Chapter Text
Wukong wasn't this much of a heavy sleeper.
At least, he hoped he wasn't.
He groaned, rubbing his eyes, reaching for the lamp light.
He stumbled, falling out of bed with a thud.
He yelped, grasping his ears at the sound.
Why was that suddenly so LOUD to him?!
He hissed, staggering to his feet as he kept holding onto his ears.
His prickly... Multi point ears?
He paused, confused.
He moved through the darkness, trying to find the closest mirror he had.
He felt the smooth glass and immediately latched onto the surface, trying to steady himself.
"Okay okay... Calm down, maybe... Maybe if I can see that this is all just a bad dream, it'll be fine... Right?"
He paused, trying to let his powers turn on the lights.
He tried again.
And again.
"Why isn't this working?!"
He huffed, slumping onto the ground. His head was already starting to hurt, his tail wrapping itself around his leg.
Everything in his body just ached.
It never did that.
Why was it doing that now...?
He groaned, pushing his messy hair out of his face.
He slowly got to his feet, moving towards his bed to turn on the light manually.
He hissed at how bright it was in his face, instinctively blocking it out as his ears began to ring.
He collapsed to the ground again, panting.
Dark brownish fur met his gaze.
Wait... Brown? He was always ginger, why was he suddenly brown?
He froze, scrambling to his feet to look at himself.
Dark brown fur... Six pairs of ears in colors of a sunrise.
He stared at himself, slowly backing up.
No...
This wasn't real.
It had to be a dream, right?
There was no way this was him!
No way...
He shook his head, trying to snap himself out of it.
This can't be happening.
It can't.
It can't.
It can't.
It can't.
It can't.
It can't.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to make it go away.
...
He slowly opened his eyes, still seeing himself from earlier in the mirror.
This...
This was real.
He felt his test tighten as he stumbled back, hyperventilating.
No... No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!
Please no...!
Please!
He curled up on himself on the ground, trying to bury his face in his clothes.
This can't be happening!
It can't.
It can't.
It can't.
It can't.
It...
It can't.
Macaque suddenly shot awake.
His ear twitched. It was way too quiet here.
He frowned, slowly getting up from his bed.
Footsteps... Almost silent.
Usually he could hear them just fine. That was odd.
His tail twitched, swishing around more unnaturally than before.
He reached for his purple light, only to stop the moment he noticed that, in the darkness...
His fur was white.
Did he lose his glamours?
He instinctively tried to put them back on.
Nothing.
He frowned, trying again.
Still nothing.
He groaned, burying his face in his hands.
He flicked on the light anyway, the white fur instantly becoming noticeable.
He frowned, staring at his arm.
He could work with this. Maybe he could go grab some hairdye from a salon and do it himself until he could figure this out.
He brushed his hands through his hair, rummaging through his pile of clothes.
Just a hoodie and sweatpants would do.
Simple. Inconspicuous.
He slipped them on over his sleepwear and reached for the door.
He needed to get this over with, and fast.
Wukong pulled his hood over his head as much as he could, trying to ignore the wandering gazes towards him.
The city was always so packed.
It was also already grating on his ears.
He groaned, trying to force the noise out.
Nothing ever seemed to work.
He stumbled to the side, panting a little as he leaned onto the wall.
His head ached so badly he thought he was gonna crumble like an actual rock.
He bit back a whine, grasping his head to try and stop the headache.
His vision kept spinning around him.
Everything hurt.
He just needed someplace... Quiet.
Hopefully very quiet.
He groaned, still holding his head as he trudged through the city, his tail falling limp behind him.
Maybe...
Maybe Mk knew what was going on...
He was a little bit hungry, anyway...
He stumbled for a moment, catching himself in time.
What was wrong with him today?!
He fell back to the ground, trying to steady his breathing.
In and out.
In and out.
Everything felt so heavy... So loud... So exhausting...
So...
"Wukong."
He froze. No no no no no no no no not now!
"Uh, hey Mac! How are you?" Wukong immediately sprang to his feet, pulling his hood down further over his face.
"I was just passing through. What are you doing here, you're usually not out in the city this early." Macaque crossed his arms.
"O-oh! Uh, I just needed some fresh air?" he winced.
The shadow monkey just stared at him, deadpan.
"Okay okay, so maybe I was going to Pigsy's cause I need to talk to MK."
"About what?"
"None of your business!" he pushed past Macaque, continuing to walk.
He hissed at the sound of a car blasting it's horn, his body trembling.
Macaque rolled his eyes, dragging him away from the sidewalk.
"Hey! Let me go!"
"You're clearly hiding something. So tell me what it is!"
"Never! It's none of your business- O-ow..." he whined, clutching his hood again.
Macaque frowned, pulling him into an alleyway.
"Why are you out in the city too... Don't you like shadows more?"
"I do. But maybe I wanted to take a walk for once." Macaque gritted his teeth.
"Oh, shut up. That's a lie and you know it." Wukong seethed.
"Its not like you'd care what I'm up to."
"I do care if you're trying to cause trouble!"
"Me? Oh, I would never-"
"SHUT UP!"
Wukong winced at his own voice, whining as he held onto his ears inside his hood.
Macaque frowned, staring at him.
"... Hair dye. My glamour for my fur is gone so I need hair dye until I can fix it." he muttered just loud enough for Wukong to hear.
"O-oh... Um, okay? Then why couldn't you just teleport there?" Wukong asked.
"I wanted to walk."
"You never want to walk, Mac."
"Well, maybe I do now!" Macaque huffed, crossing his arms.
Wukong frowned, walking up to him.
"Is it something with your powers?"
"No! It's not because of my powers!" lightning suddenly crackled around him.
Macaque froze, the golden energy instantly dissipating.
Wukong's eyes widened, only for the loud horn of a truck to throw off his train of thought. He yelped, wincing as he pressed his hands up to his ears.
It was so loud... Way too loud...
Macaque sighed, grabbing Wukong and pulling him through the alleyway. Then the street. Then another alleyway. Then another street.
"Where are we going...?" Wukong asked.
Macaque didn't say anything, just kept pulling him through before they reached a small park. He leapt over the fence, taking Wukong with him as he pulled him into the small woodland area.
"Woah! Hey, where are we going-"
"We both take off our hoods on three." Macaque said firmly.
"W-what?! No! Oh, hell no! I'm not going to-"
"Just do it! On three." he placed his hands up to the fabric.
"One."
Wukong shakily grasped his own hood.
"Two."
He braced for it.
"Three."
Both hoods fell off. The two just stared at each other in silence.
Almost... Horrified silence.
"Macaque, I-"
"Quiet." Macaque hissed, covering his ears.
"What? But what about-"
"My ears are normally sensitive and I know this is gonna sound like a long shot but I think we swapped powers."
Silence.
"WHAT?!- OW!" Wukong shrieked, immediately trying to cover his ears again. He whimpered, whining towards the pain as his tail lashed around.
Macaque sighed, digging out a pair of earmuffs and handing them over.
"Use these for now. I'll teach you how to control my powers if you teach me how to control yours." he mumbled.
Wukong hesitantly took the earmuffs, looking back at the snow monkey.
"... Okay, deal."
He tried to slip them on, only for them to fall right off. Macaque sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"We have a lot of work to do."