Was inspired by @winterpower98 's post here. Specially the picture of Macaque with a young Yue Shi in his arms. So now you get a surprise fic. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Macaque smiles softly as he rubs his son's back gently, holding the boy close to himself as he rocked. The shadow demon never expected he would be in this situation. Especially not when he was the same age as the twins. But here he was, holding Yue Shi and rocking him to sleep as his twin sister looked on with a watchful eye. How did this all start, you may wonder?
Well, it began after the twins had moved into their own room in the hut. Macaque noticed over time that they still seemed to be tired, even after he thought they had settled in. It was almost like they were having trouble sleeping. But they were safe. They had their own space that neither him nor his mate encroached into without permission. They had settled down and had made improvements in many ways. So the still tired cubs were a concern to him. It had taken about two months before Yue Shi finally told him what was going on. Though they felt safer, they were still taking shifts during the night: where one slept, the other was awake before switching halfway through the night. Macaque was concerned and as he put Zan to bed one night, he came up with an idea.
He was grateful the twins were willing to try it and it became a nighttime routine for them. A small moment between him and his cubs. He always started with Yue Shi, who knew he was allowed to tap him to be put down. He would purr and rock the boy while holding him to his chest like a small child. Some nights, the lunar twin would even allow the other to rub his back or hum softly. When he could tell the cub was getting close, he would lay him down on his side of the bed and watched as the solar twin would tuck her brother in and make sure the massive bear Wukong had made for the twins was tucked in against the boy. Only when Ri Shi felt her brother was securely in bed and ready to rest, was when she would allow Macaque to go through the process with her.
The need to watch and make sure her twin was safe was not lost on the shadow demon. Especially now that he understood what he had seen them go through. He understood well and knew how it was. She would not rest until she knew her brother was safe and resting, but that also meant she would not let Macaque help her either. Seeing the lunar cub go through the process first was an important step for her brain to associate the routine as safe and okay to allow. It usually took her longer to relax either way, so it was a good way to help her learn how to relax herself also.
As Macaque thought through the process and the strides his cubs were making, he could hear his daughter's breathing begin to shift a bit. She was getting sleepy. She wasn't as comfortable with him rubbing her back yet, but he was willing to take it slow. It was already a lot for her to let herself get into such a vulnerable position in the first place. He began to sing softly instead. As he did, he felt her body shift, becoming heavier but also more relaxed. A sign she was almost ready to be laid down. Before long, her breathing changed again as she let out soft purrs and her eyes fluttered closed. He waited a minute longer, trying to enjoy the moment. Especially since this was the first time in months of doing this that his little girl started to purr during the routine. He wanted to just hold her close and listen.
Before it became too long, he gently laid her down in her spot on the other side of the bear and tucked her in. He made sure she was facing Yue Shi so the slightly awake cub could see his sister was safe and asleep, allowing his mind to fully drift off into dreamland. Macaque kissed their heads softly and took a moment to soak in the sweet forms of his sleeping kids, snuggled up to their favorite teddy bear with tails wrapped around each other. Slowly, Macaque backed out of the room, gaze not leaving his sleeping cubs until it was cut off by the door gently being shut.
