Seeing Through the Trauma

Relax, Everything's Okay (24)

MK woke up with a scream on his lips, heartbeat roaring in his ears as the feeling of stinging pain and cold and darkness swallowed him, memories from his nightmare leaving him gasping and looking around with wide eyes, one blurry and one unseeing altogether. 

His tongue left like sandpaper in his mouth, heavy and thick and he swallowed, trembling and shaking as he realized he was at home in the shop, Mei stirring next to him. 

"MK?" She sounded tired, confused, and groggy with sleep but MK was still trying to catch his breath, hand on his chest as he felt his heart rattle his ribs. 

"MK!" The door burst open suddenly and MK's heart flipped again, terror racing through him as he jumped back at the loud sound, his back hitting the wall as he gasped, tearing his gaze to the door. 

There in all his glory stood his baba, looking just as unsettled as he must have with heavy breathing as he caught sight of MK, his eyes scared and wide. He seemed to relax the moment he realized there was no threat, brain connecting the dots as Mei sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking between them in disorientation. 

"Are you okay, Baby? What happened?" Baba asked, immediately walking forward and MK spotted Macaque behind him, all his ears alert and equally on alert as MK inhaled shakily and shook his head. 

"I- I'm fine. Sorry." He said, voice shaking and too high to be believable but Baba didn't judge him as he sat on the edge of the bed, eyes still looking him over and lingering on his eye and chest. 

"You sure?" He asked, tone careful and MK nodded, suddenly realizing how sweaty he was and wiping his hands on his bedding as he nodded, purposefully letting his legs drop from where they were tucked close to his chest to look more relaxed. 

"Yeah. I'm sure. It was just a dumb nightmare." He said, trying to laugh a little but it sounded too strained to his ears and oddly watery. Wukong's face only seemed to grow sad at that, dropping as he raised his hands, cupping MK's cheeks and wiping away tears clinging to his cheeks he hadn't even noticed with his thumb. 

"Oh, Sweetheart..." He sounded devastated and MK hated it and how small it made him feel, burying the terror deep down and ignoring it as he moved his head away. 

"It's fine! Honestly, I'm fine! I didn't mean to wake you all up though. Sorry about that." He said, guiltily, wincing and sending his apologetic look at a still sleepy but worried Mei to let her know he was talking to her too. 

"You don't gotta apologize, kid. Everyone gets nightmares from time to time. It's normal." Macaque said from the doorway, walking in and sitting down next to Baba as his tail linked around the sage's own lashing tail, stilling it gently.

"Yeah! No worries MK. Besides, now we just have more time to have fun today!" Mei said, bright and optimistic despite the hour as she pushed his shoulder reassuringly before getting off the bed, stretching her arms out. 

"I'll go use the bathroom, be back in a min!" She said, scrambling off to do as she'd said and MK wondered if she actually needed to go or was just giving him time with his parents who were obviously both worried about him. Wukong especially.

Either way, he appreciated it even though it was a little awkward for a second once she was gone. 

"So, uh, you guys got here pretty quickly," MK said suddenly, picking at the bedding as both his parents blanked, embarrassed. 

"Ah. Yeah. We just- heard you yell and-" Wukong cut his awkward rambling off, looking a little pale himself like he was remembering something and MK wondered if they were affected by him dying too. He hadn't missed the way Wukong's instinctive reaction had been to look for old injuries he'd witnessed happen.