Chapter Text
Winter was always Macaque's favorite time of year. It was usually quiet and calm. But there was one thing he didn’t like about it, and that was how easy it was to contract a cold. He hated how icky and tired he felt, but it was inevitable considering he was living in a wrecked dojo. He was bound to get sick eventually. This time was no exception. He groaned, rolling over on the makeshift bed of blankets and pillows he slept in. This was by far the worst cold he’s had in ages. And it didn’t help that he had to manage it on his own. Back then, Wukong was usually there to help him. And sure, after the events of the Lady Bone Demon, they weren’t at each other's throats anymore. But he doubted the other would want to nurse him back to health.
But dear god, out of all the times he wishes he had someone to help him while he was sick, this was the time he actually needed it. He could barely move, and he was too hot and tired to get up and make food or shower. He’s been like this for a week, and he’s only gotten progressively worse. Of course, if he really wanted to, he could just ask someone for help. The kid was always telling him to “call if he needed anything.”
It's not that he didn’t WANT to ask, it's just that he was too nervous to, and the only one in his phone was MK, Mei, and the blue guy. The only one who was probably capable enough to help was said blue guy, so he was going to be his first option if he actually felt like he was on death's door. Which he was getting pretty damn close.
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Sandy sat on his couch, enjoying his tea as per usual. The only things that could be heard were the waves and soft purring of cats. This week had been particularly slow, the kids were busy with their silly adventures, while Tang and Pigsy were at the shop. And Monkey King…well he didn’t know where he was actually. Speaking of mystical monkeys, he hasn’t seen Macaque all week. I mean it's not like they were best friends, but Sandy enjoyed his company when he was around. Maybe he could ask MK.
He picked up his phone, clicked on the boy's contact and called him. “Hello?” He spoke into the phone.
MK picked up. “Hey Sandy! What's up?” Rocks could be heard falling in the background. Sandy raised an eyebrow, wondering what the boy was doing on the other side of the phone. “Sup lil dude! I was wondering if you’ve seen Mr. Macquack recently?”
MK giggled into the phone, “Its Macaque, Sandy. And uh, no, actually! I asked Monkey King about it a while ago but I didn't get much of an answer other than that he had a cold.” Sandy perked up at the mention of someone being sick. “A cold? How long has this been going on?” Sandy was confused. He hadn’t seen the black furred monkey in weeks, there was no way it was just a cold. MK didn’t answer as a sound of another rock came crashing down. “Uh, I’m not sure Sandy. But I really gotta go—“ The line got cut off from there. Sandy huffed, smiling at his phone. “That kid…” He put his phone in his pocket, looking over at Mo. “C'mon buddy, were going to see a friend! Mo meowed, hopping onto Sandy’s shoulder.
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Sandy was a little surprised when he had gotten the address right. In front of him stood a dojo that looked like it had been through a hurricane. Sandy honestly thought the door would fall down if he knocked, but he did it anyway.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” The door didn't fall down, but it was unlocked. He looked at the now open door with a concerned expression. Why would he leave his door open while it was snowing? He pushed the door open and ducked under the door frame as he walked in, scanning the room. This place was a wreck. Garbage and debris lay about the floor, making it almost hard to walk. He yelled out again, “Hello? Mr. Macqua—Macaque!” He corrected himself, moving upstairs. He heard a small groan from one of the rooms down the hall and approached it. He peeked into the doorway to see— well, he didn’t really know what he was looking at here.
Macaque was just laying on the floor, his glamours completely down. The scar over his eye and the six ears were no surprise, but the white streaks in his fur were. He had a blanket lazily draped over his body, but he couldn’t seem to stay still as he moved back and forth on the floor. Sandy looked directly at his face, analyzing it. He looked awful. The bags under his eyes were ten times darker than usual, and he could barely keep himself awake. He was sweating profusely and tail was just laying on the floor next to him.
Sandy cleared his throat, almost scaring Macaque half to death. “Wha—!” “Hello!” Macaque sat up, pulling the blanket to his chest like it would protect him. He glared at the other man, his ears pulled back against the sides of his head. Sandy smiled at him, letting Mo down from his shoulder. “MK said you were sick, so I came to see if you were okay.” He looks around the room, then back at the sick monkey. Macaque relaxs a bit, lowering the blanket. He huffed, “You could at least knock next time, jeez.” He flops back onto the floor with a thud and a groan. Sandy winced, eyeing the monkey. “Well, I did knock. But the door was unlocked, so I thought I could just come in and check on you.” The blue man smiled down at him, looking him over. “You don’t look very good, Mr. Macquack.”
The monkey let out a raspy chuckle, attempting to correct him on the name before going into a coughing fit and shoving his face into his arm. Sandy jumped, gently moving a hand under the monkey's back to help him sit up. “That cough sounds concerning…” He muttered, looking at him with a worried face.
Once Macaque stopped coughing, he looked up at Sandy and scoffed. “Its a cough. Don’t be dramatic, that's my thing.” He gave him a tight grin, making his best attempt to convince the other he was fine and that he should leave. Unfortunately, life had other plans, because soon enough he felt another headache come on and his grin dropped. He moved a hand to both sides of his head to cover his ears and tried to move out of Sandy’s arms.
Sandy noticed the attempt, laying him back down gently. The monkey's face scrunched up and he turned onto his side, facing away from the other. Sandy looked down at him, then stood up and looked around the room. It was a mess, same as the rest of the dojo. Sandy put a finger to his chin, then got an idea. All Macaque heard was the rustling of several different types of objects, but he didn’t make a move to turn around and see what Sandy was doing. The likeliness of it being anything bad was less than zero, so it would probably be fine.
He moved his hands away from his ears, laying his head on his forearm and closing his eyes. He was tired and felt like shit, and he had a massive blue water demon in his house that was clearly there with good intentions. He sighed, closing his eyes. “Don’t move anything that…looks valuable…” He slurred his words as he drifted into sleep. Sandy barely heard what the other had said, continuing to pick up garbage and articles of clothing that were strewn across the floor. He hummed quietly, folding whatever he thought was clean and putting the rest in the small laundry basket in the corner of the room. He assumed Macaque had just not gotten around to cleaning because he was sick. Once he was done, he looked back over at Macaque. The monkey was fast asleep and looked incredibly peaceful now. His features were softer than his usual serious and firm ones, which made Sandy smile. He pulled a blanket over him, making sure to be quiet so as to not wake him up.