Fandom Disaster Hearts - A Taagnus RP

[humlors]

It felt like an ugly reminder of why exactly he was sitting here, in a strange apartment in a strange town far from home. The reason he'd fled. He didn't think about it much, pushed it all to the darkest corners of his mind most of the time. It was quite the opposite of what his therapist had told him to do, but you know, whatever. Usually he tried to make it up for himself in his mind, pointing towards the fact that he's making a new start for himself. The cowardice betrayed him, always louder than his supposedly good intentions.


Whatever Taako said almost went over his head, too wrapped up in his own anxieties to really listen. Catching the last sentence at least, he looked the other in the eye again, kicking himself mentally. “Heh, I think I'd surprise you.” He tried to smile, an idea popping into his head. “Actually… hold on, lemme find something.”


Rising from the table, he rushed to one of the still unopened box sitting beside his couch, digging through it. “I think mom put it here- ah!” A thick photo album in a deep red shade emerged, and Magnus felt the smile on his face turn genuine. Opening it and flipping through the numerous pages, he walked back to sit at the table. “I was kinda tiny when I was small, believe it or not. Took like, four growth spurts to grow up completely.” He huffed a laugh to himself. “Dad always used to complain about how I never seemed to stop growing.”


Finding the page he was looking for, he passed the book over in-between the two on the table so Taako could see. The four pictures on the pages depicted Magnus, all in the age around six or seven. Always smiling brightly, one front tooth missing. Whether he was sitting on his mom's shoulders and waving at the bears at the zoo, building the tree house or having a battle of waterguns in the backyard. Julia was in most of them, he noticed with a heavy heart. It wasn't something he'd so obviously seen before, how she'd really been there every step of the way for him. Always there.

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

Taako watched with confusion as Magnus went rummaging around in some box. He had absolutely no clue what had sent the other boy off like that, but it all cleared as Magnus came back to the table with a photo album. Relieved that whatever tragedy Magnus had been reminded of was out of the conversation he felt curiosity rise in him. “Ha! I’ll believe that when I see it.”

As soon as it was offered to him, Taako made a grab for the book and pulled it up to his face. The pictures fitted in perfectly with the utopian picture Magnus had painted of his childhood. There was a sting of the previous jealousy in Taako’s chest, but in an uncharacteristic show of respect he pushed it down. Instead, he focused on the small boy in the images and saw traces of the much bigger boy in front of him. “Oh my god. You’re tiny?! Did you like, fall in a vat of something or what?”

Taako threw a grin over the edge of the album before he started to flip through the album. In the images he saw Magnus through the years, joined by what had to be his parents and family, a girl Taako assumed had to be this Julia Magnus had talked about earlier also showed up in most of the pictures. Taako’s hand stopped suddenly as he reached what had to be the first (second?) growth spurt. From one page to the next Magnus seemed to have grown at least a foot, and Taako kept flipping between the two in disbelief.

“What happened to you? Like, how?” He put the album down on the table and squinted at Magnus. “Is this a prank? Have you collected pictures of some other kid or something?”

 

[humlors]

The album was tugged from his hands, and Magnus’ eyebrows went up at the sudden enthusiasm Taako showed for his childhood. The lighter tone he showed eased some of Magnus’ underlying sadness, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the comments. “Oh yeah, definitely. I'm actually in a family of four, you're just looking at all of my brothers right now.” He replied, voice dripping with cocky sarcasm. Leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his broad chest, Magnus looked at Taako with something playful in his eyes. “Congrats! You're the first person to have ever uncovered the truth of our family scandal. I'm sure you're very happy.”

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

The squint never left Taako's face, although it did take on a shade of stubbornness as he eyed Magnus. "You're joking, but honestly that would be a lot more believable then well, this." Using the album as a pointer Taako waved the object around, vaguely indicating at Magnus. "People have brothers, but no one goes from being a tiny kid to... I don't even know, you? Like, that does not happen. You're like five of kid you stacked in a trench coat." He shook his head incredulously, sure some of his outrage was faked, but there was still a corner of honesty beneath it. Taako himself had had one slow growth spurt somewhere at the start of puberty, and that had just barely gotten him past 5'3", whatever Magnus had done was magic.

 

[humlors]

Magnus had never been one to pay much attention to his appearance, except for the fact that people had always been befuddled by his growth over the years. But getting this kind of attention, he couldn't help but preen, just a little. The grin didn't leave his face as he shrugged a little helplessly. “Look, I dunno man! Both mom and dad aren't very tiny either, so neither will I! It's genetics! And drinking a lot of milk every morning!” And the fact that he didn't even remember a time where he didn't do any kind of physical workout every day, but he couldn't help but bask in this. Taako was sort of adorable with that suspicious squint.

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

Taako shook his head and shrugged. “Whatever man, fuck knows what kind of milk you’ve been drinking.” He stood up and went over to the stove, threw a glance in the oven and bent down to get the pan in it. With a little bump of his hip Taako closed the oven up again and placed the pan on the stovetop. He turned back to Magnus and waved nonchalantly to the pan. “Macaroons. To go with your super milk.” Yanking the album up on his way back Taako slumped back in his chair. He threw his feet up on the table and started flipping through the pages again.

 

[humlors]

Finally Magnus could locate the other sweet scent in the room, and he felt his mouth immediately water at the sight of the crisp cookies. Taako really had thought of everything to win him over, didn’t he?

He turned his head back to the shorter person in front of him, tilting his head in an almost curious way. “You have a habit of making yourself at home to people you weren’t even invited to?” he teased, a smile playing on his lips. “And also, y’know, making them food as an apology for past… mistakes? Going through their life story?”

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

“Making food and making myself at home, sure. It all comes naturally after a while.” A tightness bit in right between Taako’s shoulder blades, he never intended to think about his past, about making himself at home in place after place until it came as second nature. About how it was either that or fade away. It wasn’t something he thought about, and it certainly wasn’t something he was telling all american nuclear family Magnus about, so he had to change the subject.

“But you were the one to dig this out.” He waved the album and sent a teasing grin Magnus’ way. “Which by the way, some real stellar pictures in here. They’ve really captured every phase you’ve had in here.” Taako flipped back in the album until he reached some more photos of Magnus’ more awkward teen years and turned it so Magnus could see.

 

[humlors]

Magnus felt a hint of regret seeing Taako tense up. He'd only tried to make friendly teasing, maybe pushing just a little too far. At the same time, it wasn't like Taako himself saw anything odd in kindly insulting people. The more Magnus thought about him, the more he seemed like a paradox in himself.

Being promptly showed an image he'd rather forget, Magnus felt his cheeks warm up. Crossing his arms defensively, he still didn't try to pry the book out of Taako's hands, no matter how much he'd have liked to. “Hey, I'll have you know backwards snapbacks were very cool back then.” It didn't exactly combine well with the too large hokey tee, braces and sunglasses, but Magnus knew for sure that Taako would have laughing material for at least a few weeks now.

Like a penny dropping in his head, Magnus suddenly remembered the next pages and the photos they held. The junior ball, his and Julia's real first date. First kiss, his mind echoed hollowly, mouth suddenly feeling dry. The months and years that followed. “But- uhm. Maybe that's enough for today, hm?” He tried to keep his voice steady, reaching across the table for the album.

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

Taako grinned up at Magnus, finally having found something to use as actual leverage. "Oh I bet they were, much like sunglasses. Totally tubular, dude." He laughed, the image of this younger Magnus didn't stand as a complete surprise, in fact Taako was wondering why he hadn't found more embarrassing stuff. But it was still a mental challenge to fit this in with the boy sitting in front of him now. "You were like, the coolest kid on the block I'm guessing. Had all the radical things on at the same time to add to your radness. Right?" Nearly doubling over from laughter it took a bit of concentration for him to straighten up and listen.

"What? No! We've clearly just reached the best part!" Taako pulled the album back towards himself and held it against his chest. He was so not going to let Magnus' embarrassment stop him from seeing more amazing photos. "Ooh bet there's like, a really sweet photo of your junior prom in here, did you wear a tuxedo? You gotta have, you were totally one of those overdressed saps!" Still with the album close to his body he began flipping through the pages to continue his teasing.

 

[humlors]

“No, Taako- really.” he tried to press, stress rising by the second. He wasn’t smiling anymore, starting to regret having brought forward the album in the first place. How would he explain it? He wouldn’t, that was the right answer. They just weren’t that close yet, Magnus tried to reason with himself. This wasn’t the right time. It was too early, both for Taako and for himself.

He reached over the table again, voice devoid of humor this time. “Give it back now, Taako.”

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

The urgency in Magnus' voice didn't pass Taako by, and it was clear even to him that some invisible line had been crossed. It was delightfully tempting to ignore it, and Taako probably would have done just that if it hadn't been for that second sentence. With their last encounter fresh in mind it hit him once more how different it was to have Magnus angry with you, or at least with Taako. It wasn't as if Magnus was the first one with a justified reason for his anger, far from it, but he managed something only Lup had done the few times she and Taako had had proper fights; he made Taako want to not do whatever was causing the anger.

...which Taako obviously was never going to let anyone, least of all Magnus himself, know.

With an eye roll and a shrug Taako slammed the album shut and pinched it between two fingers, handling the book as if it could give him leprosy when he handed it over. "Geez, big guy, don't get your panties all twisted up. What'd you even have in there, porn? 'Cause like... judgement free zone, but that's some real messed up small town fuckery there."

 

[humlors]

Magnus took the album with more urgency than needed, clutching it close and fiddling with the worn edges. "That's not what it's about, alright? Didn't ask you to snoop around my personal belongings." he snapped back, and it came out a little more venomous than he'd have liked. He grimached, looking elsewhere than Taako. This was something personal, no doubt. But he didn't want Taako to think he was shutting out him specifically.

Feeling that he'd created a tension in the room he didn't like much, he stood up to put the album on top of a pile of school books on the table, gathered both of the dishes up and took them to the sink. He'd take care of it later. "Listen, I was kinda planing to go for a jog sometime now after school, so..." he said lightly, desperately searching for a better topic of conversation. "You wanna come with? Or something?"

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

Taako stared back at Magnus with wide eyes for a moment, that had not been a tone he'd expect from the other. It wasn't a tone he wanted to hear either. So in a classic "don't blame me" Taako manner he slid out of the chair and right into a shrug. When he spoke it was airy and aloft, as if the whole thing was already forgotten. "You did hand me the book. Not like I did much snooping here. None at all to be honest."

It wasn't until he stopped talking that Taako realised that he had no reason to be standing. In fact it was a great inconvenience. An inconvenience that needed to end, now. With an annoyed groan he melted back into a somewhat dignified position on the table, or at least he tried to keep it dignified but his feet not reaching the ground made that very hard. Of course it was right then that Magnus made his suggestion. Taako could do little more than stare, asking himself if that had really just come out of Magnus mouth. Once he'd decided that it actually, against all odds, had, he gestured to himself and drawled. "Look, Legday, do I seem like a person who jogs, to you? Really? I haven't done one jog in my life, ever. So if you're gonna do that, then I'm gonna be a normal human being and head home to take a nap. You know, like people? Do?"

 

[humlors]

Somehow Magnus felt like he should've expected that kind of response, but the sting of disappointment still shot through. “Could've just said 'no’.” He muttered, shoulders slumping slightly.

Still, he didn't let it bring him down. “Alright, then how about I follow you home? Going out anyways.” He tried to smile at Taako.

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

For once in his life Taako caught the change in Magnus’ demeanour. He didn’t understand it because honestly Magnus should have expected Taako’s non-existent relation to working out, but something about the reaction worried his selfish core and he set about fixing it.

“Hey, dude.” His voice was somewhat softer now, “I’m not saying I’m like, against jogging or whatever. Bet it’s real good, never wanna stop you from doing it, but not really my plate if you catch my drift? More of a bystanding appreciatior than a doer. But yeah, you jog, I walk, everyone wonders what the hells going on.” Taako smiled back, actually trying to prevent a bridge from burning instead of pouring gasoline in it. “And if that’s messing with your routine you can just do some other things right? Squats? Planking? That thing with the knees?”

 

[humlors]

Now that did surprise Magnus. Taako being defensive and deflecting any kind of interest or affection directed towards him, that Magnus knew of. But Taako seeing a misstep and changing accordingly? This was new… this was nice. Without him helping it, a dopey smile made its way to his face.

“Yeah! Hell yeah! We can do that!” Magnus said, maybe a little more enthusiastic than he should've been, “I mean, I'm gonna take it easy before dropping you off and stuff, you're not gonna have to keep up with me! Oh-”

He suddenly bolted forward to the lone cupboard fixed into the wall, fumbling through for some more appropriate clothes. “Gotta change first. In the bathroom.” He clarified without fully knowing why. Smiling towards Taako, still confirming that this was a good idea, he grabbed the first best shorts and t-shirt he got a hold off, off into the minimal bathroom immediately.

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

Taako stared dumbfounded at Magnus’ rushing around, absently wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. While he waited for Magnus to return he slid down from the table and retrieved his outer clothing, shrugging into it with feigned nonchalance and adjusting it, and his hair, so it had just the right balance between planned and dishevelled. Then he settled down with his phone to wait for Magnus.

 

[humlors]

After but a few minutes, Magnus came out of the minimal bathroom and back into the minimal living room, a bright smile on his face. “Dunno if planking is a thing, by the way.” He expressed, having gone over Taako's words in his head an unreasonable amount of times in the bathroom, just to make sure he hadn't misunderstood anything. “Not to be like that, but y'know, I've never heard of it and you don't seem very interested, so I'll kindly reject your judgement on that one.” He grinned, giddy now.

Quickly tying his shoes, he had to pull down the hem of the t-shirt he wore, this one sitting just a smidge tighter than the other ones. He should've thrown it out when it got too small, but never quite gotten around to it. And now wasn't exactly the time to start redressing, a little scared that Taako's patience would run out. Oh well, it worked at least.

“Ready to go?” He asked, not even waiting for the answer before unlocking the door and walking out into the corridor, making a long gesture with his hand to look a little bit more gentleman-y. Just because.

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

Oh now if that was jogging wear, then maybe Taako would have to look into it more. Or at least, look at it more. Having given Magnus a second appreciative once-over, Taako finally got his head out of the gutter enough to reply with mock offense. "Excuse you, I was alive in 2013, planking was definitely a thing. Maybe it just never reached Amish county?" He grinned cheekily at Magnus before heading for the door.

The door... That Magnus was holding open? What kind of Jane Austen bullshit was this? Lifting his skirt the smallest bit Taako faked an horrendous British accent while walking out. "Oh dearest me, sir! How tremendously kind of you! If only my third husband... Francis! Were half as much of a gentleman as you are."

 

[humlors]

Only rolling his eyes in response to Taako's Amish accusations, Magnus couldn't help the frankly unmanly giggle that escaped him. “Doth thou sayeth that thou has killeth thine husband for his bad manners? Rightly so, dearest!” He responded with an equally bad british accent, squaring his shoulders and putting a hand behind his back.

He very much tried to keep up the persona as long as he could, only breaking it to lock the door carefully behind them. After that he flipped around, holding out his arm to head to the stairs. “Thine carriage awaits, my lord!”

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

It took almost all of Taako’s admittedly minuscule self control to conceal his ogling somewhat as that ridiculous shirt stretched with Magnus squared shoulders. The view was tantalising and immediately saved away for later. (A particular image of biting into those shoulders and digging manicured nails into Magnus’ impressive back lingered behind) “Indeed so! The lacking in his manners were not, I tell thee, could not possibly be compensated for in any the way. A tragic specimen if I dare be so bold!” He grinned at Magnus before sauntering on.

Not far from the door Taako’s act was cut short by an uncontrollable laugh escaping him. It left him bent over and wheezing, tears welling up to threaten his eyeliner. “Oh god, dude, your accent is terrible!”

 

[humlors]

“As if yours is better!” Magnus accused good naturedly, grinning while heading down the stairs. Heading outside now, the sun was setting beautifully, putting colors of orange and purple into the clouds. Magnus breathed in the fresh summer air, stretching arms behind his back. “And I actually think my accent is impeccable. Trust me, my mom spent my entire childhood watching the same boxsets of Jane Austen movies. And she cried every time!” he smiled fondly, thinking back at it. In the back of his mind he put a reminder to call his parents when he got home tonight.

“But I mean, it's comforting to know that everyone had those weird parent quirks growing up.” He chuckled, glancing at the gorgeous sky above. “Makes you feel at least a little bit more normal.”

 

[SolitaryNoodle]

The moment he made it out the door Taako retrieved a pair of enormous sunglasses from his pocket and perched them on his nose. “Impeccable? Suuuure, some real mr Darcy thing you’ve got there.”

He’d been enjoying this, but of course that couldnt last. As Magnus went back to his all american nuclear family Taako just hummed along. His hands deep in his pockets as he absently agreed. “Yeah, sure is great. Gotta love all of those old people quirks. Bet you cried with her though.” It wasn’t exactly his best segway, but it would have to do. “So, were you gonna get all sweaty jock or what?”

 

[humlors]

He couldn't help his gaze lingering at the comically large sunglasses, smiling as the thought passed that he missed Taako's face a little more now. Proceeding on pushing that particular thought to the very back of his mind, he turned to push up a foot against a short stone railing, stretching his legs as he conveniently hid any trace of his own heated cheeks.

“In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” He quoted, smile going somewhat wistful thinking of Matthew Macfeyden’s dreamy expression still permanently stuck in his mind. “Yeah, so maybe they were mildly entertaining for a twelve year old. I can't imagine you're in a position to judge.” he teased back over his shoulder.

“I already am!” He announced proudly, finally feeling spry and ready for the workout, jogging slightly on the spot now. “Your house was that way, right?” He asked, pointing in the general direction he'd ran past a few weeks ago.