astronomical

[Taro Nakamura]

Prompt List

• Trouble
• Abandoned
• Saint Patrick's Day
• Everything
• Death
• Ride
• Test
• Fight
• Slap
• Triangle

[Taro Nakamura]

 

T R O U B L E

Taro was thoroughly irritated. Not just because of Sophia, though he'd need to deal with that eventually. No, he was irritated because regardless of how far he tried to distance himself from Fae bullshit, he kept getting dragged back into it. Case in fucking point, what brought him to the Excelsior - being told that he needed to deliver some cryptic message to Alexander. And, since he'd been told that Alexander had last been spotted here, he'd whisked himself from the bar counter at Hellcat's Hollow down to the hotel. He got stopped before he could get in the door, instead finding his apparation leaving him just to the side of the entrance. His lips curled into a sneer and he swore. Of course. Because what he needed in his life was more magic. With an angry jerk, he straightened the collar of his pea coat, and then pushed the door inward and entered the hotel.

If he breathed, he would have felt suffocated by the wards. As it was, he could definitely still feel them, bearing down on him and anything else that entered, no doubt. They didn't even try to hide them; and what for? Salvatore Godric wanted anyone who entered his domain with ill purpose to know exactly what was going to happen if they tried to cause problems. He had to admit, it was far more intimidating than hiding one's power, despite the obvious discomfort it brought him. He could appreciate someone who said what they said and stood by it. Taro was very "if you're going to talk about it, be about it," and he'd never been accused of not being 'about it'. He may not have been an ancient, but his ability sure afforded him some bite.

A stuffy man approached him - and by approached, what actually happened was that Taro was making dead straight for the counter when a nicely dressed man stepped directly in front of him, causing him to brake check himself with a small noise on the marble floor from his shoe as he stopped so abruptly. "Can I fucking help you?" Taro asked, not bothering to disguise his annoyance.

"You couldn't possibly," the man said, and there was a chuckle in his heavily accented voice as he said it. "Instead, allow me to assist you, sir, in not making any mistakes while you enjoy the safety of the Excelsior, hm?" He smiled, and it was all teeth.

"Fucking fairies," Taro hissed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Brownie, actually sir," the man corrected him. Taro snorted, as if there were a difference. "What's your business here? I'll gladly expedite what you need so that you can... go darken someone else's doorstep," he finished, the disdain clear in his voice. He didn't know Taro personally, but he stank of magic that the Brownie immediately recognized as old and chaotic, and he would simply not have it in his domain. After all, Mr. Godric took care of him, and thusly the Brownie did his job taking care of the home in which he lived.

Taro opened his mouth, and then closed it. Had he been human, he probably would have sighed, but as it was, he settled for staring at the man critically for a few moments, no doubt trying to determine exactly how much trouble it might be worth. He came to the conclusion that 'not much' was the right answer there, and besides, Deja had only sent him to deliver a message, not start a fight with an uptight Pixie.

"I'm looking for a friend," he began.

"Oh, you have those?" the man quipped. When Taro gave him a hard stare, he rolled his eyes. "Yes, a friend, what is the name of this 'friend'?" he pushed.

"Alexander Darling," Taro said, pursing his lips. "I'm from Diamond. And I have a message to deliver him."

The Brownie's expression changed almost immediately. "Diamond? Why didn't you simply say so, instead of looming about like you're here to doomsay about the end of days!" he demanded. "Of course, Diamonds are welcomed here without question. My apologies. If you'll follow me, sir," he said, giving a short bow before turning on his heel and leading Taro towards the lounge area.

"Zero to a hundred, it's all the same with them," he whispered to himself, nearly getting his goddamn neck broken from the whiplash of the sudden mood change. He nearly actually broke his fucking ankle as he followed the man into the lounge, unaware of the sunken setting, and gave the Brownie a death glare as he recovered. He swore he saw that bastard smile as he warned him to be careful, and turned back around to take him to where Darling sat.

"Mr. Darling, sorry to interrupt - you seem to have a caller," he said, gesturing to Taro, who came to stand beside him, his face still twisted into a sour expression.

"And I'm sure you were the epitome of a good host," Alexander said, setting his glass down and giving the fae a knowing arch of the brow.

"But of course," he said. He gave another short bow, and then vanished into the throng of people that passed them to the bar, leaving Taro standing there.

"We should get one of those for Diamond," Taro said. "Probably have far less problems with wayward hunters appearing," he added, an obvious callback to something he was still less than thrilled about. Getting stabbed with fae weaponry was at the bottom of his list of ideas for a good time. He reached out reflexively to shake Alexander's hand, having not actually put eyes on him for a while. He had no bad feelings about him; ancients deserved respect, for the most part, and Alexander was as worthy as he'd known.

"Murphy would never be allowed inside," Alexander laughed, clasping the man's hand. "Brownie don't like bad attitudes."

"So I noticed," he said, though his mood was already rapidly cooling.

"I'm sure you didn't come all this way to exchange pleasantries, though, so, what's going on? Has there been any movement with the - all the - things?" he asked, trying to find a way to address all of the absolute bullshit going on in a single word. He managed, as 'things' pretty much covered it all. The dead Phoenix, the coup at Midnight, the sudden re-emergence of Underfae, the devil, and god only knew what else. He'd picked a good time for Henri to visit, hadn't he?

"Yeah, you're right," Taro said. He glanced around, and then squatted down so that he were able to lean on the table and not have his voice so projected. "And, kind of. I'm not sure if you're... aware of what's going on at my guild right now, but we've got a very old, very powerful, and very crazy guest of Thorson's staying because she had an episode that was brought on by something nobody will tell me," he explained, trying to be brief, but also tell Alexander exactly who he meant without saying as much. The man nodded, clearly understanding. "And, she told me, to tell you, that, "He knows". She wouldn't give me clarification, and she said she wouldn't need to, so.." Taro held his hands up, trailing off.

Clearly, she hadn't needed to, by the way in which Alexander's entire body stiffened. He swallowed, and looked directly at Taro, his entire demeanor changing from the pleasant one that Taro had just seen to something much more predatory and alert. "How long ago did she send you?" he asked, his words spoken very clearly and slowly, emphasizing their importance.

"Less than an hour," he said. "I left, went to your guild, was told to go to Hellcat's Hollow, and they sent me here. Everything in between was me getting into the door here and to you," he said honestly. "Should I be worried?" He straightened back up as Alexander stood.

"Yes," the man said firmly. "Don't go straight back to Diamond."

"She told me the same thing," Taro said.

"Good," he said, nodding to himself. "Good, that means she's still firing on all cylinders."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Taro asked, following Alexander as he exited the lounge and headed for the elevators.

"Yeah, actually - that ability of yours, what's your limit?" he asked, waiting for the doors to open.

"I probably couldn't drop a house on someone, but I could get everything up to that point. It's only gotten better with age," Taro said, shrugging. He'd never really stopped to consider his limits. He was aware they existed, but he'd also never tried to throw the Empire State building, either. "I reckon limited only by how much I've fed and the mental strain, honestly. Why?"

Alexander looked away, considering something, and then back at him. "Hang out in the lounge for a while. You're safe here, anyways. I'll come back down shortly. Unless you have obligations to Diamond?"

Taro thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing they can't handle."