A Son Of Two Dad's

Vulnerability

With Red Son helping MK figure out the location of Monkey King they were getting close by the end of the first day of traveling, having seen the mountain range Monkey King was in, now at the end of their journey.  

It was filling MK with trepidation and he found himself unable to sit still all day right up until he was settled onto a mattress on the floor, Red Son having taken the bed. 

It was late and the room was quiet but he was wide awake, heart thumping loudly in his ribcage.

"How long do you think it'll take to get there from here?" he asked out loud when the silence finally got too oppressive for him and he heard Red Son sigh loudly. 

"I don't know, who cares? We'll get there when we get there." He huffed, not moving from where he was facing away from MK who twisted his hands together and fiddled with the edge of his blanket at the answer. 

There was once again silence, MK trying to respect that the other clearly didn't want to talk. 

"Okay but if you had to guess? Like... how many hours?" He couldn't keep himself from talking for long and Red Son sighed loudly, shuffling around so he was facing MK and giving him a glare. 

"Why should it matter? Honestly, it's ridiculous that you still want to go knowing that the Bone Demon is there. She managed to overpower my father! Someone like that is clearly more competent than you." MK shook his head, pouting. 

"Hey! I beat your dad too, didn't I? I'm competent! I'm totally competent." He argued, voice no longer such a quiet tone, and Red Son immediately huffed a response. 

"Well, I think you're a fool. If you ask me we should just turn back now." MK scowled openly at that, looking away and ignoring the stone in his stomach that felt heavy and hopeless. Pushing that feeling aside he tried to make himself sound more confident, more sure. All that he achieved was sounding manic and emotional. 

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't ask you then! You don't get it, she's got my dad's, both of them! Wouldn't you do anything you could to save your parents?" At that Red Son fell dead silent and MK was so startled by it that he looked up at the other, noticing the furrowed eyebrows and startled but contemplative look on his face and wondering what it meant.         

It didn't take long for Red Son to notice him and turn back around so MK could no longer see his expression, MK seeing the red blush on his face for a second. He couldn't tell whether it was from embarrassment or frustration and didn't think he'd get an answer if he asked. 

The silence continued after that and eventually, he wondered if maybe Red Son had fallen asleep. MK was still worried and wound up too much to fall asleep though, gut still twisting with unease, and resigned himself to a boring night of laying awake until Red Son surprised him by talking, his voice cutting through the previously dead atmosphere with a low tone.  

"I'd say we were about 15 hours away at the pace we're currently going at. We'll be there by tomorrow afternoon at least." MK's ears perked up, blinking as he looked over at Red Son's back, covered by his own blanket. 

"... Thank you." MK wasn't sure what else to say, too surprised at an actual answer from his earlier question he was certain Red Son was going to ignore forever. 

"I'm still not going to help when we get there you know." Red Son then huffed, his usual self, and then afterward he added, his voice unlike his usual tone,

"But I do know what it feels like to try and do anything for a parent." He sounded sincere and MK felt his own voice talking before he could think about it, tone equally soft. 

"Your dad?" Red Son nodded and MK's ears flicked as he heard the demon swallow. 

"Yeah. I searched for a long, long time to find a way to get him out of that cursed mountain. I would have done anything to have him home." Guilt and sympathy welled up in MK's chest and he let out a shaky breath, feeling horrible. He'd heard the stories of what had happened to the Demon Bull King from Tang. He'd known how long he'd been trapped. He'd known that Red Son and his mother had freed him. 

He hadn't known how terrible the whole experience must have been for them all. The Bull King had been the bad guy, a villain! It was strange thinking of him as a person just like MK was. It was strange thinking of the consequences of what had happened.   

"I'm sorry." He confessed, guilt gnawing at his heart and Red Son scoffed. 

"What for? It wasn't you that did it." It wasn't but that didn't help MK's guilt or ease the pain of what Red Son had been through and they both knew that. 

"No, that doesn't mean I'm not sorry though. I know Monkey King doesn't... always make the right choices." It was hard to admit that even though he had known it from Macaque and really thinking back he had known it from a lot of Tang's stories too. 

Monkey King was immortal but that didn't mean he was perfect. He'd killed, he'd made bad choices. Maybe some people hated him for that. 

There was a time when MK thought he might have hated him for one of his choices. The choice of abandoning MK. It was different because MK got both sides of the story and because he cared about him. Red Son had only ever had his own. 

Red Son didn't reply to MK's confession and he didn't press. How was one even supposed to respond to something like that? Despite the silence, MK felt lighter than before, a little less stressed, and a little less heavy. 

He hoped somehow that Red Son felt the same.

(Red Son and MK bonding! Look at our boys opening up. Why is everyone so emotionally constipated lol? But hey they're learning and I'm proud of them for getting this far. 

Also, I'm so tired! It's late and I'm going to fall asleep immediately after posting this. I was canoeing the whole day and now my arms feel like noodles and I've got sunburns on my face. (Always use sunscreen people) Anyway! I hope you guys enjoyed! Feel free to comment and I'll see you all soon!)