little sage

"Heeeey, kid! Bet you heard the sirens and all. Sooo you would totally not mind if your favourite mentor andalsothewholetroop crashed with you for a while, right?"

They don’t sound surprised at the very least about his admittance to being a demon. Chara is staring down at that quite intensely, though… debating the pros and cons.

“My mother said it is impolite to not accept food from strangers,” they say, sincerely. “Monsters put their hearts into what they make, so I suppose demons must be the same way. Maybe. However.”

They look up.

Though, technically, Wukong and Macaque weren't considered yaoguai or celestial — something else entirely. He guesses he'd also fall under that special, eleventh category of being.

He'd rather just simplify it to demon. Thinking about his origins again is going to give him another headache. Or crisis. Probably both.

"Anyways, it's nice to meet'cha Chara! My name's Qi Xiaotian— uh. You can just call me Xiaotian, or Monkey Kid, or MK. Most folks do!"

..Okay, almost always. But that's semantics.

"Good thinking!" Wukong eyes the staff for a moment with that same interest he had for the mace before looking away. The remains of the mace are tossed away, and with a now familiar motion, his tail wraps around MK's midsection and holds tight- "No time to waste now, let's go get that dragon!"

"Huh— wait, we're just gonna gun straight for it?" Not surprising, but also usually RPG's involve doing a quest chain first before fighting the big monster of the week.

Honestly, that's kinda how his life was before... well.

"Well, we don't have our usual powers... But you're right! You got me. And— because classic RPG parties never have more than one person with the same role..." He holds up his currently rock-candied staff. "I picked the caster class!"

There is a moment of silence after that... Which is swiftly followed by the ear-splitting

CRUNCH

"Eugh. Why? Just, why?"

A beat passes.

The bowl of noodles and offered chopsticks stare back at them.

The child frowns, squinting.

>ITEM >>>>>CHECK

It is a normal bowl of noodles, in a normal bowl, offered with normal chopsticks. There is a slightly spicy smell clinging to the meal, with an average amount of egg and veggies for this particular regional dish

Hm.

Chara glances back up at the stranger. Their expression is as sober as always.

"What, is someone fighting outside again? Is the house on fire?" He asks, eyes closed and voice still groggy with sleep. Wukong specifically asked to not be bothered in the days coming up to New Years unless there is an emergency and he's not sensing anything off with the house other than the weird ringing noise- oh. The doorbell. "Please don't tell me you woke me up because you ordered something online again and need me to sign for it. I thought we agreed that is not an emergency."

The monkey chitters at him and for a moment the words don't quite register... And then he jumps up in bed, wide awake. "Wait, seriously?" The monkey nods and Wukong swears, looking around frantically before grabbing a decent-looking robe from the laundry chair and hastily putting it on. His tail grabs Mary Sue's hairbrush and drags it through his hair, not accomplishing much other than making his look more frizzy.

"How do I look?" The monkey looks him up and down. And grimaces. "..Yeah, figures."

Well, he doesn't exactly have time to make himself any more presentable. MK is not exactly the most patient person and Wukong would like to keep his doors on their hinges this time. So he opens the door with a smile that is only a little tight and voice only a little raspy from sleep.

The lack of any other guests and Wukong's disheveled state isn't a surprising one. It leaves a sour taste in his mouth, nonetheless. People really do just come and go from this city without any rhyme or reason to it...

Nothing to do but be present, here and now, while they can.

Chara doesn’t like it. It puts them on edge. There are too many people — too many humans. They crowd around, and it makes the little monarch wish they had just stayed in the woods like they had declared they would.

But their stomach is growling, and over the years of, you know, being dead, they forgot what it’s like to be hungry. So they had set foot for the settlement, determined to buy something quick and leave before being noticed.

The child startles at the stranger, shoulders hiking up as they step back. Eyes narrow, and they bite hard at their bottom lip.

“No. I am not. You should not sneak up on children.”

— and, right as they say that, their traitorous stomach gives a particularly loud growl.

Oh yeah, have you guys seen this design?

I legit thought it was mk for a second

"Tch."

Frozen mist diffused the air surrounding their forms, momentarily shrouding the two from onlookers. The temptation rose to launch the bowl upon the child's head grew, though words seemed to be far more effective considering the child refused to breathe when they spoke.