“Macaque-”
“No, Wukong, you don’t get to worry about me anymore.”
Wukong froze, eyes shocked wide as Macaque spat back at him, still clutching his upper arm. Thin, fragile lines of contempt lined his voice, fangs peering over curled lips as he straightened up.
“This is the fourth time, Macaque! What are you even doing?!” Shaking his head, Sun Wukong groaned before he pulled a chunk of hair, the gold flash echoing as it shifted into a roll of bandages. “I could smell the blood clear from my house!”
“I can take care of it myself.”
“Sure, whatever, now come on, you need to clean it out.”
“I know that.” Macaque bit back, recoiling as Wukong tried to reach for him. Smacking away the outstretched paw before he rounded around the king, Macaque kept the grip on his arm tight, purple glitching and fizzing away as glamor fell to reveal tattered clothes and a scarred face, eyebags deep under golden irises. His ears twitched as he turned away. “Leave, Wukong. You'll only make it worse.”
“Ouch.” And still, he trotted after him, slipping the roll of bandages into the fold of his clothes. “Cmon, Macaque, can you stop being stubborn for literally 30 seconds? It won’t even take a paragraph to write!”
Macaque just pulled his lips tight as they approached one of the many rivers, pulling off his cape and armor to tug the shoulders off of his outfit.
Wukong couldn’t hide the wince that ran through his body. Macaque’s dark fur made deep scars all the more obvious, shocks of skin where fur will never easily regrow dotting his shoulders and back. He was just lucky that Macaque was very obviously ignoring him right now, casting his gaze aside before sighing and sitting next to Macaque anyway.
“I know I dont have the right to worry about you anymore but you aren’t giving me a choice here, bud-! You keep showing up with these cuts and bruises, even the little ones have noticed!” Macaque hissed as Wukong snagged his wrist to stop him from using his paw to clean the bloodied cut, easily breaking from his grasp as he went to rip another chunk off the end of his cape. “Tell me whats going on, if your in danger-”
“What, you'll get the kid involved in more of your fucked up shit!?” Wukong fell back as Macaque rounded on him, snapping before immediately recoiling with a grunt. Blood fell dark against his black fur, hard to notice if it weren’t for how big the wound itself was. “Just- just leave it, Wukong. You're the last person I want to see right now.”
“Bud-!” Hesitation consumed Wukong. Ice gripped at his shoulders, halting him from reaching out- helpless but to watch as he turned away, slipping through his paws again, again- Just when he had just started to get him back-!
He grit his teeth.
Macaque yelped when he was dragged back, fangs bare as he went to snap at Wukong- before cold water seeped into the wound, another hiss escaping his throat. The pressure wasn’t too heavy, just startling, gentle swipes to begin cleaning out the dirt and fur muddied in red.
“Wukong-”
“Oh, shut up, Macaque.” It was just a slight grumble, Wukong’s gaze never once flickering up to Macaque’s face as he pulled away the cloth to dip it back in the stream, wringing out excess water before turning back to the wound. A brief moment passed before he returned to gently wiping away the grime left behind. “You can slap me later, relax.”
And.. Macaque did just that. Tense muscle and tight shoulders drooped ever so slightly, just the slightest hiss escaping his teeth when he got a bit too deep into the wound- though he didn’t fight it. It had been so long since he had let someone else help him lick his wounds, yet it felt so natural to let Wukong help him out, this innate part of him just… felt safe.
He hated it so much.
“Soooo.. You gonna tell me why you keep popping up all bloodied or am I just gonna have to guess?” Startling out of his swirling thoughts, Macaque’s ears perked up before he glanced over at Wukong. The withering look in his eyes was enough to make Wukong snicker at the very least as he unraveled the bandage. “Oh, don't you worry bud, I can absolutely keep guessin until the sun comes up tomorrow!”
“Please don't, it's grating enough.”
Wukong had to laugh at that, missing the slight smile on Macaque’s face as he ripped the bandage and tied it off.
“Excuse you, there are tons of people who’d love to listen to me yap their ears off!”
“Keep telling yourself that, Wukong.” A paw landed on his forehead, playfully shoving the king back as soon as the tie was done before Macaque went to stand up, pulling on one of his sleeves and simply tucking the other one away. His fur was still wet, ok, no way he’s dealing with it getting on his outfit more. Cleaning was a pain. “Maybe someday I'll actually believe it.”
“So where are you going?”
“Who knows, somewhere where I don’t have to hear you anymore.” Macaque just shrugged, shaking his head and mane out. Ugh, his fur was so rough now- he hadn’t had a moment's break. Who knows who could be lurking now? Either way, he had to get back, now that blood’s stench wouldn’t stick to him to badly-
“Back to beating up threats behind the kids back, then?”
Macaque froze before he could open a shadow, paw still outstretched as Wukong stood up behind him, arms folded. The playful lilt in his voice had vanished, simply watching as Macaque glared at him over his shoulder. Something mournful took its place- something that lingered in the shadows of golden eyes, that made Macaque quickly look away.
“Bud, the kid can handle himself-”
“The world is more dangerous than ever. MK doesn’t need more hell on his plate- and I sure as hell don’t see you helping him out.” He spat at Wukong, growling in his anger. Adrenaline had made him more snappy than usual already but this- this was deeply seeded. “Someone has to do the dirty work so the kid doesn’t have to.”
“Then why does it have to be you, Macaque?!"
Black fur puffed up, his tail swinging back and forth, back and forth. Wukong just watched, almost wanted to reach out- but he fell back on himself as Macaque’s agitation dropped, tail falling still.
“Look, bud- I can’t stop you, I know that and all and I trust your judgment and everything but-” Wukong pushed a paw through his mane with a sigh, trying to pick out his words carefully- he wasn’t good at that, but he was trying, ok? He just..
He found himself just staring at Macaque. Yellow and black worn fabric looked back, dirty and well worn. The red cape he always wore was slung over the warriors shoulder, scars running rampant across his body- and those were just the ones Wukong could see. Just how many of them had he gotten for others, for MK, for.. He didn't like it. He didn’t like it one bit, but- did that even matter to Macaque anymore?
“...just. Just try not to overdo it. Get help when you need it.”
“....tch. Can’t even admit it.” With a gentle vwoomp, the shadow under Macaque’s paws dipped into purple-orange, something that surprised Wukong. But before he could say anything, the other just glared back at him, sadness lingering under his scarred eye. “...You're pathetic, Wukong.”
And before Sun Wukong could say anything, he disappeared, the shadow closing up on the ground and vanishing as if it were never there. The wind rustled among the leaves, the babbling rush of the river’s flow his only accompaniment as his shoulders sagged, pushing his mane from his face.
“...I know.”
-
Worry Is A Hell That Haunts You - awriternamedart
KoFi - Socials
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