#life likes strawberries and wukong also like peaches

[lesdrawsposts]

they're first interaction

[lunar-wandering]

cookies

more Sel content!! this time it’s how Sel first met Macaque. (maybe i’ll do one about how he met Wukong soon too)

oh, also, i can’t remember if i mentioned this before, but Sel is genderfluid, which is why he’s using he/him pronouns in this fic when he used she/her in the other one. just so ya know.

Word Count: 1.6k

Sel hummed to himself as he walked through the market, a basket slung over one arm. He'd been actively trying to get Wukong to eat things that weren't peach based (or the monkey's own hair....) for a while now, and thus far he'd had the best luck with different types of fruit, specifically ones from the market. Plus, it also helped that there was one stall around here that made really good juice drinks, so Sel tended to frequent the place rather often.

He stepped to the side to avoid bumping into a small group of people, and subsequently found himself closer to a rather...dark alleyway. Sel eyed the alleyway nervously as he walked past it, he wasn't entirely immune to horror stories and the anxious idea of getting attacked after all.

It was only after he passed the alleyway the he paused, turning back around to stand in front of the alley again, double checking what he had seen.

A monkey demon's tail, laying on the ground on the other side of a dumpster, presumably with a monkey demon attached to it.

Sel, honestly, only knew of three monkey demons.

The first of which being Wukong, Monkey King and all. He'd known him for a little over two years, ever since he'd hit his head on that boat and ended up on Flower Fruit Mountain by accident.

The second monkey was MK. Albeit, he was just a human with Wukong's powers, but Sel considered him a monkey in spirit, so he definitely counted.

The third, Sel had never actually had the pleasure of meeting.

...Well. Sel's market-shopping could wait a day.

As he took a step into the alley, he could see the fur on the tail bristle, before it was pulled back to hide behind the dumpster.

So. The other could hear him. Not surprising really, from what little he knew, the Six Eared Macaque does have excellent hearing after all.

Which was why Sel was slightly amused when Macaque startled as Sel walked to stand in front of him.

With just one look at the shadow monkey, Sel immediately became concerned.

There weren't any obvious injuries, but Macaque was curled up, not completely, but enough for it to be obvious that it was either a defensive position or a response to pain. It wasn't exactly surprising that he was probably hurt, he had fought MK and Wukong after all, not many people could exactly come out of that undamaged.

Still though, from what Sel knew, Macaque should've been fully healed by now.

The fact that he wasn't was incredibly concerning.

...And Macaque was still staring up at him in confusion.

Right, he hadn't said anything yet.

"...Hi there!" Sel said, before realizing that, as he was standing up and Macaque wasn't, he was kinda....towering over him.

Not wanting to accidentally threaten the other this early on, Sel knelt down in front of Macaque, pulling out a bag of cookies and holding it out as an offering. He'd been mostly planning on saving them for later, but, well...

Macaque looked at him bewildered, before scoffing, shoving the bag of cookies and Sel's outstretched hand away, grabbing hold of the edge of the dumpster and slowly picking himself up off the ground. He didn't look exactly steady- some injuries starting to show through the glamour Sel could tell he was wearing, and the slight shakiness in his legs didn't exactly lead Sel to trust that the shadow monkey wasn't about to collapse.

Sel stood back up, holding out the bag of cookies again.

"They're not poisoned, by the way." He said, "I haven't even opened the bag, if you're worried about that."

"I don't like sweets." Macaque muttered, the first words Sel had heard him say.

"Aw, c'mon, you don't look like you've eaten in weeks, you should at least eat something, even if you don't like it." Sel insisted, unphased as Macaque glared at him.

"Why do you care?" He asked, "You- You've literally never met me before, why are you concerned- really this is rather careless of you to talk to a stranger-"

"But I do know you, even if I haven't met you." Sel said, "I know who you are, Macaque. MK was quite detailed in talking about you. Wukong was a little more quiet about it, but he did mention you as well."

A look of fear passed through Macaque's eyes.

Sel immediately decided he didn't like it. He had been kind of planning on threatening Macaque about not attacking MK or Wukong again, but....something about his expression right now made that idea not quite sit right.

"Hey." He lowered his voice to as soft as it could go, trying his best to channel the sensation of a relaxing night on the seashore into his voice. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Macaque clearly still didn't trust him, but his shoulders relaxed slightly, so Sel took that as a win.

"...Who are you anyways?" Macaque asked, "I don't think I've seen you around the city before."

"I've never seen you around either, so it's probably more of us not frequenting the same places." Sel said, "But anyways, my name's Sel, currently the resident selkie of Flower Fruit Mountain. Well, I don't really live there, but I visit pretty often enough."

"So you're....friends with Wukong?" Macaque asked, his tail swishing back and forth.

"Yep! He really should have more though, I keep telling him that one friend and one successor isn't a really good social life, but does he listen, no-" Sel paused, registering the way Macaque was looking away, avoiding eye contact as he rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly vaguely uncomfortable. Hm. Wukong probably wasn't the best topic then. "Ah- anyways, you're injured, right? Do you need any help with that or-"

"I'm fine." Macaque hissed, and Sel noted for later how his eye flashed purple, the shadows in the alley condensing. "Shouldn't you be- I don't know, shopping or something?"

"Shopping can wait for later, injuries are a thing for now." Sel said, recognizing the defensive deflection for what it was. "Seriously, if you need help all you need to do is tell me and I'll-"

"And how should I know to trust you?" Macaque pressed his back closer to the wall behind him. Man, this seriously wasn't going well. "For all I know, Wukong could've sent you here to finally land the final blow."

At that, Sel pauses, assessing Macaque again, the look in his eyes, the way he looks ready to flee at any moment.

...He realizes he's seen this exact same thing before.

On himself, a few years ago. On Wukong, whenever he thinks Sel isn't looking. More recently, on MK, which was nothing if not concerning.

On a girl, standing at the top of a cliff, foot hovering over the edge.

"How do I keep running into the people who seriously need therapy..." He muttered, ignoring the fact that Macaque probably heard him, based on how his ear twitched. "Well, if you ever do decide to trust me, you can probably find me at Flower Fruit Mountain. If not, Wukong will probably help you if you actually show your injuries and don't immediately try to kill him."

"And what makes you think Wukong would do that?"

"I read his diary."

"You- wait what?" Macaque's righteous caution was suddenly fully replaced by confusion. "How did you get a hold of-"

"He kinda just... gave it to me?" Sel shrugged, "I made a comment about not believing that he could write good poems, and he just. Handed it over to prove me wrong. I think he forgot most of what he wrote in there honestly."

"I-you-" Macaque seemed to struggle to come up with a response to that for a moment. "...What was in his diary that makes you think he'd want to help me?"

"Hm... That's for me to know, and you to find out." Sel said, and, fully aware that this might be a step too far, but wanting to test and see where the boundaries lay, reached out and ruffled the fur on Macaque's head. Surprisingly, he didn't stop him from doing this, and if Sel wasn't imagining things, he actually leaned into the contact too.

...Probably touchstarved then. That was another check to the "I keep finding people who seriously need help, how does this keep happening" list.

"Well." Sel started, removing his hand and watching in semi-amusement as Macaque seemingly became aware of what just happened, the slightest hint of a pink blush making it's way through the shadow monkey's glamour over the fact he'd been taken off guard. Sel softly chuckled at his expression, before gently setting the bag of cookies on top of the dumpster. "I suppose I should be going, the juice stand is going to close soon after all, and I really do in fact want a strawberry juice. You're free to come along if you want."

"I- No. No, I'm fine." Macaque said, crossing his arms, his fur bristling. "Like I said, I don't like sweets."

"Hm, if you say so." Sel turned, ignoring the sensation of Macaque watching him as he left the alley.

He walked a few steps down the street, waiting for about a minute before turning back and looking down the alley again.

As he'd expected, Macaque was gone, as well as the bag of cookies.

Sel smirked to himself, remembering how Wukong had adamantly refused to eat the cookies after finding out Sel had put a healing potion into it, adamantly stating that he didn't need any healing. At least someone who needed it would use them.