#even tho it's not even been a whole week sldfsdf

[barry-j-blupjeans]

15 seems to really fit blup+Taako and 27 seems to fit taakitz really well. maybe it's basic but that's me baby!!!! can I get one of those? dealer's choice.

15. “I see how you look at my sister”

--

Taako's had a few weird fucking weeks. The whole... thing with Sazed had been- yikes. No fun. He was trying not to think about it too much, but he couldn't stop replaying the scene when he closed his eyes. Finishing the dish. Saying a funny little quip. Lup had made an even funnier quip back but, for some reason, the response had slipped from his mind. Instead, all that really stuck with Lup pulling his arm back as he went to give out the first sample, hard enough for him to drop the entire platter, and saying,

"Don't fucking serve that."

Seeing his sister die wasn't- like it wasn't great, okay? And seeing her red ghost Casper-looking soul rise from her body wasn't ideal either, to be honest! There had been a moment when the crowd had descended into complete and utter silence. Then, someone came running back with a doctor and the world split into noise again. People, pointing, some screaming, the doctor rushing up to the stage, and Lup- Lup speaking straight static into his ears, unmoving from over her body.

Yeah, it's been fucking wild out here.

And Taako had to admit, it could have been a lot worse! It could have been a whole lot worse. Lup could have properly died and not turned into a ghost. Taako could have died, which would have been equally bad or even worse, considering Lup had informed him that he would not, in fact, also turn into a ghost. Sazed had gotten away, sure, but at least Taako wasn't being blamed for Lup's death or the almost-death forty people.

But still. If you had asked Taako a few weeks ago where he'd imagine himself being in a few weeks' time, he would have probably said something like vacation, or more touring. Instead, he was sitting in a cold, damp cave, twisting his Stone of Farspeech to match with a new frequency. Overhead, Lup's spectral form was in a deep conversation with another, slightly smaller, floating red-robed ghost. Taako, frankly, could not wrap his head around their conversation and had stopped trying.

"Taako!" Lup said. Taako looked up. "I've called your name like, five times, dingus."

"I thought you were still doing static stuff," Taako said. "What's up?"

"I gotta go get a new blood processor for the tank," Lup said. "Wanna come?"

"Uhh, no, I'm good," Taako said, remembering where they had gotten the last part of the tank from. It took two whole days to get the gunk off his boots. "Have fun."

"Don't be too mean to Barry," Lup said. "I'll be back in a bit."

Don't be too mean to the floating red ghost that is reanimating you a new body. Right. Sure. Lup disappeared in a flash of flames and Taako and Barry stared at each other for a second before Taako turned away again.

It's not like they didn't get along, it was just... weird. Awkward. It had been bad enough having Lup speak in static but as soon as they found Barry, that's pretty much what all conversations turned into. Taako kind of felt like he was third-wheeling.

Actually, scratch that, he was definitely third-wheeling. He wanted to know where the fuck Lup knew this guy from but apparently, the truth would "break his brain" or some bullshit like that.

Still, he felt like he was missing a chapter or two. Or maybe the whole book. Taako didn't know this guy from Adam, but Lup was like- in love with him? It was obvious he was in love with Lup, at least. And it's not like he was gonna talk about it because when he brought it up to the two of them, they tried to pretend like there wasn't some sort of romance happening. Except that he had known Lup his whole life, so she obviously couldn't lie to him, and Barry-

Barry was awkward and weird. He gave off the distinct air that he knew Taako, though he couldn't say from where and they both explained it away with "big fish" and "Lucretia." Taako didn't know a Lucretia. All he knew is that 1) his sister was dead and 2) this guy was a huge fucking nerd.

"So, uh," Barry said. "Nice weather we're having."

"No," Taako said.

"Y- yeah, alright," Barry said. Taako turned, setting his Stone aside.

"Listen, my man," Taako said. "Explain to me the situation to me one more time."

"Well, uh." Barry cleared his non-existent throat. "Which part exactly?"

"The "you and Lup" part," Taako said.

"That's a- a pretty big part, d'you wanna narrow it down a little, or-"

"Barry," Taako said. "You- you and Lup can not tell me stuff or speak in TV static or whatever, but I'm gonna give it to you straight: I have seen how you look at my sister." Barry spluttered. "Like I might be dumb, but I'm not that dumb. My intelligence modifier could be in the negatives and I would still know."

"I mean-"

"Barryyy," Taako said. "The truth, Barry."

"I just, like-"

"Barry," Taako said again. "D'you want me to do a perception check, because I will-"

"We just figured that it'd be easier to, uh, not tell you yet?" Barry said. "Like, obviously this whole situation is gonna be kinda weird for you but Lup and me being ma- ...interested in each other isn't gonna help you any. So we just kinda- we kinda wanted to-"

"Why the fuck would you think that you two being in love is the worst thing to tell me right now," Taako said, slamming his hands on the ground. Barry's form jumped. "I saw Lup fucking die and I'm watching her body grow in a goddamn Nickelodeon slime tank, like- that is not the worst thing to happen to me in the past few weeks. I could literally not care less."

"We didn't want to overwhelm you," Barry said weakly.

"Well I'm pretty overwhelmed, so you might as well!" Taako said. Barry looked like he wanted to say something at that, but just kind of floated aimlessly in place. Taako sat back against the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest. He took a deep breath.

"Can I, uhm... help explain anything to you?" Barry said. "To make it, uhm, less overwhelming."

Taako sighed. Yeah, there were lots of things he'd like an explanation on. Why did Lup turn into a ghost? Why wasn't he able to understand the static? Why did he feel like he could trust Barry even though they only just met? Did they meet before, actually? Is that where Lup knew him from? If so, why didn't Taako remember? Exactly how much Fantasy Ibuprofen did he need to take to get rid of the headache that he has had for the past three whole weeks?

"Yeah, I've got a question," Taako said, sitting up.

"Yeah?" Barry said.

"Yeah," Taako said. "I gotta know what you look like because like, no offense, but Lup tends to pick out fucking weirdos, and the only person I can picture when thinking about you is Tom Arnold."

#taako #barry bluejeans #lup #blupjeans #taz #taz balance #mine #asks #anon #my writing skills evaporated and it feels like So Long since I've written #even tho it's not even been a whole week sldfsdf #thank u for the prompt tho !!! #no longer accepting from that list btw #ise cube writing