Kravitz left Lup and Barry after recounting his and Taako's first meeting. He needed to report to the Raven Queen. He couldn't tell Her everything; that would have taken too long, and She didn't need every detail. That's why She gave the job to Kravitz instead of doing it herself. Though Lady Istus and Kravitz had both informed Her that the liches were safe, She was still put off by the fact that there were two of them just running around.
After meeting with his Queen, Kravitz wasn't sure where he should go. Taako still was busy training (he promised to call Kravitz when he was done) and he didn't want to be in Taako's room without his permission. He supposed he could go back to Lup and Barry, but he had just left and was concerned that it would be awkward if he showed up so soon after leaving.
Then he remembered that the Raven Queen had given him an apartment in the Astral Plane. He hadn't visited it in years—Kravitz was something of a workaholic, and in the little free time he allowed himself, he usually just went exploring around Faerûn. But now he had this mandatory time off work, he could use it again.
The apartment was exactly the same as he left it: empty with only the bare essentials it came with. As he walked around, he thought about what he could add. I should get more furniture. A comfortable chair or two, maybe. Oh, and a bookshelf. That would give me something to do. Oh wait, is it still—
Kravitz rushed to his bedroom, which was empty except for a mattress on a bed frame and a closet door. Occasionally, if Kravitz came across something he liked in the field, he would create a rift that led to his closet, which he only remembered when a wave of trinkets came crashing out at his feet. He dug through the mess of gemstones, books, and rare objects and found what he was looking for—his cello. He thanked his Queen that he kept it in a hard case, otherwise everything he had shoved in the closet would have harmed it. He brought it out to the apartment's main room, making a mental note to sort through the mess of trinkets he left on the floor, and sat in the one chair he had. Kravitz started by tuning the cello, which took a while, considering how long it had been. Once he had finished, he applied rosin to the bow and started playing.
Kravitz had forgotten how much he loved making music. Just hearing the cello play almost had him in tears. He let himself go and took advantage of his muscle memory. He started with scales, then the songs he learned in his earlier days, occasionally going off on his own and improvising. He probably would have played forever if his Stone of Farspeech didn't interrupt him.
Kravitz gently set his cello and bow on the floor and answered. "Hello?"
"Krav, babe, I'm trying to bake but Angus is being annoying and won't stop bothering me about you. Would you entertain him?"
Kravitz smiled, knowing that Taako was teasing Angus because he was probably listening. "Of course. I'll be there in a moment." He put his instrument away and opened a rift to Taako's room.
Taako was on Kravitz as soon as he stepped through the portal. Kravitz was surprised at first, but quickly adjusted and embraced Taako.
"I take it you missed me?" Kravitz asked.
Taako scoffed. "As if. I was just letting you indulge in Taako's Radiance."
Kravitz smiled and kissed Taako. "Of course, dear."
The two of them spent a couple quiet moments just enjoying being held by the other. Then Taako said "Well, the kid's waiting for us out there. We'd better get out there before he breaks in, since he can apparently do that." Kravitz chuckled as Taako led him out of the room.
Kravitz was greeted with a "Hello, sir!" as a very energetic Angus McDonald waved from his seat at the kitchen counter. Angus had a notebook in front of him that was sitting on top of a very thick book. After greeting Kravitz, the child went back to taking notes, though it was obvious he was still paying attention to his surroundings.
Taako put his hair up as he walked into the kitchen. He dug through a drawer and put on an apron that quite honestly shocked Kravitz. The apron read "I'm the Cool Twin." Why does he have that apron if he doesn't remember Lup?
Angus beat Kravitz to the punch. "Why does your apron say that, Taako, sir?" He asked.
Taako blinked a few times before saying "I've always had this, Ango. Found it in the caravan I used for Sizzlin' It Up with Taako." He shrugged. "I think I bought it when I was blackout drunk to be ironic. There's another one in there that says I'm the Hotter Twin. I've got tons of stuff like that, actually." Kravitz made a mental note to tell this to Lup and Barry—he's sure they'd get a kick out of this. Taako started pulling ingredients out and started whatever he was going to make.
"Mister Kravitz, sir," Angus said, glancing up at him from his book, "Could I ask you some questions?"
Kravitz nodded. "Yes, why not?" He said, sitting down next to Angus. He ignored Taako's snickering.
Angus flipped through the large book, closed his eyes, and concentrated. After a short moment, Kravitz felt the full effects of a very competent Zone of Truth. "Just to make sure you don't lie, Sir," he explained. They both ignored Taako's exasperated sigh.
Kravitz shrugged. He had no intention of lying, anyway. He figured that even if he did try to lie, Angus would see right through it without the spell. "What's your first question?" He asked.
Angus thought for a moment. "Why won't Taako tell anyone about you?"
Kravitz blinked. "I don't think that's a question for me?" he said, looking at Taako, who was pretending to ignore the two of them.
"It's not because you're dangerous, is it?" Angus said, his voice lowering as much as his ten-year-old vocal cords will allow. "Or because you threatened him?"
"No, no! Not at all, I-" Kravitz started, but then he started to doubt himself. Is Taako really dating me because he's afraid I'll take him to the Stockade if he doesn't? "At least, I hope not?"
"Taako isn't doing anything he doesn't want to," Taako said, putting down whatever he was mixing. He leaned on the counter to face Angus and Kravitz and said "except for having this conversation. Listen, Ango, you'd probably be the first one to know if Kravitz does anything to piss me off. And he doesn't. Except for when he sneaks up behind me with those frozen hands of his." Taako gave Kravitz a pointed look, which Kravitz chuckled at. "Anyway, I didn't tell anyone because it's nobody's business who I'm dating. That's it, kiddo, you don't have to worry about this doofus." Taako lifted himself up and went back to stirring.
Angus hums, pulling a second notebook from underneath the textbook and writing something down. "Alright," he mumbles. "So, my next question, what exactly do you do for the Raven Queen?" He looked up at Kravitz, looking curious.
"Officially I'm a Reaper, but I've been called an emissary or a bounty hunter, which isn't inaccurate. My job is to enforce the Raven Queen's rules, so the majority of my time is usually hunting down necromancers and cleaning up their messes."
"So, why did you go after the reclaimers? Mister Taako is a transmutation specialist, not a necromancy specialist."
"Well, that was a very strange case. I was originally sent by my Queen to stop Lucas Miller from raising his mother along with every soul in the Eternal Stockade. Then I met Taako and the others." Kravitz summoned his book of bounties to show Angus, who gazed at it in wonder. "My Queen gave me this book. It tells me what death crimes have been committed. I recognized the reclaimers' names because they had such high bounties."
"Can I read it?" Angus asked.
"You can try," Kravitz answered, opening the book. "It's enchanted so nobody but an emissary can read it." Angus flipped through the book, disappointed.
"Do you get paid?" Angus asked.
"I do. The bigger the bounty, the more I get paid. Though I'm sometimes allowed to take a souvenir, so long as it isn't necromantic in origin."
"Where do you keep the souvenirs?"
"I have a small residence in the Astral Plane."
"You're dead, right?"
"Yes?"
"Why do you need money, then? Do you have to pay rent, or something?"
Kravitz laughed. "You're a thorough one. No, I don't need to pay rent or anything to survive, but Reapers do have free time that we can spend our money on."
Angus nodded. "What do you like to do?"
Kravitz thought. It had been quite a while—not counting earlier that day—since he had allowed himself free time. "Well, lately I've been enjoying spending time with Taako."
"Gross, sir." Angus said, though it was likely sarcastic. "What else?"
"I've also spent a majority of my spare time reading."
Angus' eyes lit up. "Oh, really? What sorts of books do you like to read, sir?"
Kravitz then listed off all the books he could remember reading, with Angus voicing his opinion of the books he had read for himself. When Kravitz mentioned that he'd enjoyed the Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop book series, Angus flapped his arms in excitement. Angus asked Kravitz which book was his favorite and who his favorite characters were, and the two were in their own world.
The two stopped talking when Taako placed a tray of muffins in front of them. "Eat up my dudes, your nerd talk is making you both more adorable by the minute." Taako froze, realizing what he said, and ran out of the Zone of Truth as fast as possible to say "I meant deplorable!"
Kravitz and Angus laughed as Taako pouted from across the room. Taako then used Mage Hand to give Angus a noogie. "Alright sir," Angus said, giggling, "I'l dispel Zone of Truth now!"
"Good!" Taako exclaimed, walking forward to give Angus a real noogie before letting up. "Now eat some of these muffins, I can't have my apprentice being all skin and bone."
Angus happily bit into a muffin. "Thank you, sir!" He said. "This is very good!"
Kravitz bit into his own muffin. "Angus is correct, dear. Perfect, as always."
"Well, natch," Taako said, his face going a bit red. "Could I do anything less?"
Kravitz took his hand and smiled. "No," he said. "You'll always be perfect."
Taako, still blushing, said "Krav, there's little ears present."
Angus rolled his eyes and hopped off his chair. "I'd better get going anyway, sirs. It's past my bedtime," he said, putting his books into his backpack.
Taako scoffed. "Come on, kiddo, be your own man! There's no bedtimes on the moon."
"Sir, you're the one who insisted on a bedtime."
Taako ruffled Angus' hair and said "Oh yeah, I did. Better let you go, then. And don't stay up all night reading those Casey Colorado books, I don't want to find you passed out on the floor of your room again."
"I won't," Angus said, grinning. "And you know it's Caleb Cleveland." He picked up his backpack and walked out.
Taako let down his hair and said "Thanks for entertaining the kid, Krav." He draped an arm around Kravitz. "He was starting to get on my nerves."
Kravitz kissed Taako's cheek. "No he wasn't," he said.
Taako sighed and leaned to whisper to him. "No, but he's still at the door trying to spy on us." He turned toward the door and said "Go to bed, Agnes!"
A moment of silence passed before a quiet "goodnight sirs!" came through the door, followed by soft footsteps down the hall. Kravitz and Taako laughed. They held a conversation while Taako put away the rest of the muffins and they both walked to Taako's room to cuddle.
"So," Taako said after they both got comfortable, "what did you think of Angus?"
Kravitz ran his fingers through Taako's hair and said "He's a good kid, I can see why you decided to teach him. And he has excellent taste in books."
"You're a nerd. You're both nerds." Taako let out a soft sigh and relaxed into Kravitz. "Hey babe?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think you can stay with me for the night?"
"Of course, dear. There's no place I'd rather be. I'll still be here when you wake up."
Taako's sighed again, and Kravitz could feel him falling asleep. Though Kravitz technically didn't need to sleep, he felt himself get a little drowsy as well.
"Krav?" Taako breathed, half asleep and barely intelligible.
"Mhmm?" Kravitz hummed in response.
"Love you."
"I love you too, my dove."