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‘So lucky to have you’
‘Incredibly smart’
‘Really creative’
‘Super nice’
‘The best partner anyone could ask for’
These were only some of the things Red Son had heard coming from MK. Things that were always directed at him and hardly ever at anyone else. That last statement where MK had put him on the highest pedestal imaginable was what was said the most often and was the one that the scholar had confirmed was only ever said about Red.
He groaned and laid his head on his arms, feeling the cool air brush the back of his neck. The roof was always a good place to think, especially late at night when the sounds of a bustling city had settled down save for a few outliers. He was much more accustomed to the quiet wilderness where only the sounds of animals on the hunt were noticeable. And even then, the nature of such a hunt made it impossible to hear without actively searching for it.
The sudden switch to the loudest place in the world with the worst smell one could ever have the displeasure of knowing was a sort of shock at first. He couldn’t bring himself to say he hated it, since MK was here and all, but he definitely longed for a much more peaceful and still place from time to time.
So, there was the occasional night when he would climb onto the roof of this humble noodle shop his love called home to meditate. Meditation was key to keeping his power and, given the reawakening of the Samadhi Fire he had mastered as a toddler, it was more important to keep up than ever.
He would usually wait for MK to fall asleep and then judge for himself based on how clingy he was being if it was a good night to meditate. This seemed to be one of those good nights. That is what led him here, though in all honesty, he wasn’t doing any real meditating. His thoughts had wandered way further than intended when he attempted it and now he was simply enjoying the closest thing to the silence of the wilderness he was accustomed to. Well, enjoying wasn’t really the right word. At all. If he was enjoying it, he wouldn’t be sitting with his knees up and resting his head on them, hiding his face from the world.
During their travels to defeat the Lady Bone Demon, he had discovered his feelings for MK and confessed to them that same evening just as the sun set. Everything had been said and done with peace restored for almost two months now which placed their courting at nearly three. During that time, MK had explained to him what he meant when he joked about being ‘touch-starved’, Red Son had completed this so-called ‘goodness training’ and of course, MK took to saying such overly positive things about his partner regularly.
And Red Son liked it yet he did not want to.
He didn’t want to like it because he knew it wasn’t true. He knew that the Noodle Boy had caught a case of the ‘dumb brain’ disease this strange group of misfits would cite. The silly mortal might have believed those things, but he could believe as hard as he wanted, they still were not true.
MK was not lucky to have Red.
Red was not smart.
Red was not creative.
Red was not nice.
Red was the worst partner anyone could ask for.
Even as he thought it himself, and felt it bounce around his empty, empty head, it was a painful phrase. Red Son tightened his grip on his jacket's sleeves. He felt the tears begin to well up as he thought about how awful he had been and continued to be. Especially to the one person he had ever had the confidence to know he loved. He was a cruel, terrible and horrifying demon and the fact that he had tricked MK into believing otherwise tore his heart.
He knew the mortal had never been in a relationship before, he had told Red that himself multiple times, so it was easy to manipulate him into believing those things he said.
Red did not intend to manipulate his light, but it was clearly what was happening and what would continue to happen. He considered running away but, ah, there was that selfishness again. If he ran away, he would be separated from MK and he did not want that. Even if Red Son believed whole-heartedly that MK would be happier with someone else - heck, maybe even happier with no one else - he could not bring himself to be separate from him.
He wanted to be with him. He wanted to be with him forever. He wanted to call him husband.
At that, Red scratched at his head quickly and roughly, yelling to himself “No! Not that - anything but that! Trapping MK is off limits! I can’t do that to him, I just can’t!” He fell back and allowed himself to hit his head - hard - on the roof he now laid on. The light pain and future headache a necessary evil to push that dark side of his mind away.
The dark side of the mind was a common phenomenon he faced regularly when meditating. Most of the time, it was things he used to have no problem acting on - at least before his ‘goodness training’ was complete - but lately it had snuck into the front of his mind at any random second of the day. And it was always the same thing.
He wanted to marry MK.
Whenever he would see his light’s eyes widen at the idea of something entirely mundane, it would come forward.
Whenever he would see that cute thing the mortals now called a ‘stim’ - excitedly rubbing his hands together with a massive grin - it would come forward.
Whenever he would see how hard his precious one worked, both in training and at his delivery job, it would come forward.
Red Son could not get away from it. The desire to see those eyes light up and that stimming take effect because of something he did. Because of some way - anyway - Red could make his love be known to his partner. Wanting to be able to help him when he overworked himself, whether it be lightening his load or comforting him after he was done, was a powerful force that led to it.
Red Son - the demon Prince of fire who mastered one of the most powerful abilities ever conceived in this world - wanted to marry the young, mortal successor to the Monkey King himself.
He wanted to marry MK.
Red kept his eyes shut as he brought his hands to them, pressing into them lightly as if he could forcefully push the evil wishes away without hurting himself. He rolled from side to side and kicked his legs like a child throwing a tantrum, because that was how intensely he hated these thoughts.
“Gah! Why won’t these cursed thoughts leave me be?! They were never this persistent before!” A small part of him realized he was slipping into his older pattern of speech, but he didn’t care. All the better if any possible eavesdroppers could not fully understand him.
Once he had spent a sufficient amount of energy on allowing himself to be an upset toddler again, he laid his arms out flat on either side of himself, stretching them out. He finally opened his eyes, hoping to gain some guidance from the moon on how to push the darker side of oneself to a place even they could no longer see.
Only, instead of the crescent moon above him, there was a familiar face. One with a purity that left Red Son speechless whenever he laid his eyes on it, and it looked to him with some small amount of pity and a much larger amount of worry.
“Hey, Red, you okay?”
It took a few minutes of inwardly convincing himself that, yes this was actually happening, before he scrambled up and shifted quickly around so that he was facing MK on hands and knees, staring up at him with what was no doubt a shocked expression no single being in all of history could have possibly witnessed before.
“N-Noodle Boy?!? What are you doing up? What are you doing up here?!” Red Son could swear he felt his heart beating out of his chest. And not in the fun way. This was fear, this was genuine, horrific panic. How much did Red say aloud? Did MK hear any of it? What exactly was it that he had heard?!
“You woke me up when you yelled out my name and then said something about not wanting to do something to me.” MK was still staring with that honest look of worry. He was hunched over with his hands on his knees. “I tried going back to sleep but when I heard something about cursed thoughts I knew I had to check on you. Are you having nightmares? Did the meditating not go well?”
Red Son swallowed his nerves and glanced down at the roof of MK’s home. He could feel himself shaking. He was terrified beyond belief. How could he possibly explain this? MK was truly an understanding person, he was kind, sweet and so sacrificial. He was everything Red Son wasn’t.
Evidently he was taking too long because eventually MK squatted down and gently cupped Red’s face. God how he loved the feel of MK touching him. He let his guard down at that moment and his light took advantage of it. He lifted Red’s face to force him to look him in the eye. When he did, he was sure he would break down.
Seeing the love and care that he knew was truer than any sort of positive affection he had had before in those light brown eyes directed at him and only him was too much. It made those terrible thoughts return with a vengeance. In response, Red Son opened his mouth, planning to tell MK to leave him be. “Can I kiss you?” It was an instinct. An instinct that surprised himself as well as his lover.
MK let out a light breath of a laugh before nodding. “Yeah. Of course. So long as you tell me what’s up afterwards.” Red Son nodded, another instinct. He set his own hand on MK’s cheek and leaned in for that glorious feeling. The feeling of being close to his one and only in a moment of shared vulnerability.
Before he could tell himself to stop and let go - or was it ‘in spite of telling himself’? - Red Son allowed his hand to move behind MK’s head. To brush through the hair that now laid down due to the lack of gel that typically kept it up. The softer version of his hair that Red was the only one allowed to touch. He combed through it before finally settling in gently scratching the back of MK’s neck.
He earned a small noise in response which almost made Red continue but, as the demon returned to his senses, his eyes snapped open and he pushed himself away. He knocked MK over and he flung himself back. He needed distance. He needed to keep his mind clear of the fogs his love had always given him.
MK whined about how Red was being confusing and rude, but the demon did not listen. He was too caught staring at MK and trying to calm his heavy breath. He was once again shaking, letting his nails claw into the roof beneath them. This was bad. This was very bad. Never had he ever felt the dark thoughts so strongly.
Was this normal? Was there something wrong with him? The dark side of the mind was only supposed to show itself when first beginning a session of meditation. Why was it insistently starting up throughout the day? Why did it seem to have a mind of its own?
Red Son’s gaze returned to the sky, to stare at the crescent moon. How did she do it? How did she keep the worst of her hidden from everyone else so that only her beauty would be shown? Was it truly only hidden? Was it a secret she kept but could never rid herself of? Was the only advice she could give him truly ‘be strong'?
He did not believe he could be strong for much longer. He was about to burst.
And MK setting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing was certainly not helping.
“Red? Hey, Red. What’s wrong? Is something up? Is it Mystic Fire Business? Did I do something wrong with the kiss?”
Red shut his eyes and groaned. “No. I am just lost in my thoughts and trying to work them out.” He could not only hear, but feel the quiver in his voice. This was the strongest he had ever felt these wishes take off. These dreams that he knew he should not dream. Was it possible that having a dream you knew could not come true was worse than any nightmare? He finally looked at MK again and his breath hitched. He could not breathe, he could not let himself lest he give in to his desires.
MK was looking more and more concerned. He set his hands on both of Red’s shoulders and shook him gently, gripping tightly to him as if afraid he was going to fall over. Red was not going to fall over, he was not going to faint, but by the Gods did he wish he would right now. Instead, despite how many times he told himself to stop, stop, stop, he lifted his shaking hands hesitantly and set them to MK’s hips. Even with his light trying to ask him what he was doing, adding confusion to his worry, Red didn’t answer. He just continued. He continued his motion until his partner was in his lap. Red’s mind must have decided to move without his permission because, in the midst of the silence, he spoke.
He told MK exactly what he was thinking in one single statement.
And he immediately felt regret.
His heart ached when he saw the subject of his desires stare with wide-eyed shock. Still wishing he could let this go but not having the strength to do it, he dropped his head onto MK’s shoulder. His flushed face could not possibly get any hotter, even for a demon connected to fire. He mumbled out a quiet apology. One that he hoped sounded as true as it felt.
He wished he hadn’t said that. He knew he shouldn’t have said that.
‘I want to marry you.’
MK would say yes. He wouldn’t mean it, but he would still say yes and he would be trapped with him forever. Red Son could not stand the thought of his love, his most precious one, being stuck in a terrible life and future with no hopes of escaping. But even still, he couldn’t bring himself to take it back or to even tell MK to say no, because the truth was, he didn’t want to.
This time, like so many times in his past, he found it much easier to give in to the dark side of his mind. He could not fight it no matter how hard he tried, so maybe he’d feel better if he just stopped trying.
“Ow! Red, come on, I know you’re stressed but ease up a little, will ya?” MK was in pain? Ah. Right. It was his skin Red was currently digging his nails into. He whimpered out another small apology and relaxed his grip, taking to gently rubbing circles on his hips with his thumbs. To add to his apology, Red left a light kiss onto his loves neck.
He felt MK shiver and figured it was cold for him. After all, everyone else in the universe seemed much more sensitive to such things and Red had noticed that the nighttime air was the biggest offender of it. He wanted to help his light but did not want to assume or to give MK more reason to feel obligated to give in to Red’s desires.
MK began petting Red Son’s hair, and Red Son began humming in appreciation. It helped to calm his mind and relax his body. He always enjoyed the sensation ever since the first time MK tried it when he simply wanted to see if his hair was always as hot as flames.
“There. Now that you’ve relaxed a bit, I can ask you what took you so long. So… What took you so long?”
Red twitched. What did MK say? Did he hear that right? Did he understand that right? He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing heart - it didn’t work - before slowly lifting his head and staring at his light. He was smiling. He was smiling a genuine, truly excited, smile with a shine in his eyes that wouldn’t go away.
Red opened his mouth, but no sound came out. So he tried again. Still, nothing.
That was not the answer he was expecting, nor was it really the one he wanted. He was expecting a hesitant ‘yes’ or ‘sure’ due to MK’s habit of agreeing to things he knew he shouldn’t be agreeing to, just to make others happy. He was hoping for a ‘no’ so as to help ease the dark thoughts Red Son kept. But instead, his answer was another question. One that implied he had been waiting for Red to say that.
Still a loss for words, MK decided to laugh. Ah, so it was a joke. He didn’t really mean that. He was making fun of him. That was fair, it was what he deserved.
“I was waiting for you to ask ‘cause Mei said that you probably had a big event planned for it, you being a hopeless romantic at all. I tried to tell her to let me just buy a special cake and surprise you with the question myself but she kind of insisted on waiting for you. Let me tell ya, waiting was super hard. Like, I almost gave in several times but Mei threatened the Dragon Sword on me if I did that. Kind of crazy how this is how it happened after all that. You didn't do anything at all. Hm... I wonder how Pigsy and Tang will handle that whole bet Sandy said they were doing. You didn’t get some backup singers and do a huge performance but you didn’t get Monkey King involved either. So I guess neither of them wins? Do they get their money back from Sandy or does he just keep it all?”
To say Red Son was completely baffled would be a gross understatement. All of them? They were all expecting him to ask for such a terrible thing? He knew they thought low of him, but this was pushing it. Or was it that they thought too highly of him? Was all of that their way of giving their blessing?
“They… they’re okay with it?”
MK tilted his head, looking so cute it almost made Red whimper. “Yeah, of course they are. And besides, even if they weren’t, I wouldn’t let that stop me. Oh! This means I can tell Monkey King now, too! He’s super bad with secrets so I couldn’t let him know I wanted to marry you.”
Red shifted a bit, almost regretting pulling MK into his lap. That was certainly making it difficult to think. It only made his desire to show excitement all the harder to suppress.
“Why did it take you so long, anyways? Everyone was starting to get sick of waiting. Not just me.”
Red, once more, struggled to find his voice, but this time he managed. “I… I didn’t want to trap you in something so horrible. I still don’t. You shouldn’t have told me any of that. You shouldn’t have given me a reason to go through with it.”
Almost instantly his love’s expression changed from that hyper giddiness to creased eyebrows and a little bit of hurt. “Huh? Trap me in something horrible?” He grimaced. “Oh no, there isn’t some freaky demon ceremony of some kind, is there?”
Red shook his head. “No, I mean, maybe? I didn’t consider it. I don’t know your idea of a normal ceremony. I thought that us getting married would ruin your life. That you would get over whatever infatuation you have with me and wake up to how I hardly deserve you. How you would be better off with nobody than with me.”
MK’s eyes grew wide. “You really think that?” Red could not bring himself to nod. He simply stared into his eyes to make him see the answer for himself. “Oh wow, you really think that. I knew you had some low self esteem issues but, Red,” he shifted just a bit to get more comfortable before cupping Red’s face. “You’re incredible. You’re one of the greatest people in the world, flaws and all, and you believing that you’re not deserving of love just…hurts… It hurts a lot and I really wish I could prove how much I love you.”
It was a very smart move to grab his face in order to hold his gaze because right now Red wanted nothing more than to look away. He supposed he could close his eyes, and he almost did, but there was something about the way MK looked at him that kept him there.
MK smiled, that soft and genuine smile Red loved so much. “Why else do you think I put up with your shenanigans for so long?”
“To be able to have my power on your side?”
Another laugh came because of that one. “No, stupid, it was because I knew you had it in you to be better. I knew you could be good.”
Red grabbed MK’s wrist, thinking originally that he was going to move it off of him, but instead he sat there with it. He held it tight as if afraid his light would let go. That’s when he noticed the grimace.
“Ah, dang it, not a good time to call you ‘stupid’, huh? My bad.”
Red finally let out a smile. “No, it’s okay. I know what you meant. So, does that mean we’re going to have a wedding?”
“Mhm! We’re going to get married finally!”
“We’re going to be tied together? Forever?”
“Until death do us part, yeah! Sandy and Mei have been super excited for a long time now! Sandy’s already started making plans for it - even though I told him not to - and Mei’s been looking for honeymoon spots!”
Red Son let out a small laugh. “That certainly sounds like them. Do you think they’ll let us have a say in anything?”
“Probably not but we can try. It wouldn’t hurt to at least ask to get some input in there.”
“Hey, Noodle Boy?”
MK tilted his head, letting out a small ‘hm?’
“Can I kiss you again?”
His love - could he call him fiancé now? - laughed. “You don’t really let me ask you that ever, do you?” Despite not giving a vocal answer, he leaned in and kissed Red Son. The demon shut his eyes and kissed back, wrapping his arms around MK’s waist and holding tight before standing up - taking his love with him.
When they finally had to pull away, MK’s legs wrapped around his waist, Red smiled. “I was up here because the thought of wanting to marry you was haunting me. Almost every second of every day it popped up. I still believe you deserve better, but if you truly are so confident that you will be happy with me, then I’ll take you. I’ll make you mine.”
“Only if I can make you mine, too.”
The demon laughed. A surprisingly honest and happy laugh as opposed to his usual cackling that came from others' misery. “Yeah, okay. You are mine and I am yours. My Light.”
MK hummed thoughtfully as though contemplating something. It worried Red a bit since that could be dangerous given MK’s track record with thinking too hard. “You know, I really was certain you were going to make a big fuss and do something super cool and dramatic as a proposal, but this is nice, too. I think I actually like this better.”
Red Son raised an eyebrow. “You like this better? How come?”
His love smiled and stole another kiss before he gave an answer. “Because this is more like the you that only I’m allowed to see. The part you hide away from everyone else.”
The part he hides away from everyone else. The demon of fire glanced up at the sky, at the moon whose guidance he had searched for all night. He stared up at her before smiling and looking back to MK.
“And I will keep it hidden from everyone except for you. Always.”