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Kravitz had been alive for long enough that he no longer kept track of his age, and time didn’t mean much of anything to him for centuries. Taako, on the other hand, had been alive a long time, longer than was average even for an elf because of his time on the Starblaster, but his mortality had kept him as acutely aware of time as the humans in his life.
Kravitz had a tendency to lose track of time often enough that it caused problems for them in the beginning.
He’d offer to do the shopping in the afternoon and come back two days later empty handed sometimes. Every time it happened, Taako would have worked himself up until he was convinced Kravitz wasn’t coming back by the end of the first night.
It was a fucking mess.
A few “I love you”s from Kravitz didn’t do anything to fix a lifetime’s worth of abandonment issues, especially once the decade he didn’t even have Lup during that lifetime was thrown in the mix. So Kravitz would walk out the door, disappear for days with no contact, and Taako was alone.
Then one day, Kravitz got called almost to the other side of Faerun for a bounty.
He was gone for a month, and Lup and Barry went with him.
Taako still wasn’t speaking to Lucretia, he wasn’t done being pissed at Merle and Magnus for forgiving her so easily, Davenport was busy sailing somewhere, and Angus was away at school. So, for a month, Taako was alone.
He barely left the house when it wasn’t necessary after the first two weeks. What was the point? He was one of the seven heroes from the Day of Story and Song to the public, and while he loved the praise, it wasn’t enough when it was all he had, not anymore, not now that he remembered what it felt like to be loved.
He cleaned the house obsessively, and once there was nothing left to clean, he cooked until there was no more space on the counters. Then he didn’t know what to do.
Two weeks turned into three, Kravitz still wasn’t back, and Taako’s anger at him for being gone for so long melted away, and then there was nothing. He spent a lot of time in bed after that.
When the front door opened eventually, Taako hardly batted an eye. He pulled the blankets around him tighter, and let the sounds downstairs fade into white noise.
A hand on his shoulder. “Taako, are you okay?”
Taako realized then what a mess he must look. He hadn’t bothered casting a glamour on himself since the last time he’d left the house. There was no point. He rolled over, away from Kravitz, and pulled the blanket over his face.
Taako felt a pressure on the bed behind him, and then Kravitz’s arm draped itself loosely over him. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Taako shoved Kravitz’s arm off of him and rolled back to face him again, the anger he’d lost flaring back up in him. “Sure, why don’t you stop leaving me like it’s no big fucking deal?”
Kravitz’s eyes widened. “What do you--”
Taako sat up, blanket falling into his lap.
“You’ve been gone for a month, my man. I know that doesn’t mean shit to you, but a month is a long time to be alone for ol’ Taako here. You didn’t check in once, nobody fucking stopped by to see how the Grim Reaper’s boyfriend was doing while he was out of town, nothing. And it--you’re just--it’s just no big fucking deal for you that I’m stuck here wondering if you’re even coming back,” he ranted, face scrunched up as he used every ounce of restraint he had not to start screaming or, gods forbid, crying. “I can’t just chill here while someone else I actually give a shit about goes missing. Done it before, that is not fucking for Taako.”
Taako could pinpoint the moment Kravitz started to feel guilty. Good, he should feel guilty after up and leaving Taako.
“I didn’t--”
“I know you didn’t think about it like that,” Taako said, suddenly so very tired again. His face fell into his hands. “That’s kind of the whole problem.”
Kravitz’s hand came up to rest on Taako’s back. Taako didn’t stop him.
“Did you even miss me?” Taako asked, and hated himself the second the words left his mouth. He sounded so vulnerable.
“Taako, I--of course I did. I know I fucked up and I should have paid attention to how long I was gone, but of course I missed you. I always do when I’m gone,” Kravitz assured him.
Taako nodded, and then he was fucking crying. “Good.”
“You know I love you Taako, right? Because I love you a lot,” Kravitz said, thumb rubbing circles into Taako’s back.
Taako nodded again, trying to force himself to calm down.
“Do--do you want me to hold you?” Kravitz asked.
Taako threw himself into Kravitz’s chest as soon as he finished the question, balling his hands into fists in the fabric of Kravitz’s cloak. Kravitz rested his chin on top of Taako’s head and wound his arms around him, rocking the two of them softly.
Taako sobbed into Kravitz’s chest, letting out gods know how many months worth of crying at once. Kravitz let him get it all out, occasionally softly reminding Taako he loved him, that he was right there with him, that he wasn’t going to leave Taako.
Taako did manage to calm down eventually. He felt embarrassed about the whole episode until he looked up and saw the way Kravitz was looking at him.
He looked at Taako like he was beautiful, even when he didn’t have a glamour on and his eyes were puffy and his cheeks were tearstained and snot was probably coming out of his nose. He still looked at Taako the way he always did. It made Taako almost want to believe him when he said he wouldn’t leave him.
“I love you too, you know,” Taako said, wiping his face. “I don’t say it much but, uh--yeah.”
Kravitz kissed his forehead. “I know.”
Taako nodded. “Don’t--don’t fucking leave me like that for so long again.”
“I will have to go places for my work sometimes Taako, but I won’t go that long without checking in, I promise you,” Kravitz said.
“You better not.”
Taako pressed his face into Kravitz’s chest again, the exhaustion that always came after crying beginning to settle in.
“How often should I check in with you to--to make sure things don’t get like this for you again?”
“Every fuckin’ chance you get. I want to get sick of hearing your voice by the time you get back.”
He felt Kravitz laugh. “Okay, sure. I think I can manage that.”
Taako nodded, feeling more drowsy with each moment that passed.
“Do you want to lay down?” Kravitz asked.
“Only if you do too,” Taako murmured.
Kravitz adjusted until Taako was laying down in the bed, then stood.
“Where are you going?”
Kravitz smiled at him. “Nowhere, I just need to take some of this off before I lay down,” he said, gesturing to his clothes.
“Fine,” Taako grumbled, pulling the blankets back over himself.
Kravitz undressed quickly and climbed back into bed, sliding under the blankets with Taako and scooping him up into his arms, holding him tightly. The cold of Kravitz's skin had become something comforting for Taako, pressed against him so solidly, assuring him that Kravitz was real and here and present.
Taako laid his head on Kravitz's chest and let himself be held, the most secure he'd felt since Kravitz left. Kravitz kissed the top of Taako's head, left his face there, took a deep breath.
“Gods Taako, I really did miss you. I feel like shit for not thinking about how much worse a month would be for you,” Kravitz said softly, running his knuckles along Taako's spine.
“We're all good unless you do it again,” Taako muttered, eyes slipping shut.
Kravitz nodded. “I'll be more careful from now on.”
Taako pressed a kiss to Kravitz's chest. “Love you Krav.”
“Love you too.”
Taako hummed softly and fell into the best sleep he'd had in a month.
Kravitz did do better after that. Much better, in fact. The second he realized just how fucked up Taako got after being left alone for so long, he made a clear effort to avoid anything similar happening.
He was still gone for days on end sometimes when he was supposed to do the shopping, or had to leave for weeks for the Grim Reaper gig, but he was in near constant contact with Taako when he did so. Even when he was off in the Astral Plane, he didn't disappear on Taako. It was good. It felt good.
Taako felt safe. Safe in his relationship, safe to trust Kravitz. And soon enough, he did trust Kravitz wholeheartedly.
Things were made even easier after Taako started speaking to Magnus and Merle again, and after getting their first cat. In fact, those two events were intrinsically linked.
Magnus was a dog guy through and through, but when he saw a stray cat prowling around Raven's roost, he took it in, then he and Merle brought it to Taako as some kind of peace offering because they knew he loved cats.
The cat was missing chunks of fur and half an ear, walked with a limp, and hissed at anyone who touched her tail. She was the most fucked up cat Taako had maybe ever seen. He was in love. He named her Fur Merle.
He made Magnus and Merle dinner that night, and almost didn't want them to leave that night. Kravitz was off working, and Taako was really starting to feel those nights alone, even with Kravitz’s voice lulling him to sleep through his Stone of Farspeech.
He had his new cat to keep him company though, give him something to focus on so he wasn't alone in bed. She curled up on his chest that night, fell asleep purring, and completely blew their cover when Kravitz called because she purred so loudly. Kravitz said he couldn't wait to meet her.
She made it much easier to get through nights without Kravitz there to hold him, and the weeks without him seemed a bit less daunting.
It was good. He and Kravitz were good, they were happy. Taako was happy.