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The entire miscommunication was Taako's fault. In his defense, Kravitz was entirely too good at wielding his smooth, dark voice and songlike accent to make Taako forget everything except Kravitz' name.
The two of them easily fell into bed together at Taako's house the night before. Kravitz really knew how to wine and dine a guy, and after another charming date, Taako was putty in his hands. They were both rather quiet in bed this time, Kravitz slowly undoing him in the pitch black of Taako's room, leaving him delirious but sated.
That morning, just as Taako had Kravitz distracted with a filthy kiss, reaching under the blanket to give Kravitz a proper "good morning," his bedroom door opened.
Angus had carte blanche over the entire apartment. Taako told him multiple times that he didn't have to knock before coming into Taako's room, and because Taako never brought any quick fucks home, that rule never had to be amended.
"Oh, fuck," Taako yelped, breaking his and Kravitz' kiss and pulling the blankets practically over his head. "Angus, fuck off!" Not the right choice of words at all, he berated himself, but before he could say anything else Angus had shut the door again.
All traces of arousal were gone. Now Taako felt like a massive tool, and this was not how he wanted Kravitz to meet his son. "Mother fucker," he hissed, throwing back the covers and rushing to pull on some underwear and clothes. "Fucking… shit."
Kravitz, who hadn't said anything at all up until now, grabbed Taako's wrist while he was in the process of pulling sweatpants on. "Darling, calm down," he soothed, looking entirely too handsome for that early in the morning. Even his beadhead appeared purposefully tousled and stylish. "I'm assuming this hasn't happened before?"
"No, it fucking hasn't." Taako pulled his hair up into a ponytail and adjusted his overlarge t-shirt over his hips. He had to wash his hands, definitely, and then berate himself in the bathroom mirror for a few minutes. Hopefully Angus wasn't too upset with him for snapping. The kid was just getting used to living with him, too, and Taako had to fuck it up massively.
"I'll wait for you in here," Kravitz said. "Take your time." He was sitting up fully now, having let go of Taako's hand in favor of his phone. Kravitz always had some kind of time sensitive project going on and even though it was Sunday morning, he probably got a hundred emails overnight.
Taako wanted to be grateful, and nice, but that just wasn't in the cards. Instead, he crawled into bed again, pressing a brief but firm kiss to Kravitz' mouth, and then scrambled back down and out of his bedroom.
He scrubbed his hands thoroughly with hot water and soap, and then scrubbed his face with the same vigorousness. Checking his hair for… bodily fluids was painfully embarrassing even though he was standing alone in the bathroom but Kravitz was nothing if not a gentleman and Taako didn't find anything untoward.
Taako braced himself and took a deep breath. Then he went to Angus' room and stood in front of the closed door with his hands fisted at his sides. He knocked briskly, three taps in the center of the door, and called, "Angles, can I come in?"
Angus wasn't the type to not answer--Taako had the sinking suspicion that keeping quiet in response to a direct question was a punishable offense in his old household. Taako heard hesitant shuffling behind the door, and then it cracked open, not enough to see Angus but enough to come in. "Yes, sir," Angus said. He sounded both upset and resigned.
Angus' room was immaculate as usual, the curtains and shades of his window open to let in the midmorning sun. His bedroom was the coldest in the apartment; direct sunlight from his east-facing window did a lot to warm the room up, and the fact that they lived in an old building meant he had a radiator built in just in case.
Angus sat at the end of his bed, head down, hands folded in his lap. He looked like he expected to be physically punished for essentially doing nothing. Taako tried to ignore the sick feeling filling his stomach like sludge to sit next to Angus, far enough away that he didn't accidentally spook him.
"I'm so, incredibly sorry for yelling at you, Angus," Taako began. Some of the rigidity of Angus' spine relaxed, but Taako didn't dare try to touch him yet. "We were both pretty startled this morning, huh?" Taako laughed humorlessly and wrapped his arms around his own chest, waiting for some kind of response.
His little Human didn't even look up at him. "I-it's okay, sir. I should have knocked." Angus sniffled, eyes filling with tears that he failed to blink away. He looked so much younger without his glasses and Taako hated himself that much more, for yelling at a baby.
"No, you shouldn't have. I've been telling you for over a year that this is your house, and you don't have to knock on any door to get into any room. I fucked up, okay? This isn't your fault." Taako shut his mouth with a click of teeth when Angus only ducked his head further.
"Aunt Lup said I shouldn't bother you this morning and I didn't listen to her." Tears were sliding down Angus' cheeks now, dropping into his lap, but he had long schooled his voice into steadiness despite crying. Taako wanted to rip his parents' throats out. "Please don't tell her I didn't listen. She thinks I'm being good at home, but I'm just messing up all the time."
Taako took another deep breath. "Angus, can I give you a hug?" he asked instead of immediately refuting everything Angus said.
That surprised the boy enough to glance up at him, mouth a thin, tense line. He nodded tentatively, and Taako opened his arms, relieved that Angus wasn't afraid to crawl into his lap and wrap his arms around his neck.
While Taako squeezed him around the waist, he said into Angus' hair, "First of all, baby, you are not messing up. You're the smartest, most perfect kid on the planet, and you can fucking quote me on that. I've run the numbers and they're comin' up Angus." Angus chuckled weakly against his shirt. "Secondly, Lup knows you're perfect, too. She tells everyone about her little nephew, she loves you so much that she always volunteers to come over and play with you.
"It's my fault for not telling you I might bring someone home. I know you know I go out for… uh, adult company sometimes." Taako shifted so he could hold Angus tighter, the two of them propped up against Angus' headboard. "It was fucked for me to bring some strange dude here without asking you first."
Angus must have agreed, because he didn't try to insist he was in the wrong anymore. He leaned back enough to meet Taako's gaze. "What's his name?" he asked instead.
Taako smiled a bit, lifting a hand to brush Angus' hair out of his eyes. "Kravitz. We've been seeing each other for a few weeks now."
"Do you love him?" Angus asked solemnly. Whatever expression Taako was wearing to reflect the pure revulsion he was feeling, it made Angus laugh, bright and childish. "Okay. Is he staying?"
"No, no way," was Taako's first reply. Then he amended, "Maybe until lunch. But he's definitely not, like, staying."
Angus nodded thoughtfully. "Do I have to talk to him?"
That gave Taako pause. "No. In fact, I can kick his ass out at any time, with or without his consent. But, honestly Angles?" Taako sighed, gently rubbing his thumb over Angus' cheek. "I like him. He seems… nice. I had this boyfriend, before him, who treated me like shit. But Kravitz is a really good dude. So I'd like him to meet you, some time."
While Angus thought it over, Taako considered his own feelings. His history of abusive relationships, platonic and otherwise, told him that this was going to end badly. The permissive Taako of five years ago had died with his and Sazed's relationship, but having a small child to defend as well as himself would be infinitely more complicated.
Good feelings, though, overpowered those thoughts. Kravitz did seem to like him as well. He was generous, and sweet, and overall treated Taako like someone worth loving. There was no evidence he wouldn't treat Angus the same way.
Angus' resolute frown pulled Taako back to the present. "I don't want to meet him," he said firmly. Taako, careful not to let any disappointment show on his face, gave him an equally firm nod. "But next weekend, can you ask him to come to the petting zoo with us? Miss Julia says if a man doesn't like animals, he's not worth your time."
Taako choked out a laugh. "Yeah, that does sound like something she'd fuckin' say. That sounds like a very well thought-out plan, my dude. I'll tell him. He'll be out of the apartment in five minutes, okay?"
"Okay," Angus confirmed. "Thank you." He went suddenly shy again, focusing carefully on Taako for lack of glasses. "I love you."
Taako's heart absolutely melted. "I love you too, pumpkin. You're seriously the best kid I could have asked for." Angus wiped away the last of his tears with the sleeve of his pajama top, an adorable little grin beginning to pull at his lips. "Sit tight, okay? I'll be right back."
Taako tucked Angus in like he did most nights, partially closing the shades so less sun was in his eyes and pressing a kiss to his forehead. Angus turned his Kindle on while he accepted his kiss, closing one eye when Taako leaned over him and then opening it again. Absolutely everything Angus did made Taako want to squeal at how cute he was but Taako valiantly held it in, leaving Angus' room and closing the door behind him.
When he got back to his bedroom, Kravitz had pulled the sheets off of his bed and was standing at the edge of it, fully dressed and folding the blankets up. Taako took two bouncing steps into the room and then stood on tip-toes to smack a kiss to Kravitz' cheek.
"Thanks, homie, these really need to get washed." Kravitz hummed in reply, finishing up the last blanket. "Not that I don't appreciate everything you've done, but, uh--"
"Don't worry about it, Taako," Kravitz said, eyes twinkling knowingly. "I've got errands today, anyway. I'll call you early this week."
Taako pursed his lips. "You fucking… understanding shithead. Stop being so…." Taako gave a wordless, frustrated sound that only made Kravitz laugh at him, using his now free hands to hold Taako's hips and kiss him quiet. "No, but really," Taako said into Kravitz' mouth, "Out."
Kravitz shook his head with an amused expression. "I'm going, I'm going." Taako held his hand and walked him to the front door, where Kravitz made sure he had his keys and wallet. "Thank you for a lovely night, Taako. I hope the rest of your day goes smoothly."
"Mm-hm, you too babe. And I've got plans for us next weekend. I'll text you." Taako gave him one last kiss--no tongue, even!--before opening the door and seeing him out properly. When Kravitz' car pulled away from the curb in front of Taako's building, Taako closed the door again, slyly reaching up to touch his mouth. Istus bless, that man was a good kisser.
Taako brushed those thoughts from his mind. "Okay, Angles, it's all clear! Casa del Ango is back in business!" He grinned at Angus' muffled laughter from down the hallway.