Chapter Text
It’s been a year and a half since Taako last regressed.
Which he knows from his twin sister not-so-kindly plowing into his bed, jumping until he woke up, and informing him as much.
Next thing he knew, Lup was pulling made-up Starblaster authority and waving a coupon in his face. “Good for one indefinite bout of tiny time when you’re feeling too insecure/scared/whatever to regress yourself.” Why he ever thought writing those coupons would be a good idea, he never knew. He doesn’t even remember when he last had the ones meant for Lup, but obviously, she still had his, and she intended to use them whenever necessary.
He’s terrified, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to try. For Lup’s sake.
If she thinks this is going to help, there isn’t a force on earth that’s going to stop her. Honestly, he’s shocked it took her this long to get all fake-authoritative with him.
And he really is making an effort. As bossy as his sister is, he knows he still has a say, and admittedly he wants this too. He put on his favorite pajamas the night before to help put himself in the mindset, but it hasn’t really worked. It only worked to make him feel more vulnerable. Now all that’s left is to play the waiting game.
He and Lup both have a habit of waking up noon-ish, so he curls in bed and feigns sleep at eleven-thirty sharp. It would make her happier to scoop up a sleepy baby then a near-frantic adult anyhow.
He doesn’t know when, but somewhere in the midst of feigning sleep, he actually manages to drift off and is only awoken by the feeling of someone softly running their fingers through his hair.
Lup smiles down at him. “Good morning, baby brother.”
It’s been so long since he last regressed, everything feels like a distant memory, but those words bring it all rushing back. Their time on the Starblaster, and at the academy before that. She always got such a kick out of referring to him as her “baby brother.” It didn’t matter if he was in an older headspace, or if she was tiny too. Taako was her baby brother, and that was that.
“Morning,” he mutters, curling up tighter underneath the blankets. It’s a cute move he makes for her sake. That’s it. Nothing more.
She gives him a strange look, one he can’t quite decipher, but the gentle curve of her lips has to mean it’s okay.
“We’re gonna have so much fun today,” she continues. As she speaks, she gingerly peels back the comforter, exposing him to the slight chill of the open air. “Barry and I have pulled out all the stops. It’s gonna be really special.” With a grin, she snaps the elastic band on her wrist, and Taako bolts upright.
She’s going to braid his hair!
No one in the world can braid his hair quite like Lup can. She always has a way of styling his hair just right, twisting it just enough to give him pretty curls, pulling it tight enough that it’ll hold all day but loose enough that it doesn’t hurt his scalp.
“Kravitz had to go out for a mission, but he’ll be back in a few days.” Lup tells him. “He’s very excited to see his moppet again.”
Taako tries to not let the smile drop from his face. Great. Now he had people that were going to be disappointed when he didn’t regress. Because he could fake all he wanted, but it was only a matter of time before Lup saw right through him.
Her fingers snag in his hair, pulling to a gradual stop in his tangles. “Hey.” Her voice is quiet, barely above a whisper. This is her quiet-time voice, her secret-sharing voice. That’s how he knows he has to listen. “It’ll be okay,” she promises.
The words hang in the air, rife with unspoken promises. What she and Barry would do to keep him safe, whoever they’d have to hurt was inconsequential. His brain flashes back to Edward, his spectral form reduced to ash and spat out of the Umbra Staff. Stuff like that was easy street. But who was going to protect him from his own stupid brain?
“I know. Just leave everything to me, okay?” He feels a little tug on the back of his head. “There we go!” Her voice pitches back up to baby-talk tone. “All done!”
Taako manages a smile as he pulls the braid over one shoulder. Just as suspected, the end is secured with a butterfly clip. Not that Lup would ever give him any other clip, but he still has to make sure, just in case.
He runs his finger over the plastic pattern. The extra paint and glitter wore off decades ago, and all that remains is the blue plastic mold and the world’s most resilient rhinestone. When he first got his memory back, he was worried it was lost forever. After all, it was one of those things forever in Lup’s possession. It takes some of the weight off his chest just to have it here.
“Alright, you have all day to gawk at your accessories.” Lup jokes. He lets out a squeak of surprise as she sweeps him up onto her hip. “It’s time for breakfast!”
“I can walk, you know.” Taako pouts. Not that he wants to, but he doesn’t particularly appreciate being manhandled either, thank you very much.
“Oh, hush. You know you love it.” Lup teases.
“There he is.” Barry beams at them when they enter. He’s got a mug of coffee in one hand, so the entire kitchen smells of it. “You better be ready for the best damn pancakes you’ve ever had!”
Lup is quick to add when Barry turns his back, “Please give him this. He tried his best,” before depositing him in the nearest chair.
Barry made pancakes just for him? Taako can’t help getting a little excited. Barry never cooks, worming his way out of it by puffing up Lup and Taako’s egos, saying how they’re so much better anyway. It really has to mean something if he made breakfast by himself.
As Lup and Barry shuffle around plates and glasses, a raven swoops in and settles on the open window, watching him curiously.
Taako casts a cautious glance at his sister. She’s distracted for the time being, so it wouldn’t hurt if he went over just to check it out, right?
He plods over to the window, but surprisingly the raven stands its ground. If anything, it looks rather curious. It tilts its head at him, so he tilts his head back. The raven blinks, then turns its head the other way. With a grin on his face, Taako does the same.
“You like the birdies, Koko?”
Taako’s face burns as he notices Lup eyeing him strangely. “Just remind me of Krav, is all,” he mumbles.
Lup coos, playfully pinching his cheek. She doesn’t even blink when he scowls and pulls away. “Special gift from the Raven Queen herself. When I told her Barry and me were taking the day off for you, she wanted to know if there was any way she could help. I had no idea she liked you so much.”
“She used to watch Krav and me when we regressed together,” Taako admits. It’s so weird to put his regression in the past tense, but that’s the only way he can describe it now that it’s been so long. She probably doesn’t even remember how Taako liked to rest his cheek against her knee while she sang to him.
Lup coos again. “Precious!”
Barry grins. “These birds are playing watchdog for the day. If anything that isn’t supposed to be here takes one step over the fence, we’ll hear about it.”
Lup wiggles her fingers ominously. “Maybe if we’re fast enough we’ll get to see the ravens pecking out their eyes.”
Taako giggles, because there’s no way the Raven Queen would let her ravens be that mean. She’s actually really nice, even if no one believes him when he says as much. When he and Krav used to crash at her place, she’d always send them off with a few extra treats and trinkets.
It’s only now that he’s realizing just how much he misses her.
“Hey, now, no sad faces at the breakfast table.” Barry chides as he sets the table.
Taako instinctively straightens his spine. “Uh, sorry.”
There’s a second where neither of them answer, where they look too stunned to offer a response. Taako realizes he messed up a second to early, because when does Taako of all people apologize? He shuffles back to his spot at the table, head down, and prays neither of them bring it up.
Lup recovers first. “No worries, baby brother. We take this as a challenge.” She gestures to the plate in front of him. “Now eat. We don’t got all day, munchkin.”
His pancakes are cut into cartoon characters he doesn’t recognize. They look cute and all, but does Barry not know that you can skip the extra work and just make patterns in the batter itself? He glances over at Barry’s plate to see it’s full of pancake scraps and realizes, of course he didn’t.
Taako tilts his fork appreciatively in Barry’s direction. “Choice, my man.”
Barry turns a delighted shade of pink and averts his eyes. “You really think so? I know I’m kinda outclassed when it comes to cooking in this house, but today was special and I knew I had to do something. Can’t let Lup show me up, you know?”
Taako snickers behind his fork. “Wow, Lup, already letting him show you up? How are you going to recover?”
Lup fondly rolls her eyes. “Oh, just shut up and eat your pancakes.”
Regressed or not, maybe today won’t be so bad.