After Magnus dies, Merle and Taako make a point of meeting and
having a drink every now and then. They are long-lived creatures, both of them,
and it’s easy to let years or even decades pass between times, but sooner or
later one of them always seeks the other out. Usually it’s Taako, still the
itinerant one after all these years, who turns up on Merle’s doorstep one day.
He hams it up, maybe, and pretends like maybe Merle’s gone senile and forgotten
him, or he just stands there with his lazy grin.
Merle is aging well, but he’s
aging. It’s obvious in the lines of his face, the way he sits down a little
stiffly now. Taako looks as young as ever, but if it’s because of his natural
longevity or his glamors, Merle can never tell. They go out together, to
Chesney’s Bar & Grill, usually, or some other bar when they’re elsewhere,
though it’s getting rarer and rarer for Merle to travel. They sit together and
shoot the shit; Taako drinks a Bloody Mary and complains about it, and Merle
sips on the traditional Piña Colada of the beach dwarves, with an umbrella in
it.
They always pick a
table with three chairs, but pretend like it’s coincidence that they do; it’s a
sentimental gesture so banal they’re both embarrassed to acknowledge it. But
later, after a few drinks, when the conversation trails off, Taako lifts his
glass and tilts it towards the empty chair and says with no trace of irony
in his voice, “Well, cheers, big guy,” and Merle looks into his drink and says,
“Yeah,” and he toasts the air as well.
Me 