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“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry!” MK laughed through the not-at-all-genuine apology as Red threw him back into his assigned guest room. Didn’t Red know that exploring a big, creepy and ancient palace was a huge bonus to any sleep-over?
“I told you NOT to go to that room!” Red was fuming as he slammed the door shut behind them, but MK continued to grin. He couldn’t help it! Red was so much fun to tease!
“Yeah, that’s why I had to go check it out! You were all serious when it came up - like Beauty and the Beast and the West Wing!”
There was only a second of pause before Red responded with a deadpan tone. “Noodle Brain, I promise you, that room is nothing but the boring results of combining magic with mechanics.”
MK’s eyes grew wide with stars in them as he leaned closer to where Red stood without slipping off the bed. “That doesn’t sound boring at all! That sounds super cool! Oh! Do you keep that power glove thingie that you used to grab the Monkey King’s staff in there??”
Red twitched and MK knew he had to be right “No - not quite. But earlier plans and the remains of failed attempts at it are.”
That made MK pause. He tilted his head as he straightened up his posture, feeling the atmosphere in the room that was previously as light and fluffy as clouds turn as heavy and dark as a storm. “Why are you keeping stuff like that? You have a finished version that works, so what good are the old and broken ones?”
“It’s to be sure I don’t forget him.”
Now that grabbed MK’s full attention. He shifted to a more comfortable sitting position, feeling like he’d be here for a while. This was a delicate position to be in. He couldn’t just outright ask Red who this mysterious ‘him’ is, or why Red was worried about forgetting him. Red Son was very proud and reserved about his personal feelings, but if MK could make an opening, then they’d come pouring out all at once.
He knew Red wanted to talk about those sorts of things, but he never wanted to admit to it, and MK was more than willing to help out and listen.
After all, holding something that was dense with emotional trauma was not healthy.
“Ya’know, it’s pretty cool how you were able to make something like that all by yourself. I mean, unless your mom helped. How did you even know it was possible?”
Red groaned loudly before walking over and sitting next to MK on the bed. “You’re an idiot. Mother had nothing to do with its production, in fact, she was certain it was impossible.” When he turned his head away, MK began to worry he was pushing something that was better left alone. “I was sure of it as well.”
“You don’t usually go on fool’s errands. How did you manage to get a working one if -“
“It was an accident.”
“Huh?”
“I never thought I would make a working version of it. That glove was merely something for me to tinker and toy with whenever I got frustrated with other failed attempts at saving my father.”
“Wait, what? Your way of destressing from a project is to work on that same project but in a way you were sure wouldn’t make any progress?” The gears in MK’s brain were working extra hard but he still couldn’t make any connections.
“It wasn’t about the end goal, it was about pretending I wasn’t alone working towards it.” Red let out THE sigh that always came before an info-dump on what had been bothering him. “His name was ‘Jack’. He was strange and eccentric but I’m fairly sure that’s the reason we got along so well. He had some experience dealing with magic but his expertise was machinery.”
There was a small blush on Red’s cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck. “He was the one who taught me the basics of mechanics. He came up with the idea of the Bull Clones - even helped me design them - and opened up a whole new world of possibilities to me.”
MK gasped and leaned in closer to Red, breaking his personal space on purpose. “You had a friend?!”
Red snarled and shoved MK back hard . “Shut up! He was an idiot that refused to leave me and my family alone is all! He kept insisting he could help my mother and I take over the world and rule everything. I pitied him enough to give him an interview of sorts and, well…”
When Red trailed off, MK sat up again and finished the sentence for him. “You guys hit it off. So, where is he? Can I meet him? His name sounds cool and foreign. Did he have family here or was he alone? What type of demon was he? Did he move to another coun -“
He didn’t flinch when the pillow was shoved in his face, having expected it at this point. Instead, MK laughed again and pulled it down. “Aww, come on, Red. I won’t expose any of his secrets, promise! Sleep-over Rules!”
Red’s expression suddenly being cold caused MK’s face to fall. Had he pushed too far? Did the two of them separate on bad terms?
“Jack Spicer was human.”
MK’s breath hitched.
“How long -”
“Fifty years at least. Possibly a full century.”
“Red, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I had always sworn to him that that glove idea of his was too ridiculous to possibly work but his dying wish was for me to not give up on it.”
“So you kept trying. And that room -“
“Holds every plan he ever drew up. All very carefully contained and maintained so that they won’t deteriorate with time the way he did.”
He had read countless stories of immortals, many of which included exploring the relationships they had with mortals, but MK never once considered that Red would have experienced such a thing. And he was stupid for it. Of COURSE Red Son had had friends in the past and obviously they couldn’t all be demons. He had been around for so long that thinking there was never once a single human he could have formed a connection with was dumb.
MK was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a light hiccup. He focused his attention back on Red and winced at what he saw.
Red had covered his mouth with one hand and shut his eyes as if trying to force back the tears that fell. Before MK could think of what to say, a raspy voice explained itself. “That’s the first time I’ve said his full name since before he passed.”
It seemed strange. It wasn’t as if Red had fought hard to change the subject, he didn’t seem averse to talking about Jack at all. And yet here he was, crying, practically sobbing, over having said his name.
“It’s okay.” MK offered. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Maybe he signed up for far more than he could handle when he agreed to become the Monkey King’s successor, but at least now Red wouldn’t have to say ‘goodbye’ to every friend he made.