@goldenvision said: “ Are ya’ done brooding in your corner ? ” He can’t really keep that smug look for long. Not after what they just went through. What wukong continues to put macaque through. Always the irresponsible one , all those old memories flood in & he can feel himself regretting to search for the other. How he hated this feeling more than macaque , confronting the damage he inadvertently caused.
He looks away , just barely , it was hard to keep eye contact. Instinctively a hand rubs at the back of his neck. “ you’re only going to hear me say this once , but.. thanks. for keeping an eye on the kid when I— “ a sentence he didn’t want to finish , but he sighs & looks macaque back in the eyes. It’s the most serious he’s been with the other in a long time. “ when I couldn’t. “
& in the next moment he’s already turning away from the other after getting that off his chest. “ there. that’s all I wanted to say. “
He really, really didn’t think he’d live to see this moment. And maybe he was still letting that realization sink in, as it occurs to him that he was still somehow standing despite everything these past few months have thrown at him. The rising sun’s golden warmth washing over his figure, seeping into black fur and red cloth, contrasted by the overhanging shadow of Sandy’s travel van that he leaned against. Dark circles hang heavy under sunken golden eyes, a tell-tale sign of exhaustion from the battle won. Macaque was never one for crowds, there always a little bit too much going on, and he felt more like a ghost amongst a sea of still living people than he did one of them.
His mind is lost in a haze of orange and gold as he stares off at the distant horizon. He’s not here right now, his thoughts race with images from the night prior, replaying over in his head. ( I could have died. Many times, I could have died. ) But he’d put that fear aside for the sake of another. For the sake of one more dawn they all lived to see. For once, in perhaps centuries of clawing and stumbling his way through the dark, lost without a sense of direction, or purpose.This changes things. It wasn’t what he was used to, and it’s all he can think of as a figure emerges from the growing dawn, it’s features coming into focus. The sunlight dazzles off his golden fur, radiant and breathtaking as ever, just like when the heavens had blessed him all those years ago. Untouchable. Unbothered. Something the Six-Eared Macaque will never know again. It rests heavy in his chest, seizing up in his heart, and weighing his mind back down to the Earth. How is it, that even after all this time, it still gets to him?
Perhaps it wasn’t really that long in the face of eternity.
The shadow demon’s posture is quick to become tense, however, as he’s fully expecting where that look on the great sage’s face will lead, and aggravation is visible there etched in his frown. What Macaque doesn’t expect, however, is what his counterpart says next. The surprising sincerity in Wukong’s voice was not something that the darker monkey was prepared for. And if only by a little bit, Macaque’s expression softens.
…He doesn’t know what to make of it. He just blinks, and then gives a curt nod.
“ … Wukong, ” He speaks, before the other can leave. His voice is soft. Too soft, actually, as the demon immediately becomes self conscious of his tone. He clears his throat, eyes averting elsewhere, fixing on the boy that sat by himself on the cliff’s edge, bowl of noodles in hand. Perhaps… this would be the only chance he’d get to say something that mattered, and have it be heard. “ MK’s a good kid. You.. definitely picked the right person to be your successor. ”
A pause. He hesitates on his words, because something came to mind then. Macaque looks thoughtful, albeit a little resigned, and his fool’s gold eyes return to the other after a moment. “ Make sure he actually knows that. You’re not just the hero, you’re.. his hero too. And he needs you. ”
One more pause. It was then that he smiled, though he intended to make light of this foreign conversation, it’s surprisingly gentle for a smile from Macaque.
“ … So be sure to remember that. Otherwise.. eheh. I may have steal him from you again. ”
