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

The harsh light forced MK to look down at the floor. Oh that as freaking BRIGHT! He groaned and shielded his eyes. So bright lights, weird shadows further on, and everything look blank and generic.

"Mei showed me old horror videos once. Like suuuuuper old. Guess Macaque was into them. They were horror themed. Something about rooms in the back, I think."

Red Son digs into his bag and pulls out a pair of spare sunglasses for MK. "The prescription is mild enough, it'll be better than being blinded by the light," he said, holding out the spare.

He looks around the corridor. "I think I saw a stream of something about haunted animatronics that she did," he said. He holds out his hand, lighting a fire in his hand to see just how stubborn those shadows are.

The shadows are extremely stubborn on one hand, refusing to vanish no matter the amount or type of light. On the other, they shy away a little in response, like they'd hide if they could but there's nowhere to go, so they resign themselves to staying put.

"I think I remember that one," MK said as he put on the sunglasses. He had to blink a few times and started walking. He kept one arm linked with Red Son's as they moved down the corridor. He pulled out paper and crayons from his bag and started drawing.

"Okay. I'll make a map. Or try to. Um. Looks like we got three options. Which way do we go?"

Left, right, or straight?

You find a large bundle of string sitting at the first intersection.

Red Son's eyes narrow at the shadows. "Like they're trapped too," he muttered.

"Left," he said. "When going through a potential maze, until you have a better option, its usually best to go through it with your hand on one of the walls so you don't get lost and you'll eventually reach whatever is the other side," he said.

And what is an endless corridor, but a form of maze?

He will pick up that string. Considers it, but he wouldn't put it past Macaque to be a trick. Still, better to compare. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a dagger to tie around the end of the string and drop it on the floor.

Then he'll put his hand on the wall, letting the string unwind from his other hand looped with MK's arm.

When you pick up the string you get a feeling of making your own way, perhaps lonely and wanting, but making it. Surviving. You're not as used to being alone anymore, but you'll remember quickly enough.

You make your way down corridor E. It feels daunting. You just started out, yet it feels endless. You can feel this space clawing at your comfort and, despite your mate being right there, you feel uncertain and lost. You wonder if you'll ever see him again.

"String?" MK asked as he watched Red Son tie his dagger to it and blink. He was confused. Still, Red Son seemed to know what he was doing. MK grabbed some string too and slipped it into his bag. Just in case. He drew the little four-way intersection and they headed left.

The stick didn't feel too bad. It was sad but had hope. The maze did not. MK focused on drawing right now, trying to ignore this looming endless dread all around them.

"And if I draw it, we'll know where to go back to to look. In case he hid memories in the maze." It was a solid plan. Hopefully.

Edited 2024-03-13 16:55 (UTC)

~~For ease, they're always going right. What matters is consistency! Left is just traditional.~~

Oh.

He hates that feeling. The worry he's going to be alone again.

"Yes," Red Son said, pressing closer to MK's side. Moving further down the corridor. "At least we'll know rather quickly if the walls are moving." He keeps going forward with his hand tracing along the right wall, letting the string trail along.

You traverse the maze with that oppressive feeling bearing down on you. Not loneliness exactly, but fears of loneliness.

There is only one way to go for several turns. Each turn you have to check the string, your memory. You might be losing your way. You might be losing yourself. Everything looks and feels the same. Maybe you've been in here forever.

You find a single red feather laying in the corridor at the 7th bend in the hall.

Edited 2024-03-13 17:25 (UTC)

MK tried to pour his focus into the drawing. Turn after turn. But no forks or other ways to go. Just twists in the hallway. MK pressed closer to Red Son, just making sure he was still there. That they weren't alone. That he wasn't alone.

The feather was a stark difference in this place! MK didn't hesitate to pick it up.

"Finally!" MK was excited to touch something new. To feel it. Bring it on!

And this? This feeling? Is why you leave a string AND keep your hand on the wall. Anytime he starts to doubt, he just remembers he Has Not Removed His Hand.

Its fine. This is fine.

Except MK just rushes to pick things up. "MK-" He starts, but nope. There he goes.

You are Macaque, and you are behaving oddly.

Or so some others might think. You're squishier on the inside than you let on, is all. And you can't bring yourself to turn away someone who you happen to like when they need comfort. At least not right now.

You're sitting in the weremonkey's playroom, with Red Son. He's crying on your shoulder. You've been talking, really opening up, and for you this is new. You've never done this with anyone before, not really. It's always been giving just enough of yourself to be what someone needs and hiding the rest. But he talks, and you want to listen. You hear how Wukong hurt him, and it makes you angry.

He hears how Wukong hurt you, and your fears about what Heaven's plans might have been for Wukong and the Brotherhood. He listens. You listen. You hear each other.

It leaves you a little dizzy despite that you're sitting down, despite the touch energy that's flowing between you since you stay holding him even after he's been soothed and evened out. You had thought the sex was just sex, as it usually has been for you, but what if it wasn't?

The thought of having a friend is so foreign that you're not sure what to do with it. But, for now, you don't fight it.

Edited 2024-03-13 17:38 (UTC)

It was a lot but it was a lot of good. A lot. Friends. Something happy. Comfort. Red Son crying wasn't good. MK swallowed and quickly relinked arms with Red Son. At least things were better now between his boyfriends. Okay. That was something to take in for MK for a moment. No longer Mentor and Boyfriend but boyfriends. Funny how sometimes you don't just notice those kinds of changes until they dawn on you.

Finally MK held out the feather to Red Son.

"I think this is actually for you."

Red Son waited for some kind of terrible reaction. The grim atmosphere of the room IS worrying.

But MK is smiling?

Red Son is confused, but he takes the feather and-

Oh.

He blushes. "That-" He's just. Going to put it in his bag. "He's always so soft."

"I mean, you're part of why. You help him. You helped him open up. Talk about his issues. He'd never do that with me before. Keep a hold of it. I think you'll need it. This place feels...heavy," MK said with a nod. He started walking again, letting Red Son hold the feather.

"We gotta keep going. Find where the void is. Find the right memory. Then get out," If we can.

THIS ASSAULT.

Red Son gets more red, hair flaring up. "We just...talked," he said. And he cried on him.

But he can't deny it had been a relief. To get the feelings and frustrations out of his head, not being so trapped in the feelings like he had been.

He nods. "I'll keep a hold of it," he said. "Let's go." He squeezes his arm and gets his hand on the wall to move forward.

You keep walking. There are no more forks in the hallway. Just endless hallway that sometimes bends this way or that way. It feels interminable. It feels like suns rising and setting, every day the same. You feel disoriented sometimes, like you want to sit and rest and accept the inevitable. The lights feel too bright. The shadows feel too strange.

You come to what appears to be a dead end. There is a portrait of Macaque on the wall... or what once was a portrait. It's all torn up, Beauty and the Beast style.

There is some light peeking from beneath the wall directly in front of you.

This maze was hard to get through. Hard to keep walking. It was just beating down on them. MK was popping candies every once in a while. Just to keep some good feelings going. Finally they reach another thing. Something new they can focus on.

MK reached out to touch the portrait. See if it had any memories or feelings. Maybe see if he can see where that light was coming from on the other side too.

"Remind me...to paint him a portrait when this is all over. Sometime."

The portrait does not give you any new information about the light. All you can tell is that the wall seems to stop a fraction of a centimeter above the floor and the harsh light is streaming in from the other side.

When you touch the portrait, you feel even more disoriented. Who are you? What are you here for? Why do you keep going? What is your purpose? Why does everything you try to do feel this way? Will you ever find solid footing again?

The feeling was oppressive. Almost too much. Almost. But he's always been one to keep walking despite feeling like he couldn't get anywhere. Especially for love. He could keep going for that.

Its easier with MK to hold onto.

He looks at the portrait, frowning. "I think that would be nice." He reaches out, feeling along the wall, trying to find any kind of indent or hint for a secret switch.

Who was he? Why was he here? Why did he keep going? What was the point? MK stumbled forward and pulled back as he tore his hand away from the portrait. The feelings lingered and pressed down on MK. It was so painful yet familiar. That was the worst part. It was all so familiar. MK reached out and grabbed hold of Red Son. He just needed to hold someone he knew. Why did he do this?

For his friends. For his family. For the people he loved. His boyfriends. His mate. He did it all for them. Without them, he was empty. Without them, if he was alone, he'd be nothing. No one. MK looked up at the ripped portrait. He spilled his crayons and paper on the ground and started to draw. He looked up for reference, trying to piece together what was missing and kept going.

"You...are the Six Earred Macaque. You hear everything. You control shadows. You survive. You are on this whole not dying kick and loving it. You're a friend. A boyfriend. A mentor. That's who you are. And you're not allowed to forget it."

Red Son, while he looked for a switch, MK tried to recreate the portrait in crayon. He could stick it on. Fix the portrait. Maybe that would move it. Maybe it was a void like that. That made sense, right?

Red Son doesn't find a switch. But the wall suddenly shimmies, and opens. It knocks the portrait onto the floor.

Red Son watches MK stumble away, reaching out to grab onto him again, pull him close. "Noodle Boy...?"

But then he was on the ground and started drawing like a mad man and talking. He's just watching for a minute as he feels along the wall because. Because well. MK may needed to get that out a bit.

Then the wall is gone. Red Son kneels down to pick up the portrait, to set it aside. "Are you all right, MK?"

MK didn't hear the nickname. He was busy drawing, rambling, and just focusing on fixing this. The wall moved and the portrait fell. MK threw up his arms in triumph! His smile was forced and his eyes focused on the way forward. He moved his drawings and gently set them on the portrait, trying to piece meal it together again with his drawings.

"It doesn't feel right to leave it like this. There. Now it's complete again. Huh?" He blinked and looked up at Red Son.

"Oh! I'm fine. Yeah. I'm good. I'm used to this," He said as he pushed himself to his feet finally. He linked arms again with his mate. "Let's keep going! Gotta keep moving. Gotta keep going." Mk walked forward, pulling Red Son along if he had to.

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