#taaswrites

[taztaas]

My Boy Builds Coffins

Inspired by: My Boy Builds Coffins by Florence + The Machine Sunlight by Hozier 

Relationships: Kravitz & RQ, Taakitz

It starts like this:

A wagon rolls into town one afternoon. All colors, shameless shanties and swaying lanterns - gently glowing. 

With it, a group of three. One man, and - this is crucial - two elves, twins to be exact.

And most importantly, an elf twin named Taako.

*

The funeral home smells like dust. Dust, always dust no matter how much they clean. Dust, sometimes flowers, and that certain smell most enterers can’t identify but both remaining members of the MacAllister family know is death, death.

*

Her son stands at the window in the front in his black suit, his white-gloved hands clasped neatly behind his back, like usual. Like every day since his father died.

“Brooding,” she says.

“Thinking,” he says, or “I’m just people-watching, Mother.”

“You think too much,” she says and it makes him smile a little, but all it does is remind her of the days when he was young and happier and hopeful. And how all that joy withered to nothing, slowly but surely.

*

Kravitz used to play with the litter of kittens behind their neighbor's barn, until one day, they were just gone. Something was wrong, she knew immediately when he came home with a slow opening of the door and his footsteps barely audible on the hardwood floor. She was washing the dishes when it happened.

“They're dead, aren't they,” he asked, just a boy still, his hair curling just barely below his ears and she had said yes because they both knew it was the truth. He looked thoughtful but wouldn't look at her, his mother, in the eye.

“I hope they didn't suffer,” he said absently as he climbed up the stairs to his room. She was left alone in the kitchen with her hands covered in dishwater, and with a lump in her throat she fought hard to swallow.

*

Put in a burlap sack and thrown into the lake they were. She tried not to think about it. She hoped her son didn’t know.

*

Working at the funeral home is not what Raven wanted for her son but it’s what they both ended up with. Kravitz grew from a somber boy into a somber man and it saddens her to see him so serious.

“A damn shame,” his father, her husband, would say if he was still alive. But he lived his life building coffins, he left this life in a coffin and all he left them was coffins.

Now Kravitz builds them, for better or worse, in sunshine and rain.

*

She joins him by the window just in time to see one of the elves blow Kravitz a kiss. The shock on her son's face, his feathers ruffled, makes her hide a smile in her palm.

*

The elves are a wild kind. They talk too loud, they laugh too loud. They wear too little or too much, they dress so strangely.

“They stay out too long after sundown, and their windows are lit until close midnight,” Susan tells her in a stage-whisper, a basketful of fresh-baked, elven-made goods hanging on her arm, the hypocrite.

Raven looks at the bakery window, sees the elves laughing and tossing flour at each other. She sees people leaving the establishment with their hands full and their mouth smiling.

“They sing such terrible songs,” Susan continues, hissing, like it’s all some kind of devious conspiracy.

Raven realizes she never liked her, truly.

*

“He’s busy, probably,” Kravitz says under his breath, wringing his gloved hands. “Most- most likely.”

“More the reason why you should go offer a helping hand, Kravitz,” she says without looking up from the flowers she’s arranging. It’s been a week already, and Raven has heard all the rumors, while Kravitz has just been looking. He feels safe behind the glass, she figures, though the window is a poor cover to hide behind.

Raven prefers to leave her son to his own devices most of the time, but she has seen. She can’t help but notice the way Kravitz’s eyes have been glued to one of the elves in particular. The brother, Raven knows by now. The sister is married to the human they arrived with.

“I don’t think-”

“You think too much,” she says again and leaves the flowers in favor of grabbing her son’s arm and dragging him towards the door. “Just go , Kravitz.”

“Mother!”

“Go, and don’t let Susan catch you, or we’ll never hear the end of it,” she says and ushers him, pushes him , out of the door and towards the bakery on the opposite side of the street. The building smells like cinnamon, fresh bread and has an atmosphere that livens up the whole village.

*

The next morning, Kravitz comes down the stairs looking like he always does but somehow, he’s different.

She’s his mother, she can tell.

She smiles at him.

He smiles back.

She feels her heart jump with joy.

*

Kravitz is quiet and gentle. A soul born in cold and rain.

She remembers that night well.

It’s a boy!

Her baby cradled in her shaking arms, her husband’s hand was heavy and proud on her shoulder. Just like his mother , the midwife had said. Dark skin, hair black as winter night but unlike her, his eyes like pieces of coal ready to spark with flame.

Congratulations, Mr. MacAllister, they said to him, ignoring her.

She hummed a tune and held her son while outside, white November turned into a grey December.

The night was long but in the morning there was sunlight, sunlight.

*

They’re in the back room having tea when front door bangs open and makes them both jump. Raven manages to hold onto her cup - and avoid an incident - but Kravitz spills his and he peels his soaked gloves off with a hiss and a grimace.

They both know who it is, even without the carelessly spoken oops that follows. There’s only one person who would enter a funeral home in such a way.

They move to the front to greet their guest, Raven still cradling her cup in both her hands. She smiles to herself as she observes the tension in her son’s shoulders melt away. Taako’s very presence seems to help lessen the gloomy atmosphere of the room.

“Goddamn it’s grim around here, would it kill you two to have some music on or something?” Taako complains as he invites himself in with a basket full of something sweet-smelling hanging on the crook of his arm.

“Would it kill you not to torture us with your baking Taako?” Raven asks good-naturedly averting her eyes from the scene. The way Kravitz’s face lits up with a smile is enough for her. She knows her son is in love, she doesn’t feel the need to spy on the pair’s reunion. though their separation has been brief, they saw each other yesterday, last.

Taako scoffs, “It's not torturing if I'm bringing you some.” He drops his basket on the very expensive, wooden desk and out of the corner of her eye, Raven notices the crumbs now littering the surface. Kravitz does not. He’s too busy staring into Taako’s eyes.

She hums in answer and lifts the cloth over the basket, grabbing one of the scones she finds underneath to enjoy with her tea.

Taako grabs Kravitz by the forearms and pulls him into a gentle sway, humming a melody.

She leaves the room with her delicious prize, knowing her son is in good hands. Kravitz’s voice is warm and Taako’s laugh is high and tinkling.

*

They reach the summer solstice. Their little town is much changed from before the brightly-colored wagon arrived. The midsummer festival with its flower crowns, birch saplings, and the huge bonfire remains constant, however.

Raven skips the festivities, just like every year. But this year she enjoys the look on her son’s face when he’s dragged out of the house by Taako.

She has an uneasy feeling but she tries to ignore it, as she often presumes the worst. 

But also, she’s never wrong.

*

Come dawn, the bakery burns.

*

“They’re dead, all three”, they say, when the sun has revealed the destruction in its entirety. Raven can see her son’s world crumbling into pieces as their eyes meet.

Good riddance, some of them say.

Some say, they knew the three newcomers were somehow wicked.

They’re all dead, the human man and the elves both.

In her mind’s eye, she sees Kravitz’s hands making a coffin.

A coffin for his lover.

White like a dove, the bird, and the loving nickname he gave his beloved.

She hates the world for being so cruel.

*

She doesn’t see Kravitz cry but she knows better than to assume he doesn’t.

His gloves are gone now. Replaced by bandages covering his burned hands, wounded when he and disappointingly few others dug through the still-smoldering rubble of the bakery. They all knew they would find no survivors. But Kravitz had wanted to confirm, to see the dreadful truth with his own eyes.

*

By the time it’s obvious that the fire was no accident, they’ve found no bodies. Raven doesn’t know what to think of it, but she dares to hope. Kravitz paces the hardwood floors, his eyes empty and dead.

*

It’s a cool and quiet night, a week after the fire when they hear a gentle rapping at their window.

Kravitz only has eyes for his untouched bowl on soup. His spoon is idly stirring, but Raven looks up and gasps, loud, as she spots a wayward flash of golden hair in the darkness behind the glass.

Kravitz stirs and raises his eyes to her but she’s already hurrying to the window, pulling at the latches and pushing it open.

She hears Kravitz’s chair fall to the floor as he rushes to his feet because it’s Taako, leaning against the frame like he isn’t supposed to be dead. He doesn't look good, doesn't look well but he isn't dead

“Looking grim as usual, MacAllisters,” he quips with a grin that softens first into a smile and then turns into a frown as he takes in Kravitz’s rumpled suit and messy hair. “You look tired hon, wait, what happened to your han-?”

Taako cuts off as Kravitz surges violently forward with a choked gasp of the elf’s name and then they are both tumbling out of the window and down onto the dewy grass below.

*

“Taako, he- I mean, they’re leaving and he wants- no he, he needs me to go with him.”

“I know, Kravitz,” she says gently and reaches for his hands, holds them between hers.

“Mother,” he says, his eyes sorry and pleading. “Mother, I’m-”

“I know , Kravitz.” She smiles. “I loved, once. Truly loved. But it was a different time,” she says and thinks of golden eyes and long silver hair even though she shouldn't. Her husband was a good man.

“You must go, Kravitz.”

She brushes the hair out of his eyes and cradles his cheek.

“You must live.”  

He sobs and surges forward to embrace her. To her shame, it catches her off guard. She squeezes her eyes shut against the tears, hides her face in her son’s hair.

“I promise I’ll write,” he chokes out.

“And I will treasure every letter,” she replies, her voice shaking but she is smiling - of course she is. She can’t recall a time when she last felt this happy.

*

In the morning, Raven takes her tea out to the back porch, eats a leftover scone, and basks in sunlight, sunlight.

[taztaas]

Monster High AU

This is a dumbass idea I had at one point. Taako and Lup are werecats, basically Purrsephone and Meowlody. Kravitz is River Styxx. I also figured that Magnus is a werewolf, Barry is a ghost or a zombie and Merle some kind of plant monster. But this is as far as I ever got and probably will get. Just some silly monster taakitz high school romance.

The school bus was full of excited chatter. Lup broke off a conversation she was having with a schoolmate sitting behind her when she realized that Taako was being unusually quiet. She turned back around and noticed he was chewing on his nails.

“Stop messing with your claws, dude!” She slapped his wrist. “You did like how many layers on those?”

“Just five,” Taako muttered, his ears flicking back and turning his head to look out of the bus window. He tucked his hands under his thighs to keep his nails out of his sharp teeth. Lup stared at him. As she predicted it didn’t take him even a minute before he started biting his lip instead, which was an equally poor idea given how sharp their teeth were.

Lup flicked his nose, causing Taako to glare at her before the solemn look he had been sporting the whole morning returned. Lup would’ve laughed at his seriousness if she wasn’t so weirded out by his behavior.

“Why are you so nervous?” She asked, honestly baffled. “Taako, you two were glued to your phones and keeping in touch the whole summer!”

“I dunno,” Taako muttered, still sulking and staring out of the window. “Like, I dunno, maybe he’s different.” He stopped sitting on his hands and started wringing them nervously as Lup stared with wide eyes. “Or… he thinks I’m different.” His volume dropped to a nervous mumble. “Maybe he thinks I’m different and he doesn’t like me anymore.”

Lup was about to firmly inform her brother what a doofus he was being when the bus screeched to a halt and all the doors opened with a hiss. Lup huffed, grabbed her bag and her brother by the wrist and squeezed her way out of the bus with the dozen other students unfortunate enough to rely on public transport.

They stood on the platform for a while, taking it all in. The sun's rays hit the twins’ feline eyes and they narrowed into slits. Lup grinned. She felt good and she looked good. They both did, they didn’t usually care to match up their outfits but they wanted to start off the new school year with a bang.

But now Taako was ruining their entrance by being weird and nervous. He was clutching the strap of his shoulder bag like his life depended on it. Lup rolled her eyes, threw her arm around his shoulders and pulled him along.

“You being stupid Taako, you know that, right?”

Taako hummed in answer, still looking down at his shoes so Lup went ahead and ruffled his hair, messing it up. Taako yowled in indignation and swiped at her. He was glaring at her again but at least he was looking at her in the eye so she considered her attack a success.

They kept walking towards the school, Taako trying to fix his hair and Lup looking around, trying to spot some familiar faces out on the yard. It didn’t take long to find their friend group and as expected, Lup spotted Kravitz first, or well, his scythe anyway. It’s was kind of hard to miss, the blade was visible above the heads of most of the student population.

As they got closer, Lup noticed that Kravitz was talking to Sloane, though his attention was obviously elsewhere. The reaper kept looking around like he was searching for something. Or someone. Lup grinned. She picked up her pace which made Taako look up and stop in his tracks as soon as he realized where they were heading.

Lup slapped him in the arm, hard. Taako bared his teeth at her and pulled on her tail in retaliation.

The noise they were making made Kravitz turn around and Taako froze again. Lup took the chance to pull her tail away from her brother’s grip with a huff.

When Kravitz spotted Taako, his expression lit up and the skin on his face turned a bit see trough - the reaper version of blushing - revealing the skull beneath.

“Taako!” he called out and sounded so happy that even Lup felt her heart squeeze. Or maybe it was just her lungs crushing under the weight of Taako’s bag that had been unceremoniously thrown at her as he took off running.

*

Taako doesn’t bother running all the way. When there are just a few paces left he leaps - he’s a cat, he’ll make it - and Kravitz, predictably, catches him. The scythe disappears into thin air.

The momentum makes them spin in the air a bit, seeing as Kravitz was floating above the ground instead of standing on it. Kravitz’s cloak flutters and wraps around them both like it’s a sentient being and for all Taako knows, it is. It’s warm and heavy like a blanket which is nice, but Kravitz’s arms around him make him feel even better.

“Hey babe,” Kravitz says, grinning like a fool but Taako thinks he’s probably looking just as foolish.

“Hey yourself,” Taako says quietly, enjoying the pseudo-privacy provided by Kravitz’s cloak. “I missed your face.”

Kravitz laughs and asks, “Just the face?”

Taako feels his heart doing some insane acrobatics in his chest and he can’t for the life of him remember what he had been so nervous about the whole morning. “Well,” he starts with a wide grin, all his sharp teeth on display, “the rest of you is pretty okay too, Bones.”

Kravitz’s face is fully see-through at this point but he knows Taako doesn’t give a shit about that so he kisses Taako, who immediately stars purring.

[taztaas]

Come Home

Characters: Magnus, Taako & Kravitz Implied Magnus/Julia & implied Taakitz

MIND THE TAGS! Character death, suicidal intention, self-destructive behavior, eating issues, depression, modern AU, angst, hurt/comfort

Magnus can’t believe he’s back here. Back home. Or what used to be home. He isn’t sure where or what home is anymore. He pushes the gate open before he loses his nerve.

Leaving was easy, in a way. He had a plan. He wasn’t going to come back. There was nothing left to hold on to, or that’s how he felt. How he still feels.

Like he’s about to jump off a swing or something, but he knows the cruel reality that there’s nothing and no one waiting to catch him.

Coming back is…

It feels like acceptance. No, like resignation. Like he’s admitting it happened, and in a way he is, but he still doesn’t want to believe it.

Everything is harder now, difficult. The smallest things require an insane amount of effort.

At least the breathing got easier, in time. Though the sky still looks gray to his eyes, instead of blue.

It’s dark out and it’s definitely past midnight though Magnus can’t remember the last time he looked at the time. His phone has been turned off for at least a week. He isn’t sure. Time got kinda fuzzy after…

After.

Pretty much everything turned fuzzy and Magnus isn’t sure what it feels like when things aren’t that way. He can’t remember.

The windows of the house cast squares of light on the lawn. They remind him of searchlights for some reason. Like someone’s just waiting for him to come closer and target him with the lights. Reveal him, what’s left of him for the whole world to see. He feels ashamed for what he’s done but at the same time, he feels like nothing.

The worst thing that could happen has already happened. There’s nothing left that could shake him.

The front door slams open and Magnus realizes he’s been trudging up the path leading to it. Slowly but surely, without conscious effort.

He blinks against the sudden brightness. There are two people silhouetted in the yellow rectangle. He doesn’t have time to figure out who they are before one of them rushes forward and slams into him. A pair of skinny arms wrap around his shoulders.

“I missed you, you stupid piece of shit,” Taako says and Magnus would smile if he wasn’t so tired of everything. He hugs Taako back and thinks he’s gotten even thinner.

“Have you been eating?”

“Fuck you,” Taako says into his shoulder, then steps back. Magnus looks at him and thinks his eyes look a little too shiny, a little too red around the edges.

“Kravitz got a cat,” Taako says, “It’s fuckin’ terrible.”

Magnus understands immediately that Taako loves the cat. He looks at Kravitz, still standing in the doorway. He offers a little wave.

Out of the blue, Taako punches him the arm. Magnus jumps, glares at Taako and rubs his arm. Taako’s got sharp knuckles and the hit actually kind of hurt.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Taako hisses and oh, now he looks absolutely livid, instead of sad and tired. Magnus wants to get angry, wants to yell at Taako but finds that he is still too sad and tired. His exhaustion is bone-deep.

“My girlfriend died, Taako,” Magnus says quietly, needlessly. Like everyone doesn’t already know that Julia died. A week ago. A month ago? A lifetime ago.

“But you’re still alive, you idiot!”

“Taako,” Kravitz calls quietly because Taako sometimes forgets to take the feelings of others into account before he opens his mouth.

Taako whips around and stomps back in the house before Magnus sees if his expression has changed. Magnus follows because, at this point, he doesn’t exactly have a choice.

Magnus notices something when Taako is fully under the light.

“Is that my shirt?”

“Not anymore, asshole!” Taako yells over his shoulder, walks into a room and disappears from sight.

Magnus pauses at the threshold and looks at Kravitz. He looks tired but he smiles at Magnus anyway.

“Glad you’re home, Magnus,” he says, even though they aren’t that close. Magnus suddenly feels a lump in his throat. He can’t stop himself from throwing an arm around Kravitz’s shoulder and pulling him into a hug.

Kravitz stiffens and Magnus realizes he’s never seen Kravitz be physically close with anyone but Taako. He’s about to pull away and apologize when Kravitz lifts up his arms and hugs him back. It’s quick and awkward, but his hand lingers on Magnus’ shoulder after.

“Welcome back,” Kravitz says, grinning, and Magnus picks up the sound of Taako banging around the kitchen and realizes he’s hungry. He’s starving. When was the last time he ate?

“I’m home,” he says and tries to grin back. He hopes that too will get easier, in time.

[taztaas]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Surprise bitches, I bet yall thought you saw the last of me. But here I am with an AU of one of my favorite book series, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. This fic takes place during book two, Searching for Dragons. If you've read it, and spot some odd terminology or whatnot, that's because my book is in Finnish, so I'm basically translating it back to English here. Most of the humor is thanks to the original author so please don't think I'm actually this funny.

Most canon pairings will be present!

[taztaas]

The Valley of Fear (The Boy Who Lived #3)

part 1 / part 2 / AO3

tags:  Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Found Family, Family Feels, Adoption, Mental Health Issues, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst and Hurt/Comfort

It’s Sunday, but not just any Sunday. It’s Father’s Day, and Taako is working until the afternoon.

He’s tired. He’s been up and baking at the café since the asscrack of dawn to get all the cakes and other confectioneries started and done. Ren joined him at some point, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes, asking when did he get here. He just shrugged, evasive, mostly because he wasn’t actually sure. He just had to get out of the house before Kravitz woke up.

Father’s Day is hard for them both, and Taako is grateful for the fact that he has a job like this, that gives him an excuse to not be home. The library is closed on Sundays, and Taako feels bad when he thinks about Kravitz skulking around the house without Taako there to keep his mind off things, but he can’t stand being there.

He can’t stand the feeling of walking around on eggshells. He doesn’t want to be reminded of the fact that he’s the reason why they only celebrated Father’s Day once and then never again. Kravitz doesn’t blame him, he knows. But that doesn’t stop him from blaming himself.

At least Kravitz isn’t alone this year, now that they have Angus living with them. Taako takes comfort in that.

Ren helps him in the kitchen at first, then moves out to the counter when it’s time to open shop and let all the customers in to make last-minute purchases. Taako does most of the work and it’s just about too much for just one person but he wants to do it, alone, and Ren doesn’t question him.

And Lup knows better than to offer her help today. They used to fight about it, about Taako’s unhealthy tendency to avoid the whole thing until the very last fight they had over it when they both ended up saying things that they would forever regret. Taako knows that Lup can relate to his situation. Hers is worse, in a way, because as a woman, she should be able to have children of her own. But it’s never going to happen because some asshole God or whatever higher power thought it would be funny to give her the wrong kind of junk.

The key difference between their situations is the fact that Lup and Barry weren’t stupid enough to even try for adoption.

Taako grits his teeth and buries his hands in the dough. He doesn’t want to think about what day it is, doesn’t want to think about much anything at all, so he kneads and whisks and glazes until the steady stream of customers trickles to a stop and Ren suggests that they close the shop for the day. Taako agrees, but he still tries to procrastinate by saying that he’ll stay behind to clean up. Ren’s taking none of it and practically throws him out of his own establishment. The nerve.

So Taako hangs up his apron, gathers his stuff and gets in his car to drive home. He catches his reflection in the rearview mirror and cringes. He looks disgusting; all sweaty and covered in flour and he can’t wait to get home and avoid his husband some more in favor of a long bath and several glasses of wine.

He gets home, drops his bag on the floor and makes a beeline for the bathroom, planning which one of his obnoxiously scented bath bombs he’s going to use when he stops in his tracks. Angus and Kravitz are standing in the kitchen, looking like they’ve been there for a while, just waiting for him to get home and Taako’s stomach drops.

“Wha- what’s going on?” he asks, his gaze flitting between Angus’ excited grin and Kravitz’s nervous smile before he notices what’s on the kitchen table.

Presents, two of them.

“What the fuck?”

Too late Taako realizes that Kravitz is reaching out to him and that he’s already walking towards him to grab the hand he’s being offered. Damn husband, conditioning him to unconsciously want to hold his hand whenever he feels insecure.

Taako follows Kravitz to the table and takes a seat because his legs suddenly feel like jelly for some bizarre reason. Kravitz stays standing next to him, silently supporting as Angus goes around the table to stand on the other side. Taako stares at the gifts like they’re some unknown species of animal.

The one on the left is rectangular, wrapped in forest green paper (with a slight sheen to it) and a silver ribbon. It’s a book, obviously, Taako can tell by the shape of it and he’s not surprised at all. It must be for Kravitz. Both his husband and s... Angus are nerds.

The other one is wrapped in bright metallic blue paper, covered in golden stars and a huge golden stick-on bow for embellishment. The shape of it is vague and Taako has no idea what it might be.

“What the hell is this?” Taako asks again because no one has bothered to answer him yet. Angus fidgets, visibly nervous, and he shoves his hands to the pockets of his jeans to still them.

“It’s uh, Father’s Day gifts,” Angus says, looking away and Taako swallows down the lump in his throat.

“Oh, yeah… people uh, people do that,” he says quietly and feels Kravitz’s hand land on his shoulder. “You uh, you go first, Krav.” Taako’s having a hard fucking time wrapping his head around the implications of all this so there’s no way in hell he’s going first.

Kravitz unwraps his gift carefully to avoid tearing the paper (the dork) and indeed, it turns out to be a book. By one of the authors he and Angus have been discussing (not that Taako has been listening to all that nerd talk) and Kravitz lets out a breath. Taako does the same as if they were both expecting a bomb to go off or something equally ridiculous.

Kravitz thanks Angus profusely for the gift and pulls him into an awkward one-armed hug over the table and Taako thinks that he might be able to do this, as he sees the proud, bright grin on Angus’ face.

Taako grabs his own gift, looks up at Kravitz, as if to confirm if he should and gets an encouraging smile in return.

“Oh-okay then,” he says, and starts to tear into the package. He rips off the wrapping, throws a wad of tissue paper over his shoulder and the gift is revealed. And he freezes.

It’s a mug. It’s just a mug, a stupid piece of ceramic with the text WORLD’S OKAYEST DAD on it.

And Taako remembers.

He remembers the day he gave a similar, if not exactly the same mug to Kravitz, on Father’s Day, a little time after they came to the conclusion that they were going to adopt.

He remembers, how they both laughed at the thing, at the silly text, and how Kravitz lifted him up in his arms and spun him around before stopping to kiss him all over his face.

He remembers it as if he’s living through it all again.

 The mug was waiting in the kitchen cabinet, right up until the day everything went to shit. The day when they were (when Taako was) declared unfit to be a parent. Then it had disappeared without a trace, and Taako forgot all about it in the following months-long shitshow.

Until the anger and disappointment were gone, and all that was left was sadness and guilt.

Until Taako stepped into Kravitz’s study, looking for something, and found the pieces of the shattered mug in the trash bin.

And Taako understood, with sudden clarity, that he wasn't meant to find it. That Kravitz had discarded the broken mug in his own room on purpose. The guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders as he reached in to pick up the pieces without thinking.

Maybe he should fix it, glue it together. Or throw it away immediately, without a word, get it out of the house so that Kravitz wouldn’t need to see it (a grim reminder of what would never be) ever again.

His hands were shaking but he was doing fine until he picked up a bigger piece with the word DAD clearly on it and his fingers spasmed around it. The edges were sharp and blood welled up from the cuts on his palm and fingers but he didn’t feel it. He stared down at it, the word mocking him, reminding him of what a failure he was. How he let Kravitz down.

How he had caught Kravitz red-handed, practicing lullabies, his original compositions on their piano. Taako had laughed, made fun of his husband who was a fucking sap but on the inside, he had been so goddamn happy.

The day he had opened the letter; stark white and impersonal. Kravitz’s hands on his shoulders, the grip turning bruising as Kravitz too read the words on the paper, gripped in Taako’s shaking hands.

How he had called his therapist only to receive her condolences in return. How he hung up on her mid-sentence and then dropped his phone as he realized that he was going to have to call his sister and tell her that she would never become an aunt.

The way Kravitz had given up his musical career, his childhood dream of becoming a conductor for the sake of a more stable job at the library.

Taako’s breath hitched. He was shaking. He felt like he was made of porcelain, like he was shattering into a million pieces, just like the damn mug, on the floor.

He was frozen. He didn’t hear Kravitz enter the room, didn’t notice him until he was kneeling next to him on the floor. Taako felt like he was having an out of body experience. When had he sat down? Something inside him was reaching critical mass and he was afraid to find out what it would be.

“Darling,” Kravitz said, sounding so shaky that Taako sobbed, unable to keep it in. Kravitz grabbed Taako’s trembling hands by the wrists, eased his tightly clenched fingers out of their position. He let go of Taako’s other hand to pry the shard, now a blur of red stains on white ceramic, out of his grip. He dropped it on the floor and the fingers of Taako’s free hand curled in the fabric of his sweatpants (the ones he had been wearing all week because he couldn’t be bothered to think about clothes) clutching the cloth desperately as Kravitz took a look at the wounds on his hand.

Taako couldn't look up, look at Kravitz, look at his husband, burdened by guilt and shame. All he could see was is the word DAD glaring at him from the floor, printed on blood-stained white ceramic.

It had been a joke anyway. Kravitz would have been… He would have been the world’s best father.

“I’m sorry, Kravitz,” Taako gasped, his vision blurring with tears. “I’m sorry, fuck, I’m so sor-”

“Shut up,” Kravitz said sternly, though his voice was still shaky with emotion. He dropped Taako’s hand in favor of grabbing his shoulders and pulling him into a tight embrace. Taako fell willingly into the comfort of his husband’s arms, though he felt undeserving.

“Shut up, you idiot,” Kravitz choked out, his face hidden in Taako’s unwashed hair. “I love you,” he said, sounding like he meant it with every fiber of his being. Taako brought his hands up to grab the back of Kravitz’s shirt, trying to get even closer, hoping that he might disappear entirely, that the hurt would somehow finally stop.

Taako was crying in earnest, exhausted and empty and Kravitz was crying too, his tears getting soaked up by the collar of Taako’s shirt.

“I love you Kravitz, I’m sorry, please don’t leave-” Taako babbled, desperately clawing at the fabric under his fingers, despite the pain in his hand. He was getting blood all over Kravitz’s shirt.

“Shut up,” Kravitz said again, pulling back to hold Taako’s tear-streaked face in his hands. He stared hard into Taako’s eyes and Taako brought his hands up to cover Kravitz’s hands with his own where they were brushing away the still flowing tears.

“I love you, Taako. I’m not going anywhere, okay?” Kravitz said, his deep brown eyes warm and gaze steady despite the tears. He was telling the truth, Taako could tell. He really meant it and Taako nodded in response, struggling to answer through his heaving breaths.

“Okay,” he managed to get out, still holding onto Kravitz’s hands.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Okay,” Taako said again, this time in an exhausted whisper. He collapsed against Kravitz, who held him, petting his hair.

They never mention the mug again.

 But there it is now, the exact same one, sitting in a pile of torn-up gift wrap.

Taako stares at the item, frozen in place, the room deathly quiet. He can’t look at Angus, can’t bear to see the look on the young man’s face. It’s a gag gift, it was supposed to be funny and in a sick, twisted way, Taako feels like laughing at the cruel trick of fate. He looks at Kravitz, sees the haunted look in his husband’s eyes and his fight-or-flight response kicks in.

He slaps a hand over his mouth (to keep in a sob or to stop himself from throwing up, he isn’t sure) and pushes away from the table. The chair falls down onto the floor with a clatter and he flees the scene.

He hears noises, someone or something banging against the table and Kravitz yelling for Angus to wait. Taako takes a brief stumble, grabbing the wall for support.

He runs up the stairs, everything a blur. He slams open the door to the master bedroom and rushes to the walk-in closet to hide. He slides onto the floor, his back against the closed door and buries his shaking hands in his hair as he curls up into a ball. He presses his face to his knees, makes himself small. It’s hard to breathe. The lack of light and open space is a meager comfort.

Taako doesn’t know how long he sits there, an hour, only ten minutes? He trembles on the floor of his closet, arms wrapped around himself to keep from breaking into a million pieces (once again, he can’t fucking do this again) , but eventually Kravitz comes to find him. He always does.

It’s the knock on the door behind him, his back still pressed against it that jostles him out of the prison his thoughts are locking him in.

“Taako? Can I come in?” Kravitz’s voice is gentle and quiet, and not just because of the wood separating them. Taako can’t bring himself to answer but he shuffles to the side, hides between Kravitz’s collection of long, black coats. Kravitz must have heard him moving because the door cracks open just a bit, just enough for him to slip through and it’s been a long time since Taako has been both so terrified and relieved to see his husband.

Taako’s head aches and he feels fuzzy like there’s static on his brain. His eyes feel irritated and his throat feels clogged up so all he can do is to let out a pitiful little whine. Kravitz hears and turns towards him and Taako reaches for him.

Kravitz pulls him out of the coats and into his arms and Taako just wants to fall asleep for a thousand years. He wants to sleep and he doesn’t want to wake up before all of this is over, before he can stop feeling like this and he can be a normal fucking person who doesn’t have freakouts over random, everyday shit.

“You alright?”

“No,” Taako says into Kravitz’s shirt. “You?” he asks because he fucking cares about Kravitz and knows that he’s hurting too.

“I’ve been better,” Kravitz says but there’s a bit of humor in his voice and Taako is glad that at least one of them is keeping it together.

They’re quiet for a while, sitting in the darkness in the middle of all their clothes, just holding each other.

Taako swallows hard, finds the strength to speak. “Can you- I need to call Ren I don’t think- I can’t go to work tomorrow I-”

“Taako,” Kravitz says, interrupting him, which he never does and Taako tenses. “Angus is-” he pauses, “Angus is feeling really- We should explain it to him, Taako.”

“I can’t,” Taako whispers and hides his face in Kravitz’s collar. “I can’t.”

Kravitz holds him tighter.

Taako doesn’t know what Kravitz tells Angus, but apparently, it’s enough to not make him question. Taako stumbles his way through an apology, tells Angus how he’s sorry that he upset him, that he still has some issues he needs to work through. Angus hugs him and Taako hugs him back as hard as he can.

After that, they revert to normalcy and Taako, true to his nature, pretends that nothing ever happened.

Until one day, about a week since the incident, Angus comes home and wordlessly sets a paper bag on the kitchen table while Taako and Kravitz are preparing dinner.

“Angus, what..?” Kravitz questions as he looks up from his vegetable chopping and Taako moves his attention away from the stove, turning the heat down.

“Open it,” Angus says, his voice emotionless. Taako shares an unsure look with Kravitz before they walk forward. Taako wrings his hands, he doesn’t dare to reach out for the bag so Kravitz takes the initiative.

Taako looks as Kravitz peeks into the bag and then smiles a bit. He reaches for Taako’s hand and pulls him closer to the table, inclining his head towards the bag. Taako raises a brow, trying for incredulous to hide his insecurity but he doesn’t think he does a very good job of it.

He frowns and looks at Angus, who nods, encouraging him.

Taako reaches into the paper bag and lifts out a mug. It’s a terrible, ugly thing with a lumpy finish and an unbecoming color. It’s obviously handmade. The words WORLD'S BEST DAD are written by hand on the side of it. Taako starts shaking, a subtle tremble. He cradles the mug in both hands as Kravitz pulls up a chair and gently pushes him down to it by the shoulders. Kravitz pulls out a similar mug from the bag, right down to the text and the nasty mix of colored glaze.

“I took a pottery class,” Angus says with a grin and Kravitz smiles back at him, obviously touched. Taako can’t remove his eyes from the fucking thing. He’s not going to cry, absolutely not.

“You little shit,” he says with a watery grin as he holds the gift in his trembling hands. He looks up and Angus shoots him a beatific smile.

“Happy Father’s Day, dads.”

[taztaas]

White Blank Page

Taako wakes up, hungover, in a stranger's house. That's nothing new, he was at a tavern last night. What is new, is that the man claims to know him. a repost from ao3

Relationship: Kravitz/Taako Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Memory Loss, Angst

Taako woke up slowly with a soft groan, turning in the soft sheets, trying to get out of their tangle. His head hurt and his tongue felt thick in his dry mouth. He sat up carefully on the bed, sheets pooling around him, and rubbed his hands over his eyes, trying to get his bearings. The room was dark, it was either really late or really early. Not that it mattered, since he had darkvision. Looking around he took in the unfamiliar room. He must’ve been out on the town last night, at some tavern. He must’ve followed someone home. Thankfully the room and the bed were empty, he was the only one in the room.

Taako gingerly moved to the edge of the bed, setting his feet on the soft carpet. He brushed his bangs out of his face and rubbed his fingers to his temples. Besides the headache, there was a buzzing of white noise in his brain that didn’t exactly feel like any other hangover he had ever had but he couldn’t think of any other explanation.

Taako searched the floor for his clothes and found a dress that he didn’t remember buying but looked like his style so he figured it was his. There was no way he had been drunk enough to leave the bar with a woman. And if it wasn’t his, well. It was a really nice dress. He pulled it on and spotted some stylish menswear folded over a nearby chair. He sighed in relief, definitely a guy. He didn’t see his boots or cape or bag anywhere so he guessed he had left them at the door, or scattered in the apartment, last night.

Taako didn’t see his “lover” anywhere and he was thankful for that. Leaving after a one-night stand was always awkward as hell if there was talking and explanations required. It was best to just sneak away unnoticed. Taako moved stealthily through the dark house towards what he supposed was the location of the door. It was a really nice place though, the owner must be loaded, and have really good taste, the interior design was right up Taako’s alley. He heard some noise from the kitchen as he passed it, so he was extra careful in sneaking into the foyer. He had just located his boots and was about pull them on when he was caught.

“What are you doing?”

Startled, Taako turned around and saw the definition of tall, dark and handsome standing behind him, looking disturbingly domestic with a mug of something hot in his hand and slippers on his feet. The white noise in Taako’s head grew stronger.

“Uhhh… I’m leaving?” He answered, and grinned placatingly at the other man who frowned in response.

“What? Why?”

Taako sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. This was exactly the thing he had been hoping to avoid. Talk about awkward. He waved his hand in dismissal.

“Umm, sorry bubbeleh, but this was a one-time thing, sorry you got the wrong idea…”

The man’s face grew more and more aghast with every word that came out of Taako’s mouth and it made Taako really uncomfortable. He just wanted to leave, to get out. This guy was starting to creep him out, as hot as he was. Taako though himself a good judge of character, but apparently he had made a mistake last night. He sighed again, looking at anything but the handsome man in front of him. It was just his luck, finding someone good to have a little fun with but ending up with a clingy and apparently super dense guy that just wouldn’t let go .

“Listen kemosabe, it’s nice that you uh, enjoyed it that much, wish I could say the same but last night is kind of a void to me honestly, I must’ve gotten pretty heavy with the wine-”

“Taako.” The man interrupted, “Do you know who I am?” Taako turned his gaze to him and holy shit, he actually looked worried. It made Taako’s skin crawl with unease.

“...A really hot guy who is quickly turning creepy as fuck because he won’t let me leave his fucking house?!”

“This is your house too Taako.” The man said, keeping calm but desperation was leaking into his tone. “This is our house, and I’m your husband, Kravitz.” He took a step closer to Taako who quickly moved away, his back hitting the front door.

Eyes wide as saucers, Taako chuckled nervously. “What? I’m not married.” He answered automatically, like it was obvious, because it was, because he wasn’t married. The buzzing in his brain got worse as he said that and he watched tall, dark and handsome raise his left hand and wiggle his fingers, showing Taako the ring on his finger. Alarmed, Taako quickly raised his own hand to eye-level and saw a matching ring in his own finger. He let out a short, hysterical laugh. This was ridiculous, he didn’t even know this guy and he claimed that they were fucking married? And he even - somehow - had put a ring on Taako’s finger and it was a perfect fit? What kind of sick stalker-

“Darling,” the man said, pleading, and yeah, that was definitely big a red flag-

“Do you know who you are?” He looked concerned, and sad, like Taako was the one out of his fucking mind here and it made the elf laugh out loud again, incredulous. Of course he knew. He pressed a hand to his chest dramatically, and waved the other one back in a grand gesture, preparing for his signature line.

“I’m Taako, you know, from-” He stopped mid-sentence as the static in his brain flared up. It was in his ears, blocking all sound, it was behind his eyes and it made his vision go fuzzy. “...From?” He continued unsurely, and suddenly he felt like his skull was being split open and his hands flew up to clutch at his head and hair. He grit his teeth against the sudden pain, as his body bent down slightly, defensively. He struggled to keep his balance and he gasped for breath because his head was fucking exploding and he was fucking losing it because he realized that he didn’t know, he couldn’t remember.

He didn’t know where he was, who the man claiming to be his husband was or remember how he ended up here. It should have been easy to say, he was Taako from TV, but that didn’t feel right, like it wasn’t true anymore, like he was supposed to be someone else now? He didn’t know, he couldn’t remember. Desperately, eyes shut tightly against the pain, he fumbled at the door for the handle, desperate to get out, to go somewhere safe to deal with this on his own but he couldn’t. He collapsed but he was caught before he hit the floor.

“Don’t…” Taako started weakly, he didn’t want the strange man to touch him, but somehow when Kravitz’s cold hands touched his skin his body relaxed against his will and he fell slack against him. Kravitz’s arms came around him and held him carefully, lowering them to sit on the floor. Taako was still holding his head, eyes closed and he could hardly hear the other speak over the static. He sounded frantic.

“Taako, do you want me to call someone? Lup? Or Magnus?”

Taako didn’t know either of those names. “...Magnus?”

Kravitz reacted immediately, apparently relieved that Taako recognized this person. “You want Magnus?” Taako shook his head but it just made the pain worse, and tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. “Who… I don’t know-” He struggled to string the words together, it was difficult to think, to speak. “I don’t know who that is!” He yelled, frustrated and in pain.

“Taako calm down, please darling, please.” Kravitz’s voice shook and so did his hands but he was desperately trying to help. “Just breathe. Who do you know? Who do you need?”

“Sazed…?” Taako said quietly because that was the only name floating around his brain, and he could remember, Sazed was the only person he had spent time with, the only person he knew . The man beside him stiffened.

“Taako, I don’t think you would be very happy to see him.”

“...Why?”

Taako choked, why, what was even happening. He was fucking dying on the floor of some guy - who he thought he just fucked last night - but who apparently was his fucking husband even though he had no memories of him and Sazed wasn’t around? But what about the show?

“I don’t-” he muttered, “ I don’t have anyone else…” and he lost consciousness.

When Taako came to, he felt exhausted, like he had died and come back again. His head was slightly pounding but the static was gone. Lying on his side, he opened his eyes and saw his bedroom, the same room in which he woke up before. He remembered now, but he had forgotten. His memory was fucked, his brain couldn't deal with the conflicting timelines so he forgot parts of his life. It had happened before, but it was small events, nothing of this caliber. It scared him. It scared him a lot. Who was he? Which Taako was the real one? If he forgot who he was, what was left? He forgot Kravitz this time, his husband. He had no idea how to deal with this, how Kravitz could deal with this.

Taako whimpered. “Kravitz?” He felt movement on the bed behind him, and then Kravitz was pressed against his back, holding him tightly. “I’m here,” whispered against his hair.

Taako grabbed at Kravitz’s hands, pressing them against his own chest and holding them in a crushing grip.

“I’m so sorry Kravitz…”

“Oh darling, please don’t apologize…” Kravitz murmured and tried to move his hands but Taako wouldn’t let him, holding him tight.

“But what if it happens again? What if you hadn’t been there to stop me, what if I had left!” The elf took a deep breath, fighting back tears because he wasn’t going to cry. “I forgot…”

“It’s alright Taako.”

“No, it’s not, I fucking FORGOT!” He was shouting now, angry and frustrated. Tears were escaping even though he had his eyes tightly shut. Kravitz coaxed his hands free of Taako’s grip and gently turned the elf around to hold him to his chest. Taako hid his face in Kravitz’s shirt and gripped his back, bunching the fabric in his fists. He had fought it so hard but now he was falling apart in his husband’s arms.

“Kravitz,” he sobbed, “please don’t get tired of me.” Kravitz stiffened, shocked, but tightened his arms around Taako, voice shaking, but only slightly as he replied.

“Taako, I would never-”

The elf shook his head and grabbed at Kravitz’s shirt tighter, movements frantic.

“Please don’t leave me Krav, I know I’m difficult-”

“Stop it, Taako stop it,” Kravitz said, pulling back to hold Taako’s face, to brush the tears off his cheeks, “Taako look at me.” He said, and Taako opened his eyes to meet Kravitz’s gaze.

“I love you, and I will always love you, no matter what.” He pressed a kiss to Taako’s forehead. ”I promise.”

Taako sniffed, closing his eyes. “You can’t-”

“I can and I mean it.” Kravitz moved close again and kissed both of his husband’s eyelids gently. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Taako whispered in reply. His death grip on Kravitz had loosened, and now he just held him back. He pressed his face to Kravitz’s neck and sighed, worn out. The reaper’s nimble fingers brushed through Taako’s mussed hair, sorting it out. His other hand sought out Taako’s and twined their fingers together.

“We’ll figure this out, all of us. You’re not alone. Everyone’s going to help you, and I’m not leaving your side.” Taako just nodded, concentrating on his breathing, and on the feeling of Kravitz’s touch. The reaper had no heartbeat, but Taako could hear the thrum of his soul in his chest. It was comforting. Maybe this promise could be kept. Maybe everything would be alright, in the end. Because he could trust Kravitz. He squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his grip on Kravitz’s hand. As long as he remembered him. If only he could keep the memory of him.

[taztaas]

44, followed directly by 43 w poor taakitz

#43 “YOU DID WHAT?!”#44 “If you die, I’m gonna kill you.”

A bit AU-ish, canon divergence. Takes place after S&S but before Killian and Carey’s wedding.

Kravitz is a bounty hunter for the Raven Queen, he deals with the edge cases.

The members of the IPRE have been pardoned, so they don’t appear in his book unless they break his Goddess’ laws again.

Lup and Barry are different.

Kravitz is in the middle of a good book when his stone rings. He taps on it absentmindedly with his thumb to answer the call. As he does, he jumps and the stone falls from his hand because it’s Lup.

It’s Lup and she’s crying, screaming, hysterical. Kravitz has no idea what’s wrong.

“Lu- Lup, can you give Barry the stone?” Kravitz asks, book now forgotten, because Lup seems to be beyond talking, if coherent at all. It’s hard to hear anything besides Lup’s anguish but underneath it, Kravitz can discern the disquieting crackle of magic, lich magic to be precise and fear crawls along Kravitz’s spine, is Lup losing control? If so why?

“Barry?” he shouts, his fingers squeezing the stone. “You there?”

“I- Y-yeah,”

“What’s going on?”

“We- Lup! - It’s Taako, he-”

Kravitz’s stomach drops. Taako is on a comeback tour, visiting the places from his first excursion around Faerun.

“Taako’s name appeared in the book, Lup is-”

“Stabilize her,” Kravitz growls and the scythe has manifested in his hand before he’s even fully standing up. He ends the call and stuffs the stone in his pocket before stepping into a rift. Taako’s soul, as intimately familiar as it is, is easy to track with his goddess-given powers.

The village he arrives to is small, but Kravitz would recognize it even without the memorial monument.

Glamor Springs.

Kravitz knows what happened here and his jaw clenches against his will. There are a few villagers milling about but no one seems to be willing to make eye contact which makes the feeling of foreboding grow in Kravitz’s stomach as he tries to triangulate the place where he Taako might be.

Kravitz’s steps slow when he first sees him, but when he realizes what he’s seeing he takes off into a run.

“No, no, no, no…”

It’s Taako, laying in a heap on the forest floor like he’s been tossed out of the way like a piece of trash. Kravitz’s crumples to the ground next to him and brings his shaking hands to Taako’s face. He’s barely breathing - still and quiet, all his vibrant colors somehow muted.

Kravitz’s grabs Taako’s hand, tries not to think about the coldness of it or the purple color of his fingertips, the color crawling up his arms like veins.

“Please wake up. Taako,” he says and his voice cracks but nothing happens. No fluttering of eyelashes, no twitch of an ear, no frown paints the elf’s brow and Kravitz squeezes the hand in his hard, too hard to be comfortable.

A droplet of falls onto Taako’s cheek and Kravitz starts because he hasn’t cried in centuries. He berates himself for wasting time and gathers Taako’s body in his arms.

He steps through the planes once more.

Merle drops his watering can when reality splits itself in his living room but he recovers admirably quickly.

The poison is out of Taako’s body quickly enough thanks to Pan’s power and Merle’s hands channeling it but it still takes three days for Taako to wake up. Kravitz and Lup take turns keeping vigil by the bedside though oftentimes it’s both of them and Barry. It’s not like any of them need to sleep.

“If he dies, I’ll fucking kill him,” Lup mutters that first night, wiping her eyes. No one laughs.

It ends up being Kravitz, alone, when Taako wakes up with a whine that gets caught in his throat. He meets Kravitz’s eyes and closes his own again. “Fuck,” he says, voice hoarse and Kravitz is immediately there with a glass of water.

“What happened?” he asks as soon as Taako has quenched his thirst, holding onto the glass with both hands.

“Hello to you too,” he mutters but Kravitz isn’t having it because Taako is avoiding his eyes just like every resident of Glamor Springs.

“Taako. You almost died. What happened.”

Taako keeps shifting, fiddling with his hair and the sheets of the bed but Kravitz doesn’t back down, not in the mood of dealing with Taako’s bullshit tendency to avoid talking.

“They gave me poison,” the elf says finally, looking at the wall and tugging on his earrings nervously.

“And?”

Taako’s expression darkens and his fingers clutch the sheets but he finally meets Kravitz’s eyes and he’s angry. “And I fucking drank it okay?!”

“You- you drank-” Kravitz starts to say but cuts himself off and takes a deep breath to calm himself down. “What the fuck is this Taako? Some bullshit penance?”

“It’s- I mean, people died Kravitz-”

“And it wasn’t your fault!” Kravitz is yelling and he doesn’t know when he stood up from the chair. “Did you even think- When we found out, do you have any idea how we- Lup almost lost herself!”

Taako refuses to look at him. Kravitz is done here. He heads for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Fucking- somewhere, anywhere but here. I haven’t been to work in three days.” He opens the door and Lup is in the hall.

“Is he…?” she asks, eyes flicking to the open door behind him.

“He’s awake. I’m heading to work.”

“What the fuck? Now? Why?”

“Ask him,” Kravitz says and glares at her. She glares right back before storming into the room.

Kravitz is stepping through the rift when he hears her scream, “YOU DID WHAT?!” and then he’s gone. He might be the Grim Reaper but that doesn’t make blatant disregard towards the preciousness of life any easier to swallow.

[taztaas]

Gone Fishin'

Taako was taking some well deserved time off. He left his Stone of Farspeech home and grabbed his Pocket Spa, because even though he liked fishing - nature, camping and more specifically having greasy hair sucked. a repost from ao3

Relationship: Kravitz/Taako Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, welcome to the big bass challenge, Humor

Taako was taking some well deserved time off. They’d saved the world, everything had more or less settled down, and he was well past deserving some good ol’ Taako Time. So he left his Stone of Farspeech home with a note of “Gone fishin’!” and grabbed his Pocket Spa, because even though he liked fishing , nature, camping and more specifically having greasy hair sucked .

Now that he remembers being the multiverse’s most awesome wizard and has spell slots for days, he had magicked himself away until he found a nice big lake and a small deserted island in the middle of it. He’d transmuted a small pier from some driftwood, and a fishing pole from a random stick, and here he was, on his second day of blissful solitude, watching the bobber float on the surface of the somewhat murky lake.

Taako is sitting at the end of the pier, his pant legs rolled up to the knees, feet in the water. The lake water is a bit chilly, but bearable, once you get used to it. He glances at his feet, wiggling his toes and admiring his perfectly polished toenails. The sunlight sparkles really nicely on the glitter nail polish he had put on last night, a solid choice. He gives himself a figurative pat on the back for that one. Taako adjusts his hat, again, for the umpteenth time, to shield his eyes from the sun. He leans back, fishing rod in one hand and treading the water lazily with his feet. He is contemplating taking a break from fishing when he hears a rift open behind him.

Taako sighs, a bit put off. It’s hard to take a weekend getaway and disappear for a while when your immediate family is able to track souls and rip through the fabric of space at will.

“Anything biting?” Asks a deep, smooth voice behind him, and at least it is Kravitz, Taako thinks gratefully. His boyfriend can appreciate doing nothing and staying quiet. If it had been Lup he would’ve had to bid his peaceful mini-holiday goodbye.

Taako just hums in response, not really answering the question but Kravitz doesn’t seem to mind. The little pier creaks at the added weight as Kravitz steps on it and settles behind Taako, pulling him to his chest and resting his chin on the elf’s shoulder. Taako leans back against his boyfriend, happy to be held and turns his head slightly to nuzzle against the other’s cheek before turning his gaze back towards the water. They are both quiet, enjoying the peace, Kravitz’s clammy hands slowly warming against Taako’s stomach, the elf’s free hand on top of them.

Taako hears Kravitz take an unnecessary breath, about to say something, when there is an unexpected tug on the line and the bobber disappears underwater. Taako yelps and quickly fumbles to hold the fishing rod more securely, and right after there is another, more insistent tug. And another. The fourth tug has enough power behind it to almost make Taako lose his balance, and he feels Kravitz tighten his grip around his waist, a sound of surprise escaping his lips. By now the line is pulled taut and it’s obvious that Taako has caught... something. He cheers.

“It’s the BIG BASS!” Taako laughs, almost maniacally, gripping the fishing rod hard, fighting against the pull on the line.

“Taako, what-” Kravitz grunts, “What the hell did you use for bait?!” He shouts, struggling to keep a hold on his boyfriend and stop them both from flying into the lake at the same time. Taako, still cackling, clearly having the time of his life, turns to answer Kravitz with a wide grin.

“Elderflower macaroooooooo-” The word stretches out into a squeak as the pull suddenly gets a lot stronger and the two of them, wide-eyed and caught off guard, fall into the lake with a splash.

Taako surfaces quickly, spitting water, still laughing and whooping in excitement until he notices he’s alone.

“Kravitz?” He calls unsurely, and remembers before, in another plane, when he saw Kravitz drowning in black tar, and realizes that the reaper can’t swim. And since he’s dead he’ll probably sink like a stone. Taako dives, thankful for his Cloak of the Manta Ray as it grants him waterbreathing and allows him to move faster underwater. Finally, the thing is proving itself useful. He dives straight downwards because Kravitz couldn’t be far away from the spot where they fell. The water is dirty and it’s hard to see anything, but he casts Light on a ring on his finger to help him navigate. Quickly enough he sees Kravitz, slowly sinking. The reaper is still and since he’s not actually alive, there’s no way to tell if he’s alright or not and fear grips Taako’s heart. He grabs Kravitz by the arm and pulls him close to circle one arm around his chest and then he’s swimming back up.

Taako stumbles to the shore, looking like a wet dog, dragging Kravitz with him with some difficulty since the reaper is no lightweight. He sets his boyfriend on the ground quickly, still halfway in the water and searches his face for signs of life, or well, anything.

“Kravitz? Hey, you alive or… what?” There is no response and Taako grabs him by the shoulders and shakes him roughly.

“Kravitz? Hello? Give me a sign or something! I can’t tell if you’re alive or not because you’re fucking dead, man!” Starting to panic a little he moves closer to Kravitz’s face and pats his cheek roughly.

“Hey, wake up Kravitz, I can’t give you fucking mouth-to-mouth since you don’t breathe, what am I supposed to do here!” Now that he is close to Kravitz’s face, he notices the small twitch of a smile in the corner of the reaper’s mouth and he narrows his eyes. He pulls back, raises his arm and brings his fist down to hit Kravitz square in the chest, hard. Kravitz’s eyes fly open in surprise and he starts coughing up water.

“You ASSHOLE! You absolute ARSE, I thought you died!” Taako rages, face flushed in annoyance, masking his relief with sharp words. Kravitz just sputters, sitting up and spitting dirty water on the grass.

“What am I going to do with you?” Taako says, faking desperation and slumping down on the ground.

“Give me that mouth-to-mouth?” Kravitz suggests, grinning but having the sense to look at least a bit sheepish. Taako just rolls his eyes and pushes Kravitz back down on the ground, leaning down after him.

“I should whoop your ass for that stunt you just pulled,” Taako mutters, but there’s no real ire in his voice and he presses his lips to Kravitz’s without hesitation. It’s a nice kiss, and he’s going back for another one when a rift opens not far away from them and Lup steps out. She looks absolutely gleeful, a shit-eating grin on her face as she spots them. She turns back towards the rift and yells into it.

“Barry, BARRY! Come quick it’s frigging fantasy Baywatch over here!”. Taako lifts himself up to give his sister the finger, about to cuss her out but Kravitz pulls him back down for another kiss and he shuts up and goes willingly. Shame he lost that fish, though this catch isn't that bad either.