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Kravitz is sitting in the living room with Wyatt and Blaine, watching as they happily stack the blocks Magnus had carved for them. Jules had sobbed when she saw Taako and Magnus leaving to go to the marketplace, so Magnus had strapped her onto his chest and took her along with them. Wyatt was still asleep when they left, which is why he’s capable of being without Taako at all, in this moment.
Kravitz is mostly reading his book, partially watching the two of them, as Wyatt pulls himself up to stand next to the coffee table, hands holding on. He looks over at Kravitz, then reaches out, one hand leaving the table to reach for him.
He makes half a sound, a long, “Daaaaa,” and keeps reaching. Kravitz puts his book aside and sits up.
“C’mere,” Kravitz says. He holds out his hands, and Wyatt keeps reaching for him. Eventually, he lets go with his other hand and stumbles back a step, and Kravitz motions him forward. “Come on. Come here. I know you can do it.”
Taako’s gonna be pissed when he gets back if he misses this, but Kravitz can barely think about that in this moment; if he had a heart, it’d be pounding, just sitting there, watching Wyatt try to balance without holding on.
“Come on,” Kravitz says again. Wyatt goes to take a step, but he over-balances and starts to topple. Kravitz moves to catch him, to lift him up and let him try again, but before he can, there’s a ripping sound, and there’s a veil being torn in the planar realities, and Wyatt vanishes through it.
Kravitz stands for a second, fucking dumbfounded. Blaine stares at him, evidently shocked and just as confused as he is. Kravitz summons his scythe and shifts forms and cuts a hole into the planar realities himself, sticking his head into each one as he goes, until he reaches the Astral Plane, where he hears familiar crying. He steps in, grabs Wyatt from where he’s floating in this empty space, and ducks back into their house, sealing up the rift between planes.
Wyatt is sobbing, inconsolable, gasping for breath, and Kravitz just sits with him, lets his scythe vanish and holds him against his chest while Blaine keeps staring at the two of them.
“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Kravitz tells him, but Wyatt is shoving at his chest, trying to wriggle out of his grasp, still screaming. Kravitz hears the front door open, and Wyatt twists around, reaching for whoever’s there. Kravitz turns and, luckily, it’s Taako, who sighs.
“Woke up?” Taako asks, setting down his bags in the doorway and coming over to lift Wyatt up. “Dude, you’re killing me, here. Everyone at school’s gonna pick on you if you don’t stop being—”
“I, uhh,” Kravitz interrupts him. “This— I don’t know. I—”
Magnus shuts the front door behind him. “Is he okay? He sounds pissed.”
Taako keeps bouncing Wyatt in his arms, craning his neck to look down at him. “Oh, geez, yeah, shit, you’re right.” He lifts Wyatt up to look him over. “Pinch yourself, kiddo?”
“Did something happen?” Magnus asks Kravitz, setting his own bags down by the kitchen counters and lifting Jules out of her sling.
“I— Yes,” Kravitz says. The both of them are looking at him now, and Kravitz feels— guilty, all of a sudden. Like he should’ve seen this coming, or prevented it, and the flood of panic that carried him through finding Wyatt so quickly has left, just leaving him shocked and— and he feels bad, because that’s all him, showing up in this kid.
“What happened?” Taako asks, and there’s real fear in his voice, even if he’s trying to hide it. He looks back down at Wyatt, looking him over in earnest now, looking for some real, physical wound as Wyatt screams. He gives up after a moment, it looks like, and just pulls Wyatt in, holds him against his chest and rocks him and shushes him softly, speaking to him in words Kravitz can’t hear.
“He— I don’t—” Kravitz says, then stops. “He— tripped, and accidentally— went. Into the Astral Plane?”
Magnus looks at him, hard, for a long, long moment. Then, he fucking laughs.
“Are you kidding me?” Magnus asks. Kravitz, bewildered, shakes his head. “Oh my God. He just— Right into the Astral Plane? Just tripped into it?”
“He tripped?” Taako asks. “Was he walking? When were you going to tell me about that?”
“It was more of a— Wait, hold on,” Kravitz says, “you heard me, right? You heard me say he— he went into the Astral Plane? On accident? By himself?”
“Well, I'm not gonna lie to you, that's not ideal,” Magnus concedes. He looks to Taako. “Is he hurt?”
Taako lifts Wyatt up and murmurs something to him, quietly. Wyatt stops sobbing, makes a soft noise back, and Kravitz wishes he had a heart just to feel it race.
“I don’t think so,” Taako says, over Wyatt’s soft noises, now that he’s done crying. He smooths his hand over Wyatt’s head, then kisses his forehead, turning away from them to do it, holding him close and whispering softly to him, and Kravitz wishes he didn’t feel so self-conscious about it but, it is what it is.
“Is this… good?” Magnus asks. “Is it bad? I don’t— Are we supposed to do something about this?”
Taako turns to look at Kravitz, so Magnus does, too. Kravitz has no fucking idea.
“I have no fucking idea,” he says, because honesty is the best policy. “Maybe I should… do some research?”
“Do some research?” Taako asks. “What, you’re gonna read a fuckin’ book about this? Has this ever happened before?”
Kravitz stares at him, because he doesn’t know what to tell him. He doesn’t know how to tell him that reapers have never had children before, especially not with a living person, let alone a reaper as old and as powerful as he is. He is the Grim Reaper, he is Death itself, he was never supposed to be able to do this and this is completely beyond the realm of understanding.
“No,” Kravitz tells him, finally, because, well, it is better to be honest. Taako looks away from him, goes to the couch and sits down, holding Wyatt close still. Wyatt seems fine with it, sitting quietly in his lap, wrapping his hands up in Taako’s hair. “That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing.”
“Yeah, it’s probably gonna be fine,” Magnus chimes in. Kravitz looks to him, and he can always rely on Magnus, who tries to find the best side of any situation. “I mean, if it wasn’t, then, like, we’d probably have found out about it by now, right?”
Taako nods, still looking down at Wyatt. “Yeah. Yeah, Mags, probably.” He looks up at Kravitz, and Kravitz doesn’t know what to do with the look on his face. He looks worried, and scared— terrified, actually, and Kravitz’s instinct is to take it away, to do anything he can to take it away.
“I’ll speak with the Raven Queen,” Kravitz finds himself saying, before he can even consider what that means or whether or not he should truly do that. Taako keeps staring at him. “…Right away.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Magnus chimes in. “She’ll probably know what to do. She’s, like, his grandma or something.”
“She’s not my mother,” Kravitz says.
“Grandmas always want what’s best for their grandkids,” Magnus continues, fully skimming over Kravitz’s protest. “She can probably, like, train him, or something. And then he won’t trip through holes in space or whatever.”
Taako just keeps looking at them. After a long moment, he looks back down at Wyatt. Wyatt looks back at him, all bright turquoise eyes and warm brown skin. Taako reaches up and runs a hand over Wyatt’s head, then traces the pad of his thumb over one of Wyatt’s pointed ears. He does that a few times, over and over, just stroking the skin there. Wyatt keeps his hands tangled up in Taako’s hair and sits with him. Kravitz wonders what it’s like to love anybody that much, that absolutely.
“Okay,” Taako says. He turns to Kravitz. “You can talk to her. I don’t want you to bring him with you, though, I want him to stay here with me.”
“That’s fine,” Kravitz tells him. He summons his scythe into his hand and shifts forms into his skeleton. Jules laughs with delight when she sees his skull. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Thank you,” Taako says. “Listen, don’t— Don’t let her— You know. Don’t let her take him or anything. Alright? That should probably go without fucking saying, but, you know, I’ll kill the Raven Queen myself if I have to, if she tries to take this fucking kid.”
“She won’t,” Kravitz says, without his full confidence. The Raven Queen can be merciful, especially with him, but she’s still a goddess of death and the ruler of the Astral Plane. Wyatt is still an unheard-of thing in the multiverse. He has no idea what she’ll do, and he’s not felt true unease quite like this in all his years.
Magnus comes over to Kravitz, surprisingly, instead of to Taako. He puts a hand on Kravitz’s shoulder, smiling at Taako until they’re both fully facing the opposite direction. Then, his expression changes dramatically, and he’s leaning in, hand squeezing Kravitz’s shoulder, face full of fear.
“What’re you gonna say to her?” Magnus asks, voice low. Kravitz feels a brief surge of affection for him, for the fact that he trusts Kravitz with this fear. “Because I— I don’t want anything bad to happen, you know? If she wants something with him, or something like that, I— You know. I’ll do anything not to let that happen.” Magnus leans in closer, hand still on Kravitz’s shoulder. “I won’t let that happen.”
“I know,” Kravitz says. “I won’t, either.” He finds that that’s very, very true, that if the Raven Queen tries anything, he’d sooner turn on her than give Wyatt up.
Magnus looks at him a moment longer, then nods. He reaches in and pulls Kravitz in for a hug, squeezing him tight. When he pulls back, he smiles at Kravitz, all traces of his earlier fear gone from his face.
“It’s gonna be fine,” Magnus tells him, with more conviction than Kravitz feels. Magnus looks over Kravitz’s shoulder, presumably at Taako, giving him a big ol’ grin. “Things are gonna go great! Our kid’s a reaper or some shit. That’s awesome. Built-in job.”
“You’re fucking insane,” Taako calls to him. Kravitz turns back to look at him.
“It’s going to be okay,” Kravitz tells him. He goes to open a portal, then stops. He crosses the room, leans over the back of the couch and kisses Wyatt on the cheek. He twists to kiss Taako on the cheek, too, and Taako leans into it with a soft hum.
“I’ll be right back,” Kravitz says. Taako turns to him.
“Yeah, you better be,” Taako murmurs. Kravitz kisses him, a light, chaste brush on his lips. Taako watches him go, as he opens a portal to the Astral Plane with a tearing sound, then steps through it.
As Kravitz enters the Astral Plane, he feels the same rush of homecoming he always feels when he steps in. He’d spent so much time there, it’s impossible not to feel comforted by its familiar senses. He’s surrounded by floating white lights — the lights of souls, bouncing into each other, soaring around him like shooting stars, close enough to touch. He steps onto the surface of the lake, the water swirling with rainbow light underneath him, and he walks delicately across it, towards the center. He kneels down and presses his palms to the water’s surface and whispers the summoning for the Raven Queen.
“Kravitz,” a voice says, and Kravitz lifts his head to see the throne of the Raven Queen before him. He keeps kneeling, ducks his head down again.
“My queen,” Kravitz says in response. He can see her ebony robes shift from where she sits in her throne.
“Rise,” she tells him, and he does, standing before her, still in his skeletal form. “What brings you here? You haven’t got a bounty right now.”
“No, I— What brings me here is more of a… personal matter,” Kravitz tells her. He can’t see her face, hidden under her raven’s skull mask, so he can’t judge how she’s feeling about what he’s saying. “I… It’s my son.”
“Your son?” the Raven Queen asks. Kravitz nods. He knows she already knew about all of his children; he had told her when they were born, even though she had infinite knowledge and probably didn’t need to be told. “Has he…?”
“Oh, no, no, he’s okay,” Kravitz says. “Not dead. Actually, I— We’re not— Hm. I—”
“Take a moment, Kravitz,” the Raven Queen tells him. Kravitz does. He’s had enough experience with her over their long, long lives together to know that it’s just best to do what she says. He considers what he wants to say before he says it.
“Today, my son accidentally opened and passed through a portal into the Astral Plane,” Kravitz tells her. The Raven Queen is silent. Kravitz doesn’t push her.
“I felt an unfamiliar presence,” the Raven Queen says, eventually. “It was gone before I could reach it. Is he alive?”
“He is,” Kravitz tells her. “He has a heartbeat, and his blood runs. It has since his birth. He’s alive. Not dead, not undead, not— He’s completely alive.”
“Interesting,” the Raven Queen replies. “I will admit to having been… curious, how this would turn out.”
“…Curious?” Kravitz asks. The Raven Queen nods her head, then rises from her throne, stands up and steps down to his level. She still towers over him, a tremendous being of black smoke and onyx robes and feathers and bones.
“Yes,” she tells him. She cups his chin in her hand and tips his face up to look at her. “There has never been a reaper child. And you, you are my most powerful reaper, you are my Death. I wondered if your child would hold any of your power.”
“It appears that he does,” Kravitz tells her. He trusts her, trusts her power and her force and the warmth she’s exuding towards him. He doesn’t know if that’s foolish or not.
“I should examine him,” the Raven Queen says. Kravitz remembers Taako’s face.
“…I’m not sure that’s the best idea right now,” Kravitz tells her. He’s not used to disagreeing with her; it feels wrong to do it now.
“Why is that?” she asks. Kravitz can’t look away; she’s still holding his chin in place.
“Taako and Magnus were both insistent that he not come here,” Kravitz says. “Taako moreso than anything else.”
The Raven Queen releases him then, turns away from him with a soft humming noise. She steps off her throne’s pedestal onto the surface of the water. Ripples spiral out from underneath her.
“I must meet him,” she tells him. “That is without argument. If there is a being with the power of a reaper in existence, I must be able to interact with him. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” Kravitz says. She turns and looks back down at him.
“I won’t do anything to him,” she says. “If that’s what you’re concerned about.”
“I know,” Kravitz replies, but he feels a rush of relief at her words. He trusts her, implicitly, with what is most precious to him. He’s glad to know she won’t betray that trust.
“He may be more of a concern once he’s older,” the Raven Queen says. “But, I have never had the chance to have a reaper trained from birth. He may be our best yet. Maybe he will even join your ranks.”
Kravitz doesn’t quite know how he feels about that; he has a hard time picturing Wyatt as a boy, and an even harder time as an adult. Right now, he’s his son, a baby who needs to be protected, not a reaper under his domain, in the service of the Raven Queen. It chills him to think of his child in danger that way.
“Maybe,” he allows. “I won’t push him.”
“Nor will I,” she says. “Well. Maybe a bit.”
Kravitz lifts his head, and he feels like she’s smiling; her voice sounds like she might be.
“I do have to insist upon meeting him,” the Raven Queen tells him. “Taako and Magnus may come, if they so choose to, but I insist. You should bring the boy here at once so I may examine him and see if any of your abilities have been passed onto him.”
Kravitz nods, then ducks his head in a half-bow. “Of course. I will return.”
“I will be waiting,” she says. He lifts his scythe and cuts a portal back to his home, and steps back through into their living room. He seals the portal behind him, and Magnus is already right in front of him.
“What happened?” Magnus asks. Kravitz sits down next to Taako on the couch, and Magnus sits on the coffee table, knees fit in between Kravitz and Taako. Blaine scoots herself in between them all and lifts her hands up; when Kravitz glances back, he sees Jules, fast asleep at the other end of the sofa.
“The Raven Queen is… pleased?” Kravitz says, because that’s the strongest vibe he was getting from her throughout their conversation. Taako slumps back against the cushions, clearly relieved, and Magnus smacks Kravitz on the knee, at which point Kravitz realizes he’s still in his skeletal form and switches back into his flesh.
“See? I told you it’d be fine,” Magnus says. Taako laughs breathlessly. Wyatt presses his face into Taako’s neck, and Kravitz is struck, for a moment, by just how young he really is. He’s just a baby, still seeking comfort from Taako in such an innocent and physical way, and here he is, talking with the Raven Queen about his abilities and whether or not he’ll become a fucking reaper. It feels absurd, and he suddenly doesn’t want to bring Wyatt to the Raven Queen, doesn’t want to break the little bubble of Wyatt’s infancy.
“What’s wrong?” Taako asks, abruptly on guard. He’s staring right at Kravitz’s face. “You look like you swallowed rocks. What is it? What else did she say?”
Kravitz looks at Taako’s face. He wants to look away, because he doesn’t want to see Taako’s reaction to this, but he finds that he can’t. “Taako? …Don’t freak out. Okay?”
Taako sits up again, spine straight as he stares at Kravitz. “What? What does she want? I’ll fucking—”
“No, it’s just—” Kravitz says. “The Raven Queen… wants to… meet… Wyatt.” Taako is silent. His face is expressionless. Kravitz briefly wonders if he even heard him, so he says, “She insisted on meeting him.”
“No,” Taako says. Wyatt peers out from Taako’s hair to look at Kravitz, and Kravitz looks down at him, briefly, before looking back to Taako’s face.
“I have to bring him to the Astral Plane for her to examine—” Kravitz continues, but Taako shakes his head, standing up, Wyatt still clinging to him. “Taako—”
“No,” Taako repeats. His grip on Wyatt tightens, and Wyatt turns away from Kravitz, burying his face back into Taako’s neck, Taako’s hair falling around him like a silvery curtain. “I’m not letting you bring my son to the fucking— to a goddess of death so she can examine him. Are you fucking kidding me? Hell fucking no, I’ve already had to save Magnus from getting sucked into there, and I saw you drowning in fucking tar or some shit in there— I’m not fucking letting you. I’m not.”
“We have to,” Kravitz says. Taako glares at him, and when Kravitz stands, Taako backs up a couple of steps, his grip tightening on Wyatt. It makes Kravitz’s chest ache. “Taako—”
“I don’t know what you don’t fucking understand, this is not an argument. This is not even a discussion,” Taako interrupts him. “We are not doing this. End of fucking— Kravitz, we are not doing this.” Taako looks to Magnus. “Tell him he’s fucking insane, Mags.”
Kravitz turns to look at Magnus, who’s still sitting on the coffee table, Blaine perched on one knee as he bounces her absentmindedly. Magnus is looking at Taako but, after a moment, he shifts, watching Kravitz.
“What did she say exactly?” Magnus asks. Kravitz doesn’t have a chance to answer, because—
“You’re both fucking insane,” Taako says. “It doesn’t matter what she said exactly, Magnus. You almost got sucked into the Astral Plane, do you remember that? Do you remember when your soul almost died in there? Because I sure the fuck do.”
“Yeah, I do,” Magnus says. “I mean, I don’t— I really don’t want to send Wyatt there, but, like, if Kravitz is with him, then it’s fine, right? She just wants to meet him. She is, like, his grandmother.”
“She’s not his grandmother, she’s the goddess of death!” Taako exclaims. He twists away from them, turning his face away and looking down at Wyatt, both of their faces hidden by his hair. “I’m not letting you take him.”
“Taako—”
“I’m not,” Taako spits.
“She said you could come,” Kravitz offers. “If you wanted. You and Magnus. Bring— We can call Lup, too, if you want. She likes Lup.”
Taako doesn’t look up at him, face still hidden behind his hair. He’s silent.
“No,” Taako says again. Magnus gets up, and Taako backs up another step. “No.”
“Taako, I don’t— It kinda sounds like we should,” Magnus says. “I really don’t think she’ll do anything— Kravitz, do you think she’ll—”
“No,” Kravitz says. “Absolutely not. She seems… Well, excited? As excited as she gets about anything. She wants to… train him. Or at least, see what his abilities are.”
“He’s my son,” Taako says, with such desperation that the ache in Kravitz’s chest doubles. “He’s not— You can’t train him to be a reaper. He’s a baby. She can’t have him, she can’t.”
“We won’t let her,” Magnus says. He takes another step, and Taako doesn’t move this time, but he does duck his head down a little more. “I’m gonna go grab Lup, okay? You can see what she thinks.”
Taako doesn’t say anything, so Magnus goes, leaves through to the door to Lup and Barry’s rooms. Kravitz stands silently in the room with Taako.
“Taako, I don’t—” Kravitz begins, but Taako shakes his head.
“Don’t,” Taako says. “I don’t— I don’t want to do this.”
“Okay,” Kravitz says, but he hurts, just for hearing that. Magnus comes back only a moment later, with Lup and Barry. Lup goes to Taako automatically, instinctively, and he turns his face into her neck. She puts her arms around him and Wyatt both, tucks them into her hold and rubs a hand over his back.
“What happened?” Lup asks. She looks up towards Kravitz.
“Wyatt has… abilities?” Kravitz offers her. Her brow furrows. “He accidentally opened a portal to the Astral Plane today.”
“Oh, shit,” Barry says.
“And went through it,” Kravitz continues.
“Yeah, shit,” Lup echoes. “Is he hurt?”
“No, but the Raven Queen insists on meeting him,” Kravitz tells her. She frowns at him, turning her face back down to look at Taako. She tucks his hair behind his ear and strokes a thumb under his eye, cups his face in her hand.
“What’s wrong?” Lup asks. Taako stares at her like she’s stupid, then motions to Kravitz.
“Did you not hear the part where the fucking— Lup, she’s a goddess of death,” Taako says, like Lup somehow missed that, “and she wants to examine my son for his reaper powers. In the Astral Plane.”
Lup keeps rubbing circles into Taako’s cheekbone with her thumb. She doesn’t turn away, just keeps looking at him. Kravitz almost wants to look away; he doesn’t feel like he belongs in this moment.
“I’ll go with him,” Lup says. “Can anyone go with him? Doesn’t matter, I will.”
“Kravitz said we can,” Taako tells her. Lup pulls him in, tucks his face into her neck and just holds him. “I’m not going to let her take him.”
“No, none of us will,” Lup says. “But it’s better to just get it over with, right? And maybe she can help, so he doesn’t do that again. The Astral Plane— I mean, when it’s under her control, it’s fine. Not, like, the safest place ever, but, you know. But maybe she can help him so he doesn’t end up there on his own, right?”
Taako doesn’t say anything, doesn’t move.
“Koko, I know you don’t want to do this,” Lup whispers to him. Kravitz does look away, now, pretends he’s not listening. He looks at Magnus, instead, where he’s standing next to Barry. He’s still holding Blaine, and she yawns. She looks so much like Magnus, and Kravitz wonders if it would’ve just been better if they’d all been Magnus’, but then he shakes the thought off, because then Wyatt wouldn’t be Wyatt and he loves him, so much it hurts right now.
“I know you don’t want to do this,” Lup is saying to Taako, as Kravitz looks at Blaine’s face and tries to pretend he’s not listening, “but you have to, babe. And it’s gonna be okay. I know you don’t really… like, trust her? But she’s really good. And Kravitz is her fave, she loves him, I swear. She lets him get away with anything.”
Kravitz doesn’t say anything, but he almost laughs.
“Really,” Lup says, softly. “Nothing’s going to happen to him. We’ll all go. You don’t even have to let him go if you don’t want to, okay? She can see him just fine if you’re holding him, she doesn’t even need to hold him. And I can get in and out of the Astral Plane lickity-split, if something happens, I’ll make Wyatt my first priority. Nothing’s going to happen to us. Nothing happens to the twins, right?”
Taako’s silent for a long time. Then, he says, quietly, “Right.”
“And why’s that?” Lup pushes. Taako doesn’t answer. “Taako.”
“Because I’ll die before you will,” Taako says.
“And I’ll die before you will,” Lup replies. She pulls him in again, hugs him tightly. Kravitz looks up at Magnus’ face and notices he’s trying not to cry, which is pretty much par for the course for Magnus. When she releases Taako, the first thing Taako does is glare at Kravitz.
“I hate all of you,” Taako says.
“Well—” Barry starts, but then Taako’s head snaps to glare at him.
“Don’t fucking test me, Bluejeans, I’ll end you and become a reaper just to take your soul myself,” Taako threatens. Barry almost laughs but, wisely, doesn’t. Taako looks back to Kravitz and they spend a long moment staring at each other.
“I don’t regret it,” Taako says, without prologue, and also without epilogue, because then he turns to Magnus and says, “Can you call Merle, or Carey, or— Jesus, literally anybody? Get them over here to watch Blaine and Jules, I want everyone on Wyatt for this.”
“Yeah, absolutely,” Magnus says, digging out his Stone of Far Speech. He calls Merle first, but there’s no answer, which is pretty typical, and then he calls Lucretia. Taako’s eyes narrow at him, but he doesn’t say anything, and then Barry cuts a portal for Lucretia to step through when she says she’ll do it.
“We’re gonna be back really quick,” Magnus tells her, handing Blaine over to her. “We gotta go to the Astral Plane super quick, no big, just gotta talk through some stuff with the Raven Queen and we’ll be back really fast and you can stay for dinner if you want.”
“Uhh, o-okay,” Lucretia agrees, taking Blaine. Blaine reaches for Lucretia’s earring, but Lucretia intercepts her with a practiced hand. “Is everything—”
“Talk later, we gotta go,” Magnus interrupts her. He yanks her in for a hug, then moves to stand with Kravitz. “Let’s go, I wanna get this over with before I lose my nerve on this one.”
“Okay,” Kravitz says, opening up the portal back to the Astral Plane. He keeps his flesh face on this time, hoping it’ll give Taako some measure of comfort, and he steps through. He can feel Magnus at his back, and Lup after him. Taako steps through the portal when Kravitz turns to look, his grip on Wyatt white-knuckled, and Barry comes in behind him. Kravitz closes the portal, but Barry doesn’t move, sticking close to Taako’s back. They’re all staring straight ahead, and Kravitz turns to behold the Raven Queen once more.
“My queen, I believe you’ve met everyone,” Kravitz says. The Raven Queen inclines her masked head to them.
“I have,” she says. “It’s a pleasure to see you all again.”
“Yeah, I— Yeah, great, it’s all great, I don’t wanna be rude or anything, but I really wanna get this done,” Taako says. He tucks his hair behind his ear and takes a deep breath before he turns Wyatt around, still holding him tightly as Wyatt turns to face the Raven Queen. Wyatt stares up at her, and the Raven Queen stares back.
“Meet your grandson?” Magnus offers hesitantly, into the silence. Barry snorts on a laugh he clearly didn’t mean to let out, and Lup grins.
“He’s lovely,” the Raven Queen says. Taako’s still glaring up at her like she could turn everything to fire and brimstone in a heartbeat— which, she could, but Kravitz doesn’t think she would. In fact, she’s turning to look at him, and he can see she has a smile under the beak of her skull mask. “He looks quite like you, Kravitz. The best of you.”
“Thank you,” Kravitz murmurs. Hearing that makes his chest feel warm, but Taako’s still tense, rigid in every muscle and line of his body. The Raven Queen comes down from her throne, approaches Taako and Wyatt, and stands before them. Kravitz can tell she’s trying to appear welcoming, but Taako doesn’t back down.
“I’m not gonna let you take him,” Taako blurts out. “I don’t care if you want him to be a reaper. You can’t have him.”
The Raven Queen doesn’t speak for a moment, during which Kravitz holds himself still, unmoving, waiting for her response. Taako just keeps staring up at her, unwavering, which, shit, is pretty fucking impressive, all things considered. Kravitz loves him.
“I won’t take him,” the Raven Queen says. “I vow this to you, Taako. I will never let any harm come to this child.” She holds out a hand, summons a blade into it, then presses the edge of the blade to her other hand. Blood and smoke drip from the fresh wound, and she presses the hand to Wyatt’s face before Taako can stop her. “I swear my blood vow here and now. This child is under the protection of the Raven Queen, and will remain as such for eternity.”
Taako stares up at her, eyes huge. Wyatt doesn’t move, doesn’t even cry, but Kravitz’s chest feels warm. He’s under her protection, too, as a reaper, and he knows the calming, safe sensation that comes with the vow.
The Raven Queen lifts her hand, then presses it to Taako’s face, too.
“I give you this same vow,” she tells him. “I vow to protect you and your children, for all eternity. This includes the child you carry now, of course. I bless you and your line.”
Taako blinks at her, as she removes her hand and motions to Magnus. Magnus steps forward.
“Magnus,” she says. “I want to tell you, I’m sorry about Julia.”
“Thank you,” Magnus says. He gives her a smile. “Kravitz told me she’s doing good. Thanks for that.”
“She awaits you,” the Raven Queens tells him. “Just— Don’t rush, okay? She’ll still be there at the end.”
“Okay,” Magnus says. The Raven Queen presses her bloody palm to his face.
“I give you this same vow,” she repeats. “I vow to protect you and your children, for all eternity. I bless you and your line.” She removes her hands. “The vow extends to your daughters, as well. They should be feeling it now.” The Raven Queen cuts a portal, reaches her hand through it, and murmurs something. Kravitz has the feeling the portal goes to his living room, which is confirmed when he hears the slice of a staff through the air. The Raven Queen pulls her hand back through and— The hand is gone, severed at the wrist.
“Jesus fuck,” Taako says. The hand rebuilds itself before their eyes.
“Your friend Lucretia is quick on her feet,” the Raven Queen comments. Kravitz feels gratitude for Lucretia, in that moment; he sees an emotion he can’t name flicker across Taako’s face, too quickly to identify it. The Raven Queen smiles. “I’m glad you have such worthy guardians for my grandchildren.”
“I fucking told you,” Magnus says, before Kravitz can even process what she’s said. Lup laughs, clapping her hands together.
“I’m still not letting you hold him,” Taako tells her. The Raven Queen is still smiling under her mask.
“Maybe someday,” she allows. “Trust and respect must be earned, even by my kind.” She reaches out her new hand, now uninjured, and holds it over Wyatt’s bloodied face. She lifts her head, tilting it backwards, and hums something Kravitz doesn’t recognize. Taako seems a little more relaxed, so Kravitz relaxes, too, watching the little ritual as the Raven Queen analyzes Wyatt. Finally, she drops her hand.
“He has all the powers of his fathers,” she says. Taako looks to Kravitz. “Both of you, yes. He has the abilities of a reaper but also a very powerful magic inside of him.” She reaches down, takes Taako’s chin in her hand like she had done with Kravitz not so long before, and when she speaks, her voice has a smile in it again. “He will be a force to be reckoned with. I am not even sure he’ll need my protection.”
“Well, he’ll keep it anyways,” Taako says. “Better safe than sorry.”
The Raven Queen laughs softly and releases Taako. Kravitz almost never hears her laugh, and he wants to— He doesn’t even know what he wants to do, he just feels so elated that he can’t imagine standing still other moment. So, he bows his head.
“Thank you,” Kravitz says.
“Yeah, thanks, Mom,” Lup says. Kravitz turns to look at her, but the Raven Queen is already doing her smiling-voice thing again.
“You are welcome, my children,” the Raven Queen says. “I do request that you allow me to monitor the child. His powers are without precedent, and I’d like to be able to track them. For his own sake, and for any further incidences.”
“You can just call me out, you know,” Lup tells her. The Raven Queen tilts her head.
“We will see what your child is capable of when they are born,” the Raven Queen says. “At the moment, this— this child, your son, Kravitz—” The Raven Queen stops. “Wyatt. Wyatt is…”
“What, like, an heir?” Barry asks.
“Prince of Darkness?” Magnus suggests.
“Original,” the Raven Queen settles on. “We’ll see where it goes from here.”
“I hope he becomes a chef,” Taako says. “Just to fucking piss all of you off. That’ll serve you right, for trying to make him a reaper when he’s a fucking baby.”
“He will still hold my blessing,” the Raven Queen says. Taako sighs.
“Don’t have jokes in the Astral Plane?” Taako asks.
“We do,” the Raven Queen says. “Funny ones.”
“Mom just fucking burned you,” Lup laughs. Taako turns to glare at her. “What? She served you, babe. You’re done. Congrats, you’re dead.”
“I can’t be dead, I’m fucking blessed,” Taako shoots back at her. He turns back to the Raven Queen. “Thanks, though. Sorry I thought you were gonna murder my kid.”
“It’s a reasonable assumption,” the Raven Queen tells him. “I’m glad to hear you are so cautious and protective. It can be a difficult world. Don’t trust every deity who crosses your path.”
“Believe me, we don’t,” Magnus chimes in. “Just, like, some.”
“…Okay,” the Raven Queen answers. “I don’t— Don’t do that. Don’t trust deities.”
“Okay,” Magnus agrees, easily. “But— I mean, Istus is still cool, right?”
“Oh, my— Yes, she’s cool, just— Be careful, is all I’m saying,” the Raven Queen tells him. Magnus grins up at her, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“Sounds good,” Magnus says. The Raven Queen turns back to Taako.
“I will be here, if ever you are in need,” the Raven Queen says. “I do want to tell you something, though.”
“Yeah, what’s up?” Taako asks. He’s not looking at her, too busy turning Wyatt around, licking his thumb and trying to clean the god-blood off Wyatt’s face.
“I can grant blessings of all sorts to my reapers,” the Raven Queens says. Taako nods, doesn’t look up. “All sorts,” she repeats. Taako nods again. “Births, deaths. Marriages.”
Taako’s hand freezes. He lifts his head, raises an eyebrow at her. Kravitz would’ve choked, if he had any air in his lungs.
“We’ll get back to you on that, kemosabe, don't rush me,” Taako says. The Raven Queen inclines her head.
“Take your time,” she tells him. She opens a portal behind them. “You have all of it in the world.”
Taako nods, gives her a wave, and basically leaps through the portal with Wyatt. Barry follows, and Lup, and Magnus. Kravitz lingers for a moment.
“Thank you,” Kravitz says. “That was— more than I ever would have asked for.”
“You do not need to ask,” the Raven Queens says. “I will do this for you, and for myself, as well.”
Kravitz inclines his head again, and the Raven Queen does the same in return. He steps through her portal, and she seals it behind them, all of them in the living room. Kravitz walks right into the middle of Lucretia frantically explaining the bloody, disembodied hand, and Magnus trying to talk over her to explain it.
“So, bruh, thinking of getting married?” Lup asks over the discussion. Taako shakes his head, holds a hand up into her face.
“Nope, we’re not fucking talking about this right now, I’m so overwhelmed I just wanna— wanna fucking bury myself in the garden, this is a conversation for another day,” Taako tells her, and Lup backs off, still grinning. She winks at Kravitz and goes to help Barry and Magnus with Lucretia. Kravitz hesitantly approaches Taako.
“I’m sorry,” Kravitz says. Taako just shakes his head.
“I should’ve trusted you,” Taako tells him. “Wasn’t chill of me to freak out like that. I shoul—”
“No, Taako, that was— You did what you should’ve done,” Kravitz says. “It was completely rational. Don’t apologize.”
“I’m fucking not,” Taako tells him. “I’m just saying, I should’ve trusted you. I’m not apologizing for being a little overprotective when the fucking death goddess wanted to bring my son to death-world for a pop quiz on his fucking reaper powers.”
“That’s—” Kravitz starts to say, but Taako looks up at him, and the rest of Kravitz’s protest dies in his mouth. “I mean, that’s— Yeah. Never mind. It’s okay.”
Taako nods. He steps forward, and Kravitz takes the opportunity to wrap his arms around him and Wyatt, and he feels relieved, lets the emotion course through him and let him finally chill the fuck out, now that Taako is safe and isn’t pissed or afraid of him.
“I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to him,” Taako says. “I know you wouldn’t.”
“I know,” Kravitz says.
“I’m just scared.”
“I know,” Kravitz repeats. Taako turns his face into Kravitz’s chest, takes a deep breath, then pulls away again.
“Someone else is making dinner tonight, because I certainly the fuck am not,” Taako announces. Lup is already heading for the kitchen.
“I’m making burgers, who the fuck wants one?” Lup asks the room, and Taako rolls his eyes.
“You always make ‘em wrong, I’ll just do it so you don’t burn them—”
Kravitz watches them squabble, watches Magnus try to clean blood off of his children, watches Lucretia and Barry speak in low, frantic tones to each other. The vows feel warm, in the room; he feels safe, for the time being.
“Oh, Jesus,” Taako says, and Wyatt is reaching for the air, his tiny fingers cutting a little hole into the Ethereal Plane.
“No, we don’t do that,” Kravitz says, taking Wyatt’s hand and pulling it back, closing the rift. Wyatt fusses, pulling his hand away and turning back into Taako’s chest. Kravitz looks up at Taako’s face, and he’s grinning.
“Fucking figures,” is all Taako says, and Kravitz smiles back at him. Yeah, it does fucking figure.