A Son Of Two Dad's

Emotional Release

The second time Wukong woke up he knew he should get out of bed. Macaque was still asleep next to him but he wasn't that surprised considering how much energy healing was probably taking out of the other.

He didn't want to get up but he knew he should and also he needed to know how long it had been and how far away they were from Red Son's house. (And that was a whole can of worms itself, how was DBK going to react to seeing him again? He dreaded the thought.) 

Careful not to wake Macaque, Wukong shuffled over the other awkwardly until he was out of bed, looking down at himself and noticing the state of his clothes with a grimace. He needed to get new ones, definitely. 

But could he be bothered? He looked down again and decided that no, he couldn't, before leaving the room, making sure to close the door on the way out as quietly as he could manage. 

Once outside the dark room, he sighed, pressing his forehead against the door tiredly and closing his eyes against the brighter lights of the hallway. He felt exhausted. Drained. Tears pricked at his eyes as he thought about curling up on a couch with MK, his kid smiling up at him with that sunny grin he carried. Why couldn't he be doing that now? God's he wished he was. 

He didn't want to put on a fake smile and pretend he was okay, he didn't want to leave that room, he didn't want to have to interact with other people, but for MK? For MK he'd do it, knowing that he shouldn't make MK's friends worry more than they needed to. 

MK would want to comfort them if he were here and since he wasn't it was up to Monkey King not to make it worse. (Because he wasn't going to comfort them. That would be awkward and weird and just- no.) 

Putting on a relaxed grin he hoped wasn't strained and walked down the hallway, keeping his eyes out for- 

"Mister Monkey King! You're up!" MK's hyperactive friend, Mei, made Wukong jump, which in itself was impressive because he really should have had enough awareness of his surroundings to notice her before then. 

"Yep, sure am. What time is it?" He asked casually, tail swinging about lazily behind him. 

"Six! Pigsy's making dinner. I was actually told to go get you and Macaque 'cause no one's seen you all day and you really shouldn't go so long without eating and-" It felt like she was never going to stop, her mouth moving at impossible speeds until Wukong interrupted her. 

"Okay well, I'm up now. You can wake Macaque up if you want, I'll be in the kitchen." He walked past her then, using his gold vision to find the kitchen where everyone else was. It made him cringe seeing so many people in one place, his instincts screaming at him to leave. He really didn't want to go in there but well he had to. He needed to find out how far away they were and then he would be able to leave them since they'd be safe so he could go do some research and ask for help from some old... acquaintances. If they'd help. 

He stepped into the kitchen, looking straight at the table where everyone, even Red Son was sitting. Though the demon didn't look to be there willingly, snarling at everyone and grumbling under his breath as he worked on something- bits of metal and machinery- on the table. 

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Wukong asked, making sure none of the discomfort he felt showed in his voice or body language. 

The plain-looking one who Wukong sadly couldn't remember the name of (it began with a T didn't it?) sat up straighter at his voice, looking over with wide, excited eyes. 

"Oh my gods finally, I've been waiting for you to get up, I have so many questions! When you were journeying did you actually-" Wukong listened with growing discomfort as the man began to rattle on and on about his life, asking innumerable questions, and eventually when Wukong felt like he was going to die from cringing too hard someone interrupted making him sigh in relief.

That person, Pigsy, was now putting bowls of noodles on the table and Wukong was pleasantly surprised when a vegetable one was placed in the open seat when he was obviously expected to sit, delighted that he wouldn't have to explain about not being able to eat meat. 

He sat down, Mei bounding in a second after with a smug expression on her face and Tang finally stopped talking, the noodles instantly absorbing his whole interest as he dug in like they were the only thing he lived for. Wukong watched, a bit amazed and horrified at the same time before taking a small bit of his own meal. 

It was nice. Really nice. 

He didn't really cook at home but this was warm and comforting and made him immediately feel- oh. Quickly, he swallowed the mouthful he'd taken and discreetly wiped his eyes, surprised that they were even damp in the first place. 

How was it that something as simple as a meal was enough to make him cry? Why even was he crying? He couldn't explain it, he just knew that his chest felt fuzzy and that his emotions seemed to be overflowing like a river.

"You're a menace." Wukong pushed the feeling down and swung his head around to look at Macaque, who had just walked in and was grumbling under his breath, his fur wet. He looked miserable and suddenly Mei's smug look made sense. 

So that's how she'd gotten him to wake up.

It made sense, Wukong knew how stubborn he could be when it came to his sleep. Not much could get him up unless he wanted to.  

The sight of Macaque, dripping like a drowned cat had something in his chest loosening and he burst out in laughter, delighted when it served to make Macaque pout even harder. 

"Shut up," Macaque grumbled at him harshly but the scathing glare didn't have the effect Macaque had meant it to have, only making Wukong laugh harder.  

 The room was warm, Wukong's chest was warm and for just a moment, a really short moment everything was okay. 

(It's been a while, I know, I just haven't been up for writing recently. I'm still not, so don't expect me to be as consistent until I get out of my funk. My joint pain has been acting up and I've been faining and having plenty of dizzy spells thanks to the hot weather so really I'm just not having the best time right now. 

I will still be updating, just maybe every 3-4 days-ish? I hope you guys are having a good week though and I have been reading comments so thanks to the people that have been doing that, it's been nice.)