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“Right, how do I look?” Magnus extended his arms, ready for appraisal.
Taako cast a critical eye up and down his body. He was wearing his new suit – Taako had insisted that he buy a new suit – deftly fitted and tailored to his body, with a crisp, pale blue shirt and a grey tie. He looked good; suits always looked good on Magnus, if you could convince him to put one on.
But it was impossible not to notice the wrinkles around his eyes, now, or the grey hair that had, once upon a time, been a bright copper colour. He’d lost some of the bulk of his muscles over the years, the suit clinging less than it would have done twenty years ago.
“Remember that time Lup roped us into that casino thing?” He said, walking around Magnus so he could look at him from every angle, trying not to linger on that thought.
“Of course.”
“Back when you thought that a ‘suit with the arms ripped off’ was suitable evening wear?”
Magnus chuckled. “I stand by that."
Taako leant back on one foot. "You look good, babe. What about me?”
Magnus stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around him. “You look beautiful.” He kissed him. “As usual.” He kissed him again.
Taako rolled his eyes. “Oh, you’re too much. Go on?"
Magnus grinned and kissed him once more. Taako let himself relax beneath his touch, then had a sudden thought. He broke away and span around to check the clock on the wall.
"Shit. We’re gonna be late.“
"We won’t be late…”
“Not risking it, this time! Come on, we gotta go… and grab the invite!”
Magnus sighed. “Why do we need the invite? They know who we are!”
“Grab it anyway, come on."
The invitation had been pinned to the board in the kitchen for six months and now lay on the desk in their hotel room. "Carey and Killian Fangbattle are delighted to invite you to the wedding of their daughter, Amala Fangbattle, to Adrel Caskstone." Neither of them could really believe that Amala – little Amala who’d run around their garden in the rain, who’d tried, with mixed success, to ride the wolfhound around the house like a horse – was actually getting married. Carey and Killian’s wedding, the final fight against the Hunger… that felt like a lifetime ago now. For Amala, it really was.
Magnus grabbed the invite, stuffing it in his jacket pocket, following Taako out of the room.
***
The wedding was beautiful – of course. Taako sat with Magnus on one side and Kravitz on the other – he’d arrived just minutes before the wedding had started, trailing Barry and Lup behind him, muttering about barely getting out of work in time. It had been months since Taako had seen this many of his friends in one room – years, perhaps. Even Merle had made it, flanked by Mavis and Mookie.
After the ceremony, Magnus and Taako stood to one side of the room, trying not to get in the way. The Reapers – as they’d taken to calling Barry, Lup and Kravitz – had gone off to raid the cocktail bar, all three of them cagily avoiding questions about a hard day at work.
There was a flurry of silk and lace and scales. "Uncle Magnus!”
Even now, Magnus was still able to pick up the squealing dragon-born, although not perhaps as energetically as he might once have.
“Amala! You look amazing.”
“Aw, you gotta say that.”
“You do! And it was a lovely ceremony, really. I cried.”
“You always cry, dummy. You cried when I graduated.”
“And that was lovely too!”
Amala rolled her eyes at him. She spotted Taako watching them and broke off the hug, grinning.
“Taako! You made it!”
“Natch, I wouldn’t miss the big event, would I?”
“Did you guys bring Krav?”
“Oh, yeah, he managed to sneak out and meet us here. Barry and Lup too; I think they’re at the cocktail bar.”
“Of course they are.” She smiled, sighed, then gave Magnus’ hand a quick squeeze. “I’ve gotta go mingle, you know how it is. Don’t forget we’re doing photos in an hour, I want you in at least half of them okay?”
“Okay, Lala.”
“Uncle Magnus!” She squeaked, blushing at the old nickname.
“Go on, go mingle."
Amala retreated, her skirts bouncing around her as she skipped towards another group of people. Taako waited till she was gone, then sidled up to Magnus. He slipped his hand in his.
"Hey, big guy.”
Magnus smiled, a little sadly. “Hey.”
“You’re not gonna get all emotional on me, are you?”
Magnus laughed and hurriedly wiped a tear from his eye. “Maybe. It’s just…” he sniffed, noisily. Taako pulled out the little wad of tissue he’d brought with him with him – knowing this would happen – and passed it to him. He blew his nose noisily. “Man, I remember when her moms got married, dude. And now she’s all…” He sighed, “She’s all grown up!”
Taako looked up at him. Looked at the wrinkles, at the grey hair. “Yeah, she is.”
“And, shit, I am old, Taako.”
“Nah, you’re not.”
“I am! It’s the worst.”
“You still look fine as hell, if that helps.” He squeezed his hand, but wasn’t sure if he was doing a good job of reassuring him.
“Hah, thanks. It must be nice to live hundreds of years and look like a total god for like, six hundred of them.”
“It’s alright. It has its downsides.”
“I can’t imagine what they could be.”
Taako leant against him, winding his other hand around his arm. “No, I guess you can’t.”
“Come on, I wanna go find Carey and Killian and tell 'em how nice that was…”
They headed towards the reception room, Taako still hanging from Magnus’ arm, and found Carey and Killian – both looking relieved, if tired. Taako hung by the edge of the conversation for a while, before giving Magnus’ hand a final squeeze.
“I’m gonna go see if I can find Lup, babe. I’ll be back in a bit.”
He did not go to find Lup. He sequestered himself at the back of the room, back pressed against the wall, watching Magnus animatedly chatting to their old friends. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and a tall, fizzing glass of champagne was pressed into his hand.
“You alright?” Kravitz stood next to him, another glass in his own hand.
“Yeah.”
“Are you alright? Really?”
He swallowed, looked down at the swirling bubbles in the glass. “…No. Fucking… humans, man. They’re so fucking fragile.”
He turned away, turned to face the wall, hoping no one else would spot the tears that were suddenly threatening to overcome him. Kravitz tugged the glass back from him as Taako pressed a hand against his mouth, trying to force the emotion back in, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Okay, come with me,”
Kravitz deposited the full glasses on the tray of a passing waiter, grabbed Taako’s hand and gently dragged him out of the room, towards the lobby. He guided him to the balcony, quietly shutting the doors behind him.
Taako leant against the railing of the balcony, staring out at Neverwinter below them.
“Talk to me, Taako.”
Taako shook his head furiously, biting on his lip, keeping the feeling trapped inside.
“It’s me, come on.” He stood next to him and placed his hand over Taako’s where it was resting on the cool stone. “I love him too, you know. Maybe not in quite the same way you do, but…”
That was all it took. Taako couldn’t keep it inside any longer – couldn’t keep the hot, horrible feeling in his chest. The tears fell freely now, and all that came out of his mouth was a series of strangled, gasping sobs. Kravitz wrapped him up in his arms, holding him close.
After a few minutes, his shoulders stopped shaking. He muttered something into Kravitz’s chest.
“What was that?” He extended his arms, looking at him.
“I’m gonna ruin my fucking makeup."
Kravitz laughed and pulled a neatly pressed handkerchief out of his pocket, passing it to him. "I figured you’d need this today."
"Gee, thanks.” Taako took the hanky and dabbed at his eyes, then blew his nose. “This sucks. It’s a wedding! I’m supposed to be out there enjoying myself, not…” he shoved the hanky into his pocket, “…not crying on the balcony. Urgh."
Kravitz gave him a soft look. "Everyone cries at weddings.”
“Not cos they're…” He took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart, “Not because they’re having a fucking existential crisis about their human boyfriend’s mortality!"
"Babe, if you think people don’t have existential crises at weddings, then you have not been to enough weddings.”
Taako laughed, pressing his forehead to Kravitz’s shoulder. “What do I do?”
“Go to more weddings.”
“No! What do I do now? About… about him?”
Kravitz took a step back, grabbing Taako by the shoulders, forcing him to look at him.
“What you do is you go back out there, and you enjoy Amala’s wedding. You drink, you eat, you dance – and you have fun. All night. With him. You take every second and you enjoy them all until there’s no more seconds left.”
Taako could feel the tears starting to form again, but Kravitz reached up and brushed them away with his thumbs.
“Humans are amazing, and exciting, and brilliant, and they are so, so small. You have to make the most of every moment. Don’t let yourself get tangled up thinking about the future. All that matters is now.”
Taako nodded, silently chewing on his lip. “What about you?” He said, finally.
“What about me? I love weddings! All of our friends are here, and Angus has brought the kids, and afterwards we’re all going back to the hotel together. You and me? We’re going to go to so many weddings, Taako. I cannot imagine how many weddings we’re going to go to. This is just one. I think I can take a step back for one night, don’t you?”
“You sure?”
“Of course. But I will be cashing in dances with the both of you. This is a wedding, after all.”
Taako smiled. He took a deep breath. “Okay. You’re right. But… urgh, one sec…” He cast a quick spell, restoring his makeup, vanishing the tears and the redness. “Better?”
“There wasn’t anything wrong before.”
“Yeah, but this is better, right?”
“You look gorgeous.”
“Of course. Right.” He leant up and gave Kravitz a quick kiss. “Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need it. But good luck.”
Taako pushed open the doors of the balcony and headed back into the reception room. As he entered, a pair of dark-haired children rushed by, screaming, chased by a harassed looking Angus. He gave a quick wave as Angus dashed past, then made a bee-line for Magnus.
He turned around as Taako pressed a hand onto his shoulder.
“Hey! Where’d you go?” His smile drooped, slightly. “Are you okay? You look… kinda not okay?”
“I’m fine, babe.” Taako waved away his concern, swallowing back the flood inside him, “Just, weddings, you know?”
“Hah, yeah, I know.” He wrapped an arm around Taako’s waist, and he automatically pressed into him, leaning against his chest. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go enjoy this wedding, shall we?”
They grabbed a couple of drinks and wandered into the crowd. There were a lot of familiar faces at the wedding – people from the BoB days, people from the IPRE days. People they’d met and folded into their lives since the day they’d defeated the Hunger over thirty years ago.
There was a call from somewhere in the back for photographs, and they found themselves bundled into various configurations, the photographer snapping away. Magnus did as he’d promised, posing in all the photos Amala forced him into, smiling. Even Taako was lagging by the end – but Magnus stood, shining, grinning the whole time. Before the photographer had a chance to pack away his things, Amala had insisted on photos for groups too – “so everyone has something to remember the day with”, she said.
Taako found himself sandwiched between Magnus and Kravitz – their arms linked – smiling despite the niggling, gnawing feeling in his chest. And as soon as the photo was done, Kravitz had ducked away, insisting the photographer take a photo of just him and Magnus. He clung onto his arm, forcing himself to smile, focusing on the feeling of Magnus’ soft, warm skin beneath his fingers.
The wedding passed in a blur. There was food, there were drinks. Taako stuck to Magnus’ side the whole night, their hands twined together, laughing and joking with their friends.
Finally, the band struck up, and they watched with the rest as Amala and Adrel waltzed across the room. Soon, the slow-paced dance was abandoned, and Amala grabbed Adrel by the waist, spinning her around, both of them laughing. Then they began to beckon other dancers onto the floor. Amala grabbed Carey and Killian, Adrel grabbed her best man and his partner. Soon the room was full of dancing couples. Carey reached out and grabbed Magnus, heaving him onto the dance floor, dragging Taako along with him.
Neither of them were great dancers – dancing was more Kravitz’s remit – unable to keep up with even a basic waltz. Magnus took Taako by the hand, placing his other hand on his waist, and they span around the room laughing, pretending they knew what they were doing. Lost in the dance and the music, Taako felt like he was a teenager again, like all that time had never passed.
He stared up at Magnus’ sparkling eyes. The rest of him had changed – his body had become leaner, his hair grey, his freckled face wrinkled from years of laughing. But his eyes – giant, dark, honest – remained untouched. Magnus stared at Taako with the same expression he wore when they’d danced together at Carey and Killian’s wedding, the same expression he’d given him when they’d defeated the Hunger. The same eyes that he’d locked onto in the tavern when they’d both been seeking Gundren Rockseeker, the same eyes that he’d stared into on wild, unimaginable planes, a century of moments stolen away and remembered again.
He hadn’t even realised the song had ended until Magnus let go of his hand.
“Taako? You good?”
He blinked. “Oh. Yeah. I was…” he shook his head, “I was distracted. Sorry.” The band struck up for the next song. “Shall we?”
“Okay,” Magnus laughed, “But you’re leading this time.”
“I always lead, baby.”
They danced two more songs together before parting, before being pulled away by others. Taako found himself dancing with Lup, twirling away, while Carey was insisting on a dance with Magnus. Taako extracted himself from the floor to get more champagne, and returned to find Magnus with one of Angus’ little girls balancing on the tops of his feet, giggling. Later, Kravitz danced with them both – as promised – Taako, Lup and Barry standing to the edge of the dance floor and laughing as Magnus tried to keep up with Kravitz’s intricate steps, before giving up, grabbing him around the waist and dipping him.
The night was long, and joyful. Taako smiled as he looked out across his friends and family, glad that the walls he’d carefully built around himself for so long had been knocked down. As midnight approached, he rose from the table they’d been hovering around and walked back out onto the balcony, into the cool night air.
He was staring up at the stars, remembering how the sky had looked that day the Hunger had come, when there was a hand on the small of his back.
“Hey.”
He turned. “Hey.”
Magnus leant on the balcony, looking out at the view, at the stars, at the twinkling lights of Neverwinter. “It’s really beautiful out here.”
“Yeah. It is."
"I, ah… Taako, are you sure you’re alright? You’ve seemed kinda… sad… this evening?”
Taako sighed. “I’m okay. Really.”
Magnus wrapped an arm around him. Taako leant in, pressed himself against him, letting his hands rest against his chest, his head tucked into the crook of Magnus’ neck. They stayed like that for a while – Taako listening to Magnus’ breathing, to the beat of his heart, reminding himself that it was a strong as it ever was. He could feel a familiar pricking at his eyes. Willing it to stop, he pulled away and looked up at Magnus.
He didn’t even need to be crying – Magnus could read the distress on his face regardless. “You know, if you wanna-”
“Magnus.” He cut him off. “I just wanna be here. With you. Right now.”
Magnus smiled – he always understood, somehow, always just knew. Taako pressed a hand against his face, brushing his thumb against the fine, white scar that split his upper lip. His eyes and his scars: neither of them ever changed.
Before Magnus could say anything else, he leant forwards and kissed him, softly pressing their lips together. He felt Magnus’ hands move to his waist, the way they had done countless times before, and let his eyes close. That was another thing that never changed. Magnus had kissed him like this a hundred times – a thousand – his lips and the feel of his body as familiar to Taako as his own.
He smiled against Magnus’ mouth and then, without warning, without being able to stop himself, there were tears silently trickling down his face. Magnus broke the kiss apart, gazed down at him, and without saying a word softly brushed the tears away. Taako put his hand against Magnus’, keeping it pressed against his cheek, staring into his eyes.
“Magnus, I…” He leant into Magnus’ hand and took a steadying breath. “…I love you.”
Magnus sighed, a half-laugh. “I love you too.” He brushed away another tear. “Obviously."
He leant down and kissed him again. The tears returned, thick and fast, running down his cheeks, spilling over Magnus’ hand.
From inside, they could hear the sound of music and laughing. Above them, the stars glittered in the perfect, unblemished sky. The world span on.