A Son Of Two Dad's

Loose Lips

Walking into a boat he both recognized and was unfamiliar with was strange. He knew the boat of course but followed behind Mei as she led him to what was apparently his temporary room that he didn't recognize while Red Son followed behind, making passive-aggressive comments every now and then to things Mei was saying as he pushed MK's wheelchair down the corridor. 

And how weird was that? Red Son, the firey demon that yelled all the time and hated them, was willingly pushing MK's chair and not complaining about it as he spoke confidently to Mei.   

It was strange how obviously familiar the two were, even though MK had no memories of them spending time together and the way Red Son just fit into his and Mei's years-long friendship like a puzzle piece. 

They arrived at a certain door and Mei flung it open, a smile on her face.

"And this is your room!" She yelled, adding, 

"temporarily of course," after. 

Red Son pushed him in and MK looked around, noticing immediately the extra bed on the floor with his sheets on it. His first thought was that he must have been sharing with Mei but then he noticed the metal and tools scattered around the room in between his trinkets and nicknacks as though they belonged there and he realized with a jolt that he must have been sharing with Red Son instead. 

A small flutter of joy ran through him at the thought and not for the first time he cursed his amnesia, hating that he couldn't remember this.

"Now let's help you pack." Mei cheered as she pulled out a bag from Buddha knows where and started throwing things inside it. 

Red Son predictably didn't help but neither could MK really so after trying and failing to help he ended up guiltily letting Mei do the work (not that she seemed to mind) as he wheeled himself next to Red Son who was sitting on his bed.  

"It's a shame we have to leave this place." Mei started saying as she packed MK's things away. 

"It was cool staying on a boat and we didn't even get that much time to enjoy it as a group cause you were gone for a bunch of it!" She explained, pouting and MK suddenly perked up, a realization hitting him suddenly that they were finally, finally alone, having gotten rid of Macaque and Wukong at the entranceway to the boat. 

He knew they were around here somewhere, and Macaque could definitely be listening in, but MK was crossing his fingers that he wasn't. 

"Speaking of that," he cut in. 

"Why exactly was I not here? What happened? Why was I injured and how?" The questions all just felt like repetitions, knowing he'd asked them all many times already but this time, this time he was hopeful of getting an actual answer.

Mei's face dropped at the reminder and a wave of concern washed over him as he noticed the way her eyes glazed over for just a second like she was remembering something big. Something awful.  

"Well, I wasn't there where you met her but-" There was a loud knock on the door and the three all jumped at it, MK wanting to scream in frustration at the interruption when he was finally getting some answers! Still, he didn't let himself forget the mention of 'her,' keeping that small bit of new information tucked away safely.   

The door opened and Macaque's head appeared around it while MK frowned, trying hard and failing to hide his frustration. 

"You kids' done yet? We're hoping to get to Flower Fruit Mountain before lunch." He explained, pretending, but MK wasn't falling for the ignorant act. He knew Macaque had been listening in and was only interrupting them, keeping MK in the dark. 

"Yeah, we're done, MK didn't have a lot," Mei spoke, holding up a full-to-the-brim bag that apparently contained all of MK's stuff while MK silently panicked at the thought of leaving so soon with no answers. 

"Great. Let's get going then, kid." The other two next to him looked like they were about to stand up too but MK wasn't giving up that easily. Not at all. 

"Actually!" He blurted out, brain buzzing as he tried to think of some excuse to be alone with Mei again and- there. 

"They want to come over for a sleepover!" He hoped they went along with it and didn't look too surprised by his declaration.

"So can they come with us?" He asked, looking with wide, innocent eyes at his dad who didn't look convinced. He pouted his lips slightly, putting his hands together. 

"Please? I just really want to see some more of my friends, I only just got out of the hospital and-"

"Okay, fine, fine! You can have a sleepover. Just don't do anything to aggravate your wound and don't do anything stupid." MK grinned widely, glad Red Son hadn't started protesting at the thought of a sleepover, ruining his plan. 

"Awesome. Thanks, Dad!" He cheered. Macaque would go to sleep at some point tonight and when he did MK would finally be able to talk to Mei. He couldn't listen in when he was asleep and MK was determined to stay up all night if need be. 

After grabbing some of Red Son's things from the room for the sleepover while Mei grabbed some of hers from Buddha knows where Macaque left the room and they followed behind him. Mei shoved MK's suitcase at Red Son, who loudly complained but didn't drop it, before wheeling MK out herself and leaning down to whisper quietly. 

"I don't remember us talking about a sleepover." She spoke and MK leaned backward, turning to face her and mouthing his next words so Macaque wouldn't be able to hear them at all.

"So you can tell me when he's asleep." He told her and she blinked. 

"Oooh. That's really smart actually." 

"I know." He grinned back while whispering, proud of himself and Red Son pushed in next to Mei, not bothering at all to lower his voice. 

"What are you two idiots blathering on about?" He demanded and MK snapped his gaze up to Macaque who was ahead of them.  

"Nothing important." Then he mouthed out 'I'll tell you later,' pointing his thumb at Macaque and Red Son rolled his eyes and sneered but didn't comment on it. 

"Fine. Let's just hurry up. I'm getting tired of this place." But the way he looked behind him when they left, a certain look in his eyes spoke otherwise.  

Since there were more of them, Sandy gave them a lift back on his ship since there were too many of them for Wukong's cloud, and by the time they got there, it was past lunchtime. It was lucky that Pigsy had stayed on the boat for the trip because he cooked up noodles for lunch the moment MK's stomach started rumbling and everyone ate together on the ship, Macaque and Wukong stayed towards the edge of the room, sat together but alone.   

MK sat next to Pigsy with Red Son on his left so when Mei leaned over and started talking to Red Son, Pigsy took the moment in the crowded room to talk quietly to him. 

"We'll miss ya at the shop kid. Visit whenever you'd like, yeah? I could always use an extra pair of hands." He said gruffly and it was the closest thing MK would get to an 'I'll miss you and I love you,' so he smiled widely and pushed himself into the man's arms for a hug. 

"Thanks, Pigsy." He murmured warmly and then in a lighter tone when he pulled back, 

"but I won't be gone for too long you know! You'd better not give my job away to anyone else while I'm gone." He laughed teasingly and Pigsy ruffled the top of his head, a tiny smile on his face. 

"Wouldn't dream of it kid, wouldn't dream of it."  

From the edge of the room, Wukong pouted, not wanting to admit to himself that he was slightly jealous that Pigsy had spent so much time in the past with his kid that he himself hadn't. Then, watching the way MK's eyes brightened like the stars with his smile, he softened, glad that someone had been there for him at least.  

(I'm back! It's been so long, sorry about that, I hope you've all been doing okay though :D I'm giving Mei and Pigsy a little bit more attention this time cause they deserve it.)