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Angus isn't sure how this managed to happen, really.
He'd been invited to go on a trip with Taako. Normally, his mentor wasn’t bold enough to offer to actually take him somewhere. Especially if he could be seen with him.
God forbid Taako was actually seen caring about a child.
It's not often he gets to go down to the planet. It's a weird sentence for sure, for anyone who might not be accustomed to living on a sky-bidden base, but for him, it's become the new normal. There wasn't much else to do, that day. Taako had offered to take him along on a spellcasting component shopping spree, and offered the promise of adventure, and, by paraphrasing, ‘'probably something way more exciting than those shitty Caleb Cop novels you've got your fuckin’ nose stuck in”.
And so he had accepted, because what else was he supposed to do? He could have chosen to remain on the Bureau base with his books. He could have stayed. Things would have been boring, but they would have been simple. They would have been shockingly simple, in fact, compared to some of the things he’d already had to endure and trudge through underneath the Bureau of Balance's care.
He's not saying they're an incompetent organization, but Madam Lucretia could definitely engage more with her employees
She doesn't make sure they're safe. Not often enough.
It's not hard to get down to the planet. They shop for a little while, and Taako's kind enough to buy him some candy, which he devours gratefully; he never gets this kind of quality time with any of the Bureau members, really. He gets some time here and there, but Taako's like…
He's like tucking the blanket in when a kid is cold. He's like slightly lukewarm coffee that isn't happy about having to be warmed up in the morning; bitter and rough on the exterior, but the further he chips past that front, the more layers he peels back, he finds a good person. One that's terrified to attempt to care, anymore, lonely and holding together the pieces with duct tape, but Angus knows that that's Taako's problem to fix, and not his.
He can't fix that kind of thing, and that's okay. He's smart enough to know that Taako'd keep him safe. That's all that matters to him.
At some point, though, he makes the mistake of getting seperated from Taako; he loses track of time, spends too much time window shopping, and by the time he's realized so much time has passed already, the sun is close to setting.
He ought to be getting back. Taako's probably going to do the- the thing. Where he makes the face, the one that means he's pissed, but he refuses to yell at a child, so he's souring up his lips instead. That thing.
He'd rather be glared at than yelled at, anyways. It's the most preferable outcome to getting in trouble directly.
None of the boys really yell at him.
It's… nice.
By the time he reaches the house, hand on the doorknob, something immediately feels wrong. Quietly, pulling his wand out at the ready, he slips into the main room of the rented out house, wary and on guard- and takes stock.
A broken vase. There are signs of struggle near the kitchen, on and around the furniture, and if he looks closely, there's a bloody handprint on the kitchen doorway. He feels sick.
So he trudges on, through the room that feels wrong, like something horrible has transpired-- and he discovers a grisly scene. He wasn't even gone that long, but it was long enough for Taako's body to be dangerously still, almost- curled in on itself, perhaps. There's a puddle of blood near his head and around him.
Angus wants to vomit.
He's seen dead bodies before, but having the emotional attachment to Taako makes this a thousand times worse. There's no cold detachment from the situation, no ice-like steel keeping him able to rationalize, to find details and solve what happened to Taako--
A skeletal hand places itself over his eyes, and another one rests itself on his shoulder.
“Sorry you had to see this, Angus.”
He can still see through the hand, see the terrible scene before him, but the gesture is appreciated. There is… a lich, behind him, one with Taako's voice and face and body, for the most part- and Angus has to wonder how he missed this.
If Taako even knew at all.
“What- what, uh- what- happened, sir? I wasn't, I- I wasn't gone for that long, I don't--”
“Ran into an old enemy. We… we had some beef. I kicked the royal bucket, yeah, just- I'll be fine. I can't go back up there with you, though, D'jango. ‘Kay?”
“No!”
And he pulls away, because. This is. This is an unacceptable outcome. He can see the shock, written clear as day on Taako's ghostly visage, the energy in his form, the magic keeping him tethered together- and he decides that this, this right here, is unacceptable.
Out of all the people in his life, he thought Taako, Magnus, and Merle would be consistent. Everyone always either leaves or yells or disowns him, and while the Bureau's inhabitants had to have an adjustment period to him living on the moon with them, they grew on him. He likes to think that he's grown on them, too. He can't lose anyone else, though. He's lost so much already. He doesn’t have much to lose in the first place, but this-
This is too much.
“No, I, I- you can't- I can't lose you, sir! I'm sorry, I, I can't, you're- you're like my dad, I can't lose that, I--”
Taako's trying to say something. It’s all static to Angus’ ears. He backs up again and steps in blood, and for the first time in his very comparably short life, he prays. God, does he pray. To anyone willing to listen, anyone with prying eyes, he prays for Taako to live, for whatever this is to fix itself- because as much as he could live with Taako being a lich, he's leaving, and Angus can't- he can't handle that. Not anymore.
And something answers.
It's… a comforting kind of energy, a whisper, a chaotic sense of magic that entangles his own, and there's the feeling of leaves and bark when he closes his eyes and takes another step back. Taako is still trying to talk to him. He ignores it and keeps praying. He prays to the god that's listening, that's extending the virtuous hand of energy, watching this scene go down, for anything that'll bring Taako back- and when he turns to face the body of his mentor, curled in on itself, bloody froth at the mouth and lips stained an airless blue, he rests hands on Taako’s shoulders, and he weeps.
There's a ghostly hand on his shoulder. It's supposed to be comforting, maybe. And then-
Then-
There is magic, and the sense that someone is saying something to him in a language he cannot comprehend. He thinks, maybe, it translates to don't let him go so easily, or don't tell secrets you were meant to keep, but either way, Taako's choking underneath his hands, and he's helping him sit up. He can feel leaves on his fingers and sap in between the grooves of his palm.
Maybe it was divine intervention.
Whatever it was, he helps Taako sit up, hands trembling. “Sir, are- you- you're okay, right? I, here, give me your stone, we can call the local militia number--”
“Angus.”
“And, and they have clerics, they can make sure you're okay, I- sir, you're okay, please be okay--”
“Angus.” He pauses his frantic movements for a moment. And he has to to take stock because he's being hugged.
He clings. He's getting tears and snot onto Taako's shirt, probably, but there's little inside of him that cares. There's only the gentle realization that whatever killed Taako in the first place hasn't gotten the chance to kill him again, he did something, he saved Taako, he's okay his dad is here it's okay--
“Don’ tell ‘nyone I hugged you.” A strained chuckle bubbles forth from his chest.
“Of course, sir. Let's- go back to the Bureau.”
He has… a lot to write down. Maybe a few questions for Lucretia, too, but not until he makes sure that he won't be erased for asking them.
What he does know is that this is a secret he needs to investigate. One way or another.
His family is important to him.