Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A mountain littered with temples and shrouded with the morning light. That’s what you saw through your camera app just before you snapped the picture.

A small smile could be seen in your reflection if you looked hard enough but you were more focused on the details of the snapshot. Fingers dancing over the screen to zoom in and find out what was too small to see by the average eye.

The trees and stone that were at the edges of the trails, the steps of stairs that never seem to end, and the occasional monkey. There were a lot of those here, from the temple statues to the actual animal.

It was honestly a hassle and a half getting far enough to get as much as you could in that one photo. But totally worth it when you saw the results!

Still, you took more pictures to cover all the time you spent both on the way and just to make sure you didn’t accidentally not take the picture you had spent hours to get.

You did notice there was a trail leading out of what you could guess to call a town. (Maybe even a village?) It made you think of the Great Wall for a brief moment when you considered going to see what would be at the end.

Two wooden monkeys sat on their stone pillars, one on each side of the trail. They appeared serene, almost life-like bliss despite being carved into that form.

You took a few pictures of each monkey before taking another look at the stone steps that seem to go on forever.

The chill of the morning breeze kept you alert, occasionally hearing leaves rustling and soft chattering. Sunlight pushes your shadow onto the stone path, folding with the steps ahead.

You took in the cold air around you then let out a breath that almost looked like steam.

The day was still starting, and you were curious to see what else it could offer.

At times it felt like your legs would give out from how long this self-imposed journey felt. The shadow from trees kept you cool and the more than occasional song from your phone kept you motivated. (Sure that would drain your battery but that's why you brought a portable charger.)

Once you reached the gate that was at the end of the path, you took a seat and rested your back against the bold red wood.

Or what was left of it. It looked like something bulldozed through the giant doors and snapped them like twigs.

The construction job going on with it seemed shoddy with how it had planks of wood were trying to cover the huge gaps. Trying was the key word here.

You took a peek between the not so small cracks and saw a temple with the same bold red wood hold it up, golden tiles were on the roof and reflected the sun above. Cool green fences and barriers were either covered by foliage or the same golden tile as the roof.

Something that caught your attention after that was a similar set of meditating monkey statues but was completely made of stone instead and the pillars that they say on were plated with gold.

You got up and made your way through the opening, your foot almost getting caught but quickly picked up to avoid causing any damage.

You tapped the camera app icon on your phone then took some quick pictures of just the front view before going into the rest.

A monkey seemed to wake from a sun bath on the roof and stare at you for a solid minute.

You could only stare back with a tilt to the head, which the monkey copied, then give a quick wave goodbye before going on your way to explore more.

Modern was absolutely not a word you would have picked for the inside of the temple, you were certain that your eyes were playing tricks on you! Your face pressed against glass as you took in the fact there was a TV, couch, table, and all the other commodities for a living room.

Were those monkeys STREAMING MONKEY KING: THE ANIMATED SERIES?!

Apparently your expression was something if it managed to catch one of the monkeys’ attention and get it to pity you enough to open the front door.

Disbelief still covered your face as the small monkey grabbed you by the hand and tried to lead you inside.

You let it guide you inside the temple and just stare at how homey this temple was. There would be times where you stopped in your tracks when you saw something like, oh say, gold plated armor just collecting dust.

The monkey would tap the back of your hand to recapture your attention then pull again, eventually leading you to the room with the TV and monkeys.

There was a pause from the monkeys, wondering who you were before going back to watching their show and eating out of a bowl of chips.

“Can I look around?” you found yourself asking the monkey that once grabbed your hand but they were now engrossed in a pretty intense action sequence. “Okay,” you mumbled to yourself as you took a tour of what else was in this place.

The wood floor made occasional creaks, the walls had the smallest pieces of chipped paint at the corners and edges, ornate items either hung on those walls or discarded onto the ground. Few of the doors were open, you saw either basic comforts in the rooms they hid or were miniature museums with all the treasures they held inside.

Then there was a kitchen that was a pile of empty dishes or half eaten junk. A strong scent of peaches soaked the air, it was almost overwhelming.

The sight and the scent together made you grimace.

Okay, you knew this wasn’t your place but you weren’t going to take this mess for another moment longer. Your sleeves were rolled up and ready before you even realized it.

A monkey (maybe the same one that let you in?) seemed to get curious on where you went off. They sat by the table, staring at the cleared surfaces then at you.

They hopped onto the counter then jumped to your back, climbing to your shoulder and taking a seat. The tiny hand patted your cheek, pointing to you and basically waving to the rest of the room.

“Ummm.” You weren’t certain how to respond. “I kind of cleaned it,” was the only thing you could think of.

The monkey made an “ooh” sound, soon after jumped off your shoulder and started making their way back to the group. (Was that called a tribe or a troop?)

Wait, how long were you in the zone?

You searched your pockets and felt your heart drop.

Phone gone.

Before a coherent thought formed, you were already rushing to the monkey that just left the room.

“Give it back!”

Yeah, that monkey wasn't going to as it jumped onto a bookcase and just out of your reach. Your shoes slid across the floor, making a harsh squeak when you wanted to stop.

It leapt from wall to wall, making chattering sounds not unlike laughter.

Only when you managed to trap it in a corner, you gave it a quick yank on the tail midair once it made the choice to jump over you. That was enough to make it let go of your phone.

You let out a sigh of relief as you processed that the phone was back in your hand and not cracked by the ground below.

The last thing you saw on the screen was a mobile game before the screen went pitch black due to a dying battery.

Are you kidding me?

You made a face that was the perfect mix of annoyed and defeated. The monkey took this as a truce of sorts, neither of you had won this.

You could only pinch the bridge of your nose as if the pressure was the only thing stopping you from splitting into a pure ball of anger. You were just going to... look outside the window. That is easy enough and you could work from there as your phone can recharge via battery pack.

The sky was almost as dark as your phone’s screen when you caught a glimpse, save for the moon and the clouds that it shined through.

Your fingers pressed against your temples as you try to let your frustrations fade. Breathing in the cold air once you got outside practically smothered the burning anger to a lump of wet coal.

You sat on the cool stone steps at the side of the temple, keeping yourself out of view in case someone came from the same entrance you used. Slowly becoming as serene as the monkey statues that made you go on this weird little trip.

A smile slowly grew as you looked at the moon above and just enjoyed the soft light it emitted.

That probably lasted about a good 10 minutes before you heard someone speak.

“Hey guys, how’ve you been? You wouldn’t believe the day I had.”

If you hadn’t cooled off earlier, it didn’t matter. Your blood ran ice cold, all hairs on ends, and focusing on how far that voice was.

Close, the walls didn’t help at all.

Your muscles tensed as you kept your sounds to a minimum but wanted to cover the most ground.

“See you had a marathon without me,” the voice said with a laugh, like something about it lightened the load of his day.

Footsteps made their way, away from you specifically. To where, not your problem.

You would be wrong about that later.

You tiptoed between twigs and pebbles, hearing crickets chirp and monkeys chatter.

“Wow, you guys really cleaned up the place. Thanks!”

That made you stop just as you made contact with the stone floor that would lead to the temple gateway. You looked back, like you would be able to see this guy actually talk to the monkeys through those walls.

That would be silly, you wanted to dismiss. Stupid, really.

“What do you mean it wasn’t you?”

Oh no.

“Are they still here?”

You started running, no care for silence anymore.

The sound of wood bursting rang in the empty air. You had barely gotten 3 steps when another deafening sound came.

The hard slam against stone and the cracking that came with it occurred barely a foot in front of you.

The force, the wind, the sound itself, pushed you back and to the ground.

Your hands scrambled to push yourself up but your muscles felt as limp as noodles.

You could see a pair of boots in the center of the crater in front of you. There was definitely someone in those shoes and they were looking straight at you.

Moonlight was able to make out the shape of him and some of his looks. Light brown hair, both slicked back and a lot on the sides of his face. Worn armor over a baggy long sleeve yellow shirt and one long red scarf that made it look like two. Red and green colors of his sash and cloak stuck out to you.

Your voice was stuck in your throat as whoever this was squatted down to your eye level.

Yellow eyes with a pair of thick eyebrows right over them stared at you, there was an almost maroon color on the skin around them compared to the rest of his peachy skin. (And why did he have such nice eyelashes?!)

“Hey, you okay?” He waved his hand near your face.

You managed to make a small but affirming grunt.

“Okay, good. I was worried I might have overdone it,” he told you in a chipper tone.

You blink, trying to focus on the guy in front of you. Big ears and tufts of hair on the back of his hands stuck out to you now.

“Might have?” you repeat, little amusement in the tone of your voice. “Who are you?”

How can you talk to monkeys? Is this a temple or a house?

“Depends,” fangs showing in his smile. “I have a few names to go by.”

“Most commonly used,” you specified, focusing on the strange shape of his nose. That didn't look exactly human.

The being’s smile widened, his hand stroking his chin with the thought. His fingernails could almost be called claws with how they were shaped.

“Monkey King works well enough,” he answered. “Though feel free to call me Great Sage, Equal to Heaven. But, Handsome Monkey King does have a nice ring to it.”

You think your brain short circuited, it had to at some point if you managed to fail to notice the tail that swayed right behind him.

“What about you? Pretty sure you have at least one name,” Monkey King asked back.

You could only stare into the golden eyes that reflected a sliver of the moon above.

“What?”

Chapter Text

Snap! Snap!

“Hey, Earth to human,” Monkey King called out to you. “You still here?”

Blink, and blink again.

“You’re joking, right?” was the first thought that came out of your mouth.

That did not seem like the response this so-called Monkey King was going for. A confused chuckle left him, one of his brows arching up in wondering where this was coming from. His tail swaying and wrapping around his feet on occasion, making sure you wouldn’t be missing that detail anytime soon. “Want to run that by me on why you think that?”

You paused, thinking up some way to explain.

“You’ve been kind of M.I.A. with all the crazy stuff that’s been going on and there’s this one person that's been on the news acting like you,” your hand went to your chin as you tried to piece bits of wild events you had seen the past few months. “I kind of thought you were just... gone?”

Monkey King barely managed to hold his laugh from that.

“First, that’s MK you’ve been seeing. He’s my successor!” Monkey King explained, his smile showing pride in his student. “Second, I’m retired. That’s way different from being dead or whatever you were thinking.”

He tapped one of his fingers against your forehead, really pointing out how dumb the thought was. Monkey King soon stood up straight, looking like the hero from those legends with how dominating and mysterious the moonlight shrouded him.

“You gonna get up or what?” he asked.

You pushed yourself back up, getting a good idea of how tall the Monkey King was to you. Over half a head, maybe a bit less with how his hair stood up. You patted off whatever dust and dirt got on your pants while you had your little meeting with the ground.

“You still haven’t told me your name,” Monkey King mentioned, he brought his hands to his hips as he quickly scanned you.

“Uh,” you were embarrassed that he was right. You answered while rubbing at the back of your neck, turning away so you didn’t have to look him in the eye.

In the corner of your vision, you could see the Monkey King look up at the moon then back to you. “Why are you even here? I know I didn’t hire a cleaning service.”

“Oh!” You pulled your phone out of your bag, happy that it had a decent charge to it now. “I was taking pictures during my hike, then I saw the temple and wanted to see what else there was to it.”

You showed the Monkey King the pictures of the monkey statues along with a picture of the village nearby that basically got you into this. Then you got to the temple itself.

“Delete these,” the Monkey King said.

“What?! No!” you said back. “These are my pictures.”

“Yeah, I can’t let people know about my sha- sacred temple,” Monkey King answered. “If the public knows about it, it gets rid of the reason of having a private place.”

“If you don’t want people to bother you, you can stay on Flower Fruit Mountain,” you answered back just as quickly. “No one can go there and I wasn’t even going to post these online anyway.”

“You’re not?”

“Not really, maybe show it to a friend or two but these pictures are more for me than anything.” You swiped the picture app closed and shoved the phone back in your pocket, your hand still on it as a security measure.

“Huh,” Monkey King noted. “It a hobby of yours?”

“Kind of,” you mumbled. “Like hiking, I like to get away for a bit and having pictures is a nice memento.”

You couldn’t help but look back at the temple behind you.

“It’s really beautiful,” you told him. “Despite a few messes, it’s been kept in great condition and those monkeys sure seem to have nice time there too.”

“Well, yeah, it’s kind of a home away from home,” Monkey King confirmed. “I wish they had told me they were going to have that marathon though,” he added.

“Is it because it’s about you?”

“That, and the rest of the show is good too,” his smile wide and confident. “But it is nice to see that they know that every side is my good side.”

It got a laugh out of you. “You would have to be called Handsome Monkey King for some reason.”

The Monkey King wrapped his arm over your shoulder and brought you in a little too close for comfort. “You sure you’re not just saying that so I say that you can keep the pictures?”

“You’re the one that told me ‘Handsome Monkey King’ had a good ring to it.”

You noticed your face feeling warmer than usual. Was it because you were so close to him?

“Not wrong there,” he agreed, his smile changed and his eyebrows gave him a smug look.

Little details picked up in your eyes. You couldn’t help but notice how soft the peach skin and brown fur around him looked, the skin around his eyes were a different shade and shaped around the bottom of his brow to his nose. He had long lashes, longer than most, and it really was a nice addition to the golden eyes staring back at you.

You smiled back at him, only for a moment before you pulled his arm off your shoulders. “It was nice getting to know you but I gotta get going now.”

“Got work or something tomorrow?” His tail swayed and snapped in the air as he watched you walk out.

“Something,” you answered, not certain how much you’d care to tell him about yourself. Once you were just a couple steps away from the gate you added. “If you want, I can come over sometime later this week.”

“How ‘bout a Monkey King marathon?” You weren’t certain if his smile got wider from the idea he just pitched.

“Only if it’s the animated series,” you negotiated.

“Didn’t have anything else in mind,” he told you as he raised his hand to wave good-bye.

“Cool!” You smiled as you were making your way out of the broken gateway. Just as you were about to start your walk, you looked back at the Monkey King and waved back. “See ya later, Handsome!”

Your hand slapped over your mouth within the second that was said, your feet were on the same page and had you running out of the gateway's view.

What and why did you say that?

Chapter Text

Apparently the day you encountered the living legend commonly known as Monkey King, a giant smoke monster was on a rampage in some neighboring mountains. You were a bit relieved that you didn’t see that happen but you were curious if Monkey King was involved, or that successor he mentioned.

There were some photos of when the smoke monster had attacked the city weeks earlier but you weren’t certain if the small figure you could make out jumping in the air was him or not. The tail trailing right behind it made you lean to the idea but when considering the variety of demons out there, it could have been something using the mayhem to its advantage.

You squinted out the window by your bed, sleep stuck in your eyes as an ominous fog seemed to lay over the city despite the once serene daylight.

“Yeah,” you muttered to yourself. “Not taking that chance.”

You made the decision to get dressed, grab the bike that was on your apartment balcony, then leave for the temple of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

If you were going to make visiting this Monkey King something of a habit or some regularity in your near future, the idea of biking there instead of a 3 hour hike one way before reaching a bus stop seemed like a good idea. Carrying the bike while walking the stone stairs that would lead to the gateway would be a different problem, but the time you would save seemed worth it.

Other than an occasional bump, the bike ride was smooth. That and you had taken the time to grab a cheese tea (or three) and a bunch of different bags of chips from a nearby shop in the village. The bag was light, but some of your anxiety was making it a lot heavier than you cared for.

Why did you do something like that? “See ya later, Handsome!?” Would it have killed you to just as quickly add “Monkey King” at the end instead of slapping your mouth?

No, you weren’t going to let that consume your thoughts and ruin a chance at making a friend out of a mystical being.

You weren’t going to make this weird dang it!

A flicker of light caught your eye, making you blink several times before looking up at the cause.

A huge bird was souring in the sky, circling over the sun above you, repeatedly having the sun flicker and shine. Your hand went over your brow for shade.

Is that an eagle? But what was going on with the tail? Was there something caught on it?

Your eyes adjusted as you kept your sight on it; there were a strange combination of green and red feathers. It seemed to be making its descent and you could make out what looked like a second tail?

It was getting a lot closer, almost like it was falling out of the sky with how the wings compressed against its body and let gravity take its course.

Okay, now it was looking like it was plummeting towards you.

“What the-?” is all you said before a cloud of dirt and dust came from the bird’s landing.

The ground in front of you cracked from the force, you nearly fell but managed to have a foot on the stone pavement and ready to keep you and your bike standing.

A flash of golden light came from the eagle only to turn into the Monkey King.

“I was wondering if you were gonna show up today,” he smiled at you.

You cough, feeling like some dirt had managed to make its way to your throat.

“What’s your problem? You could have crushed me!” you shouted at him, kicking the stand for your bike and getting off to get in his face.

“But I didn’t,” he looked smug saying that. He seemed to notice the backpack you were wearing. “You got something there?”

“Uh, yeah,” you answered by wiping at your mouth with the back of your hand, felt like there was still some dust on you. “I, um, brought snacks, for the marathon.”

“Nice, what kind?” He practically teleported behind you and was rummaging through your backpack.

The unexpected weight caught you off guard as you tried to look behind you at what he was grabbing at.

“Barbecue, Sea Salt, Banana, Apple,” he listed off. There was a brief pause you noticed as you felt him pull one of the bags out. “Oh! I call dibs on this one,” he told you as he ripped open the bag of peach chips.

“Can we wait until the actual marathon?” you suggested as you turned around to face him properly, sliding the backpack off one of your shoulders and zipping it back up.

“Gonna take a while if we keep standing here,” Monkey King mentioned as you went back to your bike, hands ready on the handlebars. He took a chip from the bag and tossed it into his mouth.

“Well, if someone didn’t make me stop, I would be somewhat closer.”

“I can cut that time in half, way more actually,” the Monkey King said to you, already at your shoulder from the sound of it.

“Okay, and how would that go?” you asked but he was gone when you turned around.

All you did was blink and the whole scene shifted, it was still shifting actually.

The ground below your feet was missing, your bike was now hanging in your hands as wind roared in your ears. You could feel something securely holding you in the sky but that didn't stop you from yelling.

“Calm down, I got ya!” Monkey King reassured with a laugh as he kept his grip on you while trailing the air in his somersault cloud.

This didn’t stop the string of curses leaving you.

You were taking deep, slow breaths once reunited with the sweet ground. There was immense regret from drinking those cheese teas now, nothing happened but you were fearing the worst.

A soft pat hit your back and the unexpectedness of it made you cough.

“Better now?” Monkey King asked, his voice sounding genuinely concerned.

“Just need a minute,” you mumbled. “I’ll be okay.”

You took in another deep breath, filling your lungs then letting out as much as you could.

“Can you, like, actually warn me if you do this again?” you asked, your fist curling at your mouth, not certain if something would happen.

“Yeah, I kind of forgot you humans aren’t really used to something like that,” he admitted, his hand reaching to his neck and rubbing at it. His expression mixed with worry and embarrassment.

Wait, was he apologizing?

“It’s fine,” you insisted. You took in one more deep breath, with it you stood up straight like you hadn’t been screaming your lungs out and losing your stomach from the flight not even 5 minutes ago. “Let’s just get to that marathon.”

“You sure?” he questioned, like he was letting you have an out on this.

You thought about the city and how there was a real ominous vibe creeping up in the morning. Yeah, you rather deal with one magical mischief maker than an army of bull clones.

“Yep,” you smiled at him which he ended up returning. Something about it made you feel relaxed and it made you keep your smile even after you looked away from him.

You were practically engrossed with the battle of Monkey King and Erlang on the screen, watching the shape-shifter duel get more and more intense with each transformation that came with it, the camera directions and the weight that each attack was given in the animation. It almost made you forget that this battle would end with Monkey King getting caught in a diamond snare thrown by Lao Tzu.

You booed at the scene. “Cheap shot!”

Monkey King laughed at your enthusiasm, he wasn’t expecting you to be that into the show. “Tell me about it, doesn’t help that they shoved me in a magic furnace for the next 49 days after that!”

You were still glued to the screen, munching on the sea salt potato chips and occasionally sipping the cheese tea that you had left over.

You smirked from him putting in his word on the matter, it was nice to that someone else was enjoying the show with you.

The show had been going on for hours but there wasn’t anything stopping this marathon, hearing the Monkey King’s commentary on events gave you a good laugh and some neat insight. There was something about his laugh that made your smile last longer than it needed to be.

You glanced at him, seeing him enjoy the snacks, along with several of his fellow monkeys enjoying the cartoon or just chilling.

The Monkey King looked back at you, his smile showing off his fangs and his eyes almost shining in the light the lamps made.

This was nice, you thought. You could definitely get used to these marathons.

Chapter Text

Your face scrunched up as you were finding yourself waking up thanks to the sun peeking out the windows, you pressed then dug yourself into the warm fabrics that were against your skin to hide from the morning. It was too late though, coherent thoughts were forming and subtle sounds like bird chirps were pricking your ears.

A muffled groan managed to escape, you pulled away from the blanket you were on and brought your hands to your face to rub out any junk that may be at the edges of your eyes. After a good stretch of the arms and back, you opened your eyes to the day.

Your eyes started darting when you realized this wasn’t your place, heck, you weren’t even in the city from the looks of what was out the window. There were several bags of different chips, empty glasses, and one small monkey sleeping on the table. On the wall were some seriously old scrolls that were inked with sacred prayers. Then you turned to the body that was right beside you on the couch.

How did you let yourself miss that?!

Monkey King had his head on the back of the couch, mouth opening to yawn then promptly shut it after. His fangs looked a lot bigger than before but it could have been that his lips seemed to draw back from that. He started to move, cracking his bones by moving them out of their stiff position.

Your mind just realized that there wasn’t a blanket on the couch, but you did notice his giant scarf wrapped around him and also one of the ends wrapped around your waist. You went to grab it off and froze when you felt the cloth was the same as the blanket you thought were pressing your face against. Did you spend the night sleeping next to the Monkey King?

You put your hands together almost like a prayer and brought them to your mouth, with a deep breath you started screaming into the void that was your mind. If there was dead silence, maybe your strained scream could be heard deep in the base of your throat.

The Monkey King blinked himself awake after that, he looked at window to see it was now day then turned to you. “Oh, you’re still here,” he said casually, there was no annoyance to be heard in his tone.

Your eyes darted in a different direction after catching his smile, hands now away from your face and pushing you off the couch.

“I think I stayed too long,” you told him, grabbing the now empty backpack off the ground and tossing it over your shoulders in a quick motion.

“It’s cool,” Monkey King said as his tail went to grab the remote from the table and toss it to his hand. “Not like I have any plans today.”

You watched the TV screen turn black after hearing the click of the remote. A moment passed in your head if you had plans but it all came up blank. Also with how the Demon Bull King was constantly causing panic in the city, plans getting unexpectedly canceled to focus on safety was becoming the norm.

You pulled your phone out and searched the news if your instincts were right on leaving yesterday, sure enough, it was on the money as you scrolled to see a picture of several demolished streets, wrecked buildings, and destroyed bull clones.

Dodged a bullet there, you commented in your head.

There was another picture, much different from the damages that were shown earlier, a giant mech that looked a lot like the one from the video game Monkey Mech. You could see some figures sitting on the shoulder of the mech and zoomed in as much as you could to get a better look at them.

You could see two teenagers(?) holding something, a pig demon(?), was that a monk, and a blue demon(?) who was easily twice the size of the rest of the group. (Okay, was the blue guy holding a cat with blue fur and an orange mohawk?)

"So which one of these is your successor?" you asked the Monkey King, about to turn your phone to him only for him to be right at your shoulder as if to cut time in taking it from your hand.

The Monkey King took a quick look and pointed at the boy in the yellow-orange jacket between the pig demon and the girl with a green jacket and white pants. “There’s MK!”

“Okay,” you mumbled.

“No, MK,” he corrected.

You weren’t going to fall for that and instead said, “He’s younger than I thought he would be.”

He was easily a few years younger than you and had a very endearing smile, a warmth that could be felt through even a poorly taken photo.

“Well, he is called Monkie Kid, not Monkey Man.”

“Whatever.” You smiled at the joke despite shaking your head at it. You put your phone back in your pocket afterward and started walking out of the temple to your bike leaning by the gate.

“So what did you think?” Monkey King asked, walking by your side with his hands behind his head.

“I had fun,” you admitted, the look in your eyes showing that it was an honest answer.

“We should do it again sometime,” Monkey King suggested, baring his teeth in his smile.

“Like same time next week?” you thought aloud, picking up your bike to get ready for the journey of a million stone steps right out the gate.

“Sure,” he beamed. “Oh yeah, there something I wanted to ask you.”

Your blood ran cold. “Yeah?”

PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BE ABOUT THE HANDSOME COMMENT!

“I can fly you over the trail if you want,” he said instead, his hands leaving the back of his head and going to his hips. “Figure it would be a lot easier, plus you’d save a lot more time.”

You let out a huge mental sigh of relief.

“I guess,” you answered but held up a hand quickly as a sign not to start already like the last time. “But can I, like, get you a cheese tea as thanks? I’d kind of feel uncomfortable if I don’t give something in return.”

“Sure,” he answered back. You weren’t certain if his smile changed in the slightest or it was a trick of the light.

Being prepared sure made a huge difference in flying on Monkey King’s somersault cloud. Your bike was hooked under your arm while you in turn were held at the waist. The view was so much better when you got rid of the screaming and fear of death. Both of you zipped past the stone path in a second, but the wind didn’t feel as rough and everything didn’t mesh together from the speed. It felt like the wind plastered a smile onto your face, an occasional laugh escaped you from how amazed you were to everything in this perspective. You would make quick glances at the Monkey King, noticing his smile from his own enjoyment.

Chapter Text

“You are really taking your time on fixing that gate, aren’t you?” you commented, arms crossed over your chest as you blatantly judged the lack of progress.

“Doorways don’t exactly fix themselves, you know,” the Monkey King argued, his hands on his lap, legs crisscross in the air while his tail kept the rest of his body off the ground.

“But it’s been a month,” you pointed out. “At least.”

It could have been longer for all you knew, you didn’t exactly have a point of reference on when this was destroyed.

“Like you could do better,” Monkey King said aloud.

“Maybe I can,” you told him.

“Huh?”

“I’m pretty decent at woodworking,” you answered. “Like I’ve helped with a few projects that are about this size and it should be simple enough. It’s literally a door.”

The Monkey King leaned toward you, his eyebrows raised high and eyes wide in surprise.

“What?” You felt your face get warm from his stare.

“I didn’t know that about you,” Monkey King answered back.

“I’m not a fan about talking about work,” you mumbled, “especially on my weekend.”

“Wait, that’s your job?” his voice a little higher from the surprise.

“Yes, it’s my job! Can we stop talking about it already?”

“Okay. So you can fix this?” the Monkey King went with instead.

“If you give me the materials and the equipment, yeah,” you said. “I might not be able to physically move it though since it’s pretty big.”

“Well I can get that stuff done,” Monkey King told you. “Just what do you need?”

You paused, not completely sure if this would come back to bite you. “How’d you get the wood?”

“We’re surrounded by trees,” he went with. It was kind of self-explanatory.

“The metal?”

“The pieces are still all there, just gotta rip them off and get them back on.”

“All right, now what about equipment, like saws and hammers?”

“Hello? Do you not know who I am?”

“I know you were a stable boy a thousand years ago.”

“You will never bring that up again,” his voice dead serious from that.

You couldn’t help but laugh from it.

“Okay, fine. Never again,” you scratched at your temple to think. “You got a chalk line I can use?”

“A what?”

“Figures,” you mumbled.

After you finished figuring out the measurements, you drew thin lines on the huge chunks of wood Monkey King brought. Sweat formed on your brow as the sun beat against your back, the back of your hand and wrist wiping it off so it wouldn’t get to your eyes. Once you were certain, measure twice and cut once, you pushed yourself off and took a few steps back.

“So if you can slice here, here, and here,” you pointed at all the lines, “we should have our base done.”

“Easy,” Monkey King said as he stretched his arms then cracked his knuckles in preparation.

He kicked the giant pieces of wood high into the sky and jumped up to follow them. You could barely make out the shapes but you figured the one cutting through everything was the Monkey King. The sun blinded you until shade came out of nowhere.

OH, NOT AGAIN!

You ran away from where you stood and rushed out the very gateway you were repairing.

CRASH!

You peeked out once you heard a second crash to the ground. You saw Monkey King in front of the cut wood on the ground, you noticed it was less than what he started with.

“Where are the leftover pieces?” you questioned, making your way back inside the temple’s front garden.

“I just kicked them off to the side while I was at it,” he answered.

You squinted in suspicion at him, not certain how to take that. “All right.”

“What?!”

You shook your head. “You know what, never mind. Can you get the steel off and bend it over the door? We can work on the locks after.”

“Please,” Monkey King smirked at you even putting his strength to question. You rolled your eyes in response.

Your unimpressed expression turned to a mix of fear and awe as he pulled the steel off the wood like it was a rubber cast from a mold. That feeling stayed for a few minutes, especially seeing him bend the metal over the new door and slam giant bolts back in. A feeling of dread started to take over the pit of your stomach. You and your skills were nothing compared to the small feats the mystical being was pulling out his sleeves, never mind what he could do if he actually tried.

“Okay, anything else?” the Monkey King asked as he clapped the dust off his hands. His smile grew when he heard his fellow monkeys cheering at his bouts of strength.

“Just need the restraints back in and the log that you need to lock the gate,” you answered, your once mixed expression turning apathetic. “And we should be done with the door.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh,” is all he said. “I figured there would be more.”

“We still have to attach the door to the gate, you know,” you answered. “Still don’t get why this took you so long, Monkey King.”

“You say that but if it was fixed you wouldn’t have met me,” the Monkey King said as he grabbed you by the shoulder and pulled you close. Your eyes going wide and mouth turning to a thin line to hold your words in. “Admit it; you’re happy that this thing kind of brought us together.”

You avoided looking him in the eye, trying to focus on the gateway ahead. A deep breath was made before you answered. “Can we just get this done?”

You wanted to focus on just the task, trying to push out all the other thoughts that were filled with poison.

“There a reason you don’t like talking about work?” Monkey King asked as he ate from his bag of peach chips. “‘Cause from the looks of it, you were really in the zone and knew what you’re doing.”

“It’s nothing,” you muttered, taking another sip of your water then capping the bottle.

“I don’t think it’s nothing,” the Monkey King told you. “You seem kind of upset about it.”

“I swear it’s nothing,” you said.

“Look, you don’t have to be embarrassed about it, it’s a pretty neat skill."

“Yeah right,” you snarked, eyebrows knitting together and stare becoming ice cold. “Look who’s talking!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well you’re this, this,” you were struggling to think of what to say. “This mythical monkey with this huge backstory, like fighting demons, getting immortality 5 times, and journeying several thousand miles to bring enlightenment from the West! Me just telling you how to fix a door isn’t anything special, you could have just put a boulder over the entrance and call it a day.”

Your hands struggled not to become fists but they slowly looked like claws with how your fingers curled, slight tremors came from the stress pent up in your muscles. You could see the smallest cuts and scars from your years of woodworking, but they looked more like mistakes than experience.

“I’m just, just,” you were choking on your words for the moment, “nothing.”

Your face burned, eyes filled with so much disdain aimed at yourself and no one else.

“That’s not true,” Monkey King said matter-of-factly. Those words snapped you out of it for a second to look up at him. “You’re my friend and not everyone can say that. There’s gotta be something amazing about you if the universe can find a way for us to meet.”

The way he said it seem to wash the doubt away, a small smile crept its way on your face. His hand pressed against your shoulder, there was force to it but it was reassuring too.

“Uh, thanks,” you mumbled, “I don't know-”

“Don’t worry about it!” he laughed. “We all get in our moods.”

“You would know that,” you snarked, the tone you had all but added the words “stable boy” at the end.

You could swear you felt him barely stopping himself from crushing your shoulder but you couldn’t help laughing.

Chapter Text

7 seasons down, 11 more to go, you thought to yourself as the end credits of the season finale displayed on the screen. You struggled to stay awake, rubbing at your face in hopes the stimulation was enough to push your exhaustion away.

Nope.

You put in way too much energy in just keeping your eyes open. The urge to just close them for a couple moments was becoming more and more tempting by the second.

But... Monkey King marathon...

“You doing okay there, Bud?” the Monkey King himself asked.

Your hands slid from your face to your scalp, scratching at the top of your head so any sensation can keep you up. “Just a little tired,” you yawned then propped your chin with one of your hands.

One of the monkeys hanging out with you jumped onto your shoulders and started picking through your hair, grooming and searching for a possible snack. The quick change in weight woke you up but it felt like it was going to fade just as fast.

A soft chuckle came from Monkey King. “We can call it night if you’re done.”

You gave him your best attempt at a scowl but it just came off as a sleepy pout with one of your eyes shut from the fatigue. A few smacks came from your mouth after another yawn; there was an aftertaste of the peach chips you tried. Not a huge fan of the flavor but you could see yourself snacking on them if there was nothing else.

“I’m fine with you spending the night,” Monkey King told you, giving a skeptical look on how tired you were.

You shook your head, the small monkey jumped off your shoulder after that. “I rather not.”

“You got a plan on how to get home then?”

“I’ll figure it out,” you groaned, your head slipping out of your hand for a moment. The jolt of gravity briefly woke you, eyes blinking rapidly and way more aware.

“Yeah, I’m not buying it,” the Monkey King told you, grabbing your face and getting a good look into your eyes.

You struggled to blink again, bothered that it wouldn’t help your argument.

The Monkey King’s hands felt both hard and soft, like hardening clay. It made sense with how he was born from a stone egg, but also all the calluses of hard training and tough battles. Without thought, you leaned into them. A smile growing from the warmth you felt.

The Monkey King paused, a bit perplexed from your expression.

“Yeah,” he said to himself. “I’m not letting you go out like this.”

He let go of your face and you felt a slight drop from the lack of support. “So what are you going to do about it?”

The Monkey King pulled back after that, one hand on his hip as the other going to the side of his head, tugging at his hair and plucking a strand. He blew on it and let it float with the breeze until it shined like gold. The light then burst into a copy of the Monkey King.

“Oh no, there’s two of you,” you commented.

“Hey!” the copy complained.

The original Monkey King shook his head so his duplicate wouldn’t start anything. He soon got back in your face, snapping his fingers to direct your attention to him.

“Yeah?” you asked, getting really tired of him getting in your personal space.

“He’s taking you home,” he answered. “You said you don’t want to stay here, and I’m pretty sure you’ll get lost, at best, with how you are right now.”

You only pouted at the comment.

“Why a clone though?”

“Saves time,” the duplicate told you. “I’ll just poof once I’m done.”

“I need to get back to Flower Fruit Mountain by morning since I have a training session scheduled,” Monkey King explained.

“You guys don’t even know where I live,” you noted.

“We’ll work on it,” OG Monkey King said. “‘Sides, pretty sure you rather sleep in your room than on the sidewalk.”

Dang it, he had a point.

“Fine,” you groaned, pushing yourself off the couch and grabbing your backpack from the other side of the armrest. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Was your place even clean enough for guests? You really hope he wouldn't have to see your room.

The Monkey King duplicate and you zipped through the sky on his somersault cloud, he had your backpack on him and your bike strapped to his person thanks to some sturdy vines. The Monkey King absolutely did not trust you to even stand on your own two feet from what you noticed; he had the back of your legs hooked over one of his arms while the other held your torso and pulled you close to his side. Both of your faces a lot closer than what you were used to, even including his lack of personal boundaries.

You don't think you ever had this good a view of his profile; his brown hair being pushed back from the whipping wind, his gold eyes focused on what was ahead, the line his mouth made when he actually managed to stay quiet. The title Handsome Monkey King did make sense when you had this good a look of him.

Wait...

You tried to turn away but you were basically stuck in this position and the copy took this as a sign that you were trying to speak to him.

“What’s up?”

Your mind was buzzing, gotta think of something quick. You saw an unlit neon noodle shop sign with a chef pig caricature holding a bowl of noodles, that was Pigsy's Noodles and that place should only be a few blocks from your apartment.

“We’re just a few streets away, like turn left at the third light and right on the second,” you answered, trying hard not to scream in his ear while still being loud enough to talk over the wind.

Naturally, Monkey King didn’t go by the ways of the road and went in a straight line over the buildings and to the block you live on.

“Which building?” the Monkey King asked you.

“Um, second one on the left, third floor,” you told him.

You could see your balcony, it had a chair and a small table that you would get to use for when you wanted to enjoy the sunlight and maybe even read a book in the nice weather.

The Monkey King gracefully jumped off his cloud and onto the railing, landing on the balls of his feet, he let your legs drop to the floor and soon after let the top half of you go. He then ripped the vines off him and set your bike down along with your backpack

You smiled when the ground was below your feet once more.

“I have a question to ask," you wondered aloud.

“What is it?” he asked, stretching his arms after carrying you.

“Does the original remember what happens to the duplicate after they vanish?”

“Weird question, but not really,” Monkey King answered, his smile just as charming as the original's. “Maybe bits and pieces but not much.”

“Okay,” you told him. “I was just wondering.” You gave him a quick peck on the cheek and pulled away just as fast. “Thanks!”

The Monkey King stared at you with wide eyes, the coloring on his face tinted just a bit redder, his tail snapped like he had just been shocked by a charged piece of metal. Before a word came out, the copy vanished and all that was left in his place was the hair he was made of, the wind picked it up and tossed it into the unknown.

You pressed your hand against your face, your eye peeking between the spaces of your fingers and staring at the space where the copy was.

Stupid.

You hoped, no, prayed to the entire court in the kingdom of heaven that this wasn’t something that the Monkey King would know of.

Chapter Text

After giving a quick peck on the cheek to a copy, you promptly sealed away that memory, pushing it whenever it made rounds in your mind. You managed to not think about it for a day, but as the week continued to creep on by and change into the weekend, your head was screaming over the thought. And now you’re back at the temple, walking by the Monkey King’s side for your weekly marathon.

“Hey,” you started out with, working up the nerve to ask. “Do you remember anything from taking me home last week?”

“I know you passed a noodle shop on the way there,” Monkey King answered as he tossed another peach chip into his mouth. “And the copy got you home, that’s all really.”

“Hmm,” was all that you could think to say, well, hum.

Now it feels like you spent the week freaking out over nothing. Still, it was a relief to hear. At least you could rest easy now, starting with season 8 of Monkey King: The Animated Series.

The monkeys that lived at the temple seemed to be in a mood of all things, they kept jumping over and on the table, screeching at each other like they were in huge arguments. After trying to watch one episode, pausing to not miss any details in conversations, replaying entire scenes because a monkey’s head eclipsed the screen, you looked at the Monkey King to see if he was just as bothered by the nuisances as well.

The Monkey King looked at you with the same expression of annoyance, he made a glance at the TV then back to you before pointing with his thumb that the both of you would have a better time leaving the room than staying. You could only nod in agreement with that.

Quickly you both left and went to the hallway just outside of the room, you could only rub the back of your neck and look back at the monkeys enjoying the show as Monkey King closed it to muffle the noise.

“Got a back up plan?” you asked.

The Monkey King sucked in air through his bared teeth as he came to an answer.

“Not really,” he admitted. “That’s the only TV here.”

“How long do you think they’ll be like this?”

“Couple hours,” Monkey King told you. “They’re kind of having a big argument by their standards.”

Part of you wanted to ask what it was but you didn’t want this day to end up with you being a therapist to a troop of potentially mystical monkeys.

Wait!

You pulled out your phone, remembering you had the same streaming service that the Monkey King was using. (That was a sentence you never thought would apply to your life.)

You scrolled through your phone for the app and showed it to Monkey King. “I think we’re covered now.”

“Is the battery even going to last a whole season though?”

“I got a battery pack just for that reason!” you answered with pride.

“And the yelling?”

You paused for a moment before taking out a pair of earphones from your front backpack pocket.

“I guess we can share,” you told him. “Sorry, I don’t have any of those sharing type plugs.”

The Monkey King cocked his head just a bit, looking at the pair of earbuds in your hand.

“It’ll work,” he simply stated then soon sat on the wooden floor.

“You wanna watch here?”

“We’re already wasting time, also we’ll be able to hear when those guys are done bickering if we’re nearby,” Monkey King answered, his tail swaying eagerly to get back to watching the cartoon.

You didn’t say anything as you sat on the ground next to him, bringing out one of the earphones for him to use while you put the other in your own.

As the show’s theme song began to play, Monkey King placed his head against your shoulder, getting a better view of the screen and something of a pillow too.

Grateful that his eyes were focused on the screen, your own darted back and forth from him to the show. You took your time taking deep yet quiet breaths to stop your heart from rapidly beating from the stress.

Why was this stressing you out so much? You shouldn’t be this on edge while watching a cartoon!

You were supposed to enjoy this time, getting to watch some fun action sequences and have the Monkey King himself tell you how those adventures felt all those centuries ago along with bits of trivia.

Stop overthinking this!

You took another slow, deep breath then had your head lean against the top of the Monkey King’s. His hair was soft, a lot softer than yours. (Did he use conditioner? Could you ask him what brand later or would that be weird?)

You could smell peaches but a quick glace revealed that it was just a bag of chips. Strangely enough, the Monkey King could sense that and offered you some by bringing them closer to your nose.

“Uh, I’m okay,” you mumbled. “Maybe later.”

“Suit yourself,” Monkey King told you as he took another bite.

After a few hours of sitting against the wall together, the monkeys in the neighboring room finally had reached some kind of truce or had burnt themselves out and fell asleep. Their chatter became white noise in a sense and you almost failed to notice its absence.

Monkey King picked it up though and was quick to pause the video. “Sounds like they’re done.”

As he went to stand, he was quickly caught on the earphone still in his ear and attached to your device.

You made a face, straining yourself from laughing at something that had happened to you countless times. You had to look away from him as he pulled the earbud out, hearing him sound a little huffy over it. You could only let your laughter out through your nose so you wouldn’t be too obvious in the amusement you got from it. Soon after you stood up, pulled the earphone jack out of your phone, and connected it to your battery pack.

You watched the Monkey King open the door and a sea of small monkeys poured out of the room. Yeah, they were definitely done with whatever beef they had and were more than ready to move on and have some fun outside the wooden walls.

The Monkey King and you hopped back up on the couch, quick to pick up where you just left off but with more comforts available. Cushioned couch, table for snacks (or what was left of them), and a TV that you didn’t have to hold steady in your hand.

As the theme song hit its second verse, you felt something on your lap. You looked down and saw the Monkey King lying over your legs, an arm keeping his head propped to watch the screen properly.

Oh, this was so much worse than the shoulder headrest.

But a part of you was happy he was this close. You only hoped that he wouldn’t notice the shade of red painting your cheeks that came with the glances you gave him.

Chapter Text

Deep breaths, you told yourself. Ignore all distractions.

That was a bit of a challenge when one of those said distractions was using your lap as a pillow while you were trying to watch something that wasn't Monkey King related on the TV for once. The Monkey King himself looked to be dreaming peacefully, the corners of his mouth curled up ever so slightly and his tail swinging off the couch on occasion.

Slowly you brought your hand to the top of his head, brushing back some of the hair that was splayed on his forehead. His brown fur almost felt like a mix of cotton and silk, soft and smooth. The Monkey King seemed to lean toward your touch, his smile growing just a bit before settling back onto your lap.

You could feel that you were mirroring his smile, but you couldn’t help but feel sad. It’s not like your chances with telling him how you felt were looking all that good; his copy vanished to avoid speaking after just a peck on the cheek. How else were you supposed to take that?

Also, he was immortal, 5 times over actually. You’d probably be a distant memory to him sooner than you realized. Not like you could scribble your name out of the book of mortals or get your hands on a peach of immortality anytime soon. You could only let out a sigh as your head leaned over the back of the couch, a stray finger gently curling in the Monkey King’s hair.

“Hey,” you mumbled, hoping for no answer.

Nothing came from the Monkey King.

“I’m glad I met you,” you told him. “It’s been really nice hanging out with you, watching cartoons, having snacks...”

Still no word.

“You’re kind of, a lot to deal with,” you continued on, your fingers no longer combing his hair. “But considering what you could do, I think I’m doing a lot better than most. It probably helps that I like you.”

Faceless beings of the Heavenly Court came to mind for a moment then promptly turned into the Monkey King's confident smile.

You shut your eyes, taking in a deep breath. You pulled your hand away and decided to stretch your body after the lack of movement, hands now behind your head to have it propped.

“I’m not sure what else we can do when we finish the series,” you said. “But I still want to hang out with you.”

“Same here,” the Monkey King replied.

You shot up straight, ice running through your veins, and eyes wide in surprise. You stared at the monkey that was listening to you be more honest than you cared for.

The Monkey King smiled at you, eyes crinkled and teeth baring. He looked awfully smug for someone you were about to push off your lap.

He yelped in surprise, a soft thud came from the ground. Your face burned as you walked away from the Monkey King.

“I can’t believe you,” is all you muttered. You grabbed your backpack and started making your way out the temple.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” the Monkey King asked.

You kept your lip zipped, pressure building right between your eyes, nostrils flaring to take in any air to keep your cool.

The Monkey King got in front of you. “Why are you so mad right now? I can’t work with you if you don’t tell me anything.”

You were forced to stop your tracks, looking away from his face. With a deep breath to ease your nerves, you asked, “How much did you hear?”

“Huh?” Confusion spread across Monkey King’s face, like he wasn’t sure what the deal was.

“You know what, never mind,” you back tracked. “It doesn’t matter, it’s dumb anyway.”

The Monkey King kept the confused expression, worry seemed to mix in as he tilted his head.

You pressed your hands together like a prayer and brought them to your face, breathing in deep to collect at least one thought. With an exhale, you dropped your hands to your sides.

“It’s nothing, I just thought,” you didn’t know how to word it just yet. “I thought you were asleep when I said that.”

“Well, it’s not like you said anything embarrassing,” Monkey King spoke.

“It felt like it,” you admitted.

“Not sure I’m following.”

You wanted to tell him that you were feeling something that wasn’t strictly platonic, but you worried that it would make you into something of joke if you did.

“I was just talking to myself,” you went with.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Monkey King told you. “I spent 500 years under a mountain, if anything, talking to yourself helps, like a lot.”

Your shoulders dropped as some of the stress left but...

“Am I just here to waste time?”

“What?”

“Am I just here so you can waste time?” you asked again, your hand going to your shoulder as a means to comfort yourself. “Like, am I just here so that way you don’t get bored while you wait to train your successor?”

The Monkey King looked surprised that you would say something like this.  “Why’d you think that?”

“I, I don’t know,” you answered. “I just...”

You wanted to stop talking, wished that this conversation would just move on. Monkey King placed his hand over the one on your shoulder, his grip being nothing but comforting.

“Listen, whatever negative stuff you’re thinking, it’s not true.”

You said nothing, but you did glance back at him. His gold eyes being as warm as the morning sun.

“Hey, I got an idea! We can do something else instead of a marathon next time.”

“What were you thinking?”

“There’s a festival going on in the village the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival,” he told you. “We can go if you want.”

“I mean, sure but...”

“But what?”

“Are you really going to go out like that?”

“Like what?” he asked you.

“You’re going to stand out if you go as you,” you tried to explain. You cupped your hands behind your ears to make them look bigger like his then raising an eyebrow for him to get the idea. “The tail’s going to be a dead giveaway too.”

“You’re worrying about nothing,” he told you. “If you forgot, I am a master of 72 earthly transformations.”

“So what are you going to go as? I think the monkey tail is going to be a bit of an issue regardless.”

“You’re acting like I don’t want the attention,” the Monkey King joked. “But no, cool your jets, I got a plan.”

Your breath came out with a laugh. “All right, fine.”

“That’s the guy I know,” he told you, giving your shoulder a soft pat. “You wanna go back to the marathon or did you finally figure out something to watch?”

You rolled your eyes just slightly at that, the smile gave away that you weren't bothered by it.

Chapter Text

You crouched by the pillar with a stone monkey, one of the two that waited at the beginning of the trail that would lead to Monkey King’s temple. On occasion you would skim through your phone to play games and surf the web but you would get bored all too quickly.

A pair of legs stood nearby, you waited for the person to continue walking but they didn’t move. After another moment of nothing you looked up at whoever it was next to you.

You looked at the guy who stood over you. He wore a rustic yellow long sleeve shirt, dark red pants, and a pair of worn black boots. A deep red jacket with teal green accents that wrapped around his waist along with a belt made out of a material you couldn't quite place. He had light brown hair that was slicked back and a pair of sideburns that framed his face, his eyebrows were thick and black while his light brown eyes almost looked golden from this angle.

“Can I help you?” you asked, your eyes tempted to go back to your screen to avoid a possible awkward conversation.

The man crouched down, his voice sounding oddly familiar. “Whatcha talking about? We promised to go the festival together.”

His smile, baring his fangs, made it finally click in your head.

“Monkey King?”

“The one and only,” he said oh so proudly, standing up straight with his arms crossed over his chest.

You gave him another once over at his new form. “Wow,” you commented in surprise.

“You like it?” he asked with a smirk.

“In a sense,” you quickly went with. You pushed yourself off the ground and stood by him. “Here I was worried you’d be going as some kind of bug.”

The Monkey King chuckled at the thought. “Yeah, no. I’m actually going to enjoy the festival, not just observe.”

The two of you started to walk to the village, catching up on what’s been going on from your job to him training his successor. You couldn’t stop yourself from all the smiling but it helped that he kept the same expression too.

As you were about to reach the village center, you came in mind to ask. “So what’s the festival here called?”

“The Monkey King Festival,” he answered all to easily.

For a moment it felt like you had gone through all five stages of grief with that answer.

“Of course it is,” you said with a breath close to a laugh.

The Monkey King smiled at you, getting some joy from your annoyance but also knowing it was all in good fun.

The festival was nice so far; the ritual burnings of paper offerings and incense left a nice but somewhat overpowering scent in the air, watching Taoists performing acrobatic feats similar to the Monkey King himself was fun too. You were certain that Monkey King’s performance would be much more impressive but you kept that thought in your head.

There was a booth selling peach tea and a few leftover mooncakes from yesterday. (For cheap too, you noticed.) You couldn’t help but notice the Monkey King was quick to grab at the food and looked ready to just walk away.

You were just as quick to grab his wrist to stop him.

“Stop that!” you whispered to him. “You need to pay for that.”

“It’s my day though,” he told you, making sure his volume was at the same level as yours.

“They don’t know that,” you reminded him as you pulled the box of mooncakes out of his hand. You soon gave your card to cover for the food and asked for two cups of peach tea also.

From the corner of your eye, you could see a couple of macaques swipe from the box filled with fruit and run off with it.

“They didn’t pay,” Monkey King whispered to you as you were given bags for your food and drinks.

“Yeah, well, you’re not a monkey right now, are you?” you told him back as you tugged at his wrist to get moving and find a place to eat. You let go of him once he got with the program.

The two of you sat against a wall of one of the stores near the outer edge of the village, away from the hustle and bustle of the festival so you could talk freely with no worries.

The peach tea was sweeter than you expected but Monkey King didn’t seem to mind as he just drank it with no real pause.

“This was fun,” you told him, taking another sip of your tea after.

“I’m glad, I was hoping you’d like it,” Monkey King told you as he sucked up the last of his drink. He went for the box holding the mooncakes and shoved his empty cup into the plastic bag in exchange.

“The acrobatic stunts were not something I was expecting,” you admitted.

“They’ve been getting better and better each year,” Monkey King commented.

“But nothing compared to the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven?”

“Oh, it was never a question to beginning with,” he laughed.

You smiled back at him, enjoying the sound of it. Once you finished the last of your tea you asked, “Hey, would it be okay if I started calling you Sun Wukong?”

“I mean, sure,” the Monkey King answered, one of his fangs peeking in his smile. “But I was kind of hoping you would finally stick with Handsome.”

If your drink hadn’t been empty, it would have spilled all over your lap thanks to the visceral reaction of crushing your cup from hearing that.

“You remember that?!”

“Kind of hard to forget,” he mused.

“Yeah, I’m going to go back to the ritual burning,” you told him flatly, standing back up and hoping the death by fire would be better than the embarrassment you were feeling.

“Hey, hey,” you heard Monkey King call before he picked you up from the ground and placed you back in front of him. “It’s all right; I don’t blame you for saying that. It is in my title and it wasn’t that for nothing.”

You took in a deep breath, holding the desire to yell into the heavens and beg that this wasn’t happening. “You don’t get it, do you?”

The Monkey King said nothing, he waited for you to continue on.

“I kind of,” your throat was trying to choke the words from coming out but you kept going. “I like you.”

“Yeah, I like you too,” his casual tone telling you that he meant it in a different way.

“No, I mean,” you were trying to think of way to say it without it sounding sickly sweet or flat out embarrassing. You decided to go in a different direction, actions did speak louder than words.

You grabbed at his shirt, getting close to his face and quickly kissed his cheek before releasing him.

Your face was red from what you did but you kept facing forward, holding back the desire to turn away and run for it.

The Monkey King didn’t look impressed by that, his cocky expression much different from the shock the copy shown to you weeks ago.

“C’mon,” he told you. “You can do better than that.”

His hand gripped at your shoulder, his other holding your cheek and keeping you still. He pressed his lips against yours, the warmth shocking you for a moment before closing your eyes to block out everything that wasn’t his touch.

There was a brief moment where you could feel his lips pull away before coming back a little harder, something pushed against your teeth. You snapped out of the bliss of a blank mind and pushed him away, covering your mouth and let your laughter spill out from your lips.

The Monkey King gave you the shocked look that you had seen once before, you almost expected him to vanish in a burst of light to be replaced with hair. You couldn’t stop cackling, that face made this so much better.

“What?” He was not expecting this turn in events.

“Was that your tongue?!” you couldn’t help keep giggling. “I thought I had it bad!”

The Monkey King didn’t say anything, his face turning red. He almost looked like he had turned back to his true form but the lack of hair around his face told you otherwise.

Your smile felt like it was going to break your face with how much it was hurting but you couldn't stop.

“You know, if I could die, I would definitely be considering that ritual burning you mentioned right about now,” Monkey King told you.

Every time you thought you could stop smiling, he brought it right back. You placed your hands on both sides of his face and brought yourself to him. The kiss being quick and soft before you pulled back to look at him. He smiled back at you, a laugh coming out of him just as well.

All the stress you had been holding in the past few weeks seemed to just vanish right then and there.

You weren’t certain what would happen next but you didn’t worry about it right now.

You just focused on Sun Wukong and how you were so relieved that he liked you back.

Chapter Text

You would have said you felt like you were walking on air the day after but you knew what that was actually like, or at least close enough since you were only a passenger on the Monkey King’s somersault cloud. The details of the metaphor didn’t matter, nothing could get in your way!

Even if it was pouring rain and you were close to being soaked if it wasn’t for your umbrella, your legs were close to freezing from the water that did manage to hit you. None of it was going to ruin today!

Until a pair of demons rushed into the shop you worked at, pushing bookcases and other heavy wooden furniture pieces they could get their hands on then push it to block the door. You could hear pottery shatter from hitting the ground with how haphazardly they went at making their barrier.

You were still standing at the front desk watching this happen, almost frozen from the shock of seeing the demons ignore all other surroundings.

“I told you we shouldn’t have gone in there, Jin,” the blue-skinned demon muttered to him. His giant horns and silver hair were hard not to notice. “We should’ve gone in the one across the street!”

“Well, how was I supposed to know that the kid was working today?!” the orange-skinned demon with similar horns and gold hair argued back. “You’re the one who wanted noodles, Yin!”

The demons both wore black amour, matching black pants, and dark grey straps wrapped around their chests. The metal plates at the center were different, one gold and the other being silver.

You leaned back and saw that the sledgehammer that had been placed behind the desk with you as a recent security measure was resting against one of the drawers. Maybe wait off on that and see where this would go but you also didn’t want these demon brothers to make the mess so much worse.

“There a problem?” you asked, gripping the sledgehammer then tugging to get a sense of its weight. You let go of it, it was heavier than you expected but you should be able to use it if push came to shove.

The demon brothers looked at you in surprised, shocked that someone else was here at all.

“What are you doing in here?” the golden demon demanded.

“I work here,” you answered. “Unless you’re paying for all that stuff, put it back!”

The demons looked at each other than at you with disbelief, they laughed at your gall to order them.

“You got no idea on who you’re talking to, do you?” the silver demon taunted.

“The Gold and Silver Demons?” you guessed.

“How did you-?!”

“Jin and Yin, kind of obvious,” you answered. It was literally in their names.

You also remembered them acting as commentators for the annual Great Wall Race a few months ago but that didn’t seem necessary to bring up.

“Yeah, well,” Yin disregarded. “We’re still all powerful compared to you!”

“They got some confidence if they think they can boss us around,” Jin said with a snide tone.

Okay, time to get the sledgehammer, you thought as you grabbed the handle and brought it up so you could hold it with both hands.

“Hey,” you started out with. Your voice almost dead of any joy despite how you planned today to go. “I was hoping to have a good day.”

The brothers stared at the weighted weapon in your hands with concern.

“Get out of my store and we can both still have that,” you warned. Sure, it wasn’t actually your store but you decided to ignore semantics for that right now.

Despite the on edge looks they had from the sledgehammer, the demon brothers were quick to brush it off.

You rushed them, swinging the hammer and using its brute force to push them away from the handmade furniture.

It was almost comical how they shot across them room, rolling on the wood floor until they hit a wall. Their heads swayed as they tried to recover and regain their balance.

With a shake of their heads, they recomposed and saw you walking their way.

“There’s a back door if you’re interested,” you offered with a flat tone.

Their words hung in the air as they seemed to be thinking of a proper response until they gave each other a look and yelled in unison. “Smoke bomb!”

Your eyes shut so nothing would get in them, the hammer in your hands closer to your body and ready for an attack. Nothing came though.

You squinted your eyes open when you heard shuffling and scrapping sounds against the floor, there you saw the Gold and Silver Demons pushing the makeshift barrier they had just made and try to get out.

“Are you kidding?! Even the civilians can hold their own now?!” Yin yelled at his brother.

“Just keep moving!” Jin yelled back as he pushed the bookcase out of the way.

The deafening sound of rain drowned out their voices once the door opened, the two demons bailed and left you with a confused expression on what had happened.

You were actually expecting there to be a fight, and not one that you would win by forfeit. Or even win at all, you were ready to just see how far you could have gotten with that hammer and a lack interest in dealing with more immortal nonsense.

There’s no way those were the same demons from the stories you heard growing up, could it?

You stared as the droplets slide on your window of your room, having them in imaginary races with one another and placing more confidence in one drop over the other.

Part of you wished you spent the following day with Sun Wukong instead of having to go to work and deal with whatever that was, but that was becoming more of the norm in the city. Part of you considered moving to avoid that altogether.

You let out a sigh as you stretched onto your bed and had the white noise lull you to sleep.

A thought that entered your head was you wished that Wukong had a phone so you could message him even when away. Maybe you could ask that the next time you'd see him.

You almost laughed at the idea of an ancient being with a smart phone but this was the same one you were streaming marathons with.

And one where kissing might become a habit between you two, another thought interjected.

You were quick to hide your reddening face behind a pillow from no one but yourself.

Chapter Text

Your head hurt. It hurt when you heard your alarm go off, it hurt when the sun hit your face, it hurt when you sat up to try to start the day. You would have fallen back asleep but the pressure that piled up in your head demanded otherwise.

You tried to take in a deep breath of air but nothing happened, just the sound of clogged nostrils took over.

Great, just great. You had to be sick, and on your weekend too.

A hand pressed against the wall to hold you up right. You struggled to go grab an aspirin from the medicine cabinet in your bathroom. Your head was swimming while the rest of your body tried to keep balance.

Hopefully the medicine would get rid of the headache as soon as possible. You did need something to help clear your sinuses.

Noodles seem like a good idea, maybe asking for something like bell peppers would help clear it up while you filled up on all the vegetables and proteins. There was noodle shop not to far from you. Definitely didn’t want to walk for it though.

They did orders by phone, online should be just as likely. Hopefully they’re quick to deliver.

The knock at the door felt like it was being beat against your skull.

“I’m coming,” you muttered as you opened the door to be greeted by a young man in a plain white t-shirt with a dress shirt with the Pigsy's Noodles logo on the pocket over it (There was a stain too, you noticed.) and a red bandana wrapped over his forehead. “What is it?”

“Pigsy’s Noodles,” the delivery guy answered, his smiled dropped as he caught notice of your tired state. “Are you okay?”

“Just under the weather,” you told him, taking the bag he had ready and checking to see if your order was right. Noodles, vegetables, protein, extra peppers to clear your nose. Yep, all there.

You looked back at him, tilting your head to figure out where you had seen him before.

“Everything okay?” he asked. “I’m sure I didn’t grab the wrong order.”

“No, the order is right,” you corrected. “I’m just pretty sure that I’ve seen you before.”

“Maybe,” the guy answered. “I do deliver noodles all across the city.”

“No, no, that’s not it,” you said as you squinted to get a better look on the details of his face.

The moment the boy flashed a somewhat awkward smile, something clicked in your head.

“Wait, are you MK?”

“Uh, yeah,” he smiled, the awkward expression turned to surprise. “How’d you know my name?”

You were trying to think of something to say without bringing in his mentor. “You were in that race a few months ago, there’s a picture of you trying to eat the trophy on the Great Wall.”

“Oh, right,” he muttered, his hand going scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. “Kind of wish people forgot about that.”

“It was a cool race,” you reassured. “Better you won than the Demon Bull Family.”

“That is true,” he smiled, a little happier from the compliment.

You smiled back.

“Anyway, thanks for the food,” you told him, giving a small wave goodbye then closing the door.

You took a moment to take in the slight scent of the cooked food, smile growing that you could already feel your sinuses clearing.

After you started digging in, another knock entered your home. It had a different sound that you couldn’t quite place, it was thinner if it made sense. This wasn’t the sound of knocking on wood.

The sound rang through your home again, it sounded like glass. It couldn’t come from your windows unless it was a persistent bird, so the balcony door felt like the best bet.

A falcon tapped on the glass with its beak, pausing now and again to crane its neck and look inside your home. It hopped and flapped its wings once it saw you make your way toward the door.

You questioned opening the sliding door until you saw a second tail swing with the feathers. Confusion didn’t completely cover your face, the 72 transformations he could pull was something you were most definitely familiar with.

You opened the door then crouched down, sitting on your haunches while holding your bowl of noodles as you looked the bird in the eye. “I thought you told me you didn’t remember much of dropping me home, Wukong.”

The bird form of the Monkey King looked away from that, made sense since you had caught him in something of a lie. “Yeah, I remember, like all of it.”

The Monkey King flashed back into his true form, copying your pose of squatting down to your eye level.

Taking in a deep breath, you soothe the desire to yell at him for lying about the kiss you gave his copy. (Nice to know those peppers were clearing things up.) You made a poor attempt at a scowl, your headache wasn’t as bad as it was at the start of the day but it still hurt.

“Where’ve you been?” the Monkey King asked you. “I thought you’d be at the temple, like, hours ago.”

“I’m sick.” The clogged tone and strained voice ironically clear to hear.

“Like how bad?”

“Like ‘I don’t want to go anywhere’ bad.”

“Huh,” his tone was clear that he couldn’t quite relate. “Would you still be in the mood to watch-?”

“I don’t think I’ll be all there mentally,” you cut off. Your scowl looking closer to disappointment as you stood up. “I’m really sorry.”

“We can still hang out,” he offered, jumping back up and standing straight.

“That’s nice,” you admitted. “But honestly, I just want to finish my food and sleep after that.”

“That’s fine,” Wukong told you. “We can watch something while you eat.”

You weren’t in the mood to argue and just shrugged in agreement. “All right.”

As you let the Monkey King into your home, you were certain his tail was swinging with a bit more energy.

You sat on your bed with Wukong close to your side and your laptop playing a movie you had seen a million times. You slowly ate your noodles, getting tired as every bite seemed to fill you and make your body feel heavy.

Sun Wukong seemed to radiate a heat akin to a thick blanket, him being so close probably had something to do with it. You took the risk of falling asleep and leaned against his shoulder as a means to stay up right.

“You still doing okay?” he asked, watching you blink a little harder than necessary.

“Yeah, just,” you were trying to think of a word but you were drawing blanks. “Let’s just keep watching.”

“‘Kay,” he answered as his arm wrapped around you to hold you up with a bit more ease.

“Thanks,” you mumbled, letting your eyes rest for a moment. You knew what scene was coming next, you would spend the energy on the climatic battle instead.

You couldn’t remember finishing the movie after that.

Chapter Text

A warm blanket in a cold morning felt like absolute heaven, you never wanted to leave the comforting heat that wrapped around you. Despite feeling the day wake you up, you still wanted to relax in the sea of cloth. You curled into the comforter, as if to encircle the source of the heat.

Something hard pressed against your forehead, like worn leather over beaten metal. Your eyes opened wide from the contact and you pulled the blanket off your face to reveal Sun Wukong the Monkey King in your bed with you. That wasn’t all that you noticed.

His arms were wrapped around you, his tail hugging your waist. He looked content with each breath he took, a soft smile becoming more noticeable as you leaned closer to get up.

The Monkey King may have felt your movements as he woke up soon after.

“Hey there,” he greeted, the tip of his fang peeking in his smile.

You felt your face grow warm, not certain if you should smile back but something made the corners of your mouth curl upward. “Um, hey.”

A laugh could be heard under his breath as he pushed himself up from the bed. He crossed his legs and leaned forward with his hand propping his head. “You looked like you slept well.”

You looked away from him as you got up, legs already hanging over the edge of your bed and ready to start the day. “Like you’re one to talk, you didn’t need to stay the night, you know.”

You took in a deep breath, nice to know you were already doing much better than yesterday.

“If you say so,” the Monkey King told you. “But I’m pretty sure you would have wanted me to stay.”

“And what makes you say that?” you ask, standing up to stretch properly.

The Monkey King hopped off your bed, then balancing on his tail with his legs crisscross in the air. “I’d say it’s because you have something of a crush on me.”

You gave a pout at that, Wukong now in front of you with a cheeky grin from his claim.

“You really want to push it so I don’t have one anymore?” you threatened as you crossed your arms over your chest.

In an instant, your feet were no longer on the ground and you were now placed on the Monkey King’s lap.

“Like I’d let it get that far,” Wukong answered, his smile a bit more smug.

His hands held you steady, arms almost having you in a hug. Despite your face turning red, you managed to keep the unimpressed pout as clear as day.

He inched closer to you, his confident aura chipping at your false annoyance. Wukong gently pressed his lips against your cheek, his hair lightly brushing against your skin and sending a shiver up your spine.

Your eyes squeezed themselves shut as you felt him repeat the motion again and again, you refused to give him the satisfaction of looking at his smug face while he did this to you.

The kisses seem to make their way down your cheek and to your jaw, and you could feel that Wukong wasn't going to stop there. You felt his nose brush your neck, his lips soon doing the same. Your heart seemed to jump up to your throat, your face a brighter red than his scarf.

Your hands grab at the long scarf that wrapped around his neck, ready to push him away if it became too much. Monkey King pulled you closer, you didn’t push him despite the means to do so. Your fingers clutched hard enough for the knuckles to grow pale.

Each of the soft pecks on your neck became accompanied with a nuzzle. You could feel his hands run up and down your back, pressing gently against your clothes to feel the warm skin underneath.

You held in a soft whine, a hum came from the Monkey King as he placed his mouth against your neck again. A smile definitely pressed onto your skin.

It was when he nipped your skin, feeling it be pinched between his sharp teeth, you yelped.

Wukong stopped immediately you noticed. “You all right?”

You struggled to open your eyes for a second then looked at him. His face painted with confusion and a hint of concern. You let go of his scarf, fingers aching from the stress they held, you then pressed one of your hands to your face to smother the fire under your skin.

“I’m fine,” is all you could mumble for the moment. “It was just a bit much, I didn’t know that was going to happen.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, just give me more of a warning next time.”

“Next time?” A grin grew on his face from that.

You pulled your hand away from your face to show your slightly shocked expression that you suggested a next time.

“Just forget what I said,” you tried to take back.

“No no no no no, you said it, not me,” Monkey King laughed. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

You looked away from Wukong as he pressed his face against your cheek.

“Just shut up,” you mumbled.

You could hear the light laugh in your ear before he gave another soft peck then pulled away. You looked back at him, a bit surprised he didn’t go straight back to teasing.

He made a glance down at your lap and soon took the hand that was resting on it. His touch being soft like wet clay, despite the claw-like nails that gently grazed your skin. His smile becoming soft as he brushed the back of your hand with his thumb.

You leaned closer to Wukong, now being the one confused on his expression. “Something up?”

“Nothing,” he answered.

You pressed your forehead against his own, looking him straight in the eyes. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, giving a livelier smile.

“All right,” you let off before pressing your lips against his own, just a little harder than when he kissed your neck. A smile grew as you felt one of his hands press on your cheek to hold you still to make the moment last just a bit longer.

Chapter Text

Why were you so nervous? You had kissed his stupid, smug face a few times already, but holding his hand was crossing the line apparently!

All you could do right now was hug a throw pillow as the two of you watched another season of Monkey King: The Animated Series. You made a quick glance at his hand here and there, during the show’s slower paced moments specifically.

It wasn’t until a baby monkey jumped onto your shoulder you almost snapped from the self-imposed pressure. A grunt escaped as you tried to brush the monkey off you, they decided to make their way to your leg and use it as a pillow.

“You okay?” Wukong asked. “You seem agitated.”

“I just got some stuff on my mind,” is all you admitted, one of your hands now cupping your cheek in thought.

All you had to do was reach out and grab but your body refused to move.

“Work taking you out?” Wukong questioned as he brought a bag of chips your way with his tail.

“I wish it was only that,” you answered, now thinking of all the orders that have been overworking the shop for the past few weeks. A lot of doors, walls, floors, and roofs, (just close to whole buildings really,) were getting destroyed in all the battles that happened throughout the city. There was even a recent partnership with a construction crew from how much went on.

Just, so much work.

You were close to sighing and groaning from the thought that it would only be a matter of time before your place got caught in the crossfire. It might be easier to move than rebuild if it came to that.

You could handle it though, it was something that wasn’t as finicky as emotions and changing relationships. Just math and money, which were its own issue at times.

You finally noticed the bag of chips he had waved near your face, you shook your head no.

“What’s bothering you then?” Wukong asking again, tossing a chip into his mouth.

“Nothing much,” you muttered. “Been thinking about moving honestly.”

It sounded like he choked on his chip at that.

“What?!” he managed to say through a cough. He sounded way more distressed than you would have expected, his shocked expression definitely added to it.

“It’s just a thought,” you tried to play off, leaning back against the couch. “There’s, like, so much going on and with all those fights and battles going on in the city and I don’t think my place is going to last that long.”

The Monkey King’s tail seemed to flick from side to side as he brought his curled hand to his chin, he looked caught up in a thought.

“You think of something?” you asked back.

“Worse comes to worst,” Wukong started with, “you can stay here at the temple if that happens.”

You blinked, not certain what to say.

“I’m not going to be your live-in maid,” the words came out with almost no thought.

“What? No!”

You laughed. “I know, I know. I’m just messing with you.”

Wukong chuckled with a shake of his head, giving you a light push against the shoulder for good measure.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you told him, your arms finally letting go of the pillow then started to stretch up and out to your sides. “Definitely not a bad place you got here.”

A different thought soon entered your head after that.

“What’s Flower Fruit Mountain like?” you then asked.

“I’d say it’s pretty nice,” Wukong played off.

You gave him a flat look, obviously wanting to know more than just what you’ve read from stories.

“Could I come over sometime?”

The back of your mind was screaming, why are you asking this? The temple you two hanged out at was much different from actually going to his home.

“I mean, sure,” he answered. His hand went to his mouth as he had another thought. “It’s been a couple centuries since any visitors came over, well, not including MK for his training and all.”

“Am I going to have to get there myself or can I ask for a lift?” you questioned. “Because I don’t think I’m going to make it past the Flaming Mountains.”

You saw the Monkey King smile from the thought of you trying to make your way to his place. “I mean, whatever happened to it being the journey and not the destination?”

“I’d like to not die in this decade or even the next honestly,” you snarked.

He laughed, his smile getting wider. “Okay, okay, I’ll take you there myself.”

You smiled back with a light laugh. Your mind started buzzing of what it looked like, wondering if you could take any pictures to commemorate seeing such a rare sight. The Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain, the temple inside, just the thought of what the view could be like filled you with delight.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I, wow” you were starting to struggle with what to say from your excitement. “Like thank you, like I could kiss you for that.”

Your brain slammed on the breaks after that. WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!

“Well, why don’t you?” Wukong getting in your face with a smug look.

You could feel your face grow warm and mouth went dry. You didn’t even take a breath as you grabbed the sides of his face and pressed your lips against his own, feeling his smile against your mouth as his fingers laced the hair at the back of your head.

You pulled back a moment later, your face red and filled with anger at yourself that you could kiss his smug face with no hesitation but still couldn’t reach out to hold his hand in your own.

Looking at him, you wondered if the phrase cheeky monkey originated from the Monkey King himself.

“You are so lucky I like you,” you told him, then giving a quick peck to his cheek.

“You sure I shouldn’t be the one saying that?”

Chapter Text

Phone: Charged!

Battery pack: Also charged!

Snacks: Secured!

You smiled at the confirmed contents of your backpack, zipping it up and tossing it over your shoulder.

You quickly zipped up your jacket just before you opened the door to your balcony, a cold wind practically slapping you in the face. A shudder came about but hopefully you wouldn’t have to wait too long for Wukong to get here.

You looked up to see a pale yellow streak come across the sky above, it went against the wind and even began to circle its way back.

Tentatively you held onto the bracket of your balcony, bringing your foot on top of it then the other. You took in a deep breath, close to fearing the worst for putting this much trust in the Monkey King.

You took in another deep breath, eyes closing so you wouldn’t have to acknowledge what you were about to do then jumped.

Not even a second later, arms wrapped around you as the wind roared in your ears.

“I got ya,” Wukong assured, it was almost impossible to hear though.

You let out a huge breath of relief, a smile growing as you opened your eyes by a sliver to see the world almost blur. You could turn your head just a bit and look at the Monkey King, he glanced at you with a smirk before focusing on the skyline ahead.

Clouds rested at Flower Fruit Mountain, trees and foliage decorated the sides of the smaller mountains surrounding it, waterfalls pouring out and to the ocean ahead. Your mouth was just agape at the site, you wanted to take a picture but you worried that if you turned away for even a moment it would vanish like a mirage.

“Impressed?” Monkey King asked, a smile could almost be heard in his tone.

You could only nod, trying your best to get your camera app out without having to look at your phone. You tucked your phone back in your pocket the moment you felt the urge to flick your eyes down to be certain.

“I can’t believe you live here,” you told him, finally taking the risk to look away and turn to him. The corners of your mouth curling up as you quickly looked back at the view.

“Consider yourself honored to be one of the few humans to even see this place,” Wukong told you, his grip on you getting a little tighter before jumping off his somersault cloud then landing on the sandy beach.

You struggled to get back on your feet from that, holding Wukong’s shoulders to keep steady until you found your balance.

“Trust me, I’m definitely feeling honored right now,” you answered.

Wukong gave you sometime to yourself as you traveled the mountain, taking pictures and enjoying the view. The tribe of monkeys here looked at you in surprise, other than their king’s successor, you were one of the few humans in recent memory to even set foot on the island.

A monkey hopped onto your shoulder to look at the phone screen with you, the view of Flower Fruit Mountains’ spring that filled through a neighboring waterfall. The monkey soon turned their attention to your backpack, pointing at it with soft coos.

“You want a snack?” to which it jumped off you and started to jump up and down in excitement on the dirt and rocks.

You quickly looked through your bag and brought out a bag of peach chips, the monkey snatched it out of your hand and immediately ran with it. You couldn’t even get mad over that, a laugh just left as your hand went to scratch the back of your head.

In time you came across a cave that lead to a staircase with a small temple at the top, before it reached that there was a fire pit under a giant bronze pot and training gear scattered around the landing. You weren’t expecting Wukong to have such a humble abode.

“Ahhhhh!”

A scream came from the skylight, something crashing onto the hard ground below. Your eyes went wide as the newly formed crater held the body of a boy in a bright yellow jacket with a Monkey King logo on the back. You had a suspicion on who this was but it didn’t stop you from going down the steps and checking on his status.

“Hey, you okay there?” you asked as the boy miraculously sat back up, shaking his head to regain his nerves.

“Uh, yeah,” MK answered, tousling his dark brown hair to get rid of any dirt caught in it. He paused once he noticed that you were definitely not one of the many monkeys on the island and looked at you in confusion. “Wait, am I back in the city?”

“Nope,” you answered as you brought your hand over to pull him back to his feet. “Still on Flower Fruit Mountain.”

“Wait, then how are you-?”

“I was invited,” you told him.

There were gears turning in his head but you didn’t know what conclusion he was coming to. “Are you Guanyin?”

“What? No!”

“Erlang Shen?” MK asked again.

“Nope!” you answered again with a shake of the head.

MK inched a bit closer to you, hand curled over his mouth in thought, it soon snapping into a point after. “Nezha, the Third Lotus Prince!”

“Do I look like a kid to you?” you almost snapped back. “Look I might be older than you but not that old!”

“They’re not any of those guys, Kid,” Wukong told MK as he fell to the earth with a surprising amount of grace.

“Who are they then?” MK asked the Monkey King before looking at you for the answer.

You raised your hand in a wave and gave your name. “Human, by the way,” you felt the need to mention.

“What?” That took MK more by surprise than anything else.

“I can be friends with humans, you know,” Wukong told him

Something about that didn’t sit well with you. You could feel your smile drop just a bit.

“I wasn’t saying-” MK switched gears then looked at you with a smile. “I’m MK by the way!”

“We’ve met,” you said, giving him a subtle bow of the head. “You actually delivered noodles to my place a while ago.”

“I did?” he questioned. “I deliver noodles, like, everywhere so I’m sorry if I can’t-”

“It’s nothing,” you reassured with a laugh. “I totally understand.”

You glanced at the Monkey King who seemed happy that you two seemed to be getting along, your expression towards him was a bit more distant though.

“If you’d told me you were doing training today, I would have asked to come on a different day,” you told Wukong.

“Yeah, it kind of slipped my mind,” the Monkey King admitted, his smile baring teeth.

“Whatever,” you replied with an over exaggerated sigh, now walking away to see more of what the mountain had to offer. “You guys have fun with your training.”

You gave a wave goodbye as you made your way outside. The moment warm sunlight hit your face you could feel your expression contort. It just hurt.

You took a seat on a rock where there was more than enough shade to relax and be alone with your thoughts. Well except for the monkey holding a familiar bag, it once held peach chips but your can tell those were now long gone and the monkey filled it something else.

“Nice to see you again,” you told it, leaning forward to take another breath. “Were the chips good?”

The monkey began to chatter and bounce after that, you guessed this was their way of saying yes. The monkey soon rummaged through the shiny bag in its hands and brought out a peach.

“That’s nice,” you said, glancing away a moment later.

The monkey cooed at you, placing the peach on your lap almost like it was an offering.

You made a face, not certain how to respond, pointing at the peach then at you. “You sure?”

The monkey hopped again, as if to say yes.

You brought to peach close to your face, a soft, sweet scent coming from it. Your teeth pressed into the fuzzy skin as you took a cautious bite. Something about the taste filled you with warmth, like it had made nostalgia into a flavor.

You took another bite then another, you wanted to say that something about it brought the tears that pricked your eyes but you knew that wasn’t it. You could only wipe it away with the back of your hand as you finished the fresh fruit.

The monkey looked at your pained expression in confusion, you brought a hand over to them and gave a soft pat. “It’s nothing,” you assured.

You were nothing, nothing but a friend.

Chapter Text

You skimmed through the pictures saved on your phone; from the temple you regularly visited to see the Monkey King to the legendary Flower Fruit Mountain. A small huff escaped through your nose, you were hoping looking through your phone would ease your mood but it didn’t help at all.

You brought your knees up to your head and buried yourself to hide away from the rest of the world.

You wanted to be angry at him, you wanted to yell at him, you wanted to be more than a friend like he said you were.

But, you never truly discussed it with him. You would just let yourself enjoy and share the warm, pleasant feelings he brought out. Only saying something would continue in the future but never labeling it. Could you really be mad at him for not saying it was anything else?

Even if you could be more, what would that even mean? Forget about him being a mystical being of unimaginable power, just him never aging while you would eventually be less than dust was an overwhelming thought in itself.

Your head felt like it was being crushed at your temples, your chest ready to collapse from the weight of the idea. Hurt was all you could describe it, and you wanted it to stop.

“You okay?” a familiar voice asked.

The closest thing to a response you gave was your fingers tightening on your jacket sleeves.

The Monkey King let out a soft sigh with that before sitting next to you.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

You managed to pull your head up to look ahead, your gaze avoiding the Monkey King. “Do you even know what it is?”

“This what I said about you to MK?” the Monkey King asked.

“Friends don’t usually kiss each other or share a bed when spending the night,” you told him, holding back the anger that wanted to choke at your throat. You turned to him, your expression pained but nowhere near as hurt it was hours ago.

“I know.” The Monkey King reached out and placed his hand on your shoulder. “It’s just, I wanted to give you time on what you wanted.”

You said nothing, only gave a glance back at the stream in front of you before looking back at him. The Monkey King took his hand off you after.

“Look, I’m not exactly,” the Monkey King began to explain, a cough coming before his next word, “experienced, in this, so I didn’t know what or when would have been a good time to ask.”

“Seriously?” you asked in disbelief, your fingers setting on your temples before gesturing to the air in front of you. “Do you have any idea how intimidating the idea of dating an immortal is? Let alone asking one?!”

“You could if you weren’t a coward,” the Monkey King told you rather bluntly.

Something about that practically snapped and crushed any fear or anxiety you held.

“Do you think I don’t know that?!” you nearly yelled at him. Your hands went to cover your face as if trying to physically keep you together. “It’s just, so much.”

“What do you want to do then?” the Monkey King asked, his tail swaying side to side but still keeping a distance.

You dropped your hands from your face and looked at the Monkey King, you glanced at the ground under him and saw one of his hands resting on the soft grass. You placed your hand on top of his, curling your fingers to touch his palm.

With a deep breath, you looked up at him and stared straight into his golden eyes. “I want to be with you.”

You lean toward him, softly pressing your lips against his own before parting again.

Wukong smiled at that, if you looked hard enough, you were certain that there was a hint of red under the soft maroon coloring on his face. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“So, are we dating?” you asked, wanting to be clear on the matter.

Wukong let out a laugh from that. “Yeah, I think we can say that.”

“Good.” Your smile grew, your hand left his and soon brought both at his scarf to pull him into another kiss. His hands pressed at your cheeks to keep you there for a few moments more.

You would have broke away from him later but the sound of snapping branches caught your attention. You turned to the source and felt that Wukong practically teleported out of your grasp.

In the sky up above, MK wield the Monkey King’s staff and had it aimed at the king in question. The staff extended, going straight for Wukong before he ran onto it and quickly kicked the end to meet the earth below.

A loud crash shook the ground, your hands planted on the ground to keep you steady as you tried to push yourself up.

“You never told me that training was still going on!” you yelled at him, hands cupped around your mouth like a makeshift megaphone.

Even from the great distance, you could swear you saw Wukong smile. “Sorry, couldn’t find the time to mention it!”

“You better win soon then find a way to make it up to me!” you continued to shout, a smile still on your face despite the annoyance. “You stupid monkey!”

MK yelled in the distance as he retracted the staff back and used it to block Wukong’s attacks, their fight making their way back to the main mountain. You couldn’t help keep your smile as you watched him go off to train his successor.

You had seen only small pieces of his power and you knew that what he used to train MK was just a fraction. Wonder in how powerful the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven was filled you. Maybe you would be able to see a better example of his powers someday but that didn’t matter right now.

The Handsome Monkey King of the Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain, Sun Wukong, was yours.

Chapter Text

You listened to MK’s story, completely engrossed on how he came across the Monkey King’s staff down to his battle with the Demon Bull King. There were points in the story where you gave Wukong a glare from the fact he let this kid fall in harm’s way when he could have easily changed that.

“So how did you meet Monkey King?” MK questioned after he finished his story.

You paused, trying to think of your first encounter with the Monkey King without having it come of as odd as it was.

“They broke into my temple,” Wukong answered in your stead.

You lightly punched at his arm for that. “Don’t say it like that!”

The Monkey King laughed from the glare you gave as MK stood in confusion.

“Like I didn’t know that he was using it,” you tried to explain. “I thought it was abandoned then there were a bunch of monkeys and it was messy.”

You could feel yourself running a tangent, telling about how you ended up cleaning the place up a bit before the Monkey King showed up and how it ended up leading to your weekly marathons of Monkey King: The Animated Series.

You could feel embarrassment cover your face as you rubbed the back of your head.

“The temple up in the mountains?” MK asked.

“Yeah,” you answered. “You’ve been there before?”

“Delivered noodles there for a focus lesson,” the kid told you.

“Hmm,” you had nothing to really add to that. “So how’d you get here, to Flower Fruit Mountain I mean?”

MK pulled out the staff out of his ear almost as a means of an explanation in itself. “It’s not exactly the easiest way to get here but definitely better than getting blasted to the beach. What about you?”

You pointed with your thumb at the Monkey King, answering with a quick elaboration after. “Somersault Cloud.”

“You never offered to pick me up to Flower Fruit Mountain,” MK quickly told his mentor.

“You never asked,” Wukong defended. “Besides, you have the staff and if you want to learn to use the cloud, we can work on it.”

A smile made its way across your face, something about Wukong talking to his successor warmed your heart. You couldn’t help but enjoy the idea of seeing him train MK and honestly getting to know more of him because of it. In time the conversation switched subjects, from MK’s job as a noodle delivery boy to your quick project on fixing the temple gate.

The sun above soon made its way to the west, the blue sky changing to a soft orange. You were more than ready to get back home as you stood at the cliff with MK and Wukong.

“So how exactly do you get from here to the city?” you questioned, wanting to know how the staff took him from place to place.

“I’ll show you,” MK told you with a smile and his staff in hand. He ran forward, jumping off the cliff and his staff extending to an obscene length then pushing him over the ocean at a breakneck speed.

Wukong picked you up right after, rushing off the cliff and having the somersault cloud appear under his feet not too long after. Your arms wrapped around his neck for a better hold and to get a better look at the Handsome Monkey King himself.

Before you realized it, the two of you had already caught up with MK, watching him use his staff almost like it was a skipping stone. The end of it meeting the skin of the ocean and hitting it at just the right angle to keep going without having to fall into the watery abyss.

You gave a wave to the Monkie Kid that he quickly returned, your smile grew as you looked at Wukong for letting you have this day with him and his successor. Without much thought, you pulled yourself closer to him and pressed your lips against his own.

A second later, a shout came about following a loud splash. Quickly both of you pulled away, noticing MK was no longer racing the somersault cloud but now in the salty sea. It didn’t take long for Wukong to turn around to reach him wadding in the water with a shocked expression.

“You’re dating?!” was all MK could say.

“Uh, yeah...” Wukong answered, his tone trying to not make this a big deal.

“But you’ve never showed interest in anyone before!”

“Some people would argue Tang Sanzang,” you felt the need to mention with an almost chipper tone.

“That doesn’t matter! Were you ever going to tell me about this?!”

“I was hoping you’d figure it out for yourself, but not here honestly. This was a lot faster than I expected,” the Monkey King answered.

“How?! When did this even happen?” MK asked.

“Between a few weeks ago and today,” you chose to answer.

“You okay, Bud?” Wukong worried.

MK's expression was showing a lot of different emotions, you were kind of worried that you may have upset him.

“I’m fine,” he told you, his voice starting to shake from the cold water. “It’s- It’s just a lot.”

“All right,” he mumbled.

Now starting to worry about how long this kid could last in the freezing water. “You gonna get him out or what?” you whispered to Wukong.

“Just give me a second, and don’t get mad at me for this,” Wukong answered.

“Mad about what?” you were about to ask but the Monkey King threw you into the sky before you could finish the question.

The Monkey King quickly used your time in the air to pluck MK out of the water and practically throw him across the ocean in hopes to get him back in the groove of skimming the sea and back to the city.

You almost wanted to scream in the open sky but you were also mesmerized by the soft changes of color that the sunset lay out for the whole world. Wukong quickly had you back in his arms after, your own wrapping around his neck and pulling him close so he could hear you despite the loud wind.

“Give me a better warning next time,” you told him. Your tone was closer to saying “All of heaven struggled nearly 50 days trying to kill you, but if you do that again, I will only need a minute.”

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven only laughed at the empty threat, his smile pressed against your cheek as he reassured that he’d keep that in mind.

Chapter Text

You just wanted to grab some food for your weekly marathon with Wukong. Maybe some noodles, a couple cheese teas, not a close encounter with a demon with a fiery attitude and a hot red car to match.

The only reason it wasn’t a full-on collision was because something practically plucked you off the ground and into the sky.

“You okay?” the Monkey King’s voice at your ear and going against the blasts of wind.

“Wukong, what are you doing here?!” you asked back, arms now hugging around his form as you registered that he was using his somersault cloud to get you out of danger. Your sight soon setting behind him and quickly scanning for any oncoming danger.

“I gotta keep an eye on the kid’s progress somehow,” Wukong explained, the shifting scene soon settling as he made a stop on top of a nearby building.

“Why don’t you go help him?” you asked, feet now on the roof as you turned to see the fight break out a few streets away.

Wukong’s tail shifted side to side at that. “This is his fight, he can handle it,” his tone more confident than dismissive.

Your mouth made a thin line at that, you barely knew the kid and only met MK a handful of times, but you felt a need to know he was going to be okay. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Wukong confirmed. “He’s taken on this guy a bunch of times and always comes out on top.”

You squinted at the distance, seeing flames barely lick the tops of buildings. “So which demon is this one?”

“Red Son,” he answered.

The name came back to you, another contender of the Great Wall race. “The Demon Bull King’s kid?”

“Very same,” the Monkey King told you, taking a sip of a cheese tea.

You looked back at your bag in confusion to see he had managed to swipe the drink with you none the wiser. “Hey, that was for later!”

Wukong gave a pleased smirk before pulling the drink away. He knew you weren’t going to stay or even be mad at him for something this small.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he told you, placing a small peck on your cheek before leaving to see how MK was faring. “Promise!”

The tips of your fingers softly pressed where he kissed you, cherishing the feeling right before you realized that you had absolutely no idea where you were. A quick curse left your lips as you searched the map on your phone to answer the question of where the Monkey King left you.

You glanced up at the sky on occasion, looking out for the Monkey King just in case. As far as you knew, the battle between MK and Red Son was done. The damage on the buildings told you that your weekend may end earlier than you would like. A soft huff left from the thought, might as well enjoy what you could then.

Fingers held onto the bag of food, a little lighter from Wukong making off with one of the cheese teas. Your free hand went to your phone to check the time. Still early enough to get in maybe a third of a season done if you were up to it.

You kept a move on, making your way home to grab your bike and start the trek to the Monkey King’s sacred temple.

You had your arms wrapped around the Monkey King, face pressed against his chest and listening to the soft heartbeat underneath thanks to him taking off the plate of armor for once. Your eyes were locked on the TV and enjoying the show.

Wukong held you in a hug, one of his hands pressed against your back while the other almost brushed through the top of your head. You gave a soft hum from it on occasion to let him know it felt nice.

A thought popped back in your head as you glanced at the limp bag that once held your food.

“So how were you going to make it up to me?” you asked.

The twitch in his tail told you this caught him by surprise, only for a moment, before it went back to its lazy swaying. “You wanna stay the night?” Wukong offered.

Your eyelids started feeling heavy with the idea of sleep, a yawn coming out in hopes that the stretch would wake you up a bit. “Sounds nice, maybe,” you answered.

“Maybe?”

“I still have a job you know.”

“Isn’t it your weekend?” Wukong questioned.

“Didn’t your successor cause property damage in that fight?” you asked back.

“That bad?”

“Depends if I get a text from work,” you answered. “My job isn’t that involved but you never know.”

A hum came from the Monkey King, he brushed a lock of hair behind your ear to which you moved closer to him.

Another thought entered your head.

“Do you have a phone?”

“No, but I got an email address,” Wukong told you.

That made you bolt right up, sitting on his lap as you looked at him in wide-eyed confusion.

“You have a what?”

“Email,” the Monkey King repeated. “My laptop is right there.”

Your line of sight followed his finger, looking at the shut laptop that was right under his coffee table.

“Huh,” is all you could say for that brief moment. “Does anyone else have it?”

“My lawyer,” Wukong answered.

“Why would you need a-?” A list of the Monkey King’s fights, tantrums, and pranks entered your head before you finished the sentence. “Never mind, that checks out.”

That got a laugh out of Wukong for some reason. “Hey, I’m not that bad!”

“No no no,” you told him, setting yourself back down to lay on top of him. “You’re much worse.”

“I’d say I’ve gotten better these last few centuries,” Wukong bragged.

“Or you’ve gotten better at not getting caught,” you considered.

A small huff left him, like he knew you placed him in a corner on that. He sat up, pushing you back and letting you sit on his lap once more.

“Well, if there’s one thing I’m glad I didn’t get caught for,” he said softly, almost whispering in your ear. “It’s that I found a mortal more eye-catching than anything heaven would have to offer.”

A gulp could be heard in your throat from that, blood rushing to your face from his claim.

No thoughts entered your head, your hand went to his face to push him away but he dodged it and pulled you closer. Your mouth made itself into a thin line, holding in the desire to yell at him to stop trying to embarrass you with highly unnecessary compliments.

He pressed a soft kiss to your neck, almost causing you to jolt from the shock.

“You know,” Wukong said with a smug tone, “you might be even sweeter than the immortal peaches.”

You moved so you could place your head against his shoulder, arms wrapping at his neck so he couldn’t sneak in another kiss as easily. “Please, please, just shut up.”

He could easily hear that you were flustered, his arms holding you in the hug a bit longer before pushing you back to look at him with his smug expression. “Make me.”

You cupped his face, the pads of your thumbs feeling where the fur and skin met, then pulled him close to stop him from talking.

Chapter Text

Soft and warm, a gentle rhythm, the distinct smell of peaches. These were what woke you up to a new day. As nice as they were, you weren’t quite ready to be awake just yet.

You buried your face into the pillow, a blanket pulling over to hide the morning light. Arms pulled you close then wrapped around, a hum coming from the owner not too long after.

As comforting the affection was, it only woke you up more. A groan left as you stretched to bring feeling to your body, the Monkey King’s arms were still wrapped around your waist.

His hold tightened, tail soon pressed against your skin as his chin rest atop your head. None of this stopped you from getting up to take on the new day, but it sure brought your progress to a snail’s pace.

“Wukong,” you called as your fingers brushed through his brown fur. “I need to get up.”

The Monkey King took his sweet time to open his eyes, a moment passed before he blinked and set his sights on you.

“Do you though?” his voice almost as soft and warm as the bed, had he not said it with a slightly annoyed tone.

“Yes,” you assured, pushing yourself up but still sitting next to him once he loosened his grip.

You brought your hand to your head for a quick scratch as you scanned Wukong’s bedroom, it was somewhat bare with only the bed, a closet, and a bookcase. Not much else, but then again, this wasn’t his home, only an old temple under his name.

“What was this for?” you asked. “The temple, I mean.”

The Monkey King was ready to fall back asleep, one eye opened to look at you to show his attention. The eye soon shut again but he did answer the question. “The usual; house monks, place for prayers, held a festival and some ceremonies here and there.”

“Why doesn’t it still do all that now?” you thought aloud.

It was still in pretty good condition, it didn’t hurt that you did small projects around the place like refurbishing walls and pillars with the Monkey King’s help.

“Another temple was built in the village, easier to get to and I think they moved to that one, I don’t know, it was like a century ago,” Wukong mumbled at the end against the pillow.

“So, what do you use it for?” you questioned.

“Blow off steam, get away from the world, that kind of stuff,” he told you in a series of mumbles. “Definitely doesn’t hold my proudest moments. More of a shame temple sometimes if you ask me.”

A pillow dropped then smacked him in the face not long after that.

He jolted up with an alert and confused expression, his mouth opened to say something but you spoke first.

“Shame temple?”

“Not with you,” he quickly added after. “You already knew where this place was anyway.”

You still gave an unamused look from that, the glare then directed to an empty wall instead of Wukong. A light laugh came out with a shake of your head. “You couldn’t pick a different name for it?”

Wukong stared at your smile for a moment which he then returned, along with a tight hug to bring you close to him once more. “Well I’m sorry but ‘The Temple of the Handsome Monkey King of the Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain, Sun Wukong’ was a bit of a mouthful.”

“I thought you were known for your wit!” You practically laughed when his fur tickled your skin. “Can’t you name it something else?”

“What if I named it after you?” he suggested, his chin resting on top of your head as he pulled you to sit on his lap.

“Dumb,” you quickly shot down, still a heat colored your cheeks. “Embarrassing, really.”

“Well, now I have to name it that,” Wukong ribbed.

“Do that and I will stop visiting,” you threatened despite the smile across your face.

“Fine, fine,” Wukong agreed, some annoyance easy to hear in his tone.

You tried to think of a better name for the temple, a thought popped up in your head not long after. “What about Táozi?”

Wukong’s tail flicked from the suggestion. “Why that?”

“Peaches do seem to be a favorite of yours,” you explained. “Feels like a good fit.”

The Monkey King hummed as he considered it, his theft of the immortal peaches, the dried slices of fruit he consistently snacked on, even the faint scent that came off his fur.

“Not a bad idea,” Wukong told you. “Táozi Temple...”

It had a decent ring to it now that the words hung in the air.

The corner of your mouth turned up from that, you pulled away from just a bit so you could look at him properly. “So it’s settled, Táozi Temple.”

“I didn’t say it was settled,” Wukong told you. His mouth shut into a thin line after a quick kiss to his cheek.

“I figured it was implied,” you said, now crawling off him then swinging your arms over the edge of the bed. You were quick to grab your clothes off the floor, bringing the shirt to your face for a quick sniff. Yeah, still clean.

You were pretty quick to get dressed, it helped that you didn’t have much, just the shirt, pants, and underwear. The Monkey King had much more to work with considering the armor and crown he tend to wear in even casual settings. Seeing him with just his fur was a bit surreal.

“Did you have any plans for today?” Wukong asked as you stretched once getting off the bed.

“There’s no text from work for overtime so I think it’s safe to say I’m free,” you did another scan through your messages to be certain. “Why? You have something in mind?”

“I could take you to Flower Fruit Mountain again, if you want,” he answered as he practically flopped back onto the bed and had his hands behind his head. “And I know that I don’t have a training session with MK today.”

“Maybe,” you mused. “You sure you didn’t just want to go back to the marathon?”

Both of you had gotten distracted to put it lightly.

“Tempting,” Wukong answered, his tail swishing in consideration. “But I figured you want a proper look of the place this time.”

You hummed in agreement. “Wouldn’t be too bad. What about food after though? You’re not exactly near any restaurants or stores.”

“Pretty sure I can figure something out,” Wukong said, he sat himself up once you started making your way towards him. Scooting over the bed until you were back at his side.

Your arms wrapped over his shoulders as you were soon face to face, a soft kiss placed on the tip of his nose.

The Monkey King’s smile widened from it, a fang going over the slightest bit of his bottom lip.

The sound of the bedroom door opening caught both your attention, a sea of monkeys rushing in for their king’s regard. And yours too apparently, considering how some were quick to sit on your legs, jump to your shoulders, and groom through your hair for a snack.

The chatter they made came with no translation but Wukong made it easy to figure out the gist of the conversation. The matters weren’t of urgent business, it was mainly seeing how the monkeys were doing and staying updated on what happened nearby. He was quick to pull what could be considered his children in some sense into tight hugs before they would run off to enjoy their day.

All you could do was smile at Wukong with how he acted with them, happy to see this side of him and hopefully for many more days to come.

Chapter Text

It definitely became something of a habit on visiting Flower Fruit Mountain, enough for the resident monkeys to recognize you and ready to expect snacks. You asked for nothing in return (Why would you?) but they seem to show thanks with whatever they found on hand. (Mainly fruits and flowers, which made sense given the mountain’s name.) It was sweet.

“Do they have names?” you decided to ask the Monkey King after giving a small group of monkeys some dried fruit by the handfuls.

“Huh?” The Monkey King had one of the baby monkeys on his shoulder and let them groom through his hair for bugs.

“The monkeys. Do they have names?”

“Of course they have names. Why wouldn’t they?”

“I can’t talk to monkeys, Wukong,” you reminded him.

“It’s the other way around actually,” he told you.

No reply came, you only gave a confused look at that.

“Sun Xigua,” Wukong spoke. The monkey that was perched on his shoulder stopped combing through his fur and looked at their king attentively. “I’m clean, they could use some help though.”

The monkey cooed at the command then jumped off Wukong and made their way to you. They soon hopped and grabbed onto your side, quickly climbing up your back until they were seated on your shoulders and ready to catch any bugs that could have latched onto you.

The sensation felt a little alien for a moment, the monkeys at the temple would get handsy at times but never acted this thorough.

“Okay, but you’re their king,” you said. “They kind of have to listen to you.”

“Doesn’t mean they won’t understand,” Wukong rebutted.

“Could you teach them to?” you asked. “At least, enough so that if I want to be alone they’ll leave.”

“I mean, sure,” Wukong answered. “But their attention span is kind of like mine, or worse if I’m being completely honest.”

A light laugh came out from that, your hands going up and picking the baby monkey off your shoulders then hold them in your arms. “Well, I didn’t expect you to be the best influence on them.”

The monkey, Xigua, started climbing up to your shoulders once again. Settling back to grooming through your scalp.

“Still worth a shot,” Wukong told you, giving his head a nudge at the baby monkey.

You gave a glance at Xigua before speaking. “Sun Xigua, you can get off now.”

The baby monkey’s tail drooped, looking a little dejected considering the pout they gave. Their hands leaving your hair once again then went to drape their lanky arms over your shoulders.

“Well, it’s close enough,” the Monkey King noted, looking at the baby monkey that began to press their body against the back of your head. You tried your best to glance at Xigua hugging your head but it was a failed effort. “We can definitely work with this.”

After raising a hand up and to your head, Xigua grabbed it with their tiny fingers and brought the palm against the side of their face. Soon hugging it with such a tight grip you were wondering if they would ever let go. It took some time before you were able to get the monkey off your shoulders, then hand, until they settled back into your arms and enjoy being cradled.

In time you both started walking around the mountain, enjoying the view and the company you kept each other. Watching clouds turn pink against the orange sky while the dark blue night trailed back in the east. Hearing the chatter of other monkeys as they swung, ran, and played without a care in the world. There were brief moments the now sleeping monkey in your arms began to stir before you eased them back into slumber, the limp body leaning against you and resting their head on your shoulder.

“You ever thought about being a parent?” Wukong asked you.

Something in your brain short circuit, unable to come up with a response right off the bat. Or at least something straight forward.

“Um, what do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know,” Wukong looked away after that, his hand rubbing the back of his neck before going to his shoulder. “Like, having a kid? Adoption? Just raising someone and taking care of them?”

“Is MK being too much for you?” you joked. “I don’t think I’d be much help, he’s only a couple years younger than me.”

“What? No, I mean,” Wukong started to trip over his own words before getting back on track. “You know what I mean.”

A soft pout came across your face at the thought, the idea sounded nice in theory but it would be so much more complicated in practice. It was another life, but between you and him, there had to be complications on how that’d even work.

“I doubt anything could happen,” you found yourself answering. “You’re some celestial stone monkey demon and I’m definitely not any of those things.” You couldn’t help but glance at the baby monkey in your arms and watch the soft breaths they took while napping. “It’d be nice though.”

A hum of agreement came from Wukong not long after.

“Yeah, I can kind of imagine it looking like you but with a tail,” he added on, a finger lightly scratching at the side of his face from the thought. “I mean, it’s just hypothetical and all that.”

Despite that, a smile still found itself on your lips.

“I could see them with your eyes,” you told him.

He looked back at you from that, the sunset practically giving the gold in his eyes a soft glow.

“Well, I think they’d look better with your nose.”

“If you’re going to get picky on how they look, why don’t you teach them the 72 transformations while you’re at it?"

“I should probably teach MK before them at least,” Wukong thought aloud. A chuckle crept its way in after. “I can’t even imagine MK's reaction if he saw me have a kid of my own. You’d think he’d be happy about it?”

“That, or jealous that he has to deal with another person who wants his mentor’s attention,” you mused.

“You think he’d be jealous?”

“You’d be surprised what a human can hide.”

“Yeah,” the Monkey King agreed. “But that’s what makes them interesting, like you.”

“Surprisingly low standards for the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven,” you noted with a snarky tone.

“If I based my standards on someone like me, I would have dated a clone of myself,” Wukong answered. “And gonna be honest, I tried and it was so not worth it.”

Your jaw dropped, your hand went to quickly pick it up and cover your mouth to smother the oncoming laughter. You swear that you could feel your body shake and try to hold it in but it was a lost cause.

Xigua the baby monkey woke up with a confused look, tried to settle back in your arms, then tugged at your shirt to get your attention. You glanced down to see their tiny hand point to the ground. It didn’t take much else to tell you that they wanted to get back on the floor. Gingerly you placed them back on the ground, but not before giving them a small hug for their good behavior.

The baby monkey soon ran off, giving a wave then jumping into the foliage not long after.

“I have to say,” Wukong spoke and took back your attention, “I’m impressed by how much you deal with me. Even I have limits on how much me I can take.”

“Trust me, it was definitely a work in progress,” you admitted to him and gave your arms a good stretch. “No joke, I was questioning if I should still hang out with you after the first marathon.”

“Because you fell asleep on me?” Wukong questioned with a smug grin.

“More like the fact you almost made me puke on your somersault cloud!”

“Fair enough,” he laughed. “But, we’re here now, so you made your decision.”

His hand reached out then took your own, fingers taking the time to interlock and give a gentle squeeze.

“A good one in my opinion if you ask me,” he added as he inched closer. His smile grew as he saw the blush on your face turn bright.

“I don’t know...” you said with a lilted tone. “Maybe there’s still a chance to change my mind.”

The Monkey King quickly dropped your hand then picked you up instead, one arm under your legs while the opposite pressed your back. The suddenness of it all caused you to yelp then grab at his shoulders for your own means of support.

“You sure about that?” Wukong asked, the grin almost coming off as menacing with how much you knew he could tease. “Could you really say no to this face?”

There wasn’t any answer that you could give him without the Monkey King coming out on top, so you went with one that wasn't vocal.

Your hands practically grabbed at the sides of his face and pulled him close for an almost harsh kiss with how much force you placed onto it. A muffled surprised squeak came from him before quickly settling into the affection.

Only when you parted for air, Wukong told you. “Hey, not in front of the kids.”

Confusion took over at that, making you turn to see what was in his line of sight. Several tiny faces peeking out of a sea of greenery, the monkeys soon realizing they were caught in the act then promptly ran off.

“That gonna be a common occurrence?” you had to ask when you looked back at him.

“Depends,” Wukong answered. “You want it to be?”

“I’d prefer it being more private actually.”

A soft hum in agreement came from Wukong not long after. “I’d like that.”

He placed a softer kiss on top, his smile widened to see your blush was still there.

The thought of getting to see that smile again in the early morning reminded you of one of the reasons he brought you over. “Oh yeah, where did you want that breakfast nook you told me about?”

“At one of the caves near that temple,” he answered. You guessed he meant the one with a skylight thanks to chucking his successor though the stone ceiling. “You gotta promise me you won’t be mad when you see it though.”

“Wait, what happened?”

“Exactly how much are you a fan of ancient murals?”

The grip on his face tightened, fingers almost curling in like claws into his hair so he wouldn’t turn away.

“Wukong, what did you do?!”

The Monkey King almost couldn’t help but laugh at the hostile response.

Chapter Text

You pinched the bridge of your nose, stopping the anger from flaring out your nostrils. Moonlight covering everything, the stone floor, pillars wrapped in dried vines, thanks to the gaping hole that desecrated the mountain and was framed by a broken wooden gate.

“How old was the mural?” you ask, putting in the effort to relax your jaw and not grit your teeth.

“Couple centuries,” Wukong answered. “400, maybe 500 years old.”

“And you destroyed it,” you muttered under your breath. “Did you have any pictures of it?”

Was there at least something left of this ancient, priceless mural so it wouldn’t be lost to the world?

“Why would I? I saw it everyday, didn’t think about that.”

Taking in a deep breath, your hand left your face then went to your hip. The expression you gave the Monkey King was both annoyed and tired before looking back at the giant hole in the wall, part of you should have expected this.

“Is there anything left of it?”

“Kind of doubt it,” Wukong admitted. “The kid really did a number on it during his training.”

That caught your attention and made you turn to the Monkey King. “Wait, MK did this?”

“Yep,” Wukong confirmed. “I might have had a hand in it, but he actually did most of the damage on this.”

You stared back at the giant hole, mouth agape at the thought that a human not much younger than you was given the power to do this. And this was a mere stepping stone compared to how strong he would become in the future.

“Remind me to never get on his bad side,” you joked. “Anyway, do you think we can salvage it or something? Find whatever pieces we can and try to put it together?”

“Like a puzzle?”

A soft laugh came out from that. “I mean, I guess you could say that.”

“How about we look for the biggest pieces now then get to the rest in the morning?” Wukong suggested as you made your way out the hole to the pile of rubble on the other side. “It’s getting late and I’m pretty sure you’d rather use the sun than your phone’s little flashlight.”

You turned off said flashlight after that, now squatting to get closer to the ground and at least clear off any grime that wasn’t made of stone. “You had plenty of other walls to smash, Wukong. If you picked a blank one we wouldn’t be dealing with this now.”

“Listen, I’ve lived here for centuries, I have a pretty good idea on where the light would hit the mountain and that was the best spot out of everything,” he explained as he soon stepped by your side and picked up a rock the size of your torso with ease, chucking it when there was not even the slightest hint of the mural after. “There a reason you’re worked up about this?”

“It’s just,” you took a breath as the thought began to form, “unfair, that you have this piece of history that practically no one has seen and it can’t shared in anyway now. And you destroyed it just so you could have a breakfast nook.”

A soft pout came across Wukong’s face while listening to your frustration. “Do you mean just you or...?”

“Everybody, anybody,” you answered, brushing off dirt and dust off the flat stone with the sleeve of your jacket. “I don’t know, I get that you don’t want other humans here, and listen, I am beyond honored to be here, but I kind of wish they could at least have some idea of what was at the mountain.”

The Monkey King made a soft hum at your words, his tail flicking about before he finally got an idea. “I guess that makes sense.”

You patted the remaining dust off your worn leather sleeve then squinted at the flat stone in front of you, seeing faded blue and orange against the gray. It looked like part of a face and maybe hair.

“Found something,” you chirped, Wukong soon at your side then at your level. “What was this mural even of?”

“My old friends,” he answered with a detached tone. “The guys that I went on that whole journey with, pretty sure you know the rest.”

“Oh,” is all you could say for the moment.

You looked away from the stone then to Wukong, his expression looking apathetic but something in his gold eyes held a hint of melancholy over the memories.

“Hey,” you spoke up, his eyes focusing on you after. “If it’s something you’d rather forget or not think about, I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

A soft smile came across his lips from that, his hand reaching out to cup your cheek and let strands of hair be laced between his fingers. “Don’t worry about it, not like you could have known.”

You gave a soft nod to which Wukong pulled his hand away after.

“Do you wanna just turn in for the night?” you asked, getting up to show you weren’t interested in looking through the mural’s remains anymore. Your hand going to the back of your neck then resting on your shoulder after a few rubs. “I mean, we’ve been walking around all day and there was making the plans for the breakfast nook you wanted.”

You could feel yourself going into a tangent, mumbling on how you had spent the day together and mixing in an apology.

“Hey, hey,” Wukong called out to get you out of jumble of words taking over your mind. “It’s okay. And yeah, I can definitely go for some sleep.”

“All right,” you said, taking his hand into yours. “You okay with just walking or do you want to take your cloud?”

“I don’t have anything planned later so I’m fine with taking my time,” he answered in a cheery voice.

The walk went well, conversation changing from random foods both of you were interested in trying, how MK's training was going, and the small things you could have planned for the breakfast nook. Then the topic of New Year’s came up.

“So what plans did you have in mind?” you asked.

“Not much actually, I promised MK that we’d train that day, but since the temple I picked has a good view for the fireworks, I figured we’d watch them together,” Wukong answered.

“That’s really sweet,” you told him. “I’m glad you get to bond over other stuff.”

“You’re not jealous?” Wukong questioned with a lilted tone.

“I have no problems with you having some bonding time with your student of all things,” you spoke as you hugged one of his arms in a tight squeeze. “As long as I get to spend the night with you after.”

A chuckle left the Monkey King from that. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind. There anything you want to do when I get back from training?”

“Food,” you answered without a hitch. “We can have a huge dinner together at Táozi Temple, marathon more Monkey King, then pass out when we’re nice and full.”

Wukong’s smile widened at the thought. “Well, I know I can’t say no to that.”

“I got a few recipes that I’ve been wanting to share," you told him. “But I rather keep those specifics a surprise.”

“Sounds great,” he agreed, his tail wrapping at your waist as a substitute for the arm that was caught in your grip. “Can’t think of a better way to start the New Year.”

Chapter Text

You struggled with carrying everything; your bike for this small journey, the backpack with clothes for the morning after, and at least a small kitchen's worth of food and ingredients. Maybe you were a bit too ambitious on the idea of making a huge dinner for you, Wukong, and the monkeys that would no doubt grab a helping of their own, but the memories that would come with it would be more than worth it.

First thing you did when there was leave the bike at the temple gate (and your shoes at the door), second was having all the food ready in the kitchen, and last was having your backpack rest against the side of the couch. With all this done you could set up and start getting to work.

Some of the monkeys looked at you curiously; it wasn’t like you to come here this early in the day.

“Hey there,” you said with a soft smile as you put some of the more perishable ingredients in the fridge.

A monkey jumped onto the counter, cooing and hopping at some of the food and tools you had out. It was clear they wanted to know what you were doing.

“Making dinner for when Monkey King comes back,” you told them, which was responded with soft chorus of oohs. “Don’t worry, I made sure there’ll be enough food for everyone.”

That got some cheers and chatter, a smile breaking out on your face as some of the monkeys went off now that their curiosity was satisfied.

Only a handful stayed put to watch you make dessert of all things first. You needed to make sure everything set in the fridge and have enough time before hand.

After that you were in getting into the groove of it all, homemade (or would it be temple-made?) noodles with a broth that almost shined like gold, steamed buns stuffed with vegetables, and a platter of fruits ready for the monkeys at any moment.

You checked the time on your phone, the parade probably already started but you might be able to catch up on what happened so far. Quickly you turned on the TV, sat on the couch, and found a broadcast that did the event justice.

It was nice to see all the floats and performers go all out, what felt better was you could enjoy it with a hot cup of tea and not have to deal with a loud crowd that might bump you at random points.

For a moment, you saw an article recommended to you on your phone, about an ancient mural of all things. Your eyes squinted as you read the text: “No one knows where the remnants of this ancient mural came from as the type of rock it belongs to doesn’t match any of neighboring mountains in the area. Truly a mystery for the ages.”

Another flick of your thumb and you saw a picture of the very same stone that you had brushed the dust off with your jacket sleeve.

“Oh, you would pull something like this, Wukong,” you said to yourself, the tone may be a bit annoyed but there was some humor found in it.

The fireworks soon started, making you turn your attention from one screen to another, a smile growing at the thought Wukong would be over sometime after the show. (He didn’t give you the exact details of how long he’d be hanging out with MK, but you didn’t mind as long as he’d be back and in your arms.)

Something happened after, the spider float that had absolutely no reason to be there revealed a quartet of spider demons and a young girl. The self-proclaimed Spider Queen announced her return, her demon minions jumping off into the crowd as the human by her side watched the show.

Spider-like robots began to swarm the city, latching onto the backs of victims then taking their freewill as any color in their eyes glowed into a sickly green and had them stand like puppets on a string. The float transformed, growing bigger and bigger until it began to tower over buildings, screams being the only sounds that could be heard as fireworks died.

Then the transmission cut to nothing.

Your eyes were wide open by the horror show, quickly you started going through your phone to see what was happening. What gave you the best results was looking up the city's name “Wan Qian Cheng” and seeing people scream and plead for safety, blurry photos on what and where people were, and short videos of what took place.

Dread made you keep scrolling for who knows how long, it wasn’t until one of the monkeys couldn’t stand your distress and slapped the phone out of your hand. You almost were mad at the monkey from the shock but after a moment you decided that the monkey was onto something.

Your hands pressed against your face to hold back tears, crying would lead to an unhappy year. A shuddering breath came out as an attempt to ease your nerves but nothing was helping.

Soon a monkey began to pick at your head, searching for any bugs, and giving a soft touch that strangely calmed you just a bit. Another sat on your lap, patting your hand so you’d do the same for them.

Hours passed both too fast and too slow, you wanted to know what was happening, why the city was still suffering, and where Wukong was in all this.

A bang, miles away, grabbed your attention. It made you exit the blank state you were in to avoid losing your mind and having a panic attack.

You looked out the window, the once sickly green glow that emitted from the city and tainted the sky was closer to a soft morning yellow. It made you rush out the temple, even though you’d never be able to see what was happening, something was happening and you could only hope it was something good.

The world trembled, the sky screamed in bursts.

Heavenly gold streaks of light enveloped everything, quickly thinning into strips that in turn dissipated in what could only remind you of the remnants of fireworks. The remains of the night sky reaching its end to become early morning, clouds as colorful and bright as the aurora borealis. It was breathtaking, incredible, otherworldly.

But none that mattered, all you wanted was one person to be with you here and now, safe and sound.

Who knew how much time had passed as you stared at the sky and continued to wait for the Monkey King, your fingers tapped the back of your phone in a nervous rhythm, strained breaths through bared teeth before falling back and laying on the stone steps.

He had to be alive, there was no other way. The golden light that ran across the sky could only be his, or at least his power. Either him or MK had done something to stop the Spider Queen from spreading her reign to the rest of the world.

But was he hurt, trapped? Was there even a way of knowing that he was okay?

The sunlight flickered, only a moment, enough to get you to sit up and see an eagle with brown and green feathers make its way to the center of the temple garden. The sight of a bright red monkey tail caused you to shoot up to stand.

You ran, not waiting for him to change back, no thoughts about the world around you.

It was a miracle that he transformed back as your arms wrapped around him. But for a second, it felt like he flinched under your touch.

A moment after he pressed his forehead against the crook of your neck and had his arms hug you back then relax with a huge breath. A huge weight left your shoulders, your own breath of relief almost sounding like a laugh.

He was okay, he was here.

“Sorry I’m late,” Wukong mumbled, his voice with practically none of the vigor you had known him for. “I got caught up in something.”

“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter,” you told him, your arms going up to his shoulders then cradling his head. “None of it does. You’re okay.”

Here. Safe. Alive.

All that you’d want with him for the new year.

The next breath you gave almost came out as a sob.

“I was so worried,” you choked, but that was only a layer of the fear you felt over the idea that not only he lost, but that you lost him.

“It’s okay,” he answered, slowly sounding like he was ready to knock out. It didn’t go unnoticed.

“I just,” you started as you pulled away to look at him. “I just want to be with you. We can do whatever we had planned later but I want you to relax after all that.”

Even if you had no clue on the specifics, the only word that you could describe him was drained.

The Monkey King smiled at the idea and gave a slight nod. “I can’t think of anything better.”

Both of you were crashed on the couch, the Monkey King resting his head against your chest while you brushed your fingers through his hair. Grooming his fur like the monkeys at the temple did when you waited for him to return. On occasion he would flinch, his hand curling into your shirt, a grimace that he would try to hide then bury into you.

“I’m here if you want to talk about it,” you assured in a soft voice. “Even if you don't, I’m still here.”

A low groan came from Wukong.

“It’s nothing,” he answered. “Just saw some stuff that got to me.”

“Can I ask what?”

“Visions,” he muttered. “But those are just demon mind games, they hardly have any truth to them.”

You hummed, taking his words with no further questions. He can tell you more when he wants or is ready to, all that mattered was that you made him feel safe despite being a fragile human.

You cradled the celestial being, an immortal who single handedly wrecked Heaven, and he hugged you back to provide your own protection.

Warmth was taking over and clouding everything, slumber ready to capture both of you in mere moments. But it was different, different from all the prior touches you exchanged.

You brushed his hair one more time, pressing a kiss at the top of his head, then murmured. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Sun Wukong whispered back.

Sleep overtook everything, the memory fading away before it could even form.

Chapter Text

You woke up and found yourself staring at the ceiling, it was still light outside so at least the day wasn’t slept away with Wukong when he came back. The Monkey King’s tail swayed just at the edge of your vision, guiding you to look down at the owner.

He looked serene while he slept against your chest, one of his hands that was lightly grabbing your shirt then twitched as he began to wake. Wukong turned to look at you with half lidded eyes, mouth open as though he forgot to close it after the yawn. The color in his cheeks tinted red as he moved towards you.

You said nothing as he got closer and cupped your cheek, pulling you toward him until his mouth was against your own. The kiss was warm and soft, though his teeth did lightly nip your bottom lip when you pulled away to finally breathe.

“Good morning,” you greeted with a smile after. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah,” he answered as he placed another kiss on top of it. “You?”

You gave a hum and a nod, smile easy to see while he settled back into your side. Resting between you and the couch, head placed where your shoulder and chest met. The soft ends of his hair brushing against you as you were silently grateful he took off the crown when he decided to relax in your embrace. A faint scent of peaches caught your attention.

“I just remembered something,” you told Wukong as you went back to staring at the ceiling.

A hum came from him, waiting to hear what the memory was.

“Food,” you answered. “I made a bunch of food for us when you were supposed to get back.”

“Oh yeah,” he answered back with a somewhat surprised tone, sounding like he forgot too. “So what did you make?”

You took in a breath through the nose as you thought back on it. A hand now up and ready to count everything you could remember. “I made some noodles and broth, vegetable dumplings, and got fruit for the monkeys since they’d want something too.”

“That’s probably gone,” Wukong thought out loud.

“Yeah,” you couldn’t help but agree. Three fingers now going down to two. “I did get us some tea, still need to brew it though.”

“What kind?”

“A few actually,” you weren’t certain what he’d want originally other than peach but you put in the effort for some variety. “Green, lavender, hibiscus, and peach.”

“Good, I was worried that you forgot my favorite,” the Monkey King joked.

“I would never forget my boyfriend’s favorite flavor for everything,” you told him with a mock tone. “Besides, even if I didn’t buy peach tea, I still had dessert in mind.”

“What were you going to make?” he asked as his tail swayed at the edges of your vision.

“I actually did get to make it,” you answered. “Still need to finish it really. It was this pudding with chunks of peach and it was in a mold so it'd look like a peach too. I had it set in the fridge, so that should be done by now.”

“Wait, there’s more to it?”

“Yeah,” you told him, your idea now spilling from your lips. “It was supposed to have this white chocolate shell you can crack open and this peach powder on top so it’d look like an actual peach.”

“Sounds pretty good,” Wukong said.

“I hope so. This is actually my first time making it,” you admitted.

“I'm sure it’ll turn out fine,” he assured, having himself rest against you once more. His tail curling around like a hug as the soft rhythm of his breathing could be heard. “You worried enough to last the rest of the year.”

The hand that was still pressed against him went up and brushed through his hair. “Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to worry about you again?”

Your expression became tired as your gaze went past the ceiling and to the sky above.

“I doubt I can stop you from worrying about me,” Wukong said as shifted out of the comfortable position to look at you once again. He was soon on top of you, surprisingly light while he sat on your lap before leaning forward then being face to face. Golden eyes staring intently as his hands cupped your face. “But I can promise that you never have to worry about me making it out alive.”

“I know but,” you couldn’t help but answer, his lips quick to put a pause on your words. Warmth spreading across your face as a prickling was felt at the edges of your eyes. Your foreheads pressed against each other when he let you part for air. “I just wish I could actually do something.”

“It’s all right, you already do enough,” he reassured. A crease still formed between your brows despite the words, despite the kiss that was soon pressed against your skin. “As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”

You gave a small nod, not completely content with the words but his heart was in the right place with what he meant and that was enough.

“You hungry?” you asked, changing the topic. “I made noodles, but I’ll have to reheat them first.”

“That sounds good, but I still think you taste better,” Wukong mused, being quick to plant a kiss against your neck and get a twitch from you.

You smacked his shoulder for the comment, all he did was laugh and brought a smile back to your face.

As much as you didn’t want to, you pushed him away so he’d get off you and start moving. “C’mon, let’s go eat.”

“Fine,” he said with an annoyed huff despite complying. He then waited a moment for you to get up just as well, his fingers reaching out then slipping between the spaces of your own.

“Oh yeah,” you spoke up as another memory came back after you started drinking the last of the gold broth in the bowl. “I read this article of some mysterious ancient mural found in the middle of nowhere.”

Wukong gave a hum at that, like it was news to him. You leaned against him, head resting against his shoulder for the meantime.

“Was that your doing?”

“Maybe,” he answered with a lilted tone, you swear the smile could be heard in his voice.

A smile of your own couldn’t help but appear. “You know, they’re going to have it in a museum in the city once it’s restored in a few weeks. There’s going to be a whole event on mysterious discoveries and other stuff like that.”

“I’m guessing you want to go,” Wukong said.

“Yeah, but I think it’d be fun if you came too,” you added in. “It’d be nice to go on an actual date for once.”

The Monkey King gave another hum at the idea. “I mean, it sounds nice but...”

“But what?”

“I’m not too crazy about having to stay transformed for hours on end,” Wukong told you.

“What about the festival we went to?”

“That’s different, it wasn’t crowded and we could actually find privacy.”

“We can try finding a spot for lunch or something,” you answered back, face pressing into his sleeve just a bit more. “Maybe the rooftop, that should be pretty easy for you to get to.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Wukong found himself agreeing, his tail swaying as the thought settled. “Still a bit of a hassle.”

“C’mon,” you playfully plead as you wrapped your arms around him. “It’ll be fun!”

Wukong gave a pout at that, the blush on his face didn't go unnoticed though.

“I’ll make it worth your while,” you chimed, your arms going up and over his shoulders. A quick kiss placed on his cheek then making its way to his jaw until your mouth was pressed against his neck.

“You’re pretty insistent on this,” Wukong noted, his breath shaking just a bit.

“It’s not like we actually get to go out much,” you said. “Or ever really.”

A soft huff could be heard from Wukong, his palm pressing onto the top of your head then brushing through your hair.

“Fine, if it’ll stop your whining,” he muttered, the tone didn’t sound annoyed though and the kiss he pressed against your forehead certainly helped.

“I don’t know, it kind of sounds like you’re the one whining,” you joked, burying your face into his chest with a tight hug, ignoring the hard leather of the armor plating as your cheek pressed against him. A smile not quite hidden but just out of his view. “Still, thank you.”

Chapter Text

Cold air slapped your face, sapping the warmth out of your body despite the thick gloves, long pants, and worn leather jacket that covered nearly all your skin. You brought your hands to your mouth as white warm breath filled the empty space, waiting for Wukong to meet you near the museum entrance and officially start this date.

A shudder from the cold was then heard nearby, the voice behind it sounded familiar and made you turn to see if your assumption was right. Now next to you was a somewhat familiar face, one you had only seen once before but had countless encounters with the real deal.

Light brown hair pushed back and a pair of sideburns to frame his face, the peach-colored marking now gone. His confident smile, baring sharp fangs when visible, was one of the few things that remain unchanged. (The other being his tail that wrapped at his waist like a belt.)

“Long time, no see,” you greet with a joking tone. “Haven’t seen this look in a while.”

His smirk grew, red going to his cheeks to keep warm. “Well I’m not exactly a fan of it.”

“I think it’s a good look,” you told him. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t prefer the original.”

“Well I am the Handsome Monkey King for a reason,” he answered proudly, his thumb and forefinger at his chin and framing it.

“Yeah yeah,” you laughed as you grabbed his free hand. “C’mon, I wanna get in before it gets crowded.”

“Any of this look familiar?” you asked as both of you stared at the glass cases filled with ancient weapons, tools, and pottery.

“Just because I’m older than most of this stuff doesn’t mean I’ve seen everything,” Wukong told you with a light nudge of the elbow.

“Doesn’t answer the question,” you said with a smile.

A huff of air left his nose but you could tell from his own smile that he was finding some fun in this. “Okay then, I’d definitely seen a few mortar and pestles when I was traveling. Most of them were wood or stone but I did see a few ceramic ones like that though.”

You stared at the cracked remains of the medicine bowl, a little disappointed with the dull history fact. “Anything else?” you ask.

“Well, the spear looks familiar, but I’m guessing that it was made for a ceremony or something,” Wukong kept on.

You spent a moment looking over the base of the weapon, taking note of the golden tips on both ends. The larger end looking surprisingly polished from the centuries of dirt that should have been piled up, reflecting the world around it in a honeyed sheen.

You glanced around the room, seeing a few people gather at other glass cases holding ancient artifacts. The mural at the end taking up more space than anything else in view, velvet ropes acting as the only needed barrier from the sticky hands of children. A man in red and white flipping through the pages of his book as he made glances up at the artwork on occasion.

The edge of your mouth curled up at seeing the mural in its restored form, your arm quickly wrapping around Wukong’s and pulling him to get a move on. You heard a grunt come from him, maybe a little surprised by the sudden action.

“Calm down, the mural isn’t going anywhere,” Wukong told you with a light laugh.

Soon after setting his sights on it, he came to a halt, his feet digging into the floor and stopping both of you.

Your smile practically dropped when you felt he wasn’t moving anymore. “Something wrong?” you asked as you looked back at him.

“We have to go,” he answered, actually looking nervous at whatever he saw ahead.

Confusion took over, you looked ahead once again and all you saw was the mural and a scholar engrossed at the massive antiquity in front of him.

“What are you talking about?”

“Listen, I know who that is right there and let’s just say that he’s a fan of mine.”

Your expression didn’t change at that, even after doing a couple look backs between your boyfriend and his alleged fan.

“I think you might be overthinking this, you look pretty different from what you usually look like,” you tell him, a soft tone hoping to ease any nerves.

“Have you met rabid fans?!” Wukong asked in a harsh whisper.

“Well, I’ve met MK.”

The Monkey King almost looked offended on his successor’s behalf.

“Listen, as much as MK looks up to me, even he can keep some composure,” Wukong began to explain. “This guy can’t. I bet he’s the type who can recognize someone by their eyebrows alone.”

Your brow furrowed and a soft pout came into view, disappointment easy to read.

“Is it too much to ask for a simple date?” you question after a huffed breath.

Wukong gave a conflicted expression, disheartened to see your once good mood changing for the worse and worry for himself if his so-called fanatic would catch sight of him. After thinking up something of a solution to meet in the middle, he let out a soft breath of his own.

“How about this?” he started out with. “You go check out the mural while I go grab us some food for later. Chances are my biggest fan would do a better job at giving you a history lesson than me.”

You gave an unsure look, not completely sold on his idea.

“I promise we can check out the mural and everything else together once he’s gone,” Wukong added in for good measure.

“I figured,” you answered. “But I want to know how you plan on paying for the food.”

“Got it covered,” he said with a pluck of a few short hairs from his head, a small flash of gold taking over and turning into paper bills.

His mischievous smile met your slack jaw.

“That’s counterfeit,” you harshly whisper, trying your best to keep the volume down.

“Is it though?” Wukong’s confidence unwavering. “Plenty of people would be willing to drop a couple million for a piece of me. If anything, this is a generous tip.”

Quickly you dug through your pocket and pulled out your wallet then handed it to him. “Here, just don’t spend it all. And don’t forget to give it back when you’re done.”

Wukong’s smile actually dropped, eyes wide and lips pursed from the action. “Didn’t expect you to hand that over so easily.”

“I like you and know you’re all powerful but I rather you didn’t make this more complicated than it needs to be,” you explained, a smile contrasting the annoyed tone. “Take your time if you want, but please don’t get into trouble,” you add.

His smile returned, a quick kiss against your lips. The bright blush that appeared on your face made his smile grow.

“You go have fun now, don’t wait up for me!”

And with that he was gone.

Your mixed expression soon settling back to a smile, a light breath leaving as your hand went to rub the back of your neck then went to rest at your shoulder. Too many things that you couldn’t believe revolving around him, dating him being on the top of the list.

Might as well check out the mural now, you weren’t getting any younger.

It didn’t take long for you to be at the side of the man in the red and white robe, his wide eyes locked on the gray stone as his lips pursed in awe.

“You came here for the mural too?” you said to him, hoping to strike up a conversation and see just how much of a fan he was over the Monkey King.

“Are you kidding me?” the man asked back. “What else is there even worth looking at when you have something like this!”

“Did you have something to do with the restoration project?” you asked the man as he pushed back his glasses into place.

“Sadly no,” the man admitted. “But I do know someone who may have had a hand in it.”

The “may have” made you cock your head, a little curious on where he was going with this.

“If what I know is true,” he continued on. “This mural of Tang Sanzang and his disciples is from Flower Fruit Mountain.”

“You sure that’s not a bit of a reach?” you questioned despite knowing how right he was with his claim.

He gave a grin that was bordering on smug, clearly knowing something you didn’t.

“It’s just a theory of mine, but it would make sense on why the rock sediment doesn’t match any of the neighboring mountains where it was found,” he said as he wiped away a newly found smudge off his glasses with his scarf. “While I don’t know how it got there, I wouldn’t put it past the Monkey King having something to do with it.”

“Huh,” is all you could really think to say to that. “Oh yeah, I never asked for your name.”

“I’m Tang,” he greeted.

Quickly you gave him your own with a smile which he soon returned.

“Did you come here alone?” you then asked. “I was here with my boyfriend but he left to grab food.”

“I mean, I tried to get my friends to come but they all had other plans going on,” Tang answered, disappointment easy to hear but not exactly upset. “Though I can say that the good thing about going alone is that you don’t have to wait for anyone else!”

“Not wrong there,” you agreed as your eyes settled back on the mural. “Got any theories on when this was built?”

“Not sure,” Tang answered. “Maybe 500 years ago from how much it’s faded but it could be older considering how well it’s been preserved.”

The murmurs of the crowd soon turned silent, heavy footsteps took over and it sounded like more than one pair.

You and Mr. Tang turned around to see a pair of demons who matched in size and stature but looked like opposing precious metals.

Tang’s face was probably something of distress, you didn’t get a good look of him. You were too focused on giving a burning glare to the gold and silver demons.

More than mad that the date you wanted wasn’t turning out like you had planned.

Chapter Text

A soft huff of heat came out your nose, your eyes glancing at the other museum visitors for a few moments before locking back on the gold and silver horned demons.

“All right, back away everybody,” the gold demon called out to the crowd. “If you know what’s good for ya, you’ll keep still, we get what we came for, and we can all have a nice rest of our day.”

Part of you was tempted to rush them like you had done when they entered the store you worked a few months back, but your feet stayed anchored into place. This was different from the encounter of them already retreating a fight gone wrong.

“Uh, Jin,” the silver demon nudged him, his voice just loud enough to make out the words. “What exactly did we come here for?”

“I think it was a sash or a snare or something. Didn’t you write it down?”

“I thought you wrote it down!”

“I thought you wrote it down!”

“Doubt it really matters,” Yin spoke. “We’ll just have to grab everything then.”

“Works for me!" his brother agreed, a wide fanged smile growing across his face.

You glanced back at Tang, his hands at his phone as he quietly pleaded for the other end to answer.

“C’mon, MK, pick up, pick up, pick up,” his strained whisper pricked your ears.

That definitely caught your attention.

“Hey!” the orange demon yelled. “No phones allowed!”

The moment one of the demon brothers took a step forward, your hands went to a nearby stand for the velvet ropes, quickly unhooking the metal pole and then lifting it to check the weight.

Heavy enough, at least enough to buy some time.

You charged forward, a yell finding its way out to psych you up.

That threw them off judging by the matching shocked expressions that went across their faces, the golden colored pole smacking against the equally gold demon’s side.

His silver brother saw an opening, red eyes locked onto you before his fist came into contact just above your stomach.

The breath knocked out of you, your body thrown across the room and your back slammed against a glass case. Shattered glass scattered everywhere. Cuts of red scraped your face, bones cracking from the slight movements made.

It hurt, it had to, that only made sense. But the pain began to leave with each breath that was taken after.

Shaky breaths coming out through gritting teeth, your hands pressed against the ground as your body tried to regain the strength to stand back up. The demons laughed for a moment before making their way to other artifacts.

Your body momentarily dropped, your hand reconnecting to the tiles and glass. The gloves feeling something different come into contact with your palm.

Eyes glanced down to the metal shaft in your grasp, fingers gripping and tightening around it.

A sound went off in your head. A great resounding ding, heavy like a gong and reverberating through your body.

Again, you try to stand. The thin weapon in your hand becoming a support and bringing you back to your feet.

Your sights soon set on the demons as they broke open glass cases and rip the contents out. The weapon in your hand soon becoming parallel with the ground, a golden glint of the spear’s tip catching your eye.

Another breath in and out your body, the pain practically gone despite feeling cold air sting the thin cuts on your face.

“Hey!” you shouted, tone almost sounding boastful. Surprising what anger could do for your confidence.

The demon duo looked back and were surprised to see you standing up again, a weapon in hand and burning ire in your eyes.

“What the?” they muttered in unison.

You don’t think you ever felt such an instinctual desire to bash something against another’s head since the last time you held a long cardboard tube.

You didn’t speak, didn’t give the smallest form of an answer. Only rush forward once more. Both hands now tightly on the spear’s base, heat building from the pressure.

Fire erupted from the spear tip, a bright red complimenting the gold end.

The blade slashing between the two, pushing them in opposite directions from the heat itself.

“Yeowch!” Jin yelped.

“Watch where you point that thing!” Yin yelled.

“How about you don’t ruin other people’s day!” you yelled back as you swipe at them again. A twitch across your face and make the scowl bare teeth. "I had plans!"

The shaft soon swung and hit the silver demon’s side, throwing him then dragging his golden brother who got caught in the crossfire.

You took quick strides to the demons who were now in a position you had been in not that long ago. The end of the spear burning bright and flame growing along with your anger. The demons’ red eyes locked on it, fear and confusion taking over their faces. Their hands searching for something in their pockets but couldn’t quite grab it.

“Okay, that’s enough,” a voice spoke. A pair of arms now hooking under your own and keeping you in place. “I think they learned their lesson.”

“Let me go!” you yelled, turning your head back to see the Monkey King was holding you back.

The anger you held vanished the instant you saw his confused smile, he’d definitely want to talk about this later.

“Got it!” Yin yelled as he pulled out a smoke bomb, it then erupted once it hit the ground and took over the whole room.

Gray darkness covered everything in sight. Your eyes strung, almost like dust was thrown at your face. All you could do was keep them shut as the gold and silver demons made their escape.

Wukong’s arms were no longer holding you back but now wrapping around and carrying you.

“What are you doing?” you ask as you could feel he was now moving swiftly and using the smoke to keep cover.

“Trust me,” Wukong answered, his human disguise vanishing in a flash. “I think we’ll have a better time discussing this in private than with a bunch of nosy strangers.”

“This?” is all you repeat, almost forgetting that the weapon in your hands was aflame. You glance back at the spear, the fire now extinguished with the golden end looking like it had just been polished.

Soon his somersault cloud appeared under his feet, the wind roaring in your ears as the world shifted at breakneck speeds. The smoke pushed away from the force itself and left all those in the museum confused on what they had witnessed.

“How familiar are you with legends? You know, other than mine,” Wukong asked.

“I know about the Jade Emperor, Guanyin, Lao Tzu, Erlang,” you began to list off. “Why?”

“You know who has the Fire-tipped Spear? Or at least supposed to have it.”

Your grip tightened around the spear, titles of its owner entering your head. The Marshal of the Central Altar, the Son of the Heavenly King, the Third Lotus Prince. “Nezha?”

“Yep,” Wukong confirmed. “He’s actually a good friend of mine, haven’t seen him in a couple of centuries though.”

“I’m guessing he lost this during that time then,” you mumbled.

“It’s really not like him,” he told you. “I’m guessing Heaven’s changed since I was there last time.”

“Not on speaking terms or you rather not deal with them?”

“The Celestial Realm is way too uptight for my taste, also it turns out I was right about you,” Wukong answered.

You said nothing, lips pursed as an eyebrow cocked at that. Wukong’s smile now taking over from your confused look.

“I definitely found someone more interesting than anything Heaven has to offer!”

Chapter Text

Slow breaths, your fingers curled around the cool metal. Your hand now twisting fast, the weight and momentum of the spear making it continue on after letting go. It danced around your wrist, your free hand taking over to keep it spinning as each cycle had the weapon move further and further from where it started.

Soon you gripped it once more, hands separate for balance as the tight hold made the metal grow warm. Aiming at the empty space in front of you, waiting for something to happen but nothing came about.

You let out a groan after all the countless attempts for the spear to set itself aflame again.

Why wasn’t it working now? Was it just a one time thing? A fluke? Some joke from celestial beings to see what you’d do after?

“You wanna take a break?” Wukong called out as he sat on the highest steps of Táozi Temple. “You’ve been going at it for awhile now.”

You let out another deep breath of air, sounding closer to a sigh than a groan this time around.

“All right,” you answer, taking little time to get to his side, have a seat, then lean against him for support. The spear never left your grasp, at most it stayed in a relaxed grip.

When Wukong wrapped his arm around your back, his hand at your waist, you couldn’t help but hum in content.

“So,” the Monkey King let the word hang in the air for a moment.

“Nothing,” you told him with a tired voice. “I really don’t know how I got it to happen the first time.”

“It’s okay,” he said, having his free arm scoop under your legs before setting you onto his lap. He then pulled you into another hug, his tail curling over then resting at your hips. “Maybe you just need some rest is all?”

“Maybe,” you mumbled, bringing your cheek to his shoulder. A smile appearing as the faint scent of peaches was noticed.

Rest sounded nice, right after a filling meal would make it even better.

Soon you sat up straight, your free hand showing Wukong your empty palm. The “give me” motion brought a confused look across his face.

“What?”

“I want my wallet back.”

His expression very much said the “oh yeah” for him as he dug through his pocket then handed it to you.

“I’m ordering delivery,” you felt the need to explain. “Is there anything you’re in the mood for?”

A soft purse of the lips formed across the Monkey King’s face, an idea forming in his head. “What if I cooked something?”

“You can cook?”

“You don’t live for over a thousand years without picking up a thing or two,” he said proudly.

“What can you even make?” you ask, your smile nearly a smirk. “I don’t recall you being much of a culinary expert.”

“Pretty sure I can make something like stir-fry,” Wukong told you confidently.

“Well, I guess that’s kind of easy to make,” you mumbled in agreement. It was just protein, veggies, and some sauce. “You sure you don’t want any help, like an extra pair of hands?”

“It’s fine,” Wukong assured as his face got close to your own. “You make a bunch of stuff for me, seems fair that I do the same.”

“Not like I’m keeping count or anything,” you said. “Besides, aren’t kings supposed to be waited on hand and foot? Not make their own meals and stuff like that?”

“I’m not like other kings, am I?” His fang peeking out from his smile.

“No,” you agreed, giving a small kiss at the edge of his mouth. “You’re much better.”

You sat on the couch, leaning forward as your hands propped your head and pressed against your cheeks. More than an armful of monkeys hanging around, either watching the TV play a movie you had seen before or trying to touch the legendary Fire-tipped Spear with tiny fingers while it was lying on the coffee table.

“Don’t do it,” was all you had to say to the pale brown monkey who then stepped back and went to nap on one of the pillows on the floor.

A loud clatter from the kitchen caused you to jolt on the couch. You turned to the direction of the sound, a somewhat concerned expression now on your face. A few fellow monkeys doing the same as their tails swung in curiosity.

“Wukong?” you tentatively called out. “You sure you don’t need any help?”

The pause you were met with didn't ease your nerves.

“No, it’s fine! I totally got this!”

You weren’t certain if you just heard a fume of flames after, but the quick flash of light that came from that direction in the hallway definitely fed your suspicions.

It didn’t take long for you to leave the couch and poke your head out into the hall, trying to see if Wukong was still able to keep whatever he was now making at bay. No one else was in the hall except for a couple of baby monkeys that scurried away from the kitchen entrance and ran for anywhere that wasn’t there.

“Are you sure?” you called out once more. “It’s really no problem if you need help.”

As you took a couple steps into the hallway, a golden flash came from the kitchen with the Monkey King almost sliding in before stopping.

“Trust me, everything is okay,” he told you, arms spread to make a barricade.

Your arms crossed over your chest and a pout came across your face, not believing any of it. This was definitely a copy trying to cover up whatever truth he was hiding. “I don’t have time for this, just let me help.”

You uncrossed your arms with a soft huff then started making your way to the kitchen, the copy was quick to pick you up and brought you back to the living room.

“Wukong!” you chided as he sat down on the couch with you placed on top of his lap, arms wrapping your midsection to stop you from leaving.

The Monkey King only smiled as his eyes locked on the TV, practically ignoring the physical attempts at escaping from the hug and only pulled you closer after a few minutes.

“Let me go!”

He gave a hum, like he was considering your demand. “Nope!” Then brought his face closer to your own.

His smile definitely grew when he noticed a blush forming on your cheeks, all you could do was turn away from his stare.

“You’re cute,” he said softly, his forehead gently pressing against your temple. “You know that, right?”

The thin line your mouth made found itself curling at the ends, your face feeling warmer as he gave a kiss to your cheek.

“Just shut up,” you mumbled, the words very much jumbled together.

A huff not too different from a laugh was heard from him, he pulled you closer and placed another soft kiss, this one at your jaw.

“You’re a peach,” he told you. “Just as sweet. And maybe looking a bit red like one too.”

“I know what you’re doing,” you nearly snapped back, embarrassment easy to hear in your voice. This was just to buy the original time.

“Yeah?” he asked with a lilted tone. “Is it working?”

His lips pressed your neck, his smile against your skin when he felt the slight twitch.

“No,” you murmured. The next word coming out much softer. “Maybe...”

That was enough of a yes for him.

“Well, my job is done either way,” the copy announced once he pulled back.

A bright flash of gold nearly blinded you before it was replaced with a single strand of hair. Your body dropped back onto the couch from the sudden lack of support, all you could do was blink a few times for the weird dots of color to leave your vision before sitting back up properly.

You almost slapped your hands against your face, trying to smother the warmth that had built up and painted your complexion. When you peeked between your fingers, you remembered the small audience composed of monkeys stare with their own amused expressions.

Yeah, you were done waiting in this room. You got back up and went to the hallway, quick to get to the kitchen to see if Wukong was done with the dinner he had promised to make.

When you entered the kitchen, you were met with a warm savory aroma of meat and vegetables. Unfortunately, Wukong was quick to pick you up once again, this time with you propped over his shoulder. You couldn’t help but notice his free hand and tail were balancing fully served plates with a surprising amount of grace.

“Is picking me up really necessary?” you asked after seeing the food ready while Wukong made his return trip with you in tow.

“Maybe not,” he answered, his smile was practically in heard in his tone. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want to.”

His grip lightened, letting you slip out and land on your feet in front of the couch. He was quick to hand over the plate to you with his tail, the appendage soon giving you a gentle push to instruct you sit back down.

The Monkey King soon sat down next to you, his own plate on his lap and quick to pick up his chopsticks and start eating.

You then took the pair that were nearly buried under the beef, broccoli, onions, and other vegetables. You took a bite, your tongue soon covered by the nice subtle flavors of the sauce.

“It’s good,” you hummed, licking your lips after taking another bite and then another.

“Glad to hear it,” Wukong said with a soft breath of relief.

You kept taking bites of your meal, the flavor reminding you of a restaurant you hadn’t been to in the past few months. Did Wukong get their recipe online?

“You know, I’m not the biggest fan of cooked foods but I can enjoy them,” Wukong admitted. “Nothing beats fresh fruit off a tree if you ask me.”

“Peaches I’m guessing,” you spoke after swallowing a bite.

“Yeah, but you’re definitely the next best thing.”

You looked the other way from that, red making its way across your cheeks once more.

“So what are we going to do about the spear?” you asked, hoping to change the subject.

“Not sure,” Wukong answered. “You wanna keep it on you or leave it here?”

You could only let out a hum while trying to make a decision. “I think I’ll sleep on it, it okay if I spend the night?”

Wukong only smiled at that, then leaning forward to give a soft kiss. A small giggle left as your own smile grew, maybe licking your lips just a bit from some leftover sauce.

Chapter Text

You were supposed to be watching the show, instead your eyes were shut as the soft thump of Wukong’s heartbeat took your attention. One hand holding you at the waist while the other had its fingers laced through your hair, a soft breath brushed against your forehead on occasion.

“Hey, you awake?” Wukong called out. “You’re missing all the good parts.”

You answered with a hum and a nod, eyes soon opened again to watch a scene of the Monkey King once again saving the venerable monk Tang Sanzang.

Thinking about it now, you realized that the both of you were only a few episodes short of being caught up.

“You know, season 19 should be starting soon,” you commented.

“Yeah, I think I remember MK mentioning that a few weeks ago,” Wukong replied, his fingers combing through your hair for a moment.

“I was thinking that maybe we could watch it at my place for a change of pace,” you added on, face feeling a tad warmer for asking despite how familiar you were with him.

“Sure, sounds fun,” Wukong told you as he brushed a small lock of hair behind your ear. “Be nice to hang out at your place before I go on vacation.”

Vacation?

You pushed yourself up, eyes locked onto his own with a confused expression.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, in a couple weeks. I’m retired so I figured it’d be as good time as any to see some old friends, go down memory lane and all that,” Wukong answered with a relaxed smile.

“How long are you going to be gone?” you then asked, your tone carrying a hint of glum.

“Not too long, few weeks,” he said, the next part of his sentence much quieter. “Months maybe.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“What? No, it’s not like that,” Wukong reassured, his hands soon cupping your cheeks to keep eye contact. “I’m just gonna be in the Celestial Realm for a bit, I’ll be back before you know it.”

Your line of sight soon went down, avoiding looking at his face so hopefully your next thoughts weren’t as easy to read.

“Listen, I’m not going to be leaving for a couple more weeks, we can do a bunch of stuff together before I go,” Wukong spoke, a hint of smile across his face to ease your spirit. “That sound good to you?”

“Yeah, okay,” is all you answered with a small nod.

“Hey, c’mon,” Wukong said as he pulled himself closer, forehead pressed against your own to keep eye contact. “I really want to have a good time with you before I go. There’s a hot spring that I think you’ll like, plus I'm more than down to spend the night and hang out at your place.”

He pressed a soft kiss against your cheek, a warmth quick to cover where it touched soon after he pulled away.

“I know,” you answered as your arms went to wrap at his neck and pull him in a hug. “It just seems kind of sudden, is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Wukong told you. His hand rubbing against your back in small, circular motions. “But it sounds like someone might miss me.”

You ignored the smug tone, only buried your face against his shoulder and fingers gripping a bit harder into his shirt.

All that came out of the Monkey King after that was a light breath, his tail curling over as his arms wrapped around you in a comforting hug.

“Trust me, everything is okay. I promise.”

“Okay,” was all you could say. Face still pressed against him. “Can we stay like this for a bit longer?”

The soft huff that was heard almost sounded like a laugh.

“Sure.”

The sharp end of the spear was tightly wrapped with an old cloth that Wukong had lying around, considering you were had a worn backpack on your person, most people ended up assuming that you were just carrying a rather long hiking stick. Not that you mind, it helped in making sure you weren’t stopped for any questions.

Part of wished you had taken Wukong’s offer in flying you back home the day after but you figured it would be best to think to yourself about this vacation Wukong was about to go on. Maybe grab some groceries and supplies for the next time you see him.

That hot spring idea sounded really nice but right now you thought to just focus on grabbing some snacks for the premiere of the next season of Monkey King: The Animated Series.

Peach chips were a given with him but you felt like that you should add in some more variety to it. You could buy drinks the day of, same for an actual meal. Maybe some simple snacks like candied fruit, some chocolates, actual potato chips instead of the dried slices of fruit he munched on.

Your eyes began to trail from the concrete to the crowd up ahead before landing to the row of windows filled with toys, figures, and plushies. Something catching your eye enough to cause you to walk in the store to get a better look at it.

In your hands not too long after was a plush of the Monkey King, it didn’t completely match how he looked now, this design was something from a movie that was more than a couple decades old.

The toy Monkey King made a funny face; squishy cheeks as he stuck out his tongue, eyes shut in a very happy way. The coloring around his face made you think closer to opera paint with how it gave him light green brows. He was even wearing a little outfit not that different from his journey to the West. It had a tiny version of his staff sewn to his hand too.

It was all so cute, you couldn’t help but admit to yourself. Warmth spreading across your face as the thought of Wukong entered your mind.

Part of you kind of wanted to buy this, but another was a little hesitant. Wukong could easily have his fun if he caught you with this.

You glanced around to make sure you didn’t see a disguised Wukong among the crowd, then turned the plush over to see it was more than affordable with the sale it was part of.

A sigh left you from that, now you had to buy it.

Chapter Text

Once you were back home, shoes off and other stuff now on the ground, you practically crashed onto the couch. A groan coming out and the stress almost physically leaving your body.

After a few minutes of having your muscles relax, you turned over onto your back and took a nice breath. You stretched and felt a nice pop of your bones, feeling just a bit more refreshed.

Your hand soon reached through your bag and pulled out the plushie along with some snacks to toss onto the table. You brought the plush close to your arms and glanced at the spear near the door frame. It still felt a little surreal for a celestial weapon to be in your home.

A knock entered and echoed through the apartment, the noise made you bolt up and look around on where it was coming from.

It was the sound of glass being tapped and you finally turned to see a familiar falcon at your balcony.

You put the plush down, under a pillow for good measure even, before getting up and making your way to the glass door.

“Did something happen?” you asked as the falcon shifted into the Monkey King during a golden flash of light.

“No, nothing big,” Wukong answered as he dug through one of his pockets, not long after he pulled out a thin white wire with a bulky plug at its end. “You forgot your charger at my place is all.”

“Oh,” is all you could think to say when he placed it into your hands. “You didn’t have to come all this way to drop it off.”

“It’s fine,” Wukong brushed off with a grin. “The trip here was a snap anyways.”

“Still, thanks,” you told him regardless, a quick kiss on his cheek to know you appreciated it. “Did you want to come in? I didn’t really have any plans for dinner but I can figure something out.”

Wukong’s smile only seemed to grow as a hint of red painted his cheeks. “Thought you’d never ask.”

Admittedly, part of you was a bit embarrassed how easily Wukong convinced you to place all your attention onto him instead of the meal you were thinking of making. But being able to be this close, take in the soft scent that came with him, the warmth in his touch as he held the sides of your face. You couldn’t help but smile after each and every kiss.

Until the sound of your growling stomach ruined the mood and got Wukong laughing.

“Are you forgetting to eat too?”

“Maybe if you stopped distracting me this wouldn’t be a problem,” you joked, now sitting up then leaving the couch to go to the tiny kitchen of your apartment.

“Not my fault I’m so eye-catching,” Wukong bragged as he leaned back against the pillow, hands going behind his head to keep it propped up. When his own stomach growled a complaint, his eyes went wide and smile dropped right there.

“And loud in a number of ways,” you laughed as you took out ingredients and supplies before setting them on the small counter.

Wukong made a huff at that, a pout clear on his face. Both at the comment and the lump he could feel pressed against his back just under the pillow.

He soon sat up and dug his hand under to find what was making him uncomfortable, his tail set itself straight in surprise and the hints of a smile creeping in at the edge of his mouth as his eyes set on the plush now in his hand.

When you glanced back at him and saw it in his grasp, you quickly dropped the frying pan onto the counter and made your way back to him. “I can explain!”

“Aww… That’s cute,” Wukong noted as his grin grew. “You’re gonna miss me that much?”

“I just thought it was cute,” you defended. “Not everything is about you.”

“But this is literally a plush of me.”

"You wish you were as cute as this plushie!"

“Aww…” Wukong said in mock sadness, smile contrasting the jokingly heartbroken tone. “Am I not good enough for you now? If I check your closet will I find a body pillow too?”

“This is the only thing I bought, I swear!”

“Clearly you’re not going to last long with me gone if you’re already buying substitutes to fill the void,” Wukong kept going, having a bit too much fun with this. “The body pillow was pretty popular so it might be tough to find you one. Would you want the Monkey Cop plush along with all of its accessories?”

Your hands almost slapped against your face, fingers spread so you could still see the ground under you. Embarrassment starting to burn your skin while you try to collect even the tiniest bit of yourself. “Listen, can we just not talk about this today?”

Wukong dropped the plush and let it plop back onto the couch, hands up and open to show he was listening. “Okay, fine,” he agreed. “We won’t talk about that.”

He soon got up and off the couch then made his way to you, a little concerned that you were still covering your face despite doing what you asked.

“Everything okay?” His tail curled and swayed in curiosity as he leaned under to get a peek of your expression.

“Yeah, just,” all you could mumble before taking a slow breath then finally uncover your face. “You having to leave is kind of a lot to take in.”

“It’s not gonna be forever,” Wukong reassured, standing up straight again when you did.

“Is there going to be at least some way we can keep in touch?”

Wukong took in a breath through bared teeth as his hand went to rub at the back of his neck, his expression looking a bit pained. “I don’t really think so actually, I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to keep in contact with MK and he’s got all my powers…”

There was a soft purse of your lips at that.

“I’ll figure something out,” he told you after catching that look. His hand cupping your cheek then bringing you close, a soft peck pressed onto your forehead. “I promise.”

You only gave a small nod in response, your hand going up to his own and curling over it as you pulled it away from your face. A smile finding its way back after a moment. “Do you wanna watch some more Monkey King? We still have a couple episodes left. After I actually make dinner I mean.”

“All right, sure,” he answered as he placed another kiss on you. “But there’s nothing wrong with multitasking, you know.”

It was nice, not that you really expected it to be that much different from all the other times you watched the show with Wukong. But it did feel like you did get to enjoy the show a bit more thanks to the lack on monkeys running around and chatting up a storm. Even with putting a good amount of your attention on making breakfast for dinner. (Can’t go wrong with an omelette with a nice mix of veggies.)

At least you’d be fully caught up with the show and wouldn’t have to rely on the marathon that was going to play right before the episode aired. That could definitely buy you time to grab food and drinks the day of the premiere since it was happening on a work day.

You kept digging into the eggy dish as the show played an exciting fight, Wukong just lying back while having his tail flick about and tossing the plush in the air.

You shot a slightly annoyed look at Wukong to which he placed the toy version of himself back on the couch arm.

Wukong gave a smirk, a small idea popping in his head.

“You want me to grab dessert or something?”

Only a confused expression was on your face. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Eh, getting kind of late but still kind of in the mood to eat. I know I’m still hungry.”

“Sure,” is all you thought to answer as you got up and pick up the empty plates to take to the sink. “I’m gonna go change, you can go if you want.”

“Is there anything you’d want?”

You were already on your way to your room for a fresh pair of pajamas.

“Surprise me!”

“All right!”

Realization popped into your head not long after, you hurried to put on a night shirt before going back out to your tiny living room and saw he was already gone.

“How are you going to pay?” you spoke aloud even though it was too late to ask.

A sigh left as you made your way back to the couch, taking the Monkey King plush and soon hugging it close.

It was soft and even carried a faint scent of peaches just like him.

“Hopefully you’re less vain than the real thing, already not as much as a loud mouth,” you joked with a huff.

His ego easily reaching the highest points in heaven and his vanity able to touch the bottom of the deepest seas. But still, there was something about him that you couldn’t help but find charming.

“I’m really going to miss you though,” you admitted to the doll as if it were Wukong himself, burying your face into the top of its head.

“Wait, really?” a tiny voice called out.

Your mind connected the dots, your arm already throwing the false plush to the wall only for a tiny cloud catching it from falling to the ground.

“Where’s the real plush, Wukong?!” you shouted. “I spent good money on it!”

“Why do you need that when you have the real thing right here?” Wukong answered after a flash of golden light to turn back to his true form.

Your pout changed into a scowl as you turned the other way, a hand covering your face to hide your embarrassment.

“This is why people don’t like you,” you mumbled as his presence was soon right behind you, arms wrapping around to pull you close.

“I know you like me,” Wukong confidently claimed.

“I’m not the one who gets jealous of a toy.”

“Can you blame me for wanting you to myself?” he laughed as you relaxed into the hug, but it may have helped that he brought out the very plush he hid back into your hands.

The balcony door soon opened and revealed a copy of the Monkey King, bit of a surprised expression to see the ruse was already figured out. He lifted up a plastic bag with a couple of cheese teas. “Um, I hope this works.”

You smiled as you pulled the monkey's arms off you and made your way to the clone, giving a soft peck as you took the bag from his hands. “Thanks.”

The copy poofed with an almost nervous chuckle and just as charming smile.

Seeing the original look at you with a pout made you laugh as you brought a drink to him.

“C’mon, not my fault that there’s more than enough of you to go around!”

Chapter Text

You awoke to fingers running through your hair, the soft strokes against your scalp were soothing to say the least. There was a temptation to shut your eyes once more and focus only on that touch.

It was a shame that you had work today.

The pout must have been easy for Wukong to notice since he was quick to pull you in close and began to nuzzle at the top of your head, a smile pressing against your brow when he paused to let out a content huff.

It was impossible not to smile back at that, your eyes closing and taking in the moment just a bit longer then pulling away with a needed stretch.

“You’re really cute when you’re sleeping,” Wukong told you as he shifted to have his arm prop him up, his free hand brushing some stray hairs back before resting against your cheek. “Adorable actually,” he added on as a fang began to peek from his smile.

Your expression scrunched up from that, soon burying at least the side of your face into the pillow to hide some of the red. “I can’t go a day without you trying to embarrass me, huh?”

“Not my fault you make it so easy.”

You let out a huff through the nose after that, pout easy to see when you pushed away from the pillow.

“Don’t be like that,” Wukong laughed as he got face to face with you. Noses pressed then soon rubbed against each other once he nuzzled you again. “You have to be cute at the very least to be with someone as handsome as me.”

“Aren’t you as humble as always?” you joked then began to sit up, another stretch taking over so you can start the day.

The Monkey King seemed to have different plans as his tail wrapped around your waist and pulled you back and onto his lap.

“Wouldn’t you rather just sit back and relax?” Wukong began to pitch. “Take some nice ‘me time’ and enjoy the simple things.”

“My place, my rules,” you countered. “Besides, I have a shift in a couple hours.”

“Nooooo,” he let the word linger in the air for the drama of it. “Don’t go. Stay with me, I promise to make it worthwhile.”

His arms wrapping around you just like his tail, his face pressing into your shoulder along with a soft hum.

“You couldn’t pay me enough to lose my job.”

“Just tell them you’re gonna be held up, and you won’t be lying ‘cause you’re definitely being held.”

“So you’re holding me hostage now?” you snarked, a smile on your face as he pulled away to show his expression, a pout not too different from what you gave him. “Why not just transform as a creepy customer and watch me work all day?”

“Fine!” Wukong answered as he let you go. “Just abandon your boyfriend!”

“You’re so dramatic,” you jokingly complained with a roll of your eyes.

“It’s like you don’t even know me anymore,” Wukong went on. “How else am I going to get all that adoring and loving attention?”

“When I’m off the clock,” you laughed with the suggestion. “Why don’t you just pull a demon custom wedding ceremony? Whisk me away from mortals and never to be seen again?”

You fell back onto the comforter for the theatrics, body still on top of Wukong’s lap so you’d know he was watching this.

“Maybe I should steal you away,” Wukong considered, his hand combing through your hair once more. “You probably deserve a vacation too.”

“I deserve a paid vacation. You plan on covering my food, rent, and all those other expenses?”

“I mean, I could…”

“Shame I’m a bigger fan of having the structure work gives me for my week and all that,” you admitted. Independence too, but that went unsaid.

“I’ve definitely heard that you guys are creatures of habit,” Wukong said as a finger curled at the end of a lock of hair. “Maybe you should get in the habit of staying in bed with me.”

The cocky grin he gave was soon smothered by your palm, blocking it from your view and making it hard for him to see the puffed up cheeks of your suppressed laughter. It didn’t stop his own laughter filling up the room though.

“Maybe I like that work keeps me humble unlike somebody that I know,” you said with a lilted voice.

“Work keeps you denying your king,” he countered with a pout that soon turned to a smirk, really unable to hold the annoyed expression.

“And I’ll keep denying you with that attitude,” you answered as you affectionately tapped the tip of his nose. “Also, last time I checked you’re the Monkey King, not a human one and no king of mine.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Wukong answered as he wrapped his arms around to pull you up and close to him once more, face burying into your shoulder and having his fur tickle at the edges of your face. “I definitely remember someone saying I was their king not too long ago.”

You let out a soft huff from that, accompanied with a pout. The unamused expression making Wukong smile even wider then gave a small nibble to your neck, practically a squeak coming out from the suddenness, giggles spilling out soon after.

“If you’re that desperate for company,” you spoke once catching your breath. “I can let you cuddle that plush while I’m gone.”

“Not good enough if you ask me,” he declined. “I’d rather have you here than some knock off version of me.”

“You’re impossible, I swear,” you mumbled under your breath, the tone nowhere near annoyed though.

He only responded with a hum, lips pressed against your shoulder as he held you.

“Maybe, but isn’t that what you like so much about me?”

“Only a part of it,” you answered, hands meeting his own to lighten his hold then have them rest on your lap.

“That so? What else is there?”

“I’m not gonna stroke your ego,” you shot down.

“Can’t blame me for trying.”

You leaned against him, back pressed to his chest and were able to feel the faint heartbeat. Unable to stop yourself from smiling and simply enjoying being with him.

“You know I’m gonna miss you, right?” Wukong told you.

“You mean miss teasing me?”

He only gave a small grunt, clearly not sounding happy with the joke. His tail patting against your blanket as he buried his face into you.

Your smile fell only the slightest, heart almost dropping that he was being this honest with you.

“We still have a bit of time left before you go,” you said.

“You mean here or my vacation?”

“I was thinking more before you went on that vacation,” you answered. “I still have another hour to relax if you really want my attention that badly.”

A soft breath of air left from his nose at that, brushing against your skin before a smile pressed into it. “Good to hear.”

“So what time do you think you’ll be over for the new episode?”

“I can come over once I’m done training with MK,” Wukong spoke clearly, now propping his chin on your shoulder. His tail soon wrapped around your waist like it was an extra arm. “It’s pretty much an all day thing.”

“Want me to make dinner for it or would you be okay with me grabbing take-out?”

“Take-out’s fine.”

“I’ll grab it after work. Anything you’d be in a mood for?” you ask. “And I don’t count by the way.”

A chuckle left Wukong. “Surprise me then.”

“I can try!”

“Wait, what time does the show start again?” His tone sounded like he had forgotten that important detail up until now.

“I think at 5, but we got enough time to work with.” Besides, they were going to air past episodes as a recap beforehand so that was plenty of free time between the end of your shift and the start of the new season.

“Wanna watch it at my place or would you rather have it here?”

“Here,” you told him. “Saves me a lot of time that way.”

The Monkey King hummed at that. “Makes sense.”

Your hand gave a gentle squeeze to Wukong’s, the callused skin feeling not that different from hardening clay, the warmth was all you needed to know that it was Wukong and him alone.

“You wanna stay like this a little longer or do you plan on getting ready for work?”

“What happened to you holding me hostage?” you laughed.

“Still holding you, I just want to be sure.”

You held a hum, faking the idea of thinking it over. “Okay, I think I can spare a few more minutes.”

“Good,” Wukong said under his breath as he placed another kiss at the crook of your neck.

Chapter Text

MK struggled to catch his breath, pushing himself back up with the staff as a support then trying to brush away the dirt that clung to his pants.

“Good work, Kid,” Monkey King complimented with a wide smile, ruffling his hair but managing to keep the bandana in place. “You almost got me there with that clone.”

“Really?” MK almost beamed as his mentor’s hand left him.

“Remember what I said about staying humble, the last thing you need is getting a big head,” the Monkey King reminded him with a chuckle. A yawn then left him, stretching out his arms before settling behind his head. “Well I think that’s enough for today. I’d say the both of us could use some rest right about now.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself!” MK agreed, an armful of snacks seemingly appearing out of thin air and now making his way to the inside of the temple. Same one for their training during New Years, he was kind of excited on how this one looked compared to one on Flower Fruit Mountain.

Wukong could only stare in confusion at his successor, it didn’t take long for MK to turn back with a widening smile.

“You ready for the Monkey King marathon?”

“Uh… What?” was all Wukong could say to that, befuddlement only becoming more apparent as he scratched the back of his head.

MK’s smile fell at that. “We were going to watch it before the season 19 premiere, remember?”

The Monkey King sucked in air through his bared teeth, a grimace easy to see before he spoke. “Sorry Bud, but I already promised-”

“You’re watching it with them, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…” Wukong admitted, trying to give an embarrassed smile as a means to gently play it off. “But we can watch the next season together!”

“But we had this planned weeks ago!” MK told him, holding back the hurt in his tone.

“We did?” Wukong questioned. “Listen, Kid, I’m really sorry, it must have slipped my mind but I gotta get going. I’m gonna be late at this rate, but tell you what! We can watch the next season premiere together!”

The somersault cloud appeared under the Monkey King’s feet and took him off the ground, the slightest breeze hinting that he was about to take off soon.

“But-!” was all MK could get out as Wukong gave his goodbye in an almost sing-song tone then vanished with a powerful gust of wind. “This was supposed to be the final season…”

Okay, you listed off what was in your hands to in your head. Snacks to munch on, cheese teas to drink, all that was needed was a proper dinner. (You may have been wearing a cute hoodie that had a pastel palette with an embroidered peach over the heart.)

Would it be overdoing it to get another meal from Pigsy’s Noodles? You don’t think you were becoming a regular but you didn’t want to keep grabbing the same bowl of noodles from them every time. Maybe you could shake things up a bit and go for a different flavor?

Would something on the more spicy side be something he’d like or would he want something with more variety?

You could just buy one of each and have Wukong choose between the two, that seemed like a good way to work with it.

Hopefully it won’t take that long. The restaurant was literally within walking distance.

It felt like mere moments passed in deciding flavors and paying upfront for the food, practically out the shop's door and back out into the world.

It was kind of surprising to run into MK in that instant after.

“Oh, sorry,” you quickly apologized, barely avoiding an impact between you two.

MK just seemed to stare at you, eyes wide and brows arched. Surprise seemed like the best word to describe it. “Uh, hey…”

“How’s it going?” you decided to ask. “Heard you and Monkey King were doing training today!”

“Yeah, it’s been okay. Got a lot of lessons in,” MK answered, eyes glancing to the side as a smile tried to curl his lips. “Hope your date went well and all!”

“It kind of needs to start before I can really say,” you chuckled.

“Oh,” was all MK could find himself saying for the moment. “I figured he didn’t have any time on his hands and would have gone straight to you. He seemed really excited to see you and junk.”

“I would hope so,” you said. “We’re dating after all. But if you ask me he’s a bit on the clingy side,” you joked at the end.

“At least he wants to spend time with you,” MK answered, his expression turning into shock at realizing what he had said.

Your smile dropped, concern and confusion taking over in its stead.

“MK? Did something happen?”

“No! It’s fine!” he quickly backtracked, his hand waving as if to erase his words. “Just…”

MK didn’t seem to have an idea on what to play that off as, before he knew it, he was running off.

It wasn’t much longer that you followed him, trying your best to avoid bumping into strangers that took over the sidewalks.

“MK, what happened?!” you yelled as he kept going. Your take-out bag bumping into pedestrians and causing a couple stares in your direction before moving on with their day like it was nothing.

Just as you thought you were about to catch up to him, MK took a sharp turn into an alleyway. Your footing was barely able to keep up with him and soon your shifting weight had you rushing forwards, it would be wrong to say that you had tripped but couldn’t quite hit the ground just yet.

But you managed to grab MK’s wrist and pulled him to stop, both of you huffing and out of breath. The best word you could describe MK was upset with how his mouth twisted and eyes watered.

“MK?”

As his name left you, the ground below began to sink. The sound of breaking cement taking over everything and before you knew it both you and MK falling into a newly formed pit.

You and MK latched onto each other, his hand instinctively reaching for the staff in his ear then quickly extending it until both ends wedged itself into the concrete and held both of you in place.

Despite stories of the staff being thousands of pounds, MK struggled to keep his hold.

“I’m… slipping…” he warned as his grip loosened, soon dropping you and him into the pit.

Both yelling until you hit the surprisingly soft dirt that cushioned your fall. Still, your lower half did hurt a bit from the impact.

MK let out a few groans as he sat back up, he quickly cracked some bones back into place with a few stretches here and there. “You okay?” He took the time to ask.

“I’m fine,” you answered. “What about you?”

“I’m all right, been through a lot worse,” MK told you.

“No, that’s not what I mean,” you said, shaking your head. “What’s going on? Why did you just run off like that?”

“It’s nothing,” MK quickly brushed off, looking up and staring at his now stuck staff several feet out of reach. “Let’s just focus on getting out of here…”

You grabbed at his jacket sleeve, MK finally making eye contact with you once again.

“Did I do something wrong?”

MK’s expression went from feigned calm to conflicted worry, he seemed to bite the inside of his cheek before he began to speak. “It’s fine, it’s not you, and I don’t wanna ruin your date…”

Your brow furrowed at that. “Did something happen with Wukong?”

“He…” the words inside him soon found themselves and spilled out his lips. “We were going to watch the new season of Monkey King after training, we had this planned weeks ago and he hardly spends any time outside of training anymore and I even had a bunch of stuff and snacks ready since it’s the final season but he blew me off to see you,” his tone changed, frustration and sadness and pain taking over as his voice grew louder. “Like I get that it’s dumb to get upset over it, but he just acted like it was nothing and now I’m hearing that he left early for a date that hasn’t even started! And I shouldn’t even be mad at you about it because Monkey King is so happy when he gets to be with you and that isn’t fair! It isn’t your fault he’d rather see you! But, it just, stings!”

Your mouth hung open just the slightest, taking a moment on what to say after.

“I’m so sorry,” you told him, MK looking almost shocked by your words.

He didn’t say anything else to that, you couldn't blame him.

But part of you couldn’t help but ask a question after that.

“MK… Are you jealous?”

“No!” Embarrassment painted a hint of red across his face, his hand soon rubbing at the back of his neck. (A habit he may have gotten from the Monkey King himself.) “I don’t know… Maybe?”

You were about to backtrack your question, worried you may have made this conversation uncomfortable but MK let out a groan from his frustration and put your thought to a pause.

“But it’s not like that! It’s just… Monkey King has been my hero since forever, and when he made me his successor and started training me I guess I thought… I hoped I was special to him in some way, but…” His hand left his neck then went to gesture to all of you. “Now I know what that looks like…”

It was hard to look him in the eye with that, your mouth a thin line as you took in a quiet breath.

“You know, when I first met Wukong, he told me about you the first chance he had,” you said, eyes fixed on the dark sky above. “No joke, I told him that I kind of thought he had just died at some point because I saw you on the news with his staff.”

“You talk about me?” MK asked with a soft voice, almost unsure if he heard that right.

“Sometimes, yeah,” you reassured. “He’s really proud of you, I’m kind of jealous if I’m being honest.”

“Wait, you’re jealous of me?!” MK sounded much more surprised than you would have expected.

“I mean, all the powers of Monkey King and getting trained by him?” you lightly laughed. “Pretty sure that was every kid’s dream at some point!”

A smile cracked across his face, relief filled you from the sight.

“I guess that is kind of true,” he agreed with a chuckle, almost as if some of his confidence was coming back.

You mirrored his smile, happy for the change in attitude already despite still not knowing what to do to get out of the giant pit both of you were in.

“There anything else you wanna talk about?” you asked, taking a seat on the pile of dirt you landed on. “Pretty sure we have a while before someone finds us.”

Chapter Text

“What are you two doing in there?!” A third voice called out, familiar and deep. Some subconscious part of you about to smile at the owner before remembering that you had more than enough reason to be angry at him.

The Monkey King, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, and predecessor to Monkie Kid, Sun Wukong poked his head in and to the gapping pitfall trap that you and his successor had gotten into.

“Wukong?”

“Monkey King?”

“Everything all right?” Wukong asked, now noticing his staff wedged into the dirt walls.

“We’re stuck!” you yelled, hands cupping around your mouth like a makeshift megaphone.

“Get us out of here!” MK called out.

Wukong was on his cloud as it brought him down to reach you and MK at the bottom. “You can’t shrink the staff?”

“Not from all the way over here,” MK pointed out, hand gesturing to how far above and clearly out of reach the staff was.

Wukong looked up as if to show he saw but his tail flicked curiously, like he missed the point. “Did ya try asking it?”

“What?”

Wukong made a face, between unimpressed and disappointed that MK didn’t get what he meant. His tail swished as he glanced back up then shouted. “Change!”

The staff did as it was told, but not in the way you were expecting. Instead of it shrinking, the staff made itself bigger, looking like the pillar it was way back in the day. The Monkey King definitely made his point is all that went on in your head while the ground shook, yelps came from both you and MK as particularly big chunks of concrete and dirt landed not too far from you.

“Change back! Change back!” MK called out, hoping that the staff would stop growing.

The trembles came to a quick halt as the staff practically snapped back to its standard size of a walking stick, the ground gave one last shake when the staff fell and planted itself into the ground.

Different names for the staff started popping up in your head while MK made his way to pull and pick it up, the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod stuck out at the moment but Ruyi Jingu Bang had a nicer ring in your opinion. However, simply being referred to as “the staff” worked just as well.

“So why are you two in here?” Wukong asked, hands resting on his hips.

“Well it wasn’t by choice,” you muttered under your breath, patting away some of the dirt on your pants and a little peeved that the sleeves of your cute hoodie were messy.

“We fell in here,” MK answered. “I think it was a trap by someone, don’t know why they didn’t show up to fight though…”

A soft hum of acknowledgement came from Wukong, his tail flicking as he looked between you two. “You both okay?”

“Yeah…” MK sighed as he rolled his shoulders and felt the satisfying cracks.

You only gave a nod, hand rubbing away some tension in your neck and shoulder.

“Need my help or you good on getting yourself out?” Wukong asked MK.

“I’m fine,” MK told him, his tone still holding some of his disappointment towards his hero. He took some time checking his bearings to see if he lost anything from the fall.

“Hey, Wukong,” you said quietly while he gave a pleased smile. “Why’d you hurt MK like that?”

“What?” His smile dropped, seeing the slight pout.

“I’m glad that you want to hang out but you can’t just cancel on people on such short notice,” you told him, tone stern and trying to hold in the frustration.

“It’s fine, I told him we could watch the next season together instead,” Wukong tried to reason.

“There’s not gonna be a next season,” you scold. “This is supposed to be the final season.”

“Oh…” was all Wukong said, a grimace taking over.

“Oh?” you repeat back at him. “That’s all you got to say?”

“Well what do you want me to do?”

Your hands almost slapped against your face as you took in a deep frustrated breath, after your pout vanished in exchange for an almost neutral expression.

“Fix it,” you answered softly.

You weren’t certain if you heard a gulp come from Wukong but his expression did change as he glanced over to his successor, who was just about to take off.

“Hey, Kid,” Wukong called out, MK looking surprised that his mentor was focusing on him. “Ya got a minute?”

Wukong sat on your couch, in between you and MK, his arm resting at the back and almost trying to drape over your shoulders. All three of you had your attention on the animated fight sequence, bright colors and intense music riffs highlighting everything in the best way.

Still, you could feel some of the discomfort in the air despite Wukong convincing MK to join the viewing party at your place. Even full stomachs couldn’t quite bring all of you at ease, but Wukong was doing his best in filling in any silences from becoming awkward.

“I’m kind of surprised with how much they glammed up the fox spirit, but I guess it’s in the name,” Wukong noted once the White-Faced Vixen disguised herself as a beautiful maiden then recited the plan to the White Deer Spirit.

“Glammed up as in a lot of make-up or making her prettier than she actually was?” MK asked for clarification.

“Make-up,” Wukong answered easily. He quickly glanced at you then leaned in a bit closer, enough to whisper in your ear so MK wouldn’t hear. “I still think you’re a better catch.”

A heat took over your cheeks, but the embarrassment was overshadowed by the annoyed disbelief, eyes wide and mouth turned to a thin line. “Wukong,” is all you chide with a nudge of the elbow. This very much wasn’t the time for sweet nothings.

Wukong let out a soft breath through the nose as he brought his attention to the TV. He hid the expression well but you could tell he was a little disappointed with the response you gave.

You felt a twinge of guilt but you were going to stand your ground and not give in to him.

“Anything else?” MK asked, interested to hear what else his mentor had to share about the adventure or maybe about what the pair of demons were like in person.

“Well, I could spoil it, but then it’ll ruin the show,” Wukong answered with a smug grin.

“You got anything to tell us about how production goes then?” you asked in turn.

“Sorry! Non-Disclosure Agreement!” The Monkey King said.

“Come on, Monkey King!” MK practically pleaded. “You gotta tell us something!”

“You just wanna ruin all the secrets, huh?”

“Doesn’t the crew for the show host a livestream after a new episode?” you questioned, you remember tuning into them for the last season.

“Yeah, they do!” MK confirmed. “They do a bunch of sketches and show off fan art and even talk about what they did when making it.”

“Oh, have you made any fanart for it, MK?”

“Oh yeah, tons!” he answered.

“Can I see?”

“Monkey King, what exactly do you do for the show?” MK decided to switch the subject.

“Oh, you know, get a sneak peak on what they’re gonna make, put in my thoughts and point out little details they might have gotten wrong,” Wukong answered a little too proudly, MK’s starry-eyed expression was definitely adding to his ungodly ego. “That kind of stuff.”

“So whatever makes you look good?” you joked as you leaned against the couch arm.

A laugh escaped MK from that, Wukong’s tail puffing up just a bit from the embarrassment. The Monkey King soon gave you an unamused expression, maybe holding a hint of annoyance too.

His tail eased itself behind of your knees, you almost didn’t notice until Wukong had the appendage pull you onto his lap. His arms holding you at the waist to keep balance, a smug smile being a contrast to your shocked expression.

“What? Does my sweet peach have better ideas on how the show should go?”

No words could come out, your mouth just the slightest bit a gap, a heat crawling across your face.

Another stifled laugh came from MK, his body having tiny tremors from trying to hold in anymore sounds from escaping. Wukong’s expression changed to shock at realizing that he was openly flirting with you in front of his successor of all people, other than the monkeys he had never really been this public with his affection. (Not counting that spontaneous kiss you gave him in front of MK months ago since that one was on you.)

That was all you needed to snap you out of the flustered state he put you in.

“So I’m your sweet peach, huh?” you teased back at him.

“I… Uh…” Wukong was speechless for once.

“Well dang!” MK couldn’t help but laugh and break the silence. “Maybe Soft Wukong would be more accurate!”

“It’s not like that!”

“See ya, you two!” MK said, waving goodbye as you and the Monkey King did the same.

“You get home safe,” you said back, the door almost shut closed but MK’s voice had one more thing to say.

“Will do!”

Then it was just you and Wukong in your apartment. And the Monkey King seemed a bit too confident on where he thought the night would go with how he wrapped his arms around your waist then pull you into a hug.

A heavy sigh left you, your hands going over his own then pulling them off.

“Something up?”

“It’s fine,” you answered. You didn’t take much time on going to the coffee table to clean up the dishes then place them in your sink, you’d just let them soak for the night then get to it in the morning.

“MK seemed to have a good time,” Wukong noted, being quick to follow you.

“Yeah, he seems pretty crazy about you,” you joked. Not like you could really blame him, you weren’t any better in that regard.

“Well yeah,” Wukong bragged with a laugh. “He’s a big fan of mine.”

The corner of your mouth curled just a bit to hold back a laugh, Wukong gave a soft smile back at it.

“You know, we can still have some fun since it’s just you and me now,” Wukong mused, getting closer, his tail soon hugging around your waist as a means to hold you.

Your smile dropped. “Wukong…”

“What?”

“You really hurt MK, you know that, right?”

Wukong’s smile dropped this time. “Listen, I didn’t mean to. And hey, we got to make it work out in the end!”

“I know,” you spoke softly, anger wanting to grow but you held it in place. “I’m just really not in the mood after seeing you break his heart like that.”

Wukong’s mouth made a thin line at that, his tail loosening its hold then soon releasing you. “Listen, I was just really excited to get to see you again.”

“And I’m really happy to hear that,” you told him. “But it wouldn’t feel right knowing you’re blowing him off like that, especially if you promised to hang out with him first. He really looks up to you.”

Wukong let out a hum of agreement, easy to hear.

“Do you still want to do the hot springs or…?”

“Do you have anything planned with MK around that time?”

“I was planning on seeing him after that,” Wukong answered with an almost light laugh. “Wanted to get some training done with him then I’d get going.”

“That’s good,” you said, a weight leaving your shoulders and a smile finally undeniable to see.

“So, we’re still good for next week?”

You nod in agreement. “Yeah… There anything I should bring over?”

You moved to the side, letting Wukong out of your tiny kitchen. It wasn’t long before he started making his way to the glass doors of the balcony.

“Whatever you usually bring when you’re coming over to my place," Wukong answered easily, opening the door and getting slapped by a chilly breeze. “Maybe bring some extra towels because the hot springs can get cold at night.”

“Anything else?”

“Why not take the spear with you while you’re at it,” Wukong suggested. “When Nezha starts crashing down to Earth for his stuff, I’m pretty sure it’ll be easier for the both of us if he just drops by at my place than go looking for you,” Wukong explained. “Don’t really know how he’d even be able to know what you look like honestly,” he muttered under his breath after. “Even though I’d rather not have people accuse me of stealing again…”

“Like the immortal peaches you were supposed to guard?” you jabbed with a smile.

“That was a long time ago,” Wukong answered defensively. “Besides, I don’t want anything targeting you ‘cause you’re carrying a celestial weapon.”

“I guess that makes sense,” you admitted.

“I really don’t know what I would do if you got hurt because of me,” Wukong told you.

“I’ll be fine,” you reassured. “You go enjoy your vacation when it starts.”

Wukong smiled, much more relaxed now as some invisible weight seemed to leave his shoulders. “Okay.”

“Good,” you told him back, placing a soft kiss against his cheek.

“C’mon,” Wukong said as his hand cupped your cheek. “You can do better than that.”

You let out a light laugh with a shake of your head then stepped back, hand on the handle and ready to shut the door.

“I’ll see you next week, love ya, bye.”

And with that, the door was shut then you walked away. Your eyes grew wide once you turned off the lights and realized what you had said.

You can only hope it was casual enough for him to miss it.

Chapter Text

Clothes, towels, and a celestial spear were either in or attached to your hefty backpack for this amazing hot spring Wukong seemed so eager to bring you to. You didn’t take long in hoisting it on and taking one last look at yourself in the mirror to reason if you needed to wear even more for the cold mountains ahead.

Thick boots that actually carried some weight with each step, long pants that folded at the ends, and two jackets. The peach hoodie with the leather jacket on top to trap in any remaining heat. Your backpack felt a bit on the heavy side but hopefully Wukong would take the chance to get it off your hands or make the trip as quick as possible.

You double checked your front door to make sure it was locked, which it was, before going to your balcony and shutting the door behind. The Monkey King appeared the instant the glass door clicked shut.

It may have spooked you a bit, the slight jolt might have been a giveaway.

Wukong only gave a smile, teeth bared and eyes crinkled to show how he enjoyed your shocked expression.

“How’s it going?” he asked, his tail swaying in interest as his somersault cloud hovered behind.

Your smile came out with a soft breath, a white fog thinning out into nothing as you nodded. “I’m doing well.”

Wukong’s smile stayed put as he leaned forward and gave a soft kiss then pulled back. “You ready?”

You ignored the heat building in your cheeks, dismissing it as your clothes trapping in everything. You nodded your answer, arms quickly wrapping around his neck to which his own wrapped around your midsection. A laugh escaped as he held you close, even if all it lasted was a moment, he was quick to pick you up, his arm hooked under your legs and the other pressed against your back.

Soon he jumped onto his somersault cloud with you in tow, his grip tightening just a bit as the cloud seemed to rev itself up then shot forward.

The temple was about the same size and color as his other temples but that really wasn’t a complaint, more of an observation. The green trees surrounding the area were decorated with hanging wisteria, the lilac blossoms carrying a faint scent you couldn't quite name. Some monkeys passed by in what looked like a game of tag, the sight made you smile. You weren’t certain if the mist you saw was actually steam from the nearby hot spring but Wukong was quick to take back your attention.

“So, what do ya think?” he asked as he took the chance to slip the backpack off your shoulders, the vanishing weight feeling like a massive relief.

“It looks really nice,” you answered, your arm wrapping around his free one and giving a light hug. “Thank you.”

“Thank me later,” Wukong told you. “I got a bunch of stuff planned for the evening!”

“That so?” you jokingly purred, pulling yourself closer to him.

“You don’t live over a thousand years without picking up a thing or two about romance,” Wukong answered with a puffed up chest and a smug smile to match.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” you laughed as both of you were walking to the temple steps. Wukong giving you an annoyed face at that only made you laugh harder.

It didn’t take long to reach the door, Wukong opened them and their heavy weight could be heard with the creaks that were made. The layout was different from Táozi Temple and definitely not that of the average Buddhist temple, it almost felt like an inn but the thought that Wukong put in the effort to refurbish a whole temple for this, for you, made you speechless.

“So…?” Wukong asked, lightly butting his head against the side of your own.

“It’s amazing,” you said with a smile, trying to hold back from saying thank you once more so soon. “I’m really glad you brought me here.”

“Good,” he hummed before pulling away. “C’mon, bet you’re starving.”

Your stomach growled at the perfect moment to give a confirmation, Wukong chuckled to it as you gave a light slap against his arm for that.

You were hoping that drool wasn’t dripping when your jaw dropped at the sight of a huge table littered with so many different meals; vegetables and pulled noodles with a golden broth, Peking duck that was shining like copper from the sauce, steamed dumplings that looked like they were ready to burst from the filling. It was hard to keep track of every single thing in view but you started to feel overwhelmed.

“This is all just for dinner?” you asked, Wukong’s tail unwrapping your waist as he beamed at all the food he had ready.

“I mean, yeah,” Wukong answered, taking a seat on a pillow then patting a nearby one so you’d do the same. “We can have the leftovers for breakfast if you’re that worried about it going to waste.”

A light breath escaped at that as you took the spot next to him, the savory smells making your mouth water even more. “That’s a relief to hear,” you told him, your smile feeling like it would split your face but you simply couldn’t stop.

“You worry too much,” he joked, his hand tousling the top of your head before smoothing it out into place. “Now let’s eat, I don’t want this getting cold.”

You helped yourself to a piece of everything that caught your eye, which was most of the food. It all tasted so good, even just the rice by itself seemed to be the perfect texture and temperature, it took so much more willpower than you would have guessed to stop yourself humming in pure bliss from it. Wukong seemed pretty pleased to hear your reaction, tried as he might, soft chuckles and huffs could still be heard through the eating. Despite how much there was, it felt surprisingly light, not that you were going to complain about that.

Who really knew how much time had passed between the simple conversations that were exchanged and the food both of you were so eager to share, all that mattered was that you were in the moment and just enjoying this time with him.

“So,” Wukong started out, the word dragging a bit like he was actually nervous to mention it, his chopsticks really taking the time to capture the last bit of rice as they scrape the bowl. “I have a little something for you.”

“What is it?” you asked, taking a sip of water so you’d stay hydrated against the rice wine you had a drink of.

“Listen, before you say anything about it, I really did put a lot of thought into this,” Wukong continued. “I figured if I got you something with my face on it you’d think I just gave you a freebie.”

You said nothing, only smiled as he went on, enjoying the soft red that colored his face even more than his marking.

He was fiddling with something in his pocket, as if he were still questioning whether to give the gift despite bringing it up.

“I know it’s not that flashy either but I also didn’t want it to take too much space or just be a hassle to have…”

You scooted closer, one of your hands holding onto his upper arm as a support for you to bring your face to his own. You gave a soft kiss against his warm cheek, the action putting his talking to a halt.

The look he gave you had a hint of shock, but it soon turned to relief with the breath he let out.

His free hand took your left, holding it close as he brought out the gift he was getting so nervous over.

“I wanted you to have this,” Wukong spoke as a jade bangle appeared in his open palm.

Your jaw went a bit slack as the bright green caught your eye, the stone looking as though it contained a portion of the sky and colored it emerald.

“Wukong…” you spoke softly, wondering for a moment if this was something he stole from the celestial realm then promptly shut the thought away as unimportant.

“I wanted you to have something that you could keep with you all the time, so you could think of me while I'm gone, and know that I'm kind of still with you in a way,” he told you, a sheepish smile still on his face at the edge of your vision. His hand still holding your wrist, almost waiting for permission to properly give it to you. “If you want it that is.”

Words were overlapping in your head, you struggled with what to say without having the wrong thing come out. You looked back up at him, staring into his golden eyes as you gave a small nod.

His smile turned confident, could almost border on smug if you didn’t know him better, he slipped the bangle onto your left wrist with ease. Your gaze going back to the jade bracelet, turning your hand over a few times and staring at the pale green that looked like clouds.

“Wukong… I…” you barely caught yourself from what you were about to let slip. “It’s beautiful…”

Wukong placed his hand against your cheek, thumb gently brushing the skin as he pulled you in. “Just like you.”

The kiss was short and sweet, your smile pressed against his lips then let a gentle breath escape when it ended. The Monkey King pressed his forehead against your own, practically nose to nose as he let out a light laugh and nuzzled you.

“And like you, Handsome,” you told him, his fang peeking out with his smile.

He let out a hum, happy to hear it. And maybe holding back about boasting how amazing he is.

You looked back down at the bangle, your cheeks almost hurting from smiling but it was worth it. Tales and superstitions entered your head, how jade was supposed to protect and heal from malevolent forces, all sorts of harm really.

“This to make sure no demons try to steal me away when you’re gone?” you joked, giving him a knowing look with a raised eyebrow too.

Wukong looked up and away, a couple beads of sweat just out of your view. You laughed at the embarrassed look he had, soon quick to wrap your arms around him and pull him close. The Monkey King relaxed into you, his tail curling over to add in to the comfort.

“C’mon, let’s wash up and finally get to those hot springs I promised you.”

You let out hums and sighs as the Monkey King massaged your back, his hands rubbing in a sugar scrub with a faint floral scent spreading across your skin. He placed a small kiss against your shoulder but soon jolted and spit out the suds when he realized he forgot to properly wash it off you.

A laugh escaped as you glanced back to see him try to wipe his mouth without tasting more soap. “You okay there?”

“It’s fine, that one’s on me. Head’s up,” Wukong told you, soon taking a small bucket of warm water and pouring it over your head to wash away the shampoo and other soaps off your person.

You wiped off the excess from your face, it was still wet but there was no worry of stray droplets making it hard to see. “Thanks,” you mumbled.

“No problem,” he said as he stood up then made his way to sit in front of you, tail swishing as his own way to call for attention, you may have stifled a laugh from seeing his bare butt that looked pretty close to a peach. “Now it’s your turn,” he gestured to his back with his thumb.

You grabbed at the nearby bottles, they were on the bigger side but that made sense considering all the hair Wukong had. Since the fancy labeling was bragging that bamboo fibers had a lot of benefits to hair and skin, it seemed on the money to guess it was on the expensive side. There was a point where you wondered what kind of products he was using and this was the answer. “So do I dump the whole bottle on you or just half?” you jokingly asked.

“Hey, that stuff is pricey,” Wukong chided in a similar tone. “A handful is enough. Just make sure to lather it up and put in the work.”

You acknowledged that with a hum, the “work” shouldn’t be too hard considering his fur was already damp. You did as you were told, the goop soon sudsing up and turning into bubbles. 

The Monkey King seemed pretty happy to be given a massage, soft moans as you tried to rub the product into his fur and exfoliate the skin underneath. You could feel his muscles, if it wasn’t for all the fur he had, for a moment you questioned if he was shredded as that one illustration in that game you’d seen ages ago. Nope, this wasn’t the time to think about that!

“Can you turn around? I wanna be sure I’m getting everything,” you requested.

Wukong spun in his little stool, his blank expression turning to surprise when you squished his cheeks and snuck a quick kiss in. You quickly went to wash the hair that framed his face as a smile formed on your own like it didn’t happen at all.

Wukong’s surprised look only lasted for half a second, soon turning into a smile filled with bliss, leaning forward to get another kiss that he could properly appreciate this time.

You think you were going to melt in the best way possible the moment your skin touched the water. A stupidly pleased grin on your face as you sunk lower and lower into the hot spring until you were practically nose deep. Somewhere in the back of your mind you wondered if the waters contained medicinal or mystical properties, it had to be one of the two with how relaxed you felt.

“Like it?” Wukong asked as he was neck deep in the water, his smile wide and easy to see while he sat beside you.

A nod and hum was all you gave, not wanting to leave even a centimeter of the water.

Other monkeys floated on the surface, drifting with the slightest ripples as steam billowed off and into the starry night. Maybe the monkeys had their fill of the hot springs throughout the day or wanted to give their king any needed privacy, but they all eventually left with just you and Wukong listening to the soft sounds of the wind blowing and bugs chirping.

“So what do you think?” Wukong asked, stretching up then leaning against one of the sides of the spring, the smooth rocks underneath acted like the perfect seats.

You blew some bubbles in the water, still not wanting to leave the water in any measure. It definitely got a snicker from Wukong.

“C’mon, I need to know for sure in case you ever want to do this again,” Wukong teased, his voice lilted with a pleased expression across his face.

That got you to move, drifting to Wukong and taking a seat beside him then lifting your head to speak. “It’ll do, could have been better,” you joked with a spoiled tone.

Wukong dunked your head under the water for that, it only lasting half a second before you broke through and reunited with the surface.

“Hey!”

“I’m sorry, I was trying to make sure you got the full experience in the hot spring, didn't want you missing out,” Wukong joked back, a laugh coming out as you splashed at him for the prank.

You sat up straight this time, now up to your shoulders in the water and almost leaning against him as you looked up at the endless sky. Stars and the moon lighting it up the night and reflecting in the dark waters below, you turned to Wukong as his arm draped over your shoulder and leaned against the edge once more.

“I had a great time,” you told him. “I think this is one of the best nights of my life really… Thank you so much.”

Wukong shifted, his arms going underwater and soon grabbing you, bringing you to him and on his lap. He pulled you into another hug, his forehead pressed against your temple as his lips pressed your burning cheek. (It was definitely from the hot spring, not the embarrassment you felt.)

“I’m glad,” he said softly. “I’m really happy that I got to do this with you.”

You smiled, giving him a small kiss in return for the sweet words and everything else.

“Hey,” Wukong’s tone sounding like he remembered something he wanted to ask you. “You remember what you said last week?”

Oh no.

“I’ll see you next week,” you answered matter-of-factly.

“No, after that.”

“Bye,” you decided to go with, it was technically true.

Wukong didn’t say anything, a smile across his face like he found this exchange endearing. He then spoke your name softly, you hid your face behind your hands despite knowing it was already reddened from the steam of the hot spring.

“Please don’t make me say it…” Your tiny voice almost sounding like a plea from the embarrassment you felt.

“I just wanted to say,” Wukong continued on, bringing you just a bit closer, his voice quiet for only you to hear, “I love you too.”

Your mind went blank as your hands dropped into the water, shock across your face as you stared back at the Monkey King when he pulled away.

Love…? He said love…?

He… loves you too…

He loves you too!

You don’t know what your expression was across your face, it didn’t matter.

Delight took over your mind, your hands cupping his cheeks and bringing yourself forward to kiss him, then again and again and again. Relief was heard in your laugh, Wukong’s own chuckles sounding not too different. Your foreheads pressed against each other as you sat on his lap, your arms soon making their way down to drape over his shoulders and his hands held your sides.

“I love you,” you told him, confidence in those words were easy to hear.

“I love you too,” he told you back, saying your name with so much affection you couldn’t believe there was a moment you doubted those feelings being returned.

You’d enjoy every moment you could have of him before he’d finally leave on his vacation.

Chapter Text

The bed was warm, the perfect amount of toasty really. Not overbearing but you couldn’t help notice how heavy the blankets were.

You tried to stretch just a bit but your limbs were held down by something.

Soon you turned your head to the side and opened your eyes to see a bunch of monkeys sprawled across the floor, blankets, and pillows around you and Wukong.

You began to shimmy your hand out of a baby monkey’s grasp, they turned over and grabbed a pillow to fill in the missing space. It took some time to scoot off the other monkeys on you but you couldn't find it in you to ruin any of their slumber.

Eventually you were able to reach for your phone and check for any messages. Some notifications on social media, promotional emails for shops and sites you liked, nothing noteworthy but now you could put that thought away.

Wukong abruptly pulled you back into the sea of comforters, mumbling to go back to sleep in his arms while nuzzling into the crook of your neck, his fur tickling you to the point you were struggling to hold back any laughter and squirming. You let out strained puffs of air despite the smile on your face, it felt like a miracle when Wukong stopped and finally settled back in the bed.

A sigh of relief left you as you glanced over to your sleeping boyfriend, the sight putting a smile on your face.

His soft brown hair framing his face while his fur looked extra fluffy from the spa treatment both of you had last night, the pastel maroon marking that practically enhanced his features along with a blush that almost blended in with it. Part of you wanted to have this moment forever.

Your fingers tightened around your phone, almost forgetting it was in your hands until the power button pressed into your skin and made the softest click to turn the screen on. You glanced at the dim light and locked your eyes onto the camera app.

Why shouldn’t you take one picture of Wukong before he went on his vacation?

You weren’t going to show it off to anyone, this was for you and you alone.

It took no time to open the camera app. Carefully, you raised your hand a bit to get a better angle, waiting for the lens to focus on the Monkey King and get him in all his glory. All that was left was to take the picture.

Wukong’s tail wrapped around your wrist and brought you to a halt.

Your eyes went wide as the demon gently brought your hand out of the way so he could give you a sleepy look.

“Do you have any idea how much a photo of the Great Sage costs?”

An awkward smile went across your face.

“I was hoping this could be the freebie,” you joked, referencing how he said if he gave you anything with his face on it that would be free of charge. His tail released you not long after.

Wukong muttered under his breath as he sat up, the blanket falling off him and revealing his silk sleepwear. A shiny blue hanfu top with matching shorts, blossoming peach trees and mountains embroidered on the legs. He had a long golden robe covering his arms, the diamond stitching making you think of a plush comforter. “You know I’m not exactly crazy about that kind of stuff.”

“I know,” you sighed as you sat up beside him, it felt like a lost cause from the get-go. “It’s just… You’re going to be gone for I don’t even know how long and I was thinking it’d be nice to have something to remember you by.”

Wukong gave a sullen expression as he took a breath, he glanced at the phone in your hand then back at you. He leaned forward, hand propping his head while his elbow rested against his leg. “You’re really going to miss me that much, huh?”

A pout went across your face, your stare holding it together so it wouldn't turn into a scowl. “I wouldn’t be saying ‘I love you’ if I wasn’t going to miss you. I’d still miss you even if I wasn’t saying it.”

His expression turned stoic for a second, as if to mask the surprise, then soon turned into a soft smile. A golden flash then took over the room, the Monkey King now looking human before you, as long as you ignored the tail that was still swishing.

“C’mon, we don’t have all day,” Wukong said, scooting closer and moving your hand that held your phone up into view.

You looked back at him in surprise. “Wait, you mean?”

He chuckled, gave a kiss to your cheek. “Take as many to your heart’s content!”

A smile broke out across your face, soon you tackled him in a hug, bringing him back to the bed as you nuzzled against the crook of his neck. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

If that didn’t wake up a number of the other monkeys, then Wukong’s laughter certainly did.

You pulled your phone up, quick to open the camera app once again and have the screen reflect what was in front of it. Some of the monkeys were curious on what was happening and piling up on both of you, Wukong’s hair getting messier as one went to rest on his head, another taking a seat on your lap while a smile was across your face.

You swiped through the pictures you had taken while humming a tune that had been stuck in your head lately. A group photo with a bunch of monkeys that were at the temple, one where you shared a simple kiss, another where you both made funny faces. The picture where all the monkeys tried to fit in it then ended up toppling Wukong over the bed was something you wish you could share with friends but you were more than happy to keep to yourself. One you were definitely keeping to yourself was a picture where Wukong posed to show off his fluffy fur (his heart shaped marking on his chest being really prominent) and some muscles that were peeking through his loose clothing, (he was very insistent on having it be in his monkey form since that was what he considered his most handsome,) the next one showing his laughter from how over the top he felt.

You couldn’t help giggling in glee of all things over them and continued swiping through them, deleting only the blurriest of copies.

“That all you need?” Wukong asked while looking over your shoulder. He then gave a slight pout to a monkey that was napping on your lap. “Douzi, you can’t nap the day away.”

The younger monkey chattered something, you didn’t have any idea on what it could be but it sounded like a complaint. Their fluffy tail puffed up to show irritation, they then looked away with a huff.

“Hey, don’t sass your king,” Wukong scolded, quickly ruffling the fur on the top of their head almost aggressively.

It didn’t take long for Douzi to get up to leave your lap then complain to the other monkeys.

You let out a chuckle as you turned to Wukong. “Are you the jealous type?”

“Do you really want to find out?”

“Not really…” you told him. “You’re already my type as is.”

Wukong only gave a smirk as a response. “Good answer,” he said with a quick kiss.

Another laugh escaped you, smile almost hurting your cheeks.

“I still want one more pic,” you cooed then kissed his cheek. “You okay with that?”

“Yeah,” Wukong shrugged. “I can keep this form up for as long as I want.”

“Maybe you can use that form for our next date when you get back then,” you joked, bringing your phone up and making sure both of you were in view.

“Let’s not push our luck now,” the Monkey King spoke as his arm went over your shoulder and pulled you closer. “I’d like to keep the public out of my personal life.”

“I know, I know,” you told him while you pressed the red button on the screen to start the timer. “Can’t have people know you’re with a simple human of all things.”

“I could have anyone in the world, and I chose you,” Wukong boasted. “You’re anything but that in the best possible way.”

You looked back at him, a golden flash taking over the room to show Wukong as the Monkey King once more.

“So when’s it going to take the picture?” Wukong asked as he looked back at the screen with a nudge. “This is taking a while.”

He was right about that now that you noticed. This was taking a bit longer than usual.

“Ah!” You realized you were recording a video, not taking a picture.

You fumbled the phone, quickly stopping the recording.

“I’m sorry! I thought I hit the timer!”

“It’s fine,” Wukong lightly laughed while he watched you tap away at the screen and properly set up the timer this time. It didn’t take long for you to bring your phone up again, but you paused a moment before pressing the button.

“Aren’t you gonna transform again?” you asked once you glanced back.

“Nah,” Wukong answered as he tapped the red button on the screen. “I figured you more than deserved it.”

He leaned in, nuzzling into your neck and having his fur tickle you. A laugh forced its way out of you, his own joining in while smiles were clear across your faces.

A tiny snap from your phone took your attention, on the screen you saw a picture of you and Wukong, it was a bit blurry at the edges but you were both blissfully happy. To you, that made it perfect as is.

“I’d say it looks good,” Wukong told you. A monkey quickly climbing onto his shoulders to see the photo as well, they then wrapped their arms around him and gave a pout as if they were jealous of the picture. “C’mon, Banli, you already got a picture with me.”

Still, the younger monkey gave a scoff and turned their head. You couldn’t help but giggle from it.

Part of you really wished that you could stay like this forever, but the picture was a close second.

The Monkey King used his somersault cloud to bring you back home in the early morning, the sun not out but managed to decorate the world with a soft and calm blue light. Wukong held you close, one arm under your legs while the other went against your back. Your arms wrapped around his neck to keep him close, a smile on his face every time you pressed soft kisses against his cheek.

Way too soon did both of you make it back to your apartment balcony, Wukong jumping and landing onto the steel bracket then gently letting you leave his arms to land on the ground. Your arms half holding onto him to have the hug just a little longer.

“I had a great time,” you told him, arms soon unraveling and smile faltering for a moment. “You’re… You’re just amazing.”

“Hey, I’m not a king for nothing,” Wukong was quick to boast while he shimmied off your backpack onto the floor, his tail stayed tightly curled around the celestial spear.

“Isn’t it because you went head first into a waterfall?” you questioned as your smile turned just a bit smug.

“You’re missing the point here,” Wukong answered flatly.

It got a laugh out of you, then you decided to show your thanks in another way. Your hands cupping his cheeks then bringing him close, a kiss that he was eager to return with how he held your face too.

“Thank you,” you said softly when you finally broke apart for air, “for everything.”

The Monkey King let out a soft laugh with a matching smile. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” you answered, taking a step back when you released him. “Make sure to send me some pictures of your vacation, okay?”

“Promise,” Wukong said, soon standing straight on the metal railing then falling back for his somersault cloud to catch him.

Even knowing that, you still rushed over to see if he was okay. Relief came across you in the form of a smile as he smiled back when floating to meet you once more.

Wukong gave one last kiss on your lips, after that he flew off with only a pale yellow streak following him.

Chapter Text

A yawn ripped out of you while wiping away a tear that formed at the corner of your eye. You didn’t recall falling asleep when you got home in the early morning, but here you were waking up on your couch and with the Monkey King plushie wrapped in your arm.

It took a moment to sit back up again, lazily blinking awake and watching your blurry living room come back into focus.

Wait… What time was it?

You patted at the cushion then dug through the space in between, something hard and cold reached your grasp. You pulled it out and were greeted by your phone, the screen soon lit up once you checked if it still had power and was given a dim screen along with an alert that your battery was dying. Finally the time appeared, it was way late into the afternoon.

A pout went across your face, more than a little disappointed that you had slept the day away. You groaned, honestly, it may have been close to a yell once you put a pillow against your face.

How did you even let this happen?

You definitely remember having a nice breakfast at the hot spring you didn’t think it would make you so full that it would put you into a food coma… Wait, you still had food in your bag! That stuff was supposed to be refrigerated!

You rushed off the couch and went through your bag, pulling out the huge assortment of leftovers and praying none of it went bad as you checked each container then put them in the fridge and freezer.

Relief came out as a breath when you were done, soon searching through the rest of your bag to see what else you had in there. High chance it was just your clothes that needed washing.

And it was, along with the silk sleepwear Wukong had gotten for the hot springs for both you and himself. Your fingers rubbed between the smooth fabric, feeling the slight bumps of where the embroidery was. You would have questioned where Wukong had gotten all this stuff but memory served that he did get a lot of money from the royalties of others using his image.

You dug in deeper, finding another set of the sleepwear, the one that Wukong was wearing. Your grip around it tightened just a bit, hesitating before bringing it close, lips practically pressed against the fabric as a soft scent came from it. The smell of rocks and water from the hot spring, a note of peaches that always followed the Monkey King, and something you could only label as Wukong himself.

Soon the moment ended, the memory still lingering in your mind when you opened your eyes and stared at your living room.

Maybe you’d keep this set out of the laundry pile for a bit, still have something of Wukong that wasn’t a picture or hugging that plushie as a substitute like he said. Have something to make it feel like he was still here, even though he wasn't going to be for a while.

You took in another breath, away from the clothes Wukong had left.

You should do something for the day, maybe go for a walk or something. That’d be nice.

You noticed a general sense of confusion from people while you were walking around; some sounding annoyed on how the day was wasted, others feeling kinks in their neck and other joints from sleeping funny. It was kind of weird that you were hearing so many similar complaints in such a short span.

Probably an hour had passed, you even got yourself a couple cheese teas as an excuse to keep going and not have to go back home just yet.

In time, you found yourself staring at an arcade cabinet for Monkey Mech of all things. It was kind of funny noticing that it had the same colors Wukong usually wears.

You let out a huff, chiding yourself over the fact you were already sad over him leaving on vacation. It hasn’t even been a whole day! Pull yourself together!

“Oh! Hey!” A voice called out your name after. “What are you doing over here?”

You turned around and saw MK driving in a tuk-tuk with an ornament of a pig’s head with a comically large chef hat on it. There were other stuff to it you noticed, speakers shaped like megaphones as well as a giant barrel with a strange conical top to seal it.

“Just hanging around,” you answered causally. “What about you?”

“Pigsy’s kind of has me working overtime,” MK told you with something between a sigh and a groan. “Doesn’t exactly help that he’s sorta bedbound ‘cause of me…”

You almost didn’t catch that latter half given how he mumbled, but your expression made it clear that you heard. Your thoughts did pause in piecing together that Pigsy was most likely his boss and the owner of the noodle shop to boot.

“You got a minute?” you decided to ask instead, holding up the bag of cheese teas as an offer for his time.

MK slurped up his drink with a blissful hum, whatever happened with him seemed to be all in the past and far away from his mind with the smile he made once parting from the straw.

“So what happened with you today?” you couldn’t help but ask as the two of you sat on a bench a couple shops away.

“What didn’t happen really,” MK answered after a groan. “Monkey King left to go on vacation of all things even though the Spider Queen could come back any moment, everyone was knocked out because one of the Spider Queen’s goons sent out a weird sleep bug virus he made, and everyone’s mad at me because Pigsy got hurt when everyone was asleep even though I was the guy who got rid of this weird curse to wake them up!”

“Why would they blame you?” you questioned then took another sip of cheese tea.

“I may have left Pigsy in a cart that went downhill after I left to get to the Cloud,” MK quickly answered, easily embarrassed by his lack of foresight.

You decided to ignore that bit and focus on something else. “The Cloud?”

“An unrivaled collection of all knowledge, holds a bunch of info on, like, everything,” MK explained, a hint of pride in his tone. “I even have a membership there.”

That quirked your eyebrow upon hearing. “You plan on going back sometime?”

“Not sure,” MK answered. “It was more of a one and done trip, and it was kind of to save me some trouble with the guardians there.”

You only hummed, not certain what to add to that.

“So…” MK let the word hang in the air for a moment. “Did Monkey King tell you that he was going on vacation?”

You found yourself holding back a response for the moment, trying to figure out what would be a good answer. “Yeah… I’m not exactly happy about it.”

That was the truth and MK seemed to have similar feelings on it with the groan he gave.

“Can you believe how out of nowhere he dropped that on us?!” MK complained before taking an angry slurp of his cheese tea.

That perked your ears.

“How short notice was he on this?” you felt the need to ask, brain trying to figure out an answer that wouldn't make him even more upset.

“He was ‘packing his bag right in front of me’ short notice!”

Not again Wukong!

Your head dropped over your disappointment, he couldn’t even give him a day’s notice on this.

“When did he drop the ball on you?” MK asked back.

“He told me while we were at his temple,” you went with. “Kind of makes sense since he took us to a hot spring before he was leaving.”

“He took you to a hot spring?”

You bit the inside of your cheek. “Yeah… Have you been there before?”

“Once,” MK told you, his thumb wiping some of the condensation off his cup while thinking about it. “Have you been there before?”

“Just the one time,” you told him.

MK seemed to let out a relieved breath at that, a small smile across his face as he took another sip.

“So how are you holding up?” you went with. “Like with Wu- Monkey King just kind of taking off like that?”

“I’m…” He was still thinking of an answer. “I’m fine, just need some getting used to. You know?”

“Yeah,” you agreed. “If you ever need someone to talk to about good ole Monkey King, I’m always here for ya, Bud.”

MK’s smile faltered and his body stiffened at that. “Um… Thanks, but could you not call me ‘Bud’? Monkey King kind of calls me that sometimes and…”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, that was out of line with me,” you quickly assured him.

“It’s fine,” MK answered back.

“I’m always free to talk if you ever need it, MK,” you rephrased as he stood up with an empty drink in his hand.

“Thanks,” he answered, a smile filled with relief on his face. “I gotta get back now, Pigsy is probably gonna lose it if I hold him up any longer.”

“All right,” you told him. “Get home safe, okay?”

“You too!” MK said as he started to make his way and give a wave goodbye.

When the Monkie Kid was out of sight, your smile dropped.

Wukong being away was going to be a bit harder than you thought.

Chapter Text

You were focusing on cleaning up your apartment of all unneeded things; expired food, flattened cardboard boxes, and bits of plastic and paper. Some sweat collected on your brow which you quickly wiped away with your arm, after you collected everything just at the front of your door you decided to take a nice and needed stretch.

The loud cracks that came after did surprise you, it was heard through the music that was playing in your ear buds. A wide-eyed expression was across your face along with a huge frown.

Shower, definitely taking a hot one after you were done with cleaning.

You started gathering everything in the plastic bags and pulling them by the drawstrings, slabs of cardboard under your arm while you were at it.

The hallway was usually quiet but at the moment a couple of people were rushing through and to their doors. Confusion covered your face, tempted to ask what was happening but figured it would only distract you from the task at hand. (Or literally in your hands in this case.)

Outside was covered in golden light, everything almost looking like it was in an overlay of orange.

It wasn’t sunset already, was it?

You checked the time and saw it was more than a few hours from now, and then you glanced up.

Clouds almost framed around a giant mass in the broth colored sky, flames decorating it and adding in a heat similar to a terrible summer heat wave. A dumpling, bigger than the city and the nearby mountains, was hurtling from the heavens and to Wan Qian Cheng.

“Oh.”

Your brain rebooted, feet already rushing to the apartment building before quickly turning back to the dumpster to throw away your trash like you came here for, then you were back to running home.

Sure, it’s rude and potentially dangerous to run in the halls, but you figured that a giant dumpling about to impact the city seemed like a good enough reason to be in a rush.

After slamming your door shut, kicking your sandals off and having them fly, you were rushing to your balcony door on the opposite side. The glass door was pulled open while the screen door was still closed. (Getting nice air circulation without the worry of bugs.)

Your stressed and abrupt pulls on the handle wasn't helping in opening the door, a sneer was on your face over having to stop, take a deep breath, then gently pull the door so you could lock it.

Through the glass and mesh, the meteor of dough encompassing the sky was cooking with a film of flames, the atmosphere was simply all dumpling.

Anxiety, no, fear, maybe dread was the best word for this feeling. Heartbeat silencing every other sound, hysteric screams and blaring horns were all quiet, your eyes and mouth wide that a celestial-sized dumpling was going to do the city in.

Suddenly a vortex of water rushed through the air, reaching out to the dumpling then easily engulfing it. The mass seamlessly vanished into the waves while the sky returned to the clear morning blue it was supposed to be.

Was that all MK?

Your hand hesitated when reaching to the door handle and seeing if the giant dumpling was truly gone, the next moment huge mounds of meat and vegetables splattered against your window. A shout from the surprise of it all.

Relief soon washed over you thanks to not actually opening the door to check.

You gave it a good minute or two before entering your balcony, some of the meat had fallen thanks to gravity and landed in the streets. A smell of sauce was in the air, it would have made your mouth water but it was so overpowering that it made you grimace and even stun your eyes.

A gross sloshing sound caught your ear while you wiped away tears from your stinging eyes, you shouldn’t have looked up. A bucket load of dumpling landed on your head, juices already getting soaked in your shirt and shorts, your anger raising your body temperature and cooking the meat and steaming the veggies.

You grabbed the mound of meat off of your head and shoulders, then threw it over the railing, an angry yell chasing it away for good measure.

Oh, you were definitely taking a shower now, you thought when you turned heel and went back to your apartment.

A scowl took over your face, trying your hardest not to rip off your clothes before throwing them in the sink to soak. Needed to wash them somehow since you didn’t have the patience to go to a laundromat and lash out at anyone who even looked at you for too long. (Even though there was a huge chance a lot of people were dealing with meat soaked outfits right now.)

You hated waiting for the water to heat up, even with soap it was a struggle to get the oil off your skin and hair. The smell seemed to clog your nose since everything tasted like savory meat in the back of your throat, or it was that you had opened a window to let out the steam for your shower and the smell from outside was wafting in.

You could only hope that the nice soap you brought back from the hot spring could get rid of that. There wasn't much of a scent, except maybe a faint smell of sandalwood. Musky and earthy, something subtly sweet and maybe a hint of spice.

Subconsciously you were a bit disappointed that it wasn't something you associated with Wukong.

Still, better than nothing and definitely leagues ahead of being indistinguishable to a snack or a meal. (Not that Wukong would have issues making that joke.)

Once you were done getting cleaned up, freezing cold when you left the shower and quick to get dressed again, you grabbed a bucket that would usually house all your cleaning supplies and filled it with water.

You struggled carrying the heavy weight from your kitchen to your balcony, when you passed the glass door your set the bucket down. Carefully you tipped it over before letting the water fall and push away the food and oil that was on your floor.

A few sloshes could be heard but you were just glad to get some of the mess out of the way, you cleaned up the chair and table that usually left out pretty quickly and tossed the remnants of the dumpling away.

Your hands and arms felt gross with a fresh layer of (probably) sesame oil and some dried sweat, but with being in a slightly better mood, you were quick to go back to the kitchen and wash it off.

You crashed on your couch, staring at the TV’s off screen and considering what to watch. Definitely not the news, besides, if you have the chance to meet MK you could probably ask him about the giant dumpling if he has the time.

Definitely had no appetite after what you dealt with today. Maybe a protein shake would be a decent cover for a meal?

Part of you wondered if Wukong was the cause of that giant dumpling but it felt a bit of a stretch, though you could never really be certain with the Great Sage.

You held your phone and put it on do not disturb then went to get your snack as your phone could charge with the time away.

You finished your cold drink pretty quickly, having something in your stomach made you sleepier than you would have expected. If it knocked you out for the next day, it wouldn't be a huge shock, but you didn’t have work until the day after tomorrow, so that was no real loss.

Your eyelids felt heavy when you landed on your bed, everything started to become fuzzy and dark but you didn't mind, it just meant you were ready to check out for the night.

Your alarm went off in the living room, but it was still loud enough to startle you awake. You rubbed at your eyes as you got up then walked around to get to your phone, soon turning off the alarm and checking your messages.

Your phone screen was covered with missed calls from a number you didn’t recognize in the slightest, they had been going at it for hours, calling you every few minutes judging from the times.

Creepy…

You were gonna block the number but a knock rapped from your door and took your attention.

When you glanced through the peephole to see who is was, all you saw was a woman with lilac blue skin. A small pair of fancily curved horns that almost acted like accents to the straight bangs and curled hairs that framed her face, her darker hair was curled into a bun and kept in place with a couple of hairpins, ruby and gold beads were tied to it at the end.

She knocked on the door again, her red eyes holding a bored expression when she glanced up at the glass hole. She pushed back the oval lenses of her glasses then spoke your name. “I know you’re in there.”

You made a face at that, definitely weirded out by it.

“I would be grateful if you allowed me in,” she went on. “What I have to discuss with you would best be shared in private.”

You still said nothing, but you did unlock the door and crack it open.

“Okay, good, you are here,” the business woman spoke at seeing the portion of your face. “I’ve been trying to contact you all day.”

“Can I help you?”

“That’s my job actually,” she corrected. “Allow me to introduce myself, Wan Ying. I am here because my client gave me information regarding you and that it would be necessary to help you as well.”

She gave a bow that you subconsciously returned through the crack.

“Your client…?” you asked, opening the door a bit more.

She wore a gray cheongsam with a light blue lining and pants that matched, a darker business jacket was over it and under her arm was a bag that had some files and a tablet peeking out.

Wan Ying then pulled out the tablet, turning it on then over to show a picture of herself in an office and at her desk with the Monkey King taking a selfie.

That made you almost rip the door off its hinges then grabbed the tablet out of her hands in disbelief. You looked up at her with wide eyes that were begging for an explanation.

“I’m his lawyer,” she introduced. “‘One of’ if you want to be technical, but it’s all the same really.”

Chapter Text

You were stunned for lack of a better word, it took more than a moment to get back to reality and start speaking.

“You’re not here to sue me, are you?”

The lawyer gave a confused look at that, bordering on disgusted really.

“Why on earth would you think I was here to sue?” she questioned, offense sprinkled in her tone. “I literally just said I was here to help you.”

Your brain began to only make a static noise, alarmed by her professionalism had made you think of only the worst despite it not making any sense.

“I’m sorry,” you answered, handing back her tablet. “It’s just been really stressful lately.”

“I figured as much,” Wan Ying said, placing the tablet back into her bag. “May I come in?”

“Um, yeah,” is all you could find yourself saying, already chiding over how unprofessional that was.

Wan Ying sat on your couch, legs crossed and eyes locked-on. All her attention was on you who was going to the kitchenette and trying to make some tea with how you went to grab the electric kettle and fill it with water. It would take a decent amount of time to get the water to boil, hopefully you had a large enough variety of tea to have a flavor she liked.

“So… Do you have a preference or…?”

“Chamomile, green, and black are what I prefer in that order, but any will do,” she answered. “You don’t have to make anything though.”

“I know,” you told her. “It just seems fair since I didn’t answer any of your calls.”

You found a box of chamomile then set it on the counter for later, the demon only gave a hum as her means of telling you she heard.

“So what exactly are you here to help me with?” you asked when leaving the kitchenette, questioning for a moment if you should sit on the coffee table across from her before sitting on the couch with her.

“The Monkey King had an email sent to me saying there was a human in the city that he wanted to help if he could,” Wan Ying began, taking her tablet out once again. “He gave me a name, photo, number, and address so I would be able to contact you.”

“Photo?”

Without a word, she turned over her tablet, showcasing a picture of Wukong carrying you in his arms while your own were wrapped around his neck. With the picture showing a sandy beach and Wukong very much looking like a monkey, you figured this was taken at Flower Fruit Mountain of all places.

Did one of the monkeys take this while you and him were being affectionate with each other?

You could only take in a breath through your nose as if it would hide your embarrassment.

“So what exactly is your relationship with Sun Wukong?” his lawyer questioned as she brought the tablet back to herself. “I have one theory but I would rather hear it straight from you.”

You glanced down at the jade bangle that was still on your left wrist, never taking it off after Wukong put it on. Your opposite hand went to gently rub the smooth texture, remembering he gave it the same night he said he loved you too. (Not at the same time, but definitely close enough.)

“We’re dating…” you told her. “Have been for a few months actually…”

When you looked back up, Wan Ying was simply staring at you wide-eyed but not exactly in disbelief. It seemed like she needed a moment for that bit of information to settle.

“Huh… I wasn’t expecting to be right on this but I don’t know what else it would have been,” she gave a soft shake of the head, like it would rid of the thought that was holding her attention. “Anyway, the file I was given is that in the case any damages happened to your place of residence, I would be sent to help you relocate.”

"Wait, relocate? You mean move?"

“Yes,” she answered rather bluntly. “But you won’t need to worry about anything; transporting your belongings will be done with no charge to you thanks to a partnership the Monkey King has with D.H. Shipping, all payments for utilities such as water and electricity will be covered and rent is not expected of you. He mentioned that you’re already familiar with the location, so you should be able to settle in quickly.”

You raised your hand, the slight shaking was a sign that you were begging her to stop.

“Is there something you’d like to discuss?”

“This is just…” you were struggling a bit to collect your thoughts, your hand went over your eyes then gently rubbed at your temples. “A lot to take in.”

“Well, nothing less should be expected when dealing with the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven,” Wan Ying mused, the edges of her mouth barely showing a hint of her smile.

A huff left you with that, your hand left your face and went to rub the back of your neck. “Yeah…”

“Anyway,” she went right back to business. “I hope you can clear up a few things for me. The Monkey King seems to have changed a few things last time I spoke to him.”

The sound of bubbling water caught your ears, your head turning to its direction.

“Uh, sure,” you told her, getting up to go back to the kitchen. You placed the loose chamomile leaves into separate infusers for each cup, they'd need to steep for a few minutes but you were pretty certain there was plenty to talk about in that time. You brought the cups with you when coming back, setting them on the table before asking, “So what do you need me to clear up?”

“The Monkey King mentions a place he refers to as ‘Táozi Temple’ to become your new place of residence but none of his temples are called that,” Wan Ying began. “Do you know which temple he’s referring to?”

You slumped onto the couch, hands covering your face once more. All you could do was groan the temple’s former name under your palms. Why did it have to be that?

“I’m going to need you to repeat that,” his lawyer insisted. “And with your hands off your face for good measure.”

“Shame Temple,” you repeated, embarrassed that it was the catalyst behind meeting Wukong.

The demon only hummed her acknowledgement. “Is there a reason for that particular temple or the name change?”

“It’s where we met,” you answered. “And I asked if he could change the name since I wasn’t exactly crazy over it being called that, you know?”

It was nice hearing that he took the name change seriously enough to even refer it as that to his lawyer, this wasn’t just to humor you.

“Glad to know you’re already something of a positive influence, maybe you can get him to give better names to the rest of the temples,” Wan Ying noted.

It got something of a laugh out of you, a small smile across your face as you began to get more comfortable with her. Hands definitely off of your face now.

“So how did Wukong send you the email?” you asked, genuinely curious on how he was able to do that but not message you directly.

“His successor was the one who sent the email,” Wan Ying answered easily. “The Monkie Kid made certain to tell me that he wasn’t Wukong when messaging me so I wouldn't berate him for not following up with me.”

“So what else did the email have?” you questioned. “I mean, if it won’t get you in trouble with telling me.”

“Not much,” the Lawyer told you with ease. “It was simple files on what to do if your home was damaged from anything ranging from natural disasters to divine interventions. Wukong even had a file made for his successor. Damages don't usually need to be covered that much thanks to having the power of creation and that the business he works at has a pretty steady stream of income.”

Your arms crossed over your chest, head lolling back to stare at the ceiling.

“Back to why I’m here,” Wan Ying resumed. “When would you like to start moving?”

“I don’t… I’m not moving,” you answered.

The demon looked a bit surprised at that when you glanced in her direction.

“Is there a reason behind this?” she asked.

“I really didn’t think the giant dumpling caused that much damage,” you admitted. “Like, sure, the smell isn’t all that great but everything is pretty much intact.”

“I was under the impression you would have wanted to move considering that everything the dumpling came into contact with is now covered in oils and will no doubt soak,” Wan Ying explained. “I don’t know if your landlord even has the proper equipment or resources to take care of that to prevent bacteria colonizing and then corroding the outer piping and railing.”

You didn’t think of it like that honestly, but moving felt like a bit of an overreaction.

“I guess, but acting like I need to move seems a bit extreme,” you told her.

The Lawyer gave an agreeing hum, taking a sip of the tea you made. “I suppose that’s fair.”

You decided to take a drink of your own, trying to enjoy the silence for the moment.

“If a worst case scenario happens with your apartment, would you be content with moving then?”

“You plan on wrecking my place yourself?” you snarked, eyes then going wide at that. You glanced back at the demon, hoping you didn't offend her.

She suppressed a snort of all things at that, hand curled in front of her mouth, a smile definitely behind it.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she answered. “But feel free to call or email me when you’re ready.”

She placed a business card on the coffee table after finishing the drink.

Eventually she was at your door and ready to leave. “I look forward to speaking with you again, you’re already much easier to work with than the Monkey King.”

A smile couldn’t help but come out from that. “Well, the bar was kind of low to begin with.”

The demon mirrored your smile. “When the Monkey King comes back, be sure to tell him about answering my emails.”

“Will do!” you laughed, taking the request seriously despite it sounding like a joke.

After she left, you sat back on your couch then picked up the card.

It was a deep blue with a gold border, the name and number in a matching gold as well as raised for added texture.

Granted, him having a few lawyers did make you wonder what they were needed for, but you figured with so many using his image it would make some sense that he'd cash in on that.

Relief soon filled you, it was nice knowing despite Wukong’s absence he had a whole thing set so you’d be okay. Renaming the temple was one thing but…

A laugh escaped as you thought about how you mentioned the possibility of moving all those months ago and he was completely serious in offering the temple.

Warmth bloomed in your chest as you continued to think about it.

Chapter Text

You were looking through your fridge, searching for whatever was closest to expiring and thinking up what meal you could make out of it. The problem was that no matter what you found, it didn't fit what you were in the mood for.

Could you make it something for the monkeys at the temple? Would that be safe to begin with? They did have a habit of grabbing some of your snacks regardless of how processed it was.

You closed the fridge as you turned around, maybe walking around (albeit aimlessly) in your apartment would help you come to a decision.

Your living room started to feel stuffy as you noticed the glass door to the balcony was shut, fresh air might help clear your thoughts.

You took in a deep breath while you leaned against the steel bracket, the morning breeze feeling cool against your skin, the sky a soft blue and the cityscape a colorful contrast that you admired. From buildings that were passed down through the generations to neon holograms that advertised anything you could think of.

The sound of a gong and chimes were carried in the air, a heavenly gold light illuminated the balcony and the rest of your place after. A strange portal appeared just overhead, matching yellow clouds encircled it while spinning at a dizzying pace.

Confusion made your eyes wide, waiting for what was to happen next.

Unceremoniously, a small cardboard box dropped by your feet, the portal swallowing itself then disappearing after that.

You gave the box a few gentle taps with your shoe before picking it up, it was pretty light you noted. A soft shake told you that whatever was in it was either tightly packed by itself or filled to the brim with air pillows, you could hardly hear anything from it.

Looking over the sides of the container, you saw Wukong’s signature scrawled on top of what you figured was the shipping label. With it was a drawing of a smiling monkey wearing a crown and a peach you almost mistook for a heart. Before you tried to pry and slice the tape with your nails, you stopped yourself from cutting into it.

This was from the Celestial Realm, and from the Monkey King himself no less, there was no telling what could be packed in here. Even with how tiny and light it was, that didn't put a limit on the possibilities that it held.

Maybe opening this somewhere outdoors would be better, but you needed it to be private enough that other people getting caught up wouldn't be a worry. Your eyes went back to the package, soon settling on the crude drawing of a peach.

Táozi Temple looked just as you remembered it, but then again, it had barely been a month since you last visited.

A small monkey peeked over the edge of the roof the moment they heard you set your bike against the outer gate, several more monkeys soon followed to see who had come to visit.

You raised a hand to wave then held up a bag with the food and other snacks you were planning on getting rid of, a few monkeys cocked their heads in curiosity.

“Hungry?” you asked aloud, soon taking out a bag of banana chips to keep their attention.

They rushed to your side, almost swarming you with how a couple went to climb onto your back and sit on your shoulders, others patting at your legs to give up the goods along with their excited chatter.

“Calm down! Calm down!” you shouted while tossing a bag into the air and prayed it would take their attention away from you.

Most of them left, only one monkey still clinging to your side then soon taking the chance to climb up onto your shoulder. They let themselves hang around like the end of a scarf and begin to chirp as a means to start a conversation. Despite the several months of hanging around monkeys, you didn’t have any grasp of the language though Wukong said that they would be happy with any response as long as you treated it as a legitimate conversation.

“Just thought it’d be nice to visit again,” you answered. “Been a while since the last time I was here, and I thought you guys might like some snacks.”

The monkey chirped again, nodding their head in agreement. This monkey had a slightly warmer color of fur, a shade closer to their brown skin. You hoped it was the right name that popped into your head after.

“Shizi, right?”

They nodded again, very happy that you got it right. A small breath of relief came from you.

“I’m gonna head inside the temple for a bit, you wanna come with or stay with the snacks?”

Shizi chatted their answer, soon sliding off your person but still waiting for something from you. It didn’t take long for you to rummage through your bag and take out another pack of snacks. Shizi practically snatched it out of your hand and went running to show off their prize to the other monkeys.

You smiled at the monkey, a laugh coming out as a huff of breath, then you walked into the temple and hoped to find a room to give you any privacy that might be needed.

It was nice sitting in the very room you had spent so many hours with Wukong, watching his animated series while he talked up a storm and you got to enjoy not just the snacks but his company as well.

You gave an experimental poke between the folded seams of cardboard with a knife you swiped from the kitchen, nothing came out yet so you sliced the tape then opened the box.

Half a minute went by but nothing popped out to your relief.

You dug through it, little air pillows quickly popped in your hand so you could get to see what Wukong had shipped from the celestial realm.

Inside was a letter and as well as a handful of polaroid pictures that fell out when you opened it.

You were quick to pick the photos up as you read that the letter was addressed to you, which you figured was obvious considering it plopped onto your balcony via magic.

“Hey! How’s it going?

So you know I’m kinda busy being on vacation and all, but I did manage to find some time to grab some pictures for you like you wanted! They all got a little story to go with them on the back since I know you always love hearing about the fun facts of everything I tell you.”

Some crude doodles were on the paper, a sun with sunglasses on it, blank polaroids with scribbles all over, and a Monkey King logo sticking its tongue out with a bag of chips nearby.

A chuckle came from seeing it, soon you went through the pictures he sent you.

The first picture was a huge palace with a pair of guardian lions standing at the entrance, the sky behind was a light gold that matched the roof tiles, hints of light blue decorated pieces of the palace but it was hard to make out in the picture. You flipped the photo, the back scrawled with Wukong’s writing, “Here’s a pic of the Jade Emperor’s palace overrated if you ask me since you seem to have a thing for fancy buildings!”

The door creaked open, your attention turning to see which monkey it was. To your surprise it was a pair of monkeys, one with a redder face than usual and the other with grass stains covering all over their legs.

They made their way to you, soon climbing on top of the couch and looking at what you had in hand.

You were quick to go through your bag again, pulling out some leftovers to which they nabbed the container right out of your hand to share with each other.

Initially you were going to go straight back to looking through more of the photos, but your mind was stuck on what these monkeys’ names were.

“Yingtao? Mangguo?” you questioned.

The two monkeys chirped their approval in you remembering their names then promptly stuffed their maws with buns and continued on with their conversation.

The next photo in the pile was Wukong taking a selfie with a few gigantic beings in the background knocked out and surrounded by gourds of wine and huge plates of food. Under it was titled “Me and the boys!” You flipped the back to find “If you saw a giant dumping in the sky, that was this guy’s fault, not mine” written along with a doodle of a dumpling.

You scoffed at it but your smile remained. 

The third photo of the pile was of Wukong’s hand holding an empty bag of peach chips, under it he wrote “Should have packed more” and when you flipped it over you were greeted with a crossed out “Maybe I should have brought you over, definitely tastier.” Your free hand went to cover your face, smother the warmth that was trying to make its way through your cheeks. Even who knows how far away, he still managed to get a response out of you.

Yingtao and Mangguo looked at you with curiosity, heads tilted and crumbs at the edges of their mouths.

“It’s nothing,” you quickly dismissed, taking out some spring rolls so they would quickly forget.

You looked at the next picture, one of Wukong laying on his somersault cloud with a pair of sunglasses and a more than pleased smile on his face. He waved at you in it, his tail at the edge showing that it was what was holding the camera. “Obligatory Vacation Photo” was written under it, on the back it said “Part One” which piqued your curiosity.

The last photo was flipped over, the back saying “Part Two” and you definitely wanted to see this sequel.

It was blurry, however Wukong’s distressed expression was easy to see, sunglasses falling off to showcase his wide eyes. His hand reaching forward as his tail showed he no longer had a hold on the camera. He had to have been yelling when this was taken. “I kind of dropped the camera in this shot but no worries, I obviously got it back with time to spare!”

Your smile made your cheeks hurt, you loved seeing those moments where he was the goofy personality that snuck his way into your heart and not an untouchable immortal from legendary tales. He wasn’t just the Monkey King, he was your boyfriend, and he loves you.

Your excitement made you grab a pillow then pull it close, a squeal quickly smothered so the other monkeys wouldn’t freak out from your own. He loves you too, said it on his terms, and didn’t force you to repeat those words when you became too embarrassed to admit it again.

And the feeling was mutual!

You took in a breath, collecting yourself once more, taking in the room around and simply remembering the time that was spent. It was a good thing that you came here, better in a nearly secluded temple than your apartment with all the neighbors you didn’t know.

It was even better that you had kept your pictures in the box when you got home, because if you hadn’t they would have been gone with the wind the moment you dropped the box and fell to your knees at the calamity in front of you. A section of the apartment building you had been living in for the past few years was now cracked open for the world to see, the neighboring buildings either worse for wear or only dealing with a busted chunk of wall or two.

Whatever hit the buildings were insanely strong considering that it did this much damage near where MK worked, piles of rubble littered the streets and more than a few shards of glass were scattered across.

You knew you couldn’t quite process this just yet, you saw a giant opening go through your neighbor’s place and it was large enough to shave the edges of the surrounding apartments, but you didn’t see the damage of your room yourself.

Your hand dug through your pocket, finding your wallet then pulling out a card, it didn’t take long for you to call the number and the receiver answered even faster.

“Hello, you have reached the Ten Thousand Answers Network.”

Your mind was starting to buzz as the voice spoke, you recognized it but couldn’t quite put together what you were hearing until a familiar name was said.

“This is the direct line to Wan Ying,” the demon on the other end of the line answered. “How may I be of service?”

Your voice cracked for a second, you coughed it out then reintroduced yourself. “You remember me, right?”

“Of course, we met just last week. Is there a problem you need help with?”

“Umm, yeah, you could definitely say that,” you told her, a neon sign soon crashing onto the pavement within earshot. “So, how fast do you think you can help me move?”

Chapter Text

Wukong’s lawyer looked around inside your apartment, for the most part it was intact, a chunk of your balcony twisted and torn apart with the glass door gone except for a few stubborn shards and the wall itself with huge cracks to bring in an unwanted breeze.

“So when you asked how fast I could help you move, did you mean altogether or would you want there to be a steady but apparent transition?”

“I don’t even know,” you mumbled as you held your head in your hands face first. “Whatever works best?”

“When does your lease end?” Wan Ying went to ask next.

Your face scrunched at trying to remember. “Like two months.”

She hummed at that, turning on her heel to look back at you.

“We can have your belongings moved during that period, I’ll make sure that you have control on what gets taken and when,” she went on.

“Thanks,” you muttered despite honestly being grateful. “I’ll figure out the work stuff then.”

“You won’t have to worry about needing to find another job,” she reminded you. “You’ll be given a weekly allowance, we can work on the direct deposit later though.”

You lifted your head to make eye contact with Wan Ying while she made her way to you. “That’s nice, but I still want to have a job so I can have something to get up to and other stuff.”

“Understandable,” the demon took with no further questions. “Reconstruction on your building will be happening soon, right?”

“Should be,” you told her. “That or the building manager is gonna ask MK to fix it up.”

“Hopefully it’s the latter,” she spoke as she started searching through her bag, “even though he isn’t the most experienced, he would be just as viable but much faster in results.”

Wan Ying pulled out a blank notepad and brought it within your reach.

You looked a hint confused at her, not certain what she was trying to do.

“I’ll have workers come to move some of your belongings in the next couple of days, write down what you would like to have taken off your hands. If there’s any reasons for delays, email me a day in advance.”

“Okay,” you answered as you took it from her hands.

“I’ll have boxes sent over to you so you can pack them in whatever way you feel most comfortable with. I would like to have the removalists visit once a week, hopefully that way you have enough time to get everything sorted out without being left with less than the bare essentials.”

Your mind was thinking of what to pack first, definitely any physical media you liked ranging from books to toys to video games, the shelves could follow later since those were way heavier. You’d probably leave your kitchen supplies, clothes, and bedding for the last week.

“Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”

“I think I’m good,” you answered. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, you’re free to call if you have any questions that feel time sensitive.”

You nodded your head just in case your repeated thanks wasn't heard.

The empty boxes came in the next day along with a couple rolls of packing tape. You carefully stacked and stuffed anything that you saw as entertainment. Books, blu-ray discs, video games, figures, and toys. The only thing that you could say you kept in that group was the TV itself with your console and the Monkey King plush you bought when Wukong dropped the news about his vacation.

Maybe you could also have your shelves taken too, and might be able to sort out your belongings when you visit Táozi Temple again.

Your stomach growled to interrupt your thoughts, definitely starting to bring about an ache when you were hit with the reminder that you basically forgot to eat while packing. (And admittedly, might have been a bit distracted in taking a more detailed look of what your were packing for “quality purposes.”)

Part of you really wanted to order from Pigsy’s Noodles but the thought of having MK at your door didn't sit well with you, not quite sure if it was because of the damage to your place and you might be tempted to ask him personally to fix the building or that you being the reminder that his master had a love life made things kind of awkward, especially when the only thing you had in common was knowing the Monkey King.

You looked through your phone for different suggestions, Wild Pig Noodles was just as close but you weren’t that familiar with the food or really wanted to go help Pigsy’s Noodles main competitor.

Your eye was caught by a logo of a cute cartoon panda licking its lips with a smile, the name “Speedy Panda” in bright white over cool teal.

This looked new but it already had a bunch of reviews, most of them being how quick the food came.

Seems worth a shot, you thought as you scrolled through their menu and ordered some dim sum.

By the time you finished taping up the last box, a knock came from your door.

No way they were here already!

You glanced through the peephole to see that same panda logo just minutes ago. Even as you were opening the door to see the bag on the floor and against the wall, the delivery person was already off walking at a brisk pace. Teal polo shirt with a white stripe across and thinner lines to match on the edges, the cap obviously a part of the set.

“Thank you!” you said, hoping that they weren’t out of earshot.

They gave you a thumbs up while glancing back, their transit pack teal and black with white accents like their uniform. Their braid practically snapped as they turned back, gone once you blinked.

It felt safe to say that Speedy Panda’s name was well deserved.

You then plucked the bag off the floor and went back into your apartment to eat in peace.

Honestly, the dim sum wasn’t that bad considering how cheap the price was along with delivery. The pork filling looked off, you almost thought it was beef but less red with more pale fat. The texture was pretty close to beef even though you knew it wasn't that, the taste made you almost certain it was pork but that didn’t feel like the right answer.

Was the sauce throwing you off? Definitely sweet and tangy, gotta be barbecue. The dough was soaked in it and kind of mushy but you didn’t hate it.

Yeah, this could be a decent substitute for Pigsy’s Noodles for the time being.

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t having Speedy Panda delivered to your place for about the past week, the dumplings were something that you kept going back to even after trying out the spring rolls and the curry rice. Admittedly, you did miss Pigsy’s Noodles but the want to avoid an awkward conversation with MK outweighed any craving you had.

You stuffed to-go containers into your fridge except for one, bunch of meals from the restaurant for the coming days since you didn’t have much motivation to cook anything. If you planned it out properly, it could probably last you the whole week.

You glanced at your apartment, the room a lot more open when a good chunk of your stuff was now gone but that was pointing out the obvious. Your line of sight settled on the Monkey King plush on your couch atop a pillow almost like it was a treasured possession, a smile forming on your lips as you took another bite of a hot dumpling.

Right now you wanted to watch something while you were eating, it took no time to turn on the TV and turn between channels until you found a food competition just about to start.

“Welcome all to Food Wars! Today, two teams will compete in three rounds of food combat in order to be crowned Supreme Food Champion,” a voice announced while an establishing shot of the arena was on the screen. Red and gold were the main colors save for the cool cooking stations facing opposite of each other and a trail of red carpet separating them. “Introducing first from Pigsy’s Noodle Shop: Pigsy and his assistant, MK!”

You choked, almost hacking the dumpling out from how off guard you were caught to your boyfriend’s successor on your screen.

“And their opponents: Speedy Panda Convenience Store!” the Announcer continued on. “And its owners: these guys!”

“What?!” you practically yelled.

The Gold and Silver Demons you had encountered a handful of times, but seared themselves into your memory with their almost obscene self-importance, were reintroducing themselves to MK and his boss instead of acknowledging the crowd. It looked like MK didn’t really remember the two demons.

They went on about this scheme of opening a convenience store chain as a convoluted way to get Pigsy’s Noodles to go under along with MK’s financial security.

Well, this was definitely worse than supporting Wild Pig Noodles now.

Chapter Text

It was painful watching the first round, MK thrown off and practically run over by an army of Speedy Panda drivers then left in a crater with his ingredients scattered about. You hated being grateful that you had finished eating your meal because you were certain it would leave a bad taste in your mouth. Speedy Panda’s victory might have felt sweet to them, but this was disgusting to you.

Round 2 started much sooner than you would have guessed, not even a commercial break for anyone to get their bearings but maybe that was the point.

The actual cooking part of the competition was a nice change of pace, even with the demon brothers obviously tampering with the recipe, MK’s boss rolled with it and looked pleased by the extra ingredient for the broth. Was this gonna go in his favor?

The gong sounded that they were out of time, the two teams standing at the ready with their dishes. In front of them was a long table of solid oak and brilliant gold, three tall chairs of what looked like ivory and even more gold.

Okay, what was with this place’s budget?

“Both competitors must now present their culinary creations to our panel of judges,” the announcer carried on. A spotlight focused on the first seat while more lights danced over to a pair of red curtains, a blast of wind pulled them apart to reveal an elegant woman in vermillion and gold accents, the black armor on her shoulders matched her onyx hair, only some of it was held in a top knot and an updo that resembled bull horns. “Introducing our first judge: Princess Iron Fan!”

The demoness looked down at the camera, and even though she held a smile with those red lips, her stare made it clear that everyone was below her.

As she took her seat, already looking bored despite not giving anything a chance to be worthy of her attention, MK spoke up with a confident tone and pointed an accusatory finger. “Ah, you’ve come to tussle with the champ?”

“Oh, please. Like I have energy to waste on you, Noodle Boy,” Princess Iron Fan dismissed. “I’m here to settle a debt and that's all.”

MK was flat on his back from that remark as she gave an open-handed gesture to Jin and Yin, who in turn gave her double thumbs-up and blindingly bright smiles. She muttered something about a blood-oath while rubbing at her temple.

Yeah, you weren’t going to waste your time wondering about that.

The next spotlight was on the seat in the center of the table as the announcer resumed. “Judge Number 2 is none other than the Monkey King!”

Your eyes widened in surprise while red smoke appeared then just as quickly cleared to show this surprising guest. The smile was undeniably Wukong’s but it was off, flat really.

Then you realized what was off as MK called out the Monkey King’s name in pure delight, this was a cardboard cutout.

“I, Monkey King, fully endorse this product or sports event,” the cutout spoke with a professional tone while Princess Iron Fan gave an absolutely befuddled expression towards her “co-judge” of all things.

MK’s arms that he once had up in his excitement simply fell to his sides with the same expression you were making at the screen.

“And Judge Number 3, and apparently a fan favorite,” the announcer simply went on, spotlights dancing over the curtain again then settling over the final chair, a bespectacled man with a bold red scarf and a wide smile appeared, “this guy!”

“Thanks for having me! Great to be here!” the man greeted the audience with a wave.

Wait, was that Wukong’s “fan boy” you had met on your museum date ages ago?

MK cheered with a couple namedrops which removed any doubts. Even with seeing a familiar face, Pigsy didn’t seem too happy, more scared even, when met with a glare by Mr. Tang. Soon after MK was back at his boss’s side, talking to him about something about how he acts or treats his friend but it wasn’t quite caught on the mic so the specifics were beyond you.

The Gold and Silver Demons made their way to the Judges’ table, obscenely confident that this competition would go in their favor while the announcer continued to report. The dim sum and spring rolls looked way more unappetizing than any of the food you had ordered straight from the website, a fly was even seen buzzing away.

Princess Iron Fan picked and flipped at the mushy meal with a disgusted expression. Mr. Tang was doubled over behind the table, definitely not liking what he ate.

“Thank you for your interest in the Monkey King and the Monkey King branded items,” the cardboard cutout “spoke” but didn’t touch his plate for obvious reasons.

Next was Pigsy’s Noodles.

The dish was Xinjiang pulled noodle soup. It looked heavenly with how the steam billowed out from the bronze colored broth, scallions and bok choy swimming with daikon radish and dark slices of meat, the noodles peeking out just a bit to show it was supporting the whole dish.

You may have felt a drop of drool form at the corner of your mouth, maybe you missed eating from Pigsy’s Noodles more than you thought.

Mr. Tang pulled up and slurped a noodle with a fairly serious expression while Princess Iron Fan picked at the tiniest bit of noodle but her face became one of shock after a bite. She was obviously enjoying her food in the moment but then brushed it aside in the next, a neon teal sign with the Speedy Panda logo swung down with a loud ding to highlight her vote.

You shared the same shocked expression as MK and Pigsy while Jin and Yin high-fived.

The only human judge then pushed away the bowl of noodles, still very much full as he stared down at the contestants with bright lenses. You leaned forward on the couch, holding a pillow close so you’d have something to give a full body squeeze. (And the monkey king plushie definitely wasn’t big enough for that task.) It's almost funny how menacing a foodie could look when having all the power to ruin a man’s (demon’s?) career.

“Pigsy’s Noodles!” he announced as he pointed at the bright pink sign that had the logo for the restaurant. Mr. Tang even stood up from his seat then placed his foot on top of the table as he continued to give his praises.

The owners of Speedy Panda were none too pleased with how they complained against the crowd's cheering in agreement with Mr. Tang. This man definitely had a lot of passion for cuisine.

“That’s one vote for Speedy Panda and one vote for Pigsy’s!” The announcer’s voice bellowed. “It all comes down to judge number 3!”

The cardboard cutout of your boyfriend the legendary Monkey King stood in front of the plate of dim sum and the bowl of noodles, a strange and serious silence brushed over the arena over what “he” would choose. The weight of the speaker taped to the back began to push it forward while it spoke again. “I, Monkey King, fully endorse this product-” The speaker crackled upon impact with the soup.

You, and probably a lot of other people too, were confused at what to make of that.

“He endorsed Pigsy’s!” MK shouted. “He endorsed it!”

You think you may have seen a more than smug expression across MK’s face.

As the camera was focused on the fake Monkey King face first in the noodles, a familiar voice made the decision. Another bright pink sign swung overhead.

Pigsy’s Noodles won the food portion of the competition with how the owner and MK were cheering over their victory and that should have been what really mattered since that was the selling point in restaurants. You figured that was the end of it until the words “Mascot Combat” were announced and the demon brothers brought out a death machine with a panda aesthetic to match.

The food truck for Pigsy’s Noodles wasn’t looking like a worthy opponent considering it literally fell apart from the stress of what was to come.

“Okay, so… we might have a little problem,” MK’s voice was heard on your TV.

Pigsy fell to his knees, accepting defeat as tears ran down his face, his life's work amounting to nothing because of his stubbornness. The camera operator was really trying to get an award winning shot and preference despite this being a cooking show of all things.

Okay, now you were feeling really bad for ordering off from Speedy Panda.

MK wasn’t going to take any of that while he still had something to say about it, he spared no time in picking up his boss and giving him the pep talk of the year at minimum.

Was there a practical effects budget for this show? Because clouds of golden smoke erupted from behind the two as MK pointed at the food truck and added to the atmosphere. (You might end up asking MK how staged this was if you got the chance to talk to him again.)

MK then tossed his boss up into the air, soon jumping up to follow him with the staff spinning behind him. “Here… comes…”

You don’t think you’ve ever seen any of MK’s fights except for the Great Wall Race which was also televised and when he had trained with Wukong, hearing his battle cry was definitely a first.

“Monkie Pig!” MK and his boss shouted with all their might as the staff turned the food truck into a battle mech. It may have looked like a weaponized noodle bowl, but it kind of fit compared to the one from Speedy Panda.

Whatever conversation was going on after was lost on you but from the looks of it, Mr. Tang’s loyalties were undoubtedly on Pigsy’s, and by obvious extension MK’s.

It didn’t take long for the Speedy Panda employees to slide in ready for the fight. Once they were ordered to throw themselves in, Pigsy revved the mech, MK had his staff at the ready, and Mr. Tang and the Monkey King cutout were about to tussle with the employee in the panda mascot costume. It was gonna be an all out war.

“Hang on!” a young demon in a headset called out and was on the screen with a rottweiler behind her. Purple skin with mauve hair tied in a bun, red and yellow cheongsam for some traditional flare and maroon leggings for comfortable mobility. “We ain’t got the budget for this!”

She appeared between demons and humans alike, blasts of wind disrupting everything and everyone around to a halt with the weight definitely shifting off balance then falling back down with the lack of preparation.

A vermillion clipboard flew into her hand as the demons slammed into the dirt. A complaint about the attack was obviously heard with how she brought the paper to their faces.

“Well, you spent all of your profits on that Panda Mech!” she answered while the folded papers practically burst the board and smacked the demons. “We ain’t got enough money to pay our drivers! Speedy Panda is bankrupt.”

Even though her way of speaking was different, her going straight to the point and being no-nonsense about it reminded you of Wukong’s lawyer.

Jin grabbed the clipboard and with it the ribbons of debt while Yin was thinking up what was the major blow to the budget.

“We’re not getting paid?” one of the Speedy Panda drivers questioned with a horrifying tone as a dark, menacing aura grew behind him.

The Gold and Silver demons tried to play it off like it was no big deal but it wasn’t long before the now former employees of Speedy Panda swarmed the demon brothers, only a few hits were shown on the screen before the program cut to an ad as a weak form of censorship.

“You sound like you’ve had an eventful episode,” Wan Ying noted as she had a sip of tea. “But you do understand I’m not your therapist, right?”

“I know,” you mumbled on the couch and took another bite of your leftovers from Speedy Panda. “I just don’t have anyone to talk about this with and you seemed like, I don’t know, the best option.”

“You couldn’t discuss this with the Monkie Kid himself?” The tone wasn’t of annoyance, it was a genuine question.

“It’s just weird,” you answered. “Like, I’m dating his mentor and there’s not much that we have in common other than Wukong and I don’t know what to talk about with him.”

“Him possibly being an indirect cause for your move might also be an issue,” Wan Ying mentioned. “Or the recent bankruptcy of Speedy Panda.”

“You know about that too?”

“My daughter mentioned it to me,” she told you. “Better it be bankruptcy than controversy.”

“You have a daughter?”

“Yes, but that’s not what we’re here about.”

“Please, I need a distraction!” you told her, hands clapped together like a prayer for a small mercy, chopsticks in your hands as the incense.

The demon cocked her head a bit at that, lips pursed at the thought.

“I rather not share details of my personal life,” she told you, “but my daughter did share some outrageous rumors and conspiracy theories she found… interesting.”

“About Speedy Panda?”

She gave a nod.

“Did you know that it was extremely popular with demons?” Wan Ying started out with, inhaling the soothing scent of the tea.

You made a face as your hand gave a so-so gesture at that, it would make sense that a demon-owned business would be popular with demons but you were focusing more on your own preference than listening to word-of-mouth.

“A huge reason behind its rapid popularity was that it seemed like a good human substitute,” she answered.

You stared at the demon after a hard gulp of your food. “Huh?”

“There have been questions and concerns on how ethically the meat was obtained too,” she went on. “With how close it tasted to humans, there were bound to be questions if it was the real thing or not.”

Your head turned to look over your shoulder and to the fridge.

“Wait, exactly how much did you buy from Speedy Panda?” Wan Ying asked once you turned back, eyes slightly wide and lips pursed.

Your frown was pretty apparent. “About a week’s worth.”

A hum escaped Wan Ying, soft and low while her features relaxed and set on you.

“Am I eating human meat?”

Tentatively, she reached for one of the soup dumplings, the smallest one so she could easily pop it into her mouth without the worry of spillage.

That moment of watching her chewing your food felt longer than waiting for a long shift to end.

“It’s safe,” she finally answered. “Just a mesh of pork, beef, that kind of meat. Maybe using a bit more cartilage than usual but nothing questionable.”

You let out the loudest sigh of relief, you slumped onto the couch, head resting on the back of it. “You sure it’s not human?” you had to ask again to be certain.

“Absolutely,” Wan Ying gave with a nod, taking another dumpling for herself.

“Wait,” you realized something, “how would you know what human tastes like?”

“You need to stop worrying along with questioning things that don’t need to be answered.”

You bit the inside of your cheek, still unsure to believe her.

“It’s no guilt on your conscience,” she told you, it almost sounded like an order.

“Don’t I make that choice?!”

She brought her hand forward and patted your shoulder. “Not in this.”

Maybe this was why she was Wukong’s lawyer, and the one sent to you on top of that.

Chapter Text

In all honesty, you insisted on dragging out your stay at home for two reasons; your job which gave you a sense of purpose and stability as well as the occasional letter from Wukong that would pop up on your balcony every few days. However the latter became less frequent, you couldn’t help but notice.

Probably getting in the zone for his vacation. 

The last couple of pictures were… odd, for lack of a better word. The pictures didn’t really match or make sense in a way.

Some were of a garden that was in the Celestial Kingdom, but you were certain he had left that place ages ago. There was one of a clump of mountains with what looked like a city carved into it that you didn’t recognize but it didn’t seem like something from the Celestial Realm, maybe he was back on the mortal place for a short bit? (Would be nice if he used that to take the chance to visit, even if it would only be a quick hi and bye.)

Another set was of a jungle; beautiful greenery and ethereal flora, animals adding life to the scenes and making you wish he took you along for the vacation. Maybe you could ask him to take you to the “Mystic Jungle of the Emerald Lynx” in the future.

Oh yeah, he didn’t write notes on the back of the photos anymore either, at best just a title of what you were looking at.

Lao Tzu’s lab (which definitely told you he was sneaking around where he shouldn’t) was filled to the brim with potions and inventions, a quick pic of the Jade Emperor's throne room of all things made you pray he wasn’t going to start any more trouble.

The fact these were sporadically mixed in with photos that were unrelated didn’t sit well.

You let the pile of pictures lay down on your coffee table, one of the few pieces of furniture you had left. The removalists were going to show up tomorrow, this trip they were going to take your bed and dresser. (Some of your clothes would remain in your closet and in a luggage you rarely used for trips, the blankets would be on the couch where you slept.)

You picked up the last new photo from Wukong, a cluster of clouds pushed to look like the character for good fortune, blessings, that kind of stuff. The sky behind it was that warm orange, so this was taken near the end of the day. You flipped the back, wishing he left a message, that he was running out of film or his camera broke or something. You’d even take a chicken scratch message saying he was running out of ink.

He was probably having fun on his vacation, chatting it up and having tea with the goddess of mercy Guanyin, boasting about battles and reconnecting with the three-eyed god Erlang Shen, much more interesting company than what the mortal world could really offer him.

You let out a groan, mulling over this wouldn't change the situation or make you feel any better. Best thing you could do was get ready for work, you only had a couple weeks left of the job so it would probably be good to make the most of it.

You never really noticed all the earthy smells that filled the workshop until recently; cedar, sandalwood, birch, oak, rosewood, pine, the warm perfumes wafted in the air and made you feel content. Were you really getting nostalgic over the job?

Your gaze went to the window, watching all civilians both human and demon pass by, though only in recent months did you really notice the demons at all. Despite stuff like, horns, tails, technicolor skin, or unnatural eyes, they managed to bleed and blend into the crowd.

Though now you wondered how many were able to disguise themselves like Wukong could.

It took a moment to realize you were staring back at a kid whose face was practically pressed against the glass. You quickly looked away, a little more than embarrassed that you didn't notice until just now.

Well, it’s a good thing that you only have a half shift today, just needed to stay here until noon and then you were out of here.

Time breezed by with talking to customers and cleaning up the place, other workers were carving, sanding, and varnishing in the back.

When it was the final five minutes of your shift, you were definitely craving a cheese tea or two. Maybe you could grab some sesame balls while you were there, you were even considering ordering from Pigsy’s Noodles if MK was out on a delivery route.

You were quick to find a cheese tea booth the moment you were free to leave, the worker behind the counter appeared bored. She had her brown hair held up by a salmon hairclip, the locks that framed her face were faded in color. Freckles were sprayed across her face, then a smile grew when she saw you making your way in her direction.

“Hello,” she greeted. “What would you like today?”

You glanced at the menu, blanking out on what to get, all you knew was that you wanted more than one cheese tea for the road. “You got any recommendations?”

Her smile widened, genuine glee with how it reached her eyes. “We got something called the Monkie Kid Special; strawberry milk tea with egg pudding and a cream cheese foam top! It’s something of the local hero’s favorite.”

Why weren’t you completely surprised that MK had some kind of partnership? Was this branding being done by the Monkey King’s franchise? Could you even ask Wan Ying about this?

“Anything else?” You were kind of interested in it but you wanted to keep your options open.

“We also have the Dragon Girl Special; jasmine green tea with dragon fruit jelly,” she answered.

That sounded really good too.

“I kind of prefer the Monkie Kid one, but I’m biased,” the worker admitted with a joking tone.

“I’ll take both,” you ended up answering, soon giving her any specifications on how much ice and sugar you wanted in your drinks.

You enjoyed taking the scenic route, walking around with some snacks from a nearby convenience store and filling yourself on that instead of your drinks just yet.

The sound of mumbling pricked your ear, making you walk over to see a familiar tuk-tuk parked at the mouth of an alley. MK leaned forward in the seat, hand over his mouth and a brown napkin speckled with red.

“You okay?” you called out.

MK spoke your name in obvious surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was kind of on my way home, but I’ve been taking detours and junk,” you answered while walking over. “You? ‘Cause it looks like you might need some help.” You pointed at the bloodied wad of paper in his fist.

“Oh, this?” MK told you. “This isn’t from, like, a fight or anything."

You brought up your bag, taking one of cheese teas into view then offering it for his time to talk. You had the “Monkie Kid Special” in your hand and you were hoping that this was his favorite as the cheese tea girl had claimed, maybe it'd pick up his mood.

MK took the drink from your hand, soon moving a transit pack for deliveries to the back of the cart then patting the seat next to him as clearance to take it.

“So, you doing okay?” you could only think to start with as you sat down. “Something happen?”

“Nothing big,” MK told you, shoving this dirty napkin in a paper bag of a trash bin. “Just been trying to call Monkey King.”

“You can do that?”

“Not quite, I’m still working on it,” MK told you with an uneasy tone. “He did this ‘telepathic communication’ thing a couple weeks ago, so I’ve been trying to see if it works both ways.”

“And how many nosebleeds have you had from that?”

“Five…” he groaned before taking a sad slurp from his cheese tea. His expression lit up, eyes brightened as he looked at you in surprise. “Oh dang! Where’d ya get this?”

“The cheese tea booth a couple blocks down,” you answered. “Worker there said it was your favorite, even named it after you.”

His cheeks puffed from holding his smile, that seemed to help a bit.

“You doing good with Monkey King being gone?” you went to ask next. “‘Cause I’m doing… all right… I guess.”

“I mean, I’ve been getting by,” MK admitted. “Could be better.”

“Has he, like, sent you anything while on his vacation?” Part of you worried about mentioning the photos Wukong had mailed you.

“Oh yeah,” MK answered with ease, a smile still on his face as he looked at you. “After he sent me this mystic blindfold, he started giving me scrolls for remote training. You?”

“I got like a couple pictures he sent me,” you answered back. “Just stuff of the Jade Palace, which, don’t get me wrong, is super cool, but still weird he’s still able to go there after everything.”

The Monkie Kid laughed in agreement. “Yeah, maybe they figured it’d be easier not to push anything if it isn’t super bad.”

“Think he’s having fun?”

“Has to be if he’s just been kind of, forgetting, on sending stuff…” MK spoke. “No news is good news, right?”

You only nodded your acknowledgement, taking a sip of the "Dragon Girl Special" tea instead of speaking. It had a refreshing tang with a sweet aftertaste on your tongue.

“You miss him too?”

Now it was MK’s turn to give a nod as an answer.

“If you get to talk to Monkey King, what are you gonna tell him?”

“I’m not sure,” MK told you after another hearty slurp. “Maybe ask how’s his vacation? Definitely don’t wanna ruin the mood by telling him his lawyer was mad that I sent them an email and not him.”

You stifled a laugh. “I got to meet his lawyer recently, she’s not bad, but I can see why she’d be annoyed. Anything else?”

“Oh yeah, there was one trick that I’ve been working on for a bit. Remember when I had trouble shrinking my staff when it wasn't in my hand?”

You nodded a yes.

“Well check this out,” MK announced as the staff appeared between his flat palms, a small rod of red and gold spun so fast it was practically floating in the air.

Your smile was easy to see, definitely impressed by the display. “That’s so cool!”

“Thanks!” He quickly hid the staff back in his ear after. “Hopefully I’ll get to talk to him today.”

“Well, I’m rooting for you.”

“There anything you want me to tell him?” MK thought to ask you.

“Nah,” you told him. “I’ll get to talk to him when he gets back.”

“You sure?”

“Mmhmm,” you confirmed with an extra nod. “‘Sides, I kind of want to go home now.”

“All right,” MK said as you hopped off the seat.

“If we hang out again, want me to get you another cheese tea?”

“Well, I really can’t say no to that,” MK couldn’t help but note. Laughs escaped the both of you, smiles settled across your faces after.

You soon raised your hand, a quick wave before taking the steps back home. “I’ll see ya around.”

“See ya,” MK said back, your name coming out with an easier tone than before.

Maybe you could become friends with your boyfriend’s successor? Not like a whole buddy-buddy type of relationship, but just connecting through Wukong and all those little things would be a step in the right direction.

Even though you felt content and safe when walking home, why did you feel a chill run up your spine?

Chapter Text

You sent Wan Ying a text to delay the removalists for the month, and honestly, maybe just end them showing up altogether. You were down to a couch and blankets in your apartment, a luggage bag filled with clean clothes for the coming days, and your bicycle on your balcony waiting for the final trip to the temple. The fridge wasn’t coming with you to the temple, but the one at the temple was bigger and higher quality so you considered that a win.

You also decided to put in the last of your vacation time and paid time off since there wasn’t much reason to keep it, but the cost that came with that was you were bored out of your mind because of nothing to do.

You didn’t even have a TV anymore, that was moved to what will be your bedroom in the temple, and it was at that moment you realized that those guys were just a little too good at the job and took too much way too quickly. Now you’re stuck with using a laptop to watch anything.

Maybe you could go to the temple to unpack then sort out all your belongings for your new home?

Since you didn’t really have much of a job to go back to in the morning, you really didn’t see a need in bringing your bike to rush back home. It would just be more weight to carry when walking through all those steps. Also, you could just spend the night at the temple and get a little more used to the idea of living there while sleeping on it in more ways than one.

Oh! You could grab yourself some snacks for the trip too! Maybe this time you could try out the “Monkie Kid Special” for yourself.

The walk to a cheese tea booth should have been a quick trip but you were taking a heck of a long way with all the twists and turns you made, though you were in need of the fresh air filling your lungs and sunlight warming your skin. The sounds of the city were easy to drown out while you simply focused on what kind of snacks you could help yourself to.

Maybe you were tuning out the world a bit too well, it took a good moment for you to notice something tugging at the back of your jacket. You glanced back to see a young girl holding onto the hem, fingers clutched tight while she had a distressed look on her face.

“Hey, are you having fun back there?” you asked while the red of embarrassment began to tint her face.

A squeak came from her, her hands off you in an instant. “I’m sorry, I just- I got lost, and I don’t know where to go.” Her mouth began to twist, lip starting to wobble as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Oh, wait, hey! Don’t cry!”

You went to her eye level as you turned over, your hand hesitant to reach out to bring her some form of comfort. Carefully you pressed your palm against her upper arm, the girl quickly collected herself with a deep breath after.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, rubbing at her face with the ball of her palm. “Can you help me?”

It was kind of hard to get an idea of how young she was, “younger than you” was probably the most accurate, but maybe 12 at the youngest felt like a good fit. 

She looked like some politician’s kid with the fancy garb she had from the white, blue, and black chest-high ruqun with its standing collar and the jade green bun holder that styled the top layer of her ink black hair. You noticed her matching blue eye shadow and were kind of impressed that she didn’t smudge any of it when wiping her tears.

“Yeah, I can help,” you told her, a smile on your face to show this wasn’t a problem for you at all. “What’s your name?”

“Bai He,” she answered, her frown becoming less pronounced.

You stood back up, spine a little straighter than normal to look a bit more confident. “Okay then, Bai He. How about we get you a snack or something? Would that help you feel better?”

She gave a nod, a smile now starting to curl at the ends of her mouth.

On the walk to the nearest tea booth, Bai He told you that she wasn’t “lost lost” despite how close to crying she was, she insisted that she was more overwhelmed by the huge city and it all caught up to her in the moment. She gave a “I’m a grown-up, not a little kid” vibe that you really weren’t sold on.

With how her stomach practically roared when she saw all the food on the menu, another flush of red painting her face, you kind of felt bad for the laugh that escaped.

When you asked where her parents were, she told you that there was a meeting point they would have to be at in a few hours, right now she had permission to walk wherever she wanted and see whatever caught her eye.

“Ah, you’re a tourist. This your first time here?”

She gave a nod then was back to deciding on what to pick. The kid had a pretty sophisticated palate; her drink was ginseng oolong with no sugar added while she snacked on candied ginger. Despite the sweet and floral notes that came from it, the spice that followed would easily burn a hole through your tongue.

Your drinks on the other hand were of the sweet and fruity variety, the snacks were also savory but less on the herbal side of things with the tea eggs and beef shank.

“So, you live here then?” Bai He asked.

“Yeah… It’s my day off and I really didn’t want to waste the day just sitting inside.”

“Did you have something planned?”

You were trying to think of an answer that felt appropriate, honest but not too personal. “I was thinking of checking up on a friend’s place, he’s gonna be out for a while and someone needs to make sure everything is okay there.”

“I’m not bothering you and delaying your trip, am I?”

“Nah, it’s fine.” You added in a smile to show it wasn’t an issue then took a sip of the Monkie Kid Special, it had a nice balance of fruit and custard. “I might not even go today, it’s kind of far anyway.”

Bai He went back to chewing her candied ginger, probably on her tenth piece now and showing no interest in stopping.

“I can give you suggestions on where to go if you’re interested,” you offered.

“Like what?”

“There’s the Anti-Gravity Arcade, bowling alley, ice cream shop, the harbor, marketplace,” those were a good chunk of what popped up in your head, hopefully the selection was diverse enough.

Bai He made a pout at that, the look of her face slightly pressed against the candy’s plastic bag, you were able to piece together that she was one of the kids that was peeking through the windows of the woodshop a couple days ago. “Some of those sound fun, but could you come with me? I don’t really want to be alone again.”

“Sure thing,” you agreed with a smile. “You just need to pick a spot.”

“The marketplace sounds nice,” Bai He decided.

“Marketplace it is then!”

Bai He seemed pretty easily impressed by everything that caught her eye, though you were a bit confused on why she picked what would probably be the most boring option to a kid. Your brain was starting to list off what you could buy for a moment before promptly remembering that you still had a fridge to empty out first.

She led the way while you started to tune out a bit, enjoying the girl’s giddiness and taking in the white noise of the crowd. Bai He pointed out different confectionaries and baked goods as you gave a smile and asked the occasional question to keep her going.

You came back to reality once you noticed a few familiar details, specifically how you were finding yourself on the same path that could easily lead to the busted alleyway where you and MK fell in those couple months back. Did that ever get fixed?

Almost immediately Bai He began to wander off and go down the same trail, she practically skipped on the sidewalk before something caught her eye, head turning to get a better look before walking in.

“Hey, you gotta be careful,” you tried your best to not sound like you were trying to scold her as you picked up the pace.

Bai He called you back in response. “You need to see this!”

You made a quick turn on your heel, seeing she had squeezed past a huge hole in the chain link fence built to stop this very act from happening. It took little time to follow her, the only pause was that you struggled to wiggle through without scratching yourself on the cut metal.

Bai He stood about a foot from the edge of the pit you had once fallen in and were only able to get out thanks to an immortal.

“Bai He,” you spoke up so you wouldn’t spook her with your oncoming touch on her shoulder. “This is dangerous, we shouldn’t be here.”

“How do you think this happened?” Bai He asked you, curious about the cause.

“I honestly don’t know,” you told her. A part of you not exactly wanting to go back on memory lane.

You gave the girl a slight tug on her shoulder so she'd know that you wanted her to step away from the giant hole but she wouldn’t budge.

“Oh yeah!” Bai He spoke up as though she just remembered something. “Did you know not all spiders weave webs, some make burrows.”

“Yeah, that’s really interesting, but this isn’t safe. Now let’s go.”

When you went to reach for her arm to pull her back, a shock ran through, your hand snapping back as though it had touched a hot pan but the sensation it left was ice cold. You let out a grunt as you tried to flick the feeling back into your hand.

“Maybe the same could be said for demons of similar designs,” Bai He went on, turning over to show a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“What?”

“To be honest, I wasn’t quite expecting someone like you to have a connection to the Monkie Kid, let alone a relation with his mentor.” The way she spoke came with a different tone now, no longer light and carefree, it was weighed down by years she couldn't have experienced.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t mention anything like that.”

“I didn’t need you to tell me, I saw it for myself not so long ago.”

You flicked your hand again, the numbness starting to spread to your concern. “Bai He…?”

Her smile stayed, her head giving the slightest tilt while waiting for the rest of your question.

“Who…? What are you?”

“As much as Bai He suits this body, that isn’t my name,” the girl answered, her voice sending a chill that ran through your body. “You may refer to me as the Lady Bone Demon.”

Chapter Text

The little girl who you were worried over mere moments ago, how her eyes welled up from the tears about to break through when first seeing her to the light giggles and soft hums she gave from enjoying the snacks you bought her, the cold stare she kept made your body shudder. What was more was that you couldn’t move, all your limbs were covered in the static that would be followed by pins and needles on every nerve.

A shuddering breath came out when you struggled to call out her name, the one she gave for her guise as the kid. You wondered if “Bai He” was even the actual name for the host or if the parasitic demon thought it up herself. “What do you want from me?”

You weren’t certain if it would be an advantage if she was the type of demon that plays with her food or not.

“That depends on how this conversation goes,” the Lady Bone Demon answered. “But it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to say that I was curious in meeting you.”

Your knees found themselves on the mesh of dirt and broken concrete, a sharp pain stabbing into your muscles with every twitch that came. Even without moving, it still brought a torturous ache.

The demon child hummed at the sight then took a few steps forward until she was hardly a foot away and crouched to meet your eye level. She reached out and pressed her fingertips to your upper arm, every nerve felt like it was jabbed by the tip of a knife, you almost yowled from it but your mouth was sealed shut. Tears began to blur your vision but you could still make out the hints of her fake smile.

“I was expecting more from you, but it seems you really are nothing more than a human,” she noted. “It hardly took anything to have you kneel.”

It took a moment for the tremors in your body to pass before you could speak, a hiccup pausing you for a moment and the Lady Bone Demon saw that as an easy opportunity to cut you off.

“It’s almost surprising that the Monkey King would have a dalliance with a human of all things, but it would make sense he would choose such lowly beings to admire him.”

“He… Wukong doesn’t think that,” you managed to get out. “He’s told me himself.”

“Oh, the being who caused the Havoc in Heaven because his ego wasn’t stroked says you’re different?” she countered easily as she got in your face. “What sort of sweet nothings had to be exchanged for you to believe that?”

A twitch ran across your face, a heat beginning to burn under your skin. Your jaw tightened, trying hard not to grit your teeth.

She was close, maybe you could do something to throw her off and make your escape.

You took in a deep breath as you lifted your chin, head held high to the point it was over her own. She gave a perplexed look with how her head tilted, somewhat curious in what you were trying to do, then you slammed your forehead against the top of her head. 

Everything shuddered as you sucked in a breath through bared teeth, your sight wasn’t all there even after a few hard blinks to try to clear it up. A pang stayed as you realized the Lady Bone Demon remained unfazed by your attempted attack.

“Even though you’re closer to the Monkey King than most, you should know that doesn’t mean you have a bronze head and iron shoulders like him. You don’t have the same gifts as his successor.”

Annoyance, no, anger was a better word, grazed you. The heat on your face coming from that instead of the blood rushing to where a bruise should soon form. “You’re just lucky Wukong isn’t here,” you nearly spat.

“You think he doesn’t already know about me?” She nearly giggled as she stood tall and took a step back, a smile now on her face once again. Another chill ran through you and forced your body to fall, a gasp for air coming out loud while another tremor came. “Why else do you think he left?”

Through the shaking breaths, you still bared your teeth at her, even though you were scared, the rage almost outweighed it.

The Lady Bone Demon’s smile didn’t so much as twitch, almost if amused by you.

“Shame, most are willing to take care of their mate when with child. But he was more than ready to leave, I wonder if he regrets trying with you.”

Your jaw went slack as you tried to speak but no sound would come out.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised. It’s only natural you’d produce something… less than satisfactory.”

A sharp taste came from the back of your throat then covered your tongue, bitter and burning, adding another layer of reality to this moment.

“He already has a successor. Why would he ever want anything less from you?”

You swallowed back the bile that tried to make its way out, a wheeze easy to hear while you tried to push your limp body up to no avail.

“How can…?” That couldn’t be… You weren’t even the same species by any stretch of the imagination. How would she even know either?

“It’s small,” the Lady Bone Demon began. “That tiny life inside you only has a speck of the Monkey King’s power, hardly anything worth mentioning compared to the Monkie Kid. Any other demon couldn’t blame him for leaving.”

“He… He said he loves me…” you spoke up, trying to give a reason on why he wouldn’t, not unless there was no other option.

“Demons don’t love, they want and they take. You simply amused him enough to keep playing until you were willing to give in to him.”

“Shut it,” you wanted to yell but all that came was a whimper. “You don’t know him, he cares…”

“You claim you’re certain of his love for you but won’t even speak of him in casual conversation, so what is the truth?”

“Wukong… He wouldn’t leave… Not over that…” You could hear the blood rushing in your ears, heartbeat so loud it drowned out anything that wasn’t the Lady Bone Demon's voice or your haggard breaths.

“Did you expect to marry him in the end? Have the immortal watch your skin wrinkle and hair turn while he remained the same? Or did you believe he would gift you immortality of all things for entertaining him?”

Tears blurred your vision and spilled across your skin, the dirt beneath your face now dark and wet.

“He’s bored of you, you shouldn’t be surprised by that. It’s quite pitiful that he was dragging it out.”

He wouldn’t do that, you got to know him as a friend before he became something more. Why would he open himself up like that out of simple boredom?

But still, a sob escaped.

“You are not a priority of his, not in the moment nor the grand scheme of things.”

You tried to move your arm, the left one, and push yourself up but nothing happened. All you could really do was glance at the jade bangle he had gifted you before he left. How it looked like a peaceful sky captured in emerald, that he slipped it onto your wrist himself. He even acted shy of all things when he was preparing himself to show it.

“If he is as enamored as you claim, it will certainly bring me joy to see him have to fight you to reach me.”

Another spasm made your vision flicker, everything out of focus as pale mist appeared in one moment then vanished in the next. Something cold and hard grabbed at the collar of your shirt, dragging you up to your knees, forcing you to stare at who held you.

A skull stared back at you, the closest thing to eyes in its sockets were the tiniest glints of blue light. Thin, silvery hair ran down to its back, despite how it flowed elegantly with a nonexistent breeze, it looked like it was glued by the thinnest layer on the skin of the scalp.

It… She… The Lady Bone Demon’s jaw reshaped into a smile before all her ivory bones transformed into a fine mist. Her leer imprinted into your vision as her misty form drew close.

She forced her way in through your mouth, the frigid mass not that different from an icicle with how it chilled against the muscles in your throat, as if frost was already forming inside.

You choked from it, how could you not?

Your body seized, the only sound that could come was a retch. Everything faded to near black but you could still see the shape of all that was around you, each sound crystal clear even though everything else was dim.

Every muscle cramped, like you were plunged into icy water and she held you down so you could drown in her essence.

Then a crack broke through the haze, the sound forcing you to stay awake.

You fell back to your knees, trying to breathe before heaving to see the bone spirit rush out and reunite with her host.

The girl, the real one, only let out a wail before the demon forced her way back in, a scream then a gasp was all that followed before she stood back up. The demoness only looked annoyed by the outcome.

You took in another breath, this one actually filling your lungs with air before coming out with a shudder, you were finally able to hold yourself up. All you could do was twitch but now you could feel that you were able to have some control of your movements.

“I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising that the Monkey King would place some kind of seal on his property. It’s such a shame I can't make use of you,” the Lady Bone Demon noted.

You refused to hear another word, you scrambled to get to your feet, rushing back to the fence, not caring how you were scratched by the edges of the chain link metal.

Away, you just had to get away if it was the last thing you could do.

Your body was burning hot yet freezing cold, each sensation switching out with every step.

You felt as though you couldn't breathe, but you know you had to if you were able to keep running this long.

Everything blurred, from the world around to the time that passed.

Eventually you made it to your apartment building, the sweat on your skin had turned to salt, the strange texture it left behind being a reminder of the fear you felt.

Your legs began to ache when you reached the door to your apartment, once it was shut you collapsed against it.

Breathe, need to breathe. You placed a hand on your chest, feeling your heartbeat drum against it with a ferocity.

You glanced down and stared at the jade bangle, lightning cracked within the stone sky.

Chapter Text

“Can’t have people know you’re with a simple human of all things.”

“I could have anyone in the world, and I chose you,” a human-looking Wukong boasted in the recording on your phone. “You’re anything but that in the best possible way.”

A golden flash almost made the screen blindingly bright, making you squint as it illuminated your face. You took in a breath, your throat tightening and eyes stinging shut for a moment then you went back to watching.

The old you, the younger you, the whatever you, glanced back at the Monkey King. Confusion hit first then turned into excitement, how he was willing to have the actual him be in a picture with you.

“So when’s it going to take the picture?” he questioned while he nudged his head in the direction of your phone. “This is taking a while.”

“Ah!”

Then the video was over.

You swiped your way out of the gallery, soon the phone let the screen turn dark once you plopped it onto the couch.

No, none of that could be fake, you thought as your thumb rubbed the polished jade around your wrist. Even though there was a crack in it, you couldn’t feel the slightest seam or any give.

You had made a joke that he gave this to you as some kind of safeguard and that really was the case, part of you was glad he played it like he was caught in the act and you didn’t dwell on it any further.

You took in another breath, your hands now relaxing on your stomach. With the gentlest push against it, you felt nothing, not a single bump that wasn’t there before.

The last couple days were on the rougher side obviously, but you weren’t nauseated, not since you had that awful encounter with that demon, the worst that followed you was the anxiety. (The only other thing was that you felt weirdly burp-y too, but you weren’t certain if that was from the recent stress or the claim the demon child made was an accurate one.)

You glanced back at the other end of the couch, looking at the goofy plush of the Monkey King “guarding” your phone. There was still so much you needed to figure out, but your brain didn't want to focus and wrap your head around it.

The very idea that you, a human, were possibly carrying Wukong’s child didn’t feel real.

Sure, you may have talked about it with him in passing, but those were supposed to be almost silly hypotheticals. Even though he has sounded entertained, maybe even pleased, with the idea, it was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Because he was the Monkey King. A being who was able to ride the clouds, shapeshift into whatever he wanted, had centuries worth of stories to tell.

You were just you. Even though he said that he chose you, that you were more than a simple human, remembering what he was still brought a sliver of doubt in the claim.

Worry would soon cause your mind to drift, how the stories revolving around him in the past could now mean for your future. One thing that started to pop up was remembering a tale that said a day in the Celestial Realm equaled a year over here and you didn’t want to dwell on what that meant when he said he'd be gone for months now.

You shook your head. You needed to talk to someone about this, but your options were very limited since your dating life was no one’s business except your own, having to explain everything would just be another stressor.

Telling MK didn't feel right, especially since you had just started getting better at talking with him. He was probably dealing with so much and you shouldn’t be another thing on that list.

Need to breathe again, a deep one that filled your lungs to the brim until it almost felt like a strain to hold it in. Letting it out brought some relief, though your heart still felt like it was running fast.

Your hand reached back for your phone, thumbs soon swiping across the screen to find a certain contact and send a text.

It didn’t take long for a knock to rap at your door, like maybe a good ten minutes had passed, you were expecting to be alone for another hour at the least. You still bothered with checking through the peephole for the door even though you had a pretty good idea on who was there, the blur of lilac blue skin was all the confirmation you needed.

A part of you instantly regretted opening the door when you were met with Wan Ying’s somewhat disappointed pout. Definitely the face of someone who expected more from you.

“Uuuuh, hi?” That’s all you could find yourself mustering up.

“Just skip to what you need.” Her line of sight went past you and to your empty apartment. She took in a deep breath before she continued on. “I wish you had told me how ‘well’ the movers had done at their job, it would have been entirely possible for you to have gotten some of your belongings back here.”

“I didn’t wanna bother them,” you mumbled. “They were just doing their job.”

Wan Ying groaned at that, or maybe it was a suppressed growl. “Tell me what’s the issue now.”

“It’s actually a lot.” The answer came out as a mutter.

“Should we take a seat?”

You gave a nod.

“So what’s the issue?” she asked again once that was said and done.

Your mouth became a tight line as she brought out her tablet and pen to get ready for whatever she was expecting.

“It’s Wukong-related,” you eased in, “it’s also me-related, I mean obviously, since I asked you to come here. But it’s definitely because of Wukong.”

“Get to the point,” she instructed, her tone not really annoyed or angry, but wanting you to focus.

“I’m pregnant, and it’s Wukong’s.”

Crack!

Her stylus broke in her hand as she stared at you with wide eyes.

“Well, I think I might be pregnant, and if so, it’s Wukong’s,” you tried to backtrack, avoiding her judging stare as you went to look down at your lap.

A beat.

“I’m going to be out for a few minutes, I’ll be back, just try not to worry too much,” Wan Ying said once she stood back up. “Everything will be all right.”

She left you in your bare apartment after.

Oh, you screwed up. You screwed up big time.

You have no idea how she felt about this!

Did Wukong even have some kind of policy for something like this?

Would bringing a kid in when there was already a Monkie Kid too much of a strain for the brand this would be what got you sued?!

Before you realized it, Wukong’s lawyer was back in your apartment with something in her arms that wasn’t just her tablet for once along with a fat canvas bag at her feet. It was hard to really make out what it was with how your vision blurred but you figured you’d know soon enough with how she strode toward you and practically shoved the soft mass into your arms, she turned on her heel and went back to her tote bag then carried it off to your kitchenette. 

It took a few hard blinks to see properly, the thing in your hands coming into focus and showing it was a plush toy of a monkey. It didn’t look like Wukong despite the fur being the same color but that was where the similarities ended. Round was a good way to describe it, the dot eyes were wide apart and the tiny mouth was set practically in the middle of the face. You couldn't help but label it as friend-shaped.

You held the toy in a close hug as you watched Wan Ying rummaging through the cabinets and drawers then pulling out a pot and knife, vegetables and other ingredients were laid across the counter while she went to work.

“What are you doing?” you managed to get out, it may have taken a moment to clear your voice beforehand.

“Just stay put,” she answered as she glanced back at you for a moment, the look held no judgment to your surprise. “Let’s get something in your system before we start talking, you’re a bit of a mess right now. Actually, go take a shower, that will probably help if you’ve been holed up here for a couple days after finding out about that.”

One good thing about taking a shower (other than the standard refreshed feeling that usually came with it) was that your reddened face from the hot water made it easy to hide the puffiness around your eyes. Even though you had gotten a good cry out, something in the air stung your eyes, tears pricking them closed for a moment before you locked them on to the counter of your kitchenette.

Wan Ying had a huge pot that you had no memory of buying on the stove, on the counter were root vegetables along with some plastic containers for broths and a tiny bowl of mixed herbs. You managed to get a better look and could see the cut leeks in the pot were the culprit in making your eyes water, some potatoes were diced and the skins were placed on a cooking sheet.

“So whatcha making?” you mumbled as you came close to her shoulder.

“Soup,” she answered while she dumped potatoes in the pot followed by some broth. Her head nudged to the skins after. “Chips. Do you have a blender?”

You nodded while pointing to the cabinet. “There anything you want me to do? Like help?”

“Just go sit down,” she told you. “I got this and it helps me think.”

So you did just that, if you weren’t skimming through your phone, you were checking out the plushie Wan Ying gifted you. The toy was a bit smaller than your torso but that made it the perfect size to hug, you also noticed it had a limp tail that you could use to wrap around the banana sewn to its back.

In time, the demon returned to your side as she set a hot bowl of soup with a washcloth underneath it onto your lap. She took a seat on the couch but still gave you a bit of distance, she had a bowl in her hand too but it looked more like potato chips than soup.

“Go on, eat,” she urged.

You glanced at the contents, it was creamy white with the smallest bits of black and green, those were probably from the herbs and spices. After a stir, you took a spoonful of soup and were soon met with a soft and subtle flavor that easily ran down your throat then settled in your stomach. Warmth filled you, relief hitting you to the point you felt your eyes water again.

“Is it good? Are you feeling better?” Wan Ying asked as you took in spoonful after spoonful.

You only gave a nod, actually a few so that you meant yes to both of her questions.

“Do you think we can discuss about that now?”

You took in a deep breath after the last mouthful, the heat of the soup left with it, then you set the empty bowl beside and quickly exchanged it with the plush Wan Ying bought to occupy your hands and lap. One last nod was what you gave to say you were ready.

“So when was the last time you were with the Monkey King or spoke to him?” she went with, quietly eating a chip but eyes locked on you.

“The last time I actually got to be with Wukong was almost two months ago,” you answered, “and even though it was pretty much one-sided, the last I heard from him, he sent me some letters and pictures by the way, was a couple weeks ago.”

His lawyer hummed, her eyes glancing above her and starting to draw something in the air with the chip as her stylus of all things. “Well, monkey pregnancies are usually 3 months long while humans are 9 months, so it could be somewhere in between the two. But this isn’t exactly normal circumstances we’re dealing with, and I’ve heard cases of pregnancy lasting for as long as years.”

You groaned as you plopped your head against the top of the monkey plush.

Great, so you didn’t even have a proper time frame to work with.

“Is there any info about human-demon stuff like this?” you asked through the soft fabric.

“There is,” she answered with ease. “But with how diverse demons are by themselves, even without having humans in the mix, consistency isn’t quite there.”

Another groan came from you, your brain starting to remember more bits and pieces of the Monkey King’s introduction to the world.

“It’ll be okay, I’ll make sure that anything and everything will be covered for this, the best doctors for both human and demon-kind will be within your reach and you won’t have to pay at all.”

There had to be a look of obvious dread on your face with the pity you felt in Wan Ying’s gaze.

“Look, you’ll be fine, you’re acting like this is going to kill you,” she gently placed her hand at your knee and gave it the softest grip.

“I’m sorry, do you remember how the Monkey King was born?!” you snapped. “The rock he came from blew up! What do you think I’m thinking?!”

“You’re not carrying a literal stone in your stomach that’s nurtured by the different energies of the universe, chances are you would have blown up by the time a strong wind hit you,” she talked back with a calm tone. “We can scratch that off the list.”

Even with the huge breath you let out, relief didn’t flood you, at best, it was a trickle.

“So, how did you find out?” Wan Ying asked next, her eyes back on her tablet and a new stylus (where did that come from?) ready to write.

“The…” You tried to get the next word out but there was a struggle. “A demon told me, but now that I’m telling you I feel like an idiot for just believing what a demon said.”

You weren’t exactly going out to buy tests to find out if what that demon had said was true, part of you wanted to just ignore it as if that would prevent the possibility from becoming a reality.

“Depends on the demon,” she answered, her brow knitting together just the slightest. “Sometimes they have no reason to lie, the truth can cause more uncertainty and chaos, especially when considering the Monkey King is involved. Who was this?”

Something about remembering her name sent a chill down your spine, as if she were reintroducing herself with the gentlest whisper in your ear. “The Lady Bone Demon, do you know her?”

Wan Ying made a face, very squinty as she was thinking it over. “I’ve heard of her, she’s an old enemy of the Monkey King, but I don’t know her that well.”

“I figured you’d have a whole list ready of Wukong’s enemies,” you admitted, “you know, considering you’re his lawyer and all.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I mainly specialize in a different type of enemy with the Monkey King,” she answered.

Figures that she would only cover his enemies that entered a court of law.

“There’s a pair of demons that I know a bit more extensively, but that’s thanks to my daughter’s interactions with them,” Wan Ying added. “They’re definitely a handful from what I’ve gathered, she’s even sent me recorded proof of their shenanigans. Despite the complaints, they seem to have grown on her.”

Why did you get the sneaking suspicion that you may have met that pair of demons?

“Anyway, did this demon follow you?” Wan Ying asked, back on topic with your problems.

“I… I don’t think so.” You didn’t think about that since the Lady Bone Demon seemed disinterested the moment her plan for you didn’t go her way. But could you have been wrong to think you were safe once you got away?

“You should be safe, regardless if she tried. I placed a few talismans as a security measure.”

“You bugged my apartment?!”

“Calm down, they’re charms, not cameras,” she brushed off, back to looking at her tablet. “We should consider having a couple of tests done to be sure you are pregnant and not getting played. Even if you have some of the symptoms, it’s best to be certain.”

You made a soft whine before giving her an okay.

“We can have the last of your belongings moved to the temple by tomorrow morning.” Wan Ying did give a look as though she was waiting for your say on it.

“What if Wukong sends me another package?” you found yourself asking. “If I’m gone, I won't be able to get it.”

“If he’s using magic, it should know where you are regardless. But if that doesn’t happen to be the case, we can always have it shipped to the temple. Speaking of which, did you go to city hall and change your mailing address?”

You groaned, that had completely slipped your mind. Now when you were more than eager to get leaving, there was a reason to stay put for the next couple of days. Plus, you had no clue what the official address was, the only thing that came to mind was “Táozi Temple, formally Shame Temple, past the outskirts of Xiao Houzi Village” which didn’t feel remotely legitimate.

“It’s fine, we can make this work,” Wan Ying assured. “My office is at the edge of the city but with the train station nearby, it’s a straight shot to city hall. You’re free to stay there for a couple of days.”

“So what do I have to cover?”

“China Post, Social Security Administration, DMV, any and all providers, as well as your bank,” Wan Ying listed off. “The first three and your bank are going to want to meet you in person since there's been a few mishaps with demons trying to commit identity theft.”

For some reason, your brain pictured that silver and gold demon pair in a questionable disguise of trench coats and taped-on mustaches.

“Think you can do all that? I’ll see if I can pull any strings so it can get done as soon as possible.”

“Yeah…” you told her with an affirming nod. “I have a question though.”

“Go on.”

“How much are you paid? Because you are doing a lot more than just lawyer stuff.” Not that you knew what was covered under “lawyer stuff” exactly.

“I’m paid enough to do whatever is needed,” she answered easily. “I have the experience to back it up if you have any doubts though.”

So apparently it was possible to be paid enough to care.

Chapter Text

No lie, you kind of found yourself zoning out then and again after getting confirmation that you were pregnant from a doctor. It was a good thing Wan Ying was in the room upon your request, it took a huge amount of the mental load off of you as she took note of everything and was able to respond to all of the questions the doctor had. Even though you could hear what they were talking about, the words that came out of their mouths and what they meant, all the information regarding it just turned to a buzzing of all things when you tried to put any thought into it.

Part of you wasn’t stressed over what was talked about, you figured Wan Ying would catch you up on all the needed details after the second she caught the stunned expression on your face.

Before you knew it, both of you were out of the clinic and taking in the sunlight.

“Are you okay?” Wan Ying asked as she gently placed her hand on your shoulder. “You looked like you were out of it there.”

“It’s just a lot,” you muttered, eyes scrunching shut as you took in a deep breath.

“If it brings you any ease, the doctor literally won’t be able to say anything regarding your with the contract I have him under.”

“I thought that was the standard with doctor-patient confidentiality?”

“I’m just making certain you have some extra security,” she may have mused.

You retained your squint at that. “Should I ask?”

“Not at all.”

“What else do I have to do now?” you asked next.

For the past 8 hours, you have been going to city hall, the bank, and the post office with the demon lawyer at your side, and after the doctor visit, your brain was ready to check out and hide away in the thickest blanket.

“We’ve gotten the majority of what we needed done,” she answered. “There’s a huge workload going on with the movers though, so the last of your belongings won’t be moved for the next few days.”

“That’s fine,” you groaned even though you weren’t completely content to hear that. “So where’s your place?”

The Ten Thousand Answers Network wasn’t as grand as the name had made it out to be, but it was still a nice place. The property was like three buildings in one with how close they were together. The front one story held Wan Ying’s business with its wooden and steel furniture, a couple scattered papers, and a few diplomas hung here and there on the walls. The second building was more of a storage facility, it held everything from boxes filled with reports to the most niche of Monkey King branded merchandise.

Her actual home looked to be a three, maybe even four story apartment building. The warm cocoa brown siding really brought out the pale blue balconies for each floor, she told you that it used to be an apartment complex but had changed it a few decades (maybe even a century) ago.

The first two floors were used as her actual home; kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, the works. The third floor was used for her daughter’s occasional visits and other guests if needed, you didn’t quite count with already agreeing to bum in her office. (You didn’t want to impose anymore than you already had thanks to your poor planning.) The top floor as you guessed it was for even more storage but for her personal belongings.

You took a seat on the couch of her office, exhaustion hitting you as it now felt impossible to open your eyes for the moment. Yeah, this sofa is going to give you a blissful sleep when you clock out.

“So I got in contact with the movers, they’ll be able to grab your stuff and have it at the temple by the end of the week at the soonest,” Wan Ying spoke up. You made a sharp inhale as you pulled your head up to look at her. “Though if luck continues to go against you, we might be seeing your stuff by the end of next week.”

You wanted to groan but held it back. “Okay, thank you.”

“Is there anything else you need?” she then asked, her tone starting to sound like the mother she told you she was. “I have plenty of food in the fridge, there’s even some Speedy Panda in the freezer if you’re interested.”

She tried to play it light with that joke but you didn't give as much of a fraction of a smile.

“Ah, too soon?”

You raised your hand then brought your thumb and index finger just shy of touching. “A little.”

“I’ll keep that in mind from now on.”

Her office space became silent for a while, if you fell asleep at some point, she made no say about it.

“He’s bored of you, you shouldn’t be surprised by that. It’s quite pitiful that he was dragging it out,” a voice nearly giggled at your ear.

Your eyes snapped open but this wasn’t Wan Ying’s office anymore, all you saw was the skeletal face of the Lady Bone Demon in the pitch darkness.

The skull soon turned into ivory white wisps, an unnatural pale blue light came from it as well, the cold seeped its way into your skin.

“You are not a priority of his, not in the moment nor the grand scheme of things.”

Her voice was harsher than you remembered. Her fingers took a hold at your collar bone, almost gently trailing up to the sides of your neck.

Then a grip was noticed, and it tightened.

“If he is as enamored as you claim, it will certainly bring me joy to see him have to fight you to reach me.”

The Lady Bone Demon’s presence changed, the cold bone was exchanged for warm skin, empty sockets now holding gold eyes, the teeth were not much different but the fangs were frightfully familiar.

Wukong had you in his clutch, easily lifting you off the ground as he set his sights on you. What was once a loving stare was now filled with fury, his scowl held so much disgust that it wouldn’t be a surprise if he spat the next words.

“You should’ve stayed buried,” was all the warning he gave as he raised his fist, then he threw the punch.

You gasped for air, soon coughing then trying to catch your breath after.

“Are you okay?” Wan Ying called, now by your side and holding you at the shoulders.

You tried to look at her, but all her features blurred. Your lips curled to hold back the cry, but it still felt like that hand was still at your neck, until it squeezed the sob out.

“I don’t know,” you croaked eventually. “I don’t know…”

Wan Ying only held you closer, an arm easy for you to cry against as a hand gave a gentle rub and pat on your back.

“It’s okay,” she then went to say. “You’re safe here.”

You said nothing, the most you answered with was some sniffles and attempted deep breaths.

“I can understand that… that is a lot to deal with,” she continued on. “But I think you should know that you do have options. If you choose to, there are different ways to get rid of this, from medical procedures or more mystical methods.”

Admittedly, her words were a bit hard to hear and the thought had appeared whether or not you wanted it to.

Still, you found yourself asking a different question in response.

“Do you think Wukong would be okay with this?”

Wan Ying’s fingers twitched as she put the soft pats to a halt. “The Monkey King fought the True Immortal Compliant to let an entire kingdom have that choice available to them, even if he only wanted the water for the monk and the pig, he didn’t have to scold a demon to let others have that right once he left. So I know he'd be fine with whatever you choose.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” you mumbled. “Would he be fine with… being a parent…? And with me as the other?”

“I can’t really answer that,” Wan Ying sounded like she struggled for a moment to answer.

“Has he had any kids before?” you wondered aloud. With how long he had been around, it wouldn't be a real surprise if he did.

“No,” Wan Ying answered easily. “A couple decades ago, there were some people who wanted in on the Monkey King franchise, claiming that they were his distant descendants thanks to those stories and such being told through the centuries. There was one particular poem that was being used as fodder and it absolutely blew up in their faces when both he and Princess Iron Fan came to sign legally binding documents that no such union occurred.”

You almost choked back a laugh as you pictured the scenario of the two demons, a “huh” was all you let out.

“It was very messy, but those types of claims lessened after, by the time the Monkie Kid showed up there hadn't been any.”

“What about me and…?”

“I can’t say but I don’t believe that would apply,” her hold loosened, laying your head onto her lap. “He wouldn’t have put in the effort to send me to you, and while what has happened is unexpected, I’ll do my best to make sure that you will remain safe.”

You glanced up but couldn’t see Wan Ying's expression, not without moving over and making your own face easy to see.

“Do relationships between demons and humans work out, like in the end?”

“Is it really that different from any relationship, even if it is seen as uncommon?” Wan Ying questioned then quickly continued on. “I personally know a human who’s romantically involved with a demon, one of the archeologists at the museum, and even with looking into the past, she believes that what they have is worthwhile.”

The words did bring some ease, your relieved breath brushed against Wan Ying’s skirt as you felt all the tension finally leave. The demon’s fingers brushed a lock of hair then continued on with the soft pats, for a moment the memory of Wukong’s own affection resurfaced.

The gentle warmth was nice to bask in, then something cold pressed onto your face. Your eyes snapped open and were staring straight at the black and brown face of a dog.

It made you jolt up from Wan Ying's lap and focus on the canine’s expression, an almost comically wide yet closed smile. With how Wan Ying didn’t react to it, you figured this was her dog.

“Who’s this?” you still had to ask.

The dog gave a powerful bark as if to answer for itself, and with how sharp the teeth looked in its mouth, it may have been a bit intimidating.

“This is Dory.”

“Dory?”

“My daughter named her,” she answered easily. “This is her dog, I’m taking care of her while my daughter is out of town.”

“Is she friendly?”

Dory the dog started to tap her feet, nails making the light clacks against the wood. Another resounding bark came then she made a quick spin then rushed to whatever was hidden out of your line of sight.

“For the most part,” Wan Ying confirmed. “She’s a bit on the hyper side, works well as a guard dog with how big she is. Since she’s seen you with me, she won’t get that aggressive with you.”

The demon lawyer soon stood up from the couch, giving a light brush to the skirt of her cheongsam to flatten any wrinkles.

“That aggressive?”

“Oh, I mean at worst she might whack you with her tug rope so you’ll play with her,” she elaborated with a laugh.

And as if on cue, the dog came back with a ratted tug rope locked in her jaw. The bright blue yarn was easy to see compared to her dark fur. She pranced over, shook her head and had one of the ends hit your leg. You soon grabbed the end like she wanted and played some tug of war with Dory.

“So what breed is she?” you questioned while the dog wagged her tail. She had perked ears, not quite floppy but not straight up either. She was pretty muscular for her size but you didn’t know if that was just the breed.

Most of her fur was a warm brown with darker patches at the face, on the ears, and like long socks for her legs. There was a patch of white on her chest that looked like an upside-down lighting bolt with the tip pointing at the spiked collar and bone shaped dog tag.

“She’s a mutt,” Wan Ying answered matter-of-factly as she sorted through some of her belongings, making certain that they wouldn’t be caught in by the dog’s playing. “I think Rottweiler and some sort of shepherd dog, cattle dog maybe? I’d have to ask my daughter.”

Dory managed to snag the rope out of your hand then made her way to Wan Ying, the dog’s taps making her eagerness easy to hear. The demon grabbed the rope like Dory wanted and the two played for a quick round, soon after the slight smile Wan Ying had almost looked like a manic grin in comparison.

Before you knew it, Wan Ying let out a squeal as she grabbed at the dog’s jowls. “Oh! Who’s a strong girl? Who’s a good guard? You are! You are!”

Dory let out a bark as she got some ear rubs, a few chin scratches, and a good amount of kisses on the forehead to boot. Then Wan Ying realized what she had done as she looked at you with a stern expression.

“This doesn’t leave this house,” she ordered. “You will not tell him.”

“Didn’t see anything,” you answered, eyes straying elsewhere. Your mouth was kept in a tight line to hold back a smile. “Promise.”

“Good,” the demon spoke as she stood back up, her posture practically oozing professionalism despite gushing over Dory not even a minute ago. “If you’re hungry, the kitchenette is in the back. Bathroom isn’t too far off. Make yourself comfortable for the next week.”

“Is there anything else we need to do? Or me specifically?”

“You’re fine. You’ll receive a few emails about your new address and all it entails before the end of the business week, and I can sort out anything if you get confused by the logistics at any point but you should be okay in the meantime. There’s going to be a couple more doctor appointments I have set up but that’ll be in a couple days, I’ll be with you for those if you want. Does that work for you?”

Not like you had much else planned, so you gave an affirming hum.

“Do you need anything else?”

Dory barked as though the question were for her and a laugh came from both of you.

“I… I think I’m okay for now,” you told her.

“All right. If you need anything, you’re free to call me, don’t even hesitate.”

You thought for a moment. “Actually, I have a question; do you have any recommendations on where to pass the time? Near here, I mean.”

“I think the harbor is a nice place to unwind, especially seeing it during the sunset.”

You glanced at a window that was once at the edge of your vision, part of a cargo ship blocking a direct view of the sun but the shimmering reflection on the sea’s skin around wasn’t anything to scoff at.

Chapter Text

The boatyard had a nice atmosphere just as Wan Ying has said. Even though there wasn’t a sunset yet, the salty scent of sea breeze brought about a sense of ease.

A part of you was feeling hungry now, but you weren’t certain if it was actual hunger or just boredom. Maybe a drink would help instead?

You pulled out your phone and quickly searched for any nearby tea houses. (And maybe, you’d get yourself the smallest snack to go with it if the options are there.) There was a place called “Sun-dried Blossoms” that was pretty close, the reviews to stars ratio definitely helped in settling in on the decision to go.

The teahouse had something of a solarpunk vibe going on, the rooftop and balcony fence had black and blue panels to soak up the sun, inside skylights showed everything in clear view from the almost rustic furniture and open shelves doubling as windows. There weren’t many people here, only a handful of humans (or demons looking human) and one demon that was easily twice the size of a normal man.

The menu had a lot of variety from butterfly pea tea to rose milk tea, and that wasn’t even covering the snacks that were possible to pair with it. The faint floral scent in the air helped you reach a decision on your drink (and no snacks despite the temptation) then all you had to do was wait to take your order to go.

The ambient sounds of the friendly chatter and soft instrumental music in the air felt like the ideal white noise, the warmth from the sunbeams seeping into your skin was that of the perfect blanket for the moment. Maybe you could come here again and read a book or play a game or something. This place just felt nice.

Something brushed against your leg, the sudden sensation made you involuntary yelp then quickly search under the table to see what it was.

“Mao!”

It was a cat.

A strangely colored cat at that; the majority of the fur was blue save for the orange stripes and tuft on its head. The cat then flopped onto its side to show off the white underbelly and gave another meow.

“Mo, you’re not supposed to be there,” a deep yet gentle voice called out. You glanced over to see a pair of legs in some white track pants and some big running shoes.

You were about to sit up properly to tell the stranger that the cat wasn’t a problem but were instead met with a hard thud against the underside of the table.

“Ow…” you mumbled as your hand went to soothe any forming bump.

“Are you okay?” the stranger asked, lifting the table with ease so you wouldn’t hit it a second time.

“He matches his cat” was the first thing you thought of before answering with “Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you.”

He gently placed the table back down after that.

“I’m sorry about Mo,” the blue demon apologized. “He usually doesn’t leave my side, even if he’s allowed to walk around here.”

The cat, Mo, soon jumped onto the table then onto his owner’s shoulder.

“That’s okay, he wasn’t really bothering me anyway, just surprised me is all.”

“Good to hear,” he said with a soft chuckle at the end.

“So he’s Mo and you’re…?”

“Oh! Sandy! Nice to meet you!” His cat gave a meow as his own greeting.

It got a small laugh out of you, and by amazing timing, the barista up front called out your name just as you gave it. You gave a slight gesture that you had to go grab your drink now then walked off, the big blue guy gave a few chin scratches to the cat and readjusted the to-go bag in his hand.

“So what kind of tea did ya get? If I can ask,” you questioned once you got back to your table, drink in hand and straw close to your mouth.

“Oh, just a few boxes of white monkey, honeybush banana nut, lapsang souchong, and pu-erh chorange,” Sandy listed off. He gave a slight point at the seat across, asking if he can sit with you.

You gave a quick nod and watched him sit down, Mo came back to you again to get a few more pets from your hand. “I don’t think I’ve heard of any of those,” you told him. 

“Really? They’re all super good!” He pulled out the boxes from the bag so you could have your pick in asking the details on which one first.

You picked up a box that was covered in the warm colors of a setting sun and freshly baked bread, it had the “Sun-dried Blossoms” logo and said this batch was honeybush banana nut.

“I still don’t get what that means,” you admitted to him. “The packaging looks nice though.”

“It’s a good herbal tea,” he explained. “No caffeine and if you have it with some milk and honey, it tastes a lot like banana bread! It’s almost like breakfast and dessert in a cup!”

The hearty laugh he gave brought one out of you, Mo headbutted at your arm to get some more scratches you were holding out on.

The conversation continued on as he explained the other teas for you; white monkey was a green tea that was strong yet subtly sweet, lapsang souchang was a black tea with a profile best described as smoky, pur-erh chorange was on the nose with its name and almost a chocolate orange in liquid form. He went on a tangent with the benefits each tea had, what he’d recommended to his friends, and that he’d been working on his own blends.

“Sorry, I’ve been rambling, what did you get?”

“Rose milk tea,” you answered, “half the sugar and with grass jelly.”

“Rose tea is great stuff; good for anxiety and digestion, it’s also high in antioxidants,” Sandy was quick to praise the choice, even if it wasn’t straight tea.

“It’s nothing really, I just like the flavor,” you insisted, but it was still nice to have him commend it.

Stream of consciousness took its hold on the conversation, changing the subjects from teas to cats to pastimes, eventually you found the urge to go back to Wan Ying’s place.

Sandy was nice enough to hold the door open since both of you were heading out, and you would have thought that was to be the end of the encounter but after the goodbye you kept walking in the same direction, every turn matching yours.

Trepidation ran down your spine and made every hair on your arm stand on ends, your heart growing so loud that it felt like it could drown out your voice. You were going to give him the benefit of the doubt that it was coincidence but with how close you were to Wan Ying’s place, you couldn’t risk someone else’s home.

Before the last turn, you quickly pivoted with a glare across your face, the same one that actually makes the Monkey King take a pause. The blue demon’s steps came to a stop.

“You’re really nice, and I enjoyed our talk and all, but I’m not exactly in the mood to take it any further,” you spoke up, tone commanding, and you waited for his response.

He blinked, your words settling in after. “Ah! I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize it looked that way,” he placed his to-go bag on the ground (Mo hopping off his shoulder to be a guard for it) and started to rummage through the pockets of his white track pants. He pulled out a key fob and made sure it was in clear view of his fingers. “I actually live in the area.”

He gave a quick double click on one of the buttons then a cargo ship blasted its horn like a car's alarm that it had locked. The flick of lights definitely added to the effect.

A relieved breath escaped you, almost amazed that was the case. It almost left you lightheaded, but you had a sneaking suspicion there was another contributor to it.

“If it helps, I can walk ahead of you or something? That way you know I’m not following you,” Sandy suggested, Mo meowed in agreement with it.

You were trying to keep yourself upright, hand against your forehead with a needed pressure at one of the temples. It took a moment for the words to settle in before you gave a nod and a brief “sure” for good measure.

The demon made sure to be a good 20 feet away at all times as he made his way around you, his cat wasn't your focus so it did take you by surprise to feel him brush against your ankle then trot over to his owner and jump onto his shoulder when they were more than far enough.

“I’m glad you liked the teahouse,” Wan Ying said with a satisfied smile. “Do you plan on going again?”

“Probably,” you answered from the couch, scrolling through your phone and taking the occasional sip of your tea. The floral flavor filled your mouth, the subtle sweetness that lingered after left you pleased. “Just need to figure out something to do while I’m there.”

As tempting as it seemed to sleep in a place that had the coziness of a sunbeam, it didn’t feel right to spend all the time there doing just that. A part of you wanted to whittle small sculptures there with how much inspiration you could find but the wood shavings would definitely be an annoyance to the staff. Maybe reading a book or something would do?

“You’ll figure it out,” Wan Ying assured as she brought you a small bowl of congee to the coffee table. “You still have a week here at minimum, so you might as well enjoy what this place has to offer.”

“Are you a regular at the teahouse?” you asked, hoping she could give you some idea on what to do.

“I wouldn’t say they know me there, but I guess I go there maybe once a week if I’m lucky,” Wan Ying answered after thinking it over. “I know someone who is a regular there but he’s doing stuff that’s more on the business end if you ask me. You might actually have seen him, he’s hard to miss.” An amused tone could be heard along with the slight smile she had at the thought. “He works by the dock and could carry you on his shoulders easily,” she told you then took a spoonful of her congee. “Really sweet guy, excellent listener, has more cats than I can count.”

You let out a laugh with her. The conversation then went on a tangent but you still kept that note of information in your mind in case you meet her secret friend. And, maybe if you saw Sandy again you’d get the chance to apologize for the slightly hostile attitude outside of the teahouse.

Though right now, you were going to focus on your meal and the savory flavors of sesame, bacon, shallots, and egg.

Chapter Text

The crack in your jade bracelet shone like it was chipped from the sun. Despite what caused the damage, looking at the warm glow did bring a strange sense of ease. Maybe that it was a reminder that Wukong cared much more than he let on, or maybe even something smaller like how the glow reminded you of the tea house you were currently chilling in.

“Everything okay?” Sandy asked.

“Sorry,” you answered with a shake of your head, ridding any thoughts that weren’t the here and now. “I just…” You wanted to think of something to say but it was becoming a struggle to play off the spaciness.

“If you’re not feeling all right, we can just call it a day.”

“No, I wanna hang out,” you told him. “I think maybe all the smells are getting to me, for some reason…”

“How about outside? We already have everything,” he made a slight gesture to the food in their respective baggies.

“Okay.” You may not have sounded upset with the idea, but you didn't seem all too excited in general.

It wasn’t really supposed to be an adventure or anything, the reason you had kept coming to the tea house the past few days was because it was so calming. The secure feeling Sandy gave off had you gravitate to him each time, the timing wasn’t even intentional but you staying at the establishment for hours on end definitely widened the window.

It almost threw you off to find yourself already outside and on a bench, the shade from the canopy helped keep you cool but you still felt uncomfortably warm. Soon something cold pressed against your temple, the shock from it would have made you reel back but you pushed toward it.

“Thank you,” you mumbled, your hand going up to grab the plastic to-go cup from Sandy’s grasp and letting him give it to you.

“It’s iced lemon ginger tea,” Sandy said as you rubbed the condensation against your forehead for a moment and let the coming breeze cool you even more. “It’s even got a hint of peppermint for extra coolness.”

You made another mutter of thanks, taking more of a gulp than a sip after. The nausea finally waned for the first time since you woke up, relief couldn’t help but escape your lips.

“Better?”

“Definitely,” you answered, a smile across your face and staying on when you took another drink. You could pick up more of the flavor, the sweetness a bit more noticeable than before. “Does this have honey?”

Sandy hummed a yes. “Mm-hmm! Thought it would help it go down easier with it. And don’t worry about finishing it off, I still have a bunch more in the bag.”

Your smile widened while the worries of having to savor your drink faded, it made it taste all the sweeter.

“So how much longer do you think you’ll be in the city?” Sandy asked, making small talk as usual.

You told him that you were in the middle of moving, not too far so there could be the chance of coming back to Wan Qian Cheng to hang out, after settling down of course. He didn’t ask for any of the reasoning or where you were going, so you didn’t have to start thinking of half truths which eased your mind.

“Probably a few more days,” you answered. There was a bit of a delay in getting the last of your stuff to the temple, mainly trying to transport everything as discreetly as possible. The trail to your new place wasn’t exactly the easiest to go through on foot, and with moving trucks it was even harder. You were happy that you didn't have to cover for any of it since it was quite the hassle according to Wan Ying. “I’m just glad my friend has been okay with crashing at her place for the meantime.”

“Is she short-tempered or something?”

“Not with me, but I think with my boyfriend she might be,” you told him as Sandy skewered a sesame ball then popped it into his mouth. “She… definitely has a few things to say about him.”

“Is everything okay? Like if you don’t want to talk about it you don’t have to,” Sandy quickly added at the end.

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” you assured him. “My boyfriend doesn’t take some stuff seriously with her, like answering emails, so it annoys her. It’s nothing too concerning or anything. Should’ve been more clear on that…”

“It’s okay,” Sandy said as he gave a gentle pat to the top of your head. With how careful he was, you would have thought someone placed a pillow instead. “Hopefully they’re on good terms.”

“Yeah, I think I get along better with her than my boyfriend does, which is funny since I met her through him.”

“So how did you meet your boyfriend?” Sandy asked as Mo made his way over to your lap and started to gently knead his paws against your legs.

“It’s weird actually…”

“I’m sure it’s not that weird,” Sandy assured with a light laugh, “but if you don’t feel comfortable with-”

“I accidentally broke into his place and cleaned the kitchen before even meeting him,” you cut off before your nerves could get the better of you.

The big blue guy's soft smile snapped to surprise, not much really changed but the look in his eyes was clearly dumbfounded.

“Okay, maybe it’s a little odd,” Sandy admitted after recollecting his thoughts with a blink, maybe two, “but I know you two work well together with what you’ve mentioned.”

“I thought it was some kind of abandoned place and someone had left a mess,” you tried to explain, hopefully giving enough of the truth without going into the weirder details. Maybe it would be easier to let it rest as quickly as possible. “It’s kind of a complicated thing.”

“You don’t have to talk about that if you don’t want to,” Sandy said as he gave a soft pat to your shoulder. “How about you tell me what happened after?”

“I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of embarrassing with how I was all over him in no time,” you confessed, your hand rubbing at the back of your neck as if it could scrub the questionably cringe memories of your behavior.

“You’re being a bit hard on yourself, I’m sure he looks back on those moments fondly.”

You took in a deep breath, one half to collect yourself and the other to figure out which details to leave out. “So about a couple weeks in of hanging out at his place, we would marathon Monkey King, you know that one animated series, there was one night where I was just super exhausted, like couldn’t even keep my eyes open. I didn’t want to stay at his place overnight so he took me home.”

Sandy made a sweet “aww…” sound at that.

“When I got home, I had him go to the balcony with me so we could check out the view and then, I don’t know, something in my brain just went blank and I kissed him on the cheek. He left without commenting on it, which made me hope that he thought I was too tired to think straight.”

You went on with talking about how he didn’t bring any attention to what had happened that night afterward, how he was the one to suggest going out instead of another marathon not much later. Sure it went from the usual Monkey King marathon to a Monkey King festival, so in a way it wasn’t that different, but still it was nice that he was the one to make the plan.

“Was that your first official date?” Sandy questioned as he took a sip of his tea.

“Near the end of it, yeah,” you answered. “He was teasing me over some stuff and I legitimately thought he wasn’t understanding anything that I was feeling, especially when I finally said that I liked him.”

“What changed?”

“When I decided to kiss him on the cheek again, he gave this stupidly charismatic look and told me ‘c’mon, you can do better than that’ and the whole thing just,” you couldn’t find a way to properly end the sentence, so instead slapped your hands against your face to smother the warmth erupting across your cheeks. “I actually laughed in his face after the kiss.”

That got a boisterous laugh out of the big blue demon, his hand barely hiding the sunny smile while he recollected himself. “Why?”

“He got too confident and tried making the kiss deeper,” you laughed back, your hands back out in the open as if to illustrate how out there the idea was. “I just found out he liked me like that, it was a lot to take in!”

“That’s fair,” Sandy agreed, his tone still carrying a chuckle.

A loud ringtone blasted from the bench with no warning soon after, it took a moment for the both of you to see it was coming from Sandy’s pants pocket.

“You okay with me taking this?”

“Yeah, go for it, I’ll be right here,” you told Sandy.

Mo quickly took the chance for your attention, bumping his head against the back of your hand then rubbing his way around your arm. You were more than happy to reward his forwardness with some well deserved ear scratches that brought out a loud purr.

In the background, you could catch some sparse talk of Sandy mentioning that he was focusing on something else and wouldn’t make it going out with the group tonight. A part of you wanted to pretend you didn’t hear anything as Sandy returned to sit back down but a light mix of curiosity and guilt made you ask, “I’m not stopping you from going out, am I?”

“Oh, it’s not a problem,” Sandy was quick to assure. “Besides, I had some other stuff to sort through later and I figure with me not going it’ll save them money on seats. It’s some kind of show and unless I’m way in the back, I kind of block the view,” he added, a slight mumble that he's a bit on the tall side after all.

Your relief came with a deep breath and tension left your shoulders. “Maybe you can go to another showing? Wait, what’s the movie you're seeing?”

“I think it was a rerelease of some Kung Fu movie,” Sandy answered after a slight contort in his expression, he didn’t seem to get much details on the hang out other than just, well, hanging out. Maybe his group did more of a spur-of-the-moment type of planning. “I’m pretty sure there’s a copy back at their place anyway.”

“Mao!” Mo meowed in assurance.

“Sounds about right,” you agreed. Was all the talking with the monkeys making it easier to understand animals in general or just the tone seemed that sure? Naaaaah, you’re overthinking it, definitely the latter. You went back to some scratches under Mo's chin, the purrs nearly roaring like a motor.

“Oh wait, I don’t think I ever showed you this picture of Mo!” Sandy spoke out as his huge fingers elegantly swiped across the screen to find the snapshot of his cat. In moments, you were greeted with the image of Mo sitting with a graceful aura on top of a familiar dog.

“Wait, is that Dory?” You were mentally triple checking for any details that didn’t match with your memory but it checked out from the black and brown face to the white patches of fur.

“Wait, you know Ying Ying?” Sandy asked back.

“Okay, I think we need to back up a sec. Ying Ying? Are you talking about Wan Ying?”

“Curvy horns, blue-ish skin, usually has her hair in a bun?”

Yeah, that was her, you thought as you confirmed his description with a nod. “So how do you know her?”

“I see her at the tea house every once in a while, I actually met her there ‘cause Mo wanted to get a closer look at Dory,” Sandy explained. The image of Mo trying to pet a dog at least three times his size popped in your head. “How do you know her?”

“She’s the friend I’m staying with,” you answered. “The one I met through my boyfriend.” Definitely not because she is his lawyer.

“I’m so happy to hear she’s making more friends,” Sandy said, his sunny disposition almost literally brightening the place. “She’s always been a little bit picky with who she hangs out with, so it’s great to know she’s putting herself out there!”

“I mean, I guess…” You didn’t want to tell him the actual reason you came to know her, so you’d let him have this.

You were back at Wan Ying’s place a few hours later, chilling and maybe even sinking into the couch as Dory slept at the opposite end. The slight salty taste of dried squid occupied your mind as you chewed, it was a snack that Sandy bought for you, he went to mention it had a bunch of essential nutrients. He actually got you a few bags of the stuff, it did overwhelm you a bit but you knew his heart was in the right place. (You did tell him that it would probably take more than a little while to finish these treats before he should gift you any more.)

Dory soon awoke, ears alert as she stared down the door. A moment later, the sound of the lock turning was heard and the dog barked a greeting. (Some celebratory tip taps on the floor were added in for good measure.)

“Did you have a good day?” Wan Ying asked, already taking off her shoes in exchange for some house slippers.

“Me or Dory?” you felt the need to ask as the dog was already receiving pets and panting in contentment.

“Well, Dory has made it clear she’s had a good time,” Wan Ying answered, her smile on the less than subtle side as she went back to scratching behind Dory’s ears. “So that just leaves you now.”

“It was nice.” You smiled back while Wan Ying went to grab dinner for Dory ready. “I ran into someone that knows you actually, well, I met him a few days ago but you get the idea, his name is Sandy.”

“Oh, he’s really sweet. He actually helped me get all the supplies I needed for this girl when my daughter had to transfer.” So that’s what she was calling it. “You should have seen how Mo just clicked with Dory, I was trying my hardest to make sure I wouldn't lose composure."

Your smile grew as you pictured the demon lawyer trying to hold back how much she adored Dory.

“Oh yeah, did you have any ideas on what you wanted to eat tonight?”

“As long as I’m allowed to eat it, I’m fine with anything, Ying Ying.”

Wan Ying’s smile dropped, her sights set straight on you. If you didn’t know any better, an aura of bloodlust had permeated the room. “What did you just call me?”

Chapter Text

You may have gotten a little too comfortable staying at Wan Ying’s place, mumbling that you only need five more minutes of sleep being just one too many examples as she was nudging your shoulder to get moving.

“I have good news, your stuff was found,” she told you.

That woke you up. “It was missing?!”

“In the middle of transit? Yes,” her tone remaining calm as ever. “I noticed that I hadn’t received any updates on your stuff moving to the temple. According to one email, a pair of demons had hijacked the truck, but don’t worry, everything made it back in one piece.”

“How long was the truck missing?”

“A week.”

“And when was that?”

“Ten days ago.”

“How does that even happen? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because it turns out the Monkey King had done some updated security measures for the temple; primarily talismans made to cause unwanted visitors to get lost in the woods,” Wan Ying answered with ease, like she was waiting for that question. “Pretty impressive since the path is a straight line. The monkeys there didn’t make it easy to pass the gates either.”

Your mouth was agape, a small huh barely heard as you noted that Wukong had put in the extra effort for your safety there.

“Hey, wait! You didn’t say why you didn’t tell me!”

“You’re already dealing with enough stressors, this was something I’m more than capable of handling so I decided to not bother you with the details since the results would have remained the same.”

“I mean I guess, but I’d still like to be in the know about these kind of things! Finding out I’m carrying the Monkey King’s kid was immensely stressful, and that’s not even covering how I found out, but at least I know about it,” you were quick to argue.

The demon lawyer took in a quiet breath before speaking again. “Okay, I’ll take note of that. Now let’s get back to why I woke you up, you can go to your new home now. With no need to drag and stack any boxes to their respective room.”

Low-key, you were a little stunned that you could finally go to your new place. (Calling it home felt a bit much, maybe when you settled in the idea would sit better.)

“So I can just go there? Like now?”

“If you want,” Wan Ying answered. “Ah, before I forget; your allowance. I know you told me that you weren’t that keen over the idea but until you find new employment I think it would be reasonable to have this matter covered for you in the meantime.”

“Is it going to be a weekly payment plan thing or…?”

“We could have it be that if you would like,” she said as she pulled a small notepad from her pocket and started writing. “You already gave me all the needed information for the direct deposit, it’s mainly a matter of how you choose to spend it. You don’t have any debts, do you? I can help figure out a budget if that’s the case. I’m certain you should be able to live comfortably regardless, but I still want to extend any help your way if needed.”

Wan Ying handed over a slip of paper, your tired eyes didn’t really focus on any words but a string of numbers.

“So is this the number I have to call for the money?”

“No,” she told you. “That’s the amount that should be deposited into your account on a monthly basis.”

“I beg your finest pardon?”

“Do you think it’s not enough? I was certain it should have been.”

“It is more than enough,” you assured, your tone a little on the overwhelmed side. Your brain was starting to buzz on what you could spend just the first check on; any furniture you were missing would be easily covered with plenty to spare, budgeting for food wouldn’t be a problem anymore, heck, you could afford to go out to eat everyday of the week if you wanted, a bunch of your clothes could be repaired or even replace them if you wanted. “I’m just… again, this is a lot to take in. It’s definitely a good thing though.”

“Okay. The money should be transferred to your checking account within the hour. So what are you going to do as one final hoorah in the city? If you plan on doing anything before heading to the temple that is.”

“Got any suggestions?”

“Other than the teahouse, not much,” Wan Ying admitted. Her eyes did wander in thought over other possibilities. “The marketplace is one of Zijing’s favorite spots, always knew if any events were happening.”

“Zijing?” Wan Ying’s eyes widened just the slightest, her mouth a thin line as if to seal whatever had slipped. Maybe that was the name of the daughter she mentioned having. The name did mean amethyst and you did recall seeing a picture of a purple demon with Dory.

“Shū Xiù has always been a fan of the local cheese tea stalls, though that really isn’t much different from the teahouse when thinking about the options there,” Wan Ying went on instead. “There are probably a bunch of shops that I’m drawing blanks on. You could always just go on the maps app to find something to do.”

“Kind of goes against me asking for suggestions,” you said with a light teasing tone, “but sure.”

The marketplace wasn’t a bad idea, you’ve always enjoyed the calm atmosphere it had on the day to day, the silly promotions and occasional discounts that would make a bigger bang for your buck (not that you had to worry about savings now) usually added to a good mood, and the sweet and savory smells that wafted in the air and guaranteed a good meal were the best.

The invasive memory of your encounter with the Lady Bone Demon did appear, dreading the possibility of meeting her left a bitter taste in your mind. You could only hope that she wouldn’t be there again if you decided to go to the marketplace.

Maybe you could stick with the more crowded spots in the city, enjoy a nice walk to different stalls you never took the chance to try out. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

The cheese tea girl handed you a variety of drinks with interesting names; Cloudy Choco Milk, Sun Moon Lake Milk Tea, Fresh Apple Tea King, the Dragon Girl Special, and the Monkie Kid Special were just a few. Admittedly, you actually bought way more, some you got in packs of three and made sure they were secure in an insulated cooler bag. You didn’t know where the nearest cheese tea stall in Xiao Houzi Village was and it felt like your cravings were on the picky side, so better safe than sorry.

Also, you had more than enough cash to burn now. This was gonna be a splurge day and then tomorrow you were going to focus on all the budgeting.

You gave the arcade a questionable look. Was this really where you’d spend your last day at Wan Quan Cheng? Even though you were spending to your heart’s content, it still felt a little lackluster considering what the city had to offer.

Then you heard your name being called, you turned around to see MK hanging out with a girl in a nearly all white outfit save for the green jacket. Your free hand went up to give a small wave, the corners of your mouth curling into a smile.

You would have figured that would have been all but then the girl at his side started to pull at his arm and bring themselves over. Oh, you don’t know what to do with that now.

A couple things about her stood out to you, the bright green highlights in her jet black bangs that framed her face, the small pigtails and the way the bottom of her hair flared out resembled a dragon. There was also a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that you had definitely seen her before.

“Mei! Mei! It’s fine, we probably shouldn’t bother them!” MK insisted. “I just wanted to say hi, that’s it!”

“Well it’s my turn to say ‘hi’ now,” Mei answered, a pink lipstick painted her wide smile.

A laugh escaped from your puffed up cheeks, your hand curling over your smile. “Hey MK, who’s this?”

Mei gave him a nudge of the elbow. “C’mon, introduce me!”

MK gave a comical pout at his friend before it fell back into a smile. “This is Mei, she’s my friend, and we were about to get going.”

He made a turn but Mei grabbed the back of the collar of his jacket and kept him in place. “We were going to the marketplace, apparently there’s some fair or contest going on. You wanna come with?”

“Mei, I’m sure they had a bunch of other stuff to do,” MK tried to deter, “we shouldn’t bother them.”

“It’s fine. I’m pretty much free all day, so I can hang out for a few hours,” you assured.

“Great! Let’s go!” Mei announced.

There were many rows composed of food trucks and stands, a good chunk of them had red lanterns that added a warm light to the area. It felt like a wall of smells smacked against you; a lot of spices, savory meats, and the occasional sweet wafted in the air. (It was a bit overwhelming but at least it wasn’t disgusting.)

Mei pulled up her phone, looking up what stalls sold what before settling on whatever caught her eye. “Okay, we got soup dumplings, grilled squid, savory crepes, and hotpot,” Mei listed off as just some of the options. She was quick to call your name then say, “you get first pick! Now whatcha craving?”

Your mind was quick to go blank, having the cooler bag full of drinks being a big contributor. Still, you tried to think of something. “How about soup dumplings?” you suggested, hopefully that wasn’t too heavy to start with.

“You heard ‘em, MK!” She looped her arm through her friend’s then started to haul him to the nearest booth. You made sure to stay close behind them.

The cashier made their greeting then recommendations on the most popular flavors. The serving size was about three dumplings each which you were fine with since each one was just a bit smaller than your palm. You got the pork filling with rich soup, Mei helped herself to some with szechuan peppercorn and chili oil, MK had his with fatty duck liver. (Part of you wished that you could switch at least one of your dumplings for one of his but then realized you could just buy another set later.)

In no time, you three were back to walking around and looking out for the next snack. Mei made a suggestion for MK to grab something on the sweet side and make it a surprise for you and her, once he was off it was just you two.

“So,” Mei let the word hang in the air for a moment, “how do you know MK?”

“We know each other through Monkey King,” you answered. Her expression was blank, definitely wasn’t sure in what way you meant. At least you knew that MK kept Wukong’s relationship status a secret. “The animated series?” you specified, the tone feigning confusion on what else you could have possibly meant.

“Ooooh, okay! That makes sense,” Mei spoke aloud, any questioning thoughts now ejected from her head.

“How do you know MK? Like, I mean, how did you meet him? I get best friend vibes from you two.”

“You read the vibe right! Best budsI Ride or die! Saved his butt more times than he’d like to admit!” Mei said with pride, though that last bit was whispered to keep it out earshot.

A laugh escaped you, Mei’s smile widened in response.

“We actually met at the arcade,” Mei started out. “You wouldn’t believe it but MK was smoking the competition, well until I came in and showed him who the real ‘Monkey King’ was. I was gonna leave after the first win but with MK being MK, he wouldn’t back down without a fight and demanded a rematch.”

“Did he win the next round?”

“Pfft…” Mei scoffed. “Nope, creamed him each time but I think he forgot about trying to beat me and was just enjoying the game and chatting it up until the arcade closed.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Man… I don’t even remember how many years it’s been now, it feels like we’ve known each other forever honestly.”

“Those sound like the best kind of friendships,” you told her, seeing her smile widen in agreement.

The conversation trailed from different video games to wondering where MK was with the food.

“He should have been back by now,” Mei mumbled, maybe a bit annoyed that she was waiting way longer than she should have for a sweet treat. You offered one of the many drinks in your cooler bag to help sate her sweet tooth for the time being, there was still an extra Cloudy Choco Milk for you to indulge in later.

A few more minutes passed before Mei finally lost her patience.

“Okay, this is ridiculous,” she muttered, scrolling through her phone for something then taking an aggressive sip. Soon a logo looking like MK appeared on the screen, an arrow under it spinning around like a compass before settling forward. “Let’s go find him.”

Why did you get the feeling something bad had happened to MK?

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long to find MK in the middle of a line for some kind of contest or raffle, in his hands were some crepes with its whipped cream looking a little limp.

“MK! What the heck?!” Mei shouted, both of you soon at his side but making it clear you weren’t in the line to show you weren’t cutting it.

“Sorry!” MK answered, his grimace clear that he didn’t expect the line to take this long. He handed over the sweets to his bestie. “I thought it was only gonna take a minute and my hands were full so I couldn’t answer my phone-”

Part of you was hung up on that his hands were full but planning on signing up at the table at the end. Was he gonna have the handler hold the food so he could write his name? You know what, not important.

Mei lightly chided him for the absentmindedness but wasn’t really that mad about it, she suggested that next time he’d shoot a text on where he was if he was going to be held up. He did however point out that the eating contest caught his eye halfway on coming back, and that sign-ups closed soon.

It probably took a few more minutes for MK to reach the sign-up sheet, you were more focused on taking the final bites of your crepe. (It had bananas and a chocolate hazelnut spread, the whipped cream soaked into the pastry.) Mei practically ate hers in a handful of chomps, (not dropping a crumb of cinnamon soaked apple chunks,) she looked over MK’s shoulder as if she was considering joining the contest too but then decided against it.

“Didn’t Piggy tell you no more eating contests?” Mei noted even though she had a good idea on the truth.

“Eh, what Pigsy doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” MK dismissed. “Besides, the grand prize is a limited edition 1982 Monkey Cop action figure. I’m pretty sure that outweighs any old tummy ache he’s worried about.”

You made a face, expression definitely unsure. Wukong probably had an extra figure lying around somewhere on Flower Fruit Mountain, and asking him directly for one would be a lot less work, but he was also still on vacation. Maybe MK had a similar thought but put a pin in it because of that, winning would save a conversation that was going to take a while to get to.

“How bad would you say these ‘tummy aches’ are?” you asked in a hushed voice.

“I wish it was just tummy aches,” Mei whispered back, “like him dry heaving for an hour after is an ideal scenario.” You could only grimace as Mei went “Yeah… It ain’t pretty.”

“Chill out, you two,” MK insisted. “I got a plan for this.”

“And that would be…?”

“Ya know how I’ve been working on my Monkey King training? Thinking little, astral projection?”

“What about it?” Mei questioned, she crossed her arms while you gave a so-so hand gesture of how much you knew about his lessons.

“Well I’ve been thinking since I can turn the staff little and me, what’s to say I can do that with other stuff?” MK started out. “So I'm thinking that once I get the beef ball in my mouth, that counts as being part of me and I can shrink it before it even reaches my stomach.”

“Couldn’t that count as cheating?” you had to ask as Mei definitely had some doubts on the idea.

“If it was all humans, maybe…” Mei mumbled, both of you glancing over at a group of contestants that varied in forms. Some had their horns or fangs in clear view, others showed off their intimidating builds with no worries, an array of colors were splashed across the different skin tones to varying degrees. “But I guess it might be leveling the playing field.”

“And like everybody knows me,” MK pointed out. “I didn’t see the rules saying anything like ‘special powers’ weren’t allowed and if they didn’t want to risk it, they wouldn’t have let me enter.”

“What if it doesn’t work? The shrinking the beef balls I mean,” you still questioned.

“It’ll totally work, no doubt about it,” he dismissed.

You squinted, not certain if that mindset was something MK always had or if Wukong had been an influence. Was Wukong getting up to those kind of antics in the Celestial Realm?

“Guess we won’t know until then,” Mei muttered as she took a final sip of her drink. “I’ll be back, I gotta trash this.”

You were quick to ask Mei to throw yours away too, once Mei had walked out of earshot you stepped up to MK.

“Hey, MK,” you began. “There was something I wanted to ask you. And I really couldn’t ‘cause Mei was still here.”

“Yeah? What is it?” MK asked, a slightly curious stare across his face.

“Have you ever been to the Celestial Realm?”

“Oh! Yeah actually, but for like a few minutes tops,” he answered easily.

“Huh…”

“Why? Was there something you wanted to know?”

“Just kind of curious I guess,” you said. “Like I heard that a day in the Celestial Realm is a year here, so I wanted to run that by you.”

“Ya know, I didn’t really think of that when I was there,” MK admitted once your words settled. “Was just trying to get what we came for and get out.”

“I can figure why you wouldn’t be testing that theory,” you commented. Wukong had given you a gist of what MK and his team did to stop the Spider Queen but any questions you had were held back due to the anxiety of reopening old wounds.

“Maybe next time…?” MK threw out there but his tone wasn’t sold on it. “I kind of doubt it though.”

Before you could give any response, a random woman shot up between both you and MK. Her uniform looked like a mix between a chef jacket and a traditional qipao, the pristine white with the pale lavender came off as blinding and left you blinking away the disorientation.

“Hello. you’re MK, right?” she asked in a sweet voice, a pale blue lipstick highlighting her smile. MK wasn’t even allowed to say yes because she kept talking. “We’ve been looking all over for you, the contest is going to be starting soon.”

She then grabbed MK’s wrist and dragged him away.

“Well, guess I’m off!” MK laughed.

It didn’t take long for Mei to come back and ask where her friend went, you gave her the gist of what you just witnessed so she was quick to catch up and follow MK with you in tow.

One thing that caught your notice once you had reached the platform for the contest was the smell. It was off to say the least, you could pick out everything from the cooked meat to the array of spice but something else there came off as expired at best and rotting trash at worst.

You pulled away from Mei, trying to hold back the gags but the smell was overwhelming.

“Whoa! Are you okay?” Mei asked, very much shocked by the sudden reaction.

“Just give me a moment…” you told her through your shirt, filtering out what you could and recollecting yourself. You’d probably get used to the smell soon enough, but why didn’t Mei or anyone else point it out?

You took another glance at the platform, the contestants ranged from extremely human (looking) to demonic mountains of muscle. MK was seated in the middle, waving to Mei and shouting for her to record it.

It didn’t take long for another worker for the contest to appear with a plate of beef balls and asking anyone in earshot if they cared for a free sample. You shook your head while Mei plucked one off the platter,

“You sure you don’t want one?” Mei asked, her thumbs using the paper of the sample cup to keep her hands clean as she split it in half. “It smells really good.”

You could see bits and pieces of fried garlic and cilantro but nothing matched the smell. “It’s fine. I’m satisfied for now, plus I got a bunch of snacks to cover me.” The cooler bag got a couple pats as if to emphasize its presence.

Mei shrugged then helped herself to the beef ball, a pleased hum could be heard while she cupped her cheek in delight. “Man, you’re missing out,” she told you, her mouth staying closed for the most part as if to keep in all the flavor.

“That good?”

“Kind of wish I got more,” Mei answered with, “but I guess that just means I gotta savor it.”

Something like an air horn went off and called everyone’s attention, the woman who had grabbed MK was speaking to the crowd about the contest. Her black hair was tied up at the top, her thick eyebrows made her super expressive. (The whisker marking on her cheeks made you figure she had some demon heritage.)

The goal was to eat as many beef balls as possible in a set amount of time. The rules were if you passed out or upchucked it would result in an instant disqualification. The announcer made a light joke about how she had worked hard on all that cooking and hoped that wouldn’t be the case for most of them.

That rancid scent was still everywhere! Why wasn’t it gone by now?!

A grimace took over your face, your hand pinching your nose as if you could stop the smell but it was so potent you could taste it in the air. (Was enhanced smell a pregnancy symptom? Maybe Wan Ying knew some way to combat it or even had some experience with it.)

Mei grabbed your shoulders to keep you up. “Are you okay? You almost fell just now!” She definitely had a slight panic in her voice.

“I don’t why but the smell is killing me,” you forced yourself to admit.

“Do you need anything?” Her hand was on her phone and ready to make whatever call needed. “Like just say the word and I can get it.”

“It’s fine,” you insisted, “I think I just need to sit down.”

“Okay. The contest is going to start soon, are you okay with not seeing it?”

Another horn sounded through the air, a hologram was projected over the platform, the screen showing a plethora of contestants and their respective plates of beef balls for all to see.

You laughed. “I don’t think I could if I wanted to.”

Ten minutes appeared overhead, the buzzer went off and everyone went eating. MK was shoveling mounds of food into his mouth with no pause for breath.

“Does he do this with every eating contest?” you asked Mei, totally not using it as an excuse to not look at the Monkie Kid turning himself into a human vacuum.

Mei had a slightly grossed out expression, maybe bile fascination was keeping her stare locked there for the moment before she turned over. “It’s definitely a new technique with shrinking the food, I’ll tell you that, but shoving it all in his mouth is how he usually does it.”

Your tongue stuck out a bit in disgust and Mei let out a laugh.

“He’s never won one before, so now I wonder if he can pull it off this time.”

The minute mark had already passed and he had managed to get a hundred beef balls down no problem.

“Does he ever pace himself?” you asked. You noticed that the strange rancid odor had become less intense. Hm, maybe you were finally getting used to it? Then again, the beef balls it came from were being inhaled like no one’s business. (You really hoped it wouldn’t leave MK burpy afterward, the smell might be worse a second time around.)

The announcer boasted about MK’s insane lead, a few contestants were already gagging on the food and only a handful were on MK's tail in eating. (If you could consider being twenty behind close.)

“Psst… Hey,” Mei whispered a bit later. It shook you out of focus and helped turn your attention to her. “Doesn’t the announcer lady seem kind of off?”

“In what way?” you questioned. Like, obviously she had some demon heritage but that wasn’t sounding any alarms in your head. Okay, sure her smile came off a little strong, but was just a personal preference. Right…?

“She’s only been talking about MK,” she pointed out.

“Well, he is in the lead.”

“Yeah, but you’d think that she’d try to give some attention to the other contestants.”

“I don’t know, I’ve never watched an eating contest before.”

“Wait, really?”

You nodded.

“Amazing!” the announcer lady beamed to the crowd. Were the whisker markings on her face always that prominent or was it just all that smiling that made it more apparent? “Four hundred beef balls in just four minutes! MK might have everyone beat with still six minutes to go!”

A good chunk of contestants were now out. Some were dry heaving at best, others holding the food in with their hands, one with their head in a trashcan and preparing for the worst, and another was curled up on the ground in defeat. The announcer gave them a small acknowledgement but her tone almost sounded like “too bad, so sad” while you, Mei, and a good chunk of the audience gave an empathetic “oof” at the fallen warriors.

Barely a minute later the buzzer went off, the once mountainous pile of food in front of MK was gone. Not a single meaty crumb or drop of flavorful grease was left.

For a second it seemed like MK was gonna pass out then and there, he wobbled when he took a stand to revel in his victory before he was able to hold himself up against the table. That was all Mei had needed to see before she went rushing forward, climbing up onto the platform, and then within arm's reach for her best friend as a support.

Though you planned to keep your distance while MK was giving his ill-prepared speech over his win, you did try to get a little closer to the platform so you could be easy to spot for him and Mei later. You were half listening to whatever conversation was taking place, but you could definitely hear MK going over the moon with glee when given his prize: a limited edition 1982 Monkey Cop action figure!

There was talk of a photo op from the announcer who had also mentioned that she was the one that cooked all those beef balls. Mei asked if she meant it was just her recipe but was answered that it was all her.

“That must have taken forever to make,” Mei couldn’t help but comment. She glanced around and found you a moment later, then she gave a small wave and a smile to show she was happy to know where you were now. “We gotta get going though,” Mei added as the chef/announcer brought out a bowl of beef balls seemingly out of nowhere, MK was more than happy to help himself to the contents.

“But we still need to do the photo op,” she pointed out. “It’d hardly take any time.”

“Yeah, Mei,” MK agreed through his chewing. “It’ll just be a couple snaps and then we’re outta here!”

You figured you were in the corner of Mei’s vision and gave a thumbs up, more than okay with waiting some more.

Mei pulled out her phone, the white case with golden horns definitely caught your eye as she swiped through the screen to pull up the camera app. “Okay, you two! Smile!”

“So how do ya get these to taste so good?” MK asked, popping another into his mouth. A click could be heard from Mei’s phone but she didn’t look that satisfied with it.

The chef’s smile grew at the question. “Oh, just the basics; ground beef, sha cha and fish sauce, fried garlic,” she listed off with a hum, “but the secret ingredient really ties it together.”

“Love?” MK thought aloud. He gave a wink to the camera and held it in place, the meat juice staining the skin around his mouth and some of the beef easy to see in it too.

“Definitely not that,” she answered, her fangs now much more prominent than before. “My work has something with a bit more of a kick.”

“Ginger?”

“A curse.”

Chapter Text

In an instant, she changed. The human skin tone now purple with a soft fuzz, her ears were that of a fox with a good amount of fluff, and a full tail that flicked in excitement. The bowl she held was now gone, her hand firmly grasping MK's in place. MK immediately started yelling from the shock, he tried to pull away but it was like he was glued by the palm.

You knew it! Okay, sure, the specific bit of the chef being a huli jing wasn’t on your bingo card but you knew something was off about those beef balls!

“What the heck?!” Mei yelled as the demon kept the demented smile. “Was the whole contest just to get to MK?!”

“Of course not,” the demon chef dismissed as she released MK from her grasp and let him practically crash against the ground. “I simply wanted my next meal to have the perfect filling, it turning out to be the Monkie Kid was just a bonus!”

MK pushed himself up from the ground, pulling the staff from his ear then ready for whatever attack came next. “You hosted an entire eating contest just so you could eat the winner?”

“There have been stranger ways of thinking to gain a meal,” she mused, the light lick of her lips did not settle well with you.

MK said your name then spoke to his friend. “Mei, you need to get them out of- HIC!” The ground shook along with MK, his stance turning into a stumble before regaining his footing.

“Ah, looks like the curse is taking effect now. I would have thought since you ate so much it would hit you sooner,” the demon chef thought aloud.

MK looked like he was about to say something but another hiccup butted in, another tremor followed and caused a bunch of stuff to clatter onto the floor. Mei glanced at you then back at MK, maybe she was trying to decide between listening to MK or saving his butt.

Go. You definitely needed to go. Mei saved MK’s life a bunch of times, that must mean she can probably hold her own one way or another.

MK called out your name, a moment later you saw a box fly through the air. When it covered the sun and showed off its design with striking clarity, it had your boyfriend dressed as a cop of all things. Oh, that’s right, the prize was a Monkey Cop toy.

The cardboard smacked you right in the face, the sound was way louder than anyone had expected. Even saw the fox demon grimace as the box fell onto the ground.

“What the heck was that?!” you shouted at the Monkie Kid.

“You were supposed to catch it!” he explained, the distress in his voice made it clear that he didn’t think it would hit you that hard.

“Then you say ‘catch’!” You did comply in picking up the box and holding it close, your free hand went to smother the sting across your face.

“I thought it was obvi- HIC!” Another earthquake came after.

Mei brought a hand to her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle, silence followed for a moment but then the sound of a revving engine filled the air.

A white motorcycle zipped between civilians, neon green trailed behind it like the tail end of Wukong’s somersault cloud. It sped over to Mei, you half expected it to stop at her side but apparently there was no time for that with how she grabbed the handlebar and used whatever momentum to pull her from the ground and onto the seat. In another moment Mei had made her way over to you and somehow got you seated right behind her. (Some completely unserious part of you was hoping that the stuff in your cooler bag was intact.)

“How did ya do that?!” you questioned your arms wrapped around her midsection in self-preservation.

“You gotta be quick when you’re dealing with MK’s enemies,” Mei went with as an explanation. A bright green halo ran up her body, the regular clothes turned into one of those motorcycle rider suits. Was she a magical girl or something?

Despite the helmet that covered her face, what helped you recognize this as Mei (other than seeing the transformation up close and personal) was the white jumpsuit kept a green dragon lined with gold.

“You good?” Mei asked after a few swift moments.

It took a couple blinks to recollect yourself. The roar of the motorcycle, the whip of the wind, the drop of your stomach. All way too much in too little time, it was very reminiscent of the somersault cloud, and just like your first experience with it, you lurched forward and began to dry heave.

“Whoa! Whoa! Are you okay?! Careful, not on my bike!”

Breathing was a bit of a struggle but you managed to find the strength to get small words out. “It’s okay. I’m good. Just… wasn’t… ready.”

You needed to lie down, get yourself grounded in every sense of the word.

“Do you need anything?” She kept you steady by holding you at the shoulders. You could only settle with taking deep breaths and hoping the moment will pass, the back of your mind nearly praying that it was simply those symptoms making your nausea stronger and not the precursor to something worse.

You took another breath and your next words didn’t warble from the motion sickness. “I’m fine, you go save MK’s butt. That’s what you do, right?”

Mei looked a bit surprised by that answer, a moment later her mouth formed a smirk. She gave a nod then stood back up, her motorcycle sounding like it was growling in anticipation for battle.

“Right.” She tossed her phone to which you were worried about fumbling the catch. Mei must have noticed the confused expression on your face then raised an exact copy of the phone. “Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty to spare. I’ll call ya once this all blows over.”

Another earthquake shook the ground just as you pushed yourself up, other civilians were collecting themselves in preparation for whatever could come next. You looked over to recognize any landmarks and figure out where Mei had moved you to, it was almost comical that she left you near a cheese tea stand, the very same one you had bought from this morning. Quickly you opened your cooler bag and were relieved to see that none of your drinks had spilled over.

On one of the electronic billboards, a news outlet was quick to cover an extremely current event as MK and Mei appeared in the background of the reporter. Despite being limited to one camera angle, the fight you saw against the demon was flashier than anything you had seen the Monkey King pull. (Which was saying something.) Whenever MK hiccupped another earthquake followed, Mei became so annoyed with him that at some point she tossed him into the air mid-hiccup. She wasted no time using that moment to use the jade green sword in her hand and managed to slice off some of the hair from the huli jing.

The sound the demon made was filled with offense and disgust. Before she could even make a comment on it, Mei said “Hey, if anything, you should be happy for the haircut! Last thing you want is hair in your food!”

The demon didn’t get to put in the last word because MK had locked back in on the battle and slammed the staff between the two women. Chunks of concrete shot from the ground, the spray of rocks caused the camera crew to move aside and get a new angle on the battle.

Even without direct contact with the ground, the staff acted like a lightning rod of sorts for MK’s hiccup and brought another earthquake. A moment later, MK slid down the staff then had it retract back to a reasonable length so he could pull it out of the street. Honestly, you were impressed with how cool he looked when glancing back at Mei and were making some kind of game plan that couldn’t be caught on the news crew’s mic.

The one thing that you did hear was when Mei and MK charged the demon while shouting “Here comes, Monkie Kid!”

The demon received a double punch in the gut from her opponents, the force alone seemed to pull everything into silence before reality snapped back to having her body be pushed forward at the speed of sound. The huli jing went from the street to who knows where in an instant, the camera was barely able to capture the demon looking like a skipping stone across the gravel and into the distance.

It took a few minutes for Mei to message the phone she gave you, it was obvious from the TV screen ahead that some news crew were trying to get a quick interview with their heroes and it would be a bit of a challenge to cut it short without coming off as rude. Eventually Mei and MK were able to meet up with you near one of the many cheese tea booths across the city, MK was quick to get a drink once there. (It was “on the house” due to his latest heroic deed.)

As you handed Mei her phone back, MK reminded you about the Monkey Cop figure. You pulled the sturdy box out from under your arm, the Monkie Kid almost swiped it with how excited he was to have his prize once again.

“I’m surprised that you didn’t have this one already,” you admitted to MK while he beamed at just the box’s quality. Part of you figured MK would have tried to beg Wukong for some kind of access to rare merch.

“This is actually the third in my collection,” MK answered.

Both your and Mei’s expressions went blank at that, whether it was anger or disbelief that kept you silent for that moment, no one was sure to say.

“What do you mean you have more than one of these things?” you questioned. “Shouldn’t one be enough?”

“It was in mint condition!” he reasoned. “I couldn’t just pass it up like that! What if the someone else who won it turned out to just be a scalper trying to make a quick buck?!”

“MK,” Mei chided with a very disappointed tone, “we talked about this…”

A hiccup came out of MK, a small tremor obviously followed.

“Maybe you should focus on getting rid of those hiccups,” you suggested out loud, your brain was trying to remember what were a few ways to get rid of them. Mei was already scrolling on her phone for a cure before you had finished the sentence.

“Yeah…” Mei muttered. “This is probably gonna take a while.”

You made a face alongside her when you shared a glance at the long list of “cures” for hiccups. Part of you really didn’t want to stay in the city much longer, you had to get some drinks to meet your fridge. (And setting up other stuff in your new home, but there were some higher priorities at the moment.)

“You know, you don’t have to stay,” MK pointed out. “Didn’t you have other stuff going on?” He then took a big breath and held it in. (That was a suggestion on the list.)

“It- It’s fine,” you tried to play off.

“It’s okay if you have to go,” Mei assured. “I was the one who got you caught up in this. Not including MK entering the eating contest.”

“Hey- HIC!” Well that “cure” didn’t work.

“You sure?”

“Oh yeah,” Mei told you. “I had tons of fun though, but don’t feel pressured to stick around for our sake.” She bared a smile so wide, you half expected fangs to be visible like Wukong’s.

“We already took up a bunch of your time anyway,” MK added. He gave a slightly judgy squint at his best friend.

“They said they were free for the day.” She gave a point to the sky to highlight it was hardly even noon, and the whole adventure barely two hours long. “Did you have any plans for the end of the day?”

“I was actually grabbing snacks and stuff so my fridge wouldn’t be empty at my new place,” you answered, your stomach may not have growl but you could feel the slight pang of hunger.

MK hiccuped in the middle of his surprised expression. “What? You’re moving?”

“Not like suuuper far,” you clarified. “You know Xiao Houzi Village? I’ll be at the edge of that.”

It was easy to see that MK was trying to remember where he had heard the village’s name before it was clear he knew exactly the place you were talking about. Your eyes widened and gave the swiftest glance at Mei to remind him that his best friend didn’t know the exact truth of both your “mutual love” of the Monkey King (and it obviously wasn’t just about the animated series) and hope he held back on speaking his mind. He bit the inside of his cheek, definitely struggling with keeping his mouth shut.

“Do you think that would count as giving him a good scare?” Mei asked as she pointed at one of the recommendations.

A hiccup answered the question for her.

You glanced at her phone screen to see the next potential cure was rubbing his belly, and you weren’t interested in seeing that in all honesty. “I’ll probably come back at some point.” Admittedly, you couldn’t think much of a reason to return anytime soon. (Not with that bone demon still out there.)

“Oh, we could try hanging out again if you do!” Mei suggested, already airdropping her social media and contact info to your phone.

You were a little flabbergasted at the forwardness, a slightly awkward laugh escaping from it. “Thanks,” you managed to get out, hopefully the smile you gave helped her know you did appreciate the gesture.

If you tried to remember what happened next it would be a blur, you were too overwhelmed at that point to recall the finer details. The adventure with Mei and MK had finally reached its end with a couple waves goodbye and a few good lucks on both ends.

You shot a text to Wan Ying that you were finally on your way to Táozi Temple to which she suggested a bunch of options on how to get there way faster, you settled on taking the bus. A good nap and a long yet relaxing walk later you were finally at your new home.

The monkeys knew you were going to be here at some point yet still greeted you with the same excited chatter as usual. With putting all your food in the fridge you dragged your feet when finally getting to sleep soon.

The bedroom wasn’t as bare as you remembered, a couple bookcases had been placed along with a few boxes that contained your clothes and other stuff. You'll definitely unpack later, tomorrow… if you feel up for it. Honestly, part of you didn’t feel comfortable with sleeping on the bed just yet, it made it all feel too real.

The couch seemed like a comfy alternative, maybe you could have something play on the TV as white noise too.

You practically plopped onto the couch within the second of entering the room, you took in a deep breath as you grabbed a pillow and pulled it close. You should have fallen asleep after a few more breaths but the sound of tiny footsteps pricked your ears.

One of the monkeys lightly patted your cheek and chirped for your attention.

You really didn’t want to do anything at this point. Maybe you had some candy in your jacket pocket? It took a moment to pull out a small bag of fruit gummies, you shook the bag to catch the primate's eye then promptly tossed it out of the room. They were quick to follow it.

Much like a skee-ball that made its return, the monkey came back with a clatter as they rushed past the now empty cooler bag and jumped onto the couch.

It took a few moments to recognize the little monkey with its warm, brown fur. Shizi, that was what they were called. They ate so many persimmons that it only made sense to be named after the fruit, their fur looking stained the same color added to the fact.

The monkey curled against your armpit, using your shoulder as a pillow and pulling your baggy sleeve for more coverage.

“You okay?” you asked in a soft voice. “Long day?”

They gave a few coos in response, definitely on the sleepy side just like you.

“Yeah, me too. It was fun for a good part of it though,” you told them, your hand gently combing the fur of their stomach. The hair was more coarse than Wukong’s but that made sense when you remembered some of the hair care products he had.

The monkey took deep breaths as you continued with the light scratches, the soft rumble of their snores reminded you of purrs, the tiny vibrations slowly lulling you to sleep too.

You wondered what kind of dreams this little guy will have. Maybe the kind where they get to be fat on fruit and bask in the toasty glow of a setting sun. That sounds like a nice dream.

Chapter Text

The soft warmth from the sun woke you up before one of the baby monkeys made a big stretch and had their arm smack against your chin. Some part of you was confused, questioning for a moment if you had traveled to the past and had passed out during your and Wukong’s weekly Monkey King marathons. How many weeks has he been gone now?

Don’t think about that. Stand up. Go eat or get dressed, the order didn’t matter. You would need to get that out of the way then get started with setting up basically everything for your new home.

You looked at the time and saw it wasn't even 8am, so you would definitely have more than enough daylight to burn. Your brain started to buzz with what to do.

Oh! You should move the bookshelves in ideal places before you add all that weight, then you can organize it just the way you like it. Bedding can be next as well as putting all your clothes away. All your movies, tv shows, and video games needed to be within easy reach of the TV, that could be done first. (Your game console that lets you play all of those would be installed after.)

You spent the first hour focused on what would be your bedroom, shoving an empty bookshelf or two inside with boxes filled with your stuff soon after. The old bedding was pulled off, now thinking about it, when was the last time this was even washed? Didn’t matter, that could be cleaned later as you tossed it into a hamper for what would hold all that dirty laundry. Next was all your clothes in both the dresser and closet, all media was stacked on the floor since you could properly organize that near the end of the day.

The bathroom had a few products that obviously belonged to your boyfriend but they weren't what you usually went for. Even if you still had a decent amount of your own stuff, you would have to get some new toiletries eventually. Well, you did have a hefty allowance now, so buying those wouldn’t be an issue.

That was the same with your food too, now that you thought about it. Some of the food in the fridge was either super expired or the stuff that can last for months untouched. You’ll definitely need to look over that next.

As you settled into the groove of things, you migrated from room to room, figuring out what would fit your vibe but still be recognizable and welcoming once Wukong returned.

On occasion the residential monkeys came over and tried to help in their own way, either by taking every single item out of the box (and leaving it on the floor) to clearing out what seemed to be trash (which happened to look like your snacks) before they eventually got bored then go do their own thing. Their contribution actually took up more of your time but you did appreciate what they were trying to do.

Before you knew it, the setting sun was beaming right into your face and nearly blinding you. It seemed pretty apparent that you spent enough time setting up the place.

A hot shower would feel like heaven on your muscles after all this work. You stood up and stretched, definitely felt a few needed cracks in your bones. But before you made it to the bathroom, a glint of something caught your eye.

Against one of the walls of a hallway was some armor. Taking a few steps closer, you saw it was the top half, specifically the chest piece and pauldrons. A fine layer of dust made it almost impossible to make out the color, but knowing the Monkey King, it most likely wasn’t anything dull.

You made a slight face when you pushed the dust away with your bare hand (you were going to wash up anyway, so it wouldn’t be too big of a deal) and were met with your reflection. The pale gold had a mirror-like finish, everything reflected in it was in stunning clarity. One could easily come to the conclusion that this was what his gold vision looked through his eyes.

It hits you that you saw this armor way back, like, as far back as when you first entered the temple. You forced yourself to wipe off more of the dust instead of ruminating over the passage of time. Specks of dust wafted in the air as you got up and took the armor off the floor and into the laundry room.

Could you pressure wash celestial gold or whatever this was? Though, if some water could cause it to rust, then it wouldn't be worth any of the hype.

One monkey did freak out at seeing you wash the armor but finally chilled out once you were drying it off. “It’s fine. I’m just cleaning it up, no big deal,” you told Yingtao. Soon after you cradled them in one arm to calm them while drying and polishing the armor. Yingtao cooed at their golden reflection, somewhat mesmerized by the look of it.

The monkey then started to make different faces, sticking out their tongue and making funny shapes with their lips, before they tried to reach out to you so you would join in.

“I’m good,” you said as you tried to dissuade them, setting them back on the ground to create more distance.

The monkey’s ruddy face was scrunched from the pout it made then walked off to go hang out with their friends.

A buzzing took your attention a few hours later while you were setting up your game system and wi-fi. Soon you pulled out your phone to see what it was none other than Wan Ying sending several articles on what to do and avoid when with child.

You glanced down and took a good look at your stomach. The size and shape hardly seemed to change, at most it looked like you may have just eaten but even that felt like a stretch. (Having lunch definitely didn’t help with the observation.) How big were baby monkeys when they were born? How big was Wukong when he came into the world?

You should probably start looking up more of that kind of stuff. Wan Ying had experience with being both a demon and a parent, plus with her messaging you this kind of stuff, asking her directly for advice seemed encouraged. Reading (or at the very least, skimming) the articles she sent would be a good start before bothering her for any specifics.

While swiping your thumb up and down your phone screen, you were getting the gist on stuff from clothes to nutrition to exercise to rest. Maybe you make some list for the variety of food that you were supposed to eat and find a way to have it delivered, though you might have to make the trek to the village just outside since there were complications in getting your stuff to the temple. The silver lining was that the exercise was covered for that, though you should probably look up qi gong videos for the days you won’t go to the village. (Which were likely going to be most days.) You had a feeling that Wan Ying was going to shoot a message about this sooner than later.

You took a hot shower as a remedy for the pang that had slowly crept from your neck to your shoulders and down your spine after everything. You went looking through the closet for clothes that were made for maximum comfort, loose pajama pants with a very stretchy elastic and the baggiest shirt to prevent any feeling of restriction.

You grabbed some clothes that you knew weren’t yours but some subconscious part of you hoped that they may have carried even a hint of Wukong’s scent despite the long months apart from just the temple itself. The pants were a deep yet dull red, the pockets felt like they went on for days that you questioned if they were enchanted.

The shirt was a simple black with a giant peach emoji on it, there were some characters above it but you had no idea what they said since it was in an entirely different language. (There was another shirt that had super stylized characters saying “Great Sage, Equal to Heaven” on the back but you could try that one some other time.)

You pressed the neck of the shirt close to your face in hopes for the faintest scent on peaches but were only able to catch a whiff of laundry detergent. A huff left you at that. Oh well, it should have been expected honestly.

There came a tug at your pants and a chirp to be certain your attention was caught, down below was a barrel's worth of (which was actually just four) monkeys looking up at you expectantly.

“Did you guys want something?” you asked with a slow tone. You were certain you had shut the door but a quick look showed that it was now wide open. Note to self: lock it from here on out if you want any privacy.

The tiny troop of monkeys went to your bed and got themselves settled in. One of them was even messing with the remote to the TV but you were quick to take it and pressed the power button.

“Not tonight, you guys,” you told them with a tired voice. “Maybe tomorrow, okay?”

There was a collective whine from them as they gave you a look with the saddest eyes. Yeah, you weren’t going to win this one.

“Okay, fine,” you conceded as you turned the TV back on and had it play a movie that had been on your watchlist even though you had already seen it. “It’s this, then bedtime.” You made sure to set the sleep timer in case you knocked out during the movie.

The movie had a cozy vibe, definitely the kind of thing that you could fall asleep to with the low stakes plot and relaxing soundtrack. The monkeys were locked in on it like those baby sensory videos that Wukong had played when you and he were trying to do other things without interruption.

Despite the thick comforters, the fuzzy blankets, and the fluffy pillows, sleep wasn’t exactly enveloping you and pulling you into slumber. (With how soft the fabric was, you questioned if it had been spun from clouds. Was this what the somersault cloud felt when he lounged on it?)

Even with the monkeys that curled up on the bed and huddled for warmth, it didn’t feel like enough. You felt cold. As cliché as it sounded, you would have felt warmer if Wukong were in bed with you.

Hopefully, he’d come back soon and you could spend time catching up and then some.

It took a moment to notice that you dreamt of him less and less as time went on, but still, those visits were a welcomed surprise.

Chapter Text

Mei shot you a message just as you finished putting away the last of your food in the kitchen. “You’re not gonna believe what MK did!” it said as you saw the still image of a blurry MK with the play button smack in the center. You pressed play to see what the deal was.

“Okay, it’s recording. Go!” Mei’s voice rang from behind the camera.

MK took in a deep breath as his hands began to glow a bright yellow, gold really with how it shined. The flash of light quickly came to an end and revealed a puppy in each hand.

You made a face, trying to figure out when Wukong-and therefore MK-had a teleportation power of all things, but there was no recollection of that skill for either of them. Then you saw that the back legs of both pups were deep in MK’s sleeves.

Pause. Zoom-in. They had their front legs dangling about but there was no added mass beneath the cloth they came from.

Did…? Were the dogs part of MK…?!

Play.

Mei practically squealed in delight, she didn’t bother zooming-in with the camera but walked straight up to get a better view of the dogs. They looked like pugs with how their muzzles were shaped and ears were flopped. (Not the kind with super squashed faces at least.)

“Check out these puppies!” If this were text, you were certain hearts would be littered with the last word. “Aren’t they adorable?!”

“All right,” MK was able to break through with a light laugh as the dog on his literal right licked him. “So this one’s named Jojo.” The dog on his left let out a yap then tried to nip at the camera. “And this lil guy’s name is Bikky.”

The rest of the video was composed of them playing with the dogs, well as much as they possibly could since they were attached to his wrists; Mei nearly smothering the pups with snuggles and nuzzles while MK gave the occasional warning, both of them trying to see how they can play fetch without MK being thrown by their weight, and the cutest point of the video being the puppies eating treats and licking their chops after the fact. (You tried not to think about where the food went, especially once MK’s hands turned back to normal.)

A couple monkeys came by to look over your shoulder to see what was behind the noises in your phone. All they could do was cock their heads and swish their tails in confusion.

“Yeah…” you spoke out in agreement. “It’s a bit weird. Did Wukong ever do weird stuff like that?”

The monkeys only shook their heads no.

“Not even with the monkeys at the mountain?”

No again.

You made sure to leave a response for Mei. You couldn’t really find the exact words to say so you opted to send a gif of a cartoon character laughing so hard that they were on their side.

A text from Wan Ying appeared at the top of your screen soon after, the message asking how you were to which you answered with an “all good here” and a thumbs up emoji to add to the fact.

She followed up on whether you needed anything from a wellness check or have something fresh delivered.

Part of you considered having her over, company was nice to have and you still hadn’t gotten to know much of the residents in the nearby village. Maybe you could have a hangout and she could sort of be your guard dog if anyone started asking too many questions?

Ideas started to buzz, the loudest being one where you could ask her to visit sporadically: it would motivate you to keep the temple clean over the possibility of a visitor. (Sure, the dynamic you had with her was on the unusual side, it seemed to be going well enough.)

You were quick to disclose to her that it was entirely optional for her to show up to which she was knocking at the gate within the hour.

“So where to first?” she asked.

“I was hoping you would know,” you admitted. “I haven’t really gotten to check out the village in all honesty.” You knew there was a temple somewhere in the center as well as a grocery store and restaurant but that was just from walking around on your first date with Wukong which was literally months ago.

Immediately Wan Ying had her phone out to see what Xiao Houzi Village had to offer. “Were you thinking of something to eat first or just browse?”

“Either…?”

A hint of a pout could be seen on her lips as her eyes stayed locked on the screen. “There’s a teahouse close by if you’re interested,” she suggested. “They have decent options, so you won’t just be filling up on boba. We can take a seat there and look to see if anything catches your eye.”

“Okay,” you agreed.

It took about 20 minutes to make the walk to the teahouse, its name Moonbeam Tea in pale blue. On the outside it blended in with every other building but inside it would have fit right in with the city, the blast of neon lights had you do a double take as you noticed the row of arcade cabinets against one of the walls.

“You could have mentioned the sci-fi vibe that they had going on,” you told Wan Ying while both of you were seated at a table.

“Is it too much for you?”

“No, no, I was just caught off guard,” you answered as she was handed the drink menu to look through, “‘cause, you know, really traditional aesthetic with the village. I saw the usual burning incense and prayers there, so seeing little robot-” you squinted at the mascot on the plastic flap of a menu “-rabbits is a bit of a leap.”

“That’s fair,” she admitted while she flipped the back for the food options. “If you’re worried about this whiplash lasting, I’m sure that the bookstore or clinic will be less… loud.” The pause came more from the beam of green neon that caught her eye than a proper word. “I would have figured you would have welcomed this place, it definitely reminds me of some spots in the city.”

“It does, like the vibes absolutely match with the Anti-Gravity Arcade,” you agreed. Wan Ying went back to looking through her options and seemed to have figured out what she wanted as she settled the menu down and raised her hand for a server.

It didn’t take long for the food and drinks to arrive but by then the demon had her tablet in the center, the screen showing a map with a few of the places the village had to offer. There was a clothing store (which seemed pretty run-of-the-mill until you noticed tailoring was optional), a very traditional inn (though it's not like you needed to stay in one), and some home improvement retailer. That last one definitely scratched at your brain on what you could make or even fix.

Wan Ying pointed at a few small stores here and there but they hardly kept your attention as you sipped your milk tea.

“So with the clinic,” you brought up once her finger hovered its location, “are you going to be there too? Like to make sure I don't say too much about-” you made some quick glances across the teahouse “-well, my boyfriend.”

“If you’re comfortable with it, I will be there for the first appointment. Mainly to help explain the situation if you can’t find the words, but if you’d rather do this on your own I won’t stop you,” she answered, she popped a sesame ball into her mouth to end her sentence as well as give you time to speak.

You let out a breath, relieved for the option even though you'd ask her to come with for support the moment an appointment notification would hit your phone.

The idea of Wukong not returning smacked you upside the head after. Every appointment could pass by before he came back to the mortal realm, there wasn’t even an idea when the birth would occur and how you were going to handle that.

SNAP!

Wan Ying’s hand came into view as you lifted your head. “No overthinking on my watch,” she ordered. “And I don’t want an apology either.”

“Thank you,” you said instead. “It’s just been hard lately. I worry about Wukong and if he’ll come back.”

“When,” she corrected.

“When he’ll come back,” you rephrased, saying the words did help with the tightness in your chest. “I really am trying to keep going and all that, not just for my sake. But I’m… worried…? Sacred…? Because what if it all goes wrong?”

“Then it goes wrong and we keep going until it’s all right.”

“But what if never does?”

“Everything is always changing, it won’t be that way forever?”

“How do I know you’re not just lying to make me feel better?”

Her expression became hard as stone, her fingers steepled while she leaned forward. “What would either of us gain from lying? I don’t believe in wasting my time to ease anyone’s spirits only for it to possibly come back to bite me and then waste even more time dealing with it.”

“And if you didn’t think it would be okay in the end?”

“I would state the facts, ask questions, and offer options. No more, no less,” she answered. “Now keep drinking, the ice is going to water it down.”

You took another sip to fill the silence. Wan Ying brought her attention back to her tablet, muttering on where to go once you both were done with the drinks.

“Would it be okay if I asked you to show up once a week or something?” you spoke up. “That way we don’t have to try to cover everything in one go?”

She let out a breath through her nose, the corner of her mouth tugged up. Her eyes seemed softer as she looked up at you. “Sure thing. We can try the bookstore next week if you want, though we should talk about a visit to the clinic sometime later this week.”

The breath of relief you let out was all the thanks she needed. The remainder of the outing was relaxed, the only stressor was that a couple monkeys looked at Wan Ying with slight suspicion when she brought you back home.

“I suppose I can give Monkey King some slack on his behavior if this is how his subjects act on the daily,” Wan Ying commented as she stood by the temple gate.

“They’re not all bad, most of the time they keep to themselves. The worst I’ve dealt with is them stealing my stuff,” you insisted. She didn’t look impressed by the bare minimum.

“As long as you’re able to handle it, that’s good to hear.” She pulled out her phone to check the time. “I’ll be back next week, same time as the last.”

“‘Kay,” you agreed. A smile came across your face, the belief that it’d be all okay nearly felt tangible.

You’d be wrong though.

Less than a week later, while enjoying the near golden sunset, the clouds began to rush through the sky, pooling over in the direction of the city. The wind picked up which made sense, sure, but that wasn’t even hinted at in today's forecast from the weather station of all places.

Warmth was quickly leached out of the bright yellow, bold orange, and blazing red lights as something else took over. A ray of pale blue, practically bone white, held its place as the center of attention.

For a moment it seemed like a flicker of gold had appeared but was quickly snuffed out, the clouds became heavier and darkness grew.

Was that MK? Or heaven forbid, was that Wukong?

The monkeys had noticed it took, their chattering much more frantic than the usual casual tempo. Some quickly hid back in the temple while others were gathering whatever food they could find in the trees.

Call someone! You could do that at the very least.

Your phone was already in your hand, the screen finding Wan Ying in nearly an instant.

You called her.

You called her again.

You called her again, and again, and again, but there was no answer on the line.

Did something happen in the city and she was caught up in it?

Did something happen to the city?

Should you message Mei of all things? But what if she didn’t answer? She’s always with MK and if they were both caught up in whatever this was, would you even want to know the answer to that?

The remaining monkeys were making their way into the temple. A few were actually smacking your legs to get moving because why are you just standing there?!

“Ah! Okay. Ow! I’m going, I’m going.”

Your breath became visible just before you shut the temple door and with the last glance you gave the sky, you knew deep in your gut that the Lady Bone Demon had done this.