Seeing Through the Trauma

Look Out (15)

With the main issue between them fixed, MK still wasn't keen on leaving so soon. So he stayed with Macaque by the shore and sat down again, MK cuddling into his side as he listened to the sound of his heartbeat and the sound of the ocean, comforted by both.

Then Macaque started running his claws through his fur, grooming him, and MK felt his chest rumble with contentment, leaning into his side a little more and feeling his body go a little limp with relaxation.  

"So, how are you dealing with all this kiddo?" Macaque asked suddenly and MK draped his arms over his lap, leaving his head resting on his dad's leg as he peaked over the top of the knee to watch the tiny waves crash against the shore with his left eye. 

"...Sorry I wasn't there for you like Wukong was." He added and MK sighed, his tail curling around Macaque's own tail as heavy thoughts drifted through his mind. 

"Nah, it's okay. He's being... pretty overbearing at the moment anyway." He tried to go for casual but still addressed something that had been a big deal for him, hoping and dreading that Macaque would ask more about it and let him talk and ramble.  

"Pft, sounds like him. Want me to talk to him about it?" He asked, no judgment in his tone and it was nice, safe, so MK let himself keep talking. 

"No, it's okay. I just... I just wish I prove myself to him, you know? Show him I'm not broken or useless or something just cause I can't see as much anymore." He explained with a small voice and Macaque froze, his body going rigid beneath MK and his hand pausing from where it had been running through his fur. But that was okay, MK knew it was uncomfortable for him to think about MK's eye.

"You're not useless, and hey, I fight just fine with one eye so there's no doubt in my mind that you can too." MK wasn't so sure, shaking his head.

"I don't know. We tried training with Nezha to show him I'm fine, but maybe Baba was right cause I kept getting caught by his stupid ribbons. I just... it just made me realize I couldn't see anything if it was coming from the left side of me, you know?" He huffed and Macaque probably was the only person that did know.

Dad was silent for a second, then he turned and MK glanced up to look at him, letting out a little gasp at the sight of Macaque's scar and milky eye. 

"Yeah, I know." He said, and for some reason seeing the milky pale eye, not unlike MK's own, helped him. It looked so much like MK's did, though smaller, but unlike his own MK didn't think it was ugly and he certainly didn't think it made Macaque weak. His dad was one of the strongest people MK knew! 

"I had the same problem at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. It never stopped bothering me though, and I got headaches a lot from straining my good eye." MK nodded sympathetically, very familiar with the eye strain that gave him headaches he hoped would go away once he got used to it. Used to only having one eye.

Unable to see the ocean even though it was so close, just to the left of him a little, reminded him of what he was missing. Able to hear the waves crashing on the shore but unable to see it unless he turned his head again and looked away from Macaque.

"How did you get used to it?" MK asked, wondering if there was a way to compensate somehow for the lack of peripherals. In a fight, MK didn't want a weakness that big. He wondered if he should hide his pale eye and scar the way Macaque did so that people wouldn't use it against him.

"Time. But I learned a fun trick. C'mere." Macaque stood up and MK scrambled to his feet as well, following him closer into the forest and away from the noisy ocean until they were in a small clearing.

"What are we-" 

"Close your eyes." MK's eyebrows scrunched reflectively but he did as told, letting his eyes slide shut and his vision go completely dark as his ears flicked at the sound of Macaque walking around him in a circle, the footsteps loud.