Chapter Text
Kravitz sort of expected the end of the world to last longer than it did. As it was, once the rest of them had left on the Starblaster, it honestly wasn’t a lot of fighting. Well, it was a lot, there seemed to be a never-ending swarm of the hunger, and Kravitz helped out however he could. Legion was taking out a lot where they were stationed, trampling over black shimmering forms and swiping at them with huge spectral claws.
Kravitz fought too, and his scythe didn’t cut through these creatures in quite the same way as it did with the living. It was hard to tell what the difference was, but there was a definite warping to the souls left inside. Still, it worked well enough, the things crumbling to dust with a good swipe.
Angus was by his side through all of it, defending himself in a way that made Kravitz both proud and slightly terrified. He kept wanting to jump in, to keep every single thing as far away from his son as possible, but Angus was holding his own. He shot off spells with enthusiasm and determination, throwing everything he had into it. It helped that they managed to have the high ground, fighting from up above the majority of the Hunger’s armies. A few of the black creatures could fly, but the majority of them seemed to be land locked, which definitely gave them an advantage.
And then without warning, it was over. A bright white light started spreading through the sky, and then it spread through each and every one of the hunger’s minions, the whole of the thing burning away.
When it was gone it was like the entire world was holding its breath, waiting to know for sure if it was truly finished. The only movement was the flap of Angus’s wings beside him, keeping the boy hovering in place. It didn’t take long for them to spot the ones who’d left to go finish off the hunger, back a good distance down on the ground. As soon as Angus saw them he started moving for them, darting down as fast as he could. Kravitz followed after him at a slower pace, the large crowd that had gathered to fight cheering by the time he reached them.
Angus had been hefted up on Magnus’s shoulder, but as soon as Kravitz was back down with the rest of them he jumped off, crashing into him with obvious excited relief.
“Dad! Dad did you hear? We won!” he shouted, and Kravitz wasn’t able to keep himself from laughing in relief some at that. It was what he figured had happened, considering everyone was safe and home. A part of it was still hard to believe, so it was somewhat nice to have someone actually say it.
“I knew we would,” he said, still holding Angus as he turned to look at Taako. He was safe too. Obviously beat up a bit, no one was without some scrapes and bruises, but it seemed like he was okay. There had been loses, Kravitz could feel that. But it was nothing compared to what could have been. The images of two equal and terrible apocalypses that could have happened still fresh in his mind.
He wanted to stay and celebrate with everyone for as long as possible. It quickly became pretty obvious that ‘as long as possible’ wasn’t actually very long. Everyone was tired. The fight had been a long and brutal one, even Kravitz could feel the exhaustion in his bones. Celebration right now meant rest. There was so much left to do, so many things they needed to fix from the attack by the hunger, souls that needed to get back to their proper resting places. It seemed like a never ending, daunting list that stretched out in front of him.
Angus had to pause in the middle of an excited conversation to Taako about how they had harnessed bonds to help defeat the hunger to yawn, slumping against where Kravitz was holding him a little bit more.
It was a never ending, daunting list of things that needed to get done that Kravitz could start in the morning. After he made sure his son got some proper rest.
“Taako, dear, you should go get some rest. We can figure out what we’re doing about… everything with the rest of your family once things have calmed down some,” Kravitz said, breaking into the conversation somewhat. The smile Taako gave him was tired and somewhat relieved, probably at being told to go sleep instead of trying to draw him into more conversation.
“Yeah, for sure. We’ll get all that squared away soon as fuck, but naps first absolutely,” he said. Taako looked almost like a different person when he closed the gap between them, giving Kravitz a quick kiss and ruffling Angus’s hair. In a good way though. In a way that made him seem so whole and solid, something Kravitz hadn’t even been able to tell he wasn’t beforehand. “Catch you two on the flipside, make sure to put in a good word for us with birdmom if you can,” he added. Kravitz tried to give a disapproving look at that name, but Angus laughed and nodded.
“Of course Taako, she’s actually really nice when you know her,” Angus said. He was still struggling not to yawn, and Kravitz couldn’t blame the boy for being tired after everything he’d been through. He still didn’t even know everything he’d had to go through, and that was the one thing that still terrified Kravitz.
“We’ll see you soon,” Kravitz said, leaning forward to give Taako another quick kiss on his forehead. Taako smiled at that, giving them a nod before heading off to where some of the others were. “We should probably start to head home as well,” he said, and he could see Angus frown at that.
“Shouldn’t we stay and help fix everything up? Is- did we even get Legion back in the- in the stockade?” Angus asked, and Kravitz could appreciate his concern. He could certainly relate to it, the urge to keep doing until it was all fixed fighting strong. Still, he forced himself to take a breath, if only because he knew his son needed one.
“It’ll be fine dear. The world isn’t going to go anywhere now, so we can focus on cleaning it all back up after a short rest,” he said. Angus seemed a little hesitant, but reluctantly nodded when he failed to fight back another yawn.
“Yeah okay, I guess a short nap wouldn’t hurt,” he said, and Kravitz couldn’t help smiling at that. Normally he wouldn’t use his reaper powers in front of so many people, but there was so much going on right now and he’d already broken so many far more important rules. Summoning his scythe he cut a portal back to their home right there. If anyone noticed he didn’t stick around for them to question him on it.
Once they were inside Kravitz let out a long sigh of relief. Angus started squirming to be let down, so he put him back on the floor. The giant feathered wings he had were finally dismissed, and without those Kravitz was suddenly struck with just how small his son was. He barely reached Kravitz’s chest and he’d just fought to save the world.
“Angus, I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to get to you,” he said, and he knew Angus didn’t blame him for that, but he felt the need to apologize again anyway. He never should have left his son in that sort of danger. He should have been able to figure it out, realized as soon as something serious was wrong that the safest place for Angus to be was at his side.
Except it hadn’t been, because Kravitz had spent over a day fighting an ocean of tar. He couldn’t image what might have happened if Angus had been with him. There was no real point in imagining it, because it wasn’t what happened. They were both still here now, relatively unscathed.
“It’s okay dad, I’m just glad you’re safe,” Angus said, and Kravitz couldn’t help but smile at that. They were both okay. That was the most important thing.
“Me too dear,” he said, leaning down and pulling Angus into another hug. It felt so quiet in their house now, compared to the chaotic celebrations that had started to take up in the prime material plane, and all the fighting before that. It wasn’t a bad quiet though, it wasn’t totally silent. He could hear Angus breathing against him, and the soft muted roll of the astral sea was back, rocking gently in the background in time with Angus’s heart beat.
“Is it okay if I take a nap in your room tonight?” Angus asked after a moment, and without thinking twice Kravitz nodded. He was almost relieved Angus had asked first, he didn’t want him out of his sight for very long right now.
“Of course dear. Why don’t you go get ready for bed and I’ll set everything up,” he suggested. Angus nodded, pulling out of the hug and heading to his room. He was trying not to show it, but it was obvious how exhausted he was from everything.
Moving into his bedroom, there wasn’t actually a lot of set up he needed to do. He made some extra fluffy blankets because he could, switching his clothes from his reaper garb into something more comfortable and pajama like as well. By the time he finished with that Angus knocked on his door, and Kravitz let it swing open so he could come in. Immediately the boy crawled into bed, wrapping himself up in blankets and more pillows than he strictly needed. Kravitz was pretty sure he formed a few when he wasn’t looking even, and chuckled a little.
“Comfy?” he asked, moving to sit down on the part of the large bed Angus wasn’t curled up on. He could barely see his son’s head nod underneath it all. It was quiet for a moment, and Kravitz sent up a prayer to the Raven Queen, asking for forgiveness and a few more hours to spend at home with his son.
The comforting reassurance that suddenly flooded through him was nearly enough to bring tears to his eyes. The only thing keeping him together was that he wasn’t sure if Angus was asleep yet, he didn’t want to worry him if he wasn’t.
“Dad?” Angus asked, his voice quiet and sounding half-asleep. He was clearly still awake though, so Kravitz was thankful he had managed to keep himself together.
“Yes dear?” he asked back, keeping his voice soft as he reached over and fixed up what little bits of Angus’s hair he could still see throughout all of the blankets and pillows. It felt wrong to talk too loudly right now.
“I’m really glad to be home,” Angus said, and he sounded so relieved as he spoke. Kravitz nodded, it taking a moment before he could find his words.
“Me too Angus,” he said. It became clear after a few more moments that Angus had finally fallen asleep completely, his breath deep and even. Kravitz didn’t strictly need to sleep too, but if ever there was a time to, he was fairly sure that this would be the time.
It didn’t take very long for him to pass out as well, just so fucking glad to be home.
It was strange, thinking that a little over a decade ago, despite how old he was, how much he thought he had most things figured out to a simple routine of life and death, he had no idea how important home was.
He had no idea how important a family was.
He was so glad that the Raven Queen had trusted in his ability to learn.
——
There was so much to take care of after the day of story and song.
Angus tried to help where he could, even if sometimes it didn’t feel like it was enough. Whenever that happened though his dad would make him take a step back from it all. Make him look at everything they’d accomplished and how much better the world was than just a few months ago. Tell him over and over again that some of that was because of him. They were pretty good reminders, and Angus really appreciated them from his dad.
He appreciated a lot of things about his dad.
The first thing they’d had to take care of, after getting Legion back into the eternal stockade at least, was Mr. Barry and Ms. Lup. Angus had kind of expected a struggle. That he’d have to beg his dad to reconsider putting them away too, that they helped them save the world and helped protect him when he was feeling so sick and cut off from the astral plane. That they along with Taako were the only reason the planes got reconnected at all.
Angus knew his dad made exceptions for certain people, and he knew that liches weren’t usually included in that, but he had to reconsider just this one time.
Thankfully, he hadn’t needed to give the big long speech he’d been prepared for. Instead he found himself listening and chiming in with extra points while his dad gave the same exact plead he’d been prepared to give to the Raven Queen herself. He should have expected that if he was being honest. His dad tended to be understand when it came to these sorts of things, but it still ended up surprisingly him somewhat.
He was also very surprised by the deal his dad had ended up striking for the two lich’s safety.
Surprised, and very much excited.
“If Lup and Barry are going to be reapers now too does that mean they have to live with us? Or are they gonna get their own house in the astral plane? Will they live in the astral plane at all, or is it just gonna be for work?” Angus asked, his mind full of questions since they came to the decision. His dad was on the way to let the two know the deal now, and Angus was bounding along beside him.
“There’s no need for them to permanently move to the astral plane if they don’t want to, and there’s certainly no need for them to move in with us,” his dad said, sounding not too fond of the idea. Angus thought it could be fun though. In the little amount of time he’d gotten to spend with the two since they all saved the world, he could say he definitely liked them. Much more than he ever expected to like any liches, that was for sure.
“Well, maybe they’ll think about moving to the astral plane if Mr. Taako ever decides to move in with us,” Angus said. He'd been aiming for casual but very much expecting the startled and embarrassed look on his dad’s face. “Or would you rather move to the prime material plane? I know you used to be worried that I wasn’t spending enough time over there,” he added, unable to keep the pleased grin off his face as his dad got progressively more embarrassed.
“It’s not… something we’ve discussed yet,” he managed after a moment, and Angus nodded understandingly.
“That makes sense. Everyone’s been real busy since the apocalypse almost happened,” he said, like that was the only reason they wouldn’t have gotten around to talking about it yet. He decided to take pity on his dad after a moment, changing the subject before he could make anymore fumbled excuses. “If you’re gonna be training Lup and Barry, can I help?” he asked.
“I don’t know about that,” his dad said, looking quite a bit more comfortable with this topic than their previous one. It made sense, Angus had been asking to go along with reaper things for as long as he could remember. His dad had had a lot of time to get used to it.
“Why not? I’ve gone on reaper missions with you before, I could help! Plus, it’d be even safer with the three of you there,” he argued, and it was a pretty good argument if anyone asked him. It even seemed to give his dad some pause, taking a quick moment to think that over.
“I suppose you’re not wrong, but you know I don’t like you taking those sorts of risks,” his dad tried, but even Angus could tell he didn’t have a lot of legs to stand on with that.
“I helped with the apocalypse dad,” he said bluntly, which got a small snort out of him. It had definitely taken a while before his dad could laugh when Angus mentioned anything from that day. It was good, Angus was glad he was starting to get to the point where he could laugh about it.
He hadn’t wanted to tell him about what happened. How sick he’d been, how weak he felt and how scared he was. Some of the dumb decisions he’d made, like jumping off the moon with barely functioning wings. He desperately wanted to keep all of that from his dad, to not scare him the way he knew it would.
But Angus also couldn’t bring himself to lie about any of it either. So about a day or so after the avoided end of the world, Angus had ended up spilling the whole thing to him. There’d been a quiet moment after finally rounding up the last of the escaped souls they could find from Legion, and his dad had said something. Angus couldn’t even remember what the exact wording was. Something about how he’d felt when trapped in the astral plane, cut off from him and the Raven Queen. How he couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like for Angus, stuck on the outside like he was.
And before he knew what was happening Angus was clinging to his dad, everything that had happened in that terrifying time where he couldn’t feel his home or his family anymore spilling out like vomit. He knew it all had to be terrifying to hear for his dad, but he didn’t freak out or get angry or anything. He managed to hold whatever he must’ve been thinking in and just let Angus get it all out.
Sure, he’d been pretty protective and apologetic after the fact, but he was obviously trying not to let it show too much. The fact that he could chuckle now when Angus mentioned taking part in helping to save the world that day definitely showed that he was getting better. That they were both getting better.
“I suppose you’re right about that,” his dad said, seeming to think the idea over a bit more. “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if you came along on a few missions, but you need to be sure to take them seriously. I don’t want those two getting any wrong ideas that it’s all goofs and funny voices,” he said, and Angus raised an eyebrow at that.
“But you do do goofs and funny voices on your missions,” he said, unable to keep from laughing as he dad quickly waved off that observation.
“They can work up to silly voices,” he said, and it was obvious that his dad was mostly joking. The fact that he was at least a little bit serious only made Angus even more amused, but he nodded all the same.
“Okay, I promise,” he said, and his dad seemed pleased enough with that. “It can be like, a family business,” he added, and that got him a look.
“A bit of an odd family business,” his dad said, and Angus shrugged at that.
“It’s not like anything else about us has ever been normal,” he said, and his dad couldn’t help but nod at that. He cut open a portal to the prime material plane now, and Angus jumped through it right after him. Lup and Barry were probably expecting them by now, and Angus was excited to give the good news.
“I thought you wanted to be a detective though, not a reaper?” he asked. That was a fair question, Angus had been pretty unwavering in the detective career path for a while, even with how much he tried to join in on his dad’s missions.
“I don’t see why I can’t do both,” he said, which got another laugh out of his dad. The truth was there really was a lot of overlap between reaper and detective. The cases were a bit more specialized for a reaper, and a lot of time you could ask the dead exactly who the killer was. That maybe took a bit of the fun out of the mystery part, but there was enough other stuff to make up for it, and there were other kinds of mysteries to solve.
He definitely couldn’t complain about a job that would let him work with his family forever. Not just his dad and the Raven Queen either, even if those two were the pillars that the rest of Angus’s life had been built around. There was no foundation without them, but they weren’t the only ones anymore either. It was slowly growing, and Angus was excited with all the new possibilities as they pulled more and more people in.
They were just about at the temporary home that Taako, Lup, and Barry were staying at during the rebuilding of Neverwinter. It’d been almost a month now, but most of it was still in ruins. Still, it was getting better. So much of the world was getting better.
“Oh hey, Lup and Barold said they had a feeling the two of you would stop by today. Lemme guess, this is for business, not pleasure?” Taako asked once he opened the door to see the two of them standing there.
“Hopefully it can be a bit of both,” his dad said, and at that Taako moved out of the way to let them come in. Angus couldn’t blame him for being a little cautious, wanting to make sure his family stayed safe. Thankfully, Angus was pretty sure that wasn’t going to be much of an issue anymore.
“Hey Lulu! Barold! Father and Son Death Co are here!” Taako called, and Angus could see his dad roll his eyes at the nickname. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t actually annoyed by it though.
“We got you both reaper jobs!” Angus shouted, maybe ruining whatever grand reveal his dad wanted to do, but he was too excited to keep it under wraps for any longer.
“Oh hell yeah!” Lup shouted back, her lich form fazing halfway through the floor. Angus could hear Barry coming up the stairs from the basement as well, already asking for clarification.
“What Angus means is that the Raven Queen has decided to take you both onto her retinue as a way for you to atone for your previous sins against the laws of life and death,” his dad said, and everyone had made it up to the living room at this point.
“I made really sad faces at my grandma while dad begged her until she said yes,” Angus cut in, his dad sputtering indignantly while everyone else snickered. Sure, the whole ordeal had actually been a bit more dignified than that, but it was basically what happened.
“Hey, whatever works, right babe?” Taako said, and it was obvious that a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders at the news. Angus could tell that he’d been trying his best not to draw away from them during these few uncertain weeks while everything got sorted out. Now that it was obvious the rest of his family wasn’t going to be taken away though the change was like night and day. His smile was brighter, he’d moved from standing a foot or so away from his dad to leaning against him comfortably.
And despite the way his dad was currently trying to look annoyed, it was pretty clear that he was happy with the change as well.
“Yes, I suppose so,” his dad said, no real annoyance in his voice. In fact, it was pretty easy to hear the fondness there.
“So uh, I figure there’s some stuff we gotta hammer out, for this whole job opportunity?” Barry asked, and his dad quickly nodded, seeming relieved to be back on the main topic at hand.
“Yes, although I’m sure nothing you won’t find too unreasonable,” he said, and Angus was pretty sure that was the case too. Definitely nothing they wouldn’t expect from a job as a reaper for the Raven Queen, and as far as Angus was concerned the perks outweighed the downsides by a lot.
“Why don’t we head to the kitchen then and get all the fine print settled,” Lup suggested. Everyone was fine with that, and Angus followed the rest of them into the kitchen, listening intently they started to work through it all. At some point a plate of cookies was put in front of him, and Angus immediately started eating them. They were delicious, and no knock on his dad’s cooking, but he certainly wouldn’t mind if they both got to eat things like this more often.
As they worked through the deal, Angus could hear the slight sounds of the city and the world slowly rebuilding itself outside. He could feel the ever constant push and pull of the astral sea in his soul, anchoring him.
It wasn’t just the world that was getting better, Angus’s life was too. He hadn’t even realized there was anything there to improve, he was pretty sure his dad hadn’t thought there was either.
Angus certainly couldn’t complain though. His whole life seemed to be one big surprise, and it hadn't let him down yet.
He couldn't wait to see what new surprises he could get into with his family in the future.