[It's still damn hard for him to be okay with these big displays. He remembers being Angus' age, having to suck in his words and his tears and pretend to be strong and adult. He sees a lot of it in Angus. He doesn't pretend to think Angus is gonna be a normal kid after this- kids like him aren't just normal, don't just stop. But there's gonna be more. There's gonna be Candlenights dinners and late lunches in Goldcliff, sleepy breakfasts in somewhere far away with everyone bumping elbows in a tiny kitchen. There'll be more fucked up cookies and dogs and tears and in years and years and years he will learn to accept these things into his heart.

But for now, he just lets up on nooging Angus to rest a hand too gently on his head, a moment of his eyes closing around Angus' hysteria, and he decides this is the first of those moments for all the time he has.

By the time Angus is up, Taako groans, waving his hand so all the tears and snot are magiced off his shirt.]

Seriously, my dude, you went hard there. What a crybaby.

[But he winks. Because it's a joke, now. A real one.]

Don't worry kiddo, you'll get to go back and do all the glory shit real soon.