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Magnus managed to convince Taako to spend some time with him. He was still nervous around him, but it's decreased a lot since they talked (wrote to each other?) when Taako and Ango were under that tree. It’s been a couple of days since then, so Magnus wanted to spend more time with the little guy.
After training one day, Magnus spent a lot of time making sandwiches and little cupcakes. He placed everything he made,along with the translation book and a stack of paper and two pens, in a basket he borrowed from Carey and went to Lucretia’s office.
On the walk there, he looked at the sky. It looked pretty as always, but something seemed… off. Like the sky is different than he remembered. He could’ve sworn that it has two-
His head started throbbing and he felt static curl into the back of his head. He shook his head and kept walking.
He got to Lucretia’s office and knocked.
“Really Magnus? I thought I told you no-”
“I’m actually not here to ask about that,” Magnus interrupted. He knew it was impolite to interrupt your boss, but he didn’t care about that too badly, “I was wondering if I could take Taako to see The Voidfish! I feel like he would like to see fishy.”
Lucretia paused for a second before saying, “I’ll ask him.” and she closed the door. She was gone for a few minutes before she returned with Taako next to her. He flashed Magnus a nervous smile before walking out the door.
“Have him back in an hour please.” Lucretia requested.
“Will do!” Magnus said as he turned away. He heard Lucretia close the door behind them.
Magnus pulled out a note he’s ninety-nine percent sure says, ‘I know Lucretia said what I wanted to go do, but there’s a really cool jellyfish I bet you would love. I also made lunch for us.’
~~~~~****************~~~~~
‘I know Lucretia said what we go do, but there is cool jellyfish. Also lunch.’ Inspiring words by Magnus.
Taako knows he’s trying and has been nice since they came to that agreement four days ago, but he was still kinda nervous around the guy.
Magnus led him over to a dome he’s never been in. They went in something Angus had explained a few days ago to be an ‘elevator’. Taako guessed it was pretty cool, but it wasn't anything special. The elevator placed them at the start of a long hallway that wasn’t ominous at all.
Taako was led down this halfway and began to realise that there wasn’t a jellyfish that was cool enough to make this walk worth it. The hallway was dark and Taako hated that. He felt himself getting more anxious the more they walked. Eventually they made it to a large door and Magnus pulled it open.
Taako gasped as he walked into the room. In the center was a huge jellyfish that looked like it was made up of parts of the galaxy. Its cap was made out of the most beautiful shades of purples and blues imaginable. There were also specks of white that made it look like there were stars scattered around it. Its tendrils were made out of similar colors but it looks be glowing slightly. This is the most beautiful thing Taako has ever seen.
He manages to look away long enough to see Magnus talking to a bard looking guy. Msgnus says something and the guy's face grows in panic and he sprints out of the room.
Magnus opens up his basket and pulls out a blanket, which he then lays on the ground. He pats the blanket next to him. He also pulls out two sandwiches and places one near the empty spot on the blanket next to him. Taako takes this as an invitation to sit down.
He sits criss crossed as he waits for Magnus to finish the note he’s writing. Eventually, he’s handed the paper and a pen. It’s kinda hard to read in the dark, but Taako can make it out pretty clearly.
‘Sandwich is urs. What do you think of it?’
Taako grabs the book and starts writing his response.
‘I think it’s pretty. Never seen anything like it before. What’s it called?’
‘We call them the Voidfish. They have a bunch of special powers.’
‘Like what?’
Magnus takes a bit to make his reply. Taako takes this opportunity to unwrap his sandwich and take a bite out of it. It tasted pretty good. Nothing particularly special, just a ham and cheese on white bread, but it was more than he would’ve normally gotten from stealing so it was really good.
‘They can block people's memory. You can feed them info and everyone who hasn’t drank their ichor forgets. They also can sing really well.’
Well that isn’t scary at all. Taako doesn’t like the idea of someone being able to feed information to it and everyone forgets. What if someone feeds it information on Lup and he is forced to forget she ever existed? That would be the worst thing to ever happen in the history of the world.
‘What do you use it for?’
‘We feed them information about the Bureau and then people who don’t work with us don’t remember the relics. It also makes them forget the second moon is fake’
Okay. So it seems that they aren’t using them to erase the memories of people's sisters. That’s a good sign.
‘But I haven’t drank their Ichor, why I understand?’
‘No idea’
Taako took another bite of his sandwich and stared at The Voidfish before he wrote another message to Magnus.
‘What u do before you worked here?’
All hopes Taako had that this wouldn’t be too much of a personal question went out the window when he saw Magnus’s face. He looks really sad. Like he was remembering a life he used to have but is so far out of reach now.
‘I had a wife. Her name was Julia.’
Oh.
‘I lived in a town called Raven’s Roost. We rebelled against a bad leader. He came back and burned it to the ground. Killed my wife and father in law/mentor.’
Taako’s heart fell for this guy. He’s never had a partner (he is just a little boy), but if Magnus loved her as much as he loved Lup, he can’t even imagine the pain he must be in right now.
‘My parents were killed in war.’
Taako began writing. He had an idea that maybe sharing some of what he’s gone through could help Magnus? Maybe to let him know he isn’t alone.
‘I lived with my Aunt for a bit, but she passed away too. Ever since then, I’ve been stealing food and stuff to survive.’
Magnus pulled him into a hug. Taako tensed for a second before relaxing.
We both need this. Taako told himself as he hugged Magnus back.
They sat there for a second. Just sitting in each other's arms. Taako’s arms were too short to fully reach around Magnus, but that didn’t really matter at the moment.
Eventually Magnus let go and offered Taako a cupcake. Taako took it and wrote a thank you to Magnus before taking a bite. The cupcake was good. It wasn’t that dry and it was chocolate flavored, which was his favorite.
They spent the next half an hour talking about dumb things. Magnus told him about how lucky he is that Lucretia cooks food for him so he doesn’t have to eat in the dining hall. In response, Taako said he’s an adult who made all this food so he shouldn’t have to rely on others to cook. For some reason, this got Magnus to belly laugh. In response, Taako started laughing with him.
Taako described a fruit that he had the other week, but he didn’t know the name of it. Magnus said he’ll look for it, but has never tasted anything like it before.
After a while of mindless talking, Magnus asked him a question.
“Want to hear something cool?’
Taako nodded furiously and Magnus smiled. He stood up and walked over to The Voidfish’s tank and put a hand on it. In response, The Voidfish started singing. Magnus was right. They have a beautiful singing voice.
Taako felt completely mesmerized as he walked up to the tank next to Magnus. The Voidfish also placed a single tentacle up against Magnu’s hand. The Voidfish kept singing until they heard the man from earlier start talking to them.
Taako, now broken out of his trance, shifted to stand behind Magnus. The man didn’t sound angry though, just slightly annoyed.
Magnus said something to him and moved back towards where they were having a picnic and began gathering what they brought with them. The man smiled and tipped his hat at Taako, who awkwardly waved back.
After a minute or so Magnus had everything together and they left the room. Taako took one more glance at The Voidfish before the door closed and they continued down the hallway.
Taako decided that the walk down the ominous hallway was, in fact, worth the walk. Taako also decided that when he found Lup, he was going to bring her here. She may not be the most calm person in the world, but she would think that The Voidfish is pretty too.
The pair made their way up the elevator and back towards Lucretia’s office. Before he knocked on the door, Magnus turned to him. He made a thumbs up, thumbs in the middle, then a thumbs down motion and pointed to Taako. Taako assumed he was asking how much he liked their excursion, so Taako gave him a toothy grin and a thumbs up.
Magnus smiled and gave him a fist bump before knocking on the door.
Lucretia opened up the door very quickly. She said something to Magnus in Common before gesturing for Taako to come in.
Magnus waved bye to him, which Taako did reciprocate, and Lucretia closed the door.
“Did you have fun? Was everything okay?” Lucretia asked.
“Yeah it was amazing! The Voidfish was sooo pretty and they sang a song when Magnus walked up to them!” Taako exclaimed, very excited about their picnic. “Oh and Magnus made cupcakes and sandwiches and we had those and talked and it was so much fun!”
Lucretia seemed happy for him.
“Oh! When we find Lup can I show her?” Taako asked.
Lucretia’s smile remained but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Yeah. We can show her when we find her.” Lucretia responded, “I have some work to do, so you can go read if you want to. I’ll be here if you need anything.”
“Alrighty! See you later!” Taako said as he turned to enter the living room.
“Bye, Taako.” Lucretia responded.
Taako walked into the living room and he plopped himself onto his bean bag. He felt really good about today. Magnus was super nice. He also didn’t do anything when Taako jumped behind him. Magnus also was vulnerable with him. He also didn’t get mad even though Taako brought something up that hurt him. Magnus also gave Taako a hug when he mentioned what happened to his family.
Maybe this guy was safe afterall.