I've been inspired to talk about ducknerva again. People have been reblogging my other post about them and now it's got me thinking about them frfr

Uhhh so I'd like to first start off with I am, and you can fight me on this, the #1 Ducknerva fan and I will support them till the day I die :D

Anyways

So Ducknerva is so special, in my opinion, I think that their relationship is so incredibly strong, stronger than people seem to realize. Like they, I think, are up there next to Lup and Barry, and if you know me (which y'all don't know my Balance opinions LMAO) you will know that I fucking LOVE blupjeans. On my main account, I'm planning on doing this whole big post about them but anyway, I think that Ducknerva and Blupjeans are on such a similar level with how strong they are, with the connection that these characters have. They had so much time to fall in love and they did, but the difference with Ducknerva is they didn't fall in love until a lot later, until Duck had experienced so much and Minerva was there to witness. She has been by his side, supporting him, wanting him to be more than he thought he could be, and refusing to give up on him. Sure, some can say she was really pushy with him, and she was, but she had good in her heart with these actions and for the most part only good seemed to come out of it. Of course some of the consequences of this, the bad of Amnesty, you can't avoid. This world isn't perfect and I think Duck and Minerva know that best. They know this better than most. I think Ned and Mama experienced the hate and the worst parts of the world, Ned even being a part of them at some point, but these two witnessed so much, even if they weren't directly apart. With their visions, with the pressure that they were given, and not just Duck but Minerva too, they were given the world to protect, both Earth and Minerva's world, even though it was destroyed, and had to deal with the idea of it ending if it wasn't for their efforts. And they worked together, building one another up and helping each other out to be better than who they were. We know that Duck wasn't all that enthusiastic with this whole chosen one thing, especially not after seeing friends get hurt and risking his life, I'm sure, but even after all this, Minerva stuck by him, kept training him and hyping him up even if they were worlds apart. She didn't leave him for a moment until she was forced to. They make each other stronger, so much stronger than they ever thought they could be, and definitely stronger than Duck thought he could be, and conquered so much. When seeing her for the first time the words 'It's so fucking good to see you,' said by Duck really just shows not only the amount that he confides in her but also just the relief to finally be able to be in her presence. I think before it all, maybe the following months before shit really went down, Duck had this feeling in his chest but never connected it to love when it came to Minerva. He kept it down, to himself, and when she was gone it kinda hurt not to have this pillar of hope and strength that he always had. So when he saw her for the first time, he just melted into the puddle of love, falling for her. They are both incredible warriors and they strengthen one another, and even after all was said and done, they just kept building one another up, kept making each other stronger and stronger, both emotionally and physically. I can imagine even after everything, Minerva made sure to keep Duck in shape. They made each other happy, they were all each other knew for so long. Like I think in some of Duck's darkest places, Minerva was there in her spiritual form to give him some sort of words of encouragement and while Duck really didn't know what to make of all of this, from some sort of ghost that kept following him around all the time, it was still nice to have those words when it seemed no one else would give them to him.

After they moved to the Amazon, and even before, they kept each other happy, active, and moving towards the goals that they had together. Once they did move though, with Juno by their side as well, I think that Duck had a really hard time with that change at first. He missed Aubrey, someone he saw as a sister, and not only that but he missed his actual sister. He missed Mama and he missed Indrid and he missed Barclay, all of them, he missed his hometown and friends. He wanted to do something more, something different, something bigger to impact the world, even more than he had (which is hard after basically saving the world from destruction), but he still had to deal with what I can imagine being some of the hardest struggles for him, and it's changing. But Minerva was right there by his side, keeping him steady, keeping him ready for everything that the world and this new life had to throw at him. Luckily for him, there was always a way to get back to his home, to see his friends again, and in the near future, there would be much easier ways of communication, even in the national quiet zone.

Anyways, they're just such a strong couple. They love each other and they love doing everything together. I can imagine that leaving each other's sides isn't something they do often, but when they are apart, they reunite as if they were apart for much longer. At least this is how Minerva does it. She's always over the top when it comes to seeing Duck after not seeing him for a lil while.

They love and care about each other so much.

aftershocks

a post story and song fic set at dinner with the ipre crew, but it mostly focuses on lup, taako, lucretia, and magnus, 1.9k words, kind of angsty but ends up happy

As the days stretched out further away from the final battle against the Hunger, everyone started to settle more comfortably into their new routines. Magnus training dogs at the Hammer and Tails, Merle taking the next generation out on Extreme Teen Adventures, Taako running his media empire and Amazing School of Magic, Lucretia and Davenport at the newly renamed Bureau of Benevolence slowly helping to rebuild the world, and Barry and Lup helping Kravitz corral souls in the Astral Plane. Of course, they were all very busy and on different schedules, but everyone made time how they could to keep up the relationships that were so dear to them. Carey and Killian loved to go visit Magnus and play with the dogs, and they invited him over for dinner every chance they got. Whenever Barry, Lup, and Kravitz could get some free time to cross back over from the astral plane, they got Taako and went on double dates together. Magnus, Merle, and Taako all took turns visiting Angus regularly at school, and all the other kids were jealous that he had the coolest uncles in town. Although it was difficult to get seven people free at the same time, the former Starblaster crew tried to have dinner together at least once a month. 

On one such night, everyone had just arrived at the Bureau (or headed to the dining room from their other tasks), and were settling in to enjoy another fabulous feast cooked by none other than their very own Taako. He brought out dish after dish, far more food than the seven of them could finish, but he had less time to cook these days, and getting to feed everyone still brought him joy.

“Well, what are you all waiting for?” asked Taako jokingly as he hung up his Kiss the Cook apron (a present from Kravitz). “My famous 40 garlic clove chicken isn’t going to eat itself!” 

Conversation at these dinners would be impossible to follow if you weren’t one of the seven regular guests. It always seemed like there were at least 20 different ones happening at once, and between mouthfuls of food at that. However, when you live with people for an entire century, you come to understand them individually and overall at such a level that a chaotic dinner among yourselves, after everything you’ve been through, is the easiest thing to understand in the world. Lucretia was saying to Merle,

“I always look forward to these evenings together, just one of them has made up for every late night I spent alone in my office,” and he nodded happily and was about to reply when they were interrupted by a fork clattering to the table as Taako whipped around from facing Barry and glared daggers at Lucretia.

“Having to eat alone in your office? I feel so damn bad for you,” he said in a voice dripping with contempt. “Imagine living what you thought was your whole life feeling an emptiness and a disconnect you could never fill because it was the other half of your heart that had been stolen from you. Sound familiar? Oh wait, that’s what you did to me, and Lup ended up stuck in an umbrella. But no, go on, Madame Director.”

Magnus immediately stood up and slammed his hands on the table. 

“What the fuck, Taako?” he exclaimed. “Knock it off now!”

But Taako had already turned and gone back to the kitchen without another word, slamming the door behind him. Lucretia’s eyes welled with tears, and she fidgeted with her napkin.

“I’m so sorry, everyone. Please excuse me.” She left through another door in the opposite direction. 

“I don’t know what’s gotten into him,” Magnus sighed, but before he could continue, Lup spoke up: “I do. Let me handle this one, Mags, you can go check on Lucretia, okay?” They briefly hugged and split up to go do damage control. 

Merle could tell that Barry wanted to follow Lup before he even said so, so he turned to him and advised, “Better to stay here until they figure out what’s going on, and Lup will get you if she needs you. Feelings are running high right now, but nobody is in any danger. It’ll be okay.” Barry nodded silently, and Davenport pulled out a deck of cards.

“Just like old times, Merle. Man, we used to play for hours when we got the chance. Barry, you got winner?” He shuffled and began to deal across to Merle, and Barry relaxed now that there was a distraction. The three of them settled in for what was likely to be many rounds of cards as they waited for the rest of their friends to get back. 

Lup swung open the door of the kitchen to see Taako aggressively washing dishes. She grabbed a towel, stepped beside him, and said casually, “I’ll dry.” He paused, but only for a second, and handed her a plate. 

“How do you stay so calm, Lup? We’re hearing her say the same things and what happened was to both of us.” Taako set down the pot and washcloth and hopped up onto the counter to face his twin sister. The dishes could wait, he had really only been trying (and failing) to get his anger out, and nobody calmed him down better than Lup. 

She replied, “Nobody needs to suffer anymore, Taako. That’s what we died so many times for, that’s what everyone here helped us fight for. I know you don’t think so, but Lucretia really was alone for a while, with the secret of what she did, and that’s some heavy stuff.” 

“Lup, darling, I’m sorry, but I don’t give a shit. I’ve never been very trusting of a lot of people and this has just proved me right. Yes, we won, and it’s great running Taako’s Amazing School of Magic rather than hopping from planet to planet and dying a bunch. But I didn’t hurt Lucretia, in fact, the case is quite the opposite. I’m just,” and here his bravado lapsed as his voice lowered, “I’m just not able to forgive her yet.”

Lup came to sit next to her brother and hold his hand. 

“I’m proud of you, Taako. You know, since not lying is usually hard for you.” This comment earned her an elbow to the side, and she giggled. “Seriously though, it’s okay that you aren’t ready. But please, at least stop trying to punish her more than she already has herself. Do it for me, if that helps. I don’t want to see my brother and my good friend like this anymore.”

Taako bit his lip, and then slowly agreed, “Okay, for you, Lulu.”

“Taako! I told you to never call me that again!” She reached over to swat him with her towel, but he jumped off the counter and ran across the kitchen laughing. That was her twin brother, alright, and she knew he was going to be okay as she chased him, grinning from ear to ear. 

Down the other hallway, Magnus approached Lucretia’s office. It still felt a little strange to be able to freely enter it as a friend, and not to only be invited in for mission briefings as a subordinate, but he had adjusted quickly. The two of them had shared a special bond during their time on the Starblaster, having been the same age and therefore both the youngest of the crew. He easily swung open the heavy wooden door, and saw Lucretia sitting at her desk with the chair turned to face the window, staring out at the stars. 

“Lucretia? It’s Magnus,” he said quietly as he entered, so as not to startle her, but she jumped slightly anyway. She turned to greet him with a sad smile. 

“Yes, hello. I know what you’re probably thinking, but I’ll be fine and I don’t want you to miss out on the rest of dinner.”

“Well, no worries there, I don’t think there is a ‘rest of dinner’ right now. Lup and Taako are in the kitchen and I bet the rest of the guys are playing cards or something waiting for us all to come back.”

Lucretia sighed and sat down on the dark blue couch against the wall, motioning for Magnus to join her. “You know, Magnus, I’ve been so much happier these days,” she mused. “Now, we get to help people rebuild. Everyone at the Bureau of Benevolence is truly working together, and I feel like rather than just working to undo the damage we did and reset to zero, we’re actually making things better. But maybe that’s not true…maybe I’ll always just be playing catchup for what I took from the people I love the most.” She looked down at her hands, and realized she was squeezing them in fists so hard there were fingernail marks left on her palms. Magnus gently uncurled each of her fingers and took her slender hands in his large, callused ones. 

“Come on now, Luci,” he reassured her with the nickname that started between them at some point during the IPRE mission and he had promptly brought back once he was able to remember it. “You’re way too hard on yourself. What you did with Fisher and Junior hurt you too, just in a different way than the rest of us. I won’t make excuses for Taako, but you know how cold and distant he can get. He’s gonna take a little longer to come around and that’s not on you.”

Lucretia looked into Magnus’s warm and caring eyes. “Is it wrong for me to feel happiness, Magnus?”

“You don’t need to ask me that, and I know you know you don’t need to. Grief and guilt may obscure the answer some days, but it’s always the same. Actually, follow me.”

He stood up and strode out the door, down the hall towards the courtyard, where a tall gray dog with a shaggy coat had been asleep on the grass. When Lucretia saw it, she just laughed.

“New era, new rules, huh? I don’t think that one even got approved by me,” she joked. Magnus led her over to the dog, which he woke up and gave a treat. 

“I believe introductions are in order,” he said in an overly formal tone with a big smile. “Lucretia, this is Johann, Johann, this is Lucretia. Can you shake?” Since Magnus was of course excellent at his job training dogs, Johann sat up and put his paw in Lucretia’s hand. 

“It’s good to see you again, Johann,” whispered Lucretia with tears in her eyes. She knelt down to pet the happy dog and Magnus put an arm around her shoulders. When Lucretia had had her fill of time with the dog (and also sharing some of her favorite memories about Johann the human), she and Magnus walked back to her office to see a note on the door. It read:

“Enclosed in the box below is one dozen elderflower macarons, if I recall, you quite enjoyed them on Candlenights. I would say something about thinking of our friendship when you eat them, but that’s bullshit, so I won’t. Anyway, I would hate for your dinner to get cold, and it seems like Barry is looking for seconds…xoxo Taako”

“Leave it to Taako to be a total drama queen even when he’s trying to apologize,” laughed Magnus. Lucretia just smiled and picked up the box of cookies to put on her desk for later. 

“Let’s go back to the dining room now, Magnus. If Taako isn’t just pulling my leg, we don’t have much time before my dinner gets handed over to Barry!”

After the aftermath - Blupjeans Week day 8 (weeks are longer now, sorry)

My @blupjeansweek prompts are part of a story and this is a little ficlet to tie it all off! Find the others here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 or on Ao3

When people asked for the proposal story Barry never really knew what to say. They didn’t want to hear “one day Lup said it’d be baller if we made our wedding rings out of bone and I had some at home, so we did it, and look here it is! She did that cool twisty thing here first try. Isn’t she great?” Most people outside their immediate family just did weird squinchy faces about it or looked sympathetic. Barry had no idea why, as far as he was concerned it was perfect, mostly because Lup wanted to marry him and he wasn’t really bothered about anything else. 

“How about the bone church, babe?” Lup asked, stretching her legs out in front of her on their picnic blanket. 

Barry stayed cross legged and hidden from the midday sun in the shade of Lup’s parasol. “I know it’s what your spooky heart longs for, and I want you to have the perfect day, but bones or not it’s still a church.”

“And?”

“We’re not in any way religious? Or, well, the right kind of religious, church religious, obviously I worship you.”

Lup snorted. “Bad. Awful. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Said Barry, and squeezed her hand. “How about the university?” 

“So we don’t have to take leave?”

Barry laughed. “Yeah, we’ll just get Dav to use his captain powers and do it in the 10 minutes between lectures when we rush past each other in the hall on Fridays.”

“Taako would have to be there.” Lup said thoughtfully. “But  I think we could make it work… the drama of the time limit sounds kinda hot.”

“I… No, I mean… that wasn’t a serious suggestion, Lup. I was thinking more like the library, or the fancy hall? We could shove everyone round one of the big dramatic bench tables. Plus, we’d get staff discount. I bet they’d let us decorate it however we want as long as we put it back again after. We’re fire wardens too, so that’s the safety certificate sorted.” 

“Ooooh, we do have all those skulls to en-candle. They can’t stop us from having flames if we’re qualified about it.” Said Lup, sitting up a bit straighter. “And we could wrap twinkly lights round the beams…”

“... oh! And we could probably steal the flaming carpet from the office and see if Taako would be able to transmute something longer.”

“Pssh, he’ll be offended if we imply anything other than unfailing confidence in his ability to do it.” 

“Good point. I’ll let you bully Taako into doing a lot of manual labour.”

“He’s got Kravitz for that. Goth boy will be on carpet rolling duty as soon as Taako asks. He’s got it bad.” 

“They both do.”

“Yeah, they do.” There’s a long pause, a comfortable one. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever have this, you know?” Lup said. Barry didn’t dare say anything yet, Lup didn’t talk about the past a lot. He knew it was a hard topic and he wanted to let her get the thoughts out without interruption so he just squeezed her hand and hoped it conveyed ‘I’m here’, ‘I’’ve got you’, ‘I love you’. “There was just a time in the middle there where I wasn’t sure how we were gonna climb our way out of the shit pit life dropped us in.” 

“But you did.” Added Barry, unable to hide the pride in his voice. Sure, his life hadn’t been a walk in the park, but he’d always had Marlena.

 “We did.” Lup nodded. “And now we’ve built a whole family, and Taako has Kravitz, and I have you.”

“Forever and always.” Said Barry, nodding firmly. “You can’t get rid of me now…” He winced. “Okay, wait, no, that sounded creepy, but you know what I mean.”

“I do.” Said Lup, and leaned over to kiss him on the nose.

Lup and Barry clone Taako

i've been dabbling in taz fic lately, and i started this and realised i only wanted to write this scene, and thus didn't want to flesh it out further LMAO

one scene isn't enough to post on ao3, but it is enough to post on tumblr ;)

It starts with Lup’s hovering.

Her metaphorical hovering, that is, not her literal hovering. It’s been a month, maybe a bit more since they’ve defeated the Hunger, and on account of being a lich with no legs, she’d have to drift from place to place for all that time.

Taako doesn’t know why she and Barry haven’t made her a new body, but whatever.

To be honest, it takes a while for Taako to even notice her metaphorical hovering, let alone be bothered by it. There’s something about being separated for over a decade that’s made it so that neither of them can be apart for too long without getting panicky about it. But as Taako soaks up sister time, his Lup quota fills up a little bit faster every day until it’s almost back to pre disappearance levels. 

He’d expected it to be the same for Lup, but she’s still clingy. Still hovering. Metaphorically. It’s obvious that there's something she wants to tell him, and he’s never known her to be shy about anything, so he’s waiting for her to spit it out herself. 

One night, when she’s decided to ‘sleep’ in Taako’s bed instead of Barry's, she finally plucks up the courage to ask whatever she wants to ask him.

“Taako. How much do you love me?”

“What do you want?” his eyes are closed, but if they weren’t, they’d be squinting suspiciously. 

“Seriously, babe, just answer the question.”

“You’re my heart, duh,” if this is what she’s been worried about the whole time, then Taako’s gonna be pissed. 

“How would you like to make that literal?”

He finally pulls open an eye to see his sister, floating ominously above him, “and what the fuck do you mean by that?”

If Lup had a face, she would use it to give him a bashful smile. 

“Well… we need like, a lot of DNA samples in order to create a clone, and it was easy for Barry because he always had access to his body but–”

“But your body is dust,” Taako closes his eyes. 

“Hey, we’re already technically clones of each other! We just need to do it manually this time!”

“It’s still fucking freaky, though!” he sits up on his elbows, “I don’t wanna go about my day knowing there’s a version of me growing in a test tube!”

“Then don’t think of the clone as you, dummy, it’ll be my body, I just… won’t be in it, for a while.”

“Oh my god,” he slumps back onto the mattress, “when the fuck did this become our life?”

“I think we were pretty much locked in the moment we got the IPRE acceptance letters,” she floats down to lie on Taako’s body, her not-face propped up by her hands. “Seriously, though, if you really don’t wanna do this, then it’s fine. We’ll figure something else out.”

“Oh yeah, like what? Possess some poor schmuck and spend the rest of your days running from Kravitz? No way, this is the easier option.”

“I have a feeling you’re not fully 100 percent on board with this.”

“Yeah, of course I'm not! Who wants to be cloned? But I’m doing it anyway because you’re my sister, and I want to fucking hug you.”

“God, same,” Lup sighs, “and I want to bang my husband,” she ignores Taako’s retching, “it’s just that we have to be really careful about this, now that me and Barry are working for the Raven Queen and all, we have to make sure this is super duper ethical. Cloning is super light necromancy, and she’s barely willing to let us do it.”

“Fine,” Taako raises his hand, “you have my full unequivocal consent to clone my body and bang your husband with it. I just don’t want to see the fucking thing until you’re in it. Do you need that in writing or what?”

“Actually, yeah. Like I said, the Raven Queen is being super strict about it. Kravitz says we’re lucky she’s letting us do this at all. I guess being the saviors of the universe helped us out there.”

“She also has a big soft spot for Kravitz. She’s like his Mom.”

“Aww, really?”

“He can deny it all he wants, but I know the truth. He blushes like a motherfucker when I bring it up.”

“Ha!” She barks out a laugh and sits up, “I'm definitely gonna bring that up the next time I see him,” she floats off him and makes for the wall– doors are obsolete to a lich– but she pauses, turning back to face him. He can almost imagine her face in the empty darkness that is her hood, a reflection of his own, but far more open and gentle than he’s ever allowed himself to be. “Seriously–”

“Seriously,” he raises his hand, “I'm cool with it. Now can I go the fuck back to sleep?”

“Yeah,” she says, soft, with a hint of a smile, “you can.”

I really like this one, it's a classic

@taznovembercelebration Remember or forget

-

Dirt crunches underfoot as Lup and her new friend Barry walk along in silence. It's strange, she thinks, how easy it is with him. Her whole life she's fended for herself, never allowing anyone too near, but then she ran into this fumbling, mediocre fighter. He's a little gruff and a bit of a jackass sometimes, but she can't find it in herself to ditch him. He asked her to go on some quest that he said "might be super dangerous," and she didn't even hesitate to say yes. The fact that he's handsome might have swayed her a little bit.

Conversation with him was like they'd known each other forever, falling into a comfortable rhythm. They talked about their pasts, not that either of them had much to talk about, they talked about magic, about their travels. Barry even confessed to her that he had no idea what this quest was actually for, he was just following instructions he never remembered leaving for himself. Lup felt compelled to be vulnerable with him, despite rejecting vulnerability whenever it tries to rear it's terrifying head. She told him about her aunt, being on the run, surviving by herself, she even told him about how it always felt like she was forgetting something. As if she'd left her oven on before going out, but a hundred times more intense. She was surprised to find out he had a similar feeling.

Then the conversation settled some, and now they walk in a comfortable silence. She feels an urge to reach out and take his hand, and she kicks herself mentally. That's too much. What would they do then? Swing their arms like a couple on their honeymoon? Weird. Gross. Get it together.

They come to the mouth of a cave, and Barry checks his map. "Alright, uh, I think- I think this is it."

"And you have no idea what we're looking for in here?"

"Well, it's- the instructions said that it's some sort of treasure keep, hoard, thing, and it might have... whatever I'm looking for. And I'm supposed to know it when I see it?"

"Great, so we run in head first? No plan?"

"The plan is don't die."

"Love it. This'll be easy."

It is not, in fact, easy. They manage to get through the first few sets of bandits guarding what must be a treasure trove hidden deep in the cave, but round three is proving itself to be difficult. Lup's running low on spells, Barry's running out of stamina, and they're both pretty beat up. They've taken out one bandit, so now they're each one-on-one with another. Lup's got the ranger, and Barry's got the fighter.

The ranger, evidently, has a bit of multiclassing up their sleeve when he turns invisible. Lup scans the room, hoping to spot a shadow or a ripple against the wall, anything to give away their position. Unfortunately, what she spots is an arrow, sailing straight towards Barry. She doesn't have time to scream before it lodges itself in his back, right through to where she knows his heart is.

He collapses unceremoniously, and Lup just knows he's dead. Her heart races, and she wills away tears that prick at her eyes. She's upset that he died, of course, but she still has a fight to win. And she's not even, like, that sad. It sucks that he died, it's upsetting, but it's fine.

The fighter bandit praises the ranger, and then starts to advance on Lup. She brandishes her wand, and tries to brace herself as the fighter gears up to charge her, when the cavern fills with red light. A spectre all in red floats above Barry's body. Lup grins, and starts laughing, almost manically. The two bandits turn to see what she's looking at and get struck down instantly by two streaks of red lightning.

"What the fuck!" Lup says, still laughing.

"Lup-" the spectre has Barry's voice- "holy shit, you- you're alive! You're here! With me! Where have you been?"

Lup brushes some tears off her cheeks and catches her breath. "Didn't I tell you my whole life story on the way up here? The fuck do you mean where have you been? "

"Right..." he says, sinking a little closer to the ground, mimicking his normal height. He seems pensive for a few moments, looking at her, then says, "Lup, I'm wicked sorry about this."

Her vision fills with red before she can even ask what he means.

what gets me. what really fuckin gets me about taako and lup’s trust is that, at least from taako’s perspective, it’s more than just a trust of “i trust you because we’re siblings” or “i trust you because we’ve always been together” or “i trust you to stay.” it’s a trust of “i trust you’ll come back to me” and that’s so powerful and it’s made all the more powerful because taako doesn’t even voice his fears when lup says she and barry are becoming liches. that’s how powerful his trust and love in his sister is. she’ll come back to him. she always will. so taako will be there while she and barry make the scariest choices of their now-eternal lives, because he knows he has no reason to fear. his sister is his heart, and his heart will always come back to him.

Barry’s pretty sure he’s just an average guy. He was born in a small, boring town, and he went to a small, boring school. He got a degree and left, only to end up in a boring university teaching disinterested students and desperately trying to make even a single friend on the faculty staff. He’s never been an adventurer. He's never held a sword. He’s never even met a wizard!

Which is why it’s so odd when the voice in his head starts talking to him.

“You’re lactose intolerant,” it says. “Put that down. Don’t make me tell you again.”

He pouts, but puts the cheese back on the shelf.

Now, Barry’s had an internal monologue all his life. His brain moves faster than he can keep up, most of the time, jumping from one thought to the next without any cohesion. He’s used to having a busy headspace. But it’s not that kind of voice.

“Okay, grab some paprika. That’s the red stuff, up on the top shelf – yeah, you got it,” the voice says.

How does it know how to cook? Barry’s never even picked up a cookbook, so how could his subconscious know how to make such delicious meals?

“I told you I’m not your subconscious, goofus,” the voice says, giggling.

The worst part is, it’s not even his voice. It’s very odd to have someone else’s voice in your head.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” he mumbles under his breath. “You’re my wife.”

“I’d show you the ring, if I still had fingers,” she replies.

“Oh, so you had fingers when we got married?” He says, maybe a little sarcastically. He feels he’s earned some sarcasm, after three weeks of this.

“Duh,” she says. “I had a whole body, back then. A pretty nice body, if I do say so myself. And you certainly seemed to like it.”

“Shame I don’t remember,” he murmurs. He’s had quite enough odd looks as he talks to himself for one shopping trip.

He’s not sure if he’s losing it. Hallucinating conversations with a voice in your brain that says it’s your wife can’t be a sign of a healthy brain, right? But he’d had all the MRI scans, and the doctors had told him there was nothing wrong, even as his wife reminisced in a voice only he could hear about a honeymoon he doesn’t remember.

But, he reflects, as he eats the meal she’d taught him to make, the food... He certainly couldn’t make anything like this. Surely that suggests she’s real?

“Nah,” Lup says, in his mind. “I read about a woman who hit her head, and when she woke up she could only speak French, even though she’d never learned it before.”

“You’re arguing against your own existence, now?” He asks, incredulous, into the silence of his own living room. He’s aware of how silly he’d sound to an outside observer, but... For the first time, he’s thankful he lives alone.

“Oh, I mean, no. I’m real. But it’s also not impossible that you’ve sustained trauma that’s brought back some distant memory of recipes you’ve forgotten.”

He grunts. “That doesn’t actually reassure me.”

“Aw, sorry Bear,” she says. “Just forget I said anything. Yeah, absolutely, I’m definitely real, and stuff.”

“And stuff? And stuff?” He presses. “You make it so hard to believe you.”

He can practically feel her rolling her non-existent eyes. “Jeesh. I can’t win.”

Of course, there’s the other thing that suggests she’s real.

Her voice in his head makes him feel warm, loved. It makes his heart beat a little faster in his chest, his knees weak, and his palms sweaty. He gets flustered. He blushes. He stumbles over his words.

In short, he maybe is a little in love with the disembodied voice in his head. Jeez, it sounds silly when he thinks it out loud.

“Aw,” she says. “You’ve got a crush on me?”

“Can’t get any privacy nowadays,” he grumbles.

“No, no, it’s sweet!” She insists. “Even though you don’t remember me, and you’re not entirely convinced I’m real at all, you’re still in love. It’s cute.”

“Alright, alright, yuck it up,” he scowls. “I’m only trying to get some sleep here.”

“Okay, okay,” she says, clearly grinning. “Goodnight, Bear.”

“Goodnight, Lup,” he replies, and he’s out and dreaming of a woman he can’t quite see.

It was a fool proof plan, if Lup did say so herself. She was really quite proud of it, and her mastery of the art of the grift in general. 

The fancy restaurant was extremely crowded, and also much more expensive than either her or Barry could really afford. Considering all that, there was really no reason for them to have made a reservation on valentine’s day, especially considering they weren’t even dating. 

No reason to, except Lup wanted to treat herself. And also Barry. And also lord it over her brother that she got to eat here before he did. So she came up with a plan, and valentine’s day was the best time to play it out for maximum effect. 

It was a genius twist on an old classic really. Simple, but just unexpected enough that no one would see through it. Her and Barry were going to enjoy their dinner, acting as a sickeningly in love couple for all to see, highlighted by the valentine’s day atmosphere. 

As soon as dinner started to wind down, Barry was going to propose. Most grifts would leave it at that, but this kind of place wouldn’t offer a free meal for a proposal, not on valentine’s day of all days. The most they could get was probably a free desert. No, they needed to go bigger. 

Barry was going to propose, and all Lup had to do was turn him down. Awkwardly grab her stuff and shuffle off, leaving him all sad and dejected. 

And them bam! Free steak and shrimp and wine. They would still leave a tip for the waiter, but otherwise Barry would meet her outside and it would be hilarious. 

Lup had just about finished up her meal now, and damn it was nearly worth the ridiculous price tag. She was laughing over something Barry had said, and really the easiest part of all this was the whole pretending to be in love with him thing, mostly because she really didn’t have to pretend. 

She saw his eyes flicker to hers, and then off again. She didn’t look, but she guessed the waiter was starting to head over. She stopped laughing, giving him a quick, subtle nod. With a nervous smile, he stood up. They had already been holding hands across the table, and he didn’t let go now. 

“Lup,” he started, and it was adorable how red his face already was. She knew he didn’t enjoy being the center of attention, so she would have to find some way to make this up to him later. 

“Lup, we’ve been together for a long time now. Ever since you came into my life I’ve had to wonder every day how I could have possibly gotten so lucky to even know you. Getting to actually share my life with you? I’d say it’s a dream, but there isn’t a dream out there that could live up to you,” he continued, and she could feel her face starting to heat up now as well. She hadn’t been expecting a speech. 

Probably a smart move. Garner up even more sympathy. 

“How someone like me could possibly be worthy of someone as intelligent and loving and beautiful as you, I’ll never know, but that day in eighth grade when you called me a nerd and made me help you and your brother catch the class mice you accidentally let loose was legitimately the best day of my life. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without you, and I don’t ever want to let go.” 

“Shit,” Lup whispered under her breath, having to blink rapidly as her eyes started to get all moist. She didn’t expect him to be so good at this, why was he so good at this? 

“I love you Lup, with all of my heart,” he said, finally getting down on one knee now. With the hand that wasn’t holding hers, he pulled out a small ring box, having to finally let go to actually open it. 

“So I need to know. Lup, will you marry me?” 

“Yes.” 

Barry’s eyes widened, genuine surprise on his face instead of the fake devastation that was supposed to be there. It took Lup’s brain a moment to catch up with her words, and when it did she nearly slapped her hands over her mouth. 

“O-oh? Awesome,” Barry said, clearly trying to recover from her going incredibly off script. When he reached over Lup let him slide the ring onto her finger. 

And well, there was nothing left to do but fucking lean into it, so when he stood back up Lup pulled him into a kiss. The restaurant broke into cheers around them, and when they finally pulled apart Barry looked like a tomato. 

“Might I be the first to say congratulations,” their waiter said, and Lup forced herself to grin up at him over the wishing for death she was doing inside. Well, the wishing for death mixed in with the absolute euphoria of finally getting to kiss Barry. 

“Thank you,” she managed, watching as he put down what she could only assume was a free heart shaped chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream. 

And also the check.

“Uh, Lup?” Barry asked after a moment, seeming to have finally gotten the ability to form words back again. Instead of responding Lup quickly reached over, flipping the check before she could actually see any of the numbers. 

“If I don’t see the numbers they can’t hurt me,” she said in a rush, and Barry was looking at her somewhere between befuddled and endeared. 

“I don’t- I don’t think that’s how it works,” he said, and Lup shook her head. Taking a spoon, she started shoving cake and ice cream into her mouth. If she was going to pay for this, she was going to enjoy all of it. 

“Nope, totally how it works,” she said. Barry chuckled at that, starting to eat some of the dessert as well. 

“Fair enough,” he said, and it was quiet for a moment. 

“I’ll... pay you back for this,” Lup whispered quietly. Barry waved her off, and she could see that he was eating more of the ice cream than he should. Considering the night though, she couldn’t blame him. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he insisted, but they both knew that wasn’t going to happen. After a moment she could see his eyes glance towards her hand, which was still wearing that engagement ring. “Hey do we... do we need to talk about uh, anything? After this?” he whispered, and Lup kind of wanted to die. 

But she also really wanted to kiss him again.

“Maybe. Can we make out again first?” she said, and despite the shade of red of his face Barry quickly nodded. 

“Definitely,” he said. 

“Cool,” she said, and yeah, there was going to be a lot they needed to talk about, but also really not that much. 

They had already pretty much said everything. 

The first time they have the conversation, it's soon after Barry and Lup become official.

It's late at night, and Barry and Taako are the only ones up, drinking hot chocolate together in companionable silence.

Barry's the one the one that speaks first.

"You're really okay with me being with your sister?" he asks.

Taako tilts his head, wondering where that had come from. "Barold, I literally can't think of anyone else I'd rather it be."

Barry's cheeks flush, lips pulling into a pleased, crooked little grin for just a second before becoming serious again. "You don't think it's...irresponsible?" he asks.

When Taako just stares at him in confusion, he expands, "I mean, one day we're going to defeat the Hunger and start aging again, right? And I-I'm a human..."

Taako makes a noise of understanding as he realizes Barry's meaning.

He's quiet for a long moment as he thinks about how to respond. Finally, he sits back, and shrugs. "She'll survive without you," he says, matter of factly.

Barry flinches.

"Don't get me wrong," he says. "She loves you so so much, Barold, and so do I. You're like a brother to me. But we're used to people coming and going, you know? We were already a century old when this whole thing started, and we were the only constants in each other's lives. We had to learn how to let go in order to survive. It'll hurt to lose you, so much more than you can ever know. But we'll survive it, and when the pain goes away, we'll have the happy memories to keep us company. We'll come out the other side better for having known you."

Barry's eyes are are burning with tears by the time Taako stops talking, and there's a painful lump in his throat.

He smiles shakily at his brother, his heart feeling a lot lighter than it had moments before.

"I can live with that," he replies.

They don't speak about it again for decades afterwards, and by the time cycle 82 rolls around, Barry almost thinks Taako's forgotten about it.

But there they are again, sitting in the kitchen as the rest of the crew slumbers, and drinking their hot chocalate.

It's only a few days after Barry and Lup had become liches, and there's a question that's been burning him up inside ever since.

Taako's the one that breaks the silence this time.

"Guess you don't have to worry anymore about how Lup will feel when you die," he says lightheartedly, propping his elbow on the table between them and leaning his cheek into his hand. "Happy endings all around, right?"

Barry averts his gaze, unable to stand the sight of Taako's lazy grin.

He swallows against the tightness in his throat.

"You said she would survive without me," he says.

Taako hums in acknowledgement. "She wouldn't have been happy, though," he responds. "Not for at least a century afterwards.

"But she would have been happy again without me, eventually," Barry repeats. "She would have survived without me."

Taako reaches forward and takes both of Barry's hands in his own. "Just like she'll survive without me," he says, his voice so gentle now, where before it had been nonchalant.

Barry shakes his head violently. "She won't," he says. "Not without you."

Taako doesn't respond, this time.

The silence that follows is deafening.

Barry knows that Taako doesn't forget this conversation. The two of them carry it between them, always hunkered in the back of their minds.

Until decades and decades down the line, when the two of them find themselves once again in a quiet kitchen.

They're not on the Starblaster this time, but instead in the lovely little house they share in Goldcliff with their family.

Taako hums quietly as he pours two cups of hot chocolate for them, and Barry watches him in silence, his mind wandering to all the other nights they'd shared like this.

Taako smiles softly down at him as he places a mug in front of him.

"Kravitz took me to meet the Raven Queen last weekend," he says casually.

"Yeah?" Barry asks, curious.

"She seemed pretty taken with me," Taako continues with a grin. "Not that I can blame her, of course. People can't help but love Taako."

Barry hides a grin behind his mug.

The Raven Queen had always intimidated him, though if anyone could charm her, he was sure it would be Taako.

"And I'm not saying it's a bad thing that I've got her approval," Taako continues, "But Fantasy Jesus Christ, it got annoying how many times she'd keep asking me when I was planning on joining her weird little club. There's plenty of time for all the reaper biz after I die, you know?"

Barry's mind goes blank as he finally processes what Taako's saying.

"She wants you to work for her?" he asks, feeling hope bloom in his chest.

Taako grins that crooked smile of his and inclines his head in affirmation.

"Not any time soon though," he says. "Cha boy's still only a century and a half old, technically. I've still got things I want to do with my life!"

Blupjeans Week Day Four: Ship

@blupjeansweek2021

Lup sipped her drink slowly, taking in the scene around her. There were definitely a lot more men here than women, which meant that more attention would be placed on her. She could work with that. She thumbed through the many name tags she swiped and started writing a different name on each one and hid them under her leg when she was done. Speed dating was one of her favorite activities to do when she was Taako’s guest on a cruise.

At first it started out as a way to hook up with someone that she would never see again. Pretty easy when it was the last day and everyone came from different places. Very quickly she realized that this was the perfect opportunity to spread chaos. She now had four rules:

No one gets to know her real name

No one gets to know any true facts about her, actually.

On the off chance she did like someone here, no spending the night with anyone.

Definitely no off the ship contact

The bell signaling the start of the night sounded and she pulled herself together, slapping on a name tag reading “Ryn” as her first victim, smirking and a little gross looking, sat down across from her.

“Lucky me, first round with the hottest girl in the room.”

Lup would be lying if she said she had never heard that one before.

“Oh god, I only hope that this will be over soon.”

His face dropped. “A little rude, aren’t we Ryn?” He leaned in close. “Playing hard to get?”

“How can I play hard to get when we’ve only just met?”

He paused, thinking. “Are you...rhyming with me?”

“Whatever do you mean? I’m afraid this I cannot see.”

“Okay, I see what’s going on here.”

“I do not understand, could you explain to a fellow peer?” Lup tried really hard to pull it off but she was grinning ear to ear.

The man rolled his eyes. “I think we’re done here.”

“Hey look who’s rhyming now!” His glare towards her was punctuated with the bell, signaling a partner change and hers couldn’t get away fast enough, done with her antics. She swapped out her name tag for one that read “Liza”.

Her next match was objectively the hottest man in the room and she’d be lying if she had said she hadn’t thought about breaking the rules. He sat down with some finger foods in his hand and took a bite. His face contorted and he spat the bite out in a napkin. “Oh, Gods. I think this is the worst food I’ve ever tasted on a cruise.”

Yeah, she wasn’t going home with this guy. How dare anyone spit out Taako’s food! She smiled sweetly, “Do you go on many of these?”

“Oh yeah, I cruise several times a year. I need something to do with all of the money I make.” He was really laying it on thick and it took everything she had not to roll her eyes.

“Sounds lonely.” She reached out and stroked his arm flirtatiously.

“It can be, sometimes.”

“Do you think I could help with that?”

He smirked. “Yeah, I think you could, babydoll.”

Gross. She almost gagged but smiled instead. She took out her pen and wrote a random room number on his arm. “This is my room. I’ll be back there in 15 minutes. Meet me there.”

His eyes lit up, “oh, yes. Sounds good. I’ll see you soon.” He stood up, winking at her and then he breezed out of the room as the bell rang.

“Ugh, so gross.” Lup made a gagging face trying to get the thought of him out.

“Hello - oh, are you okay?” She looked up to see a man in his thirties wearing glasses, a button up shirt, and blue jeans. He stood out in the room where every other man was wearing slacks and a tie. Lup paused for a second and then realized she had yet to speak and his face was getting more and more concerned for her.

“Uh, yes. Just swallowed down the wrong way, you know how it is.”

“Oh, yes I do,” He nodded solemnly. “Shit!” He yelled under his breath as he spilled half of his drink on himself while sitting down. Lup took this opportunity to switch out her name tag to “Eve”. After she was done he was still trying to clean himself up. His - Barry, she could tell from the tag - face was a deep red. Her heart pinged slightly at that, this poor man was so out of his element and it was kind of endearing.

“Here, let me help.” Lup handed over some napkins and leaned over the table, purposefully giving him a good view down her dress but he was so focused on cleaning up he didn’t even look. Lup didn’t know why she almost felt disappointed about that.

“Uh, thank you. I’m Barry.”

Double-checking her name tag she responded, “Eve.”

“Eve. That’s very pretty.”

“Thank you, Barold.”

He nearly coughed up his drink at that before collapsing into giggles. “Barold? I like it.”

“I think it’s fitting, Mr. Barold Bluejeans.”

“It’s actually Hallwinter -“

“Not in those jeans it’s not.”

He giggled again and damn if that didn’t do something to her. “Got me there. I’m not sure what people wear to cruises, I only packed swim trunks and blue jeans and I was not about to wear my trunks to a singles only event.”

“Oh, is this your first cruise?”

“Yeah, I won a contest at my university. I teach theoretical physics and I guess I had the most positive reviews or something from the students. I didn’t really know the contest was going on until I had won it.”

“Ooooh Professor Barold Bluejeans.” Something about that made her insides ache. “How are you enjoying your first cruise?”

“It’s nice. I haven’t taken a vacation since undergrad, so it’s been pretty great to just relax by the poolside and catch up on paperwork.”

“Did you seriously bring work to your vacation?”

Barry cocked his head, confused. “Yeah, is that a big deal?”

“Barold!! It’s a vacation! You don’t bring any work!” She was getting worked up and heads began to turn towards them. “You: drink a lot of alcohol, swim a lot, read a book by the beach, eat a lot of food, watch the weird as fuck shows they bring onboard, and hook up with a hottie you will never see again.” She listed these off on her fingers.

“Well I’ve done most of those things!”

“Yeah? Hook up with a hottie?” She winked at him and his face got a deep deep red.

“No, not that one. I read and swim and eat and drink. The food here is absolutely incredible, I’ve never had anything like it.”

“Yes! One point for Barold!” She high-fived him. “My brother is the head chef, everything he makes is exquisite.” Lup froze. She’s never revealed anything of herself at these before but with Barry it just felt natural. Maybe the rules didn’t need to be so strict after all. “What shows have you seen?”

“Well, uh, I haven’t seen any. I pretty much only swim, read, and eat.”

“So you haven’t explored the boat??”

“Not really.”

“Oh my gods, Barold. You are squandering this vacation. Cancel your plans tonight, we’re going exploring.”

He raised an eyebrow, amused. “Yeah?”

It was her turn to blush. Damn him. “If you want to, I mean. We haven’t exactly finish speed dating.”

“Hmm true, and I could find someone that loves doing paperwork poolside…”

She swatted at him playfully and he laughed. “I’m kidding! Yes, please, Eve. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Lup froze, at first upset that he misremembered her name before she realized that she had given him a fake one. It was too late to go back now, she figured. She could be Eve for the rest of the night. It’s not like she was ever going to see this man again.

“You okay?”

God, he was so observant. It was like he saw right through her. She smiled and grabbed his hand. “I’m perfect. Now come on, Bluejeans. We have a whole weekend of mischief to catch up on.”

70 and blupjeans?

70. Fixing their tie/zipping up the back of their dress/adjusting a piece of their clothing.

(101 ways to say I love you with actions)

--

"Hey, Bar," Lup called from the bathroom. Barry saw her head pop out of the slightly open door, peering around to see him. "Can you come help with my zipper? I can't reach all of it."

"Uhm, yeah," Barry said, standing up.

It felt weird to not be in blue jeans for maybe the first time in years. Obviously, he hadn't worn jeans this whole trip and he definitely didn't sleep in them, thank you very much, Magnus. But they brought a comfort he hadn't realized he and Lup had been trying on fancy clothes for their performance. It had felt weird then, and it felt weird now, but in some odd way, it also made him feel free. Like he was new, or something stupid like that.

The bathroom lights were brighter than the hallway lights and Barry had to blink a few times to get his eyes adjusted. Lup was wearing a long red dress that had a slit down the side, where he could see her fancy heels. The zipper was on the back of the dress, just about halfway zipped up. Lup was holding it together with one hand, and holding up her hair with the other.

"Thank you," she said as Barry closed the distance and tugged the zipper up. He was shaking slightly, but not from being closer to her. Over the past year almost fifty, he'd gotten used to Lup being in his space. Over the past year especially, it had become so common that it was almost as familiar as his blue jeans. A comfort he didn't know how to explain, just that it was there and he longed for it every time it was away.

"You look good," Barry commented and Lup laughed. Barry could tell she was nervous, too.

"I always look good, babe," Lup played off. Barry finished zipping and stepped back. Lup let her hair fall and then grabbed the brush from the counter, brushing it back out. She picked up a hairband, too, sliding it on her wrist for later.

"I mean, yeah," Barry agreed. "But you look really good right now. You don't have to be nervous."

"Strong words coming from you, Care-Bar," Lup said, grinning as Barry flushed. "But yeah, I know. It's like..." she set the brush down and started braiding her hair expertly. "I'm used to the weight of the world on my shoulders, right? I think we all are. But now, when it's any other stress, I get like... stupidly nervous. Not that this is just random stress, I mean- The performance, we're gonna rock. Duh. I'm just, kinda, uhm."

"Scared for after?" Barry broke in. Lup turned towards him, face soft.

"Yeah," Lup said quietly. She finished the braid and swooped it up into a fancy bun. Barry was very impressed she could do this without looking in the mirror. Barry was very impressed at everything Lup did.

"It doesn't have to change things," Barry whispered, stepping forward again as Lup lowered her arms, hair done. He reached towards her and they held hands.

"But it will," Lup said, resting her forehead against his. "Not in a bad way, of course, but like I said- anything that's not saving the universe is kinda spooky now. Love is... complicated in a normal life, not even considering the yearly apocalypse."

Barry's heart still thundered at the word love. He knew, he'd known for years, just like she had. But it was different saying it out loud. They had been working on their duet all year, but in turn, the duet had done its work on them. Barry knew Lup as well as he knew this music, even better than that. He loved her. She loved him back. Even if neither of them had directly said it yet.

"I trust you," Barry said softly, sweeping a stray strand of hair she had missed behind her ear. "With everything I have. And I trust you with this, alright?"

The meaning of trust went unspoken. He trusted her with the music, but with himself, and with his love.

"I trust you too," Lup said. "We'll talk after, alright? We'll be late at this rate."

"Are you ready?" Barry asked, pulling back.

"Very," Lup said. "You?"

"I've been ready for years," he grinned.

And they let go of each other's hands.

I also see ya like TAZ!! Who'd your fav character from each of the campaigns? (And if ya got any headcanons for them 👀) ~@eldritchtickles

I love TAZ!

My favorite character from each campaign, that's tough hmmmm

just kidding its Lup I'm gay.

Seriously though, my favorite character from balance is deffo a tie between Lup and Taako, my favorite from amnesty is probably Minerva and I don't really have a favorite from graduation but it'd probably be the firbolg

as for headcanons...

Taako

I'm fucking here for ticklish wizards, its all of them no one knows why its probably a class feature or whatever

Dude is ticklish as fuck, no question about it, he hates when people know it though. So what a fuckin trip it is when Magnus and Merle need no invitation to tackle him out of nowhere. As much of a hardass as he is about it around groups he cannot hide that he likes it one on one even a little. Kravitz finds out almost immediately after they start dating, mostly thanks to Magnus and Angus. 

His worst spot is probably his thighs or his ribs, but you'd never know it since he screams if you even think about going for his ears. He’s pretty screechy about the whole ordeal, cursing out whomever has decided to tackle him and take him down a peg, at least for the first three minutes or so, until he just cant keep it up and just lies there and takes it. 

As a ler he is more than fucking ready to waste spell slots on this shit do not test him. Teasing only flusters him but god if he doesn't give whomever he’s tickling the smuggest look he can muster. He is ruthless about his revenge, gotta keep up appearances and all that. 

Lup

She's a goddamn monster, however fucking ruthless Taako is Lup is 20x worse. She doesn't even bother wasting spell slots, she just throws people to the ground, she has taken magnus down, there is no escape from her. Her nails are killer, and she knows it. 

Being a lich has kinda messed with her sensitivity, she used to be just as ticklish as taako, but now she’s barely ticklish in most places. Her stomach, sides and her ears are pretty much the only places that will really get her laughing now. She is a squirmer, she’ll fight you, and probably get the upper hand before you can even blink. 

She loves it, openly, thinks its fun and is a good way to get her more serious team members to open up more, Lucretia. Lup and Magnus are a force to be reckoned with even to each other, they both are total lers, no one is safe from them if they're together. 

Magnus

He’s a total teddy bear. No other word for it, he loves tickling his friends but he’d rather stab his foot and stare at the bloody wound than overstep and hurt somebody. He generally stayed away from roughhousing with the crew for the first few years, even longer with Lucretia, Davenport and Barry. he really didn't want to overstep. 

That being said, once he’s sure whos comfortable with what, he is unstoppable. God, when he finds out the twins like it, he has a field day! They don't escape his grip for a good 48 hours before he calms down about it. He is very much about lightly pinning and just going to town, it’s his favorite. 

The teddy analogy works both ways, dude has the cutest of worst spots. His stomach is killer, his underarms make him curl into a ball. his hands are too worn to be ticklish but his wrists are surprisingly sensitive. (Julia loved that one) 

Merle

Terrible old man, horrible. He’s very smug about knowing the starblaster crews spots by heart. No one knows how he knows, or where he got the information, he claims pan gave it to him if asked, but its bullshit. He keeps this knowledge after having his memory wiped, and Lucretia is more than surprised when Merle tweaks her knee before he has his memory back, Merle is equally as confused why the director made a sound like she swallowed a snail when he did it.  

It’s equally as confusing for Magnus and Taako when Merle leans back and yells out spots for Magnus to try when he has Taako pinned, especially when they're spots even Taako forgot he had. 

He is the only one who even knows Davenport is ticklish, and he has been sworn to secrecy (something he takes very seriously). 

Lucretia 

Starblaster baby, she’s the youngest of them of course she is a target for tickle attacks. After the first few years, once she starts warming up to the crew she seals her fate. She leaned into a Magnus hug one too many times and now she will never be respected again. 

She is a baby about tickling too, cant take it at all. Her knees are the worst, and she kicks. Lord knows Magnus has gotten a chipped tooth or two from that. Once she loses some of her life in Wonderland she is almost content that her ticklishness fled with her youth, she is proven incredibly wrong once she hires Merle, Magnus and Taako. 

She’s they're bloody boss now and they still treat her like their younger sister, if she weren't so endeared she might be mad about it. They poke and prod at her whenever they get the chance, try and get her to break her serious facade.  

Davenport

No one but merle even knows he’s ticklish, and he will keep it like that. That is not a promise it’s a threat. 

Barry

For a dude with so many classes, he can’t defend himself for shit. No one even tried to see if he was ticklish for the first few years. Lup, of course, tried first and scored the absolute jackpot. 

He is the most ticklish person on the starblaster crew, rivaling Taako, and he absolutely had to pay the price for that. Up until he became a lich along with Lup he was one of the number one victims of tickle attacks. 

As a lich, he is not ticklish. however, unlike Lup, in a human vessel, he is almost more ticklish than before, to the point that is almost unbearable. The others really had to ease up on him after that, because it would get overwhelming. They still sneak in pokes here and there but only every once and a while. 

After losing his memory the sensitivity was something he had to deal with a lot, not just in the sense of tickling, everything felt more, which became overwhelming occasionally.  

Angus

Baby boy, baby. He is absolutely a walking tickle spot. He very much does not like it though. He is the worlds best detective, he’s also 10 but that's less important.

He knows its a important bonding tool for Taako, Magnus and Merle, so he indulges them a little. They know he’s not a major fan, so they lay off him more often than not.  He might grow into liking it more when he’s older and less concerned about being serious, but for now its not his favorite. 

He is, however, not above sleuthing out their worst spots and gleefully telling others, though. (such as Kravitz, of whom listens very intently as Angus explains just how much tickling means to Taako, while talking around Taako’s hand trying to get him to be quiet mind you, but that’s not important) 

Kravitz

Dude has been dead for a long ass while, he probably used to be ticklish, but he very much isn’t now, much to taako’s chagrin. Even after his heart starts again, he’s not very sensitive at all. You might be able to get him to laugh if you surprise him, his neck and back are just about the only places that could qualify as ticklish, and really only if he’s not expecting it. 

He does very much enjoy making Taako laugh though, and takes quite a lot of joy from having such an effective method of doing so. He doesn't really get into tickle fights with anyone else, though he’s interested in why becoming liches had such different affects on Lup and Barry. 

I don't have any comprehensive headcanons for amnesty unfortunately. 

mayhaps a snippet of reJEANcy Lup and Barry when they were courting and Before Things Went to Shit?

Is this ask like at least a year old? Yes. Am I sorry? Very.  Better late than never??? 😂 Please ignore the fact that the first half of this conversation is missing they’re courting they’re walking in a park in London, that’s all you have to know it’s fine don’t question it.  This is part of my ReJEANcy Au (it’s like jane austen but with taz)

***** “And you have been sent here to marry,” he said. Lup felt her face grow warm at the words, and a bitterness settle in her heart. For though the material circumstances of her situation never escaped her, they had felt of late to be more and more pressing in upon her, confining and stifling her at every step. 

“ I am one and twenty years of age,” she replied, bitterly. “I am a spinster in the making, in their eyes. And my brother, with the decline of our property, will scarcely be able to afford me, in a number of years.” Her chest clenched at the thought of it, her and Taako, her brother ragged and tired even just as a youth, and Lup a burden on him he could not afford, and would not part with.

“Spinsterhood is a harsh fate to have thrust upon you at so young an age.” And Barry’s voice drew her back to the present, the kindness and warmth in it, even with the weight of the subject they were discussing, and it did not escape Lup that such a subject coming from him could only mean one thing, and while her heart wished dearly for it, it frightened her. To be taken from Taako by matrimony would only be a fate slightly less terrible than to be a weight around his neck as their years advanced. 

And yet, Lup had enjoyed such company with Barry in London as she had never before experienced in her life. To imagine that he could walk out of this conversation, to a place where Lup could not follow, and perhaps that upon her journey home, she would not ever see him again, and perhaps exchange only careful letters from afar, as polite acquaintances… surely there could be no joy in that either.

“If I could, I would make my fortune as you do,” she said, wistfully. “Make discoveries that would bear my name for generations to come.”

Mister Bluejeans chuckled.

“There is little money to be made in discovering,” he said wryly. 

“Even so. As it is I am expected to prattle along until I keep house for whichever man deigns to make me an offer.” The forwardness of her words practically made Lup tremble. The distance between her and Barry seemed incredibly vast, and she longed, for a terrible moment, to be more openly his sweetheart, for though everyone in Town seemed to sense their connection, she could not link her arm with his and feel the strength and weight of him beside her, and had to make do with the faint energy of one who is close but yet not close enough to touch. She abruptly missed their first dance, and wished, foolishly, to have taken better advantage of the opportunity to touch him, when she had it.

 “It is a disheartening way to live,” she said, for the truth in it, and desperate, perhaps for comfort, and perhaps for clever mister Bluejeans to read between the lines, to see that he was one of those who could release her from the utter precarity of her circumstances, and more happily, perhaps, than any other soul on earth.

For truly, with him, she thought that perhaps she could be happy. That they could have a companionship in intellect as well as in affection, one that she could hardly have hoped for upon her arrival to London, nearly five months ago now.

“You speak of yourself very meanly, Miss Taaco,” Barry  responded, after a time, and Lup laughed with no humor.

“I speak the truth, meanly or no,” she said. She could not bring herself to brighten her words, the depth of her anxiety dragging her out of levity’s reach.

At this the gentleman paused a long moment, and the sound of birds’ wings and trills, and the footfalls of himself and herself along the path were all that she heard for a long moment. Until he spoke again,

“It would be a foolish person,” he said, “who would know you more than an hour and consider you fit only to keep  house.” He spoke in that stilted way that Lup had come to know well, the words coming slow and soft and in such a manner that she could hardly help but understand, in her deepest heart, that his intention was to tell the absolute truth, as he understood it, without alteration.

“You carry as sharp a wit as any of my colleagues,” he continued, “and as great a natural aptitude for the scientific arts, that you have consistently been a most stimulating conversational partner, these several weeks, without the benefit of the extensive education many others enjoy.” Lup flushed, half in shame at his oblique reference to her lack of fortune and circumstance, her greatest failure in the eyes of Society, and her greatest blemish. But the other half of it was no doubt in the sincerest throes of flattery, that he should speak of her so. 

Mister Bluejeans, she knew now, was not one to embellish needlessly, in his kindness to others. Though as good and generous a man as any she had known, Lup could not imagine that his words were meant only to flatter her unduly. Such counterfeit would not suit Barry, not in any reality she could imagine. 

“There is no lady in all my acquaintance,” he said, soft, “whose mind I admire more. It is a great injustice indeed, that the whole of society should underestimate you, when you are more than worthy of their highest esteem.”

Lup almost could feel tears coming to her eye at his words.

“Mister Bluejeans,” she said, her voice weak, “You are surely too kind.”

“I am exactly as kind as you deserve,” he answered, though Lup thought she could hear perhaps the barest tremor in his voice with the words. And indeed, Lup had hardly ever heard him speak in so forward a manner before, without the barest opportunity for misinterpretation to be found. He was always plain of speech, but never had Lup been on the receiving end of such unmitigated compliments. 

The day was fine, and the sun was shining down upon them, and the season would be over soon, and Lup, for perhaps the first time, allowed in herself a kind of happiness to blossom such as she had never thought she would feel in her life. For this was what it must be like, she thought, to be in love, and she was now certain, loved in return. For surely Barry must love her, with the time that he chose to spend by her side, and with his words, seemingly designed to cut her to the quick and lay her bare. She was certain he could see all of her heart stretched out before him, and she waited to see how he would act upon the information written upon it. 

“Perhaps it need not be necessary,” he said, after another several minutes of silence, “that you be forced into one circumstance or another.” Lup’s heart quickened in her chest, and she could scarcely believe her ears. “Perhaps marriage need not be… so stifling as you imagine it, if your husband were of a mind to pay sufficient respect to your intellectual capabilities alongside the pleasure of your company.”

Lup could hardly breathe. 

“I do not think I should find it stifling at all, mister Bluejeans,” she said, breathless, desperate, “if that were the case.” She swallowed, and wondered how much further she dared go. 

“In fact,” she pushed, “I think I should like that very much.”

And at that, Lup seemed to feel a tension roll off of his shoulders, by proxy, and saw, from the corner of her eye, an almost resolute nod, and he seemed inclined to speak no more, while Lup kept her pace silently beside him, and choked on her own anticipation. 

For surely, his words were as good as a proposal, in everything but name? What else could he be alluding to, with such talk, but a marriage between the two of them? And in a matter of minutes Lup’s life had turned on a dime, and suddenly all of her terror and discomfort and pain seemed they could vanish at a simple word from mister Bluejeans’ lips- 

If only he would ask her. 

But he spoke no more, just then, and Lup’s heart, as they took their turn around the park, slowly returned to a more sedate pace to match her breaths and her steps, and they spent a good fifteen minutes in a not-uncomfortable silence. 

Which, if his words had not before, only sealed Lup’s heart further in its conviction toward the man beside her. 

Here was someone, she thought, who must care for her, to have sought her out. Who must surely understand how perfectly suited he was to her desires for her own future and for companionship in marriage. With whom she could speak and feel at ease, and more, with whom she could be silent and feel no pressure to chatter needlessly and fill the air. 

He was perfect, Lup thought, practically sick with it, and she could not imagine another day without him. 

After a time, their ramble came to an end, and mister Bluejeans turned, as Lup saw the Captain catching up to them, from down the path, where he had been walking a good quarter-mile behind. 

“Miss Taaco,” Barry said, his blue eyes warm behind his spectacles, and weighty, so that Lup hung upon his every word. “Do you think the good captain would permit me to call upon you tomorrow, at his home?”

And Barry had already called to the Captain’s home many times. There could be but one reason why he was asking, as Captain Davenport was the closest thing Lup had to a guardian, and it could not have escaped Barry’s notice that while he had no right to deny any suitor Lup’s hand, Barry could ask for permission to see her, and it would be nearly the same. 

Her heart ached with his gallantry.

“Mister Bluejeans,” she breathed. “The Captain has always said that I am free to extend his invitation to any visitors I please, while I am here in Town.” Yes, he would be happy to have you. “Plus,” she added, “he considers you a friend. I am sure that he would be more than happy to see you call.” He will approve. 

Barry smiled, then, and it nearly killed her, and with a bow, and the barest brush of his lips to the back of her gloved hand, he bid her a farewell until tomorrow, and turned, and left the park, just as the Captain made his way to stand beside her. 

“That’s sorted, then?” he asked, in his brusque way. Lup thought she could feel her hand tingling through her glove, still warm from where Barry’s lips brushed against it. 

“He wishes to call upon the house  tomorrow,” she said faintly, still staring, quite shamelessly, at his retreating form. 

The captain’s hand came up to rest upon her shoulder, and he gave her something of a squeeze and an awkward pat. 

“Congratulations, then, lass,” he said. “I daresay you could not have done any better.” 

And Lup thought that she quite agreed. 

If you're taking requests can I have blupjeans 4? Please? :0

4. Kissing on sofa, foreheads pressed together, breathy, soft, tender

Hey anon? Hey anon?? You have Real Good Taste.

Special thanks to @capitalnineteen for helping me not panic while writing smooches for the couple that invented love.

~

Lup is content. She has every right to be. This one of the Raven Queen’s babiest Reapers (fine, she’d gotten to the point that repeating Taako’s joke had become unironic) is done with work for the day, having exchanged her feathery cloak and scythe for an impossibly soft oversized cream-colored sweater and thick woolen socks. And if that would seem out of place in the Astral Plane, well, it sure as fuck doesn’t at home, where Lup is comfortably curled up on the couch and under a blue and silver blanket from Istus. In her hands is an open book, its faintly musty scent twining with that of the cinnamon and ginger candle she’d lit earlier.

Outside, it’s a crisp autumn day in the Prime Material Plane. A lively breeze races through the rainbow of leaves still clinging to the trees, while far above a far stronger wind sends faint whisps of clouds sailing through a pale blue sky. The chill in the air heralding the season to come still yields to the warmth of the late afternoon sunlight. Only the last reaches Lup here inside though. Golden light pours into the room, setting golden curls and silver yarn shining as well as illuminating the magical symbols and necromantic diagrams painstakingly drawn in the old book.

Okay, so, look, Lup may have picked up the book from a raid on a necromantic cult last week. Maybe.

Lup turns the page and hums. Hm. That’d be an interesting idea for their next at least somewhat condoned if still illicit necromantic experiment.

Okay, she definitely got the book from the raid on the necromantic cult.

The quiet of the room, broken only by the sound of an occasional turn of the page or a gust of wind rattling its way over the windows, is broken by the familiar, delicate rrrrrrrrrrrip of the barrier between this plane and their place of work.

“Hey, babe,” Lup says, looking up from the book as Barry steps through the rift. Her husband’s scythe disappears into nothingness as the tear closes behind him, and he turns to her with a smile.

“Hey, Lup. How is the most beautiful person in any world doing?” Barry asks, taking off his own black-feathered cloak. As expected, beneath the cloak and the scythe and the whole lichy, spooky agent of the Raven Queen vibe, Lup’s husband is as he ever was, one of the plane’s biggest nerds with a denim-clad ass that just won’t quit.

“I don’t know, Barry, how are you doing?” Lup replies, a triumphant smirk on her lips. As expected, even after decades, Barry goes bright IPRE red at the remark.

Barry clears his throat, straightening his glasses, likely trying to will the blush away. Gods, Lup is so in love. “I-I’m great. You?”

“Enjoying my time off, natch.” Lup puts the book down on the coffee table and takes a moment to stretch, cat-like, ears flicking as she does.

“Uh-huh. And how did you manage that?” Barry asks, stepping away toward the line of hooks on the wall where Lup’s cloak already is already hung up.

“I finished my paperwork early,” Lup says, smug and entirely pleased with herself.

Barry pauses, looking back over his shoulder at her. Whatever he sees in her face makes him let out a soft, fond snort as he shakes his head. “What did you bribe Kravitz with?” He calls as he hangs the cloak, trading sensible work boots for slippers. Having fully entered nerd alert mode, Barry quickly returns to his beloved wife.

Lup stifles a snicker, drawing her legs back and patting the newly vacated couch cushion. “How’d you know?”

Barry sits before turning to her, face schooled into solemnity. Lup bites back another giggle. “Well, now, you see, Lup, darling, love of my lives and deaths… liches have True Sight.”

At that, Lup does laugh, and Barry’s face splits into an easy, affectionate smile, the kind Lup might have called sappy if that same smile didn’t turn her own insides to lovey-dovey mush at the sight. If seeing Barry smile like that, at her, because of her, for her, didn’t fill her heart with such love that could anchor her across time and space and still bring her home. But, uh, it kinda does. Like a lot. So she doesn’t say a word, and Lup breaks into her own fond, loving smile.

Slowly, deliberately, just as quietly deliberate as the love they had carefully cultivated for 47 years, Lup rolls forward onto her knees and places her hands on her husband’s warm, steady shoulders. Barry remains still as Lup leans in and kisses him, soft, feather light. Even that simple touch sends a spark through her as the echo of their melody plays in her mind. Lup pulls back and studies Barry for a moment. Half a heartbeat after she does, Barry’s eyes open, and Lup is, not for the first time, struck by the depths of the love in his eyes. Lup’s lips, still electric where they’d touched Barry’s, quirk into a small smile. She leans in again, planting kisses on his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, once, twice, three times. The last elicits a quiet laugh, and Lup grins wider as she feels the shaking of his shoulders beneath her hands.

In a flash her arms are wrapped around his neck, tugging him forward as she falls backward into the couch. Barry’s lips are back on hers at once, warm and soft and so familiar. Even in the quiet cycles, where the Light had been found and worlds had been peaceful, there’d always been a sense of urgency, a sense that each kiss could be the last before they lost each other, perhaps for the final time. Now, in the calm and quiet of their comfortable home, in a far happier and more hopeful world- well, they really did have time enough to love each other.

Hey, Lup had said she’d smooch Barry’s brains out when she’d gotten her body back. She most definitely had, but she rather likes continuing to make good on that particular promise.

If the sun is lower in the sky when they finally draw back, breathless, neither of them comments on it. They fidget, rolling onto their sides with Lup throwing the blanket over Barry as well, neither letting go. Comfortable once more, Lup tilts her head in, bringing her forehead to touch Barry’s, their quick breaths mingling.

“Wow,” Barry whispers, seemingly stunned.

Lup might laugh, but for the moment she feels just the same, just as in love and in awe that she is so loved in return. “Taught him how to make elvish bread.”

“Hm?”

“Kravitz. What I traded for paperwork. How to make it. And how to twist it into the right shape.”

That gets Barry’s attention. Gods know he’d spent enough hours having Taako help him practice before presenting anything to Lup. “Huh.”

“Yeah.”

“How about that?”

“I know, about time, huh?” Lup breathes out a soft, breathy laugh.

“Can we really judge? We took long enough.”

“We took exactly the right amount of time; I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Barry’s chuckle seems to reverberate through her, and Lup reaches up to cup his face, running a thumb over his cheek. “Hey, babe?”

“Mm?”

“I think I have a new favorite plane.”

“Mmhmm? Which one?”

Lup leans in to kiss Barry again, but, just before she does, she answers. “This one.”

87. "Don't be scared. I'm right here." From this prompt list

(Still accepting prompts!)

Barry slowly becomes aware of the warmth of the blanket tucked around him and of the body of Lup moving slightly in his arms as his mind brings him back to consciousness. He opens one eye, then the other, and he smiles softly as his eyes meet Lup's who smiles back at him warmly. "Did you know that you're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on?"

Lup snorts. "Yeah, of course. And did you know you're the most beautiful man I've ever laid eyes on?"

Barry blushes and looks down with a bigger smile spreading across his face. "I mean... I'm sure you've seen other good looking men. Taako for one-"

Lup smacks his arm lightly and rolls her eyes. "Taako's my brother. He doesn't count. And yeah, I've seen other good looking men, but you've got them beat."

Barry laughs lightly and looks back up at her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Lup kisses him slowly before she closes her eyes and snuggles closer against his chest, and she sighs in contentment.

Barry will never get tired of waking up with Lup in his arms. He wants to stay in bed with her like this forever, but his stomach growls in opposition to that idea.

Lup giggles against his chest. "Sounds like you're hungry, babe. Want me to get breakfast going?" Barry whines and buries his face in her hair, and she laughs. "The rest of the crew is going to be up soon anyways, so I might as well get something going before we go hunting for the Light."

Barry sighs in annoyance. "Fine. Are you going to make french toast? You said you were going to make that before the Judges shot us out of the sky last year, so we missed out on a whole year's worth."

Lup rolls away from him and stands up to stretch which makes Barry frown a little. "Yep! And I'm planning on conjuring some strawberries, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup for Lucretia. If this is going to be her first meal after the year of hell she's gone through, I want to make it the best one she's ever had."

Barry smiles again before getting out of bed and stretching too. "Just make sure you have it in stasis for when she rolls out of bed. I'll bet she's going to be sleeping for a long time. She's definitely more than earned it."

They both leave their bedroom together, and as they pass Lucretia's quarters, Barry stops. Her door is left open, and he can see Fisher swimming around in his tank. Odd. Where would she be this early in the morning?

Lup turns around to look at him, then at the open door, and then back at him before she shrugs and continues on to the kitchen. Barry walks to the bathroom and finds no one there either. He shrugs before closing the door behind him.

Once he's come out of the bathroom, he still doesn't see Lucretia in the hallway or her room, so he goes up to the deck to look for her. As he steps out into the open air, he closes his eyes for a second to let the cool breeze brush past him. When he opens his eyes to look around, he sees Lucretia laying in the fetal position in the middle of the deck.

Barry's heart thumps wildly in his chest as he runs toward her. Did something happen to her while they were all asleep? Is she hurt? Is she dead?

When he makes it within ten feet of her, he must have set off some sort of alarm because she bolts upright, looks around wildly, and pulls out her wand as she jumps to her feet.

"Lucretia-?"

Lucretia points her wand at him, and he sees the wild terror in her eyes before she casts a massive fireball at him. He leaps to the side, narrowly missing the flames, and Lucretia screams.

"Lucretia! It's ok! It's me-"

"Get off the ship! Or I'll kill you! I won't let you take this away from me, I- I- I-"

"Lucy-"

Lucretia sends some magic missiles his way, and Barry stumbles back in pain. "Lucy, it's me! It's Barry! You're safe now, I promise. We're all safe, please."

Lucretia stands there and stares at him for a few seconds, trembling violently with her wand still outstretched. She slowly lowers her wand, and tears slip down her face. "Barry?" She says quietly, her voice shaking.

Barry nods and slowly walks toward her. "It's ok now. You're safe." Lucretia collapses to the ground and dissolves into tears, and Barry runs towards her. He kneels down and pulls her into a tight hug, and she grabs onto him with a grip of death. "Shh shh shh, it's ok, Lucy. Don't be scared. I'm right here. I'm alive again, and so is everyone else. You're safe. We're all safe. It's going to be ok."

"I- I'm sorry I hurt you," Lucretia sobs. "I'm s-sorry I didn't recognize you s-sooner. I thought- I thought there was an in-intruder and I was dis-disoriented and- and-"

"Shhh. It's ok, I know." Barry rubs circles into her back and holds her closer. "I know you didn't mean it. It's ok, I'm here."

Barry hears footsteps running up to them before they stop, and he looks up to see Lup with her wand out. She looks at them with confusion for a second before her face softens, and she puts away her wand. "Sorry, I heard screaming and realized I left my wand in our room. Can I join in on the hug, or is this a Barry and Lucretia moment?"

Lucretia nods her head, and Barry motions for her to huddle in close too. Lup kneels down on the other side of Lucretia and hugs her from behind, laying her head on her back. "We're right here, Lucy. It's ok, just let it all out. We're here for you."

Lucretia cries harder. "I m-missed you g-guys so much..."

"I know," Barry says thickly, fighting off his own tears.

"I know."

Taakitz oneshot - Memoriam

Tags: The Adventure Zone - Balance, Taakitz (Taako/Kravitz), hurt/comfort, canon-compliant major character death, loss & mourning, negative self-image

Elves outlive a lot of the people they meet. That was a fact of life Taako had to accept pretty early on.

“Relationships with non-elves are tricky,” he could remember his aunt saying to him and Lup, many years ago. “It’s best to avoid them, in my opinion. I mean, you get attached, then blink at the wrong moment, and they’re gone.”

Taako never thought he’d have trouble heeding that advice. After all, he and Lup had each other. Why would they ever need anyone else?

But it turned out that they didn’t need to go looking for anyone to welcome into their lives, because their family found them first. 100 years of fighting and surviving and bonding with the same group of people can change a lot.

Seeing the people he loved die but come back over and over kind of made him numb to the whole idea. So when Magnus died for good, that was the biggest slap-in-the-face wakeup call he’d ever felt.

The others gave him space. The rest of the IPRE team knew that as close as the seven of them were, Magnus, Taako, and Merle were closer.

He went home to the villa he and Kravitz shared in Neverwinter, stared hard at himself in the mirror, and let his Disguise Self spell fall away. His teeth dug into his bottom lip as he brushed away a strand of his hair, which, despite his sacrifice in Wonderland, hadn’t even begun to grey. Magnus, Lucrecia, even Merle had all gotten older, but he was still the same Taako. He was still, in elf terms, fairly young.

Through all his ruminating he heard the familiar sound of a tear in space opening behind him, and he exhaled, a cloud of condensation forming on the mirror and obscuring his reflection for a few moments that he relished in spite of himself. If it were anyone else, he might’ve panicked, but he knew Kravitz didn’t mind seeing him like this, so Taako didn't mind too much either.

Neither of them said a word, but Kravitz was gentle in his approach as if he could already tell Taako was feeling fragile. Taako felt Kravitz carefully pry open his clenched fist and slip his fingers between Taako’s own. The cold from the reaper’s hand seeped down to his bones, but it was familiar now rather than unsettling. Kravitz hugged his arm close, and Taako’s head fell against his shoulder. Taako gradually let Kravitz’s strong arms pull him into a deeper embrace, his grounding presence staving off the tears for a little while longer.

Kravitz let Taako end the silence first. He cleared his throat so his voice wouldn’t break, then asked, “How is he?”

“He’s happy,” Kravitz beamed softly, “He’s with Julia.”

“Right… I remember who that is, of course, how could I forget Julia… she’s…”

“His wife,” Kravitz prompted, holding back a chuckle, not sure if he was joking to lighten the mood or not.

“Of course I knew that. I just wanted to make sure you remembered.”

“Taako.” Kravitz’s tone was assertive without being harsh, but it still almost made Taako flinch. “You don’t have to play games with me. I’m here. You can talk to me.”

Taako pulled away, struggling to find the words, and Kravitz faltered.

“I can give you time, I mean, I-I didn’t mean to push you too hard…” Taako shook his head, holding up a hand.

“The funeral was lovely,” he said finally. “Merle performed the last rites himself, and, uh...” Taako paused to breathe, the corner of his tightly pressed lips curling into a half smile. “All these flowers sprang up from the ground he was buried. Most beautiful ones I’d ever seen.”

“I wish I could’ve been there to see it,” Kravitz said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but I wanted to bring him over myself, it only seemed right. Besides, it’s not as if it’s all over. I’m pretty sure everyone in every plane who still remembers hearing your story is in mourning right now.” He put a hand on Taako’s shoulder. “Magnus won’t be forgotten for a long, long time.”

“I wonder if it’ll happen within my lifetime.”

“I mean, as long as you’re still here, he won’t be forgotten, will he?”

“Will he?” It slipped out before Taako could stop himself. “Honestly, I… I’m not sure. I wouldn’t think I would ever forget, but three, four, five hundred years will change a lot. If I’m the last one left, I’ll be the last for a while, I mean…”

“Hey, now,” Kravitz said, “You won’t be the last one. As long as Lup and Barry stay with the Raven Queen, they’ll still be around. You won’t be alone, and you all can keep your friends’ stories alive. Sure, you’ll meet new people who will... come and go through your life, but you can keep their memories in your heart, and… eventually, you’ll join them again. There’s no need to rush to that, though. You’ve still got lifetimes ahead of you. But if you need a constant, Lup and Barry will be there.”

“That all sounds great, except I didn’t hear you including yourself in that future,” Taako said, finally cracking a crooked smile, “You better not be fucking planning on dying anytime soon, right?”

“Of course not, I just meant… well, I’m not really a part of your group, I mean, I’m sort of an outsider, and I wasn’t as close to Magnus as the six of you… I guess, I didn’t want to insert myself too much into you guys’ loss.”

“Shut up. You’re better than any of those freakin’ clowns.” Kravitz laughed, and it was music to Taako’s ears.

“But, no. As long as I have a say in it, I’m not planning on leaving you, either.”

Kravitz put a hand on Taako’s face, and they went in for a kiss together. Taako felt a few tears finally slip out, and brought his disguise spell back up quickly to cover up the puffy eyes before Kravitz could see.

“Come on,” Kravitz said as they pulled away, “Why don’t we go round up the others and go out for some drinks?”

“To Magnus?”

“To Magnus.”