stranger I know so well (open)

[tacosgay]

Who: Taako and whoever comes to see him.
When: Days 159-16something. Let's say 162 for now.
Where: Trailer #18.
What: Taako had a realization and has shut down completely, and is hiding away in his trailer. Anyone want to check on him...?
Warnings: Massive spoilers for The Adventure Zone; language, grief, and Taako likely being a huge asshole because he's upset.



It's funny how one realization can both answer so many questions, and also make everything infinitely more confusing. Taako's head feels as though it's overfull and thick with cotton, numb and aching at once. He doesn't know how much time has passed, and he honestly doesn't care. He doesn't care about anything anymore.

Lup. Fucking. Lup.

How did he forget her? Who the hell made him forget her? Who could possibly do something so heinous-- who would take away Lup? And why? What good could it have possibly done anyone to ruin his life?

She's gone. She's just gone now. The only pieces of her that existed have blown away over a year ago, turned to dust except for the umbrella he clutches in his fingers, too tight. How many years has it been that he didn't even remember her?

Over a decade.

He spends much of his time sprawled across his bed, or sitting on the floor with his back to it, staring into space. He hasn't answered his radio in days. His hair is a wild mess, his makeup smudged when he does bother to apply it, not that he ever leaves the trailer.

He doesn't even think about that someone may come to check in on him.

Flauta tries, at first, to get him up, to work through it, but his confusion and anger and despair weigh on her as well, and she ends up giving in and going under, every bit as crushed as her body. She curls in the crook of his neck, still, a warm, silent presence that he doesn't really take that much comfort in, given he knows she's just another fucking carnival trick and in a few days, she'll probably be gone, too.

Comments

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Hey, he was the one who said it was magic. "Instead of lopping off the limb," she said, lifting a hoof to (very carefully) lower his arm for better examination,
"Why do we not make it slim?
An inner ward, I think
Will make it unable to shrink."

[dressedtothe]

Man, what's with the rhyming?

At first, 9S was just content to observe -- he's not the one who calling the shots on whether the hand comes off or not! -- but when the stripy horse mentions a different solution, he perks up.

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" He glances over at Taako. "It sounds like it'd be less, uh. Messy."

I COULDVE SWORN I REPLIED TO THIS THREAD???

[tacosgay]

"Listen, as much as I appreciate the ideas on getting around cutting my fucking hand off, I just said it shrunk to fit me, right? Like, it's probably just going to shrink with my arm." Taako's panic was rapidly combining with annoyance, and the two together only served to amplify each other, his eyes narrowing. "But sure, whatever, fuckin'... shrink my arm, fuck it."

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

With no further ado, Zecora stepped back to one of the cauldrons in the rear, lit the fire beneath it with a little gesture, then paced to her shelves to start tossing ingredients in. In respect to his growing agitation, she moved faster than her usual wont, so that the brew quickly began to bubble from more than just heat.

[dressedtothe]

9S watches Zecora at work with great interest, though he keeps sneaking glances over at Taako, concerned.

"At least if it doesn't work, it'll be easier to cut off."

It actually probably wouldn't make that much of a difference, if he's quite honest. But Taako doesn't need to know that.

[tacosgay]

Taako doesn't laugh. Ordinarily, he would've found such an attempt to comfort him hilarious, but, in this moment, he just stares forward, stone-faced. He does glance at 9S for a beat, and then back at Zecora where she's working; and, if 9S looks closely, for just a moment as he thinks, watches her, something in that stony look softens just slightly, turning into something much more akin to sadness than anger.

Taako curls his fingers around his wrist, looking down at the bracer.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

While that simmered, Zecora came back over to Taako, not meeting his eyes -- she figured that now was not the time to subject him to excess scrutiny, even well-meaning scrutiny such as hers. Instead, she turned all her attention to the bracer. One hoof came up again, touching his arm gently as she hissed the words of a spell, sliding the syllables in between his skin and the metal to form a physical ward conformed to his arm's current shape.

[dressedtothe]

Despite the situation, 9S can't help but lean in, eyes wide with curiosity behind his 'blindfold'. He's never seen anything like this. Damn, maybe he should've asked Pod to record this. Now he's gonna have to do a memory dump to achieve the same thing.

Will it work...?