[It feels hard to hear through the way his heartbeat is pounding, seeming so obvious to him in every step. He knows he's being cagey, but even doing this is difficult for someone who shoes their emotions so hard into the floor they've oft forgot they had them. It's complicated. It's beyond complicated.

Taako nods as they step in, eyes sliding over the space. It's... hm. There's stuff here, for sure, and he knows she's only been here a little bit of time, but it feels a little surreal. Like slipping into her office at the Bureau, like being behind closed doors to ask for something stupid and inconsequential and for a moment his throat tightens, his mind reeling back to that person and that place and That Taako. Instead, he takes a breath, shuts that down as he turns to grin a bit her direction.]

Wow, pickin' up on the whole minimalism thing, huh? I get it, haven't had a lot of time to get stuff goin', but like, you draw. Nothing?

[He should keep this going about the liches, too. At least she agrees- it feels nice to agree on something, for once. He'll ignore that it's his fault they haven't.]

And yeah, I mean, we know what it means to be uhhh super desperate, but we didn't run a kidnapping ring and sacrifice people for magic powers. I'm just saying, we figured it out, don't see why they can't.