Chapter Text
MK isn’t a stalker by any means, but he takes notes on people. Specifically people that he personally thinks are a mystery. There are certain people he just doesn’t understand. One of those people is Sandy. He remembered when he first met the hulking giant. He had seemed intimidating at first, but it turned out he was quite a softie. A kind man with a kind heart. It still baffled him to this day, seeing as Pigsy had described him as the complete opposite.
So he had his own notes on Sandy. He liked tea, for one, he had a cat, for two, and for three? The guy was terrified of chickens for some reason. It was funny to him, and the way he found out was honestly even more hilarious. The simple fact was that Mei had found an injured chicken and decided to bring it to Sandy’s ship for aid. They figured he would gladly help patch it up, but he had reeled away at the sight of the small feathered mammal. The two teased him to this day about it.
Another person he was curious about (but couldn’t exactly always write notes on) was Red Son. On the journey to find the rings for the fire, they had ended up taking refuge at his home. He had noted a few things about him there. He still had a fiery attitude, for one, he was embarrassed that other people were staying, for two, and for three? He didn’t actually mind helping them out in the end. Even if they did enrage the Demon Bull King by taking his nose ring (aka one of the rings for the fire).
But then there was Sun Wukong. The Monkey King. The great sage equal to Heaven. His mentor. Some might even say a fatherly figure (although he’d deny it as much as he could). Sun Wukong was a mystery to him. He had very few notes about him personally. The only other information he got was from a book or Tang, which, frankly, he wasn’t sure were too reliable. After all, words could’ve been altered. All those events those stories told could have been told differently by the legend himself.
The only thing he surely knew about Wukong was that he loved peach flavored food and that he had history with both Macaque and the Lady Bone Demon (both of which they were running from). Anything other than that was unknown to him. Wukong was not an open person. He deflected. A lot. He practically never saw his mentor angry or anything other than happy. He always had a happy-go-lucky attitude. Even with that in mind, however, he can read his body language.
And he can tell the Monkey King is about to fall asleep.
Sometime along the way, Sandy had stopped the van for the group to set up camp. They were all tired after a day of nonstop driving, so getting out to stretch their legs was nice. Wukong had been particularly excited. He’d been meditating to gain his powers back, so the moment those doors opened, he shot out in the form of a falcon, flapping his wings brilliantly as he soared overhead in the darkening sky. He’d returned a few hours later when the group started a campfire, bouncing about to get a marshmallow.
Seeing him bounce around giddily, tail flickering with child-like excitement, was uplifting. Especially since the group had been sulking about the whole journey in general. Finding the rings was no easy task, after all. It was nice to take a breather every now and then to relax. Even Wukong had let loose to relax a bit. And about an hour after he had returned, the group was chattering excitedly.
“I can’t wait to get back to my noodle shop again.” Pigsy muttered, chewing on a marshmallow. “I can’t wait to get back home again!” MK leaned back in his chair, dangling his arms over the sides with a huff.” All of them felt homesick. Wukong snorted, picking his marshmallow out of the flames to blow on in a little. “Hope the monkeys didn’t make a mess of the place back home.” He mumbled, picking the sweet off the end of the stick before popping it into his mouth.
“I just want to be able to relax on my own bed again.” Mei put a marshmallow on her stick and shoved it into the flames. “Those bunk beds are starting to make me sore.” She mumbled crossly. MK sat up in his chair a little more, shrugging. “I don’t mind them too much. It makes me feel like I’m going camping. Same with this bonfire.” He noted. Tang raised an eyebrow at him. “So you’re… enjoying this? The whole running for our lives thing?”
“Wh- no! That is not what I said!” MK waved his hands frantically in front of his chest, shaking his head. “I don’t like that part. But the times where we can just relax and do this thing… I don’t mind them.” He shrugged, an awkward smile forcing its way onto his lips. Pigsy snorted, heaving a sigh. “You’re a handful, kid. Don’t know how the monkey puts up with ya’ sometimes.”
“Monkey King is very fond of me! Isn’t that right?” MK didn’t look back at Wukong, but he heard his mentor hum in agreement. MK nodded. “What he said!” He folded his arms, leaning back into his chair to fake a pout.
Sandy stood up, rubbing his hands together. “I’m going to go get some blankets. Does anyone want one?” He tilted his head. Everyone raised a hand, aside from Wukong, who flicked his tail dismissively. Sandy nodded, weaving around the fire. “I’ll be right back… Pigsy, could you make me a s’more while I get the blankets?” He asked. Pigsy simply waved him away, nodding as he reached to grab some crackers, chocolate, and a marshmallow.
“I hope he’s got thin blankets. I hate those heavy ones that don’t warm up.” Mei noted. MK nodded his agreement. “Yeah. I mean, what we have is what he have. But if you want to trade blankets, we totally can.” A smile and a nod was all the confirmation MK needed. He leaned back into his chair again, zipping up his jacket. A comfortable silence swept over the group.
MK exhaled, glancing over at Wukong to say something before catching himself. His mentor was looking up drowsily at the sky overhead, his tail swishing slowly against the ground. The look caught him by surprise at first. He’d never seen the other look this relaxed before (aside from meditation, but even then, he still had some sort of alertness). He cleared his throat, looking back at the others. “So…”
“I have blankets!”
MK startled at the announcement, swinging his head around to look over at Sandy as he marched towards the group. A small chorus of cheers filled the air as he distributed the blankets. Thankfully, Mei and MK didn’t need to switch. “Thank you Sandy!” MK chirped, wrapping himself in the blanket. “Thank you Sandy!” Mei and Tang echoed, taking their blankets gratefully.
Sandy draped Pigsy’s blanket over the chef’s shoulders, earning a snort from him. “I made you your s’more.” He muttered, throwing a thumb towards the cooler the ingredients were set on. “Very much appreciated.” Sandy mumbled, taking the small snack before taking a bite out of it. “Alright, I think that’s enough sweets for the night.” Pigsy muttered, grabbing the marshmallow bag to roll it up.
“Aw, c’mon!” MK whined. “Keep them out just in case! Please?” At the look Pigsy gave him, he leaned forward. “Pretty please with Monkey King’s staff on top?” He tried again. Pigsy groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Fine. But don’t go too crazy on them.” He muttered, setting the bag aside. MK scoffed, placing his hand over his chest. “Thank you for your concern, oh great chef, but have faith in me! For I, the monkie kid, would never go too crazy on-”
“Sh!” Mei cut him off, a finger pressed to her lips. MK stalled mid word, letting his mouth hang open for a moment before tilting his head. “What?” He muttered. She pulled her hand away from her mouth, gesturing towards where Wukong was sitting. MK furrowed his eyebrows together, fixing her with a suspicious look before slowly glancing over towards the chair. He deflated a little, exhaling a soft “oh” at the sight.
Wukong never let himself sleep around the others. Or, well, at least he didn’t let the others see him sleeping. He was always the last one to fall asleep and the first one to get up in the morning. Never once had MK or anyone else caught him off guard or found him napping. So seeing the other sprawled out on his chair lazily with his eyes closed and his head tilted back, mouth just slightly ajar, it was a bit surprising.
“Is… is he asleep?” He whispered. Mei face palmed, muffling her groan as she ducked her face into her hands. “Yes, he’s sleeping!” She muttered, looking up at him with an unamused expression. MK’s mouth formed an “oh” shape as he nodded his head slowly. A sudden sense of unease washed over him. Not only was this something rare, but it was something he could add to his notes… maybe.
“I think that’s probably our sign to pack things up.” Pigsy grunted, starting to stand. “What? No, no, no!” Mei shook her head, standing up. “He just fell asleep! Do you ever see the guy sleeping?” She didn’t wait for a response. “Exactly! We can’t just wake him up and then go to bed! The guy probably won’t fall asleep until we’re all asleep, and I’m not tired!” She hissed out in a strained whisper, flailing her hands around. Pigsy held his hands up defensively, sitting back down. “Okay, okay! Yeesh kid!”
Mei sat down with a huff, crossing one leg over the other as she slouched. MK breathed out a shaky laugh, running a hand through his hair. Wukong was a mystery to him. He didn’t know anything about his mentor, but he knew he struggled with people. That was one of the blaring red signs that he could see.
He noticed the way his tail flicked around nervously whenever he spoke to Pigsy or anyone. He heard the stutter in his words. He saw the way he clamped his hands together into fists. He watched the way he stiffened up as he spoke in a high-pitched, strained tone. He was no stranger to the tell-tale signs of it. But still, he felt like he was missing something. Normally, he would just ask what it was. But now didn’t feel like the best time to do that. Not while they were on a journey like this.
So seeing him finally relax around others was kind of relieving. In an odd way, he felt proud.
For a while longer, the group sat there and conversed silently. Sometimes the talk would stop when Wukong shifted in his chair, but he never awoke. The conversation would continue shortly after without stutter. But as the night drew on, the chatter slowly declined away until it became too quiet for too long. Pigsy sighed, clearing his throat. “Alright. Now I think we can start packing up.” He glanced over at Mei, as if expecting a challenge, but she nodded in agreement.
“We can wake Monkey King up after we get everything else packed up.” MK noted, standing up. He arched his back in a stretch, balling his hands into fists before relaxing and shaking himself. Pigsy clapped his hands together quietly. “Everyone grab your chairs and pack up.” He urged, grabbing his chair and folding it up. MK did the same, as well as everyone else. He helped along eagerly with the clean up, putting out the fire and grabbing the cooler. Once everyone had eventually gotten everything inside, he waved one of his hands. “You all lay down. I’ll go get Monkey King.”
He was met with no argument, so he hopped out of the van and began to make his way back towards Wukong… except something was off. Before, he had been swishing his tail dreamily over the grass, his face lax and body relaxed. But as MK drew closer, he noted that Wukong was not in that same state anymore. He had rolled over onto his side and curled up into a ball. His tail was lashing angrily, thumping against the chair. With each thump, Wukong curled further into himself, his ears flattening as he let out a low murmur of trembling words.
“Monkey King?” MK murmured, slowly his jog to a hesitant walk. Wukong grimaced, one of his hands grasping onto the armrest of the chair. MK could see his claws out, digging into the plastic with scary strength. He let out a low growl of a string of incoherent words that MK couldn’t piece together, but he knew he was distressed. He could tell it.
“Monkey King,” He began, crouching down by the chair. “Monkey King, wake up.” He whispered, shaking the chair a little. Wukong tilted his head a little, his tail lashing once as he breathed out a shaky “no” under his breath. Unease trickled through MK. He was having a nightmare. …oh god what did he do?
“Uh… uh Monkey King? You’re having a nightmare?” He croaked out awkwardly. Wukong didn’t respond. Or, well, he didn’t give him the response he wanted. Instead, Wukong let out another shaky breath, speaking in a broken, wobbling voice. “No… don’t- he can’t-” He broke off, his claws dragging through the arm of the chair. MK winced against the noise, resting a hand on Wukong’s shoulder. “Monkey King, please wake up- it- I don’t know what to do. Uh-”
“Don’t hurt the kid.”
MK froze. His breath hitched in his chest and he pulled his hand back. Was he having a nightmare about him? A sudden more frantic feeling ran through MK’s system. He stood up, shaking Wukong a bit more. “Monkey King, I'm alright! Wake up!” He hissed, loud enough for Wukong to hear but not loud enough to draw the attention of the others in the van.
Wukong let out a low, horrid sound of pain. “Kid.” A broken word trickled out of his mouth, breaking off into a choked sound. With a pang of sympathy, MK noticed the tears that had formed in Wukong’s eyes. “Monkey King- Wukong! It’s me, MK! I’m alright- I’m okay!” Desperation filled his voice. He didn’t know if he would be able to wake Wukong up. He was almost scared of doing so.
“No no no no nonono-” Wukong broke off, and suddenly, he jerked upright. MK couldn’t bite back the yelp of surprise the burst from him as he did so. He jumped backwards away from him, inhaling and exhaling quickly as he stared owlishly at his mentor. He was sitting upright clutching his chest with one hand and gripping his fur with his other. “Oh god oh god oh god-” He whispered in a wobbly mantra.
“Monkey King!” MK took a step towards Wukong, but froze when the other looked at him. And MK realized, with a gut-wrenching feeling, that this was the first time he’d seen the other upset. Not upset in an angry way. Upset in a way that made tears race down the sides of his face. Upset in a way that made him look small and vulnerable. His stomach flipped as he breathed out a shaky breath. “Are… are you okay?”
Wukong stared at him for a moment, almost in disbelief, before letting out a horrible attempt at a laugh. “I’m… I’m great, bud.” MK grimaced at the voice crack. Wukong’s shoulders hiked up to his ears as he feverishly swiped at his eyes, brushing the tears aside with a nervous laugh. “I, uh, you- it- uh…” He was struggling to say anything, and it just made more sympathy lance through MK. So he took a step forward and tilted his head.
“Can I hug you?”
Wukong stalled, blinking at MK with an undisguised look of shock gleaming in his eyes. His face was still wet from the tears, leaving ugly trails that ran down the sides of his face. He expected him to laugh and shake it off, but his face contorted. His lips tightened together, the bottom trembling as squinted a little. And without another word, MK crouched down by the chair and hugged his mentor.
Wukong hugged back without question, hooking onto the back of MK’s jacket with a shaky exhale as he buried his face in the crook of MK’s neck. “Do you wanna talk about it?” MK murmured softly after a moment. Wukong’s fur bristled at the question. “I… I don’t… no.” He finally managed to croak out, voice muffled. MK didn’t press. He simply nodded and allowed his mentor to hug him.
He’d never seen the other look so small before. Wukong always had such a bright attitude and outlook. The way he was acting now gave MK whiplash in a way he couldn’t put into words. Not only had his mentor cried, but his mentor had hugged him. If there was one other thing he knew about Wukong, it was that he hated physical contact. That alone told him that whatever Wukong had seen in his nightmare, it wasn’t good.
“Everyone else is inside the van…” MK explained after a while. Wukong nodded mutely into his shoulder. “We can… wait a while before we go in if you want?” He suggested. The words were forced and strained. He hadn’t really ever been put in a situation like this. Not only was it that, but he was in this situation with the Monkey King. The great sage equal to Heaven needed comfort after a nightmare. As childish as that sounded, it made MK’s stomach churn.
“...yeah… I’d prefer that.” Wukong mumbled, pulling away slowly. MK leaned back, putting his weight on his heels as he crouched on his toes. “I know I’m not really, uh, the person to probably talk about this, but if you wanna talk about it… I’m here… Sandy is too, but-” MK stopped himself when Wukong rested a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay kid… uh… thanks.” He brought one of his hands up to the back of his neck, rubbing it awkwardly.
“Sorry you had to see me like that…” He muttered. MK shook his head, exhaling a laugh of disbelief. “What? You don’t need to apologize for having a nightmare!” He sputtered out. “It happens! Y’know? It’s just something we can’t control. I don’t blame you.” God he felt like he was teaching Wukong. Wukong laughed, looking away with a grimace. “Yeah… you can head inside the van if you want. I think I’ll stay out here a bit longer.”
“Are you sure?” MK stood up. Wukong nodded, waving him away. “Yeah… I’ll take care of my chair later. You rest. Tomorrow will be another day.” He murmured. MK stared at his mentor for a moment longer before turning and slowly making his way back towards the van. He couldn’t help but wonder what Wukong’s nightmare had been about. Don’t hurt the kid. He shook it off as he pulled himself onto his bunk and closed his eyes.
Don’t hurt the kid.