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Chapter Text

It’s close to ten months after the defeat of the Lady Bone Demon when Sun Wukong receives a summons to come before the Jade Emperor and receive a reward of his choosing. The court of heaven wanted to properly thank him for his role in saving the world. Most likely because they didn’t want to feel indebted to him. MK and his friends honestly deserved this gift much more, but the celestial court was unwilling to give them anything but a pardon for the stolen eight trigrams furnace (that had been returned), stolen Samadhi fire map (which was a little redundant now but had also been returned), and all the general chaos MK and his friends had caused when they broke into the celestial realm during the Spider Queen’s attack on New Years.

Wukong knew not to push his luck too much with the heavens and accepted it. He explained to the messenger what he wanted his reward to be and that he didn’t want to stay for some lengthy speech or drawn-out banquet. He didn’t want to be away from home too long considering what happened last time.

He tells MK that the summons was so he could give the celestial court a first hand report of what happened and didn’t mention the reward. MK hadn’t asked many questions, just been surprised by how long it took them. Given that a day in the celestial realm was a year in the mortal realm, Wukong had thought it was actually a pretty speedy response time for them. He thinks Nezha was to thank for that.

He’s grateful that MK had talked him into allowing Macaque a monthly training session. It’s easier to reach the other monkey and make sure he was willing to pause his near constant traveling to take over his regular training schedule with MK. He reassures his successor that he wouldn’t be gone as long as he had been for his ‘vacation’. Reminds him that a quick astral projection is all it would take for him to come racing home and makes him promise to check in on the little monkeys once in a while.

Nezha met him at the gates of the Cloud Palace of Golden Arches and warned him that despite his letter, he was still walking into a grand ceremony. “You guys can have your big party but I’m not sticking around long,” Wukong told him. “I’m really only here to grab what I need from Lao Tzu. He did get the letter right?”

The Lotus Prince looked uneasy. “Yes, he received it,” he affirmed. He looked away and was quiet for a long moment. “Wukong… are you certain you want to take this route?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. He had known what gift he wanted from the gods the moment they offered him one. He hadn’t felt shame with himself for his choice or the urge to contemplate the morals his master had taught him. He still felt like he had to explain himself to his sworn brother. “I know it’s… drastic, believe me, I know. But I don’t have the patience for anything else anymore.”

Nezha was quiet for the rest of the time it took them to arrive at the banquet hall where the Jade Emperor and the rest of the heavenly court were already celebrating a victory they had little to no hand in. “You’ve been alone for a long time, Wukong. I hope you don’t come to regret this.”

Wukong knows he won't.

“I was given the order to escort you to the party and ensure that you stay long enough to be given a proper thanks. Honestly, it could take hours for them to be satisfied,” Nezha explained, willing to let the previous topic drop. He held his arms behind his back and very pointedly looked away from Wukong. “But I’m sure no one would be surprised or angry if you managed to slip away and run off when I wasn’t looking.”

Wukong smiled at the back of his sworn brother's head. He summoned his cloud again and hopped on, bending low enough to smack a big, obnoxious kiss to the top of the Lotus Prince’s head. He was already flying towards Lao Tzu’s palace by the time Nezha started shouting his name.

Finding the Tushita Palace didn’t take long. Lao Tzu was working away inside his lab. The old man didn’t look pleased to see him but that was the norm in this realm so Wukong knew better than to take it personally. He aimed for casual and cheerful. “Lao Tzu! How's it been, buddy? Did ya make that little potion I requested? You know, as my reward for helping to save the world.”

Lao Tzu was still as old and grumpy and serious as Wukong remembers, but the potion is almost ready so he couldn’t complain. The god brought him to an organized workstation where a large bronze distiller was slowly dripping a clear liquid into a glass bowl. Lao Tzu waves his hand over the bowl and sniffs the air. Satisfied with that, he picked up the bowl and gently shook it while watching the liquid inside move. Once it was still, he offered the bowl to Wukong. “I need you to bleed into this, just a few drops.”

Wukong looked at the bowl and then at the alchemist, raising a brow. The god sighed. “Adding your blood to the potion will ensure that the effects of it are directed to you. Without any intended direction, the potion will take effect on the first person the recipient sees.”

Wukong immediately took the bowl with one hand and brought the other to his mouth. Breaking through his stone skin was no easy feat for most people, but Wukong’s fang did the trick well enough. Three drops of golden blood fell into the bowl before the wound healed itself. The liquid sizzled and bubbled around the blood and he handed it back to Lao Tzu. “Ok, now how is this stuff gonna work?”

Lao Tzu kept his focus on the potion, continuing to work on it while he spoke. “The potion will have several strong, long lasting effects on the recipient triggered by being near you. An increase in oxytocin, endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and other hormones will occur. Even once the potion has left their system, their brain chemistry will still associate you with feelings of safety, happiness, and attraction making them believe they are in love. This effect is exceedingly long lasting. Reports say it held strong for over a millennium before slowly fading but others claim it exceeded that.”

Sun Wukong watched as the ancient alchemist carefully poured the potion into a porcelain bottle maybe the size of a bottle of nail polish- probably just enough for a single mouthful. “It will need to be consumed. There should be little to no aftertaste but it’s still wise to mix it with something that has a strong taste.”

“How long will it take?” he asked.

“One month for it to take full effect,” Lao Tzu grumbled. Wukong didn’t think it was possible for him to look even more unhappy. “Changes will begin happening within days of being consumed, but the potion acts slowly so the recipient will believe their feelings to be a natural transition. I suggest you interact with them positively during this time. As often as you can. You said the person you intended this for used to be your lover, correct? That’s good. The potion will have an easier time if they have felt love for you in the past.”

He put a stopper on the opening of the bottle. The god looked at the bottle in his hand for a long second before sighing. “This is a powerful love potion, Sun Wukong. I advise that you use it only with extended forethought and extreme caution. Once it is given, next to nothing can undo it and the effects will last lifetimes.”

It was exactly what Wukong wanted.

The great sage didn’t hesitate in snatching the bottle from the other god. He could enclose it entirely in his fist. Such a small thing would change everything.

~*~

The first thing Wukong does when he arrives home is see how long he has been gone. Five weeks and three days. He had been in the celestial realm for a little more than three hours after speaking with the Jade Emperor. He rushed through the mountain making sure everything was as it should be and the little monkey troop were safe. The monkeys were clingy after not seeing him for over a month so he let them follow him around while he cleaned his home to get rid of a month's worth of dust and gathered enough fruit to restock his kitchen.

Once he had settled into his home and the monkeys were happily lazing around him he took the little porcelain bottle out of his robes to look at it.

He knows this was drastic. He knows his master would have enough words to write a book to explain why he shouldn’t have even thought about doing this.

But Wukong didn’t know what else to do.

He and Macaque had been far from ideal for a long time. They had been angry and bitter and hostile to an extreme. They would come to blows every time they saw each other and scream words that cut deep just to make the other hurt as badly as they hurt. It was violent and horrible and it broke Wukong’s heart every time it happened but he would do it again and again without fail.

But, for the first time, Macaque was ignoring him.

Wukong was use to Macaque wanting his attention, demanding it even. It confused him how possessive Macaque was with something always, always, given to him the instant it could be received, but he sort of gets it too. He was the same way with Macaque. Always greedy for everything the other monkey would give him and then some. It didn’t matter if it was broken bones and hurtful words or nightmares that haunted his sleep- as long as it came from Macaque, Wukong accepted it. The two of them have always been like this. Greedy and possessive and obsessed with each other in equal measures so it was fine- they enabled and encouraged the behavior and called it love even if it didn’t feel like it sometimes.

So Wukong didn’t know what to do when the cycle they had created came to a halt.

Because Macaque no longer wanted his attention. He seemed annoyed when Wukong gave it to him. The shadows of the mountain never had purple eyes blinking in and out of existence just to catch a glance of him. No more fights being picked for no reason. He didn’t respond to Wukong’s snark and teasing with mocking smirks or insults to get under Wukong’s skin.

Some may think this was an improvement. Macaque not being hostile must mean that he was starting to heal and forgive and move on, right? That meant they could try to mend their relationship and make progress in the right direction. Wukong shouldn’t be terrified of this because it was a good thing. He should be happy, not terrified and losing sleep and forgetting to eat because of how sick with stress he is.

It wasn’t a good thing. How could it be a good thing when Macaque didn’t even want to look at him anymore?

The worst was the times he just outright ignored Wukong like he wasn’t even there. Wukong hadn’t known what to do with himself the first time Macaque walked past him without a word or even eye contact. Like Wukong was a stranger on the street who wasn’t worth his time. Wukong remembers feeling sick and shaken watching Macaque walk away from him that first time.

Wukong could handle the anger and the hatred and the resentment. It hurt, sometimes on a skin deep level and sometimes on a soul deep level, but he could take it. He knew most of it was justified. What he couldn’t handle was the thought of Macaque growing indifferent to him.

But the love potion would change things.

And really, was it that bad? All Wukong was doing was… resetting Macaque’s feelings. Wukong is sure that Macaque still loves him, even if he is trying to suppress it, because Wukong feels that way too. All the potion will do is bring those feelings back to the surface.

He tucks the potion back in his sleeve and stands up. MK should be training at Macaque’s dojo around this time. He didn’t know if Macaque would pack up and restart his travels again once he knew Wukong was back, so now may be the best chance he has until the next training lesson with MK.

~*~

Macaque’s dojo wasn’t in a particularly busy part of the city, but it was still in a city with over a million people. It wasn’t a surprise to find a dozen magic barriers over the building, both to protect and to block out sound. Getting through the barriers took a quick transformation and a couple minutes (Macaque was incredible with magic, but didn’t weave these barriers tight enough to stop a flea from wiggling through) until he was inside the dojo.

As he had hoped, MK and Macaque were sparring. He dropped the transformation and called out. “Well would you look at that!”

MK’s head whips around at the sound of his voice and Macaque stops the kick he was doing a mere inch before it hit MK in the ribs. “I guess old Macaque actually did have something to teach you.”

“Monkey King!” MK cheered. His grin was infectious and Wukong couldn’t stop smiling at him even if he wanted to. Gods, he adored this kid.

MK’s grin dropped when Macaque used his tail to grab their students’ ankle and give it a strong pull. MK let out a startled yelp and flailed his arms before gravity pulled him to the floor. “Never look away from your opponent,” Macaque scolded.

MK whined for a second before getting to his feet and zipping to Wukong. The next minute was filled with MK shooting rapid fire questions and the start of a dozen adventures and everything he had learned since Wukong left. Even though Wukong had seen MK a few hours ago he was so happy to see the kid again.

“You know, if you want to take this little reunion outside ,” Macaque spoke up. “I certainly won’t stop you.”

“Aww, come on Macaque!” MK whined. “I really want to show Monkey King the new moves you taught me! We can leave right after!”

“Yeah, Macaque,” Wukong teased. “Don’t you wanna show the actual mentor what you can do? Or maybe I wasn’t away long enough for that to be possible.”

Macaque sent him a dirty look but didn’t take the bait. “We had ten minutes left before training was over anyway. Let’s go MK.”

MK cheered in victory for a second before joining Macaque on the sparring mats. Wukong summoned his cloud and got comfortable for a minute.

He made all the appropriate comments of ‘Come on bud, you can do better than that, don’t let that stinky old monkey get to you’ until he could tell that both of them had put their entire focus on each other. A quick look around the room brought his attention to two water bottles set on the floor.

It isn’t hard to tell which water bottle is whose. MK’s was a cheerful yellow barely visible through all the stickers he had put around it. The dark grey one was no doubt Macaque’s. It was easy to unscrew the lid and tip the opened vial over the edge, pouring the potion inside. He screwed the lid back on and gave the bottle a little shake to mix the potion into the water.

Macaque hadn’t noticed. His attention was on MK. Wukong could only hope that he wouldn’t hear how his heart was pounding from a mix of nerves and excitement.

He kept holding onto both of the water bottles while he watched the rest of their sparring session but staying focused was a challenge. He tried to get into his mentor mindset, tried to see where MK had improved and what he needed to work on and what moves were new, but his attention kept going to Macaque. It was a rare treat to see him fighting from this perspective instead of as his opponent, even if Wukong could tell he was holding back for MK.

That was just another thing to observe though- how he and MK were interacting with each other much better now. Wukong noticed how MK seemed to have lost some of the distrust he normally had with Macaque. It probably helped that Macaque wasn’t making the usual mocking commentary he was so fond of doing while fighting. That and regular visits. They had been training together thrice a week for a little over a month now after all.

MK did lose the little sparring match, but only because Macaque used a shadow clone to trip him up.

“Cheater! That was cheating and you know it,” MK cried in outrage.

Macaque smirked at the boy. “Heh, you’ve got to use every tool you have to your advantage in a fight, kiddo. The enemy won’t care about fighting fair.”

“You did amazing, Bud!” Wukong encouraged. He handed MK his water bottle and tossed Macaque’s to him. He did his best to look casual, to keep his attention on MK, like giving Macaque his water had been barely an afterthought.

Unfortunately, he just couldn’t tear his eyes away when Macaque lifted the bottle and took two big gulps before closing the lid and walking up the stairs of the dojo. If Macaque noticed any tampering with his drink he didn’t show it. He didn’t spit the drink out and scream ‘I’ve been poisoned!’ while holding his throat. He also didn’t turn and smile at Wukong before throwing himself at him singing love confessions.

Not that Wukong expected it. Lao Tzu said the potion would have no taste or smell. He also said it would act slow enough that Macaque wouldn’t suspect anything but a natural change of feelings.

Was it enough? Did he need to drink the entire potion for it to work? Will he finish the rest of the water later or dump it down his kitchen sink? He won't let anyone else drink it, right?

“Monkey King?”

Wukong snapped his attention back to MK. “Ah, sorry, Bud. I really zoned out there for a second. You were telling me about Jin and Yin?” He honestly hadn’t been listening to MK at all but Jin and Yin were a common enough nuisance for it to be an educated guess. The sheepish look on MK’s face told him that his guess had been wrong but the kid ran with it and bounced back, telling another adventure. This time Wukong actually paid attention and listened while the kid gathered his things.

“MK,” Macaque calls while coming back downstairs. His hair was still wet and he had changed clothes. “See yourself out, I’m running late.”

“Oh, ok, Macaque,” MK easily agreed.

Wukong cleared his throat. “Hey, so Macaque-”

“See you later, Kiddo,” Macaque interrupted like he hadn’t even heard Wukong speaking. The monkey was dropping through a shadow portal at his feet before Wukong could even get an offended “Hey!” out.

That was just flat out rude.

“A real charmer, isn’t he?” Wukong grumbled.

MK just shrugged. “I mean I wouldn’t want to keep Princess Iron Fan waiting either- She’s already scary when she isn’t mad.”

“He’s meeting Iron Fan?” Wukong asks. “Huh. I didn’t know they still talked.”

“Oh, yeah! Red Son said that they’ve been hanging out more now that Macaque isn’t traveling all the time. She even came with us to see his shadow play last week.”

“He’s doing shadows plays again?” It made something in Wukong’s chest ease to hear it. Macaque had always loved the performing arts. He use to put on shows for the monkey trope back in the day. He wondered if the shows he put on now were even better.

“Yeah!” MK answered. “He’s been doing them every week since you’ve been gone and it’s getting super popular. The theater even sold out last week but he always has some tickets reserved in case any of us want to go.”

Extra tickets, huh?

Well, Lao Tzu did say he should spend time with Macaque while the potion did its job.

Chapter Text

-Day 2-

One pear, two mangos, a handful of lychee, a pomegranate, a couple of plums, a few bananas, some hawthorn berries-

Wait. Did Macaque like hawthorns raw or only when they had a sugar coating? Honestly, you get on bad terms with a guy for a few centuries and you forget the little things. Oh well, the sugar would probably just make a mess anyway.

-a generous amount of chestnuts and one of Wukong’s prized peaches to top off the rather chaotic fruit basket he put together. He’s pretty sure he got all of Macaque’s favorites in there.

He had gotten up early that morning to forage around the mountain. The little ones had been happy to help, the youngsters racing around gathering fruit and nuts to bring to him and the elders sitting on his shoulders reminding him what fruit Macaque preferred. It wasn’t a bad way to spend the morning.

Once the basket was full, Wukong let the monkeys groom his fur until it was soft and fluffy. He was by no means a slouch when it came to self-grooming, but he felt weirdly self-conscious going to see Macaque again, so some extra attention to his good looks couldn’t hurt. The rest of the troop were happy to do it. Elders made pointed comments about how happy they were that he was finally courting.

Finally, all prettied up and with a lot of fruit, he hopped on his cloud and took off to Macaque’s dojo.

And got ignored.

“I know you’re in there!” Wukong called out. “Come on, Macaque! The sooner you talk to me, the sooner I leave you alone. You know how stubborn I can be!”

A moment passed and the door still didn’t open. Wukong started rapidly tapping his finger against the door. It was an age old trick he used to pull when Macaque was pissy and ignoring him. The sound was just loud and constant enough to annoy him into snapping and putting all his attention back onto Wukong where it rightfully belonged.

But, finally, miraculously , the door was opened by an irritated Macaque. Wukong grinned at what he thought was a major victory before realizing that Macaque wasn’t dressed for the day and his hair was all fluffed up in the way it only got when he first woke up-

His grin froze on his face as he realized exactly how early in the morning it was.

He woke up Macaque.

“What the fuck do you want , Wukong?!” Macaque snarled.

Whatever hope Wukong had of this being a pleasant visit dies a sudden, painful death. It was an understatement to say Macaque wasn’t a morning person. If he was given half a chance, he would go to sleep when the sun was starting to rise and wake up once it was beginning to fall. Given the time, Macaque had probably only gone to bed two or three hours ago.

Wukong had to tread carefully.

A sleep deprived Macaque was a dangerous thing. He was twice as easy to anger, and that anger burned thrice as hot as it did on a normal day. Wukong could remember many times where Macaque, normally the more rational and slow to anger between them, jumped straight to violence and aimed for the throat of whoever annoyed him.

And, unfortunately, Wukong had a special talent for annoying him.

“T-To grace you with my presence?”

The door slammed in his face so hard he winced.

“No, no, wait!” Wukong called. “Common, Macaque! I didn’t realize you were sleeping. I have something for you!”

A few tense seconds later, the door opened again.

Macaque still didn’t look happy. “Why are you here?”

Not wanting to say the wrong thing again, Wukong picked up the fruit basket from where he had placed it at his feet. He held it out for Macaque to take.

“I wanted to thank you,” he explained. “For taking over the kids' training while I was away. I wanted to do it yesterday, but you left too suddenly so I missed the chance to…”

Macaque stared at the basket for a long second, the irritated glare slowly melting into a more neutral look.

Wukong’s lip twitched back into a smile. “So, uhh- Thanks?”

Dark gold eyes looked up from the fruit to him. Macaque’s lips pursed a bit before he said, “It’s not that big of a deal. And it was more a favor for MK than for you.”

His smile turned into a grimace. “Just- take the gift.”

Macaque rolled his eyes but still reached out to take the basket.

“So uhh…” Wukong knew he was pushing his luck. Things were going surprisingly smoothly and he could leave now on a high note… 

Or he could push his luck and keep talking.

“You and MK got on friendly terms while I was gone, huh? And I hear you’re hanging out with Princess Iron Fan too.”

Dark eyebrows came down into an offended glare. “I’m able to have friends without it being some nefarious scheme, Wukong .”

“I know! I didn’t say it was!” Wukong protested. His own smile became strained. He wished he had come at a better time. “I guess I’m just… surprised? You were never really known for having a lot of friends back then, ya know?”

And yeah- maybe he could have worded that better and maybe his tone could have been anything other than what came out. The look Macaque gave him was clue enough that he had stuck his foot firmly into his mouth.

“You don’t get to wake me up at the crack of dawn,” Macaque growled, low and dangerous. “To insult me-!”

“Thats not what I meant!” Wukong quickly tried to cut in.

“What the hell else could you have meant with that-”

“Look, if you would just calm down and let me-”

“Calm down!? You expect me to be the level headed one here when you- You know what?” Macaque suddenly said calmly, making Wukong head spin with the sudden shift. “You can get the fuck away from me. Right now.”

“What- But I just-”

Before Wukong could say any more, the sudden feeling of falling overcame him.

It happened so quickly. All he could do was shout as he fell through the shadow portal that opened at his feet and free fall into the ocean between the city and his mountain. 

He knew better than to try swimming back to the surface, his stone heritage made it a losing battle that ended with him sinking to the ocean floor. Wukong just crossed his arms and huffed. It was gonna be a long walk on the ocean floor to the shoreline.

It could have gone better.

-DAY 4-

Wukong smiled at MK. He just knew that his fondness for the kid was all over his face for the world to see, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He was glad he decided to spend more time with his student.

If immortality had taught him one thing, it was to not get attached to mortals. In the long run, it’s not worth it. A few decades of distant friendship (always distant because Wukong would rather pull his own teeth out than be vulnerable with someone) where it feels like the mortal lives their life five times faster than Wukong (Wait, you’re married? Didn’t you just meet that guy six years ago? Sheesh, no need to rush…) and then, BOOM… they're gone.

That was the mindset Wukong had when he first allowed MK to be his successor. Let the kid keep the staff, he can figure it out himself like Wukong did. Check in on him every few months. Don’t get attached.

Those plans flew out the window after agreeing to train him. Wukong grew very attached, shockingly quickly. A few months of weekly training sessions had Wukong thinking of MK as one of his subjects and it only went downhill from there. Someone new to cherish and protect and care for. He had groaned about it when he first realized, but he should have known it would be inevitable.

But then the Lady Bone Demon clawed her way out of her tomb and everything got a lot more serious. No more villains of the week and goofy adventures for the kid while he figured out his powers- stuff was getting dangerous and Wukong had someone to lose for the first time in centuries. It was terrifying- Wukong sometimes felt like the fear was strangling him.

But it was also worth it. Seeing MK light up when he and his friends found Wukong waiting outside the theater Macaque was performing at reminded him how much it was worth it. His student chatted excitedly about the play while they took their seats and waited for the show to start.

He would definitely have to do stuff like this with MK more often. Maybe once the love potion did its job and things settled down with him and Macaque.

The play was a retelling of Yang Guifei and how her beauty led to her death at the hands of the emperor who loved her to the point of obsession. Wukong was familiar enough with the story that he didn’t pay much attention to it, instead focusing on the storyteller.

Macaque had many attractive features, but his voice was definitely listed in Wukong’s top five. He always thought Macaque had a beautiful voice that could draw people in, but that captivating quality got dialed up to twelve when he was performing. Wukong could recall the little one man plays and performances Macaque used to put together on the island for him and the rest of the troop.

It was bittersweet to see him now. He performed for an enraptured audience in beautiful robes, breathing new life and magic into an ancient art. Macaque was radiant on the stage, practically glowing, but a part of Wukong ached for the days he stood on a makeshift stage using banana leaves and flowers as decoration and grew bashful at Wukong praising his performance.

The play came to an end and Macaque bowed to a roaring applause. Wukong felt pride swell in his chest, happy to see Macaque receiving praise for his art.

He thought nothing of it when he plucked a hair and turned it into a single red peony flower. A quick flick of his wrist sent the flower through the air and onto the stage at Macaque’s feet. The monkey looked surprised by the flower but picked it up with a smile.

If Macaque didn’t know Wukong was here before, he certainly did now. The shadow masters sense of smell was incredibly high and he had always been able to catch Wukong’s scent on his transformed hairs. He was one of the only beings alive that could.

Macaque was gone by the time he and MK made it backstage to congratulate him on the show. It was disappointing, but Wukong never felt the little twinge of magic when one of his hair transformations were destroyed. Maybe Macaque had kept the flower… or maybe he had tossed it in the trash as he left the theater.

Wukong was just gonna hope he kept it.

-DAY 7-

Joint training sessions happened on neutral territory. Not on the island or in Macaque’s dojo or in the city. Neither of them had wanted the other to have the home field advantage.

They took turns choosing the location. Sometimes the scorching desert, snowy mountains, wet marshlands, open valleys, and so on.

It was good that the kid was getting to practice in different environments. Most of his fights had happened within the confines of the city and he was used to sparring with Wukong on the mountain. Something they normally worked on during the joint sessions was making the environment work to your advantage and causing the least amount of damage as possible to your surroundings while doing it. It was a neutral enough topic that Macaque and Wukong avoided butting heads most of the time.

This time Macaque had chosen a forest in the southern part of China. The forest was beautiful, secluded, and the dense trees meant MK had to be mindful of how he moved the staff. Three trees had already fallen because of an overextended swing of Ruyi Jingu Bang.

They had to switch gears after the last tree had fallen and promptly de-homed a family of squirrels that made MK feel like a monster. Now the kid was playing a weird game where he was being chased by Wukong’s hair clones while simultaneously chasing Macaque’s shadow clones. The kid was doing great- using different transformations on the fly, hiding and sneaking through the trees, using his gold vision, and even using his own clones to set traps.

The game kept MK occupied and constantly moving, which left Wukong and Macaque with very little to do other than observe and shout praise and advice from a distance. Wukong knew he could hop onto his cloud to follow after MK and get a closer look at the action, but instead chose to stick closer to Macaque on the forest floor.

“The kid isn’t even breaking a sweat with all this,” Macaque observed.

“Yeah, he’s doing great!” Wukong agreed. “You hear that, Bud! High praise from the Six Eared Macaque over here!”

“We should test that next time we train,” Macaque suggested. “It would be good to know where his limits are now instead of in the middle of battle with an enemy.”

Wukong shrugged. “Sure. It’ll be a little pointless though- the kid is constantly improving. The limits we figure out will be surpassed by the time he’s in another boss fight.”

Macaque rolled his eyes. “As if you know when his next big battle is.”

“Of course I do!” Wukong gasped dramatically. “I have it scheduled in for April tenth, about ten years from now. Plenty of time for improvement!”

The king smiled at the little amused huff Macaque let out. “Ten years between world ending threats sounds generous.”

“I mean I would prefer longer, but I’m trying to be a little realistic…” Wukong admitted.

The two of them refocused on MK. He had poofed three of the five hair clones chasing him and caught four of the five shadow clones he was hunting. He seemed to be having more trouble getting his clones focused on their tasks. One of them kept screaming about color theories while another was yelling about a party venue?

“So… Where are you off to after this?” Wukong asked. “Back to traveling around the world again?”

Macaque gave him a look from the corner of his eye before looking away and scoffing softly. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ll be sticking around for a bit.”

Wukong perked up. “Really?”

Macaque shrugged, still looking up at the trees even though MK had moved to a different area. “Yeah, it’s… been nice staying around longer. The rest of the world isn’t going anywhere.”

Wukong grinned. Him staying longer could mean his wanderlust was lessening.

The fact that Macaque had been traveling so much at all had felt out of character to Wukong. Back then, it had always been Wukong wanting to explore the world outside their little paradise and bring home spoils from his adventures. Macaque had sometimes joined him, but always worried about their home too much to venture too far from it for too long.

“You should come visit.”

Wukong almost choked. The words had just slipped out without a thought and there was no taking them back.

Macaque turned to look at him. “What?”

“The, uh, the mountain. The monkeys, I mean. On the mountain.” Smooth. As. Silk. “I’m sure they would love it.”

“One- I doubt they remember me. And two- did you forget that I’m not allowed there? I’m not coming just to throw myself at your barriers for fun.”

Wukong frowned at him. “You’re allowed there. I’ve never-” Wukong swallowed hard, bracing himself. “I never changed the barriers to keep you out.”

The silence that followed made Wukong want to vomit. “I probably should have, now that I think about it, haha.”

“... You didn’t?” Macaque sounded genuinely confused.

“No? It… It was your home for almost as long as it was mine,” Wukong explained. “And I… Well, I wasn’t going to change the locks without giving you a new key, ya know.”

Macaque looked away from him and said nothing.

Wukong sighed. “Look, Macaque, I know we… are a mess. I don’t know how happy I would have been to see you on the mountain when you first came back. But I never would have completely removed you from our home.” He swayed to the side, gently bumping his shoulder to Macaque’s. He didn’t get punched for it. Not even a warning growl! “Come visit. All of the immortal monkeys remember you. They’ll be thrilled to see you again.”

A loud, victorious whoop from the forest made Wukong turn his attention back to MK, who had just won the game of hide-and-tag with the clones. He was giving a victory speech to his clones, who appeared to be deeply moved when he thanked each of them and the academy for some reason.

“Look at you, bud! You did great out there,” Wukong praised.

“How are your magic reserves after all that?” Macaque asked. “Are you feeling dizzy or tired?”

“Nope!” MK chirped. “I feel great! I could win another round, easy-peasy!”

Wukong laughed. “No doubt! Your endurance has been improving a lot. Let’s test it next time we have a joint session and find out where those limits are. Sound good?”

“So you guys are just gonna work me until I’m exhausted? Sounds… Great.” MK forced a smile.

“Hey,” Macaque spoke up. “Are you gonna dispel your clones or let them keep running around?”

“Oh, not again!” MK wailed before running after one of his clones.

Wukong almost fell over laughing while watching his student chase his own clones. One clone was collecting different plants yelling about all the colors and shades of green while another had stolen the lunch the kid had brought and a third somehow set up a DJ booth and was calling out for party animals.

“Wukong,” Macaque said. Wukong was still grinning like a fool when he turned to look at the other. Macaque probably thought he looked ridiculous. “Visiting the monkeys… I’ll think about it.”

Then Macaque did something he hadn’t done while looking at Wukong in centuries.

The smile was small and almost shy looking, but it was an actual, genuine smile. Not a mocking smirk or a vicious grin. It had no bared teeth or body tensing for a fight. It was soft and happy in the quiet way that Macaque used to be when it was just the two of them in peaceful moments.

Wukong had feared never seeing that smile again. It stole his breath away and before he could find it, Macaque was sinking into his shadows and was gone.

He was absolutely useless for the rest of the day afterwards.

MK had to snap him back to reality more than once before he flew the cloud so far astray that they ended up halfway to Japan before rerouting to home. The kid kept asking what had him so distracted and Wukong had to lie. What was he supposed to say? That it was because a beautiful man smiled at him? Let him save face, kid!