Once Bitten

How Long Can You Lie For? (35)

MK trailed behind, holding his arms to his chest and clutching at his aching wound on the left one as they came back to find Wukong and Sandy already waiting. MK's brother brightened up at the sight of them, obviously not seeing the tension in the group or the deep frown on Macaque's face as he rushed over, waving a can in his direction. 

"Look! We got hotdogs." He yelled, bright and happy with himself and MK felt some of his tension melt away, pushing aside his icky feelings to focus on the here and now with a smile. 

"Good job, we got the grill. Or, well, Mei did really." He said, chuckling nervously and Wukong hummed as he slung an arm around MK's shoulder, pulling him over to where Mei was now helping Sandy hook up the grill to the generator.  

"We didn't find any buns, but mostly cause they're all moldy and stuff now. So I got some chocolate and biscuits instead, that way we can make s'mores!" He cheered, pulling out chocolate biscuits and a big bag of marshmallows from nowhere, and before MK could respond he heard Macaque scoff. 

"Oh yeah, that's real healthy." He muttered, obviously sarcastic and Wukong's head snapped in his direction immediately, a frown pulling at his face. 

"Hey! I heard that!" He shrieked and MK shook his head, stepping back to watch Mei and Sandy instead. He kind of liked the idea of roasting marshmallows, though he was pretty sure a grill wasn't the same thing as a fire but if it was hot then it worked.

"It works!" Mei yelled suddenly, jumping up and MK gave her a thumbs up before suddenly Wukong was there dumping the sausages out on the grill, ignoring that no one had even lit it yet. 

"Do you have skewers or tonsils?" MK asked him, looking at the pile of sausages and wondering how they were going to pick them up when they got hot and Wukong blinked, head titling. 

"What for?"

"You're an idiot, c'mon, let's get some. You kids wait here with Sandy." Macaque snapped before MK could speak, grabbing Wukong by the arm and dragging him out of the arcade entrance and Wukong frowned, digging his feet into the ground to stop them. 

"Wait, why can't I just go with MK-" 

"Oh my gosh, you're such a baby. He'll be fine here! Let's go! We both know you two would just get lost together or something stupid." Macaque countered back, and this time Wukong let himself be dragged out of the room, waving to MK as they left but looking confused all the same and MK frowned the moment he was out of sight, eyes narrowing. 

It wasn't like Macaque to voluntarily spend time with Wukong and after what had happened earlier MK got the feeling Macaque had ulterior motives. He wondered what he'd say to Wukong, he wondered how much he knew. Gripping his stinging arm MK bit his lip, worry swimming in his gut when suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and he jumped, snapping his head back to find the concerned face of his best friend next to him. 

"Hey, you okay? You kinda spaced out there a second..." Mei said softly and MK felt guilt smack him in the face, quickly smothering his anxious look with a smile. 

"Of course! Sorry Mei, got a little lost in my own head there for a second, you know how it is." He chuckled, the sound a touch manic and he could tell she didn't believe him. Unlike last time where she let it slide, this time she called him out on it though. 

"Are you sure? You've been... kinda weird lately. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I'm just worried about you." She said, and MK's heart lurched in his chest. He knew she was just trying to make him feel better but it hurt so much when he knew there was no point. 

There was nothing she could do. 

There was nothing anyone could do, now. 

Talking in a deep breath, MK made his smile look a little more real, placing his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.