#spectralsylveon

A gift for @spectralsylveon, created by @queen-evanlyn!

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The Keepsakes in the Cabinets

Summary:
In sickness and in health
Taako thinks. Kravitz prays. Magnus sleeps.
Three fools are in love.

Taako woke up early, as he often did on Mondays. People would be surprised by how much of a morning person Taako was, especially because he tried so hard to hide it. He had an image to maintain, and part of that image was sleeping in past noon.

But the crisp early morning air and the light just beginning to trickle in through the windows was appealing to Taako, so he got up at a time any reasonable person would call “too early”.

Taako made himself a cup of tea and sat at his desk. Jammed into the corner of the living room, he was perfectly situated to look out into the garden — the strawberries were coming in well — just the way Taako liked it. He had some paperwork for the school he had to fill out, and he did it leisurely, as the sun rose. There was no real reason he couldn’t have done it on the weekend, except for the fact that Taako had a routine. (And that his husbands — both of them — had been busy out of the house, and although Taako wouldn’t admit it, he had been worried.)

They’d both had busy weekends: Magnus had been manning his carpentry stall in the annual Neverwinter markets, and Kravitz had been collecting a bounty for the Raven Queen. Taako had stayed home and given Angus magic lessons and helped with his homework, which, honestly, why did Lucas expect Angus to be an expert of Planer Mechanics? He’s thirteen, Lucas! On Saturday evening, Ren had come over for dinner to discuss school business.

Taako breathed in the steam off his tea as he signed the last page. Even knowing that Magnus and Kravitz were highly capable, he found it difficult to focus on work when they were gone.

Now they lie intertwined on their bed, safe as houses. When Taako had slipped out that morning, Kravitz — who got home late last night and had simply curled around Taako, still dressed in his shirt and trousers — had rolled over into the space Taako left to bury his face in Magnus’ neck and twist their legs together. Another thing he wouldn’t admit: Taako’s heart did dumb things watching them.

As the sun started to rise properly, Taako’s ears twitched, reacting to movement further in the house. Not his husbands, but Angus. It had just made sense to take him in after they defeated the Hunger — he had nowhere else to go — so they had. When they told him, he had cried, thanking them over and over again, calling them “sirs” before correcting himself to “dads”. After they had calmed Angus down, Taako bent down to his level:

“You good little man?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Then what’s with all the tears?”

“It’s all a bit overwhelming sir — dad. I went from no dads to three!”

“Three dads huh. That’s a lot, we don’t want you getting greedy.”

“How are you going to do that… dad?”

“We’ll make a chart.”

They did make a chart, detailing which days Angus had which dad, though no one truly cared to follow it unless it provided goof opportunities. The chart hang in its place of honour on the fridge, loudly proclaiming in Taako’s sprawling handwriting that today Kravitz was Angus’ dad. (They shared Saturday, for convenience — that was when Angus had his soccer games, and he wanted all his dads present.)

Taako yawned, getting up from his desk. Their cat (Feather-duster, named by Magnus) wound her way around his legs and he stooped to pet it. The sun shone through the windows brighter now — it was almost seven.

Angus trotted out into the kitchen, dressed in his neatly pressed school uniform and cap. Taako plucked it off his head and put it on the table, moving past him to the stove.

Angus put his rucksack near the table leg and sat at his usual spot. His feet swung, not quite touching the ground.

“Pancakes for breakfast?” He asked.

Already frying the first pancake, Taako chuckled. “You know it pumpkin.”

The next few minutes passed in a companionable quiet; the only sounds were the sizzling from the pan and Taako’s soft humming.

Before long, breakfast was cooked and served. Angus dug in — like most teenaged boys, he had an insatiable appetite that Taako was all too eager to satiate. He remembered being hungry as a teenager, and it wasn’t anything he wanted Angus to suffer through.

Angus finished quickly, thanking Taako through a mouthful of pancake. He barely chewed before swallowing that last bite and rushing off to brush his teeth. Clearing the table, Taako huffed a laugh.

“Bye dad!” Angus called from the door.

“Have fun at school Ango,” Taako called in return, walking over to stand on the front deck.

He knew Lucas’ school wasn’t far, and had taught Angus enough spells to defend himself, but Taako still watched until he turned and trotted out of sight at the end of the street before going back inside. Humming again, he made two cups of tea — one for him and one for Kravitz — knowing that Magnus would still be asleep.

Kravitz was sitting up in bed when Taako brought his tea in, having detangled himself from Magnus. His clothes were rumbled, the top two buttons of his shirt undone.

“Morning love,” he said, his voice husky. With sleep, Taako assumed.

Taako smiled softly, handing Kravitz his mug and settling in next to him. “That kid is way too eager to get to school,”

“Oh yeah?” Asked Kravitz with a chuckle.

Taako made a faux-outraged noise of affirmation. “No kid is that excited to sit at desk and be talked at for hours!”

Kravitz smiled at Taako, shaking his head slightly at his husband’s antics. He raised the mug to sip his tea — and then spilt it over the covers as he was struck by a coughing fit.

“Shit, Krav, are you okay?” Taako asked, taking the half empty cup from his hands and putting it on the nightstand next to his own.

He rubbed Kravitz’s back, eyes wide with worry until the coughs died down. Kravitz heaved a breath, then another, until he was breathing normally.

“Krav?” Taako asked again.

“I’m fine,” he responded, “just feeling poorly.”

“I thought you couldn’t get sick,” Taako accused.

“So did I. But I also thought that my heart no longer beat, so… anything’s possible.”

Taako hemmed, unsatisfied. He reached out and put his hand against Kravitz’s forehead, drawing it back quickly from the heat.

“Well you’ve definitely got a fever my man,”

Kravitz stifled another cough into the crook of his elbow.

“Well, up you get. I’ll make you some chicken noodle soup. Where’s your cloak?”

He found the cloak hanging on a hook near the door. As it was a magical construct, Kravitz could technically just dismiss and summon it at will, but he wanted it to hang on the coat-rack, so there it stayed.

Taako bundled Kravitz into his cloak, then led him out into the kitchen. Feather-duster rubbed against Kravitz’s legs, almost tripping him until Taako shooed her away. As Taako readied the ingredients, Kravitz leant against the counter and gazed at him. Boiling the noodles and slicing the chicken, Taako glanced over at him.

“You wanna sit down my man? You look like you’re about to collapse,”

Sighing, Kravitz dragged himself onto the countertop and scooted so his back was touching the wall. His body ached dully with the effort; Kravitz really was sick. Unbidden, his mind took him back to the last time he had been sick: shivering and shaking under all the blankets his family owned, a cough that seared his chest with pain. In his last moments he had prayed to the Queen for safe passage.

Kravitz made a face at Taako, hopefully conveying “happy?”. Taako laughed softly.

Pulling his cloak tighter around his shoulders, Kravitz closed his eyes and leant his head back against the tiled splashboard. He whispered a prayer to his Queen and breathed as deeply as he could without it triggering another coughing fit.

After a few moments, he heard her Voice in his head:

My dear Kravitz, this is not divine punishment. You are almost alive in servitude to me; this is simply one of the side effects.

Her Voice faded out with the sounds of winds fluttering and gentle laughter.

Taako hummed along as he stirred the pot.

“I love you,” Kravitz told him.

Taako blinked, turning to Kravitz with an expression of shock. This wasn’t the first time Kravitz had professed his love for Taako — they were married, after all — but this was the first time it came in a moment of quiet and distraction.

As Taako opened his mouth to respond, they both heard a crash from their bedroom. Taako’s ears twitched in momentary panic and Kravitz’s shoulders briefly tightened. Neither of them reacted well to surprises, especially violent ones.

Magnus stumbled out of their bedroom, their quilt wrapped around his shoulders. He looked awful. Sweating and shivering, his face reddened by fever, his eyes glassy.

Taako dropped his spoon, “fantasy Jesus Christ, Magnus!”

Magnus mumbled something and slumped down in a chair. Taako rushed over, and Kravitz pushed himself to his feet.

Taako put his hand to Magnus’ forehead.

“Yeah that’s way too high. I’m gonna get you some medicine for that one alright?”

Kravitz made his way over, putting his hand on Magnus’ shoulder and rubbing circles through the blanket. Taako’s eyes rose from Magnus to meet his.

“How ‘bout you boneman? Need some fantasy Panadol?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Taako made a noise of disapproval, but wandered off to get Magnus medicine regardless.

Kravitz sat down next to Magnus and rested his head on his shoulder. Magnus shifted so Kravitz more comfortable.

Kravitz rubbed Magnus’ knee.

“How do you feel?” He asked.

Magnus made a meaningless noise in response, then sniffed and said, “bad.”

Kravitz chuckled. “I’m not feeling so hot myself.”

Magnus tilted his head onto Kravitz’s. As they waited for Taako to return, Kravitz began to hum a song he his mother used to sing when he was sick as a child.

Magnus turned his head to rub his cheek in Kravitz’s hair.

“I love you.”

Kravitz moved his arm so he was loosely hugging Magnus’ front.

“I love you too, Magnus.”

They both smiled. Then Kravitz sneezed, dislodging himself from Magnus’ shoulder.

“Fuck.”

Magnus laughed himself into a coughing fit.

Taako returned with the fantasy Panadol and busied himself serving the soup. He put a bowl in front of Magnus, and another in front of Kravitz.

“Eat up,” he said, lounging in the chair on the opposite side of the table.

Magnus slurped down a mouthful of soup.

“Gods, I love you Taako.”

Taako looked across the table at his husbands, each bundled up and gross with germs. He thought of their wedding, raising Angus together, Feather-duster. All those dogs Magnus wanted to adopt. He looked at his husbands and thought of the life they shared together.

“Yeah.” He said, “Yeah, I love you too.”