#lich!taako

my first taz fic and its a huge au feat. lich!taako and some tasty tazswap bc of course it is. thanks to the taz fic writers discord for chatting with me abt this and spurring me on 

“We’re gonna become liches, Taako. And that sounds— that sounds way scarier than it actually is, but… we’re, we’re going to take our living essence, our… souls… and combine it with our magical essence and… we’re gonna become something… new. Something… something powerful.

“And… we’ll still be Barry and Lup, I’ll still inhabit my body— unless I’m killed— and then things are going to get a little spooky, and, it should stick. If we do this, the next cycle, we’re still liches. The— the risk is— it’s hard to combine your soul with raw power and keep your mind right. You need something keeping your feet on the ground. An emotional anchor. And when I go all ghosty, I need to have things to remember to hold on to who I am. Today is… it’s gonna be one of those memories.

“Barry already gave me a day. And… I love him, Taako, with all of my heart, but you… I needed a day from you, because you are my heart. You know that, right?”  (The Stolen Century, Episode 65)

Taako stared at Lup for a moment, completely silent, before saying, “Yeah. I get it Lup, you’re my heart too. But if you think, even for a goddamned moment, that I’m just gonna let you and Barold become fucking liches without me, then you have another thing coming.”

He’s shaking.

Lup looked taken aback, like she didn’t anticipate this. How could she not have anticipated this? Did she not know him at fucking all? “Koko, babes,” she began, but Taako didn’t let her finish.

“Mm-mm,” he said. “Nope, Lulu. I may not be a genius like you and Barry, but I’m not an idiot either. I listen when you and Barry talk and I’ve heard what bad shit liches are. You guys aren’t doing that without me. Nope. No way.”

Lup took a deep breath and ran her hand through her thickly coiled blonde hair. “Taako, you don’t have a tether! Bear and I have been working so hard to create stronger bonds so that we won’t lose our shit when we transform and you haven’t! You can’t just become a lich!”

Taako snorted. “Babe, Taako can do anything.”

“No! You can’t!” Lup shouted, gritting her teeth.

the second prologue in my lich!taako fic <3 

part 1 | ao3

Taako wasn’t nervous, like, at all. He had done shows like Glamor Springs a million times before and he would do them a million times again.

Behind him, Sazed was preparing their appliances. “Love, the show is about to start,” Sazed said. “You ready?”

Taako laughed. “Saz, babe, Taako’s always ready. You should know this by now.”

Taako didn’t see Sazed’s response but he’s sure the wood elf sent him a fond smile, the way he always did when he thought Taako was being ridiculous. Taako wasn’t being ridiculous, of course. His confidence was well-earned because he was a fucking baller chef and he knew it too.

If he wasn’t such a good chef then there was no reason why he would be even half as popular as he was, after all. People loved Taako, because Taako was fucking lovable and awesome and his food was the actual shit. Anyone who disagreed could fuck right off.

Sazed walked up behind him, slipped his lean arms around Taako’s waist, and rested the tip of his chin against Taako’s shoulder. “It’s time, Taako. Everyone’s here, the seats are all full. Lets go.”

Taako nodded, turning around to brush his lips against Sazed’s before escaping his grip and walking up to the curtains that hid his caravan from the audience. He took a deep breath and grinned, cheesing it up with absolutely no shame. With an elaborate flourish, he parted the curtains using Mage Hand and appeared before the audience.

Sazed had been right. The seats, all forty of them, were completely full. Nice.

“Hail and well met, my dudes! Taako’s here to show you how to make some fucking amazing chicken!”

The audience burst into applause, cheering and screaming and stomping their feet. Fuck yeah, Taako was loved.

All in all, it was a typical show. Taako was cheesy and over-dramatic and his dish came together like an art. The audience responded well to his jokes, laughing at all the right spots, and on the edge of their seats.

It didn’t take long for the chicken to be done and for Taako to add the garnish. “Ok, m’dudes. I’mma take a taste of what I’m sure is gonna be a rad chicken and then I’ll hand out samples for all of you to try it too!”

The audience clapped. Taako took his fork, stabbed it into the chicken to rip out a good sized bite, and put it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing it dramatically. Then he froze.