Chapter Text
Everything happened so fast. Taako didn’t notice Sazed putting something extra in the sauce for his famous thirty garlic clove chicken, and apparently neither did the live studio audience. Grinning to the cameras as he plated the chicken, adding the savory sauce for the side, Taako took a big bite, then furrowed his brows. The sauce tasted much sweeter than it had just a few moments beforehand, but he didn’t think much of it.
“Could use a little salt to taste, but this is some damn good homemade chicken!” He did his usual review of the recipe, waving goodbye to the crowd, and headed offstage. Sazed caught up with him, looking him over expectantly.
“So, how’d I do this time? Good sauce, right?” He noticed Taako starting to look uncomfortable, placing a hand on his stomach.
“Actually, it was a little too sweet. Did you put some weird ingredient in when I… Wasn’t…” Taako trailed off, feeling his stomach start cramping even more. His hands started to shake and his head was spinning as he nearly collapsed in pain. His stomach convulsed violently and his heart began to race. “Fuck…” He muttered to himself as Lup rushed over from backstage to catch her brother.
“Koko, what’s wrong?” She brushed his hair back, looking him over worriedly. He winced in pain once more and his hands shook as he reached for the nearby trash can, emptying the contents of his stomach as the pain continued. “Can someone call an ambulance?!” Lup called out, trying to help Taako off of the set.
“I think… Something in the food…” He groaned, his head spinning even more. “Fucking christ, Sazed, what’d you do—“ Sazed took off before he could finish his sentence. Lup noticed a tiny bottle fall out of Sazed’s apron as he ran to the other side of the set and furrowed her brows as her brother’s trembling body collapsed. Lup kneeled beside him and picked up the bottle, seeing it labeled arsenic. She froze, jumping up and helping Taako to his feet.
“Shit, shit, shit.” She looked over to the stage manager to her left, who was currently on the phone. “Tell them it’s arsenic poisoning, I’ll try to get him to the front of the building.”
“Hey, let me help,” Taako’s best friend and self-appointed bodyguard Magnus ran over, carefully picking Taako up. Normally, Taako would’ve protested Magnus picking him up, but he could barely speak, let alone shove him away.
“Thanks, big guy…” Taako muttered, feeling like his mouth was full of marbles. His heart continued racing and he felt everything around him growing ever-blurrier. “Lulu…” He struggled to get out, weakly reaching towards his sister. “I love you…” He murmured, hoping it wasn’t the last time he’d be able to say it to her. She gave him a small smile, squeezing his hand.
“I know, I love you too. You’re gonna be okay, Koko. Don’t worry.” Her voice sounded hoarse, like she was holding back tears. His vision completely blurred and he went limp in Magnus’ arms.
Taako’s eyes fluttered open and he felt like his insides were burning. Which, to be fair, they probably had been. He gently pushed himself up in the hospital bed, feeling a stomach cramp as he shifted, and groaned. Lup looked up from her phone where she sat across the room and ran over, hugging him the best that she could from his position. He shakily wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder.
“Lulu, I don’t feel so hot…” Taako muttered. She gently rubbed his back, looking him over for a moment.
“It’s been almost two days, I was worried you were going to be out for a lot longer…” Lup kissed the top of his head. “Glad you’re awake, ‘Ko,”
“Two days? Feels like it was… I dunno, twenty minutes?” Taako furrowed his brows.
“Do you remember anything that happened before you lost consciousness?”
“Just that I did the show, Sazed asked how he was doing, and then everything went to shit and I threw up and felt like I was dying,” he leaned back in the bed once more. “I can’t remember if I’d passed out by then, but I think Mags carried me outside after that?"
“Yeah, that all happened.” She sat down on a chair beside the bed. “Sazed poisoned you, Taako. He put arsenic in the food and you were the only one who tasted it.”
“T-thank god it wasn’t a sample show…” He muttered to himself. “Did they find him? I know he took off while I was slightly dying.”
“They haven’t yet, but they’re on the lookout for him. And Mags promised that he’d stay at your apartment with you until they do catch him, just in case he was really out to get you.”
“Is Magnus here?” Taako tried pushing himself up again, then doubled over in pain. Lup brushed his hair out of his face, giving him a small smile.
“He’s in the waiting room with Barry and Ren. Only one of us was allowed to be in the room with you until you woke up, so you weren’t overwhelmed. Do you want me to let them know you’re up and asking about them?” Taako nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, I wanna see them. Let ‘em know I’m not dead,” he snorted. Lup left the room and his weak smile faded as he clutched his stomach uncomfortably. It wasn’t like it was sharp pain while he was sitting still, but it was a constant ache that carried on no matter how relaxed he made his position. He noticed Lup left a hair tie on the table beside his bed and he picked it up, pulling up his hair the best he could while his arms were trembling and his IV threatened to get tangled up in his bun. After struggling for a bit, he gave up and sighed. There was a soft knock on the door, and a familiar face peeked into the room.
“Hey, Mags,” Taako waved, yawning slightly. An expression of relief crossed Magnus’ face and he walked over to the seat Lup had abandoned by his bed, gently taking Taako’s hand.
“You feelin’ okay, Tay?” Magnus looked him over, trying to mask his worry.
“Eh, stomach feels like shit but I’m alive,” he squeezed Magnus’ hand. Taako moved to attempt to put his hair up again and whined in annoyance when his hands shook too badly. Magnus cracked a small smile, carefully taking the hair tie and pulling hair into a messy bun. “You don’t gotta worry about ol’ Taako, I’ll be up and bugging you for piggyback rides again in no time.”
“I’ll make sure I always offer my services as a human chauffeur. Get some cushy shoulder pads or somethin’ special to make it more comfy for you.” Magnus teased lightly. Taako noticed his expression was still slightly worried and he carefully pushed himself up, not breaking eye contact with Magnus.
“Hey, look at me, buddy… I’m okay, I’ll make it out of here,” he gently brushed Magnus’ hair out of his face. “I know the last time someone you cared about was in my position, it didn’t end well. But I promise you you’re not gonna lose your best friend too.” Taako felt his stomach turn and clenched his jaw slightly, not wanting Magnus to worry any more than he already was.
“Yeah… Sorry, I know you don’t want to carry my baggage while you’re not feeling great.” Magnus tried to smile apologetically.
“Don’t apologize, Mags. I’m probably gonna throw up a little more frequently and probably have a restricted diet now, but Taako’s not going anywhere except back to my apartment the second I can.” Taako punched his arm playfully, realizing how weak he felt.
“I’ll change my diet in solidarity.” Magnus grinned, letting out a deep breath as well as the tension in his shoulders. “Unless you gotta stop eating teriyaki jerky, then you’re on your own.” Taako rolled his eyes playfully and they heard another knock on the door. Ren poked her head in, waving.
“If y’all are having a bromance moment, I can wait in the hall for a bit,” Ren giggled to herself. “I just wanted to bring you a “Sorry You Almost Died” gift.” She reached into her purse, pulling out a small wrapped present. “It’s stupid, but I know you’ve been complaining about your phone lately,” she explained. “So, I got you the new one. I was gonna wait a few months until your birthday, but I figured now was the best time to give it to you.”
“Ren, you’re the coolest fucking friend ever, I hope you know that.” Taako beamed in her direction, carefully opening the box to reveal a new phone.
“Damn how can my friendship compete with a new phone?” Magnus shook his head.
“You can call me on this and so I’ll be receiving your gift of friendship and using the kickass present from Ren.” Taako laughed. “Two birds with one stone ‘n all that.”
“Are you gonna put the show on hiatus until further notice? I heard Lup talking about wanting you to have a long enough break to take it easy.” Ren spoke up.
“I, uh… I hadn’t thought about it, Lup didn’t tell me that,” Taako furrowed his brows for a moment, deep in thought.
“Well, whatever you choose, I’ll be here supporting you. If you need a new assistant for the show, I can break out my Sizzle It Up apron from the YouTube days.” Ren winked, shooting him a finger gun. “Haven’t used it in almost five years since you’ve upgraded the equipment for the show.”
“Fuck, has it been five years since we switched to the show?” Taako laughed incredulously. “How are we getting so old?”
“Speak for yourself, I still look 23,” she giggled. “I can go from co-creator to cooking assistant if that’s what you need.”
“Take a break from making the recipes, just, y’know, host the whole show instead.” Taako grinned, then felt a sudden sharp pain and doubled over, clutching his stomach as he winced.
“Hey, why don’t you get some more rest? Me ‘n Ren can come back tomorrow once you’ve slept a little bit more,” Magnus looked him over. “We could use the sleep too, we’ve been here for a while.”
“Make sure Lup goes with you,” Taako kept his eyes closed while he waited for the pain to pass. “I feel like she didn’t sleep while I was out.”
“She didn’t, I’ll make sure she gets some sleep.” Magnus gave Taako a soft kiss to his forehead. “We’ll all get some sleep, ‘n then we can talk about what’s next. But rest is more important.”
“Mmhmm…” Taako nodded in agreement. His body trembled, but he forced his eyes open as he mustered a smile towards his friends. “Love you both.”
“We love you too, Taako,” Ren beamed and the two of them left the room. Taako closed his eyes again and felt himself drifting back off to sleep. Just talking with his friends exhausted him, and he was worried it wasn’t going to be an easy road to recovery ahead of him. But this was the hand he was dealt, so he just had to take it as it came.
When he woke up, the room was dark. He squinted and scanned the room for anyone else, then noticed a familiar face on the couch across the room. An instinctive smile spread across Taako’s face as he yawned.
“You awake, Barold?” Taako whisper-yelled. Barry shot up as if he were just dozing off, and laughed a little.
“Welp, I am now,” he stretched, adjusting his glasses. “Lu’s back at home, in case you were wondering. I made her stay to get some rest.”
“Good, I figured she needed it. Considering she didn’t leave from the time I got here until I woke up.” Taako rubbed his eyes. “How’re things going in the professional world? You’re my PR guy, I know it’s definitely been hell for you, huh?”
“Only a little. The worst is trying to get the point across that we don’t have a set date for you to come back because you’re, y’know, hospitalized.” Barry shook his head as he stood up, taking a seat in the chair closest to the bed. “Sometimes the press doesn’t think questions through before asking.”
“Lup, um… She mentioned to Ren that she might want the show to go on hiatus so I can have a little bit of a break. How do you feel about that?” Taako chewed his lip.
“As your PR guy? It’ll be a little bit of a pain to set up, but I can manage just fine. As your brother in law, I want you to take a break more than anything,” Barry shot him a small smile.
“I’ll at least be at home for the next month. ‘Specially since I feel like shit and can barely hold
myself up.” Taako sighed. “Have they found Sazed yet?”
“He gave himself up this morning, actually.” Barry looked him over for a moment, trying to read his expression. “Why’d you ask?”
“I just thought the guy would’ve ran as long as he could.” He toyed with the thin hospital blanket, trying to keep his hands from shaking. “It’s what I’d have done if I was in his position.” Barry picked up Taako’s hands, giving them a gentle squeeze.
“He’s going to be locked up, I’ve dealt with most of the media for you already, all you have to do is take it easy until you feel well enough to start getting back to normal,” Barry paused, looking him over. “You don’t have to continue the show, you know.”
“What do you mean?” Taako cocked his head in confusion.
“I mean, if you don’t feel like you want to do Sizzle It Up after you’ve recovered, you don’t have to. You can move on to something else, leave the spotlight entirely, or even just be on staff if the show goes on with another host. No one’s expecting you to have to keep this up. And I’m not just saying all of this as your brother in law. I’m also saying it as your PR guy, who wants you to have a good look for the general public.”
“I… I’ll keep that in mind,” Taako sighed, laying back.
“Whatever makes you happy, we’re all going to support you one-hundred percent.” Barry gently nudged him. “You should get some more sleep, okay? You don’t have to think about any of this for now.”“You’re right,” he let out a deep breath. Barry’s words kept echoing in his mind and he couldn’t help but wonder if he really did want to keep doing the show once he’d finished recovery. For then, he tucked it back in his mind and opted to focus on falling back asleep instead. There wasn’t much he could do about the show from his hospital bed, so it wasn’t something he had to worry about for at least the next few days.