Chapter Text
Cold.
Cold.
Cold.
The cold, tightening fillet crushing his skull.
ColdColdCold-
…
Wukong gasps, jolting up from his slumber. He felt as if a bony hand had reached through his ribcage and was squeezing his heart.
He gasped for air, but each breath felt shallower than the last.
It hurts.
He’s screaming in fear, trying to get out, to leave, to be able to move.
He felt it.
The FLAMES-
…
Why?
Why.
WHY-
...
Wukong’s breathing ragged as he sobs, trying to breathe, to get air in his chest.
Tried.
.
.
Trying.
.
.
NOT ENOUGH-
.
.
In... and out.
.
His tail twitches as he feels hands on his shoulders.
.
In and out
.
“it's-
.
In
.
-g..oing.. To be..
.
Out
.
okay.”
.
In and out.
.
Finally, he sighs. The scent of plums had always comforted him.
Wait.
Plums?
…
“You alright now?” Wukong hears a gentle voice query, as the voice’s hands slide down to his side, gently rubbing circles into his hips.
“Mac..?” Wukong whispered, looking up at the warrior with his big golden red eyes, as he started nuzzling into the warm presence in front of him. He could feel the warmth in the other’s fur.
“Ello, Wukong,” Macque greeted, letting the king sink into his chest. “You feeling better?”
The king nodded, purring into the warrior’s chest, firmly grasping at the black fur as he slowly came to his senses. It took a full minute for the sage to realize that he didn’t recognize where he was.
As if sensing his confusion, Macaque smirked, fiddling with Wukong’s fur as he snorted at the lack of awareness the monkey king had. The monkey king frowned at the snort, sitting up from Macaque’s lap, and looked around his surroundings.
At first, the sage panicked, not really registering the objects around him. At that moment, he remembered what the monk taught him, about calming down and waking his senses. The sage paused, trying to list the outline of objects he could make out.
…
He couldn’t make out a single object. The monkey king groaned internally, slumping back into the shadow’s arms. In return, the shadow chuckled, his tail wrapping around the stone monkey in his arms.
“What’s wrong, bud? Don’t know where we are?” The shadow chirped teasingly, already knowing the answer.
The monkey king scoffed, rolling his eyes at the tease. “Just.. tell me where we are.”
The shadow snickered, “Well, for starters, we’re in your house, lying on your couch.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, and if you don’t recall, and I’m sure you don’t,” Macaque noted, snorting at Wukong’s gasp in offence, “We went to a club last night. With Mk.”
“Isn’t he underage?!” Wukong yelped, completely forgetting that his successor is a grown-ass man.
“... Wukong, he’s 23-”
“Still very young!”
“Well, you changed your mind the second you started drinking.” Macaque deadpanned, scrolling through the many ‘Monkey King’ movies that Wukong had on his TV. “Also, just a question. Why are all the movies you have boring as hell?”
“Wh- They are NOT!” Wukong retorted, wincing at his own shrill voice.
“You just think that cause you’re in them.” Macaque sighed, covering Wukong’s mouth with his hand. “And stop yelling, it hurts my ears.”
Not caring for what the other had to say, he started skimming the movie summaries, “ Now settle down. I don’t want to deal with your overreactive bum.”
“I'mmhreactive, phuu asshole!” Wukong complained, his voice muffled, licking the hand that captured his mouth.
“Ew!!” Macaque screeched, pushing Wukong off his lap. “You’re so gross!”
“Well, it’s your fault for insulting absolute cinema!”
“It is not-” Macaque sneered, before getting interrupted by the loud bang of a door being slammed open and a loud-
"MONKEY KING!!"