Chapter Text
The rest of the evening passes without a hitch.
Taako is able to stay awake for dinner, but not much else. And as much as it pains him to do so, they each have a microwave dinner. It’s easier than going to the mess hall, and God knows Taako isn’t capable of cooking anything for the two of them right now, so it’s the best option they’ve got.
After dinner, he’s barely able to make it to the Pocket Budoir before he hits the flops over, at the point where he doesn’t even care what he’s falling on so long as he doesn’t have to stand anymore. He shoots Magnus a grateful smile when he comes rushing over, arms full with extra blankets and Chester.
Taako decides Magnus isn’t allowed to leave under any circumstances, so he turns on the TV, takes Maggie’s hand in his own, and promptly falls asleep.
He sleeps like a rock—or at the very least, he tries to. He can’t help jolting awake every time Maggie moves, and when Maggie gets up to pee in the middle of the night, Taako can’t fall back asleep until he comes back. Maggie mumbles a “sorry, Taako,” each time, but it never makes him any less pouty.
But thankfully, somewhere in the middle of the night, he surfaces from headspace. It was a hazy, half-awake moment, so all he really remembers is letting go of Maggie’s hand to snuggle Chester and turning onto his other side. But he does sleep quite a bit easier after that. He doesn’t even move until morning.
He wakes to the sounds of Magnus moving around in the kitchen, the thought of which almost immediately lowers him back into headspace.
Taako snaps upright as soon as he realizes. Oh God, this is dangerous. He combs his fingers through his hair, trying to get a grip. He used to have such an amazing control of his headspace. If he said he was going to regress for twenty minutes, then there was no doubt that in twenty-one minutes he’d be a fully capable adult again. But now? There’s something about Magnus regressing that makes him drop too, and he can’t fight it for the life of him.
Magnus pokes his head out of the kitchen and grins. He must have had an ear out for signs of Taako stirring. “Good morning!”
He’s big this morning. Taako can tell just from the way he’s holding himself, like a massive weight just got lifted off his shoulders. How long had he gone needing a day like yesterday?
“Morning, my man.” That sounded at least somewhat adult. He hopes. “Do I smell bacon?”
Magnus grins. “Sure do! I’ll get you a plate.”
Taako follows him into the kitchen, unable to feel anything but ashamed. It’s gotta be real relaxing to have to cook for yourself and your caregiver. Real good way to fall back into headspace after a fitful night’s sleep. Great job, Taako.
When Magnus pushes the plate into his hands, he feels infinitely less hungry. “Listen, Maggie, I’m sorry about that.”
Magnus furrows his brow, as if he couldn’t possibly figure out why. Like he thought Taako had done everything just right. “Why? I had fun!”
Taako perks up at the sound of that. “You did?”
Magnus nods. Taako can see in his smile that he really means it, which is more reassuring that words can ever be. “It was actually really great, and it helped a lot. So…thank you. There’s no need to apologize.”
Taako steels his shoulders, trying not to let Magnus’s kind words get to him. His inner critic is a lot louder anyway. “Well, it was supposed to be your day. I said I was gonna take care of you and then I up and regressed too.”
Magnus shrugs, like it’s no big deal, like he doesn’t even care that Taako swooped in and took his special day right out from under him. “It happens. Plus, it sounded like you really needed it too.”
It would’ve been so much easier if Magnus had just snapped at him. Why did he always have to be so understanding? “You wouldn’t have been able to wander off if I’d been big.”
“So?” How is Magnus able to speak with such conviction that Taako almost believes him? “It was nice to have someone on my level. It made me feel like I wasn’t so alone. Plus, you made a great babysitter.”
Taako straightens up, the tips of his ears pink. He can feel himself slipping already. “Stop that. Stop that right now.”
Magnus blinks at him. “Stop what?”
“Stop—talking about me like I’m the coolest thing ever!” He puts his plate on the counter beside him and pushes it away the second the urge to throw his food bubbles up. “You’re right but it’s making me feel small.”
Magnus cracks a smile. “Wait…Is that what happened?”
Taako glares, putting all his big boy energy into making sure he’s not pouting by accident. “Not another word, my dude. Not another fucking word.”
Magnus bites his lip, making a clear effort not to laugh. “Sorry. I’ll try not to look up to you as much.”
“See that you do. I know it’s hard, especially with someone as awesome as me, so you have my word that I won’t regress next time.” To top off his sentence, Taako takes a strip of bacon and begins nibbling on it.
Magnus lets the subject drop for a few minutes as he puts the rest of the bacon out. For every strip he lays out, he eats two, so Taako resigns himself to not going back for seconds.
“Okay, so let me get this straight.” Magnus says. He’s only been quiet for about thirty seconds. “When I look up to you, it makes you feel smaller, yeah?”
Taako eyes him warily. “Yes?”
Magnus nods. He’s put all the dishes in the sink, and he’s watching Taako rather closely. He pauses in front of the fridge, the jug of milk in one hand. “So if I were to give you a hard time, you probably wouldn’t regress?”
Taako quirks a brow. “Already bored with the boy scout shtick?”
“Hey, I’m trying to do a favor for you.”
“Do whatever you want, homie. I can’t control you.” Oh, he really doesn’t like that gleam in Magnus’s eye right now.
“Glad we can both agree!” Magnus tosses him the jug of milk, which Taako barely manages to grab before it hits his foot. “Catch me if you can, Taako!”
“Magnus, I swear to Fantasy God!” Taako drops the jug and tears after him, but the little shit is already out the door.
Taako flies out their front door. Thankfully no one else comes down here, except for their wicked house parties, so he doesn’t have to watch for anyone he might have run over.
Magnus is already at the elevator. He frantically hits the elevator button, holding onto the hope that he can slip out and away before Taako catches up, but Taako isn’t going to take that chance.
“Levitate!”
Magnus immediately pops into the air, and despite his attempts to push off the walls into the elevator, it takes just long enough for Taako to catch up.
“Gotcha!” He slides to a stop and grabs Magnus by the ankle before his noggin can bump the ceiling. The little rugrat is laughing himself silly.
Taako can’t help smiling along with him. “Oh, you think that’s funny? You think I like chasing down renegade rugrats?” With his free hand, he tickles Magnus’s side, and Magnus shrieks with laughter. The elevator doors slide shut behind them.
“How long do I gotta float?”
“It lasts twenty minutes, punkin. So let Taako finish his breakfast and then he’ll chase you all over this god-forsaken moon base.” Taako hooks his finger in Magnus’s belt loop and tugs him along.
Magnus hasn’t stopped giggling since he was caught. “I’m gonna put stuff on the high shelves so Merle can’t reach.”
“You can do that already.”
This gives Magnus pause, but only for a second. Then his smile turns downright devious. “I’m gonna put stuff on the high shelves so you can’t reach!”
Taako snickers. “Fair enough, lil dude.”
He pulls Magnus through the doorway, mindful of his head, feeling surprisingly calm.
He can do this.
He can actually do this!
~
Merle returns to the moon base a little after sunset.
His feet ache from all the walking he’s been doing, and right now he wants nothing more than to kick back and take the longest nap he can manage.
More importantly, though, he doesn’t want to talk to anyone. Since arriving on the moon base, he’s already run into Angus, which has done nothing to improve his soured mood, and his way through Neverwinter resulted in more than one less-than-pleasant conversation with a caravan of his cousins.
Which is why he supposes it’s just his luck that when the elevator doors open, it’s Taako standing there.
Taako looks like a wreck. Frizzy hair, bags under the eyes. Merle can’t remember seeing the kid look so…un-put together. Ever during the entire debacle with the cursed cup, he never once looked this bad.
Taako doesn’t greet him. He barely even blinks, and not once does he take his eyes off the button panel. It’s like he’s barely registering the world around him.
Merle takes the courtesy of breaking the silence. “You look like hell.”
Taako glares, making harsh, unwavering eye contact as he jams his thumb into the close door button.
“Easy now. I’m only kidding.” Poor thing looks so tired. What in the world could wear him out like this?
It’s not until Merle steps in the elevator that he realizes there’s a giant fucking horse in there too.
“Hey there, little man.” Garyl says.
Merle smiles, trying to look casual in a situation so ridiculous that no person is able to be casual for it. “Oh. Hey, Garyl. What’s going on?”
“Not much, just making sure my little homie stays out of trouble.”
Now that’s odd. Merle has never seen Taako summon Garyl while regressed before, not when there are other people around who won’t disappear after an hour. He turns back to Taako. “Where’s Magnus, hon?”
“I’m not little, fucknuts.” But from the bags under his eyes, he really wishes he were.
“Then…” Merle trails off.
Magnus leans off of Garyl’s back to wave. “Hi, Merle!”
Oh. It’s both of them. Well, that’s new to him, but he can’t say he didn’t expect it. Maybe that’s because he’s always braced for the worst.
Merle awkwardly fits himself between Taako and Garyl, already regretting not letting Taako close the elevator door in his face. Well, since Taako is in no mood to chat… “How was your day, kiddo?”
“Real good! Taako made me float!”
“He made you float?” Merle asks, a grin splitting his face. It’s easy for him to fall into autopilot for this conversation. Magnus is just like any other excitable kid, after all.
“He made a break for it and I had to cast Levitate on him.” Taako explains. He’s making a face, like just recounting the event is taking ten years off his life.
“Mhm!” Magnus doesn’t even seem bothered about the half-hearted glare Taako tossed in his direction. “And then he took me to the library and we picked out a bunch of books together!”
“Kid’s never even read Fantasy Babysitter’s Club.” Taako mutters. He adjusts his shoulder bag, revealing that it’s filled near to bursting with kid’s books.
“Then we ran into Carey and Killian and Avi and they were playing Frisbee! And I asked Taako if we could join and he said yes!”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Taako’s real good at throwing!”
Merle can’t help snickering. “You joined in?”
Taako rolls his eyes. “The kid asked me to. Besides, sometimes I just gotta show these chumps how it’s done.”
When Merle raises an eyebrow, Magnus pipes up. “He did a backflip! And then he caught the Frisbee and then he threw it all in the middle of the flip and it got stuck on top of one of the domes but it was so cool!” He bounces as he talks, and Merle can’t help but notice how Taako seems to puff up with pride about being the reason for his excitement.
“Calm down, lil man.” Garyl croons. “It’s chill hours.”
Magnus immediately stops. Merle hopes that means he listens a little better than Taako when he’s little. “Sorry, Garyl.”
“No worries, lil dude. All chill means no grudges.” Garyl says, which is able to wipe the guilt off of Magnus’s face before it really has time to blossom.
Magnus continues on undeterred. “But I was really good at pretending to be big while we were out! I didn’t even wander off this time!”
Merle shoots him a look. “You wandered off last time?”
Magnus blanches, the guilty look coming back full force. “Um…”
Something paps the top of his head, and he turns to see Taako glaring at him. “Back off, Merle. He’s already gotten in trouble for that.”
Somehow Merle severely doubts that. He can tell just by looking at Taako that when it comes down to it, he’s the same type of caregiver as Magnus—lenient as all hell.
Magnus has visibly deflated, so Taako prods his shoulder. “Tell him about the Voidfish, punkin.”
And just like that, he’s back with his energy. It’s enough to give Merle whiplash. “Lulu invited us to see the Voidfish again, and we got to have lunch with her! And Davenport made cucumber sandwiches! She felt bad because things were weird yesterday and she wanted to make things up to us.”
“Things were weird?”
Magnus nods. “She was really sad even though she was trying not to show it. But I colored her a picture and that made things better. She even brought cards so we could play Rummy!”
The elevator dings, and the doors open.
Garyl throws his head in Magnus’s direction. “Climb on off, dog. I’m just gonna kick back in here.”
“You’re not coming with?” Magnus asks. Even though he clearly doesn’t need any help, he takes Taako’s hand as he climbs down.
“I’ve only got thirty seconds to live, my man.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s chill. Life is fragile and fleeting and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you get to be a cool dude like me.”
Magnus throws his arms around Garyl’s neck. “I love you, Garyl!”
“Right on, lil man. There needs to be more love in the world and here you are tossing it out like it’s nobody’s business. I’d say it back, but I’m only fifty-nine minutes old. There’s no way for me to truly understand love.” His form begins to shimmer and fade. “Stay chill, homies.” He says, before vanishing completely.
Taako’s already out the door. “Come along, gents. It’s naptime.”
“But I’m not tired!” Magnus whines. Nonetheless, he scurries behind without Taako having to call him.
“Yeah, it’s naptime for me, little man. I don’t have a single spell slot left to my name and I’ve been chasing you around since 11 a.m.”
Merle waddles alongside them, trying to keep pace. “Jeez, that long, huh?”
“Oh, it’s been a whole weekend of rugrat wrangling.” Taako says. He opens their front door and makes a beeline for the couch.
The comment flies over Magnus’s head. “If you rest, then you can summon Garyl again!”
“We’ll see.”
Magnus’s face twists into a pout, one that Merle can just see him getting his way with a thousand times over. “That just means ‘no’!”
Taako shrugs. “We’ll see.” He flops unceremoniously onto the couch, his head draped over the back of it in what has to be one of the most uncomfortable angles Merle has ever seen.
It isn’t long before Magnus crawls onto the couch, a stuffed rabbit Merle has never seen before in the crook of one arm. Taako cracks one eye open to look at him but doesn’t say anything. Not yet.
“That’s new.” Merle comments.
“Her name is Jay!” Magnus says, but that’s the only explanation he offers. His volume is just loud enough that Taako has to speak up.
He sits up, which requires some effort on his part due to how much he’s slouched in the past minute. “Now, Maggie, honey, look at me. Look at Taako.” He waits until he has Magnus’s full attention before continuing. “Taako is very tired, so he’s going to rest, but what’s the rule if you need something?”
“Go bug Merle.”
“There’s a smart cookie.” Quick as a flash, he pecks Magnus on the forehead and pats his cheek. He’s asleep before his head hits the back of the couch.
There’s a horrible moment of silence where Magnus’s head turns to Merle. He doesn’t say anything. Just stares, his face half-obscured by his rabbit. Like he’s waiting for Merle to react first.
“So you too, huh?” Merle says. He’s sure to keep his voice low, even though he’s pretty sure an explosion going off wouldn’t wake Taako right now.
Magnus nods. “That’s okay?”
An idea strikes him, and with a grin, Merle asks, “How many sweets have you had today?”
Magnus makes a face. “None. Taako said I couldn’t have any since we ate so much yesterday.”
“I’ll make you a deal. You get the ice cream that’s in the freezer and I’ll split some with you.”
“Really?”
Merle winks. “It can be our secret.”