Archive of Our Own

Living in the city had as many drawbacks as it did advantages, both of which being the constant noise and hum of people and cars. A little overwhelming, sometimes, especially during festivals or other big events, but it was mostly just background noise. And if anything odd happened, Macaque was the first to hear. Not necessarily the first to do anything about it, but certainly the first to hear.

The strangest thing was hearing his own name from time to time. It was very rarely, people occasionally referencing him in the Journey to the West or, more commonly, talking about a likeness of his on one of Wukong’s shows. Still, not a common occurrence.

It became a little more common after meeting the kid, though. The noodle shop where MK worked may have been on the other side of the city, but that was nothing to Macaque’s hearing. He didn’t like tuning in on the kid’s conversations or anything, but he did catch the occasional odd sentence or two, a few of which contained his name.

He tried not to think too hard about what the kid might be saying about him. Nothing good, he could assume, but he was never brave enough to snoop. He liked keeping an ear or three out for demons and other threats, but privacy was privacy, and MK was entitled to his.

Which was why it came as such a surprise to hear his name, not just once, but over and over again, coming from the direction of the noodle shop. He dismissed it, promptly trying to tune out the sound and go about his business, getting ready to make dinner.

“Macaque,” a voice cut through the sounds of traffic outside. “Macaque. Macaque, Macaque, Macaque-” It was an incessant, toneless sound. If Macaque hadn’t already dressed down for the night, cozy in a purple sweater, he’d have gone to go do something about it. But, considering who the voice belonged to, he’d decided that he would rather not.

It’d been so long since the Great Sage had called for him, not since they’d lived on Flower Fruit Mountain together. Anywhere Macaque was on the mountainside, he could hear Wukong, the sage never even had to shout. He could simply call, and Macaque would come. It was a habit that Macaque had assumed Wukong grew out of.

“Macaque, Macaque,” Wukong continued to drone. Macaque grumbled to himself and tried to let the sound fade into the noise of city nightlife. Pulling out a small pot and filling it with water, Macaque was determined to enjoy a bowl of noodles and ignore Wukong until he gave up whatever game he was playing.

Except that Wukong was frustratingly stubborn, and never gave up anything easily. “Macaque, Macaque, Macaque,” he repeated like a broken record. “Macaque? Macaque. Macaque, Macaque, Mac, Mac, Mac-”

Macaque turned off the water and slammed the pot down. “Oh, for crying out loud,” he muttered, opening a portal to wherever Wukong was, his shadows searching until they found the familiar auburn energy and ripped open the space in front of it.

Centuries of portaling around the world, and Wukong was still the easiest thing to find.

“Macaque!” He could hear Wukong through the opening portal. “Macaque-”

“What,” Macaque demanded as he emerged from the shadows, rising from the ground and glaring at the sage standing before him, “do you want?”

There didn’t appear to be any danger, just Wukong standing idly in an alley next to the noodle shop. Macaque recognized the color-blocked jacket, the hood pulled up over his ears as he leaned against the shop’s wall.  “Huh,” gold eyes blinked at Macaque in mild surprise, “didn’t think that’d still work.”

“My hearing?” Macaque asked.

“No,” Wukong replied. “Just the…” he trailed off, apparently remembering what he was supposed to be doing. “Uh- anyway,” he nodded to the noodle shop, “the kid’s here.”

Macaque crossed his arms, already annoyed with the sage for interrupting his dinner, and even more so with the vague response he’d received. “Okay? The kid lives here.” He pointed to the neon pink sign hanging on the side of the shop. “And he works here. Obviously, he’s here.”

“No, no,” Wukong waved him off. “The other kid. She’s visiting for the day, and she wanted to invite you to dinner before she leaves.”

Macaque’s brow furrowed. “Wait, the Lady Bone Demon kid?”

“Yep,” Wukong said, cheerfully popping the ‘p’ and pushing himself off the wall. “And now that you’re here, you’re gonna come say ‘hi’. I told MK that you probably wouldn’t show, but-”

“What?” Macaque asked incredulously, following after Wukong just enough to keep the sage in his line of sight, but not enough to leave the safety of the alley. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes,” Wukong emphasized, pausing to look back at Macaque, lowering his voice so that no one could hear them through the shop’s window. It was closed and locked for the night, but the walls looked thin, and the entrance to the shop was more of a wooden curtain than a door, “you are. You’re gonna come say ‘hi’ to the kid.”

Macaque took a definitive step back, away from Wukong and the gentle yellow light seeping through the shop’s door. “No,” he said, “I am not.”

Wukong’s head tipped back with an exasperated sigh. “Aw, come on, talking to a kid isn’t gonna, like, tarnish your ‘bad guy’ rep. Can you drop the act for one night and-”

“This isn’t about my reputation,” Macaque snapped. “It’s barely been a month since-” the words caught in throat, “and I- I’m the last person she needs to be seeing right now. What the hell made you think this was a good idea?”

“First of all,” Wukong started, "my ideas are always good ones.”

“Not even remotely true.” There was a rattling somewhere, the sound of soft footsteps, and Macaque retreated a little further into the alley to stay out of sight. Probably just a nearby pedestrian leaving their house, but Macaque didn’t want to risk being seen. “Historically, most of your ideas are actually really bad ones.”

“Second of all,” the sage continued, “it was her idea. She wants to see you, for some reason.” He shrugged. “I mean, I don’t necessarily approve, and the pig isn’t keen on having you in his shop, but you did kinda save her, so I guess we can make an exception.”

Macaque rolled his eyes. “Okay, I don’t think saved is the right word here,” he said. “It’s not like I got her unpossessed.”

“You caught her, though,” Wukong pointed out. “If I remember right, you were the furthest one away, and you still caught her.”

And while it was true that he had been the furthest from the kid when she fell, Macaque didn’t really see what that had to do with anything. “So, what?”

“So, knock it off with the tough, bad guy act,” Wukong said firmly, “and come say ‘hi’ to the kid you saved. You’re, like, her hero. It won’t kill you to visit for a little bit, and then you can go back to brooding, or whatever it is that you do.”

Growing increasingly frustrated, Macaque protested, “I didn’t save the kid!” He pointed to the noodle shop, a vague gesture to the people inside. “Look, if she knew half the things I did to the people in there, I doubt she’d ever want to see me again. I’m not a hero, Wukong, and I’m not gonna pretend I am just to impress some kid.”

Wukong groaned. “You’re impossible, you know that?” He rounded the corner of the shop, making his way to the door. “If you’re not going to come in, then I’m sending the kid out here to you.”

Macaque scoffed, moving to lean on the corner of the shop and just under the neon sign, keeping Wukong in his sight without being seen by anyone inside. “I’ll be gone before you can get in the shop,” he said, shadows already pooling at his feet.

“Oh, yeah?” Wukong asked, pausing in his steps to give Macaque an expectant look. “Go on, then.” Macaque scowled, Wukong’s expression growing smug as he stayed rooted to the spot. “Her name is Bai He,” the sage provided as he opened the door to the noodle shop. “Don’t move.”

The door opened and closed, warm light spilling into the streets before retreating again. Without Wukong to argue with, the buzz of the city returned to Macaque’s senses. The shop wasn’t located in a particularly busy part of the city, but it was still alive at all hours of the night, rumbling cars and distant headlights, the murmuring of people in their houses.

But Macaque had his own piece of the city, and a pot of water that still needed boiling if he was going to eat dinner at a decent time. Turning away from the noodle shop and taking a few steps into the darkness, he ripped open the space in front of him, a portal appearing to take him home.

And he was stopped by a sound. A series of sounds, all in very rapid succession. Something confused in Wukong’s voice, followed quickly by MK’s startled response, was enough to give Macaque pause, but the sound of a cat meowing was the thing that really made him stop. That, and the sound of a young girl frantically trying to coax it down.

“No,” Macaque muttered. “I’m not doing this.” Despite saying that he wasn’t, however, the portal sealed itself shut, and Macaque began walking. The girl–Bai He, Wukong had said?--must have been a pretty slippery kid if everyone in the noodle shop had seemingly lost track of her.

As the commotion in the noodle shop became more panicked by the second, Macaque rounded the side of the building, peering around the empty streets for the source of everyone‘s concerns.

And, sure enough, illuminated by a nearby streetlamp, was a young girl with her arms outstretched. “Come on,” she tried, attempting to persuade the cat down, though it seemed perfectly content to relax on the awning it’d found. “Not again, kitty, I really need you to come down now.” She gave a half-hearted jump. “They’re gonna notice I’m gone, please, come down.”

Macaque tilted his head back, glaring at the nearly full moon. It stared back at him impassively, as though daring him to walk away.

“Hey,” he said quietly from where he stood in the shadows, taking a few cautious steps forward, but staying out of the streetlamp’s glow. “You’ve got everyone worried in there.”

Bai He jumped at the sound of his voice, giving the street a panicked look around before finding him. “Oh,” she gave a small wave, her gaze averting, never looking directly at Macaque, “hi, um..” She gestured weakly to the stubborn cat. “He just… you know, he's doing cat things.” Macaque hummed. “I only meant to step out for a minute, just- but then my cat jumped up onto this awning and he won’t come down.”

Chuckling a bit, Macaque replied. “Yeah, cats can be pretty stubborn when they wanna be.” He squinted at the orange tabby, his tail flicking idly as he lounged on the awning, completely unaware of the stress he was causing the girl below him. “Here,” he moved a little closer, the shadows around him pushing and pulling into the space around the cat, “hold out your arms.”

“Um…” Bai He reluctantly held out her arms. “What’s this for?”

“You’re gonna catch him,” Macaque replied easily, opening a portal just above the girl’s open hands. “Count of three, alright?” Bai He nodded, looking skeptically at the portal, but had yet to recoil. Which was odd, Macaque thought, since most people were wary of his powers, but he supposed the girl had been exposed to worse things. “One,” he said, shadows solidifying under the cat, “two,” and the cat fell through the shadows with a started yowl, Bai He gasping as he disappeared, “and, three,” Macaque allowed himself a small smile as the cat was deposited neatly into the girl’s arms, both portals sealing themselves closed.

Bai He beamed, gathering the cat into her arms and holding him close to her chest. “Thank you,” she said, nuzzling into the cat’s furry head, “I didn’t think I’d…” Her gaze caught on him again, blinking rapidly as she finally took a good look at who had helped her. “Wait- wait, you’re the-”

“The guy who’s leaving,” Macaque interrupted gently. “I know, I just-”

“You came!” Bai He exclaimed, startling Macaque as she ran up to him. “Mr. Monkey King said you probably wouldn’t, but I’m…” she trailed off, deflating a bit as she registered what he’d said. “Wait, you’re leaving?” she asked. “But you just got here.”

Macaque hesitated, unused to people being upset at his absence. “Well, I-” he cleared his throat, “I thought Wukong was… I guess, I didn’t think you’d actually wanna see me.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to see you?” Bai He tilted her head. “MK said you’re the one who saved me.”

“Yeah, well,” Macaque shrugged, “MK’s a good kid, but I don’t think he understands that I’m not-” He gestured to the noodle shop, “Look, they’re the real heroes, kiddo, not me. I don’t think I’m someone you wanna be around.”

Bai He frowned. “Why do you get to decide that?”

Macaque blinked. “What-”

“Bai He! There you are,” MK’s voice cut through the quiet city air, “and… Macaque?” he looked relieved upon seeing the girl safe, though his gaze trailed warily to Macaque. “Hey, uh- good to see you, man. Glad I caught you before you disappeared, Monkey King said you were just leaving.”

“Well,” Macaque glanced at the cat in Bai He’s arms, wishing that he could curse the cat for making him stay and help the kid, putting him in a situation he had definitely not prepared for, “I was, but we had a bit of a… cat-related emergency, but I should probably go now, um- didn’t mean to intrude or anything.”

MK frowned. “But we asked you to come.”

“I-” Macaque wasn’t sure how to explain that being invited did not mean that he was welcome. Wukong had already said that the pig didn’t like him there, and he was sure Tang wouldn’t appreciate his presence, either. And Wukong himself seemed exasperated at even having to call him, so, “I just don’t think it’s a good idea.” The orange tabby in Bai He’s arms gave an obnoxious meow. “See? The cat agrees.”

“No, he doesn’t!” Bai He protested. The cat meowed again, quickly shushed by the girl holding him. “MK, tell him that we don’t want him to leave.”

“I mean, I don’t want him to leave,” MK agreed, “but it’s not like I can make him stay, either.” He gave a cautious smile. “He’s, uh- a pretty slippery guy, when he wants to be.”

Macaque clapped his hands together. “That settles that, then,” he said. “I’m not going in the shop, and you can’t make me, so-”

“Can I stay out here, then?”

“I’ll just be-” Macaque stopped, the shadows he’d been summoning to make a portal promptly falling back into place. “What?”

“Sure!” MK replied. “I’ll bring you guys some noodles.” He waved them off as he retreated back into the shop. “Be right back! And Macaque,” he narrowed his eyes and jabbed a finger in Macaque’s direction, “you better be nice.”

Affronted, Macaque spluttered, “You- what-”

“Be nice,” MK warned, though there was a lilt of playfulness that suggested that MK didn’t actually believe Macaque was going to do anything. “I’ll be back when Pigsy finishes up the noodles.” And, frustratingly enough, MK disappeared before Macaque could give a retort.

Macaque sighed. “Ah, that kid.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, Bai He, right? I don’t… I don’t know what you’re expecting here, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be around.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, regretting the lack of scarf to hide in. “I’m not the sort of company people like to keep.”

Bai He made a noise of disagreement. “MK says you’re actually kinda nice, and you’re only pretend mean.”

“No, MK is nice,” Macaque corrected. “And he’s giving me more credit than I deserve.” He shook his head. “But you’re the one that wanted me here, I guess, so… color me curious.” Nodding to the sidewalk. “Wanna sit while we wait for the noodle delivery boy?”

“Did you make a portal?” Bai He asked, taking a seat on the sidewalk. The change in subject was sudden, but Macaque wouldn’t complain. “To catch my cat, I mean. It looked like a portal.”

Macaque nodded. “Yep. I can, uh-” he held out a hand, opening it slowly to reveal a small mass of shadows dancing across the lines of his palm, “well, I can do a lot of things, but, yeah. Portals.”

“Monkey King can shapeshift,” Bai He added, her cat curling in her lap with a content purr. “Can you shapeshift, too?”

It was probably the easiest thing that Macaque knew how to do, shifting his shape to suit his needs. “I mean, I wouldn’t go comparing my powers to Wukong’s,” because while there were similarities, there were also a great number of differences, “but, yes. I can shapeshift.”

“How come you never tried to portal away from me?” Bai He asked. “Or- or turn into a bird, and fly away? You could do that, right? I think I seen you turn into a bird before.”

At that, Macaque tilted his head. “I’m… not sure I’m following, kiddo. I mean, yeah, I could turn into a bird, but I don’t need to fly away from you. Or portal away from you.”

“Not me,” Bai He glanced away. “You know, me. When I was… not me.”

“Oh,” Macaque said in surprise. It hadn’t occurred to him that Bai He might remember some bits and pieces of being possessed. Wukong certainly did, moments where the Lady Bone Demon’s hold on him had been weakened for just a few seconds, but, “Listen, kiddo, we don’t have to talk about all that.”

Bai He nodded. “I know. But,” she glanced up hesitantly, “can we?” Her teeth dug into her bottom lip anxiously. “I tried talking to MK about it, but I don’t… I don’t think he likes talking about it too much. I think I make him nervous.”

All Macaque had wanted was a nice, quiet night in. He’d wanted to make himself a bowl of noodles and fall asleep to the sounds of the city. Whatever this was, he hadn’t been prepared for it in the slightest. “It’s not you, really. It wasn’t you.” He took a seat next to Bai He, though he was sure to leave some distance between them. “MK tends to, uh… not talk about a lot of things.”

“I talk to Sandy sometimes,” Bai He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and Macaque couldn’t help but notice the streaks of snow-white that bled into the dark strands. “He’s really nice, and he has lots of cats.”

Macaque offered a small smile. “It’s, uh- good that you’re talking to someone.” He remembered advising MK about something similar, about getting it all out. Macaque had always been good at giving advice, but never at following his own.

“But still I feel bad,” Bai He said, “and I know I wasn’t- she wasn’t very nice. I don’t remember a lot, but I remember that I was mean.” Macaque set his jaw, refusing to let even a twitch of emotion betray him. Bai He clearly needed to talk, and she didn’t need to see Macaque upset about it. “I think I was mean to the whole world.”

“She was,” Macaque corrected, “but you were just-”

“And I think I was really mean to you.” Bai He looked up at him, something sad and apologetic shining in her eyes. “Or- she was, I guess.”

Macaque took a slow breath. “You don’t need to worry about what she was to me,” he said carefully. “I- are you sure you don't want to go in and enjoy a nice dinner with… nicer people? I’m sure there’s someone better to talk to about this. Wukong is a certified hero,” he gave the word a pair of air quotes, as he didn’t believe in the title as much as the rest of the world did, “wouldn’t you rather-”

Bai He made a face. “I think the Monkey King almost killed me.” Macaque’s heart twisted at the words. He knew Wukong might have been capable of it, with the Lady Bone Demon’s power steadily weakening the way it had been. If it had come down to it, Macaque had no doubt–absolutely zero doubt–that Wukong would have killed the young girl sitting beside him if it’d meant saving the world. “It’s weird talking to him.”

“I get that,” Macaque replied. “I don’t really talk to the guy, either.” He leaned back on his hands. “I dunno if you’ve ever noticed, but he’s kinda full of himself.” At that, Bai He gave a small laugh, which Macaque felt a weird sort of accomplishment about. “Did you know his whole title is the Handsome Monkey King? He made it up himself, no surprise there.” And Bai He exploded at that, laughing hard enough that her voice gave way to a series of high-pitched giggles. “You good, there, Squeaker?”

Nodding, Bai He gasped for breath. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” She let out a slow exhale and went back to petting the cat in her lap. “So, who do you talk to?” she asked, her bout of laughing apparently not distracting enough to stray her from the conversation. “I talk to Sandy, but-”

“No, see, I,” Macaque said, “don’t need to talk to anyone about this kind of stuff.”

Face scrunched in thought, Bai He made an unsure sound, “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Sure, it is,” Macaque replied. “Because I say so.”

“Could you talk to me?” Bai He asked hopefully.

“I am talking to you,” Macaque pointed out. “We’re talking.” The sound of Pigsy’s voice caught his attention, informing MK that two bowls of noodles were ready to go. He could hear MK take the noodles, and then hesitate, and then he started passing the bowls off to someone. “And… I think MK is sending Wukong with our noodles.”

“The Monkey King?”

With a hum of confirmation, Macaque glanced up to the roof of the noodle shop, an idea coming to mind. “Wanna do something really funny?” he asked. “Maybe try out a portal?”

An excited gasp left Bai He. “Yes!” She jumped up, keeping a secure, gentle grasp on her cat as she stood. “Yes, I want to try a portal!”

Macaque laughed. “Alright, then.” He rose to his feet and summoned a portal to the roof. “Come on, Squeaker. Let’s give ol’ Monkey King the slip, huh?”

Despite her earlier giddiness, once presented with the swirling pool of darkness, Bai He suddenly had a look of trepidation on her face. “Um… it’s safe to go through that, right?” And Macaque couldn’t blame her. He’d been wary of his powers at first, too. It was intimidating to take a blind step into the darkness.

“Of course,” Macaque replied, taking a step forward and shoving his hand through the portal, “nothing to worry about.” He pulled his hand back out to show his unscathed palm. “Just a little shadow magic. Perfectly harmless.” Unless Macaque was pissed, of course, then there were plenty of ways to harm someone with a shadow. Not that Bai He needed to know that.

Bai He shifted to hold her cat in one arm, and reached her free hand towards the portal, just barely grazing her fingers across it before recoiling slightly in surprise. “It’s cold.”

“Ah,” Macaque said awkwardly, “sorry, it’s…” he trailed off as Bai He brought her hand back to the portal, pawing at the shadows curiously.

“It’s like standing in the shade,” Bai He said in wonder, “is it like that all the time?”

“Most of the time,” and it was. Macaque had always found comfort in the shadows, a refuge from an otherwise bright and deafening world. There were days, though, when the darkness was a cold and suffocating presence that rooted itself in his chest. Still not something a child needed to know, though. “You ready?”

Taking a deep breath, Bai He nodded and held out her hand to Macaque. “I’m ready.”

It was such a simple gesture, an unsure child doing something for the very first time, requesting guidance. A hand to hold. And she was asking Macaque. It wasn’t a level of trust that he was accustomed to being given–not anymore, at least–and for a moment, all he could do was stare.

Then he heard the noodle shop’s door begin to open, the heavy sound of Wukong’s footsteps making their way outside. “Alright,” he offered his hand, allowing Bai He to take it, small fingers curling around his, “let’s go.”

Traveling through the shadows was as easy as breathing, if a little disorienting the first time. Bai He stepped through the portal with him and stumbled a bit as they landed on the roof of the noodle shop. “Woah,” she watched as the portal closed, “that was so cool.” Her hand slipped out of his as she took a walk around the rooftop. “You do this all the time?”

“Gets me places quicker.” He peered over the side of the roof, watching Wukong appear with two bowls of noodles in his hands. “There he is,” he waved Bai He over. “What do you say we prank the Monkey King?”

Bai He brightened. “What are we going to do?”

“Watch this.” Macaque summoned a clone from the alleyway shadows, eyes glowing an eerie purple in the moonlight. It appeared silently, just behind an unsuspecting Wukong, and tapped on his shoulder playfully before vanishing.

“Hey!” Wukong whirled around, as much as he could with two bowls of noodles. “Hello? Macaque?”

Another clone rose from the ground, watching Wukong in a vague reflection of Macaque's own amusement. It looked up to the rooftop and waved to Bai He. Then it gave Wukong another soft tap on the shoulder before sinking back into the darkness.

“Macaque!” Wukong exclaimed, turning in circles, looking for the culprit. “Very funny, you- sneaky little… shadow thing-” another clone placed a hand between Wukong’s shoulder blades and gave him a soft nudge. “Dude!”

Macaque felt a tug on his sleeve, and glanced down to see Bai He staring up at him, eyes sparkling with barely suppressed laughter. “Can we-” she giggled, “can we have our noodles now?”

“Sure thing, Squeaker.” He summoned another clone to appear right in front of Wukong, who scowled at it. When it held out its hands for the noodles, Wukong hesitantly handed them over. Then the clone disappeared into the shadows, reappearing next to Bai He on the roof and leaving Wukong at a loss on the ground.

Bai He set down her cat and took a bowl of noodles from the shadow clone. “Thank you,” she said, taking hold of the chopsticks that were set in the bowl. The clone blinked, then passed Macaque his bowl of noodles, and disappeared. “I didn’t know you could make clones.”

“I can do lots of things,” Macaque replied easily.

“You!” Wukong’s voice echoed off the walls. Macaque glanced down to see Wukong glaring up at him, hands set sternly on his hips. “What are you doing up there?”

“Hi, Mr. Monkey King!” Bai He peeked over the side of the roof. “I’m on the roof!”

Wukong sighed. “Yeah, I can see that.” He squinted up at them. “You okay up there, kid? Need me to come get you?”

Bai He shook her head. “No, I’m okay! It’s fun up here!”

“Hear that, Mr. Monkey King?” Macaque taunted. “All good.” If Wukong was going to put Macaque through the trouble of traveling halfway across the city, then he was absolutely going to make the whole thing as annoying as possible for the sage. “Thanks for the noodle delivery.”

With a long-suffering sigh, Wukong rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome, I guess.” He looked to Bai He. “You holler if you need anything, okay, kid? I can send MK out and check on you in a few minutes.”

“Okay!” Bai He said agreeably, “But I think I’ll be okay with Mr. Macaque for a little bit.”

“If you’re sure,” Wukong stepped away, back towards the door of the noodle shop. “Guess I’ll leave you guys to it, then.” His gaze caught Macaque’s for a brief moment, gold eyes searching his expression before turning away. “Better not start scheming up there.”

Bai He grinned. “Scheming?”

“No,” Wukong said quickly. “I said no scheming!”

Macaque hummed. “Well, maybe a tiny bit of scheming. Little scheming never hurt nobody.”

“You’re a terrible influence,” Wukong called up to him. “I’ll tell MK!”

Gasping, Bai He set down her bowl and happily bounced on her heels, “Yes! Can MK come up here and scheme with us? And Mei?”

“No!” Wukong protested. “You-” he gave an exasperated sigh. “Macaque-”

“Oh, relax,” Macaque reassured him. “I’ll get Squeaker down, safe and sound. No schemes.” Another clone emerged from the shadows behind Wukong as he said the words, prompting a giggle from Bai He. “Absolutely no schemes, at all, whatsoever.”

Wukong’s eyes narrowed, and Macaque raised an eyebrow in response. The clone behind Wukong made a face, which got another smothered laugh from Bai He. “Fine,” Wukong said, ”but!” he jabbed a finger in Macaque’s direction, which the clone immediately copied, much to Bai He’s amusement. “I’m still gonna send MK out here to check on you guys later.”

Macaque and Bai He bit their tongues as Wukong retreated, the shadow clone following after him in an amusing mockery of his walk. They waited with bated breath until Wukong had moved from their line of sight, then Macaque recalled the clone to the shadows, and Bai He nearly collapsed with laughter.

It’d been a while since Macaque had gotten anyone to laugh like that. The last person he’d gotten to even enjoy his company was MK, and it was only for training under false pretenses. Maybe he had the option to do something about that, with the impending danger of the Lady Bone Demon subsided, but Macaque also knew how it felt to be betrayed, and he doubted MK would be okay with anything resembling friendship.

“You need to eat your noodles, Squeaker,” Macaque told his giggling rooftop companion, taking a seat to start in on his own bowl. “It’s gonna get cold.”

“Okay, okay,” Bai He managed, sitting up and grabbing the bowl she’d set down. “Mr. Pig makes really good noodles.”

Macaque nodded agreeably, taking a bite of dinner he’d been given. “Guess he’s got his own restaurant for a reason.” The meal was certainly better than anything he would have made himself. “Can’t remember the last time I had a home cooked meal like this.”

“Maybe you should come around more often,” Bai He suggested, scooping up another bite with her chopsticks. “I think MK would like it if you did.”

“Huh…” Macaque shifted, unsure of how to feel about that statement. “Maybe- I don’t know. Maybe I should.”

With that, Bai He seemed content to sit and eat her noodles. Macaque, with the sounds of the city floating around the night air, very begrudgingly enjoyed his dinner. He hated to admit it, but he was glad that Wukong had interrupted the meal he had been about to make for himself. The whole visit, really, hadn’t been the grating experience Macaque had expected it to be.

“You know,” Bai He said suddenly, swirling the broth in her nearly empty bowl. “I don’t know why Mr. Monkey King said you were weird and broody. You’re actually really fun.”

“Eh, he’s got his reasons,” Macaque answered. “We don’t really get along, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Bai He set aside her bowl, reaching out a hand to pet her cat, who pressed into her affection gratefully before flopping onto his side. “I think you guys should get along better.”

Macaque chuckled. “Think so, huh?” He tapped his chopsticks idly against his bowl. “I guess it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” Which wasn’t something he’d admit to Wukong or MK and, when he thought about it, he wasn’t sure why he’d admitted it to Bai He, but he was surprised to find that it was the truth.

Although, maybe it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise, all things considered. They’d been friends before, and it wasn’t impossible that they could be friends again someday.

“Maybe when he stops being so hard-headed,” Macaque mused. “Which will be pretty tough, considering he’s made of stone.”

“He is?” Bai He asked. “I didn’t know people could be rocks.”

“It’s just Wukong, as far as I know,” Macaque said, stacking his bowl on Bai He’s and moving them so that they were out of the way. “Never met anyone else made of stone, anyway.”

Bai He tilted her head at him, scooting so that they were sitting side by side, and settled against the small wall bordering the roof. “What are you made of?”

Macaque shrugged. “I’m just flesh and blood, kid, not made of anything special.” It was something Wukong had complained about pretty often, back in the day. Constantly trying to readjust Macaque’s armor, fussing over every scratch and bruise, Macaque was pretty sure Wukong was more upset about the lack of stone skin than he was.

But that was a long time ago.

“Have you and Monkey King known each other very long?” Bai He asked. “You guys seem to know each other.”

“That’s…” Macaque hesitated, “a really complicated question, but, uh- the short answer is, ‘yes’. We used to be pretty close, like, a thousand years ago, give or take.”

“A thousand?” Bai He’s face scrunched. “You guys are old.”

Macaque spluttered, the sound somewhere between shock and a strangled laugh. “Oh, yeah? And what are you, six?”

“I’m eleven!” Bai He protested.

“Hm?” Macaque hummed. “Seven, you say? Well, I was pretty close.”

“No,” Bai He put a hand on his shoulder and shook him. “I said I’m eleven.”

“Yeah, seven,” Macaque replied, “that’s what I said.” Which only earned him another protest and a half-hearted shove. “Woah, there! Anybody ever tell you that you’re pretty tough for a seven year old?”

Bai He’s cat, which had been settled beside her rather peacefully, gave a plaintive meow as she attempted to tackle Macaque, though it mostly amounted to her pulling on Macaque’s arm and demanding, “Say I’m eleven! E-lev-en,” she emphasized.

“Oh, yeah?” Macaque stood, with Bai He still clinging to his arm. “And what are you gonna do if I don’t?” She squealed in delight as she dangled above the ground, swinging her legs in a playful attempt at kicking Macaque. “Looks like we got two monkeys on the roof, now.” He moved around the rooftop carefully, gently swaying his arm to jostle Bai He. “You sure you’re not hiding a tail somewhere? You’re swinging like a pro, Squeaker.”

“Hey, Macaque!” Macaque’s ears flicked to the sound of MK’s voice. He could hear the iron rod briefly hit the ground, and then Wukong’s protege was rocketing over the side of the roof. “Monkey King said to-” he paused upon seeing Bai He dangling from Macaque’s arm, a smile slowly stretching across his face. “to, uh- check on you.”

Macaque squinted at MK. “Not a word.”

MK lifted his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say anything!” he exclaimed, though Macaque could hear his voice waver from suppressed laughter. Then he tilted his staff to point in the general area to his left.  “Monkey King will probably have something to say about it, though.”

As if on cue, Macaque could hear a cloud being whisked from the night sky. Macaque didn’t have nearly enough time to try and detach the child swinging from his arm before Wukong was appearing over the side of the roof, floating on a wispy gray cloud. “Is everything okay up-” he blinked at Macaque and Bai He, “uh… you having fun there?”

“Yep!” Bai He chirped, dropping from Macaque’s arm and beaming up at Wukong. “I think you should invite Mr. Macaque every time I come over. He’s a lot of fun.”

Wukong’s lips quirked in a barely concealed smile. “Oh, is he?” Macaque glared, though it didn’t appear to have the effect he wanted. “Well, we’ll talk about inviting Mr. Macaque next time, alright? I think you gotta get back home.”

“Aw,” Bai He pouted, “really? Do I have to?”

MK gave her a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, it’s getting pretty late.” He crouched so that he was eye level with Bai He. “But, hey! We can meet up again real soon, okay? Mei and I could take you to the arcade!”

Looking somewhat less deflated, Bai He nodded. “Okay.”

“Alright, then,” MK straightened and walked to the edge of the roof. “Let’s go ahead and get you down, and then I’ll take you home.”

Bai He gasped. “Wait!” She turned and ran back to Macaque. Expecting a goodbye, Macaque lifted a hand to wave, only to be met with Bai He’s entire weight barreling into him, arms thrown around his waist and face buried in his purple sweater.

Despite the fact that Bai He couldn’t have weighed more than seventy pounds soaking wet, all the breath left Macaque at the impact. At a complete loss of what to do, Macaque gave her a cautious pat on the head. “I, uh… I’ll see you later, Squeaker.” Bai He nodded into his sweater, giving him a squeeze before pulling away.

“Tell Pigsy I’ll be back to help clean up in, like, fifteen minutes,” MK said, scooping up Bai He’s cat and handing him to his owner. “Ready?”

“Mm-hm,” Bai He said, waving to the celestial primates with the hand not holding her cat as MK picked her up and prepared to get her off the roof. “Bye, Mr. Monkey King! Bye, Mr. Macaque!"

Macaque watched as MK’s staff stretched to the ground below, acting as a rather effective elevator for getting himself and Bai He down. Wukong was a persistent presence, floating on his cloud and staring at Macaque expectantly, though Macaque waited until he heard MK’s delivery car start up before directing his gaze to the sage.

Wukong, the smug bastard, simply grinned at him. “The last person she needs to be talking to, huh?”

“Shut up,” Macaque said, picking up his and Bai He’s empty bowls. “I didn’t actually plan on sticking around. She just needed help with her cat.”

“If you say so,” Wukong drawled. “You enjoy your noodles?”

“I enjoyed when the rooftop didn’t have you on it,” Macaque muttered, dropping the bowls through a portal, hoping that the resulting clatter into the sink didn’t startle anyone in the shop too badly.

Wukong hummed. “Technically, I’m not on the roof.” He gestured to the cloud he was lounging on. “I’m floating above the roof.”

“Whatever,” Macaque crossed his arms. “Look, you got what you wanted, alright? I came here, I said ‘hi’ to Squeaker-”

“That’s adorable, by the way,” Wukong interrupted.

“So, I’m going home,” Macaque continued sharply. “And if you so much as breathe a syllable of my name in the next few days, I’m opening a portal to the ocean and dropping you in.”

Leaning back against his cloud, Wukong relented, “Fine, fine.” He waved Macaque off. “Go back to your dojo of brooding, I guess.”

“Gladly,” Macaque replied, the shadows around him solidified into a portal leading home. “And…” he hesitated for a moment, “I guess, I wouldn’t mind visiting again.” He cleared his throat, expecting some kind of rebuttal. “If that’s alright with the Great Sage.”

“Hey, fine by me,” Wukong said flippantly, much to Macaque’s surprise. “Just keep the scheming to a minimum, and I don’t really care what you do.”

Macaque nodded slowly. “Right. Well,” he took a step towards the portal, “guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

“Here’s hoping it’s not because of the end of the world,” Wukong replied. “Again.”

Huffing out a laugh, Macaque retreated into the portal. “Here’s hoping.”

If the sage had a response, Macaque didn’t hear it, already stepping into the quiet halls of his dojo. It was almost eerie, the near silence that his safehouse offered, and Macaque sighed as the portal behind him closed. He’d long since grown used to the quiet, and having nothing but city sounds to keep him company, but… he could admit that having actual company to share a meal with hadn’t been the worst thing.

The pot he’d been preparing for his dinner still sat on the counter, and as Macaque poured the water out and put the utensil away, he wondered if Wukong truly meant what he said. If Wukong truly didn’t mind what Macaque did, so long as it was nothing malicious, would he object to Macaque visiting MK and his friends? If he appeared on Flower Fruit Mountain, would he be immediately turned away? How tolerant of Macaque would Wukong be, and–perhaps the trickier question–would Macaque be able to deal with Wukong?

Questions for another time, he supposed. For the moment, he was content to find something not Monkey King related to watch on TV and listen to the dull roar of city nightlife until he fell asleep.

And maybe next time he heard Wukong calling his name about something or another, he’d be just a little less annoyed about it.