Chapter Text
Although the name might suggest something different, New Elfington was a small town. The type of small town where everyone was close with everyone else, but also big enough that it wasn't completely suffocating.
Taako has been living in New Elfington for the better part of his life and it was… okay. Now don't get it wrong, it's not a horrible town. Just a bit monotonous. At least running the town's Cafe was a joy in and of itself. Taako opened it up a handful years prior, had taken it over from the previous owner and did a complete overhaul, with a bit of help from his sister. She wasn't around much in terms of working since she was still in school but she definitely was a help when she was there.
The Cafe was known for its great food, which if you told Taako that it was you'd get an answer such as, "Natch, cha boy made it after all."
Right now, the Cafe seemed to be the one building in town that seemed to be lacking in the Candlenights decorations department. Which came down to the fact that Taako couldn't bring himself to decorate, no matter how much Ren and Lup pushed him to. He let the girls put up handmade snowflakes inside, but lights and decorations besides that? Nope.
"Come onnnn!" Lup groaned as she mixed a bowl of cookie dough, "Just put up some lights! It's not going to hurt you!"
"I already told you Lup, cha boy ain't feeling the whole Candlenights spirit this year," Taako responded, with sad jazz hands on the words 'Candlenights spirit' to accent his point.
"Why not! You have me! And a great little family with those idiots," the idiots in question being Magnus and Merle who owned the businesses on either side of the Cafe, "We'll all celebrate together and it'll be fun!" She jabbed him in the side with her elbow as she moved to grab a tray to put the dough on.
"What about Barold, is he not joining us?" Taako quirked up an eyebrow watching as Lup scooped out the dough.
"I haven't asked. Especially since you've been a sour sport," Lup stuck her tongue out at him before returning to her work. She paused a moment before continuing, "Is that what this is about? Because you're single?"
"Excuse me! I could get anyone in this town if I wanted to! There's just no one interesting enough for yours truly."
"Ah yes, the brooding is completely intentional on your part. I don't know why I thought otherwise."
Taako groaned as he fixed his hair from the messy bun it was in, into a nicer side braid. He began to make his way out of the kitchen, "I'm going to open up, if you could finish up in here that'd be great." He got a hum in response as if to say 'of course I will'.
Walking into the front of the store, Taako adjusted the food in the display case so it was perfect. Once he was satisfied with how it looked, he unlocked the front door and flipped the sign to open. Outside the door he could see Magnus and Julia walking hand in hand up to their shop to also open for the day.
Taako gave a small wave hoping that would be enough interaction for today, but when Magnus gently tugged Julia's hand and walked them over to Taako's door he knew he was in for it. So he groaned and opened the door, throwing on a happy face.
"Hey Magnus, Julia! How're my shop neighbors doing today?"
Julia jokingly placed a hand on her heart and pretended to be wounded, "Ouch Taako, we're not even your favorite shop neighbors? I don't know how Merle won that spot." It earned a laugh out of Magnus and a forced chuckle from Taako. He liked Julia, she was kind and a bit gentler than Magnus, but she still liked to get her digs in. They all did.
"Hey now I never said Merle had that spot, it's still up to debate," Taako held his hands up to feign innocence.
"Mmhm.." Magnus paused as he surveyed the outside of the Cafe, "Still no decorations? Candlenights is only a couple weeks away, Taako!"
Taako looked at their shop next door and inwardly cringed as he noticed how many decorations they had up compared to his none. "I'm just not feeling it this year. Also cha boy does not climb ladders and nail lights up."
"Ask Lup or Barry to do it?" Julia suggested, "I'm sure one of them would love to help! Maybe it'd get you into the spirit."
"Oh sorry guys I'd love to stay and chat about me getting into the Candlenights spirit but I think I hear Lup calling me," Taako opened the door and started to make his way back in.
"I don't hear anything-" Magnus started.
"Huh? Oh the stand mixer isn't working? Coming Lup! Sorry guys gotta go!" And with that he slipped back into the Cafe, the bell above the door jingling as it closed and he ran into the kitchen.
New Elfington middle school was directly next to the high school, both were relatively small buildings since there weren't large numbers of students to accommodate. It wasn't an odd sight for some teachers to teach a class in one building in the morning and be found teaching another class in the other building in the afternoon. What was odd, though, was for a teaching position to open up. And even odder, was for someone outside of the town to willingly come in only for the job position.
Considering that, the odd looks Kravitz got when he arrived at the school the first day and introduced himself as the new music teacher were perhaps warranted. That introduction was at the beginning of the school year, fast forward a couple months and all the teachers were past the point of surprise and welcomed Kravitz with open arms.
Currently, Kravitz could be found putting a handful of instruments back into their cases and then in their rightful places in the room. The bell had rang a couple minutes prior signaling for all the kids to run out of their classes.
A soft knock came from the partially open door, causing Kravitz to look up from the flute in his hands.
"Hey Angus! How was class today? Also you know you don't have to knock in here," Kravitz smiled as he stood straighter and fixed the couple of locs that had fallen out of his partial bun.
"It was good! Although I was assigned another essay," he scrunched up his face a little, "And I knocked so I wouldn't scare you, dad!"
"I appreciate it bud," Kravitz replied as he moved to put the flute away, "Any new mysteries arise?"
"Not yet dad! Although a good mystery to solve might be why this town loves Candlenights so much," Angus mused over the idea when a voice called from the door.
"Ah Ango, it's a town tradition to celebrate so much! We pride ourselves on our Candlenights spirit! Nowhere else is quite like it."
"Oh hello Mrs. Hurley!" Angus glanced to her side to the taller woman standing there with her arm around Hurley's waist, "And hello Mrs. Sloane!"
Sloane, chuckled quietly, "Angus you can just call us Hurley and Sloane. No need for honorifics, especially outside of class."
"Hey Kravitz, have you started thinking of ideas on how you're going to decorate your room?" Hurley asked, glancing around, looking at the still bare walls and ceiling.
"I was thinking lights, definitely lights, but beyond that? I don't know where to start."
"I can help!" Angus exclaimed, holding tighter onto his backpack's straps, "Dad can we put up stuff for Channukah too?"
"Let's put up a little something to cover everything, sound good?" Kravitz answered, to which Angus eagerly nodded his head.
"You guys celebrate Channukah?" Sloane welcomed herself into the room and sat down in one of the chairs, Hurley taking the one next to her, "Not many people around here do."
"Yeah, we've always done a combination of celebrations for Candlenights and Channukah."
"That's so cool!" Hurley grinned, "Extra presents, right Angus?"
"Not really Mrs. Hurley, they just get split between the celebrations!"
"Ahhh makes sense!" Hurley stood up and took Sloane's hand, walking towards the door, "Well we've gotta put the final touches on our rooms so that they're as festive as they can be!"
"We'll see you two later," Sloane gently smiled and gave a little wave as they made to leave.
"Goodbye ma'ams!" Angus called after them.
Angus moved quietly next to Kravitz as he helped to put away the last couple of instruments. Once they were finished Kravitz looked out the window, "Angus! It's snowing! How about we go get some hot chocolate to celebrate?"