Chapter Text
Angus wasn’t sure what to expect when he drank the voidfish ichor. At first it didn’t seem like he remembered all that much. He knew it was less than what a lot of the older members of the bureau had revealed to them. He’d been young when the relic war had ended though and most of the things that immediately came to him were those strange moments of static. Those moments on the train and when he’d been taking on those missing unknown persons cases.
It had actually taken a couple of hours for him to realize there was more to remember than he thought. He hadn’t been thinking about things that had happened when he was little, or things he’d not known for almost half his life. There was too much going on for him to really scour over his whole time. He was too wrapped up in the grandness of joining the Bureau of Balance to focus on those things.
He’d been in the middle of unpacking in his new room when it came back to him. After so much going on Angus had been trying to relax some as he got his things settled. Simple as anything, he’d been stacking his Caleb Cleveland novels up on his bookshelf when he thought ‘Kravitz would have liked this one. It’s a shame he never came back.’
And Angus felt frozen as he processed that information, foggy memories of his older brother coming back to him. They weren’t hidden by the static of the voidfish anymore, instead it was just time that made things difficult. He’d gone so long without thinking about him, and he’d been so young. He was- he’d been maybe five or so when he left, there wasn’t a lot to remember.
The day he left was probably the clearest thing out of it all. Angus wasn’t sure if it was because it was the most recent memory or because it was that important to him.
”Angus, I’ll be back soon. Just stay with Grandpa and stay out of trouble until then, alright?” his brother had said, leaning down to be on his level and Angus had nodded shakily. Kravitz didn't leave often, not since their parents had died. Disappeared? Angus couldn’t quite remember what ever happened to them. He’d been even younger then, and the event had been mostly whispered behind closed doors.
Kravitz had told him to stay out of trouble, but Angus wasn’t sure he’d ever been good at that. Almost immediately he’d looked into what his brother had left to get, what had been so important for him to have left so suddenly. It didn't take him long to find bright papers in his office advertising some strange, powerful artifact.
He didn’t go after him though. He said he was coming back and to stay out of trouble, and while Angus had always been a snoop, he could admit he was only five years old. Some things were too big and dangerous for him still.
Kravitz hadn’t ever come back though. Then a few months later Angus had forgotten about the garish papers and the powerful artifact and his brother entirely.
Which made sense now. It had been a part of the relic war, and his memory of it and anyone lost during it had been wiped along with everyone’s else. He’d been young and Kravitz had been gone for so long already, he couldn’t even pinpoint the exact moment he'd forgotten.
He didn’t need to think very hard about why his brother had never come back. The relics were insanely dangerous, and he doubted Kravitz would have been wiped if he’d lived. Angus couldn’t remember a lot about him, but a part of him still felt disappointed by that news.
He knew the thrall was nearly impossible to resist, but it was upsetting in a way he didn’t expect.
The relic hadn’t been anywhere near them initially after all. Angus had looked at the same flier as Kravitz had and the only reason he’d wanted to go was to see his brother again and make sure he was okay.
Kravitz had wanted the relic to begin with, the thrall had just been the final nail in the coffin.
There wasn’t anything he could do about that now though. All he could do was work with the bureau to help make sure that as few people fell into the grip of the relics from here on out. Angus hadn’t expected any sort of personal connection to this mission, he’d just been excited for the mystery of it all. He supposed having that connection might be a good thing though.
He did his best to help the bureau too. He didn’t know how well it went the first time while trying to retrieve the philosopher’s stone though. He felt so powerless not being able to give them what they needed.
Angus wished he could be there in person instead of stuck on the end of a stone of farspeech. If he could see things he could figure out what was going on better and faster. He might’ve been able to realize that they’d been dealing with an agent of the Raven Queen, or what Lucas was really up to. Instead he was left flipping through old books and answering spelling questions.
In the end though they managed to gather up the relic. Angus watched in sleepy fascination they destroyed it and something evil was taken out of the world.
It wasn’t the relic his brother had gone after, but it still felt like a victory in that regard. There were only three others left though. One of those included the one that had taken a large chunk of his small family away.
He was starting to truly care about the people here, and he couldn’t help but be scared at the idea of losing them too.
And then they gathered up the Temporal Chalice, and Angus heard the story of how many times they had died in the process. They came back, but those deaths had been real and there were only two relics left. Either this time or the next, they were going to go after the one he’d seen on the garish paper in his older brother’s office.
They’d have to go after the Animus Bell eventually, and Angus was a bit terrified of what would happen to them when they did. He didn’t want to lose the reclaimers now, not after having gotten so close to them.
He was trying not to show how worried he was about their next mission, but it was a little hard to ignore. The way the director had them training all the time didn’t help squash his fears any. He could see how nervous she was about this next one, and it was only worse when Angus found out exactly what relic they were indeed going after.
The Animus Bell.
He knew the Director didn’t know about his connection with the relic. He hadn’t bothered to tell anyone, it hadn’t seemed particularly important. Lots of people lost family to the relic war, most people honestly. So when she confirmed that it was the relic they were going after next it was hard to mask the fear he felt inside for their safety.
Angus knew it was a little dumb of him. The reclaimers had proven themselves capable of handling relics no one else in the entire world could. Just because his brother, a guy he could barely remember, had died trying to get this one didn’t mean that they would suffer the same fate. Hundreds of people had died due to every relic. Just because this time he happened to personally know one of the victims didn’t make it any more dangerous than the others.
Of course, the Director seemed to think it was pretty dangerous as well.
Angus was trying to focus on his magic lesson with Taako, but he guessed he was more distracted by their battle ahead than he thought. He was hiding it as best he could, but something must’ve shown through because after a bit Taako stopped going through the motions of showing him the spell and huffed.
“I mean, I think rope trick is a pretty chill spell but if you’re not into it we can do something else,” he said, and Angus shook his head.
“Oh no sir, that’s not it! I want to learn it,” he tried to assure him. Taako didn’t look too convinced though, and Angus guessed he really had been distracted.
“Mhmm, then what’s with the far off stares and not paying attention shit? I know you know how to pay attention,” Taako said, and that was true. Usually Angus’s entire focus was on his magic lessons, this wasn’t like him.
He could lie, but he knew that Taako was better at telling how people were feeling that he would ever admit. He’d know he was lying and would think it was because he wasn’t interested in the spell or learning magic.
Plus, there was a part of him that wanted to tell him. That just wanted to tell someone about how worried he was about all this.
“I’m sorry sir, I promise it has nothing to do with your magic lesson. I’m just- I’m really worried about your next mission. The director has you training so much, I know it’s not going to be easy,” he admitted, and a bit unsurprisingly Taako scoffed at that. It didn’t sound like he didn’t believe him though, which was good.
“Really? That’s your issue? Kid, none of the grand relics have been easy to get. All I know is that the next one probably isn’t gonna make me die eleven times, and hell, that’s gotta be a step in the right direction at least,” he said, and Angus knew that was true.
“I know you’ve all done a lot and are really powerful and-”
“Natch,” Taako cut in.
“You’ve all been successful gathering the relics so far, but I guess it’s kinda dumb sir. The animus bell was the relic my brother died going after and I don’t want to lose you all too,” he said, not looking at Taako and rolling his wand between his hands. The elf didn’t say anything for a moment, and when Angus chanced a glance up at him he looked surprised. There was something else there too that Angus couldn’t quite place.
“You had a brother?” he asked, and Angus guessed that made sense. He didn’t think it was some huge thing to be shocked about, but they had known each other a pretty long time now and he’d never mentioned him before.
“Yes sir. I forgot about him until I joined the bureau because he died in the relic war. He was a lot older than me and I was only five when he left so I don’t remember him too well but he was nice and cared about me a lot,” Angus explained, and Taako nodded slowly. There was clearly something going on in his mind, but Taako was a strange person. Angus couldn’t totally read him a lot of the time. He could tell when he was lying, but sometimes it seemed like he wasn’t even sure if what he was saying was the truth or not.
“Huh, well that sucks. Sorry about your probably nerdy brother?” Taako said, and Angus couldn’t help the bit of amusement that filled him at that.
“Why do you assume he was nerdy?” he asked, and Taako rolled his eyes like it was obvious.
“He was related to you,” he said, gesturing towards Angus exaggeratedly.
“I guess that’s fair sir,” Angus said with a shrug. He was a nerd, he could admit that.
“But yeah,” Taako continued, and he sounded a little awkward. “Sorry bout your bro, but like, we’re professionals at this by now I guess? We won’t get fucking creamed like he was,” he insisted, and somehow that made Angus feel a bit better.
“I know sir, just please try to be careful?” he asked, and Taako nodded absently.
“Yeah yeah sure, we won’t throw caution to the wind like every other mission we’ve been on,” he said. It sounded like he was joking but there was a clear edge of truth there. “Anyway, we good to get back to the magic now? I’ve got plans tonight, can’t spend all day babysitting you,” he added.
“Of course sir,” Angus said, letting a teasing smile spread across his face when Taako mentioned having plans. “Oh, another date with your mystery boyfriend?” he asked, glad for the chance to change the subject.
“None of your business pumpkin,” Taako said, which wasn’t surprising, and it also wasn't a no. Angus had been trying to figure out who he’d been going on dates with for a little while now, and he hadn’t gotten an exact identity yet. The biggest things he knew was that it wasn’t anyone in the bureau and Taako liked him enough to go on multiple dates with him.
“I’m going to find out eventually sir. I’m the world’s greatest detective,” he insisted.
“Don’t see any reason to make it easy for you then. You need to keep those skills sharp don’t ya?” Taako said, and Angus supposed that was a good point.
“Hmm, I suppose that’s true,” he said, leaning back into the sofa and trying to think it over. If Taako wanted him to stop sleuthing this he could always start up the magic lesson again. “Where are you going on your date?” he asked.
“Wine tasting,” Taako answered easily. Angus couldn’t help but make a face at that.
“Wine is nasty,” he said and Taako rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, cause you’re like six,” he said, and then he stopped for a moment, frowning at Angus. “Wait, you’re like six, how do you know what wine tastes like?” he asked.
“Madame Director let me have a sip once,” he explained, and Taako seemed to relax some at that.
“Alright, I guess she’s like a responsible adult, she probably knows what she’s doing,” he said.
“Where are you meeting?” Angus asked, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to guess exactly who it was Taako was dating. He might not have ever met him after all, but he could get a pretty good idea.
“Here I think,” Taako said, and Angus frowned some at that.
“But he’s not a member of the bureau? I checked,” he said. It’d be bad for Taako to bring up non-bureau members, and it’d be a pretty difficult thing to hide too. Taako took a moment to realize what the issue was before trying to wave it off.
“Oh yeah, no he’s not. Like I’d fucking date any of the disasters on this rock. He’s chill though, been up here a couple times actually,” Taako said, and Angus was frowning even more deeply now.
“He doesn’t question why we’re on the moon? Or why he can’t think right when he’s up here?” Angus pressed.
“Yeah no, that ain’t an issue for him,” Taako said, and he was clearly giving Angus a big clue with this. He was daring him to figure it out.
“He’s not a member of the bureau, so he’s not inoculated… but the voidfish isn’t an issue for him… and you haven’t been using the transit canons to leave on your dates either,” Angus said, muttering to himself for the most part.
“What are you, spying on me?” Taako huffed.
“Yes sir, try to keep up,” Angus said casually, ignoring the way Taako rolled his eyes. The only way Taako’s date wouldn’t be affected by the voidfish without being inoculated was if he wasn’t fully alive. “Your boyfriend is a ghost?” he asked.
“Eeeeh,” Taako said, waving his hand in a so-so motion. Not quite a ghost then. Something else. Where could Taako have run into someone that wasn’t quite alive? Let alone someone like that who Taako would want to date?
“Oh! Wait, Taako are you dating that bounty hunter for the Raven Queen that was trying to kill you?” Angus asked, because that was the only person he could think of that would fit. The three hadn’t said too much about him during their debriefing, just that he thought they’d died a bunch of times and tried to take their souls to the astral plane. Angus had been pretty tired during the whole debriefing, it’d been late. He was pretty sure he could remember Taako calling him ‘that really hot specter of death’ more than once though.
“I mean, we’ve reached an agreement vis a vis, killing me,” Taako said, which was absolutely a yes. Which, okay this wasn’t Angus’s first guess on who Taako might’ve been dating, but it was definitely the most interesting option.
“I mean, I guess you’ve been dating for a little while now right?” Angus asked, trying to tell himself that Taako wasn’t going to be murdered by his death boyfriend.
“We’ve been on like three dates, not exactly destined to get married or anything like that yet,” Taako huffed, and it was clear that he was more embarrassed than anything about this whole conversation. “But if you mean has it been long enough to be sure he ain’t gonna go stealing my soul and shit, yeah that’s pretty on lock. For a death bounty hunter Kravitz ended up being real chill with the whole dying shit in Refuge,” he added, and Angus wasn’t able to keep himself from flinching at that.
It was unexpected, and they’d just been talking about his brother too. It didn’t mean anything though.
“What’s with you?” Taako asked, and Angus knew he would realize something was wrong.
“What did you say your boyfriend’s name was again?” Angus asked, and Taako was frowning now.
“Not sure if three dates constitutes ‘boyfriend’ yet but it’s Kravitz,” he said.
“Sorry, that was just my brother’s name is all,” he explained, because he knew if he didn’t Taako would keep hounding him until he did.
“Oh, weird,” Taako said, and he was staring at him pretty intently now. Angus could guess the things going through his head at that moment, but for once he wasn’t going to try to. It was a weird thing to think about, especially after not having to for so long, and he doubted it amounted to anything in the long run.
There were lots of people named Kravitz. There were probably even more dead people named Kravitz. He could remember his brother having some connections to the Raven Queen when he was little, but that was probably a coincidence too.
After all, if his brother still existed out there, was still able to live enough to actually be dating someone and come back and forth from the astral plane to the prime material plane. If he could still remember everything about the relic war and their life and him, there was no way he wouldn’t have come back, right?
Right?