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You've reached Azul Ashengrotto. Please leave a message with your name and the reason for your call, and I'll get back to you soon.

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[arf]

[ Taichi's pretty sure that's the first laughter he's gotten out of Azul. He finishes his performance like a professional, then breaks down laughing with him. Maybe his heart hurts right now, but having fun with a friend and seeing his friend laughing like that... Helps. ]

Azu-chan! Did you like that one?

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That dance! I've always thought human dancing looked silly, but I've never seen anything like that!

[Still giggling!]

Body language indeed...

[arf]

S-Silly!? I'm a good dancer, you know! [ 🥺 but also Azul is giggling and Taichi likes that a lot so he just grins and keeps going ] It's a hot dance! Though you're supposed to wear a leotard if you really want to get into it but I don't have one... I definitely couldn't pull that off, heh!

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You're a great dancer, but that doesn't make the dance any less silly.

[Oh, oh God.

And he is not commenting on the leotard thing.]

Human dances are so weird. I'll never get used to them.

[arf]

Can you show me an octodude dance sometime?

[ 👀 please he wants to see ]

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Cecaelia.

[He does not expect Taichi to say this correctly.]

And I don't know any. I was too busy studying to learn any of them except the two Mom made me learn to please my grandparents as a kid.

[arf]

Heh, I was too busy moving around as a kid to study right, I get it but in reverse.

[ As a kid? More like even now. ]

I really really wanted people to notice me back then, but no one ever did, even after I changed my hair, pierced my ears, started speaking with my accent.

[ He's referring to the way he speaks in Japanese, which doesn't necessarily translate. He tacks on things like "-ssu" to words and uses some shorthand, though not incomprehensibly so. ]

Like painfully average, I tried everything to get attention! That's how I found out how much I love acting, since I've never felt as good as how excited everyone was about me the first time I landed a role. Even though people forgot after a couple days..

[ Taichi just wants people to like him and care about him and give him attention.]

What about you? How did you know you wanted to cook?

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Oh, I don't.

[Welp.]

Mom's a restaurateur, so I grew up in the industry and I can cook, so it's a good enough job to pay for the things I actually want to do. Trying to take after the Sea Witch isn't cheap, after all.

[arf]

Is that what cecaelia call a sandwich?

[ Yes, he actually said it right. Since it actually works perfectly in Japanese sekai and the name Ria (jasmine + love). 😂 So he's just saying "world jasmine love" and it's coming out close enough.

The rest of what he says, however... Well, it's probably a good thing he's shoving some food in his mouth now. What is a sea witch can you eat it ]

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...no. We just call a sandwich a sandwich. Wha--where did you get sandwhich from anything I just said?!

[arf]

Sand-wich, sea-wich. It's not right though...?

[ Ignore he thought Azul wanted to emulate a sandwich. 🥪 ]

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...Taichi. Why would I want to be like a sandwich?

[arf]

[ He opens his mouth, then closes it. ]

I guess you especially wouldn't...

[ Takoyaki senbei..........

.................

..........

.....

...

After a sudden silence in which Taichi looks positively shocked and traumatized, he suddenly tears up. ]

I'm sorry! I'll never eat takoyaki again...! I'm sorry for disrespecting you and the seawich!

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[Oh no. This again. Why are humans like this?!

Azul sighs.]

Taichi. Floyd's favorite food is takoyaki and Jade's is octopus carpaccio. Merfolk eat fish. We have to, if we want any sort of protein. It's weird for me to eat the stuff, but I really don't care if you eat takoyaki.

[arf]

...Oh.

[ He blinks. If Azul isn't mad at him for eating octopus then Taichi.. isn't gonna stop he really loves any kind of meat. ]

Good, my favorite food is any kind of meat. Well, hot dogs are my favorite-favorite. To swear off octopus-shaped hot dogs would be heartbreaking...

[ He's distracted by food again though. ] Um.. What about the Sea Witch though? I've never heard of that.

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[Taichi, Taichi please.

But Azul loves to talk about his idol, and it's clear in the way his eyes light up.]

One of the Great Seven, the most powerful magic users in history. The Sea Witch is known for her generosity, how she would help the poor, unfortunate merfolk who went flocking to her cauldron crying for help. She's even said to have helped mermaids find a way to be with their human lovers.

[arf]

She sounds amazing..

[ Helping star-crossed lovers be together, even though they're from different worlds.. something about that hits Taichi dead-center in the chest and it's obvious for a brief moment that he's not keeping it together as well as he seems to be tonight. It only took a brief second for him to nearly fall apart, and more than that.. His voice is a little quiet when he responds, earnestly admiring that that's the kind of person Azul wants to emulate. ]

Azu-chan, I didn't know you were such an amazing person, trying to be like someone like that.. I mean, I knew you were cool, but that's some seriously amazing stuff. That's what you use your restaurant profits for?

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Of course!

[Well, that and his own contracts but those aren't relevant here. And maybe mentioning the lovers wasn't the best idea but, well, that story is her most famous. It'd be wrong to leave it out.]

It's easier to do back home, with my magic, and here I'm worried the faeries have that market cornered, but if it's possible I'd like to get something set up like that here.

[arf]

I'll help you, Azu-chan. If there's anything I can do to help out with someone you want to help, let me know. I know a lot of people, so even if I can't do anything myself, I might be able to find someone who can.

[ He falls quiet for a second, then looks at him directly. ] I found a spell in a book to summon Morganna. I was thinking about asking her, if we can save everyone, how I can go between different worlds and times. I remembered what you told me about really bad prices for impossible things, so I haven't cast the spell... Do you think that's something the Sea Witch could do?

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[It would be so easy to say "oh I don't know, I'd need to look into it" despite knowing damn well that there's no spells he knows of to do that. Nothing the Sea Witch ever did implied there was, either. But it'd be so easy to lie and lead Taichi along like that.

Azul bites his lip before sighing and shaking his head. He could lie. He probably should. But there's fudging the truth and then there's being cruel.]

If she could, I don't know about it and if she could, that price would be steep. The only price that might possibly come close to a power like that could in fact be saving someone dear to the caster. You always, always want the other person in your debt before asking for favors like this. Otherwise...you could be looking at anything from eternal slavery to sacrificing the lives of others.

[arf]

I can't sacrifice anyone else... But part of me feels like maybe a steep price is okay if it's just me.

[ He just wants to see Hikaru again...

Ah, he's getting emotional... This isn't a good birthday party. Taichi reaches up to wipe away any tears that were starting to form at the corner of his eyes and puts on his best face.]

Sorry, that's not... It's your turn, Azu-chan!

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[God. How do you deal with someone crying like this?!

Azul starts to look through the list of songs, but not before offering one more piece of advice:]

Even if the price is "just you", it's not going to affect just you. People seem to forget that.

cw: self-worth issues

[arf]

[ That's true. Taichi stays quiet for a moment, thinking. Maybe the advice was rhetorical, but Taichi can't tell. He's just.. he wants to talk. He doesn't want to depress anyone or put his issues on anyone, but he doesn't know what to say and if he doesn't say anything and Azul picks an even mildly emotional song then he's gonna start crying for real. ]

That's not fair. We're here, doing what we can to save the world-- two worlds, in Hikaru and my case! Losing people left and right, and finally finding someone who made me feel like... [ Like he wasn't just constantly trying to mean something to everyone, constantly trying not to be forgotten, constantly trying to be someone people notice when he comes in the room. Even opening up to Azul like he has tonight, that's still a little too deep to go. Taichi has a lot of feelings of inadequacy and self-esteem issues that Hikaru knew about, and no one else did. But he can just continue without elaborating. The universe may not have killed his parents or anything so dramatic like would be in a movie, but it seems to enjoy beating him down every time he feels like he touches something real and reminding him that he's never enough. His voice lowers a little and he sinks into the couch, slumping down and pushing his head between the back cushions like this. ] I guess I've always been useless when it comes to saving the world... maybe I don't deserve to be with him any more than I have anything to offer for a trade.

TAICHI BABY

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[...okay fuck it. He'll charge Taichi for his advice here later. He hates that he cares about this weird actor lord. Goddammit.]

You realize that most people will never be asked to save the world, yes? And, historically, those chosen for quests or other massive tasks are considered the best options?

[Or at least history considers them the best options.[

[arf]

Then why do they keep picking a stupid, no-name actor whose biggest talents are ultra yo-yo and hyper origami?

[ He still hasn't come out from between the cushions when he says it, even though Azul's voice is a little muffled. He can still understand him, it's fine. ]