The Scent of Plums [ShadowPeach]

The Scent of Plums

After exchanging the final blows, MK collapsed onto the cold stone floor of his new mentor's dojo. Wincing at the loud clang of the staff next to him, he glanced at the hand held out in front of him.

"You've improved. Break time."

The boy grinned, letting the hand pull him up as he dusted himself off. "What's for lunch?" Macaque gave no answer, only speeding up. MK sighed before tagging along, irritated and hungry, before noticing the unfamiliar hallway they were passing through. "We've never been here—" He trailed off, breath almost hitching at the view around him changing to that of a place very similar to the mountain a certain sage resided on. Though there was a very obvious lack of monkeys running about, it struck an odd sense of familiarity— leaving MK thoroughly both confused and extremely interested in Macaque's background with his teacher. MK opened his mouth to speak, yet paused as he noticed the distant look on the monkey's face— though it was likely best he didn't ask.

"So," he dragged his words, sitting next to Macaque. "Is this place important to you?" The boy glanced at the shadow demon, not expecting an answer before looking back at the scenery.

"..Yeah."

MK's brows raised, surprised that the monkey answered. Turning towards Macaque again, he questioned again. "Were you and Monkey King close?"
He slightly regretted asking, noting how the monkey's ears twitched and eyes hardened at the mention of his mentor's name.

The shadow demon snapped his head towards the other, ready to make a snarky remark, before sighing. "Best friends." MK's eyes urged him to continue, frowning when he didn't elaborate.

"Do you miss him? I could ask him—"

Macaque bristled, using his shadow to stand. "No." He turned to leave, before feeling a tug on his tunic.

"Wait! I won't ask, don't leave!"

Turning to the owner of the voice, he glared, before pulling the hand off. "No. I got things to do." The other whined, almost toppling over when his hand was removed.

"Ple—ase?"

"No."

MK sighed, before making his most serious face. "I'll give you a three-free meal coupon for Pigsy's Noodles." He winced internally, knowing it would take another six months to get one again.

"Deal," the monkey stated, before dropping back down and turning to the other. "So, what do you want?" MK looked down in thought, hands fidgeting with the hem of his jacket.

"Tell me stuff about him, stuff that wouldn't be in the books. Just things you know."

Macaque paused, taken aback at the question, before hesitantly speaking. "He," he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling thirsty. "He grabs the fur at the back of his neck when embarrassed." When the other didn't reply, the shadow demon continued. "...There's this spot at the back of his head," he stopped to demonstrate, "He really likes it if you stroke it softly. Used to tease him about it back then," Macaque grimaced at the memory, turning away from MK's dumbstruck expression.

"You-"

"Anyway, that's it for now. Break's over, kid." The shadow demon stood, grabbing his trainee's arm and pulling him up as well. A pout rose onto MK's face, before replacing it with a giddy smile. Macaque returned the grin with one of his own, ignoring the warmth he felt and turning his back towards the other.

"This time I'll totally win!" The boy beamed, yet the other's words replayed in his mind, a mischievous plan coming to mind for his next visit to Monkey King.

—

After a particularly long day of deliveries, MK had forgotten all about his plan, up until the moment of his last delivery when the tired monkey opened the door.

In retrospect, he should have recognized his customer from the monkey ordering from the same place two weeks prior.

"Hey kid, got my noodles?" Wukong held a lazy grin as he opened the door wider for the boy to enter.

MK walked in, happily munching on a dumpling Pigsy had packed for him while he did his job. "Yup," he popped the "p" whilst sitting on a cool stone tile, patting the ground beside for the monkey to sit as well.

Amused at the gesture, the sage fondly ruffled the human's hair and rested at his side. "So, how was your day?" He watched as his student started to tell him about his afternoon, silently noting the frantic expression that laced MK's face for half a second.

"...So yeah, I'd say it was good! Same as usual." Though the monkey found it suspicious, he decided not to pay it much thought, opting to pat the area in front of him. MK's eyes brightened, excitedly crawling in front of Wukong as the sage started to untangle his hair. It was a common occurrence between the two, sitting in peaceful ambience as the monkey brushed the other's hair. Monkey King would never admit it, but such an action usually was reserved for kin for his kind, and even though he never minded his relationship with his disciple— he found it odd how natural it felt. He should, he interrupted himself, brushing away the thought, before focusing on backcombing and detangling the knots once again. He shouldn't get too involved with the kid's life, after all.

"Hey, Monkey King?"

The sage's ears perked up, humming a sound of acknowledgement as he continued. After settling a particularly annoying knot, he pulled his hands back and studied his work with pride. MK turned his head to look at his mentor, before looking away again, an unsure voice muffled through the mop of fluffy hair.

"Can I do your hair? You always do mine, I've always been curious— if that's okay! I don't wanna pressure you."

Wukong's heart jumped, the question catching him off-guard. He stilled, contemplating whether he should let his student touch his hair. After a moment of awkward silence passed, the monkey sighed, pulling the other up to his feet.

"Go for it, bud."

MK perked up, turning around to face the sage.
"Are you sure? I won't do anything if you don't want me to—"

The monkey felt his hand go to the back of his neck, reflexively running his hand through the fur as he laughed nervously, missing the boy's eyes narrow in recognition. "It's fine, I don't mind."

A few seconds of shuffling later, MK stood at the back of Wukong, hands hesitantly hovering above the matted fur. Slowly, he burrowed one hand in, then the other, and started running his fingers through, softly tugging at the clumps of fur on the surface. It continued like that for a while, his mind blank— before suddenly remembering his motive for asking in the first place.

"Is it here?.."

The monkey's ear twitched at the murmurs coming behind. He found it amusing as it was peculiar, as it seemed the other was searching for a specific-

Oh.

Wukong flinched, noticing the small click of confirmation from the other before he felt a pair of hands on the same area again— his body slowly leaning into the touch. The feeling was familiar, a blurred smile coming into mind, before he shook away the memory. He felt a mellow chitter escape, brows furrowing as the sage clamped his mouth shut with as much force as one possibly could— before hearing a higher voice chirp back. The god flushed before hesitantly chirping, and before he knew it, the two had a conversation, frequently giggling doing so. After a while, the hands stopped, Wukong finally registering the rumble in his throat and clearing it in embarrassment.

"How did ya' say you found that spot, again?"

The sage took notice in the odd second that passed, before the young voice responded, watching as his student came around to grab the jacket discarded on the floor. "A friend." Wukong squinted suspiciously at MK, his hand running through his fur to make sure there were no more knots.

Humming in acknowledgement, he stood up, dusting off any remnants showing he had been sitting on the floor in the first place. "Tell me more about them on your next visit, kay?—" He was suddenly interrupted by his trainee running forward into him, pulling him into a tight embrace. The moment ended as quickly as it came, MK pulling away and beaming, before quickly exiting and closing the gate, his own ears slightly red. Wukong stood frozen, the scent of plums coming from his student brushing past his nose.

A friend, huh?