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“MK! Mei! Red Son!” Tang coughed, dust from the half collapsed building assaulting his lungs every time he breathed in. The trio had been fighting a demon they had underestimated and taking out the demon had also taken out half of a building that was already set to be demolished. Tang had been nearby, the four of them intending to meet up in the area and he had watched the entire battle take place. Then he ran into the building without a single damn about his own safety. But he didn’t dare stop, not now, not until he physically saw them. “Kids! Say something. Are you hurt? Can you hear me?”
“We’re over here!” Red Son’s voice rang out, and from behind a wall of rubble he could see the faintest glow of the fire demon’s flame. From the way it waved around Tang could tell that he had let his full bull demon form out and it was the tip of his large swaying tail that was ablaze. “I can’t uh… exactly move, but we’re ok! I think!”
“Don’t word it that way!” Mei snapped, and he could hear the soft sound of MK chuckling. Thank Heaven, they were all together and conscious!
“We’re ok,” MK elaborated. “We’re just stuck under Red because he’s holding up some rubble. We could probably use some help getting out so he can stop doing that, we don’t want him to get hurt.”
“I’m a powerful-”
“Ancient demon, yes we know, but even you could get hurt if a couple hundred pounds of rock hit you even if it just sprains your ankle! I will not let you do that!”
“OK, stay right where you- no, you just said you can’t- I’LL BE RIGHT THERE!” Tang was so relieved to hear all their voices that he fumbled his words, but he didn’t care at the moment. He climbed over fallen beams and concrete and only cared about the sharp edges when they threatened to come to close to his skin. The end of his robe was shredded on one side but he didn’t care.
It only took a short while before he found them, a much too small opening to a pile of rubble showing him Red Son on his knees with a support beam of some short being held in one hand across his back. His other hand was being held by MK and if this wasn’t such a perilous place for them to be the action would be so sweet and adorable Tang would tease them for days about it.
“Kids!”
“Tangy!” “Mr. Tang!” “Dad!” Mei, Red Son, and MK exclaimed all at once.
But it was perilous and sweet as it was Tang was just relieved to see them again. He looked around, noticing the opening looked sturdy enough but only as long as it wasn’t jostled too much. “OK, you’re all ok. thank goodness… I think I know how we can get you all out of there without hurting yourselves. Mei, give me your hand. On the count of three, go limp and I am going to pull you out.”
He didn’t even need to elaborate for her to reach out, the complete trust she had in the scholar showing in her fierce expression. He counted and on three he pulled back, wrenching her through the opening with only one more tear added to her jacket as a casualty. He hugged her tightly, calming down knowing that she was ok before turning back. “Your turn MK.”
This time went much the same, though he had to roll his staff out first, and Tang held onto his not-quite-adopted son for probably longer than necessary given Mei jumped on the boy soon after he let go.
“Alright…” He turned back to the only one left in the rubble, noting the concern but quiet determination Red Son gave off. “I have an idea, but you need to trust m-”
“Done,” Red Son interrupted, flushing a bit in embarrassment. “I mean, I trust you. Mr. Tang, sir.”
Tang couldn’t help the fond smile that lit up his face at the moment. “Good. MK, Mei, I need your help.” There were many ways they could get Red out, but this was the one way he could think of that might cause the least harm and structural integrity damage (unlike the easiest way, which would be to have Red fire blast the debris… he did not want another building collapse in case anything rubble hit something to hard).
Together they all readied themselves. Mei was standing by to knock away any debris from the opening that might fall, Tang had hold on Red Son’s free hand, and MK stood ready to extend his staff right into the support beam to hold it up for as long as he could.
“Again, when I hit 3, you shrink back down to normal size… 1… 2… 3!”
To say Tang was so proud of his kids was an understatement. Red Son shrunk down to his less powerful bull form and MK and Mei worked in tandem flawlessly as he yanked the fire demon out of the danger just in the nick of time. Once he was engulfed in Tang’s arms MK pulled his staff back and the entire thing collapsed in on itself.
Out of all three of them, Red hugged him back tightest. There was an almost imperceptible shake in his shoulders and tail and Tang knew then that he was actually scared the entire time they had been trapped and was just doing his best to hide it from the others. But it took no time for him to relax as Mei and MK fell into the two of them in a group hug, that purring rumble demon’s possessed sounding loudly without a care to the entire group. It wasn’t the first time Tang has heard Red Son’s, but damn if it wasn’t the most important one to him at this very moment.
“TANG YOU IDIOT YOU BETTER NOT BE DEAD IN THERE!”
“And that would be the cavalry I called for,” Tang laughed, pulling himself and Red to their feet when Mei and MK stood. “Don’t want Pigsy worrying about us too much longer now, do we?”
They made their way through the rubble carefully, Tang only stopping for a moment when Red Son tugged at his sleeve. “I… I’m sorry… about this. I was the one that made the building collapse… If I hadn-”
“Stop,” Tang said soft but firm, smoothing it over with a chuckle. “That doesn’t matter, not now that you’re safe. As long as you’re breathing, standing here with me, nothing else matters.”
~
They had managed to make it back to Pigsy’s Noodles without much extra hassle. Pigsy himself wasn’t particularly happy about the entire “a building fell on my damn kids and my husband ran in without waiting for help I’m going to develop anxiety because of all you” situation, and rightly so. But the ride back in the truck had been mostly Pigsy asking if everyone was alright, MK and Mei excitedly describing the fight, and Red Son still in his regular bull form laying between the two of them and holding one of their hands in each of his own with an almost imperceptible purr sounding through the back of the truck.
“Alright, pick a table and sit down I’m making all of you noodles,” Pigsy announced once they entered the restaurant, his tone of voice clearly one saying “you are getting noodles no matter how much you tell me now”.
Tang couldn’t help but smile softly at that, loving his husband more and more every time he saw him help out Team MK in his own gruff way. His smile faltered, however, when he caught sight of Red Son. He was once again situated between Mei and MK, the two of them speaking softly to him in hushed tones. Red had been acting out of character since he pulled him from the rubble, but this… this was going on longer than he expected.
“You… do not look happy,” Tang stated as he sat across from the group. “Talk to me, Red, what’s up?”
“I don’t know,” he answered immediately, and Tang could tell from the confusion and frustration in his tone (as well as his down-turned ears) that he was telling the truth. “I just… I should feel fine, we’re all alright, but I just… I feel… ARGH.” Red took his hands back from Mei and MK to rub his face, and that ever so soft purr became almost a roar in volume as the tips of his hair started to spark. “I hate talking about this, it’s stupid and I hate it and I know nothing is going to happen because you said so but…”
Tang started to get an idea of what was happening.
“Does this happen often?” He asked, looking to all three of them. Red Son nodded, the tips of his hair starting to spark more violently as Mei and MK looked at him in more concern. “I see… Red, do you think we’re angry at you because of what happened still?”
“What?” Red Son looked up from his hands.
“Do you think we’re angry at you?” Tang repeated, reaching out a putting a hand on his head. His hair was hot to the touch but that didn’t matter to him right now. The demon flinched at this, though whether it was out of worry of burning the human man’s hand he couldn’t determine.
“I- NO! …maybe…” Red conceded after a moment. “I think so? Like I said, it’s stupid! I know you’re not, you-you said you weren’t.”
“But you still have something in the back of your head telling you that we are, don’t you?” The wide eyes on Red’s face and the dawning realization on Mei and MK’s told him he got it on one. “Red. I promise you, no one is angry at you. Whatever you’re thinking, if we’re going to stay angry at you or if we’re going to make you make it up or kick you off the team-” he did not miss the look of fear on the demon’s face at that “-but none of that is going to happen. Not just because what happened was an accident, but because we care about you and we wouldn’t do that. We trust you, Red Son.”
The two of them locked eyes and the heat under Tang’s hand almost became unbearable, but he didn’t remove it. Didn’t dare even wince at the feeling. And in short time Red Son started to breathe in a rhythm that was very familiar to him. One he himself had taught MK, and his self-soothing purr went back down to a normal volume as the tips of his hair stopped sparking and the heat dispersed under his hand.
“I know… I know. Thanks, Mr. Tang.” The smile on Red’s face was genuine as his ears finally perked back up and Tang couldn’t help but smile back.
“Do you need anything else?” Tang offered as he finally removed his hand, not even glancing to see if he had been burned. It didn’t matter to him if Red had, but he could tell from how it felt that he wasn’t regardless. “Pigsy should be finished soon, I could make us all some tea as well.
“Tea sounds great, dad,” MK agreed, Mei nodding enthusiastically and Red nodding softly in turn.
Tang nodded and headed back to the kitchen, trusting all three of his kids to take care of each other now, and he made a beeline for Pigsy. The pig stood in front of the stove, waiting for something to boil and not doing anything else, and Tang wrapped his arms around his husband in a tight hug.
“Whoa, Tang, what brought this on?” Pigsy asked, tilting his head back. “Everything ok?”
“For now, yes,” Tang answered, kissing Pigsy’s cheek softly. “But you remember that therapist we were talking to? I think we should take Red Son right after MK. He’s doing a lot worse than we thought he was.”