spellslots | riverview; ic contact & friendr

Entry tags:

riverview; ic contact & friendr

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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

» 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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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

You're not gonna ask?

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.]

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.

[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?

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. ]

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.

[ 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.

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.]

[ Jon looks up with wet eyes. ]

You too?

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.

[ 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.

[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.]

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. ]

[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.

Yeah . . .

[ Jon looks vaguely ashamed. ]

I shouldn't tell him all the bad stuff. It's not his fault.

C'mon, that's not what I meant.

[The last thing he wants to encourage is Jon bottling shit up, Clark may kill him if that happens.]

He wants to help, that's what makes him great.

I don't want to tell him that I tried to . . . [ Jon swallows. ] I can't do it.

It wasn't you, yeah? We establish that, I'm pretty sure.

[There's a lightness in his tone, but it's a gentle sort of thing.

A little more softly, he adds:]

I've killed people, Jon.

[And he doesn't regret it, but Taako has a feeling that the morality of Jon's world is a bit black or white, that killing means someone is Bad. Most places don't work that way.]

[ Jon blinks, caught off guard and not sure what to make of it. ]

Does dad know?

Yup, and either he's a really good actor which we both know isn't true, or he still likes me despite the shit I've done.

[Clark is, of course, an adult, and it's a little easier to see nuance as an adult than it is at ten, but maybe this will help Jon realize that his dad isn't going to hate him for what happened.]

[ Taako wouldn't lie, so Jon doesn't protest this. ]

I've seen so much more than my dad has. I even saw the future. Or something like the future. Different worlds and realities — they all filled my head. That's how I broke free.

I just don't want him to feel bad.

I think I know how that feels, it's rough.

[A hundred years all poured back into his head at once and it was... a lot. But Clark was there to help him through it.]

And listen, I'm not gonna tell you he wouldn't feel bad, but that's a kinda shitty reason to keep something from someone. Caring about someone means they wanna know the bad as well as the good.

[He realizes he's a complete hypocrite, saying this, but whatever.]

[ He nods slowly, taking another cookie. ]

Okay. I'll tell him.

There ya go.

[That wasn't so hard!]

And here, I'm so sure he won't be a jerk about it that I promise if he is I'll eat my hat.

[Which would be a hell of a task.]

[ It helps that Jon himself is a fairly stable child. He's never doubted his parent's love or their support. All of his doubts are kenneled deep within him and he's been able to keep them apart from his reality so far. Manchester Black hasn't robbed Jon of anything. Even as his tree burned, as Black resurrected Goldie's bones, when he strapped Jon to the chair and make him watch his mother scream.

Some of the fear has melted away. It was bound to, considering the whole experience. But his life has changed and Jon missed what he had before. ]

Thanks Taako.

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oh god i didnt pick an icon oops

hahaha