#taylor dt

Threads of Fate AU-- The Bluff

Lookit my idiot son using his brain for once and figuring out Scrooge’s plan. :)

A Stormy Night

I really wanted to do more fluff for these precious birbs.

Some cute lil’ doodles of my son getting to expand his wardrobe.

He’s been wearing and making the same clothes for hundreds of years, now he’s in the real world and suddenly HE HAS SO MANY OPTIONS--! 

A little follow up drabble to the earlier doodles cuz these two are heckin adorable and I will die for them

~~~

Taylor was practically giddy as he spun around to face Gladstone.

 “Are you sure it’s okay to have all this? It seems excessive.”

 “Threads, it’s fine, honest,” Gladstone rose from the chair and approached him with a lazy grin, “even if we hadn’t gotten lucky and they had excess stock to take from, I wouldn’t care. Besides, you can never have enough outfits! One for every day of the week, right?”

 Taylor cocked his head, eyes curious and surprised.

 “Is that true? How do you keep up with that?”

 “N-no, no, I….well, I guess some people do that. But me, nah I just kinda reach in the closet and throw on whatever I grab. My luck? It always looks great.”

 “Ah, I see…”

 He flushed a bit, toying with his sleeves or tugging at the leg of his shorts.

 “Y-you’re sure this…I look okay?”

 Gladstone smiled, resting hands on his shoulders.

 “I think you look great; but what about you? You like it?”

 Taylor nodded, frowning a bit, as if confused by the question.

 “And it makes you happy?”

 Another nod, and Gladstone grinned wider, shrugging.

 “Then that’s all that matters. Now,” he turned to the pile of clothing store bags, “let’s get these hung up before they wrinkle, eh?”

 Taylor nodded, smiling a bit as he picked up a few of them. They made their way to the small room that had been fashioned into a sparse bedroom for him, with a small but comfy bed, and a shelf that was mostly empty, save for a handful of books, and various knickknacks he’d come upon that he was eager to keep and display.

 After getting things put away, Gladstone let out a content sigh as he turned to Taylor.

 “Welp, that should set you up for a little while. Maybe we can look into some wall décor or some….thing…”

 He trailed off as he observed him; Taylor was perched on the bed, eyes distant and though he wore a faint smile, it didn’t give off a sign of happiness. Frowning, Gladstone went over and took a seat beside him.

 “Hey, you good? What’s up?”

 “I…” He hesitated, sighing, “I just…you’re being so generous and kind to me and I don’t… I just don’t know if I deserve it.”

 “Whaaaat? Course you do, why wouldn’t you?”

 He glanced up with a weak smile.

 “Because of everything you went through in Macaw and I’m a constant reminder of it?”

 “A reminder of the fact that even when things look super bleak, there’s always something to cling to for hope of it getting better?”

 Taylor tilted his head curiously, puzzled; Gladstone smiled, putting an arm around him.

 “I hit a lot of lows while I was there; and until you started helping me out—talking to me about whatever little subject we could think of, dropping off my stuff directly when you really didn’t need to, staying with me when I didn’t….didn’t wanna be alone.”

 Taylor shrugged a little, as if it was nothing special.

 “Everyone else there was set on either keeping me entertained or trapped; you were different, though. You actually cared, actually wanted to HELP me, and you DID. So yes, you deserve all this.”

 “I-I suppose…”

 “No supposing, you do; and I’m happy to do it, so stop worrying, ‘kay?”

 Smiling, Taylor gave a small nod, and Gladstone flashed a grin as he squeezed his shoulders.

 “Alright, then, sooo….whatta you wanna do now?”

 “Um….I’m not sure, what…is there to do?”

 “Well, we could go out to that Italian place, have a nice little dinner date….”

 He slid closer, gaze soft as his arm snaked around his waist and the other took a gentle hold of his jaw. Taylor blushed heavily, giving an anxious giggle.

 “Oooor we could just heat up some takeout and stay in, put on a movie….have the night to ourselves…”

 “I….think I like that…that second one better…i-if that’s okay with you.”

 Gladstone’s response was a kiss, hand moving to hold the back of his head and deepen it. Taylor started a bit, before returning it, arms clumsily moving to wrap around him; his grip was feather light, uncertain. He’d seen couples before, watched their movements, and more recently viewed several soap operas…it didn’t LOOK difficult but trying to replicate it was.

 It clearly wasn’t a problem for Gladstone.

 He pressed forward, pushing them both down on the bed. A small sense of anxiety started forming, tightening his chest, despite his efforts to push it down. It was just jitters, he thought, nothing to be concerned for, or trouble Gladstone about.

 Gladstone broke the kiss, moving slightly lower and digging his beak into his neck feathers. This elicited a light squeal, and the ball of anxiety grew.

 What am I supposed to do now? Should I…should I do the same? O-or should I kiss him? I-I don’t know…!

 Shaking hands hesitantly rested against his shoulders.

 A-am I doing this right? What if I mess up?! I can’t disappoint him though…b-but I don’t know what to do, or if I’m ready for this form of intimacy or….! I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know….!

 “….w-wait! Waitwaitwait stop—!”

 Gladstone quickly pulled away, sitting up with a concerned frown; Taylor had scrambled to the other side of the bed, facing away from him. He was shaking, and Gladstone tentatively laid a hand on his arm.

 “Hey…you okay? I-I’m sorry, was I moving things too fast? I was, wasn’t I? I’m sorry—!”

 Taylor took a shaky breath, before turning over and pushing himself up.

 “N-no, no, I’m sorry! I just don’t what to do here, but I…I’m fine, we can—we can start over, I’ll do better this time, I promise…!”

 “Hey, hey, listen to me,” Gladstone gripped his shoulders firmly, an uncharacteristically serious expression to his face.

 “If you don’t want to do anything, that’s FINE. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

 “B-but you want to…if that’s what you want to do then we’ll do it, I’m fine, really!”

 “No, Taylor, if you’re not into this, then we’re not gonna do it!”

 “But…”

 Taylor wore a wide eyed stare, looking lost, scared, and confused all at once.

 “But….it’s what you want, isn’t it?”

 “I don’t WANT to do anything that YOU don’t want. If you just wanna veg out on the couch with frozen pizza and sappy chick flicks then we will.”

 “But I….it’ll make you happy; I want to make you happy!”

 “And I want YOU to be comfortable!”

 The two fell silent for a moment; Taylor still looking shellshocked, and Gladstone somewhere between concern and slight anger.

 Then it melted away, and his grip loosened.

 “Is that….how things were, before…? When you worked for him?”

 He winced, but after a moment, slowly nodded.

 “Nothing else…nothing else mattered. My only purpose was to appease his wishes, do whatever he needed me to do. I….I wasn’t required to think, or consider other options, or…..i-it didn’t matter if I didn’t like something, or what I wanted, or….it just…didn’t matter.”

 Gladstone listened silently, before shaking his head.

 “Well that’s not how things work here, okay? If you don’t like something, or don’t want something, or vice versa….just tell me. I’m not gonna get mad, or yell at you, or make you do anything you don’t like.”

 He reached up to cup his face, lightly stroking it with his thumb.

 “And I’m not gonna hurt you if you don’t. I promise.”

 Taylor didn’t respond for a moment; then, he gave a small laugh, bordering on a sob. He slowly nodded, grasping his hands tightly. Gladstone smiled, and gave his forehead a quick peck.

 “So, what do you want to do?”

 “Can we….can we just lay here?”

 “Sure thing.”

 And so they settled in; Gladstone stretched out, with Taylor tucked close beside him, a hand running through his feathers, the way he always liked. He felt safe, and warm, and….

 “….Gladstone?”

 “Hnnn…h-huh…? Yeah?”

 “….I’m happy.”

 He felt the slight tremors of a laugh, and the arm around him tightened.

 “Me too.”

Taylor let out a sigh as he shelved some buttons and thread.

It had taken a great deal of effort and convincing himself to break into Master Liu Hai's office and even more to take the cell phone. Even now his stomach was churning from the idea. If he found out--

He shuddered, and shook his head. He wouldn't find out, he'd made sure to take an older phone that wouldn't be missed, waited until Poppy and the others did their rounds on the game floor, gave the announcement of going to deliver the guests clothing to their rooms.

Made sure Master Liu Hai was distracted by the other guests.

He'd covered all his bases. All that remained was for Gladstone to keep things quiet and wait it out until his rescue arrived. Everything would be fine, he would get out of here and--

.....and Gladstone would be gone.

The thought hit him like a ton of bricks. Gladstone would be gone, he'd never see him again or come within a mile of this place.

Taylor had always known he would leave eventually, but it always seemed so far away. He didn't put much thought towards it, but now....

No, this was good. Gladstone had to leave. It didn't matter if he....liked him. That he'd miss his company, his witty remarks, his charming infectious smile. The way he lit up when talking about his cousins and little nephews, about his achievements, about his personal garden at home....

Gladstone had to go, be free; Taylor knew this, and even though he'd miss him....he'd be happy knowing he wasn't here anymore, suffering.

He'll probably forget about me anyway, find someone else....he deserves to be happy.

His movements stuttered for a second, but he shook his head clear. Just focus, focus on keeping the status quo and his thoughts private. It would be fine--

"Taylor."

He yelped, and nearly fell off the ladder before steadying himself against the shelves as someone grabbed the ladder below to keep it from tipping. Looking down, he found himself staring at--

"M-Master Liu hai...?"

Liu Hai offered a calm smile, beckoning him down.

"I'm terribly sorry to have startled you."

"Oh no, no, don't worry, sir," Taylor laughed as he descended, plastering on a smile, "just lost in my thoughts is all. How may I be of service to you?"

Liu Hai chuckled a bit, pulling his cards from his sleeve and shuffling them.

"The strangest thing happened yesterday; see, I was taking a moment in my personal quarters, and noticed something..."

A sudden sick feeling formed in his stomach, but Taylor forced his calm demeanor to remain as he tilted his head curiously.

"Oh? What's that, sir?"

"I have several small figurines of other gods on my desk, and noticed they were out of order."

"....they have an order?"

"Of course, I organized them by rank; they're not much but I find them humorous. And,"

His smile suddenly grew sharp. He'd stopped shuffling, stowing the deck away.

"They let me know when rats have been in my room..."

Taylor's smile faltered a bit, hands clenched into fists behind him.

"Ah...very clever, sir."

"Yes, quite; so on a hunch, I decided to look through the lost and found, and wouldn't you know it, one of the phones was missing."

Swallowing, Taylor feigned a concerned frown.

"That's troublesome..."

"Indeed, now who do you suppose would have it?"

"M...Mr. Gander? He'd be the only one lucky enough to get in and out without you noticing..."

"Ah but I would; his luck would have been active and if he wasn't on the floor, which he wasn't yesterday, well that would've been strange, wouldn't it?"

"A-ah....yes, that....would be strange."

"And yet, it was among his things. Now how do you suppose he managed to get a hold of it?"

Taylor felt that sick cold feeling growing as Liu Hai's friendly smile fell into an angry scowl, and swallowed as he took a small step back.

"I-I'm not sure, Master..."

"Only myself or one of you lot would be able to get into and out of my office without trouble. I find that rather strange, don't you?"

"Y-yes...very strange; only a fool would dare go against your wishes."

"Indeed," Liu Hai snorted, before leaning forward suddenly and tilting his head back, "are you a fool, Taylor?"

"No, sir, I would never...!"

"Do you think I'M a fool?"

"N-no! No sir of course not--!"

His grip suddenly tightened, forcing him silent as Liu Hai grinned tightly, baring sharp teeth.

"Well you must, if you think I'm falling for this little charade of yours. Tell me, Taylor, did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

"F-find out what, sir? I've done nothing, I swear--!"

"So if I sift through your memories, I'm not going to see you sneaking into my office, and taking a phone to Mr. Gander's room?"

"I....."

He trailed off, not knowing what else he could say. If he denied again, then Master Liu Hai would just find out his own ways; but if he confessed.....

He couldn't even imagine what would happen then.

Liu Hai smirked at his uneasy silence, and the panicked wide eyed stare he was giving; he was caught and both knew it. The only question now was how this would play out.

"Just be honest with me, Taylor, and perhaps I'll show you mercy..."

"I...I didn't..."

He didn't know what to say. There was nothing else he could say in hopes of defending himself. He had nothing left.

So he ran.

Stupid really, he knew there was nowhere he could go. But terror drove one to do crazy things.

He ducked under the work table, coming up on the other side and backing away. Liu Hai eyed the makeshift barrier, then looked up with a skeptic frown; a rush of green smoke brought him around and towering over him in seconds, and Taylor squawked as he retreated further.

He hit the small door that lead to his supply room, and scrambled inside. He got one last terrifying glimpse of an angry Liu Hai before he slammed the door shut again.

He stood there, breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against the door.

This was stupid, a door wouldn't stop him. He'd MADE this place, willed it any shape he desired. Why would a simple door keep him out?

But nothing happened, no vanishing doors, no Liu Hai bursting through it with an angered cry. Just silence.

The silence was scarier.

He waited another moment before pulling away, eyeing the thin barrier between him and certain death with a perplexed face.

This wasn't right....

He retreated further into the room, that pit of dread growing in his stomach with every passing second Liu Hai wasn't entering--

A hand suddenly clamped down on his head, sharp nails pricking his skin, and he felt someone leaning down beside him from behind.

"Now Taylor, I'm quite sure I made you smarter than this..."

He started, before making a desperate move to get away, get out the door, anything--

A snap, and his entire body went limp, dropping him to the floor with a yelp. He laid there, breathing heavily and shaking, as Liu Hai stepped over him and crouched beside him. His eyes were the only thing he could move at this point, watching his movements with panic, and whimpering as he placed a hand on his arm.

"P...please...please forgive me, Master, I-I'm sorry, I...!"

Liu Hai scoffed, his hand moving up to his head instead and brushing it in a seemingly affectionate manner.

"No, you're not,"

He rose again, the smile dropping to a scowl as a card appeared in his hand.

"But you will be."

A green flame engulfed the card then, and screaming followed soon after...