#asks for tiny

Wukong was bored. So unbelievably bored.

As much as he refused to admit it, he understood why the Monkey King had him take a break from training for the next week. After… well everything. He had stopped avoiding Bajie, Tang, Sandy, and Bai Long due to intervention more from their side than his but anything else right now was… too much for him. His life would never go back to how it was before. 

He had convinced himself that he had accepted that. But somedays he doubted the truth in that.

Wukong had been crashing at Mei’s home above her workshop for the past day, needing a place to stay as a sudden rainstorm had hit the city. He could have dashed back to Flower Fruit Mountain but… well Wukong didn’t quite want to leave just yet. Plus the idea of going out in the rain is the last thing he wanted to do right now. So he would weather it out on Mei’s couch and try not to die of boredom.

He could get up and do something but… he just didn’t have the energy to do it.

Lately Wukong hasn’t had the energy for much besides training and fighting any demons that attacked the city. Being in the city only sapped his energy more, being forced to remember better times before it all came crashing down.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t catch the sound of the window to Mei’s apartment opening behind him. The sound of footsteps finally caught his attention and Wukong pulled himself off the couch to see Macaque, fur soaked from the rain and frozen as he caught eyes with the other.

“What are you doing here?!”

“I could ask you the same thing!”

They silently glared at each other before Wukong gave a sigh, not feeling up for this today.

“Mei let me crash here while it’s pouring rain outside. Don’t exactly have a lot of options of places to stay in the city right now. I’m guessing it’s… the same with you?” He asked, sagging against the couch. Evidently his lack of fight was surprising as Macaque looked thrown entirely off his rhythm, his weapon disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

“Yeah. She let’s me stay here sometimes. Are you… are you-” He was cut off by Wukong throwing a towel at his face.

“Dry off before you stink up the place with your wet fur,” Wukong grumbled, refusing to look at him. Macaque merely sighed but did what he was told, also far too tired to argue considering he’d been on the run for the past few days from demons who apparently decided now was a good time to enact vengeance on him now that he had broken away from Spider Queen. He had barely slept or eaten, it was constant movement until he finally lost them. And even then, Macaque had to be sure because he refused to risk leading them back to Mei.

He told himself it was because he didn’t want to lose the only hideout he had.

But Macaque would be lying.

Just as he finished drying himself, Macaque barely managed to catch the peach which Wukong had tossed at him.

“Now eat something. Have you even been taking care of yourself? Cause you look worse than usual,” Wukong commented with a weak attempt of a smirk.

“Yeah, well you’re not looking so pretty yourself.” Macaque paused, his scowl softening to a look of concern, “Are you okay?” Wukong stayed silent. That was answer enough to him and Macaque silently sat down next to him on the couch.

And if Wukong leaned against him for comfort and Macaque wrapped his arm around the others shoulders to give it well… nobody needed to know that.

Macaque honestly doesn’t know how he ended up in this situation. He had managed to barely escape the Lady Bone Demon and her… minion, grievously wounded and still bleeding when he had stumbled on to the kid and his team’s ship before promptly passing out before they could even question how he got there. After that, everything was… blurry with only passing blips that he could remember as he faded in and out of consciousness.

In the end he survived. Though considering his current situation, he was starting to question if that was a good thing anymore. Because, as usual, Wukong was being stupid.

What was concerning was that this was different from his usual stupidity.

It didn’t escape Macaque that the Monkey King now had a scar that was an eerie mirror of his own. In fact it refused to leave his thoughts the moment Wukong stormed the med bay not too long after he had awoken with semi-coherent thoughts. The big blue guy who introduced himself as Sandy had left the room to make some special tea for Macaque’s pain, leaving them alone.

Wukong was the picture of barely held back rage, aura buzzing with power that his sensitive ears could pick up on. Yet all Macaque could focus on was the slash which cut through the other’s right eyebrow, through his eye, before stopping at his cheek.

“Listen to me very carefully, Macaque. It’s only because of my kid that you’re here, otherwise I’d have you-”

“What happened to your eye Wukong?”

That was enough to make the Monkey King freeze in place, volcanic rage barely an ember now.

“It’s… nothing. And don’t change the subject!” It was a poor attempt at lying without outright doing so.

“You’re lying to me again. Why can’t you just tell me the truth for once? I think I, of all people, am someone you can tell what happened without fussing or fearing that you’re not as untouchable as you like to make people think you are.” He didn’t even have the energy to sound accusatory or angry. Macaque was just tired.

If they were being honest with each other, he had been tired for a long time. Absolutely exhausted. Drained.

And he knew Wukong was the same.

“...A demon got a lucky hit on me while I was looking for a way to defeat the Lady Bone Demon. Gave as good as I got but… look what good that did,” Wukong said, seemingly having to force the words out of himself and he refused to look at Macaque as he spoke.

“See? Was that so hard?”

“Remember that there’s nothing stopping me from throwing you off the ship before Sandy noticed you were gone. Watch it.” A good threat, if a great weight seemed to have appeared on the Monkey King’s shoulders. As if because he told one truth, the rest was demanding to be known and exposed to his ears.

“Any other lies left to tell me?” Macaque asked, voice surprisingly gentle. Wukong simply gave him a look. Macaque looked at him back before he scooted over on the bed, patting the empty space next to him.

Wukong stood frozen.

Sandy came back to find the two demon monkeys cuddling, the Monkey King himself shaking as if he was crying. His eyes met Macaque’s, who was holding Wukong as if trying to protect him from the outside world so that could finally let himself be vulnerable. Macaque glared daggers, as if daring Sandy to say anything.

Instead, Sandy gave them both a soft smile and left their tea on a counter within reach before leaving them their privacy.

To say things were awkward between the two of the immortal monkey demons when the truth finally came out would be a giant understatement. And the irony of it all was, unfortunately, not lost on them either that they had essentially fallen for each other twice like complete fools. While they could simply avoid each other and give themselves some time to sort their feelings out, that wasn’t exactly an option with the busy week of shoots ahead of them both. Shoots which involved them having to be around each other for practically the whole day.

Great, just great, fantastic.

Despite their best attempts to appear perfectly fine when forced to be in the same room as each other, their cast mates still looked upon them both with concern. As if they all could sense the hidden tension between them both. Thankfully a majority of them knew it would be best to not involve themselves in the two’s business and respect their privacy.

Emphasis on most.

If your name wasn’t Long Xiaojiao.

Macaque wasn’t sure how she did it, but she managed to convince Xiaotian to go along with some plan to get them to “talk their shit out”. Before either Wukong or Macaque knew it, the two of them had lured them to meet at the same storage closet and shove them both inside before locking the door behind them. 

“Sorry Mr. Cheung, I couldn’t convince her to just you two figure things out on your own! I’ll go see if I can at least sneak the key away from her so you two aren’t stuck in there for too long!” Xiaotian’s voice was muffled through the door before he ran off after Xiaojiao, his footsteps echoing behind him before they faded away.

Wukong knew they could both easily free themselves from the closet. The only thing stopping them both was having to explain to their castmates, the director, and the owner of the studio how two seemingly normal humans broke down a metal door. It was safer for them both to simply wait until Xiaotian or Xiaojiao let them out.

Wait in tense, awkward silence.

“You gonna be the one to address the elephant in the room or do I have to do it?”

Okay, nevermind for simply sitting in silence.

Wukong sighed but knew Macaque had a point. They couldn’t avoid this forever.

“I’m sorry.”

They both froze at them both saying that in sync, staring at each other in silence before Wukong broke into slightly hysterical laughter with Macaque not far behind. Soon they were left curled up on the floor of the closet, clutching their stomachs as laughter filled the space. By the time they were done, finally able to catch their breath, they found each other a lot closer to each other than when they started.

Neither found themselves caring much at that moment.

“I missed you. Thought I’d never see you again.”

“Like you could get rid of me that easily Peaches. If you ain’t dead, then that means I’m not either.”

They cuddled in silence, though now it was much more peaceful and content. Yet there was still a nagging feeling in Wukong’s chest.

“I mean it though. I’m sorry… for what I did to you. If I could take it back, I would. I just want to be there for you. Will you still let me do that?” He whispered, torn between expecting rejection and wanting to let himself hope for the best. Macaque was silent before dropping his human disguise, letting his tail wrap around Wukong’s waist.

“Yeah, I can still let you do that Peaches. Only if you let me do the same.” Wukong followed suit, dropping his glamour and purring happily as he nuzzled Macaque’s neck.

It was a very pleasant time, all three of them catching up and reminiscing with noodles and tea. As well as some liquor that Pigsy had dug up from Sandy’s pantry that he’d been saving for a special occasion. Neither Pigsy or Sandy said anything about how Wukong was clinging to them both as if his immortal life depended on it. And in all fairness, they were no better though Pigsy did his best to be subtle about it compared to Sandy, who showed no such hesitation. Wukong had calmed down, now looking pleasantly exhausted as expected from having some of the most emotionally tiring hours in the past 500 years.

Unfortunately it looked like the Monkey King wasn’t about to get a break just yet.

Specifically when he awoke with a headache and wrapped up in a dozen blankets that was so comfy that he didn’t want to even think about leaving. Wukong let out a groan of pain, fully encasing himself in his blanket cocoon to block out the morning sunlight which streamed through the windows.

“Ah Wukong, I see you’re awake. Guess we all had a bit too much to drink last night. Tea?” Sandy asked, offering Wukong a cup of peach tea which had a nice enough aroma to have the monkey poke out of his soft haven to take the cup. Pigsy not far behind, looking like a mess and passed up on Sandy’s tea to make himself a cup of coffee instead. They simply drank in silence, all three doing their best to get a grip on their hangovers but there were no regrets between them.

Eventually the silence was broken by Sandy.

“So, brother, I wanted to ask about something you said last night. Something about a guy who you said was your ex who tried killing your kid but you still miss him and you felt like a terrible person for feeling that way.”

Wukong spat his tea in shock and Pigsy barely dodged out of the way in time by falling to the floor. Sandy merely waited for the two to calm down while calmly drinking his own tea.

“Uh… I um… I can’t convince you to just ignore all that because I was drunk, right?”

“Oh definitely not. You were drunk crying and everything, Wukong. So… what happened?” Pigsy answered, now off the floor and looking none too pleased to have nearly gotten a faceful of tea. Wukong looked between the two demons and for a moment he considered making a break for it but knew it would be fruitless. He gave a sigh, his entire body sagging in defeat.

“Alright, alright. Just… it’s a long story okay that goes back even before I met you both and… y’know.” Sandy and Pigsy nodded in understanding, ready to take as long as it needed to get the full story.

And what a story it was.

By the time Wukong was done, his tea had long since gone cold and his blanket cocoon felt more like a prison he was too afraid to leave rather than a safe haven. At least his headache was gone. Whether or not it woud be coming back with a vengeance remained up in the air as the two remained silent in the wake of Wukong finishing speaking.

“Brother.”

“I know.”

“Wukong.”

“I know! I was an idiot and I nearly got my kid killed because of my-” Pigsy cut him off with a light whack at the back of the Monkey King’s head, just enough to stop him from spiraling.

“We can discuss that later Wukong because I need to process all of that. First and foremost, I think Wujing agrees with me on this: First foremost, you could do better. Like… the Six-Eared Macaque? Really?” He said before taking a sip of his coffee.

Wukong merely blinked in surprise, not quite expecting the conversation to take a turn like this.

“I mean… he was really great when we first got together. We felt like we could take on the world and the heavens together. And then… well I met you both and master and… I guess he couldn’t handle that I was changing and not who I used to be. Sometimes I feel like I should have tried harder to convince him that this wasn’t a bad thing and maybe we’d still be…” Wukong trailed off and didn’t resist when he was pulled into a hug by Pigsy.

“No sense dwelling on the past Wukong. We both appreciate you being honest with us. And I agree with Bajie, you definitely can do better. It’s understandable to miss him, considering everything you’ve both been through together but it would definitely not be good for you to consider getting back with him,” Sandy said, handing Wukong another cup of peach tea which he accepted.

“I think I know how to make you not miss him anymore.”

“How’s that Bajie?” Pigsy gave the Monkey King a grin of complete mischief that made him feel a burst of pride in his heart.

“We shit talk the hell out of him!”