Chapter Text
The woods feel strange, tonight. The crickets have gone silent, most of the animals that one might usually hear running around can’t be heard, and there isn’t even enough wind to kick up the rustling of leaves. But even beyond the eerie silence, there’s a...dark cloud over the double wagons. Neither of the occupants have spoken to each other since earlier that evening, when they’d first run off from the now smaller town of Glamour Springs.
Sazed has been thinking about a few things since the moment Taako came scrambling into the wagon yelling about poisoning the food and the audience getting sick. One of the more aggressive thoughts is the fact that he really, really should have thought better of what food to put the arsenic in. He doesn’t know what compelled him to put it in the chicken instead of one of Taako’s many, many coffees. His thought process hadn’t been the clearest, when he was debating whether or not to actually go through with his plan. In the end, he had poured the arsenic into the mixing bowl Taako had been prepping things in.
And, apparently, that had lead to tonight being the only night that Taako didn’t taste test the food he makes before serving it.
Sazed doesn’t really do guilt. His life hasn’t exactly what you might call sunny, and if he felt guilty for every crime he’d ever committed then he never would have gotten anywhere at all. But this is...a different level of mistake entirely. Killing all those people had not been even remotely his intention, he’d only hoped to fuck Taako over enough to have an excuse to take over the show. There wasn’t enough antidote in the entire apothecary to fix forty people, even if there had been some way of handing it out and not getting caught.
But luck’s apparently been with him, because instead of taking the smart route and immediately suspecting the guy who’s been mad at him for the last couple of months, Taako is blaming himself. Through his panicked babbling as they hightailed it out of the town, it became obvious that Taako thinks he transmuted deadly nightshade berries instead of the intended garnish.
Now, Sazed knows Taako’s dumb as hell, but he isn’t dumb. He knows it’s only a matter of time until the elf realizes that most people don’t eat garnishes, it doesn’t make sense that the entire audience would have been poisoned. Eventually Taako’s going to put two and two together, and Sazed is not going to stick around for the ensuing blowup.
That’s why he’s got a bag stuffed fit to bursting with necessary things, and why he’s creeping out of the second wagon with hopes of a particularly high stealth check. Taako’s been jumpy since they left town and he’s sure that the elf will be able to hear him if he isn’t careful. Sazed doesn’t want to answer any awkward questions or have a fight right now, since it’d just make it harder to leave.
In order to get to the main road, he’s going to have to go past the larger wagon. He’s going to have to check and make sure that Taako’s meditating or otherwise distracted before he tries anything, though. Luck’s been with him so far tonight, so maybe things will keep going smoothly.
He walks over the window that’s closest to his eye level and peeks in, trying to keep himself hidden behind the half open curtains. He looks over the inside of the wagon- the low lights that don’t hinder him at all, the cookbooks Taako had tossed around earlier in trying to figure out what he’d done wrong, various pieces of merchandise that were useless now, a really impressive pile of hair-
Sazed blinks. Leans in closer, frowns. The pile of hair doesn’t turn into fabric or whatever other detritus Taako’s thrown into a pile this time. And from his closer position at the window he can see Taako now, back turned away from him and with choppy hair that looks out of place on the elf. Sazed doesn’t think he’s ever seen him with hair falling shorter than around his ears, but now his soft golden curls are all gone and just short of being a buzzcut. He’s staring very intently into the small hand mirror hanging on the wall, and even from how far away he is Sazed can see the hand holding the scissors is shaking.
So. He has two choices, here.
The smart choice would be to leave. Taako is distracted and probably won’t be pulling himself from that mirror for a long while. Sazed could be long gone before Taako even thought about looking for him and it would be easy, so easy. Compared to Taako no one knows who Sazed is, he could be back on his feet in no time flat. Maybe not at the level of a semi-successful cooking show, but restaurants always need more employees who can lift an entire keg over their heads like it’s nothing.
But the other choice, the one that’s keeping him tethered to this spot in front of the window and watching as Taako tries in vain to even out his new haircut, is a much worse idea. He could...stay. The likelihood of Taako every finding out is pretty slim without having access to the death certificates of all those in Glamour Springs. Not to mention that Taako seems to be more than willing to take the full brunt of the guilt for all of this. Of course, a tiefling and an elf travelling together will bring more attention than either of them travelling alone, and then there’s the fact that Taako might figure it out, not to mention that if he stays he’s putting himself in a place where the future isn’t looking too bright…
Sazed says he doesn’t do guilt, but he can’t think of another excuse for why he drops his pack off to the side of the wagon and walks up to the door. Just like back at the prep station, he doesn’t let himself think on what he’s doing long enough to stop himself. He opens the door without knocking and grimaces a little at Taako’s undignified squawk of surprise. This is stupid. He’s stupid for this. He can probably still salvage it by telling Taako he’s leaving.
But when he opens his mouth, instead of anything remotely like that coming out he says instead “It looks like you got hit in the head with a hedge trimmer.”
Whoof. Smooth, really smooth.
He winces, fully expecting to be smacked by a mage hand, but instead Taako gives a startled, watery little laugh. It’s so unlike Taako, who is someone that laughs long and hard until he’s gasping for breath. The guilt prickles at the back of Sazed’s mind again but he ignores it this time.
“I’m totally blaming the mirror on this one, dude. I don’t think it was designed for elves with stupidly huge ears in mind. Not sure the craft scissors did me any favors either!” Taako laughs again, and goes to tuck hair that isn’t there behind his ears. His hand falters and playing it off doesn’t quite work. “Asymmetrical haircuts are not in, let me tell you. I cannot believe I’m going to be the only elf on this gods be damned continent with the fashion sense of a rock-” He keeps going and Sazed tunes him out as he sits behind him. He picks up the scissors (which are perfectly sharp, thank you very much) and places a hand on Taako’s shoulder.
“Hey,” he says, which is enough to make him shut up for a moment. “I’m going to even you out. Hold still.” Taako swears something in Elvish but does as he asks and doesn’t move his head much. The rest of him fidgets, bitten nails tapping at the wood floor, ears moving down far enough that they’re nearly pointing directly at the floor, and a dozen other small movements that betray his anxiety despite the brave face he’s put on.
For a real moment, Sazed considers slicing Taako’s throat with the scissors. It would be easy- neither of them are healers, and a throat wound is more immediately deadly than most others. If he held him still, Sazed wouldn’t even have to worry about much blood.
The hand holding the scissors drifts, before the moment passes and he moves back up to the wisps of Taako’s hair still uncut. It’s kind of depressing to see it fall down around his shoulders, since he had genuinely loved his hair, but Sazed understands. People will be looking for an elf with long, ostentatious hair and not something modestly cut. If Sazed’s hair wasn’t already cropped close he’d probably have followed the same route.
They sit like that for a bit, until there’s sudden mumbling from Taako, too quiet for him to pick out the words. Sazed clips off another bunch of stray curls and waits for Taako to speak up, but he doesn’t and curiosity gets the better of him.
“What was that?” He asks, not really expecting a response. Taako mutters under his breath all the time, and it’s not unusual for it to be him just babbling in increasingly convoluted ways. So, he’s surprised when Taako turns around and fixes him with an almost angry look. It’s sudden enough that he nearly clips his damn ear off. “Christ Taako-”
“Why the hell haven’t you run off yet?” Taako says in a tone of voice that really, really wants to come off as angry but can’t quite make it. Sazed just about feels his heart stop. There’s no way Taako would have seen him skulking around with his bag, not when he was so distracted with his hair. Before he can even form a confused response, though, Taako continues. “I mean- Shit, I killed forty people , Sazed! Usually killing one person is enough to send anyone sane running for the hills! So like, the only reason I can think of for you staying here and even helping me out is because you’re like two steps away from rattin’ me out to the popo! Which is totally expected and like, props to you my man, but at least be honest about it!”
Sazed stares at Taako, who’s breathing hard now. Usually when he’d get emotional like this, his hair would be falling in his face and making Sazed feel a little flustered. But now, without anything framing his expression he’s far too open and intense to be comfortable.
“I am…” Sazed pinches the edge of his nose and takes a deep breath. “I’m not going to turn you in, Taako. That would be incredibly dumb of me. I mean, not just because it was a...mistake,” that’s one word for it “and not just because it’d get me arrested, too.” Taako snorts and makes another movement that’s clearly him forgetting his hair is short again. “Look, whatever actually happened out there, it’d be shitty of me to just run off in the dead of night, right? I mean...we’ve been through a lot. I should at least get us to the next town before making any big decisions.”
Taako doesn’t look convinced or all that placated, but instead of arguing he sweeps the rest of the hair off his shoulders and onto the pile. Then, as if he himself isn’t totally sure what he’s doing, he curls up and lays his head on Sazed’s knee.
Taako is- Well, he’s basically a cat shaped like an elf. He isn’t a big fan of touching unless it’s on his terms, and then it’s usually all or nothing. This sort of barely there touching that could almost be called hesitant is so unlike Taako that Sazed doesn’t think to move. He’s a little afraid to break the spell, to remind Taako that he has an entire rest of the floor to lay on.
He pretty much immediately regrets that once he realizes that instead of just using him as a comfortable spot to rest Taako has decided to fall into meditation. And Sazed knows for a goddamn fact that the elf has to put some real effort into meditating, so it’s not like accidentally falling asleep.
...He doesn’t move him, though. He leans back against the wall and stares at the colored lights Taako’s hung on the ceiling. Usually they can be pretty calming, but with the mess his mind is in right now even a sleep spell wouldn’t help. He keeps trying to focus on why he’s stayed, but all he can come up with is that it was the right thing to do, which makes no goddamn sense considering he was all for murdering earlier that day.
Maybe if he’s lucky, his mind will clear up after they get far enough from the scene of the crime, and he’ll have a better answer for himself than a shrug.