hadriel | video; 002 (backdated to the 10th)

Well, look who decided to join the world of the mostly living again.

[She looks like Taako, but she's not, Kravitz is very certain she's not, and the longer he looks at her dead on, the more his head seems to buzz- so he averts his eyes.]

I- yes. Mostly living. That's me.

[His tone is avoidant. Confused. Hearing her voice feels like reuniting with a relative who knew you as a child but missed the years that followed, and Kravitz kind of hates it.]

Edited (that wasnt the whole tag caitlin you numpty) 2017-12-13 10:39 (UTC)

[That's not... completely the response that Lup expected. Her mouth twists, eyebrows arching upwards.]

Well, where you at, homie? Need a gal to come pick you up?

[His shakes his head slowly, looking disorientated.]

No, that's... that's quite alright. Taako is on his way, presently.

...I'm very sorry. [His mouth twists downwards, and Kravitz feels lost as he asks:] What is your name?

[Kravitz isn't the first person Lup's run into with this problem since dying, so the connection there isn't hard to make for the elf.]

Okay, what the fuck. You remember my twin brother but not me? [Lup, this isn't about you. Shhh..] I'm a little offended, skele-man.

[He looks completely distraught when she reacts this way. She could be someone incredibly important to him, and he just doesn't know.]

I don't- I'm sorry. I don't know what's happening, I-

[wait ok two steps back]

Twin brother? Taako has a twin?

[Gods, his head is positively buzzing.]

[Alright, so maybe they haven't known one another for a very long time, a handful of months is just a blink of an eye to their long life spans, but Lup's surprised by how much the reaper's words hurt.

Their relationship may mostly be made up of Lup alternating between teasing and threatening the man, but she'd felt they were making some progress. That they were kind of like friends. It's not Kravitz's fault that he's forgotten her, sure, but that doesn't ease the hurt that twists sharply in her gut.]

Yeah, he does. [hnnnnnnnn this is awkward.] I'll get 'im. Just, uh, sit tight or whatever.

[He's fucked up, somehow. He knows that much.]

Thank you. I'm- I'm sorry.

[He's not sure she even hears it before she's gone.]

[They'll just have to figure this all out when they can. Hopefully soon, but Lup's not making any bets on this one.]

Stay right there.

[He's off in an instant. He's been-- well, it's impossible to tell how long revivals take these days. It's never been a precise track, but he's never had to track it before. No one's ever died. Not in their group, not if he could ever help it.

He doesn't want to bother keeping the video feed steady, because if Kravitz looks this out of sorts, he doesn't want to try and consider right this second what that might mean.

Taako hopes, enough, that Kravitz recognizes his voice.]

Seriously, don't move your big dumb feet. I'll be there in five.

[The voice is distinctive and familiar, and immediately fills Kravitz with warm sparks of relief, even if he doesn't completely understand why. He reaches for it, stretching out with all he has, but it's like one missing puzzle piece has the entire image washed out. His voice is somewhat distant as he replies.]

Of course. Staying put. I could have opened a portal, but they don't seem to be working, and I...

[It hits him in a rush, so totally and completely that Kravitz gasps audibly like a big dingus. Or like a swooning heroine in a dramatic novel. Either one.]

Taako?

[Oh, thank absolute fuck. He's still moving, but the sigh of relief is probably audible. He's just thankful he has time to wipe a hand over his face, avoid him seeing the physical signs of relief before he opens the feed.]

Got it in one, babe. Nice guessing game. But seriously, stay there, it's gonna be wicked harder to find you if you run off into goddamn space.

[Stay right there, gods, just stay there so he can find you and hold you and know you're real. They can get on figuring whatever this is out after that's been established.]

[Seeing his face is like empty lines being filled with color. He can't believe Taako wasn't the first thing on his mind when he woke up. Kravitz's eyes water. What a lonely world it had been, for a minute there.

His boyfriend (and what a wonderful set of words but also individually not devoid of merit- 'his', 'boyfriend') had sighed with relief, and now he's hurrying to him, and Kravitz just absolutely cannot just stay here.]

Surely I can meet you halfway. Where are you coming from? Which way do I-

[He protests, failing to recognise that directions will mean nothing to him if he doesn't know where he is.]

Babe, you totally have no idea where anything is, just. Literally stay there, jeez, is it so hard to just not move.

[Taako's trying not to break into a run, attempting to hold his shit together. There's still Null in the city and he doesn't even care. He's ducking around corners, heels digging into the dirt until finally--

There he is. Taako stands, for just a moment, letting his hand drop to his side and clicking his phone off.

Gods, he's here, he didn't-- he isn't permanently gone. He really did come back. Shit.

His breathing is heavier than he wants as he strides over, and he doesn't even know what he's going to do when he fucking gets there, he just needs to be there. He just needs to feel something solid, something real.]

Krav--

[He finally closes the gap, and just presses himself into Kravitz' chest, arms worming under Kravitz' and face pressed into his chest tight.]

Edited (i just noticed a typo lmao) 2017-12-20 15:52 (UTC)

[Kravitz just huffs, not bothering to answer, because of course it is, doesn't Taako understand? He kicks at the dirt under his feet, paces back and forth and itches with urgency--

Until he's there, suddenly, beautiful and sharply real in a way video can't convey, with that wonderfully familiar voice saying his name, and Kravitz barely has time to begin moving forward before Taako is in his arms.

He isn't sure why his eyes water. It has something, he thinks, to do with the awful realisation of exactly what a life without Taako would be like, of what that means. How it feels. The ache of it. An emptiness.

His arms wind around Taako tightly in return, and he buries his face in the other man's shoulder, hair slipping down to frame his face.]

I'm sorry.

[Again, he isn't sure what for. It just feels like the right thing to say.]

[He squeezes him like he's the only thing left standing at the end of the world. He's not crying, not this time, because there are still unfinished questions and undone answers, but Kravitz is here and real and alive and that's what matters. He can work with the rest. He can fix anything else.

He just... couldn't bring him back to life. Couldn't save him. And Taako grips Kravitz still, even when he loses a hand to punch him lightly in the chest.]

Yeah, you better be, you fuckin'. Overconfident rush in idiot. Don't you think I deal with enough of that bullshit from Mags, and you have to be out here being, a flashy motherfucker or some shit.

[It's pointless. Taako doesn't blame him, not for any of it. Right now he just needs to figure out what's wrong, needs to bring Kravitz somewhere safe and get everything back up to speed before the worry eats his heart whole. He looses himself, just enough to look over towards Kravitz' face.]

Are you... I mean, trust me, I know death is not the greatest and this sounds like a dumb question, but uh. How're you doing?

[He takes the punch with a quiet, 'oof'. Even with his brain all goofed up, Kravitz gets the impression he deserves it. He's never seen Taako like this. He apologizes again, one hand buried in the fabric of Taako's shirt, and the other smoothing down his hair.

Here though, is where things come apart for him.]

I'm- do you mean to say I was killed?

Taako, things are missing. In my head. You sister called me, and I didn't know her. She said I should.

[This is so close to being the worst thing to happen here. The worst, of course, being that Kravitz would have forgotten Taako, and even edging that line is almost enough to send him spiraling. Taako had wanted to believe he was just disoriented, but with deaths perilous and the guy who does them thuroughly stabbed, this is the only conclusion that's viable. Hope fucked it up. Messed up something in him, and Taako wishes he had the emotion amidst the grief to be angry.

Now it's Taako's turn to release with a shaky grip, reach up hands he can barely steady to press onto Kravitz' head, smooth it down and feel it in his fingers. His ears tilt down towards the ground, all of him feeling too small for this. He has to do something. He doesn't know what, but something.]

Well, you remember me, so uh, you know what's important. To you, I mean.

[It's only partially a joke.]

What... do you remember?

[They don't stop touching other, hands pressing, smoothing, holding on as though the lack of physical distance can mend everything else. It's certainly how Kravitz feels.

He simply nods in response. No matter how the words were intended, to Kravitz it's not a joke. Taako is what's important.]

It's all... very confusing. Some things are very clear, and others- I don't remember how I got here. But I think I remember your house? And a big, awful dog.

The last thing that feels real is being trapped in the Astral Plane. But that's not right, is it? Taako, how long ago was that?

[The Astral Plane. Of course. It's-- it's the memories of here. The Door drags in people easily, so resetting to that state would be simplier for someone out of power. But the thought of Kravitz forgetting it all, of coming back without remembering his hands pressed to Taako's face in the park with a glamour dropped, to clasped hands in a foggy space and promises of being better, to the first night he arrived with Taako shaking in his arms and the word love on his lips.

Taako's been thinking about that one the most the last couple of days. After his little mental slip as Lup dragged him from where Kravitz died. But the thought of him forgetting all of that is so much, too much. It's in there. It has to be. Taako just needs to figure out how to get it out.]

It's, uh... been a couple months, babe. You got plucked outta dodge at the end of summer, it's, uh, almost the end of the year now.

[All of his touches are insistent but so, so gentle. Like he'll shatter Kravitz worse if he presses too close now, like his presence may trigger something irreversible. He doesn't even know how he's going to fix the first problem, he can't imagine making it into a worse one.]

Look, hey, it's uh... not so bad. Just gotta remember. You can do that.

[The seriousness of the situation is beginning to dawn on him. Instead of just feeling lost of confused, Kravitz can feel the panic setting in. The desperation.]

A couple of months? I-

[Kravitz presses one hand against his own forehead, trying fruitlessly to quell the headache he can feel approaching. It makes sense, really, when he thinks of all the bits and pieces in his mind. He would have had to have been here for awhile.

But at the same time, it makes no fucking sense at all. He doesn't know this place. He remembers, vividly, how he was only just hours ago in the Astral Plane. The two threads of reality don't line up with each other, no matter how hard he tries to make them click.]

I don't know where to start. [He doesn't want to put the pressure of this on Taako. Doesn't want to bend something that feels newer to him than it apparently is, doesn't want to step over boundaries that he might not know exist. But there's no one else to ask, and more importantly, no one he trusts more.] Can you help me?

[Kravitz puts the emotion behind his lackadaisical phrase and the panic hits him like a freight train. Kravitz has always been so clear with his emotions, this time horribly so, and seeing him so raw in front of him shakes him desperately. Why can’t he— no, he can’t blame Kravitz for his reactions right now. He can’t shoot him down for being scared, for not holding it together. even if it’s exactly what he’d do to himself.]

Hey— hey, wait, stop, it’s… hey.

[He presses down on Kravitz’ hair, as if he could somehow press hard enough to reach into his head, fix his mind with deft fingers and clean strokes. Taako swallows, betraying the emotion choked in his throat, and forces it down so he can talk again.]

You’re with the greatest wizard in, uh, in like a dozen universes babe. I’ve got this. I can… I can handle it, no prob. You feel me?

[Taako has no idea how he’s going to fix this. He’s not a fucking healer and he’s certainly not a brain surgeon. But maybe he can find some magic to do it for him. Something he can just unleash and channel, so it can do it’s work. His thoughts drift momentarily to saving his own life just a week or two prior, the way the transmuter’s stone fixed him without consciousness. Maybe he can do this. He hasn’t— fuck, he hasn’t remade it, that’s gonna take a day or two. A day or two of Kravitz like… this.

Shit.]

I, uh… might have somethin’. Won’t be ready for a bit. But I’ll come work at your place, yeah? Horny house is too crowded anyway with those chucklefucks running around. We’ll get you fixed up.

[And still, Taako won’t let him go.]

[He doesn't mind being held onto; is glad for the fingers in his hair and the way Taako seizes a path of action. It's grounding, all of it, in a way he badly needs right now.

Kravitz nods before he even knows the full extent of the idea. It's the path Taako is taking him down, so it's the right one. Even when sure of nothing else, he's sure of that.]

Thank you.

[His grip is tight in return. It's not that he thinks Taako the type to leave him to deal with this alone if he doesn't cling on- it's just he's the only thing keeping Kravitz together right now.]

[Kravitz holds him like he's the most important thing in the world, and for once, Taako doesn't believe he is. Right now, it's about Kravitz. It has to be about Kravitz.

He pulls back just enough to take his hand, so they can walk.]

C'mon, it's, uh... not safe around here. Let's get you home.

[He pulls Kravitz with him, heart still thudding in his chest, and while he goes, he bends down and slips a small piece of rock around Hope's temple into his pocket. It should do. It better do.]

We'll get you set up and I'll, uh, I'll get to workin' on something, okay?

[He's reluctant to allow any space between them, and his other hand moves to clasp onto Taako's arm, above where their hands are entwined. He'll be embarrassed about it later, but right now, he hardly cares.]

Home.

[Kravitz says the word dully. It feels like it should mean something. Inspire a feeling, or an image. But it doesn't.

Seconds later, he realizes that isn't of any real concern, because what really matters here is that Taako said it. Described a place they are both staying at as home. Does that mean something? Is he misinterpreting? Gods, his head is a mess.]

Yes, of course. [A kiss to Taako's head, as he forces himself to be more composed.] I trust you.

[He tries to take those words as strength, not as anxiety knotted in his gut, not as fear creeping in at what he can or can't do. He's going to fix this. He's going to win.

He's going to save him, this time.

Taako lets his hands clench on Kravitz' suit, allows him to stay as close as he wants, and only pulls him towards walking when he knows the other man will be right by his side.]

Yeah, I... I know.

[He's gonna earn it, he thinks.

This time, it'll be different.]

What kind of assistance do you need? Are you hurt at all or just confused about what's happened?

I'm not injured. That is to say- not anymore. When I awoke, some things were... amiss. But, ah, they're fixed now. I fixed them. I'm just very confused, yes.

Memory problems...?

[He makes a vague, evasive 'ehhhhh' sound, not wanting to use the M-word for some reason. Nico is right, though.]

Yes, if we really must call it that.

video; 002 (backdated to the 10th)

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