A Son Of Two Dad's

Just A Scratch

Mei, as she always was when MK asked for her help, was completely on board with his suggestion, and together they went to the biggest room that wasn't the main deck. The gaming room. 

They moved the electronics to one end of the room to make the space even bigger and then MK turned to Mei, getting into a loose stance. 

"Okay, Mei, you ready? Hit me." He instructed and Mei grinned widely. 

"If you insist." She lunged forwards in a streak of quick green, immediately pulling out her sword and swinging it at MK's head. He ducked easily but his eyes were wide.

"MEI!" He yelled loudly, panicked and she shrugged.

"What? I want to get some practice in too." She defended and MK looked even more outraged. 

"NOT BY DECAPITATING ME THOUGH!" He screeched and Mei threw her sword up in the air, flipping it and catching it skillfully in the same hand.

"Don't worry I'm being careful, I know what I'm doing." She said, the picture of calm before a switch flicked and she grinned a manic grin, danger glinting in her eyes.

"Besides, you won't get killed if you DODGE." She said the last word with a yell, swiping at MK again at the same time with gusto who yelped and immediately twisted his foot so he was ducking under it, spinning around only to immediately be spinning to the side to get away from another stab at his back. 

"Maybe this was a bad ide- AH." He cut himself off when Mei's blade went straight for his chest, hand connecting with her wrist before he got stabbed, and pushing it upwards in one fluid but desperate motion so that the blade turned upwards and missed him entirely. 

"That's what I'm talking about!" Mei cackled in delight as MK took a step away from her, breathing in deeply to get his racing heart under control. 

Now that he was expecting it her coming at him wasn't so bad and when she lunged again this time he was ready, focused as he curved out the way. 

They kept it up for a long while, Mei's energy seeming to never waver while MK slowly grew more and more tired, his reactions just a tinny bit slower than they had been at the beginning. His tail, which had been helping him out with sharp movements and balancing ended up getting in the way when he moved his body out of the way of a playful strike only for his tail to swing in the way. 

Mei noticed it a little too late, having gotten relaxed in the hours they'd been training, and though he tried her best to stop or change course she only managed to move her trajectory so that her blade nicked him rather than chopping the limb clean off. 

She tumbled to the floor, footing ruined by her mad dive not to hit him and MK let out a loud screech, his hands immediately coming up to grab at his tail. 

"MK! Oh my gosh, I'm so, so sorry!" Mei cried out, stumbling to her feet and rushing towards him while hovering, her hands reaching like she wanted to help but not touching, scared of hurting him further. 

"Are- are you okay? How bad is it?" She looked distraught and MK winced but tried giving her a reassuring smile now that some of the shock had worn off. 

"It's oka-" 

"MK!" His dad's voice, loud and worried made MK swivel his head in surprise at the door that Macaque burst through, his eyes wide with panic as he grabbed MK by the shoulders and instantly began looking him over.

"What happened? I heard you yell, are you okay? Did you get hurt? Show me where you're hurt! I-" MK shoved him away slightly, rolling his eyes but smiling nonetheless. 

"Dad, I'm fine! Seriously, it was just a scratch really." He tried to calm him but at that Macaque only looked more worried. 

"You did get hurt! I knew it, show me!" He demanded and MK gently pulled his tail in front of him, a small bit of blood dripping to the floor from the slice in it. It was only a surface wound really but Mei's eyes welled up with big tears at the sight and Macaque somehow managed to look even more worried. 

"I'm so sorry, MK I- I'm such a terrible person! I can't believe I hurt you, this is all my fault." She cried out, sounding truly miserable and MK reached out to her, wincing when his tail moved of its' own accord and made the stinging in it worse. 

"Hey, no, Mei, It's okay! You didn't mean to and besides it bearly even hurts. The great Monkey Kid won't be defeated by such a small wound!" He boasted, confidence oozing into his voice as he puffed out his chest, and Mei seemed to calm at that, a small, tentative smile appearing on her own face even though she still felt terrible for hurting him. 

"Let's clean that up and put a bandage on it, kid. I'm glad you're both okay but we will be talking about this afterward." The sternness in Macaque's tone made MK gulp and he followed him out the room, not having much choice considering Macaque's own tail was wrapped securely around MK's wrist. MK wasn't sure Macaque had actually noticed that though so he kept quiet about it. 

Mei followed behind them worriedly, fiddling with her sword for a moment before actually looking at the weapon and scowling, like everything was its' fault. She put it away quickly and fiddled with her outfit instead.     

Macaque took them to his room, a room MK hadn't been in before and therefore was curious about. It was about the same size as the room MK was using only it was fairly bear of any actual things, not filled with trinkets like MK's and Mei's were. 

He sat MK down on the bed before walking over to the nightstand and pulling out medical supplies, disinfectant, and gauze while Mei stood in the doorway, looking on restlessly.

He was silent as he cleaned MK's wound, using tissues to wipe the blood off of MK's fur on his hands as well. 

Too silent. 

MK bit his lip, looking up at his dad apprehensively. 

"Are you mad at me?" He asked, timid and Macaque shook his head immediately. 

"No, I'm not mad. I was just worried. What you did was dangerous. You're lucky you didn't get hurt much worse." MK looked down, feeling worse.

"I know. I'm sorry. I- I just wanted to make you proud. Besides, Mei and I were careful." He wasn't lying about that, the only reason he'd been hurt was because he hadn't accounted for his tail not always doing what he wanted it to. His control over it wasn't as refined as Monkey King's or Macaques'. That and he'd been getting tired, refusing to admit defeat and still going.

Maybe he'd finally learn how to take breaks.  

"Accidents happen, and I am proud of you MK. You don't have to prove it, nor do you need to push yourself. Resting is just as important as training. It's all about balance." Macaque explained and MK nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. 

"I know that now." He looked over at Mei who still looked guilty, opening his arms wide with a comforting smile and Mei rushed forwards into his arms, hugging him tightly. 

"Love you guys." MK found himself blurting out, voice soaked with tenderness and Mei hugged him harder, Macaque pausing in his wrapping of MK's wound for a moment. 

"We love you too." They said in unison at the same time and MK smiled.  

(Platonic, familial love is the best kind. Let's appreciate how amazing Mei's been in this. As someone who's accidentally hurt someone else before I really feel for her. I can ruminate and feel guilty for things like that for years.

But as always I hope you enjoyed, love you guys and I'll see you all soon!)