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artsyriv · 1 year ago

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TAZ NC Day 4- Bakery AU

Hello! For day four of @taznovembercelebration I got Bakery AU. BUT, most of my knowledge of bakeries comes from Kiki's Delivery Service! So what was supposed to be a very brief little ficlet turned into 2k word Angus' Delivery Service.... Enjoy!

"Now, are you sure about this?" Kravitz wrung his hands nervously, checking to make sure that Angus' bowtie was straight and his clothes without wrinkles. "We can always wait until next month."

"It's ok, Dad." Angus gave an award-winning smile, which made Kravitz' heart melt. "I'm ready. Plus I have Junior with me!" Angus' jellyfish companion floated over and stole the wizard hat from atop his head. "Hey!" Junior plopped the hat atop its cap and Angus smiled. "See, I can handle this."

"But you're such a young wizard, Angus." Kravitz smoothed down Angus' curls. "Are you really ready? Like, I trust you to make that decision for yourself, but-"

The train whistle blew and Angus picked up his luggage. "Bye Dad!" He rushed on to the train. "Come on, Junior!"

"All aboard!" The conductor called out, but Angus was already aboard by then. Kravitz smiled and shook his head. Angus was a tenacious boy, he would be ok out there on his own. He hoped, at least.

Angus pulled down the train window and waved to his Dad. "I'll see you in a year!"

Kravitz sank back against a brick wall as he watched the train pull away. A year was a long time without his boy, but he trusted him to write, so he let out a deep breath, hoping that whatever adventures would find the boy would be kind.

Angus was so excited, he couldn't stop alternating between looking out the window and reading his book. This was all so new and exciting to him. His hat, a glimmering blueish purple with gold constellations, went from being on his head to being down next to him to being on Junior's cap.

Despite his excitement, after about an hour, he found himself slowly nodding off to the countryside passing by. Junior curled his tendrils around Angus' shoulder, as if a scarf, and the two rested for a while.

Angus only woke to "Next stop, Raven's Roost." being blasted over the intercom. He stretched and gathered his things, including his hat, which earned him a few strange glances from the people around him. He noticed now that this was almost entirely a different crowd than the one he had seen when he had first boarded the train. How long had he been asleep?

He followed a few people off of the train once it stopped and he found himself overwhelmed by sights and smells immediately.

The train station was at the base of a hill and the other people began the trek up so Angus followed, not wanting to seem that out of place, even though holding a floating jellyfish and wearing a large floppy wizard hat wasn't doing him any favors.

When he reached the top though, he took a moment to take in the scene. Before him were rock pillars with suspension bridges between each one with a crystal blue lake far below. Angus leaned forward slightly to see some people swimming far below, but he stepped back almost immediately, the height giving him some vertigo.

He walked across the first bridge and found himself in a busy commerce district. People were shouting and offering different goods, but Angus didn't have need for new clothes or fancy dishes. Some people stopped and stared at him so he offered an awkward wave and Junior copied the motion. For some reason this was even more disconcerting to people who stared even more. Angus' cheeks burned and he ducked into the first shop he could find that was a little bit out of the way.

"Oh no!" A woman rushed past him. Angus noted that she smelled like fresh baked bread. Curious, Angus followed her to where she was standing by the entrance to the shop. "Of course this would happen at the busiest time of day."

"What's the problem, ma'am?" Angus asked after a moment. She turned to look at him and Angus could feel his confidence disappearing. He was just a little boy, wearing a wizard hat that was too big for him, and he was trying to be useful.

She smiled gently. "There was a woman who just came through here, she has red hair and was wearing green coveralls. She bought a donut as well as some other things but accidentally left her donut here. Can you try and deliver it to her?"

Angus nodded. "Yes, ma'am!" He grabbed the donut and handed it to Junior. "Come on Junior!" With a wave of his wand, he took off faster than normal, running and dodging through the crowd. It took him a couple minutes but he eventually found the woman, who was looking through her bag with confusion. "Excuse me!"

She looked up and smiled as Angus delivered the donut. "Thank you so much! Please give this to Julia for me."

Angus took the note, nodded his thanks and ran back.

Julia was waiting for him just inside the door. "Glad to see you made it! Oh, by the way, I'm Julia!"

"Angus." Angus stuck out his hand and Julia gave him a nice firm handshake. "Oh, the lady told me to give you this note!" He reached into his vest pocket and retrieved the note.

"Thank you for helping me not forget my lunch! That delivery boy you hired really is something else." She read out loud. She looked up and beamed at the boy. "If you want a job that is, you are welcome to become the delivery boy for here."

Junior twirled and made some musical notes and Angus laughed. "I don't know where I'll stay yet, but I am inclined to take you up on the offer."

"Oh, we have a spare room out back. As long as you help out from time to time, you're welcome to it. I'm sure Maggie won't mind. Right, Mags?"

"What was that, Jules?" A big burly man with auburn hair came out from the back with two fresh trays of bread. He set them in the cases and then looked up. Angus gulped. This man had a long scar across his face, and he looked intimidating but he smiled gently. "Who's this?"

"This is Angus. I just said we had a room out back and offered him a job as a delivery boy."

"Hi Angus, I'm Magnus!" Magnus came out from around the counter, dusting off his hands on his apron. He took the boy's hand in both of his and shook it firmly. Angus could feel it throughout his whole body. "Welcome to our bakery. I like your hat!"

Angus smiled and ran his fingers over the constellation pattern on his wizard hat. "Thank you, sir."

He knew he was going to like it here.

There was a wizard who worked next door, making potions and spells and transmuting things. Angus on his days off would just go and stare wide eyed as he worked. This wizard had an incredibly long braid that almost reached the floor and smaller braids with trinkets were woven into it. Angus had so many questions but he didn't have the nerve to go and ask. He worked hard each and every day, but was finding it harder to get out of bed and do things, much less do magic. Magnus had watched him with a furrowed brow and said something to Julia about "burnout", Julia had turned around and given him some time off. And then one day, Angus woke up and he couldn't find Junior.

He had gone to every other shop in the Craftsman Corridor and could feel the tears of loss and fear forming in the corners of his eyes when he heard a lofty voice say, "Angus!"

Angus looked up and hastily wiped away his tears when he noticed the wizard was talking to him. "M-me?"

The wizard made a big show of looking around him, his hat jingling as he turned this way and that. "Yes, I'm talking to you. Do you see any other Anguses around? Come on inside." He swept his robe around and went back into his shop.

Angus sniffled and followed the wizard inside. The inside beyond the counter was even more magical than he could have imagined. Lights hung from the sky that twinkled like stars, and potions and tomes lined every wall. And there in the back of the room was a giant Junior.

Ok, so it wasn't Junior, but it was clearly the same species. Angus heard harmonizing and realized that Junior was floating right by the bigger jellyfish and the lights inside of both of their bells were rotating gently.

"Cool, isn't it?" Angus jumped before realizing the wizard was standing beside him. "I'm Taako by the way, always nice to meet a fan!"

Angus nodded, going back to watching the two jellyfish. Taako laughed.

"That's Fisher, he's a voidfish. Although I see that you are already familiar with voidfish." He gestured to Junior. "The question is how?" He looked down at the boy, casual, cool, no hint of malice.

"My dad gave him to me as my familiar, sir!" Angus answered honestly. Taako's eyebrows rose to where they were hidden by his hat.

"Your dad?" Taako started to pace slightly. "Didn't realize he had a kid."

"Wait, you know my dad?" Angus held up a hand.

"Used to. Summer flings, ya know?" Taako waved dismissively.

"MY DAD HAD A SUMMER FLING?" Angus squeaked out.

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Taako climbed up the shelves and grabbed a book. "Here. Take this and your fish and go."

Angus looked at the title. "But sir, why give me a book on magic?"

"I'm going to teach you more magic, duhhhhhhhh." Taako pushed the brim of Angus' hat down around his eyes.

"But sir, I can't do magic right now." Angus held the book to his chest. "I will try very hard, b-but my magic isn't working."

"It isn't, huh?" Taako looked at him carefully. "Oh I see it now." Angus' clothes were disheveled, his hair uncombed, his eyes tired. Taako softened slightly. "Maybe we should focus on something else first." He ran his fingers along the spines of books until reaching the perfect one. "How do you feel about detective novels?"

Angus found that he had quite the knack for figuring out mysteries, and began to solve them around the bakery. Who was stealing all the muffins? Magnus. Who ate a spoonful of frosting by itself? Magnus. Ok, so it was mostly Magnus who was the culprit, but it was fun.

The biggest mystery came around his six months of living in Ravens Roost. Magnus and Julia were whispering to each other constantly and sometimes Taako would join them, but they stopped as soon as Angus walked in. It was frustrating, and there seemed to be more envelopes arriving at the bakery than normal, but Julia insisted on taking care of the mail now for some reason. Angus' brow remained furrowed and he came no closer to solving the mystery even though he gave it all his effort.

"Knock knock." A deep, kind voice said at the door to his room.

"Five more minutes, dad." Angus rolled over and then his eyes opened wide. "Dad?"

Kravitz stood in the doorway and opened his arms for a hug. Angus nearly barreled him over with his enthusiasm. "Hello, Angus. I missed you dearly."

"You talk like an old person." But Angus' face was buried in Kravitz's shirt, soaking the material. Kravitz laughed.

"Taking more than magic lessons from Taako, I see." Kravitz looked down the steps where Taako was giving him a thumbs up.

"Taako's really cool, Dad. Did I tell you about the time that we-" Angus babbled on and on, oblivious to the silent looks and flirting happening over his head between the two adults present.

"Breakfast is ready! Come on you hooligans!" Julia called into the courtyard. Taako offered his hand to Kravitz to help him up from his kneeling position. This time even Angus noticed how the touch lingered between the two, and he smiled. Yeah, life in Raven's Roost was pretty awesome.

#taz balance #taz fanfic #kiki's delivery service au #magnulia #taakitz #angus mcdonald

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