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Taako spent New Year’s Eve draped across a sofa, a glass of champagne in one hand and a potsticker in the other.
It was late but not yet the new year, and the house was…
Comfortable.
It was warm inside, a fire rolling in the hearth and blankets piled high on every surface, and loud. Magnus was talking to Carey in the corner, and even after 112 years and ninja rogue training, he only had one volume setting, and that was loud as shit . There was music playing from one of Barry’s recording coins, something upbeat and a bit funky. Merle was laughing, somewhere, and someone had busted out a ukulele or something, and Lup was banging around in the kitchen, incapable of sitting still for even a second.
It was loud, and warm, and bright .
It was something Taako hadn’t known he was missing, something he never thought he’d have again.
He felt loose and content as he sat on the sofa, happy to just drink in silence and bask in the knowledge that he was surrounded by his family.
That was something that had changed since The Day of Story and Song. He would’ve never sat at a party before. He would’ve never sat alone and smiled as things went on around him. He used to take every opportunity to dance, to flirt, to fill up the space and ensure that everyone’s eyes were on him, desperate to be in the centre of attention, to be noticed.
To be accepted.
To be cared about.
He didn’t know if the change was a sign of maturity (ew) or not, but he did like it, feeling secure in his place even without everyone saying it.
“Champagne any good?” Kravitz asked, sinking down in the seat beside him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
“Eh,” Taako replied with a shrug and a smile that was actually more of a smirk. “I’ve had better.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Kravitz whispered, leaning in closer and closer still. “A hundred years traveling the universe, I’m sure you’ve had the best of just about everything.”
“Just about,” Taako agreed, his hand coming up to trace Kravitz’s jaw.
Kravitz grinned, finally closing the gap between them, narrowing the distance, filling the space with breath he didn’t need as his soft, cool lips pressed against Taako’s.
“Get a damn room!” Magnus yelled, and somewhere in the house, someone whistled.
Taako didn’t care, smiling into the kiss and dragging Kravitz closer by the lapels until something hit him in the back of the head.
“Hey! What the fuck?” Taako shouted, scowling as he looked in the direction of the launched projectile—a red plastic cup—and saw Lup, smiling as she wielded a sleeve of disposable cups.
“Stop making out with my boss you perv!” she yelled.
“You’re just jealous because my goth nerd is hotter than yours—”
He was cut off by another hit from another plastic cup.
“ Errrr , false, wrong, incorrect, I hate you,” Lup said, pulling another cup from the sleeve and raising it, ready to launch.
“You know, using plastic is actually really bad for the environment, and we should all strive to cut down our plastic waste—”
“So you want me to throw an actual glass at you is what I’m hearing.”
“No!”
“Then get off of Krav’s lap, or I swear to gods —”
“Fine, okay, alright, sheesh. So glad my last memories of this year we’ve all shared are going to be of my very own beloved twin sister threatening and assaulting me, that’s great, love that,” Taako grumbled, rolling his eyes and sliding off of Kravitz’s lap.
Magnus laughed and Lup grinned and Taako could see Barry peering around her shoulder, his glasses crooked and his face red in a way that suggested that maybe Lup was currently being a massive fucking hypocrite .
Which.
Gross-a-rooni.
But it was…
Nice.
It was nice to have them here—to have all of them here, Merle flirting with some fucking petunias somewhere, Killian sitting next to Carey, who had her head on her wife’s shoulder, Angus asleep upstairs because he’s still just a little boy and he needs sleep to grow , Davenport sitting in the seat across from the sofa Taako was currently occupying, even Lucretia was around somewhere, not yet forgiven but still cared for, still family, still safe —at the end of the year.
The end of the year. A year safe. A year happy. A year without running or fighting or fretting or anxiously looking over shoulders.
Taako let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.
This was it, he thought as he looked around the room.
This was the sort of thing people wrote fairytales about.
He’d made it, somehow, impossibly, to his own happily ever after.
He’d made it home.