Taako (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tacosgay) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lostcarnival2017-08-02 10:44 pm
tacosgay) wrote in lostcarnival2017-08-02 10:44 pm
Entry tags:
dreams (?)
Who: Taako and Peridot.
When: Uhhh... nighttime, a day or two after they get home from Portland. (idk we'll settle on an exact day later)
Where: Somewhere out on the carnival grounds.
What: Something weird happens to Taako when he's trying to get his nightly beauty rest.
Warnings: Taako's pottymouth and spoilers for The Adventure Zone. (Like... BIG ones.)
Meditation is supposed to be quiet. It's kind of one of the core concepts of it, really. And, ordinarily, for Taako, it is. He's been resting this way every night (and sometimes during the day, or afternoon, or whenever someone isn't looking for long enough) for his entire lengthy life so far, and he's never had an issue with it before that he can recall.
So why is it that, tonight, when he settles into his supposedly restful meditative state, that it's only about half an hour before something... strange happens?
Pillars of black, of darkness marked with brilliant streaks of color are spilling from the sky, and it's familiar to him. He isn't even really that afraid of it anymore-- he's seen this before, many times, from the bow of the silver ship he calls his home. He's simply watching, a weight in his chest, the ship pulling sharply up and away from the planet's surface as this surreal assault continues, and, although he isn't truly afraid, he does feel... disappointed.
Another planet lost.
There are others out there with him, figures clad in vivid red, the color cartoonishly sharp against the storm, the rapidly-falling darkness and the heavy, dark fluid leaking down from the sky. They're facing away from him, watching the storm as well, but he knows their names just by glancing at them.
Magnus is there. Merle. Lucretia. And...
His gaze moves over to another figure there, and suddenly an agonizing pain shoots across his consciousness--
He snaps into full consciousness, that pain still throbbing in his skull, although it's rapidly dulling; still, his hands clutch at his head, tangling into his hair so that he almost pulls it out of the tidy bedtime braid he's put it in. He's staring up at the ceiling of his trailer, the only sound his loud, uneven breathing, rough with pain and shock.
What the hell...?
He scans back over the images in his head, trying to figure out exactly what that could mean-- what a weird dream. But the moment he reaches that final figure again, tries to even recall its shape, another fresh bolt of pain tears across his nerves, and he yelps, curling in on himself painfully.
"... fuck." Okay. Okay. Fuck this. He's clearly not gonna get any rest tonight.
Sighing, he picks himself up, and decides that he is absolutely not going to think about that dream anymore, or ever again, holy shit. It's still very late-- or, uh, early?-- and he doesn't have work for a while; not that they've been doing that much work in the Summerlands in the first place. He can't help but imagine that it's primarily because most of the carnival is in some form of extreme medical or psychological distress right now, besides that the Ringmaster is currently dead and all.
He swings his legs out of the bed, pulls his robe on over his PJs, and he steps out into the warm night, his Umbra Staff swinging on his fingers, just in case. He doesn't really have a set destination in mind; he's just going wandering, getting some fresh air. He's gotta clear his head somehow.
When: Uhhh... nighttime, a day or two after they get home from Portland. (idk we'll settle on an exact day later)
Where: Somewhere out on the carnival grounds.
What: Something weird happens to Taako when he's trying to get his nightly beauty rest.
Warnings: Taako's pottymouth and spoilers for The Adventure Zone. (Like... BIG ones.)
Meditation is supposed to be quiet. It's kind of one of the core concepts of it, really. And, ordinarily, for Taako, it is. He's been resting this way every night (and sometimes during the day, or afternoon, or whenever someone isn't looking for long enough) for his entire lengthy life so far, and he's never had an issue with it before that he can recall.
So why is it that, tonight, when he settles into his supposedly restful meditative state, that it's only about half an hour before something... strange happens?
Pillars of black, of darkness marked with brilliant streaks of color are spilling from the sky, and it's familiar to him. He isn't even really that afraid of it anymore-- he's seen this before, many times, from the bow of the silver ship he calls his home. He's simply watching, a weight in his chest, the ship pulling sharply up and away from the planet's surface as this surreal assault continues, and, although he isn't truly afraid, he does feel... disappointed.
Another planet lost.
There are others out there with him, figures clad in vivid red, the color cartoonishly sharp against the storm, the rapidly-falling darkness and the heavy, dark fluid leaking down from the sky. They're facing away from him, watching the storm as well, but he knows their names just by glancing at them.
Magnus is there. Merle. Lucretia. And...
His gaze moves over to another figure there, and suddenly an agonizing pain shoots across his consciousness--
He snaps into full consciousness, that pain still throbbing in his skull, although it's rapidly dulling; still, his hands clutch at his head, tangling into his hair so that he almost pulls it out of the tidy bedtime braid he's put it in. He's staring up at the ceiling of his trailer, the only sound his loud, uneven breathing, rough with pain and shock.
What the hell...?
He scans back over the images in his head, trying to figure out exactly what that could mean-- what a weird dream. But the moment he reaches that final figure again, tries to even recall its shape, another fresh bolt of pain tears across his nerves, and he yelps, curling in on himself painfully.
"... fuck." Okay. Okay. Fuck this. He's clearly not gonna get any rest tonight.
Sighing, he picks himself up, and decides that he is absolutely not going to think about that dream anymore, or ever again, holy shit. It's still very late-- or, uh, early?-- and he doesn't have work for a while; not that they've been doing that much work in the Summerlands in the first place. He can't help but imagine that it's primarily because most of the carnival is in some form of extreme medical or psychological distress right now, besides that the Ringmaster is currently dead and all.
He swings his legs out of the bed, pulls his robe on over his PJs, and he steps out into the warm night, his Umbra Staff swinging on his fingers, just in case. He doesn't really have a set destination in mind; he's just going wandering, getting some fresh air. He's gotta clear his head somehow.
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Once she'd recuperated enough to buy a spell from the Ringmaster, she'd gotten right to work. Transformation magic. It's an intriguing subject, and her interest in the stuff is one of the few things she's glad to keep memories of from Portland.
Given the nature of the spell, it only makes sense that she try casting it after dark, rather than during the day. Besides, it's not like she needs sleep. Bonus, most of the organics are usually asleep as well, which means fewer witnesses around to give her grief if she messes something up!
Emphasis upon usually asleep. Taako is exhibiting extremely abnormal behavior, from what Peridot knows of fleshier creatures, so when she takes on her bat form and begins to swoop and dive through the night sky, she is super not expecting anyone to be walking around below her--
Thwap. And Taako now has a soccer ball sized, indignantly shrieking bat tangled up in his hair.
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It's a bat. A big one.
What the fuck.
He tries to hold it the fuck still, struggling with it and cursing.
"Fucking-- holy shit, give me a second, you're tearing all my beautiful fuckin' curls out!"
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Sorry Taako, the bat talks, and she’s not particularly keen on being squeezed like that. At first Peridot had just been flailing around purely because she was startled to have flown into something, but now she’s actively trying to get him to let go of her… which means her teeth are getting sunk right into his thumb meat. Assuming he lets go, she’ll change back to her regular form and just roll off of him onto the ground, landing flat on her face.
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Yeah, when she bites him, he immediately lets go of her, recoiling; his staff is in his hand as soon as she's off of him, pointed squarely at her.
... And then it registers, and he recognizes her voice, and he doesn't know her name, but he definitely knows who she is.
"... hey, wait a second, aren't you that, uh... you got stabbed during the ritual and all that." A pause. "Why were you on my head?"
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Immediately reminding her of such a particularly painful incident in her life sure isn't doing Taako any favors towards endearing her to the situation.
"It's not like I landed there on purpose," she snaps testily. "I simply made a minor miscalculation in my flight path. That is, I didn't expect anyone to be out walking around this long after dark!"
The gem gets to her feet and dusts herself off, grumbling in an ill-tempered way. "What are you even doing out here, don't you organics usually sleep at this time of night?"
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The final sentence is mumbled, irritated, his gaze dropping from her; but it's only a moment before he pushes that away, straightening to put the Umbra Staff back in its place at his back.
"Why don't you watch where you're flying, though, on the off chance someone is out here, huh?"
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"There are organics who don't waste half their lives sleeping?" she half whispers with awe, ignoring his last comment.
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"Yeah, I mean... it seems pretty dope, from what they say, and I could definitely go for a nap right now, but uh..." He shrugs his shoulders, putting the Umbra Staff up at his back and sighing. "Elves don't work that way. So I guess I'm up shit creek tonight."
Can't sleep, can't meditate... he blinks at her, eyes heavy, and then he sighs and sinks to a sitting position in the grass beside her. It puts him much closer to her eye level, anyway.
"So, what are you doing out here, anyway? Flying practice?"
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She cocks her head at Taako. "What about you? I'm pretty sure I've never seen you wandering around out here at night before now."
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He plays it off; there's no reason to air out his issues for her, and it's none of her beeswax, anyway. He smirks tiredly at her, leaning his weight on his palms so that he can lean back a bit in the grass.
"But, y'know, I didn't realize I'd be intruding upon somebody's magic practice. Were you always a magic user, or is this stuff new for you?"
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Another shrug. "Besides. My alternate self was pretty adept at it... I figure I may as well obtain a new skill out of the whole mess."
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Maybe they went home. That's a nice thought.
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He doesn't address his role in the ritual. It wasn't great.
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(Peridot you literally had no idea before he said anything.)
"What kind of flame powers did you have? 'Cuz There's always the possibility of getting the spell from the Ringmaster, if you really want them back."
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... uh--
He stops short, looking surprised, as though he's suddenly hit some kind of wall; and then a surge of pain shoots through his skull, as though he's been struck by lightning, and he recoils sharply, seemingly from nothing, clutching at his head.
"-- shit."
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"Uhhh... Are you okay?" she asks cautiously.
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"... uh. Y-yeah. Yeah, no, it's cool, that just... happens sometimes, I guess." He tries to play it off, smiling weakly at her, but it's immediately transparent.
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