Colors On My Skin

chapter two - confectionary delights

Taako moved to the sound of the fast paced song blasting through his kitchen as he waited for his turkey to finish cooking. He bobbed and weaved his way through a nonexistent audience, nodding his head like a woodpecker. He spun around, dizzying himself to his delight. He slid across the tiles, screaming the foreign lyrics with increasing passion. It was only when he felt a familiar sensation on his arm that he stopped to peer down at the message.

whatcha doing

He grinned a toothy grin and boogied his way over to grab a pen, heart rate increasing even more than it had from the dancing. His writing was shaky from all the movement, but he didn't care. He was too into the music.

singin, dancin, ya know. the works

oh hell yeah, what song

donut hole

i asked for a song lefty not a confectionary delight

Taako chuckled, face growing warmer and grin growing wider.

it is a song dingus. gumi? vocaloid?

vocawhat

oh my god i got a dud soulmate

awwww you think im your soulmate?

i would be very worried if it was just a random person that could magic write to me

He was interrupted by someone opening the door. "Hey, Ko? Jesus, your music is so loud." Taako skidded into the front room to see his twin standing in the doorway with two grocery bags at her sides. "Hey!" She lifted up the bags. "I brought baklava ingredients!"

"Shit," Taako cursed. "I totally forgot we were baking today. Hold on lemme just say bye real quick." Lup saw the marks on her brother's arm, the pen in his hand. She could not miss this.

"Wait." She grabbed his left hand before he could write anything. "Is that them?"

Taako blushed. "Why?"

〄

Magnus wrote an embarrassing response before throwing out the small remains of his lunch and trudging back into his workshop. He still had a lot of work to do today, but he couldn't even try to feign focus. His head was in the clouds, and he couldn't have cared less. Taking all this into account, he decided to leave the finishing touches on his latest woodworking commission for tomorrow, instead picking up his grandfather's knife and a hunk of scrap wood for a more mindless task.

Half an hour and a semi-carved duck later, he felt a familiar brush against his forearm.

hey whats your n     don't answer that

Magnus puzzled over this strange message for a minute, but was interrupted by a knock at the door to his workshop. He set the knife and semi-duck down on the table, rising to open the door.

"Hey, Maggie!" He was greeted by a woman of similar stature to his own, her silvery hair pulled up in a high bun.

"Luce!" he exclaimed, picking the woman up for an obligatory bear hug. "What are you doing here? Come in, come in." He placed her on the ground, motioning into the workshop and stepping aside to let her through.

Lucretia sighed in disappointment. "I figured you'd still be working." She plopped a plastic bag down on the workbench, "I brought you macarons."

"Thanks," Magnus replied as he sat back down and fished one of the macarons out of the bag. "You didn't ha--"

"Shhhh. I'm worried about you, Maggie. All you do is work! I haven't seen you out of your shop since Julia passed."

Magnus glanced down to his arm, now covered by a plaid sleeve. He raised the macaron to his mouth. "-Oly ffit!" he exclaimed through a mouthful of macaron. "-Is is fucki- reat!" He swallowed, almost choking. "Where did you get this?"

"Sizzle it Up in town. It's kinda a weird shop, but whatever they make always tastes amazing." Lucretia thought for a moment. "I was planning on going back tomorrow. You could come with me, you know."

"Wait, what do you mean weird?"Magnus was intrigued.

"Oh, right you've never been there," Lucretia chuckled to herself. "Well, it's pretty much just a food shop."

"What kind of food?"

"Well that's just it. All kinds. It's owned by these twins that are like, somehow super rad at cooking basically anything, and they just make whatever they feel like on any given occasion. You never know what they're gonna have. It's kinda fun."

Magnus was on the edge of his seat at this point. "Well, if it means I might have a chance to get my hands on more of these macarons..." He glanced down at his covered arm, a gut feeling stirring deep inside him. "Alright. I'll come with."

Lucretia smiled. "Alright, then it's settled. I'll come pick you up at eight and we'll walk into town together."

Magnus nodded. "Rad."

Lucretia stood from her seat. "Well, I should be going. I have some things to attend to. Try not to get yourself killed before eight o'clock tomorrow, okay?"

Magnus laughed, escorting Lucretia out and waving goodbye as she walked away. "Will do!"