Chapter Text
Lucretia knew they were running out of time, and she was incredibly stressed out about it. The fact that Merle, Magnus, and Taako weren’t grasping the severity of the situation wasn’t helping, either. She knew it was mostly her fault, too. A direct result of erasing their memories. Still. It was exhausting.
Her mind whirled at what felt like a million miles an hour as she walked back to her office from Fisher’s chambers. Thankfully, it was fairly late, so not many people were milling around the moon base and bothering her with minor inconveniences.
She was so lost in her own thoughts she almost missed the sound of a rift being torn open around the corner. Almost.
Her grip on her white oak staff tightened, and she began to prepare a spell, her mind jumping to the worst conclusion.
Instead, she heard laughing.
She stopped preparing the spell, instead casting Arcane Eye to see what was going on.
Standing in the middle of the hallway was Taako and someone else. The other person, a half-elf, was holding a scythe and dressed in a rather nice black suit. A black cloak hung around Taako’s shoulders, seeming to glint if it caught the dim light in just the right way. It looked like it was made out of some sort of bird feathers.
Lucretia didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that that was a reaper serving under the Raven Queen. But what did he want with Taako? The boys had mentioned meeting a reaper while in Lucas’s crystallized lab, but could this be the same one? Was he going to try and drag Taako back to the Raven Queen’s domain? Taako, though he acted dumb, was smarter than that. She had a few guesses as to what they had been doing out so late together, but she needed to know for certain whether or not she needed to jump around the corner, staff blazing.
“Alright, Bones, I’ll admit that the restaurant wasn’t that bad. Next time, though, I’m going to cook for you. Trust me, kemosabe, it’ll blow your fuckin’ mind,” Taako promised with a grin.
The reaper chuckled, a fond smile appearing on his face. “If my mind isn’t blown, I’ll be severely disappointed.” He paused, pursing his lips. “When will I get to see you again?”
Taako thought about it for a moment, toying with the edge of the feathered cloak around his shoulders. “Tomorrow night?” He asked, trying and failing to hide the hopeful undertone in his voice.
“Don’t you have training tomorrow night?” The reaper questioned, furrowing his brow.
Taako waved a hand. “I’ll come up with some bullshit to get out of it. Training will keep those two chucklefucks out of the suite. Get ready for some one-on-one time with Taako, babe.” He winked.
The reaper started to protest, but Taako cut him off effectively by grapping the lapels of his suit jacket and pulling him in for a kiss. Lucretia felt awkward intruding on such a moment, but she didn’t want to risk dismissing the invisible eye just yet. Taako was vulnerable; a perfect opportunity to drag him off.
The reaper didn’t seem to even think of that. He responded to the sudden embrace enthusiastically, his scythe disappearing before he wrapped his arms around Taako’s waist.
When Taako finally broke away, he smoothed the lapels of his jacket back down. The reaper stooped down to pick up the hat that had been knocked off Taako’s head, dusting it off.
“I’m keeping this till tomorrow,” Taako declared with a sly grin, gesturing to the cloak wrapped around his shoulders. “Or maybe forever. Haven’t decided yet.”
“I’ll need it back eventually, love,” the reaper answered with a laugh. He pressed a kiss to Taako’s forehead, then returned his hat to his head. “Goodnight, Taako. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Taako’s face softened as he smiled at the reaper. Lucretia hadn’t seen him look like that since… well, she couldn’t remember. Sometime in the hundred years on the Starblaster. “6 o’clock sharp, or I’ll march to the Astral Plane and raise hell. Don’t underestimate me, Skeletor.”
The reaper laughed again and brushed a thumb against Taako’s cheek. Then, without another word, he summoned his scythe once more and tore open another rift. He cast a final glance back at Taako before he stepped through and disappeared. The rift closed behind him.
Taako lingered for a few moments afterward, the same soft smile on his face. Then he shook himself out of whatever daze he was in, turned on his heel, and disappeared around the corner at the opposite end of the hall.
Lucretia dismissed the invisible eye, and leaned against the wall. Taako hadn’t been reliable with any training since arriving on the moon base. In the past few months, it had gotten worse. Now she knew why.
It’s not that she wasn’t happy for Taako. She was. He deserved to have someone in his life that made him soften up and let his guard down. It was just terrible timing, that’s all. She needed Taako to be on top of his game. One wrong move during a mission, and it’s game over for Taako. And this time, it would be forever. No more redos.
She knew she needed to do something about this reaper. He was too much of a distraction. She had already taken so much from Taako, but she knew that if it came down to it, she might need to alter his memories even more. She really didn’t want to, but it might end up being a necessity. Hopefully she could find another solution.
‘I’m doing it for his sake,’ Lucretia thought to herself as she entered her quarters. ‘For Lup’s sake. At least one of them needs to survive. Please let at least one of them survive.’
***
The Bureau had wards in place to help protect against the undead. The Raven Queen’s reapers must not be considered dead, judging by the ease he had coming and going. There’s no telling how often the reaper visited. It also seemed like he could think past the voidfish static. As far as she knew, Taako hadn’t secretly inoculated him, though she wouldn’t put it past him.
Her night was spent pacing restlessly, with a few attempts at fitful sleep, trying to figure out the best course of action. Very first thing the next morning, she headed to the library and gathered as many books as she could about the Raven Queen, along with a few spellbooks about wards and shields. She dragged the books back to her office with the intention to spend the day researching a way to strengthen the wards around the base to keep out the reapers.
It didn’t get her very far.
From what she could find, the reapers could be considered dead or alive. It seemed to be a topic of hot debate between different scholars. When someone died before it was their time, the Raven Queen would give them a choice; serve her while continuing to exist after a fashion, or pass on peacefully. They had been killed, yes, but were they dead? It all made Lucretia’s head spin.
Until she could find something more solid, the best she could do was strengthen the wards that already existed and hope that would be enough to keep out the reaper.
It seemed like she would have to go with Plan B.
Lucretia glanced at the clock, sighed, and stood up. The boys should be in their final training session for the day by now. She grabbed her staff before leaving her office, holding her head high as she strode down the corridor.
Normally, she would have one or two people approach her as she walked through the hallways of the Bureau, but there must have been something in her face or her posture that warned people off today. Or maybe no one had stupid questions for her today. Either way, she didn’t care. Today, she was the one with the questions.
Upon arrival in the training gym, the flurry of activity stopped. Carey was on Magnus’s back, her arms wrapped around his neck in some sort of headlock. Noelle looked like she was about to swoop in for a sneak attack on Merle. Killian was sitting off to the side, swapping out her crossbow bolts for training ones (they had mini boxing gloves on the tips instead of regular arrowheads).
“Where’s Taako?” Lucretia asked.
Magnus shrugged to the best of his ability. “He said he wasn’t feeling well. Merle offered to heal him, but Taako said he would throw up on us if we tried to come into his room.”
Lucretia pursed her lips some. So he hadn’t been kidding the night before.
“Do you need to talk to him? We can totally break into his room. I can cast Zone of Truth on him to get some answers!” Merle suggested excitedly. Everyone else in the room groaned collectively.
“Thank you, Merle, but no. I believe him,” she lied easily. “I do have a question for you, though. Have you run into the reaper from Lucas Miller’s lab again recently?”
There were a few moments of silence before Noelle answered.
“He placed our bounties on hold for the time being. I certainly hope I don’t have to see him again anytime soon,” she said. Magnus and Merle nodded quickly in agreement.
That confirmed her suspicion. Taako had been hiding this relationship from, well, everyone. She couldn’t blame him. He liked his privacy.
Lucretia nodded. “Alright, then do any of you remember his name?”
Another moment of silence.
“The Grim Reaper?” Magnus half-answered, half-questioned.
“No, not his title, but his actual name,” Lucretia clarified, suppressing a sigh.
“Oh! It was Kyle, I think. Something like that.”
“No, it was Kayden, dumbass!” Merle interjected.
“I’m pretty sure he said it was Kyle!”
Carey jumped off Magnus’s back. “Wait, wasn’t it Kieran?”
It took all of Lucretia’s willpower to avoid putting her head in her hands. She should’ve known they wouldn’t remember—
“You’re all wrong!” Noelle said cheerfully, interrupting her train of thought. “It was Kravitz. Magnus made a stupid joke about his name being Lenny Kravitz.”
“Oh yeah, I did do that! He didn’t appreciate that,” Magnus chimed in.
“Are you one hundred percent sure it was Kravitz?” Lucretia asked. Her shoulders only relaxed after she’d been given a chorus of different confirmations. “Thank you. Continue with your training.”
She turned on her heel and walked out of the gym.
“Why do you think she needs to know?” She heard Magnus not-so-quietly whisper to the others.
“Who knows? Maybe she wants to recruit him or something,” Carey answered. “Everyone, back to starting positions!”
***
Taako sat at the vanity in his room, taking his sweet time getting ready. As he worked on doing his makeup, he also gave himself a bit of a pep talk.
“You’ll be fine,” he said firmly, jabbing a finger at his reflection. “The food will be fine. Glamour Springs wasn’t your fault. You won’t need to transmute anything tonight. Stop stressing out, dumbass. You’re just making a nice meal for your boyfriend.”
Even if the food somehow got poisoned, would it even affect Kravitz? Having a boyfriend who served the goddess of death was fucking weird. This sort of thing should come with a handbook or some shit. Taako was absolutely clueless when it came to certain aspects of his relationship with Kravitz.
He set down the brush in his hand and stared at his reflection, scrutinizing every little detail of his makeup. It had to be perfect. Tonight had to be perfect. Kravitz wouldn’t care either way, but Taako certainly would. He was starting to fall for Kravitz—hard. He refused to admit that to himself, though, let alone to the man in question. Every time he felt those feelings begin to surface before he was ready to process them like the adult he was, he mentally beat them back into their little box with a club. No one could know that he had actual feelings.
His gaze dropped to the cloak around his shoulders and a smile finds its way onto his lips. He drew it around himself more tightly. It was surprisingly warm and comfortable. At this point, he was seriously thinking about stealing it.
Satisfied with his makeup, he stood up and started looking for his favorite hat. He had planned tonight’s outfit around it.
In the process of doing so, he heard a tearing sound behind him. A moment later, a pair of cold arms snaked their way around his waist.
“Hello, love,” Kravitz murmured in his ear. A shiver ran down Taako’s back as a smile found its way onto his face. His heart skipped a beat, and his chest swelled with some sort of warm, mushy emotion. Gross.
“You’re early,” he answered, turning around in Kravitz’s arms to greet him with a quick kiss.
Kravitz shrugged. “That just means I get to spend more time with you.”
Taako snorted. “Cliché as fuck, Bones, that’s what you are. Now get out of my room, Taako’s still getting ready.”
His boyfriend laughed. “Whatever you say,” he answered simply before stealing another kiss.
Taako leaned into the kiss, lingering for a moment before pushing Kravitz away, toward the door with a shooing motion. Kravitz finally left, laughing softly the whole way out.
Once Kravitz was out the door, Taako slipped the cloak off. He changed out of the robes he had been wearing and into the outfit he had decided on a few hours prior; a dark purple vest worn over a see-through purple shirt, and a pair of black jeans. He was definitely putting too much effort into his outfit for dinner at home, but hey, he was nothing if not extra. He placed his favorite hat on his head, adjusting it to sit at just the right angle. He put the cloak back on, checking over his outfit in the mirror one last time. He hesitated before grabbing the umbrastaff, hooking it around his wrist. There. Much better.
Satisfied, he walked toward the door. A wave of cold air washed over him and he stumbled a little. He frowned as he straightened back up, glancing at the ground. His room was a bit of a mess, sure, but there hadn’t been anything on the ground. He shrugged, then walked out into the living room.
***
At the sound of Taako’s bedroom door opening, Kravitz looked up from the plant magazine he had found lying on the coffee table and started flipping through. He caught sight of Taako and smiled. He looked good. Really good. The fact that he was still wearing Kravitz’s cloak made his chest feel kinda funny. It suited him.
But then he caught Taako’s eye. He knew immediately that something was wrong. Taako was just staring at him, his eyes blank, like he was trying to remember something that was just barely out of reach.
“Taako? Are you alright, love?” Kravitz asked cautiously, standing up. He began to walk towards the elf, but stopped in his tracks when Taako raised the umbrastaff, leveling it at his chest. He laughed awkwardly, putting his hands up. “Is the umbrastaff acting up again?”
Part of Kravitz already knew the answer. On their first date (at least, he assumed it was their first date), when the umbrastaff acted up, he had sensed a strong necrotic presence. This time he didn’t sense any sort of arcane energy. At least, not yet. That could change very quickly depending on how the next few moments went.
“Taako?”
“Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my apartment?” Taako demanded, keeping the umbrastaff leveled at him. He was doing his best to hide it with determination, but Kravitz could see the confusion in his eyes.
Kravitz didn’t need to breathe, but hearing those words knocked the breath right out of his lungs. He chuckled nervously again, shifting his weight some. “Okay, haha, very funny. The classic ‘pretend-not-to-recognize-my-boyfriend’ prank. You got me good.”
Taako’s grip on the umbrastaff tightened, his expression hardening. “Get the hell out of my apartment, or I swear to the gods, I will kill you.”
Something about the tone of voice he was using made Kravitz realize he wasn’t kidding. He’d left Taako alone for less than ten minutes, and suddenly, his boyfriend didn’t know who he was anymore.
“Taako… it’s me, Kravitz. We’re—”
“Hey, thug, I don’t know how you’re doing that voidfish static, but it isn’t funny and it’s not a joke. Now get the fuck out. You have thirty seconds before I light you the fuck up.” Taako cut in.
Kravitz didn’t have the time to fully process any that. He closed his eyes, and took a deep, unnecessary breath. Then he began to hum, drawing on the bardic power within him. He hadn’t used this form of magic in a long time.
It took a moment for the spell to take hold, especially with Taako fighting against it, but Kravitz won out. He had no idea how well this would work, but he had to try. He quickly ushered Taako back into his room and got him tucked into bed, murmuring to him the entire time.
“You fell asleep. You don’t remember my arrival, and you don’t remember what just happened out there,” he whispered, feeling like his heart was breaking with every word.
Taako’s eyes were a little glassy, and he didn’t seem to be having any sort of reaction to what he was saying.
Kravitz bit his lip, wondering if he should try and take his cloak. Ultimately, he decided against it. He could get a new one from the Raven Queen, if needed. He also wanted to leave at least a little something of himself with the elf he’d fallen in love with.
Propping the umbrastaff up against the nightstand, he took one last look at Taako. Then he summoned his scythe and cut open a rift. It vanished right as the spell duration ended.
Kravitz, now back in the astral plane, buried his face in his hands. His chest felt tight.
What did Taako mean by voidfish static? Why couldn’t he remember who Kravitz was?
What the hell was going on?
***
‘Kravitz, reaper and bounty hunter in the Raven Queen’s retinue, and Taako’s boyfriend’
Lucretia stared at the slip of paper in her hands for a few moments, gathering up the courage to actually give it to the baby voidfish. She knew that when everything eventually came to light, Taako would be furious. He was never going to forgive her for this. First his sister, and now his boyfriend. At least, she assumed Kravitz was Taako’s boyfriend. It made the most sense after what she had witnessed in the hallway, but she supposed it could be a no strings attached or friends-with-benefits type situation. That sounded like it might be Taako’s style.
Before she could change her mind, she dropped the paper into the tank.
The voidfish’s tendrils wrapped around the slip of paper, consuming it fairly quickly. Lucretia watched as its bell lights up a few times, then stops. With a heavy sigh, she placed a hand on the tank for a moment, then turned away.
It was done.