Chapter Text
“Taako -”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
The guard glared at him. “Don’t disrespect me, young man. Just because it’s your last day doesn’t mean -”
Taako tuned out the lecture. He didn’t care. It didn’t matter, because he only had to deal with this shit for a few more minutes. He just had to keep his cool until he got to the end of the hallway. And then, freedom. And then, Lup . Which, even with everything, was a decidedly positive factor.
Somebody jeered at him as he walked down the hall. Taako ignored it, keeping his eyes trained on the door. After six months, he was used to this.
Add that to the “List Of Things Taako Won’t Miss About Juvie,” which was currently:
- The shitty food
- The ugly ass clothes
- The guards
- The schedule
- The mandatory exercise (ew)
- The guards
- No Lup (maybe that one should’ve been higher but…)
- The assholes who won’t leave me alone
He stuffed his hands into his pockets, which, oh dear god was it nice to be able to do that. Even if these weren’t his best pants, dark red skinny jeans were so much better than the ugly orange abomination he’d been wearing for the last half-year. Like, he got it, they were committed to the aesthetic. Juvie is kid jail, don’t fuck up again, scared straight and all that. But did they have to go so far as regulating the clothing?
Whatever. Didn’t matter. Taako was done, he was out, he was finished with this whole operation.
Not that he meant to walk the straight and narrow from now on, he had just resolved to never get caught again.
The guard was still talking, something about hopefully never seeing Taako again, and then, like the goddamn pearly gates of heaven, the heavy door at the end of the hall opened up. It was a fairly innocuous waiting area, but to Taako it looked like paradise. And sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs, nervously jiggling her leg and twisting one of the shitty bracelets Taako had nicked for her when they were kids, was Lup.
All reservations Taako had previously held went out the window. This was his sister, who he hadn’t seen in months. Nothing else mattered more than being as close to her as physically possible.
He broke out into a run. The guard yelled something, but Taako didn’t care. Lup stood up, a wide smile breaking out on her face, and the two of the collided in possibly one of the greatest hugs of all time.
Taako looked at her. Her hair was shorter than the last time he seen her, it was shorn off into some sort of messy bob thing, her crazy thick brown floof barely brushing her shoulders. She had a black eye, which, what the fuck Lulu, but then again, Taako wasn’t one to talk, as he was currently sporting a split lip, and she was wearing the same threadbare red hoodie that she’d had for as long as he could remember, over a particularly flattering shirt and shorts combination. She was his sister and she was real and she was safe and she was in the flesh and she was out and they would never be separated again, been there, done that, no fucking thank you.
“Taako,” She said, and he could tell she was assessing him as much as he was assessing her. She grinned. Her teeth, while being jacked up, were better than Taako’s, who was sporting a huge gap between his front two teeth. Braces were not something they could ever even afford to think about.
“Lup,” He said, grinning as well.
“I missed you, dingus.”
“You too, goofus.”
They were both trying very hard not to cry. Taako suddenly became acutely aware of everyone else in the room. His insides seized up.
He grabbed Lup’s hand.
“God,” He said. “I forgot about nail polish.”
Number nine on the list: Not allowed to wear nail polish, makeup, or have any hair/skin care products outside of shampoo, conditioner, and regular soap.
Lup’s nails were currently a flame pattern that would’ve looked tacky on anyone else, but because it was Lup, it looked bomb as hell.
“I’ll do yours later tonight,” Lup said. “I’m thinking… galaxy pattern?”
Taako nodded. She seemed about as in the mood to talk about shit as he was.
Someone cleared their throat. Taako turned towards the sound, glaring at whoever was interrupting their touching moment.
He found the guard, who now held a small bag of all the belongings Taako had on him when he was taken in. He wondered where his other shit was. Hopefully someone had it, Taako had spent a long time accruing all of his possessions.
The guard listed off everything that he was returning. (A wallet with twelve dollars, seventeen cents, a Barnes and Nobles gift card, and a school I.D.; a pack of gum; a pocket knife; a polaroid picture of Taako and Lup; a collection of receipts, wrappers, and other trash; and the purse they all came in - which was red and very stylish.)
Taako took the bag with as much dignity as someone who is getting their possessions back from a juvenile hall officer can have, and turned to the fourth person in the room: their social worker. Jeffery “Call Me Pan” Panders had been taking care of the twins since they went into foster care at age ten. He was kind of crunchy, and Lup was pretty sure he smoked weed. He had always been chill, which Taako appreciated. He’d heard quite a few horror stories about social workers, and he didn’t need that bullshit in his life.
“Are we ready to go?” Taako asked. “Not to be rude, but I kinda wanna blow this shit show.”
“Language, Taako,” Pan said, but a smile played at his lips. “But yes, we are ready.”
There was a loud sound, and the sliding doors opened. Taako grabbed Lup’s hand, and they did not run, because they were not children, but walked purposefully and with speed outside.
Taako walked far enough out until he could see the sign. “Neverwinter Boy’s Juvenile Detention Hall.” He flipped it off. Good-fucking-riddance.
Lup caught up to him, and hip checked him gently before intertwining their hands. “You seem happy,” She said.
“Hells yeah my dude. I’m finally a free man!”
“I mean besides that,” Lup said. “You seem… I dunno. Different.”
Taako scrunched up his nose. “Probably the shitty haircut. It’s going to take forever to grow out again. I better get rea-fucking-quainted with hats because this cannot see the light of day.”
- Mandatory short hair
Lup made a face that Taako could probably interpret if he tried, but he didn’t want to, so he didn’t. If she wanted to be fucking cryptic, that was her prerogative. She was welcome to actually talk about shit whenever. Except, she wasn’t actually, because Taako was not in the mood for serious talk. He was in the mood for putting this whole thing behind them.
Pan sheparded them to the car. They slid into the backseat of his small black subaru easy as anything. Pan picking them up from some failed living arrangement was muscle memory at this point.
“So, bossman,” Taako said. “Where are we off to? I know that you and I had talked about the whole ‘emancipated minors’ thing awhile back, and now that we’re sixteen…”
Pan laughed. “That was before you two got yourselves thrown in the big house,” He said. “I’m sorry kids, but there’s no way we could sell your case for emancipation.”
Taako deflated. Lup patted him on the leg. He knew she was disappointed too, but she had probably been expecting this. Taako had been expecting this. Still, it didn’t hurt to ask. Or to pester.
“But who could resist this face?” He said, gesturing to himself and Lup. “Everyone loves twins! And think about it, we could really go for the whole ‘scared straight’ angle. ‘Delinquent kids want to prove themselves by going out on their own’... it’s like the premise of a Great American Novel.”
“Taako, no. Besides, I already have your next housing arrangement lined up.”
Taako felt Lup tense beside him. He knew they were thinking the same thing. Please don’t be a group home, please don’t be a group home, please don’t be a group home.
There weren’t a lot of places that wanted teenagers. Especially not teenagers like Lup and Taako.
“Where is it?” Lup asked, her voice teetering on the precipice of worry. Not that anyone besides Taako would be able to tell.
“With a friend of mine. Merle Highchurch, down in Moon, West Virginia.”
“Moon?” Lup asked, while Taako said at the same time:
“West Virginia?”
“Yeah. Something about the dirt there being white because of some old science tests.”
“Interesting, interesting, interesting… West Fucking Virginia?”
“Look, I know that’s a bit out of the way…”
“Out of the way?! No, no, no. Orlando would be out of the way. West Virginia is basically a whole nother planet!”
“Maybe it’ll be nice to get out of Neverwinter,” Lup said. “Get out of Florida.” She shrugged. “‘Sides, anything’s better than a group home.”
Taako stared at her. “I can’t believe this,” He said.
Moon, West Fucking Virginia.
---
Lup jiggled her leg nervously. She stared at the door, then at her nails, then at Pan, then back at the door. This was taking too long. Why was it taking so long? What happened? Had they gotten the dates wrong? Maybe Taako had gotten in trouble and they weren’t going to let him out. Or maybe someone had decided to pick a fight with him and he’d gotten hurt. She couldn’t handle this. She couldn’t handle the waiting and the not knowing and the sitting and the not being in control. She needed to do something. She needed to move or run or punch or scream. She needed -
“Lup,” Pan fixed her with a look. “Deep breaths.”
Lup clenched and unclenched her fists, taking deep, purposeful breaths.
It would be fine. They were just running a little bit behind. Or were they? Lup was terrible at keeping track of time. She resisted the urge to glance at the clock, again. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she’d last checked it (one minute and forty seven seconds) but it couldn’t have been too long. Even if it felt like an eternity.
And then the door opened.
And there he was.
Her brother.
Her heart.
Taako.
He was hugging her, and she was hugging him, and the whole thing was just a gross mess of feelings and emotions and love and basically everything that they didn’t do in public and she was mad at him, she was so mad at him, (and she was more mad at herself) but that could all wait because he was here and he was tangible and she was never going to let him out of her fucking sight again.
“Taako,” She said. He had a split lip - they’d talk about that later - and his hair was shorn shorter than she’d ever seen it, which she knew he probably hated. He was wearing a tacky pair of jeans that he used to pick up guys and a shirt that had an ugly alcohol stain on it, and he had that “fresh out of juvie” look to him. His eyes were weary, his hair wasn’t taken care of, his skin was rough, he was too glassy and impersonal. He looked like her last week. Lup bit back some remark about being the first twin in and out of jail, and haha little brother you’re always following in my footsteps, because there were some lines that even Lup was remiss to cross.
“Lup,” He said, and dear god was it good to hear his voice again. It was cracky and breathless, like he hadn’t been using it, or like he was holding back tears. Probably a little bit of both.
God dammit. Taako was not allowed to cry, because if he cried, then she would cry, and she had actually done her eyeliner halfway decent today after being out of practice for so long.
“I missed you, dingus,” She said, not letting go of him. She didn’t believe he wouldn’t slip away.
“You too, goofus.” His voice almost broke, so he grabbed her hand and started prattling on about nail polish. She had been so happy to finally paint her nails again. So happy to wear makeup, to wear her clothes.
She’d been staying at a temporary foster home - some old people who had just had a kid age out of the system. They were pretty lax, letting her do whatever she wanted, which right now was a lot of television watching and personal fashion shows. And cooking. She’d also gone to the library and picked up some textbooks and new releases. The school system at Neverwinter Girl’s was atrocious. She needed new novels and some theoretical physics like… nine months ago.
Taako pulled her out of the building. She saw the way his shoulders lost some tension as he soaked in the outside air. She was so glad that she’d gotten out first, not just because of the obvious freedom, but so that Taako didn’t have to be alone. Taako would never be alone again. Lup was going to make god damned sure of that.
He paused to flip off the sign. Lup bit back a giggle. “You seem happy,” She said, hip checking him lightly.
“Hells yeah my dude. I’m finally a free man!” He smiled like a nerd, all gappy teeth and freckles.
“I mean besides that. You seem… different.”
He seemed like himself. Way more like himself than when she’d last seen him.
Taako deflected, because of course he did. He complained about his hair, which was reasonable. Lup knew how proud Taako had been of his long braid. He’d been growing it out since they were thirteen. She was glad that she hadn’t been forced to cut her hair. She had, but that was for necessity. It was hard to maintain long hair in prison. And she needed the change. She kept looking in the mirror and seeing him, and then feeling guilty, and then feeling angry, and then she would get into a fight, and then her parole officer would threaten to extend her sentence, even though he never did because the charge was hokey anyway and overcrowding was a bitch.
They got in the car, and Taako brought up the topic Lup had been dreading. Their next foster home. A year ago, they’d had dreams of emancipation. If kids were smart enough and resourceful enough, sometimes they could get out of the system by sixteen. But Lup had fucked all those dreams up. She’d asked Pan when she’d been released, and he confirmed her fears. There was no way they were going to get emancipated with a criminal record. Then he’d said something about being glad they didn’t have a felony charge and responsibility and controlling your temper and blah blah. It stung like a bitch to hear Taako have basically the same conversation.
Except, instead of launching into a lecture, Pan mentioned that he had their next foster home lined up.
Lup’s ears perked up at that. She’d been curious about the new foster home. Pan had been very clear that her current arrangement had been temporary, which meant that he was waiting until Taako was released, which meant that they weren’t going to be separated. But where would they go? She knew they were in deep shit. Could he be sending them off to reform school? He’d gotten on the highway, away from Neverwinter Proper, and wasn’t going towards the suburbs. Maybe they were being sent to some children’s home in Orlando? Whatever it was it had to be bad.
“Where is it?”
“With a friend of mine.” Oh fuck. He had to call in a personal favor. “Merle Highchurch. In Moon, West Virginia.”
“Moon?” The word was out of her mouth before her brain could start processing. Taako was already railing against the idea of West Virginia, and Lup’s mind was moving a hundred miles a minute.
He was sending them out of state. Probably to some sort of specialist. They’d exhausted every opportunity. He had to call in a favor with a friend. A friend in West Virginia. They’d fucked up. They’d fucked up real bad.
“Maybe it’ll be nice to get out of Neverwinter. Get out of Florida.” They’d never been out of Florida in their entire lives, hadn’t been outside of Neverwinter County since they were six. Maybe a new environment would help. “‘Sides, anything’s better than a group home.”
Taako humphed. “I can’t fucking believe this.”
Lup dug her nails into the pleather car seat. One thing was obvious. This was their last chance.