Chapter Text
Macaque had been lying in bed for the majority of the day, his body feeling more ragged and worn out than usual. He groans before turning his body over, lying on his right facing away from the window in hopes to get the sun out of his eyes. Macaque stares at the wall for a minute, not closing his eyes in order to tire his eyelids. Deep down he knew he’d not be able to sleep, as he already spent the last three hours attempting to trick his brain into thinking he was sleeping by lying as perfectly still as he could while keeping his mind blank.
Or as blank as Macaque could get his brain to be after everything. He scoffs at himself out loud, using the blanket to cover his entire being, in hopes of being unseen to the world. Geez am I dramatic. He internally drawls, rubbing off any remaining sleep from his eyes, despite his arms being heavy. See, you would think on a day like this Macaque would be up, out and about. And to be fair, he did have minor plans related to that, however..
Sighing heavily, he threw the blanket off of himself, sitting up on his creaky wooden bed, all the while scanning the room idly. Macaque then turns while throwing his legs off the bed, not attempting to stand up yet as he blinks in rapid succession, his marred eye lagging behind his good one. His eye is such a bother. He summons his best friend; glamour. Feeing the wisps of magic all around his body that cover all of the scars he’s too afraid for the world to see. Ugh he’s really semantic today isn’t he? Get a grip.
He finally musters the strength to lift himself off the bed, beginning to stretch while he lifts his arms over his head, the resounding crack of his joints fills the relative silence in the room, safe from the quiet bustle from the city far enough away. He groans as a particular muscle pulls in his calf and sags immediately once he’s done stretching.
“I hate my life.” Macaque says grimly, not entirely meaning it but wanting to express his discomfort at the prospect of the day ahead. You see, this was not an ordinary day, well it was but Macaque tried to fuel his body with excitement, because today was his birthday. Now birthdays become irrelevant when you're immortal, or at least when you have a very long life span, so normally Macaque would brush off the day and would forget about it. However, this was no ordinary birthday because it was actually the first birthday he’s had since he’s been brought back to the mortal realm.
And at the end of the day he’s a sentimental guy…sometimes.
He makes his way to the bathroom, getting his tooth brush and putting a good amount of toothpaste while throwing around the idea of what he’d like to do today to honor his new life. He begins to brush his teeth as the idea of getting something sweet to eat rolls around into his mind. Macaque normally didn’t eat sweet things, and honestly he didn’t particularly eat much, the task always being in the back of his mind but finding the motivation to do so was lacking. It’s not as if he was scared to eat or anything like that, it just wasn’t something he absolutely needed to do like most mortals. It was more of a self indulgent thing he didn't partake in much.
He finishes brushing his teeth, beginning to clean his mouth with mouthwash and water, his mouth starting to feel more fresh than it did compared to when he first woke up. Macaque exits his bathroom and stares at his bed in contemplation, the prospect of climbing back into bed beckoning him the longer he stared. He tears his gaze away hastily, instead making his way out the room and down the stairs. Macaque debates on what he should get as a treat to himself, mentally mapping out the nearby bakeries and ice cream shops.
Actually ice cream doesn’t sound half bad.
And with that, Macaque finds himself outside of the nearest ice cream parlor, the building looking fairly newer (at least compared to the rest of the dingy part of town that he resided in.) The place was called The Sweet Spot, making Macaque internally grimace at the not so hidden innuendo. The words were plastered on the cream colored building in soft baby blue and light pink font, the colors starting to give Macaque a migraine. Sighing, he tried to disperse any negative feelings. Really playing into the part of a happy citizen.
Speaking of.. shouldn’t he.. disguise himself? It’s not like demons weren’t around in the city, they were just more feared of than anything due to the rise of demon criminals. Still, he’d rather not feel like an outsider on his own birthday. With this, he glamours himself up into his best human disguise he can muster up on the fly.
He looked into the reflection of the glass tinted pane of the ice cream parlor and examined himself. He was a slightly below average height with caramel skin, his hair a black shaggy with a slight blue hue if in the sun just right. His eyes were an average dark brown, deciding not to put himself too much into the spotlight with fucking purple eyes or something.
His attire was that of an average person, a white long sleeve with a black shirt on top, paired with average fitting jeans that felt uncomfortable compared to his usual hanfu material. And his shoes being normal sneakers from a brand he didn’t bother remembering.
As satisfied with his appearance as he could be, he grabbed the comically large spoon for a door handle and pulled the door to get inside. The sickly sweet aroma of ice cream immediately hit his overly sensitive nose while he took in the place. It’s an average size, maybe a bit smaller than most corner stores. Half the room was taken up by small tables only for two, and the other half was a glass counter with all the ice cream flavors that a 6 year old could make up in their mind. There were two couples in the place, taking up two tables as they shared ice cream and chatted about something Macaque didn’t bother trying to eavesdrop on. His eyes then landed on a single person faced away from him, they were seated right near the bathroom hallway. Macaque grimaced.
He made his way to the counter, a single teenage worker with a lot of acne to the point where Macaque could barely tell what his natural skin tone was. Still, he tried to keep his voice light.
“Hi, what can I get for you today?” The teen boy spoke up, his cartoonish uniform of light blue and pink swirls, topped with a cream apron and hat that said, “Ice scream!” popped out obnoxiously. Macaque averts his gaze down to the array of flavors presented before him, feeling mildly foolish for not thinking ahead of what he might want.
“Oh he’d like a peach creamy swirl” A familiar voice boasts, making Macaque turn around only to be met with-
“Sup!” A man who was a bit taller than Macaque and had a lot of muscles from underneath his extremely tight shirt. Seems like this guy also has light brown almost gold hair that led Macaque to believe it was recently bleached.
“Uh-” He has a retort on his tongue but that soon fades away as he gets a whiff of the guy, and it’s then that Macaque realizes who this is, his jaw snaps shut. Teeth clacking.
Because what he smells is peaches. And it’s no ordinary peach smell, it was a certain annoying magical monkey’s peach smell. Macaque’s sure his face goes from one of shock to one of muted displeasure. The comical and mind you, unrealistic human disguise Wukong is in, makes Macaque instinctively frown.
“Hi.” he grits out, attempting some decorum as he purposely looks Wukong up and down, making sure the other one knew that he wasn’t impressed.
And apparently the guy didn’t get the hint as he puts an arm out, flexing his false muscles. “Like what you see?” he says with a shit eating grin.
“No.” Macaque snarls out as he begins to turn around, deciding the ice cream wasn’t worth whatever the hell Wukong thought he was doing. Seriously? ‘Like what you see?’ Macaque feels queasy at the notion. That embarrassing disguise was nothing short of disgusting and not at all anyone who Macaque would go for.
However, right as he begins to take a step away, a hand grabs his wrists and he’s forced to turn around as he’s pulled into Wukong.
“Oh-!” He hears Wukong gasp in surprise as Macaque almost collides with the others chest, reeling himself back quick enough to just barely graze Wukong. “What do you think you’re doing?” He sneers, snatching his hand out of the others grasp, wrist still warm from the ghost contact.
Wukong looks down at the other, still in that ridiculous human disguise. His mouth opens and closes a couple of times, testing Macaque’s already thin patience.
“I was just- ugh.” Wukong then disappears in a flood of light for a brief moment, and Macaque instantly closes his eyes from the abrupt assault. When he opens them again, instead of the actual assault to his eyes in the form of a comically buff man, was now the normal Wukong to which he was used to seeing. He looked a bit ruffled, slight bags under his eyes that made Macaque wonder if the king was getting enough sleep. And if not, what was keeping him up?
Why do I even care?
“Are you guys going to order or what? ”
Both heads snap towards the teen who now had an ice scream spoon in hand, blunt written onto his acne filled face.
“Oh yeah-”
“No.”
Both monkeys turn to each other, Macaque’s frown deepening at Wukong’s dumbfounded look. So much for having a good day. Wukong takes the opportunity and then slaps a smile onto his face, one that Macaque knew was rehearsed.
“Yes! I will have the uh,” He pauses, scanning the menu of flavors on the chalkboard behind the teen, gold eyes quickly skimming the options. “Peach cream swirl…” the king laughs a bit sheepishly, glancing back toward Macaque, who has still made no move toward the door. “And my good fellow over here will have the uh- Triple Choc Brownie!”
Just what is he playing at?
“Okay that’ll be done in- when it’s done.” The teen drawls, getting to work at making their ice cream. Macaque takes the opportunity to glare at Wukong even more, going so far to grab the other’s shoulder rather harshly, and shoving his finger into the now more proportionate chest.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” he grits out, poking his finger harder than necessary.
Wukong just looks down at the finger, then locks eyes with Macaque again, making him want to squirm under his unusual inquisitive gaze.
“Why do you still have your glamour on?”
Macaque feels himself stiffen, and he’s sure Wukong can see it by the way his finger stops mid air. Why did he have his glamour on? What kind of question is that? How dense can this idiot be??
“Your ice cream is ready.” The unnamed teen’s tired voice calls out, holding two cones of their one scoop ice cream. “And your total is, like, ten dollars. I think.”
Wukong steps away for a brief moment, digging into his pocket and pulling out what Macaque assumes is ten dollars, handing it to the worker, as he takes their ice creams in each hand instead of handing Macaque his ice cream (which he wasn’t even sure he’d like given the fact Wukong ordered for him) The king begins to walk to a table for two, foregoing the dingy table by the bathroom and sits at a more homey table next to the glass. Macaque stands there, mouth slightly open as the other sets the chocolate cone down, already beginning to eat away at the peach flavored treat.
Noticing Macaque’s stillness, Wukong uses his hand to beckon him over, using exaggerated arm movements to really sell the point.
“Cmon bud! It’s gonna melt if it just stays there in the sun.” He mumbles out in between literal bites out of his ice cream. Macaque felt out of place, why was Wukong just- acting normal? He supposed it was starting to become their normal now, being around each other, the thought making him minutely uncomfortable the longer he thought about it. He could just leave, cut off whatever branches Wukong was attempting to make. Remembering his conversation with Mk, the resolve he so stubbornly came to, he begins to make his way to the door. That door however was right by the table Wukong had picked for them, so when Macaque begins to trudge in that direction, Wukong mistakenly assumes he’s going to take the seat across from him.
“Finally, I was starting to get worried you were just gonna, i dunno- stand there.”
Macaque stops halfway, suddenly feeling…bad? Ugh, it seems like anytime he is around Wukong he just feels, that’s all he’s been doing is feeling! He takes a look at Wukong, a real look at him, and…
He sighs, forcing himself to sit down across from the king, keeping his hands locked to his sides as he glowered at the now slightly melted ice cream, making it look a bit unappetizing. It wasn’t that he hated chocolate, he just didn’t eat it enough to favor it. But still, Wukong… dark thoughts slowly spread into his mind as he shuts his eyes rather harshly as an attempt to force them away from his brain.
He can pretend. For this afternoon he can pretend that the one before him didn’t run his mind into the ground. Every. Single. Day.
Squeezing his palms together, he also makes a promise to himself to not forget the inner turmoil he went through after Mk’s training. The promise of not letting himself be bothered by Wukong burned in his muddled head.
“Why’d you choose chocolate?” He croaks out, not yet making an attempt to grab it, but instead choosing to bore holes through the confection instead.
Wukong, already done with his treat, begins to lick his fingers rather grossly while a look of contemplation begins to form onto his sticky, ice cream covered face.
“I actually don’t know, I just thought of something that a broody antagonistic side character would enjoy.”
Macaque looks up to Wukong, feeling almost childish at the immediate retort he has on his tongue.
“What? I’m not a broody antagonistic side character!” Macaque sputters, Wukong smirks at Macaque, shifting forward onto the table, using one hand to prop his head up. “Oh you’re not? Then please enlighten me on what you are. We both know it’s not the main character.”
“I can be the main character!” Macaque shouts as his eye twitches, already feeling foolish for even entertaining Wukong on this very idiotic conversation. He finally reaches a hand out from under the table and grabs the cone, holding it up to his face as he unsurely sniffs it. “Plus, I don’t have…the looks for it.” He replies absentmindedly, deciding to take a tentative lick as Wukong checks his phone Mk has forced him to buy. The flavor is, admittedly, amazing. Macaque doesn't indulge himself in sweets often, but this singular treat just might change that. He takes another lick, turning more into a bite as he gets a chunk of the brownie into his mouth, chewing the dough as he just about hums in contentment.
“You’re right, that disguise makes you look less…” Macaque watches as Wukong’s eyes drag over Macaque’s sitting form. He feels flushed under the other's scrutinizing gaze, suddenly a little insecure. Glad I opted for glamour.
Feeling brave, Macaque pries. “Less what?” The words come out more harsh than intended, being mean to Wukong is practically second nature to him at this point.
Wukong’s gaze flickers away, looking mildly embarrassed . “Well- um,,,,” He scrambled for words as Macaque stared at him. “I don’t, um” Macaque felt his patience growing thin the longer it took for Wukong to say something, most likely a backhanded jab at his appearance.
However it never comes.
“Nevermind.” Wukong settles on, eyes averted. An awkward silence fills the air, but Macaque is too uncomfortable to realise. It always bothered him when people did that, beginning a train of thought before ultimately not continuing it. Frustration almost boils over at all the possibilities of what Wukong had been meaning to say, and the longer he thought about it the angrier he got.
“Ok.” Macaque settles on saying, brows furrowing as he glares at the ice cream in his hands as if it had scorned him deeply.
Wukong glances back at him, an unsure look crossing his face. He looks as if he wants to say something, rub salt in the wound most likely. Wukong had a funny way of doing that.
Macaque throws the ice cream onto the table haphazardly before slamming his hands onto the table and lifting himself up from his seat. “Im going to go.” Wukong looks terrified all of a sudden and immediately gets up as if he were to follow him.
“I can come with!” He hurriedly adds, shoving his hand in his pocket and pulling out wadded cash that he throws onto the table. Macaque speeds his pace up, and shoves the door open to reveal the midday heat of October. He instinctively shuts his eyes as leaves from a nearby tree blow past him.
“Ugh…what- wait what did you say?” He grumbles while dropping his human disguise in quick succession, garnering some sideways looks. “I can uh- come with..?” Wukong’s voice gained pitch towards the end, making that last part of his sentence sound like a question. What’s wrong with this guy? First he shows up unexpectedly, considering there was no way he would've known Macaque would be there. Hell he’s probably stalking him considering all the other times Wukong has shown up mysteriously in places Macaque frequented. Then, to top it off he’s been acting plain weird. And that weirdness is rubbing off on him too, little moments he’s picking out in his head quickly start to make him uncomfortable. His chest begins to hurt and the feeling is foreign yet familiar.
Macaque breathes out a puff of air before whipping around and standing face to face with Wukong.
“Just what is your deal?”
The other looks confused for a moment, before attempting to place a hand on Macaque’s shoulder. Macaque shifts out of the way quickly.
“Don’t touch me.”
Wukong's face morphs from one of a playful manner to something more akin to hurt. It’s quickly gone before Macaque can look into it, slipping into a much more toned down version of Wukong, the one the kid rarely saw. To Macaque it was almost as normal as seeing him angry and thrashing, those more negative emotions burned into his skull as time grew on, and their relationship worsened till..
“Okay well I don’t have a deal. I just- just let me walk you.” Wukong's face is one of picture perfect awkwardness, and Macaque would almost feel bad if his question wasn’t blatantly dismissed in the classic Monkey King way.
“What do you mean you don’t have a deal? Why do I keep running into you in places you have no place being?? Are you stalking me or something?!” he spits out, taking steps forward as he jabs an accusatory finger on Wukong's chest once more.
Wukong on the other hand looks downright offended, mouth agape with eyes slightly crazed as he stares at Macaque, the height difference making him feel insecure as Wukong was looking down at him.
“W-what! Excuse me- I was at the store first! That was all pure coincidence and you know that!” The disbelieving tone almost makes Macaque back down. Almost.
“And the Laundromat? What about this Ice cream shop?!” Macaque questions with narrowed eyes.
“I was doing laundry!”
“Quit the bullshit Wukong we both know you don’t do laundry! Tell me what you were doing there!” Macaque doesn’t back down at the other’s blatant lies, instead grilling him even further.
“I-I just,” Wukong almost growls in frustration before closing his eyes. “I was just trying to…talk to you..” He says the words as if it were a foreign language, and they might as well have been because Macaque was having a hard time processing what he’d just heard.
“You wanted to talk, to.. me.” Macaque tried to make the words come out natural, but his tongue felt heavy against his jaw.
“Um…yeah..” The other awkwardly responds, averting his gaze somewhere off to the side. Macaque steps back, craving the space they had a moment ago.
“Why?”
There’s raw confusion in his voice and he knows it. Making no effort to harden the words like he usually did, just pure raw confusion, because what? Wukong wanted to talk to him? He almost glances around to see if there were any hidden cameras.
The question seems to stump Wukong as his eyes quickly dart to Macaque’s, getting an odd look on his face, his mouth turning downward while his face hardens. It’s then he realizes the other is only looking at his right eye, a cold chill falls upon Macaque.
“Well?” The familiar dark tone can’t help but make its way through his words. “Why do you keep trying to talk to me huh?”
More passersby spare them worried glances, the tension thick.
Wukong takes a sharp breath, his eyes seemingly taking in the area around them as he speaks softly. “Listen can we- can we just not?” Macaque finds it hard to ignore the pleading tone. “Not here. Not now”
Macaque wants to argue, and he would’ve- had not Wukong’s phone erupted into an obnoxious tune that immediately makes Macaque grateful he glamoured his ears.
Wukong's eyes widen as he hastily pulls the phone out of his pocket, hands fumbling with the phone as it continues to buzz and ring.
“Let me just- “ He gives Macaque a quick placating smile but it looks more like a grimace. “Hey bud!” He turns around and Macaque only hears the hushed conversation through bits and pieces. Irritation fills him as he’s ignored for Mk. Awesome.
Macaque debates listening in on the conversation, but decides against it after Wukong lets out a particularly loud sigh. No point in listening when he’s probably talking to the kid about how he’s stuck with loser Macaque.
Is that self centered to think? Maybe. Did Macaque care? Not really.
“Okay Wukong this was awesome, not really, but I’m leaving now” He obnoxiously raises his voice, turning to leave. There wasn’t a huge reason as to why he alerted the other of his departure. Attention, self pity, a deep hatred for Wukong’s desire to make Macaque’s life a living hell? Who’s to say.
Just as Macaque begins to make his way down the street however, Wukong must’ve noticed Macaque attempting to leave without him and abruptly hangs up and puts his phone in his pocket.
“Hey-! Macaque wait!” He closes the distance between them on the sidewalk, standing side by side with Macaque.
“Why are you so insistent on walking me home? And did you just hang up on Mk?”
Instead of answering, Wukong puts his hands on Macaque's shoulders and maneuvers him to the side away from the road, taking his place instead. And although Macaque usually finds it uncomfortable to have the others hands on him, the thought of Wukong attempting to shield him from oncoming traffic in case of emergencies makes his chest constrict in ways he didn’t fully understand.
“Has anyone told you how nosey you are?” Wukong responds instead, eyeing at the scenery around them. Macaque’s eyebrows go up as he looks at Wukong with a baffled look. “Excuse me?”
Wukong smirks without looking down at the other, seemingly finding the orange and purple hues of the sky much more interesting. “You know, like you stick your nose in other people’s business a lot.”
“Yes Wukong I am fully aware of what being nosey means.” The words are harsh, but there's a slight smile on his face he can’t fully hide even if he tried. It seems the moment of Wukong’s secrecy and Macaque's need for answers was over. Kind of.
“So?” Wukong pries, gaze still everywhere besides the monkey beside him.
“So what?”
“Did you know, you were nosey?”
Macaque responds with a shove to the other's shoulder, which gets him a snort in response. “Asshole.” he replies, maybe a bit too happily.
Wukong finally lets his eyes rest on Macaque, the contact making Macaque feel oddly warm. Weirdly enough, the other has nothing to say to that. Instead the man turns to look ahead of them as they continue their stroll through Megatropolis. The silence fills Macaque with an odd sense of dread. He was hoping to get Wukong to say something equally as rude (although asshole was hardly an insult compared to their past fights and arguments.)
He supposed this should be good, maybe things weren’t as bad as they used to be, like a few months ago on Sandy's boat, but still…
They continue to walk in silence, Macaque leading the way at certain turns while Wukong easily follows suit. The day has come to a dark end as the sky goes into shades of purple and blue, and the nightlife that Megatropolis is known for comes to life. Eager college kids running into bars or vomiting on the curb are sights they easily get used to as they continue making their way into the more, dingy parts of town.
At one point, they pass by a particularly overcrowded bar, needing to practically squeeze through the crowd. The smell of sweat booze and something else Macaque didn’t want to think about fills his oversensitive nostrils.
“Ugh these mortals reek.”
Wukong hums in response, and macaque almost didn’t hear it over the bassed up music coming from inside the bar. He can feel Wukong’s presence behind him, the warmth from his body somehow feeling different than the warmth from everyone else surrounding them.
As they reach the end of the crowd, and a more empty sidewalk is in view, Macaque hears Wukong yelp from behind him.
“Hey handsome, you looking for a fun time?”
Macaque turns around to see a petite woman draping herself on top of Wukong, her dark hair plastered to her face as she was obviously sweating from the heat of the bar and hundreds of bodies surrounding them.
Wukong has a panicked uncomfortable look on his face as he stands still, not making an effort to push the woman off of him. The sight makes Macaque’s stomach feel empty, a pit slowly forming as she continues blabbing about something he doesn’t bother deciphering. Macaque goes up behind the girl and pulls her off of Wukong, her arms clinging onto the other with the stubbornness of a toddler, or Mk.
“Hey what’s your deal!?” She snaps as she’s finally pried off of Wukong. Her big eyes and elaborate makeup momentarily startled Macaque with how beautiful she was. Macaque feels some kind of retort on his tongue, but no appropriate words come to him.
What could he say? She was just shooting her shot with Wukong, The Monkey King Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Granted Macaque was sure she didn’t even know who it was she was talking to.
He’s about to open his mouth and find an excuse as to why her behavior was inappropriate, before he feels a warm hand encompass his own. He turns around and he’s suddenly met with Wukong’s guarded face as he leads them away from the scene, the speed of which he does so almost startling.
“Hey! Get back here!” The feminine voice calls out from a distance, attempting to capture their attention but those sounds are already falling short to Macaque’s ears.
Wukong however pays it no mind as he continues his sprint with Macaque’s hand in his own. With Wukong’s back in front of him, Macaque finds it hard to not-
Well, notice things. Like the muscle that is laid underneath Wukong’s hanfu, years upon hundred of years in the making. He turns his head away with shame. What is he doing- thinking like this? He mentally chides himself for being such a loser pervert but then suddenly Wukong stops running, and in turn it makes Macaque almost run straight into the same muscled back he had just been admiring.
Macaque runs his hand over his face as Wukong turns to look at him, a nervous smile settled on his face.
“Ah- um, sorry.” He rubs the back of his neck with his hand, and Macaque is jarred at the word sorry coming from Wukong’s mouth; he's momentarily confused as to what he’s even apologizing for. “I just figured the sooner we got out of there, the better.”
Oh, obviously.
Macaque feels humiliated for reasons he can't quite explain, and his gaze drifts downward to avoid the others' gaze. It’s then he realizes rather late, that their hands were still conjoined with one another.
At this realization he abruptly pulls his hand away, crossing his arms in indignation. Wukong wipes his hand on himself, and that action just further irritates and humiliates Macaque. Was he unbearable to touch? The irrational part of him wanted to use this as reasoning to treat Wukong terribly for the rest of their time together, but the more emotionally competent part of him knew it wasn’t the case since lately Wukong had been touching him more often than not. Despite Macaque making it obvious it was unappreciated. (although even now he wasn’t sure how true that statement was..)
“Well um, here we are.” Wukong mutters.
Macaque is taken out of his train of thought as he actually takes in their surroundings.
He was home. Well, they were standing in front of his dojo that also was used as his home. It seems that Wukong had led them- wait how did-?
“So! I guess I’ll walk you up?” Wukong says, letting his hand linger behind Macaque’s back, not quite touching.
“Wait Wukong how did you-”
“Hey no if’s or buts! I’m working on being more, like- ah nevermind.”
Macaque lets Wukong lead him up the few steps to his door, and as he reaches for the doorknob, he’s hit with the notion that Wukong would be taking his leave now. He turns to the other before opening his door, eyes searching Wukong’s for something he wasn’t entirely aware of.
“Bud?” Wukong looks nervous, eyes quickly fleeting to Macaque’s hand on the handle, and he gives a weak smile. “You good?”
Macaque wants to say something, like thank you for the ice cream even if I didn’t get to fully enjoy it. Or, I’m sorry for being nosey. Or…I don’t think I hate you as much as I’m supposed to and it scares me. His feelings were all over the place, and it irritated him. Macaque hated feelings in general, they’d gotten him hurt time and time again.
He felt like he was being torn in two when it came to Wukong lately.
“Yes, I’m fine.” He responds almost robotically. “Um, bye.” He awkwardly finishes before turning away and opening his door, ready for this awful day to be over.
“Surprise!!”
Bright lights fill the space of his home as all of the Kids friends jump with balloons and streamers everywhere.
“W-what?” He tries to ignore the assault on his ears as he attempts to process everything around him, taking tentative steps forward.
“Surprise bud.” Macaque turns around and Wukong lets himself inside the home, closing the door behind the both of them as everyone quickly makes their way over.
“Aww little monkey man is growing up!!” Mei exclaims while pouting. Mk puts an arm around her as he wipes a fake tear from his eye. “They grow up so fast.”
“I- I don’t, um” Macaque tries finding words for whatever was going on, but none come to him. He gets the urge to look towards Wukong. (which he promptly ignores)
“Kid why don’t you guys go and pull out the cake and stuff, yeah?” Wukong says easily, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder. Mk lights up and raises his hand in mock salute. “Will do Monkey King!” And with that, he runs off to the farther part of this place, along where Macaque assumed everyone else went.
“What are we going to do with him?” Mei sighs, cradling her face with a hand as she watched Mk make wild hand gestures to Pigsy. Macaque vaguely heard something about Mapu Tofu.
“I dunno, but I am starving” Wukong replies, placing a hand on his stomach and rubbing gingerly. Macaque finds his voice as he looks at Wukong teasingly, his smirk falling onto his face way too easily “When are you not hungry Wukong? And I thought Pigsy was the only pig demon here..”
Wukong looks at Macaque as if he’d just killed his unborn child. “Don’t compare me to pig demons! You know how I feel about them.”
Macaque had a retort on his tongue before he realized they had an audience. He turns to Mei who was smirking as if she was a cat who had just found the stash of catnip.
“You two are cute.” Is all she says before turning around and jumping into a conversation with Sandy and Tang about the logistics of something probably nerdy.
Macaque’s face burns as he almost feels afraid to turn to Wukong, the other probably felt beyond humiliated to even be associated with Macaque in such a manner. Macaque wasn’t as bothered as he thought he’d be in all honesty. He was mostly embarrassed.
“Uh- okay?” Wukong says out loud to no one in particular. Macaque still avoids contact as he instead walks over to his beaten up couch, practically throwing himself onto it. He still had the decency to sit up though, he wasn’t impolite enough to do that. (Unlike Wukong.)
Once his body hits the soft cotton his body almost melts, body sagging into the plush fabric. The sudden wave of exhaustion he gets is almost nauseating, and the urge to get everyone to leave and sleep forever is tempting. But…
Wukong weirdly enough had no issue sitting on the couch as well much to Macaque’s surprise. He’d expected Wukong to go and talk to his buddies, not sit in the company of Macaque. Let alone sit on his dingy couch that he’d found off the street.
Wukong has been doing this as of late hasn’t he? They’ve been alone in each other’s presence and it's almost starting to become normal. And Wukong seems, well, okay with it?
Macaque becomes stiff on the couch at the realization at how natural this whole situation was. The entirety of Mk’s friend group had gone out of their way to surprise him with a- birthday party? Was that what this was? A surprise birthday party? He’s filled with warmth he attempts to ignore, seriously he needs to get a grip on his feelings.
And now Wukong is casually lounging on his couch next to him, granted there was a good foot of space between them on his cramped couch, but still. Macaque was beginning to wonder if he’d stepped into some alternate dimension where he was, normal.
He flicks his eyes to the side to get a glance of how Wukong was holding up. Was he freaking out over how absurd this situation as much as Macaque was? Was he wondering how they’ve come to be able to sit next to each other willingly without ripping each other's throats?
Macaque watches as Wukong sticks his pinkie in his ear, mumbling something about needing a placeholder for his staff.
Guess that answers that.
He blows a breath of air, leave it to Macaque to be dramatic about, well, everything. He averts his gaze towards his lap, brows furrowing with contemplation. He knew Wukong wasn’t bad. Objectively. And he couldn’t deny the changes that were happening in their..relationship? But he also couldn’t just forget the past, not when it was explicitly written all over his face. His body. His soul.
He wants to pretend he can forget, he wants to pretend that their past didn’t haunt him almost every single day… That day in his dojo with Mk still bothers him, with how quickly he lets his emotions get the better of him can be quite overwhelming.
He needs to stop being so emotional, especially when Wukong seems to be holding up fine, unbothered even.
The urge to look back at Wukong next to him is inexplicable, but he withholds himself from doing so just in time as Mk jumps over to the two of them.
“Hey guys! We’re about to show the cake! C’mon!” He exclaims, specifically hauling Macaque over to the kitchen area of his place. He lets himself be dragged by Mk, although the touch makes his fur stand on its ends at first.I should probably unpack that at some point.
“And don’t worry- the cake isn’t as obnoxious as Monkey King’s was!” Mei jokes, punching Wukong on the shoulder once he joins them. He looks at her confused before Tang speaks up, “Hey! I thought it was beautiful and fitting for his character!”
“Yeah yeah whatever, let’s hurry and do this so we can get to the good part.” Pigsy’s gruff voice chides, going and leaning on the counter a foot away from the table where everyone decided to circle and stare at Macaque.
“Oh! Oh! Yes you’re right Pigsy!” Mk shoves Macaque in the dead center as he takes place to his right, Wukong on his left as Mei, Tang, and Sandy are directly across from him. “Okay Macaque, you know this works right?”
Macaque blinks for a moment before nodding numbly, staring at the simple chocolate cake. Why does everyone assume he likes chocolate?
“Okay everyone! One, two, three-!”
Suddenly everyone erupts into song, the familiar tune from Wukong’s party vaguely registering in his six ears. He doesn’t move his eyes from the cake in front of him, and as the song nears its end, he almost feels his legs buckle at the sudden wave of emotions overcoming him.
There’s a moment of silence, and once Macaque finally lifts his head, everyone is staring at him expectantly.
There’s a small tentative voice from his left, “Uh bud, you have to blow on the candles.” Wukong says.“But not before making a wish.” Mk not so subtly whispers from his right.
Macaque looks down, and without giving it a second thought, blows the candles. The flames disappearing with tiny flicks of light. Their presence gone as the wax melts uncomfortably.
Everyone cheers, Sandy already passing out plates and forks whilst Tang gets a knife to cut the cake. Macaque can feel the burn of eyes on him, but he promptly ignores it as he lets himself be manhandled into taking a selfie with Mei.
Once everyone gets cake, Macaque sees Pigsy say something in the corner to Mk, leading Mk to then nod enthusiastically.
“Okay guys! Time for food! Follow me!” He excitedly shouts, leading them to a different area in his home-
Wait..
“Uh kid, where do you think we’re going?” Macaque says tersely, picking up his pace as he follows Mk up the stairs to his more, private quarters. He glances behind him to see Wukong and Mei slightly peeking into the crack of his door.
However before he can spit out an embarrassed response, Mk opens the door adjacent to his room that leads to-
Sparkling lights that overhang a balcony patio, and the smell of ShaoKao which immediately wafts through the crisp air. It seems like while Macaque was out, the kid had decorated his patio with lights and extra tables and lounge chairs, making the once desolate and barely used balcony feel more like..
Home
“Woah! Party time! You really outdid yourself Mk!” Mei says excitedly before going over to the railings and taking millions of photos of the skyline view Megatropolis provided.
“Aw thank you Mei!”
Tang lets out an ahem while following Pigsy over to their grill they had apparently brought over. Mk looks sheepish as Sandy walks past him to join the others, “Oh yeah and Tang helped too, of course”
There’s a deep chuckle from beside Macaque, and he’s surprised to see Wukong still next to him. Macaque wants to say something, but his mind goes blank as he watches Wukong smile at the kid. The other locks gazes with him, and for a moment they both don’t say anything.
The moment is promptly gone however once Pigsy starts yelling about everyone grabbing a plate. And Wukong, ever the glutton, forgets about Macaque as he practically runs over to the grill.
Macaque watches everyone, and averts his gaze to the city.
Once everyone ate food, they all had busied themselves with playing games and chomping on more food amongst themselves. Macaque stayed in the shadows, as per usual, opting to lean forward on the railing, eyes not really comprehending the city in front of him.
He hears rather than sees Wukong settle beside him, his presence an ever growing force. And Macaque gets the slight sense of Deja Vu from Wukong’s birthday.
Wukong suddenly speaks up, “Everyone got you presents by the way.” Macaque wants to pretend to be surprised, but mortal traditions were nothing short of consistent. However Wukong’s next words strike a chord within Macaque.
“I uh- got you one too, but I told everyone it’d be better if we just left them in your place. So you wouldn’t feel awkward opening them in front of us, or something.”
Macaque feels his face crumple in an odd way, turning his head at an angle to make sure Wukong wouldn’t see his face. His emotions were getting the better of him yet again but…
He rubs a hand across his face before looking back out towards the city, choosing to not say anything in response to that. Not trusting his voice to mask how much the notion meant to him.
He didn’t need to respond however, as Wukong fills the silence anyway. “I meant what I said earlier by the way,” Macaque side eyes him, a slight brow raised. “About wanting to- um, talk to you.” Wukong clarifies.
“Oh” is all Macaque can say. He felt his emotions riding in waves inside of him, and the dark sludge he’s all so familiar with slowly creeps into his mind. Wukong, none the wiser, continues talking.
“I mean, well, yes I wanted to talk. But,” he sighs frustratedly from beside Macaque, and he has half a brain to say something, to interrupt Wukong before he says something he may regret. He doesn't, however, as Wukong continues digging his own grave.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, over the past few months we’ve been running into each other, and well,” Wukong chuckles a bit crazed, Macaque still avoiding the other as he’s now glaring at the railing he was leaning on. His heart is pounding loudly, Macaque can hear it, and he’s afraid of what it means.
“I missed this, I missed...us”
He isn’t sure what to say, and he’s afraid if he opens his mouth, something he’s going to regret will come out. Which strangely enough, are things he’s sure he’s told Wukong before. Things like, I hate you, I wish you were dead, and I wish I never met you.
He’s afraid of the realness those words had on him sometimes. When his emotions were too much. When Wukong was too much.
“Macaque?”
He finally lifts his head, and finally turns to look at the other.
Wukong had his body leaning against the rails as well, but instead of focusing his attention out on the city, he was solely looking at Macaque. And he gets a sudden feeling of being exposed. Macaque opens his dry mouth, smacking his lips twice to make sure his words came out properly.
“Uh- I think you should, um.” His brain is practically yelling at him to get away from the other. To run as far away from this situation, as far as his legs would take him before they eventually gave out.
Wukong gets this sad understanding look on his face, and he gives this small smile.
“I’ll go, um, check on the kid. Or something.”
And then he’s gone.
Macaque doesn’t follow the other with his eyes, or literally either. He stares at Wukong’s empty space a moment longer, before robotically turning his head towards the city again. His chest is constricting in ways he didn’t think was possible.
This was what he wanted wasn’t it? Space? Wukong’s attention? A small part of him also wanted…pain.
Macaque’s eyes gloss over, and he ignores it. The party goes on, and he ignores it. Everyone eventually leaves, including Wukong.
And he ignores it.