castaside | [Heart Game] From the ashes we can build

[You don't kill and seal your whole found family and have no one you care about trust you, and come out well-rounded.]

Haven't seen the good come from a grudge yet. I'm always down to throw down when there's a problem, but I'm also just as happy to live and let live when there's no trouble anymore.

Well yeah. That window is our family. The sun and moon is the two of us, we're casting this beautiful glow...that's all good feeling. But his image is the void and there's one chair facing all of that. And we've got ruins and a rotting tree on top of that.

I stopped all the stuff that made Epsilon a thing. It takes a lot of spite to see something like that through when you're on your own for most of it.

The live and let live is a lot easier when you know people aren't getting fucked with anymore by the people who fucked with you.

True.

We also have a magpie just full of love.

Oh the people that fucked my life are almost all still around. The people I care about most are all the ones who are gone. [Yes he is saying that with the air of a person talking about his neighbors moving away.]

A loving magpie, huh?

[He finally straightens and walks over to take a closer look.]

The magpie is busy peeling a mango with its beak and claws, but when it sees Wukong it pauses and hops over to say hello.

You get an intense feeling of love from the magpie, which gets stronger as it approaches. An almost overwhelming feeling of love.

...I'm just gonna say you are saying that to someone who did lose all his loved ones and that's why I went so hard to take down the operation that got them. [He does not buy that tone.]

Then I made new friends and the one who managed to not die decided to explode my car because she thought my new friends murdered me and that's how I found out about her.

Have you looked into therapy at all? It does help a bit.

[Yeah.]

[He points to the magpie that now has a bunch of plums and mangoes. He's eating a mango himself.]

Yeah, well going against that operation led to me being abandoned under a mountain for over five hundred years, being set on a path that made my family turn against me so I had to kill almost all of them, including Macaque by accident, seal away the final one...and have my home razed twice, once while I was on the dictated path. So you're not saying anything surprising. I'm sorry it happened to you though. I just had to let it go.

[He shrugs.] Therapy means verbal communication, which is not my thing. Ask anyone ever.

[As the magpie draws near, he lays his tail on the ground for it to hop up, so he can get a good luck.]

You get the nonverbal part of it perfectly.

Edited 2024-03-10 03:50 (UTC)

The magpie hops up onto his tail and caws happily. When it touches you, the love flows through you as if it were your own. It's not a diffuse feeling of love, it's for you specifically.

And others, but right now it's focused on you.

[There is a long moment where Wash just LOOKS at Wukong.]

I mean.

It was three years in a padded cell and not a mountain, but I just never got to go home at all.

[But otherwise, exact same hat.]

I eventually got to the let go part. Well, mostly, its hard to fully let it go. But I only got there after I made the new friends and I saw how destructive the path for Carolina was, trying to go after the one loose end.

I'm sorry too. That you had it happen. There...isn't really a lot that makes it okay, even if you move on.

That is a misnomer though. Therapy doesn't have to be about talking. There's a lot of different things you can do, there's loads of different therapy styles. Talking is just the most common one, and usually helps in figuring out WHAT works.

[ Wukong stokes along the magpie's beak, smoothing the feathers back. It's the same feeling he had wanted Macaque to get from him all those years ago. That level of love.]

I finally got to go home, and everyone who knew who I was had been murdered while I was away. So I got used to being alone until MK.

[He scoffs a little.] Usually if you're not me. I'll leave it at that. We're here to help Macaque, not worry about a bunch of my past issues that don't matter.

The magpie chirps, clearly pleased with the feather stroking. The feeling of love only notches up when it's getting positive attention, sorry not sorry. Wukong will get the impression of Macaque's feelings specifically in all that love. This magpie is him, after all.

It caws softly at the two of them, projecting more affection at them both. Don't argue, you're both pretty.

Please, I'll tell you stories about my new friends at some point and you'll understand how worrying about you and Macaque at the same time is absolutely nothing. This is a break for my worry levels.

Besides, you deserve people worrying about you.

But Macaque is the first priority worry for stuff to do.

So love, loss, loneliness.

Yeah, I keep hearing that lately here. [Hard doubting still though. Maybe because he doesn't want to get his hopes up, or maybe it's not wanting more people to hurt, or that loss will happen again either through death or returning home.]

I'm like 70% sure that what we've got here might not be what we want to fill this one. You have thoughts there?

The magpie flies up and perches on Wukong's head, and then it sits down there. It looks happy and it projects a feeling of complete contentment. This it its monkey now.

Good. That means you have good people around you. Its when no one worries that you should be concerned about the crowd you're in.

[He pulls out his phone to check over the list.]

What happened in your coin and the is the truthshooms related to anything like this?

[Not entertaining that thought. At. All. Not even responding to it. Which is probably telling. Instead he engages in a short text chain with MK, sends him a memory, and forgives him for keeping a huge secret.]

MK needed the coin and the truthshrooms...kiiinda? Since it was me and Macaque talking about things after they went as bad as they could and him being willing to take what I was willing to give him due to a misunderstanding since I'm bad at feelings.

The magpie chirps when Wukong speaks. Seems he has something to say about some of that. But, as ever, he projects an intense feeling of love and care and affection, unconditionally.

[That is extremely telling, sir. How does Wash manage to project 'I am being told things' through a helmet? Hard to say, its those same ninja tricks that let him eat fruit with it on.]

...a lot of loneliness can come from misunderstanding.

It is still an attempt at communication and reaching out, while also still having the loss and lonely feelings?

[Macpie, your opinion is biased. And Wash, you can't see the centuries of built up and still building baggage and hurt and insecurity. Look elsewhere.]

You could just say "Hey, I think the plushie might work, Monkey King". I would've taken that just fine. [He definitely could do without being reminded again that he made Macaque lonelier, even an unintentional one.

He walks over to the void, pulling out the mushroom plushie and looking at it. He offers it to the void.]

Hey, now. Biased doesn't mean necessarily incorrect. The Macpie will settle back down on Wukong's head, seemingly he lives here now.

The void will accept the truthshroom plushie and it closes up. Now the brotherhood window is complete and it lets the sun and moon and stars shine in.

[He's meant enough immortals that his ability to guess isn't abysmal for it. You seek of the insecurity and hurt.]

When you're working through a heart with someone, its important to talk things through if you can. People have different understanding of things. And you DO know Macaque better. You might notice something that was completely off base.

Sadly talking emotions is part of the deal with heart games. They need a lot of care.

You want to hold these memories?

Yeeeeah...Imma let most everyone else talk it out and be physical support, unless Macaque questions come up. Or it looks like something's gonna get broken.

I'll take these two- [He takes the jar and paper.] -and this- [The magpie.] -but the candle probably should stay put?

The Macaquepie chirps happily. Yay, field trip with his favorite person!

[He considers the candle. Breaking the wax COULD disrupt the memory.]

If we need it, we can come back. I may even be able to teleport now that I've seen the place.

We're gonna swing by the south. There's apparently a house with blue cracks, I'm gonna see if I can do anything about the Epsilon stuff.

[A pause.] I start acting weird, say Agent Washington. If that's not working, call Choco.

Alright. I was told we leave them alone, but we can see how this goes.

[He gestures for Wash to lead the way this time, reaching up to stroke Macaquepie's wing.]

Yeah, but I was the one who said to leave them alone. Epsilon was my partner.

They had time to get ingrained into Choco. There's been less time for Macaque, I might be able to do something to help make it....less.

I'm in a good enough place it should be easy enough to snap me back, so its worth a shot.

[So the south!]

[Heart Game] From the ashes we can build

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