Da-Xia's Guide to Romance

Chapter 1 - Macaque

{Featuring Macaque being a drama queen, Da-Xia regretting her life choices, and both characters being incredibly blunt towards the end}

The streets around her were mostly empty, but due to her recent popularity boost, Da-Xia's stall was still open. Anyone who had heard of the events that took place at the university was eventually drawn to her booth, and those who hadn't heard were ultimately drawn in by the addition of her 'Monkey King approved' claim on her sign. The greater demand brought a greater variety of topics, but most were interested in her poems about love. While she was more than happy to write about this subject, things were getting a tad... repetitive.
Da-Xia sighed slightly as she finished with the final customer in line, flipping her 'open' sign around to say 'closed'. 
"It's good to be writing about something other than enlightenment, but writing about love does make it harder for me to ignore that I'm... alone," she muttered aloud to herself. 
Her thoughts continued to stew as she turned around to prepare to close up her shop, voicing her musings to the empty air. "Everyone comes to Da-Xia for help with love, but nobody actually loves Da-Xia..." She shook her head. "Ah, well, I guess there's just nobody out there who understands romance the way I-" 
"Excuse me..." 
Da-Xia cast a glance over her shoulder. "Sorry, we're close..." 
If she hadn't already met Sun Wukong, she probably would have mistaken the stranger for the Monkey King at first. He was nearly identical to him, except for his dark hair, six ears, and gorgeous purple eyes. He looked slightly uncomfortable, most likely due to his inability to disguise himself while in town. He seemed to have given up on getting his cloak to stay over his head and cover his ears. 
The demon cleared his throat slightly. "I just have a quick question." 
She may have had a soft spot for romance, but she wasn't the type of person to look for it wherever she went. This was definitely no exception, yet she'd be lying to herself if she said his voice alone wasn't enough to draw her interest. She slowly turned to face him, trying to appear casual as she leaned against the booth. 
"I suppose I could make an exception just for you..." 
He pointed at her 'Monkey King approved' claim. "What's the story behind this sign?" 
Of course he wanted to know about the sign. Well, she couldn't exactly blame him. 
"Sun Wukong was a customer of mine not too long ago," she informed him, putting away the pens and slips of paper that were still lying about. "He had me write some poems for his future wife. She really liked them and pretty soon word got around about my poem parlor, so I added that to the sign as a way of drawing in more customers. He's probably the best thing to ever happen to my business!" 
The demon in front of her grew pale, a bit of a strange sight if she was being completely honest. "Future wife? What was her name?" 
"I think it was (y/n), why?" 
Da-Xia nearly jumped as he leaned over the counter with an intense look in his eyes. "THEY'RE ENGAGED?!" 
"That's... what they told me..." 
He face planted onto the counter, Da-Xia just barely managing to pull her hands out of the way in time. "This is it. The worst day of my life. This is where I die. The Six Eared Macaque is no more." 
She hesitated to comfort him, her hand hovering awkwardly in midair. "Uh, well, there's plenty of other people out there! I'm sure there's gotta be somebody that's meant for you!" 
"You don't understand!" he groaned, gripping his hair. "I've been stalking her since the day she was born!" 
"Whoa, okay, that's a little bit... yikes..."
Da-Xia personally considered herself an optimist, but last she checked she wasn't colorblind; this was a major red flag. 
"For the record, I didn't fall in love with her until she was an adult," the Six Eared Macaque clarified, seeming to pick up on her cautious tone, "but I've been doing everything in my power to show her that nobody will ever understand her the way I do, and she still chose that stupid ape over me! She wasn't interested in a relationship at all the last time I saw her, and now she's engaged to the Monkey King in the span of a month or so?" 
Despite the obvious danger signs flashing before her eyes, Da-Xia couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for him. Besides, in her experience, some people were more than capable of seeing the error of their ways and changing for the better. One thing was for sure; he wasn't going to simply stumble upon someone else who would give him a chance to remedy his thoughts and actions. 
"Do you... need to talk or something?" 
He glanced up in confusion. "Huh?" 
Da-Xia turned around and finished closing up shop. "Come on, let's go get a drink and you can explain the situation to me." 
The monkey scowled. "How could you possibly understand what I'm going through?" 
"Look, I'm good with people and I'm good with words," she sighed. "If you want a solution to your problem, I can probably help." 
He examined her with narrowed eyes, as though trying to determine whether or not she was a threat. She didn't have to try hard to appear non-threatening, didn't really have to try at all in fact, so she simply waited for him to come to the obvious conclusion that he had nothing to lose. This of course made her personally aware of the danger she was putting herself in, but if worst came to worst, it wasn't like there wouldn't be other people around. 
"Fine."