Work Text:
Erlang Shen’s Sick Days
Yang Jian coughed into his sleeve for the umpteeth time that morning, trying to ignore the stinging sensation lingering in his throat.
Ever since he had returned from that mission to retrieve the previous artifact for Five Pole Star, he had been coughing and sneezing non stop.
He decides to put his pen down and go lie down for a while, hoping that he’ll recover soon.
Unfortunately, his condition progressed to where he felt a bit faint and was FORCED to remain lying down in bed, his head spinning and body shaking.
He tried to fall asleep, again hoping that this would pass quickly. He wanted to get better before…
“Yang Jian! Look at this massive fish I caught! I think we can grill it and use its scales for-
Wukong stopped talking when he suddenly sensed the undeniable silence permeating the house.
“Yang Jian?”
Usually, he would be greeted by a smiling or serious Yang Jian who would ask him to either sit down and tell him about his day or demand that Wukong take a proper bath before stepping foot into their home.
Yang Jian was a neat freak. And had a bit of mysophobia. But Wukong loved that about him. His lover was so meticulous and their home was always spotless.
However, today there was no Yang Jian who came to greet him. There was no Yang Jian who scolded him for his filth. And there was not even a sound in the house.
Wukong walks around. Nothing.
He sees the unfinished documents on Yang Jian’s desk and frowns. Yang Jian NEVER liked to leave his work unfinished. He always finished them before he could allow himself to take a break. Wukong sometimes dragged him away by using his ultimate begging skills.
Or by persuading him with…promises of affection.
Wukong walks to their bedroom and finally hears the sound of breathing. A sign of life.
“Yang Jian?”
Wukong walks inside and sees Yang Jian on the bed. Instead of sleeping peacefully, Yang Jian was gripping onto the sheets and sweating profusely, struggling to stay still.
“Yang Jian!! What’s happened to you? What’s wrong?!” Wukong dashes over to Yang Jian’s side and puts his hands gently on Yang Jian.
Warm-no SCORCHING hot! That was extremely concerning. Yang Jian’s body temperature was usually cool!
Wukong quickly summons up his spiritual energy and focuses it all on his palm, pressing it onto Yang Jian’s chest. Another hand was placed on Yang Jian’s forehead.
It seems to help. And Yang Jian gradually calms down. His breathing stabilizes and he stops squirming around. Wukong notices that he fainted.
A while later, Yang Jian wakes up to the feeling of something wet on his forehead and a warm hand holding his own. He blinks the grogginess away and shifts his head to the side.
Wukong was asleep now, but Yang Jian could feel the consistent spiritual energy that was flowing from the stone monkey’s hand to his own body, feeding his core with energy.
Even while asleep, Wukong was still taking care of him.
Yang Jian tried to sit up only to feel dizzy and fall back down again, coughing. This wakes Wukong up and he blinks awake.
“Yang Jian? Oh Yang Jian, I’m so glad you’re finally awake!” Wukong’s eyes were brimming with tears and he lifted Yang Jian’s hand up, kissing the back of it softly.
“H-how long have I been asleep?” Yang Jian asks, voice raspy.
“For two days. I stayed by your side to make sure you remained stable. It seemed like you were…ill. Or something,” Wukong told him.
“Two days?…” he had been out for that long? He felt fine now though, even though when he tried to move, his body collapsed and he still felt weak.
Wukong smiles and leans down to give him a kiss. He feels his forehead and checks his face, pleased to see that Yang Jian no longer had any signs of heating up again.
“Now that you’re awake, I bet you need to eat! Wait here, I’ll go make something for you!”
“Wa-wait! Wukong I-“ but it was too late. Yang Jian’s voice was too quiet and Wukong didn’t notice his attempt to speak.
Yang Jian remained on the bed, a bit worried.
Last time Wukong had tried (key word, TRIED) cooking, they almost lost their entire house….
The food that he made became a different category of food. Because no one could tell what it was…
***
“Um. Great Sage, I really think you-
“Absolutely right, Chu Fang! Yang Jian definitely needs MORE!”
The kitchen deity covers up his eyes with his hands, peaking through the cracks between his fingers. Watching the Great Sage cook was like watching a documentary about mutilation! It was horrifying!
“A-a whole packet of salt, Great Sage?…”
“And now we stir again!!”
However, when Wukong was stirring, it was more like creating a mini tornado. One whirl and the strange liquid that Wukong concocted almost flies out of the massive pot and the kitchen deity wanted to pass away.
He was going to lose his home. He was ruined.
Miraculously, Wukong managed to not completely destroy the stove or the other parts of the kitchen and he leaves, satisfied with his creation. He pours the “soup” into a bowl and leaves, thanking the kitchen deity happily for his assistance.
The kitchen deity waves goodbye and bows.
…then he turns back and almost sobs when he sees the mess. He was forced to clean all of this up now…
***
Yang Jian sees the strange looking liquid and swallows hard. It’s times like these that make him very grateful to have mastered a flawless poker face.
“Here Yang Jian! I can feed you-
“No, no! I mean, that won’t be necessary. I can feed myself just fine.”
Yang Jian manages to sit up with some assistance from Wukong and he takes the bowl and spoon.
He carefully scoops up some of the liquid and hesitates. The bowl unleashed a very…peculiar scent…
Wukong was watching him closely, eyes on him like a hawk.
Yang Jian puts it in his mouth and nearly throws up. He couldn’t stop himself from gagging slightly.
Wukong’s tail sagged to the ground. He hung his head and a small sad sound emitted from his mouth.
Yang Jian hears it and raises the bowl to his mouth, setting the spoon aside, and chugs the entire “soup” down.
He swallows the last remnants of the liquid hard, forcing it to stay and then gives Wukong a grin.
“I feel better already. It’s wonderful, Wukong.”
Wukong’s jaw dropped and he looked at the bowl.
Completely empty. Yang Jian really drank every drop!
“Really?”
Nobody had ever eaten his creations before.
Yang Jian nods. “Yes. Would I lie to you?”
Wukong takes the bowl and beams proudly. “Of course it’s wonderful! I made it after all! There’s nothing I can’t do! Oh, you must want something sweet now after this. I’ll go bake something for you!”
“Wait wait wait no you don’t-
Yang Jian tried to tell Wukong to NOT MAKE ANYMORE food but the stone monkey skipped away with his tray in hand before Yang Jian could stop him.
Yang Jian felt the extreme amount of salt lingering in his mouth and shuddered.
What was Wukong going to make for him now…
***
“Here! I brought you all kinds of fun things! This is the latest bestseller according to Wenchang Wang! And this is the cool toy I found-
“Thank you, Wukong. But I would really just like to
“And Nezha gave me this for my birthday! You can use it!”
Yang Jian blinks as he stares at the small rattle.
Did Wukong think he was a child?
“Wukong, dear, I really don’t need any of this…”
Wukong finally noticed his discomfort and stopped. “You…you don’t? You don’t want any of this?”
Yang Jian shakes his head.
“If you could just bring me my pen and documents. And give me some time to sleep. That would be lovely.”
Wukong frowns. “But Yang Jian, you’re not supposed to be working while you’re ill! You should just sleep!”
Wukong quickly moves the trinkets and other small items over to the drawer, clearing his bed. And then he leaves and returns with a huge pile of pillows and more blankets, almost smothering Yang Jian underneath. He puts the pillows around him and basically makes a force of softness enveloping Yang Jian.
“Here Yang Jian, get comfortable. I’ll read you this book to help you sleep! Let’s see…
Yang Jian felt like he was going to die from overheating. He didn’t need so much “comforting” nor items to make him comfortable.
While he appreciated Wukong’s attempts to keep him entertained and happy, it was all a bit…much. But he smiles as he feels comforted by Wukong’s actions. The stone monkey genuinely believed that he was doing the best thing for Yang Jian. And that was more than enough.
***
Despite all of the little mishaps during Yang Jian’s recovery, the best part of all of it was at the end of the day.
Wukong would walk over and sit beside him. And Yang Jian would wait for Wukong to talk to him. About anything.
Sometimes Wukong rambled on about his days when he would go out with his friends. Sometimes he would talk about what the mortals were up to.
Yang Jian would never admit it, but his favorite part was whenever Wukong talked about himself. He couldn’t let the arrogant monkey know, lest his vanity increase.
Yang Jian would fall asleep, listening to his lover’s voice and finding comfort in the sound. Wukong would stay up, not talking and just sit still (which was a rarity for him) watching Yang Jian sleep peacefully and looking absolutely angelic.
Then he too would fall asleep, hand holding Yang Jian’s hand and head on top of Yang Jian’s chest, comfortably feeling its slow rise and fall…
***
Sun Wukong’s Sick Days
“ACHOOO! ACHOO!”
Wukong wipes his nose with another tissue again.
What the heck?! What was this strange attack?! Has someone poisoned him?
He sniffs and groans from the uncomfortable feeling over his entire body.
He felt so…so off. His head felt a bit cloudy. And he didn’t know how to fix this!
Unexpectedly, he stumbles as he walks around the forest. Originally, he had tried to hunt and surprise Yang Jian with a fine catch. But now, he could barely even stand up straight.
He takes another step forward and felt his body tilting backwards instead. He waits for the hard ground to knock him out.
Instead, he lands into someone’s arm. And he blinks up to see Yang Jian’s concerned face staring down at him.
“Wukong? Wukong, are you ok? What’s wrong?”
However, Wukong didn't respond because he was no longer conscious.
Yang Jian urgently carries Wukong bridal style and gently places him on the bed, wondering what he could do to help.
He had no idea a stone monkey could get sick!! What did that mean?!
***
“Hmmmm…he’s fine. This is just like a normal mortal’s sickness. The symptoms are the same. All he needs is to rest,” Chang’E reassures him after she gave Wukong a pulse read.
“Why did he become like this? What can I do to heal him?” Yang Jian asked urgently.
Chang’E replied, “I do not understand how he became sick. However, all he needs is to simply rest. It’s a regular sickness and it will pass.”
Yang Jian escorts the goddess out and she leaves.
Then he turns his attention to his sick lover. He had to make sure Wukong got better.
***
Sick Wukong was much more emotional and dramatic than he had anticipated.
“I-Am I dying? I’m dying aren’t I Yang Jian?! Please live on for me. Tell my children my story and carry on…”
Yang Jian wants to laugh out loud at Wukong's ridiculous comments but holds back. If he laughed, from dramatic Wukong’s perspective, it would seem cruel.
“My love, you are fine. You just need to rest for a bit.”
Wukong tucks himself even tighter in the sheets, sniffling and pouting. He hated feeling vulnerable. He hated being weak. He hated-
Yang Jian pets his head gently, rubbing all the right spots. And Wukong sighs with content.
…he didn’t hate the attention.
***
“No! No! I refuse to drink that! It’s so gross! I don’t need it!” Wukong shook his head and turned away from the disgusting medicine. One touch on his taste buds and he was an instant hater.
No matter how hard Yang Jian tried to convince him to just accept a tiny bit, Wukong refused adamantly.
Yang Jian stopped insisting after a while and Wukong thought he was finally safe.
“Let me go get you some food, alright? I’ll be right back, dear,” Yang Jian tells him as he gets up.
Yay! Real food!!
Yang Jian does return soon, holding a warm delicious smelling dish.
He feeds it to Wukong who grumpily (secretly happily) accepts it. The sick monkey was lying on the bed, opening his mouth and waiting for the chopsticks to enter his mouth.
Yang Jian smiled when he noticed that every roll was eaten. Including the one containing the medicine…
***
“Give me something else to do, Yang Jian! I’m so bored! I’m so bored!!”
Yang Jian patiently hands Wukong yet another puzzle for him to solve.
The clever stone monkey NEEDED to keep himself entertained and his mind stimulated, lest he throw a fit.
It was for the blessing of the realm that Yang Jian was his caretaker, or else another Havoc might occur from one sick Sun Wukong again.
“Why don’t we play a game of XiangQi? If I win, then you have to go to sleep and stop complaining.”
“…I’m not complaining..”,Wukong grumbled. “What happens if I win then?”
Yang Jian thought for a second then said, “If you win…I’ll do the thing you wanted me to do…”
Wukong’s brows shoot straight up, “Really? You’ll do it?!”
Yang Jian struggles but says, “Yes…”
Wukong found a new found determination to absolutely crush Yang Jian in this game.
….
Yang Jian apparently REALLY didn’t want to do it. And Wukong lost.
Their scores in XiangQi are now 450 : 451. With Yang Jian beating him by 1.
Wukong blames his sickness that caused him to lose. Yang Jian smirked and called him a sore loser.
“I’m not!”
“Yea, yes…but now it’s time for the Great Sage to finally take a break. Remember our promise?”
Wukong reluctantly nods and snuggles under the covers, gripping onto his soft plush that Yang Jian had handed him after he demanded it.
The plush was actually a pig plush that reminded him of Bajie. The poor thing was ripped and mended several times by Wukong. He uses it as a stress relief item…
Yang Jian glares at the item with disdain but doesn’t comment on it.
However, he gets into the bed with Wukong and wraps his arms around him, like they always did before Wukong got sick.
“Yang Jian! You can’t! You might get sick too!”
Yang Jian sighs as he gets comfortable.
“I don’t care.”
Yang Jian doesn’t get sick. Since the illness wasn’t actually contagious when you were an all mighty demigod.
Sick days aren't so bad when you have someone to care for you.