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Running around these strange mountains was NOT what MK was expecting to do today. But he did it. He did it because a certain someone had run off away from him, and the rest of the group.
Not just any certain-someone, though. After all, if anyone besides this particular person ran off, MK might have let it slide. But seeing as to how things were what they were, this couldn’t be let go.
Everyone else had tried to stop MK when he began the chase after seeing the flames of teleportation take off, even Monkey King seemed to be against it, but Tang was the one who grabbed MK’s wrist. He grabbed his wrist and held it in a grip tighter than the young hero had thought possible of the scholar. MK might have been able to break free even with that being the case, but he knew he shouldn’t. Not if Tang was using so much of his strength on it.
So instead of breaking free with a forceful jerk of his arm, MK looked Tang in the eyes. “He needs me.” was all he could get out. He knew the reason everyone else was trying to stop him was because if Red Son actually did want to go back to his parents after all they’ve been through to help him, then there was no point.
There wasn’t much damage he could do at the moment, even with his mother and father to help, and the team currently had much bigger fish to fry. They needed to keep looking for that power that Monkey King spoke of.
MK knew all this yet still he stared into Tang’s eyes, begging him to understand. “Please.” he let out in an almost whispering whine. Not like the whines and cries for something insignificant in hindsight like an extra hour of break, or some free noodles or even a day off to hang with Mei. This was different, this was with purpose and yet was not done consciously. He meant for his plea to be more clear, strong and demanding. He wanted Tang - and consequently everyone else - to know how important this was to him and how he would go even without their permission the minute Tang let him.
What surprised him more than his own tone of voice was Tang's gentle, almost knowing smile. As if he could read the mind of the one he had taken care of since he first left home so many years ago as a child.
“You bring him back, okay, MK? Make sure he knows how much you need him.”
MK wanted to correct Tang on that, and wanted to explain that what he said earlier was that Red needed him, not the other way around. But that was the moment Tang let go of his wrist and so was the moment MK took off in search of his friend.
As he climbed up to the top of the mountain, hoping to get a better vantage point of all the places Red could have run off to, he had to question that thought. Was Red Son a friend? Of course he was! He had been living with him for almost a year, nice and cozy in the sleeping bag next to MK’s own bed. Except for those times when he would sleep walk his way into MK’s bed and start spooning him as if they were a couple. But that was sleep walking and whenever Red Son would wake up from it he would lose his temper trying to hide his embarrassment and be kind of cute actually and that wasn’t important right now.
What was important was remembering how, with them spending so many nights hanging out alone, talking about whatever came to mind, both of them started letting down their walls.
MK’s came crumbling down first, of course. It was not as though there were many bricks of paranoia and rejection related incidents to hold it together, after all. Mostly just issues of insecurity and imposter syndrome that might as well have been made of cards. Though the more MK tried to get out of Red Son, the more he realized that there was a lot of trauma based building material holding his rival's wall up. And it was a very tall wall at that.
MK felt so certain that his, now friend for sure, was about to pull out the last brick needed to bring down the entire thing like a game of Jenga. Then, suddenly, last night something happened. Red Son blamed it on sleep walking but MK was starting to think that him hearing whispering in the middle of the night and finding Red walking back to his spot by the fire in such a state of distress that he wouldn’t speak of was much more.
Red did not look okay last night and he was certainly not acting the same that morning. He wasn’t acting like the self the crew had gotten to see him grow into yet he wasn’t acting like his old self, either.
He was acting like a new Red Son who had rebuilt his wall stronger than ever before. And as they walked and he kept silent, MK moved next to him to try and talk like normal, and that's when, suddenly, he called upon his fire and began transporting himself away.
Knowing that he actually could not travel far with his power and that he only ever had enough for one trip at a time before he had to wait as if it were a battery in need of recharging helped a lot. Maybe the young hero would not have been bothering with a search if Red Son hadn’t told him, and only him, such a detail Red took very good care of keeping secret. He was grateful for that.
So here he was, nearly at the top of this mountain, felling as though his lungs were on fire and still contemplating if calling Red Son “friend” really felt right. “Enemy” or “Rival” didn’t seem to fit anymore, either, so MK was confused as all get out. He knew every puzzle had an answer, but this was no ordinary puzzle.
Suddenly his thoughts were cut off when after climbing up to the highest point, he saw Red standing there. He was across the short amount of rock opposite MK, his back turned to the younger with arms crossed and showed no sign of knowing there was a second presence in his midst.
MK wanted to smile and cheer but instead he simply took a moment to study Red. Something about the way he was standing was different. Was it the way his fingers curled into his arms so tight that the fabric of his jacket was in danger of tearing? Was it the way one of his feet continuously tapped at the Earth below it? Or was it the simple fact that Red Son must have been so lost in thought that he did not register MK being there at all?
Whatever the reason, it was different, and that difference meant that MK could not approach him with the same bubbly enthusiasm as usual. It just did not feel right, especially considering how weird Red had been acting. So MK began to think everything over before a certain piece of Monkey King advice came to mind.
Trust your instincts.
Trusting his instincts was something he was not exactly the biggest fan of, and he knew Red Son felt similarly if not exactly the same. That meant that doing this, whatever it was, was a massive risk. But it was a risk MK was willing to take because for some reason, somehow, it felt right.
It continued to feel right after silently walking over to Red, remaining behind him and wrapping his arms around the fire demon’s waist and it felt better than right when he completed the surprise hug by pressing his cheek to the warm back that seemed to call to it.
Red was obviously jolted by the sudden touch and MK almost let go when he thought he was about to get blasted with fire magic just for daring to sneak up behind a literal demon like this. But for some reason, that damn instinct came back and told him he would be fine. That there was no justification for any worries about this and, truth be told, he felt no worries because of it. He was pretty confident he would not get hurt.
And he was right.
Instead of thrashing about, throwing fire or even just screaming not-so-child-friendly insults at his enemy, Red Son slowly turned in MK’s grasp and hesitantly wrapped his own arms around the smaller of the two. Around his friend.
Upon realizing what just happened and processing what it could be read as, MK looked up to face Red Son. He could have pushed Red away and started chastising him for running off or apologizing for possibly breaking personal space, but instead, he just stared at him.
Stared at those blue eyes that contrasted his red hair and was possibly another reference to his fire abilities. He saw all the pain and hurt that Red was keeping to himself this whole time. Was that why he ran off? Were his emotions finally overflowing where he could not hide behind the mask of his raging outbursts anymore?
They both stared at each other for what felt like an hour but was most likely at most a few minutes, given the level of sunset remaining the same, until Red Son finally broke their silence.
“Stay with me.”
That seemed to snap MK out of whatever trance he had found himself in. “Huh?” was all he could manage. He wanted to give some sort of acknowledgement to try and let the demon know he had heard him yet was trying to think of the proper response, but judging by how said demon's grip on him tightened, that must’ve not been the best way to go about it.
“I want you to stay with me.”
Red Son’s expression did not change and neither did his position or grip. He seemed to be waiting patiently enough so this time, MK bit back any sounds of confusion and allowed himself time to process what just happened.
“Red, I wanted to say the same to you. You’re the one who ran off, you know. I’ll bet the whole group is waiting back where we left them and they’re probably worried about us so -“
“They’re worried about you.”
MK stopped. Red Son was usually good about not interrupting people, so this was strange. This wasn’t making sense. None of this was making any sense.
“I don’t understand.”
Red let out a light sigh, not the groan of annoyance he was expecting
“I figured you wouldn’t. You have a family down there who cares for you and is always looking out for you. They love you and they probably tried to convince you to let me be, right?”
MK fell silent and Red gave a small, sad looking smile.
“I figured.” His smile then changed from that sad expression to a more happy, almost excited looking, one. “But you came after me anyways, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did. You’re my - I mean - I care about you, Red. I care about you a lot.” After all that thinking on his way up here, telling Red he was his friend didn’t seem right. “I don’t know what sort of nightmare you must’ve had last night but you didn’t need to run off because of it. We all get them sometimes. We could just ask Sandy for -“
“Noodle Boy, shut up.” And he did. Under any other circumstance, MK would have just continued on and on with his word vomit but he was constantly reminded of the warm chest he was inches away from by the cold wind blowing against his back. And the fact that Red Son was acting so strange, along with how the way he told him to shut up sounded different, made MK want to treat this situation differently. “It was my mother and father speaking to me last night. They were asking me what was keeping me with your group and what was keeping me from coming home to them. I didn’t have an answer.”
MK frowned. Was this the end of Red’s redemption? Were all their efforts of converting him to the Good Side in vain? He wanted to ask, he wanted Red to continue, but he did not want to force it. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Red was asking MK to give him an answer for why he should stay.
The younger of the two became so distracted by his thoughts that he almost missed Red Son’s right hand reaching up to MK’s cheek. He felt the rough thumb rubbing along his skin and for some reason, it felt very comforting. Before MK realized what was happening, he shut his eyes and leaned into the touch. Maybe he should stop listening to instinct.
“All morning I was considering their question. But it wasn’t until just as the sun came to be in the center of the sky that I found my answer.”
MK opened his eyes slowly as the warm hand left him. Part of him wanted it back and nearly whined because of it, another part wondered why that was. But there was a much larger part that felt his eyes grow wide and his chest explode with a feeling he wasn’t sure he ever felt before.
And all because, after replacing his hand where it was before around MK’s waist and behind his back, Red Son had left a kiss on his head. Just below the red band he kept around it.
When the fire prince pulled away, his grip around MK loosening considerably though still remaining, he continued what he was saying. MK barely found the energy to focus on the next statement.
“I needed to test it, first, though. To make sure that all this trouble of losing everything I had before in favor of something new I had only recently found was worth it.”
“Is… is it me? Am I the answer?” MK was terrified of what Red would say to that because if he was wrong, then that would be such a mess. A very big emotional mess that he wasn’t so sure he was prepared for. His fears were starting to be realized and he felt a blush begin to form when Red chuckled. What kept MK from letting him go and stepping back was what was actually said after the small laughter.
“Yes, Noodle Boy. Yes. You’re my answer for staying with your group, for abandoning my entire species, and for bringing out the real me before I even knew who that was.”
A certain glow hit his eyes and MK wasn’t entirely sure how he would ever be able to explain that. As he felt the collapse of the Jenga style wall in front of him, he let out his own laugh and brought his arms up to wrap around the demon's neck. He did this, along with standing on his toes, so that he could look into Red’s eyes easier. Thankfully, Red kept his grip on MK so that staying balanced wasn’t difficult in the slightest.
They shared a conversation there. A silent one with no words, only longing stares coming from them both.
Still allowing himself to be run by his instincts, MK leaned in to give his own kiss. This one on that purple prose spewing mouth of Red’s to keep him from saying anything else just yet. “I guess that’s my answer, too.”
When Red Son raised an eyebrow in confusion, MK let out another small laugh. “I was thinking as I was climbing up here looking for you, what I should call you. You definitely aren’t an enemy or even a rival anymore. But ‘friend’ didn’t feel right, either.” The confused look remained. In fact, Red seemed even more confused. So MK continued. “I think the word I was looking for was ‘crush’.”
It seemed to take him some time to think over what MK said. Like his mind was a computer working double time to search up the word ‘crush’. When Red Son finally figured it out, his eyes widened.
“You mean you…”
MK laughed again. “Of course! Why else would I have gone through all the trouble of coming here after you ran off and then just let you kiss me on the head like that?” Red Son’s face lit up and his head turned away, but still he didn’t let go. And to that, MK let out a small contemplative hum. “You know, I think you and I need to have a conversation about the term ‘touch-starved’.” Red’s grip tightened ever so slightly more and to that, MK just kissed his cheek. “‘Cause I think that’s why you kept climbing into my bed at night when you were sleepwalking.”
There was a small, almost completely inaudible, grunt in response before Red turned back to face MK. By now the sun had completely set and when MK allowed himself to look into those blue eyes for a second time this night, he became lost in the emotions they held again. Only now, they were happy, excited and yet also terrified all at the same time. Which MK understood very well at the moment because he was feeling the same way. He couldn’t help but think about how in the day, the part of Red Son everyone knew was that burning passion about anything and everything he deemed important that mirrored the suns own bright fire. But at night, or maybe just this night, it felt a lot more like the sky was referencing his eyes.
“We should go back.” He said in a calm, quiet, whispering voice. “You were right when you said everyone will be worried.”
Red Son hummed but still didn’t let go. “You said they would stay where we left them?”
MK nodded. “Most likely, yeah. Though Monkey King’s not gonna be happy about us losing so much ti- ah! Hey!” Without even so much as a warning, Red Son lifted the smaller mortal off of the ground to hold him in such a way to support his back and legs. It was probably just to keep MK as comfortable as possible, but the name for this style of carrying someone being the “bridal carry” left him embarrassed beyond anything else.
“Perfect. Then we’ll just get to them the same way I got here.” Before MK could protest or even just ask to be set down first, they were gone. So the very brave, not at all scared of anything ever, hero wrapped his arms around Red’s neck and closed his eyes tight.
This sort of travel was completely new and terrifying and he wasn’t even sure if he could survive it at all. So he was not nervous about the trip in the slightest.
Luckily, they did make it just fine and when that was clear, MK let out a loud, honestly kind of exaggerated, sigh of frustration. “Red, that almost killed me.”
Before the perpetrator could respond, the whole crew was rushing over to save his victim. They were only stopped by Tang, who did not move from his spot, clearing his throat.
“I do believe everything is alright and dandy now. You boys got everything figured out, hm?”
Reluctantly, Red let MK down but not completely free as he wrapped an arm around his back to rest a hand on his waist the moment his feet were planted safely on the ground.
“Yeah. It’s all good. Red’s staying with us now and I don’t think he’ll be running off anymore.”
MK knew that there were more questions and he did not want to know what Pigsy was planning to do with those sausages he had grabbed as a weapon, but at the moment he was tired. He was certain they were all tired. So he convinced everyone to let him sleep for now and that he would explain it all in the morning. He wasn’t concerned at all with their confusion as Red followed him like a lost puppy refusing to let go of the first creature to show it kindness, and he didn’t bother to listen in on their whispering.
He just let Red Son lay down with him at their make-shift camp site without the need for the sleepwalking excuse. They laid together, cuddling like it was the end of the world and that this would be their last night, and it led to MK’s thoughts wandering. They wandered to a lot of things that should have been clear signs of Red’s feelings along with his own.
The way they would both steal glances to each other, the way they would linger a little long when their hands accidentally brushed past each other, how MK never truly minded the surprise spooning in the middle of the night and of course, the fact that both of them had let their walls down to each other. The fact that talking to Red was the easiest, most natural feeling in the world to him. The fact that he wanted nothing more than to know all of Red’s story including being a part of his future, too.
And as he let his thoughts lull him to sleep, the phrase Tang had said earlier came to mind. ‘Make sure he knows how much you need him’
MK smiled in understanding. Tang was right. MK needed Red just as badly, if not more so, than Red needed him. It was just going to take some more time and brick breaking to work out why.