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"Couldn’t you do this on your own?" Groaned the monkey whose skin was sizzling under the scorching sun above them. Bending down to collect a handful of rocks, he winced with each toss of the rubble from his aching arms that securely slotted into the cracks of the mountain.
"Nuh-uh! Let’s remember who destroyed this mountain in the first place, Macaque. Besides, I’m helping!" Chimed the younger who began to lift his own pile of rocks with a lot less ease than Macaque did. The shadow growled in response as he wiped his brow, darkened fur soaking up majority of the heat and containing it inside ‘til his skin was burnt and bruised. It was always like this, he was so incredibly sensitive to the sun’s light.
"And why did it have to be today?"
"I told you, because we’re planning a surprise for Monkey King’s birthday! I thought sprucing things up around here would make it a perfect hang out place! Plus, we can’t set up party decorations on flower fruit mountain without him noticing."
"You do realise he’s had like, thousands of birthdays, right, Kid? He doesn’t celebrate those. That’s more a human thing, since you know, you live so short."
MK shot him a glare at his brusque choice of words, before slamming his heap of different shaped rocks and pebbles into the rest of the mountain, the sound making a shrieking screech that forced Macaque to cover his ears briefly.
"Gee, thanks, Macaque. You know, you can leave," The kid huffed, a pout forming in wake of Macaque’s crudeness. "If you don’t want to help, then I’ll just do it myself!" He sighed, bending down and grasping at a rock practically larger than himself. Huffing and puffing with his fingers struggling to gain grips with the sharp edges of the stone, Macaque could only watch in stunned silence as the kid failed to even realise he could simply use his powers… then again, he forgot about that aspect of his life far too often. Another sad result of Wukong’s subpar training.
With the bound of minerals barely raised off the ground, MK began to slip and stumble around with a countless number of harrowing sounds following in his shaky movements. It was painful and frankly dangerous to watch, the monkey flinching with each near death experience MK endured.
"Okay, okay, gods!" Macaque exclaimed as he dove into a shadow and back out at closer proximity, spent of the sight, "Give me that, you’re going to crush yourself," Yapped the monkey who quickly took the rock and dumped it off the side of the mountain... using one hand. The kid watched, confused and blinking aggressively, as though his brain was a tiny motor yet to fully process what he’d seen.
"Stick to the small stuff, ‘kay, Kid?" Macaque sighed, dabbing his cheeks with his fingers. Moving back down to lift his next batch of rock, MK finally shot to action once again, energetic and happy to see Macaque eager… ish.
"Uh, yep! You got it!" He saluted, slightly embarrassed at his weaker display and determined to redeem himself. He then bounced over to his assigned pebbles and started strategically shooting them into the holes embedded in the taller mountains, ones obtained by Macaque and Wukong’s fight they’d had all those months ago.
They worked together in silent unison, Macaque’s attention diverting to the kid every so often, baffled by such energy he display, even in the heat they were submerged in.
He didn’t even realise he’d begun smiling until the back of MK’s head became the front, and he returned the gesture. That’s when Macaque’s brows furrowed, his smile falling and his eyes darting chastely. "What?"
MK was now grinning, his teeth shimmering in the sun, as well as every other part of him. It was plainly obvious who he took after.
"I think you’re enjoying this, Macaque."
"What? ‘Course not, I’m writhing! Do you know how thick my fur is?!"
"Hahahah!"
Macaque scoffed, "You’re laughing?"
He continued, only now realising how sweaty Macaque looked. It was like he’d been drenched in water. "Oh yeah, laugh it up, Kid," He crossed his arms and cocked his head in attempts to come off pissed.
It didn’t work.
He laughed until his lungs hurt.
Macaque was sick of it.
"You really think this is funny, huh? I’ll give you something to laugh about," He smirked, reaching into one of his portals carved from the earth and pulling out a batch of orbs black in colour and filled with some sort of liquid. As soon as MK realised what was flying through the air at him, it was already too late.
"Aaah!" He squealed, the balloon splashing him straight in the nose and soaking him in water. "Macaque!"
"Hahahaha!" The shadow cackled, holding his stomach as he rode out the sight of MK looking identical to that of a freshly bathed ferret.
"How did you…?" He questioned as he whipped the broken pieces of plastic from his face and clothes. Macaque just shrugged, before tossing him one.
"A new lesson for ‘ya," He replied, throwing one of the balloons from his palm up into the air repeatedly. MK stared down at the one he’d caught, studying the magic.
"Now, come on."
"Huh?"
"I’m not going to teach you to be a loser, am I? Throw one back."
A simper of purpose, of dedication and confidence filled his face as he flicked specs of water from his form and tightened the bandana upon his head.
"Let’s do this!"
After a frantic and incredibly soggy battle between two entities fighting for justice and declaration, only one could come to the winner’s circle. Unfortunately for them, the sun may have been there this entire time. Its rays were so powerful, so glorious, it had resulted both competitors to exhaustion within minutes. Now sunk to the floor covered in water and purple plastic, they argued over their status.
"I won!"
"Nah, it was me."
"How was it you?"
"’Cause they’re my balloons, duh."
"That doesn’t even make sense!"
Eventually, even that became too much for them. Presently, the tired sounds of panting and wheezing forced the two to announce a draw. Macaque preferred it that way, a rematch was definitely not on his radar, especially not when the heat was already ramping up yet again, despite him using the coldest water he could find in the rifts of his portals.
"Hey, Macaque?" Asked the kid, after a good half hour of silence. He was so drained, he didn’t even want to respond.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think… Monkey King’s been acting different recently?"
He opened an eye, chest tightening. He would never get used to his abruptness of questions. It was an MK staple that consequently tore Macaque from any form of relaxation each and every time it occurred.
"What… makes you say that?"
"I dunno, he’s been a little weird, like, sadder. I tried talking to him about it, but he just brushed it off… like usual," The kid sighed. Macaque knew that sigh, all too well.
He sat up, running a hand through his fur and fixing it as much as he could. MK copied from their space laying spread eagle on the consolidated stone below. "I thought this party would cheer him up a bit, you know? Make him his old self again!" He smiled, clenching his hands into fists of optimism.
Macaque gave him a guilty look.
"It isn’t…" he then turned away, "It isn’t always that easy, Kid."
MK frowned, Macaque trying not to catch it in the corner of his eyes.
"So, what would help him?"
"I think he needs time."
"…"
"This was a stupid idea after all."
"No! I mean, he’ll love this, I just… it’s not going to fix everything."
The kid nodded, hugging his knees.
"Wukong’s stuff is probably going to last… a really long time."
He hugged them tighter.
"We can’t speed that up."
Even tighter, then…
"I know, I know, I just really… want to see him happy again."
Macaque smiled softly, "He will be."
His face peered up from behind his knees, a ghost of a smile creeping up onto it shortly after.
The coin, still, slips into the wallet.
The bind that holds them together.
"Macaque?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you… know why he’s been weird?"
.