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Kravitz groaned as he lowered his viola after what felt like the millionth fuck-up in his music. He had been practicing that passage for far too long and it was starting to drive him up the wall. Sighing, he called it quits and extracted his case from under the pile of music it was hidden by.
When Kravitz started living on the prime material plane with Taako he decided it was time to pick up his bardic skills again. As he learned more he started collecting music from necromancy dens and writing the odd composition himself. When he started to pack up he came across one of those creative endeavours among the mess of sheet music. The paper, slightly burned on the edges, had a single line of hand drawn music on a wobbly looking stave, written down in a rush and promptly forgotten.
Kravitz hummed the tune on the page, and propped it up on his music stand before playing it. The simple melody rang out from his viola, the phrase incomplete and ending on an unsatisfying final note that should have led on to more music. He frowned at its finish, opting to leave it on the stand as a reminder while he packed up and left for work. As he opened a rift into the astral plane the tune was playing in his mind, singing with potential.
He had found good coworkers and even greater friends in Barry and Lup, who made his job as a reaper much more human. Both being musicians, they were almost aggressively supportive of Kravitz’s decision to start playing again and started showering him with sheet music and ideas. Kravitz had heard all about the Legato Conservatory and what they learned there, responding with reaping stories of his own. They were both easy to talk to and great for advice, but there was one thing that Kravitz had only talked to Barry about.
The two of them had sat down on the battlefield after a brutal fight while Lup rounded up the souls into the stockade when Barry brought it up again.
“So,” He said, clearing his throat. “Have you thought about it any more?”
Kravitz couldn’t help but smile, thinking about the ring box hidden away in his office in the astral plane. “Yeah. It’s just a matter of when now. I think I’ll wait until after the Candlenights ”
Barry nodded in approval. “Cool, cool.”
Kravitz bounced his knee a little, distracting himself from the lovestruck grin he could feel rising to his face while he thought about Taako. Barry laughed at his expression.
“Fantasy Jesus, you’re worse than I was with Lup! And it took 50 years for us to finally confess, so we are well versed in the art of pining.”
Kravitz hid his face in his hands and groaned at the teasing, even though he hadn’t stopped grinning.
“I just- I love him? So much. And I want to show that to him, but I don’t know how! I mean, how the fuck do you show someone that you love them to the end of the universe and back?”
Barry’s smile softened at that. He had seen the love Taako and Kravitz had for each other; it was soft yet burning, completely different and equal to his a Lup’s. He shifted a little on the log he was sitting on before starting to speak.
“Krav, you show Taako how much you love him every time you smile at him, everytime you even glance his way. It’s obvious, even to him, and we both know Tee’s the master at convincing himself people don’t like him.
“My point is that no matter how you give him that ring his answer is going to be yes. He loves you just as much as you love him.”
Kravitz chuckled under his breath a little. “I still want to do something. Not huge, but…I think I want to write some music for him. I think he’d like that.”
Barry looked delighted at the idea. “He is such a sap. He’d fucking love it.”
A soft smile made its way onto Kravitz’s face again at the thought. “Yeah. Yeah, Taako will love it.”
Barry clapped Kravitz on the back as he stood up, wincing when his back clicked.
“Oof, I need a new flesh bod. Kravitz, when you have a night in mind just tell me when and Lup and I will take Angus out for the night. You two deserve that time together.”
“Thanks Barry. I… really appreciate that.” Kravitz said, tactfully ignoring Barry’s suggestion of necromancy.
“No problem. Remember soon I’ll legally be your brother.”
Kravitz worked on the piece in fits and starts until he felt it was almost finished. He thought about adding a piano accompaniment to it but the more he played with it and tweaked it the more it was clear that the piece accompanied itself. He practiced until the chords fell perfectly under his fingers and the melody felt like it was floating, creating a euphoric feeling of joy whenever he played it. He wanted to get feedback on his work, but Barry and Lup were both too involved in the proposal to give him anything that wasn’t a ‘it sounds fantastic!’. Kravitz thought long and hard about who to play it to, finally coming up with a person with enough knowledge of music and Taako to give him some critique.
And that's how he ended up standing in a small inn room, playing his piece in front of Captain Davenport himself. The captain sat quietly and attentively while Kravitz played, letting the music wash over him without much reaction. When he finished the gnome clapped and stood with a small smile on his face.
“That was the most passionate music I have heard in a long while.”
“Thank you.” Kravitz said, relieved that he hadn’t accidentally created a cacophony. But despite that there was still one concern on his mind.
“I worry that what I’m doing is too similar to how Lup and Barry declared their love. I’m scared that this will come off as something of a rip off.”
Davenport was shaking his head before he’d even finished speaking.
“Lup and Barry wrote that music as a broadcast of their love for each other to the whole world. It was vibrant and romantic, like yours, but it was intended for the ears of a whole universe. What you have made was created for a single person, and the music reflects that. It’s very intimate music, and I feel that when the time is right and you are playing this to Taako that aspect of the music will be even more intense.” he finished.
Kravitz let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and Davenport laughed softly.
“I’ve known Taako for over a century. I’ve seen his highs and lows and have come to love him like a son. And with that knowledge I can say I have never seen him as happy with anyone as he is with you, and that piece is the cherry on the cake. You’ve done good, Kravitz.”
With those parting words, and a few musical edits courtesy of the captain, Kravitz finally set a date for him to perform his piece to Taako. Barry and Lup took Angus out for the evening as Barry promised, assuring him that it was no trouble and it was his night. Before they left Angus grabbed Kravitz into a hug and whispered in his ear.
“I know what you’re doing tonight. He loves you.”
Kravitz felt his heart squeeze when Angus smiled at him before running back to Barry and Lup, the former giving Kravitz a look that Kravitz could only interpret as ‘good luck, you’ve got this’.
He waved at the three of them as they left, feeling Taako’s arm link in his as the door shut behind them.
“Sooo, we have the house to ourselves tonight, if you know what I mean?” Taako said, winking exaggeratedly.
Kravitz laughed and kissed Taako’s forehead. “Later, I promise. I have something planned for tonight.”
Taako’s ears twitched curiously while Kravitz led him to the music room and sat him down in an abnormally uncluttered armchair.
“I wrote some music for you.” Kravitz said, setting the finished music on his stand and tuning up his viola.
With one final smile at his audience, he then began to play.
Kravitz played like he had never played in his life or death, putting as much of his love and his dedication and his entire soul and being into each note as he possibly could. The melody rose and fell, chords complimenting the tune to create a beautiful and pure sound. Taako listened, unashamedly transfixed by the music and the man he loved playing it. The final note resonated in the silence that followed. Kravitz waited for the noise to dissipate before lowering the viola and completing the performance with a short bow.
When he raised his head Kravitz saw Taako sitting with his hand over his mouth with tears in his eyes. He felt his heart sink as a horrible feeling rose up on him. Had he done something wrong?
“Taako, I- are you-!” Kravitz was silenced when Taako suddenly ran up and kissed him, not dissimilar to how they embraced on the day of Story and Song. He leaned into it, enjoying the moment until Taako pulled away only to kiss all over his face and hug him tight. When he finally pulled away for good, Taako wiped his eyes and laughed a little.
“Holy shit, I mean- you wrote that for me?”
“No, I wrote it for Tessie down the road.” Kravitz deadpanned.
Taako burst out laughing and kissed Kravitz again. “Okay, okay, goofs aside, that was incredible! Phenomenal!”
“I’m so glad you liked it.” Kravitz said. “I called it the Overture of Sapphire and Bone.”
The significance of those words was far from lost on Taako. “That’s… perfect. I couldn’t think of a better name. Apart from maybe, ‘Take me to bone town’ but I feel like that doesn’t have quite the same mouth feel, yaknow?”
Kravitz laughed, cradling Taako’s face in his hand. “Only you could come up with something like that for a serious composition.” he paused, letting go of Taako. “And I’m not quite done.”
Kravitz reached into his viola case, pulled out a little blue box, and got down on one knee.
“I love you more than I thought possible, and I thought- well, why not put the bow on the box- or the ring on the finger,” Kravitz opened the box to show the ring inside. “Taako, you are the love of my unlife. Will you marry me?”
Taako was almost speechless, even as Kravitz’s expression grew more nervous.
“Holy fuck,” Taako said, astounded. He dropped to the floor in front of Kravitz, just looking at him.
“Is that a yes?” Kravitz asked nervously.
Taako laughed through the tears starting to fall again and nodded. “Yes, yes of course it’s a yes!! Hold- hold on just a sec-”
He opened a pocket dimension and started frantically rifling through it until he found what he was looking for. It was a small, bone white box. Taako closed the portal, hopped up on one knee, and opened the box. Now it was Kravitz’s turn to be speechless.
“Kravitz, will you marry me?” Taako said, smiling so wide it hurt.
With those five words it was all officially too much for Kravitz, and he poofed out into his skeleton form. Taako laughed so hard he almost dropped the ring.
“Well?” Taako prompted, still giggling. “Will you?”
“Yes!” Kravitz yelled, still in bone form. “Oh my Queen- did you- were you going to propose tonight?”
“Fuck yeah I was!”
Kravitz’s flesh slowly melted back onto him while he laughed. “Oh we are both huge idiots.”
“And completely oblivious.” Taako agreed, offering his hand out so Kravitz could put the ring on. Kravitz had chosen a thin silver band that curved into a small open oval with tiny sapphires embedded into it. The gems caught the light as Taako looked at it properly; it was one of the most finely crafted pieces he’d ever seen.
“Wow, where did you find this? It’s gorgeous.” he asked.
“I made it. Nothing but the best for my love.”
Taako smiled. “Only a true sap makes the ring himself. Okay, your turn. And apparently I am also a sap sometimes, because I made you a ring as well.”
The ring Taako had created was rose gold with two opals bracketing a larger opal in the centre. On each side of the gems there was an etching of a mongoose and a raven, both leading into the middle. It was flawless.
Kravitz pulled Taako into another hug, squeezing tight before pulling back. “I love it.”
He then started to turn a little pink. “Um, I know I kind of planned this whole gig, but. I may have forgotten people need to eat. Soo, do you want to go out for dinner?”
Taako laughed and shook his head, standing and pressing a kiss to Kravitz’s cheek. “Oh, my sweet summer child. You really thought I wouldn’t cook up a fucking fantastic meal the night I was gonna propose? It’s been in the oven since midday. Real slow cook, brings out the flavours.”
The look Kravitz gave Taako was so full of adoration and love that Taako thought he might combust.
“We’re gonna be such good husbands. But also so bad.” Kravitz said, giggling through the sentence.
“Gods, I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”