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[spellslots]

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CODE   🔋 12:01 AM

TAAKO

USERNAME
@fromTV

OCCUPTION
Pâtissier

MESSAGE
"You've got Taako. I'm too busy to take your call right now, leave a message."

TEXT

CALL

VIDEO

	Friendr
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	» Age: old enough to know better » Seeking: 💲💲💲 » Preferences: none of your business » Interests: cash money » Bio: greatest chef in Faerûn, greatest transmutation wizard, follow me on insta @fromTV for the real shit
	base code by photosynthesis
	Taako
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Comments

[spellslots]

No rush.

[He'd offer a teleport lift, but he's realized that he needs to be more careful about burning spell slots, and there's no real hurry for this, so he can wait.

While he does, Taako takes out a plate of assorted cookies, leftovers from the last few of his orders, as well as one glass of milk and a mug of coffee. When the door knocks, Taako comes to open it, ushering John inside with a little flourish and warm smile.]

I was gonna offer to spike your milk, but you're still a little too young for that, right?

[He's joking.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon blinks. He's got faint dark circles around his eyes. ]

Is putting spikes in drinks an adult thing?

[spellslots]

It means putting booze in it.

[It's not important, anyway. What's more important is how awful Jon looks.

Taako holds out his arms in the universal gesture of offering a hug.]

C'mere.

[supersweet]

[ Jon's face crumples as he runs into Taako's arms with a cry. He still can't shake off the horror of his memories, the strangeness of his visions as the rift poured into his heart. Everything changed so quickly. ]

[spellslots]

[Emotions are tricky things, and Taako isn't always good with them, but it's a little easier when it's kids; he remembers comforting Lup and her doing the same for him, when he was little. He remembers his aunt wrapping him up in her arms when he had an awful fight with Lup, once.

So wrapping one arm around Jon while the other smooths down his hair is easy enough.]

You're okay, bubbale, you're safe. I got you.

[He's willing to wait this out for as long as Jon needs.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon sobs openly. He's never been good at bottling things up. ]

I - I thought my mom was gonna die! And then - And then he hit me and took me and everything was burning —

[spellslots]

Hey, hey, let's do one thing at a time, yeah? Get the crying done and then you can tell me what happened.

[It's a gentle suggestion, despite being a more logic based one. Taako nearly did this exact same thing to Cisco, but he realized he had to cry it all out first before he could explain what was wrong. Especially when it's something that's difficult to follow.]

I'm not going anywhere, there's plenty of time to let it out.

[supersweet]

[ Jon nods slowly as he continues to blink tears from his eyes. He feels wrecked in a way he's never been before. Jon has struggled with many things, parts of his father's life that infiltrates his own, but the sheer magnitude of this one has him stumbling and near tears all day. ]

[spellslots]

[And Taako waits. There's nothing pressing he needs to get to, not that's more important than this, and he's old, anyway, patience is easier than it might seem, based on how he often acts.

But he's willing to just keep hold of Jon and keep gently stroking his hair until he's all cried out. That's what shitty elven uncles are for, after all.]

[supersweet]

[ Eventually, Jon does hit his stopping point and the tears finally dry up. He sniffles. ]

Can I have a cookie now?

[spellslots]

You can have as many as you want, I won't tattle.

[He gently nudges Jon towards the kitchen table, where all the cookies are, and once he's seated Taako is just going to duck into the next room real quick to grab a box of tissues. He sets it down on the table once he returns, then pulls up a seat beside Jon.

He won't push, but he's ready to listen when Jon is ready to talk.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon sits at the table, taking a cookie carefully, nibbling bit by bit. ]

You're not gonna ask?

[spellslots]

Nah, I figure you'll tell me if you wanna.

[It's not that he doesn't care, because the fact he just let Jon cry on him for a while should be evidence of that enough.

But this doesn't feel like a case where he should push; he doesn't need to know what's wrong, since if it was something fixable, Clark surely would have done that already. So all Taako needs to be is comfort.]

[supersweet]

I got one of those memory thingies. From the portal.

[ He pushes one of the cookies around the plate idly. ]

A lot of people in my town — my friend — they were there to trick me into believing someone. He was crazy. One of dad's old enemies.

[spellslots]

[Taako doesn't know about "those memory things" but it seems like an unimportant detail for the moment. There's probably someone with the perimeter guard that can tell him what that means.]

They were working with this guy?

[supersweet]

Yeah. He wanted me to kill people.

[ Manchester Black had pulled out a mass murderer and looked at Jon in the eye. Ever execute a war criminal before?. Jon didn't waver there. It's not in him to kill people. ]

I said no, so he took over my mind. Made me do . . . [ Jon looks away. ]

[spellslots]

Oh, bubbale.

[He reaches out to put a hand on Jon's shoulder, not wanting to crowd him, it's just a gentle reminder that he's here.]

Whatever you did, that wasn't you, okay? If this dude was in control, shit that happened isn't your fault.

[supersweet]

[ Jon isn't sure. Part of it felt like him. The desire to be stronger, to be better. To have control of his powers. To be able to do the things his father does. He was under Black's control and there were limits Jon knew he couldn't cross. And yet he feels unsteady. In doubt. Like he's found a new sense of courage, but lost a part of his childhood.

He deserved to lose his powers. His head hangs low. ]

It could have been me. That's what everyone used to worry about.

[spellslots]

What you could be and what you are, that's two totally different things. It's not-- I dunno how this guy works, but I've been under other people's control before, and it's shit, but that doesn't mean I'm whatever they made me do, you know?

[Sometimes it's easier to make things like this about someone else, to give a little perspective. It's always harder to forgive yourself for something.]

[supersweet]

[ Jon looks up with wet eyes. ]

You too?

[spellslots]

Yup, they made me try to jump off a vehicle.

[They tried to make me kill myself sounds a little too rough, so he's toning it down slightly.]

And my boy Magnus got his ass possessed once, and even though it was his body swinging that axe, I knew it wasn't him.

[supersweet]

[ Jon takes another bite, relaxing slowly. ]

I don't think anyone blames me. I . . . don't think it was my fault.

[ He says this slowly, enunciating each word. Courage slowly comes back, weary but patched together. ]

I just . . . dunno who I am right now.

[spellslots]

[That's a start, and Jon gets an encouraging smile for it. People cling to guilt in different ways, but the fact he can say that it isn't his fault is a good sign.]

I don't mean to like... invalidate your shit, but I think that's a pretty common experience for most kids. [He's not trying to say that what Jon went through wasn't hard, or important, just that he doesn't need to have all his shit figured out now.] You know what, honestly? It's like that for everyone. People change and grow and they've gotta keep figuring out what kinda person they wanna be, but it's not a bad thing to take time with it. Your dad feels that way sometimes, for sure.

[Taako knows Clark well enough to see some of it.]

[supersweet]

He does?

[ That's hard to picture. Not that it is Clark's fault, but the idea that his father has doubts or is fallible is extremely hard for Jon to comprehend. He knows Clark here is younger, but none of that dents Jon's hero worship. Actually, it makes him fret about how he should behave around Clark. ]

[spellslots]

[Taako has seen hero worship before, and can recognize it in Jon, the way he talks about Clark.]

Yeah, I mean, he's kinda stuck between two lives, isn't he? All while trying to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. [Clark and Kal, the way he struggles to hide who he is, the responsibility he feels to protect people who fear him. It's a lot of shit to put up with.] I bet he has doubts sometimes.