gave him a quick hug, Taako patting his back before going into the ball. With that Avi quickly set up the coordinates and sent the three off.

Angus stared down off the side of the moonbase, watching until the sphere was no longer in sight, and then waiting a few minutes more.

And then when he saw Avi wasn’t paying attention, quickly and quietly cast charm person.

“Oh no!” he said, smacking his forehead in annoyance and sounding a touch too dramatic. Avi quickly turned towards him, a sharp look of concern and worry on his face, making it pretty clear that the spell had managed to take effect.

“Oh shit, what’s the matter little dude? You need something?” he asked, crouching down some so that he was more on Angus’s level. Normally that would feel kind of patronizing, but right now Angus was just glad that his plan seemed to be working so far.

“I had some papers I needed to give to the reclaimers for their mission, but I completely forgot!” he said, managing to sound pretty convincingly upset, if he did say so himself.

“Aw, it’s okay bud. The reclaimers are real good at this, I’m sure they won’t even notice you forgot. You’ll do a great job helping them even without some dumb papers,” Avi tried to reassure him. It was real nice, and Angus knew he’d feel bad about tricking Avi later, he was a good guy.

“But they’re really important,” he said, blinking back a few fake tears. “Would it be okay if you sent me down real quick? Just so I can catch them before they leave and give them the papers?” he asked. Despite the charm person he could see Avi hesitate some at the request.

“Gee, I don’t know. It’s real dangerous down there with the relic and all. I don’t want you getting hurt Ango,” he said with a concerned frown.

“I promise I’ll only be down there five minutes. I’ll call for a transport canon as soon as I give them the papers,” Angus lied, giving the man a wide eyed, hopeful look for good measure. Avi chewed on his lip, looking around as he debated the request before reluctantly nodding.

“Yeah alright, but five minutes, alright? And don’t tell the director I did this,” he said. Angus gave him a bright grin, nodding profusely as Avi started setting up another canon.

“Thank you so much sir! I promise!” he said, hoping that Avi wouldn’t be too mad at him for this later. Avi waved off his thanks, opening a transport canon for Angus to get inside.

“Hey, anything for my favorite moon… kid…” he said, and Angus snorted at that. With that Angus quickly scrambled up into one of the seats, putting his hands on the break so that he would be able to pull it in time. He could see Avi outside of the canon, giving him a thumbs up before counting down and launching the sphere.

Gods, he was going to get in so much trouble for this later.

As long as it was after the mission though, he figured that was fine.

Notes:

regular canon angus already gives no fucks there's no way an angus mostly raised by taako wasn't sneaking onto at least one mission.

also hey! the end is actually in sight! it's not super close or anything, we still have like, a minimum of 17 chapters left, because there's a possibility a few of the chapters in my outline will have to be split, but still, we're well on our way! mostly i just wanna thank everyone who's stuck around so far and assure y'all that yes, this monster of a fic does actually have an end and i fully intent on getting to it.

As always thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 32: Trying

Angus was having a hard time believing that actually worked, despite the fact that he was in a transport canon hurtling towards Goldcliff. He’d been in them a few times now, but always with Taako. They’d run down planetside to shop every now and then, and Angus knew how the breaks worked. He managed to pull it with enough leeway to come to a stop in some back alley of Goldcliff with little fanfare.

Stepping out of the pod, he watched as the door closed behind him and the canon started lifting up into the air. Well, there was no going back down. He was down here.

Angus figured this was probably the point where the regret was supposed to set in, but instead he felt excited. Not giving himself any time to second guess this he started off down the alley, already knowing where he needed to go. It had been pretty obvious as he flew into town. He’d been focusing most of his attention on when to pull the lever, but it was hard to miss the giant building covered in equally large vines.

It didn’t take him too long to find the place, since it was such an eye catcher and he had a pretty good idea of the direction from where he landed. Angus had tried to move fast, wanting to see if he could catch up to Taako and the others before they got too deep into anything.

A part of him wasn’t sure if that was a very good plan though. They would probably want to send him back the second they noticed him after all.

In the end he didn’t have the option to see them right away anyway. As he got closer to the large vine covered building, which looked to be the Goldcliff Trust now that he wasn't hurtling at breakneck speed towards the ground, he could see the whole area was sectioned off by the militia. That wasn’t surprising, they knew Captain Bain was on the case. So it made sense that the rest of the militia would be there too. Also just, the general scene was pretty chaotic and would draw the attention of any police force pretty fast.

He didn’t see Taako, Merle, or Magnus anywhere yet though. There was police tape around the area but Angus didn’t pay it any mind, ducking under it to get closer to the action.

He couldn’t be too surprised when someone almost immediately tried to stop him. Walking in with confidence like you’re supposed to be there only worked so well when you’re ten. It would be real nice when he was older and he didn’t immediately stick out in the middle of a crime scene quite so much.

“Hey, hey, hey there uh, kiddo? Sorry but it’s real dangerous here, gonna need you to stay behind that cool tape we have right there, alright?” a halfling woman said. She seemed pretty distracted, it definitely looked like she had somewhere to be, she was also just the first person to see him.

“It’s okay miss, I was wondering if you knew where Captain Bain is? I think my dad’s in there,” he said, pointing towards the trust. There was a look of confusion followed by a grimace on her face at that, which Angus couldn’t blame her for. Angus would bet a pretty penny on the owner of the Gaia Sash being in that building, so it was an incredibly dangerous place to be at the moment. Which was also why he was fairly certain that Taako was already inside. 

“Er, I guess I could take you to Bain? Just stay with me alright buddy, these vines are real bad news. I’m sure your dad’s fine though! I’m sure he’s just- just fine,” she said, quickly adding on that last part in a slight panic as she started to lead Angus. He couldn’t really say it sounded like she believed that, but he liked to think she was right. They had only gotten in there a few minutes ago at most, there was no way they had messed up too badly yet, right?

“Thank you miss! My name is Angus by the way,” he said, the halfling woman smiling at him as they headed towards a large tent that was set up in front of the trust.

“No problem, I’m Hurley,” she said. They had reached the tent at this point, and Angus watched as she peaked her head inside a little hesitantly. “Er, Captain? There’s someone here to see you? Said something about his dad being in the Trust,” she said. Instead of waiting for her to explain more Angus moved around her, heading into the tent.

“I can take it from here Miss Hurley. Hello Captain Captain Bain, it’s very nice to meet you,” he said pleasantly. There was an immediate look of confusion as the large man inside the tent looked from him to Hurley and back again.

“Uh, this is a child. Lieutenant? Why is there a kid?” Captain Bain asked, and it was kind of hard for Angus to resist laughing when Miss Hurley slowly started backing out of the tend.

“Don’t know, his dad apparently uh, ya know- I gotta get going, vines and all that. Good luck!” she said, quickly ducking out the rest of the way. Captain Captain Bain did not look all that pleased, but Angus was relieved for the privacy, immediately pulling up his sleeve to show off the Bureau of Balance logo on his bracer.

“Sorry for the confusion sir, I’m a seeker with the Bureau. I just came down with the reclaimers to help with the relic,” he said, and that definitely caught Captain Bain off guard.

“Wait, for real?” he asked, moving closer to check out the bracer. In response Angus gave the man a slightly unimpressed look.

“Well, considering I’m talking to you about the bureau of balance and the Gaia Sash and not affected by the voidfish, yes,” he said bluntly. That seemed to convince Captain Bain, although he still looked pretty befuddled by the turn of events.

“Uh, I guess that’s real fair. The Director didn’t mention anything about sending another Seeker down,” he said, and yep. Angus figured that was something he was gonna have to deal with soon enough. Probably in about fifty minutes or so, when the charm person spell finally wore off and Avi realized he was not coming back up to the base.

“I work very close with the reclaimers, this was sort of a last minute decision,” he said, which wasn’t technically a lie. He just wasn’t saying who’s decision it was. Captain Bain nodded, slowly seeming like he was coming around.

“Alright, alright, one last question. You know how us seekers are with all the questions,” he said, and Angus nodded understandingly at that.

“Shoot,” he said.

“Why are you uh, a child?” he asked. Angus couldn’t exactly blame him for the question all things considered, but it didn’t mean that he had to like it or think it was a very well articulated one.

“Because time is a constant and has only had it’s effect on me for about ten years now. I can guarantee though that has no effect on my skills,” he said. Captain Bain looked a little sheepish as he shrugged at that answer, apparently deciding to take it as it was.

“Okay, can’t blame me. This is definitely a little weird,” he said, and Angus supposed that was true. There was probably a reason he was the only kid on the moon. Bringing children into a hunt for super dangerous and deadly artifacts didn’t seem like something most responsible people would do. Angus was definitely glad they made an exception for him, but still, he couldn’t say it didn’t make sense.

Despite that Angus ignored the comment, instead heading over to what Captain Bain had been working on before he came in. From a quick glance it looked like a general layout of the bank.

“So, what’s the situation here? Did the reclaimers already head in?” he asked, and Captain Bain nodded, coming over to join him.

“Yeah, they just got in a bit ago. We’re hoping not to have to send anyone else in, but I’m trying to get my Lieutenant, the one who brought you in here, on standby just in case. The only thing is we can’t risk anyone else getting too close to the relic,” he explained, and Angus nodded along. It all made sense, it was definitely tricky with the relic being in the middle of a city. The last thing they wanted was to get it away from the Raven only for someone else to grab it and start the fight up all over again.

So Angus spent the next forty minutes or so helping out Captain Bain where he could, in the back of his mind very aware of the passage of time. He wasn’t sure if he was hoping that Taako would get out of the trust before or after the Director realized he was gone. Both options seemed bad in their own unique ways. Somehow neither of them bad enough for him to have not sneaked down here in the first place though.

In the end it was a close call, but Taako and the others ended up coming out of the building first. They did not come out how Angus would have liked though, successful with the belt and everyone safe. Instead something had started happening up on the top floor, way too high up for Angus to have much of an idea on the details. Whatever it was ended up being bad enough that they sent Lieutenant Hurley in to help.

It honestly wasn’t that long before they ended up bringing the three out, the vines having drawn back enough for people to get inside the building again. Despite that it still felt like an eternity to Angus, which wasn’t helped when they were brought out unconscious.

Immediately Angus rushed over to the healing tent, relieved to see all three of them were still breathing as he got closer. There were a few healers in the tent helping them, who looked up in confusion at him. They looked a hair away from trying to get him to leave, but he quickly spoke.

“It’s okay, he’s my dad, I won’t cause any trouble,” he said, going straight to where they had Taako laid out on a fold out cot. He looked a little banged up, but they seemed to have already done quite a bit of healing on all three of them. The healers reluctantly allowed him to stay, which was a relief.

That relief was cut short when his stone of farspeech started going off in his pocket, a slight crackle and the not too pleased voice of the director suddenly cutting in.

“Angus? Angus where are you? Angus you cannot just charm Avi, we had an agreement. I'm going to need you to come back up to the bureau immediately, Angus please answer me,” she said. Angus had pulled the stone out at this point, but before he could attempt to answer it a quick hand snatched it away. When he looked up a very disheveled and barely awake Taako was holding it.

“Hey, he’s here. Can see him standing right in front of me. Not too sure why but no worries I’m sure it’ll be made real clear soon,” he said, a sharp edge to his voice and yeah. Shit. He was mad.

“Taako? Are you alright, you sound like shit,” the Director said, sounding concerned despite her blunt choice of words.

“Oh, just peachy. Don’t worry I’m sure it’ll go much better in round two. Anyway, don’t worry about Angus, I got it covered,” Taako said. By now it looked like Magnus and Merle were starting to come to as well, and Angus was starting to feel those first pangs of regret that maybe this had been a bad idea. It was strange, so few of his decisions had backfired like this.

“If you insist,” The Director said, sounding a little hesitant despite that. “I suppose I will trust you in ah, any discipline needed this time. Let Angus know though that if he does something like this on a relic mission again we will have to remove his title as seeker,” she added, and Angus felt his face fall at that.

“But I didn’t go near the-” he started to object, but Taako cut him off before he could finish.

“Yeah I’ll be sure to let him know,” he said, before clicking off the call and turning so that he was sitting up fully and facing Angus.

“You are so fucking grounded my dude.”

Damn it.

——

Taako was not sure what he’d been expecting when he woke up after fighting the scary plant lady. He could say with certainty that he had not been expecting to hear the director chastising Angus over his stone of farspeech, and he definitely wasn’t expecting Angus to be standing by the little cot he was laying on. They weren’t in the bureau, which meant that Angus was down planetside. Down planetside, right outside the building where they’d fought someone using a relic.

Grabbing the stone, the conversation with the director was short. Taako was not moved by the disappointed look on Angus’s face when she mentioned having to take away his seeker status if he tried something like this again, and he still wasn’t moved by the even sadder look when Taako announced his grounding.

“But I wasn’t planning on going anywhere near the relic! I was staying with Captain Captain Bain, I promise!” Angus insisted. Magnus and Merle had woken up from the knockout the Raven had given them by this point, and Taako couldn’t blame the two for being confused.

“Uh, hey Taako? Why’s Angus here?” Magnus asked, stretching and cracking a few joints in the process.

“That’s an excellent fucking question,” Taako said, staring down at Angus intently. He somehow managed to deflate and make himself look even smaller, and nope, Taako was still not feeling bad for the kid. He brought this on himself.

“I just wanted to help…” he said quietly, which did absolutely nothing to sway Taako on this matter. He didn’t care how sad and disappointed Angus looked, he could have gotten himself killed. Taako was a stone cold motherfucker who could hold his ground against a literal child.

Even still, he was kind of glad when Captain Captain Bain came into the room, quickly getting rid of the healers left inside for them. It was just a nice distraction from sad faces and also a possible source of answers.

“Hey Bane, my dude? Care to explain the thought process behind letting an actual toddler hang around like twenty feet from a grand relic?” Taako asked, an obvious angry tone to his voice.

“Dad, I’m not-” Angus started, like he always did when Taako acted like he was younger than he actually was. He didn’t let him finish though, cutting in.

“Hey, don’t even fucking try it. You lost your ‘dad’ privileges,” he snapped, because he was not about to let Angus get his way with this that easily. Not with the kind of danger he could have gotten into. Taako expected him to start pouting or something at that. He hadn’t been worried about actually upsetting him, he knew Angus could give just as good as he got.

So he was a little blindsided by the absolutely stricken look on Angus’s face at that. Tears were already starting to form in his eyes and immediately Taako felt himself go into a slight panic.

“Ouch,” Merle said from behind him, Magnus making a hissing sound as he sucked air in between his teeth.

“Shit, wait no, fuck. I didn’t mean it like that! You can still- damn it. Come here,” he said, reaching out and pulling Angus into a side hug. Immediately the kid had his arms wrapped around Taako, clinging to him hard.

“Uh, maybe I should go and come back later or…” Captain Bain said, and Taako quickly shook his head, trying to ignore the way his face was definitely darkening in embarrassment. The whole start to this mission had not been what he was expecting in the slightest.

“No, no. We can continue now,” he insisted, trying to look as serious and professional as possible while he had a child wrapped around his waist.

“Well, I was under the impression that he was a part of the bureau? Since uh, he can understand everything and all,” Captain Bain said, gesturing towards Angus.

“I mean, he is a part of the bureau, but he doesn’t do field work,” Taako explained. It seemed like Angus was starting to calm down a little bit now, and Taako really wanted to change the subject in hopes of not screwing up again. “Anyway, it’s not important, can we get back to the relic now?” he asked.

Luckily they did get on with talking about the relic then. The three of them relayed the story of what had happened with the Raven. Captain Captain Bain was surprised that she didn’t sound like she was totally evil and out of her mind. He suggested that they go talk to his lieutenant and that he felt like she might have some inside information on the Raven that could help them take her down. It was as good of a lead as any, and considering they had nothing else at the moment it worked.

Angus was much quieter than he almost ever was throughout the conversation, which made sense. He was in trouble and not supposed to be here, and honestly Taako should have kicked him out of the tent immediately and told him to go hitch a ride back up to the moon.

Taako figured he should probably be doing that now. They were heading out of the tent to go find Hurley and figure out what she knew, so it would be a good time to shove the kid off back to the moon. He had stopped clinging to Taako and was now walking quietly by his side, the two of them a little ways behind Merle and Magnus.

“Do you really not want me to call you dad anymore sir?” Angus asked quietly, and Taako couldn’t keep himself from flinching at that. Shit, something about that hurt way more than it had any right to. 

“Fuck, no. Don’t you dare go back to that sir bullshit. You know I don’t give a shit what you call me,” he said, and Angus wasn’t looking up at him, staring down at his feet so that Taako couldn’t get a good look at his face.

“If you don’t care what I call you then sir should be fine,” he countered. It wasn’t like the logic didn’t hold up. It shouldn’t bother him if Angus wanted to go back to calling him sir again or whatever the fuck.

Something about it stung in a way Taako couldn’t even put words to. That he’d rather not have to put words to.

“You know what I mean,” he said, hoping that was true. Angus tended to be better at knowing what he was feeling than Taako was after all, so he told himself it should be fine. Angus shrugged after a moment, nodding somewhat reluctantly. He still looked all downtrodden and upset, and Taako could feel any sort of resolve he’d had before crumbling into ashes.

God fucking damn it.

“Okay, listen,” he said suddenly, stopping in his tracks and moving to crouch down in front of Angus. Getting on eye level with him, he looked confused and kind of surprised by the sudden rapid shift in mood. “If you fucking swear to do exactly what I tell you to and stay away from any of the actual relic retrieving shit,” Taako started, having to stop and sigh deeply before continuing. “I’ll let you stay down here for the rest of the mission, alright?” he finished.

“Really?” Angus asked, some obviously tentative excitement back on his face. It didn’t completely get rid of the hurt still there, but it was better than nothing. Taako felt like tearing his fucking hair out. When the hell did he get this soft?

“Yes, really. You’re still grounded as shit as soon as this whole thing is over though,” he said, and at least Angus was smiling now.

“Okay, I promise,” he said, and Taako nodded, standing back up to his full height.

“Excellent,” he said, telling himself that had to be good enough for now. Later, when they weren't in the middle of a relic mission maybe he could actually get himself to talk about some of this stuff, but he kind of doubted it. Hopefully they would go long enough that they wouldn't need to talk about it anymore.

With that though they moved to catch up to Magnus and Merle. The two had already found Hurley at that point, and she had a kinda weird look on her face. Magnus had a similar look, and Taako had seen it enough times at this point to recognize the zone of truth spell.

“Hey Angus, is this your dad?” Hurley asked, and okay, apparently somehow Angus had already talked to her. Taako wasn’t going to question that, instead giving a big grin as he stepped forward before Angus could answer.

“Yes a pleasure to meet you, Hurley was it? Thanks for the save back there. We were uuuh, told you might be able to help us with the Raven?” he said, barreling right ahead. It seemed to catch Hurley off guard for a moment, but she quickly recovered and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s uh, that’s what these two were just talking to me about. I don’t think we’d be able to beat her in a fight, but I do think I have an idea on how we can get through to her,” she explained. With that she started leading them somewhere, not really giving them many details to go off of for what this whole plan of hers was yet. Still, Taako figured anything would be better than what they’d tried before, because yeah, fighting had not gone well. Not in the slightest.

It didn’t take too long for them to get to a garage, and Taako listened in as Hurley started explaining about the whole battlewagon racing and how she was sure Sloane was fighting against whatever this strange power was. The idea was that beating her in a race would knock her out of it.

Taako wasn’t too sure how well that was actually gonna go, but fuck it. It was worth a shot.

“I know I can beat her in this, I know it. But before we can even challenge her there’s something I need,” Hurley said, and yep, here we go. Taako could have predicted this one. “This battlewagon runs on an arcane core, but they’re incredible rare. Luckily, there’s a rival gang of racers called the Hammerheads, and they just got in a shipment. So I’m gonna need you guys to go in there, steal one, and uh, get it back to me,” she explained.

“Alright, sounds simple enough. Ango you’re gonna stay here for this one, got it?” Taako said, wanting to get that squared away before anything else. There was some obvious disappointment on Angus’s face but he nodded without any real fight.

“Yeah, if that’s alright with Lieutenant Hurley,” he said, and Hurley quickly nodded.

“Oh yeah that’s fine. Hey, could I ask you something though?” she said, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that.

“Shoot.”

“Why’d you bring your kid along with you? Not judging or anything, just curious,” she said, adding that last part on quickly. Even still Taako huffed indignantly before answering.

“I’m a single parent, school’s out today, the babysitter canceled last minute what do you want from me?” he said, which got a small laugh out of Angus. He definitely seemed to be in a somewhat better mood than he had been earlier, and Taako tried to ignore how much of a relief that was for some reason.

He was just trying not to screw up with whatever this was, and it felt like he accidentally went and screwed up big time back there.

Hurley quickly apologized, and then they started getting into different ideas on how to steal the arcane core. Some of those ideas were more serious than others. A lot of them might have been fueled by the fact that they were all starting to get a bit hungry. After some time though they came to some sort of consensus, and it wasn’t the best plan in the world, but there was no way they were getting that out of their three brains anyway.

They set to head out at sun down, which thankfully did give them enough time to grab some dinner before they went. Hurley said that she was gonna stay behind and get a few last minute things ready for the race.

As they were starting to get ready to head out Taako pulled Angus to the side.

“Hey, I’m serious about staying here, alright?” he said, and Angus quickly nodded.

“I know, I promise I won’t follow you guys or anything like that. I’ll stay here and try to help out Miss Hurley get everything ready for you guys to race tomorrow,” he said, and it didn’t sound like he was lying. Taako really didn’t expect Angus to try something right after the last attempt blowing up in his face, but he felt like he couldn’t be too safe.

“Cool, cool. Sounds good. Remember just, stone of farspeech if anything goes wrong and all that,” he said, and Angus was giving him an almost exacerbated look now.

“I’ll be fine Taako, miss Hurley seems really cool,” he said, and Taako nodded reluctantly at that. Not at Hurley being cool, he definitely agreed on that one.

“Better than sir,” he mumbled. Angus immediately looked a bit guilty, shrugging after a moment.

“I still call you Taako all the time, it’s your name,” he said, and Taako quickly nodded. It felt like he just couldn’t stop fucking up today.

“Yeah no, it’s fine. We need to get going anyway,” he said, because it was true. He was pretty sure Magnus and Merle were waiting for him now, the two and them and Hurley already outside of the garage.

“Okay. Be careful, I love you,” Angus said, and he said that sort of stuff all the time. Taako should be used to it by now, and he was. Even still there was some relief in hearing it now. He couldn’t have fucked up too badly if Angus could still say that.

“Uhuh, you too pumpkin,” Taako said, ruffling Angus’s hair as he turned to head out to join the others. It probably came across as too casual, but he wasn’t any good at this stuff. Angus knew he wasn’t good at any of this, but fuck it, he was trying.

Taako just hoped that Angus could see how fucking hard he was trying.

Notes:

i have nothing to say for myself other than oh god I am so sorry I did not mean to be gone for this long. part of it was hitting a road block, and then waiting too long to work through it to the point where i needed to reread everything and y'all this fic is long that was kind of a daunting task. I'm back now though! I'm very happy to be back as well, I really was missing my boys here. A couple of my other long fics were actually finished in the interim, so I'm not balancing as many stories at once and the chances of another fic falling to the wayside for six months is significantly lessened.

as always, thanks for reading and I really hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!

Chapter 33: What Happens In Goldcliff

Angus was trying not to think about what had happened earlier all that much. It wasn’t too hard for a while there, when they were all with Lieutenant Hurley and she was explaining her plan on how to get the Raven to come back to herself. It sounded like a good plan, at least to him. If they were able to actually convince her to give up the belt that would be a lot better than having to fight her.

Taako, Merle, and Magnus had all just left to go put the first part of the plan into action though. They needed to get some sort of arcane core for the battle wagon, and that all sounded really exciting and neat. Angus promised he wouldn’t come along though, and he wasn’t about to break that one and mess up again.

He hadn’t thought Taako would actually be that mad at him. He guessed it made sense, he knew this was all serious and dangerous and he shouldn’t be taking it lightly. Taako never had a problem with him breaking rules before though, not really.

Angus knew this was different, but it had still caught him off guard. Taako said he didn’t mean it like that, but it was still…

Angus shook his head. This was exactly what he was trying not to think about. He could bring it up to Taako later, once they were back on the moon and the relic was destroyed. Or maybe he wouldn’t, maybe he would see if Taako wanted to talk about it instead. Either way, there wasn’t much he could do about it now. It was obvious Taako was trying to apologize in his own way, especially with letting him stay down here for the mission, despite how much it clearly worried him. He knew he wasn’t the best at apologizing with words, so he tried to tell himself it was fine.

Miss Hurley had come back in at this point, and Angus had been telling the truth about wanting to help out with getting ready for the race tomorrow. Putting a smile on his face, he rushed over to her.

“Hello Lieutenant Hurley, thanks again for letting me stay here with you while they all go off on their dangerous stealing mission. Is there anything you need help with to get ready for tomorrow?” he asked, and she seemed a little surprised by him for some reason, but quickly got over it and nodded.

“Yeah, I think you can help me out. I’ve got some gifts I wanna have ready for those three by the time they came back if you want to help me make them,” she said, and Angus nodded emphatically at that.

“Of course, what kind of gifts?” he asked, following her as she headed deeper into the garage. The area they went to looked a little less like it was where they worked on the battlewagons, and Angus could actually see little bits of sewing equipment and fabric and feathers strewn around. That didn’t make much sense until he remembered the cases of ram and raven masks from before.

“Well, we have to be anonymous when we run this race, since it’s technically illegal. I was wondering if you’d wanna help me make up some masks for them to wear,” she said, grinning as she headed over to the desk. The idea of basically doing arts and crafts while the others were out on some super secret stealth mission seemed kind of childish. Somehow he didn’t get the impression that Miss Hurley was doing this to keep him entertained though, she actually sounded pretty excited by the prospect of making masks for the others.

“Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun,” he said, because it did, despite his slight misgivings. She grinned at that, starting to root around in a couple of boxes of material now.

“Great. I asked them each what animals they felt represented them best, and they shouldn’t be too difficult. Merle wanted an owl, Magnus a bear, and uh, your dad said mongoose? I didn’t quite get that one, but hey whatever works,” she explained. Angus chuckled a bit at that, taking some thick brown fur like material when Hurley handed it to him.

“No, that sounds like Taako,” he said, because it honestly did. He couldn’t really put words to how, but he could still somewhat see the logic there. Hurley didn’t question it, shrugging before starting to explain to him how they were gonna made the masks. Angus was sure she was giving him the simplest tasks, but sewing and crafts like this had never been something he’d learned before. He couldn’t really feel all that offended at her giving him beginner tasks in that regard. It was kind of fun though, and somewhat relaxing as he pinned bits of fabric in place on the forms for Hurley to sew and picked out feathers for Merle’s masks and things like that.

It was quiet though as they worked, and Angus tried to focus on the task at hand. He felt his brain continue to wander over to other things though, distracting from his work some. He hoped they were all doing okay on their mission. They had been gone a pretty long time now. He wondered if Taako was still mad at him and was just trying not to show it. Unlikely, but not impossible.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Hurley asked suddenly, knocking him out of his thoughts. Angus put on a somewhat unconvincing smile as he nodded, quickly beginning to pin the bit of brown fur onto Magnus’s mask that he’d somehow forgotten about.

“Oh yeah, everything’s fine,” he said, his shoulders slumping a little bit after a moment despite his best attempts at staying chipper. “I’m just… I hope Taako and the others are all doing okay,” he added, and Hurley frowned a little before nodding.

“Right, no I’m sure they’re fine,” she said, and she was probably right. Angus doubted a biker gang was going to be the thing to do them in after going up against two relics already. Still, he couldn’t help but worry. “Hey uh, why do you call him Taako? I guess that’s none of my business but you said he’s your dad, right?” she asked, and Angus barely managed to keep himself from flinching at that question.

“Yeah no, I mean, adopted. Kinda,” he said, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth right now or going with their regular cover story. “I was supposed to stay home because what they’re doing is dangerous, but I followed anyway so he’s mad at me right now,” he added, the words just kind of spilling out. Hurley nodded, not seeming too put off by that.

“Oh well, I'm sure he's only mad because he doesn’t want to see you get hurt,” she said, carefully arranging the feathers in Merle’s mask. His was almost down now, and Magnus’s and Taako’s were getting close.

“I know, he doesn’t like it when I put myself in danger,” he said, because it was true. Even if Taako never got mad about him specifically breaking rules before, he did tend to get upset whenever Angus got into danger. He could remember those times back when they were first starting to travel together, when Taako was still scared of his own cooking. He’d get so mad whenever Angus would try to push him into it, saying he didn’t want to risk hurting anyone again. That he didn’t want to risk hurting him again.

“Well of course not. No one likes seeing their loved ones hurting,” she said, and there was a quiet tone to her voice that made Angus feel like she was speaking from experience. She’d stopped arranging the feathers on Merle’s masked and was running her hand over them absently now, a faraway look on her face.

It was pretty obvious how much she cared about this Sloane lady. Angus hoped they managed to save her from this relic.

“Um, miss Hurley? I think that mask is done now,” he said after a moment, knocking her out of her thoughts. She quickly nodded, putting Merle’s mask down like it’d burned her.

“Oh! Yes you’re uh, you’re right about that. Lemme just, finish up Taako’s here,” she said, grabbing the other mask. Angus didn’t question her on the nerves, instead going back to what he was working on with Magnus’s mask, setting in the teeth in the way Hurley had showed him.

Every so often he would see her working on something else, but not enough to be able to tell what it was. She seemed pretty intent on keeping it out of his sight though, so he had a pretty good idea.

It was starting to get late when Taako, Merle and Magnus finally got back, the sound of sirens going off in the distance. Him and Hurley had finished with their preparations a while ago, and both of them sprung up as soon as they came through the door. The three reclaimers closed it very quickly behind them, looking the slightest bit suspicious.

“Do you have the core? They didn’t catch you did they?” Miss Hurley asked. Magnus was carrying a big suitcase looking thing, which Angus could presume had the core in it. 

“Yeah, that’s why we’re here,” Taako said, and Angus couldn’t help snickering a little at that.

“I guess that’s fair, like, here’s your sign,” Hurley said. With that they brought out the core, and when Angus looked closely it didn’t look like any of them were too badly hurt. Miss Hurley was obviously excited, her optimism not diminishing all that much even when they told her that the whole operation had gotten a little hairy.

It was getting late, and as Hurley started explaining how the race was going to go tomorrow Angus had sat down next to Taako, leaning against his side somewhat. He didn’t seem bothered by it, one arm wrapped kind of lazily around him. Angus wasn’t sure if it was enough to be certain that Taako wasn’t still mad at him, but it was certainly a step towards that.

When Hurley started bringing out the gifts they’d made for them Angus sat up a little more despite his tiredness, getting excited.

“I helped make them,” he added in when Hurley finished explaining about the mask’s necessity for the anonymity they needed in the race. With that she handed Magnus his, and then gave Taako his mongoose mask.

“So I understand bear for this big beefy man… beef over here, but why the mongoose?” Hurley asked as Taako put the mask on. It looked a little silly on him, but Angus couldn’t help thinking that they did a really good job on it.

“Mongoose have specialized acetylcholine receptors that make them impervious to venom, so they’re known for killing snakes. Very surprisingly dangerous,” he said easily, and Angus sat up a little bit more at that. It wasn’t the answer he was expecting, and after a small moment everyone else started giggling. It was pretty obvious, at least to Angus, that Taako was on the defensive as he huffed. “You know, it doesn’t always have to be goof, goof, dildo machine! I’m traveling around with the boner squad and I never get to just say how I’m feeling! I have emotions!”

“Cast calm emotions, quick!” Magnus cut in, and Angus couldn’t blame them for joking. Taako was being very over the top, and the mask he was wearing was certainly not helping the matter.

“It’s not all abraca-fuck you and what have you! I have a beating heart! I’m multidimensional! I’m a fully realized creation. Fuck!” Taako finished, seeming to have worn himself out at this point.

“It’s okay dad, I know you have emotions,” Angus said, his voice lighthearted. Despite that he was nearly holding his breath, afraid Taako might shut him down again.

He didn’t though, and Angus let out a small breath of relief when Taako just grumbled, wrapping his arm back around him, a little tighter this time. “Course you do, damn know it all,” he mumbled, no actual bite in his voice at all. By now Hurley had started giving Merle his mask, the owl fitting well on him.

Even though he was sure it was supposed to be a surprise, Angus had kind of been expecting it when Hurley turned to him as well.

“So, there’s only four people allowed to a team, so Angus you’re gonna have to stay on the sidelines,” she said. Angus had a feeling that wasn’t the only reason he wasn’t allowed to join them on the super dangerous and exciting battlewagon race, but he appreciated her attempt to try and spin it that way. “You can watch the race from the finish line though, and I thought you might want a mask too, for support,” she said.

She hadn’t asked him about an animal, and Angus was a little surprised by the large orange bird mask she brought out. Long curling feathers frilled off the top of its head, and it’s beak was long and thin.

“I hope you don’t mind, I asked your dad what he thought would fit you best and he said-”

“A phoenix?” Angus asked, turning towards Taako in confusion. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the mask or the animal, both were really cool. Maybe even too cool? He wasn’t sure something that powerful actually fit him. Taako shrugged though, not looking too bothered by the questioning.

“I mean, nothings managed to kill you yet, and not for fucking lack of trying. It just felt right,” he said, and Angus couldn’t help smiling a little at that. Putting on the mask, it was incredibly well made and fit better than he expected it to.

“Thank you miss Hurley,” he said happily.

After that they started getting ready for bed. The race would be early in the morning, and Hurley was pretty insistent on them all needing to be well rested before they headed out.

Angus tried to stay up until everyone else was asleep. He was hoping to get a chance to talk to Taako before tomorrow. He wasn’t even sure about what, but tomorrow was going to be… dangerous, to say the least. He kept telling himself that they would be fine, but he couldn’t know for sure, and so he wanted to talk to Taako.

He didn’t quite manage it though, consciousness slipping from his form much too fast. It’d been a long day, he couldn’t exactly be surprised, but it was still incredibly frustrating.

He didn’t get a chance to talk to Taako in the morning either. It was hectic, Hurley making sure they had everything and rushing to get them loaded into the battlewagon before the sun even came up. Angus felt half asleep the whole time, barely registering when Taako shoved a ration into his hand for breakfast. That at least felt a lot like how they used to be out on the road, especially in the early days when Taako didn’t like staying in one place for too long.

By the time Angus was finally starting to fully wake up Hurley was dropping him off down by where the finish line was going to be. There was already a pretty large crowd of people starting to gather, but Angus got the feeling it was only going to get bigger. He had his phoenix mask held tight in his hands, but he hadn’t put it on yet.

“You should be able to watch the whole thing from here. Wish us luck,” Hurley said, and it was obvious that she was in a hurry to get up to the starting line. It was fair, it would be bad if they ended up missing the race and had to wait to challenge the Raven again. They couldn’t afford to wait, she might be too far gone if they did.

Despite that, Angus really didn’t want them to go.

“Good luck. Please be careful!” he said, and Hurley was already starting the battlewagon back up to leave. “Make sure you win, I love you,” he added, very much having to resist the urge to chase after the car as it started pulling away.

“You got it Ango,” Magnus called back to him, giving him a big thumbs up.

“Catch ya after the race pumpkin!” Taako added, waving back casually.

And then they were gone.

Putting his phoenix mask on, Angus went to go find a good place to watch the race. The whole time he kept telling himself that they could do this. They’d be fine. He’d see Taako again soon, sooner than he even expected. The race was exciting, but Hurley gave them a rundown the night before and it was incredibly fast paced. The whole event typically didn’t last any longer than fifteen minutes. That was it.

It still felt like it took an eternity just for the actual race to even start. Angus had managed to worm his way up to the front of the crowd. It helped that he’d gotten there kind of early, and he was still pretty small for his age. People didn’t tend to notice him all that much.

As soon as the first horn started to blow the giant pylons at the end of the racetrack started projecting an illusion of the starting line. Then the second horn rang, and the racers were all let loose, and they were able to watch as they spend through.

When the initial dust cleared it was easy for Angus to spot the reclaimer’s and Hurley’s car. The race wasn’t just fun to watch, it was downright incredible. Angus found himself letting out a delighted cheer when the very first thing Taako did was levitate a whole other battlewagon, sending it flying.

“That’s my dad!” he shouted, even though everyone else was cheering and he was well aware no one was paying attention to him. He didn’t care, bouncing up and down in excitement and laughing as the four got off to a great start.

It didn’t stay that way. Things started going wrong, but they were still holding their own. Honestly for a while the worst thing was that they were still nowhere near catching up to the Raven, who had immediately speed out of range of the rest of the battlewagons and was continuing to hurtle on ahead.

Things started to go real bad when Merle got pulled out of the battlewagon, stuck inside of a tank with a really big octopus. Well, it was really big, and then it was really small because of Taako’s spell.

Except right when they were bouncing back, after Taako cast a spell to summon what looked to be a unicorn (and Angus was going to have to ask him about that spell later, that looked awesome) something else bad happened. Angus found himself gasping in terror when he watched as Taako stood up, throwing off his safety harness before jumping off of the battlewagon.

He had no idea where the bugbear had come from, and it took a moment before Angus recognized him. It felt so long ago now, even though it had only been a couple months. So much had happened in that time frame though, and Angus hadn’t thought about Klaarg since they left his cave pretty much.

He saved Taako though, and things started picking up a bit again after that. The tank was a challenge to deal with, but eventually they managed to trick one of the pylons into shooting it with a giant laser. It was pretty sweet.

They started closing the distance after that, although Angus wasn’t sure how they were going to actually beat the Raven.

Then Taako managed to switch places with her, trapping her back on the motorcycle he’d ended up on while he speed into the finish line on her battlewagon. Hurley’s crossed right after, and as soon as they were both stopped Angus was barreling out of the crowd. Taako barely managed to take a single step out of the wagon before Angus crashed into him in a hug. It knocked his mask askew some, but he couldn't care much about that.

“That was awesome! You guys looked so cool!” he said, pulling back from Taako enough to speak but not letting go yet.

“Hell yeah we did,” Taako said, and he was grinning wildly, looking very proud of himself. By now Hurley, Magnus, and Merle had come over as well, looking equally as excited.

It was short lived however, the scene changing pretty dramatically as Sloane started riding towards them on the motorcycle. There was obviously something wrong with her, and clouds with shooting bolts of lighting were trailing in her wake. As she got close Taako immediately wrapped his arms back around Angus, this time trying to shield him.

It turned out he didn’t need to though, Sloane ignoring them and shooting right off the cliff. Angus watched in terror as a large tornado surrounded by flocks of ravens formed in the ravine.

And then, he watched in even more horror as Hurley got back into her car, Magnus following suit. When Taako pried himself out of Angus’s grasp he felt himself start to shake.

“Go stick with Captain Captain Bain, kay pumpkin? We’ll meet up with y’all when we’re done,” Taako said, and Angus was immediately shaking his head. He knew this was their job. They saw what the gauntlet could do, they knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for this.

None of that made Angus any less terrified right now.

“But- but you can’t-” he tried, his voice betraying him as he failed to find the words. It didn’t matter anyway, because Taako was already getting back in the battlewagon, Merle following soon afterwards. Angus was left standing in place, his feet stuck to the ground because he promised. He told Taako he would stay out of danger and listen to him.

All he could do was watch in horror as their battlewagon drove right off the side of the cliff, into the tornado and out of sight.

That was at least enough to get his brain working again, and it wasn’t hard to find Captain Captain Bain in the crowd. There was no way to tell what was happening inside of the tornado, the closest thing being one moment where Angus swore he saw a large burst of flames.

They were in Bain’s wagon and heading back towards Goldcliff when something suddenly changed. The tornado was enveloped in a bright light, and then almost as quickly as it had appeared it was gone again.

When they found the reclaimers they were in the middle of a small pond in the center of town, under a very pretty pink tree.

Angus barely processed any of that though, jumping out of the wagon before it even managed to come to a stop, running full force at Taako. His whole body was shaking as he crashed into him, nearly sending them both sprawling into the water.

“Never do that again. Hate you,” Angus muttered, his words muffled from his face being pressed up against Taako’s side.

“Uh, didn’t quite catch that pumpkin,” Taako said, and he even sounded a little shaky.

“I thought you were gonna die and I hate you,” Angus said, a bit clearer this time. It got a nervous laugh out of Taako, and he was carding a hand through Angus’s hair now. He wasn’t wearing the phoenix mask anymore, it hanging from a string around his neck now. It was probably getting a little smushed, but he could fix that later.

“Oh. Shit, sorry,” Taako said. Before anyone could do anything else or Angus could gather himself enough to actually asked what happened Captain Bain came over, ushering them all out of the fountain and back to his office. It was crowded in the back of the wagon, so Angus sat in Taako’s lap. He didn’t complain this time though.

By the time they got back to Captain Bain’s office Angus felt like he’d almost pulled himself together. He was at least alright enough to acknowledge that Taako was alive and was curious about what happened. As soon as they were alone Bain started asking about just that, and it took Angus a moment to understand the answer.

“She’s a tree now,” Magnus explained, and oh. So that explained the really pretty tree. Angus felt his whole form slump at the news. He’d liked Miss Hurley. It made sense, these things were dangerous. People were going to die. That didn’t make it hurt any less.

And then Bain was asking how they resisted the thrall of the relic, and Angus was trying his best not to think about the relic. He didn’t know which one of them had grabbed it, and he was making himself stay right in Taako’s lap. He wasn’t sure if he had the same thought, but the elf’s arms were holding him in place a little bit tighter than normal.

“Well, a toast then, to Lieutenant Hurley,” Bain said, and he poured five cups of wine. Which was strange. No one else was reaching for their drink, and Angus didn’t move either. “A- a toast then. Haven’t you guys ever toasted before?” Bain repeated, and Angus was frowning now. There was something going on here.

“I like toast,” Magnus said amiably.

“I’m too young to drink alcohol sir,” Angus said, eyeing the glasses with suspicion.

“Yeah, can’t drink in front of the boy. Gotta set a good example and all that,” Taako added. It was obvious that Captain Captain Bain was getting angrier and angrier as they refused to drink.

“It’s bad luck to not drink after a toast,” he said, and Merle was shaking his head now.

“I’m not really feeling it.”

“This- this is a three hundred year old Brandywine-”

“Magnus, kill him,” Merle cut in urgently. For once, Angus didn’t think Merle was jumping the gun on this one. Something was obviously really wrong.

“Just fucking drink it!” Bain shouted.

What happened next happened very fast. Angus heard Taako whispering the incantation for charm person behind him, and he saw as the spell failed. And then there was a shock of red energy around Bain, and wordlessly he picked up the cups of wine one by one, smashing each to the ground. On the last one, he chugged it before throwing the glass down as well. The effect was almost immediate, Bain’s eyes dilating and his face turning red, a foam starting to form around the corners of his mouth as he choked before finally falling to the ground.

By now they’d all stood up, taking several steps away from Bain. Taako still had his arms wrapped around him, both holding him close and trying to shield him from whatever was happening.

When Captain Bain’s body fell, there was another figure left in his place. It was impossible to tell exactly what they were though, their form entirely cloaked by a bright red robe. The inside of the hood was a solid black, save for a small point of light shining in the center. They were floating a few feet off the ground, and from the looks of it, they were incorporeal.

“Are you afraid?” this entity whispered, its voice echoing around them loudly despite that. Angus was clinging to Taako as he hide behind him now, and he found himself nodding just the slightest bit at the question.

This was one of the Red Robes, and he was very much afraid.

Notes:

What's this? Another update less than six months apart? nonsense! turns out i either write nothing for half a year or a couple chapters in a few days, and that's just where we are in life. I'm real glad people are still interested in this fic and excited to see it back, I'm also glad to be writing for it again and hope to keep up with someone consistent updates in the future.

i went through several different ideas of what Angus's mask could be, including mouse (cute like him) and dragon (i'm a sucker for drango aus) but finally decided on this one because taako was the one to pick.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 34: Questions

There was a Red Robe. Floating ominously right in front of them, having just poisoned and killed Captain Captain Bain. Now, Angus was almost entirely certain that Captain Bain had been trying to poison them right before this, but that didn’t make the whole scene any less terrifying.

“Are you afraid?” it repeated it’s question, and Angus could feel himself still shaking as he hid behind Taako. The Director had mentioned these guys, the ones who had apparently created the relics in the first place. She had also said that they were all supposed to be gone, which did not seem to be the case.

“ Of the dark,” Magnus whispered back, imitating the Red Robe’s voice and almost laughing. He’d tried to swing his ax at it, but it went right through.

“I think he’s talking to you Taako,” Merle added, like the Red Robe’s voice wasn’t echoing all around them with no real source or direction.

“More of a goosebumps man myself,” Taako answered, casually. He still had a firm grip on Angus, holding him back and protecting him, but there was something… there was something wrong here. Angus refused to believe that he was only afraid because he was a kid or something like that. There was no reason for these three to be so cavalier with the appearance of a Red Robe, but they were. Merle was chuckling, and Angus swore the Red Robe sighed in what sounded like resigned irritation before continuing.

“You do not know how to be afraid,” the Red Robe continued, seeming to get its bearings again. It extended a hand, and above it there was an illusion. It was a face Angus only vaguely recognized, since it wasn’t engulfed in fire. It quickly changed as the Red Robe began listing off names.

“Gundren Rockseeker. Magic Brian. Jenkins. Sloane. Captain Bain. This is the true nature of man. The want, the Hunger, it consumes everything it touches. It cannot be stopped or changed.” He went on, lowering its hand as the illusion disappeared. Now, Angus had read a lot of books, he spent much of the time him and Taako had traveled in libraries. He knew the end of a dramatic speech when he heard one. Whatever this Red Robe was going to do, attack them or leave, it was going to happen soon.

"Why did you just protect us?" he asked quickly, cutting the Red Robe off before he could finish. It was hard to tell, it didn't actually have a face or anything like that, but he almost seemed surprised by his interjection. There was a pause as the Red Robe seemed to process the question, before it finally answered.

“There's too much at stake for you all to fail now. This is your first lesson,” The Red Robe ended, disappearing in a bout of flames before anyone could get another word in.

And then it was just the four of them, alone in Captain Bain’s office. Well, alone other than the dead Captain Bain, that was.

“I didn’t get any of that,” Merle said, not sounding the least bit bothered. Angus didn’t know what was going on, but it had been another very long day and he was tired and extremely confused.

“That was a Red Robe. How in the world weren’t you guys scared?” he asked, and he’d stopped hiding behind Taako now. He'd only barely peeked out to ask his question, not sure how he'd managed to build up the courage. He didn’t let go of Taako yet though, still holding his hand like his life depended on it, just in case it came back.

“Oh no, that was totes spooky Ango,” Magnus said, and Angus shook his head because they clearly didn’t get it. Was it that they didn’t realize exactly what that was? It seemed pretty damn obvious to him, but he couldn’t think of another reason why they would brush past the whole thing like it didn't matter.

“No, you guys were all joking around! That was one of the things that made the relics. It wasn’t- it didn’t make any sense,” he said, and it looked like they were starting to get it now. What had been casual intrigue and confusion started shifting into concern.

“Yeah uh, we should probably let the director know about that, right?” Magnus asked, sounding like he wasn’t entirely sure. Angus nodded though, because it was the first sensible thing they’d said since that Red Robe appeared.

“Sounds good for me, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Taako said, which was even more of a relief. Angus very much would like to be back up at the bureau and also maybe not in a room with a corpse anymore. He definitely didn’t want anyone coming in here, seeing this and trying to pin it on them. Thankfully Magnus and Merle also seemed to be on board with leaving, the only thing they ended up stopping for on the way was the prize money.

Taako kept a hand on his shoulder the whole way out of Goldcliff. Angus wasn’t complaining, glad to have some tether to focus on as they headed back. Something real to focus on to help him believe that they had all actually gotten out of there okay. They were safe and going back home. 

The scene back at the bureau was starkly different from the one they left. Everyone was cheering and excited, and it took a moment before Angus remembered the battlewagon race. That seemed almost impossible, but god a lot had happened in the past hour.

“That was amazing! You guys were incredible!” Avi said as they got out of the transport canon. When he caught sight of Angus though his bright smile faded a bit, a disapproving frown forming in its place instead. “Hey Ango, that wasn’t cool buddy,” he added, and Angus smiled sheepishly. Yeah, he could not blame Avi for being mad at him.

“I’m really sorry sir. I promise I won’t ever do it again,” he said, and Avi was only able to hold the frown for another few seconds before it broke.

“Aw, I can’t stay mad at you. Wait, you’re not charming me again are you?” he asked, and Angus laughed a little at that. He really did like Avi. He liked almost all of the people up at the bureau.

“Not with magic, I promise,” he said. Avi grinned at that, but then his smile dropped pretty suddenly, like he remembered something.

“Oh right, the Director wants to see you all in her office right away. To take care of the relic. She uh, she sounded kinda upset about something,” he said. Angus didn’t like the sound of that, but they really did need to get the relic out of the picture. They also had a lot to talk about.

The Red Robes were still out there.

When they went into her office, the destruction of the relic was short and to the point. The Director definitely seemed a lot more serious than the rest of the bureau. As soon as they were done she brought them into her back office when Magnus insisted they talk alone. It was just the four of them, the Director, and Davenport, who was standing by the Director’s desk. She sat down in the large chair behind it, a stern look on her face and her white oak staff at her side.

“To start with, why didn’t you send Angus back up to the bureau immediately?” she asked, and it was obvious that she was addressing Taako, not him.

“We worked it out, kid ain’t gonna be pulling anything like this again,” Taako said with a shrug, like it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t really an answer, and Angus was pretty sure the Director could tell. She sighed, not looking like she was going to accept it that simply.

“Taako, do you have any idea the danger you put him in allowing him to stay? Even if he was away from the battle he could have still been killed or used as leverage or-” she started, and a large part of Angus was terrified that she was going to revoke her earlier statement and take away his Seeker status anyway. She wasn’t able to finish her sentence before Taako cut her off though.

“Yes! Okay, I’m aware! Almost got him killed again what else is new? It’s not going to happen again so can we just move on?” he snapped. It seemed to catch the Director off guard, and Angus could see her trying to piece together the hidden meaning behind what he’d said. After a moment though she nodded, and Angus let out a small sigh of relief when she went onto the next topic.

“Alright, just know I expect both of you to treat these missions with the caution they deserve in the future,” she said. Taako made a vaguely affirmative grunt, and Angus nodded, bowing his head deeply afterwards.

“Sorry madame Director,” he said quietly, not looking up at her face. There was a pause for a moment, and then she sighed.

“With that out of the way, I need to know what happened in Captain Bain’s office,” she said, and Angus perked his head up at that. She was still looking stern, almost suspicious. Angus honestly wasn’t sure why. He supposed she must have heard that he’d died by now, but it wasn’t like any of them had fallen to the relic. Angus had been doing his best to forget its existence, which with everything that had gone on hadn’t actually been too hard. They gave the relic up afterwards and destroyed it. There would have been no reason for any of them to kill him.

“Oh yeah, that! That was weird!” Magnus said, like that was even the half of it. The Director just stared, waiting for them to elaborate. Angus wanted to jump in, but he was pretty sure he was still in trouble for sneaking onto the mission against orders. As it was, Magnus was the one to keep going. “So, we were with Captain Bain, and he poured some booze and wanted to toast- even Angus? Which was weird, we didn’t want to toast it. Then Taako tried to cast charm person, it bounced off. He then slammed the booze on the ground, drank a glass, it was poisoned, and a dude in a Red Robe-” he said, and immediately the Director’s face changed. The impassive stare was gone, wide eyed shock and panic in its place.

“A what?” she asked, and Magnus barely seemed to register the question.

“Tried to chop him with an axe, that didn’t work, and-” he said, and the Director was shaking her head now, putting a hand up to get Magnus’s attention.

“Wait, stop, just- stop. What did he look like? Did he say anything to you?” she asked, practically leaning over her desk now. She had her staff gripped tight in her hand, and Angus had noticed that a couple of times. She always had it on her, and tended to cling to it whenever she got stressed or emotional, which made sense. It was her spell focus, those could be a lot of comfort.

“He was a ghosty guy in a red robe, and he was all ‘you do not know how to be afraid!’ and junk,” Magnus said, making his voice lower and deeper as he imitated the red robe.

“He said to be afraid yeah. I remember that being scary,” Taako said, seeming to come out of the annoyance he’d been in before with their previous topic.

“Oh yeah, the fear thing!” Merle added, sounding like he was only just remembering that now. Magnus was nodding along as well.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, there was the whole thing about fear,” he added.

“And about being careful,” Merle cut in again.

“And then I think he said that the Director should give us a raise,” Magnus continued, and Angus couldn’t say he was shocked by this turn. They were always joking, and most of the time he didn’t mind it. This kind of seemed like the kind of thing they shouldn’t joke about though.

“Look both ways before crossing the street…” Taako mumbled.

“Said he loved us,” Merle added, and Angus rolled his eyes at this point, cutting in.

“Madame Director he didn’t say any of that stuff, it’s all a goof. Well, he did say the fear thing, and he also named all the people who got corrupted by the relics? Like, he knew their names and faces and everything,” he said, and the Director’s eyes narrowed at that.

“But that’s not- he shouldn’t have access to that information. The voidfish has blocked it off from everyone,” she said, and Angus nodded. He definitely had noticed that, and he wasn’t sure what it meant but he didn’t like it.

“Madame Director, do you think there’s a chance these beings are extra-planar?” Magnus asked, and she nodded slowly as she sunk back into her chair.

“I fear that might be the case. Whatever is going on we have to be careful. To think that there’s still red robes out there…” she said, trailing off and shaking her head slightly. The fear and trouble on her face was obvious, despite how hard of a person the Director normally was to read. That honestly wasn’t a good sign. Angus did not want to think about what might happen if they ever ran into the Red Robe again and weren’t as lucky.

After a moment she took a deep breath, her posture changing again as she sat up straighter, a somewhat forced smile on her face.

“Enough of all that though, onto happier news. Captain Bain’s betrayal has proven that no one else, perhaps in the entire world, is capable of withstanding the thrall of these relics. Because of that we have disbanded the rest of our reclaimers into other parts of the Bureau, and are putting all of our force behind you three. You will of course be given lodging more befitting of your new positions,” she said. That wasn’t the topic change Angus expected, but he’d take it for now. He could understand the Director wanting to do some research before figuring out what they should do about the Red Robes after all. He wanted to do his own investigation as soon as he got the chance.

“We’re putting you up in the best seats in the house,” the Director continued, actually sounding a little excited now.

“I’ll take this office!” Magnus joked, or at least, Angus was pretty sure it was a joke.

“No, this is still mine. You’ll have your own private lodging, there’s unfortunately only three rooms. We could maybe set up some sort of bunk bed situation for Angus?” she said, and Taako shrugged, not looking too bothered.

“Works for me,” he said. They went into a bit more detail on the room, and it sounded nice. Angus was pretty excited to get down there and actually check it out. It was weird enough having even the little dorm room with Magnus and Merle to come back to every day. The idea of having a whole apartment for themselves was way out there. In a good way.

Then it was time for them to get paid, and apparently there was something with the race money being illegal and such, they were only getting the gashapon tokens this time around. Angus could see her hesitate some as she looked at him. He couldn’t blame her entirely for that.

“Angus, you directly disobeyed orders. You understand how serious things could have gotten if something went wrong, yes?” she asked, and he quickly nodded.

“I know Madame, I’m really sorry for worrying everyone,” he said, and he meant it too. He kind of just wanted this day to be over so he could forget about all that, and he didn’t care if he got a token or not in that regard. She seemed to think it over for a moment longer before nodding.

“Alright, as long as you understand,” she said, and then she clapped her hands, calling for Davenport. When he came out he had four tokens, and Angus was honesty a little surprised. He really didn’t think she was going to reward him for any of this. He would have understood if she chose not to, he wasn’t even sure if he could have brought himself to be disappointed.

As they took their tokens a somewhat grim look fell over the director’s face, and she sighed.

“Before you all go to Leon’s, could you do me a favor? We need to do the rights of remembrance for Captain Bain, if you could run this down to Johann,” she said, pulling out a piece of paper. Magnus took it, and he was a little too tall for Angus to get a clear view of the page. Still, he already knew what the rights of remembrance was, it was something he’d looked into pretty soon after they joined.

He didn’t really like the idea of it, but there wasn’t much else they could do. At the moment he was too exhausted to think of anything else at least. He just wanted to get this over with so they could get to their new dorm and rest for a bit.

And maybe check if Taako was still mad at him. He was pretty sure he wasn’t, but still, it didn’t hurt to be thorough.

—

God fucking damn it’d been a long day at this point. They’d been up since the asscrack of dawn with the battlewagon race, and then shit just kept happening. Taako was hoping for a simple errand, give Johann a paper and then skedaddle on out of there.

That wasn’t quite the case though, some weird science guy down there. Taako didn’t have a lot of patience for this guy, and from the sounds of it neither did the rest of his party at this point. There was definitely something off though, and it took Taako a second to realize what it was.

He didn’t have a bracer.

Taako was sure Angus caught that before he did, because when he glanced down at the kid he was looking up at him with concern and suspicion. Johann clearly knew who he was though, as much as he didn’t seem to like the guy.

Taako wasn’t really following on what the actual argument was about, but soon enough the voidfish actually started protesting. Or well, it was doing something, and it didn’t sound happy. That was enough to get Lucas Humanman to leave, and that was good enough for Taako. When the voidfish started singing it was a little weird, but also beautifully spooky.

By the time they were done with the rights of remembrance Taako was getting done, and so they hurried to Leon’s office.

Luck was in store, because Leon almost immediate fucking dipped as soon as the four of them walked in. Taako wasn’t sure what the problem was, other than the fact that he knew exactly what the problem was. Either way it worked, and he put his coin in perfectly without any problem after Magnus. The dude had gotten some sort of weird belt, and when Taako opened his inside was a long, dark blue cape. Going through the book was pretty easy, and he couldn’t knock this one. At the very least, he appreciated the aesthetic of this cloak.

When Angus put his coin in, a smaller capsule than the one Taako had gotten fell out. He quickly opened it, obviously more excited than he was trying to let on, and Taako couldn’t blame the kid too much for that. Peeking over his shoulder, there was a straight wooden stick inside, with a crystal eyepiece attached. Looked kind of like a monocle, and Taako couldn’t help but snort at that.

“Well, definitely your look for sure,” he said. Angus rolled his eyes, quickly taking Leon’s book from him to start looking through it. This one took them a bit to find, not actually under glasses or eye wear. By the time they found it Merle had already gotten his own item out of the gashapon, some sort of weird pendant. Angus immediately started reading aloud when they got the right item.

“A Gem of Seeing. A clear crystal inlaid in a golden eye piece. Once a day the holder can speak a command word and receive the spell of true sight holy shit Taako this is so cool,” Angus said, getting progressively more excited as he read. Taako couldn’t blame him, that was a pretty fucking cool item.

“Hell yeah little man, put her there,” he said, holding up a hand for a hive five. Angus immediately reciprocated, before holding the gem of seeing close to his chest. He’d probably get a case or something like that for it, kid was super protective of his junk. Taako couldn’t blame him, he’s basically taught him to be like that.

Once they were done there though they headed to their new digs, and the Director hadn’t been lying. It was real fucking nice. Taako could maybe do without the giant window looking down on the hundreds of feet to the world, gave him a bad sense of vertigo and dizziness, but Angus seemed excited for it. Kid almost immediately ran over to the thing, although he did have enough sense to be a little cautious before actually stepping out onto the glass.

They ended up getting a sort of bunk bed situation set up in their room for Angus. The whole set up with still miles better than what they had before, so he sure as fuck couldn’t complain. He’d been stuck with the kid for this long, he didn’t really expect any of that to stop now.

Which, as soon as they got into the room Angus scrambled up to the top bunk. They had shit they needed to unpack from the last dorm, but they could do that literally any day other than today. It had been a long as fuck day. Taako was kind of reeling when he thought about everything that had happened today. He still had fucking dust and shit in his hair from the race. Gods.

It was quiet for a long moment, and their door was closed so hopefully they wouldn’t have to deal with the rest of the boner squad for a while. Taako was kind of hoping that Angus had actually fallen asleep, but after a few more minutes he spoke up.

“Hey Taako?” he asked quietly, and Taako immediately frowned at the tone of voice. He guessed he was pretty lucky that Angus couldn’t see him from this angle, since he was sitting below him on the bottom bunk. There had been some relief when they were at the gashapon, Angus had clearly been distracted and excited again. It seemed that had all died down now, his voice all cautious and worried and shit.

“What’s up?”  he asked back simply, trying to keep his voice light. He was trying to get better at this shit. He didn’t know how the fuck he was supposed to do that, but there he was.

“Are you still mad at me?” Angus asked after a moment, sounding like he was genuinely fucking scared of the answer. Kid probably was. Taako might not know what he was doing, but he knew enough to at least spot when he fucked up, and yeah he could own up to that one back there. He hadn’t thought it would go over that badly, he hadn’t even thought about what he was saying. If he had he probably would have worded shit a little differently if he was being honest.

Letting out a loud sigh, Taako groaned.

“No, no I’m not fucking angry,” he said, and he could see Angus peaking down cautiously over the side of the bunk now. It was hard to tell expressions upside down and just his eyes.

“You still sound kinda angry,” he said, and Taako huffed at that. Maybe he kinda was, not but at Angus, that was for sure. He was annoyed at fucking… everything. Himself. Not knowing what the fuck he was supposed to do in this situation and not wanting to mess up again.

“I’m not. I was never fucking- wasn’t mad at you, alright? You just freaked me the hell out,” he said, because that was the truth. Okay, he’d been kinda annoyed, he thought Angus knew better than to do these kinds of stupid risks, but he was a kid. Taako was pretty sure that was just how kids were. He’d made dumb decisions as a kid, he still made dumb decisions.

He’d just panicked, because they had nearly died like a minute beforehand. This shit they were messing with was no joke, despite how often they tended to act like it was. He wasn’t about to drag Angus into any of that. He sure as fuck wasn’t about to let him jump headfirst into it himself.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Angus said, and Taako sighed.

“Yeah, I know,” he said. It was quiet for a moment, and then Taako groaned as he pushed himself to stand back up. Angus was looking at him curiously from the top bunk, which was fair. After everything standing was not high on Taako’s list of things he wanted to do. “I’m gonna go test out the shower in this joint, I swear I have sand in my fucking ears,” he said, and Angus laughed at that.

“Okay, I think I’m just gonna rest for a bit first,” he said, and Taako nodded. Kid looked like he was halfway to passing out already anyway.

“Yeah, yeah, later pumpkin,” he said, starting to head out.

“Later dad,” Angus replied, and his voice was quieter than it usually was. Still cautious. Taako found himself pausing at that, before nodding and shutting the door behind him. 

Damn it.

He really needed to do something about that.

Notes:

we're actually chugging along here with the fairly regular updates. I don't wanna jinx anything but I'm super glad to have some motivation and inspiration for this fic back. I'm also real glad y'all seem excited to have this fic back fairly regularly as well. We're getting close to some things i'm very excited for, so we might keep trying to update approximately every two weeks for a while yet, we'll see.

also, i forgot all the cool items I put on Angus's goshapon table. This boy is constantly rolling for the OP shit too. I'm sure that won't have any bearings on future plot points for me. Just give the boy some true sight, it'll be fine.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter 35: Official

At some point Taako was pretty sure he’d kind of forgotten how to relax. That wasn’t a thing that should have happened. He was always about taking as many shortcuts and making sure he could get through the bullshit as fast as possible so he had as much time as he wanted to just fucking chill.

He guessed the problem was he never actually had this much time to relax before. There’d always been something, and he’d always been moving. Staying up on the moon was weird. Sure, they had training, and when he wasn’t training Angus usually wanted to drag him off somewhere to practice his own magic or things like that, and it certainly kept him busy enough to complain about.

It wasn’t like before though. In the downtime between the relic missions there wasn’t as much urgency. Sure, it seemed like the Director was pretty determined to find the rest of the magical balls of death as fast as possible. There wasn’t anything Taako could do about that aspect though. He would listen to Angus talk on and on about the new ways of tracking or whatever leads the seekers managed to find, but that wasn’t his job. He didn’t actually have to do anything. He could just relax.

As it turned out, having a lot of time to relax left him with a lot of time to think. Taako did not actually appreciate that part of the equation.

Things seemed better after they got back from Goldcliff. It was hard to tell with Angus sometimes, kid was always insisting everything was fine. Taako felt like he’d gotten pretty good at telling when it was bullshit and when it was true, but he wasn’t perfect. He was actually kind of shitty, because sometimes it was easier to pretend shit was okay even if he had a real good feeling it wasn’t.

It was easy to brush shit aside when they were busy. If Angus was insisting shit was fine and they had stuff to do it wasn’t hard to push it to the back of his mind. Taako was real fucking good at ignoring anything that brought him the slightest amount of discomfort, and any little distraction was enough to push it aside as long as it wasn’t right in his face, and Angus was real good at making sure it wasn’t in his face.

The problem now was they weren’t busy, and so his damn brain kept getting pulled back to it. Even after he was pretty sure Angus was like, chill again. It took a while, but time was time and Angus was just a kid. However upset he’d been about the fuck up Taako made during the Goldcliff mission it eventually faded from his brain. He got distracted by new things, more leads on the relics, other mysteries, whatever book or trinket Taako decided to grab the kid on a whim. It all added up until Angus clearly wasn’t still stuck on the way he’d hurt his feelings.

Shit was fine, so Taako should be too.

But it kept fucking bothering him.

It had been a few months now since the time down in Goldcliff. It was kind of insane how fast and how slow the time had gone at the same time. Taako didn’t spend the whole time tormenting over this, it just popped into his head every so often. A reoccurring nag that he could never quite get rid of that showed up in the quieter times. A dumb problem that he couldn’t for the life of him think of a solution for.

Or at least, he couldn’t until he ended up having another problem.

Candlenights was coming up soon, and he needed to get Angus a present. Taako felt like he was pretty good at giving gifts. Presents were easier than words, he didn’t have to say shit and he didn’t have to make it a big deal if he didn’t want to. You couldn’t argue with things like you could with words either. They were concrete and there and undeniable, even if they were sometimes harder to read. Normally Taako was pretty damn great at gifts.

Except Angus’s last present sort of threw a wrench into all of that.

What the fuck was he supposed to get the kid that was equivalent to erasing the biggest mistake of his entire life off the face of the planet? Fucking nothing obviously, but he could at least make an attempt. Except thinking of something like that was hard, and Taako couldn’t think of a thing that could come close.

The idea ended up hitting him a little out of left field, while he was in the shower after training one day. He’d been thinking more about trying to make up for making Angus feel like shit back in Goldcliff, and it’d come to him in a joking little two birds one stone thought. He pushed it aside almost immediately though, because it was a dumb as fuck idea.

Except it wouldn’t actually leave him alone.

And now he was standing in front of the Director’s office. He'd actually had been for the past fifteen minutes. Every time someone would walk by Taako would quickly hurry off, until they left and he’d end up coming back to stand there some more like an idiot. He was an idiot, so that part wasn’t too hard. Still, he’d like to get around to something other than standing at some point today.

He should just leave. This was a bad idea. It was the worst idea, and he doubted Angus would even appreciate it. He’d never actually asked him what he wanted after all. This probably wasn’t something he should assume.

Taako knocked on the door.

“Yes?” the Director’s voice called from inside the room, a formal, somewhat distracted tone to her voice. That didn’t bother Taako, she was like that with most of the members of the bureau from what he could tell. Not so much with the three of them, which was pretty sweet, but still. He wasn’t about to go expecting his boss to be his best friend.

Instead of answering, Taako just opened the door. Slinking inside, it was a bit of a relief to see that it was only the Director and Davenport in here. He’d rather word of this thing not get all over the whole damn moon. One, because it wasn’t anyone else’s business, and two, if word got out Angus would definitely find out before Candlenights and that would ruin the surprise.

“Oh, hello Taako, how are you doing today?” the Director asked, her tone a little more warm than it had been a moment before. Maybe it was because they were the only ones to actually get shit done, in fact he was pretty sure it was that, but it was obvious that they definitely had the Director’s favor. That would hopefully help here.

“Good, good, you know how it is,” he said, an attempt at being casual that didn't quite land. Taako could see her smile turn down the slightest bit in response. As much as he genuinely liked the Director, he didn’t appreciate how fucking well she could read him. He swore there had to be some sort of spell, no one was that good, but he’d yet to be able to detect anything.

“Of course,” she said, simply nodding and then waiting. It was obvious she could tell he wanted something, and she was going to make him fucking say it without any leading questions or help, like an asshole.

There was probably some way to lead into this slowly. He didn't end up going with that.

“Can you forge documents?” he blurted out after a moment. It was clear that that wasn’t what the Director had been expecting to come out of his mouth.

“Excuse me?” she asked, and Taako shrugged, starting to inspect the handle of his umbrastaff to have something to look at that wasn’t another person.

“I mean, doesn’t have to be you in particular. Anyone on the moon would be good, but I’d rather keep this on the down low, you get it?” he asked, keeping this whole thing as chipper and casual as he could manage. The Director had raised an eyebrow by now, leaning forward on her desk with a somewhat disapproving look. He guessed he couldn’t blame her too much for that, it certainly did sound pretty sketch.

“What exactly do you mean?” she pressed, and Taako shrugged.

“Well, this whole moon base operation is definitely not on any official books, am I right? I guess you could have used the voidfish to completely nullify any sort of issues but I figured some shit would be easier to do plain old forgery,” he said, and he could see that look on the Director’s face now. The one where he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Yes, there were some documents that were easier to, ah, fabricate that they were to simply erase the existence of. We don’t want to abuse the voidfish’s power after all. We can’t just erase every bill we had to pay building this thing after all,” she said, and Taako nodded along agreeably. “That isn’t what I’m asking though Taako. What document do you need to forge?” she added.

Which. Yeah. That was kind of the question he didn’t want to answer.

“I need a candlenights gift for Angus,” he said, which wasn’t exactly saying what he needed, but it was certainly getting closer. It definitely seemed to alleviate some of the Director’s worries, at the very least. There was some surprise, and she leaned back again in her chair some, a bit of that warmth on her face again.

“Oh, well that certainly sound significantly less crooked. What, were you hoping to forge the signature of his favorite author or something? Because I could probably pull that one off fairly well, but knowing Angus he might be able to see through even a master forgery,” she said, her tone back to amused now. Taako’s face perked up at the idea, before dropping again.

“Damn it, no that wasn’t it. That’s good though, but you’re probably right, he would be able to see through it,” he said, kind of grumbling. Would probably be easier if he could stick with something simple like that. Why the fuck did his kid have to be so damn smart?

His-

And there it fucking was again.

“I see, in that case, what did you have in mind?” the Director asked, clearly curious now. Taako was regretting this entire conversation, but he was already here. If he was gonna do something he could fucking commit.

“Never could actually adopt the kid. Didn’t uh, was kinda busy before all of this, and technically he was a missing child and I was maybe on the run for some not so legal things, nothing important, not actually any of my fault either . Boy genius figured that one out. But yeah, brat runs around calling me dad to anyone who will listen to him for half a goddamn second, and I’m already stuck with him at this point . So I thought it might, ya know, be a pretty easy gift,” Taako said. He was trying to be casual, he had to try harder than he should, and he wasn’t sure if it was working all that well.

The Director was giving him this look. It was obviously shocked, and more emotional than Taako felt the situation called for. It wasn’t like a dumb paper would actually change anything, it just seemed like the kind of thing Angus would appreciate. Something as some sort of proof in case Taako fucked up again.

“Oh,” she said after way too long of a silence. Taako’s grip was tighter on the umbrastaff than it had any reason to be, and he didn’t even know why. He wasn’t sure if he was more worried that she’d agree or tell him it was a terrible idea.

Then she nodded, quickly starting to rearrange some of the papers on her desk as she got some shit Taako couldn’t make heads or tails of in order. There was a determination in her face that was almost scary. He sure as fuck hadn’t expected her to be invested at like, all. He honestly kind of thought she’d try and talk him out of it. Anyone with a brain could tell that it wasn’t smart to put Taako in charge of a whole ass kid, and the Director seemed pretty damn smart to him.

“Yes, yes I believe that should be something we’d be capable of creating for you. You said by Candlenights?” she asked, and Taako nodded a little dumbly. This wasn’t going how he expected, but he couldn’t exactly back out. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to back out.

“Uh, yeah, if that’s doable,” he said, because there was really only like, a week until Candlenights. He might have been putting this idea off for a little bit. The Director nodded though, a sharp determination there.

“Shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll need some information about Angus, but I should be able to have something that not even anyone down planetside should be able to tell isn’t the real deal,” she said, and like, Taako didn’t doubt her. It was obvious as fuck that this woman was scarily competent when she wanted to be. If she was gonna make a perfect forgery of some adoption papers, he was sure she could. That was part of the reason why he came to her over anyone else.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to squash any nerves he had about this before pulling out another chair by her desk and sitting down.

“Yeah sure, fuck it. Go big or go home, let’s do this thing,” he said, and the Director was smiling at him softly now. She’d already pulled out a notebooks, and when she started asking some questions about Angus Taako answered to the best of his ability. It was simple stuff, age, birth date, approximate weight and height, those sorts of things. Full name. It was all surprisingly easy, Angus tended to talk about himself a lot in their down time. Taako hadn’t realized just how much of that shit he actually retained though. Apparently more than he thought.

It was fast, and soon enough the Director was smiling at him and assuring him that she’d send word as soon as it was complete. Taako gave her an easy grin and finger gun as he headed out of the office a bit faster than he maybe needed to. He didn’t realize how abuzz with nerves he was until he stepped outside into the empty hallway, slumping up against her door for a moment.

Well, he just fucking did that.

He really hoped Angus liked it.

——

Things were getting better, and Angus was trying to focus on that. It actually wasn’t that hard, especially considering how long it had been since the whole incident at Goldcliff. The moon had been the longest him and Taako had ever stayed in one place by far, and it was nice. He really did like it, and the people there, and it felt like things were starting to get into a real routine.

It was easy to get comfortable with that. To let the weird stability of their circumstances ease his mind some.

There was also the fact that Candlenights was coming up. It wasn’t too hard to get distracted with that either.

This was the first year they actually had an excuse to properly celebrate it, which was Angus’s own excuse for wanting to do so much. Magnus and Merle were at least both down to decorate their new dorm, since they actually had the living space to. They even got a bush, which was something him and Taako had never bothered with before. They never had the space or the money, and Angus didn’t mind, but it was pretty to have now that they did.  

Angus wasn’t sure who’s idea it was to have a Candlenight’s party in their new dorm. He wanted to say Magnus, and at least if it wasn’t his he’d been the one to push it the most. Angus was excited for the idea though, even if he was trying not to go overboard. It just seemed like it would be fun. He liked the people at the bureau a lot so far. It would be nice to get a chance to hang out with them move. It would be fun to actually have a Candlenights party with more than only him and Taako too. He didn’t mind it being just the two of them, but it might be a fun change of pace.

What was definitely fun was spending the time beforehand cooking with Taako. He managed to convince him to cook for the party, and they weren’t really doing a lot. Mostly just a couple of desserts and a few dishes, but it was still a good amount of food by the time it was all done. It took almost the entire day before the party, although a good chunk of that time was spent either waiting for things to come out of the oven so they could put in more things or shooing Magnus and Merle away from stealing things before they were done. Still, Angus was having fun.

Something was obviously off with Taako though. He was nervous, that much he could tell. He’d seemed kind of nervous for a while actually, a couple days at least. Probably not too much longer than that, Angus liked to think he had a pretty good read on Taako to know when he started acting weird.

They were sitting alone in the kitchen now, finishing up with the icing for the macaroons. That was a thing now, making macaroons for most holidays. Taako had told Magnus and Merle to go to the store for an ingredient they didn’t actually need, to keep them from eating all of the finished cookies before they could have a chance to put them away.

“Hey Taako?” Angus asked after a moment. Taako gave a questioning hum in response, seeming pretty focused on his cookie. Or at least, he did for the most part. It was pretty obvious to Angus that there was something going on in his head. “Is everything okay?” he asked, and that got his attention.

“Huh? Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Taako asked back immediately, which was kind of what Angus expected. He didn’t let that discourage him any though, shrugging slightly as he started putting two pieces of cookie together.

“I don’t know, you just seemed really distracted lately is all,” he said, which was the truth. Angus couldn’t say he was too surprised when Taako didn’t bother to answer right away, finishing up macaroons at least twice as fast as Angus could. He was definitely getting faster though, Taako just had years of experience on him.

“No idea what you’re talking about,” he said finally, and it was obvious that wasn’t the case. It was kind of rare that Taako kept things from him now a days, and Angus guessed he could start to see the worry on his face there because after a moment he sighed. “Just uh, look. Okay, I know we’re doing like, better this year? I just hope you weren’t expecting anything like, fucking jaw-dropping for Candlenights, alright? I did my best,” he finished, and that wasn’t what Angus had been expecting.

“That’s a dumb thing to worry about dad. I’m sure I’ll like whatever you got me,” Angus said, any of the worry he had before gone now. He hadn’t even considered that a thing Taako might get nervous about, he never seemed particularly bothered over getting him gifts in the past. Was it really because they had more money now? Sure, Angus guessed he had been well off before his grandpa passed, but he didn’t care if Taako didn’t get him expensive stuff. His grandpa got him nice things before, but usually they weren’t too aligned with Angus’s own interest. Most of that stuff he got for himself. It wasn’t that his grandpa didn’t care, it was just hard for him to remember. Taako always remembered his likes and dislikes though, even if he pretended not to sometimes.

“I wasn’t worried,” Taako insisted, still seeming kind of nervous. They had finished up the last of the macaroons now, and all the other food was done for tomorrow too. They’d have to heat a few things up right before the party, but otherwise they were good. Angus hopped off his stool to go wash his hands while Taako got out some tupperware to put the cookies away in until tomorrow.

“Well good, because you shouldn’t be,” he said, and he could see Taako roll his eyes a little at that. He seemed a little bit more relaxed though, which was good. That would have to be good enough.

The next morning, Angus was surprised when he wasn’t the first one up. Usually he was the one prodding and bothering Taako until he woke up on Candlenights. He certainly expected that to be the case this time. He’d been very excited when he went to sleep the night before. Maybe his excitement had been part of the reason Taako was so nervous this time around. He thought he had to do something really spectacular to live up to the hype Angus was setting for this holiday. He wasn’t expecting anything extra from Taako though, he was just excited.

So excited, that he’d been certain he’d be the first one awake. As a result Angus was very confused when he was still very asleep when he felt something poking at his face. He wasn’t sure how many times it took before it woke him up, but it was definitely more than a few.

Opening his eyes in confusion, he could see the blurry form of Taako there, stepped up so that his arms were hooked over his part of the bunk bed.

“Oh, you’re awake,” he said, sounding almost curious about that fact, like somehow he didn’t expect the poking to actually wake him. Angus groaned in response, pulling his blanket up over his head.

“Dad, too early ,” he grumbled, because as excited as he’d been for today it was way too early. He didn’t know what time it was, but from the little he saw before throwing the blanket up it looked like the sun was barely above the horizon, if that. It was sometimes hard to tell on the moon.

“Ya sure? Thought you were excited about your presents and shit,” Taako said, and Angus just rolled over so that he was facing the wall. That seemed to get the message across, he could feel the weight on the bed shift as Taako stepped down from hanging off the side. “Alright, alright, I’ll give you another hour or whatever,” he muttered. Angus tried to make a vague sound of thanks, but he wasn’t sure how well that actually came across.

When he woke up for real it probably wasn’t that much later all things considered. Maybe a bit after the hour Taako had claimed to give him, but still close. Sitting up in bed himself, he could see Taako was still awake, now sitting at the desk they had in their bedroom. It was facing a window, which looked out over the world below. Angus loved staring out there to watch everything, but Taako always claimed it gave him a headache. That didn’t seem to be a problem right now though, his eyes looking almost glazed over as he watched out the window.

“Happy Candlenights,” he said, which seemed to knock Taako out of his thoughts. He jolted slightly, quickly turning to look up at him.

“Right, yeah, morning pumpkin,” Taako said, and Angus almost frowned at that. He hadn’t been able to tell earlier, he’d been way too tired, but it was obvious now how nervous he was. His movements were almost jittery. Angus started climbing down from the top bunk, grabbing his glasses and putting them off.

“Why’d you try and wake me up so early?” he asked, having to stifle a yawn. Taako shrugged, and Angus recognized that deliberate act of trying to look casual. It didn’t work on him anymore, although it never really did to begin with anyway.

“No big deal. Bored. Got a present I wanted to give you before the party starts,” he said. Angus glanced at the clock on the wall, it reading 8:11am.

“The party isn’t for almost another nine hours,” he said bluntly, which got a huff out of Taako.

“Well if you’d rather wait,” he grumbled, but Angus grinned and quickly shook his head.

“No, no, we can do an exchange now!” he said excitedly. He’d already had planned to do something like this too, he’d gotten two gifts for Taako because of it. Sure, they were gonna celebrate Candlenights with everyone else, but it had been just the two of them for so long now. It would have felt weird not to give Taako something on his own.

When he turned to go grab his first present though, Taako stopped him.

“Wait,” he said, and when Angus turned back he could see just how… panicked Taako was. “Wait just uh, mine first. I don’t- wasn’t sure what to get after that birthday present of yours, so uh, yeah,” he said. Angus watched as he rifled through the drawers in the desk, before pulling out a plain manila envelope and handing it over to him. Despite the obvious worry Taako had (which was honestly making Angus a little nervous) he snorted at the packaging.

“You suck at wrapping dad,” he said, which got a surprised laugh out of Taako.

“I can take it back and wrap the damn envelope if you want, put a fucking ribbon on it,” he said, but Angus shook his head.

“Nah,” he said, flipping open the envelope to read what was on the papers inside. It was a thicker packet than Angus expected, but he couldn’t actually get himself to read anything past the first page. He was frozen in place as he kept rereading that first page over and over again, not sure if the words were actually sticking in his brain. He couldn't even be sure if he was actually reading it right at all. He didn't know how long he spent standing there staring at them trying to get the words to make sense.

“Uh, some- some sort of reaction at all would be, ya know, appreciated,” Taako said, jump starting Angus’s brain some. He sounded terrified, and suddenly Angus couldn’t read the pages at all anymore because his vision was all blurry.

“Is this real?” he managed to ask, his voice shaky. He didn’t think it was a joke. Taako wouldn’t- he wouldn’t do a joke like that. For some reason though his brain couldn’t bridge the gap between not being a joke and being real.

“Yeah. I mean, only if you want. Your fucking gift my dude, you can do whatever you want with it, tear it up for all I care. Or not. You know, whatever you want,” Taako said, his voice soft, but those nerves still there. He was nervous because it was real and he meant it and Angus was holding signed and notarized adoption papers.

“Shit, shit don’t- come on, don’t cry. I don’t-” Taako started to stutter out, but before he could finish Angus was across the room, crushing him in a hug. He couldn’t bring himself to let go of the papers yet, so he’d probably have to fix them again afterwards, but he wasn’t thinking about that now.

Taako hugged him back without any hesitation, and there was so much Angus wanted to say right now. Too much, to the point where he couldn’t separate the thoughts and it all came out as a repeated “Thank you thank you thank you,” over and over again.

They could both be pretty bad at words something, but right now this would have to be enough.

This felt like more than enough.

Notes:

so fun fact, when i was getting back into writing this fic i forgot that i'd had this planned and seeing these notes in my outline made me gasp and immediately reinvigorated my desire to continue this au. this might be my favorite chapter i've written for this fic so far, and it is incredibly self indulgent.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed~

Chapter 36: Good Day to Bad Night

Okay. Okay. As far as Taako could tell, which wasn’t very far if he was being honest, it seemed like Angus liked the gift. Sure, he was crying, which didn’t seem like the best sign, but he was also squeezing the life out of Taako’s waist with no signs of letting go anytime soon and had been chanting some variation of ‘thank you’ for the past minute and a half.

That- that probably meant he liked it. That he was alright with this.

It was only once Taako’s shirt was thoroughly soaked through did Angus finally pull away, wiping ineffectively at his face with his pajama sleeve and grinning all the while. Taako rolled his eyes, casting a quick prestidigitation to clean the both of them up.

“Thanks,” Angus said, and then he was looking down at the packet of papers again, smoothing them out from where they’d gotten a bit crumpled in the hug. “And just, thank you, again,” he repeated. Taako wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he’d been expecting, he hadn’t thought about it much. Mostly he’d been thinking  of all the reactions he was hoping wouldn’t happen. Stupid shit that he knew Angus wouldn’t do but for some reason he was still nervous about, even though this was for the kid to begin with. Sure, he guessed it wouldn’t have mattered much to him if Angus decided he didn’t like the idea or rejected it or whatever, but he’d  hoped that wouldn’t happen anyway.

He was way more relieved than he expected though. He was just… glad Angus seemed to like this.

“You said that already my dude,” Taako said, an amused tone to his voice. Angus didn’t seem that bothered though, still smiling as he read through the packet. And it took Taako a moment to realize he was actually reading through it. “Holy shit my dude, it’s not a book, there’s not gonna be some twist at the end. You don’t gotta read through the whole thing,” he said. He couldn’t be that surprised when it didn’t deter Angus in the slightest though.

“It’s my gift, you said I could do what I want with it,” he said, and Taako rolled his eyes at that.

“Damn, I knew you were a nerd but this is ridiculous,” he said, but there wasn’t any actual annoyance in his voice. He was a little too relieved for that. He’d been more worried about how Angus would take this than he thought he guess, and he was pretty well aware that this shit kept poking at him. So there was a lot of relief. Angus just shrugged, still grinning as he turned the pages.

“You should have expected the worst when you adopted me,” he said, and Taako couldn’t help snorting at that. There was a part of him that wanted to panic and shut it down, the whole thing feeling a bit more real at Angus actually saying it out loud. He pushed that shit down as much as he could. He made this decision, he could fucking commit.

“Fair enough,” Taako said, and it did at least look like Angus was starting to skim again. He had a feeling that an actual goddamn legal document could only hold a ten year old’s attention for so long, even one like Angus.

“So how… I’m technically still missing right? Even if your name is clear now, I don’t think they let you adopt kids who haven’t been seen in years. How’d you get these?” Angus asked, and Taako expected that question to come eventually. He was kind of surprised it took this long, but he guess he’d kinda taken the kid by surprise with this one.

“Okay, I don’t know a lot about the making of these here documents, but I have assurance from the Director that any government down planetside will see it all as very legally binding,” he said. Somehow Angus’s smile ended up getting even bigger at that, obvious amusement on his face.

“Did you actually illegally adopt me?” he asked, and Taako gave an exaggerated shrug at that, struggling to blow this whole thing off as casual still. He couldn’t quite manage it, but he appreciated that Angus seemed to be letting it slide.

“Eh, not illegal by moon laws,” he said. It was the truth, but there was still something pretty nice about seeing how delighted Angus looked by that.

“You’re ridiculous dad,” he said, and Taako shrugged. This whole thing was definitely pretty stupid, but it seemed like it was doing a pretty damn good job of putting Angus in a good mood. He couldn’t actually think of the last time he’d seen the kid this goddamn happy. As far as Taako was concerned that made it a good enough present.

He was surprised when Angus suddenly got a look of surprised distress on his face, quickly jumping up.

“Oh! I forgot your present!” he said, looking around for somewhere to put down the papers. It was kind of hilarious how gingerly he set them down on the desk before running off and climbing down under the bunk bed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were gonna- my present isn’t as good as yours,” he added as he shuffled back out. Taako snorted at that, because of course that’s what Angus was worried about right now.

“I mean of course it ain’t don’t feel bad about that,” he said, and Angus handed him a medium sized present with shitty wrapping. The shape wasn’t quite as identifiable as a large hat, but from the feel and weight of it Taako could pretty easily guess some sort of clothes. Not wasting any time, Taako tore through the wrapping paper and there was fabric underneath like he expected. It was a bright red, and Taako thought it was a scarf for a moment. When he unfurled it however it was more like a large shawl.

“I know it’s pretty simple, I have another present for later! When we’re doing Candlenights with everyone else, but it really matches your umbrastaff and I thought it was pretty and you would like it,” Angus said, sounding pretty meek about the thing. Running his hand over the fabric, it was obviously some good quality shit. There were small tassels that hung off the end, and he was right. The red matched the umbrastaff almost exactly.

He liked it. Wrapping the shawl around himself, he caught his reflection in the large full body mirror they’d hung up on the back of the door and fuck. Taako really fucking liked it.

“Do you like it?” Angus asked after a moment, and Taako hadn’t realized he’d spent that time staring at himself in the mirror. It was almost perfect, but there was a nagging in his brain telling him that something was missing. Maybe a hat. He didn’t have a red one yet.

“Oh hell yeah, shit’s perfect. Favorite color and everything,” he said, doing a small spin in front of the mirror to get the full look. He’d have to put on a proper outfit on under it before the party, but he was for sure wearing it tonight.

“I didn’t know that,” Angus said, and Taako paused, raising an eyebrow at him in confusion. It felt a little weird to move to such a simple conversation after everything that just happened, but it was a good kind of weird. Things hadn’t really changed. They were still themselves. “That your favorite color is red. I would have thought it was purple,” he clarified.

“Ah, yeah no, it’s red,” he said simply, because there wasn’t that much to say about it. It was just his favorite color. He hadn’t realized how much he liked the color until he started using the umbrastaff, but he didn’t think it was a big deal.

“Well uh, we should probably start getting ready for tonight. I’m sure tweedledee and tweedledum will try and drag us out of here soon enough,” Taako said after another moment, and Angus grinned brightly as he nodded. After a second though he paused, and Taako saw his eyes glance back towards the stack of adoption papers left on the desk.

“Um, you said the director knows, so is it okay if- you won’t be annoyed if I tell people around my present, will you? It’s okay if you don’t want me to,” Angus said, and yeah, Taako had been trying to prepare himself for that one. He’d figured if Angus was cool with this, he’d wanna tell people, and Taako couldn’t rightfully think of a reason for why he shouldn’t. Sure, he’d rather no one get it in their heads that he had like, a heart or something like that, or at least not one as soft as all that.

He fucking knew he wouldn’t be able to say no to Angus looking up at him so expectantly and worried though. After a moment he sighed, giving as noncommittal a shrug as he could manage.

“Like I said, it’s your gift. Do what you want,” he said, and Angus grinned again at that.

“Thanks dad,” Angus said, and the genuine gratitude in his voice almost made Taako flinch. Despite all of this, those kinds of strong, unfiltered emotions still left Taako with no real idea of what to do. There really wasn’t much he could do.

“Your welcome pumpkin,” Taako said, pulling the shawl a little tighter around him as he started to head out into the rest of their dorm. Despite the throngs of emotions they’d already been through, Taako was pretty sure he could say this Candlenights had been a successful one so far. He was way out of his depths, but it seemed like despite that he hadn’t fucked up it yet.

Hopefully the rest of the day could go just as smoothly as the morning had.

——

Angus hadn’t expected any of this.

He knew Taako cared about him. That was something he accepted a long time ago, even if Taako liked to pretend he didn’t a lot of the time. It was obviously pretend, he made sure that Angus knew it was pretend, because he didn’t like it when Angus thought he was being serious and got upset. He cared about him and took care of him and let Angus call him dad with mostly minimal grumbling.

He even seemed pretty upset when Angus had stopped calling him dad when they were down in Goldcliff. Even though he had specifically told Angus not to. He’d seemed to regret that pretty quick, and they didn’t talk about it much afterwards but Angus had mostly tried to forget about it. Tell himself that it didn’t matter because no matter what Taako cared about him, and that was enough.

Despite all of that, Angus had never expected this. He never even really considered it an option, not a real one. Sure, they joked about it sometimes, but that was mostly when they were messing with other people.

Even if it hadn’t been a completely legal thing, it was real enough to matter. It was real enough in what it meant.

Angus couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day. He doubted he’d be able to stop smiling for the rest of the week, if anyone asked him. Sure, he knew this didn’t really change anything, not in a practical sense, but that didn’t matter.

This was different from knowing that Taako wasn’t ever going to try and get rid of him. It wasn’t just Taako not pushing him away, not just not a negative. It was a positive, active affirmation. Taako was his dad and nothing was going to change that now.

Angus told himself he was going to try and not be super obnoxious about this. He knew Taako wasn’t real comfortable with this sort of emotions thing. It had clearly made him super nervous and he could stand and be a little understanding and keep it on the down low for a bit. That had been the plan, and he’d managed to keep it up for a few hours even as they got ready for the party.

And then Magnus had asked him what he was hoping to get for Candlenights this year, and any hope of keeping this to himself went out the window. He immediately told them he didn’t care what he got this year because his dad already gave him the best present ever. It took almost no questioning at all to get Angus to run back into his room and grab the adoption papers to show off to Magnus and Merle. They were obviously pretty surprised, and Taako looked like he was trying his best to dissolve into the floor. Angus felt a little bad about that, but not enough to not gush about being Taako’s kid for real and official now.

He at least tried to get it out of his system by the time the official Candlenights party started and everyone started to show up. Taako said he could do whatever he wanted, but he knew his dad didn’t want this whole thing to be the center of attention.

The party was actually going really good though, even if it was real hard for Angus to resist the urge to show off the adoption papers to each new person that came in.

When he saw that the Director had shown up though, Angus couldn’t resist. He knew it wasn’t professional, and the Director was a very professional lady, but as soon as he caught sight of her Angus ran over and gave her a hug. He felt her startle at it for a moment before relaxing again.

“Oh, happy Candlenights Angus,” the Director said, amusement clear in her voice. Angus was grinning brightly as he looked up at her, and he really did like the Director. He liked it here on the moon and he just… really liked having a home.

“Happy Candlenights madame! I just, I wanted to thank you for helping with my candlenights gift. Dad said… he said you helped him, and so thanks,” Angus said, and it was kind of hard to find the right words. The Director didn’t seem to mind though, smiling at him softly as she knelt down to be somewhat more on his level.

“No need to thank me Angus, it was no problem at all,” she said, and honestly, he believed that. She was a very smart lady, it probably wasn’t actually all that hard for her to get those papers. “It’s just nice to see the two of you so happy,” she added. Angus felt like he was pretty good at telling when people were saying the truth, he had to be to be a detective, and right now it seemed like the director was telling the absolute truth.

The rest of the party ended up going good as well. Angus got a few more presents from other people, and he gave Taako the other gift he’d been saving for him. It was a magic salt shaker he’d seen at the Fantasy Costco. Taako tried to act like he wasn’t worried about his food and poison anymore, but Angus knew it still bothered him. A salt shaker that showed if there was any poison in food seemed like a really good extra precaution, just to put his mind at ease.

Taako seemed to like it at least, and Angus hadn’t expected any other presents. His first one had been so much and so important that he wouldn’t have cared at all if Taako didn’t get him anything physical at all this year.

Still, he certainly wasn’t going to turn down the new wand Taako had gotten him. There wasn’t really anything wrong with his old one, it was the first one Angus ever had and he still loved it a lot. There was no denying that it was about as cheap of a wand as one could get, and the fact that it hadn’t gotten completely destroyed over the past couple years was a testament to how well Angus took care of and treasured it.

This new one was much nicer, a spiraling copper with a clear crystal embedded in the tip. When he cast a mage hand to test it the crystal glowed with a soft blue light.

All in all, Angus could say with certainty that this was absolutely the best Candlenights he’d ever had.

And then the Director’s necklace started speaking.

The direction of the night turned pretty drastically with that.

It was Lucas, and Angus hadn’t trusted the guy very much the first time they’d met him. They’d been so tired after the last relic mission, but now he was wishing he’d done a bit more research into the guy afterwards. He didn’t like the fact that he didn’t have a bracer, that he was some exception to the rules here. It seemed like he was right to have that gut feeling, because Lucas now had a relic.

Something had gone wrong, because of course it did, nothing ever went right with a relic. That wasn’t how they worked. But it had gone really, really wrong, and his lab was threatening to turn the whole world to crystal if they didn’t get down there and fix his mistake immediately.

And obviously, that was the most important thing right now. They couldn’t and weren’t going to let the whole world get turned into crystal, or even a portion of the world. He knew this was their job and they needed to all be responsible.

He really wanted to spend the rest of Candlenights with his dad though. He wanted the day to end just as good as it started and to be able to crawl into bed in a few hours once everyone had left the party because he was already getting kind of tired.

Instead, he was following along nervously as the moon base shot through the sky, the reclaimers heading to Leon’s office to get some things called null suits. They only had a limited amount of time before Lucas’s lab touched down, so there really hadn’t been a lot of time for explanations.

He listened intently as Leon gave a quick overview of what the null suits did though, somewhat relieved by the added protection. The philosopher’s stone sounded pretty immediately deadly if they weren’t careful. He didn’t trust Lucas at all either, either to give up the stone freely or to have told them the whole truth of what was going on down there.

After the reclaimers were all suited up they started heading towards the hanger. Angus didn’t expect Taako to stop suddenly, and he paused to look back at him in confusion. From the look on his face, it seemed like he’d only just realized something, although Angus wasn’t sure what at first.

“Hey, you know you’re not coming along, right? Like, not even close to an option on this one,” he said, and Angus hadn’t expected that. He probably should have though, considering what happened the last time the reclaimers had gone on a mission. He nodded, because as much as he hated Taako going on these things without him he wasn’t dumb enough to think he could sneak on this one, or that trying to would result in anything but his likely death.

“I know dad. I promise I won’t try anything,” he said, and he guessed he was too wrapped up in his own nerves to notice how anxious Taako had seemed until then. He definitely seemed to relax the slightest bit when Angus said that though. “You gotta promise to come back too though. You’re not allowed to get out of being my dad for real already,” he added, trying to make it sound like a joke so that it didn’t betray just how scared he was. He hadn’t thought he could get anymore worried about Taako dying on these missions, but somehow he had.

“Of course I’m coming back. Saving the world is cool and all but cha’ boy ain’t aiming to die for it,” Taako assured him. It was casual and self assured, and Angus tried to believe it was true. He wasn’t sure how much choice Taako would have in that matter though.

Instead of answering, Angus gave him a quick hug. He wished it could have been longer, but the others were waiting for them, and they were on a time limit.

It was snowing as they got out to the hanger. Angus couldn’t pay it much mind though, and that thought alone made his stomach sour with nerves even more. It had snowed the first candlenights him and Taako had spent together too.

They were going to be okay. They were going to be okay. They had to be okay.

Angus kept thinking that over and over again as he watched the gondolas fly off towards the lab. It kept replaying even as the Director finally started ushering him back into the main base and out of the cold. He had his stone of farspeech in his hand, letting the director lead him back into her office, where they could hopefully help from a distance.

He didn’t expect to hear a lot from them. They had called a lot on the train, but mysteries were kind of Angus’s area of expertise. He wasn’t sure how much he could do on some weird floating lab, especially when they already had Lucas to guide them.

So he was very surprised when it wasn’t long at all before it stone of farspeech started lighting up.

“It’s Angus, is everything okay? Did you guys make it there safely?” he asked quickly, and it was hard not showing how worried he was.

“Hey Ango!” Magnus’s voice said, and he didn’t sound particularly upset or hurt or anything like that. So far so good then probably. “Everything’s going fine, but uh, do you know if the philosopher’s stone can like, make some sort of weird living crystal golem?” he asked, and well, that didn’t sound good.

“No? It shouldn’t be able to do that. The philosopher’s stone is just a transmutation amplifier,” he said. In the short amount of time that they had been gone Angus had tried to do as much research on the stone as possible. It was incredibly powerful, but its skill set was pretty narrow. It just transmuted. “Tell me what happened,” he insisted.

Thankfully, the three began to do just that. It was harder to tell over the stone, but he was pretty sure they weren’t glossing over too much of what happened. Maybe making themselves sound a little better and more competent than whatever probably actually happened, but the fact that Angus could still hear all three of them and they sounded confident and safe meant it really had turned out okay.

What they were saying was definitely weird though. Angus had no specific idea of what they were dealing with, but some of the points almost sounded familiar. He promised them he’d look into it and try and find out what he could, and then they had to keep moving forward. They were still on a time limit, they couldn’t spend too much time standing around talking.

As soon as they were off the stone Angus was up and moving, doing a quick look over some of the arcane tomes the Director had in her office. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. Maybe something to do with golems or elementals, possession was also a possibility.

“What was the update?”  the director asked, sounding the slightest bit worried under her professional demeanor. Angus knew she cared a lot more than she let on, so he wasn’t surprised at her getting concerned hearing them call in so soon.

“They’re fine so far, but there’s something strange down there. They said a ball of light flew out of some sort of rift, and a giant golem formed around it and attacked them. It was vulnerable to radiant attacks though, so they managed to drive it off for now. It doesn’t sound like it’s related to the philosopher’s stone though, so I’m just looking to see if I can find out anything else about it,” he explained.

“I see,” the Director said after a moment, and when Angus looked over at her she had that expression again. The one that made it practically impossible to tell what she was thinking. “Yes, it’s best if we can figure out what that creature is and make sure it is not going to interfere with the retrieval of the stone, or even worse try and go after it itself,” she added, and Angus nodded.

“I’m sure they’ll be able to handle it,” he said, even though he wasn’t sure in the least if that was true. He wanted to believe it was. He needed to believe it was, but there was still that fear in the pit of his stomach. The terror that he was going to lose Taako as soon as he got that assurance that he would be there from now on. He hadn’t actually said that he would be, but that was how holding those papers had felt. They felt like a promise, one Angus desperately didn’t want to break.

“They will be,” the Director said, and Angus wasn’t sure if it was fake or not, but she sounded confident. More confident than he felt for sure.

He really hoped that confidence wasn’t unfounded. The Director was really smart. She probably knew better than anyone if they could make it.

Notes:

still trying to update this on a semi-regular basis, which is like, once every two weeks or so at average. We'll see how long I'm able to keep that up, but i'm still pretty excited for all the stuff going on. We're in the thick of it now and i'm having a lot of fun with these good boys.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 37: Thoroughly Exhausted

Angus was trying his best to keep a handle on the situation. At the very least, he was trying to work like a professional because this was his job. Even more important than that, he needed to make sure he could think straight if anyone needed his help. There was no reason to freak out at this one more than any of the other missions, and this was the fourth time they’d done it. It should be fine and Angus needed to keep his cool.

So far, he felt like he was doing a pretty good job of that. Sure, a background anxiety was definitely building the longer he went without hearing anything from them on his stone of farspeech, but he was mostly able to ignore that as he delved into his research. He’d found a couple different possibilities for what the weird light that took over the crystals could be, but so far nothing seemed quite right.

Despite his attempts to keep calm, he definitely jumped when his stone started to go off again, immediately fumbling as he moved to answer it as fast as possible. The result meant it took him a bit longer than normal to actually answer, but he tried to ignore that for now.

“Hey! This is Angus! Are you guys okay? I haven’t been able to find anything definitive about the weird crystal monster you were talking about. I have a few ideas though if you think they might help you out and-” he said, and he hadn’t realized he’d started going off without letting them get a word in edge ways until Taako cut him off.

“Ango, it’s chill my dude. You can cool yourself for a minute,” Taako said, and he sounded alright. Sure, he kind of doubted he would let Angus know too much about if he was in some more serious than usual danger, but he couldn’t tell that he was hiding anything at least, which counted for a lot. Taking a deep breath, he nodded.

“Right, I’m good dad. What’s up?” he asked, figuring he should let them actually get to whatever the reason they called was.

“Yeah okay so like, there’s this weird little trivia death robot that Lucas has in here?” Taako said, and Angus immediately frowned at that. It certainly didn’t sound like anything good, and he couldn’t trust Lucas as far as he could throw him (which, even with the spells he knew, wouldn’t be particularly far) but they didn’t sound very worried. Which probably meant it was fine?

It didn’t, not by a long shot, but Angus was trying real hard to convince himself it did.

“So, we figured that sounded like your kinda deal,” Magnus added, good natured as anything. He guessed if they meant trivia yeah, Taako called him a nerd all the time and he had a very good memory.

“Alright, I can try- I can take a crack at it,” he said, trying to steal his confidence. This is what he wanted, to actually be useful to them on a mission, and this seemed like the perfect moment. He wasn’t putting himself in any sort of danger. He just needed to answer some questions.

“I’ll give you a second chance to spell ‘Aarakocra,’” a chipper, high pitched robotic voice said through the stone of farspeech. It didn’t seem to be a particularly difficult question to Angus. At the very least, it was one he could answer confidently for sure.

“Oh, that one’s easy. It’s A A R A K O C R A, tell him A A R A K O C R A,” he said into the stone. He heard Taako repeat the spelling to the weird robot they were dealing with, and then he heard it announce a correct in that still chipper as anything voice.

And then suddenly it sounded like something had gone wrong. The robot’s voice when from high pitched and cheerful to deeper and authoritative. It said something about cheating, but it was becoming harder and harder for Angus to make out anything as static started to overtake the signal.

“Can you all hear me? Dad? Magnus? Merle? You’re breaking up pretty bad. Please come in, dad? I can’t hear anything, what’s going on? Are you all okay? Please confirm. Anyone?” he tried, but it became clear pretty damn quickly that they couldn’t hear him anymore. That weird robot had done something to cut off their communication.

Angus might have panicked a little bit.

“What’s wrong? Angus, is everything all right? Tell me what happened,” the Director said, now sitting in front of him. Angus hadn’t even fully realized just how worked up he’d gotten as he kept trying and failing to get through to the reclaimers. As she broke him out of it though he started having to try and wipe away some tears, but he wasn’t doing a very good job so far.

“I- I don’t know. They said they needed help with some weird murder robot and I was trying to help them with the questions it was asking but it must’ve noticed me and it said they were cheating.  Then the signal cut out and I don’t know how to get it back or if they’re okay or not. I didn’t mean to get them in trouble I was just trying to help,” he said, the words all rushing out and tears starting to fill his eyes again.

“Angus, I’m sure they’re fine. They’re made of sterner stuff than that,” the Director tried to assure him, and she was probably right. From the sound of it they weren’t even at the relic yet, this was just a weird dumb thing Lucas had made. If they were going to die on a mission it wouldn’t be to something like that.

As much as he tried to logic it away and insist that they’re fine though it didn’t seem to work. His brain kept coming up with more and more reasons about how they could be dead or how he had no way to know for sure if they were still alive, and if they weren’t then it might be all his fault.

“But what if they need our help and can’t get in contact with us now or I set the robot off on them and now they’re really hurt,” he said, still struggling to keep himself under control. It was stupid and he knew this was stupid but he had already been starting to get tired when they found out about the relic. It had been a long emotional day and most of it was good emotions but now it was very much not and there was no way he could sleep even if he wanted to.

The director stayed trying to comfort him while also trying to contact the reclaimers herself. She insisted that they were fine, but it still wasn’t good to have them out of contact if they could help it. It felt like an eternity as they sat and tried to get through to them, but it probably wasn’t any longer than ten minutes or so before their stone came back into contact. Angus had still been a little sniffly but he started crying again in relief. Sometimes he hated how much he cried, it wasn’t as often as when he was younger but it was still a lot more than he wanted it to be. There wasn’t much he could do about that now though as he started rambling off apologizes.

“I’m sorry I was just trying to help. I didn’t know it would realize we were cheating and I wanted to help out and I’m sorry,” he said, trying and failing to hold back tears.

“Hey little man, we’re fine. Everything’s fine,” Taako said, and he sounded kind of surprised. Angus guessed he couldn’t blame him for that, he probably didn’t think he’s break down like this over something that seemed to be so small now. He’d managed to handle much more dangerous scenarios without crying after all.

But today had been a very emotional day.

“Yeah, the mean robot’s dead. We killed him good,” Merle added, and Angus took a deep breath at that. They were all okay and he was overreacting and he felt a little sheepish about that now but he was trying to not show it as best as he could.

“Oh okay good. I love you,” he said, because he was pretty sure they would have to keep moving on soon. He needed to keep doing more research to find out what that thing attacking them was.

“Love you too pumpkin,” Taako answered, and then they had to start talking to Lucas again and the call ended. Taking another deep breath Angus wiped the last of the tears away from his eyes.

“I’m sorry I overreacted,” he said after a moment, definitely feeling pretty dumb about how he acted. He knew he was a kid and was at least intellectually aware that the adults around here probably expected him to act like that sometimes, but it still felt bad whenever he did.

“It’s alright Angus, I know it’s been a very eventful day for you,” the Director said, and he simply nodded. She was definitely right about that.

The next part seemed to be going alright. They didn’t hear a lot of updates from the reclaimers for a while, and no news was probably good news. Or at least, that was the case until they did finally get another update from the reclaimers. Or, not the reclaimers. Angus could still hear them in the background, both Taako and Magnus sounding angry as they yelled at Lucas. He could also hear Merle, groaning in delirium and pain.

Killian was the one actually on the line, telling them what she knew about how Merle had ended up losing an arm. It didn’t seem to amount to much, her and Carey had been behind a frozen door, and Taako and Magnus had their backs turned. All they could get out of Merle was that God lied to him, and then when he grabbed a crystal he heard some guy talking and then it exploded. So Merle was down, but Lucas had an idea on how to help him, and even worse they’d already lost a regulator too. Boyland had ended up crystallized a few rooms back, and Killian wasn’t happy about it.

From the sound of it, this whole mission had gone to shit and they hadn’t even gotten to the relic yet.

The worse part was that there wasn’t even anything Angus could do from here to help. All they could do was listen as Lucas seemed to get a handle on Merle’s arm situation, and rerouted the last of the energy in the lab to give them a bit more time. He wasn’t sure if the reclaimers had intentionally left their stone on or not, but chances were they forgot to turn them off with all of the panic from Merle’s arm. He didn’t say anything though, both him and the Director taking the chance to listen in and get a better idea of what was going on. It probably counted as an invasion of privacy, but Angus liked to think of it more as reconnaissance.

When Lucas started to explain what he was doing with the glass circles and the planar system, Angus couldn’t help but be fascinated. He wished he was there to actually get a look at them and see what they were talking about, but he doubted that would happen. He’d have to ask Taako to explain it in as much detail as possible when he got back.

The Director had a weird look on her face as Lucas talked about the planes. That was all Angus could identify from it though, it was just weird. He couldn’t even tell if it was in a good or a bad way. It was a very deliberate blankness that he wasn’t sure what to think of yet. He liked the Bureau, he loved the people here.

At the end of the day though, he knew that he and Taako could only really trust each other. He tried not to think about that too much though, even if it was always in the back of his mind.

His attention was taken off the Director in a flash when a voice he immediately recognized came in over the stone of farspeech. He’d only heard it once before, but that time had caused a pretty lasting impression. Angus felt his blood run cold as the whispered, scratchy voice came in over the static of the stone.

“What’s bigger than this?”

It was the Red Robe. Immediately Angus opened his mouth, either to call out to the reclaimers or tell the Director or what, he wasn’t sure. Before he could get a word out though the Director’s hand was over his mouth. Not in any sort of hard or painful way, just preventing him from speaking as she stared at the stone with an intensity and panic Angus hasn’t expected. As soon as she realized he got the picture she took her hand away, and they listened.

The Red Robe was trying to explain something, although Angus wasn’t sure what. It had to do with the planes he was sure, but he got a feeling he was missing something without the visual element. It didn’t sound evil, it sounded like it was desperate. It sounded like a warning.

And then the Red Robe addressed Taako directly.

“Taako- Taako, where did you find that umbrella?” the Red Robe asked, and for a moment it didn’t sound as spooky as it normally did. It was still creepy, but it was obviously caught off guard. Confused and surprised and something else that was hard to place.

“I got it off some dead dude- some death thug in a red robe,” Taako replied easily, and the three were still more comfortable interacting with this guy than Angus could understand. The other two started chiming in as well, and Angus hadn’t realized that. Taako had mentioned it was loot he found in Wave Echo Cave, but he didn’t know about the Red Robe.

When he looked up at the Director, to see what she was thinking of all of this, she was shaking.

“That- what? I don’t- you found… you found her!?” it shouted, and then there was some sort of burst of power, and then everyone who’d suddenly gone quiet from before started talking again. From the sound of it, like none of this had ever happened. Before Angus could get an idea of what was going on the Director suddenly shut off the stone of farspeech. She was still shaking, her hands trembling like his did on a bad day and a look of horror on her face.

“Madame Director?” Angus asked softly after a moment. That seemed to knock her out of whatever she was thinking, at least slightly. She managed to school her face into something more neutral, her hand tightening around her staff to stop its shaking somewhat. “Is everything okay?” he added, and she slowly nodded her head.

“Yes,” she said, her voice not leaving a lot of room for argument. Somehow though that didn’t inspire a lot of confidence in Angus.

“That was the Red Robe, the one we met in Goldcliff,” he said, and she nodded once again.

“I know,” she said, taking a deep breath and regaining some of her composure. He wasn't sure how she could have known that for sure, but there probably weren't a lot of Red Robes left it could be. “There will be a lot we’ll need to talk about when they get back,” she added, and Angus didn’t like the sound of that very much.

She wasn’t wrong though, there was definitely a whole lot they would need to talk about.

—

The whole crystal lab thing turned out to be a giant fucking mess, but they somehow managed to get through it without dying. Sure, they didn’t exactly get out of it with all their limbs intact, but considering the fact that they were literally talking to death for a bit there, it was still a pretty decent win in Taako’s books. It helped that Death didn’t seem to be too much of an asshole once he finally stopped attacking them and actually started to listen to what they had to say.

Fuck a lot had happened in that damn lab though, and Taako hadn’t exactly gotten a good night’s sleep before this. He was fucking exhausted by the time they finished at almost 3am, riding in that disturbing Upsy elevator back up to the moon. They had the Philosopher’s stone which was the most important part, even if there was gonna be a bit of an issue retrieving it. They could figure that out later.

As soon as they set foot back on the moon base Taako was almost knocked on his ass as Angus practically tackled him. He was clinging to him tightly in a hug, and Taako was a little surprised the kid was even still awake. They’d both been up since early as fuck, and god this day had been long.

“One of these missions I’m gonna come back and it’s not gonna be the relic that kills me. You’re gonna go in for a hug and instantly snap my back in half,” he said, too tired to sound all that annoyed as he patted Angus’s head. Angus didn’t seem to care all that much, still holding him close and only moving back enough to lift his head up and look at him.

“It sounded like things got really bad down there,” he said, and Taako sighed. He wasn’t wrong, shit had definitely gone pretty sideways a few times.

“Yeah, but we lived. It’s fine,” he insisted. Angus seemed to reluctantly accept that, finally getting go so that they could head to the Director’s office. One in there, they had a pretty long conversation on how to get the Philosopher’s stone out of Magnus’s digestive track, as well as what to do with Noelle since she could think past the static and all that. He could see Angus trying to pay attention to that, especially the part about the undead being able to think past the static and the Red Robes. Taako could also see his head dipping down every so often before shooting back up again, a clear fight against falling asleep that he was only barely winning.

They got the stone out of Magnus though, and then they all watched as it was destroyed. Taako figured that would be it, good work everyone take a good long sleep, happy Candlenights.

Instead, the Director was requesting to see them in her office. Taako followed along with the others, and when they sat down he pulled Angus into his lap. Kid looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet, and he was definitely getting a little too big to sit in a lap comfortably but Taako figured with fucking everything that happened today it wouldn’t hurt.

“What have I done to lose your trust?” the Director asked, and all of them sat there in confusion for a moment. Normally Taako could pinpoint what he did to fuck up and make someone think he didn’t trust them, which was usually the truth. He couldn’t this time though. Not until the Director brought up having heard them over the stone talking to the Red Robe. Somehow, that had completely slipped his mind, and he felt his hand grip the umbrastaff a bit tighter at the reminder. He wasn’t sure what that dude was on, but he definitely didn’t like the reaction he had to it.

When the Director started to give them a slide show of all the places that had been destroyed by the grand relics they’d collected so far, Taako felt his stomach turn sour. It was a similar feeling to the one he’d got when the Red Robe showed all the planes being devoured. This was some bad shit they were dealing with, and if he’d ever really had a choice Taako would have liked to stay far away from it all. He couldn’t exactly do that now though.

“What I’m saying is, we forgot okay? Next time just write us a note!” Taako said, Magnus and Merle quickly agreeing with him. It seemed to get the Director off their backs, which was good. Taako honestly couldn’t explain it any other way, they just forgot. The Red Robe had appeared and started talking, and the last thing he’d been thinking of was what the Director had said about them.

With that though she seemed fine to let them head back to their room and finally get some rest. Taako had to jostle Angus some in his lap, the kid jolting somewhat before getting up. It was hard to tell if he’d actually fallen asleep at that point or if he was just too sleepy to notice they were good to leave.

As they walked back to their dorm he they were a bit behind Merle and Magnus. It was obvious how exhausted Angus was from the way he was falling behind, and Taako was halfway tempted to ask Magnus to carry him the rest of the way there. Before he could though Angus spoke up.

“Was that true?” he asked after a moment, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that.

“Was what true?” he asked back, no idea what specific thing Angus needed clarification on.

“That you forgot about not talking to the Red Robe,” he explained, and yeah okay, that made sense. He could see Angus wanting to be sure on that.

“Yeah. There was a lot of shit going on at the time. Can’t blame a dude for letting a few things slip,” he said, and Angus seemed to accept that readily enough. Considering the Red Robe had showed up like ten minutes after Merle lost his arm and got a new magic wood arm, there had definitely been a lot to keep track of at that point.

“It said something about your staff. Do you think it’s gonna be okay? It won’t come after you trying to get it, will it? You didn’t tell me you picked it up off of a Red Robe, that seems dangerous dad,” Angus started going off, having to pause every so often to fight down another yawn. Taako sighed, patting the kid’s head to get his attention.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said, and Angus seemed to get the picture, nodding. They were both too tired to deal with this now.

Getting back to the dorm Taako pushed the kid immediately towards their bedroom. Thankfully Angus was sleepy enough to not even try and argue, heading there with another quick hug, this one not anywhere near as bone crushing. Taako would have liked to go straight to bed as well, but the rest of their dorm was a fucking mess from everyone leaving the party in such a hurry. They at least needed to throw out some of the food that had been left out before they could go collapse for real.

While they were throwing at that shit out that weird fuse Lucas had given them from Maureen started going off. They all just stood there for a moment, listening as it gave some sort of weird prophecy.

‘I saw all of existence all at once. I saw a dark storm, a living hunger eating it from within. But I saw a bright light heralded by seven birds flying tirelessly from the storm. I saw seven birds.

The twins. The Lover. The Protector. The Lonely Journal Keeper. The Peacemaker. And The Wordless One.’

It repeated that a couple times, and none of it make a lick of sense to Taako. Maybe it wasn’t even supposed to make sense to them, they had no idea what it was Maureen had seen after all. Whatever it was it was probably way fucking beyond them.

Finishing cleaning up, Taako headed back to his room finally, ready to pass out immediately. When he got in there, he could see the adoption papers still laying on the desk where Angus had left them carefully this morning.

Fuck, that had only been this morning. No wonder he was so goddamn exhausted.

Checking up on the top bunk, Angus looked to already be dead asleep. Made sense, Taako did not expect him to last long once he actually got a chance to lay down. Kid had been through a lot today. He was sure that as soon as he was awake again he’d be full of questions, and Taako wasn’t certain how he’d answer most of them. He knew his kid, and he knew Angus could do some pretty dangerous shit to get the answers he wanted.

Hopefully he’d be able to keep him away from anything too deadly.

That was all future Taako’s problem though. For now, they could just rest.

Notes:

through crystal kingdom! We're heading pretty steadily through the podcast now, I'm very excited to get to some things coming up. This fic is always a lot of fun to work on and I'm can't believe how far along we are now. I have to say thanks for all the support on this monster of a fic so far.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 38: Distractions and Arguments

Taako felt like absolutely no one could blame them for sleeping in late the next day. Considering the bullshit time they’d actually managed to get to sleep, no one could give him shit about waking up well past one in the afternoon.

He probably would have stayed in bed even longer than that, if he wasn’t starting to get pretty hungry by that point. Reluctantly he pushed himself up, stretching and hearing all sorts of bones and joints crack back into place. Looking up on the top bunk, it was hard to tell if Angus was awake or not.

“You still alive there pumpkin?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Angus answered pretty immediately, turning and sitting up fast enough that Taako figured he must’ve already been awake. “How are you feeling dad?” he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Sore as shit and starving. Wanna go raid the kitchen for Candlenights leftovers?” he asked, because he was not feeling heading all the way down to the cafeteria, and it wasn’t worth it when they had food here. Angus nodded, climbing down from the bunk bed to follow Taako out to the rest of the dorm. It looked like at least one of the other boys had already been up and rummaged through some of the food, but they weren’t out at the moment and there was still plenty left.

It was quiet as they ate, and that wasn’t too unusual. Shit was usually pretty quiet after a mission, everyone nursing bruises and wanting to sleep forever and junk. Merle’s healing could only do so much, and it didn’t do a lot of that even.

“Hey dad?” Angus asked after a bit. Taako was starting to feel like he’d almost shoved enough carbs into his face to be a person again.

“Hmm?” he hummed back, having to take a moment to actually chew everything. Angus didn’t seem to mind though, and now that Taako was getting more awake he could start to notice things again. Like the fact that Angus was clearly thinking about some shit. Also unsurprising, considering the clusterfuck that had been the night before. It was obvious that he’d been trying to work through all the little mysteries right up until he was just about passed out. Taako should have figured he’d be right back on it as soon as he was awake again.

“Do you think that red robe is going to try and come after you?” Angus asked, having apparently finished his food and was now just pushing the remains around on his plate. Taako frowned at that, raising an eyebrow at the question.

“Why would he do that?” he asked, realizing as soon as it was out of his mouth what a dumb question that was. It was a red robe, they were evil and shit and the reclaimers kept gathering up their relics. Taako was a reclaimer, it didn’t need any more reason than that to come after him.

“Because of the umbrastaff,” was what Angus said though, his eyes dipping down to the umbrella Taako had at his waist. He guessed he didn’t need to take it with him to have breakfast, but he’d done it without thinking. He took the staff most places without thinking. Guessed it was some sort of habit he picked up from spending so much time on the road as a kid, always have to keep your guard up when traveling and that sort of shit. Taako shrugged, standing up and taking his plate over to the sink. Someone was gonna have to do dishes soon. He’d make Magnus do it.

“I mean, if he wanted to steal the thing he could have tried last night,” he said, and he guessed he didn’t sound as concerned as Angus would have liked. His kid was frowning, following after him with a worried look on his face.

“I guess so, but it sounded like- I don’t know, he sounded pretty surprised by it. If he gets himself back under control there’s no telling what he might do,” he said, and Taako shrugged.

“Maybe, but there’s not really anything we can do about that,” he said. Sure, they were a part of the bureau and all that, but Taako felt like dealing with these red robes was a bit over his head. They could barely manage the scary world ending artifacts without nearly dying a hundred times a night and losing limbs and all that jazz. He was so not feeling taking on the people who went and made the damn things.

“There might be,” Angus argued, and Taako didn’t like the sound of that. It was the sound of Angus having already set his mind on something.

“And what’s that?” Taako asked despite that. At least if he knew what Angus wanted to do he could figure out a way to stop him. Probably. He’d never done a very good job of stopping the kid before, but still, he could at least try.

“We could try to learn about them. There’s so much we don’t know about the Red Robes, or even the relics really. If- if we knew more, we might be able to prepare,” Angus said, and the thing was Taako didn’t think he was entirely wrong there. It probably would help if they had any fucking clue what it was they were dealing with, what the fuck the Red Robe’s motivations even were. If they wanted the relics for themselves, they could have attacked them for the things several times at this point, but it never did. Taako had no fucking clue what the thing wanted.

It was probably safer not knowing.

“Yeah, I don’t know if the director is gonna be too chill with that,” he said, because if nothing else this was something he could pass onto her. He sure as fuck didn’t have the final say on what the bureau did about the red robes, and the Director had been real clear about staying the fuck away from all of that. Angus didn’t look all that deterred though, which wasn’t surprising. The kid never backed down on the first attempt, stubborn brat.

“We could at least ask her. I mean, I’m sure she’d want to be prepared too, this could help us gather the relics too,” he said. Taako shrugged, and he had a feeling he wasn’t gonna be able to convince Angus to let this go right now. So, he went with a different strategy.

“Maybe, we’ll see. Later though, fuck thinking about work right now. Why don’t we do something else for once, literally anything else but more work,” he said, and Angus only looked disappointed for a moment. Then he smiled and nodded, seeming alright with that plan.

“Yeah okay, I guess we could all use a bit of a break,” he said, and Taako nodded, heading over to the couch they had set up in the main part of the dorm. When he completely sprawled across it Angus rolled his eyes, climbing up over him to sit down as well. It took a moment to adjust so that the kid could sit on his legs without snapping them, but after a moment they got comfortable enough. “What do you want to do?” Angus asked once they were both comfortable.

“I’d say nap, but since we just woke up that’s unfortunately off the table,” he said, and Angus hummed thoughtfully at that. “Unless…” he added after a moment, because like, he could go back to sleep. That was something he was perfectly capable of doing. Angus snorted and rolled his eyes at that.

“No, we literally just woke up, I’m not tired yet,” the kid argued, which was fair enough. Taako didn’t say that though, instead he huffed and crossed his arms.

“Well then, what do you suggest?” he asked. Angus seemed to think the question over for a moment, and when he spoke up it was hesitant, like he wasn’t sure if Taako would like the idea. He’d been hoping the uh, Candlenights gift would knock a lot of those self-conscious tendencies out of Angus, but maybe it would just take some time.

“I mean, we haven’t really gotten a chance to practice any magic together for a while. It’s alright if you’re too tired though,” he said, and Taako actually perked up some at the suggestion. It wasn’t wrong, they had both been kind of busy and shit lately. Their magic lessons had turned less into Taako teaching him and more into the two of them studying on their own in the same room. Which yeah, Angus was smart as fuck and could figure out a lot of stuff on his own. He was Taako’s kid of course he was a natural at magic.

It wouldn’t hurt to take some time to actually train him up in some new shit though. See if he could get him working on third level spells, that jump was a difficult one to manage on your own.

And it might be a good distraction. If he could get Angus focused on that, on learning new spells and being all swept up in magic again, maybe he would forget about wanting to chase after answers on the Red Robes.

“Actually yeah pumpkin, that sounds perfect. I got some spellslots I ain’t planning on using for anything important for a while,” he said, and Angus immediately looked excited by that.

“Really?” he asked, and Taako nodded, stretched and twirling the umbrastaff lazily above his head.

“Yeah, for sure. Go grab your wand, I haven’t taught you levitate yet, right?” he asked. Angus was already scrambling back up off the couch, pausing to shake his head at Taako’s question.

“Not yet,” he said. Taako didn’t bother trying to say anything else, Angus having already ran back to the room to get his new wand. As soon as he was back Taako started going through the motions of teaching him the spell. They ended up having to push the coffee table out of the way to give them more room, but it went well. After a couple tries Angus started getting it down, Taako offering him encouragement from where he was floating up by the ceiling. Once he managed to get the spell off they practiced with it for a while, testing the different heights Angus could put himself at, as well as moving around the room while floating.

After a while Magnus came out, and then it was a ‘game’ of trying to avoid the knucklehead as he tried to pull them down. Eventually Merle came out, slumping on the couch and complaining about his arm some more.

It seemed like it was working to keep Angus distracted though. The kid didn’t bring up the Red Robes again that day, and Taako figured it wouldn’t hurt to keep up on the magic lessons a bit more. There were other things to distract him with too, going to fantasy Costco and the Gashapon. They had to wait a few days before then, for Leon to come back from break. When they did go though, Taako got a hole thrower, and Angus got a wand that let him find secret passages and traps. Pretty handy, definitely not the type of thing Angus needed.

If Angus would ask about the Red Robes every so often, Taako was able to pretty quickly shut those conversations down or distract with something else. Sure, he was well aware that wasn’t going to work forever, especially not for his kid. Angus was a hell of a lot smarter and more determined than that.

He didn’t need to put it off forever though. He told himself he just needed to put it off long enough. Long enough for them to find the rest of the relics and it not to be an issue anymore, or long enough for Angus to get caught up in some other, probably less deadly mystery. Whichever one happened first, he didn’t care.

Until then, Taako was just going to try and keep his kid as distracted as possible.

—

Angus could tell that Taako was trying to avoid this.

‘This’ specifically was talking about the Red Robes. He understood why he didn’t want to, Angus knew that they were dangerous. That was the whole point though, they were dangerous and they needed to learn more about them so that they could prepare. Taako never was a fan of tackling things head on though, so Angus couldn’t say he was surprised.

He could have gone straight to the Director. Taako had even brought her up the first time he tried to talk to him about the Red Robe and the umbrastaff. So, if Angus went and got her permission to look into all of this, then he doubted that Taako would do much to stop him at that point. He wouldn’t be happy about it, but it was the Director’s choice what he looked into as a seeker.

But Angus didn’t think that would be a good idea. He knew he should bring it up with Taako, but he wasn’t sure how to. The way she’d acted when hearing the Red Robe speak though, it was clear that she’d been… terrified. Angus doubted his dad would be super on board with letting him into into something that scared the Director so much. He doubted she would give him permission to research them when that had been her reaction.

Angus wasn’t sure exactly when he should start to push it though. If he was being honest, a part of him didn’t mind Taako avoiding the subject too much. It was nice, how much they were getting to hang out. How they’d started up magic lessons again in earnest. It was never something that stopped really, but they’d both gotten busy. Angus might have drawn away from Taako a bit after the incident in Goldcliff.

It was really nice, not having to worry about that specific thing anymore. Whenever it didn’t feel real he could pull out the adoption papers and read them and remind himself that Taako actively chose him. It wasn’t something Angus asked for, it was all his idea.

And maybe that was why Angus was feeling generous enough to let Taako keep putting off this conversation about the Red Robe. They still had no other leads on the next relic yet, and it seemed like they were safe up on the moon. It would probably be fine to take a bit of a break for now.

Right now, that break took the form of Taako trying to teach him blink in the cafeteria.

“That’s close, but you gotta-” Taako disappeared again, and a few seconds later he reappeared a few feet to the left, behind the next table, “put a little more bamf into it.”

“I’m putting as much bamf into it as I can dad, I don’t think I have a lot of bamf,” he complained, trying the spell again to no avail. Taako disappeared again, and this time when he reappeared he was standing right next to Angus.

“If you don’t think you’re down for third level spells yet we can wait. We could practice some of your second level ones for now,” he suggested, and Angus immediately started frowning at that. He didn’t get why this was so hard for him, other than the fact that Taako said it would be hard, that the higher up in magic you went the more energy it took and the more time it took to learn, but still. It felt like he should have it by now.

He was a little distracted sure, but he didn’t want to admit that.

“No, no it’s okay. Can we keep practicing a little bit longer? I almost have it,”  he asked, and Taako nodded, not looking particularly bothered.

“For sure my dude. Okay, so just watch how I do it again. Remember, you’re pushing yourself out of this plane into another one, alright?” he explained and Angus nodded intently. He’d already watched Taako cast the spell several times by this point, but he watched just as carefully this time around, hoping to pick up something he might have missed the first few times around.

When Taako went to cast the spell though, he didn’t disappear from sight like he had every other time. Instead he cast and nothing happened, leaving him standing there for a moment in confusion.

“Dad?” Angus asked, and Taako was frowning now, looking down at the umbrastaff.

“That’s weird,” he grumbled, smacking the umbrella against his side a few times like that would solve anything. “Alright, one more try,” he said, and this time when he cast, something definitely happened.

It just wasn’t blink.

A beam of fire came shooting out instead. It was a little wild at first, but it very quickly seemed to steady, and Angus watched as the scorching ray burned letters into the wall of the cafeteria. It all stopped as quickly as it had started, and when the small bits of smoldering fire burned away it was easy to read what had been written there.

L U P.

“What was that? I didn’t cast that,” Taako said, and Angus had already dropped any pretense of returning to a magic lesson today, running up to the wall. It was exactly what it seemed to be, just a bunch of burned letters into metal.

“What does L U P mean?” Angus asked, turning back towards Taako. His dad wasn’t even looking at him, instead staring in confusion and… and what looked like fear at the letters. “Dad?”

“I don’t know,” Taako said after a moment, his voice sounding far away almost. After a moment he finally looked away from the word on the wall and down at his umbrella. “I didn’t do any of that,” he added. Angus was frowning in concentration now, his eyes also going straight down to the spell focus.

“You mean the umbrastaff did it on its own?” he asked, and when he reached out to try and grab it Taako drew it back out of his reach, holding it up above his head for good measure. Which was incredibly frustrating, since Angus couldn’t exactly examine the staff all that well like that.

“I don’t know! Don’t touch it, it might explode again!” he snapped, and Angus huffed a little at that.

“You shouldn’t be touching it either then!” he argued, trying to sound more annoyed and not let out how scary the idea of the umbrastaff blowing up again and hurting Taako was. It didn’t seem like he was worried about that though, just of Angus touching it.

“It won’t hurt me,” his dad assured, with more confidence than Angus expected. He stopped trying to grab it from him at least, and when he took a step back Taako slowly lowered it down again to look at it. Angus could tell what he was thinking, he was pretty sure it was the same thing that he was.

“It used to belong to a Red Robe dad,” he said, knowing he was pointing out the obvious. Surely, Taako couldn’t expect to try and avoid the topic now. Not after that.

“It’s not a relic, it doesn’t have a thrall like that pumpkin, and it doesn’t talk either,” Taako said. Angus raised an eyebrow at that, he didn’t know the relics talked. He guessed he’d never gotten close enough to one to hear it, he tried his best to stay away from them after all, to ignore them and pretend they weren’t there. Still, that wasn’t the most important thing right now.

“That doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous though! It was still made by a Red Robe, and that other one probably wants it back! It might- it might be a prototype for the relics or something!” he argued. He knew it was a good magical weapon, that it helped his dad out a lot and that he really liked it.

But if it was dangerous, if it might- if it had any chance of hurting his dad, he wanted nothing to do with it.

“Ango, listen, it’s fine. It’s- it does this sometimes. I don’t know why but it’s never been a problem before,” Taako said, and that certainly caught Angus’s attention.

“It’s acted on its own before?” he asked, and from the look on Taako’s face that was something he hadn’t meant to let out.

“I mean, never something this big. Sometimes its spells are a little stronger than they should be? It’s a magical umbrella that eats old dead dudes, it’s gonna be weird!” he insisted. Angus figured he had a point, but that didn’t change the fact that this was a huge mystery and neither of them really knew how dangerous it might be yet.

“Dad, if you’re gonna keep it we need to at least figure out what it is,”  Angus tried to insist. There were so many answers they didn’t know, so many questions they hadn't even thought to ask yet, and it was really starting to bother him.

“We already know what it is. Leon gave us the whole spiel as soon as we got here,” Taako said, and Angus shook his head.

“We need to figure out why it’s acting weird! What in the world Lup means, if-”

“Lup?” Taako cut him off, genuine confusion in his voice. Angus paused, and it took him a second to realize what it was he was asking.

“Yeah, L U P? The thing the umbrastaff spelled out,” he said, and Taako blinked at that, looking back up at the letters still smoldering.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess so. I wouldn’t have thought of reading it like that,” he said, and it was a strange thing for him to point out. Maybe he was trying to distract though, so Angus continued.

“Well, L U P or Lup or however it’s pronounced, we need to find out what it actually is. The Red Robes-” This time he wasn’t that surprised when Taako cut him off.

“Listen Angus, I really don’t think trying to look into this shit is a good idea,” he said, and of course he didn’t. Angus already knew he didn’t think it was a good idea, that didn’t mean they shouldn’t do it anyway.

“But we have no idea what they’re capable of,” he tried, and it seemed like he was only getting Taako madder.

“Exactly! That ain’t the kind of shit we should be messing with!” his dad snapped.

There were a lot of really good things about Taako adopting him, more than Angus could count. One he was very thankful of right now though was that Taako could get mad at him and Angus wasn’t shrinking back. He wasn’t afraid that if he made too much of a fuss that Taako would leave him. Which meant that he could argue back all he wanted.

“We’re already messing with it! I never see you without the umbrastaff anymore! That Red Robe called you by name! Don’t you think that’s dangerous too?” he argued. Taako huffed, turning and walking around Angus. He headed over to the wall, and Angus watched as he cast mending on it, the wall slowly forming back together. “Dad! Don’t ignore me!”

“That shit’s unavoidable alright? We can't do anything about it. We’re not about to go walking into even more danger chasing- chasing fucking nothing!” Taako yelled.

“It’s not nothing,” Angus insisted, because it wasn’t. Whatever this was, it was real and important and they needed answers. Taako didn’t say anything, moving to leave the cafeteria. Angus ran out after him, following him down the hall. He was so frustrated. “Dad! Dad will you listen to me?!” he yelled, and Taako spun around suddenly.

“What part of no don’t you get? I’m not losing you too!” he snapped, and that actually made Angus pause.

“Too?” he asked, and the way Taako blinked it was like he was coming back to himself. The anger immediately melting from him and replaced with confusion.

“Yeah, I mean… we’ve lost a lot, haven’t we?” Taako said, although it was more of a question than anything, like he was trying to make sense of what he said.

“You said you never had anyone before though,” Angus said, and he’d never… maybe it was bad of him, but he hadn’t thought much about Taako’s life before he’d come into it. He knew he had the cooking show, he knew Taako had grown up on the road. He didn’t know why though, he didn’t know if he’d done anything else. Taako acted young for an elf, but he didn’t know his own age or his birthday. That stuff wasn't normal.

“Not like that,” Taako said, shaking his head quickly. “Just like, everything else. Sizzle It Up, Hurley and Sloane, Barry…”

“Barry?” Angus asked, that one taking him by surprise. He knew Taako was upset about how his cooking show was taken from him, he’d seen how he tried to hide the way he felt about not being able to save Hurley and Sloane.

But the only time anyone ever mentioned Barry now a days was as a joke. Angus got it, joking about these kinds of things made it easier, but they barely knew Barry. Sure, Taako got along with him much more than Angus ever expected, but he didn’t think he was still upset about it.

“It was just an example,” Taako said, but that didn’t sound right. He sighed, taking his hat off for a moment to run his hand through his hair before focusing back on Angus again. “The point is, I might be a fuck up but I’m not gonna put you in danger like that. Pretty sure the Director would kill me if I did that after convincing her to give me legal goddamn custody over another living person,” he said. Angus felt his shoulders slump at that. It was a lot harder to argue with Taako when he wasn’t being mad and actually let himself show how much he cared.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt either,” he muttered. Taako sighed, slinging an arm around his shoulders and starting to move them both back in the direction of the dorms.

“I’m gonna be fine kiddo. After all, I haven’t died yet,” he said. It didn’t exactly inspire a lot of faith, but reluctantly Angus nodded. “Just… promise me you’ll give this shit a rest, for my sake?” Taako asked. Angus was quiet for a moment before sighing.

“I promise I won’t look into the Red Robes or the umbrastaff without you,” he said. It actually seemed to calm down Taako some. It didn’t do much for Angus’s own nerves, but even if he wasn’t afraid of Taako leaving him anymore, he still didn’t want to make him upset.

He’d just have to placate himself by looking into other things instead.

Notes:

I've been having a lot more time to write lately due to recent events, we'll see if that actually leads to me updating more often or not. We'll see, I might just get hyperfocused on a simple fic like I tend to do. Either way, I had fun writing this chapter, I'm real excited as we get closer and closer to the endgame with this fic.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 39: Some Personal Research

Angus felt a little bad about his current plan. He told himself it was the best option he had though, because he wasn’t going to go against a promise he made to Taako. If he said he wasn’t going to look into the Red Robes, then he wasn’t going to look into the Red Robes.

“Hey dad? Where did you grow up?” he asked, and he told himself that he was sure this wouldn’t lead to anything. Taako just said weird things sometimes, but that didn’t mean he was hiding some big secret. Sometimes people forgot, or remembered things wrong, and so they didn’t always match up.

Still, he promised not to look into the Red Robes, and he wasn’t going to. He was just going to look into a few things he realized he never knew about Taako. As much as he didn’t want to pry or go behind his back, he did feel a little bad that he’d never tried to learn more about him. Taako knew loads about Angus’s life before they met, but he knew barely anything about Taako’s.

“New Elfington,” Taako answered, not looking up from where he had his legs folded up in an attempt to paint his toenails. Angus snorted at the answer, rolling his eyes.

“I mean for real, New Elfington isn’t a real place,” he said, and he hadn’t been paying attention to the book in his lap for a while now. Mostly he’d just been staring at it as he tried to think of some way to broach this subject. In the end he figured asking straight out was his best bet. He'd never managed to be all that subtle, it was the one detective skill he could probably use some work on. Taako had his face scrunched up in concentration as he continued, finishing off the nails on his one foot before switching to the other.

“Nope, it’s totally real. Built on the ruins of Old Elfington. We tore it down because we couldn’t figure out why it was called that,” he continued to insist. It was obvious he was joking, and Angus guessed it was fair. He was pretty sure Taako didn’t like talking about his past, and he hadn’t asked much about it before now. There was no real reason to take the question super seriously.

“That doesn’t sound like the most efficient city planning,” he joked back. Angus didn’t want to let this topic go though, and it was a little weird that Taako wasn’t giving him a straight answer. “Really though, you said you were a little older than I was when you went out on your own at first, right? Where did you live before that?” he pressed, and this time Taako sighed.

“I don’t know my dude, everywhere? Was passed around relatives a lot, I wasn’t paying attention to where they were sending me. I don’t think I ever stayed in one place long enough for it to matter,” he said, and Angus felt a little bad for prying at that answer. He guessed Taako must’ve noticed the look on his face, because he continued after a moment. “I guess I stayed at my aunt’s house the most though, or I liked it there the best.”

“Where did she live?” he asked, and Taako had mentioned that aunt before. Not much, but the few times he had it had been when teaching Angus cooking. He’d mention that this or that recipe had been his aunts. He always seemed kind of happy when he talked about her, it was nice.

Right now though, he was just frowning, his eyes not focused on any one thing as he stared ahead with mild confusion.

“I don’t know,” he said, and it didn’t sound like the kind of ‘I don’t know’ someone gave when they didn’t want to answer. It was blunt and honest, a simple admission that he didn’t know.

“Huh?” Angus asked, because that wasn’t the answer he expected. Taako shrugged though, finishing off painting his other foot and turning to do his fingernails next.

“I don’t know. Can’t remember the name of the town,” he said with a shrug, like it didn’t particularly bother him. Maybe it didn’t, it never seemed like Taako was all that attached to anything that came before his cooking show. A little reluctantly, Angus let the topic drop.

Over the next week or so, he found himself asking little questions like that here and there. What was his aunt’s name? Where did he travel around to in the caravans? What was the best one he’d ever traveled with? What was the worst one? Did he ever see any cool places? Did he ever leave the country?

The answers varied, but after a bit Angus started to notice patterns.

Taako couldn’t remember places. Anytime he asked a where question he answer with an ‘I don’t know’ or a shrugging guess at a couple of the big cities. He could talk about specific things he remembered, little attractions and things that had happened, but he couldn’t ever remember where the event had specifically taken place.

Angus would have chalked it up with Taako being bad with names, but it was too across the board. He could remember people’s names well enough, his aunt was named Tia and there were a few particularly memorable people in the caravans he could mention. There were even a few caravans he remembered too, Oghma’s Blessings one in particular that had stuck with him.

He tried to look up the caravan Taako remembered, to see when it had last traveled, or if it was still even going today. He tried to look up his aunt’s name, to see if he could find the Elven family connected to it. From the sound of it, Taako had come from a pretty large family considering how much he was passed around as a kid. Surely there still had to be members out there, even if Taako probably never wanted to see any of them again.

Except every search Angus made came up empty. There was no caravan called Oghma’s Blessing. In fact, Angus wasn’t even sure who Oghma was. Taako had mentioned him off hand, said it was some knowledge god that he’d spent a summer or two living at their temple. Angus didn’t know a lot about the gods, so he’d just accepted it.

But now that he was looking, it didn’t seem like a god by that name actually existed.

And it didn’t seem like Taako’s family did either.

He’d managed to get a few more names, and he was pretty sure his dad was starting to get suspicious by all the prodding and questions by this point, but Angus was in too deep now. He didn’t expect to find anything when he started out yes, but not like this. He was actually finding nothing. None of the things Taako talked about seemed to actually exist.

It was like Taako didn’t exist. He earliest thing he could find was the start of Sizzle It Up With Taako.

He didn’t think Taako was lying to him. He didn’t- he wouldn’t. Angus didn’t know what was going on, but he trusted that Taako was at least telling him what he thought was the truth.

“Hey pumpkin,” Taako said, and Angus felt like he was justified in jumping and slamming his notebook closed. One minute he’d been alone in the room, scowling down at his notes as he tried to make sense of it all, and the next there was an elf hanging onto the back of his chair.

“Dad! Was blink really necessary?” he huffed, and Taako simply shrugged, not seeming particularly bothered by his annoyance. Angus guessed he wasn’t actually that annoyed, just frustrated. Confused.

“You seemed pretty focused, didn’t want to distract you,” Taako said, and Angus rolled his eyes at that. It was pretty obvious that wasn’t the actual reason. He barely managed to keep himself from slapping his dad’s hand away when he reached past him, grabbing his notebook. “What have you been working so hard on, anyway?” he asked.

“Nothing!” he said, definitely a little too quickly for Taako to believe him. He hadn’t opened the notebook, instead looking at the cover with suspicion before handing it back to him. Angus held it close to his chest for a moment, and it didn’t look like Taako was going to press him on this.

Angus didn’t like keeping secrets from him though. It felt even worse because this was about Taako.

“Dad, did you know there’s no record of any of your family anywhere?” he asked finally, and Taako frowned, raising an eyebrow at that.

“What?” he asked, obviously confused. Angus opened his notebook, not showing him it yet but flipping through it.

“I’m sorry but I started looking into your family. I realized I didn’t know much about your life before we met and I felt bad, and I promised I wasn’t going to look into the red robe or the umbrastaff without your permission. So I thought I’d look into your life growing up to keep myself occupied,” he explained. Thankfully Taako didn’t look mad or anything, still just mildly puzzled.

“Yeah alright, but I coulda told you there’s nothing worth finding,” he said, and Angus quickly shook his head.

“It’s not that there’s nothing worth finding. Your family doesn’t sound very nice, I didn’t expect anything like that. There’s just nothing, it’s like they never existed,” he said, and when Taako started staring at his notebook again this time Angus handed it over to him. Immediately his dad started flipping through the pages, his frown getting more and more pronounced as he read through his notes.

“What the… I didn’t make them up. They aren’t worth pretending about,” he said, and it was obvious this was bothering him.

“Dad, can’t you remember anywhere you lived? If you could remember a city or a town or anything, we could go there and check ourselves,” he tried, and Taako shook his head, reluctantly putting the notebook back down again.

“No, I just… I guess I just never paid attention,” he said, but that didn’t quite sound right anymore.

“Is it okay if I keep looking into this? I know it’s your business but it was really weird when things kept not adding up,” he said, and Angus couldn’t help but be relieved when Taako nodded.

“Yeah, it’s- maybe they just weren’t important enough to note? We were like, a particularly rich or powerful elf family or anything. Fucking far from it from what I can remember, at one point I was staying on a farm,” he said, and Angus knew that couldn’t be right. Even unimportant people have documents, some sign that they existed. If Taako had lived on a farm, someone would have had to buy that land and products would have probably been sold from it.

“Maybe, whatever it is I’ll figure it out,” Angus promised him. Taako gave him a smile at that, but it seemed a little forced, a little troubled.

“I’m sure you will pumpkin,” he said.

It was a week later, and Angus could still not figure this damn thing out.

Taako wasn’t lying. He knew Taako wasn’t lying. He hadn’t made him say anything under a zone of truth or something like that, but he didn’t need to. He knew his dad wasn’t lying to him, it was obvious with how much this bothered Taako too. He was trying not to show it, but it was clear that he didn’t like this anymore than Angus did.

But no matter what he did, Angus couldn’t find anything Taako talked about from his childhood. When Angus asked about things he knew had existed when Taako must’ve been a kid, most of the time Taako had no idea what he was talking about either.

He’d never celebrated Candlenights, he must have always missed the eclipse during the midsummer solstice, or a bunch of other holidays. He could vaguely remembered a few small traditions, but nothing that connected to any particular holiday. It wouldn’t have been that weird, especially since Taako didn’t stay in any one place long growing up, if it wasn’t combined with everything else.

And then, more out of frustration than anything, Angus looked into Barry Bluejeans.

Taako had mentioned him as someone he lost. It had struck Angus was a little odd, since they hadn’t known the man all that long. Hell, it had struck him as a little strange when they first met him, the way Taako had instantly clicked with him, even more than he had with Magnus and Merle. It wasn’t what Angus would expect, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy he would get along with really well.

Barry Bluejeans had been a weird guy, and Angus wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find.

But he was fairly sure it wasn’t a small notice about his body being found and identified off the edge of the Swordcliff coast. Or a little obituary written by an adventuring party he’d been traveling with, mourning his death out in the Duskdrawn desert. Or his name in a list of victims from a necromantic ritual right in Neverwinter, over six years ago.

Barry Bluejeans was a strange man.

And apparently, Barry Bluejeans had died no less than four or five times in the past ten years.

——

“Daaaaaaad!”

Taako could hear Angus calling him from across the dorm, the shout steadily getting louder as he ran up to him. He didn’t bother getting up to go see what was wrong for that reason, since it was pretty clear Angus was coming this way. Instead, he just looked up from the dinner he’d been cooking as his kid barely managed to keep from slamming right into him.

“Where’s the fire Angus?” he asked, stirring the chili before putting the lid back on. It still needed to reduce some before it’d be good to eat.

“We need to go back down to Phandalin right now,” Angus said, the words coming out all in a rush. Taako paused at that, and took a second to look the kid over. He was clutching one of the notebooks he’d been using for his more recent mystery, which honestly Taako was trying not to think about too much. He didn’t know what the fuck was going on with that, but in the long run he told himself it didn’t matter. He didn’t have any desire to see his family again, they may as well have never existed for how much they mattered to him.

But they had existed. He knew that. So it was a little weird that it seemed like they didn’t, but it wasn’t like it actually mattered.

“What’s the rush? I’m in the middle of dinner,” he said, and he could see Angus hesitate some as he thought that over, glancing back at the pot on the stove behind him.

“Okay, I guess we don’t have to leave right now, but we should go as soon as possible,” he said. Taako felt like he had a pretty good handle on the kind of things that got Angus this worked up, and right now he knew there was only one thing that he’d want to check out so urgently. He’d honestly been kind of shocked when this weird mystery had actually managed to get his mind off the red robe and all that nonsense, but he wasn’t going to jinx it.

“What are we looking for in Phandalin?” he asked, and he could see the hesitance there now. Angus chewed on his lip a bit, thinking whatever it was over before answering.

“Barry Bluejeans,” he said, and immediately Taako perked up at that. He didn’t know why, probably because it was so unexpected. He remembered the dude clearly, and he told himself he hadn’t given him much thought since he’d gone and died with the rest of Phandalin. Sure, he joked about the guy with Magnus and Merle occasionally, and he’d come up every now and again.

But the important thing was that he was dead. There was nothing left of him to find.

“Kiddo, I don’t know how well that’ll actually work out for us,” he said, because he knew Angus knew that. He knew his kid was smarter than that, so it didn’t make a lot of sense why he would even consider trying to find a dead guy. There wouldn’t even be a body left. Angus quickly shook his head though, not seeming very deterred.

“I know, I know but look,” Angus said, and he quickly flipped open his notebook, turning to a specific page before holding it up for Taako to see. He put the spoon he’d been using for the chili down before taking it, and he felt a frown form on his face as he read the articles here.

“What the fuck?” he asked, and Angus was grinning now.

“Can we go after dinner please?” he asked, bouncing on his heels.

Taako had never been very good at saying no to this kid.

It wasn’t too hard to think of an excuse for going down to Phandalin. Or at least, Avi didn’t seem all that interested in prying. They went down on trips to the planet often enough for magic lessons or shopping or what have you, so one more excursion wasn’t anything unusual.

When they got down to the ruins of the town it was just like Taako remembered it, not that it was a particularly hard thing to remember. A big circle of black glass, a few ruined, abandoned buildings scorched at the edges, barely standing. Now that they were down here Taako turned towards Angus, still climbing out of the transport canon.

“So uh, the fuck are we even looking for?” he asked, and Angus shrugged.

“I’m not sure, anything that looks suspicious? I guess other than the giant circle of glass where a town should be,” he said. Taako gave a very cursory look around, not expecting to actually see anything.

And then he nearly fell over when the umbrastaff yanked itself to the side.

“What was that?” Angus asked, quickly turning back around towards him. The umbrella had been hooked around his wrist, and Taako grabbed the handle a bit better so that it didn’t go flying off. When he did it raised itself up again, no longer pulling, just pointing.

“I think the umbrastaff wants us to go this way?” he said hesitantly.

“It’s doing that on its own?” Angus asked, and Taako nodded. When he looked at Angus the kid looked excited as fuck, which probably meant this wasn’t a thing they should be doing.

But well, they were already down here. Taako was kind of getting tired of mysteries, he’d like to have some fucking answers for once.

“Alright, I guess we’re doing this,” he said, starting to walk in the direction the umbrastaff was pointing. Angus was following along at his heels, practically bouncing with excitement.

“You can’t get mad at me. I didn’t know this would happen. You never said I couldn’t look into Barry Bluejeans,” he said as they walked, the staff leading them further away from Phandalin and out into the woods. Taako wanted to argue with that, but the kid had a point. He never outlawed Barry Bluejeans.

“This isn’t going to end well,” he grumbled instead. He didn’t know where the fuck they were going, but it seemed almost close to the cave where they had first found Barry and Klaarg and all that to begin with. It was starting to get dark, and Taako could see fine in the low light but after a bit Angus bunched a hand up in his cape to keep close. Every so often the umbrastaff would move just enough that Taako knew it was still trying to lead them somewhere.

“It’s taking us pretty far, huh?” Angus said, and Taako nodded. It was maybe another ten minutes of walking when they finally got to where the umbrastaff must have been leading them.

A cave. It wasn’t Wave Echo Cave or the cave that Klaarg had been in. It seemed smaller than those two, a little hidden away and pitch black inside from what Taako could see. The sun was barely poking over the horizon at this point, which wasn’t helping. Still, the darkness in the cave didn’t seem natural.

As soon as they were standing in front of it though whatever force had been leading them with the umbrastaff stopped, the umbrella falling back down in his hand.

Immediately Angus started walking towards the cave.

“Whoa whoa whoa there kemosabe, just a fucking minute,” Taako said, rushing forward and grabbing Angus’s shoulder. It got him to stop, looking back at him in confusion.

“What? This is where the staff was leading us, right? We need to see what’s in there,” he said, and yeah, that was about what Taako expected from Angus.

“Doesn’t this seem a little trappy to you? Just go wandering off into some ominous dark cave?” Taako asked, and Angus frowned.

“I mean, yeah of course it does, but we came all this way. We can’t just leave without seeing what’s really going on,” he tried to argue. The annoying thing was he had a point, Taako sure as fuck didn’t want to have wasted all this time to not actually find anything. He wasn’t exactly a fan of rushing into weird, scary caved either though. Maybe they should have brought Magnus, he would have already been inside by now.

“Alright, but stay the fuck behind me,” he said, casting a light spell on the tip of the umbrastaff. Angus nodded, letting Taako go first. He actually appreciated that Angus grabbed his cloak of the manta ray again, so that Taako was able to tell he was there without having to look back at him.

They didn’t end up going very far into the cave. Even with the light spell and his dark vision Taako couldn’t see shit, which meant this definitely wasn’t natural. Any minuscule amount of light from outside quickly disappeared, and they were probably only fifteen or twenty feet or so into the cave when a bright flash of red alighted the path in front of them.

“Who dares- Taako?” the Red Robe started to shout, all deep gravelly whisper echoing around them, crackles of red arcane energy spooling off of him and sending distorted shadows around the cave.

Except as soon as he recognized him all that stopped. The billowing robe immediately deflating, his voice breaking so that it almost sounded like a normal guy, and the red flashes of light settling into a soft glow. “Taako, what are you doing here?” he asked, and the dude sounded more incredulous than anything.

He genuinely didn’t seem like he wanted to hurt him, but that didn’t stop Taako from trying to shield Angus. Especially when the kid kept trying to peak around him.

“Wrong turn, we’ll just be going now,” he said, trying to back up without turning away from the Red Robe. Angus really wasn’t helping in that regard, and he could see the hood of the robe shift slightly, like the dude was cocking his head in confusion.

“We? What’s- oh! I didn’t see Angus there,” he said, and Taako could feel himself bristling as the dude took notice of his kid. He guessed this guy noticed, because he actually started… backing up? Holding his hands up quickly in a placating motion. “Hey! Hey it’s fine. I’m not gonna- you guys should go,” he said, and this was weird. This was really fucking weird.

“You’re not gonna try to kill us?” Angus asked, and Taako wanted to slap a hand over the kid’s mouth.

“Don’t fucking give him ideas,” he hissed, and when he glanced back at Angus he could see the kid roll his eyes.

“I think he could come up with that one without our help dad,” he said, which was fair. Kill them wasn’t a very elaborate plan, but probably one the Red Robe could manage without too much effort. Like, Taako wasn’t going to just lay down and die, but the Director seemed pretty damn certain that they wouldn’t be able to fight this guy, and considering he made the relics yeah, that was probably a fair assumption.

If he did try something though, Taako figured he could at least hold him off long enough for Angus to get away. In a worst case scenario.

“I’m not going to try to kill you,” the Red Robe said, and he sounded kind of… panicked. Like something was dawning on him and it wasn’t particularly good. “But you really, really need to go,” he insisted. Taako felt like they should probably listen to the dude.

But of course Angus wasn’t fucking budging.

“Why?” he asked, and Taako was this close to grabbing the kid and chucking him over his shoulder.

“Because- because I could kill you, if I wanted to,” the Red Robe said, and even Taako had to pause a little at that. It should have been threatening, but instead it just came off as sort of desperate. Somehow, Taako was less concerned about the Red Robe trying to kill them.

“But you’re just gonna let us go?” Taako asked, and the Red Robe nodded.

“I’d be fucking delighted to let you go,” he said, and when Taako met Angus’s eyes he looked just as skeptical as Taako felt. Not that this dude was going to let them go, no it seemed like he was pretty set on doing that.

“We were told you’re evil,” Angus said, and the Red Robe seemed to hesitate some at that.

“By who?” he asked, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that.

“Uh, fucking everyone? You’re a goddamn floating apparition of death. Not exactly giving off warm and comforting vibes,” he said, and the lich or whatever he was seemed to almost deflate at that. This was all weird. Really fucking weird.

“Okay, okay. I don’t know how you found this place or why you’re here but I need you guys to leave. Please, I can’t- I can’t explain it all to you yet, but I promise I will soon,” he said, and he was practically begging.

Something about his voice sounded familiar, in a way Taako couldn’t place but made his chest ache.

“Explain what? Sir what do you-” Angus started to ask, but Taako grabbed his shoulder, starting to take a step back as he nodded at the Red Robe.

“Ango, I think we should get going,” he said, and he wasn’t surprised when Angus looked disappointed at that.

“But dad! We came all this way and we-” he started, but Taako cut him off.

“And we found out a lot. Now we need to go,” he said, trying his best to actually sound stern. He was pretty sure he wasn’t that great at that whole aspect of the parent thing yet. Honestly, he’d probably never be stellar at it, and it didn’t bother him that much. Still, he could put his foot down on this one.

“Fine,” Angus grumbled, finally moving when Taako started to lead him by the shoulder back towards the front of the cave. After a moment though he twisted back around so that he was looking at the Red Robe again. “It was nice meeting you sir,” he said, and Taako honestly couldn’t blame the dude for laughing at that.

“Yeah, nice meeting you too gumdrop. I uh, take care. Both of you,” he said, and Taako nodded, giving a half-hearted wave with the hand he didn’t have holding onto his kid. He felt Angus jolt a little at the nickname, but he didn’t say anything.

“For sure,” he said, and it didn’t take long to leave the cave. Taako didn’t let them stop there, moving a good distance away before hitting the bracer to call down a transport cannon.

“Dad, that was-” Angus started, and Taako held up a hand to cut him off.

“Later,” he said, because he had no fucking idea what to think of this. He needed some time to think.

Thankfully, this time Angus seemed to understand. Instead of trying to push it he nodded.

“Okay, later,” he said. Taako knew the kid was going to hold him to that, but he couldn’t mind all that much.

It was quiet as they climbed into the transport cannon, but Taako’s mind wouldn’t shut up.

Notes:

there was no way something like this wasn't going to happen eventually, Angus is too smart when he starts looking into things. I will say after working on this fic for so damn long it's pretty wild to me how close we're getting to the end. Only 10 planned chapters left. Of course, chances are I'll end up having to split some chapters as tends to happen, but still, we're nearing the home stretch now.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 40: Discussions and Codes

Angus didn’t expect that to go so well. He wasn’t sure other people would really define that as ‘well’ but he couldn’t see how it wasn’t a success. Well, they hadn’t actually found Barry Bluejeans, or at least, he couldn’t be sure that they did. It had been incredibly dangerous, they could have died.

But they didn’t. They lived and found the Red Robe of all people and even though they didn’t get to ask a lot of questions they still found out so much and it seemed like that was the Red Robe’s cave, that was his base of operations. If they ever needed to find him again they sure as anything knew where to start.

And Angus was sure they found out other things too. There was so much to take in, and Angus wanted to talk about all of it before he forgot. He didn’t want a single detail to slip his mind.

But Taako insisted they wait. He guessed he could understand why, especially once they were heading back up to the moon. Angus didn’t know exactly how Taako felt, but he wasn’t sure they should let anyone else know what they just did. They weren’t supposed to be looking into the Red Robes, and then they found one. Talked to him and he didn’t even seem mean, definitely nowhere near as scary as he had been the last few times Angus had heard him.

Was it because they caught him off guard? Was that how he actually was, and everything else was some sort of ruse? Angus couldn’t possibly figure out why that would be the case, but it was another thing they needed to talk about and solve together.

So as soon as they were back in their room with the door shut behind them, Angus turned towards his dad.

“What was that?” he asked, practically jumping up and down in excitement.

Taako didn’t look excited though. He was holding his head, not really acknowledging Angus as he went and sat down on the bottom bunk. His brow was furrowed and he looked really out of it, and suddenly all the jittery energy Angus had before seep right out of him, replaced with worry.

“Dad? Dad are you okay?” he asked, and Taako jolted somewhat, like he was only just remembering that he was there. He looked up, blinking heavily before smiling. Angus was sure the smile was supposed to be reassuring, but it just came out strained and forced.

“Huh? Yeah why wouldn’t I be?” he asked, and then he shook his head again like he was trying to shake away some thought.

“You just… you look stressed,” he said, and as soon as those words left his mouth Angus felt a little stupid. Of course he looked stressed, they could have died. Taako had tried to get them to leave multiple times but he kept staying longer to ask the Red Robe more questions. He would have kept doing it if Taako hadn’t been so insistent, and even then Angus had already been making plans to go back. He couldn’t blame Taako at all for the humorless laugh that got out of him.

“Oh yeah? And why the fuck would I be stressed? Everything’s fucking dandy,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his words. It was clear that Taako was not happy about any of this, and considering they were only supposed to go down to find Barry Bluejeans it was understandable.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t know this would happen. I wasn’t trying to find the Red Robe, I swear,” he said, and Taako sighed. He didn’t look mad though, he looked worried and confused.

“I know you didn’t pumpkin, this is just… fuuuuck, that was weird, right?” Taako said, some of his energy seeming to come back. Angus nodded, quickly climbing up onto the bed with him.

“Really, really weird,” he agreed, glancing down at the umbrella still hooked around Taako’s wrists. “Your umbrella wanted us to find him,” he said, and Taako frowned, glaring down at the thing.

“Well, if it was supposed to be a trap it was a shit one, since he didn’t actually do shit,” he said, which was true. Angus could see the contemplation playing over his face as he continued to stare at the thing. “And fucking, I don’t know? It seems wrong. The umbrastaff doesn’t want to hurt me,” he added.

“How does it want anything though, it’s a spell focus,” Angus countered. Taako groaned, flopping into his back and letting the umbrella drop to the floor.

“I don’t fucking know. It’s weird, this whole thing is fucking weird,” he huffed. It was quiet for a moment, and Angus was sure Taako was trying to put this all together just as hard as he was right now. After a moment, he spoke up.

“Hey dad?”

“Sup?”

“I think the Red Robe is Barry Bluejeans,” he said, and he couldn’t be surprised when his dad sat up at that, giving him a very skeptical look. It sounded stupid, but Angus wouldn’t have suggested it unless he thought it was really true.

“Oh yeah? How the fuck do you figure that, cause I remember the dude, and super powerful lich he was not,” Taako said, and it was fair. That wasn't something Angus would have pegged him as either, but facts were facts.

“He was keeping something from us. I don’t know what it was, but I talked to him while you all were gone looking for the relic. He didn’t make a lot of sense, and after he died I figured he was just a weird guy, but then I found all those things saying he’d died over and over again. Now when we went to look for him we found the Red Robe almost immediately,” Angus tried to reason. It didn’t look like it was convincing Taako very much though.

“We found the Red Robe because the umbrastaff pointed us at him. It didn’t actually have anything to do with Barry, it was just right place at the right time I guess,” he said, but Angus shook his head. That didn’t feel right. He was sure that wasn’t it.

“He called me gumdrop though,” he tried, and Taako raised an eyebrow high at that.

“Yeah? And you’re a gumdrop, your point?” he asked, and Angus huffed a little at that.

“My point is that Barry called me that too. I only remember it because it was a little demeaning and it annoyed me, but still, there’s too many weird coincidences to just throw out the possibility,” he tried to insist. Taako still didn’t look very happy with the idea, but he slumped back down after a moment.

“Okay, say you’re right and the creep really is Barry, what do we do about that?” he asked, and the question got Angus to pause.

“I… don’t know,” he admitted. He didn’t know what to do about any of this, what to think or who to trust anymore. The Red Robe seemed like he wasn’t all evil, but that didn’t make sense. Taako had really liked Barry and had been upset when he died, and the Director’s reaction to hearing the Red Robe…

“Do you think we should trust the bureau?” Angus asked after a long moment. Taako turned his head towards him, a questioning look on his face.

“I have no reason not to. You think differently?” he asked, and Angus was a little surprised at how casual he said that. Taako wasn’t one for trust, at least not in all the time Angus had known him. He was right though, since they’d been with the bureau things had been nice. They were fighting to stop something that was clearly hurting the world, getting rid of objects that could very well destroy it if they weren’t taken care of. Angus liked the people here and he liked the Director. He wanted to trust them and he could tell that Taako did too.

“I just don’t know if we have the whole story. You’re right, I don’t think they’re doing anything bad, but I think we’re missing something. The Director knows more about the Red Robes than she wants to talk about,” he said, trying to lay all his feelings out as clearly as possible. Taako seemed to think it over, nodding after a moment.

“Okay, then we’re not doing anything crazy. No cutting our arms off and jumping ship, not yet at least,” he said, which Angus was certainly in agreement with. Taako chewed on his bottom lip, and Angus waited for him to continue with whatever thought was bouncing around in his head. “We should come up with some sort of code,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Angus asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Like, some shit so that we know if things ever break bad. If I’m ever on a mission and call you and say some code phrase or whatever, you know we gotta fucking bounce,” Taako explained. It was a smart idea, Angus was kind of surprised they never set something like that up before.

“What should it be?” he asked, already trying to think of some sort of phrase that would work. Something neither of them would ever say otherwise, but would be inconsequential enough that others wouldn’t be too suspicious if it came up in conversation. He could see that Taako was thinking just as hard.

“Something… something about elderberries,” his dad said after a moment, and Angus was kind of surprised by that. When he thought about it though, he could understand the reasoning really well.

Despite the fact that they both knew it hadn’t been Taako’s fault, it hadn’t been the berries at all, neither of them had eaten any since that night. Angus wasn’t even sure if it was something he was consciously staying away from, but the idea left a bad taste in his mouth. Even if he knew it wouldn’t hurt him, he also knew it would upset Taako.

“We need to go to the store soon, I’m craving elderberries,” Angus offered after a few more seconds of thought. Taako hummed in approval, seeming to like that well enough.

“Alight, so that’s the game plan then. We keep on sticking with the bureau for now, since they haven’t done shit for us to leave, but if you ever hear me say that get ready to bounce, okay?” Taako said, and Angus nodded. It was a decent enough plan, and one that would hold them off for now.

Angus didn’t realize how late it was until he was struggling to muffle a large yawn. Taako was giving him a pretty unimpressed look at that, flopping back down onto the bed again.

“Go get some sleep pumpkin, it’s been a long fucking day,” he said, and Angus wanted to argue with that. He wanted to keep hashing this all out, to try and figure out why the Red Robe hadn’t tried to hurt them.

But he really was tired, and there was this underlying discomfort in his dad at this whole topic. Angus couldn’t blame him for that, he didn’t like thinking about the idea of this place he’d started thinking of as a home not being safe. Or at least, not being what they thought it was.

“Okay, goodnight dad,” he said, figuring he could at least give him the night to adjust to all this new information. Maybe that would be good for him too, so that he had time to think about it and wasn’t jumping to conclusions.

“Night pumpkin,” Taako said, and his voice was a little distracted again. Angus didn’t press him on it though, instead crawling off of the bottom bunk and climbing up to his top one. Taako did a quick spell to turn off the lights in the room, and Angus really did try to get some sleep.

He didn’t get much that night though, his mind wrapped up in so many ideas and possibilities. He had no idea how to solve this mystery.

And honestly, he was a little scared of what the answer might be.

——

Taako was trying to get his thoughts in order. He wasn’t sure why he felt like they weren’t, because there really wasn’t anything else they needed to do. They weren’t going to leave the bureau, and him and Angus had made a code word in case shit ever went south and they needed to bolt. That was all they could do right now, it was all Taako wanted to do.

He guessed something about it all just didn’t sit right with him. It felt like something he shouldn’t leave alone, and for reason reason Angus telling him that Barry Bluejeans was a Red Robe felt right in a way that he couldn’t explain and also wrong in a lot of ways he very much could explain.

Still, he guessed the kid had some decent enough reasoning, and it wasn’t like it really mattered anyway. They shouldn’t care who the Red Robes are, because the Red Robes are supposed to be the enemy. The only thing they needed to do with them was stay away.

In the end Taako decided that the best thing to do was just to ignore all of this. There wasn’t anything he could do about it, and thinking about how weird his umbrastaff was and the prospect of Angus going after Red Robes gave him a fucking headache. So it was better to pretend it didn’t happen. Go about on the moon base like everything was normal and he wasn’t for some reason unsure if he should trust a single thing they’d ever told him. Sure, Angus didn’t want to push it all to the side like this, but Taako insisted it was also safer. They couldn’t talk about it too much. They weren’t supposed to go after the Red Robe, so it would be bad if anyone found out.

He guessed that it was pretty lucky that everyone started getting distracted with word of another relic not too long after that. Angus could only focus on the mystery with Barry Bluejeans and the Red Robe for so long when he had to be putting all his attention into figuring out a way to the next magical weapon of mass destruction. Taako hadn’t expected the whole seeker job to come so in handy with keeping Angus distracted, but it was certainly a perk.

“The Director sent Avi down to the area with the next grand relic today,” Angus said one evening. They’d been sitting around after dinner, and Taako figured the kid was doing more research on the relic. Or at least, he was trying to, staring down at a big book that had a bunch of little papers and notes sticking out of it. It didn’t look like he was that focused though, a distracted look on his face as he chewed on the end of his pencil.

“But Avi’s not a reclaimer?” Taako asked, and Angus shook his head.

“No, it’s- there’s a sort of barrier around the relic, we’re still looking for a way to get past it. Avi’s down there to try out a few things, but he couldn’t get to the relic even if he wanted to,” he explained. That made a lot more sense, although Taako imagined that meant the next mission was probably gonna start off with some bullshit to even get to it.

“Oh well, good to know I guess,” he said with a shrug. It was pretty obvious that Angus was still all concerned about something, so he didn’t press it. The kid was usually pretty good at saying whatever it was he needed to if given enough time.

“We think maybe a week? To figure out how to get you all in there. Either way the next mission is gonna be pretty soon,” Angus said after a moment, and yeah, Taako had a feeling this was where it was leading. It wasn’t hard to tell when the kid was anxious about something, and Taako felt like he’d gotten pretty good at figuring out the causes too.

“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll start working on conserving those spellslots,” he said, trying to keep the whole thing light. It didn’t seem to do much to actually put Angus's mind at ease any, the boy nodding a bit absently, his grip still a bit tighter than it needed to be on his book. It was hard to tell if he was holding tight because of nerves, or if it was to keep his hands from shaking.

Taako waited again, but this time Angus kept quiet. He barely seemed to even register the fact that Taako was watching him as he just stared at the book in front of him. After a moment Taako sighed, standing up and going to snatch the book out of his hands and out of reach. It caught him off guard enough that he wasn’t able to stop him, looking up in confusion instead.

“Alright, what’s got you so nervous?” Taako asked, and immediately Angus’s shoulders slumped. At least he didn’t seem inclined on arguing any, looking down with a sigh.

“The Director’s really nervous about this one. She hasn’t said much but I can tell she’s real worried,” he said. Taako put the book down on the side table before squeezing into the chair with Angus. That managed to get a laugh out of him as he tried and failed to push the elf away, but after a moment they managed to get situated.

“We’ve done this a bunch now, I can’t see how this one could be any more dangerous than the other missions we’ve been on,” he said, and Angus shrugged, leaning up against him.

“The relic has to do with time. I don’t really know what that means, but it seems to scare the director a lot,” he said.  Taako frowned at that, trying to figure out how something with time could be dangerous. There wasn't a lot of magic that dealt with time, it wasn't something your typical wizard could really mess with.

“What you mean like, it could turn Merle into a baby? Actually wait, scratch that, that is terrifying,” he said, and Angus snorted.

“I don’t think so, but maybe? I don’t think I’m really supposed to tell you about what the relic can do yet. I think the director likes being able to do the debriefings,” he said, and Taako was sure if they asked the director she’d have some official and professional sounding reason for that. He got the feeling that she just liked being a little dramatic though.

“Well, she’s just gonna have to deal with cha’ boy getting a little bit of a sneak preview,” he said, and Angus smiled at that. That smile didn’t last very long though, dipping back into a concerned frown as he stared off at nothing.

“There’s not many more after this,” he said, and Taako nodded, not commenting on the bit of a subject jump.

“Yeah, wrapping it all up here I guess,” he shrugged. It was something he was trying not to think about too much. This was the longest he’d ever spent at a place before, at least in a real fucking long time. Not since he was a real little kid did he have someplace this steady, but they’d come into this knowing it was going to be temporary. None of it should be an issue since they knew it wasn’t going to be anything permanent.

“I overheard the Director saying she wanted to get all of the relics collected by midsummer,” Angus said, and Taako raised an eyebrow at that. He did a quick calculation in his head, trying to figure out how far out that was. Really not far, they were getting well into spring now. A few months, if that.

“That’s fast,” he said, and Angus nodded. It was quiet for a moment, and Taako was starting to wonder if it was just gathering the relics that was bothering his kid. Obviously them going and beefing it on a mission scared him, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t other shit he couldn’t be worried about too.

“What are we gonna do… after this? If we actually get there,” Angus asked after a bit, and as much as he’d been trying not to think about it, Taako figured that question was gonna come eventually. Not that he had any sort of answer.

“We’ll figure it out when we get there,” he said, and he couldn’t blame Angus for frowning at that. It definitely wasn’t the most concrete answer.

“Okay dad,” he said, not seeming intent on pressing it anymore, at least not for now. Taako figured he’d have to start thinking about this stuff soon, but he could put it off for a bit longer. He had a date to watch out for at least. He should have some sort of plan set up for midsummer. If he hadn’t died to a relic by then, they should try and figure how what they were doing.

They could just go back to how they were before. Traveling around, taking odd jobs, that sort of stuff. It never bothered Taako before, and he’d never had another option anyway. He still probably wouldn’t have that many options, but a part of him almost wanted to start looking for some. Just some other thing he could maybe do to keep things somewhat stable.

Taako tried not to focus on that too much for now though. There wasn’t too much point in making a lot of plans when he still wasn’t sure if he’d be alive by midsummer for them to actually matter. It would be best to focus on gathering the relics first.

Angus was right about it being about a week later that they ended up being called in for the next mission. It was right after the rites of remembrance for Boyland, which seemed to be more of a downer for everyone else involved than it was for him, Magnus, and Merle. Angus had run off right beforehand, saying that the director needed him for something.

From his nerves, Taako had been pretty damn sure that today was gonna be the day.

Angus was right about it being a time thing, although the Director really didn’t explain much. Just talking about how the opportunity to fix your own mistakes was a real powerful temptation. Taako tried to ignore that, focusing more on getting some new clothes for the mission instead.

Apparently what the Director needed Angus for was to help them get shot down planetside with the canon. It’d been a long time since Taako had seen the kid this worried, and since the most recent healing his hands didn’t tremble anywhere near as much as they used to.

They were shaking a little now though, despite how much Taako could see Angus was trying to hide it.

The Director’s warning played in his head as he tried not to stare at his kid. The chance to fix your mistakes is a temptation that is nearly impossible to resist. Yeah, he could see how that could be the case. He could start to understand why Angus had said she’d been so nervous. He’d never been all that tempted to take one of the relics before, at least not based on what they could do alone without any sort of thrall. This… might be bad.

“Hey Ango, a second before you blast us off?” he asked, which seemed to surprise everyone else. Maybe it was a little weird, but it would be better if he could just check beforehand. Have some sort of thing to fall back on once they got the relic to ground himself. If this went how he was worried it would, it wouldn’t just be his life he was fucking with after all.

“Oh, yeah okay,” he said, following Taako off to a corner of the hanger away from Magnus and Merle. The two seemed confused, but Taako wasn’t gonna bother to explain it to them. Best if they didn’t know he was already having doubts. “What’s up dad?”

“Weird question, but are you good?” he asked, which only served to make Angus even more confused, and then worried.

“Yes, I promise I’ll be able to do the cannon fine. I’m just a little nervous but it’s okay I swear,” he quickly started to insist, but Taako shook his head. Right, damn it. Looked like he was gonna have to be more specific.

“No, I meant like, with everything,” he said, and Angus cocked his head to the side a little at that.

“With the bureau?” he asked in a whisper, and Taako shook his head.

“No, I mean literally everything. Is this all good for you?” he asked. There were a few more moments where Angus continued to look confused, and then he seemed to actually think the question over before nodding.

“Of course dad,” he said finally, like the question was a little ridiculous, and maybe it was. Still, he needed to ask it and that was as good of an answer as any.

“Alright then, awesome. Let’s get down there and get that cup then, alright?” he asked. The smile Angus gave him was a little forced, but it always was when they were leaving for a mission. Taako told himself that was just because he was worried about them not coming back. As they got into the pod and Angus sent them on their way, he decided he needed to keep those thoughts to the forefront of his mind.

Angus was expecting him back. He’d feel kinda shitty if he didn’t follow through on that.

Notes:

holy shit chapter 40. Hopefully we'll actually be able to finish before hitting the big 5-0, but we'll see. Might end up splitting one of the future chapters into two, but either way we're finally getting into the home stretch now. This fic is such a big boy, I'll be real proud when I finally manage to finish it.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 41: A Lot To Discuss

Taako had a pretty solid idea before, but he could say with utmost certainty now that he did not enjoy dying. That dying, in fact, fucking sucked. The first time had been the worst, but it wasn’t because it hurt more or anything like that. It hurt about the same every time, although the explosions in the mine were at least a lot faster than being crushed and burned as the town was torn apart.

The first time had been the worst because it was so unexpected. Because one minute they were pulling people out of a burning bank, and the next the ground started to swell up underneath their feet with shoots of flames leaking up between the cracks. There wasn’t any time to shout, nowhere to run and he wasn’t fast enough to get off any spells. All he could do was panic as he felt with absolute certainty in a way that bordered on experience that he was dying.

It was fast enough that he barely even had the time to panic about the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to get back to Angus if he died. Those thoughts came later, once they were in the white space and arguably alive again.

Which yeah, turned out the deaths weren’t permanent. That helped a little, but they were still the worst. They still had to find some way to make sure they didn’t end up dying after the loops stopped. They probably wouldn’t come back then.

Taako was pretty sure they weren’t doing all that great, but eventually they managed to get a journal out of a bank and the support of a god. Some gifts from said goddess as well, although Taako wouldn’t actually know what his was until a later date.

Of course it was a kid using the relic. Something about that turned Taako’s stomach, but he tried to ignore it. Tried not to think of the terror that had been in the back of his mind whenever Angus had been in the same room as one of the relics. The idea of him grabbing the gaia sash or the gauntlet or the philosopher’s stone. He tried to ignore all of that, instead focusing on sheriff Isaak, on popping the bubble and getting the chalice back.

It felt like a really bad idea, but when the chalice asked for a chance to plead their case on why they should use it, they agreed. It was the easiest way to make sure June would get out of this alright, and so Taako let the chalice plead a case to him. As it started surfing through his memories, he already had a feeling he knew where this was going to end up.

Even still, he didn’t say anything as it started to rewind through his memories slowly. Back through the more recent stuff, and then faster and faster back, stopping here and there to nod and take mental notes. During his verbal blunder in Goldcliff, hiding in a well while Phandalin burned around them, real slow through the night of Glamour Springs.

And then faster, through something that was… weird. Or well, he guessed it was less something and more nothing. Just a huge chunk of time, which started fizzling out around the start of the relic wars and lasted… a fucking while. Taako had no real way to know, but it was all static. He could see the form of June holding the cup now, frowning slightly as she looked around and seemed to head back faster and faster.

When it cleared up, Taako could tell he was younger. It might not show to most people since he was an elf and all, but he could tell. He didn’t know his exact age, he’d lost track of things like age and birthdays a long time ago, but he doubted he was even a hundred yet at this point. Maybe closer to sixty or seventy if he had to guess. It was when he’d been traveling around caravans, taking up odd jobs here and there. Then back further, to childhood, being passed around different family members, until eventually they reached the end of his memory.

They didn’t stay in this part of his life for very long though. It took Taako a bit to notice what was off about it, why the chalice using June’s body was frowning like that, but after a few memories he saw it.

It was all patchy. Unlike the rest of his memories, and unlike the chunk that was solid static, it was almost like these memories were piecemeal together. Parts of memories would be covered in that static, or a memory would be running fine until Taako turned, and then it would static out for a bit before quickly coming back like nothing had changed at all.

Taako was almost relieved when they moved forward again, away from the patchwork memories that made up the time before he got his show. He couldn’t be actually, truly relieved though, because he knew where they were going to end up stopping.

The chalice didn’t say anything as she let the memory play. Taako watched himself up on stage, and he’d never actually gotten a chance to watch his own show before. It would have been kind of incredible if it wasn’t this particular show. This specific night.

He tried not to look through the audience. He knew what he would find and it would just be worse if he saw, but he’d never been great at restraint. It didn’t seem like the chalice had any mind to keep his focus from drifting either, and it didn’t take long to find Angus. Kid was sitting front and center, it made sense that Taako had actually managed to recognize him after the show.

Fuck, he really had grown so much since then. Kid was fucking tiny, Taako had almost forgotten just how young he was when they first met. How young he’d been already out on the road by himself, of course someone already robbed his ass. No wonder he’d clung to the first person to make even the slightest half-assed attempt to take care of him. If Taako had someone try to help him out when he’d first started out on his own, he might have clung too.

Taako tried to tear his eyes away from Angus and watch the show, and he was only somewhat successful. It all seemed to go too fast before the show was wrapping up, and Taako started dishing up samples, and people came rushing up for samples. He saw Angus run up right near the front, small enough to be able to dart around most people without much issue.

And then the scene froze.

“Come with me,” the Chalice said finally, and Taako followed it back into the extra caravan car, the one where Sazed had spent most of his time. He wasn’t surprised to see him back there now, cowering and terrifying as he pulled at his hair. There was a bottle in his hand, and Taako couldn’t do much more than make a small humph sound as he read the label for arsenic.

“I’m sure this comes as some relief, to know that Angus was right. It was just plain old jealousy that killed the town of Glamour Springs,” she said, and then suddenly they were back in front of the crowd again. Taako felt his eyes immediately land back on Angus, standing excitedly in line. He was so fucking small.

“But they still died, and you fed them their death. Angus survived, yes, but he still suffered greatly. Take me Taako, and Glamour Springs lives. Take me and Angus never gets poisoned. Take me, and we can fix it together,” the Chalice finished. The scene faded away, and Taako swore, the damn thing made sure the last thing he could see was Angus.

——

Angus was anxious as he waited for news from the reclaimers. He was always anxious when they were off on a mission, but there was no way to contact them on this one. However that barrier of time worked it didn’t allow for the stones of farspeech to connect through it. So he spent most of the time waiting in the Director’s office, sometimes going and pacing off to the hanger. When he got bored there he headed back to the Director’s office or his own room or something like that.

They didn’t actually end up waiting long though. A little over an hour, and suddenly his stone was lighting back up and Angus almost stumbled over his own feet as he went to answer it as fast as possible. He was in his room, but he quickly started heading towards the Director’s office as he spoke. He needed to let her know that they could reach them again.

“Are you guys okay? Dad? Magnus? Merle?” he asked, surprised and a little shocked that they were back in contact already. The Director had been so worried about this one, and they had no idea what was inside. It almost didn’t make sense that it had been so quick. He heard the click of someone answering on the other end and then Taako’s voice.

“We all good pumpkin. Got the Chalice and everything,” Taako said, and he sounded fine. Cheerful even.

It didn’t feel entirely genuine.

“Really? That fast?” he asked, and despite the relief that flooded through him at getting to hear Taako’s voice, he still found himself tense. He probably would keep being tense until they all came back up to the base and the chalice was destroyed, but this was still better. Something must have gone right if they were able to bring that barrier down.

“Oh yeah, I mean, it wasn’t actually that quick for us. Probably been like, fuck, almost twelve hours? Half a day, I’m fucking exhausted, but ya know how time stuff is,” he said, and that certainly made more sense. Angus didn’t know how time stuff was, but he nodded along anyway. It wasn’t actually all that reassuring to know that it had been so long for their end, but at least it seemed like they came out good on the other side of it all.

“Are you coming home now?” he asked, and Angus expected a pretty straightforward yes. So he was surprised when Taako actually hesitated some, and then he could here him talking to what sounded like Magnus and Merle. He must’ve had the stone of farspeech covered up because he couldn’t make out much more than their voices.

“We’ll be back in a couple hours, tonight by the latest. We got a bit more stuff we wanna wrap up here first, but let the Director know we’re good. Cup’s secure, Avi’s here if she wants a second opinion or whatever,” he said, and even though Angus was frowning he didn’t argue. He intended to get the full story from Taako when he came back, and he promised that he would. He was safe and said it would only be a few more hours at the most.

“If you say so. I’ll be sure to let the Director know,” he said, and he’d been walking a bit slower than he usually would, distracted by the conversation. He might have also shot his nerves a little with how anxious he’d been all day, but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it used to be. Still, if Taako got home early enough he might ask for some tea to help with the dull pain.

“Cool, thanks my dude,” he said, and then there was a pause, and this whole thing felt more casual than it should. That seemed to drop some when Taako spoke next, his voice lowered somewhat, probably so the others couldn’t hear him as well. “And uh, you’re still… good, with all of this? There isn’t, ya know, anything you’d go back and change, if you could?” he asked, and that was what Angus had thought his question had been about before leaving. Even though he had insisted to Taako that he was happy with everything, he found himself even more worried.

“Of course I’m good. I wouldn’t change anything,” he insisted, and Taako seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at that. It was the truth too. Angus couldn’t think of what might have happened to him if he changed things in his past, but he doubted it would be better than he had it now. It wasn’t like he could stop his grandpa from dying, and if he hadn’t ended up with Taako he would have been alone.

He didn’t want to think about a life without Taako in it. A life where he never ended up at the bureau, or learning magic, or with a family, however small it was.

Or a life where he’d never ran away after his grandpa died. Where he did what he was told and went to the orphanage like he was supposed to. Maybe if he did it would have gone well, maybe he could have lived in a world where he was adopted by a really nice couple and got to live a normal childhood and go to school and have friends his own age.

The idea was tempting, but once the veneer of comfort wore away it just sounded boring. Maybe it would be nice for a while, but he couldn’t see himself staying content with that for long. He’d want to be out and in the middle of things again, solving mysteries and saving the world. As scary as it was, it felt good knowing he was making a difference.

“Good,” Taako said after a moment, and if he had the chance to use the cup to change anything about their past, Angus was glad that he hadn’t. He would have hated to lose this. “We’ll be back soon then pumpkin,” he added, and Angus nodded.

“Okay, see you soon,” he said, trying to let himself relax that little bit more.

“Uhuh, love ya kiddo,” Taako said, quickly hanging up his stone afterwards. Angus knew he still wasn’t all that great when it came to words and saying how he felt, so he tried not to insist on making him do it often.

It was really nice whenever he did say it though.

Putting the stone of farspeech back into his pocket, Angus headed to the Director’s office. Once he got there she was already on the stone with Avi, and it sounded like the bits of his story Angus managed to overhear matched the one Taako gave as well. The Director looked extremely relieved when she shut off the stone of farspeech, turning towards him.

“It seems that there wasn’t as much of a need to worry as I thought,” she said, sitting back down at her desk. Angus nodded, and even though they still weren’t back yet it felt a little more real hearing the Director say it.

“Taako called. He said they’re staying down there to finish up some things first? I’m not sure what though,” he said, and the Director nodded.

“Avi explained that there had been a small town trapped by the relic. It seems that those three wanted to check in on a few of the people living there before they left,” she said, and that made sense. Angus would really like to hear the full story of what had gone down, but he’d have to wait for them to get back. Angus intended on just waiting in the Director’s office the whole time, but a little while later she insisted he go get something to eat for dinner, since they didn’t know how long it would be until everyone returned. It was a fair enough point, and Angus was getting hungry.

Instead of going to the cafeteria, he went back to their dorm. They had some leftovers, Taako was cooking more often and those tasted better than anything the cafeteria had to offer.

He was halfway through heating up some of the casserole from last night, pouring himself a drink as he waited, when there was a sudden strange ripping sound behind him. Jolting in surprise, his nerves had already been on the fritz today. He accidentally dropped the carton of juice, knocking over the half filled cup in the process as well.

“Shit,” he muttered, quickly picking up the carton and wincing when the glass rolled off the counter and shattered before he could grab it as well. Huffing in frustration, he spun around to see what in the world had caused all of that.

And found himself staring at a very startled looking man, wearing a long black robe and holding a scythe in one hand.

Dropping the juice carton again, Angus started scrambling for his wand.

“No! No, no, it’s alright, it’s- shit, okay, here,” the man said, quickly trying to look as placating as possible. He made the scythe in his hands disappear, and he wasn’t trying to get any closer to Angus. He honestly seemed almost as surprised by Angus as Angus was by him, and that could be a trick, but at least he didn’t seem immediately hostile. He nodded, not lowering his wand but not firing off any spells at this dude.

“Who are you? What are you doing in my living room?” he asked, and the guy quickly looked around, like he was double checking that he was indeed where Angus said he was. He gave a very apologetic smile when he saw that he was indeed in a regular looking living room.

“I’m very sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m looking for someone but I suppose I got the wrong room? This is my first time coming to the uh, moon I suppose,” he said, and Angus lowered his wand at that. He still didn’t know what was going on, and this guy had yet to introduce himself, but he could work with this.

“Well, maybe I can help you find who you’re looking for. I’ve been here a while,” he said, casting prestidigitation to clean up all the spilled juice. With that he cast a quick mending on the broken glass as well, picking it up and putting it back on the counter once it solidified back into one piece again.

“I would appreciate that,” the man said. His tone of voice made it sound like he was mostly going along to appease Angus, but he didn't comment on that for now. It would be better if this guy thought he was some helpless little kid.

“Would you like something to eat sir? I was just getting myself some dinner,” he offered, finally managing to pour his drink correctly. His food had finished heating up at this point, and when he took it out the man shook his head. He had moved so that he was standing behind the counter now. Still a decent distance away, it seemed like he was trying his best not to startle Angus again, which he appreciated.

“No, that’s quite alright, but thank you,” he said, and Angus nodded.

“Do you mind if I eat while we talk?” he asked, and once again the man shook his head.

“Of course not,” he assured. Angus bought his plate over, sitting down at the counter and trying not to look too obvious as he gave the man a look over. He was very pretty, wearing a long black robe with a mantel of black, shimmering feathers around his shoulders. The robe was held in place by a silver clasp in the shape of a bird skull, and he had a fancy suit on underneath. Angus hadn’t gotten to see the scythe for very long, but it had also resembled some sort of bird skull.

“You never told me who you are, sir,” he said, and the man nodded. He looked a little sheepish, and as he watched him that was another thing. He didn’t seem to be confused or suffering any of the negative effects someone who wasn’t inoculated would have on the moon. He didn’t have a bracer either though, and Angus had never seen him around here before. He’d straight up said this was his first time on the moon.

“Right, my name is Kravitz. And you are?” he asked, clearly trying his best to be polite and make this conversation as normal as possible. Angus finished up the mouthful of casserole before speaking.

“I’m Angus, it’s nice to meet you,” he said, and there had been something off about this guy since he came here. It was only now as he was sitting across the counter and watching closely that Angus could see what it was.

He wasn’t breathing.

“You’re not alive, are you?” he asked, and that definitely surprised the man. Not the kind of surprise that was like the question came out of nowhere, but a clear startle at being discovered. After a moment he let out a little disbelieving chuckle as he nodded.

“You’re a very observant young man,” he said, and Angus grinned a little at that.

“My dad says I’m a nosy little shit, if that’s what you mean,” he said, getting a startled laugh out of the man. “You said you’re here looking for someone, right? I guess the voidfish isn’t a problem for you because you’re dead and all,” he added, and that got a small look of confusion.

“Voidfish?” he asked, and well, he could hear the word so that proved it.

“It’s something that blocks memories, but it doesn’t work on anyone who is inoculated or dead,” he explained. He didn’t want to give too much information away, but it was probably important for everyone to have some sort of base idea on what was going on here. Kravitz nodded, and he still seemed a bit confused, but he was going along with this all well enough so far.

“Maybe I should introduce myself again. My name is Kravitz, I work for the Raven Queen, the goddess of death,” he said, and it wasn’t like Angus wasn’t already putting some of those pieces together. It didn’t make it feel any better to hear that though. He tried not to show it, casually taking another bite of food as he tried to figure out what to say next.

“And you’re looking for someone here?” he asked, his voice deliberately blank. Kravitz nodded, not seeming to notice.

“Several people, actually,” he said, and Angus didn’t mean to grimace at that. This time Kravitz noticed, a flash of guilt crossing his face before he tried to give a reassuring smile.

“Oh, not like that. I’m a bounty hunter for the Raven Queen, yes, but I’m not here to take anyone,” he assured, and he could be lying. Angus knew that this could all be a trick, but he still found himself relaxing a bit more at that. He didn’t doubt that this man was telling the truth about working for the Raven Queen, and Angus didn’t know a lot about gods but he didn’t think she was an evil one. Death was just a thing that existed, it was sad a lot, but it wasn’t inherently evil or anything like that.

“Then why are you here?” he asked, and the man sighed at that. Holding a hand out, a very large glimmering book appeared floating over it. It immediately opened up to some page, and when Angus leaned up to look at it he could see hundreds of names there. Kravitz turned to a specific page, and there were numbers next to these names. The same number actually, 2,517.

“Like I said before, I work for the Raven Queen, and ideally, everyone only ever has to die once. We don’t want people dying more than that, it’s just not pleasant for anybody,” he said, and Angus nodded along. So far he was agreeing. Kravitz turned back towards the book, and Angus looked down at the list, it had to be over a hundred people all with that number next to them.

“I just got a report that a little over a hundred people, a whole small town’s worth, had died over two thousand times. That’s too many times and too many people without us noticing for it to be some sort of cult, and it happened too fast,” he continued. A whole town of people. Angus’s mind was already racing when Kravitz turned the page back one, and there were other names on this page as well, but three of them were currently glowing in a bright red. The numbers were different from the previous page, but they were still well over one.

“We got these reports in at the same time. I understand these people work at this organization, yes? We just would like to talk to them, figure out what the situation was, because I’ll be honest with you Angus. I don’t want to have to throw so many people into the eternal stockade at once, that won’t look good on the quarterly review,” he finished, and Angus nodded a bit absently. He was still staring at the names and the numbers.

Merle Highchurch, 68.

Magnus Burnsides, 30.

Taako, 19.

“Well, you have the right place,” he said finally, and that seemed to catch Kravitz’s attention.

“Wait, I do?” he asked, and Angus nodded.

“This is their dorm. They were out on a reclaimer mission, we can just wait here for them to come back,” he said, and Kravitz looked a little hesitant at that, but he nodded all that same.

“And do you live in this dorm as well, Angus?” he asked, and Angus was scanning the rest of the page now. This was a technique he’d used before, people were a lot more careless with sensitive information around kids. If he asked to see one thing they’d usually let him look at a whole page, and it seemed like this guy was no exception.

“Yeah, Taako’s my dad,” he said, and his attention was already fully on the other names on this page. There weren’t a lot, and Angus wasn’t sure what the categorization was in this book, but while the last page had hundreds of names, this one only had seven.

And Angus recognized all of them.

Taako, Merle, and Magnus. Barry Bluejeans too. Next to his number, 27, the word Lich was written and underlined. Directly after him another lich, Lup, 22 deaths. He still didn’t know who she was though.

Lucretia, 7. There was no way to know for sure that it was the director, but considering the next name, and all the other ones, Angus felt that it was a safe bet.

And then Davenport, with only 5. It didn’t make any sense. The page he was looking at didn’t make any sense.

“Oh, I had no idea he had um, that he has a child,” Kravitz said, knocking Angus out of his thoughts some.

“Most people don’t,” he said simply, finally tearing his eyes away from the book to look back up Kravitz. He seemed like a nice enough man, and Angus believed that he was only here to get a clearer idea of what was going on.

“Can we move to the couch, sir? I think we have a lot to discuss.”

Notes:

so I'm gonna probably be redoing my outline for this fic a bit soon, because things have slowly been leaning away from it for a few chapters ow, and I gotta rework some things thanks to all the little changes. This might end up making the fic actually shorter than originally intended, but we'll see. Either way, after so long it feels crazy to be so close to the end of this fic now.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 42: Selfish People

It was later than Taako expected by the time he finally got back to his dorm. They spent longer in Refuge wrapping things up with the folks there than they maybe should have, but they still got the cup up to the base so it was probably fine. Taako could say with what was practically confidence that he liked the people of Refuge.

Nothing like dying a fuck ton of times with people to start some sort of bond forming, that’s for sure.

And maybe Taako wasn’t exactly in a rush to head back anyway. He wasn’t worried or anything like that, and he certainly wasn’t going to regret his decision any. Angus said it was fine, he checked twice. He didn’t feel bad about turning the relic down in the slightest. About handing it over so that it could be destroyed and no one could ever have a chance to use it again.

He maybe felt a little bad about the fact that he didn’t feel bad. A bit of an oxymoron or paradox or whatever the fuck weird circular logic ouroboros there, but his thoughts didn’t have to make sense.

They ended up getting back after dark either way, and it wasn’t like it was entirely his fault. Magnus and Merle kept getting caught up too. Magnus seemed real fucking distracted by something, but Taako was pretty sure he was only a hair away from using the chalice when they turned it down the first time. It probably wasn’t great for the dude to have it hanging around as they made the rounds and all that junk.

Still, he didn’t end up using it, and when they handed it over to the Director it was swiftly destroyed.

Taako expected Angus to be in the office when he got there. He was pretty surprised that he wasn’t waiting for them at the hanger like usual, but Taako guessed he had called and checked in afterwards. Let the kid know everything was okay. Still, it was weird that he wasn’t at the office like everyone else. Taako almost pulled out his stone to call him and ask what was up then and there, but the Director was talking about how it had been an easy mission and Taako had to jump in to correct that misgiving.   

As soon as the relic was destroyed and the Director had handed them their payment though Taako was bolting. Magnus and Merle didn’t seem all that intent to follow after him, which was fine by Taako.

When he got to their dorm room, Taako stopped when he heard voices coming from inside. It was hard to make out words through the door, but he could hear Angus.

He could also hear someone else with him.

Taako didn’t give any warning as he threw the door open, and there was more relief than he was willing to admit when he saw Angus perk up at the sight of him. He was sitting on the couch, a notebook and pencil in hand, a grin quickly spreading over his face. He looked relaxed, and he looked safe.

And sitting in a chair across from him was the grim reaper.

“You’re back!” Angus said excitedly, and Taako could hear the relief in his voice as well. He quickly put down the notebook and pencil he was holding, running over and wrapping his arms around Taako in a hug. Taako hugged him back, not taking his eyes off of the reaper still sitting in their living room. The smile he was giving him was sheepish, and a little strained.

“Yeah, sorry pumpkin, got a little held up in Refuge,” he said, trying to act as casual as possible. Kravitz had seemed like a nice enough guy the first time they met, minus all the trying to kill them. Taako couldn’t say he cottoned all that well to the grim reaper hanging out unannounced with his son though. He only took his eyes off the dude when Angus pulled back, looking down to give him a quick once over. It seemed like he was just fine, thankfully.

“Did you get the relic taken care of?” Angus asked, and Taako nodded, giving him an easy grin.

“You know it,” he said, and he figured Angus was sharp enough to notice the tension in his shoulders as he turned back towards the reaper. “Didn’t realize we had a guest. How you been my dude?” he asked, trying to stay chill despite that. If they could get through this without a fight that would be preferable, since Angus was around. Kravitz still looked pretty damn awkward as he stood up, staying a decent enough distance away from him and Angus.

“I’ve uh, I’ve been just fine. How are you?” Kravitz asked, and Taako could tell that the dude was trying his damnedest to give off as many nonthreatening vibes as possible.

“Just peachy,” he said, still keeping a hand on Angus’s shoulder.

“Oh yeah, Mr. Kravitz here needed to talk to you about the mission you just went on. He said you all met before, when you were gathering the philosopher’s stone,” Angus said, and Taako nodded at that. He might not have mentioned too many of the details of that to Angus, so that cat was out of the bag.

“Yes, um, Angus would it be alright if I talked to your father privately for a moment?” Kravitz asked, and at least the dude was being polite. There was definitely something weird as fuck at being referred to as Angus’s ‘father’ but that was kind of the role he signed up for, wasn’t it. Angus looked a little disappointed at that, clearly hesitant as he nodded.

“I guess so,” he said, glancing over at him for some sort of reassurance.

“I promise it’ll be fine. I’m just here to talk,” Kravitz insisted, and even if he wasn’t, Taako would rather Angus not be here if shit dissolved into a fight anyway. So he nodded, ruffling the kid’s hair and giving him a reassuring grin.

“Yeah alright, it’ll be chill pumpkin. Why don’t you head up to the Director’s office, you didn’t get a token yet for this mission, have you?” he asked, and Angus shook his head.

“I mean, I didn’t really help all that much this time,” Angus said, but Taako brushed a that off.

“You did plenty of seeking shit, that prep work’s important. Don’t let her skip out on the payment,” he insisted, and Angus nodded again, glancing back one more time as he headed to the door.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a bit,” he said. As soon as the door was shut behind him Taako turned back towards Kravitz, a suspicious glare on his face as he tightened his grip on the umbrastaff. For his credit Kravitz immediately put his hands up in surrender before Taako even had to raise a finger.

“I am so sorry,” he blurted out immediately, and Taako paused. “I swear I had no idea you had a child. I know how bad this looks,” Kravitz continued, and for all Taako could tell he seemed sincere. Taako let his grip relax some on the umbrastaff, still fixing the reaper with a suspicious glare.

“They don’t keep track of that kind of stuff in your big book o’ death?” he asked. Kravitz looked confused for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, not uh, not unless he also broke the rules of life and death I suppose. As far as I can tell though that’s not a issue,” he said, and Taako felt himself relax a little more at that. “I really did just come here to talk and get some clue of what happened in that town. I’m truly sorry if I scared you,” Kravitz added. He sounded honest.

After a moment Taako nodded, ceasing glaring at the dude and casually shrugging off the cloak of the manta ray. The sudden shift in mood seemed to surprise the reaper, which was probably at least a little bit fair.

“Yeah alright, I’m good to talk,” he said, heading over to the couch. Kravitz still looked pretty befuddled, but there was obviously some relief there as he sat down. He genuinely didn’t seem like a bad guy and actually looked guilty over the thought that Taako might have misinterpreted him as trying to use Angus as some sort of subtle threat. Which, to be fair was exactly what Taako was worried he’d been doing. At least that didn’t seem to be the case, so Taako didn’t have to hate this guy.

When he headed to the couch he almost sat down on Angus’s notebook, which he had left out. Taako snorted a little as he pushed it out of the way before turning back to Kravitz.

“Bet the kid was fucking falling over himself to interview the goddamn grim reaper,” he said, and Kravitz chuckled in a way that let Taako know he wasn’t wrong in the slightest. He didn’t know how to get that kid some better self-preservation instincts.

“He certainly had quite a few questions,” Kravitz said, and shit was still awkward and a little tense. Not as bad as before, and Taako at least was relaxing more as they settled. “He’s an incredibly bright boy, you should be proud,” he added. Taako shrugged, not really looking Kravitz in the eye at that, although he couldn’t put words as to why.

“Eh, can’t take much credit for that, adopted and all that junk. You’re right though, too smart for his own good sometimes,” Taako said, and Kravitz didn’t look too deterred by that. Thankfully he didn’t seem all that intent on continuing on with this topic either.

“So um, Angus said that you were off gathering another relic? And that was probably what caused the well, situation we’re in now?” Kravitz asked, his tone and posture shifting to something that was clearly supposed to be a bit more professional. Taako didn’t exactly follow suit, he was still too damn exhausted from the bullshit down in Refuge to bother with that. He did nod though as he stretched out on the couch some.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” he said, and then Taako sat up some as a thought came to him. “Uh, you didn’t tell Angus about all the like, dying multiple times over, did you?” he asked. From the slight grimace on Kravitz’s face at the question Taako knew the answer before he even said anything.

“Was I not supposed to?” he asked. Taako sighed, slumping back into the couch and waving a hand dismissively.

“It’s fine, I’ll smooth it over,” he said. He was honestly surprised Angus hadn’t been more freaked out knowing he was aware of all the dying. He must’ve been pretty damn distracted by the whole getting to interview death thing.

With that though Taako started to explain what had gone down in Refuge, mostly focusing on the constant loops and the dying. He was pretty sure that was the part Kravitz was most interested in, being death and all. For his part Kravitz did listen, sitting patiently as Taako explained how the relic had worked, why June was using it, the whole shebang.

They didn’t actually end up getting to talk for all that long before Angus came back. That was also unsurprising, especially since Taako knew the kid was at least partially aware of everything that had happened down in Refuge. There was a flash of relief when Angus came in and saw them both still there, quickly covered up by a casual smile.

“Hey kiddo, you get your due?” Taako asked, pulling Angus down onto the couch with him as soon as he was close enough. Angus giggled a little at that, nodding and shifting around some until he was leaning up comfortably against Taako’s side.

When he looked back over at Kravitz, the dude was smiling kind of dopily at them. He tried to hide it as soon as he realized Taako was looking.

“Yeah, but Leon already left his office for the night,” Angus said, and Taako shrugged at that.

“We’ll hit it up in the morning,” he said, turning back towards Kravitz. He was still watching them with an amused look on his face, and Taako wanted to be offended by that. He couldn’t really though, they were pretty adorable. “So, about the town?” he asked, and Kravitz nodded quickly.

“Right, well considering everything you’ve told me the situation is certainly… complicated,” he said, which was one way to put it. Kravitz looked like he was about to to continue, but then a grimace flashed over his face “Damn it.”

“You good?” Taako asked, and he didn’t need to look down at Angus to know the kid was watching with interest. Kravitz nodded, standing up with a sigh.

“Yes, unfortunately though I’m going to have to cut this conversation short. I’m being summoned to deal with another bounty,” he explained. Taako supposed that made sense, death was probably a job that kept a person pretty busy. He waved off the apologetic look Kravitz was giving him, even if it would have been a lot easier to get all of this done at once.

“It’s chill, we can pick this up again when we’re all a little less exhausted anyway,” he said, and Kravitz nodded at that. Taako sat up a little, managing not to dislodge Angus as he fished around in his robe pocket for his stone of farspeech. He tossed it at Kravitz, who caught it pretty nicely despite the obvious surprise. “So we don’t gotta worry about you just dropping by unannounced again, ya know? You were lucky it was this kid you ran into and not Magnus or Merle. I think those two might still be a little sore about the arm thing,” he added, a look of understanding falling over Kravitz’s face.

“Ah, yes. This might be for the best,” Kravitz said, summoning another stone from some sort of pocket dimension. He handed Taako’s back once he connected the frequency, and from the quick flash of annoyance afterwards Taako guessed whatever was pulling him for the bounty was getting more urgent.

“It was very nice to meet you Mr. Kravitz,” Angus said, and Kravitz smiled softly at the kid and nodded.

“It was very nice meeting you too Angus,” he said, and then he turned back to Taako. “I’ll let the Raven Queen know what we discussed here tonight and we’ll pick this back up soon,” he added. Taako nodded, somehow not flinching when the dude summoned a huge scythe. Saying a quick goodbye, he stepped through a portal he ripped in the middle of the room. Once it was closed it was just him and Angus left in the dorm.

It was quiet for a moment, and then Angus sighed. Shifting slightly, the kid reached over and grabbed his notebook where Taako had moved it out of the way. He didn’t open it though, instead just holding it to his chest and leaning back up against Taako.

“Dad, we need to talk,” he said, and Taako saw that coming.

“Yeah, I guess we do.”

——

Angus’s mind had been reeling ever since Taako had come back. Even before that honestly, the conversation with Mr. Kravitz had been a lot to take in. Angus might have taken a bit longer than he needed to when Taako had told him to go get a goshapon token from the Director, taking a moment to pace around a bit and try and put his thoughts in order. It was a lot harder than it should be, if he was being honest.

Every one of the people in that big book Mr. Kravitz had showed him had committed death crimes. The crimes varied, but Mr. Kravitz was a very nice man and not too hard to convince to explain a few things. Angus got the feeling he wasn’t very used to dealing with kids.

The numbers had been how many times they had each died. Taako’s, Magnus’s, and Merle’s numbers weren’t all from their time in Refuge.

(They had died doing this mission. They came back but they died and Angus was trying not to think about that because if he did for too long his chest started to hurt and it got hard to breath and he had to start blinking back tears.)

They had already died before though. They’d gotten those bounties cleared, but they’d still happened. They all insisted they didn’t remember it, and Kravitz seemed skeptical of that, but Angus believed it.

Taako would have told him. He wouldn’t have kept something like that a secret from him, right?

The Director had died too. So had Davenport. Angus knew for a fact that the gnome was a lot more clever than most people seemed to give him credit for, but it was still a little hard to believe.

And then there were those last two names.

“So if you don’t mind me asking sir, who’s Lup?” Angus had asked, and he’d been trying to be as polite as possible. He was honestly a little rusty, but it wasn’t too hard to fall back into once he got going.

“I don’t really think I should be telling you much about my bounties. They’re very dangerous, and don’t have anything to do with all this,” Kravitz tried to insist.

“Please sir? I’m just worried, there were hundreds of names on that other page but only seven on that one, and two of them are liches. I don’t want my dad to get into anything dangerous,” he’d pleaded. It was all true, Angus was worried. It seemed to be enough to convince Kravitz after a moment, the man letting out a defeated sigh.

“Alright, but I don’t actually know much about that one. Or well, anything more than what’s in that book. She’s a lich who died a whopping twenty-two times. I haven’t actually encountered her yet,” he explained, and Angus nodded, trying not to show his disappointment. He didn’t know why there was just nothing about this person.

“Do you know why those names were all on the same page, sir? It just seems weird that Magnus and Merle and Taako were all together. I’ve been with Taako a long time, and we only met Magnus and Merle less than a year ago,” he tried, and thankfully it hadn’t taken as much effort to get that answer.

“I’m not too sure honestly. They had all just shown up together,” he said, and Angus cocked his head to the side at that.

“Shown up?” he asked, and Kravitz nodded.

“Yes, they appeared in the book already grouped together all at the same time. Usually when that happens it means something was performed together, usually we see it with cults and the like, but the range of crimes in this group is so varied. It’s a bit inscrutable,” Kravitz explained.

“And when did it all show up?” Angus pressed, and when Kravitz had to take a moment to think about it he was pretty sure it was just because the guy wasn’t all that great with time, being an ancient grim reaper from another plane.

“I think it was about twelve years ago.”

It was all a lot to take in, and he was pretty sure he still hadn’t fully processed it. Angus liked Mr. Kravitz, but when he was called back to some new bounty he was a little relieved. It was getting late, he was tired, and he needed to talk to his dad.

“You all died,” he said, and it was quiet in the dorm room, which made his words sound loud despite being barely more than a whisper. He wasn’t sure where Magnus and Merle were, why they hadn’t come back to the dorm yet, but there was already so much on his mind Angus could barely spare that a thought.

“Yeah, but we got better,” Taako said, and Angus appreciated the way his arm tightened around him just the slightest bit. A reminder that he was there and real and not some ghost who’d actually died trying to gather a relic.

“You still died,” Angus insisted, and he didn’t mean to sound that upset and that angry. This wasn’t even what they should be focusing on. Taako sighed, and he sounded so tired. Of course he was tired, after what he'd been though.

“Yes, I know okay? But I’m here now, so it’s fine,” Taako insisted. Angus wondered if he actually believed that.

“This isn’t even the first time though,” Angus argued. Taako hissed in a breath at that, and he figured he wouldn't be happy with him knowing about that.

“Shit, Kravitz told you about that?” he asked. Angus nodded, pulling back some so that he could actually look up at Taako. Not enough to pull out from under his arm though, he still wanted the solid reminder that he was actually here and live.

“Yes,” he said simply, and Taako actually looked a bit guilty at that. “Why didn’t you?” Angus pressed, and his dad shrugged.

“I don’t know. Still not sure it’s even true, like fuck do I remember dying. I can tell you with certainty now too that that’s not something you’re gonna forget easily,” Taako said, and Angus believed him. He didn’t think his dad was lying, which just made this all the more confusing.

“Do you remember anything happening about twelve years ago?” Angus asked, and Taako paused, seeming to think that question over for a moment before sighing.

“No, that’s uh, I can say pretty definitively that I don’t really remember much past about like, ten years ago now? Pretty big gap in my memory around that time, then it clears up a bit again back when I was traveling around with caravans and junk,” Taako said, and that wasn’t the answer Angus was expecting. Well, okay it kind of was, but he didn’t expect him to be so clear and concise about it.

“You can’t?” he asked, and Taako shook his head.

“Nah, uh, when we were getting the chalice it was kinda weird. It like, scanned our memories and showed them up around us. So like, I don’t notice a gap when I think about it, but I sure as fuck saw one,” he said. Angus was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out what that could mean. It clearly meant something. It had to be related to why his dad had died, and why Magnus and Merle and the Director and Davenport had too. Why they were connected to two liches. To at least one lich who was definitely a red robe.

“And uh, about that, by the way,” Taako continued, and he sounded almost awkward now. When Angus looked back up at him he was avoiding looking directly at him. “While the chalice was doing its whole thing, it uh, offered me the chance to go back and ya know. Not poison an entire town,” he said, and Angus frowned a little at that.

“You know it wasn’t your fault though, and you couldn’t use the relic anyway. It would have just made everything worse,” Angus said, and Taako nodded along quickly, like he had told himself those say exact things.

“Yeah no for sure. Oh, you were absolutely right by the way, chalice showed me Sazed with a bottle of arsenic and everything,” he added. It was actually pretty nice hearing that, just having that confirmation.

Even though it wasn’t his fault though, Angus could see how much it was bothering him.

“I’m sorry you weren’t able to go back and fix it,” he said, and he was kind of surprised when Taako shook his head.

“No uh, here’s the thing, and uh it’s pretty fucked up I guess, but I didn’t want to go back,” he said, and that wasn’t what Angus expected. It seemed like everything Taako had been saying implied that it had been a hard choice.

It didn’t look like he was lying though.

“Then why are you upset?” he asked, and Taako slumped back into the couch, pulling Angus fully into his lap now. He didn’t protest, Taako didn’t get super affectionate a lot. He definitely wasn’t going to squander a hug right now.

“It’s just pretty fucked up, ya know? And selfish,” he said, and Angus raised an eyebrow, straining his neck a little to look up at Taako in confusion.

“How do you mean?” he asked. It was definitely off topic from what they needed to discuss, but Angus was getting tired, and this seemed real important too.

“Like, this is the best timeline for Taako. As far as it goes for me, shit’s pretty great. But I only got to this good shit from killing a whole fuckton of people and, ya know…” he trailed off, squeezing Angus a little tighter.

Angus did know, and he wanted to protest, but Taako continued before he could.

“It’s just a little fucked up. If it wasn’t an evil relic that definitely would have backfired I’d figure it was a whole ‘if you love them let them go’ type test, and I would have failed spectacularly on that front,” he said, and Angus knew why he was saying that. He was smart enough to understand the logic he wasn’t spelling out.

If he went back and didn’t feed anyone the food from that show, Angus never would have gotten poisoned. He never would have to deal with his nerves hurting whenever he pushed himself too hard or the weather acted up or he got too emotional. He wouldn’t have nearly died and been so sick for so long. He wouldn’t have ended up with Taako, but there was no way of knowing that this new life wouldn’t have been just as good, if not better.

And so Taako felt selfish for not taking that option.

“You’re being stupid again dad,” Angus insisted, and he could tell it surprised Taako a little. He recovered fast enough though, or at least he hid it quick.

“What’s stupid about it?” he asked, pouting a bit as he did. It was obviously played up a little, but Angus could tell there was a genuine question under that.

“It’s just stupid. You don’t show people you care by abandoning them,” he insisted. He could feel Taako rest his chin on his head, like he was thinking it over, so Angus continued. “I’m glad you didn’t use the relic, even if it wouldn’t have gone wrong. I guess that’s selfish too, since so many people died, but I don’t want to be alone, I want to be here,” he insisted. Taako should know that by now, Angus thought he made it perfectly clear. Taako chuckled after a moment, running his hands through Angus’s hair.

“I guess we’re both selfish then. Makes sense, all things considered,” he said, and Angus found himself smiling at that too.

“Anyway,” Taako continued, stretching his arms up above his head until Angus could hear his back crack. “I’m fucking exhausted. Today was the worst, I’m gonna sleep for a month,” he said, and Angus crawled off his lap so that they could stand up.

“A month sounds like a bad idea,” he said, but Taako waved that away.

“Eh, that’s a problem for next month Taako,” he said, which got a snort out of Angus. As they headed back towards the bedroom a thought came to him. He knew it was late, they could just talk about it later, but he still wanted to say something.

“Oh, hey dad?” he said, and Taako nodded, hiding a yawn behind his mouth.

“Sup?”

“The Director’s died too, and Davenport. Also, I still don’t know why your umbrella wrote out the name, but Lup is apparently a lich, and Mr. Barry Bluejeans is definitely the Red Robe and a lich too. It all showed up on the same day in Mr. Kravitz's book, along with the deaths you and Magnus and Merle already had,” he said, it all just tumbling out of his mouth at once. Taako stopped in the doorway to their room, staring at him for a long moment.

“That’s also a problem for later Taako to deal with. Just, all of that you just said,” he said, and Angus couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Fair enough dad.”

Notes:

Me, last chapter naively 'maybe i'll actually shorten this fic when i redo the last bit of my outline'
Me, now not surprised in the least 'okay it's gonna be either the same length as before or a chapter longer'
Either way though we're really moving along now, not gonna make any sort of update schedule promises yet but as we keep moving closer to the end we'll see. I tend to speed up as I get towards a finish line due to excitement.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 43: An Act of Trust

Taako didn’t end up actually sleeping for a month, much to his disappointment. He did knock out for a solid twelve hours, which he guessed was good enough. He did need to eat and shit after all, he would be a little sad to go a whole month without food.

Pushing himself as slow as he could out of bed, he wasn’t too surprised to see that Angus was already awake. Kid was working on something in a notebook and he didn’t seem to have noticed that Taako was up yet. Taako had seem him with that single minded focus before, it usually meant he was real wrapped up in some sort of mystery or spell or whatever had grabbed his attention.

He was still here, and he seemed to be doing alright. They were both doing alright.

That was all Taako needed to focus on, he could try and forget the rest.

“You have breakfast yet?” he asked, stretching his hands up and cracking his spine nicely. Angus didn’t jolt or anything at his voice, but he did seem a bit surprised for a moment. He nodded, turning to look at Taako with amusement clear on his face.

“It’s almost three, I’ve had breakfast and lunch,” he said, and Taako scoffed at that.

“Look, sometimes you gotta sleep till three,” he said, and Angus didn’t argue with him. When he went out to the rest of the dorm, he ended up running into Merle. That was good, Taako was't worried or anything, he knew those two could handle themselves, but it had been weird how long they’d both been out the night before. Merle seemed the same as he ever was though, the weirdest thing being him muttering about maybe having to get his eyes checked out. That was honestly pretty standard for Merle though.

Taako didn’t end up seeing Magnus until later, once he was out in the kitchen again making dinner. The dude still seemed a little distracted, but whatever it was he got over it quick enough, falling back into his usual cheerful self. They ended up stopping by Leon’s chamber later that night, and everything seemed fine by then. Taako got some cool band that could let him read thoughts, and Angus got some sneaky boots. Leon hadn’t told them the actual names because Taako had broken the man.

By the time a week had passed it was almost like they could all pretend the bullshit in Refuge had never happened.

Except for one thing. Or well, Taako guessed a couple of things.

The biggest one though was that he’d yet to hear back from Kravitz. He knew the dude was probably pretty busy being death and all, but it wasn’t exactly fun having the fate of himself and a whole small town hanging in limbo.

The other thing was what Angus had insisted he’d seen in Kravitz’s big ol’ book of death crimes. It was already weird that him, Magnus, and Merle had been in it to begin with. Barry Bluejeans actually being a lich and probably definitely the red robe they ran into was also freaky in a way that was extremely hard for Taako to comprehend. They already knew about their death counts though, and had basically figured out the thing about Barry.

Apparently Lup was a person though, also a lich. Probably a red robe, considering the skeleton Taako had pulled the umbrastaff off of.

And then there was the Director and Davenport. Taako really didn’t know what to think about that. It seemed pretty far fetched if anyone asked him, but he trusted Angus’s detective work. He guessed it wasn’t too weird for the director, she seemed like a woman of action who probably got into her fair share of shit in her younger years. Davenport was a little harder to believe, but maybe the guy hadn’t always been like this. He guessed it was possible, even if he’d never considered something like that after all. It could always be a curse or a side effect of some of the relics or something. That would explain why he was actually a part of the bureau, since it didn’t make much sense for him to be here anyway.

Taako had no idea what to actually do about any of the shit in the book though. Angus figured it was best not to bring it up with the director, and Taako was inclined to believe him. They still couldn’t be sure how much they could actually trust the bureau after all, best not to let anyone know they knew about this.

So there really wasn’t anything he could do to figure out the whole bullshit with the death count, although he knew Angus was trying to look into it as much as possible. He should probably try and stop him, but Taako knew that was pointless.

He could do something about his other problem though.

“Hey? You there thug?” Taako asked into the stone of farspeech. Angus was out at the library right now, and Taako might have chosen this time to call the dude specifically because of that. He didn’t think any meeting with Kravitz would dissolve into a fight anymore, but he still didn’t think Angus needed to be there for this. If he could keep him out of it, that would be for the best.

“Taako?” Kravitz asked, sounding surprised by the call. Which was probably fair, he doubted a lot of people voluntarily called up death, at least not so directly.

“It’s cha boy, yeah,” he said, and Kravitz seemed to chuckle a bit at that.

“Do you need something Taako?” he asked, and there was a second where he worried that he might have misremembered something.

“Yeah uh, you said we were gonna pick up the whole Refuge conversation, but it’s been a week and I haven’t heard hide nor hair from ya,” he explained.

“Oh, has it really been that long?” Kravitz asked, sounding surprised. Taako relaxed a little at that, apparently it wasn’t him messing up this time.

“Sure has,” he said, and at least Kravitz had the decency to sound apologetic at that. Honestly if it wasn’t for the whole trying to kill him thing, Taako liked the dude. Hell, he still kind of liked him even with that. They had lots of friends who had started off trying to kill them at this point, what was one more?

“Sorry, I must have lost track of time. Is there a time you would be available to meet up and finish our conversation tomorrow? I have a bounty I'm after right now but should be free by then,” he asked, and Taako nodded. He hadn’t thought this through that much yet, so he went with his first idea.

“For sure. How about around 6? There’s a place on the moon called the Chug and Squeeze, we can meet up there,” he said, and even though he couldn’t see the dude he could imagine the look of befuddlement on his face. He could certainly hear the confusion and caution in his voice at any rate.

“Alright, I suppose that works? I’ll see you tomorrow Taako,” he said, and Taako grinned a little as he nodded.

“Catch ya later,” he said, hanging up the stone of farspeech.

Angus came back to the dorm a few hours later, and Taako wanted to keep him as far away from all the grim reaper stuff as possible.  He knew he wouldn’t actually be able to hide it from him though, so he'd have to go with another method.

“So I called Kravitz. Gonna meet up with him tomorrow night to finish the talk about what to do with Refuge,” he said, and Angus perked up from the book he was reading at that.

“Can I come?” he asked, which was the exact question Taako expected from the kid. He shook his head though, not looking up from the curry he was currently stirring.

“No can do, going to the Chug n’ Squeeze, and I’m pretty sure that place has an age limit,” he said, and there was definitely a look of confusion on Angus’s face at that.

“Why are you going there to talk about Refuge?” he asked, which was a fair question. Taako had a lot of reasons for picking that place though, only one of them having to do with the fact that Angus wouldn’t be able to join them.

“It’s a pretty popular place out in the open, so it would be weird for him to just attack me if shit goes wrong. Plus I’ve been meaning to check it out,” he said, and he could see Angus thinking over those reasons.

“I guess that makes sense. Isn’t it like, a datey place though?” he asked, which was also fair. Taako probably should have figured something like that wouldn’t slip by Angus. He shrugged a little too casually, tasting the curry before turning the heat off.

“Huh, yeah I guess it is. Didn’t think about that,” he said, grabbing some bowls and scooping some rice and pouring the curry over top. Angus was giving him a very unimpressed look as Taako handed him the food.

“Dad, are you trying to turn your very important meeting with the grim reaper into a date?” he asked, and Taako scoffed maybe a little dramatically.

“What? No, of course not,” he said in a manner that he was well aware wasn’t that convincing. The way Angus rolled his eyes certainly showed that he wasn’t buying it for a second. “But if I was trying to, it would probably be the type of thing that I would like to do on my own and without help from anyone else,” he added, and Angus sighed.

“Okay, I get it,” he said, and Taako grinned at that, eating another spoonful of food. “Just be careful, okay?” Angus added, and he nodded. He could understand why the kid was worried, Taako honestly couldn’t blame him for that. They didn’t have the best track record when it came to death, if anything he should probably be a little more concerned than he was.

Taako really wasn’t that worried though. He figured that if Kravitz wanted to take him in he definitely could have by now, and the dude had earned some points from apologizing about the very wrong signals he sent with appearing alone with Angus. Taako wouldn’t say he trusted him yet, but he believed the guy at least didn’t want to kill him.

“Will do pumpkin, don’t gotta worry about that. You talked to the guy right? Didn’t really seem like he wanted to off us despite all the uh, deaths,” he said, and Angus nodded, taking a moment to swallow his current mouthful of food before answering.

“No, he seemed more confused than anything, he was very nice and polite,” he said, and Taako nodded at that.

“Then we shouldn’t have anything to worry about,” he said with a grin, not too sure how much he believed it, but he was hoping, at least.

The next day Taako was in his room, finishing up the last touches as he got ready for their meeting. Honestly, he was playing up the whole date aspect a little to make sure Angus didn’t try and follow him, but if shit happened then hey, it happened. Taako wasn’t going to complain if it went anywhere, certainly. Angus was sitting on the bed, idly watching as he got ready.

Finishing braiding his hair, Taako grabbed his hat and the umbrastaff before giving himself one last look in the mirror. Nothing too fancy, although this pretty nice, and without long sleeves since they were gonna be dealing with clay.

“Alright, I’m off,” he said, and Angus pushed himself up from where he’d laid down by this point, reading a book he had levitating up above him. Taako paused, letting the kid give him a once over like he was judging just how ready he was for the date.

“You should leave the umbrastaff,” he said after a moment, and that wasn’t the reaction Taako expected. He frowned, resting the umbrella up on his shoulder.

“What were you saying about being safe?” he asked, feeling his grip tighten on the handle just the slightest bit more. It wasn’t that he thought he would even need it, he just didn’t like going places without it. He guessed he liked being prepared, probably a holdover from all that time on the road.

“It might send the wrong message if you go in there with your weapon,” Angus said, and like, he probably had a point. Taako wasn’t too thrilled about it though. “Also, I had a few things I wanted to look into with it,” he added, continuing on quickly before Taako could cut in. “Nothing dangerous! I promise I won’t even leave this room,” he said. Taako really wasn’t liking this, taking a long moment to stare down at the umbrastaff before sighing and handing it out.

“Yeah alright fine, just don’t go wrecking shop without me,” he said, and Angus grinned at that, taking the umbrella and nodding.

“I won’t, I promise,” he said, and Taako figured that would have to be good enough. He needed to get going or else he was gonna risk being late.

“Alright, catch ya in a bit pumpkin,” he said, heading towards the door. His hand felt empty without the umbrastaff, and he almost spun around and asked for it back. Taako managed to resist the urge, because it was just an umbrella. A very magic and weird umbrella, but an umbrella. Hopefully letting Angus mess with it a bit would sate his curiosity and they could forget about the whole thing.

But if nothing else, Taako just hoped that this night went well.

—

Angus was trying not to worry about Taako too much. He seemed pretty confident that he had this under control, he probably wouldn’t be so relaxed about the thing if he wasn’t. He certainly wouldn’t be angling at making the whole thing a date if he was worried Ms. Kravitz was going to try to kill him.

Which that was a whole other kettle of fish. Angus would have been tempted to try and sneak along and watch just because of that, because Taako had never really displayed interest in anyone else before. Or maybe he had and Angus hadn’t noticed, but he was a very perceptive person, so he was sure that he would have.

Honestly, the only reason Angus wasn’t trying to sneak along was because he actually managed to convince Taako to leave the umbrastaff with him. Ever since he’d seen those names in Mr. Kravitz’s book he’d been thinking. So far, he really hadn’t been able to come up with much.

Something was making it hard to think. There was some conclusion he should have been able to draw from this, some sort of theory at least on what could connect all those names, how they would have gotten death counts, something. There was no way it wasn’t related to the relics, to the red robes. There was something obvious he was missing.

The umbrastaff wasn’t a grand relic. It was an incredibly magical artifact that had once belonged to a Red Robe. It almost seemed to have a mind of its own sometimes, and it had led them directly to the other Red Robe’s hideout. Or well, Barry Bluejean’s hideout, if Angus had to make a reasonable deduction.

It had spelled out one of the names in that list. Maybe, somehow, it could give him some answers.

He was pretty sure Taako wouldn’t like him looking too far into this stuff, which was why he was doing it now. He could explain it to him afterwards and it would be fine. Better to ask forgiveness than permission and all that.

Now that he was here now though, staring at the umbrellla in his hand, he wasn’t too sure where to start.

“I know you’re not just a regular spell focus. There has to be some way to, I don’t know, talk to you,” he said, partially speaking out loud to see if he’d get any answer, but mostly so he could work through his own thoughts. “Oh, maybe…” he trailed off. Placing the umbrastaff down on the bed in front of him, he grabbed his own wand. Focusing on the umbrella, he cast detect thoughts.

“Ko… where’s Taako… where… need Taako…” a voice said, so quiet Angus could barely make it out. What he could hear though sounded panicked and scared.

“Hey, it’s okay. Can you hear me? Taako will be back soon, he’s just gone out for a little bit,” he said, reaching forward and grabbing the umbrella’s handle. He didn’t pick it up though, just waiting to see what it would do. There was a short pause, and then so quietly and distantly Angus could hear that voice again.

“I can… please! Need Taako! Need Barry!” it said, and even though Angus could tell it was shouting now he could still barely make out the words.

“Barry? You mean Barry Bluejeans?” he asked.

“Yes! Barry! Love-” it continued, and Angus immediately frowned when the voice was cut off. Right, detect thoughts only lasted a minute.

“Damn it, sorry the spell wore off,” he grumbled, quickly grabbing his wand and casting it again. He didn’t have a lot of level two spell slots, they weren’t going to be able to talk much. “We can’t talk long, I don’t have a lot of spell slots. Please, who are you?” he asked, because that was the most important thing here. He needed to figure out who was controlling the umbrastaff, and preferably how.

“Lup,” the voice said, and despite all signs pointing that way Angus still felt him breath catch. Before he could think to ask another question they continued. “I’m Taako’s s̨i̸s̕͞t҉͟e͘͡͡r̕̕!҉̴ Please tell him!” they continued. Angus already couldn’t hear her well, but there was something there he couldn’t hear. Something blocked out.

“I’m sorry, I can’t understand you,” he said, and there was no reason to feel so bad for whoever this was, he didn’t know them. She just sounded so desperate though, so scared. “You’re a lich, aren’t you?” he asked, remembering what he’d seen in Mr. Kravitz’s book.

“Yes,” the voice said, matter of fact. “Not evil. Protection, we were just trying to help,” she added, and Angus knew she could be lying. It would make sense if she was. She was a lich, she was probably the red robe from the cave, if she was asking to be taken to Barry Bluejeans.

She didn’t sound evil though. She sounded like someone very scared and very trapped trying to explain as much as possible without a lot of options.

Angus felt the spell fade again, and groaned in frustration.

“I don’t have a lot of spell slots left. Is it- can we try a yes or no system for a bit? I just want to be know a bit more before we figure out what to do. Um, can you cast mage hand?” he asked. A red glow emanated from the umbrella for just a moment, and then a mage hand appeared. “Great! So uh, just thumbs up for yes, thumbs down for no,” he said, and the mage hand formed itself into a thumbs up.

Okay, Angus had to be smart here. He could only do yes or no questions, unless he wanted to burn his last level two spell slot. He didn’t know how long the umbrastaff, or well, Lup would be able to keep up the mage hand either. Wherever she was in there, she sounded tired.

“Are you a Red Robe?” he asked, figuring that was a good first one to get out of the way. The mage hand formed into a thumbs up, before quickly giving a thumbs down and then another thumbs up. Angus frowned, cocking his head to the side as he tried to decipher that.

“Yes, but no?” he asked, getting a thumbs up in return. “It’s complicated then, I guess?” another thumbs up.

“Do you want to harm Taako?” he asked, getting a big, very pointed thumbs down in return. Angus had been pretty sure she didn’t, considering all the times Taako talked about the umbrastaff coming to his aid, but there was still a lot of relief seeing it say so for sure. “Do you want to harm me?” he asked next, a little less sure about this one. It seemed pretty protective of Taako, but there was no way to know for sure if it cared about him.

Another thumbs down, and then the mage hand shot over and started tousling his hair. Angus couldn’t help but laugh, it was unexpected and he couldn’t even swat it away without worrying he might hit it too hard and dispel it.

“Okay, okay I get it,” he said, and after a second the hand pulled back. “Did you make a grand relic?” Angus asked next. She had said she was a Red Robe, but that it was complicated, so he figured it was best to double check. That got another thumbs up, this was seeming a little more hesitant than the others. He almost asked which before he remembered that he could only do yes or no questions. “We found your umbrella near the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, did you make that one?” he tried instead.

Another thumbs up, that made sense. “Were you trying to reclaim it?” A thumbs down. He kept telling himself that she might be lying, there was no way they could trust a Red Robe. They definitely shouldn’t trust a lich. He was very good at reading people though, and he didn’t have a lot to go off of this time, sure, but there was something there that made him want to trust her.

Something about her reminded him of Taako.

“You died there, didn’t you?” he asked, getting another thumbs up. “And you’re the one who led us to the other red robe, weren’t you?” Thumbs up again. Angus paused for a moment, trying to think. As he did he could see the mage hand starting to flag some. “I’ve only got a few more questions if you think you can keep up the spell,” he said, getting another thumbs up. He had to make these count.

“Can I trust the director?” he asked. The hand seemed to pause for a long time at that, before slowly forming a thumbs down. No. Taking a deep breath, Angus told himself he could contemplate that later. They were already unsure in their allegiance, this was just more to consider. He needed to get through this before the spell ran out, which from the looks of it he didn’t have a lot of time left.

One more question.

“Are you trapped?” he asked, and the answer came quickly.

A thumbs up. Yes.

The mage hand disappeared at that, and Angus wasn’t sure if it was possible for an umbrella to look tired, but that’s what it was. It has sort of deflated, and Angus picked it up carefully. Grabbing his own wand, he cast his last level 2 spell slot for another detect thoughts.

“How can I free you?” He was taking a very big risk, he hoped he wouldn’t regret it. He really hoped Taako wouldn’t be mad at him when this was all said and done.

“Break it. Snap the umbrella. Please let me out,” her voice called, and it sounded like she barely had the energy to yell anymore. He shouldn’t feel bad for this person, they had created a grand relic. The director had warned that they would lie and do whatever necessary to trick them and get what they wanted. This could be another trick.

“Last question. Why should I trust you?” he asked, and it was a simple question. She wouldn’t have a lot of time to answer it, but she would have to figure out something to convince him if she wanted to get out of that umbrella.

“You can’t, but I’m going to need you to anyway, Angus. I’ve got no other options,” she said, and it was so simple it took him off guard. He expected some sort of reasoning, maybe telling him that the director was playing him, or making some quick assurances about how they were actually the good guys. But instead it was just a simple plead from someone who was too exhausted to do anything but hope he would listen.

Taking a deep breath, Angus grabbed the umbrella by both ends, placing it under his foot. “Sorry dad,” he whispered quickly, closing his eyes tight as he kicked down, snapping the spell focus in two.

Immediately the shock wave pushed Angus back onto the bed, the room completely engulfed in flames. He wasn’t getting burned though, neither was most of their stuff for that matter, the flames forming around it all expertly. Angus could only watch mouth agape as the flames coalesced into the form of a lich, shining a brilliant red.

“Thank yo-” the lich, who had to be Lup had started to shout, but before she could finish a look of distress fell over what passed for her face. She really had just enough features in the glowing light for Angus to tell emotions. “Shit.”

With a sudden blast, the lich was repelled from the room. Angus was sure the only reason she hadn’t blasted a hole in the wall was because she was incorporeal. Running over to the window, he tried to look out to see if he could spot her. Just for a moment, he could see her at the edge of what seemed to be some sort of shimmering forcefield surrounding the bureau, which quickly vanished. Bright arcs of red arcane energy shot off of her for a moment, but seemed to die down pretty fast.

Almost as soon as he’d spot her, she started darting down towards the surface, and it wasn’t long before Angus lost sight of the lich. He was left alone, in his room, with a broken spell focus.

Working mostly on autopilot, Angus grabbed his stone of farspeech out of his pocket, turning it to Taako’s frequency.

“Dad?”

“What’s going on?” Taako asked, and he already sounded concerned. It could just be from Angus calling in the middle of his maybe date with the grim reaper, but Angus had an idea it was probably more than that.

“I uh, I found out what was so weird with your umbrella.”

Notes:

so... this wasn't supposed to be a Lup Is Released From The Umbrastaff Early fic. as i wrote this chapter though it became very clear that that was exactly what was gonna happen, so here we are. no regrets.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 44: Unexpected and Not Quite Explained

It was weird, Taako hadn’t actually expected to have a good night. The whole date thing had been partly a ruse to help ensure Angus would stay away, partly a way to throw the grim reaper off his rhythm. Sure, there was a part of him that thought it could be fun, a good laugh if it all went well, something he could brag about later. Taako once managed to take death on a literal date, no big deal.

The whole thing had started about how Taako expected it to. Kravitz was flustered and confused, but too trapped by social conventions to do anything but ask Taako why they had to meet here. The talk about Refuge had gone quicker than he expected, Kravitz actually mostly accepting his bowl metaphor, even if he was confused at first.

Then things started to drift just slightly from how Taako figured the night would go.

“The fact that I’ve visited you as  much as I have means that this work is impossibly dangerous, so just… why are you doing this Taako? Why aren’t you doing a safer career?” Kravitz asked. Taako looked down at the bowl he was currently sculpting, trying to figure out how to answer that. He could blow the question off, and he was somewhat tempted to.

Except Kravitz was surprisingly easy to talk to. He’d managed to make a good enough impression on Angus for the kid not to be too worried about Taako going to talk to him alone, without his umbrastaff even. (Which, Taako was glad he’d chosen pottery making for this. It helped distract him from the lack of handle in his hand or at his hip. He hadn’t realized just how used to it he’d gotten).

“Because I’m worried no one else will have me,” he said, and he could feel the surprise in Kravitz without even having to glance over.

“Oh, that was a very honest answer, I’m a little surprised,” he said, and Taako couldn’t blame the dude too much for that. He shrugged, trying to shape the rim of his bowl so that it was even all the way around.

“Hey man if I can’t be honest at the Chug n’ Squeeze then I don’t know,” Taako said, trying to make it a bit of a joke. He could have left it at that, it was still more than he needed to tell anyone. Despite that though he found himself continuing to talk. “I mean, what else am I supposed to do? My career as a chef crashed and burned so hard last time it doesn’t seem like a good idea to go back to that. No one will hire an adventurer with as little experience as I have, I can’t put any of this on a resume, it’ll look like scribbles. Even if it’s dangerous for me it’s safer here for Angus,” he rambled.

“Right, I think I know how you feel. Not um, exactly one to one, I’ve never had a child before, but I was faced with some pretty hard choices when I became a reaper for the Raven Queen. I didn’t grow up wanting to do that,” Kravitz said, and the whole thing took Taako by surprise. He didn’t expect the dude to actually try and relate or anything.

“Who does?” Taako agreed, and Kravitz nodded.

“I wanted to be a conductor,” he continued, and Taako almost laughed at that. He didn’t, because that might be a little rude and he didn’t actually want to be a douche right now. Still, it was a little funny knowing that the grim reaper had wanted to pursue a career in music of all things. Funny and almost kind of sweet.

They ended up talking for a while longer after that. Kravitz assured Taako that he could close the case on Refuge and that he wouldn't drag anyone to ghost jail for their crimes, and Taako figured that was where this was going to end. So he was surprised and a little excited when Kravitz actually suggested they finish the rest of the class.

The whole thing ended up being pretty fun, especially once they were able to put the whole meeting part behind them.

By the time they were leaving the Chug n’ Squeeze Taako was having a hard time not smiling. Sure, he figured that once it was over the reality of the situation would come crashing back down. Then he’d have to actually ya know, process what was going on, but for the moment he was just enjoying it. It might have helped that he was definitely a little tipsy from all the wine he’d had, but it’d been a while since he’d even considered something like this. Way longer than he could put a number on.

“Taako, I need to know, what this meeting for business or pleasure?” Kravitz asked as they walked along the quad. There was definitely no reason for them to keep hanging out now, having finished up their class and everything. They were just kind of lingering.

“I mean, a little bit of both,” Taako said with a shrug, because that was about as honest as he could get. “I definitely didn’t want to be dragged to hell or whatever it is you do. Stored in the ghost house with Casper and the lot,” he said, getting a snicker out of Kravitz.

“Right,” he nodded, a goofy smile on his face.

“But uh, I love your style. It’s been a while out here, ya know how it is,” he said, and Kravitz nodded. Taako was almost tempted to ask how he felt about the whole single dad thing, but he figured he would bring it up if it bothered him. He certainly knew about Angus, so it wasn’t like it was some secret.

“Yes, I think-” Kravitz started before stopping suddenly, his whole posture on edge. Without warning he started shifting into his reaper form, black robe unfurling around him, flesh melting away into bone and a scythe appearing in his hand.

“Love this,” he said, which drew Kravitz’s attention back to him.

“I’m sorry Taako, I need to- there’s a lich. I’ve felt traces of it before but it’s here now and it’s incredibly powerful. I’ve had a lovely evening but I need to take care of this before it hurts someone,” he said, and it was easy to see how serious the dude was. Taako was kind of surprised he was actually sticking around long enough to explain what was going on and say goodbye. He would've been justified in rushing off if he wanted to.

“Yeah no, same here man, it’s been fun,” he said, unable to keep himself from frowning. “How close, you like, want some back up? We’ve run into liches before, we can help,” he offered, figuring this wasn’t a coincidence. Shit was never that easy. Kravitz didn’t have much of a face anymore, so Taako couldn’t really read his expression. He shook his head though, grip tightening on his scythe as he took a few steps back.

“No, you don’t need to put yourself in danger. I promise I’ll fill you in later,” Kravitz said and Taako could have argued with that. He was already plenty used to putting himself in danger, but like this was Kravtiz’s whole job and all. Taako wasn’t gonna be the one getting paid for it, as much as he surprisingly liked Kravitz.

“Alright then, later,” he said, trying to gauge Kravitz’s reaction to that. It seemed to take him a moment to realize, but once he did he nodded. With that he flew up, heading over to the side of the moon base before diving down. Taako couldn’t help but head over, glancing down to see if he could spot anything. By the time he got over there and looked though Kravitz was barely a spot in the distance, which was quickly lost among the trees in the forest below them.

The evening getting interrupted by some lich was a little disappointing, but Taako didn’t have a lot of time to focus on that. As he was looking over the edge his stone of farspeech started going off, signaling that it was Angus contacting him.

He figured that the timing was a little too close to be a coincidence. It would be too fucking easy if it was a coincidence.

“Dad?” Angus asked when he answered the stone, and yeah. It was easy as anything for Taako to hear how shaken up the kid sounded. He started walking back towards their dorm immediately, maybe going a bit faster than he would normally.

“What’s going on?” he asked, not bothering to explain how he knew something was wrong. Either Angus figured it out on his own, which was most likely since the kid was so fucking smart, or he thought Taako could figure out when he was up to shit, which was also useful.

“I uh, I found out what was so weird with your umbrella,” Angus said, and Taako almost froze at that. He’d been so wrapped up in what was going on he’d almost forgotten that he didn’t have it on him. Now that Angus pointed it out though his hand immediately felt empty. After a quick stumble he started moving even faster back to their room.

“Oh yeah? And what’s that? Gotta say didn’t expect you to close up that case tonight,” he said, and he could imagine the way Angus was nodding on the other end of the line. Every so often the kid’s voice was muffled in a way that let Taako know he was nervously playing with the stone.

“Um, when are you heading back? I think it’d be better if I told you in person,” Angus asked, which Taako supposed was fair. From the sound of it despite being frazzled, he didn’t seem hurt or endangered.

Taako was trying really hard not to think about the dangerous lich Kravitz had just run off after.

“I’m on my way. Kravitz had to go, a lich ended up popping up right by the moon base, talk about weird timing, right?” he said, trying to be oh so casual with the topic. Immediately Angus started laughing nervously, giving Taako a pretty damn good idea that his hunch wasn’t too far off.

“Haha, yeah weird,” he said, and then it was like something clicked in Angus’s head and he gasped. Taako was waiting for the elevator now, foot tapping impatiently as the thing took fucking forever. God he hated these things, why did they have so many fucking elevators in this base? “Wait, he’s going after her?” he asked, suddenly sounding worried.

“Her?” Taako asked, rushing into the elevator and pushing the closed button as soon as it came up.

“Uh,” Angus said, and Taako sighed. This was not how he expected his night to go.

“I’m almost there, just wait,” he said, and it didn’t take long to get to their door from the elevator. Heading into the dorm Angus wasn’t immediately out in the open, so Taako headed to their room.

He was sitting on the bed, and as far as Taako could tell he didn’t look hurt. Guilty as fuck maybe, and it was easy to see why. The umbrastaff was resting on his lap, roughly snapped in half, the handle and several spokes broken, fabric ripped and barely clinging onto both sides in some places.

“What the fuck my dude?” he asked, immediately rushing up and grabbing the broken spellfocus. It seemed pretty damn beyond repair, and Angus pulled his knees up to his chest.

“I’m sorry, I know how important it was to you,” he said, and Taako didn’t spend too long looking at the staff. For some reason it was hard to, which didn’t make much sense. It was just a spellfocus, a good one sure, but nothing that should effect him all deeply. He didn’t know why seeing the thing in tatters felt so wrong.

It wasn’t the main issue here though, so he push it to the side, crouching down in front of Angus to check the kid out more thoroughly.

“It’s just an umbrella, what the fuck happened and what does it have to do with the lich Krav’s hunting down now?” he asked, and Angus looked up cautiously at that.

“You’re not mad?” he asked, and Taako shook his head before pausing.

“Well, not about the umbrella. Figure you’d only let it get like that if it was important or you didn’t have a choice. Can’t say if I’m mad about anything else though, since I still don’t know what the hell is going on,” he said, and Angus nodded slowly. He could see the kid starting to get his thoughts in order, and Taako sat down on the bed with him. He had a feeling it would be a bit of a long story.

“Right so um, there was a lich in your umbrella. I let her out,” Angus said after a moment, and that… was something.

“A lich?” he asked, trying to process that information. Sure, the umbrella was weird, but he didn’t think it was evil ghost living inside of it weird.

“Yes, I think she must’ve got stuck in there because the umbrastaff can consume the essence of magic users, and liches are just all magic,” Angus explained, and Taako made a little ‘huh’ noise. That made as much sense as anything. Angus was twiddling his fingers, and Taako didn’t say anything else, waiting for the kid to keep on explain.

“I figured out how to talk to her in the umbrella, mostly. We used detect thoughts and made a code with mage hand. Her name is Lup by the way, so that explains the weird message she blasted,” he continued. Taako just nodded, and he wanted to say something. It felt like his mind should be racing, this was a fuck ton of weird information Angus was giving him. His heart was racing at any rate, pumping hard enough for him to feel it in his fingertips, but it was hard for him to think anything at all. “Dad? Are you okay? You’re shaking,” Angus asked, and Taako’s head snapped up.

“Huh, that’s weird. I’m fine pumpkin, why did you let her out? Did she threaten you? Posses you or some shit?” he asked, and Angus quickly shook his head.

“No, she didn’t- I don’t think she’s evil,” he said, and honestly with the way Angus had been acting through all of this it made sense. He seemed frazzled and a little out of his depth, but not scared. He wasn’t hurt, so the lich hadn’t tried anything, and the room wasn’t even much more of a mess than it had been before he left.

“She’s a lich,” Taako said bluntly. Angus quickly shook his head, and he could already see this wasn’t going to be something he backed down on easily.

“I know, but she said she became a lich to protect people. She’s a red robe, or well, she said it’s complicated. Whatever’s going on we don’t have the whole picture,” Angus said, and Taako sighed. Of course this had more to do with the Red Robes.

“So what, did she promise you answers if you let her out?” he asked, and Angus’s shoulders slumped as he shook his head.

“No, she uh, she said she was trapped. I mean, she was trapped, and she sounded so tired and scared, and I don’t know. She seemed really nice and she kinda reminded me of you and I just... I felt bad leaving her in there,” he said, and Taako blinked as he realized what happened. After a moment he sighed, shaking his head as he reached over and ruffled Angus’s hair.

“How the fuck did you manage to keep such a good heart when hanging around me all the time? Seriously?” he asked, and a cautious smile started to return to Angus’s face.

“I know, what kind of influence are you? Just going around, taking in orphans and regularly risking your life to save people from powerful relics. It’s a mystery,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his words. Taako rolled his eyes, swatting the kid with a pillow it only served to make him laugh.

“Yeah yeah laugh it up. Like half of that is just for the cash. You’re definitely fucking grounded by the way, even if you think the lich wasn’t evil you still should’ve said something before letting her out in the fucking apartment,” he said. Angus looked disappointed but it was pretty clear he wasn’t going to argue with him. A look of worry returned to his face quickly though, and he jumped up to rush back over to the window.

“Wait, dad you said Mr. Kravitz went after her?” he asked, and Taako nodded. “We have to tell him to stop! I really don’t think she’s evil dad, he can’t-” he started, but Taako held a hand up.

“Hey, look you might be right but I’m pretty sure that’s a little bit out of our hands. He’s fucking death, ya know? He’s got like, a duty to his god to hunt down liches and put them in ghost jail,” he said, and Angus didn’t look happy about that.

“But…” he trailed off, glancing nervously back down through the window.

“Look, I spent a long time talking to the guy tonight, alright? Despite initial impressions he doesn’t seem to be unreasonable or anything like that. I’m sure that if you’re right and she really did have a solid reason for turning into a lich they’ll be able to work out a deal,” he said. He didn’t really believe Kravitz would make a deal with a lich, he looked pretty damn ready to go in for the kill when he left. “Either way, he told me he’d keep me updated on the situation, but I doubt he’d be willing to answer a stone call in the middle of work. We’re just gonna have to wait,” he said, and Angus sighed reluctantly.

“Alright, I guess you have a point,” he said, taking one last look at the window before moving away. “How long am I grounded for?” he asked, and Taako hummed for a few moment, exaggeratedly thinking of an answer.

“Three weeks. No leaving the moon without an adult, and no more research into the Red Robes, or Barry Bluejeans, or Lup at all for that matter,” he said. He felt a little bad at the disappointed look on Angus’s face, but not enough to change his decision.

“Fine,” he agreed, and Taako hoped that would be good enough for Angus not to think of some sort of loophole like last time.

Hopefully Kravitz would throw the lich into ghost jail and then he would never have to think about any of this ever again. It was giving him a headache.

——

Angus knew he couldn’t really argue with his dad on the whole grounding thing. Being grounded after what he did was the best response he could hope for, especially since he was being grounded with the promise that they keep the whole incident to themselves. Taako promised not to tell anyone about the lich he let escape, and so Angus didn’t have to explain to the Director why he saw fit to let another Red Robe out into the world.

This was the best case scenario, and he wasn’t even forced to stay in his room all the time either. Taako didn’t seem to have a very good grasp on what ‘grounding’ meant, so when he asked if he could go down to the library and stuff he let him. The one caveat was that Taako had to go with him. The only hard and fast rule he seemed to have about where Angus couldn’t go was off the moon. He seemed to stand by that decision pretty solidly, and normally that wouldn’t be a problem. They didn’t leave the base often, Angus could go a few weeks without heading down planetside if he absolutely had to.

The main issue with that now though was that Angus was worried. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he was pretty sure Miss. Lup hadn’t left on her own accord. It looked like she’d been thrown off the base by some sort of force, and then according to Taako the grim reaper immediately went after her.

She was probably evil. It would make the most sense for her to be evil, but the evidence just didn’t land quite right. He was probably a little swayed by his own personal feelings, but he liked to think that he was a better detective than that. He knew for a while now that things with the bureau were fishy, and this was just another log onto the fire.

He knew she was a lich and Taako was right, they didn’t have much of a say in the laws of life and death. Still, he didn’t want her to get dragged to ghost jail. She had answers, and he really needed those answers.

It was three days after breaking the umbrastaff, and Angus knew that wasn’t a lot of time in the grand scheme of things. He was trying his best to be patient but he felt like it was a rapidly losing battle.

When Taako walked into their bedroom with his stone of farspeech in hand, Angus couldn’t help but perk up. His dad almost immediately noticed, sighing as he stuffed the stone back into his pocket.

“I talked to Krav,” he said, and as much as Angus wanted the answer he couldn’t help but be nervous to actually get it. He figured the grim reaper was pretty good at his work, and Lup had seemed pretty weak when he was talking to her. Liches were powerful, but taking them out was Mr. Kravitz’s whole job.

“Did he mention the lich?” he asked, not quite able to bring himself to ask the question he actually wanted to. If he had managed to catch her and throw her into the eternal stockade. Taako nodded, not seeming too bothered by this whole thing, which Angus couldn’t blame him too much for. He seemed more annoyed and worried about the dangers of this lich than anything else.

“Yeah, apparently he wasn’t able to catch her. Managed to run her off from the base but she was slippery, must’ve went into hiding because he hadn’t been able to find any sign of her since,” Taako explained, and Angus wasn’t able to keep himself from letting out a sigh of relief. “You know, that’s probably not a good thing, right?” he asked, and Angus nodded, even if he didn’t fully believe that.

“I know, but I’d feel bad if she immediately died after I let her own,” he said, and Taako seemed to think that over for a moment before shrugging.

“I guess that’s fair enough. Now if she gets caught it’s her own fault, not yours,” he said, and Angus nodded in agreement. That was far from the only reason Angus hoped she’d managed to get away, but he knew Taako wouldn’t be thrilled about the other ones. He didn’t actually like making his dad worry about him all the time.

“And you’re sure we can’t go down planetside and just look around a little bit?” he asked, already knowing what the answer was going to be but figuring it didn’t hurt to try despite that.

“Pretty fucking sure, my dude,” Taako insisted, and Angus sighed. He didn’t try and press it any more though, already knowing how much he was pushing his luck. At least he knew that she was safe somewhere. Maybe she’d managed to find the other Red Robe, she had been able to lead them to him before, even from inside the umbrella. That would explain how she’d managed to lose Mr. Kravitz so quickly, even as damaged as she had sounded, if she had the help of another lich.

Maybe they wouldn’t even be able to find them if they did go looking. He was sure two liches would be able to make sure they weren’t found if they didn’t want to be. He knew how possible it was that Lup was using him to get out of her prison, but that just didn’t feel right.

He was a detective though, and detectives couldn’t work off of feelings alone.

“Dad?” he started, getting the elf’s attention. “Do you think I made the right decision?” he asked, not realizing until he said it how badly that question was plaguing him. He felt like he did the right thing, that he had no proof. It was a direct attack against the bureau if anyone ever found out about it, and he had nothing to defend himself other than the fact that she didn’t sound evil. Which could have been a trick. He didn’t even need to be charmed, she could have just been a very good actor. But despite telling himself all of that, he still felt like he’d make the same decision if he was able to go back and try again.

“I don’t know,” Taako said after a longer silence than Angus expected. He didn’t think he was going to take the question so seriously, but looking up at him now he could see the small frown on his face and the way his brow was furrowed in thought. “You were trying to make things better though, so that has to count for something, right?” he added, and Angus nodded a little reluctantly.

“I guess so,” he said, and he expected Taako to brush off the subject with that. It was getting late, they should probably make dinner soon, it would have been easy to drop the subject.

Instead he was still staring at Angus, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Dad?” Angus asked after a moment. At that Taako blinked, the expression gone as he let out a sigh.

“Sorry, there was just like, a thought on the tip of my tongue,” he said, turning away to start getting stuff ready for dinner. Angus expected that to be it, so he was surprised when Taako continued. “It’s like when I’m not thinking about it, you remind me of… someone. Fuck if I know who though,” he added. Angus wasn’t too sure what to think of that.

“Is it in a good way or a bad way?” he asked, figuring that was the most important part if Taako couldn’t remember who it actually was.

“Good,” he said without any hesitation. That was a relief at least. “But it’s probably nothing since I don’t know who I was thinking of. Hey, since you’re grounded help me with this,” Taako added, pulling some stuff out for dinner. Angus nodded, heading over and starting to help where he could, Taako directing the dish. It was a comfortable thing to get lost in, and Angus was able to focus on it a little more knowing that Lup was at least for the moment, safe out there somewhere.

Which meant, hopefully, the answers he was looking for were out there too somewhere. He just had to find them.

Notes:

so i've come to the realization that this fic is going to be at least 50 chapters, oh boy how did it get this long. I do hope to finish all the actual writing this month tho, it's gonna be the main focus for this camp nano. We'll see how well it goes, but i hope to at least get a backlog again so that i can keep updating on a regular basis.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy!

Chapter 45: Seeking Help

Taako was trying to put the whole issue with the lich and all that out of his mind. Whoever she was she wasn’t on the moon anymore, even if she was still out there somewhere according to Kravitz. Still, she wasn’t around so it wasn’t any of Taako’s business.

Except he couldn’t get it out of his mind, because every time he got up to go anywhere he would grab for the umbrastaff, only for his fingers to grasp around empty air. He didn’t know at what point he’d gotten so used to having the thing, but now that it was gone he couldn’t stop noticing its absence. He had to say he was not a fan.

And of course other people noticed it too, almost immediately when people saw him without the umbrastaff there were questions. Taako didn’t expect it to be such a big deal, but apparently everyone else was as surprised to see him without it as Taako felt. He told everyone the same thing, which was true enough to not really count as a lie, easy enough to remember. Angus tripped and broke the thing when practicing his magic. It was apparently a cheap piece of junk, just glad it didn’t go snapping in the middle of a mission when he would actually need it.

There was something about the way the Director looked at him as he said this, some expression on her face that he couldn’t really read but could still pick apart little bits and pieces. If he had to guess a word for it, just plain old sad would probably be the best one. Which didn’t make a lot of sense, but he told himself not to question it too much. He was just trying to get through the days here, he didn’t need to go picking into every little mystery he could find. He wasn’t Angus.

So he decided to do the most logical thing he could think of, which is what he would have to do anyway before the next mission. He needed to get a new spellfocus. He’d fixed up his dinky old wand a while ago, but it felt wrong. It didn’t have enough heft after spending so long lugging and swinging around the umbrastaff.

Artificing wasn’t something he was particularly adept with, but he figured it couldn’t be too hard. In the end it at least wasn’t difficult to incorporate a wand into the handle of a regular umbrella he got at the fantasy Costco, adjusting it so that he could use the whole thing as a spell focus again. It wouldn’t do any of the cool shit like sucking up other people’s wands and eating old dead dudes, but he’d have to live. Knowing how adventuring worked he’d find another cool powerful spell focus eventually.

And that should have been the end of it. He shouldn’t miss the umbrastaff anymore, because he replaced it. Angus wasn’t going to go after the lich, as much as he could tell the kid wanted to, because Taako was barely letting him out of his sight. Maybe it was a little over protective, but considering the shit Angus liked to get into he could have been even more strict if he wanted to. Eventually he figured Kravitz would catch the lich and he wouldn’t have to think about any of this ever again.

But his mind kept wandering. Even when Angus wasn’t trying to ask ‘subtle’ questions about it, Taako found himself wondering about the event. There were a few times where he found himself this close to asking Angus what Lup had been like. Exactly what it was they talked about, what in the world did she say to so thoroughly convince Angus she wasn’t evil.

He didn’t know why he cared, other than the fact that she had been the umbrastaff. All the weird inexplicable personality the spellfocus had, that was her. And he’d liked the damn thing, so maybe that extended to her. It was as good of a guess as any for why he kept getting dragged back to the lich, why he couldn’t let this go.

Normally Taako wouldn’t have any issue actually talking to Angus about it. Angus was the one person he actually trusted, that wasn’t the issue here.

The issue was that Angus would take this and run with it, and Taako knew himself well enough at this point. He was not fucking good at saying no to the kid once he got going, and maybe that shouldn’t be an issue. It wasn’t like Angus wasn’t smart as shit and able to get out of tight situations in a pinch. He didn’t actually need Taako protecting him, so what was the point in trying to?

Except he was still just a little kid. Despite how long ago it had been now, Taako could remember what it was like to be a little kid, for the most part anyway. He didn’t need anyone looking out for him at that age, and Angus was smarter than he was.

It would have been nice though. He could remember some times where he would have appreciated it if someone in his life gave enough of a shit about him to keep him from getting into danger. Despite everything Taako had signed up for that job with Angus, and he told himself he could fucking commit.

So he couldn’t let Angus go wandering right into a lich’s trap. Even if he  was smart enough to maybe even survive, that wasn’t something Taako was going to let him do.

He needed to figure this out on his own.

Turning his stone of farspeech over in his hand, he guessed not entirely alone.

It was late at night. Angus was asleep but Taako really appreciated being an elf in times like these. Slipping out of their shared room, he didn’t go far, just wanting to get enough distance that he could talk without fear of waking the kid up. Sitting down in the living area, he tried to put together the words in his head. Shit was already complicated enough with Kravitz, not even bringing a whole lich hunt into the equation.

“Hey Krav, you there?” he asked, voice still quieter than he normally would be. There was a brief pause, and then Taako heard a click from the other end.

“Taako? Hey, um, how are you?” Kravitz asked, sounding a little nervous. It made sense, they’d been talking some since their last meeting or date or whatever it was had been interrupted, but not much yet. Hadn’t set up a time to meet again yet either, which Taako might end up getting on soon if Kravitz didn’t beat him to the punch.

“Oh good, good. I’m not waking you or anything am I?” he asked, because like, he knew Kravitz was dead and all but that didn’t necessarily mean that he didn’t sleep.

“No, why? Is it late?” he asked, which made sense. Different plane and all that.

“Like 3am my dude,” he said, and that seemed to catch Kravitz off guard.

“Oh, why are you up then? Is everything okay?” he asked, and Taako nodded.

“Yeah no everything’s chill. Just uh, needed to talk to you about something and didn’t want Angus overhearing. Kid gets into everything,” he explained. At that Taako actually got up to check and make sure Angus wasn’t behind the corner listening in, because it was exactly something he would do.

“Ah, how can I help you then?” Kravitz asked, sounding a little relieved by that explanation.

“Well for one, pleasure first. It’d be cool to see you again sometime, if you’re still down for that,” he said, and that hadn’t been Taako’s intended reason for calling, but he didn’t see the harm in adding it on.

“Of course,” Kravitz answered quickly, not seeming to take a second to even think about it. Which yeah, Taako had a feeling he was gonna have to be the one to take the lead a little bit. The grim reaper didn’t get asked out much, which would have made sense before Taako met the guy. Now he just wondered what was wrong with people not to jump at the chance at such a genuinely sweet dude.

“Hell yeah, so we can iron out the details on that later, figured you might want to pick the local this time since I did the last one,” he said. He was kind of curious about where the dude would want to take him on a date. A real date and not a date masquerading as a business meeting.

“Alright then, I’m sure I can think of something,” Kravitz said, and Taako grinned at that. The smile dipped a little when he remembered the actual reason he made this call.

“So uh, second thing, less fun. Is uh… so you remember that lich you chased after last time?” he asked, and he could feel Kravitz’s mood change on the other side of the stone. Definitely got a little more serious, a little more business.

“I remember. Did something happen?” he asked, and Taako shook his head, lying out along the couch now. The ceiling was plane and he was almost tempted to remove the rug from the floor so he could look out at the scenery of the world below. It always gave him such a headache looking down like that though, it was probably best not to.

“No, and uh I know this isn’t any of my business with the whole lich thing, but is there anything you can tell me about her?” he asked, and Taako wasn’t even sure what he was trying to accomplish here. Maybe prove to himself that this lich really was a threat so that Angus couldn’t wear away his conviction to keep him away from the thing.

“Why? Sorry, it’s just that liches are dangerous Taako. You’re not thinking of going after her, are you?” he asked, sounding worried.

“Of course not, it’s just,” Taako sighed, and he didn’t actually want to lie to Kravitz. “Angus thinks she’s a red robe. I’m sure he’s right, the kid’s usually pretty damn good at the whole detective thing. A little too good honestly, he wants to keep investigating her and I uuuuh, don’t want my kid going after a deadly lich, so I’m just trying to find out what I can,” he explained. Kravitz was quiet for a moment, and the one problem with having this conversation over the stone was that Taako couldn’t see him and know what he was thinking.

“Well, I’d say he’s probably right on the money for the Red Robe, considering her appearance,” he said, and Taako couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that.

“Red spectral hooded figure?” he asked.

“Yes, it uh, it wasn’t the first time I’d met a lich meeting that description,” he said, and well, that was the other thing Taako had wanted to ask.

“That other one, he wouldn’t happen to be called Barry Bluejeans, would he?” he asked, and Kravitz definitely sounded surprised by that one.

“How did you know that?” he asked, and Taako chuckled.

“My kid’s a fucking excellent detective,” he said, a little bit more pride leaking through than he meant, but it was true. Angus was smart as shit, and sure Taako couldn’t take much credit for that, but at least he probably didn’t make the kid any dumber by taking care of him.

“Well, yes. Taako, I’m going to be honest with you. These liches your after, these ‘red robes’ are incredibly dangerous. I’ve been hunting Barry Bluejeans for years now, he’d not like most liches. He’s somehow managed to keep his intelligence, which just makes him all the more worrying. If this other lich is anything like him, which I suspect she is from my brief encounter, all I can tell you is that you need to stay far away,” Kravitz said. It made sense, it was the answer Taako expected and the one he told himself he wanted.

He hated that something still didn’t feel right about it.

“Alright, thanks babe. I’ll try and steer clear,” he said, because that was the logical thing to do.

They ended up talking for a little bit longer, but then Kravitz remembered how late it was and insisted Taako get off and get some sleep. He tried to argue with him that it was fine, he could deal with a little meditation and be all set in the morning. He got caught off by one too many yawns though and reluctantly agreed, insisting that Kravitz be sure to make good on coming up with a place for their next date.

Slipping back into the bedroom, Angus was still asleep where Taako left him. From what Taako could tell he hadn’t moved much in the time he’d been gone, which probably meant he was out the whole time.

Taako wanted to be annoyed and frustrated at how stubborn the kid was, how insistent he was at putting himself into danger. He really couldn’t be though, it wasn’t like this was anything new. This was the same kid who shouted him down until he listened about the truth of the poisoning in Glamour Springs, the kid who snuck out at night to hold Sazed up at goddamn rapier point to get answers. The kid who tracked him down in a dark forest, crying in fear but still insisting on giving him his money back and then trying to go off on his own in the night.

He’d always been incredibly frustrating and stubborn.

That was what he liked about the brat.

——

After three weeks Angus technically wasn’t grounded anymore. It was kind of hard to tell though, which was the downside of Taako being so lax when it came to the grounding. He couldn’t really argue if Taako wanted to come along when he went somewhere, and it wasn’t like the ban on researching the Red Robes had a time limit. He wasn’t going to be allowed to look into those no matter how much he begged.

Sure, it wasn’t like Taako was hovering around all the time now, he did seem to relax a little bit once his grounding was up. It wasn’t enough for Angus to really do anything, and if he was being honest he wasn’t even sure if he should.

He didn’t want to go behind his dad’s back. They usually were in these sorts of things together, he didn’t want that to change. He could understand why Taako was so worried, but he’d never actually talked to Lup before. He was pretty sure if he just talked to her he would understand what he meant when he said he didn’t think she was evil.

That seemed to be pretty out of the question though. Angus didn’t bring it up a lot, but when he did Taako kept insisting that they let Kravitz take care of it. At the very least, the reaper would let them know if she popped up again.

Which was fair. It would probably be next to impossible to find the lich if the grim reaper himself couldn’t do it. That didn’t make Angus feel like he wasn’t wasting his time up here any less though. It really didn’t help as they got closer and closer to the next mission either.

There was another reason why Taako was being a bit more lax, which definitely wasn’t related to Angus not being grounded anymore. The Director was starting to push the three reclaimers a lot. Angus had always liked the woman, at least once he got off his initial distrust with her knocking Taako out and making him fight an ogre. Once he really got to know her, he liked her. He liked the bureau.

But something had changed. It didn’t seem like the Director was being malicious, she wasn’t upping their training because she thought they were being lazy or anything like that. No, after sitting in on a few training sessions, Angus was pretty sure he managed to pinpoint what was going on with the Director.

She was scared.

That didn’t bode well for the next mission, especially combined with the fact that Angus found himself with almost nothing to do to help prepare for it. Usually the lead up to a mission was the busiest time for the seekers, as they tracked down the exact location of the relic and tried to find as much verifiable true information on it as possible.

There was nothing on this one though other than the name, the animus bell. And the Director insisted that locating the item wasn’t necessary, she already knew exactly where it was. There was nothing for the seekers to do.

It was hard not to become scared too.

Angus was sitting on the sidelines as they went through their morning training exercises. They used to be a few times a week, but the director had started making them daily a few weeks ago. That was maybe another reason why he hadn’t been pushing the whole thing with Lup. His dad was exhausted and not really in the best mood most days, and he couldn’t blame him for that in the slightest.

Angus winced when Magnus was too far away to block a blow from one of the robots, the prong arm smacking Taako and hitting him with a bolt of electricity. His dad dropped to his knees, only getting up when Merle sent a grumbling healing his way.

With a tap of her staff the director stopped the session, the robots powering down without much fanfare. Immediately Angus was up, rushing from his spot to make sure they were all okay. He liked to believe that the Director wouldn’t hurt any of them too badly, at least not intentionally.

But it was getting harder and harder to tell what she was thinking lately. Harder to tell that she cared about them as she kept pushing, kept pulling herself back.

“You guys did really good today,” he said, handing out some water he’d started making sure to have on hand.

“You need to improve your skills as a unit,” the Director said, and Angus half-expected her to go into a list of everything they had done wrong. It wouldn’t have been the first time, she was getting a lot more critical lately. It seemed like she wasn’t feeling up to that today though, leaving it at that.

Taako, Magnus, and Merle had started walking back towards their dorms now, probably to argue over who got to use the shower first. Angus started following after them like he did every other day, before stopping. The director was heading out as well, through another door. That was pretty usual too, her office was in that direction so it made sense. Normally Angus wouldn’t think anything of it.

But he was at an impasse here. He wasn’t going to go against his dad, so he couldn’t sneak down and try to find the Red Robes on his own. He couldn’t think of a way to convince him to let him open up this mystery for further research, not yet anyway.

So if he couldn’t see how trustworthy the Red Robes were, he could at least try and see how trustworthy the Bureau still was.

“Hey dad?” he called as they reached the door. Taako stopped, looking back at him with mild confusion. “I’ll meet back up with you guys, okay? I wanna talk to the Director about your next mission,” he explained, and he could see Taako looking him over for a moment. He wasn’t lying though, and he must’ve seen that because he nodded.

“Alright, catch ya later little man,” Taako said, and with that the three of them went out of the training room. Angus quickly rushed after the Director, who had already left by this point. Thankfully she wasn’t a very fast walker either, so he didn’t have to run for very long until he saw her down a hall.

“Madame Director!” he called after her, and he could have kept running but he was trying to be better about pushing himself. Today was a pretty good day, he had more good days than bad days since the doctors here had taken a look at him, but he still got overwhelmed sometimes. With how tense things had been lately, he wanted to try and be ready to get up and go at any moment, which unfortunately meant he had to pace himself. Thankfully the Director stopped when she heard him call, turning back towards him with a soft smile.

Those smiles were getting rarer now a days, but they weren’t completely gone. She was still warmer to them when they weren’t in training.

“Hello Angus, did you need something?” she asked as he caught up with her.

“I just wanted to talk to you about the upcoming mission for the animus bell. I’m a little worried since there hasn’t been a lot for the seekers to do,” he explained. The director sighed, and when she started walking again he followed along beside her.

“I know the lack of research much appear a bit odd, but I can assure you that the best way to prepare for this mission is to make sure the reclaimers are in top shape,” she said, and Angus nodded agreeably. He didn’t want to start arguing with her yet, that wouldn’t help get answers at all.

“That’s fair, but I still think I could help more if I had some idea of what they’re gonna go into,” he said. They had reached the Director’s office now, and she didn’t object when he followed her inside. The only other person here was Davenport, who looked up from the book he was reading with a small nod before glancing back down.

“Angus, I assure you that I will not let them go after the next relic until I am certain that they are prepared to face the challenge,” she said, moving to sit down at her desk. There was a tiredness in her shoulders that had always been there, but that just seemed to get worse and worse by the day. As much as Angus wasn’t sure if he could still trust her, he couldn’t help but be worried about her.

“Madame Director, I-” he started, cutting himself off and taking a deep breath. If he let a little more emotion drip into his voice, if he didn’t hold himself quite as steady and sure as he normally did, he told himself it wasn’t manipulation if it was all real. “I need to know what they’re getting into, please. I need to know what’s going to happen to my dad,” he pleaded.

The director was quiet for a long moment, and Angus couldn’t tell what she was thinking as she stared at him. After what felt like an eternity she must’ve come to some decision, letting out a sigh and leaning back in her chair some.

“I promise I will tell you the full story soon Angus. It’s not a story I like to recall often, but I assure you that I will tell you and the reclaimers when the time comes,” she said, a deep tiredness to her voice. For a moment he thought that was going to be it, so he was surprised when she continued. “What I can tell you now is that the relic, the Animus bell, resides inside of a place called Wonderland. It is a death trap, one that very few manage to escape from. I personally know people who were not so lucky as to get out with their lives,” she said, and Angus’s shoulders drooped.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and she shook her head.

“It was a price we knew we might have to pay. The beings that run Wonderland are incredibly powerful, even without the relic I can only think of a handful that could possibly take them on and win,” she said, a far away look in her eyes now. Angus couldn’t help but perk up at that, it wasn’t something he was expecting.

“Who?” he asked, and the Director blinked, looking at him with confusion.

“Who what?” she asked back.

“Who do you think could go up against them? You said you can only think of a handful, which means that there are people who can,” he pressed. There was a flicker of something across the Director’s face, it was hard to tell if it was irritation or pride, or some complicated mixture of both.

“Angus, that’s not-” she started, but he didn’t let her finish, cutting her off before she could try and deflect the question.

“It’s not the reclaimers, or else you wouldn’t be pushing them so hard with their training,” he said, and the look on the Director’s face was definitely at least a little bit irritated now.

“It doesn’t matter who else might be capable. Those three are the only ones who can withstand the relics,” she said, and Angus could see her point. It didn’t matter if someone could take down the ones who ran Wonderland if they were just taken in by the thrall immediately afterwards. But that didn’t make the information useless.

“But maybe we could still learn something from them. Whoever they are, they could help us,” he insisted.

“The red robes can not help us!” the Director shouted, suddenly on her feet, a hand clutching her staff tight. Angus didn’t know what expression he was making, but he guessed it was shocked enough to bring the Director back. The rage on her face melted away, replaced with sorrow and guilt as she slumped back down in her chair. “I- I’m sorry Angus. I didn’t mean to yell,” she said. Angus managed to get his voice back.

“I didn’t know you were talking about the Red Robes,” he said tentatively. The Director let her face fall into her hand, and she really did look so tired.

“I know you didn’t. I’m sorry for my reaction, I understand that you’re just trying to help, but I promise you Angus I am doing everything in my power to protect them. To protect everyone,” she said, and he wanted to keep pressing. To keep asking questions and figure out what was going on really.

Instead he just nodded. He shouldn’t push his luck.

“Alright madame Director,” he said, starting towards the office door. He knew she could hear him walking, even if she had her eyes closed now. She didn’t make any move to stop him from leaving though, so he didn’t stick around. Heading back to the dorm, it looked like Taako had won the fight for who got to take a shower first. That was unsurprising, he usually did by promising to make lunch for everyone afterwards. That’s what he was doing now, sitting on a stool in the kitchen, preparing some sort of pasta salad. Angus stole a chunk of cheese as he came close, pulling up another stool and sitting down next to him.

Instead of saying anything Angus slumped up against him. He could hear the water running, which meant either Magnus or Merle were still in the shower. It was just the two of them in the kitchen right now, and Taako still seemed pretty tired. He didn’t bother trying to push Angus away or anything, cutting up some leftover ham to add to the pasta salad.

“You good my dude?” Taako asked after a long moment of quiet, Angus not saying anything and stealing little bits of food every so often.

“The director thinks that the Red Robes are the only ones who can stand up to the people who have the next relic,” he said finally. That got Taako to pause, taking a few second to process that before going right back to cooking.

“Well that’s gonna suck. Hey, maybe if we ask nicely they’ll bail us out,” he said, and it was supposed to be a joke so Angus laughed. There wasn’t really much force behind it though.

He couldn’t help but hope that maybe it didn’t have to be a joke. Maybe they really would help.

Notes:

so i don't have much of an update for this chapter, just working on fics to distract from the constant desire to sit by the mailbox and wait for my copy of the petals to the metal graphic novel to arrive.

As always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 46: Important Conversations

Angus was trying to figure out what to do, but he knew he was running out of time.

The director kept increasing their training, and she was good at hiding her true feelings. When they were training she was stern and unapproachable and some days when Angus watched it was hard not to jump in and make her stop. Insist that she was pushing too hard and that this wasn’t helping.

Whenever he felt like that he would look at the Director, really look at her, and he could see it leaking through. It was more than fear, it was desperation.

Today’s training wasn’t the breakneck beat down that she’d been putting them through the last month or so. There was a noticeable difference, the blows not as hard, the attacks slower, the whole thing shorter than their training usually was. Taako and Merle still had spellslots at the end of it, which had been rare lately. They weren’t able to have too many magic lessons because he was usually too exhausted.

It felt like they weren’t able to do much of anything together lately. Angus didn’t blame Taako any, most of the time he was just too drained to be up for anything, which was fair. Some days were better than others, but then there was the new thing with Mr. Kravitz.

Which was weird, if Angus was being honest. He liked Mr. Kravitz well enough, but they hadn’t really talked much since the first time. He knew that Taako was hanging out with him whenever he got the chance to, even if he wasn’t talking about it much at all. Angus couldn’t blame him for not wanting to, even if he always seemed happier after talking to the grim reaper. It was just really weird.

Angus probably would have put a lot more energy into figuring out how he felt about it and pressing Taako on the details and if there was some sort of plan here, if he wasn’t so focused on everything else going on. He told himself he would have time to figure out everything with his dad and Kravitz later, once the relics were dealt with.

Today’s training session was short and easy though, and for a moment Angus was excited. Maybe Taako would actually have the energy to do something today, have a magic lesson or go down planet side. Not even for a mystery, Angus just missed hanging out.

“That will be all for today. Make sure you all get plenty of rest tonight,” the Director said, and Angus’s heart sank as he realized what was going on. She wasn’t trying to be obvious about it, but as soon as he heard her voice it clicked in his head. This wasn’t the Director going easy on them as a break of reward, this was the Director trying to conserve their energy.

The mission was soon. Judging on her insistence on getting rest tonight, probably tomorrow.

They were out of time.

The reclaimers didn’t seem to notice, heading out of the training area. Angus jumped up from his seat on the sidelines, running after them. As soon as they were outside with the door behind them he grabbed Taako’s hand, who looked down at him with mild confusion. Which was fair, Angus didn’t usually hold his hand unless something was wrong or back when they were trying to pull scams.

“Can we talk for a minute?” he asked, and Taako nodded, looking a little suspicious now.

“Yeah for sure, hey you guys can-” he started, but when Taako looked up Magnus and Merle had already walked off. He huffed in frustration, and Angus couldn’t help snickering at that.

“You always get the shower first,” he explained, and he hadn’t thought about that when wanting to get him alone, but it certainly helped.

“Well if they were annoyed they should have said something,” Taako said, like they didn’t argue over the shower every time and Taako only won by saving enough spell slots to blink inside and lock the door before they could get there. “Anyway, what’s cracking pumpkin?” he asked, and right, back to the matter at hand.

“I think the Director is going to send you out tomorrow,” he said, and Taako frowned at that. Instead of arguing with him though or asking how he knew after a moment he shrugged, seeming to accept it pretty well.

“Would explain why I can still feel my face today. So, what’s the problem?” he asked, and Angus sighed.

“It’s just… can we go somewhere else? There’s prying eyes, and listening ears,” he said, and it wasn’t like there were a lot of people around. Actually, there wasn’t anyone else in the hallway right now. Every so often though he could hear someone else walking along, and he really didn’t want anyone overhearing this conversation. He figured they could go back to their room, which would be a little inconvenient with Magnus and Merle around, but it would be better than out here.

“Yeah alright, hey actually I got an idea. Wanna head down to Neverwinter?” Taako asked, and Angus blinked in surprise at that. It felt like forever since he’d actually gotten to leave the moon base.

“Oh, uh yeah okay sure, but why?” he asked, starting to follow Taako along to their dorm again.

“Just figured we could use a change of scenery. Been a while since we’ve gotten out,” he said, and it wasn’t like Angus could argue with that.

“Yeah alright, that sounds good dad,” he said, and he was almost excited. It was overshadowed by the whole issue of figuring out what to do with the upcoming mission, but it was still there. He missed hanging out with his dad.

“Cool, just lemme get cleaned up then and we’ll head down,” Taako said, which was fair. Today’s training wasn’t anywhere near as rough as it usually was, but he could understand him wanting to take a shower first. As soon as they were back in the dorm they saw Magnus coming out of the bathroom, and Taako immediately shoved his way past Merle to get inside. Angus snickered, heading to his room so that they could argue it out.

Waiting for Taako didn’t take too long, and Angus didn’t have much to do to actually get ready to head down planetside. He made sure that he had his wand on hand just in case, but otherwise he was already dressed and everything. When Taako came back into his room he'd changed into a nicer outfit than the one he’s been wearing to training, casting a quick spell that dried his hair as he started braiding it. Angus expected that to be it, but then Taako started putting in some earrings, a little light makeup. It wasn’t much but it was definitely more than if they were just running out to have a discussion about the deadly mission Taako was being sent on.

He finished not too long after that, topping the whole thing off with one of the hats Angus had gotten him for Candlenights.

“Alright, you good?” Taako asked. Angus nodded, jumping off of the bottom bunk and slipping his shoes back on.

“Yeah,” he said, and Angus wasn’t sure if he was being paranoid or not. He felt like he knew Taako pretty well at this point though, and he felt like something was up. “You look really nice today,” he added, and Taako shrugged noncommittally. Definitely a little too casually.

“I look nice every day,” he argued, which was honestly the response Angus should have expected.

“No, you usually look like death after a mission,” he argued, getting a very offended look from Taako. He huffed, definitely exaggerating his annoyance for show.

“Lucky for you I’ve met Death now and he’s fine as fuck,” Taako said, getting a snicker out of Angus. They reached the hanger now, the two letting their conversation pause as Taako told Avi a place near the outskirts of Neverwinter to set them down at. Once they were inside the canon and heading down Angus turned back towards Taako.

“Have you talked to Mr. Kravitz recently?” he asked. They didn’t talk about the guy much, he got the feeling Taako was still figuring out how to. Still, he’d brought him up, and seemed to be in a pretty good mood today, so Angus figured it was a pretty good opportunity. At the very least, it might be the best way to ease into what he wanted to actually talk about.

“Here and there yeah, ya know how it is,” Taako said, and Angus couldn’t help but frown at that. There was definitely something weird about the way he was talking, something he was trying to hide.

“Uhuh,” he said slowly. Taako pulled the break for the glass ball, their decent starting to slow. “Is everything um, okay with that?” he asked, because honestly he wasn’t too sure how it was. Taako certainly seemed happy whenever he talked to Kravitz, and he’d gone out a few times since that one meeting about Refuge. He didn’t necessarily say every time that it was to meet with Kravitz, but Angus was a very good detective. But since Taako didn’t talk about it and Angus had never actually followed him during one of those outings he couldn’t say for sure.

“Oh yeah, for sure!” Taako said, maybe a little too quickly. “Uh, how do you feel about all that?” he asked, the transport canon landing now. Angus frowned as the question, unbuckling himself as he thought about it.

“Fine I guess? It’s nice to see you so happy all the time,” he said, following Taako out of the pod. Taako make a face like he wanted to protest that, and Angus was a little surprised when he didn’t.

“Right, I guess that’s one way you could put it,” he muttered instead. Yeah, there was definitely something on his mind when it came to Mr. Kravitz, and it was very hard for Angus to not try and figure this out. He told himself he could after, but first they had to worry about the animus bell.

“So, about the next relic mission,” he started, but he wasn’t able to actually get into anything before Taako was nodding quickly, starting to walk off down the alley they landed in.

“Yeah uh, you wanna get some lunch first?” he asked, and Angus couldn’t help but frown a little at that. They didn’t have a big breakfast before having to go off to training though, so he couldn’t argue too much.

“Sure? But we really need to talk about this,” he insisted, following along.

“Right no, we will for sure. Come on, I know a nice little place around here,” he said, and Angus followed along. It really wasn’t far, in fact judging from where Taako had them dropped off Angus could pretty well guess that this might have been planned. It was kind of nice, and any other time he really would have appreciated it. He missed getting to hang out and not worry about the fate of the world all the time.

As much as he wanted to just ignore everything Angus kept telling himself that they couldn’t. They were running out of time and needed to figure out their plan. Hopefully he could get Taako to actually talk to him when they ate lunch.

Any hope of that went out the window when Taako let them into the little diner place he’d picked out. Angus wasn’t sure how he hadn’t managed to put it together, but as soon as he saw the person sitting awkwardly at one of the booths it all made sense.

“Oh hey! Fancy meeting you here, geeze uh, small world, am I right?” Taako said, a somewhat forced grin on his face. As far as Angus could tell, it wasn’t fake because of who they were seeing. No, Taako was genuinely happy to see Kravitz sitting at the booth, and from Mr. Kravitz’s smile he was glad to see them too.

“Yes that’s uh, quite a coincidence,” Kravitz said, and while Taako was not the best actor by a long shot Mr. Kravitz was absolutely abysmal.

“You two planned this,” he said bluntly. The grim reaper winced, immediately giving the ruse away, although from the look on Taako’s face he was trying his best to keep it up.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, but Angus could tell that he knew this wasn’t going to work.

“Dad can we talk? Outside,” he asked, and he wasn’t too sure what the whole point of this was or why Mr. Kravitz looked all disappointed, but he couldn’t bring himself to care all that much at the moment. They had important things they needed to deal with and they didn’t have any time left. Taako looked conflicted for a moment before sighing and shrugging.

“Yeah sure why not? We’ll be back in a bit,” he said, turning to Kravitz for that last part. Angus grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the restaurant and around to the side. “What’s up?” Taako asked once they finally stopped.

“Dad, I told you I had something important to talk to you about,” he said, and Taako nodded.

“Right no I get that. I know you’re worried about the next mission but-” he started, but Angus cut him off.

“I’m not just worried! We need to have some sort of plan in case something goes wrong,” he insisted, and the Director’s words kept playing over and over again in his head.

Even without the relic, there are only a handful that could possibly take them on and win.

The Red Robes can not help us.

One of those things was a lie, and Angus was sure it wasn’t the one he wanted it to be.

“We do have a plan, we’ve got the code. If something happens I’ll call you and-” Taako tried, but it wasn’t enough.

“What if you can’t? What if you get trapped, or hurt, or you stones break or anything? We need to figure this out but you’re not taking this seriously and- and you’re just- and now he’s here,” he said, and Angus wasn’t sure when he started feeling so choked up, but he was very thankful he’d dragged them back to the side of the building. He started having to blink back tears and immediately there was a look of panic on Taako’s face. At least that never changed.

“Hey, hey relax, okay? Shit, look we’re gonna figure it out, okay?” he said, and Angus nodded. It didn’t do much to get him to stop tearing up though, and Taako could tell. “I thought you liked Kravitz?” he asked, and Angus sighed.

“I do. He’s fine,” he said, and even though it wasn’t a lie it didn’t sound very convincing.

“But?” Taako pressed. Angus started kicking at the ground, avoiding Taako’s eyes and he hated this. Since they joined the bureau he’d started feeling more grown up, but now that was gone as he knew he was acting like some dumb, selfish little kid.

“But I thought you wanted to hang out with me today, but instead you just want to go on another date with your new boyfriend,” he muttered, and the worst part was that he hadn’t thought it was bothering him. It shouldn’t bother him, he knew Taako wasn’t going to get rid of him, he hadn’t been afraid of that in so long.

He didn’t know what to think of all this though, and so he just hadn’t been. He’d been too busy too, or at least he was telling himself that. It was somehow easier to think about red robes and liches and good and evil than it was to think about if his dad might decide he’s happier with his new boyfriend than with him around. 

When he chanced looking back up at Taako he was frowning, still obviously a little panicked and unsure of what to do, like he always was whenever Angus got upset.

“Shit, fuck okay, dinged this one up again. Surprise was apparently not the way to go, my bad,” Taako said, and Angus cocked his head to the side slightly, confused.

“What do you mean?” he asked, and Taako sighed.

“I just, okay. You know I’m bad at this so just bare with me,” he said, and Angus couldn’t help but smile a little bit when he nodded. Taako took a deep breath, seeming to steady himself before starting again. “Kravitz wanted to have a day out with both of us,” he said, and that was unexpected.

“Mr. Kravitz did? Why?” Angus asked, and maybe how incredulous he sounded was a little rude, but he wasn’t here to listen.

“I mean, we both did but it was his idea,” Taako corrected, and Angus could at least recognize the uncomfortable expression on his dad’s face now. It was embarrassment, which typically happened whenever he had to be honest about an emotion. “Basically, we wanted to have a day out with like, all of us, cause I like Kravitz a lot. I told him though that you know, you come first, so if uh, if this was gonna be a serious thing that he better be sure to get on your good side,” he explained. It took a few seconds for all that to process for Angus.

“Oh,” he said finally, and Taako nodded, still looking sheepish.

“Yeah no, we uh, we had this planned for a bit now. Timing maybe wasn’t the best though, kinda jumped at the first fucking free chance we got,” he added, and that made sense. He could tell that Taako was preoccupied, but he hadn’t really been able to place why.

“We still need to talk about the mission tomorrow,” he said, but his heart didn’t sound as into it as it was before. It wasn’t that he wasn’t still worried about it, but a lot of the fight got drained out of him at that. Taako nodded, and at least he didn’t look annoyed at Angus’s insistence.

“For sure, look I’m not itching to die on some fucking suicide mission for the bureau, alright? We’ll figure this out,” he said, and Angus let out a sigh of relief at that. He already knew that, but it helped to hear it again. “But uh, would you be chill to hang out for a bit first? Grab some lunch, I actually am fucking starving, and Krav’s been pretty excited for this,” he added, and Angus smiled a little as he nodded.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty good,” he said, and Taako let out a sigh of relief at that. Before they could head in though Angus moved forward, wrapping Taako up in a hug. He could tell it took him off guard for a moment, but he hugged back quickly enough.

As terrified as he was about what might come tomorrow, maybe Taako had the right idea. Maybe it would be nice to enjoy as much of the day as they could before whatever was going to happen happens.

—

So that didn’t go how Taako might have hoped it would, but he didn’t think he could be blamed too much for that. He had a lot on his plate, between all the fucking training the director was throwing at him and trying to save the world and raising a kid and now starting to try out the whole dating thing for the first time in what felt like a thousand years.

He knew Angus was worried about the upcoming mission, but he might have missed just how worried. He definitely missed Angus feeling snubbed with how much he was hanging out with Kravitz.

And Taako knew he was definitely not great at all this yet, but that was even something he knew to look out for. He’d been trying not to spend too much time with Kravitz, and if the director hadn’t been filling up all their days with backbreaking training he was pretty sure he’d have a good balance here. Or something, at least not a terrible balance. With Kravitz’s job they couldn’t even hang out that much to begin with, or it tended to be at odd times.

Which was why he jumped on this meeting the first chance he got. Apparently though he should have thought things out a little bit more beforehand, or at least warned Angus.

When they headed back into the restaurant though Taako was pretty sure he’d gotten everything smoothed over.

“Okay sorry about that, we’re all good now. As expected Angus was way too smart and saw through the ruse,” he said as they got to the table Kravitz was still waiting at. He perked up immediately at the sight of them, and it wasn’t hard to see that he was still worried about botching the second impression.

“Ah, in that case I suppose we should try this again?” he asked, and thankfully Angus nodded, looking like he was willing to play along now.

“Yes, that would be a good idea. It’s nice to see you again, I’m sorry I got upset earlier. I thought my dad was using this as an excuse to get out of a serious conversation,” Angus said. Kravitz smiled at that, an amused expression on his face.

“To be fair, he probably was,” Kravitz said. Taako huffed at that, sliding down into the booth roughly.

“Oh no, we’re not doing that. You two try and gang up on me and we’re calling this whole thing off,” he said, and despite his annoyance he was relieved when that got both of them to smile. It also seemed to break the ice some, the conversation a little more comfortable after that.

Taako had been worried that once he actually got here, with Angus and Kravitz meeting and bringing all this new shit he still wasn’t used to together it would end bad. Either it would be too awkward, or they wouldn’t like each other. Or it could be even worse, that it all just ended up being too fucking domestic for him and he couldn’t handle it. That he'd realized that none of this was actually for him and he’d have to leave.

And there were moments where everything started to get scarily domestic. Whenever Angus would call him dad or Kravitz would call him a pet name Taako wasn’t too sure if the feeling in his chest was something good or a cold panic. He wasn’t quite feeling like he needed to burn it all down and run away though, and once they got their food and could eat he started to feel like he might be able to ease into this.

It helped that the conversation quickly turned to Kravitz’s work, which was unsurprising with Angus here. Things did end up feeling decidedly less domestic when talking about rounding up liches and cults, the two starting to trade goddamn crime scene stories and all that. Maybe it was just a really weird flavor of domestic, but Taako could take it.

By the end of lunch it seemed like Angus’s mood had turned around as well, which was more of a relief than Taako expected. He hadn’t realized how much he had been hoping this would go well. He liked Kravitz, and he kind of wanted to see if this could actually go somewhere. Apparently the whole thing would still need to take a bit more communication, but Taako could give it a shot. He kinda wanted to give it a shot.

Actually, he could maybe kill two birds with one stone with this.

“Oh hey Ango, you know that thing you wanted to talk about after this?” he asked, the current conversation about how time worked in the astral plane having come to a lull. Fuck, they were both such nerds.

“Uh yeah? What about it?” Angus asked, looking a little reserved about that topic coming up. Which was fair, but Taako thought this could work.

“I just thought of a way to make sure we’ll have some backup. So Krav, we’re probably gonna go on another mission for a relic tomorrow. The Director thinks it’s a real nasty one, little chance of us coming back alive and all that,” he said, immediately getting a worried look from Kravitz.

“Please don’t die again. I am rapidly reaching the end of the pull I have for you all on this,” he said, and Taako waved away the worry.

“Yeah that’s kinda what this is about. Angus, would it help you feel better if we had Krav here on standby? I know the Director said that only the red robes could face this thing and survive but like, he’s the grim reaper. Can you even die in any way that matters?” Taako asked, and he could see Angus’s brain working at that.

“It would be very difficult, mostly I just go back to the astral plane to recharge,” he explained, and Taako turned to Angus.

“See? If shit gets too bad we’ll call in the big guns,” he said, and Angus nodded reluctantly.

“I guess that would help a lot. Would that be okay with you Mr. Kravitz?” he asked, and thankfully Kravitz nodded.

“I’d suggest only calling as a last resort. It seems like your organization wants as little outside interference as possible for safety, but my duties tomorrow only pertain to maintaining the eternal stockade. Nothing I shouldn’t be able to jump away from for five minutes if you’re in danger,” he said, and Taako grinned at that.

“I can work with that, you good with that pumpkin?” he asked, and there did seem to be some relief in Angus’s form as he nodded.

“Yes, thank you sir,” he said, and Kravitz grinned at that.

“I mean, I have an invested interest in keeping him alive as well. Makes my job a whole lot easier,” he said, and Angus laughed at that. Taako leaned back in his seat some, taking a big sip of his drink. He still wasn’t great at this, but he was getting better.

Yeah, this could actually work out nice.

Notes:

okay next chapter will be suffering game, I promise. I did not get as much of this fic done this camp nano as I had hoped (got super focused onto another one of my fics, you know how it be), but we're still chugging along towards the end at a steady pace.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 47: Can Only Try

When Angus woke up the next morning it was hard to place the unease he felt. He knew why he was nervous, it would be dumb if he didn’t. Today was the day the reclaimers were being sent down after the next relic. Despite all of the prep Angus had tried to do there was still no way to know for sure if they would all come back alright. He had faith in them, but that concern was still there.

It was just that the whole world seemed to be holding its breath as well. It was hard to put into words what that even meant, but it definitely left an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Maybe he was just nervous. He was probably just nervous.

Angus wasn’t surprised when instead of being called down to training, instead the reclaimers were requested in the Director’s office. It was a little bit later in the day than when they would normally train, and he supposed the Director wanted to make sure they had gotten as much rest as possible before sending them out.

A part of him wished that she could wait one more day before sending them out. He knew putting it off any longer wasn’t actually going to help though, so once they all got dressed Angus followed along to the Director’s office. No one seemed to question him coming along at this point, which was something of a relief. He didn’t want to be pushed out of anything important anymore, especially not something like this.

When they reached the Director’s office she looked so tired. A lot of the hardness from the past few months of training didn’t seem to be there anymore, and instead she just looked worn down. Worried.

Angus wished he could get more than that. He wished he knew exactly what it was that made her look so concerned, because there was a level to her exhaustion that looked old. Like this was something she had carried with her for a long time. He wasn’t sure how else to describe it.

Along with that the pleasantries that she started off with sounded the slightest bit forced, in a way that was odd with the Director. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy spending time with them, Angus was good enough at reading people to know that wasn’t the case, that despite how frustrating and silly the three tended to be sometimes, she truly cared about them.

Or at least, he was pretty sure she cared about them.

No, it felt more forced in like she was trying to find something else to talk about. Some reason to delay the actual reason for their meeting the slightest bit longer. Despite that she didn’t linger on off topic subjects for very long, turning her back to them as she began to tell them the story of her first trip through Wonderland.

And Angus had wanted her to tell him, had explicitly asked for her to and she had promised him that she would. He didn’t regret knowing now either, but as he stared up at the painting of the Director, at least two decades younger and listened to her explain the hell that going through Wonderland had been, it didn’t make him feel any better. He’d hoped that knowing would help, and he still felt that it was better to know than to not, but all it really did was make the sour twist in his stomach even worse.

So of course, Magnus was excited about it and Taako and Merle didn’t seem all that bothered by the prospect either. Maybe a little concerned, definitely more cautious than Magnus, but once again it was like the prospect of dying didn’t register to them as a permanent problem.

And maybe they were right. Or not right, but maybe it wouldn’t go horribly. They’d already talked to Kravitz, they weren’t going in alone like the Director had. They might be able to make this work.

“Madame Director, if there are other participants in Wonderland I’m worried we run the risk of running into more Red Robes,” Magnus spoke up. Angus didn’t mean to look over at him quite that quickly. He managed to school his expression into something more neutral, and he was pretty sure no one but Taako and maybe Davenport was paying too much attention to him right now. One of the perks of being smaller.

“I find that unlikely, the Red Robes to my surprise are still in operation, but there can not be that many,” the Director insisted, and that was a fair point. Or it would be, if there weren’t a few complicating factors.

“I think he’s right Madame Director. Even if there aren’t many out there they have to know about our mission to retrieves the relics by now. If Wonderland is blatant enough to send you a flier with the relic on it then it’s very possible they know it’s there too, and I don’t think an evil organization of rogue wizards will let us keep stealing and destroying their relics for much longer,” he jumped in. It was logical to expect the Red Robes to have attacked them by now, it was honestly strange that they hadn’t.

Or it would be strange, if they were actually evil.

“Which is why we need to get you three down there to retrieve the relic as soon as possible. We do not have anymore time to waste,” the Director insisted.

“But if we do run into them, don’t you want us to find out as much as possible?” Magnus pressed, and Angus could see the Director’s expression harden the slightest bit at that.

“No, if you see one just run away, you are not ready to face them. Do not listen to them, they will lie and do whatever necessary to trick you but their motives are evil. They are pure evil and cannot be trusted,” she said, her grip tight on her staff. Magnus wasn’t the hardest person to read, and it was clear that something here was bothering him.

“But how do you know?” he pressed.

“I’ve… had my fair share of run ins with the Red Robes,” the Director admitted, and for once it seemed like her facade was breaking the slightest bit. The small hesitation in her voice showing that there was so much more there than she was letting on.

“And they’ve all been evil?” Magnus asked, an almost sad tone to his voice.

“Invariably,” the Director answered decisively. The topic changed some at that, Magnus drawing back for a moment as they started to get things sorted out. The Director wanted them to head out as soon as possible, somehow seeming a bit more urgent than she had been with any of the other relics. It was honestly the slightest bit odd. It seemed like even without the relic Wonderland was a horrible place, but as far as Angus could tell the only people who were in danger were those already in Wonderland.

Some of the other relics had been out in major cities or on running trains or threatening to crystallize the whole world. The Animus Bell, while still being used to hurt people, seemed to be mostly contained.

So Angus wasn’t sure what the anxious rush was about in the Director.

It seemed like the others didn’t get it either, because Magnus was insisting that he had to go do something real quick, and then so was Taako. Despite the urgency coming from the Director she sighed, nodding and telling them to be sure to all meet in the hanger in ten minutes in order to leave. With that Magnus practically ran out of the office, and when Taako started heading back towards their room Angus followed along.

Once they were out in the hallway though he stopped, looking down the direction Magnus had run off and hesitating some, tempted to try and follow him. He was the world’s greatest detective, but even he could make a mistake or let something slip every now and then. He got the feeling that something like that might have happened here.

He didn’t know how long it had been going on for, but it was clear that something was happening with Magnus. He couldn’t be sure of what, but it clearly had something to do with the Red Robes.

“Hey Ango, you coming?” Taako called back, looking at him from down the hall now in confusion. Giving it once last glance, he nodded and quickly followed after Taako, waiting until they were farther away from the Director’s office before saying anything.

“Magnus was acting weird, don’t you think?” he said, and Taako shrugged at that.

“I guess so, he’s been a little weird ever since we got back from Refuge, ya know? I figured it was just his thing with the chalice,” he said, and Angus nodded. He had thought that too, but maybe he had been too dismissive. He wished he had more time, to talk to Magnus and maybe figure out what was going on.

“He seemed really interested in the Red Robes,” he said, and they’d reached their dorm now. Following Taako into their room, Angus watched as he crawled under the bed and began digging around for something.

“Yeah, that was kinda odd. Never really took the big guy to put much more thought into anything other than the typical, these are the bad guys we’re the good guys sort of thing, ya know?” Taako said and Angus nodded at that.

“Right, same here,” he muttered. When Taako climbed out from under the bed he had pulled out the flaming raging poisoning sword of doom out from where it had apparently been shoved down there. Angus was still a little amazed that Taako had managed to scam it out of Garfield, and seeing that he was taking the frankly ridiculous weapon did manage to ease Angus’s nerves the slightest bit. Even if he knew for a fact that Taako had no idea how to actually wield the unruly thing.

Slinging it onto his back, Taako took a moment to look Angus over, a small frown on his face. They really needed to get down to the hanger soon, but for once Angus wasn’t going to be the one to rush them along.

“You still freaking out pumpkin?” Taako asked after a moment, and Angus quickly shook his head.

“I’m not freaking out,” he insisted, getting an unimpressed look from Taako at that, slowly raising his eyebrow at him. He didn’t last long, sighing after a moment and shrugging, not meeting Taako’s eyes. “I’m just worried. You swear you’re gonna come back?” he asked, and he knew this wasn’t something Taako could actually promise. Somehow though Taako nodding was even more of a relief than the giant weapon on his back.

“Yeah, yeah, of course I’m gonna come back,” he said, and after a moment he rolled his eyes, holding his arms out. “Alright come here, you get one,” he said, and immediately Angus ran over and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. Taako hugged him back, and when he spoke he barely managed to sound begrudging. “Can’t believe you force me to be this damn soft. You better never tell anyone I’m like this,” he said, and Angus couldn’t help smiling at that.

“I didn’t make you do anything dad,” he insisted, hugging him for a few seconds longer before finally pulling away. He knew they needed to get going soon, even if he really, really didn’t want to have to.

“You’re a master of psychological manipulation, don’t even pretend,” he said, getting a snorting laughter out of Angus. It didn’t last long enough, and looking over at the small clock on the side table he couldn’t help but wince.

“We should get going,” he muttered, and Taako nodded. At least here and now he looked almost as hesitant about this whole thing as Angus felt.

“Yeah, get this show on the road,” he said, starting towards the door. He stopped before actually going through it though, and maybe the worry was all catching up to him at once. “We’ll be fine pumpkin, we got Krav as back up, remember?” he said, and Angus nodded.

“I know,” he said, and Taako still seemed worried.

“And you remember the code? For if shit goes south?” he asked, and Angus nodded again.

“Yes, of course,” he said. Taako paused a moment longer, taking one last deep breath before steeling himself and heading out. Angus followed, and when they got to the hanger Merle was already there. Magnus showed up a few minutes later, looking a little winded as he came running, a suspicious look on his face.

For once though Angus didn’t question it. It was hard not to, especially when he asked if they had any mind wiping spells, but they simply didn’t have the time for Angus to pry right now. He wasn’t sure why, but that sensation he got of the whole world holding its breath only seemed to get worse the longer they waited.

The goodbye was quick and so usual. Angus had a feeling that was intentional, Taako giving him another quick hug, ruffling his hair some before getting into the transport canon without another word. All Angus could do was watch as they were shot down to the felicity wilds.

All he could really do now was wait.

Angus knew that he had never been that good at waiting though. So instead of heading back to the Director’s office, he went to their room. Climbing under Taako’s bed, the flaming raging poisoning sword of doom wasn’t the only thing he’d kept under there.

There were also the two pieces of the shattered umbrastaff, which Angus pulled out, crawling onto the bed before setting them down in his lap. Taking a deep breath, he wasn’t sure if he would actually be able to cast the spell like he wanted to.

But all he could do was try.

——

Taako couldn’t say he was a fan of how serious everything was at that bureau as they left for their next mission. He could understand why it was like that, apparently this place was super dangerous. Definitely didn’t sound like fun the way Magnus seemed to think it did, but it wasn’t like they hadn’t already been through several different flavors of hell. They could get through this one too.

Surely whatever this place was couldn’t be worse than actively dying over and over again, so at least they had that.

He told himself that everyone else being all serious was the only reason he was feeling nervous. Once they were in the sphere and heading down he was doing better. Of course he didn’t feel that much better now that he was there, but it wasn’t like there was anything to do at this point.

He just needed to make it back. He could do that one more time.

The sphere headed down fast, the felicity wilds pretty much directly below them. Magnus pulled the handle before they could crash, but they still ended up stuck up in a tree.

Looking down at the long fall, there was a part of Taako that really did miss the umbrastaff right now. It had featherfall, which would’ve made this a cakewalk. As it was he pushed the idea out of his mind and cast polymorph instead, turning into a dove and flying down after Merle on his broom.

He did not like the sound of roaring he heard as he came down, and by the time Magnus joined them with his grappling hook he was pretty sure there was something going on in these woods.

That something ended up being a giant fucking chimera that took down the transport sphere before attacking them. 

So far, not the best start to one of their adventures. Not sure if it was the worst either though.

They ended up mostly defeating it though, the situation pretty well handled by the time that other group of adventurers came and swooped in for the kill. Well, adventurers and also the king of all Neverwinter, he was apparently here too. Taako had to say, definitely not as impressive as Taako imagined him being. The weird laser light show he had going on leading them to Wonderland was kind of cool, but Taako wasn’t paying that much attention to the conversation as they all walked.

He just wanted to get this all done with as soon as possible. He didn’t know why he was still so on edge, this wasn’t usually much of an issue going into a mission. He couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong, but he didn’t like how stormy it looked. Maybe he would feel better once they got inside.

Of course, when they actually got to Wonderland that option wasn’t looking too great either. They watched as the other adventuring party went in first saying goodbyes and giving jerky and all that. Then the strange building spun once more for a moment, ending on another space, this time their names on top of it.

Before he could reconsider his whole life and all of his choices, Magnus was pulling him inside, and suddenly they were plunged into pitch blackness.

Taako could say, when the lights came on and the music started he was suddenly much more of a fan than he expected to be. He was immediately grinning in delight, watching the two beautiful elf twins pose down the runway and clapping enthusiastically when they reached the end.

Sure it was unlikely, but Taako wondered for a moment if maybe the director was actually full of shit and this place was actually rad as all hell. It would certainly be a deserved change of pace from the beatings they usually had to take on these missions.

Of course as they actually explained the rules it started to sound a little less pleasant, and Taako could tell a scam when he saw one. This one was pretty simple at its base, start off with low level problems and challenges you could handle. Then slowly upping the stakes until you didn’t realize how much you were giving away until it was too late. Some classic good old fashioned frog boiling.

Still, despite knowing that it was a set up it seemed like this might be something they could handle as they stepped out of the first room. Sure Magnus was down a finger, Merle no longer had special eyes and Taako’s punishment was to be continued, but it was something. One room down, however fucking many more to go.

The next room they ended up going in offered a choice. Taako didn’t think he was being unreasonable by insisting they press forsake, but he also couldn’t say he was surprised when his companions chose to go with trust instead.

As they headed into the next challenge Taako tried to tell himself that they had been through worse. Sure terrible bears and jellies that duplicated were pretty damn bad, but Taako wasn’t going to fuck around. Hitting the jelly with disintegrate it seemed like they were off to a pretty good start.

And then his bad luck hit, a piece of machinery the size of a goddamn washing machine falling on top of him.

Things understandably got a bit worse after that, but they managed to get through the fight. They were pretty damn fucked up by the end of it, and Merle’s powers seemed to be on the fritz lately.

Not that it mattered, since they weren’t able to actually fucking heal in this place.

They weren’t moving on right away, and the elves that ran this place didn’t seem to care about them stopping for a moment. Taako figured that was strategic too, because he got the feeling this place didn’t actually want them dead. It just wanted them hurting, and the longer it gave them to sit and stew in their pain was fine by them.

Taako slumped down against some of the metal workings as Magnus and Merle started talking to some disembodied head. He honestly couldn’t care less and wasn’t paying attention for the most part. Some random dude who was promising to help them along on their journey, pretty standard stuff. They didn’t need him for this, he was just gonna sit here and try to will his guts to stop leaking all over the place.

When he suddenly heard a voice in his head, quiet like it was whispering, for a moment he thought that he must’ve been hearing things. That wasn’t his usual deal though, and it was clear enough that it felt like it needed to be real.

Something about the voice almost brought tears to his eyes, but he figured anyone watching would just assume it was from the excruciating amount of pain he was in.

“Don’t react. No one else can hear this. We’re on your side,” it said, and the only things he could tell about the voice was that it was female and sounded painfully familiar. He couldn’t place from where though, which felt beyond frustrating.

“Who’s ‘we’ exactly?” he asked back after a moment, trying to look like he was paying attention as Magnus and Merle questioned Cam about Wonderland. He was still picking up bits and pieces of their conversation, how wonderland was a death trap and the elves who controlled it were liches, but he was pretty well distracted at this point.

“Can’t quite tell you that yet, but soon. Let’s just say I’m a friend of Angus,” the voice said, and really that was all it needed to say. Taako nodded, pretending he was agreeing with something Cam said and hoping this voice could get the picture.

“The umbrastaff lich, got it,” he said, because that was the thing that made the most sense here. Maybe that was where the familarity came from. When the voice spoke again it sounded both amused and something else Taako couldn’t quite place. A soft pain or sadness or something was the best he could guess.

“Yeah, got it in one,” she said, and from what he could tell the others were starting to finish up their conversation soon. He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to talk to this disembodied voice, at least not without the others noticing how distracted he was. “He’s a good kid by the way, you did alright,” the voice added, and it was hard not to scoff at that. He managed though, cause it felt pretty important that no one else know what was going on.

“I think you mean I got lucky,” he said, because he couldn’t take that much credit for Angus being such a good kid. He already was one when Taako found him, he just succeeded in not fucking him up too bad.

“Fair enough,” the void said casually. It was surprisingly easy to talk to them, despite the fact that every time they spoke it felt like someone was slowly digging into his heart with an ice pick.

Magnus and Merle were agreeing to take Cam the head with them, and Taako was not thrilled when he heard something about additional sacrifices, but he was too busy to object. He figured he needed to wrap up whatever this conversation was quick before they moved on.

“So, what’s happening here? We’re gonna get going soon, got a plan here umbrella ghost?” he asked, and the voice answered quickly at that. He was gonna assume she could see what was going on too and could tell they didn’t have much time before having to move onto the next torture chamber.

“Yeah, we got one. We just need you guys to hang on and keep those assholes distracted for a little bit longer. Oh, and don’t die,” she said, and Taako looked down at his blood soaked shirt for a moment.

“We’ll work on it. If worse comes to worse I know a guy in the afterlife who promised to hook me up,” he said. Sure Kravitz hadn’t said he could help if Taako actually died, but he could probably beg and look real sad until he agreed to something.

“Ah, right. Well, do your best, I’d still really rather not see you die. Even if you’ve got a fucking grim reaper sugar daddy,” she said, sounding more amused than anything. Taako wanted to argue with that a little, but Magnus and Merle were getting ready to go, so he slowly stood up.

Taako guessed it was some small relief, knowing that there was someone else here aiming to help them. He didn’t know why he was willing to trust them, but he guessed Angus had been pretty adamant that he didn’t think they were bad people. He wasn’t sure how the kid was able to tell that so quickly, but he was pretty sure he understood it now.

There was something about her he just trusted.

Heading into the next room, they just needed to stay alive for a bit longer. They could do this.

No matter what, he was going home after this.

Notes:

Oh we're getting so close now, I kinda can't believe how long i've been working on this fic. We're finally at Wonderland now though, here it comes for the home stretch. Definitely planning on trying to get this whole fic finished up by the end of the year, hopefully a bit sooner than that, but we'll see.

as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 48: Waiting and Worrying

Angus was trying to focus on the remains of the umbrastaff, but it was hard. He’d been learning magic from Taako for years now, and he felt like he was pretty dang good at it by this point. Even still, the types of magic that focused more on feelings and intuition were always a struggle for him, probably because Taako didn’t tend to use them much either.

He needed it to work right now though, because he knew something wasn’t right. Maybe he was just stressed, but it felt different from that. Stressed was shaky limbs and losing feeling in his fingers and toes, it was a buzzing in his head that made it hard to think or understand what everyone else was saying, or making him understand all of it too much at once.

This wasn’t that. This was a cold terror that sat in his chest and told him that something was wrong, even if he couldn’t quite pinpoint the exact thing that had changed. A nagging in the back of his head that told him he was missing something and the feeling of what that something was on the tip of his tongue.

He could have called Mr. Kravitz, but they already had a plan with him. Taako was going to contact him if anything went wrong, and Angus didn’t want to be talking to him when they tried and make him miss it. As weird as he felt about everything, what was going on here didn’t quite qualify as an emergency yet, so Angus wasn’t going to play that card.

That friendly lich he had spoken to in the umbrastaff seemed like the only other option he had right now.

Sending was a third level spell, which was getting to the upper end of spells he could cast at this point. Still, he could cast it, so normally it wouldn’t be any sort of issue, he wouldn’t need any sort of weird umbrella workaround or anything like that. Unfortunately though, he’d already tried that, and it seemed like this wasn’t a normal situation.

There was something keeping the spell from going through. He couldn’t tell what it was, although he had a few guesses. The most obvious reason would be that the person he was trying to send his message to did not exist anymore. That was usually what a failed message spell meant, and it would certainly be the easiest answer.

Despite that and despite the fact that he knew as a detective that the simplest solutions were always the most likely, he didn’t think that was it. Or at least, he didn’t want to think that was it. He couldn’t assume she was gone, and he wasn’t even sure why he felt so certain. He just was.

And there were other options, even if they were slightly less likely they certainly weren’t impossible. It might have something to do with that forcefield that had thrown her off the moon base, or it might have been some sort of block she made herself, to keep herself hidden. If either of these were the case the chances of Angus actually managing to break through whatever was keeping his spells out were slim.

But still, he had to try. He couldn’t just keep sitting here doing nothing.

Taking a deep breath, Angus focused hard on the lich he’d spoken to before and the umbrastaff as he cast the spell this time. If it didn’t work this time he didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t keep wasting his higher level spell slots. He didn’t actually have that much, even if it was much more than any other kid his age. Normally he would keep trying until he had nothing left, but things felt weird today. He didn’t want to take that chance, not until he had a better idea of what was going on.

He felt the spell go off, although that didn’t necessarily mean it was reaching the target. Still, he sent out the message on the hope that it was, because he didn’t have many other choices.

‘Miss, sorry to bother but I think my dad is in danger. We could use your help if you’re not evil. Please respond,’ he thought, holding his breath as the spell faded, waiting for some sort of answer. There was a long, painful couple of seconds where everything was silent.

And then he heard a familiar voice answer in his head.

‘Oh wow, my b̴̛͡r̷̸̛o̡͢ţ̸̸͠h̵͜ȩ̕̕͘͝r̷̨͝͞ taught you good. Don’t worry little guy, we’re on it. Thanks for the head’s up,’ she said, and it wasn’t a lot of words but there was still so much to take from that.

There was something he couldn’t understand, which probably stood out the most. He couldn’t think about that too hard though, despite his best attempts. There was something there he should know and it was incredibly frustrating, like a word being right on the tip of his tongue. The only thing he could really get was that she seemed impressed, and considering how powerful the red robes were definitely did good things for his ego.

The main thing though was that she said she’d help. More specifically, she said ‘we’ so maybe she had found the other Red Robe after all. That should probably be a worrying idea, but he’d take what he could get. 

But that was really all he could get now. He sent his message, things weren’t quite dire enough yet to try anything else. Hell, trying to contact the actual red robes was already pretty dang last resort, so there wasn’t much further he could go besides going down himself. He was smart enough to know that would be the worst idea and that Taako would probably never forgive him. So it was maybe a little reluctantly, but he wasn’t going to do that. Not unless he didn’t have any other choice.

Right now though, he was stuck sitting in his room, and it was too quiet. Looking down at the broken umbrastaff one last time, there wasn’t much left to do with it other than shove it back under the bed. Getting up, he started to head back to the director’s office. It was always the best place to at least try and keep in contact with the reclaimers after all, and she would probably start to wonder what was taking him so long if he stayed out much longer.

The director didn’t seem to have taken too much notice of his delay in getting back though, and it was easy to see why if you knew what to look for. She was clearly stressed, practically beside herself as she tried to appear busy at her desk. She did glance up as he came in, but it wasn’t for long before she went right back to whatever paperwork she was flipping over

“So, they’re off then?” she asked, and it was clear that she was trying to sound neutral about it. Angus nodded, heading over to the large bookcase she had in her office, trying to find something that might help with Wonderland. He didn’t know much about the place though, and he doubted anything new he managed to dig up at this point would be of any help. Still, it was something to do.

“Yep ma’am,” he said, finally picking a book that looked vaguely necrotic and going to sit down. The quiet in the room was tense, and it wasn’t like Angus couldn’t understand why. This was always the hardest part, sending them off and not having any idea how they were doing. The quiet when there was no way to know if they could even contact them if they wanted to. It was like torture.

“You know madame director, I still stand by my earlier statement,” he said once the quiet got too much to bare. The director looked up at him, some slight confusion on her face at that.

“And what statement was that?” she asked.

“The one where I said that if you get my dad killed I will destroy your entire large moon organization,” he answered as bluntly as possible. It clearly wasn’t what the director was expecting, and even though she laughed he had a feeling she knew he was being serious. She certainly didn’t seem to think the idea of any of the reclaimers dying was very funny, quickly sobering up.

“I will hold you to that Angus. If we somehow manage to survive the oncoming storm without them than I have no doubt that you would have the skills to eventually be my undoing,” she said. It was certainly an odd way to phrase that, and he wasn’t sure if he should comment on it or not.

He already knew that something fishy was going on though. The more he tried to poke holes the more on edge the director would be. So instead he let it slide, going back to his pointless research.

The hours passed by slowly, and there was no sign from the reclaimers. Every so often Angus would try to call them on his stone, despite the fact that nothing had changed from the last time he did. Each time was the same, no answer and a dull static from whatever magic field was blocking their communication. The director didn’t seem surprised by that, but considering she had been in Wonderland before that made sense.

Eventually the Director insisted he go eat lunch, and then several hours of nothing later dinner. He ended up having leftovers both times, and it wasn’t like he couldn’t cook, he liked cooking.

He didn’t like cooking without Taako though. It was something they did together, and so he could wait. They would be back soon, and until then there were plenty of leftovers for him to eat.

He was trying not to pay attention to the time, but it was pretty much impossible. As he waited he kept looking at the clock and hoping that the stones of farspeech would suddenly come back into connection, or he’d get a message in his head from the red robes, or even Kravitz. Just some sign to know that they were still doing okay.

It was nearing eleven at night though and there was still no sign of them. Angus hadn’t realized his eyes had closed until he quickly fluttered them back open, jolting a little. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised that the director noticed, a sad, concerned frown on her face.

“Perhaps it would be best if you went to get some rest,” she said. Angus wanted to argue with that. He didn’t want to leave yet, they could come back at any minute. They’d come back later during missions, and he wanted to be there for this one. He needed to be, somewhere deep in his gut he knew that.

He really was tired though, and he could hear Taako in the back of his head, nagging him to rest before he overdid it. Letting out a sign, he nodded and pushed himself off of the chair he had curled up into.

“I guess you’re right. You should get some rest too madam director,” he suggested, even though he had a feeling she wouldn’t listen to the advice. She nodded though, but it was clear she was still distracted.

“Of course. Good night Angus,” she said. He nodded, heading over to the door.

“Goodnight madam director, goodnight Davenport,” he said, waving to the gnome as he walked past. It didn’t take long to get to his room, and changing into his pajamas, he didn’t like how quiet it was. He didn’t like being alone.

Crawling into bed, he made sure he still had the stone of farspeech on hand. He doubted he would be able to sleep all that soundly, so the noise from it should wake him up in case they tried to contact him. It was a little silly, because he knew that he couldn’t hear him right now, but Angus turned on the frequency one more time.

“Goodnight dad,” he said, waiting a moment before sighing and closing the channel. There wasn’t an answer right now, but he told himself there would be later.

Taako promised he was going to come back.

And until he was proven otherwise, Angus believed him.

——

Taako chose forsake. It wasn’t exactly a hard choice as far as he was concerned. Sure it sucked for whoever they were up against but there was too much shit riding on them getting out of here. He was also selfish, but he could pretend that his motivations were for the good of the world and destroying the relic and all that jazz, and not just the fact that he was refusing to fucking die in this joint.

Magnus wasn’t happy about it, and Merle wasn’t that much better, but they could deal. He wasn’t going to be able to last another fight like that, so they needed to get any advantage they could.

Hopefully it wouldn’t be for that much longer. He wasn’t sure how much he trusted the umbrella ghost in his head, but his gut was a strong yes and it wasn’t like they had many other options. The best they could do was hope that they could come through and figure out some way out of this place before they fucking beefed it.

The next round of sacrifices were tougher than the first. Taako watched with a feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach as Magnus aged a decade in the span of a few seconds, a feeling of wrongness rising in the back of his throat that he couldn’t place. Maybe it was just because he was an elf. Humans already aged so fast in comparison after all. Seeing what could have accounted for seventy, eighty years of age in an elf blink away in an instant was sure to fuck with anybody.

Merle lost an eye, which was a little less dramatic but still not great. The eyepatch did go some way to improving the situation though, even if not by much.

Going up to the wheel himself, Taako figured he’d already nearly died on the last round, Couldn’t get much worse than that.

“Mind,” he announced as the spinner landed on the large brain icon. They couldn’t see the two elves running this place right now, but he could hear the excitement in their voices. That probably wasn’t the best sign. Definitely didn’t make him feel very good.

“Oh, mind is juicy, especially your mind Taako. You’re quite an intelligent elf, even if things do get a little patchy here and there,” one of the elves said, and Taako couldn’t help but frown at that. It was hard to tell which part to be offended by the most.

“I mean, I tend to think of myself as more of a lovable oaf wizard than a particularly clever one, but to each their own,” he said, and he could almost feel the skepticism from the two, which was honestly fair. Taako knew he was smarter than he tried to let on to most people, and he only seemed to get worse and worse at hiding it the longer he spent with Angus. Damn kid was always trying to pull out the best in him, it was terrible.

“Well, if you insist, maybe we won’t take away something to do with your intelligence strictly, what do you think Lydia? We still want them sharp as they move through wonderland, don’t we?” the one elf said, and Taako was liking the sound of this less and less the longer they took to say what the fucking sacrifice was going to be.

“True, true. How about instead of any of your mental skills, we simply take some memories? After all, you’re a pretty self-reliant person, aren’t you Taako?” the other elf said. Taako shrugged, definitely not about to agree to something that fucking vague.

“I guess so, depends on what choice Taako memories you had in mind,” he said tentatively.

“If you accept this sacrifice Taako you will forget… meeting Angus,” they said, and Taako felt his breath catch in his throat. Before he could react from the shot the liches quickly continued, and it was probably clear that this was a hard fucking no as they tried to coach it. “Now, we’re not talking about forgetting him completely, by all means no! We’re not trying to be cruel here.”

“Of course not. You will still remember Angus, you just won’t know where he came from. You won’t know that he was one of the guests at Glamour Springs, it’ll be like he simply showed up one day,” the other finished. Taako found himself standing in silence for a moment, slowly processing that offer.

Because on the surface, it didn’t actually sound that bad. If he didn’t remember how he met Angus, that he got sick at his show, then he wouldn’t feel guilty about the damn thing anymore. He could stop thinking about it, and they said he’d still remember the kid. He didn’t think that forgetting how he found him would make him feel any differently about him, not at this stage. They weren’t even good memories, Taako could say now that he had even less of an idea about what he was doing back then, he’d been a fucking dick most of the time. Maybe forgetting would be nice.

Those thoughts didn’t last long though. Angus would still remember, and he could only imagine how fast he would be able to figure out that Taako didn’t. Would he even be able to explain the situation if he forgot? Sure he could have Merle or Magnus promise to do it, but it all sat uneasy to him. The idea of giving away any memories, no matter how small, made a chill run up his spine and this stomach turn inside out.

“Penalty,” he said, decisively, and it was hard to tell if the liches were surprised or just disappointed. Either way Taako couldn’t give that much of a shit. He was already real fucking tired of playing by their rules.

“Are you sure about that? Think carefully now,” the female lich said, but Taako was already nodding before she even finished speaking.

“Yeah, I’m pretty fucking sure,” he said coldly, and that seemed to get the point across. He could hear them sigh, and as they watched another red circle appeared above the large stone door blocking off their path.

“If you say so,” she said, and without justifying that with a response Taako spun again.

The next two weren’t quite as bad. He lost a good chunk of his dexterity, but at the moment he couldn’t tell any aches from that apart from the washing machine sized bloody bruise on his side. Magnus grabbed the extra one, losing a pretty decent portion of his life force in the process. The dude seemed just as determined to get through this as before though, so that could be pushed into a pile of ‘shit they could figure out later.' That pile was pretty rapidly growing as they continued to make their way through Wonderland, but Taako was trying hard not to think about that too much.

It was only getting rougher and rougher the more they went through. Merle lost his weapons and some memories, Magnus gave them a vengeance quest before giving up a few of his own. Taako’s own sacrifice didn’t feel as grand in comparison, his looks shifted so that he was a little bit more plain, a little more ordinary of an elf. He barely let anyone get a look before he was casting disguise self to mask his appearance, because even though it shouldn’t have been a big deal it left him feeling wrong in a way that made his skin crawl.

Magnus chose trust, which was what Taako expected. What he expected a little bit less was the other team also choosing trust. That at least meant their fight would be a little bit less deadly, even if it was still fucking terrible.

Luckily, they didn’t actually end up having to fight for too long. After a few strange mishaps that ended up causing some random potted plants and columns and portraits to show up in the corner, a door appeared.

Magnus seemed pretty on board with the whole thing, and Taako barely had to wait for that familiar, strange voice in his head again urging him to get the leg out. He grabbed Merle and Cam, rushing them towards the door before ending his transformation into a t-rex and running through as well.

The place they ended up in was surprisingly quiet, which then turned into not so surprisingly creepy when they ended up surrounding by mannequins. They followed along as they all pointed towards the stage though, and it seemed like only a manner of time before those two elves showed up again. So there was really no surprise when they finally did, clapping along and sounding genuinely surprised.

The congratulations didn’t last long though, and they were prepared when the liches started trying to fight them. At the very least, the red robes were certainly ready, appearing downright eager to destroy these two after Magnus’s body was possessed and his soul thrown into the mannequin.

The fight was quicker than he expected, and more… natural was the only way he could really describe it. He was used to fighting alongside Magnus and Merle, they’d been doing it for over a year now. As much as they were disasters they knew each other well enough at this point to know how they acted in a battle. They didn’t have that with the red robes, or at least, they shouldn’t.

But somehow it didn’t feel weird fighting alongside them, when it should be the strangest, uneasy truce he could think of. Except Angus kept insisting there had to be more to the story, and Taako had long since accepted that when Angus was on something, he was usually right on the money.

So when they gathered the relic and the rest of Wonderland blew away in a whirlwind of necrotic ash, Taako was left a little lost for words. He was fucking exhausted, and he wanted to go back home.

It looked like the liches were having other plans for them though, and not in the ‘we’re going to capture you and take the relic for ourselves’ way. More so in the ‘silently pleading for you to give us your stones of farspeech and follow us so that we can explain the situation’ way.

And Taako was almost tempted to. It must’ve been Angus’s influence making him want to actually follow along with this insane mystery, but he was getting to the end of his rope and wanted some fucking answers.

He didn’t immediately though, and he was glad for that choice when his stone started to crackle to life, Angus’s voice calling out. He sounded terrified and worried and like he probably hadn’t rested since they left.

“Dad, Magnus, Merle? Are you guys there? Dad? Please come in,” he said, and both Red Robes actually looked a little conflicted. Taako wasn’t though, quickly answering the stone.

“Hey pumpkin, we’re here. Where are you at?” he asked, and he was well aware that everyone was watching him and probably thinking he’d blown whatever it is they were planning to do at this point. He wasn’t too surprised with Angus’s answer, he knew the kid was getting more and more suspicious of the bureau after all, trying to keep as much stuff as they could just between the two of them while they figured it all out.

“In our room, why? Are you guys safe?” he asked, still sounding scared but nowhere near as terrified as he had been before Taako answered.

“We’re all good, but we might not be able for a little while. When we do get back though we should head to the store, I’m craving elderberries,” he said, and immediately he could hear the change in Angus’s voice. It was honestly pretty subtle, the kid good at hiding it, but it was still there.

“Alright. I’ll be ready,” he said simply, and Taako had no doubt that he would be.

“Love you pumpkin,” he said, and maybe it didn’t go with the image he was typically trying to cultivate, but he found he didn’t really give a shit.

“Love you too dad, see you soon,” Angus replied, and with that Taako turned off the stone of farspeech, handing it over to the lich who was still waiting patiently. As soon as he had it he crushed all three into dust, and there was an immediate moment of relief that Taako at least got to talk to Angus beforehand. To let him know that something was up.

“Alright then, whatever explanation you two got has better be pretty damn good,” he said, and one of the red robed specters nodded.

“It is, let’s go,” she said, and there really wasn’t much else to do but follow.

Looking up at the moon one last time, Taako told himself he would be back soon. He was going to keep his promises.

And whatever was going on with all of this, they were going to get to the bottom of it. After all, his kid was the world’s greatest detective.

Notes:

so it's been another long time since the last chapter, again sorry about that but we are getting real real close to the end now. I've never written something this long and actually finished it, so i'm excited to be so close.

as always, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!