#mavis and mookie highchurch

[soadscrawl]

more taz more taz more taz

so much love in this famillyyyyy

[karkatwaddles]

Mavis and mookie 🥰

To me i think dwarves sorta resemble deers in their facial features!! So uh here are what my mookie and mavis designs look like

Oh also I hc that mavis, eventually asks Merle to adopt her (while still like her mom being a big part of her life) and ends up taking on Merle's last name? So eheh.

[anistarrose]

[Image description: a digital line art comic of Merle and Lucretia from The Adventure Zone. Merle's a dwarf with an eyepatch and a curly beard, while Lucretia's a human with a short afro shaved on the sides.

Merle says: "Hey Lucretia," with a smile, and Lucretia replies: "What is it Merle?"

Merle grips his soulwood arm, and says: "Thank you."

Lucretia asks: "For what?" and the final panel cuts to Merle holding hands with Mookie and Mavis, facing away from the viewer. He replies: "... For taking me... to that god damn beach."

End description.]

headcanon

[yourbelgianthings]

taz november celebration fic 3: prompt laugh

contrary to what you may think for this prompt, this is sad for like 3/4 of it lol but the end is happy, it’s tres horny boys and about 850 words

Magnus Burnsides's laugh was deep and hearty, but he wasn't used to hearing it by itself; he had always been laughing with Julia. Their life together was perfect, working with their hands and having something to show for it at the end of the day, then coming home to each other. Julia made dinner, Magnus did the dishes, their routine was consistent and comforting. They even thought about having a baby, although they were in no rush. Of course, that never happened, and when Magnus hugged Julia goodbye the day he left town, neither of them knew it would be the last. His friends brought dinners, went for walks, and spent evenings on the porch with Magnus after Julia's death, but he actually chose to bury her alone. The physical act of digging the grave was satisfying in a sick way, it grounded his soul in his body despite its countless attempts to break out through his ribs and fly away. A simple granite slab laid on top, reading: Julia Burnsides, We Love You Forever. His tears darkened the stone in little circles until the sun began to set, and he wouldn't laugh again for some time.

Merle Highchurch always did his best to keep a positive outlook, but it was hard to find reasons to laugh without his kids around. Apparently his sense of humor consisted of a lot of "dad jokes", and those weren't really a big hit with anyone else, especially when he was out trying to preach the word of Pan. He constantly struggled with his choice to leave after he was gone, if it was only the arranged marriage that was the problem, things would have been so much simpler. However, Hecuba and he had Mavis and Mookie, who he loved dearly. That didn't change the fact that he wasn't a very good dad, though, intentions don't count for much in that regard. So, he decided they would be better off without him; if you love something let it go and all that. Cycling through feelings of freedom, guilt, regret, apathy, and more, he wandered the world, presumably to share the word of Pan, but really just wishing to be able to laugh again.

Taako Taaco was very hard to make laugh. He and Lup used to do just that when they were bored, whoever laughed first lost and then they would just be in a fit of giggles for a while anyway. They found things funny between themselves that nobody else understood, but it didn't matter, because it made perfect sense to them. Not that he remembered any of this, of course. The Taako who forgot could be very cynical, and often saw humor from others as an attempt to conceal their true attitudes or motives. On stage for Sizzle It Up With Taako, he laughed and told jokes, but that was about as fake as it got. Hearing the applause and cheers from the audience, seeing the excitement in their eyes, and being complimented as he signed autographs and posed for pictures gave Taako energy and kept him going. He thrived on the attention, but some days, it wasn't enough and there was nothing else. Getting out of bed seemed impossible as his body simultaneously felt heavy and hollow. After Glamor Springs, this set in for several weeks until he suddenly thought: I'm fuckin' Taako from TV, I can go do whatever I want, and if anyone has a problem wit h that, I'll just laugh in their face and keep going.

One night, several months later, in their dorm at the Bureau of Balance, Tres Horny Boys were having a sleepover. Technically, they always did this by virtue of sharing a room, but they had decided to make a night of it, just for fun. Taako cooked the most delicious popcorn the other two had ever had, with the perfect amounts of butter and salt, and he also bought some nail polish from the Fantasy Costco. Magnus realized that Pringles had left some of his stuff in the room, so they had some cool old CDs to listen to, and Merle had found some candles for more ambient lighting. They were all set for the perfect sleepover, and as Taako was painting Magnus's nails shiny silver by candlelight, Merle set down the big bowl of popcorn he had been snacking on and asked, "What did everyone say to the kernel when he finally popped?"

Taako snorted and said,

"Merle, I am not even going to entertain this one," but there was a smile on his face.

Magnus gave in, "I don't know, Merle, what?"

"CORN-GRATULATIONS!"

Magnus immediately burst out laughing, which made Merle join in and Taako shout,

"Mags, you're going to mess up your nails!" although he couldn't help laughing too. It was just so ridiculous and Merle's confidence in the delivery was what really got them. The three of them flopped onto each other, slightly out of breath the way the best fits of laughter leave you, Taako leaning on Magnus's shoulder and Merle leaning on his stomach on the other side. They all smiled, and for the moment, things were okay.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

Since you said Taako would take care of a kid and then refuse to give them back.... Taako and 29 for the prompts? :3

29. A baby is crying

--

"Alright, alright," Merle said, squinting at his checklist. His already horrible eyesight had only gotten worse after losing an eye entirely. He made up for this by writing all his notes in a big, very legible scrawl. "I've got the suitcases and we've checked 'em to make sure-"

"That everything's in there, yup," Taako said, bouncing on the heels of his feet. "Which means it's about time you start getting back home-"

"Hang on," Merle said, waving him off. "Lemme go through my list. Suitcases, check. Make sure everything is in suitcases, check. Mavvie, do you have your toothbrush?"

"Yes, dad," Mavis said. "You asked me that three times already." She was standing by the door with her own suitcase. Merle had been kind of worried about leaving her and Mookie here with Taako for the weekend because Taako, by his own admission, knew "fuck all" about childcare. But she was still in one piece, that was an accomplishment by itself.

"I forgot!" Merle said. To be fair, he had forgotten the first time, but now he was just teasing. "Okay, toothbrush, suitcases, books n' toys n' shit- you've got-"

"I've got my books, dad," Mavis said impatiently.

"Yeah, Merle," Taako said, copying her tone. "She's got her books."

"Just checkin', just checkin'!" Merle said. "I feel like I'm forgetting something? But, uhh, I think that's it. Did we bring any food?"

"Not that Taako would let into the house," Mavis said.

"Sounds about right," Merle said. "Alright, time to go then." He lifted up the suitcase at his feet, pattering over to the door. Mavis had opened it, already jumping down the steps to get back home. Merle paused in the doorway- and yes, he saw that eye roll, young lady!- to speak to Taako one last time. "Thanks for takin' care of the kids this weekend. Sorry to push it on ya last minute."

"No prob," Taako said. "You owe me."

"Ah, yeah, probably do," Merle said. "I-"

"Are we leaving yet?" Mavis shouted from the end of the driveway.

"Give me a second!" Merle called back. He cupped his hand in front of his mouth to stop Mavis from hearing. "Kids, amirite? Anyway, yeah, I probably do owe ya one fo-"

There was a sharp cry from upstairs. Merle abruptly realized that the thing he thought he was missing was his other child.

"Taako," Merle said.

"Uh-huh?"

"Are you planning on givin' Mookie back or are you, I don't know, kidnapping him or something?"

"Uhm," Taako said. There was a clattering from the stairs behind him. Taako tried to shut the door but Merle stood in the way. "I mean, fifty-fifty?"

"I stubbed my toe!" Mookie hollered from behind him.

"I'll get you a new one, kid, don't even worry about it," Taako said. To Merle again, he said, "Listen. Kravitz doesn't know how children work, right?"

"Right...?" Merle said, not really seeing where this was going.

"So, uh-" Taako cut himself off with a snigger. "So I was gonna be like "Merle said we can have this one!" 'cus I figured that Mookie is probably the most durable kid I know? Like, he fell outta the window yesterday and he's fine, so-"

"He what?"

"He's fine," Taako repeated. "So I figured that I could just, y'know, play along with it and be like, yep! He's our kid now! Because Krav wouldn't say no but also he wouldn't know how to take care of a child n' I think that'd be funny to see. Like, surprise baby! But the baby is seven. Eight? How old is Mookie?"

"Only Pan knows," Merle said. "And as hilarious as that would be, bud, I do not want to get on Hekuba's bad side. Again."

"I thought you said all she's got was bad sides?"

"We're workin' on it," Merle said. He made his way passed Taako, to find Mookie standing not even a foot away, teary, his lower lip trembling. "Here, lemme heal it."

Mookie offered his foot, looking away dramatically. Merle knelt down, propping Mookie's foot up on his knee.

"Oh Panly father," he said, with flair, because he knew how Mookie was. "Please heal this child! And make him not tell his mother about the window incident!"

He cast a very weak version of Light on Mookie's foot, causing it to glow for a few seconds and then flicker out of existence. Mookie hesitantly looked back over, wiping his eyes. Behind him, Taako was very poorly keeping his laughter to himself.

"Feels any better?" Merle asked, ignoring Taako's choked-off sounds.

"Yeah," Mookie said. "Are we goin' home now?"

"Yeah," Merle said. "Go wait by your sister. I'll be right there."

And Mookie raced out the door. Merle could hear Mavis's disappointed groan from here.

"You lie to your kids often?" Taako wheezed out, leaning up against the doorframe in an effort not to collapse completely.

"Oh, yuck it up," Merle said, picking the suitcase back up. "Get back to me when you actually get a kid n' they want you to use a level two spell slot every half an hour."

[anistarrose]

leaving, as an injustice

Mavis does not remember her father by blood, and only knows what her Mom tells her, what pictures she’s shown. His eyes seemed kind, his smile seemed proud, but… when Mavis was still so tiny, he left to fight, and now, he’s never coming back. Each year on his birthday, the two of them visit his grave.

Mavis is told she’s very bright, and she understands at a young age what it means to be dead, and gone. But it’s harder, for her, to understand why anyone so kind-eyed would ever think it’s fair to just leave.

Mom says he was one of Pan’s bravest souls, and that he left to protect them, but that doesn’t make any sense — how could he be protecting them if he hadn’t been with them? How could he have protected them by just leaving?

Mom promises that Mavis will understand when she’s older. Mavis never doubts this, and still spends many sleepless nights wondering.

But, while she does not remember her father, she of course remembers her Dad. How could she not?

She was still so young, maybe three, when Merle Highchurch was still just a stranger to the Coralheart clan — and not much older when he married Mom, and became her stepdad proper. Those are more stories that she only knows from photographs, but from not long afterward, she remembers being told how she’ll be a big sister soon, and dancing around the cottage with excitement. She remembers traveling with Dad, too, to a store out of town and up the coast — and picking out a little stuffed seal, to leave in the nursery for her incoming sibling.

It’s a tale that Dad loves to tell, because Mookie loves that seal.

(keep reading on ao3)

[fuckin-flip-wizard]

If you weren't already aware, I absolutely love Mavis and Mookie they're so cute and I love them

[liltaz-asatreat]

Day 9 of @taznovembercelebration : Super, snow

Tw: panic attack description

Snow sparkles in the cold morning sunlight on the grounds of the Roughridge Pearl Farm. It's the first snow of the winter, and Mookie and Mavis spend no time getting dressed in at least four layers before running outside. Mookie immediately throws himself onto the ground and moves his arms and legs to make a snow angel, giggling all the while, and Mavis bends down to start rolling a snowball to make the base for a snowman. It takes about ten minutes worth of effort before Mavis puts the top snowball on top of the body, and when she's done poking indents in the snow to make eyes and a mouth, she stands back to admire her handiwork.

"Mookie! Look what I-" Mavis looks around at the many snow angels littering the ground, but she doesn't see her brother anywhere. "Mookie?"

She starts to panic a little when out of nowhere, a strong force knocks her sideways and to the ground, almost dislodging her glasses from her face. "I got you! I got you!" Mookie yells as she struggles to free herself from his grip and the cold snow now seeping into her coat.

Mavis grunts before finally being able to push Mookie off of her. "Mookie! What did I tell you about tackling people?"

"But it's fun," Mookie pouts, and Mavis sighs and rolls her eyes, trying to conceal her smile.

"You're going to end up hurting someone." She stands up and brushes herself off before helping Mookie up.

Mookie is absolutely buzzing with energy. "Do you wanna play a game?"

Mavis shrugs. "Sure. What do you want to play?"

She immediately regrets asking him that when he gives his answer which honestly, that is on her. He always says the exact same thing ever since last summer.

"Superheroes! Do you want to be the Hunger or the Starblaster?"

Mavis ignores the chill going down her spine that has nothing to do with the weather. "Are you sure you don't want to play anything else? We've been playing that for the past six months."

"Nope!" Mookie says, oblivious to the slight waver in his sister's voice.

Mavis sighs and tries for a weak smile. He's not going to understand why she's so hesitant to play this particular game with him because he wasn't there in the streets of Goldcliff while they attacked. He didn't know what it was like to be surrounded and to think he was about to die by their hands, and she's grateful for that, truly. She would never wish for anyone to know that feeling, much less him, but it's hard to push past that fear and play this game with him and even harder to say no to his puppy dog eyes and explain why.

Besides, it's been six months. It shouldn't be affecting her like this anymore.

"Okay, I'll be... the Starblaster," Mavis says.

"Cool! I'll give you ten seconds to run!" Mookie says before starting his countdown.

Mavis swallows hard and starts running in the other direction. It's hard to do in this deep of snow, but that only means it'll also be harder for Mookie to corner her especially since he has shorter legs.

"Okay! I'm coming to get you!" Mookie shouts with glee before bounding after her.

They run around for a good five minutes, Mavis slowing down every once in a while to give Mookie a chance to catch up, and it's during one of those times when she slows down that she miscalculates how close he got to her as he throws himself at her and tackles her to the ground again. He laughs, and Mavis laughs too. Her heart is thundering in her chest, but this isn't so bad. It's just Mookie. Just her brother, and he's having a lot of fun running around with her. She'd be lying if she said she isn't have fun too.

Once Mookie gets off of her, they start chasing each other again, and this time, they start letting snowballs fly at each other too. Mookie shrieks as Mavis lands a well aimed snowball at his chest, and he, in turn, throws one at her head. She dodges out of the way of it and bends down to make another snowball, but when she straightens back up, she sees him running, full sprint, at her. She drops the snowball as she turns and runs, laughing.

Mavis makes it to the tree in the corner of the fence of their yard before she realizes she cornered herself, and she turns to see Mookie several paces away but closing in fast. She's not going to be able to get out of the way in time. She backs up against the tree and falters. She feels her breath quicken, her chest tighten, and her throat close up as if being restrained by a noose. It's just Mookie. It's just Mookie. It's just Mookie.

The shadow of the tree seems to grow darker, and Mookie's shadow grows longer. Was the air always this cold and hostile? Mavis sinks to the ground, tears forming in her eyes. "Mookie, wait! Stop!"

Mookie slides to a halt and almost topples over her. "Mavis? What's wrong?"

Mavis wraps her arms around her knees and looks down, shaking her head. It shouldn't be this bad anymore. Why is she breaking down in front of him?

She chokes out a sob and rests her head on top of her knees, curling into herself even more. Mookie sits down next to her and wraps an arm around her. "We don't have to play superheroes anymore. I'm sorry I made you upset."

Mavis shakes her head again. "You-you didn't do a-anything wrong, Mookie."

"Then why are you crying?" Mookie asks, concerned.

How is she supposed to explain? Does she even want to? She doesn't want to make Mookie afraid. Why is it still bothering her?

"I... I don't w-want to play sup-perheroes anym-more," Mavis says quietly.

Mookie turns to give her a proper side hug and nuzzles his face into her shoulder. "Okay. Is this a thing you have to talk to Dad about?"

Mavis nods. She turns to give Mookie a proper hug back. "I l-love you, you kn-know that right?"

"Yeah, I love you too! And the real Hunger is gone now. I was just pretending." Mookie says.

Mavis laughs shakily. "I know. I-I'm trying to b-be okay. I p-promise."

Mookie lays his head against her chest. "It's gonna be okay. You can cry if you want to. I'll stay here so you don't have to be upset anymore."

Mavis smiles. "Thanks, Mookie."

The two of them stay like that, hugging each other in the snow while Mavis calms down, and by the time the last of her sniffles go away, Hecuba Roughridge calls them in for hot chocolate which they're immediately grateful for the warmth and comfort it brings.

[clown-garden]

baby sitters for mavis nd mookie ranked

1. lup

oh man. everytime merle goes out mavis and mookie ask for lup. she’s the BEST. she’s smart enough to keep mavis entertained, and cool enough for mookie to hang out with, plus she makes great food, plus she loves kids! it’s a win-win!! her and mavis will be having a conversation about the best bands in faerun right now while lup is simultaneously arm wrestling mookie, AND making spaghetti and garlic bread. she tells them stories about their journey that didn’t make it into lucretias journals, and she makes sure to spice them up, exaggerates both her and merles heroics. it’s great. the kids love her. she helps with their homework and sends emails to the teacher asking why they aren’t providing accommodations for mavis’ adhd?? what’s that about???? get on that shit mr younge.

2. magnus

whenever magnus babysits, it’s less like he’s babysitting, more like he’s just hanging out. like yeah he helps with homework and makes sure they get into bed on time but he’s also tryna make sure the kids have fun! sometimes he gets too caught up with beating mookie at fantasy mario kart to notice that the pasta is burning, but that’s okay cause he usually ends up ordering pizza any way. sometimes he’ll sneak a dog in if they’re getting good grades at hammer and tails to have a play date. obviously mookie loves wrestling with magnus and very rarely does magnus let him win. mavis just watched smiling and laughing as magnus throws mookie onto the bed for the hundredth time. she might have a little bit of a crush on maggie.

3. lucretia

mavis LOVES when lucretia baby sits. she always brings the best books and movies and sometimes she even brings her journals from the century. she reads them bedtime stories every night, and while maybe not as good as taako and lup, she can make a mean chicken parmesan. if mavis has a small crush on magnus, she has a giant crush on lucy. the first time she shows up, mookie thought she was gonna be boring, but then she pulled out this cool figure of a jellyfish thing and he was hooked. she always brings a new toy or game for mookie and she’s the absolute best at fantasy smash bros. someday mookie will beat her but for now he’s fine being second place cause she teaches him a bunch of cool moves and combos and shit.

4. davenport

davenport is a stickler for rules. he always makes sure the kids finish their homework, are in bed by 9, eat their veggies, brush their teeth. but every once in a while when he’s in a good mood he’ll let them come on the starblaster and look around for a bit (with merles permission of course). of course dav doesn’t get to babysit often cause normally when merle is out it’s cause it’s date night and he and dav are out being gay old men. so when he does come by it’s always a treat. mavis would never admit it but she thinks davenport would make a really good dad. mookie would absolutely admit it and does everytime dav babysits.

5. barry

barry doesn’t know how to deal with kids are you kidding me? he’s such a nerd he can barely deal with people his age. he’s fine with angus but that’s only cause ango is as much of a nerd as he is. he freezes up and gets all sweaty. mookie is able to bully him into doing whatever he wants, but mavis never lets him after the first time. once, mavis made the mistake of asking about what magic he studies and he just went on a whole rant about the ethics of necromancy and the proper sacrifices to summon a zombie. mavis didn’t get much sleep that night.

6. taako

listen,,,, i KNOW everyone in this fandom loves dadko, and don’t get me wrong i see the appeal it’s cute, but,,,,,he’s not good with kids y’all. he threatened to kill angus on their second magic lesson. he’s fine with him NOW but he sees him as more of a freind then a little kid y’know? anyways he lets mavis and mookie do whatever the hell they want. he’s actually their second favourite babysitter after lup cause he just, doesn’t give a shit. throws all the rules merle gave him out the window. sure mavis you can have your friend over to practice spells. what’s that mookie? you wanna play with my glaive? sure lil man go ahead. i’ll be over here trying to make this dead pig into a dead cow. don’t bother me. he always puts effort into the cooking tho cause no way in hell are they gonna be eating the leftovers merle put in the fridge for them.

[mooselybased]

The Adventure Zone Balance Episode 50 - Mavis and Mookie Roughridge-Highchurch

Fifty episodes in! I love listening to the family dynamics real actual father and  son Clint and Griffin create, as well as the amount of spittle Griffin must get on his microphone when doing Mookie’s voice

[astradella]

(It’s his weekend with the kids)

[rhinocio]

do you ever skim through a skechbook and go “oh right I should post this”

[toonbly]

I don’t know whether I get more dad vibes or fun uncle vibes from Merle tbh (DAD AUTOCORRECTED TO SAD SO I HAD TO FIX THAT REAL QUICK)

I’D SAY DAD VIBES GIVEN HE LITERALLY HAS TWO CHILDREN FDSHFHSDFHSDF

[natjennie]

“it’s not a gross rootbeer barrel is it? because I’m allergic to... dirt” I FUCKING LOVE MAVIS ROUGHRIDGE-HIGHCHURCH

[zenodotus-xxiv]

I was given this idea by @guinevere01 , who suggested I use a TMA quote for a TAZ fic and vice versa! I will absolutely be playing around with more of these, so consider this the first of many.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621641

CW insecurity, mentioned drug use (Merle’s in this one, what did you expect?)

“I suppose that’s part of trusting someone, isn’t it? Letting them help how they can.”

Life was a little bit hectic. Opening up a magic school, dealing with being the saviour of… basically all of existence, handling a fairly new relationship, and spending as much time with your sister as possible after she died and you forgot about her for ten years wasn’t exactly going to be easy.

But all of that paled in comparison to Taako’s real issue. For ten years, a whole decade, he’d thought that he had nobody, had always had nobody, and could never trust a single soul. And then it had turned out that all of that was bullshit. He had a family. He had a wonderful, stupid, infuriating family, with a too-kind puppydog of a fighter and a bad cleric and a gnome with wanderlust and a sweet as fuck brother in law with terrible fashion and a quietly funny archivist and LUP, his twin sister, his other goddamn half whom he’d never gone without, whom he couldn’t go without.

He had to reconcile those parts of himself. The part that insisted that it was just him, only him, that he could never trust anyone else, and the part of him that was currently curled up on the couch in his boyfriend’s lap, braiding his sister’s hair and trying to listen to Mavis complaining about her classmates while also making sure that Barry didn’t blow up his kitchen reheating last night’s casserole.

The reaper squad had the evening off, and Merle and his kids had been sitting at the house when Taako got home, so tonight was just going to be a quiet night in. Well. A crazy night in. Every night that one of his weird friends broke into his home and insisted that they were having family time Right The Fuck Now got a little crazy. But as it was, Merle had just decided to come over and chill on the porch and blaze it with Lup, and Mookie had wanted his nails painted. They’d get sent home the next morning with more tupperwares of leftovers than they could eat in a week, and Taako probably wouldn’t even bother cleaning the nail polish stains off the ceiling. It added a little flair.

Huh. This was his family. He had one of those, now. Technically, he’d had one for the last hundred years or so. He had people who’d break into his home and steal his food, and that was just… a normal thing now. It was normal that Magnus would come over and start spontaneously fixing something and yelling about shit cheerfully with at least four dogs in tow. It was normal that they’d get postcards in the mail from Davenport, normal that Taako would wake up to find Angus asleep on top of a bookshelf, normal that he’d be painting a small child’s toenails and normal that his brother in law would be giving beard care tips to his basically-niece as she complained about bad teachers and mean classmates.

That was his life, he tried to tell himself. He was happy, he had a family, he had friends, he had people who cared about him. But there was still that part of him that had gone ten years on the road alone and thought that was how his life had always been. Still that part that insisted that all this was going to come to an end, the other shoe was going to drop, that he’d be alone again.

He didn’t know how he’d deal with that.

For all he complained about people breaking into his house and stealing his twin time, for all he bitched about Magnus’s dogs, or Barry’s terrible fashion choices and semi-legal necromancy experiments, or the weird succulents that Merle “gifted” him, he’d hate to be without them. He’d gone too long on his own. He never wanted to do that again.

But there was still that one part, telling him to run, that getting connected to people just meant losing them, that trusting someone was just asking to be betrayed, that he should just cut his losses and get out of here while he still could--

“Taako? Are you listening?”

He was shaken out of his thoughts. Mavis looked at him expectantly.

“Sure am, pumpkin,” he smiled. “You were saying?”

“I asked what I should do about Nicola?”

“Hmm? Uh.. y’know, keep your friends close, enemies closer, all that jazz.”

Mavis looked bewildered. “She’s a rabbit? Were you-- you weren’t listening.” She seemed to droop at that.

“No, no! I just… have a lot on my mind. Rabbits. Let’s see. Carrots? Lettuce? Cute ears? Yeah?”

Lup looked up at him and rolled her eyes. “Koko. You’ve been stuck on the same part of this ‘do for the last five minutes. Something’s up.”

“No! I’m fine, just… school stress. We’ve got voles in the garden. Right, babe? Voles?”

Kravitz looked confused. “Voles? I don’t think we have voles.”

“Exactly! We need voles! They’re an essential part of any garden!”

“Voles eat your roots.” Merle piped in from the armchair by the fireplace. “You don’t want voles.”

“What do you know about gardening? Wait, no. Don’t answer that.”

Merle shrugged. “You sure you’re doin’ okay? You look worried as hell. Heck. Worried as heck.”

“You can cuss around us, dad.”

“Nah I can’t! Your mom gets pissed, uh, gets upset, when Mookie comes home saying bad words.”

“That’s besides the point,” Kravitz said. “Seriously, Taako, are you okay?”

And gods. He sounded genuinely worried, the dork. Lup looked up at him, that same worry laced in her eyes, and all of a sudden he wanted to cry. Shit, this was all so difficult. Why couldn’t he be having a normal problem? Why couldn’t this really be about the school, or unplanned home intrusions, or voles, or basically anything that wasn’t his entire identity and sense of self at war with the other half of it as he tried desperately to remind himself that all this was real and normal and his life, that he had a family, that he could trust people--

He could trust people.

He could trust his family.

He could trust Merle, the guy had saved his bacon more times than he could count. He could trust Barry, that was his goddamn brother-in-law, even if he was a total nerd. He could trust Kravitz, who’d proved time and time again that he cared, and trusting Lup was a given, that was his twin. So what was he all worried about?

“I just…” he croaked out, still perilously close to crying in the middle of his living room, surrounded by Merle and his spawn. 

Godsdamnit! What was he doing? He was Taako, from TV? We didn’t get fucking insecure!

He took a deep breath. No. His family… should know. If even so they could know what they were getting into. He owed them that much. “I just… worry. About you guys.”

Merle chuckled. “Look, I may be a shitty cleric, but I know how to protect myself. And I’m certainly not letting any of the rest of you guys die on my watch.”

“Yeah, and Bear and Krav and I are literally immortal. We can take care of ourselves.”

“No, no! I get that. I just… I worry that you guys are gonna figure out that I’m not shit, and decide to spend your time with some different dumbass hot-as-fuck elf who isn’t just a knockoff Lup with a dope hat!”

Everyone stared at him in shock. Then Merle started laughing. And so did Barry, and Lup, and Kravitz was making a valiant effort to hold back, but Taako could still feel his chest shaking with barely contained amusement.

“I’m being serious! I’m trying to have a serious, adult conversation, you shitheads!” he shouted.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” managed Barry. “I’m sorry, dude, and I’m really proud of you for gettin’ that out, but… c’mon.”

“Look, Koko.” Lup said. She took his hands and squeezed. “I get it. I’m sorry it’s so funny, but… seriously? You’re fucking irreplaceable. You know that, right? You’re so much fucking more than a knockoff me in an admittedly dope as hells hat. I love you, everyone in this room loves you, even if some of them, Merle, won’t admit to it. You saved the world, you’re a really good wizard, and you are absolutely the shit.”

“Yeah, it’s just--”

“Do you trust me?”

He didn’t have to think. “Absolutely.”

“Good. So if I tell you to believe something, can you try your best?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

She smiled at him. “You, Taako, may be a bit of an asshole, but you’re OUR asshole. And if anyone tries to take you away from us, I can and will set them on fire. Got it?”

“Yeah!” Merle piped in. “And I’ll sic Della Reese on their a-butts! On their butts!”

“And then I’ll revive ‘em so we can do it all again!” Barry agreed.

Kravitz shot him a glare.

“Or not. I could also just. Hit them with a sword real hard. Don’t need to go too fancy.” he mumbled.

Taako nodded.

The rest of the night passed more peacefully. A stray spell hit a vase and turned it into a ceramic turtle, Barry got soup all over the toaster, and Kravitz refused to try weed.

It was a welcome diversion, really. All this stress was starting to give him dark circles, and it was pretty tough to remember to glamour them over every morning. But… this was nice.

Taako had people he trusted. It was difficult to remind himself of that sometimes, but there were people who loved him, who didn’t mind him needing their help.

He didn’t have to do everything alone anymore. He supposed that was part of trusting someone, wasn’t it? Letting them help how they could.

He had a family. And he could ask them for help.

[jacktenenbaum]

yknow, while im glad we all decided angus is raised by everyone from the starblaster (and then some), is it too much to ask for the same thing but with mavis and mookie? theres a parent-teacher meeting and instead of EITHER of the parents that usually come its kravitz, apologizing profusely for being five minutes late? an explanation of “i didnt realize the infiltration into the necromancy cult would take so long?” actually i think i just want more mavis and mookie content.