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After knowing Macaque for almost 1000 years Sun Wukong could tell when the other simian was acting off. Not only that, but he also usually had a pretty good idea why, whether it was because of a small, harmless prank, or whether something had gone very wrong.
When he came to Flower Fruit Mountain that day the Monkey could very much tell it was closer to the ‘something had gone terribly wrong’ part of that spectrum. Even after centuries of learning to keep his emotions under control, his hands were tucked in his pockets, something Macaque only did when he couldn’t get them to stop shaking.
“What happened?” Sun Wukong asks, jumping down from his cloud to face his old friend.
Macaque smirks. “Straight to the point, huh?” He chuckles, though his usual humor wasn’t there. “Pretty appropriate all things considered.”
“Are you going to tell me or just talk in riddles?”
Macaque frowned, tilting his head to stare at the other monkey. “You were right to have me keep an eye on the kid.”
A jolt of fear runs through Sun Wukong. “Is MK hurt?”
He hums, and shrugs. “Not in the way you’re thinking. He didn’t get in a fight or anything, and mostly isn’t worse for where. But…” Macaque finally pulls his hands out of his pocket, revealing that they’re not empty. In one of them is a small, cheap knife. It’s not remarkable, just a flip knife that could easily be picked up at any gas station. Nothing unusual.
At least not until Macaque held the knife to the light, and Sun Wukong could see blood reflecting off the blade.
The implication was clear.
He shot forward and practically tore the knife out of the other monkey’s hands. “Where did you get this?” Was MK attacked on the street? Was he mugged? Who dared hurt his kid?
“His bedroom.” Macaque says flatley. “After he cut himself with it.”
This gives Sun wukong pause. It made sense that the kid would have a gas station knife, what teen didn’t? Nicks wouldn’t be that uncommon, and MK was always a bit clumsy. “He accidentally cut himself?”
“Please,” Macaque scoffed. “Do you think I would be here if it was an accident?”
His blood runs cold. “No, you’re wrong. You misunderstood what happened, it was an accident.”
“I saw it myself, Wukong. I saw him cut up his own legs, I watched from the shadows.” He spat, eyes narrowing. “There’s something wrong with your kid.”
“No.” He says breathlessly, staring at the slider knife.
“You know it too.” Macaque doesn't back down. “You’ve known for a while. If you didn't, why would you be worried in the first place? If you didn't, why would you ask me to keep an eye out?”
His fear and disbelief wash away with a wave of anger. “Why didn’t you stop him?” Sun Wukong demands, bearing his teeth. “If you saw him hurt himself then why are you here? Why didn’t you demand answers? Why didn’t you make him stop?”
Macaque raises a hand up to calm him. “How do you think MK would react to that? Me, the big scary Macaque, popping out of his shadows while he’s cutting up his own leg? Unlike your kid I’d rather not get shredded with a knife tonight.”
Wukong throws a punch at that statement. Macaque ducks out of the way with ease and laughs. “Well, as long as you don’t try that with the kid.”
“What is wrong with you?” The monkey king demanded, clenching his fists.
Only then did his face drop a little. “You need to calm down before talking to him, but it has to be you. MK is stubborn, and will dismiss everyone else's worries no matter how much evidence they have. You’re the only person he might listen to, the only person who can make him listen.”
“I need to talk to him right away.” Wukong turns to bolt, but Macaque grabs him by his shoulders and yanks him back.
“Didn’t you listen to me? You need to stay calm.” He warns, looking the monkey straight in the eye. “If you go like this you’re going to make everything worse. Calm. Down.”
“Well if you have all the answers then what do you think I should do?” The monkey was pissed, and the monkey was terrified. What was going on in his kid's head? Why was he hurting himself like this? Why wouldn’t he ask for help when it started to get this bad?
Though really he knew why. MK always struggled with self loathing and confidence. He did his best to hide it through false reassurance and just being loud, but MK could see through his act with ease.
At least he thought he could. Apparently MK learned how to hide these things even from him. In any other circumstance the Monkey King would be impressed, but now he was just worried sick.
“My suggestion? Lure him here. This isn’t a conversation you want to have in front of his friends, he’ll get even more defensive.” Macaque chuckles. “Though he’s going to be defensive anyway. MK’s probably going to be pissed at you, you know that?” The other monkey casually propped his head on his fist. “I hope you’re prepared for a lot of yelling.”
Despite his outward appearance Sun Wukong knew his friend was worried, he just had an odd way of showing it. Or more accurately, trying to cover it up.
He didn’t let his friends' casual demeanor get to him. It was the least of his worries. Instead he turned to his monkeys, who were always much smarter than people gave them credit for. “I need you to get some comfort movies. The Monkey King cartoons, the one’s MK watches to fall asleep.” He commands. “And some comfort food. Those sweet rolls he likes, and some peaches. And sesame buns!” They start to scatter away. “And some blankets! Lots of them!” He yells, hoping his orders were heard.
“I’m going to get him.” Sun Wukong says, jumping on his cloud. Once again Macaque grabs him again, but this time he yanks the monkey to the floor.
“What part of ‘calm down’ don’t you understand?” Macaque said. “Go now and you’ll make this into even more of a mess.”
“Well what do you expect me to do?” Sun Wukong growled, getting really fed up with his friend.
“Wait a day.” Macaque shrugged, matter of factly.
“A day!” Sukong yelled. “Are you crazy, I’m not waiting a day-”
“Why not?” He interrupted. “MK doesn’t have the knife anymore, and I’ve been watching him for almost two weeks. This is the first time I’ve seen him hurt himself, so clearly it’s not an everyday habit.” He pauses. “Not yet.”
Wukong growled.
Macaque continued. “Yes, take a day to think about what you’re going to do. Don’t do anything rash or stupid. Which I know is a big ask for you.” He gave one last forced smile, then disappeared back into his shadows.
Even in the best of circumstances the Monkey King was never one to stay still. So after hearing such news it’s only natural that he was rushing around his mountain, thinking and plotting, all while setting up his nest to be perfect for MK.
Was it too warm? Too cold? Would he even want to stay? Could Wukong trust him not to do anything rash after being confronted? Would trying to stop him from leaving make things worse? His mind was racing.
Though after a few hours the Monkey King did start to wear himself out, and finally rested on one of the nooks of Flower Fruit mountain.
Macaque was right, wasn’t he? Sun Wukong needed to stay calm when dealing with this, to make sure his kid was going to be ok.
He knew what he needed to do.
The next afternoon Sun Wukong went to Pigsy’s noodle shop, in person. Usually he’d send a message to MK through projection, or he’d just order some noodles up to the mountain. Not today though.
“Monkey King!” MK beamed when he walked in the door, signaled by the soft chime of a bell hanging on the door. His smile went wide, and eyes lit up. All in all nothing seemed wrong, just an excited teenage boy.
He knew better.
MK rushed to his side. “Hey! I’m so happy to see you! What’s going on?”
Still no sign nothing was wrong, at least outwardly. But MK was good at hiding his true feelings when something was wrong, and Macaque wouldn’t lie about something like this. But still, he seemed worryingly good at covering his emotions.
How long has this been going on?
Still, the monkey smiled and ruffled his hair. “Hey kid! I figured I’d hop in and surprise you! You’ve been working so hard, I have something special planned at Flower Fruit Mountain.”
If it was even possible, MK’s smile widened even more. “Really?”
Wukong laughed. “Of course kid. You need a break sometimes too, you know? Now, come on, let's slip out before Pigsy notices.”
Really it was a Tuesday, one of the slowest days for the shop, and the busiest hours had passed. Pigsy could handle running the shop on his own until it closed, and his kid’s mental health was far more important.
MK threw his apron off with ease, tapping his feet in excitement. “If we get caught I’m blaming you. Let's go!”
The Monkey King helps MK onto his cloud, being sure to loop his arms tightly around his waist, making sure he won’t slip or fall. His kid was so fragile, something he was just reminded of. “Hang on tight kid.” He warns, before shooting into the sky.
Sun Wukong flew carefully, which translated to slowly. Still, MK didn’t seem to mind or notice. In fact he seemed completely overjoyed, throwing his arms out to mimic a bird and laughing all the way. “Woo-who! This is awesome!”
Sun Wukong held on a little tighter. “Careful, we don’t want you to fall.”
MK ignored him “No wonder you’re always on this cloud, this is amazing! When will you teach me how to do this?”
A jolt of fear ran through the monkey at the thought of teaching his self-destructive kid how to fly hundreds of feet in the air. “Not for a while, kid. Now look,” he pointed forward. Flower Fruit Mountain was in sight. “We’re almost there.”
He makes the landing as gentle as possible, not vaulting off the cloud like usual, instead letting it sink to the ground and dissolve, before letting MK go. “You good kid?”
“That was so cool! Why didn’t you take me riding on your cloud before? I wanna do it again!”
Wukong laughed awkwardly and rubbed his head. “Well it’s not all that safe kid. Come on, let me show you the nest.” He took the boys hand gently and led him inside, a little scared to let him go.
When MK saw the nest he set up he gasped “This is amazing!”
The Monkey King grinned. “I outdid myself, didn’t I?” He really did, covering the floor with extremely soft blankets, having the TV show already set up on a flatscreen his monkeys may or may not have stolen, and a mini fridge full of snacks, including all of the kid’s favorite foods.
He plopped down right in the middle, grabbing the remote before Sun Wukong could even join him. “Can we start on season three? It’s my favorite!”
“Of course.” The Monkey chuckled, patting his shoulder. “This is all for you after all.”
As MK went from yelling excitedly at the tv show and eating the delicious snacks from the fridge, Sun Wukong started to get nervous. He didn’t want this to end, but he knew he needed to talk to the kid. What he did, the bloody knife in his back pocket, can’t go unmentioned.
When the sun starts to set in a beautiful auburn, and MK starts to get slightly worn out, the Monkey King decides that this is the best time. “So kid, I didn’t bring you up here just because.”
MK looks at him and tilts his head. “Oh?”
“Yeah…” His eyes flicker to the “I actually need to talk to you.”
He smiled. “Well I’m always down to talk.”
“I’m serious.”
Only then did MK’s smile start to waver. “What’s wrong?”
There was no point in delaying any more. With a sigh he pulled the knife out of his pocket and held it up to the light. He washed off the blood from yesterday, but it was still just as damning.
MK’s eyes flicker in fear, barely quick enough for the Monkey to notice, before his expression goes back to normal. “Cool knife.”
Sun Wukong bites his lip. “I know it’s yours, kid.” He opens his mouth to protest, but Monkey King continues. “And I know what you’ve been doing with it.”
“That’s not mine!” MK yells, demeanor a little too defensive and voice a little too high pitched. “I’ve never seen it before in my life.”
He didn’t back off. “It came from your bedroom.”
“How do you know that?” MK demanded. “Why were you in my room?”
“Kid-”
“No!” MK stood as he yelled, waving his hands in the air. “You can’t just break into my room, violate my privacy, and demand answers to what? Why I have a knife? Lots of people have knives. It’s none of your business!” He was getting defensive, angry, pissed off. Usually he only got like this when the Monkey King did something really bad, usually hiding a secret or putting his friends in danger. He’d apologize, usually long overdo, and eventually MK would forgive him, no matter how little it was deserved.
That wouldn’t work today. “Roll up your pant legs kid.”
MK went stark white. His hands shook. “No.”
Monkey Kid raised an eyebrow. “No?”
The kid started to shake even harder.
Sun Wukong stood and shrugged. “Alright, but I’m going to make some assumptions then kid, one’s that you might not be happy about.”
He started to stutter. “Why do you even care, huh?” He demanded weakly, voice starting to crack. “This isn’t any of your business.”
“Of course it is. If someone is hurting you I’m going to make it my business, even if that someone is you.”
“Who cares!” MK threw his hands up desperately. “It’s not that bad, no ones getting hurt! I’ve gotten way worse injuries just doing my job. This is nothing. They’re nothing.”
Carefully Sun Wukong takes a step closer, raising up a gentle hand, but not touching the boy. “No, it’s not nothing. Come on kid, you know it’s not nothing. If it was you wouldn’t be trying to hide this. You wouldn’t be so defensive.” He sighs and glances to the floor. “You’re not in trouble. I care for you kid. I’m worried about you. Tell me what’s going on.”
For a few seconds he’s still and shaking. Wukong is worried that he went to far and his kid is going to shut down, but then MK bursts into tears and collapses to the ground.
The Monkey King rushes to his side, wrapping his arms around the kid, who had curled up and folded his arms around his legs. Sun Wukong had never seen him cry like this before, and it was somewhat terrifying, but he remained calm. “Let it out kid. I’m here, it’s ok, let it out.”
“It, it’s nothing, I swear.” He stuttered out, still sobbing. “I just, I just need to be in control. They’re not deep.” MK Sobbed again, and Wukong squeezed tighter. “They’re not that deep, there’s no need to worry.” Another sob. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I’m always going to worry, kid.” He sighed, rubbing his back in a soothing manner.
“But you shouldn’t have to!” He wailed, even louder than before, almost in hysterics. The Monkey King holds him while he sobs, only somewhat losing his grip when he calms down slightly. “I’m just being dramatic. They’re not that deep. They’re not that deep.”
He let the boy sob his eyes out, something that seemed long overdo.
Finally, after ten minutes of sobbing MK wore himself out. With one final sniffle he leaned on the Monkey King, cheeks soaked and face a mess. “Sorry.” He mumbled weakly, eyes fluttering.
Poor thing must be exhausted.
“Don’t apologize kid. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He reassures, brushing a hand through his thick locks. MK just hums.
Then the monkey king hesitates. “Hey, MK?” The boy glances up at him. “I understand if you don’t want to show me, but do you mind if I patch up your wounds? I want to make sure they don’t get infected.”
MK was still for a few seconds, then nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t really do anything about them anyway.”
The kids pants are quite loose, and it’s easy to pull them up without too much difficulty, even without MK helping.
When the monkey sees the boy’s calves he winces. They’re not deep, just like the kid said, but that doesn’t mean the even red stripes on his pale legs are any less disturbing. There’s a handful on both, around ten or so total. He doesn’t say anything, just pulls out a small first aid kit and gets to work.
On occasion while Sun Wukong is applying disinfectant the boy winces, making the monkey pause for a few seconds here and there, but besides that there’s no issues. The cuts are shallow, and mostly clean. It could have been a lot worse.
What would have happened if Macaque didn’t catch him so quickly?
Finally he wraps the kid’s legs up delicately and gingerly rolls his pants back down. “There you go, good as new.” He smiles. “Now, why don’t we talk about what’s going on in your head.”
MK just shrugs, not even looking at the monkey.
He sighs. “Come on kid, you have to give me something to work with.”
All the boy did was stare at the ground.
The Monkey King was going to have to be more proactive about this. “Is there anyone else you’d rather talk to? Macaque? Mei? Pigsy-”
“NO!” The boy yelled frantically, going from despondent to terrified. “You can’t tell Pigsy! Please!”
The sudden outburst was a little startling, but he played it cool. “I can’t promise that, especially because I don’t know how much of a danger you’re in. I don’t want to violate your trust, and I don’t want to stress you out further. But if I don’t know why you’re even doing this then I’m going to have to assume the worst.
MK crossed his arms in front of his chest as his lip started to quiver. “It’s… Not like that.”
“Then tell me.” He begged softly. “Please.”
Finally he sighs, and leans closer to the monkey. “I just feel like I’m losing control. No matter what I do things always make things worse, or mess up.”
“Kid-”
“Don’t.” He says sharply. “Just don’t. We both know it’s true.”
It wasn’t, not even close, but the kid wasn’t ready to believe that. He needed someone to blame, someone to point to when something horrible happened, to justify it being preventable in the future. And the easiest target for the kid was himself. Not healthy, but understandable.
“And so this,” He gestures at his covered legs. “Is the solution you came up with? Punishing yourself?”
“No.” MK says quickly, before thinking for a minute. “Maybe. Partially.” He takes a deep breath, calming himself, before continuing. “I just get really stressed and overwhelmed sometimes, and this… Helps.”
Sun Wukong nodded understandingly. “I get it. You have a lot to be stressed about.” He sighs. “You shouldn’t have had to deal with all of this, not while you’re still so young, not so soon. You didn’t have time to train, to prepare, and all of this was dumped on you all at once. It’s not right, and it’s not your fault.” He’s never been the best at comforting, the boy seemed to soften at his words anyway.
That’s when it hit him how important his words were to MK. He’s looked up to the Monkey King since he was a child, practically since he could talk. No matter what he said, his kid would listen. If he told him to jump off the mountain Sun Wukong isn’t convinced he wouldn’t do it.
Every single word was of utmost importance. He could not fuck this up. “I know you know this isn’t healthy.”
He nodded, tears pricking in his eyes, voice cracking. “...Yeah.”
Wukong squeezes his shoulder in comfort. “But I get that you probably couldn’t think of anything else. That you’re so overwhelmed and so scared, you needed to find a way to regain control. Anything would have worked. I get it. But this-” He puts a hand on his knee and squeezes gently. There are no scars there. He already checked. “This isn’t healthy, and it’s not going to stay in control for a while. I know how things like this work. I know how addictive it can be. So please, let me help you. Before it gets out of hand.”
MK started to sob again, only this time he didn’t curl up to hide his face. Instead he practically dove into Sun Wukong, burying his face into the monkey’s soft chest and wailing.
He held the kid tightly, arms as tight as physically possible, not willing to let go. MK didn’t seem to notice, too busy sobbing his eyes out.
“It’s alright, it’s alright.” He brushed his hand through the boy's hair. “I’m here for you, it’s ok. You’re going to be ok, I promise. You’re going to be ok.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.” He confesses through tears.
“It will, it will.” He reassures again, wishing he could do more for his kid. If he could take all the pain away from him he would in a heartbeat, but that’s not how things work. “It’s going to get better.”
“Ever since I got this staff it’s just been so much, I haven’t been able to breathe. It’s like I’ve been drowning, and this lets me breathe. I know I shouldn’t, but please. I don’t know what else to do.”
He sighs. “I know you don’t kid. And if there was an easy answer, some quick fix, I’d give it to you in a heartbeat. But there’s not.”
“So it’s hopeless? I’m hopeless?” MK’s voice starts to crack. “I’m only going to get worse?”
“No kid! No!” Sun Wukong rushes to say, holding the kid even tighter than before. “You’re not hopeless. No one is hopeless. You just need some help kid.”
MK laughs through his tears. “I’m not always the best at accepting help.”
During times like this he really wished the kid wasn’t so much like him. So stubborn and hard headed against his own self interests, no matter how much he needs help. “I’ll tell you a secret kid. Me neither.”
This gets another laugh, and slowly MK starts to calm down a little. His chest was soaked from tears, but he didn’t mind. Whatever the kid needed.
“It’s a skill. One that some people find easy to use, and one others need to work on a bit more. We’re the ladder. We need other people, but find it hard to ask for help. You just need to learn how, and I know it’s tough, but people will help you. You just have to ask.”
The kid nods in his chest, then pulls away. His cheeks are soaked, but somehow he looks calmer, more at peace. “I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to be so scared and stressed.” The kid starts frantically wiping at his face as more tears start to fall.
Gently Sun Wukong takes his hands and pries them away. “It’s ok. It’s ok kid.”
MK takes a deep breath, calms himself, then looks the monkey straight in the eyes. He looks so young, so innocent.
So fragile.
“Wukong? I… I need help. Please. Help me.”
He softens, giving the kid a hug. Gentle this time, not squeezing him for dear life, just holding. “I will, I will. I’ll help you kid, promise?”
“Really?” MK sniffles.
The Monkey King nods, never having meant anything more in his entire life. “I promise.”