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lucagray813 · 2 days ago

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Shadow - Chapter 5

Title: Getting Close

Rating: M (M rated sections are marked with the line break --M-- at the start so skip to the next normal line break (----) if you want to avoid them)

Word Count: ~10,000

Characters: Wukong, Macaque

Minor Characters: Mentioned Lady Bone Demon, Bǎi Hé

Relationships: Macaque/Wukong

Minor Relationships: Macaque & Bǎi Hé

Summary: Discussions about sex and sex-related shenanigans abound as well as some heavier talks about the Lady Bone Demon and the fact Bǎi Hé is growing up.

Additional Tags: Developing Relationship, Acquired Disability, Slice of Life, DBK is called Niú, PIF is called Gōngzhǔ

CW: sexual humour, impotence, sex talk, mentions of casual sex, morning wood, inappropriate artefacts?

Link to AO3 Version

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----

Wukong was having a bad day. He'd slept poorly, had woken up in a terrible mood and now nothing seemed to be able to make it better. It definitely wasn't helped by Macaque raising an eyebrow at his "grouchiness" and deciding he'd rather be literally anywhere else than here and getting snapped at over nothing.

And you know, tomorrow when he was no longer feeling so irritable, he'd think that was totally fair. God knows, how many times he'd avoided Macaque or outright told him to go somewhere else because he was in a bad mood. Today, however, it only annoyed him further.

By the time Macaque had returned he had at least gained some awareness of his mood and was a tiny bit better prepared to try and not take it out on someone who really hadn't done anything to deserve it but he knew he didn't have much patience at his disposal today.

Macaque had come back in an odd mood himself, he seemed on edge and when asked about it, he'd replied shortly, saying he'd helped MK out with some hero stuff. Hero stuff that went fine by the sounds of it - bad guy was beat and no notable injuries or collateral damage. He pressed further but all Macaque would tell him was this bad guy of the week had just rubbed him the wrong way.

He wouldn't tell him what the guy had been up to or who he was but everything about Macaque's body language was screaming at him to drop it and huffily he did. Even refrained from making some snippy comment about how much he loved Macaque's habit of keeping him guessing for no good reason.

Whatever. He just needed to get through the day and then they could start a fresh tomorrow. After sitting on it for a while, he realised he probably hadn't exactly been giving off "non-judgemental, you can talk to me" vibes.

But it wasn't at all helped by Macaque flip flopping between seemingly wanting to be as close to him as possible and as far away as possible - with an in between that just seemed to consist of glaring at him from a short distance.

It was during the most recent glaring session that he finally snapped, "What is your problem? You're either clinging to me, nowhere to be seen or glaring at me! What is going on?"

Predictably, Macaque just crossed his arms and looked away from him. A little less predictably, he muttered an apology and disappeared into the shadows.

"Macaque! Wait-! Agh!"

He did not have the patience or tact needed for this today. Why couldn't this have happened yesterday or tomorrow? Or literally any of the hundreds of other days that he wasn't feeling so short tempered.

Macaque did not reappear and Wukong could do nothing but sulk about it. It didn't compare to how awful he felt though when he received a message from MK asking how Macaque was because apparently everyone had been a bit shaken up from hero business today.

And it wasn't at all surprising since the bad guy's whole deal had been death magic.

He buried his face in his hands. Of all the days, of all the bad guys... He took a deep breath before he picked up his phone and told MK that Macaque was a bit on edge but he would be alright before asking after the rest of them. Once he'd heard back that they were all okay and having a slumber party later he let any thoughts of MK leave his mind.

He hoped Macaque was still on the island and not somewhere he couldn't physically reach. He slid off the couch and took up his preferred meditation pose. He'd tried more than once today to meditate to get his head on straight but each failed attempt only added to his frustration.

Right now though, he had ample motivation and finding Macaque like this was almost something he could do in his sleep. He kept his focus light, he just wanted to know if he was still on the island, he wasn't planning to astral project if he was. He sighed in relief when he felt Macaque's soul nearby.

He didn't immediately get up and go to him however. He was going to take a moment and then approach him with compassion and patience. However he'd been feeling today would have to just deal with being moved to one side. Waking up on the wrong side of the bed was not comparable to facing literal trauma.

He couldn't say he was a big fan of the small, dark cave that Macaque had squirreled himself away in. The only reason he could vaguely even see at all without his golden vision was because of the violet glow being emitted from the ball of magic that Macaque held close to his chest.

Not something he'd ever seen him do before but he decided to take it as a positive sign that Macaque was letting him see it now. He could have disappeared the moment he'd heard Wukong's footsteps head in his direction.

He carefully picked his way across the uneven ground, before stopping a short distance away and cautiously starting off, "MK got in touch - wanted to know how you were after this morning. He told me what happened... You want to talk about it?"

The silence that followed was more than a little concerning, so he took a few steps closer, "Macaque?" He was brought to a halt by the dangerous looking shadows taking physical form around them. He backed off slightly and that seemed to appease the shadows.

Macaque hadn't left or forced him out though and Wukong decided to take as a sign his presence wasn't actually unwanted, so he sat down and waited. He was trying to figure out his next course of action when Macaque spoke, "Do you remember anything about being possessed by the Lady Bone Demon?"

Unfortunately, despite his many attempts to repress it, he could in fact remember most of it. Some of the fighting was a bit hazy but the desperate struggle to try and rid himself of her control was much clearer than he'd like.

Reluctantly he offered, "Some of it, yeah."

"Do you remember how it felt? To have her magic inside you?"

A shiver went through him as if he could suddenly feel that unfathomable cold coming from deep within him. It was quite possibly up there as one of his worst experiences - even without the whole being forced to fight his friends nightmare - just that feeling of being both too full, and yet achingly empty. Of having someone strangle his very essence with their own. It was enough to keep him up for nights at a time.

Quietly he admitted, "Yeah, I remember."

"Describe it?"

It felt like an impossible ask. They'd already established that magic didn't like to be put into words. And honestly, he'd rather do anything but make the experience all the more real but he was sure Macaque was going somewhere with this, and would hopefully share his own experiences if he did the same.

He clasped a hand over his heart as he tried to find the words, "It was like... a constricting weight on my magic, wrapped around it tightly with these smaller poisonous tendrils slowly trying to force themselves towards my very core. It was... awful. Violating."

Way, way back in the day magic had often been described as the blood of the soul. And Wukong couldn't help but feel there was some credence to that theory - the Lady Bone Demon's attempt to control him had felt like an attack on his very spirit. Although given the source of her magic perhaps it had been.

Macaque pulled the small manifestation of his magic away from him just enough to look at it. Even if Wukong had had a clear enough view of his face he had a feeling he still wouldn't be able to interpret the complicated expression he was wearing.

Macaque admitted, "Sometimes, I can still feel her magic stitched into mine." He continued before Wukong could offer any reassurances, "I know it's in my head." He held up the ball of magic as if to show him, "I know there's no trace of her left in me but after that run in with that bastard today I just can't shake the feeling that there is."

Wukong had obviously seen the terrible way her magic had engulfed Macaque's right side, had felt the scarring it had left in it's wake but he didn't think that's what he meant, quietly he asked, "Describe it?"

The ball of magic separated into two, one taking on a much deeper colour than the other, they started to move around one another leaving tangled trails behind them - like snakes intertwining themselves with one another.

It was almost beautiful, almost as if they were dancing, but as he watched it became clear that the lighter of the two orbs was following the other, occasionally looping possessively around the tail the darker one was leaving.

Macaque lifted a finger out to touch the darker orb and the lighter one spiked up, aggressively forcing the other to move away from the appendage. He dropped his hand and watched the orbs continue to move as he explained, "I could always feel it, this cold, dead magic running through me. It was only painful if I tried anything to get rid of it but even when it wasn't actively hurting me... It just felt wrong."

He paused for a minute before continuing sounding a little distraught, "It didn't matter where I went or what I did, she was always there with me, burrowed into the very essence of who I am. I hadn't known a moment's peace until she was finally fucking dead."

The cave went totally dark as he buried his head against his knees, "But it's still not enough. She's dead but she's still here with me. I just want her gone. How do I make her leave me alone? How do I make her stop?"

He was powerless to ignore the need to get closer and comfort him but as soon as he stood and took a step forward, he heard a panicked scramble. He stopped as he heard Macaque choke out, "D-don't! Fuck. Please, just- Don't come closer."

He very reluctantly sat back down and tried to make sure none of his own distress was audible as he replied, "Hey, it's fine. I won't come any closer. You're ok."

He couldn't resist the urge to use his golden vision to check on him however. Another time he likely would have been impressed by the strength of Macaque's glamours, all he could see was that there were definitely glamours there but not what they were hiding. Although with the way Macaque was hunched over he likely wouldn't have been able to see anything he wasn't allowed to see yet.

Voice muffled Macaque got out, "Shit. Sorry."

"Hey, we're fine." He tried to joke lightly, "I get it. The mood I've been in today, I wouldn't want to be near me either."

His poor attempt at a smile quickly fell at the sound of a small sniffle. He floundered for the words that would somehow make this better but Macaque spoke before he found them, "Sometimes, I think about how you overcame her control and think you could do the same for me. Just chase out all trace of her. But the thought of anyone's magic, even yours, getting close enough to do that... I just can't..."

Wukong felt his shoulders sink. Well, that went some way to explain Macaque's inconsistent behaviour today. It also explained another mystery that he'd been trying to solve.

Wukong was on board and up-to-date with Macaque's research into magic but there had been a surprising lack of experimentation into how their magic interacted together, they only tended to focus on how their magic reacted to various stimuli, even though he'd made it plenty clear he was willing and able to try out pretty much anything Macaque suggested. Well, within reason anyway.

He was really trying to follow Macaque's lead on this - let him decide how this should progress but he couldn't deny he'd been tempted to try and push him. But he was beginning to understand why Macaque had been so reluctant.

Magic could be combined in incredible ways, such as in show stopping feats that required a hefty amount of magic or to cast spells that needed mastery of more than one magic type. Magic could complement someone else's - just being in sync with someone whose magic you knew well could have both of you performing better, magic flowing smoother, spells easier to cast.

And he knew in theory that magic could combine on a much more personal level. He'd heard of ancient demon clans that shared magic with one another through various means. Personally, he'd never really experienced it but he had somewhat assumed that that's what Macaque meant when he'd told him he had wanted to know how their magic could interact.

He thought feeling his magic intertwined with Macaque's sounded like it could be something wonderful. It wouldn't be at all like the awful feeling of the Lady Bone Demon trying to control him and make his magic her own. It would be a new way to know each other. It would be good, he was sure of it.

Scarily deep and personal but well that's sort of what he aspired to have with Macaque anyway.

He took a breath and tried to soothe him, "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to. On a better day we can talk more about it but right now all you need to focus on is the fact that the only magic flowing through you is yours."

He started talking him through a sort of basic meditation with the focus being on the way his magic felt. It was something Macaque could do in his sleep, and had quite possibly been doing something similar when he'd found him. In any other situation, Macaque probably would have been more than a little offended by the notion he needed guidance for something so trivial but as it was he seemed to be following along.

He kept talking long after he'd run out of things to say, repeating and reiterating the practice until he felt solid shadows wrap around his hand. He squeezed them gently, confident the gesture wouldn't be lost on Macaque. He asked, "You ready to get out of here?"

With less levity than he was sure was intended, Macaque responded, "The dark getting to you?"

Wukong shook his head, and lifted the shadows still holding onto his hand up to his lips for a moment, "We can stay here as long as you need."

He heard him take a measured breath before Macaque stood and made his way to stand in front of him and offered a hand, voice only sounding slightly unsteady, he responded, "Nah, it's close to dinner time. C'mon, let's go home."

Wukong took his hand and followed Macaque out of the cave. He blinked his golden vision away as his eyes tried to adjust to the late evening light. Macaque squeezed his hand once and then let go.

For the rest of the evening, Wukong had taken the tact to let Macaque do as he pleased when it came to space and touch without commenting or reciprocating. If he wanted to sit close to him for only a handful of minutes before retreating only to repeat the process moments later then Wukong let him without complaint.

It seemed to have been the right strategy as over the next few hours he seemed to settle, until he was curled up against his chest as they watched TV.

Macaque had looked somewhat guilty when it came time for bed but Wukong refused to make a big deal about him obviously wanting to sleep by himself. He just got ready as he normally did but he did appreciate the gentle kiss he got before Macaque wished him good night and left him to it.

----

It had taken Macaque a few days to properly bounce back from his unfortunate run in with death magic but almost immediately following it he'd quite determinedly told Wukong that they should work on casting spells together.

And then he'd dragged him off to the training ground he'd prepared before Wukong could offer any protests. Once he saw what Macaque had in mind however he was more or less on board.

The ground was covered in various seals that required two people to activate them. It technically involved their magic interacting together but it would all happen within the seal and depending on the seal it might not even require them to really synchronise beyond activating the right amount of magic at the same time.

It was by and large a very sensible first step and honestly, Wukong was pretty excited to see what spells Macaque had put together. Although, he decided a little wariness was warranted - he absolutely did not trust Macaque not to try and prank him in the process. For all he knew there was a seal here that would explode magic paint everywhere and only Macaque would know to take cover.

Explosions of all sorts had definitely been on the agenda and Wukong was definitely going to tease Macaque later for including so many firework-like displays. The big sap had clearly done it because he knew Wukong would love it.

And he definitely had. In fact, the whole exercise had been a lot of fun and he was sort of excited to put his own seals together for them to try. He could easily see this becoming a competition to see who could put together the most surprising or spectacular spell and he was here for it.

In his excitement however he had let his guard down and as they approached the last seal, any thoughts of foul play had totally left his head. He blinked in confusion as the seal seemed to do nothing when activated.

He looked over to see Macaque looking equally confused and couldn't help but tease, "You losing your touch, Mac? Better be careful or I'll snatch up your title as the resident seals expert."

Macaque scowled at him, and waved at the ink of the ground, "You think you know so much? Why don't you look at it and see what went wrong then?"

He grinned as he crouched down so he could get a proper look, "Don't worry. I've heard performance issues are common with monkeys your age."

He heard a snort from behind him, "You would know."

He didn't retort as he started looking at the seal in earnest and what he was seeing was absolutely nonsense, "Were you drunk when you did this? What even is any of this?"

That's what he had intended to say at least, he was interrupted by the boot in between his shoulder blades pushing him off balance and sending him tumbling through the shadow portal that had suddenly appeared on the ground.

Between crouching on solid ground and landing face first in the weird pond that turned everything that touched it green, he only had time to curse himself for falling for such an obvious ruse. Unbelievable. He was the King of pranks and tricks and he'd fallen for that? He didn't deserve his metaphorical crown.

He emerged from the water to an audience of hysterically laughing monkeys but his eyes were only for the smirking jerk standing well back from the splash zone. He was going to wipe that look of his face, he swore Macaque was going to be stuck being green with him for the days it took to wear off.

Macaque just grinned widely before he darted off and Wukong was out of the water faster than a blink of an eye. Trying not to take too much delight in the chase, lest he forget about his retribution.

--M--

Waking up with Macaque in his arms was undoubtedly his favourite way to start the day. Despite the number of times they had shared a bed, it was incredibly rare to wake up to one of them holding the other. He tended to toss and turn too much and Macaque generally tucked himself into a ball and didn't move at all, so rarely did the stars a line to allow it.

But today was apparently one of those blessed days and he intended to savour it for as long as he could. It was only as he nosed at the back of Macaque's neck and pulled him closer to his front that he became aware of an unexpected addition to this usually soft and precious moment.

Wukong was not one to be afflicted with morning wood often but he wasn't immune. He thought he could be forgiven however for reacting to Macaque's backside pressed up against him. He was quite happy to ignore it though in favour of dozing with Macaque bundled up in his arms, it certainly wasn't detracting from the experience.

Well, his experience, at least. Macaque didn't seem appreciative of the unexpected addition as he mumbled, "Wukong, if your dick doesn't stop poking me in the ass I promise you'll regret it."

He grumbled back, "As if you can feel it." But he did reach down between them and adjust himself. He couldn't help but pout slightly, he had been exceptionally comfortable, "Happy?"

Macaque absentmindedly grunted his assent, apparently more concerned with trying to go back to sleep than engaging with him any further. Instead of doing the same however he found himself idly playing with the fur on Macaque's hip as his mind wandered.

Sex probably wasn't on the table for their relationship, right? Not that that was a problem, Wukong had never really been that fussed about it in the first place, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't something he would've never have been interested in trying with Macaque.

Well, trying it properly, at least. Because he and Macaque had actually had sex before - a handful of times a long, long, long time ago - but it was less the tender, loving thing he now was aware it could be and more... well, more like monkeys going at it in the woods.

And as one might imagine it was an activity that generally only benefited one of them and there were no prizes for guessing who. Although, he was sure if Macaque had ever asked it would never have been an issue to change things up but he generally seemed pretty unbothered by the whole thing.

In fact, he could vaguely remember him just rolling his eyes before obliging Wukong's requests. Or... not obliging him if he wasn't in the mood to deal with him. Wukong was no brute, he knew how to take no for an answer, but that didn't mean he hadn't been incredibly annoying about it, and as such, depending on how bad a mood Macaque had been in, he had on occasion found himself dumped in a cold lake somewhere in the world.

So sex hadn't happened often and that had been totally fine but he couldn't help but feel somewhat annoyed at his younger self for being so... monkey about it when it did happen. It could have been something really special, something that brought them closer together. Instead it had been about scratching an itch with the only available demon for miles around.

One more regret to add to the list.

He couldn't help but imagine what it could have been like though - for both of them to get something out of the experience, for both of them to care as much, if not more, about the other's pleasure as their own.

He had no real experience to pull from but a fantasy built upon the familiar was starting to take shape - making out was something they did on occasion and in his mind he could see how hands and lips started to wander. His little daydream however was rudely cut off before it could really get going by a deliberate elbow shoved into his stomach.

He groaned, "What the hell was that for?"

Macaque scoffed as he looked over his shoulder, "Because it turns out blood isn't the only thing that rushes south. Getting a bit excited, were we?"

It took him a moment to understand what he was implying but when it clicked his face was set ablaze, and he suddenly found it difficult to look Macaque in the eye, "You could feel...?"

Unfortunately, his embarrassment was something that Macaque absolutely lapped up and he turned to face him with a delighted grin, "Sure could. You want me to try and describe what it felt like?"

Despite his mortification, he was in fact very interested in the answer, but he in no way wanted to let on how uncool he was feeling about getting caught fantasising. So not trusting his voice he shrugged as nonchalantly as possible.

And he was absolutely not affected by the way Macaque twirled the fur on his hips around his finger as he teased, "What's the matter, Wukong? Cat got your tongue?"

He coughed awkwardly, "No... I just... Er, tell me what it felt like?"

"Tell you what what felt like?"

"Macaque!"

"What? Just tell me what you want. Who knows? Maybe I'll even give it to you."

His suggestive tone left his mouth dry and his mind in the gutters. He bit his tongue before he could say anything foolish. There was no way. This was a trap. It had to be. That coy grin was full of mischief. There was nothing he could say that wouldn't be turned against him somehow.

He bowed his head in defeat, "Just... Tell me what it felt like when I was... Y'know... Turned on."

He wanted to cringe. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't be so embarrassed, he was basically just handing Macaque the upper hand on a silver platter, but this atmosphere that Macaque had created was keeping him off kilter. He felt out of his depth.

Macaque's hand slid from his hip up to his cheek and directed his gaze back up. His amusement was clear to see and Wukong was really hating how none of this seemed to be turning him off at all.

Macaque leaned in a little closer, "What were you thinking about that had you so "turned on", hm?"

Against his will, his eyes flicked down to Macaque's lips briefly and he hoped against hope Macaque somehow wasn't able to "see" that. He heroically tried to gain some control of the situation, "Wh-What does it matter? You some sort of pervert?"

Macaque laughed, "Me? Who's the one so obviously excited right now?" Despite knowing the answer, he still glanced down between them for some reason, and unfortunately he was indeed the only one with any incriminating evidence against him.

Macaque slowly dragged his hand down from his face to his chest, at Wukong's audible swallow, he continued, "But it matters because I want to know exactly what is causing the magic pooling around your balls to feel so hot and heavy. You know I like to be thorough when your magic is involved."

As his hand slipped lower and lower, Wukong's thoughts had been reduced to something along the lines of Holy Shit! Holy Shit! What do I do? Is he really going to-? What do I do?

At the last possible moment, Macaque pulled his hand away with joyous laughter, "You should see your face! Oh, wait, maybe I can recreate it with the shadows for you. Hold on-"

He was cut off as Wukong brought a hand to the back of his head and surged forward to kiss him. Macaque managed a small sound of surprise, and half a second to laugh before he reciprocated, trying to keep up with Wukong's desperation.

God, he was the worst. He hated him so much. Stupid, mouthy jerk with his stupid, sexy teasing. He was going to kiss him until he looked as debauched as he felt.

He brought his hand down to Macaque's hip and dragged him closer but he wasn't so lost in the haze of lust not to feel how tense Macaque became in response. He pulled away with the intent to check on him but Macaque pulled him back in with a hand in his hair before he could utter a word.

Given the enthusiasm of the kissing he was less inclined to believe something was amiss and more inclined to believe that Macaque was perhaps a little less cool and collected than he'd let on. And maybe it was possible he was the teeniest bit nervous about this and didn't want Wukong to call him out on it.

He resisted the urge to grin as he thought about how he could possibly get his own back for earlier and give Macaque a taste of his own medicine. So fully intending not to follow through, he let his hands trail down Macaque's hip and towards his dick. He was not at all expecting the near bruising grip on his wrist before he even got close though.

He pulled back from the kiss immediately and gently removed his hand from Macaque's hold so he could safely place it on his arm, Macaque wouldn't look at him and Wukong started to ramble, "I wasn't planning to... I mean, I just wanted to... I'm sorry? I didn't... Are you ok?"

Macaque bit out, "Fine." Before grumbling, "Stupid. I shouldn't have..." He turned on his side and faced away from him, "My fault. Sorry."

Wukong was trying to recover from the whiplash this situation had given him but he tentatively laid his hand back on Macaque's arm, "It's ok. I... What just happened? Can you... talk me through it?"

He didn't think he'd done anything wrong but something had certainly happened to upset Macaque. He really, really didn't want this to be one of the times that he left him guessing for any length of time. But he was reassured after a long pause when Macaque reached up and laid his hand on top of his.

Wukong couldn't quite stop the quiet sigh of relief and he took that as a go ahead to plaster himself to Macaque's back - finding he really needed the comfort of touching him. He waited as Macaque pulled his hand down from his arm and held it against his chest, certain he was just trying to find the right words.

"I can't feel things, Wukong."

He frowned against the back of his neck. Macaque could feel things. It wasn't how he felt them but between his shadows and his magic, Wukong was pretty sure in some instances he could actually "feel" more than he could.

But he tried to figure out what Macaque was really trying to say here as he quietly waited for him to elaborate. Which he did with a frustrated sound, "I can't- You touching me isn't going to make anything happen."

Still confused, he tried, "You can feel through your magic though...? How is it different from how we normally make out?"

Obviously, he knew kissing and sex were not the same but from a "feeling through magic" perspective surely the same rules applied - if anything Wukong would have thought it would be even more intense.

"For fuck's sake. I can't get it up, you fucking moron."

Oh.

In hindsight maybe it could have been possible for him to have come to the conclusion himself slightly sooner but it wasn't that obvious and he really didn't appreciate being snapped at.

Macaque seemed to realise that though and with his other hand covering his face he apologised, "Fuck. Sorry. Sensitive subject." He laughed bitterly, "Or not-so sensitive."

He tried to soothe him, "It's ok. It's really not that big a deal."

Macaque seemed to sag in defeat, "In the grand scheme of things? No. But it would have been nice."

Well, he couldn't really deny that but before today the thought hadn't really even crossed his mind so while it was admittedly a little disappointing it was something he'd get over quickly. He was more concerned with how Macaque felt about the whole thing.

He held him tightly, "It might have been but everything we already have is plenty nice. And just so we're absolutely, a hundred percent clear I am in no way upset about this. I mean, I'm upset if you're upset but I promise sex hadn't even crossed my mind before."

Macaque managed a weak laugh, "Yeah, I'm well aware."

He pretended to pout, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Pretty sure there are mushrooms with a higher sex drive than you. You thought about having sex all of maybe ten times before giving it up for good."

Wukong wanted to say he was exaggerating but he probably wasn't actually that far off. Maybe once or twice a century the urge would suddenly hit him but that still seemed to have been more interest than Macaque had ever shown. He wasn't quite sure if it was appropriate to point that out right now though.

A little lamely he said, "Yeah, well, at least you know I'm telling the truth. Are you upset about it though?"

He was quiet for a minute before admitting, "Yeah, I am a bit but I'll get over it." He then laughed slightly, "I'm more upset about how quickly teasing you came back to bite me though. That felt like a new record."

Wukong snorted, "Oh please. You've had almost instant comeuppance plenty of times - you're not as slick as you think you are." He wasn't quite ready to let the topic drop, "But in all seriousness, if you want to talk about it..."

"Yeah, yeah. Chóu's Considerate Husband of the Year award is on it's way."

He puffed up in faux pride, before asking, "Do you think she'll back date me for the awards she didn't know me for yet?"

The bickering over how considerate he had been until this point lasted the rest of the morning.

--M--

Macaque had not so subtly been bringing Wukong seals projects to work on. Sometimes it was under the guise of "Oh, Gōngzhǔ found this artefact and Red Son's too busy to figure out what it does. You've got time, right?" or "Apparently, there's a prize to anyone that can write up a successful counter seal for this. You want to give it a go?"

He generally timed this with whenever Wukong was planning to work on the artefacts that could function as accessibility aids for Macaque and eventually he'd taken the hint and quietly put those projects to one side.

He hadn't outright abandoned them though because even if Macaque wasn't interested they were proving great at teaching him various complicated sealing techniques, including how to redo seals with another type of magic at their core.

But they very rarely got worked on and while he would love for Macaque to actually sit down and talk to him about it - sometimes you just had to pick your battles. Macaque clearly preferred developing his magic over finding ways to "fix" his more conventional senses and Wukong had decided the best option was to support him with that.

So he spent a lot of time working on other projects that Macaque brought him. The one he was currently working on had been niggling at something in the back of his head since he'd started, and it finally dawned on him why. He was sure he'd seen them on a similar artefact he had in the vault and so he stood up with a stretch and told Macaque that he was off to find it.

Macaque had decided he could do with a break from his own project and happily accompanied him to help look for it. His golden vision could make short work of the search but he was sure he knew roughly where it was and it was nice just to go through the treasure piles and see what else there was.

It was as he was doing this, that he came across two artefacts that he remembered throwing over here after deciding they were useless in helping Macaque with his muted senses. He hastily tried to bury them again but the damage had been done.

Macaque's head popped over his shoulder, "What's got your heart racing all of a sudden?"

Racing was a gross overstatement but Macaque could pick up and interpret the slightest changes with annoying accuracy. Foolishly, he turned to face him, shoving the artefacts behind him, "Nothing! Just, er, found some artefacts that might prove useful for a different project later! Not helpful right now though!"

Macaque just raised an eyebrow, "Really? That's what you're going with?"

Wukong just sighed and decided it was best to get the embarrassment over with. He brought the necklace and ring around and presented them to Macaque, "I found these a while back when I was trying to find artefacts that might help you with your sense of touch but they were total write offs. Not even remotely what I was looking for."

Macaque took them off him and held them up curiously, "What do they actually do then?"

He did his best to keep a straight face, "The ring I couldn't actually get to work but the necklace... Well, it does heighten your sense of touch in a manner of speaking..."

Macaque snorted, "It's a sex thing, isn't it?"

He nodded, "It's totally a sex thing. Which I just want to confirm, was not what I was looking for."

Macaque seemed to eye the necklace for a moment before he shrugged and slipped it on. Wukong's eyes widened in disbelief before they immediately shot downwards.

The scuff to the side of his head had been somewhat deserved, "Have some class, Wukong."

He rubbed at his nonexistent pain and tried to defend himself, "Hey, when I tried it on the effect was immediate."

Macaque scoffed, "Maybe you're just easy to please."

Despite himself, he felt his face heat up, "You say that like it's a bad thing! Who wants to be hard to please?"

"Always one extreme or the other with you. Believe it or not, there is in fact this nice middle ground where everyone has a good time."

"I know that! I didn't mean- Ah forget it! Is that necklace doing anything for you or what?"

Macaque hummed and brought a hand to the necklace, "I think I can feel what it's trying to do. But all it's really achieving is making me horny as hell with no way to do anything about it. So thanks for that."

"Wh-? I didn't make you put it on!"

Macaque casually removed the necklace and put it down on the nearest surface before he slipped the ring on and frowned at it, "You said you couldn't get this to work?"

"Yeah, it didn't do anything. Why? You feel something?"

"No... Give me your hand though, I have an idea."

Obligingly, he did so and as soon as Macaque's hand touched his he knew exactly what the ring did. He was going to deny the sound that escaped him for the rest of eternity and he quickly snatched his hand back, "Alrighty! Well, we now know what that does now! That's no help to anyone! Let's put it away, shall we?"

Maybe toss it in a volcano for good measure because he did not like the grin spreading across Macaque's face, "Put it away? Why you haven't even told me what it does yet."

Macaque absolutely knew what it did and for every step forward he took, Wukong took one back, his hands held up in front of him defensively, "We don't have to do this."

Macaque's response was full of delight, "Oh, I think we do. You want a safe word in case you need to tap out?"

He didn't dignify that with a response, he just turned tail and ran. Unfortunately, running from someone with shadow powers was all but impossible and he thought Macaque was taking a truly disproportionate amount of pleasure in this terribly inappropriate game of hide and seek.

Every gentle caress or trailing of his fingers along his skin sent a pleasurable shiver through him and it was all he could do just to not let any more embarrassing sounds escape him. And as if running about with an erection wasn't bad enough, he was appalled to discover that Macaque's vicious laughter was not even nearly the turn off it should be.

It was the ring. It had to be. He refused to accept anything else.

Eventually Macaque had him cornered and Wukong was prepared to beg - for what he wasn't even sure but god was he feeling desperate. As Macaque slowly stalked towards his prey, he suddenly decided this really was way too overwhelming, "Macaque... I... Uh... Safe word? Please?"

He was a little surprised at how immediate an effect that had. Macaque stopped and made a show of removing the ring and having it disappear into the shadows, he spread his arms wide as if to show he had nothing else on him.

He couldn't help but sigh a little in relief, "I, er, didn't think that would actually work."

"Honestly I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did. I thought you would have blown your load after like the third touch."

He was oddly both offended and embarrassingly a little pleased with the backhanded compliment but still slightly aghast at the crude language. He huffed and stood tall, "Guess I'm not so "easy to please" after all."

Macaque shrugged, "It's definitely a step up in duration compared to past performances but I can't say the running away was a shining example of sexual prowess."

Face red, he retorted, "It was a "shining example" of restraint! Something you should think about giving a try sometime!"

Macaque laughed, and he turned away to start heading back, "I think I showed great restraint. I gave you plenty of chances to get away."

Wukong grumbled as he adjusted himself before following after him, "You just wanted to keep the chase going."

"Guilty as charged but don't pretend you don't love that shit too."

It was true - he was almost never happier than he was when they played their game of cat and mouse. It didn't even matter who had what role - it made him feel like he was young again, with no ambitions for power or immortality yet. Just wild and free, without a care in the world.

"Yeah, sure. But for the record? Running with a hard-on really detracts from the whole experience - I could do without that again. What did you do with the ring anyway?"

Macaque just grinned menacingly and forged ahead without answering.

He groaned, silently prayed he would be merciful and jogged after him.

--M--

It was later that evening, after they'd had dinner, that Wukong found himself considering Macaque from the opposite end of the couch, and apropos to nothing he stated, "You've had sex with people other than me."

Macaque looked bemused, "That a problem?"

He made a face, "What? No. I'm just wondering - when? Why? You were even less interested in sex than I was - what changed?"

Macaque seemed to ponder this for a moment before he laughed slightly, "Alright, I'll tell you but it's a story so dumb it defies belief."

His favourite kind of story! He excitedly gestured for him to start.

"So, you know those demons that feed off other people's emotions?"

He was immediately in disbelief, "No... Don't tell me...?"

Macaque nodded, eyes sparkling with mirth, as he set the scene, "It couldn't have been long after your first immortality and we had been out exploring the world when, as per usual, you ditched me because something had caught your eye."

He had the good grace to at least feel sheepish over the reminder of his less than stellar track record as a teammate but Macaque obviously wasn't that upset about it, as he continued, "Lucky for you, I had found my own entertainment in the form of some rumours about some cursed tomb nearby. So, I went to check it out. As it would eventually transpire there was this demon that was "haunting" the place - a shapeshifter that was feeding off the fear of anyone willing to risk the curse for a stab at the rumoured treasure."

Macaque shook his head, "Honestly, it was pretty amateurish - the rumours and the dark were really doing all the work. I was able to see through all their attempts to scare me until eventually they gave up and appeared before me to lecture me for being such a spoil sport.

They explained their whole deal though and that's when they proposed a deal. See, they were starving, not many brave souls had been risking the tomb recently but they didn't need to feast on fear. They not-so-subtly hinted that there were much more pleasurable emotions to be had and they'd make it worth my while if I helped them out."

Wukong interjected, "There's no way you said yes to that!"

Macaque grinned, "You're right. I told them that sex sucks and I wasn't interested but then they were all like "Ah, you've had one too many selfish lovers, eh? But trust me the better you feel, the better I eat." And proceeded to really lay it on thick why this was a good idea. I still wasn't convinced though and eventually they offered up this fancy artefact they had - if they didn't show me the time of my life it was all mine. It was a win-win situation really."

He paused and laughed, "Needless to say, I didn't get that artefact. They were good on their word - although I'd say being a shapeshifting empath really gave them an unfair advantage. But turns out sex doesn't suck - I just had more involved needs than being mounted for two minutes. Go figure. After that I had the occasional fling, but have to say they were a hard act to follow."

Wukong protested, "There's no way that's true! That's some porn level shit! I don't believe you!"

"I told you it was dumb as hell. But I swear, that's what happened. And you don't even know the half of it but I'm not sure your "enlightened" ears could handle the finer details."

He told himself he could totally handle it but he wasn't stupid enough to take the bait - Macaque would go out of his way to embarrass him somehow, instead he continued with his disbelief, "If this happened when you said it did, I would already have known! You would have told me!"

"First of all, I'm not the "kiss and tell" sort of guy. And secondly, just because you liked to over share doesn't mean I did. There's plenty that went on that you never caught wind of."

It was, unfortunately, also quite possible there was plenty that Macaque had actually told him about that he hadn't paid attention to and he was grateful he hadn't felt the need to bring that up. But this hadn't been one of them because his younger self would have been all over this.

Either way he was sort of struck by the notion that there were apparently things he didn't know about Macaque from before his imprisonment - things that flew in the face of what he thought he knew. And he found he really wanted to know the truth.

A little hopeful he asked, "Like what?"

Over the next hour or so Macaque had him in constant awe and hysterics - stories of misbegotten adventures, strange rivalries, pranks gone wrong, backstage drama - and he was sure they were only scratching the tip of the iceberg.

For as amazing as some of these stories were, there was an uncomfortable feeling slowly building in his chest, trying not to sound as affected by it as he was, he asked, "How come you never told me about any of this at the time?"

He could understand a few stories slipping under the radar - Macaque forgetting to tell him because something big came up that distracted him or maybe Wukong had been off the island for so long the moment had passed - but he was getting the feeling there was more to it than that.

Macaque shrugged, "Ah, you know what it was like - always so much going on back in those days. You were away, or we were busy, or I was in a bad mood. But hey! Look on the bright side though! Now you get to hear them all for the first time now!"

"Yeah... That's really all there was to it though? No other reason I'm only hearing these stories now?"

Macaque seemed to waver for a moment before he sighed and turned away slightly embarrassed, "You've not noticed a common theme with these stories? I'm generally the butt of the joke. When we were younger I was sort of, er, hung up on what you thought about me. Didn't want you to think less of me."

He cooed, instantly enamoured, "Aw! You wanted me to think you were cool? That's so cute!"

Macaque crossed his arms with a huff, before grumbling, "Something like that."

Wukong couldn't resist teasing, "You know it didn't work though, right? I've always known you were a big dork. It's obvious no matter what you do."

Macaque scoffed, "You're one to talk. But obviously now that I'm older and wiser I know better. I'm no longer under any delusion that you're the be-all and end-all."

"Uh-huh. Sure. We're just going to pretend I'm not your favourite person in the whole world then?"

"You don't even rank in the top three."

"You're such a rotten liar!" He then leaned over to get in Macaque's space, he let the magic in his hands hum as he poked at him, "C'mon, admit it, I'm your favourite person. Not even top three... As if!"

Macaque squirmed and grappled with his hands to stop his prodding, "See, this right here is why you're not my favourite - you're just so annoying when you don't get your way."

They bickered childishly for a while as they playfully wrestled as best as they could without falling off the couch until eventually he plopped down on top of Macaque.

Macaque ran a hand through his hair, "Giving up?"

"You wish. I'm just biding my time. I'll get that confession. You just wait."

Macaque scoffed, "Sure thing, Monkey Cop."

A comfortable silence took hold as Macaque groomed his fur and Wukong felt his thoughts drift under the gentle ministrations. If he didn't think about it too hard, then a younger Macaque trying to act cool around him was both hilarious and sort of adorable. And it's not like Wukong hadn't ever done the same.

He'd lived for the adulation that others lavished on him but for all his love and loyalty Macaque had often been tight lipped when it came to praising him, probably not wanting to feed his dangerously inflated ego, and he had taken this as something of a challenge. So, there had been plenty of times he'd gone out of his way to try and impress Macaque but it didn't quite feel the same.

Macaque had hidden away parts of himself that he thought Wukong would think less of him for and that rubbed him the wrong way. He shouldn't have felt like he had to do that, he should have been able to trust Wukong with all of him but he couldn't blame him one bit for not being able to.

It was different now though, Wukong could be someone that Macaque could confide in and depend upon, he may tease him or give him a hard time but he knew that Wukong would always have his back. Macaque knew that, right?

"Hey, uh, you know you can talk to me, right? Like, about anything." He tried to make it sound slightly less serious by adding, "You know, even if you come across as super uncool or whatever."

Macaque snorted, "As if I worry about being "cool" around you. Nothing I can say or do can compare to the dumb shit you've done."

"Hey! I am the epitome of cool! You could only dream of being as cool as me!"

"As a general rule, people that go around calling themselves cool are anything but."

He poked him in the side, "Whatever. That wasn't nearly the important part of that question. And I would like an actual response. So... You know that you can talk to me, right?"

The pause almost had him pushing himself up to look at him but the light pressure Macaque had on his head told him he wanted him to stay where he was. Eventually he answered, "I'm getting there."

Oh.

That hurt a bit more than he wanted to admit but he tried not to dwell on it and instead responded, "Anything I can do to help with that?"

Macaque started scratching gently at the base of his skull, right where he knew he liked it, as he leaned down and kissed the top of his head, "Just keep doing what you're doing. Some things just take time, old habits are hard to break."

Time was something they had plenty of and he was in this for the long haul. However long it took, he would prove that to him. For the moment, however he snuggled close and asked to hear more stories.

----

Wukong had been making his way back to the house when he heard what, unfortunately, sounded an awful lot like Macaque's brooding playlist coming from that direction. He had a feeling he knew what might have happened but either way he made his way back and cautiously peeked his head around the door before entering properly.

He found Macaque sprawled out on the couch with his eyes closed as his depressing music filled the air. He leaned on the back of the couch and looked down at him, "I thought you were seeing Bǎi Hé today?"

"She had to cancel."

He'd had a feeling but still he frowned, "That's like the third time in a row."

"She's busy - school, friends, all that jazz."

"Yeah, but she couldn't have told you before now she couldn't make it?"

"Things come up, you lose track of time, it's fine."

"It's clearly not fine. You're here moping and listening to your saddest playlist."

"I'm not moping, I'm just lying down. And that playlist is just the one that came on."

Yeah, right. He could deny it all he wanted but he was obviously super bummed out at being stood up. He tried to play it cool but Macaque really looked forward to his monthly catch up with Bǎi Hé, he would always come back and proudly update him on whatever she'd been up to.

He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed on Macaque's behalf, "What excuse did she give you this time?"

"Study date."

"What? But she knew she had plans with you! That's just plain rude! Did she even apologize?"

"I'm sure she will when she realises."

"Wait. What do you mean?"

Macaque heaved a sigh and sat up, "She didn't show so I thought I'd just go see if I could find her in one of her usual haunts. I did, she was busy."

He groaned slightly, "Macaque! Why didn't you just call her? Once she realised she probably would have come and met you!"

Macaque's phone was all set up to accommodate his visual impairment - all he had to do was pull the damned thing from whatever shadows he usually stashed it in and tell it to call Bǎi Hé and this whole sad thing could have been avoided.

Macaque just shrugged and Wukong tutted as he poked the side of his head, "Don't just shrug. Why are you being all weird about this? You're throwing a pity party for no good reason."

Macaque swatted his hand away, "Look, she was happy where she was. No need to drag her away from that just to go for lunch."

"Macaque, I am actually going to smack you. Having lunch with you isn't some chore - you both have a great time whenever you meet up."

He really could understand being disheartened by the fact that this had been the third time in a row they hadn't met but Macaque hadn't even tried to get in touch with her to see what was up.

Sounding a little annoyed, Macaque responded, "Wukong, just..." He then took an aggravated breath before he sagged and admitted, "She's not a little kid, Wukong. She's growing up. I..."

Ah, okay, maybe this wasn't just Macaque being down on himself. Wukong himself really couldn't stand the thought of befriending any more humans - as fragile and short-lived as they were it was a recipe of heartache. And well, in this case, they grew up and changed fast too.

Macaque continued, "I know I should have called her, alright? I just... I don't know, I guess I'm not sure if I fit into her life anymore. I don't want her to feel like it's an obligation to have a relationship with me. And she's doing so well these days, maybe she's ready to move on from the support she needed after the Lady Bone Demon, y'know? Have a normal life - free from people like us."

They weren't unfair concerns. Humans were creatures of change - it could very well be the case that Bǎi Hé's needs and wants didn't involve Macaque like they used to but that didn't necessarily mean there was no place for Macaque in her life.

That is if Macaque really wanted to suffer through loving a mortal. There was a small part of him that wanted to tell Macaque this could be a good thing - break things off before he loved her so much that losing her haunted him before and after she was gone.

But he didn't doubt Macaque was well aware of her mortality and it felt callous to bring it up now. As he mulled over the correct response, Macaque suddenly looked a little stressed and the reason for it was quickly revealed as he pulled his ringing phone from the shadows, even without the phone explicit voicing who was calling Wukong would have been able to guess who it was.

He clasped Macaque's shoulder, "Answer it."

Macaque took a fortifying breath before using the audio command to accept the call. Wukong squeezed his shoulder once before letting go and leaving to give him some privacy but from what he could grasp from Macaque's reassurances that everything was fine, it sounded like Bǎi Hé was extremely apologetic for what had happened.

Good. She was a good kid, he really hadn't wanted to think she would deliberately blow off Macaque like that. It wasn't even a minute later than Macaque found him and explained he was leaving to go meet up with her. He forwent any "I told you so"'s or the like and just told him to have a good time.

He got a grateful kiss on the cheek and then he was on his own once more. He decided, he really needed to find something to keep him occupied lest thoughts of his relationship with MK started sounding a little too similar to Macaque's concerns about his relationship with Bǎi Hé.

--Chapter End--

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