#while knowing full well that Macaque would laugh over it

[fawnfictions]

Hello I just found your account and read some the x reader posts (specifically wukong and macaque) and like your work and wanna request something

I barely see any azure x reader or peng x reader

So could you do a poly azure and peng x reader romantically of course I don’t really know what it should be about but I hope it won’t be to much of a problem

Please and thank you and have a good day! 👍

reservations

— azure lion & peng x gn!reader

thanku!!! tbh, i dislike azure and peng djdhjdbf so i wasn't sure how to write them—my bad if they're ooc, but i wanted to write this anyways ^^

y'all need to be fed tbh, i've noticed that no one writes for these two—so i wrote headcanons and a scenario <3

;; romantic, polyamorous relationship, fluff.

POLY!AZURE LION & PENG

- the dynamic between these two is calm, unbothered dog versus feisty, hot-headed cat.

- you'll be chilling on the couch, and Azure will be letting you cuddle up to him while watching the television and Peng will be starting up a playful banter with you, or complaining about someone.

- honestly, they balance each other out REAL well.

- Azure definitely knows how to make Peng calm down, in order to avoid a street fight on what was SUPPOSED to be a nice night out in the town.

- but, the minute that a stranger makes a comment about you, the both of them are jumping the person.

- and there is quite literally no way for you to stop them.

- ..anyways......

- threeway spooning, anyone?

- just between you and me; Peng is totally a little spoon. Azure would be the big spoon though, and you'd be snuggled up between the two of them <3

- don't you dare tease Peng for it, you'll never hear the end of it, and you won't be getting cuddles for a WEEK.

- they probably wouldn't even last a week, to be honest; a few days in, and they'd be crawling back to you, asking for cuddles despite their pride.

- Peng teases you a lot, and as much as it is meant to be playful, they take it too far sometimes—Azure has to sit down and talk with them, and force Peng to apologise to you.

- after a while, though, they learn where the line is, and not to cross it.

- now, according to their wiki page, Peng likes wine and violence (im not joking, those are his two 'likes'—me too, dude).

- and as it was seen in flashbacks to the brotherhood in the show, the two of them often relax with a glass of wine and talk; so i can imagine they'd do the same with you.

- evenings after a gruelling day of work, the three of you come home, pop open a bottle of wine, and revel in each others presence.

- personally, to me, Azure seems like the type to enjoy philosophical conversations, leading to the two of you getting into a deep talk on various moral topics.

- otherwise, he and Peng would probably recall the adventures they've gone on in their lifetime as the brotherhood.

- they'd focus on the happy times, for the most part, laughing at the antics they'd get up to with Macaque, Wukong, and Yellow Tusk.

- but sometimes, particularly when they've had a little too much to drink, or if they've had a bad day, they'd open up a bit more on the sadder times they've shared; reminiscing on their losses and failures.

- you're always there to pick them up again, though—reminding them of the present times, where they've got you, and you've got them.

- Azure's love language is probably words of affirmation and quality time, cherishing his time with you (especially as a mortal and immortal).

- Peng's love language would be acts of service, and perhaps gift giving? hence their willingness to kill a man for you.

- take this as you will, but they'd cherish any form of love you'd show them, unbiased to a particular way.

- dates with them would be a little over-the-top, they'd feel the need to take you to some 'fancy, high-end' restaurant that you don't even wanna GLANCE at the prices of.

- rest assured, they'd pay the bill in full. you've got no clue where they get the money, but they sure as hell have it.

- they want only the best for their loved one <3

Staring into the full-length mirror delicately hung on the wall inside your bedroom, you gave a once-over of your outfit. Patting down the minimal creases left on it, you hastily adjusted your hair one last time and nodded to yourself.

Azure and Peng had, yet again, reserved a date between the three of you at a newly-opened buffet down the road. Despite the establishment being public for no more than a month, countless reviews had surfaced online with various praises and 5-star ratings. This, of course, grabbed both the demon's attention, leading to tonight's scheduled dinner.

You entered the lounge room, meeting the gazes of two waiting members of the Brotherhood.

"Ready to go, love?" Azure called out, a smile lifting his cheeks.

You responded with your confirmation, only to be immediately interrupted by Peng, "Took you long enough!"

They stalked over to you and, despite the negativity of their previous comment that received your eye roll, lifted your hand to their beak to imitate a kiss to your hand, "But you look... Lovely, tonight."

The redness that bloomed on your cheeks was almost instant, furrowing your eyebrows with a shy grin. The two demons cherished your bashful expression, enjoying your flustered state whenever they slipped in a compliment towards you.

Not wishing to waste any more time, though, Peng kept their grip on your hand and followed Azure out the door. The restaurant was all but a few blocks away, an acceptable distance for walking. And walk you did; drifting into conversation and lighthearted banter as your freehand slipped into Azure's.

"And before he could get another word out, the man slipped in front of the Jade Emperor himself!" Peng exclaimed, earning a guffaw from Azure as he, too, recalled the memory fondly.

"If I remember correctly, he was too ashamed to show his face to the Celestial Realm ever again..." The lion demon added, earning a chuckle from you.

At this, you began to slow your pace, sighting your destination a few feet ahead. You relaxed your arms, having unconsciously begun to slightly swing your hands in the grasps of the demons beside.

Azure gave your fingers a soft squeeze as Peng nudged your shoulder playfully, both releasing their holds. The former turned to you, "I believe that we're a few minutes early... Would you be alright waiting here? We won't be but a moment."

At this promise, you nodded and they disappeared into the restaurant, cutting past the line due to their waiting reservation. Taking a step off to the side, away from the main pathway, you glanced up towards the sky.

Orange hues blurred together in the sky, a few stars littered amongst the clouds before the sun had fully set. A breeze drifted by, lifting a shiver from your body. You inhaled.

Hopefully they wouldn't take too long, whilst it wasn't winter, yet, the time was bordering on night, meaning the temperature would shortly drop. You weren't exactly dressed for such conditions, expecting to have been in the restaurant by now, surrounded by classy waiters with indoor heating.

A low whistle caught your attention.

"Looking pretty good tonight, babe," a gruff voice spoke out, belonging to a stranger with tousled hair, "You're seem pretty cold at the moment..."

Not wanting to assume the worst in people, you gave the man a strained smile and offered him small talk, "Uh, yeah—I am a little, but it'll be quite warm in the building, I presume."

"Psh, with a line like that? Sweets, you're gonna freeze out here!" He motioned to the queue of at least 30 people (you vaguely recalled the few online reviews that complained about the horrible lines—well, now you knew why...), "Wha'ddya say, I help you warm up, hey?"

Your heart dropped at the strangers flirtatious tone, fully comprehending that this was not just small talk, "O-Oh! Uh, actually, I'm just... Uhm, w-waiting for my partners..."

In a flash, his face dropped to a scowl. The emotions stirring on his face proved that he absolutely didn't believe that; you took a step back.

"Oh, yeah, sure," He took a step forward, "Reject the guy trying to be nice with some half-assed excuse. I'll never understand assholes like you."

That escalated... to quickly. A sense of fear stabbed through your chest, attempting to further move backwards, but instead hitting the brick wall of the restaurant behind you with a huff.

"H-Hey, chill! I just wasn't interested, man—" You attempted to neutralise the situation, unwilling to let your night take a turn for the worst, before you were interrupted.

"Don't tell me to chill." He sneered, "Bitches like you need to learn your place."

A whimper escaped you, eyes widening as the stranger in front of you raised a hand, palm flat as to hit you. A violent flinch left you bracing yourself.

"What's happening here?"

The familiar voice brought you more relief than it ever had before. Standing between you and your conflict was Azure, posture tall and threatening as Peng waited behind the stranger, having caught his hand in their grasp mid-air.

A visible gulp travelled down the strangers throat, "L-Listen, man; it was all them! You gotta learn to control your partner—."

His nervous laughter was cut off as Peng landed a swift kick to the back of his knees, landing him on the dirty ground and rendering him unable to fight back. Azure glanced back at you.

"Dear, our reservation is ready. You can go inside, we won't take long."

You meekly nodded, kissing him on the cheek before scurrying past the ever-growing queue, following a waitress that guided you to a free table. You weren't certain on the consequences that stranger was earning, but you knew Azure and Peng wouldn't let him leave peacefully. It warmed your heart to know they cared.

#lego monkie kid #azure lion #golden winged peng #peng #azure lion x reader #peng x reader #jttw #headcanons #scenarios #— fawns fics

[silvergolddraco28]

Scorched chapter 3

3

He then lunges at Monkey King trying to take Mk from him.

Wukong evaded burning his hand into the ground and pulled out a staff made from a mixture of red stone and hard diamonds in a familiar golden color while a thin layer of flames danced on the staff’s ends. Wukong’s other hand was rather busy securing Mk to his chest with the coat acting as a makeshift sling.

Mei looked in worry. “Nezha… What's wrong with Monkey King?”

“Wukong has lost himself to his instincts though it seems Macaque has as well,” Nezha responds.

“We've got to get Mk out of there,” Mei says, concerned at her best friend's new form as he is stuck while the others fight.

“No, we can’t intervene in this. Not unless you want to get killed.” Nezha says.

“Why not!” Mei asked in frustration not liking her best friend stuck between two homicidal monkeys.

“Because they're lost in their instincts they won’t let anyone near Mk as he is the source of it,” Nezha explains.

Macaque lowers himself into the shadows in the ground as he moves under Wukong and grabs him by the ankles and makes him fall backward.

Wukong lets out a growl slamming the new staff into the ground while protecting Mk’s little body. He missed the fact Mk was now glowing a soft purple until the little cub popped into his own shadow making Wukong scream out of parental concern looking around for the cub chirping out a somewhat distressed call for the cub to reply to.

Mk could hear the Monkey King but it sounded muffled from the shadow realm. Part of him wants to listen to Monkey King and curl up in his embrace but something in the back of his head is telling him this isn’t right. But he doesn’t know why. His instincts caused his head to be full of cotton and screamed at him to go back to his caretaker. As Mk tries to get his head cleared Macaque comes up from behind him and grabs him. Mk ots out a chirp that screams.

PREDATOR.

SCARED.

HELP.

A purr comes from behind him.

Safe.

Calm.

Stay.

Mk’s body automatically goes limp. Mind completely lost in his instincts now unable to even render a thought. He clings to his protector in contentment. Macaque purrs louder in satisfaction as he travels away from the other with his cub. Leaving behind a very distressed Monkey King.

Said king was getting even more frantic, causing the flames to grow, becoming a wild mane of dark red ‘hair’ with gold flecks.

Nezha took a breath before looking over at the scholar. “You have the power of Tripitaka. I’m going to tell you about the sutra. I need you to keep chanting it until Wukong passes out.” Nezha directly told Tang while Mei was busy helping Pigsy and Sandy out of their ice chunk.

“M-m-me?!?” Tang coward while laughing nervously. “You think I can stop the great sage! Are you nuts!” Tang yells.

“We don't have time!” Nezha says seriously.

Tang gulps then nods “Alright what do I do?” Tang asked.

Nezha speaks in a language Tang seems to instinctively know. “That’s the sutra. Only you and the Goddess of Mercy can use it in conjunction with the Filet.”

Tang gulps then begins the sutra. Wukong let out a wretched screech and began clawing at his head as he thrashed around in pain. Tang felt guilty for hurting the sage but having no other option continued.

Tang continued until Wukong passed out cold evidenced by the mane of fire extinguishing and his magma-like skin slowly turning back to normal skin if a little hotter to the touch and covered in thick scars along his wrists, neck, and chest.

The group was silent. Only the wind could be heard whistling in their ears. Nobody dared speak a word as they stared at each other, horrified. Their minds were racing, but they were all thinking the same thing: what were they going to do now?

“We need to get Wukong to an isolated place. One where he won't risk burning down a whole city. If only we had the original maker of the fire here. They would be able to at least touch Wukong without getting burned or a full dragon born.” Nezha sighed.

Mei recalled the history of the Samadhi Fire told to them by the Demon Bull family. Red Son had created the fire… but Red Son was so far away.

“I can try to carry him,” she suggested, watching the monkey unsurely. At Nezha’s odd look, she elaborated, “My great-great-something grandfather is Ao Lie. My whole family is dragons. It’s how I inherited my sword.”

She lifted the blade, its green surface glinting against the light of the moon.

“Try it. He might be clingy from being in pain, even unconscious.” Nezha warned the young girl.

Mei nodded and bit her lip in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness. The unleashing of the Samadhi Fire had rattled her more than she wanted to admit.

She took a breath. She had to be strong - for Mk, for the world! She hoped her best friend was alright, wherever he was… Mei tiptoed forward and slowly wrapped her arms around the still Wukong.

She grimaced at the heat coming off him. “Dang, he feels like he’s got a bad fever,” Mei noted shifting Wukong to her back as his tail unconsciously curled around her waist, blood dripping down his face from under the filet. Said blood once free from his skin hardened and clinked to the stone ground looking like teardrop-shaped rubies. Mei looked at that with fear. “I don’t think blood is supposed to turn into gemstones.”

“He’s a stone monkey, which means everything in his body is stone, even the blood. Usually, it would appear like human blood but since his body has hardened to stone it will appear like one.” Nezha explains.

“That was too many words.” Mei deadpanned lost in what he said. Nezha sighs

“stone body equals stone blood” Nezha simplifies. “until his body returns to normal at least” Nezha adds.

Mei looks over her shoulder at Monkey King as she silently thinks to herself. ‘You better be fine, dumb monkey.’

“What the hell do we do now?” Pigsy says in anger. “ Because by the looks of it, we lost two fighters due to the samadhi fire.” Pigsy continues as his voice raises in volume. “AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY SON!” Pigsy yells in frustration but anyone who knows him could tell it only out of fear for Mk. The kid he adopted all those years ago. The kid arrived at his doorstep with no one watching or taking care of him. The kid who as he grew up continued to put himself in danger leaving Pigsy in great distress. Pigsy needed to find him as soon as he can.

“ We can't focus on that now.” Nezha says “We need to get Wukong out of here before Lady Bone Demon finds out he has the samadhi fire.” Nezha says.

“And leave Mk to that freak!” Pigsy yells. “ have you forgotten Macaque works for lady bone demon! He could be handing him over to her right now!” Pigsy yells in anger and fear.

“ All the more reason to get working out of here,” Nezha says. “If what you say is true then we need to get Wukong out of here or the lady bone demon will be unstoppable.” Nezha continues, “Leaving the child to be killed.” Nezha finishes off. Pigsy’s eyes go wide at the realization of the fear completely showing on his face.

“Alright then get out of here,” Pigsy says in a calm tone. Pigsy vows to himself that he’ll get the kid back no matter what.

“Tang, use my phone to call Red Son. See if we can meet him at a halfway point.” Mei requested the only other adult that wasn't as emotionally compromised.

“I can do that. I’ll see if he can't bring some clothes as well.” Tang started looking pale as he saw Wukong’s back.

Far above the group, a pair of glowing blue eyes narrowed at their departure. “My Lady will want to know of this development... It seems we will be going monkey hunting.” a creepy smile crossed the man’s lips before he stepped off the roof and disappeared in a swirl of blue mist.

The Lady Bone Demon smiled - a cruel smile, a vicious smile - as her servant arrived. His news was welcome. Fate will not stray from its path so easily. Sun Wukong and his… little followers were mere specs of dust in the sandstorm of destiny. Despite their pathetic, futile, attempts at stopping her, the future she foresaw all those years ago will come to fruition. She is, after all, nothing if not patient - hundreds of years of imprisonment will do that to you. All the pieces of the chessboard are in place. This time, she will win.

“Find the simian, I don't care how. He will be part of my machine one way or another even if we have to break him down,” she ordered her thrall, her ice creating a cage with thick bars and chains inside of it.

“Let's see how long it will take until your mate is a soulless husk, my runaway Macaque.”

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#fanfiction #collab help #lego monkie kid #lmk au #amwriting #shadowpeach #cowrite #sun wuking x macaque #scorched

[skellebonez]

Cotton Tails and Borrowed Time: Chapter 11 (Final)

Edited (and planned) with the help of my friend Bucky! Couldn’t do this without you!

Well. Here we are.

The final chapter.

Thank you everyone for for coming along with Bucky and I on this wild ride. We wouldn't have gotten here without you.

Please enjoy chapter 11! Check out the AO3 link.

“Are you sure this is where Sun Wukong said to meet up?” Nezha asked with a grumble. “We’ve been waiting for over half an hour.”

“Well, MAYBE if someone didn’t drag us here from the cheese tea stall forty-five minutes before we were supposed to be here we wouldn’t be waiting on everyone else!” Bai He retorted.

Nezha sputtered. “I simply like to be more than punctual during important events!” he defended, flushing a bit over being called out in such a way.

His much younger friend smirked. “You were excited to see them again,” she continued.

The Third Lotus Prince refused to respond to that, crossing his arms with a scowl. The laugh and pat on the arm he received in return only made him feel a tiny bit less embarrassed at being found out.

It had been a while since they had all gathered together.

“You, uh...” a voice began, and Nezha and Bai He looked over.

Jin peered up awkwardly from his place at the nearby table. He was slouched down, almost barely noticeable over the large basket of fruit that Nezha and Bai He had brought with them. “You didn’t have to actually pick us up.”

“We’re not even sure we’re actually, you know, welcome here, after the... everything?” Yin added.

“If you were invited, it must have been for a reason,” Nezha countered firmly.

It was an odd sight. Nezha and Bai He sitting across from the Metal Brothers at an almost comically large table on the beach of Mount Huaguo. They’d all received an invitation to be there, but Nezha had received very specific instructions regarding the brothers. As it was, the twins were currently on a mission. Which was to avoid any and all confrontation with anyone related to MK.

“Well, I don’t see any reason there could be outside making us feel worse,” Yin muttered almost imperceptibly under his breath. Without warning, he let out a yelp and jumped in his seat. “Who kicked me!?”

“Punched, actually,” a new speaker corrected. But it did not take long for the others to identify who it was as a shadow lengthened on the ground. Red fabric swished in a flourish as Macaque emerged from the darkness, giving a quick wink to Bai He. “You should listen to the Flower Boy,” the monkey said, pointedly ignoring an outburst from Nezha. “It’d be rude to ignore an invitation.”

With perfect poetic timing, a cloud descended from the sky to challenge the shadow demon.

“Like being rude ever stopped you before,” the Monkey King scowled. His harsh expression softened briefly softened as he carefully helped someone down from the cloud. But it was back again in full force as he whirled back on the source of his ire.

“If I had any say in this you would have been told the wrong date,” Sun Wukong muttered under his breath.

"I can HEAR YOU, Wukong,” Macaque stated flatly as he helped himself to the basket of fruit.

“OH no, what a NIGHTMARE,” Sun Wukong gasped dramatically. “My harsh jabs have offended our semi-reformed villain.”

“You’re only jabbing me because you’re still upset I got that couch out without you realizing it.”

“I HADN’T SLEPT FOR 4 DAYS.”

The laugh from Macaque at the Monkey King’s outburst was only met with a frustrated growl. But any fear at the possibility of a fight was dismissed when both monkeys paused and blinked at Bai He’s barely suppressed giggles.

Nezha snickered. “Look at that. Even a mortal child has more maturity than you two.”

“HEY!”

As Macaque and Sun Wukong wheeled their focus on Nezha, another duo found their attention entirely taken by another guest at the table.

“Hey,” Yin said as he shuffled his feet awkwardly.

Scorpion Demoness said nothing as she sat down on the opposite side of the table and not quite across from them.

There was an awkward silence between the four of them. Even Tudi, who had apparently hitched a ride along with Scorpion Demoness, was unusually silent.

“We... heard you got a job in the city,” Jin attempted.

“I did,” Scorpion Demoness answered. “I was offered one, at any rate.”

That was the most she had said to their faces in weeks.

“Do you.... Think you’ll take it?” Yin asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Maybe.”

It was rough, seeing her again. After everything that happened, Scorpion Demoness had moved back to her castle. She hadn’t entirely cut contact with the brothers—thank goodness—and still popped into the group chat MK had set up for them from time to time. It was a way for her to take some time to herself and see how she felt about... everything that happened.

Yin and Jin had really, really screwed up. As much as they hated it, they understood if she needed time away from them. At the very least, they knew that she wouldn’t be gone forever. Tudi still came by to visit from time to time. And every food picture she shared in the group chat was proof that she didn’t want them out of her life.

The brothers complimented every single photo.

“Are you taking care of my apartment?” SD asked suddenly.

“Best we can,” Jin replied. “Little easier now that MK had his dragon friend help us set up work stuff in there.”

“...You have jobs now?” Scorpion Demoness asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

“Yeah!” Yin chimed in, excitement building in his tone as he spoke. “We’re working on our own VR game on the side, but we managed to get a few jobs for online games as well as set up our own little area in the storage room none of us used to make customized tech equipment. You’d be surprised how many people want to order rings that have tiny little powerful flashlights in them!”

“...Sounds like you two finally found your place,” she said. There was a tiny, fragile smile on her face. SD looked away, wringing her hands as she did. “I... might move back in. The job I was offered is nearby.”

“It’s your place we’re staying in,” Jin frowned. “You should take it. We’ll move out if you want us to.”

“I don’t want you to, though.” The scorpion’s hands reached up and thumbed at the jewel pendant she wore. “I want to trust you again. You promised me that you would find jobs the last time we saw each other so... I want to try living together again.”

Before either brother could react, the sound of heavy footfalls shook the table.

“Dr. Speckles!” Sandy shouted, followed closely by one Demon Bull King and one Princess Iron Fan. Right behind them was a very bemused Red Son and Mei.

The Dr. Speckles in question was a small cat that had gotten away from Sandy and had bolted toward the sound of people. A small tortoiseshell cat, which made the name... make some sense. Leaping onto the table, the cat made a beeline toward the end of the table before jumping on to a very much shocked Nezha. much to the immortal’s shock. Before the immortal could grab the fleeing feline, it scrambled on to his head.

“Don’t move!” Sandy exclaimed, grabbing the kitten before it could fall off Nezha’s head and possibly hurt itself. Both him and Nezha sighed in relief when the kitten was safely caught. “You could have just scruffed her, she would have been alright,” Sandy noted.

“I am... still not used to feline behaviors,” Nezha admitted with a frown. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay! They seem to like you, at least!” Sandy comforted. “Maybe you should finally take Mei and MK up on their offer to hang out on my boat?”

“...Perhaps.”

As the rest of the group made their way to the table, it became clear that there were only a few seats missing. DBK took the end of the table, sitting on the ground and definitely not throwing a very pointed but not overtly hostile look in a certain simian’s direction. Princess Iron Fan sat across from her son on her husband’s right, and Red Son sat next to Mei. There was some space between her and Scorpion Demoness, and even more between her and Bai He and Nezha. They sat across from the twins, with Sandy taking a direct seat beside them. That left only two monkeys, two monkeys who were very much trying to ignore each other, standing.

Sun Wukong flitted about as he checked to see that everything was set up properly and in order.

“Who are we missing?” the Monkey King asked, looking over the group. “Just MK and...” he trailed off, counting his fingers for a second. “Yeah, looks like the three of them are it.”

“I already said I would bring them here when they call me,” Macaque said through a mouthful of mango and plum—eaten at the same time. “So just MK.”

“I think he said he was picking up something for Pigsy,” Mei said, scrolling on her phone before laughing. “And it looks like you don’t need to take a trip! See?”

~

Mr. Jiang smiled, making sure that he walked the new pathway as MK instructed.

It had taken a lot of convincing to get this done. But in the end, Sun Wukong was much happier with there being a safer route for everyone to visit Mount Huaguo. No more having to fly and disturb the monkeys, no more picking up people on the cloud. Just nice smooth sailing.

Mostly smooth.

“So what’s this shindig all about?” Mr. Jiang asked as he carefully sailed them through the choppy water near the Flaming Mountains.

MK thought it was way cooler going through here when someone wasn’t trying to kill him.

“Not sure,” the Monkie Kid shrugged. “Pigsy and Tang wanted everyone together. After everything they’ve been through, no one is going to tell them no.”

“I see, I see,” Mr. Jiang chuckled. “Well, I am sure it’s something important!”

MK looked back at his dads—his DADS—and smiled.

Pigsy was sitting calmly in the back of the boat, Tang slightly leaning over the railing to let the salty ocean breeze run through his fur.

It seemed he’d gotten used to it all by now. He seemed happy. That’s what mattered.

“Are you sure you won’t join us, Mr. Jiang?” Pigsy asked as he stood, giving Tang a quick tap on his shoulder to let him know they were getting close.

“No,” the old sailor answered with a shake of his head. There was something... sad about the way he turned down the offer. “No, I wouldn’t want to impose. Besides! I have a job to get ready for.”

“Aw, man,” MK frowned. “But you’re practically like... an uncle at this point, I’ve delivered that much to you. You’re more than welcome to come for at least a few minutes!”

He did not miss the way Mr. Jiang jolted, clearly shocked. Nor the way Tang and Pigsy sent the sailor a knowing look.

“It wouldn’t hurt to at least see the mountain for a moment, you know,” Tang said with a firmness in his voice. “After all, this is a one of a kind opportunity. Live a little.”

There was some kind of unspoken conversation going on between the older adults that MK... did not want to question or interrupt. Not until Mr. Jiang gasped.

“Well, what do you know! We’re here!”

Without a moment to lose, the sailor docked his ship at the new dock the Monkey King had set up before helping his passengers off the boat in no time at all.

“MK, go ahead and let everyone know we’re here,” Tang said as he stretched. At his new height, he towered over everyone else. “We’re going to take our time.”

“Okay, Pops!” MK exclaimed, grabbing everything they had brought with them before rushing off. “I’ll set everything up! Take your time!”

~

Tang sighed, shaking his legs as he tentatively took a few slow steps up onto the island.

“This is so different from the city,” he laughed, walking slowly on his new feet.

Well. Paws.

Not everything had gone back to the new normal after... whatever the heck his Golden Cicada powers did.

All he remembered was Pigsy kissing him. Then a bright warm, but not too hot, light. And then: exhaustion. He returned to his normal height to his relief, but it wasn’t obvious to him what had actually happened until later.

Sun Wukong—and Tang Sanzang in private later on—explained it to the best of their limited knowledge.

The curse had a weakness due to how it was created. Once the final transformation was triggered, it was never supposed to stop. But his powers and Monkey King’s seal had stopped it temporarily when his memories started to fail. When he admitted his feelings to Pigsy, the curse stopped a second time—which should not have happened. The rush of emotions he felt at Pigsy’s own confession summoned his powers, undoing what they could of the transformation.

But there was only so far they could go, even as powerful as they were. In addition to the physical transformation, it seemed Tang had inherited some more rabbit features. He retained some more intense instincts that went a tad further than normal rabbit demon instincts, such as his more intense desire to burrow as well as some of the more strict dietary restrictions. But the most notable things to remain were his ears and legs.

His ears remained longer than normal, almost resembling long flowing hair at the right angle.

But his legs had been... troublesome.

They resembled rabbit legs more than human legs, with the paws to match. Tang had to relearn how to walk on them.

But he was here now. Walking on his own two feet again. It wasn’t easy, and he still needed to take lots of breaks and have someone there just in case he needed help. But he was doing his best and that is what mattered.

“I would imagine so, my disciple,” Mr. Jiang stated once MK was out of earshot. “But your tenacity and recovery have been quite remarkable.”

“You sticking around when I have to work in the shop helped a lot,” Pigsy said as they made their way down the path. “Thanks for that, uh... your Monkness?”

“I’ve told you that it is perfectly acceptable to just call me Tripitaka,” Tang Sanzang said with a sigh. “It was a title given to me, after all, and it lowers the confusion.”

“If you say so,” Pigsy shrugged.

Tang was just glad they were getting along.

~

“They’re coming!” MK announced as he rushed to the table and plopped down a tower of boxes. “Monkey King, can you help me put on the tablecloth first? Sandy, can you get the cooking gear set up?”

“On it!”

“I shall... assist,” DBK offered, surprising at least a few people there. But not the ones who could see he was awkwardly sitting there and clearly looking for something to do.

“Thanks!” MK said gratefully as Monkey King laid the cloth. With the two of them working, it took no time at all for the table to be prepared. “Red, can you help me set the food out for cooking on this other table?”

“I’ll set out the drinks!” Mei said, rushing off once she grabbed the boxes with everything she needed.

“It’s Red Son,” the bull prince corrected before a small smile formed on his face. “But sure, Noodle Boy.”

“This’ll be ready in no time then!” MK grinned, handing Red Son two boxes. “Man... I’m glad everything worked out as well as it did. Or you wouldn’t be helping me right now!”

“Well, I imagine that it would have worked out even if you had been the one stricken with the curse,” Red Son noted off-handedly.

“Oh, it wouldn’t have done anything to me.”

“IT WOUL—how do you know that?”

“Scorpion Demoness,” MK explained. “When we all rushed into Pigsy’s place after getting back, we took the time to make sure Tang was okay. From what Monkey King said, it looked like the curse wouldn’t affect anyone who doesn’t have anyone they’re interested in. Which is good, because then SD could have worked on that counter-curse without worrying!”

“You’ve never been interested in someone?” Red Son gaped in surprise.

“Nope,” MK answered with a shrug. “Well. People ask if me and Mei are a thing, but nah, we’re just friends.”

“Huh.” Red Son hummed under his breath as he looked up at the clouds above them. “Do, uh... Did you ever have anyone you wanted to date?” There was an uncertainty in his voice, not of curiosity but something else.

“Nope!” MK answered, popping the word. “Dating and that kind of stuff never interests me.”

“What, uh...” Red Son paused, rubbing his hands so much until they sparked. It was a nervous habit of his, MK had learned. “What if... you. Hypothetically... also never had any interest until you started hanging out with someone and then you thought it might be nice if you... held... ohthisisstupidI—”

“You have a crush on Mei.”

“WHO TOLD YOU!?”

Had it been anyone else, such shouting would have immediately been returned with worry and concern. But Red Son’s sudden outburst had everyone staring for only a moment before it was shrugged off as ‘Red Son being Red Son’.

“It’s kind of obvious, dude,” MK said with a laugh. “I’ve seen enough romance movies to pick up on the signs.”

“Like... wanting to hold her hand and take her to see a movie and... maybe... play with her hair?”

“That’s the most stereotypical crush admission I have ever heard.”

“But how do I know I... you know?” Red Son asked, waving his hand around in a gesture of uncertainty. “Actually LIKE-like her?”

“You literally just told me you want to hold her hand and take her to the movies and play with her hair,” MK replied. “I’m aroace and I even I know you LIKE-like her.”

“THIS IS NEW TERRITORY FOR ME, NOODLE BOY!”

“And yet, despite it never being mine, I seem to know the lay of the land better than you.”

Red Son could only stare at the other, mouth agape in shock. Before he could think of any kind of comeback, a shout drew everyone’s attention.

~

“We’re here!” Tang announced, walking faster once he saw everyone there. “We’ll get started as soon as you finish setting up!”

“And that is my cue to leave,” Mr. Jiang hastily announced, clearly tense despite his best effort to hide it. “I hope you have a good get together, I—”

“Hey, hey, you don’t have to rush off,” Sun Wukong cut in. “I know it’s a bit weird to be here with a bunch of strangers, but I promise we don’t bite.”

“I-I-I-I...” Mr. Jiang stammered.

A smile as bright as the sun spread across the Monkey King’s face. “Starstruck?”

“You fucking wish,” Macaque snickered.

“LANGUAGE!” Sun Wukong yelled. He sighed, turning back around to see a shocked expression on Mr. Jiang’s face. The Monkey King grinned sheepishly. “Ah, sorry about that. That’s Macaque—yes, that Macaque from the stories—and he’s annoying. You’re the sailor guy from the noodle shop, right? You’re more than welcome to stay for lunch. It is a long ride back to the mainland after all.”

Mr. Jiang didn’t respond for a moment, instead looking over to Tang. When all he received was a smirk and a nod, the sailor sighed. “I-I suppose... I suppose I could stay for a moment. I have a very particular diet so I understand if you can’t accommodate, I can go.”

“No worries! Tang and I have strict diets so we have something for everyone,” Sun Wukong said with a laugh, pulling out chairs for Mr. Jiang and Tang. “Do you have allergies?”

“...I’m a vegetarian.”

“Oh, cool! I am too! Actually, I think vegan would be more accurate but whatever. Anyways, we should be good to start soon.”

To Mr. Jiang’s immense relief, Sun Wukong was correct. It only took a few more minutes for everything to be finished and for everyone to take their seats. MK sat between Mei and Scorpion Demoness while Sun Wukong and Macaque sat on opposite sides of the twins. Pigsy sat beside the Monkey King while Mr. Jiang took a seat next to Nezha... who looked at the sailor with surprise, confusion, and worry.

“Well, now that everyone is here and settled,” Tang said. “I’m going to be honest, being cooped up inside for most of the last three weeks made me want any excuse to have a party. But it’s for a good reason! As many of you know, I’ve been in a sort of rehabilitation after my transformation. While I will still be attending many, MANY more physical therapy appointments, the doctors say I should be able to walk without issue again in the future!”

The table erupted into applause, elated by the good news.

“Combined with finally adjusting to my new hearing and my new glasses?” Tang continued. “I’m going to be fine.”

“We are glad to hear the good news,” DBK nodded. His wife did as well. “When the Little Thi—MONKIE KID, informed our son of what happened, we had been concerned given the nature of the curse. But why gather us here as well?”

“We heard that you’ve been busy helping people in Lantern City and thought you deserve a bit of a break!” Tang admitted with a chuckle. “But... well, we uh... We have one more thing we wanted to announce...” the scholar trailed off. His eyes drifted over to Pigsy.

“Tang’s moving in with me,” Pigsy finished, taking Tang’s hand. “Closer to the shop, more accessible than his old apartment, and—”

“FINALLY!” Princess Iron Fan interjected as she threw up her hands in joy. There was a beat of silence as everyone stared at her.

“What? It’s obvious that they are a suitable match for each other.” she explained.

There was another beat. And then, laughs broke out across the table.

“Yes!” Tang said through his laughter. “Yes, we are.”

And before anyone could say anything, Pigsy jumped up and kissed him.

He ignored the laughs and awws and “KISS HIM HARDER” from someone in the back.

He ignored that anyone was there at all for a moment.

Tang wrapped his arms around Pigsy—his boyfriend who might become more than that in the future—and passionately returned the kiss.

He may not be the fastest or strongest of their little group. He still felt very foolish at times.

But Tang knew at that moment no one else was possibly happier than he and Pigsy.

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

(Art provided by @smallpwbbles ! See you all soon. With something special.)

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #freenoodles #freenoodleshipping #lmk tang #lmk pigsy #lmk mk #qi xiaotian #lmk sun wukong #lmk six eared macaque #lmk red son #long xiaojiao #lmk mei #dragonfruit (implied) #fanfic #ship fic #THE END OF AN ERA #I am so emotional

[inkweaver22-blr]

Happy Birthday @animemoonprincess!!! We don't talk much but I admire your writing a whole lot! While the whole thing isn't done yet, here's an excerpt from the next chapter of Scattered Cicadas that takes place in my favorite AU of yours! Thanks for being an inspiration!

----------

“Did you know MK has a membership at The Cloud?” Wukong pulled out a couple of digital tablets. “Apparently, that makes his phone something called a ‘hotspot’ that allows any device he authenticates to access it. He helped me download a bunch of books onto these earlier. They even have audio versions!”

“Well that’s convenient,” Tang said as he accepted one of the tablets. “I suppose we should get started then.”

“That’s the plan,” Wukong said, plugging in some earbuds into the audio port of his tablet.

“Tang! Monkey King!”

“Or not,” Wukong sighed at Mei’s shout.

“We’re over here, Mei,” Tang called back.

“Something weird is happening to MK!” Mei’s voice sounded somewhat panicked. “Come quick!”

The pair shared a worried glance before rushing back towards the clearing. They followed Mei to the other side of the airship where they found everyone else fretting over MK.

“MK! Are you okay? What’s going on?” Tang looked over the young man. Outside of some leaves in his hair he seemed perfectly fine.

“I think so? I don’t feel strange,” MK said.

“What happened,” Wukong asked.

“Well, Mei and I were throwing leaves at each other when Red Son snuck up and shoved some down the back of Mei’s jacket.” MK smiled. “It was really funny the way she squealed and-” MK snickered.

As he did, he began to faintly glow with a yellow-orange light.

“And then that happened,” Pigsy finished as MK tried to get his mirth under control. “Except much brighter.”

“Is that all? I thought this would be something serious,” Wukong said as the tension eased from him. “Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong with him.”

“Then what’s happening?”

“Congrats, bud, your powers are finally starting to recharge!”

“Really?! Yes!” MK let out a whoop and jumped up and down in celebration.

“So… Is this permanent or just a sign of his powers returning,” Red Son asked.

“Permanent. Honestly surprised it took this long for this one to show up.”

“Well as long as it’s not hurting him it should be fine,” Tang said. He blinked as something occurred to him. “Wait, does that mean you glow when you laugh, Wukong?”

The Monkey King froze.

“Uh…”

“No way.” Tang felt a grin creeping up on his face. “You do, don’t you?”

“I- Uh- Well-”

“What’s all the commotion about,” Macaque asked as he joined the group.

“Oh look! Macaque’s back from his patrol! I guess someone should replace him! I volunteer! See you later!”

Tang grabbed Wukong by the back of his shirt before he could slip away. Wukong quickly twisted in response, shrugging the shirt off and darting towards the treeline.

“Macaque glows when he laughs too!” With that last shout over his shoulder he vanished into the trees.

“What?!” Macaque stepped back as all eyes turned to him. He gulped at the positively devious intent radiating from Mei and MK. "Traitorous bastard,” he growled before stepping into the shadows cast by the airship and vanishing.

“We’re totally getting those two to laugh as much as possible now, right?” Mei’s grin was full of mischief.

Tang chuckled and rubbed his paws together in anticipation.

The next few weeks were certainly going to be… enlightening.

#animemoonprincess #Giggle Glow AU #Scattered Cicadas #Monkie Kid #HAPPY BIRTHDAY

[afrenchfrypassingby]

Summary: With the Lady Bone Demon defeated, Macaque slips away from the group of heroes while they celebrate and recuperate. Once alone back at his dojo, he finds himself reminiscing about the past without meaning to.

Relationship: Liu Er Mihou | Six-eared Macaque & Sun Wukong | Monkey King

Characters: Liu Er Mihou | Six-eared MacaqueSun Wukong | Monkey King

Additional Tags: other characters are eitheir mentionned or just barely there, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, is it canon that macaque died??, idk but don't worry he's fine, featuring my own interpretation of The Fight (tm), as well as trying to figure out what's up with mac, no beta none of my friends speak english, action scenes are hard i'm never doing that again

“See you around, MK.”

The familiar cooling touch of his shadows enveloped him completely, offering Macaque a moment of respite from the pain of his injuries, before slowly fading away, revealing the inside of his dojo. 

Well, “his” is not really the right word. It had been abandoned for a long time before he decided to live here while plotting against Wukong and his successor. He had simply renovated and cleaned it a bit, and now he could almost call it home.

As soon as the last of his shadows completely disappeared, the black-furred monkey’s legs gave out and he collapsed face first on the floor .

Okay, bad idea, he thought with a wince. He should have tried getting to his bed first before giving in to his fatigue. Woops.

His little lapse of judgment did nothing to soothe his numerous injuries. All the falling, the fighting, that one time he got electrocuted, the burns from where the ice had encased half of his body, then those of the Samadhi Fire when it fred him from her control, being flung around like a ragdoll by a possessed Sun Wukong and finally giving a bit of his own lifeforce to assist in defeating the Lady Bone Demon… It was a rough couple of days and Macaque was glad it was finally over.

A small voice in the back of his mind helpfully reminded him that he should try to patch some of his injuries to help accelerate his recovery, but the monkey couldn’t find it in himself to move an inch.

It wasn’t like it actually mattered, whether he tended to his injuries or not. This wouldn’t kill him.

He’d been worried, while he was tasked with distracting the Monkey King, that it would be a repeat of the last time the King went all out on him. And for a moment it almost was.

However, even though he was getting his ass kicked, the injuries were a lot less severe than he had expected them to be. And when he found himself at the mercy of the possessed monkey, when he thought he would end his life on the spot, he… didn’t.

Probably figured it would be a waste of time and energy. That bastard. He would never grant him a swift death, would he?

He started laughing bitterly, before his aching body put an end to the action in the form of a coughing fit.

He could pretend he was fine all he wanted in front of the others, but now in the privacy of his own dojo his body quickly let Macaque know that he was in no condition to do anything right now.

He tried to see if he could manipulate his shadows enough to create a clone which could hopefully draw him a bath or something only to find that his powers were completely unresponsive. 

Huh, weird.

Honestly, it was a miracle he even managed to open a portal at all.

An unknown amount of time passed, and the ache in his body was reduced to a duller throb. More manageable. The shadow monkey slowly got up to his feet and made his way to his room on unsteady legs.

He dropped unceremoniously onto his bed. It still wasn’t the best thing to do with his injuries, but this time at least it was on a much softer surface.

A soft glow emanated from the nearby window and Macaque turned his head to see the full moon in all its glory. A sight that would have been comforting some centuries ago, now just a painful reminder.

That night, the moon had looked just like it did now.

°ooOoo°

A full moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the clear skies alongside its many stars. Beneath the lit sky, the imposing trees of the forest gave way to a peaceful clearing. A soft breeze blew, gently shaking the blades of grass and small wildflowers. 

The tranquility of the night was abruptly interrupted by a great noise, followed by a crash.

From the newly formed crater, a black-furred monkey slowly emerged, injuries taking a toll on his body but still prepared to fight, dust and dirt settling around him.

Another figure, another monkey, landed a few feet away. His cape billowing in the wind, golden circlet shining in the glow of the night.

The monkey gave his staff a twirl before taking on a warning stance.

“Stay down, Macaque.”

“N-never…” Macaque hissed through gritted teeth.

“I don’t want to fight you, Macaque. Stay. Down.”

“Listen to me then!”

“What is there to listen to? You threatened my master and brothers. You interrupted our journey and-”

“Forget about your stupid journey and your stupid texts! Let’s just go home, Peaches-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why? I’m your friend, they aren’t!”

“Yes, they are!” Wukong responded indignantly.

“No, they’re not! Your ‘friend’ put a torture device on your head! You’re not a disciple, you’re a slave!”

“Shut up!” In an attempt to control his anger, the Stone Monkey slammed his staff into the ground, momentarily silencing his shadow counterpart.

“Tch,” the Shadow Monkey eventually replied. “I guess I’m going to have to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours.” The injured monkey resumed a fighting stance once more, as he manifested a staff from his shadows.

“Oh yeah?” Sun Wukong let out a humorless laugh. “You really think you’re in any position to do that?” The Monkey King took a step forward. “Don’t be stupid Macaque,” he added in a more somber tone.

“We wouldn’t have to fight if you just went home with me!”

“I am not abandoning my companions!”

“And what about-” He stopped, his original sentence dying on his tongue. “What about Flower Fruit Mountain? What about your subjects? So what, you can’t abandon your so-called brothers but you can abandon them? You’ve been gone for centuries Wukong, don’t you think they miss you? Their king, their protector?”

“I’m not abandoning them! I’ll return home as soon as I’m done with the pilgrimage.” Wukong pointed his staff towards Macaque in an accusatory manner. “If you’re so worried about their safety, you can return and protect them yourself.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing all this time?”

The Monkey King faltered, softening his grip on his staff without fully realizing it.

“Thank you,” he said softly, visibly relieved, as if feeling a weight he hadn’t realized he was carrying being lifted off his shoulders at the news that his people hadn’t been completely defenseless in his absence.

“You can thank me by going home with me!” The shadow monkey replied, half-hopeful, half-exasperated.

“Would you stop with that?” The King yelled. “I’ll go home when I’m done with my mission and that’s final!”

Macaque sneered at the ground in front of him, his free hand balled into a fist.

Why?

Why was this mission so important? Did Wukong really think it mattered what he did from now on? That he could be in the Celestial Realm’s good grace by playing delivery boy with some human monk and a rag-tag team of demons? Did he think if he redeemed himself with this one task, the Gods would forget that he single-handedly caused so much chaos the Buddha himself had to intervene? That he could be one of them ?

Because, that was the thing, wasn’t it?

Wukong had always been a curious soul, easily entertained  by every new, shiny thing for a moment before moving on to the next new, shiny thing.

Sun Wukong, the Stone Monkey, the Handsome Monkey King, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, was no longer satisfied being a demon.

He wanted to be a Celestial. A God.

He really was going to leave him behind, wasn’t he…?

Macaque’s expression changed from anger to a guarded mask of neutrality.

Wordlessly, the Warrior charged at the King, who easily blocked each of his attacks.

Soon, the once peaceful clearing was filled with the sounds of metal against shadow magic and grunts from both monkeys, seemingly equally matched. Neither spoke, the tension much too suffocating for the usual friendly banter that accompanied their sparring sessions.

This was no friendly match, after all.

To Macaque, this was a last ditch effort to communicate with his friend in the one language he knew Wukong understood perfectly: fighting.

He needed to prove his strength, his worth to the stone monkey right now. He needed to prove he was strong, that he was worthy of standing by his side.

He dove into his shadows, re-emerging behind Wukong a moment later with a raised fist aimed at his face. The hit was easily blocked, and the counter-attack slow enough that Macaque dove back into the shadows to try again, hoping to catch the King off-guard.

Look at me. Look at what I can do.

Taking a step back from the King, Macaque laid the palms of his hands flat on the ground as he called for his shadows to manifest into clones of himself. The shadow army launched a collective assault on the stone monkey. A quick twirl of the mighty Rúyì Jīngū Bàng was enough to disintegrate them.

Together, we could be unstoppable. You don’t need them.

Macaque could feel himself getting desperate. 

As he grew more and more tired, he fought less like the calculating and cunning demon he was and more like a wounded beast driven by adrenaline and survival instincts alone.

And Wukong was still not fighting back.

Not properly, at least.

The golden monkey’s counter-attacks were slow, so agonizingly slow compared to what he could really do, half-hearted attempts to hit  a creature not worth using his mighty strength against.

No… No! Fight me! Fight me for real!

The King’s eyes locked with his own for a moment, and all Macaque could see was pity.

No! I’m strong! I’m not pitiful! Don’t you dare look at me like that!

Don’t leave me behind!

Panic engulfed the shadow monkey. His breathing became laborious, both from effort and his rising fear. His punches grew sloppier, his control on his shadow magic wavered. A singular thought rang in his head, echoing against the corners of his mind. Don’t leave me, please don’t leave me!

A chorus of hurried voices could be heard calling for the Monkey King.

“Monkey!”

“Brother!”

Instantly, Sun Wukong pivoted to look behind him, looking for the voices of his distressed companions.

And just like that, his friend’s attention had shifted away from him. Like he was non-existent.

No!

The group of pilgrims made their way to the edge of the clearing, but before they could get any closer, the Monkey King stopped them.

“Don’t!” he yelled, hand outstretched to create even more distance between them and the fight. 

How dare they get involved!

Desperate to get the golden monkey’s attention back to the fight, Macaque picked a nearby pebble and flung it towards the pilgrims.

The stone pierced the air like an arrow and flew past Wukong’s head. Confused, he quickly whipped his head to face Macaque, before a scream alerted the King of what had just happened and turned his attention back to the group, horrified.

The stone Macaque had hurled with all his remaining strength hit the human monk right in his forehead and he fell off his mount, under the distraught cries of the other demons and horse.

While the pig demon and the water demon tripped over themselves to see if they had any supplies to treat the worrying injury - Macaque honestly couldn’t tell if he had killed him or not - the golden monkey remained perfectly still.

Which was never a good sign.

The shadow monkey didn’t have any more time to think about that, because suddenly the Monkey King was in front of him, a look of pure fury etched into his face.

Macaque felt the impact of the punch before he even saw the other monkey’s fist move towards his face.

He was sent flying back into the forest, hitting and breaking numerous trees in the process, but before he even hit the ground, the Monkey King was in front of him again, hand tightly gripping his throat, cutting his airflow.

All Macaque could do was uselessly claw at the hand, the Monkey King completely unfazed by the pathetic attempt, hot fury replaced by cold indifference.

He raised the black-furred monkey higher, before repeatedly slamming him against the ground, dirt and debris either flying off or digging into his back. 

Macaque couldn’t breathe. Could barely even think, the rigging in his ears too loud and distracting. Eyes scrunched up in pain.

The hand finally let go of his throat, and the shadow monkey coughed, desperately trying to get air back into his system again.

Tentatively, Macaque slowly opened one eye.

Before he fully registered the sight in front of him, the mighty Rúyì Jīngū Bàng was brought down hard on his stomach.

Any remaining air in his lungs was forced out of him, and the pain paralysed him completely. Macaque thought something was broken, but was unable to precisely pinpoint what.

The Monkey King raised a clawed hand, and it was at the moment that a peculiar thought crossed his tired mind.

He was going to die here, wasn’t he?

Not only had the King been planning to abandon him during his quest for power, but now he was going to be killed like some kind of parasite at the hands of his dearest friend.

The shadow monkey felt the sensation of claws tearing flesh apart even before he registered the pain and realized that the golden monkey had clawed his eye out.

He probably would have screamed if he had any air in his lungs.

Instead, the shadow monkey remained still, trying and failing to breathe.

He could feel blood from his ruined eye running down his cheek, mixed with tears he could not stop.

He could feel it in his mouth, smell it in the air.

He could feel the sting of small cuts, the pain in his back, broken ribs and possibly even bones, the chill of the night unable to soothe his pain.

Everything hurt and if only he could move he would have curled up into a ball. The slightest of movements felt like pure agony.

Wordlessly, the golden monkey turned his back on him. He started to walk away from the scene, before stopping. He glanced over his shoulder at the furry mass writhing in the dirt.

“Don’t come near any of us ever again.”

For a moment, Macaque thought he saw a hint of sadness on the King’s face before it quickly disappeared. A clear sign the pain and blood loss were causing him to hallucinate.

The Monkey King was soon out of Macaque’s fading sight, most likely back with his precious companions.

Without finishing him off.

Did Wukong think he was being a good boy by not killing him, as his master preached? Did the golden monkey genuinely think he had spared his life? Did he genuinely think he would survive his injuries?

…Did he know this was a fate much more humiliating and cruel than simply killing him…?

Unable to breathe, unable to channel his magic, unable to move. He could feel his consciousness slipping away. With nothing else to do, he watched the full moon. The soft silver glow taunting him, for unlike it, he would never again feel the warmth of his sun. 

°ooOoo°

In hindsight, he might have overreacted that day.

Maybe.

He should have known that trying to drag Wukong back to Flower Fruit Mountain would never have worked. He had waited for centuries by that point - not knowing where he was, what had happened, if he would ever come back, only to one day learn about his imprisonnement, trying in vain to locate that stupid mountain, where was the stupid thing?! -, what were a couple of more years to him?

Heck, he could have even accompanied them. Probably would have made the whole thing faster too.

He had just been so wounded when Wukong hadn’t been as ecstatic to see him as Macaque had been.

… No, that was a lie.

He still remembered the way Wukong’s face had lit up when he saw him again after all this time, the same way it did when looking at the fireworks the humans liked to use during their celebrations. The way he had thrown his arms around him in a familiar bone-crushing hug. The happy purrs and chirps.

And then Macaque ruined everything…

To Macaque, the pilgrimage had seemed like an extension of the five hundred year long punishment against the King of Flower Fruit Mountain.

To Wukong, it was a second chance. A chance to be more than the impulsive and chaotic monkey he used to be. A chance to be not just feared, but respected (and respectable!). A chance to see there was more to life than just his own little world and his own interests, to finally see the bigger picture.

It was a chance at redemption.

Macaque hadn't understood at the time.

He too had lived in his own little world, guided only by survival instincts and desire. His world orbited around his sun, and any sort of disturbance of its fragile stability was met with fierce opposition.

It was why he had never cared about Flower Fruit Mountain beyond 'Wukong would be sad if something bad happened', why he couldn't live there without him. 

Only three things had ever mattered to him: survival, freedom and Wukong.

Wukong used to have a similar view. But then it had expanded.

The truth was Wukong had never not cared about him, but he simply had more on his plate at any given time.

And Macaque had failed to notice or care.

But now that he was given a second chance at life, free from the Lady Bone Demon’s icy grasp, maybe he could try again.

He thought back to MK’s little speech, how someone had believed in him to do better, to be better, despite how much Macaque had wronged the kid in the past.

He thought back to this little girl, the one the Lady Bone Demon had used as a vessel and a shield, and how he had rushed to cushion her fall without hesitation because he knew what it was like to be tormented by her and not even he wished for the kid to be in any more pain than she already was.

Maybe, he thought as he walked down the streets near his dojo, there was still hope for him.

As he continued his walk, he took in the world around him.

Birds chirping; dogs barking; humans living their typical, noisy lives; the sun warming his fur; the wind gently messing with it.

It felt… nice, all things considered to know he had helped preserve all this, however small his contribution might have been.

It wasn't as if he had ever wanted to destroy the world after all, he had standards. But he never expected that he would ever put his life on the line for it.

He noticed a lone bag of takeout food on the ground. There was no one else around to claim ownership of the thing. He picked it up, and unfolded the piece of paper taped to it.

He was greeted by a simple drawing, in an artstyle he had seen once before. 

He was surprised to see a cartoonish version of himself, smiling a goofy smile - he would never smile like that, c’mon MK - alongside the equally goofy expressions of the kid and his dragon friend, and a blasé Sun Wukong. A smiley face had been drawn next to the sloppiest handwriting his remaining eye had ever seen (he legitimately couldn’t read it).

The small unexpected gesture managed to get a genuine smile out of Macaque.

He looked up at the sun, feeling happier than he had in a while.

Maybe he could give this whole redemption shtick a try.

#lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk macaque #lmk sun wukong #lmk monkey king #lmk wukong #lmk six eared macaque #Bloom does A Thing #i got exactly one (1) nice comment on this and got just enough courage to post it here #this is nerve-wrecking actually lol #i'm probably never doing that again #i mean nah it was fun still #i hope season 4 doesn't ruin my life #speaking of which #lmk season 3 finale spoilers #i hope the link works wasn't there some sort of issue a while back?

[rain-bow-donkey]

Shadowpeach Week: Day 1

Childhood/Late Nights

“Hi! What’s your name?”

The black furred cub was taken back when this other monkey cub got right in his face. Leaning over a small boulder he was perched on to get a better look at him. Eyes wide with wonder and curiosity.

The darker furred monkey leaned away. Unsure about this other cub. “Um . . . my name is Macaque.” He casted his eyes downward to avoid eye contact. “Six Eared Macaque . . . is my full name.”

“Hi Macaque!” The lighter furred cub said excitedly as he jump off of the boulder to stand right in front of Macaque. Far too close for the darker monkeys liking. Causing him to take a step back. “I’m the Little Stone Monkey! Pleased to meet you.” The stone cub proceeded to bow to the other as he greeted him.

“Oh! Nice to meet you too.” Macaque gave a bow to the stone cub in return. The infants interactions looked very cute to the adult monkeys supervising them. Oohing and awing as the babes greeted each other.

This is the first time the demons and monkeys on Flower Fruit Mountain ever peacefully interacted after all. This would be a historic moment for days to come. As monkeys and demon monkeys.

And these two infants seem to be hitting it off pretty well.

“Do you want to go play with me and the others?” Stone monkey asked. Bouncing in excitement, hoping the demon cub will say yes.

“Uh . . . yes. Yes, I would like that.” Macaque timidly said. The stone cub beamed and grasped the demon cubs hand to drag him off to the play grounds for the younger monkeys.

Macaque was startled by the sudden touch. But didn’t fight against it. The others grip didn’t hurt. Nor was the young demon being yanked to hurry along. So Macaque allowed the hand holding to continue.

It wasn’t because he thought the other cub was pretty or anything. No, not at all.

Once arriving at the play area, Stone Monkey stoped running so abruptly that Macaque bumped into him. He looked over Stone Monkeys shoulder to see other cubs running around in a rather large playground. Filled with swings, slides, and plenty of places to climb and hide in. The other young monkeys immediately stopped their playing and excitedly ran over to them.

Macaque hid further behind the stone cub. He was shy by nature and bigger crowds scared him. And this one had four other cubs added to it.

“Stone Monkey, you’re back!” A rather small cub excitedly said.

“What did the grownups want with you?” Another older cub asked.

The other cubs started asking question all at once. Macaque had to cover all his ears for how noisy it was getting.

Were mortal monkeys always this rowdy?

Stone Monkey turned to check in on his new friend. When the stone monkey saw Macaque holding his hands over all of his ears, Stone Monkey went to whistle for the other cubs attention.

It worked, for the other stoped their chatter and quieted down. Giving their ‘leader’ their full attention.

Doing his best to impersonate the adults, Stone Monkey put his hands on his hips and looked disapprovingly at the others. “Guys! Can’t you see that y’all are making our new friend uncomfortable?”

The cubs perked up when Stone Monkey mentioned a new friend. They looked a little pass him to see that a black furred cub was standing right behind him.

Macaque, for his part, looked slightly sheepish to have all eyes on him now. He blinked. “Hello. My names Six Eared Macaque.” He offered an awkward wave to the group. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

“Hi! It’s nice to meet you too!” A cub spoke up. The rest of the group seemed to share in their excitement of meeting anther cub their age.

“We were just playing tag. Do you two want to play with us?” The small cub spoke. He was looking at Macaque with wide eyes, hoping that he’ll say yes.

“Uh . . . “ Macaque was not used to having so much attention on him. The black furred monkey looked to the golden one next to him. Hoping the Stone cub can provide some reassurance.

Stone Monkey offered a big smile that made Macaque blush a little. He turned back to the group waiting for his answer. Smiling nervously. “Yeah, I’d like play with y’all.”

“Great!” Stone Monkey said joyously. Arms pumped in the air. “Let’s play!”

And play they did. One of the other cubs was ‘it’ and the rest did their best to avoid and run from them. Laughing and giggling all the while. Shrieking when the ‘it’ cub got a little too close.

Stone Monkey made sure to stick by Macaque’s side. The other cub didn’t know the playgrounds as well as the rest of them and he didn’t want the black furred monkey to get caught because of it.

Macaque was thankful for the help. It was nice to have a buddy to team up with.

They held hands as the sprinted away from their pursuer. Laughing all the while.

#shadowpeachweek2021 #shadowpeach #sun wukong #six eared macaque #monkiekid #my writing #the donkey writes #Stone Monkey is Wukongs name before he changed it btw #they babies here #kids being cute #lego monkie kid

[tigerseye46]

Hi, love the prompt you wrote you truly capture the happy moments and sad moments! I was thinking of a sequel from I don't want to lose you for prompt #148, Thank you.

Prompt List

Thanks! Also that's a perfect name for it! Here you go!

148. “Is this really the time for jokes?” “You always do this.” “Wake me up when it’s over.” “You look happy.” “I’m sorry, do I know you?” “Why can’t I get you out of my head?” Sequel to the “I don’t want to lose you.”

  His boyfriend was free, Wukong was free, finally. From what he heard from some demons he had beat up, his boyfriend had been freed by some monk and forced to go on some quest, ew. Macaque needed to save his boyfriend, obviously he was being forced to do this whole thing, who knows what suffering Wukong might have gone through? It was hard work tracking his boyfriend down especially since he heard they were going west to retrieve some scriptures, again ew.

  Macaque searched for years then he finally found him. It was in a bustling market place full of disgusting humans. He was currently in disguise while looking at (stealing) the wares and then, he saw him. His boyfriend in all his glory, he was eagerly talking to someone, the monk Macaque guessed, a bright smile on his face. Wukong was wearing different clothes from the last time he saw him and a golden circlet was around his head, he was gorgeous.

  Macaque didn’t transform back right away. It would draw too much attention so he quietly stepped towards the other monkey, trying to maintain a neutral face even as the excitement built up in him. His boyfriend had stopped talking to the monk before Macaque tapped his shoulder.

  The other monkey turned toward him with an eyebrow raised and asked, “Hm?”

  “Wukong! Can’t believe you’re finally out! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

  Wukong tilted his head. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” The six eared monkey wanted to facepalm, his boyfriend had special eyes yet he couldn’t use them to spot his own boyfriend.

  “Peaches… it’s me…” he muttered.

  Wukong gasped and briefly activated his special eyes. The glow quickly disappeared as he whispered, “Ma-Macaque? It is you… I…”

  Macaque smiled. “Nice to see you, Peaches.”

  “Li-likewise, give me a second.” Wukong gave him a reassuring glance and then gazed at the monk beside him. He asked the monk, “Master, is it okay if I walk around for a bit?” Master? His boyfriend “Great Sage Equal to Heaven” calling someone master?

  The “master” didn’t look up at Wukong as he was too busy examining some vegetables. “Okay, Wukong but please do not draw attention to yourself or cause trouble.”

  “Ya sure ya should let him go? He is him after all.” Macaque found the source of the voice and it was a pig demon smirking at his boyfriend.

  Wukong scoffed. “Wow, very descriptive, Bajie.”

  “Hey! I’m just sayin’ ya might cause trouble.”

  “I would never!” Wukong winked.

  “I think oldest brother should be fine,” another demon said.

  The master spoke up, “I think Wukong will be fine. Please be careful.”

  “Of course, master!” He shouted, Wukong made sure the group wasn’t looking at him then he pulled Macaque away into a forest nearby. Macaque transformed back and analyzed his boyfriend.

  “Peaches… it’s great to... you know. I tried searching for you, couldn’t find you before.”

  Wukong hugged him. “I… I missed you, Mango.”

  Macaque hugged back as he took in the scent of the monkey king. They gave each other a soft and slow kiss on the lips. “Missed you too, Peaches. You look… happy.”

  Wukong gave his love a peck on the cheek and exclaimed, “Yes I am! I’ve been traveling all over the place, fighting demons and with the gang! It’s awesome!”

  “Glad you’ve been having fun,” he muttered. “So are we going now?”

  “Going?”

  “Yea, to carry out our plan against Heaven and what not. To rule, obviously…”

  His boyfriend frowned. “Well the plan has changed…”

  Macaque raised his eyebrow. “How so? I know you’ve been forced to help these guys. You don’t have to stay here any longer. I’m saving you from whatever it is.”

  “That’s just it…”

  “Hm? What is?”

  “I want to stay here. I need to stay here. I have to protect the others.”

  Macaque stared at his boyfriend wide eyed then brought a hand to his forehead and laughed. “Wow, for a second you really got me. Is this really the time for jokes?”

  Wukong glared at him. “I’m not joking. I’m staying with them.”

  “WHAT? Are you out of your mind? They forced you under a dang mountain then onto whatever this is! And now you want to stay?”

  The monkey king sighed. “Look, I was angry especially after they put this crown thing to make sure I listen.” He gestured to the circlet. “But it’s not so bad. I have a responsibility to protect them now. I’ve accepted that. You could come with us!”

  Was Wukong serious? They put that crown on his head to control him? How could he still want to stay after that? “What about our plan to take over Heaven? Don't you want revenge?”

  “I did…” he shook his head. “Not anymore. I’ve changed. Come with us, Macaque! I’m sure master wouldn’t mind!”

  Was his boyfriend being forced to say this? Macaque scowled, “That monk must have you under some spell, don’t worry, Peaches, I’ll get rid of that monk and the rest of them..”

  At those words, the king held up his staff and against his boyfriend’s chest. He yelled “DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH THEM!”

  Macaque laughed and placed a hand on his face. “Is this some sick dream? Gods, wake me up when it’s over.”

  “This is no dream, Mango.”

  “Don’t you want revenge?”

  “Revenge isn’t important to me anymore! I’ve grown. I don’t need you to rescue me! You mess with them, you mess with me.”

  His boyfriend glared at him. “So you want to waste time following some human around?”

  “Yes! Because I believe in our cause!”

  “Do you realize how stupid that sounds?”

  “Stupid to you but not to me! If you’re going to threaten my friends then this is goodbye, Mango.” Wukong lowered his staff and started walking away from his boyfriend. Macaque’s face being a face of disbelief and anger.

  “DON’T WALK AWAY FROM ME, WUKONG! You always do this! You always do something selfish and leave me to pick the mess up! Just like when you got trapped under that mountain!” Macaque yelled and stomped his feet.

  Wukong looked back at him. “Goodbye, Mango,” he repeated. “We’re through.” Then he left.

  Macaque wanted to grab his boyfriend, scream at him to come back. He had remembered what he said to Wukong before he left, he had lost him, he had lost his boyfriend and it stung. He sobbed as he fell to his knees. He whispered, “Why can’t I get you out of my head?” The only other thought going through his mind was “revenge.” If Wukong thought this journey was fun then how fun would it be if Macaque impersonated him and ruined him? He would take the credit for his ex boyfriend’s journey and ruin him. That was a guarantee.

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #monkey king #monkie kid wukong #sun wukong #macaque #six eared macaque #shadowpeach #angst #my fic

[vegalocity]

Tell no tales (Red Groom AU)

I debated for awhile about whether to make the Miracle Max segment its own part or not, and then figured 'eh may as well for tonal consistency' this is the act 2 darkest hour one may call it because...

...well you've seen the princess bride you know how this story goes once Westley's in the dungeon

TW: Suicide mention, Death

Red Son's knuckles were turning purple.

He didn't know how many times the bands had tightened around his wrists, restraining his magic further and slowly cutting off the bloodflow, but he could barely move them, and the slightest twitch brought pain.

“Ahhh beloved.” He glanced up and glared with as much venom as he could muster at the prince on the other side of the cage. “The time has come for you to make me the happiest man in this mountain!” The prince reached forward Seemingly to try and stroke Red Son's face, and perhaps if Red Son hadn't already been down in this cell, powerless and slowly growing more and more pained, he would have tried to play along in attempt to remove his restraints, but as it was, he was full of nothing but contempt and rage for the prince, his only thoguth was to lash out. So as the Prince's hand neared his face Red Son snapped his teeth, the threat to bite as clear as possible. The Prince pulled his hand back and huffed.

“Still so stubborn. Well Beloved, It saddens me to realize that your selfish stubbornness has forced my hand so, but all the same my hand has been forced. We must be quick before my father passes, his curse is getting worse and the healers have yet to heal him.”

“You cursed him yourself didn't you? Kin slaying garbage.” He hissed back, and the Prince at least had the good sense to not keep up the act. He rolled his eyes.

“Honestly, Macaque was right about you. Far too hotheaded to be of any use.”

“Why haven't you killed me already then?”

“You're going to need to be my husband before you're more useful dead.”

“You think I'd be consenting to a wedding at this point?”

“You don't need to. You know the old time customs as well as I do. And since you're not here by choice then wouldn't that mean-?”

“You think my parents wouldn't notice the change in circumstance? They're not stupid, you worm.”

“Oh of course not, but that doesn't mean anything when marrying you off means they don't have to deal with you anymore.”

“...Excuse me?”

“I mean, It makes sense doesn't it? Weren't you their only child? Why did they marry you off to another demon king-to-be instead of keeping you to inherit your father's position? Especially when they didn't even have much to gain from allyship with us?” The Prince laughed, a bitter, cruel sounding thing. “Your parents wanted rid of you once it became obvious what a weakhearted fool you always were, Red Son. They basically told my mother 'we will pay YOU to take him' when they arranged our betrothal, And once you're gone no doubt they'll only care as much as the blow to their image it will be that you died so quickly. 'Our poor useless boy didn't even have the time to pretend to TRY to be a good husband he could have at least saved us the trouble and taken his own life before we'd wasted so many resources on sending him over there.'”

Red Son snarled at the arrogance dripping from the prince's words. He knew his parents had grown rather short with him near the end, but that was in part due to his own stubbornness, not simple callousness.

“Not everyone is as heartless as you, scum.” Sure his family wasn't the warmest, but that didn't change that when he was at his lowest both his mother and father had been at his back. Though it was vindicating to know his continued dismissals of his suitors before the option was taken from him was the right course of action, it's not like he didn't know that his parents wanted what they believed was best for him.

They honestly thought that he needed to move on, they didn't know Xiaotian was still out there, they thought he was clinging to the memory of a dead man, and for a long time there he thought he was too.

Besides... If he had his days right he still has about a week before the ceremony and-

“It doesn't matter. My love will be coming for me.”

The Prince's face twisted in a scowl. “Your 'Love' couldn't stop a wedding in a few short hours time! I was merely visiting you as a courtesy 'beloved'. Maybe no one told you, but we will be wed tonight-” the Prince turned on his heel and snapped his fingers and a small gaggle of servants rushed in carrying bathing tools and finery. Before Red Son could make a break for it the cuffs straining his hands shuddered and forced his hands together. Though he could barely feel the motion until it was complete.

“He'll know that this wasn't my choice. And I'm not so easy to kill.” Red Son hissed with as much venom as he could muster into his voice. “My Xiaotian will return for me, and it'll be YOUR head I have on a spike while waiting for him, mark my words.”

The Prince turned on his heel and marched away. “Your Xiaotian will be dead on the 'morrow and so will you husband.”

Red Son would like to see him try.

–

“Ah, my prince, what a pleasant surprise. Shouldn't you be preparing for the wedding-?”

“Plans changed Macaque. I know you've had fun with him but I want this man dead. Now.”

“Bro, Bro we gotta get out of here!”

“Master Six Eared Macaque, My brother and I will be taking our lunch now 'Kay Thanks Byyyyeeeee”

“Is there something wrong?”

“Yes. I cannot afford to have my 'Husband' still counting on this helpless slab of meat to be able to stop things or he'll put up a fight I cannot afford to chance loosing! End him!”

“My prince the machine is very delicate-!”

The Prince cranked the machines settings as high as they would go.

A scream echoed through the air so loud that the heavenly court above took note for only a moment, a wave of pity from all whom heard the torment and agony was offered to the poor soul who uttered such a ravaged note.

Red Son looked up from where he'd been struggling against the servant trying to force him into his marital robes, a primal fear as he instinctively recognized the voice springing his fire forth and scalding himself as his restraints blasted his magic back onto him once more.

It couldn't be. As that was the cry of a dying man.

And he knew better than to doubt Xiaotian ever again.

If he could convince his heart to stop pounding that would be nice.

–

The Pit of Despair was spoken of only in rumor among the guards, so Sandy had heard of it briefly in his workings on the hastily assembled brute squad. Therefore after caring for Xiaojiao until she'd once again reached sobriety, he told her all he knew.

“-The only problem is, if the Monkey King really is this love of Prince Red Son's, the Pit of Despair is hidden from all eyes.” Sandy mused as he and his friend wandered through the forest. “It's said only the prince, and his adviser: Your enemy, know of its whereabouts.”

“Well there has to be SOMETHING we can work with!”

Then, much like Red Son surrounded by enemies in the mountain, they heard the scream.

“That way.” Xiaojiao uttered after a pause. “Follow the scream.”

“You can be sure it was the Monkey King?”

“Sandy my friend, that wasn't any scream of pain.” Xjaojiao stopped only for a moment to place a hand on his shoulder. “That was a cry of true agony. I felt it in my heart ten years ago watching my father bleed out, and I remember it's timbre. His true love is being forced to marry a cruel prince who intends on murdering him after the fact. If anyone knows true agony on this day, it's the Monkey King.”

“Do we really need him to find the Six Eared Macaque, you think?”

“Think about it Sandy, he outplayed me; blade versus staff, he subdued you despite your attempts to stall, and he must have outsmarted the Spider Queen, if there's anyone who can get us into that mountain it's the Monkey King.”

But their conversation was cut off as a pair of urgent whispering voices made themselves known.

“Ohhhh man, I heard that, that's gonna haunt me forever. Boss just totally killed that guy.”

“We all heard it Jin. I'm pretty sure the heavenly court heard it. Come on, brother you're going to be fine.”

“Don't just say stuff like that Yin it just invites disaster!”

“Jin, bro, I need you to be real with me, like one hundred percent real.” only then the two voices curved from behind a tree, a wheelbarrow carried between them. “Do you not have the stomach for this anymore? If you don't, we can leave. We can find work elsewhere, I don't think Mother would begrudge us for taking a little break-”

“I'm FINE Yin. Don't be so dramatic I'm not a sissy-!” The golden demon trailed off with a yelp as Xiaojiao grabbed him by his front.

“You know where they are? The man that screamed do you two know his location?” She unsheathed her sword just a bit, just enough to make the threat present. But just as the silver demon moved to try and throw her off of his brother Sandy stepped in and placed a large, iron gripped hand on either of their shoulders, pulling the gold one free from Xiaojiao's grip but keeping him just as immobile as his brother was now.

“Settle down, we're just tryin' to find our friend.”

“Haven't the foggiest idea what you guys are talking about.” The Silver demon tried.

“Indeed!” The Gold demon concurred. “Never seen any secret tunnels coming out of trees around here!”

Sandy raised his brow and Xiaojiao shared his look as the Gold demon seemed to realize he'd said too much.

“Well! It was nice talking to you both good luck in finding your friend!” he chirped, struggling to get himself free from Sandy's grip.

“And don't try to bother us further because we know nothing-” The Silver demon continued. Xiaojiao unsheathed her sword and held the very tip to the gold one's chin, tilting his head to meet her eye.

“In a funny turn of events something tells me you two know what we're looking for. Talk.”

“...Anyone ever tell you you have beautiful eyes, madame?”

The silver one groaned, and didn't even look particularly startled as Xiaojiao reeled back and knocked his brother out with the pommel of her sword.

Sandy scrambled to catch the gold demon as he slumped over, and though he had to let go of the Silver demon to do so Xiaojiao kept him from moving by turning her sword to him instead.

“You got any better ideas to cover your ass than flirting with the woman with a sword to you?”

“Uhhh Nope. Honestly I hate working here anyway. The secret passage is about a five minutes walk from here in thaaaat direction.” He pointed behind them. “Straight too, no turns, the tree is the one with all the knots. The Prince wanted Boss' workshop to be far enough from the mountain's base so he'd have distance for his 'experiments' to get loud without alerting anyone.”

“You're a fountain of wisdom. Take your brother and find some better work.”

The Silver demon did just that, and once they'd both vanished in the treeline she and Sandy exchanged a glance and nodded.

Five minutes was generous an estimate of course, and implied quite a lot about the lackadaisical pace the brothers usually kept as Xiaojiao and Sandy found the grove described to them within three. However, the Silver demon had neglected to mention a very important detail: There were many trees with many knots in the grove and it would be impossible to determine which of them was 'The' tree without searching every knot on every tree. Which could easily take hours that they did not have.

Just as Sandy was pondering over the quickest way to solve this conundrum he'd turned to see his friend in a very peculiar position, dropped onto a knee with the Jade sword held upright toward the sky.

“Xiaojiao?”

“I need a moment Sandy.” She stated calmly, her eyes shut and she took a deep breath.

“My family had a river of our own. When I was a girl I couldn't get to sleep without the gentle rush of the stream in my ears. I haven't slept a full night since the day I was expelled from my home. Every night as I settle down my ears strain for the familiar rush. My mother once said that I had an ear for the river's flow, and every night that was proven to be a curse as well as a gift.” Xiaojiao stood, her sword now held in both hands again, eyes still shut.

“There's water flowing near here.” she stated, voice barely over a whisper. “I can hear it.”

Sandy was quite literally a fish demon and even HE didn't have a sense for water like that. Nonetheless He found himself impressed with his friend all over again as she began to tilt her sword this way and that, as though it were helping her detect the source of the noise.

“I can hear it-” Xioajao whispered again before the tip of her sword embedded itself in a particular tree. She didn't open her eyes, merely placed a hand on the trunk and leaned in until her ear was pressed to the tree.

There was silence and then Xiaojiao smiled.

“It's this one. Sandy my friend, help me find the knot.” she quickly sheathed her sword and began to try as many knobs on the tree that were in her reach as possible.

It was only luck that the first knot Sandy tried gave way beneath his hand and with a small 'click' a hollow panel on the side of the tree swung open, revealing a staircase descending below.

Xiaojiao shot him a bright grin and Sandy grinned back bashfully, but before they could trade witty banter his friend's eagerness to finally reach her goal implored her to descend down the stairs. It was a bit of a Squeeze for Sandy but he was able to make his way down a few paces behind her.

And... Well the Pit of Despair was about what he'd expected. A dank dungeon like place, ornate lamps lighting the room trying to pretend there was a level of class present in the torture chamber, a huge water wheel was perched in the corner, heartily chugging away but no Six Eared Macaque for Xiaojiao to face.

There was however a figure strapped to a table beside the water wheel. Xiaojiao was quickly ensuring the three of them were alone but Sandy rushed to the strapped figure's side and-...

He was human. He was wearing the same clothes he remembered the Monkey King wearing, and his hair was the same shade of dark brown as he'd remembered the Monkey King sporting, but there were no simian features and no tail.

And he wasn't breathing.

--

“What?! Xiaotian dies!?”

“Well The prince had the machine turned up all the way, remember?”

“Well then who KILLS the prince? Is it Red Son? Xiaojiao?”

“Nobody. The Prince lives.”

“SO HE WINS?! That's not right who would write a story like that!?”

“You know- we should probably stop here, you're getting too heated, and you're sick, I don't want my own kid glaring at me because I made my grandbaby feel worse.”

“No! No! I'll be good I promise! I won't interrupt anymore I need to know how it ends!”

“You sure?”

“I'm sure! Grandpa Pleeeaaasseeeee?”

“Alright, if you're sure.”

“I am!”

“Well then....'Xiaojiao came to find Sandy quickly and examined the body on the table herself, a quick pass over with her eyes, and finding the same tells He did quickly enough.-

--

“He wasn't really the Monkey King...” she breathed. “A body double or something- How'd he learn to shapeshift like that?”

“He was mortal. Poor guy.” Sandy sighed and placed a large hand over the still chest.

Sandy held a moment of silence to try and give the dead man a moment's respect, but Xiaojiao had other plans, Her only shot at finally finding the Six Eared Macaque and having her revenge and he was dead on a slab. She shouted and kicked at the water wheel until one of the spokes cracked beneath her rage.

Then something occurred to Sandy.

“We have to get outta here.”

“Why?! Where are we going?!” Xiaojiao shouted, still lost in her anger. “It's not like we've got anything we're doing that's FEASABLE ANYMORE!” She kicked another wheel spike.

“Don't give up just yet, my friend.” Sandy huffed as he looked the body over once more looking for any lingering damages, and finding none he hefted it over his shoulder. “There's this guy back in the village, While I was on he brute squad, and you know, they thought I was actually gonna fight, they said not to worry about 'going too hard' because this guy can heal just about anything.”

“He's already dead Sandy-”

“Better than nothing.”

After a moment's pause, Xiaojiao shrugged and followed behind him.

“-Oh, you still got much money left after your bender?”

“Not much, why?”

“Sandy how much does this guy charge?”

“SANDY??”

#Monkie Kid #LMK #MK Red Son #Long Xiaojiao #LMK Sandy #Princess bride AU #TW Death #I had to make a fully origonal scene for the story to continue as necessary #Pour one out for Red's hands y'all its gonna be awhile before he can tinker again at this point #Red Groom AU #Vega writes stories too #Spicynoodleshipping

[crystalas]

It’s only a matter of time part 2

part 2 of a Monkie Kid fanfic wherein MK and Red Son are being trained by Macaque against their will. Trapped in a mountain dojo with the skillet and Bands of Guanyin keeping them prisoner the two have to work together for any hopes of escape.

warning this contains the fan theory that demons in LMK universe eat humans, painful punishments and well angst

Chapter two: Meal times.

MK was embarrassed to find that he had fallen asleep as he nudged awake by Red Son who was staring at the cell door, Macaque’s shadow clone was standing there with two covered bowls, two jugs of water and wooden cups on a tray in his hands. He knelt down and pushed them towards the two boys who looked at it with suspicion and disgust.

“One of the things I was commissioned to do was to break a certain demon boy out of some bad habits, so I have decided that while you train under me you will be on an au natural diet.” The clone declared. MK picked up the lid and to his surprise his bowl was full of several bits of fruit, handfuls of different nuts and seeds and to his revulsion three giant crickets.

“For Monkey boy a monkey diet, don’t worry I’m not stupid enough to give you anything you can’t eat” Macaque laughed as MK stuck his tongue out at the idea of eating bugs. Red Son looked extremely hesitate to lift the lid on his bowl but the clone did it for him.

At first glance MK thought that Red Son had just been given a raw shank of meat presumably pork, but then he noticed that the joint of meat ended with a hand…

“For demon boy, a demon diet of raw human…”

MK froze and stared at Red Son who looked like he was going to puke.

“I can’t eat this!” Red Son declared pushed the bowl away.

“Aw don’t worry its fresh”

“I don’t care I can’t eat this!”

“Tough!”

MK took a fruit from his bowl and was about to hand it to Red Son but gave a loud yelp as his skillet gave him a warning throb.

“No sharing, that’s the only warning you two are getting!” Macaque’s clone scowled, “and don’t think I won’t noticed if you try. I’m not called the six-ear macaque for nothing” Red Son turned his back on his bowl with a growl of indignation and stayed there. MK felt his stomach betray him as he took the fruit, he was going to give Red Son and began to slowly chew on it. he didn’t realise until he shallowed the first mouthful how hungry he was and quickly began to eat everything else. [except the crickets…no…not hungry enough for bugs and he really hoped he never would have to be.]

“Enjoy boys and try to get a good night sleep, tomorrow the real training begins” and with that the clone vanished into the floor.

MK looked at Red Son who kept his back to him during the entire time MK had eaten his meal not a single word was spoken between them.

“Red Son…” MK began but was quickly cut off.

“Yes, demons eat people, but I don’t, okay?” Red Son snapped his hair rippling with fire, “I don’t care if that might make me the laughing stock of the demon community I. Don’t. Eat. Meat!”

“It’s ok I’m kind of glad you don’t” MK said quietly, “I’m guessing vegetarian demons are unusual?”

Red Son gave a heavy sigh and MK could see him gripping the sleeves on his robe tightly.

“More heavily frowned upon… a lot of the old school demons don’t get that for us inner city demons we can’t just go picking up the nearest human to snack on without alerting police. So, it’s easier to just not to.”

“Wait…how did Macaque know about this? How did he know about your quote unquote ‘bad habits’?”

“I don’t know, just add that to growing list of ‘things we have no idea on’…” Red sighed he scooted himself so he was leaning against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. Another hour of awkward silence filled the air as they both tried their hardest not to look at the human limb sitting in the cell with them. MK decided that maybe the best thing to do was sleep, but despite curling up and trying he just couldn’t.

“It’s just a limb nothing to be scared of…” Red Son said suddenly after ten minutes of him trying to sleep.

“I’m not scared!” MK retorted. Well not scared of the limb, I’m scared of everything else going on but not that.

“Then why are you shaking?”

“I’m cold!” MK groaned “It might surprise you that cold stone floors do not make for good sleeping arrangements!”

Red Son looked at him before giving a weary sigh and scooted closer to him, MK looked at him as he put his hands out and a fire blossomed into existence. MK closed his eyes and the warmth seeped into him.

“If we are to get out of here, we need to work together” Red Son whispered “Which means I can’t have you dying from the cold.”

MK was already drifting off to sleep.

“You know…for a bad guy…you’re pretty nice…” he mumbled as he fell asleep.

Red Son looked at him before glancing at the limb then back to MK. Don’t focus on the hunger, focus on the flame he told himself just focus on anything but that…meat.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Please. Wake up!” MK woke up instantly at the voice of Macaque who was standing there holding in a snigger, MK looked to Red Son who had fallen asleep and was resting his head on MK’s shoulder. MK pushed him awake and when he realised what he was doing sprung away as he had received an electric shock.

Another bowl of fruit, nuts and bugs.

Another bowl of human meat, this time it looked to be a mix of organs. MK didn’t want to try and identify what kind but he was pretty sure he saw a heart; he didn’t dare look at it too long in case it moved! Red Son turned away again clutching his stomach.

“Eat up, you have thirty minutes to be ready and then we are starting” Macaque declared coldly before walking away. MK couldn’t help but watch Red Son as he ate wishing he could do something that didn’t result in both of them rolling around the floor screaming for mercy.

They were led by a shadow clone under the same command of “Please. Follow” Back to the training dojo floor that they had wandered through yesterday, instead of the dark gloom the room was lit up but what looked like glowing glass orbs. Macaque stood there waiting for them.

“So, let’s refresh ourselves, shall we?” he said happily despite the death glares he was receiving from the two ‘students. “You do what I say when I say and you don’t have to worry about struggling to breath or having your skull crushed, are we clear on that?”

Both boys continued to glare at him.

“I said are we clear?”

They managed another beat of determined silence before Macaque got a very quiet “Yes…”

“Good from now on you shall refer to me as Master, got that?”

Another very quiet and strained “Yes…”

“Yes what?”

“Yes…Master” MK had to swallow back the bile in his throat as he did.

“Good boys, let’s start with the basics, shall we?”

And so began the training programme which started out with running laps, then lead on to push up, pull ups and squats. MK tried to figure out how many Macaques actually wanted out of them but it seemed that he just wanted to see how many they could do before they collapsed before starting the next one.

“I need you two at your very best for what’s to come” Macaque told them after the morning was over and MK and Red Son sat there trying to not drown in their own sweat and try to move their aching bodies.

“Which is?” MK asked wearily.

Macaque just smiled at him, and throw the two bottles of water which they chugged greedily.

After an hour break, they started doing combat excerise, to MK’s annoyance it was the same stuff Macaque had tried teaching him the first time he was his “Student”. Red Son was taught more hand to hand stuff rather than the staff maneuverers which made sense seeing as anything Red Son held would not doubt combust if he used it. After what felt like endless hours they were told to go back to their cell, they both just collapsed against each other too exhausted to move or talk. They only did so when supper arrived.

Another bowl of fruit, nuts and bugs.

Another bowl of human meat.

Red Son just curled up and tried to sleep off the gnawing hunger that had now settled in his stomach, he could smell the meat now even from across the room. He gave a flinch when MK sat down next to him gave a tired smile to try and encourage him, Red Son tried his best to smile back before igniting the flame to keep him warm.

Eight more days past each one where they worked and train till, they would nearly puke from over exertion and barely walk anymore and then they would just collapse in their cell afterwards. Eight more days of Red Son not eating anything and MK could see that it was beginning to take a toll on him as the fire he was making to keep him warm kept getting smaller and smaller till he couldn’t maintain it longer than a few minutes. His hair was turning a horrible shade of dark grey that reminded MK of dying embers and Macaque noticed he was struggling to keep up, but didn’t care.

It was on the ninth day of their ‘training’ when during morning laps Red Son crumpled to the floor. MK ran over to him to help him up when he gave a startled gasp. Horns seemed to be growing out of his skull, a tail now whipped around slowly and where there had been toes where now cloven hooves like a bull… Red Son tried to get up as his body changed.

“Red Son…what’s happening to you?”

“His glamour is wearing off which means he is basically at the end of whatever strength he has…” Macaque declared walking over to him and pushing Red Son onto his back with his tail. “The fact you can barely keep that spell going means you are on the brink of death, is the great Red Son going to die from starvation of all things? How pathetic” he growled.

“F…fuck you” he managed to wheeze, Macaque was not impressed and activated the bands. Red Son could only whimper as the pain rampaged through him. MK knelt down next to him and tried to support him to sit up.

“You’re going to kill him!” MK cried “Let him eat something!”

“I am!” Macaque snapped back “Not my fault he’s too stubborn to eat what’s natural to his kind!”

“Take him back to the cell, if he’s still alive tomorrow we’ll continue our training then” Macaque growled and walked off. MK just glared at him as he left the dojo before fighting tears and dragging Red Son back. He laid Red Son down on the floor, before looking at the bowl of human meat before kicking it away angrily. He grabbed his bowl of food and got out one of the fruits he had left that morning, seeing Red Son practically starve to death had killed his own appetite.

“Come on you can have this!” MK said gently, Red Son sat up and reached out to take it, only for MK to convulse and fall to the floor clutching his head. Red Son didn’t even have the energy to reach out to him but could only listen to MK’s screams of pain. He put the fruit back down and MK fell still whimpering as he held his head. Red Son rolled over and looked at the meat, he could feel drool dripping from his mouth and he gave a shuddering sigh as he took the bowl…

MK tried his best not hear the sounds of teeth tearing into flesh, or the wet crunch as bones were consumed. And he tried really hard not to listen to Red Son gag and dry heave after he put down the empty bowl.

#monkie kid red son #Red Son #monkie kid mk #monkie kid macaque #Red Son is a vegetarian

[afoxysunny]

Jives as High Duke

So Jives gets a second pick and oh my G did i struggle with choosing this one. In the end I'm pretty happy with the decision to give him the Monkey Miraculous

The whole story for how he ended up with having to pick a second time is already on the post about Stingy, who gets the Turtle from Jives, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much

So here are the references for this design

This design came out a lot simpler than it probably should be considering that it's based on the Chinese Monkey King but Jives isn't one for overly flashy and elaborate costumes in my opinion

Also, yes, again, his eyey should be blue but making colour changes to coloured pencil drawings is really hard, I'm sorry

Again, i just did what felt natural to me and in no time this was the outcome. Conclusion: drawing Jives comes very natural to me and i appreciate him for that

Design Notes:

Chest Pattern - i wanted to make the chest pattern here resemble the one he had as Grinder Turtle, this was also a big factor that sold me on giving him this Miraculous. I just think it looks really cool and it connects the two designs in a vague sense

Beanie - my boy Jives always wears some sort of hat, this is no exception. The Monkey Miraculous is a Crown and here it blends in so it now replaces the brim section of the beanie. On second thought it might be a little basic to choose a beanie but it just really suits him, i couldn't think of a better fit. Especially because it goes along really well with the headshape of the monkey i based him on

Toque Macaque - I'll be real with you, I'm not a huge fan of monkeys which makes them one of the few animal species i don't love and also makes the biggest reason i wasn't immediately happy to give my dear Jives this Miraculous xD I'm shallow i know. Anyways. I may not know a lot about monkeys but i knew enough to pick this macaque because the colours go well enough with the Monkey Kwami Xuppu and i liked the markings it has. [coicidentally this specific kind, the Toque Macaque, happens to share its natural habitat with the peacock ;)]

Tail - on his back you see how the rope detailing from his chest and pants combine into the belt and eventually the tail. I wanted the markings to kind of resemble a harness for climbing, i don't think it comes across too well though

Hair - the little bit you can still see of his actual hair coincidentally blends in almost seamlessly with the colour of his costume, that wasn't planned but i like it a lot

Reasoning:

At the point in time where i made the decision that Stingy would take the Turtle Miraculous from Jives i already had most Miraculous assigned to most other characters, in fact i was only really missing one for Ziggy. So spoiler alert i guess for him. I fudged around for a while between the Mouse and the Monkey, both would've worked well with either but in the end settled on the Monkey for Jives for multiple stupid timy reasons. For example the chest pattern i already mentioned, my ship-trash side going "a monkey and a peacock fit together way better aesthetically than a mouse and a peacock would", he and Xuppu would have a funny bro dynamic together etc.

Story:

I already explained why and how Jives loses the Turtle Miraculous to Stingy in my post about the latter so I'll just give a short summary here before moving on

As per usual Jives didn't eat much throughout the day and ends up fainting. This time it's a much bigger deal though. Usually he doesn't actually fully faint, just sway a little, maybe collapse but for the most parts he stays conscious just really weakened. That day the team of new heroes is fighting an important battle when he full on passes out in the middle of it. Luckily Stingy is able to step in to build their defense up again.

Obviously, instead of saying "i eat as little as possible because i have a problem" Jives just shrugs it off and goes "guess i didn't eat enough again, my bad guys, sorry" and thinks it'll be fine. He didn't expect Álfurildi, aka Sportacus, to take this very literal and announce that he planned on having them eat in his airship as a whole group anyway gor team moral and to make sure they're all healthy enough to actually handle a Miraculous. They deduce that must have been the reason Jives full on fainted this time, while going by his usual life he obviously didn't need as much energy as he now needs to be a superhero so the simple solution is to just eat more.

He makes excuses to not eat with the others as often as he can but one day he'd have to actively leave the others to do so as he already is in the airship with them when they start preparing to serve the next meal. That day he actually snaps at Sportacus that he just doesn't want to eat. Unfortunately, thanks to being such a gentle soul and also sensing Jives frustration and hunger Sportacus tries to comfort Jives with the worst thing he could've said. "heroes gotta eat well, so you can become big and strong" to which Jives absolutely loses it. He snaps at him "I'm already too big without eating anything, can't you just leave me alone!" and just jumps out of the airship. By now he already has Xuppu as his new partner so of cause he makes it down unharmed to run off into the forest. Sportacus wants to follow him but Robbie stops him. Robbie, who so far was pretty quiet and reclusive when the teens came to visit, says he will go find and talk to him taking Pixel with him as he is his best friend after all.

I'll spare you the unnecessarily details i cane up with and just say this is the moment Robbie gets to explain how the powers i gave him work and we get to see that he does really deeply care but just can't really express it. They find Jives and thanks to Robbie being able to relate to him about some of his insecurities and Pixel being a great friend he ends up confessing to them about his eating disorder. He never wanted to be the odd one out but never managed to fit in with the others. It's hard to hide you're different when you're towering over your peers so he figured if he just stopped eating he'd stop growing and though it had no positive effect on him he just couldn't stop doing it even after realizing how bad it had gotten.

Going back to the airship together once the situation calmed down a bit and with Jives' permission they let Sportacus in on this secret. As Robbie figured, the local health expert knows exactly what foods wouldn't upset such an empty stomach too badly and they start the process of finding a few good things for Jives to eat so he doesn't break down again.

Name:

Quick, something more lighthearted

When Jives gets his second pick for a Miraculous his eyes fall on the little Monkey, Xuppu. The two pretty quickly get along thanks to Xuppu being a jokester and Jives liking how bro-like they can talk and poke fun at each other. This turns out to be a great pick as this Kwami of Jubilation not only like shouting random noises around just like Jives but is also sassy and straightforward enough to remind him to eat every once in a while by poking fun at him using something Pixel once said to him "I'll not let you eat less than the Kwamis" (yes this part should've technically been in the reasoning section but you kinda need the context of the story for it so i put it here)

So Trixie explains that Xuppu's transformation and powers are based on the Chinese Monkey King (she knows that from the Guardians) but Jives really isn't one for flashy costumes and important titles so not only is his costume more basic than it probably should be but also he wamts to name himself "Duke". Stingy immediately objects "A duke is about as royal as a prince! You're completely underselling this concept. You have to trade with me! You get yoir turtle back. Let me be King!" Xuppu and Wayzz look at each other and roll their eyes, Xuppu then steps floats forward to say "well, he's not entirely wrong. Wouldn't you like to pick something higher?" so Jives chuckles and goes "High Duke". Again Stingy is outraged by this disrespect "that's ridiculous!" but Xuppu laughs and says "no, i like his style! Let's do this!" and so their new duo is established

Look, don't judge me, everyone headcanons Jives with growing not all legal things in his garden so now that he's actually a teen in my au I'm keeping it xD

Thank you so so much for reading so much of my rambling. You're so cool for taking the time to read this!

#Lazytown #miraculous ladybug #Lazytown au #Miraculous Lazybug #revive the lazy #jives junkfood #maggi mjói #Xuppu #Eating disorder #mentioned

[the-tiva-og]

His Ninjas

Second chapter of my @talisbirthdaychallenge fic!

Chapter 2: New Heights

As always, Ziva woke up before the other two and went out for a walk around the area. By the time she returned, Tony and Tali were awake and getting ready for their first day of sightseeing. “Are you just immune to jetlag or something?” Tony yawned, buttoning his shirt. “I brought breakfast,” she said, rather than responding, and placed a box of doughnuts on the table, then handed her partner a paper cup. He opened the lid, closed his eyes, and inhaled the coffee scent deeply. “Have I told you how much I love you?” he practically moaned. “You have,” she said with a shrug, “but I can always stand to hear it again.” Tony pressed a kiss to her cheek and opened the box of doughnuts. “Hey, T-Bird,” he called to their daughter, “come get some breakfast.” “Ooh,” Tali cooed, climbing onto a chair to pick out a treat, “I love doughnuts.” “Daddy’s girl,” Ziva teased, swatting at Tony’s stomach. He rolled his eyes. “Should we tell her?” he asked Ziva. Tali’s ears perked up and she paused her perusal, “Me?”

“I do not know, Tony. Do you think we should tell her?” “Is it me?” Tali said, fully turning to face her parents. Tony shrugged, continuing the game, “Tough question. It might be too exciting. I mean, it’s such good news.” “Tell me!” Tali called. “Hmm, you are right,” Ziva replied, pretending to ignore their child, “She may not even want to know.” “I wanna know, I wanna know,” Tali begged. Tony pretended to think about it while Tali reached out her little hand and grabbed his arm. “Daaaaaaddyyyyy,” she pleaded.  “Oh!” he said, pretending to have just noticed the little girl, “Tali. Didn’t see you come in. Ima and I were just discussing if you would like to know about your super-special, extra-fantastic birthday present that we got for you.” Tali’s eyes grew wide and she nodded frantically. “Well, you know how your birthday is in a couple of days?” he began. “Yep. I’m gonna be six!” she said proudly. He nodded, “That’s right. And your Ima and I decided that we would take you on an extra special trip just for your birthday.” Tali narrowed her eyes, “But you said we were in Japan for your work.” Ziva nodded, “We are, but we are going somewhere special while we are here.” “Is it the Pokemon Cafe?” Tali gasped. Tony opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of the right words, “We are going to the Pokemon Cafe, but that’s not your special gift.” “So it’s even more special than the Pokemon Cafe?” Tali asked, thinking Tony nodded, “I think so, what do you think, Ima?” “Oh,” Ziva said, pretending to be taken aback, “yeah, I think so.” Tali leaned forward, conspiratorially, “Where is it?” Tony made a show of looking around, as if he were making sure that no one was around to hear his answer, before he and Ziva leaned forward so that the three of them were huddled together. “Disneyland,” he responded in a stage whisper. “What?!” Tali shouted so loudly that Ziva and Tony both became concerned that they would never regain hearing in the ears closest to their daughter, “Do you mean it?!” Tony sat back and smiled, “Of course, kiddo.” “I can’t believe it,” Tali said, backing away, “I can’t believe it. I’ve gotta go tell Pikachu.” As their daughter ran off, Ziva chuckled. Her partner looked up at her from where he was still sitting on the floor, “I think we did a pretty good job with this present.”

------------------------

Even as the morning faded, Tali continued walking on air, still in disbelief that she was going to Disneyland in a few days. However, this thought did not stop her from fully enjoying their other stops. Her fun at the drum museum did not do any favors to her parents’ ears that she had already damaged over breakfast. After leaving the gardens of the Imperial Palace, she held her father’s hand as they followed Ziva through the streets of Nihonbashi. The little girl looked up in awe at the unfamiliar sights around her while Tony looked at his partner in awe at the ease with which she could navigate an unfamiliar city. Tali was not really paying attention as they entered a building and took an elevator up, but as the doors slid open, her eyes landed on something and she gave a theatrical gasp. “Daddy!” she said, yanking on Tony’s arm, “It's Pikachu!”

“I can’t believe I got to get my picture taken with Chef Pikachu!” Tali said happily as they left the shopping center, new Chef Pikachu toy tucked away in her backpack for safekeeping, “Lily is going to be so jealous of me when I show her. I need to buy her a souvenir! Ima, we need to go back to the Pokemon store!” Ziva laughed at the girl’s verbalized thoughts, “Ahava, there will be many more places to get Lily a gift. Do not worry, we will find something.” Tali nodded, taking her mother’s hand this time, as they made their way back to the train station.

--------------------------------------

“Where are we going next?” Tali asked as they rode the train back from Mt. Takao. Ziva shrugged, “I am not sure. We’re going somewhere that your father chose.” “Ima,” Tali said leaning into her mother’s side, “wasn’t it funny when the monkey took all of Daddy’s food?” Ziva laughed and Tony looked up from his map and narrowed his eyes.  “Laugh it up, Zee-vah,” he teased, “see if I ever save you from hungry macaques.” 

“What the hell, DiNozzo?” Ziva hissed under her breath as they stood in front of a blank wall with only a small sign, a lamp, and a wooden door, “I thought we were going to have dinner ‘somewhere special.’” “Just wait,” he said with a wink, leading Tali up to the door and pushing it open to reveal a small room. As Ziva entered, the maître d' clapped his hands and a small door popped open, revealing a person dressed in all maroon with only their eyes showing. Tali’s eyes grew wide and she looked up at Tony, “Is that a real ninja?” The ninja-cum-waiter and Tali led the way through a narrow maze until they arrived at their table, at which time, he sent Tali on a mad search for the hidden ninja call button.  Tony grinned like the Cheshire Cat through the entire experience while Ziva tried to not show him how amused she was at his scheme.  Once their food had arrived and Tali was busy playing with her toy ninja sword, Ziva looked across the table at her partner. “Did you pick this restaurant just so that you could make more ninja jokes?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.  “Now, come on, Ziva, why would I do that?” he said, smiling into his soup.  “And you saw the prices on the menu before booking this?” she added. His grin turned into a full-on smirk, “I am very committed to my art.” She could only roll her eyes. 

After they left the ninja restaurant, snapping a picture of Tali in her ninja headband with their ninja waiter on the way out, they headed once more into the streets of Tokyo. They ended up in a Hello Kitty store and another Pokemon shop before they actually arrived at their intended destination. Tony was fairly certain that all the school supplies Tali would need between now and college were currently stuffed into his and Ziva’s backpacks as they rode an elevator to the 350th floor of the Tokyo Skytree. While Tali and Ziva looked out at the city, Tony purchased tickets for them to go even higher up, which required another elevator ride that Tali was all too happy to take. After they got off the elevator, the problem became keeping up with Tali as she dragged them along the ramp to the highest point. Just as her parents would start to get a good view, the little girl would spot something just ahead and insist that they keep going.  “What can I say, the kid’s very goal-oriented,” Tony joked, winking at Ziva as Tali urged him to hurry up.

Once they reached the top, Tali finally stopped for a moment. She all but pressed herself against the walls to look out over the lights of the city in awe. Tony stood beside her, “What do you think, kiddo? As good as the Eiffel Tower back home?” Tali’s eyes never left the window as she responded, “It’s better.” “Better?” Tony questioned, looking from Tali to Ziva who couldn’t tear her eyes from their daughter, “How is it better?” “It’s so much taller, Daddy,” Tali said, “And the lights go on forever.” Tony shrugged, “Yeah, the city is pretty big, isn’t it?” Ziva put an arm around Tony and leaned against him, “It is the largest metro in the world, you know?” “Mhm,” Tony responded, noncommittally, “I’m just happy that I found somewhere in the world where you and I are on the same level, linguistically.” “Ha!” Ziva barked, “My love, you and I will never be on the same level, linguistically.” Tony huffed, “Oh come on, Ziva, just because you’re not that great at English doesn’t mean you have to put yourself down like that.” She swatted his arm and chuckled.

Eventually, they tore Tali away from the windows and made their way down to the 340th floor, where she soon found a new favorite thing-- the deck’s glass floor. They watched their daughter walking around on the floor, looking down on the city below her, and talked. “You know, I’ve thought about proposing to you on top of the Eiffel Tower,” Tony said. Ziva didn’t look at him, but responded, “That is such a movie thing to do.” “Are you telling me that you’d say ‘No’?” “I’m telling you that you could do better.” “So if I proposed to you here?” “Are you?” “Well, I didn’t bring the ring with me.” She turned her head to look at him, “But you have a ring?” He scratched the side of her head, avoiding looking at her, “I’ve had a ring for eight years.” “Tony,” she said in a heavy voice barely above a whisper. Tony turned his head and looked at her shyly. She turned her hand to hold his, continuing to look at her.  “You didn’t really answer my question,” he said. She responded, “You didn’t answer mine either.” He cracked a smile, “Now that’s not fair, I did ask first.” “Remind me of what your question was,” she said with a small smile.  “Will you marry me?” Her smile grew, actually showing her white teeth now, “Yeah.” “That’s not quite the big, romantic answer I thought I would get,” he teased. “Well,” she said, smile turning to a smirk, “that wasn’t quite the big, romantic proposal I thought I would get.” “We’ve never done things the way people would expect,” Tony shrugged. “This is true,” she said, turning back to watch Tali. “Besides, there’s time for big, romantic gestures when I actually give you the ring, huh?” “Having two separate proposals would be far from the most unusual part of our relationship.” He laughed dryly, “That’s the truth.”

The return to their hotel was uneventful, with the exception of stopping to pick up crepes for an evening snack.  Tony smiled at Ziva’s subtle pressure on Tali to get her preferred flavor, knowing that she would end up eating the majority of the pastry once her daughter tired of it. Little moments like that helped Tony to know that Ziva was really settling into her position in their little family. Once they returned, she set to helping Tali get ready for bed while he checked their plans for the next day. 

“Everything looking alright?” she asked, sneaking up behind him as he worked. He jumped only a little this time, responding, “Looking good. Just needed to return a couple emails. Kiddo in bed?” Ziva nodded, “She was exhausted. We had a big day today.” He smiled warmly, “We’ve got another big day tomorrow.” “And you… meant what you asked me earlier?” Ziva asked, almost shyly. For a moment, he considered playing dumb and asking her to clarify her question, but seeing the way she was looking at her feet convinced him to do otherwise.  He reached out for her hand, holding it in his and tugging to draw her closer. She looked up at him, “I absolutely meant it, Ziva. All I want for the rest of my life is to make you and Tali happy. I want to protect you guys and… I mean, being a dad is the greatest thing to ever happen to me, but I’ve gotta admit that being your husband would be right up there with it.” She smiled again, the bashful, youthful smile from before. He tugged her down and pressed a kiss to her lips. 

#HappyBirthdayTali #tiva #Tivali #tiva fic

[skellebonez]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SMALLPWBBLES

It took me a while but I finally finished your birthday fic @smallpwbbles ! I couldn’t resist writing a little What If? for Bitty MK and I really hope you enjoy it!

“Well…” Tang started with a strained chuckle as he held onto his chair with a grip so tight that Pigsy could swear he could hear his knuckles straining. “At least we know if anyone tries to attack or something… MK will probably scare half of the lifespan out of them when he picks up a car to chuck it at them.”

Given the way he continued to grip the chair even after the now shrunken Monkie Kid put him and the chair he was sitting in back down, Pigsy wouldn’t have been surprised if Tang had lost a few years of his own out of sheer shock and panic. Even though this was the second time it had happened that day and, really, Tang should have really expected it after MK had said he was looking for one of his markers and needed to see if it was under his chair.

Things to remember for the future, he supposed.

To say the situation was unusual was a massive understatement. How the young adult managed to be shrunken back down into a small child the chef still didn’t quite understand, and quite frankly as long as MK was safe and healthy and would eventually get back to normal size he really didn’t care to know the details. But he did understand that they now had a small child sized MK with the strength of one full grown Monkey King running around without the self realization to notice how terrifying this was to everyone around him.

At least he seemed to be having fun for most of the day. MK has finally wound down, munching on some peeled and cut fruit as an after dinner snack while surrounded by a veritable mountain of art supplies. How any single person, let alone a kid, could go through so much paper and so many markers in one day Pigsy would never know. But, then again, this was MK he was thinking about.

MK had always had a fierce streak for art. Pigsy had him to thank for his own shop’s sign, after all. The kid had skill, and lots of it, and while slightly diminished by the fact his hands barely reached around some of the markers anymore his tenacity had not even been the littlest bit lessened.

What had been lessened as well, however, were his shop hours. The shop has closed a bit early for the day, Pigsy only able to fill out so many orders for dine in only when he was the only employee currently working. And while Mei has been a huge help throughout the entire day with MK, she wasn’t his employee and he didn’t feel right asking her to take over as delivery driver (even if she would have done a great job). Besides, he was almost certain that if Tang was left alone with MK the poor man would have had at least one fainting spell out of sheer terror.

He’d sent Mei back home after she’d finished a meal he’d prepared for her, a full day of making sure that MK didn’t get into too much trouble wiping her out a lot faster than anyone expected. He had to admit… she was handling it better than nearly anyone else. Certainly better than Sun Wukong had. The Monkey King looked like he was holding it together pretty well but Pigsy was smarter than the immortal seemed to think he was.

He knew that other was internally freaking the hell out the entire time and it was even more obvious when he rushed off to find something to get MK back to normal once the kid has presented him with a self portrait of the king himself.

Granted, when Pigsy has been presented with much the same of himself he may have also internally freaked out a bit himself. But that was neither here nor there.

“Pigsy?” MK’s voice broke through the chef’s thoughts, soft and tired. “Do I have to go to bed?”

That was an… odd question to hear coming from anyone in any circumstance.

“Afraid ya do, kid,” Pigsy said with a soft chuckle. He moved around the counter, coming up to stand at the table the younger was currently sitting at. Now that he looked at him Pigsy could tell that MK was exhausted. He’d never seen a kid with such deep bags under their eyes before… which was odd. He was certain that he had taken some kind of nap at some point. “But you don’t have to until you and I get this place cleaned out, how’s that sound?”

“OK!” MK exclaimed as he wiped his face on his sleeves (Pigsy groaned knowing that his jacket would need to be washed as soon as possible), grabbing his plate to rush it into the kitchen.

“WASH YOUR HANDS AND YOUR FACE!”

~

“Softie,” Tang chuckled out as Pigsy adjusted the completely passed out MK in his arms.

“You cried when MK gave you your portrait, you don’t get to say anything,” Pigsy shot right back without even a single note of actual annoyance or venom in his tone. “Besides, kid’s even more of a ray of sunshine now. Can’t help it.”

“Very good points,” Tang said, stretching after he put the last of the chairs back in their places for the end of the day. “But that ray of sunshine is probably going to wake us up at 5 in the morning given what time it is now.”

Pigsy couldn’t help but snort and laugh in response, knowing that Tang was right but also knowing that only Tang would find that a problem considering Pigsy had to get up at roughly that time to prepare to open his shop anyway.

He never got to say that, however, because a distant scream of “PIG MAN YOU’VE GOT A PROBLEM!” rang through the shop before the still unlocked door slammed open to reveal one very frazzled immortal monkey.

Just… not the one he was expecting to see.

“UH…” He managed out, as Macaque shut the door behind himself, looking like he was questioning all of his life decisions.

Then he held up one sleeping and very… very small shrunken child Sun Wukong.

“… well shit.”

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #fanfic #gen fic #gift fic #bitty mk au #mk #qi xiaotian #pigsy #tang #surprise characters #oh they're really in for it now'

[inkweaver22-blr]

Here’s chapter ten! I do believe this is the first chapter with absolutely no dialogue! I hope you enjoy it regardless!

AO3 Link

<Previous | First | Next>

Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Ten: Soft Shadows

Redemption is a hard process. Yet the cycles seem to make it easy for one particular demon.

----------

Redemption was a tricky thing. It required so many different events to happen in a certain order that it rarely occurred.

The first step was to commit some form of wrongdoing.

This was unfortunately the easiest part to do and most people never moved on to the next.

The second step was to realize and acknowledge your actions as wrong or harmful.

Many had justified their own actions over the course of existence and never saw themselves as doing wrong. Worse, many knew their behavior to be cruel and simply did not care or relished the feelings of power it gave them.

The final step was perhaps the most difficult to achieve.

One had to feel genuine remorse for their actions and wish to change.

Very few actually made it this far in the process as it usually required a catalyst of some sort. A personal revelation after going too far or someone laying your actions out clinically so you couldn’t justify them. Even a single act of unconditional kindness and trust could make someone wish to change.

Then came the truly hard part: actively changing your actions.

The path to redemption was not a short one. It took a lifetime of pursuit and dedicated work to not slip into the temptation of reverting back to who you were before.

Closing yourself off and pretending you didn’t care was easy, after all. What was difficult was being honest with yourself and allowing yourself to feel.

It helped if you had people around you to offer support and love. If it was from the same people who you had harmed originally, all the better.

But earning forgiveness wasn’t the goal of redemption. Some would refuse to give it, and you would have to live with that as it was their right to do so. It may hurt, but you had hurt them first and have no right to demand it even if you had changed.

Being redeemed wasn’t for the benefit of one’s victims. The hope was that you could grow into being a better person. It was for your own personal peace of mind. Whether others choose to accept that you’ve changed was not up to you, but you must continue onward regardless if you were to ever live with yourself.

Tang was intimately familiar with this process. The amount of cycles where he had been some sort of villain was not small.

The first three steps came easy to him. Feeling remorse for his wrongdoings and wishing to change were simple for one stuck jumping through time.

He could even spot a suitable catalyst for his potential ‘redemption’ fairly quickly. MK’s kindness and belief of the good in most people had certainly been useful on many occasions.

Having the whole process down to a science himself, Tang was even able to pull others into changing their ways sometimes. The Demon Bull family were commonly caught in his actions whenever he was a part of it.

(Having Red Son as a younger sibling had been interesting.)

What was bemusing to the scholar was that throughout the cycles there was one person who would constantly be redeemed, even without his meddling.

The Six Eared Macaque was an interesting puzzle.

He seemed to fit into the group that knew their actions were harmful, but did not care. Yet time and time again, he would become one of their allies.

Tang hadn’t known much about the demon early on in the cycles, but the knowledge about him came inevitably.

Macaque had been a “beloved friend” of Sun Wukong in the past. At some point, they had a falling out, Macaque seeing it as being left behind by Wukong.

The scholar had actually experienced part of that tension back in that cycle with the time traveling cactus.

So it seemed feelings of betrayal, jealousy, and abandonment were Macaque’s main motivations.

That last one was eerily similar to MK’s insecurities.

Macaque was very much like both Wukong and MK when Tang stopped to think about it. All three had repressed emotional trauma and coped with them in wildly unhealthy ways. Usually by pretending they weren’t there.

Macaque channeled those repressed emotions into schemes of revenge. He used lies and illusions to get what he wanted. He was condescending and sarcastic to his enemies, seemingly cruel and uncaring.

And it was all a facade.

At least, most of the time. There were a few cycles where Macaque was genuinely a despicable person who showed no remorse.

As much as he tried to hide it, Macaque was actually a very emotional being. It was quite easy for him to get attached to one or more of their group and slowly his cruel streak would fade.

Macaque’s catalyst for change was usually a person. It differed from cycle to cycle, but someone would show him some kindness or trust and before Tang knew it they would have another sarcastic immortal monkey as a part of the team.

MK was obviously the most common person to get the demon to change. Macaque was not lying when he called him a good kid. Having four father figures in those cycles seemed to be good for MK.

Wukong, while usually not the initial catalyst, tended to play a big part in Macaque’s redemption. Being old friends, they knew each other extremely well. While that tended to lead to a lot of arguments, it also led to them picking up where they had left off their previous relationship.

It didn’t really bother Tang that said relationships were often romantic in nature. Watching the two monkeys cuddle when they thought no one was looking was just too cute.

Mei was an interesting choice for Macaque to become attached to. He often ended up becoming her mentor, teaching her how to properly wield the Dragon Blade. Both of their sarcastic natures worked surprisingly well together.

The biggest surprise had been Pigsy.

That cycle, Macaque was basically under house arrest as ordered by Heaven. Pigsy, not wanting the manipulative demon to be anywhere near MK, forced him to stay at their apartment. It was some time later when Tang had woken late in the night to some loud noises and had left his room to complain.

Only to find Macaque pressing a kiss to Pigsy’s cheek before fleeing his room, pursued by a flustered and angry pig demon soon after.

It was strange, but Pigsy’s gruff and silent compassion meshed really well with Macaque’s easy going and nonchalant attitude. The scholar found their affection towards each other endearing.

Tang supposed it was only a matter of time before he himself acted as Macaque’s catalyst.

The cycle had started early, about a year before the original events. While working at the library, Tang had been approached by what he immediately recognized as Macaque in his human disguise. He had requested help on learning more about The Journey to the West for a school assignment. Tang, deciding to play along, offered himself up as an expert on the story and they began meeting weekly to go over it.

Macaque truly did not know the full events of the Journey in this cycle and seemed upset at several points, such as learning about the fillet used to inflict pain on Wukong. Over time, the pair began to meet up more often and discuss things other than the famous book.

He really should have expected falling in love.

Macaque was still sarcastic as ever, but never malicious. He made jokes and comparisons that had Tang’s side aching from how hard he laughed. He was quick to pick up Tang’s quirks and preferences, surprising him with his favorite foods or a nice new set of bookmarks.

He was still Macaque, but this softer side of him made Tang’s chest flutter.

As he lay in bed with his partner, (who had still yet to reveal himself to Tang, but he was patient), Tang couldn’t help but feel a new place in his heart open up for the shadow demon. He had already been considering adding Macaque into his family due to the many times he had joined them, and this just solidified that decision.

Oh Tang knew the cycles where he never changed would be painful. Watching as someone he loved went down a path of self destruction wasn’t easy. But he held onto the knowledge that there would always be the cycles where Macaque did become a part of their family.

As long as the possibility existed, there was hope that the same could happen in his own timeline.

If he ever got back that is.

Tang shoved that increasingly reoccurring thought away and closed his eyes, letting the soothing sounds of Macaque’s breathing lull him to sleep.

----------

A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!

Macaque is the fandom’s darling bad boy, so of course I had to have a chapter discussing his many, MANY redemption’s over the many fics and AU’s.

In particular, (Teach Me to Be) Tougher Than Leather, Softer Than Silk by *checks notes* HOLY SHIT! I had no idea this was by @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off until just now! *ahem* Anyway it is an AMAZING fic with a practically never used pair and I highly recommend it.

Tang seems to have a type doesn’t he? Demons that seem emotionally distant, but are big softies at heart. It’s probably the purring that gets him. ;P Also does Tang/Macaque have a ship name? If not I'm dubbing it InkyPages.

Don’t worry Tang! I’m sure those intrusive thoughts will go away all on their own.

Important notice! I’m probably going to be putting this fic on the back burner for a bit because I really want to write about the cycle mentioned here. Not as part of Scattered Cicadas, but as its own thing. So keep an eye out for that!

Until next time!

#Ink Writes #Monkie Kid #Scattered Cicadas #Tang #Tang Monkie Kid #Macaque #Six Eared Macaque #ninja-knox-ur-sox-off #(Teach Me to Be) Tougher Than Leather Softer Than Silk #MK #Mei #Pigsy #Sun Wukong #squidinknoodleshipping #Tang/Macaque #what IS their ship name anyway? #InkyPages #InkyPagesShipping #LEGO Monkie Kid

[floridaindependentblog]

Is your definition of vacation a time to get away, unwind, and simply relax?

Not everyone is looking for an action-packed vacation full of activities that can be posted on social media every few minutes. For many, the idea of just stepping away from the routine and busyness of everyday life is a thrill of its own.

So if a relaxing vacation is exactly what you need, then it’s going to help to know the most peaceful destinations on the planet.

We’ll take a look at five of these top destinations

1. Tulum, Mexico

While others flock to Puerto Vallarta or Cabos San Lucas, those who want to relax and unwind head to Tulum on Mexico’s Caribbean Coast.

One of its major attractions for those looking to get away is Playa Paraiso, or Paradise Beach. This secluded, palm-fringed beach of gorgeous white sand bordering calm and clear waters remains relatively quiet.

Start your day either just lounging in the rays on the beach, or perhaps swimming and snorkeling among the fish. As the afternoon rolls around, you can enjoy a cool drink and authentic Mexican cuisine at one of the bars or restaurants along the beach.

If exploration is more your idea of relaxation, there are Mayan ruins towering over the sea in Tulum. In fact, Tulum was once a walled city that was built by the Mayans.

There is an abundance of well preserved archaeological sites to explore. Among the best are El Castillo, the Temple of the Frescoes, and the Temple of the Descending God.

You may also poke around the sacred caverns of LabnaHa Eco Park, or snorkel in the underwater caves at Cenote Dos Ojos.

2. Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

If you crave the quiet of the mountains when you’re looking to escape your everyday life, then consider the small hamlet of Lake Louise.

Located just off the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) in Banff National Park, Lake Louise has a small shopping center with a grocery store, bar, deli, bakery, sporting goods store, and visitor information center.

They also have a wide variety of restaurants and accommodation options.

Lake Louise is much smaller and quieter than the town of Banff. And this smaller intimate setting allows visitors to truly take in the mountain views and perfectly blue waters — whether from a hiking trail or simply out the window of your hotel room as you relax.

3. Ubud, Bali

Although the town of Ubud in the uplands of Bali, Indonesia, is known as a center for traditional crafts and dance, it is surrounded by rainforests and terraced rice paddies.

It’s also dotted with Hindu temples and shrines, and the site of ancient holy sites including the intricately carved Goa Gajah (“Elephant Cave”) and the rock-cut shrines of Gunung Kawi.

You may be familiar with Ubud if you read Eat, Pray, Love. It makes perfect sense that Elizabeth Gilbert would have chosen this peaceful locale with its many options for relaxation.

When you plan your trip, check out some of the amazing yoga retreats in this area. And as one of Asia’s top spa destinations, you can indulge in a Balinese massage for complete surrender.

Finally, if you want to enjoy a good laugh, head to the nearby nature reserve of Monkey Forest Park and laugh along with the long-tailed macaques.

4. Blue Lagoon, Iceland

If you’re more drawn to the cold than the heat, then head to the Blue Lagoon in Iceland. This geothermal spa spot is by far the most popular tourist destinations that Iceland has to offer.

There’s really nothing else on the planet like this region renowned for its barren landscapes and cone-shaped volcanoes. Dark black lava fields with creeping grey moss serve as a contrast for the beautiful milky-blue water that makes up the lagoon.

Though it may sound chilly by description, the water remains at a temperature of 102 degrees all year. This makes it a wonderful place to bathe, soak, and replenish both your skin and your spirit.

You can soak in those warm waters even when the temperatures are freezing. And on clear nights during certain times of the year, you can even take in the incomparable beauty of the Northern Lights as you bathe.

The lagoon is located on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland and is only a 15-minute drive from the Keflavík International Airport, and a 30-minute drive from the capital city of Reykjavík.

This makes it the perfect place to stop when you first arrive in Iceland, and before you leave.

5. Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza, Argentina, is best known for its Malbec wines.

Though even if you’re not a wine connoisseur, you’ll find peace and calm in this sunny cosmopolitan city.

As you wander its tree-lined streets, you’ll find a number of world-class spas where you can spend the afternoon. Then dine later in one of their terrific restaurants.

Mendoza is less than a two-hour plane ride from Buenos Aires. But it couldn’t be any different from the larger bustling city. The laid-back energy of Mendoza encourages visitors to slow down and take their time. Long wine-fuelled lunches are the norm.

And it’s not unusual to drop dinner plans and lay out a blanket for a picnic instead. Watching the sunset over the Andes makes the perfect backdrop.

Downtown Mendoza is picturesque and it’s very easy to find your way around the city. Many would argue though that the true Mendoza experience lies in visiting the vineyards found in the small surrounding towns and rural areas.

There is no public transportation available to these more rural locales though. There are tour companies that offer all-day wine tours.

But you may want to rent a car or bicycle to make a truly relaxing day of exploring the wineries and the countryside. Just be sure you have a designated driver!

Kick Back and Enjoy Your Relaxing Vacation

Whether you’re going to sit back and catch up on your reading, practice yoga every day, or just walk in the woods, you have many destination options for your relaxing vacation.

We hope that it’s everything you ever wanted!

And for more informational articles and inspiration about enjoying a yoga retreat in Bali, keep checking back with us!

The post 5 Most Relaxing Destinations Around the World appeared first on Florida Independent.

#Travel & Entertainment

[lunar-wandering]

Happy Valentine's Day :D Here's a Giggle Glow Fic just for you! dsjskkj I had an idea and it also happened to come to me today I hope it's okay *** “Why do you think you glow when you laugh?” Wukong blinked looking down at Macaque who was resting his head in the brown monkey’s lap. They had been stargazing, but Macaque had asked to be groomed and Wukong wasn’t about to deny that request.

“I don’t know. Why do you?” A smile stretched over Wukong’s face as he continued his grooming session making his Moonlight softly glow from purring.

“I don’t know. But it’s nice seeing your glow.”

“And it’s nice seeing you glow!”

Macaque squawked as Wukong grabbed him by the waist and rolled them both over. The roll led to them to wrestling and the wrestling led them to tumbling all the way down the hill landing in a heap. A bright glow lit the area as they laughed at their predicament. The glow only getting brighter as their laughter created a loop feeding the other’s until they both began to hiccup from laughing so much.

“I wonder what else causes the glow,” Macaque mused after they both settled down staring up through the trees.

“I’m sure we’ll find out someday! Afterall, we make each other laugh the most!” Wukong’s smile, even though Macaque couldn’t see it, felt as blinding as the earlier laughter glow.

“Sure Sunshine.”

“Of course, Moonlight!”

Neither of them could have known what the future held for them. For how long Wukong would be away from their home, how the fires would turn Macaque’s full moon fur black as a new moon. How he still tried his best for the monkeys that were left until Wukong could finally return.

And he did.

“You picked up a new style while you were gone.”

“A lot happened…” This was new. Wukong was normally louder, filling the room with his voice even while minding Macaque’s ears. After the celebrations had died down from Wukong not only returning, but from taking care of the hunters as well, he had stolen away to help Macaque rebind his bandages.

“Tell me about it. We knew of your capture and nothing else…” Macaque should have gone after them. Should have fought to free Wukong, but it was either follow and leave the mountain in an even greater panic or stay and quell the fear.

Besides Wukong was immortal. Very immortal. He had expected the other to return within a night.

“May things Mango…. Many things.” Macaque could feel any anger at his questions being dodged fizzle out at Wukong’s more passive state. Turning to taking Wukong’s face into his hands Macaque opened his mouth to speak.

“Wukong why don—” Macaque started, stopping at seeing a small glow beneath his hands. Wukong noticed the change but said nothing as the other slowly lifted a hand to see a glowing mark left from his hand on Wukong’s face.

Ever so slowly Macaque moved his thumb still on Wukong’s face in a swiping motion. A swatch of color being left behind when he did.

“Mango what’s?”

“Hold on!” Macaque took Wukong’s hand instead and started tracing swirls onto the brown monkey’s skin going up his arm. The glow wasn’t as bright as the one on his face, but Macaque could make out the swirls just beneath the fur. “You’re glowing without laughing”

“Oh. So I am. I wonder why that’s happening,” Question forgotten Wukong watched as Macaque traced more swirls and constellations onto his arms. Neither were sure why Wukong was glowing, but the questions could wait for now. Wukong was content just to be near his Moonlight again and enjoying the patterns the, now dark furred, monkey drew.

Of course, neither could have known where else the winds of fate would blow. Where the next step would be.

Neither also could have ever expected to be dropped into a nest as MK, Mei and Red Son made themselves comfortable around them.

“Sooo…Is there a reason we’re in a well-lit room in a nest?” Wukong hazard even as MK, centered behind the monkeys more on Wukong’s side, started grooming through his fur and making the tension drain out of the Monkey King almost instantly.

“You’re glowing,” Was Mei’s reply as she copied the motions to Macaque. The Dark furred monkey still looked a little tense but with Red Son laying across their laps, and the lack of any real shadows, he didn’t have much of an escape route.

“We established that we glow when we laugh what does—”

“You’re glowing as we’re grooming you.”

“Oh.”

While they hadn’t been close again just yet, almost by instinct did Wukong turn to Macaque who also had a similar look. They didn’t seem to have hidden it well enough.

“Oh don’t act like you both don’t enjoy it,” Red Son said from their laps, stretching a bit as his natural warmth added to the comfortable atmosphere.

Thoroughly trapped, and a little too comfortable to bother trying to escape, both monkeys shifted to a slightly more comfortable position and let them groom through their fur. Enjoying the little touches and gentle tugs as they pulled out all the knots. Neither noticed when they began leaning on each other in a sleepy comfort as the three younger ones talked quietly between themselves. Neither noticing the deliberate method of how Mk and Mei were grooming them.

Until at least, Macaque was startled awake by the sound of a camera shutter, knocking Wukong awake who had been resting his head on Macaque’s.

“What was that. What did you do?” Macaque narrowed his eyes at the smirking Dragon heir while Wukong’s successor looked away feigning innocence.

“Just show them the picture!” Red called out, still laying across their laps but rolling his eyes at the other two’s antics.

“Okay okay. Tada!” Mei called as she turned the phone to show them. With Mk’s help she and he had groomed just the right places to make a sprawling image of the waterfall cave that stretch between the two monkey’s backs. The furthest shoulders having a sun and moon drawn in, with Wukong having the moon and Macaque the sun.

“I almost don’t want this to fade,” Wukong said, sounding a little breathless as a giggle found its way out.

“It’s impressive.”

“Next time you both try and hide it though we’re going to draw a bunch of dicks.” The room exploded in a bright light as both Wukong and MK broke out in laughter and Macaque bit down on his scarf barely glowing from the contained laughter.

“You,” Wukong breathed in from the laughing fit, “You both wouldn’t DARE!”

“Don’t test them.” Red Son told Wukong lazily, “They will do it.”

“Sounds like someone else,” Macaque side eyed Wukong who gasped in fake offense and leaned back dramatically.

“Me? Doing something so impulsive and childish? Never,” The resulting chuckles once again bathed the room in light before they all shifted and soon all three of the younger adults were laying comfortably on top of the two monkeys dozing off.

“Hey, Mango,” The nicknamed jolted Macaque out of his own doze as he turned to Wukong who was looking up towards the ceiling.

“Yeah?”

“Did you ever work that question out. Why we glow?”

“No.”

“Do you still want to find out? Together?” The words where whispered but they sounded so loud in Macaque’s ears. It had his eyes straying to the outline of the nest before looking at each of the ones lying on top of them.

“Yeah. Yeah Peaches.”

And maybe with some help was left unsaid.

THE S M I L E THAT BROKE OUT ON MY FACE WHILE READING THIS.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT. OH MY FUCKING GOD. WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HELL. THIS WAS AMAZING OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH???????

#Monkie Kid #Giggle Glow AU #IM IN ABSOLUTE SHOCK AT THIS IDK HOW TO REACT #LIKE HOLY SHIT??? THIS WAS SO GOOD??? WHAT THE FUCK???? #HIUDHFSKJLKFJSLDFKSHFKJSHLKJGSD #MAN #MA N #ITS AFTER MIDNIGHT AND IM STIMMING LIKE A MANIAC #IF I LIVED BY MYSELF ID BE HOL L ER I N G RIGHT NOW OH MY GOD #HOLY FUKCING SHIT MAN WHAT KSDJFJSLDKFJSDGHSJGHSFJLSKD #I WASN'T EXPECTING THIS IN THE SLIGHTEST BUT HOLY HDSOFLKJSDKFJSLKFJSD #THIS WAS AMAZING

[lunar-wandering]

Wind-Sick

ignore the stupid title its Midnight-thirty right now

anyways, you’ve heard of Wukong getting sick, but are you ready for: Macaque getting sick?

(feat my headcanon of Macaque having been born in a tornado, because its Fun)

Word Count: 3.5k

Read On AO3

The first strange thing MK noticed that morning- was Macaque's hair.

It was swaying, back and forth, as though there was a wind blowing directly onto him. MK glanced around the kitchen, but could see no open window, nor a fan. He couldn't feel anything either, which meant Macaque's hair was swaying in some kind of non-existent wind.

And if that wasn't weird enough, Macaque was making tea.

Tea. Not coffee, not that weird 'hot orange juice' stuff he tended to make just to piss Wukong off. He was making tea.

So that was two strange things this morning. Overall, not a very good sign for what the rest of the day would hold.

MK considered going back to bed. Possibly even to stay in his room all day, and just not deal with whatever madness was going to ensue.

Ultimately, he decided not to.

He'd come to regret that decision.

"Uh- Good Morning?"

Macaque jumped, which MK immediately added to his list of Strange Things, the shadow monkey was well known to have an excellent sense of hearing, so the fact he hadn't noticed MK was there with him...

"Ah- Why good morning, MK!" Macaque turned around and- bowed?? MK watched in confusion as Macaque added a little flourish to the gesture, spinning around as he stood back up, picking his tea up off the counter and sipping at it as he finished the move. "How're you doing this early morning?" 

"Uh...good?" MK couldn't keep the questioning lilt out of his voice. He figured he could be excused for that though, as none of this was in any way normal. "...Why are you making tea?"

"Simple! We're out of coffee." Macaque said. This, of course, MK knew was complete and utter bullshit. They'd just stocked back up on coffee two days ago, because Macaque himself had been complaining about the fact that they were running low.

As such, MK chose not to verbally respond to Macaque, and instead pointed at the very obvious box of unopened instant-coffee that sat on the kitchen counter. Macaque moved to stand in front of it, hiding it from MK's vision.

"Heh, I see you've uh, caught onto my master plan!" He said, "You see, I've poisoned the rest of the coffee, so that once Wukong drinks it, I'll finally have my long awaited revenge!"

He laughed after he said this- only to break off into coughs halfway through, sipping his tea to try and calm down the coughing fit. MK felt a twinge of concern- before instantly forgetting about it, shifting back into breaking through the absolute nonsense that Macaque was spouting.

"You know full well that poison doesn't work on Monkey King." He said, crossing his arms as Macaque avoided making direct eye contact. "Not to mention I'm pretty sure you gave up on the concept of getting revenge on him about a week ago. So, spill. What's up with you?"

"There's nothing up with me!" Macaque said, "In fact, the only thing up in this room is the ceiling."

"Macaque-"

"Well! I've got things to do, ideas to plan, you know, the usual villain stuff, so I'll see you around MK!" Macaque did another overly-flourished bow, before vanishing, fading into the shadows, and leaving MK alone to try and parse through what had just happened.

For a brief little while, MK genuinely thought that you know, maybe Macaque just hadn't slept all that well, and the morning was a one-off. Maybe the rest of the day would be normal.

But oh no.

The day didn't get any less confusing from there.

Things had been going relatively well of course. MK hadn't seen Macaque since that first encounter in the morning, and had been spending most of the day just talking with Mei. In fact, the entire morning incident had almost entirely left his mind.

It was unfortunately brought back to the forefront of his brain, however, when Macaque unexpectedly sprawled himself over top of MK and Mei's laps.

Both Mei and MK froze, glancing at each other. Macaque hardly ever initiated physical contact, and rejected practically any attempt at hugs. So the fact that he'd just plopped himself down, unprompted, was, well. It was highly abnormal, that's what it was.

(MK had to note that, strangely enough, Macaque's fur was still doing that weird swaying thing. He absentmindedly wondered if the shadow monkey actually knew that it was even happening.)

Macaque didn't seem to be aware of the confusion he was causing, as he was holding a book- written in some language MK couldn't parse, and was seemingly incredibly focused on it.

"Uhh....You do know that there are other chairs, right?" Mei dared to ask, using one hand to gesture to the very obviously empty chairs in the room. Macaque's fur bristled at being actually addressed. (What, did he think that they wouldn't question his incredibly out of character behavior? If he did, MK was going to very much disappoint him.)

"I cursed the other chairs." He said, "It's part of my grand plan, y'know?"

"Have you ever had a solid plan?" MK asked.

"Yes, actually, I always have a plan, unlike you with your- your small as a pebble brain." Macaque's tail hit MK in the face.

MK spared Mei the briefest glance.

And then immediately shoved Macaque off of him and onto the floor.

Or well, Macaque should've fallen onto the floor.

Instead, he merged into the shadows, vanishing with a yelp.

"...Should we be concerned about that?" Mei asked, pointing at where Macaque had disappeared.

"He'll be fine." MK shrugged, "It's not like there's anything really bad he could do anyways, we don't have to build a bunker just because we shoved him off a couch."

-

"We need to build a bunker." Wukong said, his expression dead serious. Everyone else that Wukong had forcibly dragged into the kitchen didn't reflect his serious face, instead only responding with confusion.

"...Why." MK didn't even bother phrasing it as a question, having already resigned himself to whatever chaos this day was going to bring.

"Tornado season." Was Wukong's response, as though that in any way explained why he had practically kidnapped everyone into the kitchen to host some kind of- some kind of strategy meeting.

"We- Monkey King, I'm not sure if you know this." Pigsy said, putting a comforting hand on Wukong's shoulder, very obviously concerned about Wukong's mental state. "But we don't get tornado's in this area."

"I- I know we don't normally, but we sure as heck do now."

"Monkey King literally what are you on about?" MK asked.

"Macaque's sick."

Absolute silence fell after this statement.

MK supposed that, in some way, that did make sense. Macaque drinking tea instead of his usual coffee, the weird over-dramatics could possibly just be Macaque's way of covering up how he's not actually feeling good.

Still though, just because it added up didn't necessarily mean it was true.

"And how do you know that?" Mei asked, "I mean, yeah, he's been a bit weird today, but-"

"His hair only sways around in non-existent wind like that when he's sick or pissed off." Wukong explained, "And I haven't done anything to piss him off so-"

A beat passed before Wukong registered the way everyone was staring at him.

"...Correction, I haven't done anything to piss him off recently." He said, "So. He's definitely sick."

"How do you know he's not just trying out a different aesthetic though?" Mei asked, not so much because she didn't believe him, but mainly because she wanted to see how Wukong would respond.

Wukong opened his mouth to answer-

And Macaque walked by the doorway, not noticing the group in the kitchen. Completely unaware of the fact he had an audience, he sneezed- creating a gust of wind strong enough to knock a vase in the hallway beside him off of it's table, him fumbling with it and barely managing to catch it before it could shatter on the ground. He sighed, placing it back on it's table, before continuing down the hallway and out of sight.

Wukong silently gestured at the place where Macaque had been just standing.

"Okay, so he's sick." Mei said, trying her best to keep herself from laughing over how panicked Macaque had looked trying to catch the vase.

"Good, glad you agree with me on that." Wukong leaned against the table. "Now, about that bunker-"

"We're not going to build a whole bunker just because Macaque is sick, Monkey King."

-

It was simultaneously agreed (despite Wukong's protests) that the best course of action would be to get Macaque to bed. The more he rested, the faster he'd get better, and the sooner they wouldn't have to worry about the wind-born shadow monkey's accidental tornadoes destroying the ship.

(A glance outside had, in fact, confirmed that Wukong's statement of it being 'tornado season' was true. As such, they'd landed the ship for the time being).

Now.

The only problem was actually finding and convincing Macaque to rest.

A task that was proving far more difficult than it had any right to be.

After searching for over an hour, MK was the first to find him, walking down one of the hallways.

MK grabbed hold of the back of Macaque's scarf, stopping him in his tracks.

"Oh, hey kid!" Macaque acted like he had far too much energy for somebody who was definitely sick. "How's your day been going? Mine has been going absolutely wonderful by the way, thank you for asking-"

"Stop with the act, Macaque." MK interrupted, "I know you're sick."

"Sick? Me? I have no idea what you're talking about, I think the amount of times Wukong has thrown you during training has finally scrambled your brain." Macaque turned his scarf into shadows, slipping out of MK's grip. "Why, I'm the perfect picture of health-"

He moved to walk away from MK- only to stumble, his foot having sunk into a shadow and gotten stuck. MK stood there, watching with a faint sense of amusement as Macaque struggled to pull his foot out of the floor- until his foot finally came free, the sudden lack of resistance making Macaque fall backwards through a shadow on the wall, vanishing.

MK was alone again, and Macaque was still on the loose.

"...You've got to be kidding me."

Where could he have gone-

There was a loud crash and a yell that sounding distinctly Tang-like from the kitchen.

Well. MK supposed that answered that question.

Running into the kitchen a top speed, he skidded to a stop to take in the scene in front of him.

Tang was currently outright wrestling with Macaque, struggling to get the monkey pinned onto the floor, while Pigsy stood off to the side, holding a spoon, supervising.

"You have to rest!" Tang said, before Macaque managed to slip out from under him, back flipping to stand on top of the kitchen counter. Macaque laughed as he watched Tang struggle to process how the shadow monkey had escaped his grip- only to end up falling into a coughing fit again.

"Macaque." Pigsy said, drawing the other's attention to him as soon as his coughing fit had died down. "You are going to rest."

"No, I'm not." Macaque hopped off the counter, doing a little twirl mid-air before landing on the ground. "I don't need to rest, and I don't have to do anything you tell me to."

Pigsy glared at him.

Macaque's face twisted into something MK could only label as nervous, before his usual fake confident smirk was back on his face as he turned, running out of the room. MK tried tackling him as he went by, but the other literally breezed past him. Pigsy threw the spoon at him, it hitting Macaque in the back of the head, but still the other didn't stop, getting through the doorway.

MK ran to look down the hall, only to find no sign of him.

"When I catch him- doesn't matter how sick he is, I'm going to throw him off this fucking airship."

-

Mei was the next to find Macaque, within her own room, as a matter of fact, leaning against the wall beside her window.

"Oh, hello Mei." Macaque said, "How's the honorable green dragon doing today-"

Mei silenced him by pointing her sword at his throat.

"Rest. Now."

Macaque sighed, as though he'd expected this but hadn't wanted it to happen.

"Seriously? You too?" He said, "It's literally just a cold, I don't know why you are all freaking out."

Well. At least he admitted he was sick, unlike a certain other monkey Mei happened to know. Still though...

"You're literally causing tornadoes outside right now." Mei pointed out the window as she said this, clearly able to see at least 2 small tornadoes spinning a short distance away from the ship. Macaque didn't even bother looking out the window, instead slowly reaching up with one hand to draw the window blinds closed.

"Uh, no I'm not."

It was an incredibly bad attempt at denial, prompting Mei to just stare at him with a deadpan expression. Macaque chuckled nervously-

Before turning his head to the side and sneezing, his glamour melting away, letting his six ears and scar be visible.

"Fuck." He whispered, and Mei only briefly got a glance at the way his ears were drooping and the tired bags under his eyes, before the glamour was back in place. "You didn't see anything."

"I most certainly did see something actually- You are going to rest, you clearly need it-" Mei started- only to have to stop, barely keeping herself from biting her tongue as Macaque grabbed hold of her wrist, spinning her around, effectively placing himself in the perfect position to flee through the door. Mei wasn't going to let him just escape from her that easily though, as she used her speed to get in front of him, slamming the door shut.

...Only for Macaque to pass right through it.

"...We seriously need to find a way to stop him from doing that." Mei sighed, opening the door and restarting her search for the stubborn shadow monkey.

-

MK turned a corner, barely stopping himself from slamming into Wukong.

"Oh- Monkey King! Any sight of Macaque?" MK asked.

"Nope! Haven't seen any trace of him, bud!" Wukong leaned up against the wall beside him, looking a little too calm for the person who had been suggesting they build a bunker just because Macaque was sick. "You know, if he doesn't want to rest, maybe we should just leave him be."

"You're only saying that because you always refuse to admit when you are sick." MK scoffed, before pausing. "...You aren't sick too right?"

"What? No, I promise you, I'm not sick." Wukong straightened up, as though to convey how healthy he was, but MK couldn't help but sense that...something was off. Maybe it was the way Wukong was standing, or the way he was talking but...

MK couldn't help but be suspicious.

"Oh really? Then you wouldn't mind if I checked to make sure you don't have a fever, right?" MK asked, reaching his hand out- only for Wukong to dodge out of the way, walking backwards out of MK's reach. MK, of course, started walking towards him.

"I'm telling you kid, I'm perfectly fine, there's nothing for you to be worried about!" Wukong said, continuing to walk backwards. "Besides, weren't we both going to go looking for, ah, Macaque? We're kinda wasting time right now aren't we- who knows, he could've even gotten into the vents! Trust me, you don't want to have a monkey in the vents-"

"You're rambling again." MK said, continuing to walk towards Wukong- finding this situation incredibly familiar. He, of course, wanted to be wrong, not wanting to have to deal with two sick monkeys on the ship, but what other explanation could there be for Wukong's weird behavior-

Wukong was stopped as his back bumped into something- or rather, someone.

MK blinked as he registered the two Monkey King's standing in front of him.

Oh. Yeah, that- that explanation would also make sense.

"You're Macaque, aren't you."

As if on cue, the Wukong that had been backing away from MK sneezed, dispelling the glamour and revealing himself to, in fact, be Macaque. From behind him, the real Wukong sighed.

"Seriously? Using my face to avoid rest? I can't believe you..." He said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Hah, that's hypocritical, coming from the one that refuses to admit he's sick even when he's stuck in bed with a fever." Macaque sniffled, rubbing his nose on the end of his scarf. "Besides, I already took some medicine."

As he said this, Macaque summoned a small bottle of cold medicine in his hand, showing it off. Doubtful of it's authenticity, Wukong snatched it out of Macaque's grip, dodging out of the other monkey's attempts to get it back, squinting as he read the label.

"No good- I can't read this, the print's too small- Kid, catch!" Wukong tossed the bottle over to MK, who caught it in one hand. Wukong wrapped his arms around Macaque's chest, preventing him from trying to take the bottle back from MK.

"You'd be able to read it if you ever actually wore your glasses, Monkey King." MK said, turning the bottle over to read the caption. "Macaque- this is intended for kids 12 and under."

"So maybe I can't swallow pills, okay?" Macaque managed to break free from Wukong's grip, surging forwards and taking the bottle out of MK's hand's sending it back to whatever pocket dimension he kept things in. "Besides, it works well enough, I feel better than I would without it!"

He seemed overly proud of himself for that logic, while MK and Wukong both rolled their eyes.

"Regardless, you've been running around and using your magic all day, not to mention all the tornadoes you're causing outside- you seriously should rest." MK said.

"Ugh, not this again." Macaque groaned, "I'm fine. I don't need to rest!"

"Macaque." Wukong let his eyes flash red in warning. Macaque took one glance at him-

Then turned, the shadows on the wall darkening as he moved with the clear intent to merge into them.

"Oh no you don't." Wukong pulled a flashlight out of nowhere, flicking it on and shining it over Macaque, causing the shadow monkey to slam into the wall instead of merging into it. He recoiled, rubbing his face, wincing, before turning around and outright hissing at Wukong, who kept the light shining on him.

"You know, having a flashlight would've been incredibly useful earlier." MK commented, and Wukong gave him an apologetic look.

Macaque glared at the both of them, and looked right about ready to tackle Wukong-

But was stopped from doing so by Sandy appearing, seemingly out of nowhere, and scooping him up like an unruly cat. Surprisingly enough, Macaque didn't resist this motion, instead practically immediately relaxing into Sandy's grip, the tension visibly draining out of his body- and just like that, within seconds, Macaque was out like a light, snoring peacefully.

"Looks like the little whirlwind really did tire himself out." Sandy said, completely ignoring how both MK and Wukong were staring at him in shock.

"You've got to be joking." MK said, "It was that easy?"

"I remembered him being clingy when sick, but not like this." Wukong walked up to Sandy's sighed and lightly poked Macaque on the forehead, checking to see if he was really asleep. Upon finishing his assessment, he leaned back, contemplating. "...I guess you must just have some really comforting vibes, Sandy."

"We should probably tell the others that we've caught him." MK said, turning to go do just that- but stopping mid-step. "Wait. What are we going to do when he wakes up? He'll probably try to escape through the shadows again, won't he?"

"You'd be surprised as to what a strong nightlight can do to a shadow magic user." Wukong said, "Don't worry kid, I've got this covered."

MK gave Wukong a salute, and finally turned to tell the others that they'd finally caught Macaque.

-

"I really don't understand what all this fuss is about, you know?" Macaque said, arms crossed, grumpily sitting up on the pillow-covered couch. They had debating bringing him back to his room for a bit, before ultimately deciding that, nightlight or no, leaving him in his room without supervision would definitely lead to him escaping again. So, they'd decided to keep him in the ship's common room. "Really, it's just a cold. I'm fine."

"You're sick, and we take care of people who are sick." Mei explained- for about the hundredth time. "Now shut up and eat your soup."

Macaque sighed, picking up his spoon- and then snapped his head to the left and sneezed- accidentally creating what could practically qualify as a tornado within the room. MK and Mei both ducked to the ground, protecting themselves from the wind and covering their heads as pillows went flying. Wukong, the only one unaffected by the gale force wind (being made out of stone did in fact have some perks), leapt forwards to catch the bowl of soup before it could hit the ground.

As soon as the wind died down, MK sighed, pulling himself back up (letting a pillow that had landed on his head easily slide off).

"You know, maybe we should've just gone along with Monkey King's bunker idea..."

#Monkie Kid #Fanfic #my writing