He's different (Rewrite)

Coming Home

The next few days are spent recovering from the clone mess. The two brothers spend time watching movies or driving around town on M/n's motorbike. It takes three days for things to settle back into a routine. When the silver simian goes back to training, Macaque questions him.

"So, why'd you have to cancel?" He asks, casually lounging. "Ah, we had some issues. I got held hostage by a DJ wanna be." The silver monkey shrugs. Macaque looks at the other as if he had grown two heads. "What? How can you say that so casually?"

M/n just shrugs again. "I mean, my brother and I took care of it. There was a broken pipe that I used like the training staff, so it wasn't too bad." The monkey's right ears twitch slightly. Macaque can't help but feel a little proud. He chuckles, "Oh? If it was so easy, you should be able to land a hit, right?"

The silver monkey looks at the darker before grinning, "Let's go then." He falls into the correct stance, tail grabbing a staff. Macaque laughs and joins him. The two spar for a while, M/n getting close, but still not quite able to land a hit on the shadow. As it goes on, the spar gets more intense, Macaque getting a bit rougher in his attacks.

The silver simian does his best to block each hit from Macaque. He's slowly forced to his knees, Macaque smirking. "Thought you were getting better at this." He says. M/n frowns before an idea come to him. The silver simian's tail sneaks behind the dark monkey before grabbing his ankle and tugging.

Macaque doesn't move, but his smirk turns into a grin. "That's a dirty trick you're trying to pull. What, can't beat me without it?" He asks. M/n's frown deepens. "Macaque, how did that not move you? It would have tripped anyone else up." He questions. Macaque pauses. It's enough of a distraction for the silver simian to change into his smaller form, keeping a grip on the staff and scampering behind his teacher.

Macaque looks surprised, but doesn't go for another attack. M/n changes back into his regular form with a puff of grey smoke and falls into his defensive stance, not taking his eyes off Macaque. It's the first time the silver monkey has felt a little nervous about the shadow since their first meeting. The two are locked in an impass, neither one moving or looking away.

M/n's phone ringing breaks the stalemate between the two. The silver monkey grabs it from his bag. "Yellow?"
"Hey, don't wait up for me tonight, Sandy and I are staying at Mei's tonight." Mk says, sounding excited.
"Uh, alright. I hope you have a fun time." The younger brother glances at Macaque, who's leaning against a wall, deep in thought.

Macaque knows it had been pure coincidence that the two had met. He had just ordered from the closest shop after all, but something about the silver monkey had drawn him in. Intrigued him enough to have several genuine conversations with the simian. And when the simian had seen his play, one that he wasn't even sure he wanted anyone to ever see, and the simian had asked about the warrior.

The monkey's stance on the story and the relationship between the two 'characters' had drawn him in even more. Enough to where he was willing to train the simian to fight. Macaque thinks that maybe it's the fact that the silver monkey wanted the warrior to find a better friend, or maybe it's the fact that the monkey is headstrong in an endearing way, but something sparks in him everytime the two so much as look at each other.

It's driving the shadow monkey mad trying to figure out why he's feeling the way he is. He glances at the silver monkey with ears like his. Macaque's tail starts flipping back and forth, the frown on his face deepening. He knows that the simian's brother is Wukong's successor. He also knows that when he puts his plan into action, the silver simian will likely want nothing to do with him. That makes a feeling he hasn't felt in a long time surface. Dread.

He doesn't want to admit it, but he's grown attached to the silver monkey against his better judgement. He knows he shouldn't get attached because of who his brother is. The silver monkey finishes his phone call and walks up to the dark monkey. "Sorry about that. Mk was calling to let me know he's staying the night with a friend." He says, smiling. Macaque feels something hurt at the smile, but he smirks anyway.

"It's fine. But I think we're done for today." Macaque says.
"Oh, alright. I'll put the staffs up." The silver simian offers. Macaque hands him the staff he still holds and watches the other as he puts them back on the wall.

M/n is careful to not bump the other training weapons as he puts the staffs up. His tail swings back and forth lazily as he walks back to Macaque. "So, what are we going to do for the rest of the afternoon?" He asks, lightly nudging the darker monkey.

"I don't know." Macaque says with a shrug. The silver simian smiles and grabs his keys, "Want to see my favorite spot?" Macaque's tail twitches in interest. "Sure. It's got to be interesting if you like it, considering your room's walls are bare." Macaque smirks.

The silver simian huffs in fake annoyance as he twirls his keys around his finger. "Let's go then, emo." He teases, his own smirks appearing. It's the shadow monkey's turn to huff as he follows the other to his bike.

The two drive to the edge of the city, where there's a small grove of trees. The silver simian smiles and parks his bike just inside the grove before grabbing Macaque's hand and leading him to a clearing with a cliffside view of the sunset. "It's not quite the right time, but it will be soon." He says as the take a seat.

"What do you mean?" Macaque asks. The silver simian smiles, but doesn't answer, watching as the last sliver of sun light disappears. The view is breathtaking as the stars come out, forming the different constellations. The water reflects them, despite being in constant motion.

The two can hear the nightlife wake up, a cricket's choir song starting. There's a flapping of wings and Macaque looks up in time to see a couple of bats flying off in search of food and an owl sounds off somewhere in the trees. "I like it out here because it's quiet." The silver simian says, pulling his knees up to his chest.

"It's a beautiful spot." Macaque says, watching the water below. He tries to avoid looking at the monkey beside him, the darkness making him look like he's made of moonlight. Said monkey sighs in content, subconsciously wrapping his tail around Macaque's. The two enjoy the quiet evening together. Macaque decides then that while it lasts, at least, he'll enjoy this attachment.