#i just could not come up with an angsty version of forbidden kiss taakitz that i liked

[charmandhex]

For @halcyonhowl, because I am rather late and also finally came up with a Taakitz idea I liked for the prompt “forbidden kiss.” ~

In Taako’s defense, this is not the worst decision he’s ever made. It’s probably just a few scant steps from the top of that list, but it’s not at the very top.

Still. Taako might end up regretting this one.

Listen, it goes without saying that dating the boss’s kid is a bad idea. Everybody knows that.

Pluuuuuuuus, you don’t want to get involved with your coworkers, ‘cause that can fuck up your whole working environment. Really bad idea.

Not to mention. Making out with someone the night before you’re getting on a small boat with seven other people, of which they are one, and so you’ll be stuck in confined quarters with them… for two months. Now that’s a stupendously bad idea right there.

Kravitz, son of the head of the IPRE, junior medical officer reporting to Captain D. Davenport, and the talented bard whom Taako had been sitting directly next to for the day’s earlier press conference about the Starblaster mission to explore and research the outer reaches of the Prime Material Plane for a period of two months, meets all of the aforementioned criteria to make kissing him a spectacularly bad idea.

And yet when Taako draws back from a spectacularly good first kiss, still very pleased with himself for hustling some shoes and now for another reason entirely, it’s Kravitz he sees, looking as gorgeous as ever and gratifyingly stunned.

“Uh- um-” Kravitz coughs a few times to clear his throat. “That was…”

As Kravitz is clearly collecting his thoughts after being blown away by the experience that is kissing Taako Taaco, Taako himself glances around, only half concerned that someone else on the mission might have seen.

Lup, tied for most brilliant arcanist/amazing chef aboard the ship with Taako and also Taako’s beloved twin sister, nails yet another trick shot at the pool table, causing an uproar of groans from anyone who’d dared bet against her. She looks up, eyebrow arched and mouth smirking, immediately catching her brother’s eye. She looks from Taako to Kravitz and back again, and she winks.

Yeah. Not like he’d expected to be able to keep a secret from her. He’s gonna get so much shit for this later.

Captain Davenport, the only other person actually capable of giving Taako shit for this, seems to be heavily engrossed in conversation with resident nerd Barry Bluejeans, probably going over last-minute bond engine shit for tomorrow. Neither of them has noticed shit, thank fuck.

Though Taako doubts that one of their resident arcanists/chefs kissing their junior medical officer would be the thing to get their attention, considering that their twenty-year-old security officer built like a brick shithouse has managed to start a bar fight. Magnus Burnsides looks to be having the time of his life and utterly oblivious to everything else.

Their senior medical officer, Merle Highchurch, seems to be trying to placate a few seedy-looking ruffians and on his way to unintentionally starting a second bar fight, while occasionally popping up over the bar behind him to look around is their chronicler. Eh, if Lucretia has seen anything, she might write it down, but she’s too quiet to actually say anything.

“Uh. Taako?” Right. Hot boy alert. Taako turns back to the hot boy in front of him, now looking less stunned and a bit more awkward. Kravitz has reached up to scratch at his neck and is needling at his lip, still thinking of what to say. “Uh, should we- is this-” Someone’s beer bottle soars over their heads, exploding as it crashes into the wall behind them. The place is enough of a dive that Taako doubts the stain on the wall and the layer of broken glass on the floor will even be noticeable.

“Tell ya what, bones, why don’t we get out of here?” Taako asks with a dazzling smile.

“Um. Sure, but- bones?” Kravitz looks askance at Taako as they stand.

“Yeah, you know, like Fantasy Star Trek? The medical officer?”

Taako realizes his mistake as Kravitz’s face crinkles up into a smile, and he laughs. It’s a nice sound. Taako could get used to that. “I would have thought that was too nerdy for you.”

“Yeah, uh, yeah, it is. Doesn’t mean you don’t get the whole… nerd cultural osmosis when you live on a campus with a bunch of nerds. And besides, you got that reference once I explained it!”

“Yes, but I never professed to not be a nerd,” Kravitz says smugly.

“Yeah, because anybody who spends more than eight hours a day playing violin can’t exactly deny it.”

Kravitz opens his mouth to reply, but whatever retort he was going to make is cut off as they very suddenly have to move as a large purple Dragonborn sails backward through the air, crash landing squarely into their table and collapsing it. Taako grins at Kravitz, this one no dazzle, all humor. “So, about getting out of here?”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

It’s quieter, outside, far quieter than Taako would expect, with even the birds and cicadas seeming to hold their breath in anticipation of the summer storm to come. Dark, too, and darker than expected, with massive gray clouds hanging heavy in the sky, blocking out the sky and stars.

“Seems like bad luck,” Kravitz says, looking up at the sky. “Starting a voyage off with a storm.”

Taako shakes his head, the bells on his hat jingling. Even those seem muted. “Nah, bones. It’s just to make it easier to leave behind.”

“If you say so.”

Taako scoffs, throwing the hustled shoes over his shoulder. “Listen, I am an adult elf and over 100 years old.” Of course, that statement may be reliant on some considerable rounding, but no one needs to know that. “I know what I’m talking about.”

“I can’t imagine having that kind of lifetime.” Kravitz says, and Taako’s eyes are drawn to the bard’s very human-looking ears. Something twists, disquieted, in his stomach. Probably just those greasy bar snacks Lup had dared him to try.

“Yeah, well, play your cards right and not like that chucklefuck-” Taako jabs his thumb in the direction of the bar, and as if on cue, there’s a whoop from Magnus, “-and you might just see the other side of a century, my man.”

Kravitz laughs, and again, Taako is surprised by how much he likes the sound. “I guess we’ll see. Oh, and, uh, thanks, again, for…”

Taako’s mouth quirks into a grin, and he lets out a laugh of his own. “Saving your ass from getting hustled at pool? If Lup and I had known you were such an easy mark, you’d be barefoot right now, my dude.”

Kravitz feigns injury at that. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I fuckin’ would. You should avoid gambling, bones.”

“But it’s fun!” Kravitz whines. “I like gambling, I like games and wits and wagers.”

“So you like losing too?”

Kravitz blows out a breath, defeated. “No.”

“Gotta say, I think I won on both counts though, what with the shoes and the boy,” Taako says, and Kravitz brightens up at that. Impulsively, Taako grabs Kravitz’s hand, ignoring the look of surprise and immediately being surprised himself. “Fuck, bones, your hands are cold.” Taako yelps.

“Ah, circulation issues,” Kravitz says, looking almost embarrassed. “Hereditary. You don’t have to… Taako, why are you holding my hand?”

Good point. Why did Taako actually grab their junior medical officer’s ice-cold hand? “Pfft, yeah, listen… listen, it’s dark as shit, and you humans can’t see in the dark. How else are you gonna get safely home if my magic eyes and I don’t escort you?” Taako pauses, doubt finally catching up to him. “But if it’s a problem…” Taako says, making to disentangle his hand from Kravitz’s.

“No!” Kravitz exclaims, just a little too loud. “No. By all means. Lead the way.”

Taako grins before raising Kravitz’s hand to kiss it. “Gladly.”

Sure, this might a bad idea, but at the end of the day, it’s two months, right? What could happen?