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Everstone, Fanlin. 43. Elf. Repeated necromancy and other crimes. He’s young, as far as elves go, and undeservedly cocky. It makes Kravitz’s job much easier though; as thick as the woods are, the feel of magic guides him through easily, leading him right to his mark.
There’s already a fight taking place when he arrives. Fanlin is hurling spells, reckless and flashy and unnecessarily powerful considering his foe; a young human boy, armed only with a slingshot. It’s not Kravitz’s job to judge, but that doesn’t mean he won’t. The boy trips, and Fanlin is charging up another spell, which he decides is the perfect moment for an entrance.
He swoops in before the elf realizes what is happening, one skeletal hand grabbing his wrist, the other summoning his book, locking their eyes with an otherwordly stare. Fanlin stumbles, and Kravitz allows himself a small amount of pleasure in the way the colour so quickly drains from his face.
“Fanlin Everstone,” he reads aloud from the book. “The Raven Queen, goddess of death, finds you guilty of necromancy, stealing spirits from the Astral Plane, and cheating death. How do you plead?”
“I- that’s-“ he flounders, eyes darting around desperately. “Th-that’s not me, I’m not Fanlin, he is!” The elf points at the child he was fighting, who was still sat where he fell, apparently also adequately petrified by the sight of death looming over him. Kravitz raises a non-existent eyebrow.
“Seriously? That’s your plan?” The man looks sheepish, a nervous laugh bubbling out of his throat.
“It was worth a shot?”
“It really wasn’t.” With a flick of his wrist, Kravitz summons his scythe and slices through the elf with ease. The young boy flinches, but there is no blood nor wound left behind. Kravitz drops the elf’s body to the ground, focusing instead of the small glowing soul he had torn from it. “Now, off with you,” he demands, blinking the light out of this plane with ease. Job done, he resummons his book to make a note, when he remembers the third party in the equation.
The boy stays frozen as their eyes meet, and there’s something familiar about him, beneath the bloody knees and now dirty dress shirt. His book helpfully flicks to the correct page, and Kravitz checks the name.
“Angus McDonald.” Angus raises his arms to his chest protectively, and the bracer on his wrist confirms him as exactly who he thinks he is; boy detective, Bureau of Balance employee, and Taako’s protégé.
He’s the topic of many of his and Taako’s conversations, probably more than Taako would care to admit, so Kravitz knows a lot about him, from his magical skill (“he’s getting better, I guess. S’not like transformation is that hard anyway.”) to his cooking (“They actually tasted like macaroons for once, it was unbelievable.”) And now here he was, tired and hurt as Kravitz casually scared the shit out of him.
“Um, are you alright?” Angus nods and rubs his eyes furiously, trying to save face.
“I’m fine, uh, Mr Grim Reaper, sir.” He pulls himself to his feet and uselessly brushes at the dirt on his clothes. It’s kind of a pitiful sight.
“Are you going to be able to get home?”
“Uh, yes, I just need to find my team mates. They’re uh,” he looks around, trying to squint through the trees. “They’re just outside the forest.” He grips his slingshot tightly, trying to look brave, and Kravitz lets himself sigh just slightly, because there’s no way he could possibly let this go, is there?
“Would you like me to escort you?” Angus falters, and Kravitz can’t really blame him. Scared children are somewhat outside of his area of expertise, but Taako would have his head if he knew he’d left him here, and honestly Kravitz doesn’t want to. So he’s more thankful than not when the boy nods back.
“That would be kind of you sir.”
“It’s Kravitz, my man.” Kravitz holds out his hand before realizing he’s still rocking the skeleton look. With a brief moment of concentration, he summons his skin across bone, eyeballs into his sockets, and swaps out the ragged cape for his suit. Angus’ eyes are so wide, he has to chuckle. “That’s probably better, right?”
“I know who you are sir!” he bursts suddenly. Kravitz stares back blankly.
“What-“
“You’re Taako’s secret boyfriend he doesn’t want anyone to know that he has.” He says it with the kid of earnest flippancy only a child could manage and it catches Kravitz completely off guard.
“H-how did you...”
“I’m the greatest boy detective on the moon, and that’s not bragging, because I’m the only detective on the moon, and the only boy, or kid, at all.” He looks sad for a moment, and Kravitz is suddenly reconsidering his kindness because sad children are waaaay too out of his comfort zone, but Angus recovers quickly. “But that makes so much sense! I had so many theories about how you kept getting up on the moon, because you weren’t wearing a bracer, and after Lucas, the Director really cracked down on that, and I asked Avi because he operates the cannons but he hadn’t seen you-“
“Bit of a nosy one aren’t you?” he comments, echoing a sentiment Taako had expressed many times. Angus stops himself, blushing.
“Well, uh, there’s not a lot of people on the moon, so you kind of stood out.” True. “But, I guess there’s also not always a lot to do up there...” he admits, looking slightly guilty, and Kravitz can’t help but feel guilty in return.
“I suppose it is your job to know things,” Kravitz concedes, and the suddenness and intensity of the smile Angus gives him is almost too much.
“Alright, come on, your teammates are waiting.” He holds out his hand, but Angus just stares.
“Oh, you don’t need to hold my hand sir. I’m 10 years old.”
“Ah, right.” Ten years is still ridiculously young to him, but he takes his hand back anyway. “Let’s get going then.”
The walk is... nice. Angus has a lot of questions about his work, which is just shy of being annoying over endearing. There are a couple of times his answers are probably a bit too macabre for a child, but Angus never falters. If anything, he seems even more interested, and Kravitz finds himself questioning the ethics of hiring a child to a secret organization who have a tendency to kill people.
(Only five minutes in, a boar jumps out of the underbrush and Angus grabs his hand in fright, then perhaps accidentally forgets to let go. Kravitz smiles without comment.)
He also babbles about Taako and their lessons with infectious enthusiasm. He doesn’t have the spell slots to demonstrate, but he assures Kravitz he’s “really getting it!” and Kravitz assures him “yes, I believe you.” He makes the mistake of mentioning that Taako agrees, and has to hold back his a snort as the kid practically skips the rest of the way back.
They come to a stop at the edge of the forest, about 20 feet from Angus’ teammates, and Kravitz finds himself pulling his hand away with some kind of reluctance.
“I’ll leave you to it then.”
“Oh, alright. Thank you sir!” Kravitz really isn’t used to children smiling at him this much. “Should I say hi to Taako for you when I get back?”
Kravitz considers his stone of far speech, and the fact that Taako will probably call him up later than night either way, but he appreciates the sentiment. “Sure. But maybe you could keep this between the three of us, at least for now. He would probably appreciate it.”
“Of course sir! I’m good at secrets.” He taps his bracer proudly. “Goodbye Mr. Kravitz!” Kravitz waves him off, casually sticking around until the boy is definitely safely back with his carers, and then a bit longer, until even he’s embarrassed at the sentimentality of it all.
His next call with his boyfriend was bound to be an interesting one.