Chapter Text

The piercing shatter of a dish meeting the floor punctuated the silence. Taako stood across from Angus, watching the boy detective with stunned, wide eyes. Angus McDonald, quaking in his shoes, stared back, unsure from the elf’s reaction to the news.

“...Ango?” the elf managed.

“...yes, sir?” the boy replied, straightening his glasses and trying to stop trembling.

“...repeat those words...exactly as you said them.” Taako brushed a strand of hair from his face, kneeling down slightly to get closer to Angus. His voice was low and severe, frightening the boy detective. He wasn't sure if he'd ever heard Taako speak so sternly. The only thing that surprised him more was Taako's non-reaction to breaking a dish or any sort of kitchenware. If he knew this was the reaction he would’ve gotten, he would’ve not said anything at all.

“...uh...a--a girl...wants to go on a date. With...with me,” the young human responded.

No. No, Taako hadn’t misheard. No, Angus wasn’t playing a joke, the elf didn't know if he could. Angus McDonald, boy-detective, star pupil, and rising soccer player, had a date.

Istus still his heart, this might be the greatest day of Taako’s life.

Taako never saw himself as much of a father, but Angus chose to live with them after the Day of Story and Song. Taako could teach him magic, Lup and Barry liked him, and Kravitz was warming up to him after a while. Angus was smart, he could easily take care of himself and even helped out around himself. It was like raising a child with none of the bad stuff, according to Taako. There were anxious days where Taako had to find the right thing to help calm Angus, and he usually could. However, nothing could’ve prepared either of them for the unbridled shriek of joy that escaped Taako’s mouth. With a flick of his wrist, the shards of plate on the floor whisked themselves away as he grabbed both of Angus’ shoulders, holding him firmly in place as the questions flowed from his mouth.

“What’s her name? Is she cute? Is she an elf? How pretty is she? Does she like magic? Cooking? Food? Those weird books you read? Is she a nerd like you?”

“Sir--...sir, I...SIR!” Angus suddenly shouted, halting Taako’s breakneck questioning. He pulled his trademark feathered cap off, running his fingers through his hair to try and calm down, “she...her name is Lilly. W-We have a class together, and she saw my Caleb Cleveland books--”

“Aww, she is a nerd!”

“....a-and she said she liked them, too. We talked a lot. Turns out she’s a half-elf. And she’s...really smart. And really pretty…”

“Well, then it looks like you have it all figured out, my man!” Taako ruffled Angus’ hair. “Mazel tov! Tell me how it goes!” he waved and turned back to his work in the kitchen.

“Sir, it’s…” Angus clutched his hat in both hands, “...I don’t know what to do.” That made Taako stop and slowly turn back around, his ears drooped.

“Bud, there’s really not that much to it. You just go and have a nice time, have some good food. You’ve had a crush before, right?” Angus didn’t answer. “...oh. Well, uhm…” This gave Taako pause for thought. It was no secret that Taako was way more outgoing than Angus, but Angus really had no experience. Taako knew how to pretty himself up, how to please people, and where to find good food. Angus, however, had few (if any) friends before getting to the moonbase or once Neverwinter was rebuilt. Before then, he had Caleb Cleveland and his own detective skills. Angus was happy to now have friends, he was delighted to be on the soccer team, but the idea of a girlfriend never occurred to him. Caleb never had a girlfriend. And, while Angus was surrounded by all sorts of love and couples since meeting the Bureau crew, he still never gave it any thought. Taako clapped his hands together and opened his mouth: “Alright, Ango McDango. Your first date. You’re gonna--”

“WAIT!”

A shout from upstairs and a sudden series of thumps shook the house. Down the stairs bounded Lup, her hair a frazzled mess and clothes disheveled. She glanced between Taako and Angus with wide eyes, her body heaving with each breath. “Did you just say… ‘first date’... and ‘Angus’...in the same sentence?” she managed, pointing a finger at both of them as she spoke. Taako grinned while Angus hid his face in his hat.

“Ain’t it great? His first date! Angus is totally gonna knock her socks off. I was just about to give him some pointers,” the wizard responded, smugly leaning against the counter with his hands behind his back.

“Taako!” Lup groaned, “He needs something to wear!” As quick as she came, Lup leaped back up the stairs. Her excited shouting could still be heard: “Babe! Babe, wake up! Angus has a date!”

The world’s most embarrassed detective pressed his hat harder against his face, letting out a whimper. Taako tilted his head at him.

“Yeesh, you’re really nervous, huh?”

“At this rate, everyone’s gonna know.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

Angus paused. “...I guess not.”

“Well, thank goodness for that.” Taako held out his hand and opened his palm, revealing a glowing Stone of Farspeech. Angus felt a pit in his stomach. Taako must’ve grabbed it while Lup was shouting. Angus groaned again and wished he could disappear.

“Sir, you didn’t…”

“Oh, Ango,” Taako smirked, “I totally did.”

For Angus, the world spun when Lilly asked him on a date. His happiness manifested as warm tingling in his chest in the moment before the suffocating anxiety set in. For everyone else, their worlds seemed to stop as soon as Taako told them the news. Kravitz arrived more-or-less instantly. His first move was to become an outlet for Taako’s excited babbling. Angus needed the reprieve. Next was Magnus, rushing in to give Angus a bear hug. Lucretia and Merle arrived soon after, the former warmly telling the flustered detective how proud she was of him, while the latter knocked him with a hearty slap on the back. The room was abuzz with excitement, all centered on Angus. He never knew the feeling of being the center of attention, and, if this was the typical experience, he hated it. But he couldn’t deny how loved he felt. His school friends would undoubtedly be excited, too, but Angus would be ready for their excitement: Some high-fives, a “congratulations” or two, and a warm welcome for Lilly into their circle of friends. The constant noise and fawning from his family put Angus on edge, but it warmed him to feel that they cared so much. Taako, Merle, and Magnus’ teasing could be too much at times, but their enthusiasm here was genuine. It didn’t take being the world’s greatest detective to figure that out.

“You still with us, Agnes?”

The warm, gravelly voice of Merle Highchurch pulled Angus out of his thoughts.

“Oh! Uh, yep, still here.” He managed a smile. Merle returned an actually genuine one and sat next to Angus.

“You know, I never thought about Mavis and Mookie getting dates. I don’t know what I’d say.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’d come up with something good, sir!”

Merle chuckled at that. “Heh. Well, I don’t mean to brag, but I did bag me a wife,” he grinned, confidently folding his arms behind his head.

“...sir, aren’t you divorced?’

“Ahh, details, details. The point is I can give you some advice on how to put the moves on her~” Merle winked, putting an arm around Angus.

The young detective’s cheeks flushed red. “The--The ‘moves’?” he stammered, “Sir, I don’t know about--”

“Nonsense, they worked for me one hundred percent of the time!”

Angus opened his mouth to debate that but found that Merle was, in fact, technically correct. The worst kind of correct.

Merle continued, “alright, kid, first thing is--”

“Merle!” Taako suddenly appeared over them, hands on his hips. “He doesn’t need to worry about that yet! He’s, like, ten!”

“I’m thirteen,” Angus corrected, sheepishly holding up three fingers.

“That’s like ten!” the elf repeated, scoffing, “Whatever. Lup and I have been working on the most important part of the date for you, mango: Appearances!”

“Uh...what did you come up with?”

Was there a word for chest-crushing anxiety and impending dread thinly veiled by polite intrigue?

Taako nodded over his shoulder, then stepped to another room in the house. Angus swallowed hard before following. He wasn’t sure if he could mentally prepare himself enough for whatever they’d come up with. Taako and Lup together were a formidable force.

Before Angus hung a suit. Knowing the combined skill of the twin elves, it had to be a perfect fit. Clothes that fit weren’t his concern, though. What concerned him more was the glitter that seemed to radiate from the dark-purple fabric of the jacket and matching pants. Angus tilted his head as he walked forward, examining the glistening outfit. Touching it stained his fingers with the twinkling particles.

“Whaddya think, kid?” a proud Lup asked from behind him, arms crossed beneath her prideful grin, “Not too bad, huh?”

“It’s certainly…” Angus struggled to think of the right word, “...bright. Is it enchanted?”

“Absolutely! Taako wanted to be sure it never stopped sparkling!”

“Oh,” Angus gulped. He knew he could easily cast Dispel Magic and be done with it, but Taako and Lup worked hard on his date night outfit. He wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings. The twin elves waited on the other side of the door before Angus stepped out, straightening his tie. Despite the gaudy sparkling, the suit did look great on him. Underneath the jacket was a black button-down and a similarly dark tie. Angus looked between the two elves, trying not to fidget.

“So...what do you think?”

Taako’s reply was smug: “I made it, kid, you know what I think.”

Lup, on the other hand, beamed. The excited glimmers in her eyes almost matched the suit. “You, look, amazing! Come on, we need to show everyone!”

With a yelp, Angus was dragged back to the den, accompanied by a theatrical announcement of his arrival, courtesy of Taako: “Presenting the dashing Casanova himself, Angus McDonald!” Merle, Barry, Kravitz, and Magnus all clapped, the dwarf sending out whoops and cheers. Lucretia masterfully hid a grin by holding a hand to her mouth. She had forgotten how “creative” Lup and Taako could be together. She wouldn’t say Angus looked ridiculous, the suit did actually look good on him, but that didn’t change how totally unprepared she was for the reveal.

More commotion, more center-of-attention, more being fawned over, Angus ducked away the first chance he got. He was the world's greatest detective and had gone toe-to-toe with murderers, why was he getting so worked up over this? After grabbing a glass of water, the human took a sip as he looked at the clock, only to nearly spit at seeing how much time had passed. It wasn’t long now until he had to leave for his date! The time couldn't have gone by that fast! Was Istus in on this, too?

A gentle hand on his shoulder pulled Angus out of his quickly-spiraling anxiety. He followed the arm up to Lucretia's calm, gentle smile.

“Are you okay, Angus?”

“...I don't know, Madame Dir—Lucretia. It's...sooner than I thought.”

Lucretia forgave him for the slip-up, taking a seat at the island in Taako's kitchen. Angus stood across from her.

“Did you ever...date anyone, miss Lucretia?”

“I'm...afraid I never had time,” she responded, folding her hands on the island's surface, “Between the IPRE and eventually the Bureau, I never thought about those things. I was so focused on my work.”

Angus nods, then lowering his head and leaning against the counter. Another shiver of anxiety escaped him as a shaky sigh. “I am so nervous…”

“I would say you don't have to worry too much, your suit does a lot of talking.” Angus’ head snapped up in confusion, but Lucretia remained as stoic and calm as ever. “I'm serious. You want to impress her, obviously, but you're not trying too hard. You're letting the true identity of yourself and those who are important to you shine through.” She paused to watch the perpetual glimmering on the suit’s fabric. “...Quite literally, actually. It means you're confident in you, the same you that she's at least somewhat enamored with.”

Angus slowly nodded, his mind feeling calmer with Lucretia's wisdom. He smiled, glancing again to check the time. “I should go. Thank you, miss Lucretia.”

The Director nodded to him and waved. The boy detective said his goodbyes and left the house, beginning the walk to a nice restaurant they'd agreed to meet at. Merle and Magnus left soon after, leaving Taako, Kravitz, Barry, Lup, and Lucretia remaining. Taako watched the window for a few moments then turned to walk to his room, a considerable amount of determination in his step, only to walk smack into Kravitz, his arms crossed and eyebrow perked.

“You're scheming.”

“I'm what?” Taako gasped, barely managing to hide his surprise at Kravitz’s direct questioning.

“I know that look, you're scheming.”

“Don't know what you're talking about. I just hope Angus has a good time.”

Taako snorts and brushes past Kravitz, leaving him staring ahead. He sighs and shakes his head, glancing around at the other three. Lup had a similar look on her face and was eagerly whispering to Barry and Lucretia.

This was going to be one hell of a night.