A Son Of Two Dad's

Charged Energy

How pathetic was it that this group would be completely and utterly lost without him? Red Son thought to himself after being excused from the dining table. 

After doing what any imbecile with half a brain could, telling them they needed and plan, and then helping come up with a plan, Red Son was now on his way to his personal workshop, where he could search for the second gourd in peace. It wasn't like the others were going to be of any help, anyway, he thought dryly to himself, swiping through his phone as he walked to his sanctuary through muscle memory. 

It was because he was so engrossed in his phone that when Mei spoke he shrieked in surprise and dropped his phone.  

"Can I help?" Is what she'd said and he looked up from his phone that had clattered to the floor, expression burning with annoyance as he rolled his eyes, regained his composure, and pretended like his heart wasn't thumping loudly in his chest from the scare. 

"I highly doubt it." He told her as he picked up his phone, looking it over quickly and finding himself relieved it hadn't cracked. 

Not that it would. He'd built it himself after all and a short fall wouldn't even scratch it. He could probably throw it at the wall it'd be completely fine. 

Despite his scathing tone and underlying insult, the horse girl merely pouted.

"Aw." He almost thought for a moment that maybe she'd leave him alone but that was apparently too much to ask for as she perked back up instantly. 

"I'll just keep you company then." She smiled at him and he knew that she was doing this to antagonize him, was sure that the glint in her eyes was pure mischief and chaos. When he started walking again, intent on leaving her behind, she simply followed and he groaned. 

"Look, I don't need you distracting me! Go bother someone else!" He yelled at her, hair burning with fire in a way that was meant to intimidate. Annoyingly, the girl didn't bat an eyelid, smiling instead and stepping into his personal space. 

"But bothering you is so fun, you're so easy to rile up." She teased, taking pleasure in his annoyance as he growled.

"I am not!" He yelled and the look she gave him as though he'd just proved her point made his blood boil. She was so frustrating! Why was he even doing this? Why put himself through this obvious torture when he could have just left them and been done with it? 

An answer came, a face and a smile appearing in his head and he shoved it away aggressively, ignoring it and ignoring the questions entirely. He was only here because he had a debt he owed. That was all, and even though it wasn't true he convinced himself that if he said it to himself enough times it would be.     

For now, though, he simply let himself get lost in his argument with the horse girl, a dynamic of him trying to work and her doing her best to frustrate him appearing as she followed him into his workshop. 

Technically he could have kicked her out at any moment, his door had locks after all but for some reason, he didn't, and thinking about it made him uncomfortable so he ignored that, too. 

While Red Son went off to do research, Wukong and Macaque went back to Macaque's room so Wukong could put new bandages on the others' wounds and take off the ones that had healed. 

Sturdier than mortals, both of them healed quicker than most and as they sat down silently on Macaque's bed Wukong began unwrapping the bandage around his tail first. The fur on the end was patchy but the raw mark that had made it feel tender and sore before wasn't so bad now and something that had been squeezed tight in Wukong's chest before loosened at the sight of the healing wound. 

"It looks much better," Wukong said to fill the space, the silence making his nerves twitch. 

"It feels much better, too," Macaque responded, tail swishing about slightly to prove his point.

Wukong hummed and then leaned forwards to unwrap the bandages around the demon's torso, his gut squirming at how close he was having to get to do so. It felt strangely intimate having Macaque sat there, still and trusting as he let Wukong tend to his injuries with careful hands. 

Last time he'd been so injured that it had been necessary for Wukong to help but this time Macaque could have technically done this himself.    

It was weird how that thought made him frown, glad that he was the one doing this instead, that he was the one tenderly checking to make sure everything was healing right and no infections were setting in instead of letting Macque handle it by himself. 

There was a particularly bad cut on his side that Wukong stared at, his hand reaching forwards without his permission as he gently touched the area, something heavy and unpleasant sat in his stomach at seeing such a deep, harsh wound.

Macaque hissed at the touch even though it had been feather light and he quickly drew back, face warm as he bit his tongue. 

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" He asked, feeling almost sick at the thought. Not that he had any right to after what he'd done before. Wukong himself had given Macaque wounds greater than this and that realization was like a physical blow to the face, stinging in harsh realization. 

"No, don't worry, that one is just sensitive. Doesn't hurt as much as it did before though." Macaque added on the end casually, tilting his head to look down at the wound. 

Wukong nodded and cleaned off the blood that had gotten in Macaque's fur around the injury carefully before re-wrapping it with clean bandages, continuing to do the same with the rest of his wounds silently and quietly.

Macaque was tense throughout, his eyes watching Wukong who didn't look up past his chest, fully concentrated on his task. 

It wasn't until he was done did Wukong look up, mouth opening like he was about to say something before he saw Macaque staring down at him, their eyes connecting and his mouth closed again, whatever words he'd been out to say dying on his lips at the feeling that suddenly slammed into him.

There was something warm in his chest that made him want to hide, a softness he didn't really understand making him uncomfortable, unused to such vulnerability.    

"Thanks," Macaque spoke instead, shuffling back and looking away slighly when the tightness in his chest became a little too much for him and Wukong moved back too, nodding as the energy in the air became less intese, less unguarded, less real.

"No problem, now that that's done though I should probably go check in on Mei and Red Son, see if they've found anything." He pointed a thumb at the door, standing up quickly with a grin, and like a coward he left, not quite quick enough to be called fleeing but still pretty damn close. 

As he walked through the corridor away from his feelings his smile slipped from his face, a voice in the back of his head telling him he was a coward. 

Which, yeah, was probably true.  

(Very true! Stop running from your feelings! I really liked writing this one, my boys are feeling things and being stupid. I hope you guys enjoyed this one too, I keep leaving it really late to write these so again, sorry for any spelling mistakes. Let me know what you thought and I'll see you guys again soon!)