A Son Of Two Dad's

Road To Healing

Mei had only been planning on getting some space, some alone time where she would be allowed to be upset and angry over her best friend not being with her, and her feet had eventually led her outside MK's room, her eyes heavy at the sight of the door. 

She sniffled, wiping at her eyes with wobbly lips before taking in a deep breath. Crying wasn't going to help anything but it had felt good to release some of her emotions even if only for a moment. 

Moving closer to the door she put a hand on the doorknob and then stopped, eyebrows drawing in confusion as her eyes picked up on voices from inside. 

Who? She pressed her ear to the door, hearing Macaque as he hissed. 

"Hey! Be careful! I can do it myself you know." He complained, movement shifting from inside the room as she heard Monkey King sigh and immediately she shifted her breathing, keeping it shallow in hopes of not disturbing the two or letting them know she was here. If Macaque was tired enough he might not even hear her. That had been the case early in the mornings before when the other had been too tired to hear her sneak up on him and had only noticed her when she'd gotten very, very close.

"I know, but you shouldn't have to." There was a long pause and Mei held her breath in the silence, keeping very still. 

"Besides, this is my fault." Immediately there was a scoff from Macaque and Mei could practically sense him rolling his eyes. 

"Hardly-" 

"If I was stronger. If I'd stopped her. If you hadn't had to come after me after I got myself caught like an imbecile-" His tone was spiteful, self-loathing clear. 

"I didn't have to come after you though, did I?" Macaque pointed out and there was another moment of silence, the only sound an occasional sharp movement or a hiss from Macaque. It reminded her of the noise MK had made when Macaque had cleaned the wound Mei had given him on his tail and he wondered if and why Monkey King was tending to the others' injuries.   

"...So why did you?" The question, asked by Monkey King was soft, softer than his usual bravado, and Mei blinked rapidly at it, her head spinning with new thoughts. 

It was that tone, vulnerable and asking that made Mei wonder if listening in was a bad idea. That thought was immediately dismissed as Macaque answered though, her interest too peaked to leave. 

"The kid was worrying! I didn't want to have to deal with that!" Macaque defended, his voice loud in comparison to Wukong's soft question.  

"Besides, he probably would have tried to go after you himself sooner if I hadn't gone. He's stubborn and brave like that." Now the tone had shifted to caring, affection filling his words and Sun Wukong laughed, a short, tired but real thing. 

"I wonder who he got that from." Mei couldn't see it but he was giving Macaque a tired smile and a pointed look, his head tilted to the side as the two's tails brushed against each other ever so slightly.

Neither noticed.

"What? You've got to be joking! You're the one who's always rushing into things! Not me." Macaque practically squawked and Sun Wukong laughed brightly, sniggering to himself before calming down again and dissolving into silence once more, the tone of the room immediately changing into something softer again. More private. 

"You're probably right." The smile had dropped off his face, a long, bone-tired ache replacing it and making him look every bit as old as he felt. 

"I really hope he's okay." He confessed eventually, the words tinted with a hint of pleading and desperation, and Mei could understand that feeling, her own heart aching for it to be true even though they all knew it wasn't.