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It wasn’t a big comment, not in the grander scale of things. Taako was famous for his comebacks and put downs.
It was the timing of it. Things had been going well. So much better than they had for so long. Taako had made dinner for them all, even had a place set for Lucretia. It had been after months of trying, begging him to give Lucretia another chance. Lup had been so proud of him.
And then… Taako had been Taako.
The first course had been rolled out in an elaborate show, each customised plate floating into place with a personal flare. Magnus’ pork pie materialised through smoke in the shape of a bear. Merle’s salad grew on his plate in a elegant blooming flower of crisp, fresh ingredients. Angus’ platter of salmon sailed in as though rolling on the waves of a calm sea.
And on Lucretia’s plate?
Nothing.
It simply floated into the room and dropped in front of her, only just low enough not to smash on impact. Her face, once enraptured with the display, turned bright red. Her eyes stayed glued to her plate, fork gripped tightly in her hand like her staff. The silence of the party was deafening.
“Huh. I forgot you.” Taako smirked. “Guess that’s nothing new, huh?”
There was a sharp crack which drew everyone’s attention. Lup’s plate lay snapped in two, her steak now burned into two parts. The burnt streak ran right through the table.
“Taako. Kitchen. Now.” Lup snapped, standing suddenly. She placed a hand on Barry’s shoulder to prevent him from following. The atmosphere was tense as Lup dragged her brother by the wrist out of the room. The kitchen door shut behind them with a heavy thud.
“Really? This shit again?” Taako started, wrenching his hand away from Lup. He crossed the room to stand by the countertop, and scowled at her.
“Yes. You pulled this shit again, so we’re talking about this again.” Lup said, crossing her arms.
“I’m not forgiving her.” Taako stated.
“Fine.” Lup said, pinching at the bridge of her nose. “But stop torturing her. You’re being shitty.”
“She tortured me. She’s been shitty. It’s tit for tat, Lulu.”
“Well stop being a tit.” Lup bit back.
Taako went white with rage. “She took you away from me Lup, this isn’t some stupid squabble-”
“No she didn’t!” Lup shouted, slamming her hand down against the oven. “I took me away. I left without telling you. I went after my relic after we agreed we couldn’t do that. I didn’t keep my guard up around the thrall. I made the umbrella that trapped me. I fucked up, and Lucretia did everything she could with the mess I made.”
Lup was breathing harder than she thought she would be, sharp strong breaths that caused the metal pots beside her to steam up.
“Lup.” Taako said, his voice unusually small and soft.
“What?!” Lup snapped.
“The hob’s on.” He said, indicating the stovetop Lup’s hand rested on. She turned to look at it, watching the flickering orange rings beneath her fingers. She only pulled her hand away from the hob when her sleeve began to smoke and smoulder. Then she exhaled, turning the hob off.
“Are you alright? Do I need to get Mer-” Taako said, suddenly in a panic, suddenly all compassion again. He began to rush past Lup to get help, but Lup’s hand grabbed Taako’s sleeve. He cringed at the raw heat seeping through his shirt where she grabbed him.
“It doesn’t hurt.” She said, trying to brush his concern away. “Stay here, don’t cause a scene.”
“Me cause a scene? Lulu, your hand is chargrilled.” Taako said, holding up her hand to expose the vicious white rings burned into her fingers.
“It doesn’t hurt.” Lup reiterated, looking down at her feet.
“You being brave or…?” Taako started, not committing to what the end of that sentence could mean. Lup shook her head, still not looking Taako in the eye. She began to press a thumb into her burnt palm, frowning as she did so.
“It doesn’t hurt. I-it doesn’t…” Lup stuttered, pressing harder into the burn with her fingernail.
“Lup?” Taako asked, trying to meet her eye.
“I can’t feel it. I can’t feel, Taako, I can’t… can’t-” Lup found words drifting away from her, pressing deeper into her thumb, it was her thumb, wasn’t it, her palm, her, her…
Taako, acting more on instinct than anything else, threw his arms around her. Her hands were pressed flat, the burn no longer picked at with feverish panic. She felt his arms, one wrapped over her shoulder, the other swept around her waist. The tickle of his long hair brushing against her exposed shoulder brought back memories, of a time many years ago where they clung together for warmth in the back of an errant caravan. He smelled of cinnamon and garlic and a hundred ingredients that they had valued like gold back in their childhood.
He was there. He was there.
They just existed for a few minutes. It was nice.
“Did you mean it? What you said about you thinking this is your fault?” Taako said quietly, still holding Lup close. She nodded into his shoulder.
“I’m not saying Luce didn’t fuck up-”
“No shit.” Taako muttered, earning a jab from Lup.
“But if I hadn’t done what I did, if I’d stayed…” She said, twisting a strand of Taako’s hair around her finger.
“She wouldn’t have split us up.” Taako finished for her, unenthused. “You don’t know that.”
“Taako. Lucretia knows us. Knew every detail that went into that journal. She’s our family, and while she fucked up, I didn’t exactly give her much to work with.”
Lup stepped back, placing her hands on Taako’s shoulders. “She did the best should could with what I did.”
Taako rubbed at his face with his shoulder. “I won’t forgive her.”
“That’s fine.” Lup said, disappointment barely hidden.
“But… I’ll put up with her. For you.”
Lup beamed at this, holding Taako close. Then she winced, pulling her burnt hand back. “Aw beans, did I do that?”
Taako rolled his eyes, taking her by the wrist. “Honestly, how did you ever get along without me?”
And then they entered back into the dining room, arm in arm and once again on the same page.