"...Okay. I can understand the impulse." Goodness knows he had the same one tonight, even if it was slightly more targeted.
But. You knew there was a but, of course.
"I have two worries. One, you getting hit with another one of their curses. If they can get Wukong, they can get anyone. Two, that she's that deep into your head for all the destiny talk to be coming out."
Of course there was a but coming. It was pretty obvious, even for MK to catch. And they are good points. MK knows that.
"I know. I'm trying to be safe. I use the Earth and metal manipulation most. Keep at a distance. But it's a risk. Yeah. And...I mean she's not the only one who talked to me about destiny. The ink curse did too. I know I choose who I am. I just...it's still scary. I don't know if maybe someone might try to take that choice away from me. Or what I'd choose if I lost the people who are important to me. Pretending to be them sometimes kinda helps. Like I put them on like a mask to just deal with my feelings. It weirdly helps. I don't do it all the time but I do sometimes. When I'm the Skull or in the lab when you were all bloody."
Macaque presses his forehead to MK's. "I'm no one to lecture anyone on healthy coping mechanisms. If it helps you, then okay. Just as long as you promise that if it gets to be too much that you'll ask for some help with it. We need you to be okay. If you're not, we won't be."
MK looks back into Macaque's eyes. Those words feel good and weigh a lot. He does need to be okay but it's okay to not be okay. Yet the others can't be okay if he's not okay so he has to be okay. It's a lot for his brain to try and sort.
"It helps in the moment. But you're probably right on it not being healthy. I used to think I was just a normal delivery boy who got Monkey King's powers. But that isn't me. And I can't go back to just thinking that. It's a lot. You know?"
"I don't really know, but I can imagine." He starts running his fingers through MK's hair, grooming him. Trying to be even a little bit of comfort.
"We're all here for you. Whatever you need. If all that helps, then I'm not going to tell you to stop as long as you're being careful. Even if that thing does freak me out."
"You all being here makes me more okay. All of you make me feel like me. Like I'm not empty. Or blank," MK said as he returned the grooming with his own.
"I need all of you too. That's why I'll fight and do anything you all need me to do."
Macaque starts purring, but only lightly. He's still pretty distracted.
"Right now? I need you to kiss me." He leans forward and nuzzles MK's nose with his in the meantime. Macaque is a huge affection junkie once he has permission for it, it's time you learned this somber truth.
"I can do that," He said softly before he kissed Macaque. One affection junkie and one contact junkie. A match made in the Underworld. Or Heaven. Wherever.
Much better. Macaque's arms were already around MK for the grooming, he uses them to pull himself closer. There's not much heat behind the kiss, he's mostly after softness and comfort. He feels too guilty to get in a Mood, even though kissing MK does wonders for his disposition overall.
He stays close as he breaks the kiss, as if he's considering doing it again. (He very much is.)
"Great stuff. You should bottle that as a mood improvement potion, make a fortune."
For once MK wasn't in the mood to move on to more. A soft long kiss was perfect. He kept the kissing until he could breathe. He blushed and smiled.
"We'd never need jobs again," He said and kissed Macaque again. Soft and loving. Comforting. Them pressed close and there being no real heat to it. Only a soft warmth. And that was all they needed.
"I don't have one now, but I could get behind the idea of having money," Macaque chuckles as he lets MK kiss him some more. Definitely in no hurry to stop and have to talk about that whole mess with his kids and Eve.
He lazily shifts closer to MK, basking in his presence as much as it's possible for him to do at the moment.
MK keeps kissing Macaque for a while. Just snuggles close, kicks his shoes off, and relaxes into the bed with Macaque. He does eventually break the kiss.
"Still stealing stuff, huh? Sounds like you're a bandit or something."
"We should go on quests together next time. It'll be fun. And I won't hide status affects this time. Promise." And MK goes right on back to kissing Macaque. Happy simple warm kisses. Who needs an excuse to keep kissing? MK isn't in a hurry to stop either, clearly.
"I told Wukong in the simulation. And I told Cole after we got out of the simulation. So yeah. I told them. They took it well. How did Red Son take it? You beat me to the punch there. Which is fine."
"Good. I'll probably still talk to Cole on my own, just to make sure. It's a little different with Wukong since it seems like he and I have worked out all our... stuff." Hopefully MK gets why it feels different. When everyone in a given set of people are seeing each other to whatever degree there's less apt to be any issues with things feeling unbalanced. Still can happen, but less likely.
"I only told Red because we were talking about us anyway. She was freaked out that I was about to cut her loose, thinking maybe my feelings for her changed because my feelings for Wukong got turned back on again. A fair thing to worry about, but that's not how this works. Wukong and I were and are what we were and are, but that has no bearing on my feelings for her. Or for you, in case it was a concern."
"It's not. Different flavors and all that," Mk said with a smile. He knew Macaque and Wukong were important to each other in a way that was special for them. Like how Mk was special to Macaque in a special way. Same with Red Son and him and Red Son and Macaque. All different flavors.
"I'll talk to Red Son too. Just to make sure of some things between us. Need to remind him he's my first. I'm gonna let him mark me first too. I think he'll really appreciate that. And I want him to be the first one. And then if you, Cole, or Wukong wanna mark me after, then you can pick your spots."
Macaque isn't going to say anything about ordinals. He promised Red that he wouldn't choose between her and Wukong, and he won't. He also knows that she probably didn't push the issue because she's afraid of the answer.
"I didn't talk to Wukong about the mark thing yet." They got sidetracked. "I assume it'll be fine, but supposing that and actually doing anything about it are different matters, and I've hurt him enough for even an immortal lifetime. If he'd rather I didn't with you or Red, or not yet, then it's only fair that I give him the chance to say so."
...Which sort of sounds like he's making Wukong the first priority, but he doesn't see it that way. He promised, that's all.
"Oh that's totally fair. I didn't mean like tomorrow or anything. Just down the line. Like later. But Red Son should get the first one. That's all I meant," Mk said with a nod.
"I am glad you two talked and things are going well. You both deserve to be happy and you need each other in your lives to be happy."
He does wonder why Red gets the first one and not Cole, but it's not Cole's mating ritual (as far as he knows).
"There's a reason I compared him to the sun. He was the only important person in my life for ages. It's good that I have others now, because you're both good for me by virtue of who you each are, but also it's good for me and Wukong too. I think part of the problem was that I took everything too personally because I was hypersensitive to everything he did. I lost myself in him and at the time I considered that no great loss. But it wasn't fair to either of us."
"Anyway. I'm determined not to make the same mistakes again. With anyone."
"Good. That sounds like a very good thing," Mk said and gave Macaque another kiss. "So I don't think that was all you wanted to talk about, right? How are the kids? They doing okay?"
"Not really. Choco went after her, beat up those goons enough to get Eve back out, and Donnie was full-brain on triaging her which means he's not coping very well. I got the info from her and washed the blood off her while Donnie worked on Eve. Choco specifically said to do anything short of killing them, so..." That was for sure the plan until MK showed up.
"That has to be hard for all of you. Thank you again. For listening. For not going too far. I really appreciate it. I know you can hurt them. Like really badly. I just also know you get worried about that darkness inside you."
"I get worried about it normally. After seeing what they did, that they dosed Eve and Choco with obedience drugs, I wasn't worried about the darkness. I wanted to do worse than kill them."
He leans against MK and chirps: soothing, promise, regret.
"...There's something else you should know too. Someone from Cole's world was here. A fae. He said that he'd let me help Cole if I made a deal with him. So..." Yeah.
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"...Okay. I can understand the impulse." Goodness knows he had the same one tonight, even if it was slightly more targeted.
But. You knew there was a but, of course.
"I have two worries. One, you getting hit with another one of their curses. If they can get Wukong, they can get anyone. Two, that she's that deep into your head for all the destiny talk to be coming out."
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"I know. I'm trying to be safe. I use the Earth and metal manipulation most. Keep at a distance. But it's a risk. Yeah. And...I mean she's not the only one who talked to me about destiny. The ink curse did too. I know I choose who I am. I just...it's still scary. I don't know if maybe someone might try to take that choice away from me. Or what I'd choose if I lost the people who are important to me. Pretending to be them sometimes kinda helps. Like I put them on like a mask to just deal with my feelings. It weirdly helps. I don't do it all the time but I do sometimes. When I'm the Skull or in the lab when you were all bloody."
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Macaque presses his forehead to MK's. "I'm no one to lecture anyone on healthy coping mechanisms. If it helps you, then okay. Just as long as you promise that if it gets to be too much that you'll ask for some help with it. We need you to be okay. If you're not, we won't be."
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"It helps in the moment. But you're probably right on it not being healthy. I used to think I was just a normal delivery boy who got Monkey King's powers. But that isn't me. And I can't go back to just thinking that. It's a lot. You know?"
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"We're all here for you. Whatever you need. If all that helps, then I'm not going to tell you to stop as long as you're being careful. Even if that thing does freak me out."
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"I need all of you too. That's why I'll fight and do anything you all need me to do."
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"Right now? I need you to kiss me." He leans forward and nuzzles MK's nose with his in the meantime. Macaque is a huge affection junkie once he has permission for it, it's time you learned this somber truth.
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"I can do that," He said softly before he kissed Macaque. One affection junkie and one contact junkie. A match made in the Underworld. Or Heaven. Wherever.
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He stays close as he breaks the kiss, as if he's considering doing it again. (He very much is.)
"Great stuff. You should bottle that as a mood improvement potion, make a fortune."
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"We'd never need jobs again," He said and kissed Macaque again. Soft and loving. Comforting. Them pressed close and there being no real heat to it. Only a soft warmth. And that was all they needed.
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He lazily shifts closer to MK, basking in his presence as much as it's possible for him to do at the moment.
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"Still stealing stuff, huh? Sounds like you're a bandit or something."
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"Not as much as you'd think. I make enough via quests." But enough of the time, yes. It's just easier.
"Various parties would be upset with me if I stole everything. Mostly Choco and Wukong." Cole he doesn't think cares that much.
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"We should go on quests together next time. It'll be fun. And I won't hide status affects this time. Promise." And MK goes right on back to kissing Macaque. Happy simple warm kisses. Who needs an excuse to keep kissing? MK isn't in a hurry to stop either, clearly.
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And of course he's happy to keep kissing MK for the time being. Call it making up for lost time (when he was being an idiot).
...After a while, he does have a question, though.
"Did you tell Cole or Wukong about this?" Them, he means. "I mentioned it to Red."
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"I told Wukong in the simulation. And I told Cole after we got out of the simulation. So yeah. I told them. They took it well. How did Red Son take it? You beat me to the punch there. Which is fine."
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"I only told Red because we were talking about us anyway. She was freaked out that I was about to cut her loose, thinking maybe my feelings for her changed because my feelings for Wukong got turned back on again. A fair thing to worry about, but that's not how this works. Wukong and I were and are what we were and are, but that has no bearing on my feelings for her. Or for you, in case it was a concern."
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"I'll talk to Red Son too. Just to make sure of some things between us. Need to remind him he's my first. I'm gonna let him mark me first too. I think he'll really appreciate that. And I want him to be the first one. And then if you, Cole, or Wukong wanna mark me after, then you can pick your spots."
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"I didn't talk to Wukong about the mark thing yet." They got sidetracked. "I assume it'll be fine, but supposing that and actually doing anything about it are different matters, and I've hurt him enough for even an immortal lifetime. If he'd rather I didn't with you or Red, or not yet, then it's only fair that I give him the chance to say so."
...Which sort of sounds like he's making Wukong the first priority, but he doesn't see it that way. He promised, that's all.
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"I am glad you two talked and things are going well. You both deserve to be happy and you need each other in your lives to be happy."
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"There's a reason I compared him to the sun. He was the only important person in my life for ages. It's good that I have others now, because you're both good for me by virtue of who you each are, but also it's good for me and Wukong too. I think part of the problem was that I took everything too personally because I was hypersensitive to everything he did. I lost myself in him and at the time I considered that no great loss. But it wasn't fair to either of us."
"Anyway. I'm determined not to make the same mistakes again. With anyone."
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MK nuzzled noses and chirped; Mine. Yours.
"I'll help anyway I can. Just ask."
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He leans against MK and chirps: soothing, promise, regret.
"...There's something else you should know too. Someone from Cole's world was here. A fae. He said that he'd let me help Cole if I made a deal with him. So..." Yeah.
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