A Son Of Two Dad's

Empty

MK stood there washing the dishes, pouting to himself at the familiar task and wishing he had some company. Alone, his mind wandered and he found himself missing Macaque now more than ever, wondering how he was doing. Even Monkey King was in his thoughts, his mind replaying that last time he'd seen his Baba, tied up and helpless by magical rope. 

He hoped Macaque had managed to escape the Lady Bone Demon and free Monkey King and that they were on their way home right now, both completely fine. 

Or, Macaque was injured heavily and the Bone Demon had them both in her grasps and was only a step away from somehow erasing everyone's memories of Wukong and MK would wake up tomorrow and no one else would remember them and- 

Realizing he was hyperventilating MK shook his head, feeling cold and he swallowed past the lump in his throat. 

They- they were probably fine. 

MK blinked as hands reached for more dishes instinctively, coming away with nothing and then realizing that he'd finished which was weird because he bearly remembered doing them, too caught up in his own mind. 

Now done, he drained the sink, still feeling like he was on autopilot as he robotically made his way back out of the room. He walked towards the game room, his ears twitching at the sound of Red Son and Mei's loud talking and bantering. 

Their voices sounded like they were having fun, yammering and talking and sounding carefree and something in MK's chest felt tightly coiled all of a sudden, making his footsteps slow.

At the sound of Mei's laughter, loud and bright, he slowed to a stop, hearing their voices clearly and letting the sound wash over him while he froze. He... didn't know if he could go back there with them for some reason. He couldn't decipher why and felt incredibly stupid for not being able to, but there was this tightness in his throat and a vice grip over his heart suddenly that he couldn't explain. 

He just... didn't want to bother them. 

He... he should do some training. He nodded to himself, taking one step away from the door. It wasn't because he didn't want to be with the others. No. Not at all. It was because he needed to be in his best shape before they got there so he could fight off the Lady Bone Demon while they escaped. If his two parents even needed saving of course. 

If his dad were here he'd be telling him to train so it made sense that MK should practice some of his forms even if he wasn't here. 

With that thought in mind, he changed courses, heading towards Macaque's own room. He'd been planning on going to the deck at first but just the thought of training somewhere so open and visible made him cringe and his heart led him towards somewhere that felt safe and secluded. 

Besides... it's not like anyone was using that room anymore.

He shook his head, frowning to get the negative, pessimistic thoughts out of it.

His Dad's room was fairly empty and, while not big enough for two people to spar in, it was definitely big enough for MK to run through his stances on his own, practicing those before going through some of his powers and using those too. 

Eventually, he got to his shapeshifting power and it must have been a long time because he could hear Mei calling out for him elsewhere on the boat while he was shifting into what was going to be a bear but ended up being a mouse when he found himself tiny and close to the floor. 

There were more sounds of Mei and Red Son squabbling together, and then Mei calling out for him again, asking where he was and MK scrambled under the closet nearby, feeling too open in the middle of the now much bigger room and seeking cover. 

Once his tiny mouse heart stopped beating so hard he found he wasn't as stressed as he'd been before. Training really had helped take his mind off things. That didn't mean he was ready to go back to spending time with the others' though. 

He felt safe here in his Dad's room and the thought of going back out just yet had him backing under the closet even further, nose twitching when some dust landed on it. 

Mei's calling for him became further away and, though he could still hear it, he knew she wouldn't think to check in here so he was probably safe for a while.   

With that thought in mind, he left his hiding space, shifting back into his familiar form and sitting down lotus style in the middle of the room, tail out straight behind him.

Sitting here reminded him of meditating with Macaque and when he closed his eyes and breathed in and out he could almost fool himself into believing the other was here, sitting opposite him and talking calmly.

Then his ears twitched, picking up Mei yelling, asking where he was and if he was okay and the illusion was shattered as his eyes stopped on the vacant space in front of him. 

He sighed, standing up and taking in a deep breath before making the decision to go outside. He felt like he could now, like what had previously felt impossible was now only mildly difficult and with that he slapped on his brightest smile and stepped out of the security of the room, walking straight to where he heard Mei.

"Mei!" He called out once he could see them, Mei swinging around and halting in calling out for him. 

"MK! There you are! We were looking everywhere for you! You were taking ages so we went to find you and make sure you were okay." She smiled,

"it was Red Son's idea by the way." MK tilted his head at that and Red Son, who had been watching with crossed arms, squawked, looking scandalized. 

"WHAT? No- that's- I absolutely did not! I just asked if he usually took so long. I didn't want to go look for him, you're the one that made me!" He screeched out and MK laughed lightly when Mei rolled her eyes. 

"Sure, that's what happened." She said, tone deadpan before she gave MK a not-so-subtle wink that Red Son saw and began loudly protesting against.

"I did not!" He huffed and only got more riled up when Mei agreed with him because everyone could tell she didn't really. 

MK watched with that same smile, laughing when Red Son eventually got frustrated with Mei's teasing and tackled her. In his head, he was pushing back the thoughts of his dad's and trying hard not to wish they were there.  

(I just started watching Utopia on Netflix and it's amazing! So go watch that if you like psychological stuff. I hope you're all doing well, it's half-term so you'd think I would've had plenty of time but nope! My little brother sure has been keeping me busy every moment of each day haha. 

But he's in bed before me so I have time for writting in the late evenings. I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you all again next time!)