Tw ((Suggestive Themes))
Late Thursday Afternoon
"Such a cute kitty," you laugh a little and stroke the back of Mo as he moves onto your lap, "not a single worry in the world." A sigh escapes your lips as you continue to pet Mo. The water of the ocean drifts by as Sandy drives the ship towards Flower Fruit Mountain. Something about it being just you, Mo, the sounds of the ocean, and-
"Let's go (Y/N)!" Mk shouts, jumping back up after you pushed his head away. "I'm not going to let you beat me again!" The brunette stands at the ready, watching you stay sitting in your beach chair.
"Mk," you frown and pull up your shades, "I've kicked your ass multiple times fist to fist, and I don't have any significant power." Lie, you've got power, but not like you used to.
"I'm done going easy!" The young protege pouts before smiling confidently. "And I think I've got you all figured out!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"What's that?" You look past your friend, gently moving Mo out of your lap when Mk looks away.
Mk squints, adamantly searching the empty sea before him, "What's way out there-"
You swing your leg underneath both of his and watch as Mk falls back down, "Your moves are getting a little predictable." You offer the young brunette a hand while looking down at him, feeling guilty after seeing the look on his face. "I'm not saying they suck. Just try switching it up a bit."
Mk grabs your hand and stands up, quickly puffing out a frustrated sigh before resuming his fighting stance from before. "Give me one more chance, I promise to make it worth your time." The monkey's protege sees the look on your face and smiles a little in confidence you're almost positive is an influence from his Monkey of a Master. "And I'll switch it up so you'll never see my next move coming."
You raise a brow and slide your foot out a reasonable distance out from the other. Not that you'd ever say a word to Mk, or anyone else for that matter, but you've been a little busy over the past week training with Macaque in a run down theater of his. Thanks to the broken floorboards, you've had to blame the woods surrounding Flower Fruit Mountain for all the cuts on your ankles. That shadow monkey of yours loves to fight dirty, especially when he finds himself losing without using any of his powers. Macaque, as you've learned, is not one to fight an honest fight. Which would be fair if the fights the two of you have were life and death, but they're definitely not.
"Bring it," you tilt your chin up while propping your hands up, holding them empty since Mk has a tendency to swing first.
After seeing Mk nervously debate swinging first, leading you into swinging the first hit. With inches left between your first and Mk's face, you subconsciously decided not to pull any punches. It becomes a game between the two of you, seeing who will land the first hit. Mk's just as good on offense as you are, if not a little better despite having a taller figure.
Air weives between the two of you, punches creating small wind gashes that fly by your faces and the rest of your bodies. Just as Mk goes to take a step back, that's when you do it, you land the first hit right against Mk's face. A small wince forms on your face as Mk stumbles back. The nervousness that you actually hurt your friend never gets to settle in, because he smiles before coming right after you again.
The two of you go right back at it. Floorboards on the deck of the ship creak and crack as the two of you dance around. Mk swings to the right? You doge to the left. You swing a foot under Mk's legs. He jumps back like the spirited monkey he is. Smiles form on both of your faces. 1-1 is the score after Mk nails a hit to the side of your head. It stings, but you keep going.
Mk smiles more after seeing you bounce up so quickly from a hit. The boy won't ever tell you he held back on that one, primarily because he knows you'd never believe him. He genuinely doesn't know what he's capable of, and that scares him. Mk's powers are a little unpredictable and unfortunately for him, he always finds out the hard way.
There's something about the way you fight that throws Mk off. He knows you took a self defense class and are somewhat getting training from the Monkey King, but that doesn't explain your sudden improvement. The boy's not complaining though, he gets to spend one on one time with you outside of work. Mk enjoys the quality time spent between just the two of you. Maybe that's why this is such a drastic change in your character?
The monkey protege dodges another one of your punches, stumbling back slightly when they just keep coming. Mk's eyes open a bit as he finds himself blocking blow after blow. A combo? Since when do you know combos? Monkey King just barely started teaching him combos, and self defense definitely doesn't cover combos. That, or it's one dope self defense class that Mk should look into.
You swing and subconsciously bite down on your lip, growing tired of the back and forth. The score needs to go 2-1 and done. Both of your rhythms are sloppily getting worse as sweat drips down each of your faces. Neither of you are smiling anymore, it's truly become a witted fight for the last blow. Steadily gaining speed again, the fight picks up. Swings start to leave bruises, agility still running on low so the best the two of you are doing now is blocking. Mk throws a rather strong punch to your left arm, causing you to stumble back. The brunette quickly hops on the opportunity to just keep throwing punches your way. It's not until his fist starts to glow gold that you start to snap out of it.
Coming out of your daze and back into reality has you realizing you're fucked if you don't dodge Mk's last blow. Though the boy doesn't exactly realize it himself, he might send you through the deck of Sandy's ship if you stay where you are standing. You quickly analyze that if you would try and dodge, Mk would just go for another part of your body just as fast. Mk's always had you beat at speed, it's the reason you no longer race against him. Agility though has always been your thing, you're light on your feet and can react somewhat quickly. This punch though? It's very in the gray zone.
With no other option to move, you quickly close your eyes and move both arms in front of your face. However, after a couple of seconds, winds flying past you with no faint feeling of even the slightest pain. Your eyes slowly open to a body much more muscular than Mk's standing in front of you. A flood of relief has you weak at the knees as you look at the blue giant in front of you. There's a quiet meow of relief in the background from Mo.
Sandy holds Mk's fist rather tight in both of his hands. The deck's metal squeals under Sandy's feet as they sink into its very screws. For a second, everything falls quiet as everyone takes in what just happens. Quiet pants are the only thing keeping anyone from thinking the other is dead.
"Are you two going to take five?" Sandy drops Mk's fist and takes a step back, allowing for the two of you to really look at each other. Mk's the first to lock eyes with you, steadily holding his gaze while breathing heavily. The blue man eyes the two of you carefully, inspecting if there's any wounds to be treated before pressing on, "or are you going to call it a tie."
"Tie," Mk and you heave out, feeling your knees go weak. Sure you may be tired, but you're a little more scared right now. It took Sandy two of his hands to defy Mk's small fist. What would it have done to you? That's a thought nor you or Mk want to picture, ever.
You rest your arms on top of your head in an attempt to catch your breath. Part of your vision blurs for a couple of seconds as you tilt your head back to look at the sky. Mk heaves out exasperated breaths while resting his hands on his knees. Sandy's eyes dart between the two of you awkwardly.
In an attempt to get conversation started up, Mk glances over at Sandy and motions to the familiar approaching island with one of his hands, "We're here? Right?"
Sandy nods and lifts Mo up onto his shoulder, casting his eyes away from the both of you and to the island. "Almost, it'll be another couple of minutes until we reach shore."
Mk gives Sandy a small nod before you feel his eyes pry into your very being. "Where-" Mk coughs as he stands up straight, still heaving out breaths while placing his hands on his hips, "where did you learn to fight like that?"
"I found it online," you move your phone from your pocket and wave it in his direction in hopes he'll believe your lie, "it's really not that difficult." More and more air goes in through your nose, and out through your mouth.
Mk rolls his eyes while waddling over to you. "Show me," Mk says in a simple tone, without a hint of accusation anywhere present, "I want to learn as well."
"I'll teach you some other time," you sigh before looking down at the protege standing in front of you, "when I don't have a limited battery at a place in the middle of nowhere."
Mk frowns as he watches you move your phone into the back of your pocket. Your tone was a little cold, as if to hide something, but he's not going to push for anything. "Do you want me to accompany you here?" The boy crosses his arms while leaning the majority of his weight on one of his legs. "I don't mind since I've got a way back to work if Pigsy calls."
You ponder the idea for a couple of seconds before remembering a certain shady monkey has been itching to spend time with you. Not that you prefer him over Mk, but there's some questions that you have for Macaque. It's sort of the whole reason you're even here in the first place. Memories continue to flood your nightmares the more you come to terms with your reincarnation. Since Wukong's out of the picture for the time being, Macaque feels like the only one you can lean on for anything regarding the subject.
You'd love to tell Mk, you're just unsure of how to break it to him. Do you begin with a casual, "Hey, so I kind of screwed your mentor in a past life before I was murdered." Cue the awkward chuckle, "I hope this doesn't make things awkward between the two of us." Then afterwards cue the horrified look on the kids' life. You're positive you and Wukong had never fucked, but you can't say if anything happened when the two of you got drunk. There's definitely been a handful you've woken up after a hungover covered in darker hickeys in more..questionable places. The memory makes you blush.
"Sorry," you mumble whilst trying to shake the feeling of embarrassment as heat creeps into your cheeks, "I just, I think I need another quiet day up on the mountain."
The young boy in front of you shakes his head and then smiles. "Your loss," Mk chirps out while moving both his hands to rest behind his head, "I'll just play some Megamech in town and beat your hard-earned high score with Mei."
A low scoff escapes your lips as an ear to ear smile threatens to form on your face, "As if." You'd worked your ass to beat Mei's high score more than ten times over. If Mk's serious about beating that score, he's going to be in for a real treat when he finds out you've continued to raise it whenever you get the chance.
Mk's new found smirk is very quickly wiped from his face as he nearly tumbles over when Sandy busies himself with docking the ship. Laughter bubbles out of your throat, watching as the young protege scrambles to get back on his feet. His pride is nothing short of the same one that Monkey King wears so profoundly. It's nice though, seeing Mk super confident in himself and the things that he does is a good change of scenery. He's gone from the loud and unconfident type to the confidently loud type.
"I look forward to coming back and kicking your ass," you tease while resting a hand on Mk's shoulder, "both virtually and physically. I plan to get a strong 2-0 if I can help it."
Mk smiles and wraps both of his arms tenderly around your waist before pulling you close. "I'm sorry for sort of almost shattering every bone in your body," a small nervous laugh bubbles out of Mk's lips and into your ear, "I don't know what I would've done if I had to explain yet another injury of yours to everyone."
You share the nervous laugh with Mk before shrugging. "Heat of the moment," you snake your arms around your friend's neck and give him a tight squeeze before teasing, "just make sure it doesn't actually happen."
"Shut up," the boy groans before detaching himself from the warmth of what seems to be you, "I'm still getting a hold of all these abilities."
"Excuses don't cut almost snapping me in half," you reach down and pet Mo, smiling as Sandy's aura draws near, "so just work on it. Astral projecting yourself to Monkey King wouldn't hurt. I'm sure the king would enjoy the checkup, even if he's caught up with other duties while on vacation."
Mk gives you an understanding nod before looking over at Sandy. The giant looks between the two of you before smiling. His shoulders slack back as stress seemingly falls off of him.
Sandy snakes his arms around Mo when you hand the cat to him, "I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to pick you up."
"Okay," you agree as a soft smile forms on your lips as you tilt your head to meet eyes with Sandy, "I'll be here."
"If you're even five minutes late," Mk starts, feeling slight embarrassment seep in as he continues, "I'm scouring the place for you."
"Understood." You smile and make a mess of Mk's hair before making your way to the wooden dock to the side of the ship. "I'll be back to beat whatever score you're threatening to beat me with, mark my words!"
Laughter erupts into the afternoon air. Your heart threatens to burst when you feel a familiar dark aura seep into the air. It's maybe been a minute since you've arrived and Macaque has already made his appearance known. You give Sandy and Mk a quick wave as Sandy heads up to the ship's control center. Mk gives a small wave back while hanging on the side of the ship.
The boy watches as you disappear into the trees. A familiar ache grips at his heart as he stands up straight. Mk sighs and then goes back to his usually smiley self. He glances back at the forest before running up to the captain's quarters to help Sandy. Even from a far distance, you can hear Mk calling for Sandy as he goes.
It isn't long before you find yourself enclosed in a familiar darkness. The light dims from the top and forms at the bottom. Even though your eyes remain open, it's almost as if they've closed. The only thing that lets you know you've got your eyes open is the purple hue. Mac's attempts at surprising you with a sudden shadow portal are losing their touch.
Light shines out as you land on your feet on the ground. The sudden change in setting causes you to squint. Your knees buckle for a second before you stand up straight. Landing after falling through Macaque's portals has always been a challenge. You're not a big fan of the whole falling feeling, but you're getting used to it.
Once adjusted to the sudden light, you open your eyes and spot a dark tail swaying atop of the roof of the familiar shack that lies in front of you. It isn't until you glance up and see a peach dip in and out of view. After realizing the monkey isn't going to move, you roll your eyes and make your way to the side of Wukong's house. Splinters threaten to break the skin of your hand as you climb the old ladder laying on the side of the wall.
Your head pops up over the top of the roof. Macaque continues tossing the peach up and down with one hand, resting the other behind his head. One of his legs is propped up and bent at the knee while the other lays in a straight line. Not a word is exchanged between the two of you as you make your way up onto the roof. You stumble lightly, causing some chunks of wood to slide down the side of the building. Cringe forms on your face as you watch as one of the pieces slides down and onto one of the small monkey's heads.
"Sorry!" You call out, cutting into the comfortable silence built up between you and Macaque. Your eyes wander to the roof's middle and land back onto the dark monkey. "Macaque."
The peach lands back in his hand and doesn't go back up. Macaque's tail flicks back and forth as he tilts his head back. His eyes meet yours for a second before he looks up at the small hole leading up to the sky. The monkey takes a bite of the peach that's in his hand as you sit next to his head. You watch as his ears flutter.
Macaque offers up the peach in your direction. You raise an eyebrow and take it from his hand. Peach fuzz warms your hand as you inspect the peach carefully. Quiet chirps of the mountain are the only noises that path through your ears. Macaque's eyes trail your form for a second before making their way back up to the sky. It's a rather strange feeling honestly.
Without further inspection, you take a bite out of the peach in front of you. Bitter sweetness overtakes your mouth. A small smile forms on your face as you see a similar one form on Macaque's face.
"This place is much quieter than Megapolis," murmurs Macaque. His tail starts swaying back and forth as he keeps his eyes on the sky. "I almost forgot the comfort this place can bring people."
Silence ensues. It's not a comfortable one, but the air could be a little lighter. Your tongue presses against your lips as you sink your teeth into the peach in front of you. A light breeze blows past. Sunlight continues to creep into the hole at the top of the mountain. Despite it being a little past noon, the sun's yet to completely overtake the hole in the mountain. Quiet chomps from your hungry venture are accompanied by quiet chirps from the monkey's sitting at the bottom of the shack.
Macaque casts his glance down towards the monkeys. His face welcomes a small smile as he looks down at them. The dark monkey's ears flutter as if to listen to the chirps of the swarm of monkey's down below. Your eyes follow his gaze. A matching smile forms on your face as you see the swarm of monkey's below you.
"They're hungry," Macaque sighs and shakes his head, casting his glance back to you as he remains in his spot lying on the roof, "if only they could try some of your wonderful food."
A sigh escapes your mouth as you find yourself smiling more. "That's the reason you opened a portal, isn't it?" Your eyes meet Macaque's, watching as they quickly flick the other way. "Normally you accompany me on my walks here after attempting to scare me from behind a tree."
Macaque rolls his eyes and keeps them up towards the sky. "There's starving monkeys awaiting food, (Y/N)." He grumbles, tail now flicking back and forth.
"You're so greedy." You shake your head and toss the peach back onto his chest. A small laugh gets stuck in the back of your throat after watching Macaque flinch. The monkey shoots you a glare, letting you know if you laugh, you're utterly fucked. "Alright! Kitchen here I come!"
Nervous laughter flutters out of your lips as you stand. Your eyes make their way back down to the hungry swarm of monkey's below you. Maybe you could make spring rolls? It's a rather simple recipe. Even Macaque could help out if he so chooses. He's been adamant about learning ever since that firm meal you cooked for him. Though, in your mind, it was a miserable fail. Him helping though will definitely make it easier to serve the monkey's to their likes and dislikes.
"Hey Macaque," you spin around on one heel as you near the end of the roof, "would you mind telling me if spring rolls sound good?"
The monkey stirs before turning on his side. His tail flicks back and forth while a yawn escapes his mouth. Macaque props his head up onto his right hand while scratching his head with his left. You watch with curious eyes as he chirps incoherent sounds to the monkey's below. What sounds like excited chirps erupt from the swarm, some even shaking each other in response.
"They like the idea," Macaque chuckles before sitting up, resting his arms on both knees, "though I think the word 'like' would be an understatement of how they feel."
The two of you share a light-hearted laugh. You place a hand on your hip as you watch Macaque stand. Macaque rests both hands behind his head and watches sheer chaos erupt from below the shack. He shakes his head before chirping what seems to be a warning. All of the monkey's below quickly calm down.
"What did you say?" You question, raising a brow while drawing your eyes down to the seemingly calmer monkey's below.
"I just told them to chill out," the monkey shrugs and lazily waltzes in your direction, "but in a meaner phrase."
You sock his shoulder and roll your eyes, looking back at the taller monkey in front of you. "You don't need to be so mean all of the time," you scoff and meet his gaze, "it doesn't hurt to politely ask instead of barking orders."
A sigh blows into your face causing you to make a face. Macaque chuckles as you step back in disgust. "Calm yourself," Macaque teasingly coos, "I was merely messing with you."
"I'm sure you were," you mumble while turning back around. Another dark chuckle fills the air. Your eyes roll themselves as you go to step to the side. Just like earlier, chunks of the old roof go sliding down the side of it. The only difference this time is that it's the very chunk you're standing on.
Your eyes open a bit as your balance shifts the other way. You begin to fall back before an arm quickly snakes itself around your waist. Macaque pulls you up close, unfazed by the fact that some of the roof gave out. If anything, the monkey was sort of expecting something to happen.
"You're so clueless sometimes," Macaque meets your eyes, feeling his heart flutter involuntarily upon realizing how close the two of you are. The monkey clears his throat, "you know that right?"
"Sorry," you murmur, a little distracted by the way his fur lights up in the sunlight above. His fur looks bewitching in the light of the sun. "It's a work in progress."
Macaque looks much cleaner than when you first met him. Over the last course of the last week and a half that you've been watching FFM, Macaque's really shaped up his hygiene. It's refreshing to see him a little less hostile. He still definitely has his moments, but they're not as bad.
"Whatever you say," Macaque whispers to match the softness of your voice. It's hard to tell if he's mocking you or not.
The two of you just stand there, looking at each other in a comfortable silence. One of your feet cling onto the middle beam of the roof while the one that slipped earlier still dangles in the air. Macaque's feet stand relatively close together. His ears flutter as he listens to the soft sound of your breathing. It's hard to focus on anything but you at this moment. The world almost seems to fall quiet and even if it did, who cares.
You watch as Macaque's eyes look down below your eyes to a lower part of your face before meeting your eyes again. Light blush creeps onto your face as he starts pulling you close. With your faces inches apart, it almost seems like you might kiss-
"Okay!" You laugh abruptly, startling the monkey in front of you. "I need some vegetables, shrimp, mangos, some herbs, and rice paper wrappers from the market. Think you're down to run to the market for me?"
His eyes search yours for a quick second. Hurt flashes through his face for a quick second before he steps back. Macaque's eyes flick down to the side of the roof. "Yeah," the monkey scoffs, "I'll be back." And with that, you watch as the monkey drops through the portal below him.
Once he's gone, you feel your knees buckle before giving out. You land on the middle beam of the roof. You move a hand to your face while resting the other on the wooden beam below you. Your breathing harshly hitches as memories of you and Wukong flash through your mind. Everything in your being screams what almost happened was wrong. Despite that, the way your heart is pounding in your chest says otherwise. What a betrayal.
A low scoff escapes your lips as you sit there, talking to yourself. "That little bitch," you whine, "what the fuck is his game?"
It isn't until you hear the chirps you remember the monkey's down below just watched your entire interaction with Macaque. Heat flashes through your face as you look down at them. All of their beady eyes stare back at you with a hint of betrayal and confusion.
"If I make you guys the spring rice rolls," you begin to reason, raising your hands above your head, "you guys will stay quiet. Deal?"
The monkey's all exchange looks. Low chirps flood the air before one of them, seemingly the leader, looks up at you and nods. Relief floods throughout your system as you rest your hands in your lap. A quiet hum escapes into the air as you make your way to the ladder.
Might as well get started on prepping the kitchen. The last time you had a meal at Wukong's place, it was made by him. Wukong's kitchen is nice, but it's small. You wonder if the sage has ever cooked a full meal for the monkey's before. In the past, you've made all types of meals, teaching Wukong the more simple tricks. Some of which you saw him use when he cooked for you. It didn't click in the moment, but the majority of his movements copied yours when you taught him how to cook.
The memory makes you smile.
Teaching Wukong how to cook was by no means an easy task. He definitely lacks the patience for cooking, but he's got the interest to learn how to cook. That's what made him jump at excitement when you offered to teach him because you knew he was never going to ask. The sage has too much pride for his own good.
You and Wukong spent a great deal of time in the kitchen the first couple of months spent on Flower Fruit Mountain. He'd always lean into the light touches when you helped him learn. Even when you'd do things separate from what he was doing, his tail would attach itself wherever it could. The other little monkey's would occasionally peep in. Wukong would always sneak them food before it was done, earning him a little less of your food. You can't remember if the monkey's ever disliked anything you cooked. Each of them had their own tastes, and back then you knew what each one liked and didn't like. Now, all of that information is just fuzzy.
You purse your lips while opening the door to the shack you used to call home. A couple of monkey's grab at your legs as you walk to the kitchen. An involuntary smile forms on your face as you glance down at them. What you can only assume is excited chatter takes over the quiet late afternoon air. More monkey's swarm the countertops. Laughter escapes your lips as you gently scoop some off of the counter.
"I have to prep the kitchen you guys," you coo gently whilst placing them onto the floor, "but I promise it'll all be done fairly soon, okay? Now go watch TV or something."
The monkey's all make a puzzling look before one chirps out. Your eyes move to the one who's leading the rest of the monkey's to the living room. It offers you a small wave before skipping over to the remote. Light blooms into the living room as the tv is turned on. Channel after channel is changed as you begin to clean the kitchen.
You grab a rag off of the edge of the sink and turn on the water. After drenching the rag in water and squeezing it, you start washing down the countertops of Wukong's kitchen. His kitchen isn't very big, but it's not too small either. Taking quick mental notes on how the appliances of the kitchen have changed, you move to cleaning the small island part of the kitchen. It's got nothing on it, so it's perfect for setting plates.
Making food for monkeys, definitely not how you thought today would go, but it definitely works. "Macaque should hopefully be back with some food soon," you mumble quietly while searching the kitchen's drawers for silverware, "maybe setting up the table for twelve won't hurt while we wait."
Your feet carry you all over the kitchen as you navigate through the memories of where everything is, or was. Some things such as where Wukong had the small bowls and sticks have changed from one end of the kitchen to the other. For as long as you've known Wukong, he's never been one to change where he places anything, ever, so you wonder why and when he decided to switch up a good half of where everything in his kitchen went.
That being said, finding a shallow pie plate was the thing you expected least to find where the bowls used to be. Whatever, it works, all his dishes are too shallow to wet the rice paper wrapping. Your eyes wander the kitchen in hopes of finding something else to prepare while waiting for Macaque's return. The kitchen's nicely set and you can practically see the water dripping from the monkeys mouths as they await your cooking in the living room.
Unfortunately, you fail to find anything to do. A quiet sigh escapes your lips as you lean your back against the kitchen counter. There really isn't anything to do except wait for Macaque's return.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Macaque breathes while pulling his hood close after buying rice wrapping, "why the hell did I lean in?" The monkey shoves the bag of rice wrapping into a shadow formed along the side of a building. His nose starts sniffing out more vegetables. He really wished you specified what all you needed better because they sell just about everything in different shapes and sizes nowadays.
On top of that, Macaque's never really enjoyed looking for specific vegetables in different sizes and such. He's just not that type of monkey, so even he himself is wondering why he left in such a rush. Maybe it's the fact that embarrassment has him in a chokehold after you pulled away from kissing him moments before. Is it the fact that he's in monkey form? No, if that were the case, you would never have been in a relationship with Wukong. That motherfucker can't use glamor to save his life, Macaque knows that for a fact.
Wukong.
Macaque's blood boils at the thought of Wukong. The so-called king gets whatever he wants, including an incredible person. "Fuck," he swears under his breath while dropping carrots into a shadow when the vender isn't looking, "he's always ruining my life. Can't ever escape that needy motherfucker."
The shadow monkey continues to wander around the outskirts of the market, not wanting to dive too deep if he doesn't have to. Wind hurls by, causing his two ears to perk up. His eyes open wide as a small white ball flies by his face. Macaque comes to a halt as he glances around quickly. The monkey pulls his hood closer to his face as his tail wraps around his waist tighter. He quints at a place down the street and relaxes upon the sight. False alert, a voice in his head rings out, it's just Mk and his friends.
Speaking of Mk, Macaque raises a brow upon seeing the bandana he's wearing. The monkey's eyes scan the bandana and notice a familiar warm magical glow to it. He scoffs and rolls his eyes, of course Wukong has something to do with this madness. At least he's still training the kid while off looking for a way to end the Lady Bone Demon.
A shiver rolls down Macaque's spine, causing the dark monkey's facial glamor to flicker for a couple of seconds. He clears his throat and stands up straight when people start to take notice of his strange behavior. Macaque offers them a half-assed smile and walks along the part of the market closest to Pigsy's shop. Something about Wukong's magic has a way of drawing him in, it always has and it probably always will.
Macaque imitates a smoker leaning against an old building, his eyes flicking between Mk and his pig friend. Mk continues swinging aimlessly as Pigsy keeps knocking ping pong balls his way. Pigsy cackles when Mk loses another round, causing Macaque to crack a smile. This takes him back to when Macaque watched Wukong use the same trick to train you all those centuries ago. You were just as frustrated as Mk is at this very moment.
You were swinging around the carved wooden stick in areas Wukong never was. Wukong would just laugh and catch the makeshift wooden pole from behind you. The action always startled you, causing more frustration to arise in your failure to detect Wukong. He, Wukong, would just readjust the bandana and have you start again after gentle instructions. Macaque would always quietly chuckle to himself, especially when you'd come complaining about your failure to him in the woods later. Of course, the darker monkey always acted like he didn't watch the entire thing go down.
Macaque wasn't invading per say, the two of you would always head up to a more open area on the mountain for training. The shadow monkey just happened to overhear the commotion. It was startling at first, having inhabitants back at Flower Fruit Mountain, especially ones that are somewhat familiar. Seeing Wukong back made Macaque a mix of happy, angry, and confused, especially after seeing he brought you back with him. Macaque wanted to murder you on sight, but his curiosity won, and he couldn't be more happy that it did.
The monkey's eyes open a bit upon the realization that he's more than definitely running late on getting the ingredients to you. Macaque swallows and shakes his head, tossing the smoke into the trash as he heads deeper into the market once more, leaving Mk and his training behind. He glances around and spots a couple of herbs, opening a shadow under them while looking around for basil and cilantro. His eyes wander before spotting them both. Noticing the line ahead, Macaque rolls his eyes and drops them into a shadow as well, tossing a couple coins up from the shadow as payment back. He's honestly no longer sure if those are even valuable, but they give him an excuse to tell you he at the very least paid.
Mangos are the last thing on the list and the monkey can't seem to spot them decorating any stand at all. He sniffs the air and shakes his head when too many scents flood his nose. Macaque wipes his nose and uses glamor to hide his face once more. With no other choice, Macaque slowly opens up his six ears from under his light hood. His face twitches in slight pain as he tries focusing on just the market's voices. Granted the market's still bustling with noise, it's better than listening to the whole damn city.
Voice's fade in and out of tune like an old radio slowly switching stations while Macaque wanders around the center of the market. His ears flutter beneath the hood, tickling its black fabric. Certain noises, like children screaming or whining, causes Macaque to jerk back away from markets. A light scowl escapes his lips when people give him up and down looks. Macaque rolls his eyes once again and continues his search for mangos.
The more he fails to find anyone speaking of mangos, the more frustrated Macaque becomes. Mangos? Why the hell would you want to mix mangos with all these vegetables in the first place? Doesn't Flower Fruit Mountain have an abundant amount of peaches for you to work with. On top of those peaches, he's pretty sure berries still grow there. Your choice of mangos just feels very random. Whatever the case might be, Macaque will be giving you an earful later about your taste in elusive market fruits.
"We've got apples, pears, peaches, mangos, and all the fruits your baking heart could ever desire," a market vender chirps, causing Macaque's head to jerk towards the direction of the noise, "so little lady, which ones would you like?"
"I'll take the mangos," Macaque hums while walking over to the market, grazing his fingertips against the smooth skin of the mangos. His eyes wander the more red mangos, before carefully picking up two that look fairly appetizing, not that Macaque would know anything about mangos. "How much are they, my good sir?"
"For two mangos?" The vendor turns his attention from the lady beside him and eyes Macaque up and down. Macaque watches the man squint and then smile, standing up straight. "58 yuan."
Macaque's eye twitches as he offers the vendor a coy smile while leaning partially over the stands front, "58 yuan seems a little too much for two mangos that one can simply gather from the vineyard over." His ears twitch as he tunes into the people in the vineyard outside the city. "They sell mangos over there for a simple price of 15 yuan each."
The vendor's face drops as he sees his customers start glancing at the fruit they were thinking of buying. "Well," he chuckles nervously while pulling on the collar of his shirt, "it's because mine are simply more fresh."
"Fresh fruits with mold and bruising?" Macaque smiles a bit as he picks up a couple bruised apples, inspecting them closely. "I don't know man, the vineyards pricing and fresh fruits seem a little better than whatever you're selling here."
"Sale!" He shouts frantically to keep people from walking away. "Each fruit for 22 yuan!"
A wicked smile forms on Macaque's face as people start crowing the stand, giving him the chance to sneak the two good mangoes away from the stand without paying. "That was too easy," murmurs the monkey while chuckling to himself, "people are so predictable."
Macaque heads towards the back of the market, towards the shadowed alleys. Once he's concealed in the shadows, Macaque lets some bits and pieces of his glamor fall. The monkey tucks the top four of his ears away and sighs in relief when the world finally quiets down. Hearing anything and everything all at once is a dream no one should have. It's more dreadful because even the quietest drop of water is startling.
The monkey quickly glances around before opening a portal beneath his feet. Everything grows dark for a couple of seconds before blinding light takes hold. The sun shines through the top of flower fruit mountains open top. It makes Macaque wince and hold onto his mangos tighter. A threatening feeling hovers over his heart as he looks towards the small shack in front of him.
Against every embarrassed fiber in his body telling him to run away, he swallows his pride and starts walking towards Wukong's small shack.
Early Thursday Evening
Upon hearing the front door open, you feel the muscles in your back tense up. "Hello?" You call out, glancing away from the sink and towards the front door. The door just hangs open, the frame completely barren of any sign of life. A shudder runs up your spine as you open your mouth while taking careful steps towards the door. Your eyes scan the living room for any missing monkey's, but they're all sound asleep or near sleep.
Instincts start to kick in as a golden shield flickers around yourself. The city's been quiet since the spider who came to Flower Fruit Mountain. Maybe he's back, hiding within the cover of the shadows. Macaque's training's really starting to get to you. His words echoing one side of your brain to the other.
Macaque.
Your eyes involuntarily roll themselves while you slouch your shoulders and shut the front door quietly. "Har har, Macaque," you say in a soft whisper while looking around Wukong's shack, "you can come out now, I would like to start prepping food and unfortunately, you've got my groceries."
Quiet moments sneak by as you stand there, crossing your arms while waiting for the monkey of the shadows to finally emerge. The creaking coming from around the shack doesn't help locate him though. You can feel his presence and he knows you can. Despite him being hidden in whatever shadow realm he can sneak through, your power has grown just enough to detect more hidden presences.
"It's no fun if you call me out on all my tricks so early," Macaque teasingly whispers from behind you, grabbing your attention away from the closed front door, "kills my 'mysterious' vibe." He reaches into the opened shadow in the wall and pulls out most of what you asked for. Herbs, vegetables, rice wrapping, and shrimp, but no mango.
You raise a brow upon your realization. "Where's the mango?"
Macaque smiles while heading into the kitchen, "Look up." He gently sets everything onto the kitchen counter. The monkey chuckles after seeing the mango drop from the living room ceiling and onto your head from the corner of his eye. He only smiles more upon hearing the way you quietly whine afterwards to keep from waking the monkeys the room over.
"Not funny," you softly murmur while following Macaque into the kitchen, mango in hand. A small smile forms on your face after seeing Macaque start rinsing everything he bought. "Oh, so you do remember what I taught you?"
The shadow monkey smiles and rolls his eyes upon hearing your quiet tease. "I just don't want my food to have human scent on it, that's all." His eyes open slightly when he sees your hands start to join him in washing everything he got from the market.
"Whatever you say, Macaque." A quiet laugh bubbles out of your lips as you start rinsing off different vegetables and herbs, being gentle upon touching their leaves. "Just don't rip the leaves from their stems, I'd hate to see such beautiful herbs go to waste."
Macaque follows your quiet instructions and gently washes the leaves of specific herbs like you've shown him to do. His tail subconsciously sways back and forth as he finds himself engulfed in the task of carefully washing his finds at the market. Your eyes wander Macaque's hands as you finish washing your half of the vegetables. Another smile forms on your face as you watch the shadow monkey wash the herbs very carefully while just running his hands along the vegetables.
"You're such a dork," you whisper while wiping your hands on the towel by the counter. Once your hands are dried, you shift to the other side of the counter by the chopping board, taking the rinsed vegetables with you.
Considering the fact that you're feeding smaller mouths, you make the bite sized pieces a little smaller. The kitchen falls into a comfortable silence, other than the occasional sniff, shuffle, or in Macaque's case, flick of the tail. It's a small sound, one that really shouldn't mean anything, but it does. Macaque's relaxed doing the work he's doing and that makes you happy. You're sure if you had a tail similar to his or Wukong's, it would definitely be swaying just as much while you're cooking.
You hum in contentment when you finish cutting the vegetables and move onto cutting the small slices of mango. It's a nice touch to mix in with all the vegetables, adding a more flavorful side taste into the plainess. Over the quiet thud of the knife colliding with the cutting board, the hiss of the sink water dissipates. One could only assume that it means Macaque has finished washing the herbs.
"Macaque," your eyes trail away from the cutting board for a couple seconds as you confirm that he's in fact finished his task, "would you do me a favor and grab a couple of bowls to put the vegetables in?" Macaque nods and takes the bowls from the island countertop and brings them your way. The two of you fall into a quiet rhythm, you chop and Macaque takes those bite sized pieces and separates them into different bowls.
Cooking you've thought has always brought people together. Whether they like each other or not, they find some sort of peace working with one another. The art of cooking isn't just moving your hands and doing, it's an understanding between people of what needs to be done and what has to be done in order for those needs to happen. Maybe that's why you found peace working for Pigsy. He seemed to be the only chef in Megapolis who understood that cooking is an art, not just some ingredients shoved together. Your boss is a hothead, sure, but it's only because he takes every little detail of his recipes seriously. Pigsy has created a permanent home for you at his noodle shop, and that's something you never want to lose, ever.
You take a quick glance at the shadow monkey to your right as you finish chopping. It's hard not to smile as you notice how focused he looks. Macaque's engulfed in getting those bowls organized. You quietly snicker when you see him take a leaf out of the mango bowl and move it over to the correct bowl. Blush forms on the tips of the monkey's ears upon realizing you watched him do so.
"I just-" Macaque's ears flutter as he counters your quiet argument, "I don't like when foods mix." It's a poor excuse, both you know that, but it's an excuse nonetheless.
"I didn't say anything," you shrug and bite back a smile while opening the container of rice wrappings, "now go and wake the monkey's up, I'm almost finished with dinner."
The shadow monkey raises a brow, eyesing down the bowls of ingredients and empty wrappings. "Are you sure you're almost done? We still have tons of wrappings to make."
"The kids are going to make their own," you announce, smiling as you grab the pie pan from earlier, filling a third of it full of water from the sink, "I figured it'll be better so they can add what they like individually."
Macaque feels his heart warm. It's unbelievable how considerate you are sometimes. "You're something else, (Y/N), you know that, right?" He messes up your hair while walking into the living room. The shadow monkey only smiles when he hears you make a noise of disapproval.
You huff and set the pan down, fixing your hair before gently soaking each rice wrapping in water. You wait fifteen seconds for each, allowing Macaque to get each of the kids up. One by one, they each come wandering into the kitchen. Some rub their eyes while others sniff the air. Macaque comes in with the last one on his shoulder, stroking it's back gently. The sight honestly makes your heart melt.
"Okay, I want each of you to wash your hands and then I'll walk everyone through how to make your rice wrapping." You watch with the same amount of curiosity that the monkey's seem to have as they each glance back at the taller monkey behind them.
Macaque shrugs and walks over to the sink, washing his hands in order to show everyone else what to do. He chirps and then several monkeys rush in over to him, climbing up onto the counter to wash their hands as well. It's time like this when you're happy you moved everything onto the island while waiting for Macaque to wake the kids. When everyone finishes washing their small hands, they climb onto the kitchen counters surrounding the island. Each of their eyes stare you down with curiosity.
"Thank you Macaque," your tone is probably more teasing than you mean for it to come off as, but that's okay. With purpose in your careful hands, you take a rice wrapping out of the pan and set it onto the counter. Quiet chirps fill the air as you sprinkle ⅓ of your roll in mango, carrot, basil, and some other greens you chopped up. You repeat the steps again on another rice wrapping, mixing up your ingredients. "You each get to make two, alright?" You say while holding up two fingers with one hand, putting your rice wrappings onto a plate with another hand.
Macaque repeats your directions in chirps to the monkey's while making his own. He adds a little more mango than you did to each of his wraps before stepping to the side. "Ready for some kitchen chaos?" The dark simian chuckles while leaving the kitchen.
It takes a couple of seconds but the monkey's begin to dive into making their own wraps. You step back with a smile and watch as the kids make their dinner. Your eyes wander the kitchen a little longer before deciding to follow Macaque's lead to step outside.
"Don't make too much of a mess," you warn, pointing a finger at the happily chirping monkeys, "Wukong will have your heads." It's an empty threat, especially considering he's not coming back for a few weeks, but you hope it'll keep the kids somewhat in line.
You leave the kitchen and head out the front door. Macaque just sits on the end of the porch taking careful bites out of his spring roll. With one hand holding your plate, you gently shut the front door behind you with the other. Peaceful silence engulfs the outside world as you find a seat next to Macaque on the old porch.
"Are they any good?" You ask while taking a bite out of one of the spring rolls on your plate. It's more of a question for you than Macaque, but some input would be nice. The roll tastes nice enough, so you're going to say yes.
"Very," Macaque hums while finishing his roll, sucking his fingers in such a manner that leaves you a little disgusted. "They're so good, I'm thinking of nabbing another from one of the kids-"
You pinch his side and roll your eyes, "Don't you dare. They need food just as much as we do." Liar. They're immortal like Wukong, each of them would live without some of your food, but it's nice to feel needed. "Besides, I think they like my food just as much as you and Wukong do. Maybe you guys do have something in common after all."
Macaque scoffs and puts the swaying of his tail to a halt. "Do we have something in common? Me and the king, disgusting." There's this look on his face, a mix of both pure disgust and amusement. The disgust you can somewhat understand, but the amusement is another curiosity. "Though, it wouldn't be the first time." Macaque sighs and locks eyes with you.
"Oh?" You finish the first spring roll on your plate and pick up the other, "What was the thing you had in common?"
"Don't worry about it," Macaque messes up your hair and stands up, "just eat your food." His eyes remain on yours for a few seconds longer before he pulls them away.
"Whatever you say," you sigh and take a bite out of your leftover spring roll, moving your attention to the plate resting on your knees. You miss the way Macaque smiles while looking back down at you.