Seeing Through the Trauma

Acceptance (12)

When he'd finally stopped crying (and wasn't it sweet that neither of his friends moved to pull away before he did?) he leaned back, letting Mei sit against the wall on his other side as he wiped his tears away, slightly embarrassed, before slowly grabbing Mei's hand in his left hand, and then even more unsurely held Red's in his right. 

Red quickly held his hand back though, getting rid of any of his doubts as he smiled slightly and leaned his head against Mei's shoulder, exhausted and drained but feeling much lighter.

"Sorry about that." He muttered, and Mei immediately shook her head, giving his hand a squeeze. 

"Nah, that's what friends are for, silly. I'll always be here for you." The cheeky tone in her voice and the sincerity of it made him laugh, smiling a little brighter as he silently thanked whatever forces had allowed them to meet. 

"Thanks, Mei." He hoped all of his boundless gratitude came through in his tone. 

"Ugh, you are both so- so sappy! It's disgusting." Red scoffed out, though his own tone was too soft to be serious and MK laughed when Mei leaned over to try and ruffle his hair, making him lean away with a hiss. 

"Aww, no need to feel left out. We love you too, Red boy!" She snickered, teasing him but being genuine at the same time and it all felt so normal that MK's whole chest warmed with affection, suddenly finding the hollow feeling in his chest a lot quieter. 

"Disgusting. Don't touch me!" Mei giggled as she stopped trying to ruffle his hair at his request, everyone in the room ignoring how not once had Red even tried to let go of MK's hand despite what he'd said. It made him feel warm inside, his chest fluttering giddily as he looked down at their hands, enjoying how warm Red Son's were.

"You ready to leave the bathroom now, MK? We can stay here as long as you need but also my butt's kinda getting numb." Mei said after a second and MK nodded, feeling better about trying to get some sleep now. 

"Yeah, I'm ready." 

"Great! Then let's have our sleepover." She cheered, springing to stand up and MK quickly followed her action, standing up as well after letting go of Red Son's hand. 

"Sounds fun, let me just..." He paused, pointing a thumb toward the bandages on the sink and going over to pick them up. He looked down at them and figured he should probably get new ones to put on, he was pretty sure you weren't supposed to re-use bandages but oh well. He didn't have any others and he was eager to cover up his ugly scar and creepy white eye. 

That was permanent. That was part of him, now.

The reminder sullied the sweet moment and he frowned, looking up just to find his creepy reflection in the mirror. 

"We can probably get Macaque to bandage that back up for you if you want," Mei said and MK was quick to shake his head. He didn't want to open that can of worms right now, not sure what his dad would say or do in response to his wound. 

He was already practically ignoring MK! He didn't want to make it worse. 

"No, that's okay, I got it." Rather clumsily, he began putting the bandages back on his head, and about halfway through his ears flicked as Red Son sighed dramatically, stomping over as MK tilted his head so he could see him. 

"Has no one ever taught you how to properly tie bandages?" He huffed, and MK opened his mouth to answer but was quickly interrupted by the demon continuing on. 

"Just- here, let me do it." He sighed and it sounded like a demand but MK noticed the way he didn't go to grab at them, waiting instead with his arm out like he was waiting for MK's permission. To make sure it was okay. It was sweet, and a small smile found its way onto MK's face as he moved so that Red had better access to the left side of his face in a clear action of giving his permission.