MANICURED NAILS DRUM against the table adorned with untouched cheddar biscuits. across from him is a very empty seat. it’s honestly embarrassing being seen like this; he’s such a recognizable face, practically the most famous individual on the planet. what if one of his students saw him like this? ghosted in the fucking fantasy red lobster while looking like such a snack. he cast disguise self for the evening to look like his pre wonderland self, did his hair and makeup, and wore a brand new dress he’s been saving for a special occasion. he hides his face in the menu as if the hat peeking over the top is not recognizable enough.
it’s not like kravitz to run late for anything, at least, not without sending taako a message first. besides, the threat of enduring taako’s wrath at being stood up for anything less than a dire emergency is incredibly weighty. after thirty minutes, there’s literally no way it isn’t something bad.
he sucks air through the gap in his teeth, teal hues searching the ceiling as if in thought, but really he is only delaying the inevitable. he wraps up the cheddar biscuits and tucks them into his bag. then he withdraws a 5x7 between thumb and forefinger with an autograph scrawled across it, slaps it on the table, and exits the restaurant.
with a whip of his wand fast as a snake-strike, taako’s eyes go blank. his body where it lies goes completely limp, and he feels himself withdrawing from it like a dying exhale. he watches curiously his body beneath him grow dimmer as the light around him fades and he finds himself instead in the astral plane.
it takes longer than he would have liked sifting through the different portals sliced through the fabric of space and time before he finds him.
steel grey motheaten wings outstretched and pumping through the air, a razor-sharp body jagged with spikes, and a jaw glowing blue as it readies what appears to be fire. a dracolich it looks like, though taako has never seen one except in books. kravitz is evidently in over his head with this one. spectacular timing, he thinks as he steps through, heels clacking against stone.
“ hey dipshit! ” he yells, blasting off a spell to catch the dragon’s attention. it swivels around, piercing eyes recognize the new presence. “ hey! you ruined my date night! that’s my boyfriend, and we had red lobster reservations! get ready to fuckin’ die twice, amigo! ”
with that, an enormous beam of orange sunlight erupts from the tip of his wand. he holds on to his hat as wild gusts unleash from the huge circle of brilliant light that swallows the dracolich whole. its screams scrape the very fabric of the dimension, light illuminating almost painfully bright before folding into the darkness once more, revealing the dragon lashing around and twisting in the wake of it, blinded.