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The last few days of travel had been rough, most especially for MK. Everyone noticed, though Red Son tried to pretend he didn’t, feigning ignorance to the noodle boy’s emotional state in an attempt to not give away that he was actually the first to notice.
After the Monkey King had flown off on his own in defiance of all odds, MK had closed further in on himself and that damned imposter syndrome was as present as ever. He hadn’t smiled, not really, since that night and he had been pushing himself physically to the point where Red wondered if he even could feel pain anymore. But, the whimpers and whines proved that theory wrong.
Oh, MK thought he was quiet, thought no one could hear him. But he was foolish and careless to think Red Son would be able to sleep with the amount of distress coming off the peasant.
This night, Red Son had remained still as he heard MK shuffling in their bags, every wince and whimper making his heart ache as he did, and when he was sure the idiot was out of sight, Red sat up, grabbed an item of interest of his own, and followed the trail.
“Stupid… No good… Burden…” Red tensed when he heard the words, pausing in his steps, before taking a deep breath and pushing on through.
“If you think so low of yourself then you’re more of an idiot than I originally took you for.” Red glared at the noodle boy from behind, his free hand on his hip as he kept his stance as cool as he could manage. Squeezing onto the container in his opposite hand helped to relieve the necessary stress to make the relaxed appearance possible.
MK jolted in his spot, let out the most adorable yelp and then turned his head behind and up to stare with wide eyes.
“Ah - um - wh-what are you doing u-”
Red’s eyes grew wide, switched back to a glare quick as lightning and knelt down to snatch the stupid one’s hands, dropping what he had brought in the process. “I knew you hurt your hands but what the hell have you been doing to them?!”
MK winced. “I was getting the thorns out! I know it looks bad, but it’s just ‘cause this needle is no good! I keep missing where the thorns actually are and - “
“Heavens, you have a MASSIVE case of dumb brain! You can’t dig around in open wounds with a sewing needle! I’ll bet you didn’t sanitize it, either, so you’re probably infected! You’re going to lose these hands by the morning!”
“WHAT?!”
Red almost blew his cover with the smirk, but luckily the noodle brain didn’t notice before he went back into character. Sitting down with his legs crossed while still holding the others hands, Red grabbed hold of the bottle he had brought, thankful it didn’t break. Without another word, he started pouring its contents onto the wounds.
The yelp was, once again, adorable.
“Hey - hey - what are you doing?! Is that some kind of medicine - wait no that’s not medicine - how is honey supposed to - "
“Shut up. I used to get splinters and thorns all the time - still do on occasion. This will force them up and make them easier to pull out. You’re an idiot for using a needle, but we can worry about staying off any infection once we’re done with the thorns.”
There was an uncharacteristic silence between the two of them after that. Almost as if MK had taken the ‘shut up’ command to heart.
It made Red sick.
Though, when MK did finally speak up again, Red Son almost wished he would have stayed silent.
“You knew I was hurt the whole time, didn’t you?”
Red sighed. “Our tents are right next to each other, Noodle Brain. And you’re also horrible at hiding those flinches, hisses and other tells.”
“Sorry for waking you up…”
Red Son was ready to kill him.
“You didn’t wake me up. I would have had to be asleep for that. No, the truth is…” as Red’s voice trailed off track, so did his thoughts. He was the one being an idiot here. What was the point in hiding the truth anymore?
All the people he worried over the opinions of were currently missing-in-action.
His parents had disappeared.
And maybe, if he told MK what had been going on in his own head, he would have the decency to tell him why those thoughts kept coming up.
There was a light, almost teasing yet also caring, coo. “Aww, Red, were you awake ‘cause worrying about me kept you up~?”
He knew the reaction MK was looking for; a burst of flames and denials of an obvious fact. But instead, Red looked MK in the eyes with all the importance put into his expression that he could manage and spoke quiet yet firm.
“Yes.”
MK’s eyes grew slightly, looking to be grasping for anything to say before he looked down and yelled out. “Hey! The honey! It’s dripping!”
Years would pass and Red would not be able to explain the actions he took that night.
“Don’t worry.” He flatly spoke as he set the lightened bottle down and lifted the dripping hands. Even when they were sitting down, Red was still much taller than MK. He mused on that, wondering how someone so much shorter than him could have arms and wrists that were larger. Was it due to the pig chef? Probably. Red couldn’t imagine him ever leaving the one he called ‘son’ desiring for food.
Red’s own parents also made sure to keep him well fed, but that was difficult. Not only because his metabolism was as energized as the fire that lived within him, but also because he had always been picky with his food. He often blamed that fact on his father spoiling him as a child, but no one truly knew the answer.
For Red’s part, he had always approached taste as something that had an ultimate goal. Every meal was a search for the perfect flavor.
A search he felt very close to now as his tongue cleaned the excess honey off of the one he was trying to help. He couldn’t help the few pleased sounds he made, feeling very happy with the results of this impulsive decision. What he could help, however, was the desire to hang on as MK, flushing and stammering, pulled his hands away.
“Ah - um - I think - I’m gonna… go to the river now.”
As MK stood and walked off, Red followed with his ears, but kept his body still. Once he heard the steps disappear into the distance, he brought both of his hands to his face, even tugging on his hair.
“What the hell…” he whimpered before finally letting his fire - and his temper - out. “What the hell is wrong with me?!” After the initial outburst, Red fell onto his back and stared at the starless sky above him. “I’m such an idiot. An absolute fool. Here I am trying to get the Noodle Boy to open up to me and all I do is drive him away. For what? Some sick fantasy? A second of selfish pleasure?”
He covered his eyes and gritted his teeth as he felt the tears falling down his cheeks without permission. His voice was cracking, yet he still spoke his heart out loud.
“Selfish desire always wins out in demons. Who am I to think I could bring such a pure and wonderful person’s smile back? It’s not in my nature to love someone like that. I’ll only push him away.”