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lucagray813 · 6 days ago

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Tales from the Shadows - Chapter 3

Title: Babysitting

Rating: G

Word Count: 3,011

Characters: Bǎi Hé, Red Son, Original Animal Character, Macaque

Relationships: Bǎi Hé & Red Son

Summary: Bǎi Hé studies hard but her self-assigned "babysitters" are there to make sure she isn't overdoing it.

Additional Notes: Bǎi Hé is about 18 at this point in the story

CW: None

Link to AO3 Version

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Bǎi Hé was well aware that she should have stopped for lunch about half an hour ago but she'd dismissed her phone's alarm before it had even gone off. She was in the zone, and if she stopped now she'd ruin her momentum. She'd take a break once she finished this chapter, it didn't make sense to stop before then.

The sudden increase in temperature told her that Red Son disagreed.

You would think studying in Flower Fruit Mountain's library would give her some peace from him. But it was a testament to his overbearing investment in her studies that he was willing to risk running into Wukong, and/or Macaque, just to make sure she was on schedule.

Annoyed, she turned around and pre-empted his lecture, "I was just finishing this chapter. Seriously, five more minutes and I would have been done."

Red Son scoffed as he walked over to look at where she'd gotten to and in response, she stood abruptly and closed the book so he couldn't see that she was in fact nowhere near the end of the chapter.

Despite knowing the answer, she griped as she pulled out her phone, "Why are you even here, stalker?"

Sure enough, he'd messaged her precisely the second her break should have started and had sent her subsequent warnings counting down his intervention.

Looking down his nose at her, he responded, "You think I want to waste my time babysitting? If you could be trusted to study responsibly then I wouldn't have to stop what I'm doing just to make sure you don't pass out because you forgot to drink water."

She swiped up the water bottle he'd "gifted" her from the table and waved it in his face, "First of all, it was one time and I didn't "pass out", I just had a dizzy spell! And second of all, as if I'm going to forget with this stupid thing beeping at me every fifteen minutes!"

He'd used his incredible engineering genius to make a water bottle that screamed at her if it deemed she hadn't drank enough. She couldn't even just chuck the stupid thing away either because he'd somehow set up her phone to scream at her if the water bottle wasn't in its immediate vicinity and she hadn't figured out how to switch it off.

He bickered with her as they started heading outside, "The only stupid thing here is you. The Hydration Receptacle and Alert System has been an unequivocal success."

She scowled at him, "Just call it a water bottle!"

"I will not refer to the H-RAS as something so reductive! A "water bottle" is a commoner accessory, the H-RAS is state of the art technology that can-"

She rolled her eyes, "That can withstand liquid temperatures up to a thousand degrees and can accurately assess the water intake requirements of the user in real time. That doesn't change the fact that it's a bottle that has water in it, ergo it's a water bottle!"

She resented the fact that it was so effective. The bottle rarely ever had the chance to go off at her anymore because she had figured out how much and how often she needed to drink to avoid setting off the deliberately grating alarm.

He grumbled, "You know its full specs and still you don't appreciate its brilliance."

It was useless trying to explain to him that what she really didn't appreciate was that he'd forced it onto her. But boundaries, in general, were something that the long lived and powerful demons in her life struggled to understand.

Red Son actually wasn't the worst offender, which she chalked up to belonging to a younger generation and having friends like MK and herself. Not Mei though, when it came to Red Son at least, she was the worst at respecting boundaries and privacy.

But that didn't make his well meaning attempts to micromanage her any less annoying.

Mandatory bickering now out of the way though, he was extremely easy to goad into helping her study during her break and in short order he was testing her with questions about demon history and politics as they walked through the forest.

"When was the Treaty of Black Quarry actioned?"

"It was signed 846 but it wasn't actually enforced until Magistrate Yǐn rose to power in 858."

He nodded, "Why?"

Her response was cut off by the screeching monkey running towards them with a couple of bananas wrapped securely in their tail.

Red Son sulked as she smiled at the familiar monkey, "Xiǎo Yǐng!"

She obligingly bent down to meet them so they could easily climb on to her shoulder and gratefully accepted one of the bananas before they jumped to Red Son's shoulder and shoved it in his face until he very begrudgingly took it off them.

She laughed behind her half eaten banana as Red Son was bullied into eating his by a very insistent Xiǎo Yǐng. While he grumbled all the while about not even liking bananas he did eventually relent and reluctantly begin to eat it, to Xiǎo Yǐng's approval.

They were such a odd little monkey and they were the only one that Bǎi Hé could positively identify. She didn't know why but she never got them confused for anyone else. Maybe it was just because their behaviour and personality was just so distinct but something told her there was more to it than that.

Xiǎo Yǐng's arrival marked the end of any studying during her break - they screeched at both of them anytime they tried to continue Red Son's pop quiz and eventually she gave in, "Alright, alright. You win. We'll stop."

They jumped back to her shoulder to pat her head and chitter approvingly before jumping to the ground and motioning for them to follow them.

Red Son resigned him to taking orders from a monkey with a sigh while she saluted cheerfully before dragging him along and telling him not to be such a stick in the mud.

He shot back that she was the one that hadn't wanted to stop studying and she promptly ignored him.

Before long, they were at the beach and where they were expected to sit was made clear by the two piles of their respective favourite fruits under a nice shady tree.

After they'd sat down, Red Son picked up a dragon fruit and complained, "If you know what I like then why did you force me to eat a banana?"

Xiǎo Yǐng stood in front of them and lectured him but, of course, neither of them knew what they were saying, she hazarded a guess, "Because they're good for you...?"

They pointed at her and nodded and she got the distinct impression that she was being complimented for being so clever so she sat up tall and basked in the assumed praise just to annoy Red Son.

It was clear that Xiǎo Yǐng had no issue understanding what they were saying and they were a surprisingly active member of their conversation, not just restricting themselves to nods or shakes of their heads but miming their responses rather effectively.

They were also highly opinionated and it was endlessly entertaining watching Red Son argue with them about anything and everything. It was even funnier when he lost an argument.

While he sat arms crossed and turned away from them grumbling about how unbecoming it was to argue with a monkey, she wondered out loud, "Y'know, I've always wondered if we could teach Xiǎo Yǐng sign language. They're definitely smart enough. I bet some of the other monkeys could even pick it up too."

Red Son huffed as he turned back round, "If I wanted to understand these little rodents any more than I already do I would just make a translator."

She smacked his arm with the back of her hand, and loudly complained, "If you know how to make a monkey translator then why haven't you made one! I want to be able to understand the monkeys! Just think of all the blackmail we could get on Macaque and Wukong!"

He stopped rubbing at his arm and looking annoyed as he considered her argument, "Blackmail could perhaps justify such an unbecoming project..."

She rolled her eyes before addressing Xiǎo Yǐng excitedly, "I bet you've got all the best dirt on them, don't you?"

Their smug expression said it all but they refused to enlighten them on what they knew. Bǎi Hé laughed, "You're a monkey of integrity, huh? Need something in exchange for what you know, right? Alright, name your price!"

They continued to play coy but she was sure she would figure out a suitable bribe in time, especially since she was one hundred percent going to bully Red Son in to making this translator he seemed to think would be so "trivial" to build.

After a little while, Xiǎo Yǐng abruptly ran off but they returned about thirty seconds later on Macaque's shoulder, happily chittering in his ear as he made his way over to them.

She grinned, "I was wondering what was taking you so long. Wukong keeping you busy?"

Her tone was sly and Red Son pulled a face at the implication, but Macaque just grinned back, "Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to, kid."

She sniggered at Red Son's obvious disgust but she was pretty sure Macaque was just playing along to wind him up. Not that it mattered either way.

If Wukong hadn't been "distracting" him though, it was a little odd that he hadn't been the one to come and remind her to she needed to eat. She didn't doubt he'd been keeping a close ear on her but he liked to pretend he respected people's privacy. So perhaps because he knew Red Son would intervene if he didn't, he had decided it would work to strengthen the illusion that he wasn't monitoring her every move if he waited until now to make an appearance.

He did like to play the oddest games.

Macaque nodded towards Xiǎo Yǐng, "They've just been telling me what a good job babysitting you two they've been doing. How would you rate them?"

Immensely offended, Red Son burst out, "Babysitting!?"

It was clear the way Xiǎo Yǐng looked expectantly at them that Macaque wasn't lying and the idea that Xiǎo Yǐng viewed them as a pair of strange looking monkey infants that they needed to take care of was endlessly funny to her.

She laughed as she gave them two thumbs up, "Five stars! Best babysitter I've ever had!"

The puffed up proudly before chirping at Red Son, clearly wanting his feedback too. He pointed at them, "You were not babysitting me, you incorrigible chimp!"

Xiǎo Yǐng started arguing their case quite passionately, pointing to the remains of the fruit and to the tree they were sitting under then gesturing between Red Son and themselves before crossing their arms quite displeased.

Macaque nodded in exaggerated agreement the whole time they'd been chirping and once they stopped, he offered, "Did you get all that or did you need me to translate?"

Red Son turned his nose up at him, "I am not entertaining this absurdity. They can think what they want, we all know the truth of the matter."

She chimed in, "Uh, yeah! That they were babysitting us! Right, Mac?"

He nodded sagely before pretending to tell Red Son off, "You should show your babysitter more respect. At the very least get the species right - do they look like a chimp to you?"

He huffed, "All you simians look the same to me."

Making sure to really drag out the syllables, she responded, "Wow. True colours finally showing, huh?"

He knocked her over into the sand by pushing at her head, "Oh, shut up! Don't start with that nonsense! As if you can tell them apart from the rest of the rabble on this island!"

She sat up and immediately tried to return the favour, grappling for a proper hold to send him face first into the beach, as she argued, "Actually, I could spot Xiǎo Yǐng in a crowd of a hundred monkeys! How can you not tell them apart?"

She managed to jab him right in the spot under his ribs that made him squeal and took advantage of it to tackle him to the ground before sitting on top of him, victorious.

Her triumph lasted less than a second as he knocked her off him but before he could retaliate a wall of shadows sprung up between them, "Alright, children. I think that's enough."

Macaque looked bemused by the whole thing as he dismissed his shadows.

She stuck her tongue out at Red Son just so she could see him look at her with incredulous indignity before he apparently remembered himself and cleared his throat. Sitting up primly, he contradicted himself, "Of course, I can tell them apart. Anyone could! They're not like the other monkeys!"

Far from looking offended, Xiǎo Yǐng stood stall on Macaque's shoulder and chirped proudly.

Macaque snorted in response before lifting a hand to fondly scratch behind their ear, "Yes, you're very special. We know."

She couldn't help but ask, "But how are they special?"

Xiǎo Yǐng chirped something in response but Macaque seemed to ignore them as he shrugged, "Not all monkeys are created equally. And this little one stood out from day one. They wouldn't have been my second in command otherwise."

Red Son raised an eyebrow, "Second in command?"

Macaque obligingly explained, "Wukong had his generals and marshals and I had them. They were in charge anytime I had to leave the island back when I was running things."

She knew very little about the history of the island but everyone and their dog knew that the Monkey King had been trapped under a mountain far away from home for five hundred years. It wasn't hard to connect the dots and realise that Macaque must have run things in his absence.

It was clear Red Son didn't think highly enough of the monkeys to think they could actually hold positions of power but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Curious, she asked, "Wukong had four stalwarts, right? How come you only had one?"

"Well, those four were still around and they carried on their roles when everything went to shit. But this little one had been my confidant long before that and when I had to step up they stepped up too, didn't you?"

She smiled at the sweet sight of Xiǎo Yǐng basking in Macaque's attention before laughing a little and addressing Red Son, "No wonder they think they were babysitting us - they're probably like twice your age!"

Being a know-it-all, he responded, "I suspected as much, immortal peaches have been readily available on this island long before I was born. That still doesn't explain what it is about this monkey that makes them stand out so much. Surely, the so-called generals and marshals must still be about too and we couldn't pick them out from a crowd."

Macaque's grin had a warning edge to it, "Just count yourself lucky enough that "Xiǎo Yǐng" here liked you enough that they've let you get to know them."

She and Red Son exchanged a glance.

They'd clearly stumbled unwittingly into a touchy subject but what it was, she had no clue. Macaque was giving clear "drop it" vibes though so she steered them to safer territory as she nodded, "Super lucky! They always bring me snacks while I'm studying! I wish I could understand what they were saying though. But Red Son is going to build a translator for me!"

Red Son rebuffed her immediately, "I never agreed to that!"

And just like that, the conversation moved on and the topic wasn't brought up again.

(Later, she would ask MK about it and he would just shrug and explain the monkeys, in general, could be a touchy subject for both Wukong and Macaque sometimes but he wasn't really sure why. Although, he suspected it might have something to do with the chapter in Journey to the West that mentioned poachers.)

The rest of her break was spent debating the merits of interspecies communication and the difficulties involved with translating languages that relied on visual cues to understand what the spoken language meant.

But eventually, her alarm went off and it was time to get back to studying. She stood with a stretch before smiling at Xiǎo Yǐng as they climbed up onto her back, "You want to come with? It'll be super boring though."

Macaque translated their chirping, "They'll just nap while you study - it's very tiring work babysitting, y'know?"

She laughed, "Right, right. You deserve a good rest after all your hard work."

Red Son rolled his eyes as he stood and dusted himself off, "Well, seeing as I'm no longer needed here, I'll head back. Don't overdo it next time - I can't be constantly abandoning my work just to check up on you."

She huffed, "Yeah, yeah. It was nice to see you too."

Macaque and Xiǎo Yǐng offered him a wave, he gave them both a curt nod in response, and then in a flurry of flames he was gone.

She mused out loud, "You ever think he'll just admit he likes hanging out with us?"

Macaque smiled fondly, "You? Maybe. Me and the "chimps"? Never."

She grinned, "Don't put you and the monkeys in the same category, they've got a way higher chance of being told that he tolerates them."

Macaque laughed, "You're right. I can only dream of him showing me so much affection. Anyway, you want a lift back or you going to walk it?"

She nodded towards the trees, "I'll walk it. I'm still up for some company though if you've got nowhere else to be?"

"Nah, let's go. I'm hiding from Wukong right now anyway."

Exasperated, she asked, "What did you do this time?"

His grin was wide as he giddily filled her in on today's mischief.

--Chapter End--

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