Hello! I would love to request Macaque x cub reader where he raising them and the reader is a little jewelry and appearance obsessed sweetheart who also views Wukong as a uncle (after Wukong imprisonment they were caught and put in a sleep that stopped their aging and after the LBD Wukong found them and gave them back to Macaque! Platonic of course
💜🌙 To Raise a Cub — Macaque & Cub!Reader HCs 🌙💜
Genres: [platonic/familial] fluff || they/them pronouns for reader || No warnings needed
- Macaque initially found your gravitation towards jewelry to be amusing. Seeing you coo and babble at shiny gems and ornaments made him smile to no end. He'd frequently snatch artifacts from Wukong's dojo whenever you two visited so you'd always have more to keep
- It only really became worrying when he started to be super conscious about how small most jewlery is, constantly making sure you're not trying to eat a ring or small chain. He eventually only started giving you super chunky jewelry that you couldn't possibly swallow instead, but he still watched you extremely close
- He liked to talk to you while you looked in a mirror so you could happily babble to yourself as he gently told you many soft compliments, about how you were the most perfect cub he could've ever had and how he was always so proud of you
- He was slightly less enthusiastic as he noticed how close you were to Wukong. He still allowed you to visit him, of course, but not without snarking at the king endlessly and being petty towards him
- Wukong loved introducing you to every single Flower Fruit Mountain monkey that would come up while you hang out, which is usually pretty easy since they tend to cling to Macaque whenever he's outside
- Macaque always lectures Wukong very thoroughly when it comes to taking care of you. Wukong can't help but mentally log how intensely protective Macaque is, but he can understand the angle. He was secretly proud his old brother managed to be responsible enough to take care of you so well
- Macaque knows that he likely feeds into how much you tend to be focused on appearance seeing as he's constantly calling you the best cub he's ever seen and letting you have all the (safe) jewelery you could ever want. But he doesn't plan to stop that anytime soon. Ever since Wukong gave you to him and he saw your fuzzy face and wide eyes, he knew immediately he'd never seen anything more adorable. His heart melted seeing you well and vibrant, and he felt his love grow back tenfold
- He'll always let you use some of his clothes to do little modeling shoots, especially his scarf that he's fond of swaddling you in. He even offered to make you mini leather armor to mimic his own so you could match
- He's mostly good at shadow puppets that he conjures with his powers, but eventually he did pick up a small habit of making felt toys for you to play with. He used the sewing skills he learned to make you all your own outfits, including letting you pick the colors and patterns
- Macaque is a kinda vain guy himself, so he's got absolutely no problem with showering you with as many gifts and trinkets that he can steal find for you. Anything for the kid that gave him a new life, to make sure you always feel safe and loved no matter what
Dating the Party Clone - fem!reader - HC's/Drabble
Sweat and Tears - gn!reader - Short Fic
Days on a Wire - male!teen!reader - Short Fic
Fluffy Shadows - transmasc!chubby!reader - HC's
Smile, Shutterbug! - fem!reader - HC's
Mild Mishaps - gn!reader - HC's
Daredevil Darling - gn!reader - Short Fic
Dance Monkey - fem!dancer!reader - HC's/Drabble
Monkey in the Middle - afab!reader - Short Fic
Terror-peutic Talks - gn!reader - Short Fic
Yoga, Peace, and Tranquili-TEA - gn!chubby!reader - Short Fic
Sparks Fly - gn!reader - Short Fic
😼 - I do not give permission for anyone to translate, copy, republish, or plagiarize any of my written works. I provide no permission for any of my literary works to be used in artificial intelligence.
would you,, mayhaps consider a lil platonic thing between macaque and a gn!reader where they're just absolutely Showering the shadow monkey with affection?
stress cuddles
— macaque & gn!reader
this is so cute, he deserves the affection :(
this is kind of shitty, and i'm sorry for being absent for so long <//3 i wanted to finish this asap when i got the motivation back
;; platonic, a little angst at the start?, almost entirely fluff, swearing (mac has a potty mouth smh)
You weren't entirely certain of the events that led up to this moment—one moment, you were on your way to your favourite shadow monkey for a surprise visit. Next moment, you were standing in front of a moping mess of a scarred demon.
Macaque, with his usual attire discarded and now donning a casual outfit that included black sweatpants and a purple sweater, was sitting in a lonely corner on a bench in his dojo. The sight was pitiful, really; his clawed hands held his glum face, seemingly lost in his thoughts and in another world as he failed to register your appearance despite his exceeding sense of hearing.
With careful movements, you stepped towards his corner. At less than a few feet away, he finally snapped out of his trance as you noticed his ears twitching. His eyes darted to your form, alarmed, almost prepared to attack out of fear from his vulnerability, as the natural shadows surrounding the two of you began to grow larger, and more intimidating.
"H-Hey, Macaque—It's just me. Are you... Alright?"
His tail lashed nervously behind him, his pupils dilating as he comprehended the lack of threat. The monkey seemed to mull over the possible responses for a moment.
"Sorry, kid... I, uh, was lost in my head, then." Macaque brushed off, despite the distant look in his avoiding eyes, "What brings you 'round to my humble abode, anyways?"
You frowned at the forced grin upon his face, "You know you can talk to me, right? I can tell that something is bothering you, Mac."
He grumbled, reluctant to open up and lay out his problems on your shoulders. However, one glance into your caring eyes broke through his thin walls.
The expression on his face dropped, the corners of his mouth dropping and his brows furrowed, "Ah, geez. You're so stubborn —"
You gave a light, playful smack to his shoulder at his remark, receiving a short, yet genuine, laugh in response.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" His grin dropped, "But, uh... I was just thinking about the past. Back with Wukong, y'know?"
That was all you needed to hear, really — those few words held a lot of baggage behind them. And, although you weren't overly knowledgeable on the details of the friendship between the two simians, it didn't take a scholar to understand that they had separated on sour terms.
Despite the pain that he had caused towards the Monkey King, you did know that, in his heart, Macaque wished that nothing had changed between them.
You had opened your mouth to offer comfort after a moment of silence had passed, but you were interrupted before a single sound left, "And all this... Lady Bone Demon shit, and the Brotherhood, recently — it's stressing me out!"
His teeth were barred as his hand clenched at his head. Fortunately, you knew it wasn't aimed at you.
With a sigh, immediately catching his attention by the flickering of an ear, you opened your arms, offering your physical affections to him. With nothing but a peep, the mystic monkey pushed himself into your embrace.
His tail found itself wrapping around your leg, his claws unconsciously digging into your shirt, attempts to ground himself. He buried his face lightly into your hair, breathing in the comfort of your scent; the scent that told him that, in this moment, he wasn't alone.
While ensuring that he remained in your embrace, you manoeuvred your bodies downwards, lowering to the floor and against one of the sturdy dojo walls. It definitely wasn't one of the most comfortable places you've ever sat before; hardwood floorboards and sturdy pillars weren't exactly made with comfort in mind. However, the furry equivalent of a hot-water bottle that didn't show any signs of releasing his hold from you had taken all of your focus at the moment.
You sat in silence, a dark simian curled into your body between your legs and clutching onto your clothing with clawed hands and a tail, yet still careful enough to not damage the fabric, while you lifted a hand to gently scratch around the fur on his head. You could feel Macaque's body begin to lose its tension at your ministrations, slumping further into you.
A low sigh, barely audible, left the monkey, followed by quiet purring — you doubted that he was conscious of the noises he was making, there had been plenty of times in the past where he had shown clear embarrassment at any slip-ups he had made.
With the understanding that you may be stuck here for a while, you allowed yourself to relax a bit more. At your slight movement, furred arms pulled tighter around you before you rested your head a top of his own. With a smile on your face, you held the troubled simian in your arms as he lost his worries in your embrace.
. . .
a few hours later – bonus scene ;D
You were reluctant to open your eyes, feeling crustier than usual, following the movement you had felt practically on top of you. With barely any recollection of when, or where, you had seemingly fallen asleep, you pushed yourself to consciousness to survey your surroundings.
Immediately, you were met with a face-full of dark, messed hair. It tickled your nose, causing you to lift your head away before any sneezing escalated — you didn't want to snot-rocket into someone else's hair, after all — and tilted your head to get a better angle at the person in front of you.
Your movement, however, lead to the being's stirring and eventual awakening as your mind began registering the warm limbs wrapped around your body. It seemed that your snuggle-r was just as groggy as you were, though.
Rough murmurs left the monkey, who had begun loosening his grip on you, before he lifted his head upwards. Clear redness grew upon his face in embarrassment.
"Shit, kid — ugh, didn't mean for this to, uh —"
You rubbed at your face, tiredly smiling at him through a yawn, "It's alright, Mac. We were both tired — what time is it, anyways?"
"Uh, it's..." Macaque cleared his throat, glancing across the dojo towards a clock, "5AM, jeez..."
"And I'm still tired, it's too early to be up..."
Your eyes closed, once again, and the darkness covering your sight was met with an agreeing sigh. In a short moment, you felt your body lose the solid surface you had been connected to as the air went still, before coming into contact with a much softer one as you opened your eyes in surprise.
Macaque read the emotions displayed wildly on your face as he chuckled, "I don't want you developing back issues because you slept on the floor — now go back to sleep, kid."
A quick glance around your new surroundings showed that you had been moved to your own bedroom — using Macaque's shadow abilities, clearly. You weren't going to deny his command, though, willingly tucking yourself in under the familiar covers. The absence of a certain monkey joining you caught your attention, however.
"C'mon, Mac. You've gotta be tired too, and there's enough room in here for both of us!" You dramatically, albeit childishly, patted the empty space beside you.
"Well, can't deny that, for sure," The simian mischievously grinned at you, as you began to realise your mistakes as he crept closer to you.
You had barely been able to argue against him, before he had thrown his body beside your own, reaching his limbs across your body. Snickers left your own mouth, as you attempted to push his arm off of you, "Mac, no!"
"Kid, are you sure there's enough room in this bed for the two of us? It feels a little squishy in here..." He playfully teased you, allowing his arm to flop over onto his own chest and dragging his limbs back beside himself.
"You're purposefully taking up all the room! Move over, you monkey." You lightly pushed against him, ignoring his joking gasp of offence, before calming yourself down to fall asleep.
Macaque softly grinned at you, "Alright, alright, it's bed time."
You leaned over to lazily wrap your arms around him, practically copying his earlier position, as you nestled your head against his chest. As you almost fell immediately back to sleep, you missed the quiet purring emitting from the monkey again, and his quiet expression of gratitude as he rested his chin atop your head.
Pairing: Macaque & GN!Reader
Rating: SFW
Summary: Training alongside MK made you realize just how useless you are compared to the monkey king's golden student. A certain six eared macaque has something to say about that.
Warnings: Brief mention/implication of blood, use of the nickname 'babe' in a condescending way, cussing and self-deprecating thoughts.
Word Count: 960 words
The taste of iron made you recoil inwardly.
It did not help that the humidity of the unofficial training grounds made it harder to swallow the vile taste down your throat.
While you were crouched and staring mindlessly at the ground, a shadow fell over your form.
"Tired?" The voice snarked. "It's only been five minutes, babe, are you sure you can keep up?"
The corner of your eye twitched as you looked up to glare at the dark-furred monkey under the hood of sweat gathering on your eyelashes.
Five minutes? More like five hours...but you didn't voice your thoughts as you rose to stand again.
"Yeah, yeah," You grunted.
Your gaze strayed to look at the headband donning male training a few feet away from your spot. Macaque followed your gaze and smiled as he gestured to MK.
"He hasn't even broken a sweat since we've started, honestly, I'm impressed," Macaque murmured before peeking at you from the corner of his eye. "You on the other hand...well, you'll do your best, right?"
With that lingering sentence hanging in the air, Macaque sunk into the shadows and disappeared.
"You'll do your best, right? Bitch," You mocked with rolling eyes as you stretched to prepare for another hour of exercising.
It hadn't even been half an hour before you were on the ground, limbs spread, and body drenched in sweat. From a distance, you could faintly hear the occasional 'haa!' and staff being swung fiercely.
So, not only were you tired and wetter than a sponge, but you also couldn't even keep up with those two.
A deep exhale left through your mouth as you turned on your side with your eyes squeezed shut.
Of course, you couldn't keep up. You were you and everything that anyone has said about you.
Weak, slow, dumb, not enough--
"What are you doing?"
You groaned as you curled into yourself more.
"Quitting, resting, whatever fits the fantasy inside your head, just leave me alone."
Macaque rose a brow at your lackluster tone. It didn't even have its usual bite to it whenever you snapped back at his remarks.
Silence fell over the two once more.
.
..
...
Macaque sucked in air through his teeth before sitting on his haunches behind your back, he placed his hands on his knees and began, "Look, kid, do you wanna talk about it or do you want to keep wallowing alone while MK gets better and better without you-"
"-I don't care, let him!" You hissed. "At least he's showing progress...I've only managed to slightly improve my stamina, but what else do I have? Nothing! I can't last two seconds in a fight with either of you and MK hasn't even trained for that long and I...I'm...fuck...just-"
You buried your face into your elbow and mumbled, "-leave."
Macaque blinked a few times as he mulled over your outburst. He looked over his shoulder to see MK already looking at the two of you with a concerned expression.
Macaque sighed before the corners of his lips curved into a smirk.
You waited for Macaque's inevitable exit, but instead, you were met with a heavy weight on top of your body. It wasn't a pleasant feeling all things considered. Did I forget to mention that it was hot as hell outside and you were already a sweaty mess? Macaque had fur and he wasn't in any better condition than you.
"Huh-..wha-" You wheezed. You uncurled from the pity party ball and tried to crawl out from under the monkey. No dice.
You glanced up to see Macaque's wide smile glaring down at you.
"What's the matter, babe? Stuck?" Macaque asked.
"Get the hell off! You're fucking crushing me!" You wiggled and writhed before giving up. The thought of calling MK for help crossed your mind before Macaque's laughter made you pause.
"Why don't you try getting me off? Oh, wait, I forgot, you can't cuz you're human," Macaque continued as he directed his shit-eating grin to the blue sky above. "Compared to me, you're much weaker, slower, and perhaps even stupider."
"Fuck you."
"No thanks, but back on topic...do you wanna know why you can't even hold a candle to me or even MK?" Macaque asked. You opened your mouth to speak but eventually closed it as you looked at the ground.
"It's simple really, you're you."
"Oh, how original, it's not like I already know what's wrong with me, Macaque," You whispered.
"Heh, it's not what's 'wrong' with you...it's more like...you grow differently, yeah! Like that."
"I don't follow."
Macaque clicked his tongue before shifting to lay on his stomach, his weight still pining you beneath him.
"You're different from me and MK, that's for sure, but me and MK are also different from each other," Macaque continued. "You honestly don't believe that everyone's progress has to be the same, do you? Some people train and get quick results while others don't, that's natural."
"And you're saying this...because...?" You squinted at the demon.
"Because," Macaque swatted the back of your head, eliciting another curse to spill from your dried lips. "You shouldn't feel too bad about falling behind, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are you."
"..." You stayed silent as his words finally processed in your head. Your cheeks felt...warm as the comforting words reached the darkest part of your thoughts.
"Thanks," You managed to cough out as the moment passed and now it was starting to get weird.
"Don't mention it."
Macaque sat up from his comfy chair and frowned as he turned to look at you. "Seriously, don't say a word about this to anyone, especially MK."
You finally let out a laugh yourself as you dusted yourself off after standing.
"I won't."
🍜 - I do not give permission for anyone to translate, copy, republish, or plagiarize any of my written works. I provide no permission for any of my literary works to be used in artificial intelligence. sparkle banner(s) by @adornedwithlight!!
#lymbo rambles: just me saying random things, don't mind my silliness
#quixotical answers: any asks I've received so far
#lymbo reblogs: stuff i reblog
LMK
TRANSFORMERS
DELTARUNE (WIP)
TADC (WIP)
😼 - I do not give permission for anyone to translate, copy, republish, or plagiarize any of my written works. I provide no permission for any of my literary works to be used in artificial intelligence. heres my toy house, bluesky, and artfight!
cybercore/punk banner(s) by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more !! star banner (s) by @enchanthings !! misc banner(s) by @sperocordolium
Hi- I was wondering if I could request separate Wukong and Macaque headcanons for a reader who forgets to do important stuff? Not like work stuff or anything like that- but like- vital stuff? Like sometimes they forget to eat or sleep or take care of themselves properly. It’s not that they don’t want to, they just forget sometimes. But with their friends and people they care about, they never forget. Always reminding the group to eat and rest and stay hydrated while pushing their own needs to the side?
only if your comfortable doing this of course!
Pairing: Wukong, Macaque & gn!Reader
Rating: SFW
Warnings/Tags: Y'know the drill, fluff, brief mentions of starvation, lack of sleep, and some crack from you-know-who.
Word Count: 500+ words
🍜 - didn't know if you wanted romantic or not, but I guess you can decide for yourselves if want it to be either or!
WUKONG
☀️ At first, Wukong thought you were playing some long con joke. I mean, there's no way you could forget to take care of a few important factors in your small, mortal life? I mean, even he knew not to miss a meal or nap if he could help it!
☀️ However, Wukong managed to witness it himself whenever he had the opportunity to visit PIgsy's shop. You seemed fairly normal, save for the heavy dark bags under your eyes and the way you took a few seconds to reply to anyone, but overtime Wukong could tell you hadn't slept a wink last night.
☀️ He'd bring it up in a joking manner, and when you sheepishly reveal that you forgot, his joking tone would turn into that typical older brother tone and remind you about the importance of sleep and how your body is a temple yadda yadda yadda.
☀️ After it happened a few more times, Wukong would feel a bit exasperated ESPECIA-FUCKING-LY when you would remind MK or Mei to get enough sleep or eat their meals on time.
☀️ Literally would be like, "Oh, you're one to talk." or "Are you sure you aren't reminding yourself to do these things?"
☀️ At this point, he's gonna bully you into remembering.
☀️ Overall, underneath all the teasing and playful gestures of him forcing food into your mouth–Wukong is worried about your forgetfulness, even if you don't mean to forget.
MACAQUE
🌙 Assuming that the two of you tolerate each other to be above the acquaintance stage, he wouldn't care at first. I mean, people normally forget to do things in favor of other responsibilities–and he wasn't your warden, so who was he to remind you to take care of yourself? Plus, with how often you remind the others to eat and drink water, he assumed you were on top of your shit.
🌙 Oh, how wrong he was.
🌙 Macaque didn't think he'd end up being the one to supervise how much you ate, drank, and slept without your knowing. Without being obvious, he'd sometimes slip a cup of water in your general vicinity, an apple here and there, or even kidnap you and bind you to your bed until you closed those annoying eyes of yours.
🌙 You were very…persistent in your forgetfulness that Macaque stopped keeping an eye on you just to see what would happen.
🌙 Well, you passed out in the middle of the street due to dehydration.
🌙 Never again.
🌙 Anyway, he learned to not stress himself out with this problem as he turned to MK to take over his duties as your 'mom.'
🌙 From time to time he'll check up on you, but he'll keep his distance unless the situation calls for him to step in and make sure you're safe.
🍜 - I do not give permission for anyone to translate, copy, republish, or plagiarize any of my written works. I provide no permission for any of my literary works to be used in artificial intelligence. sparkle banner(s) by @adornedwithlight !!
Warnings/Tags: Pre-S2E7, implied/referenced child neglect, cussing, implications of sewer slide, starvation, angst, hurt/comfort.
Word Count: 2400+ words
It was raining. Thick, heavy droplets of condensed water from the sky wept upon the earth as the darkening clouds above kept the sun from witnessing the scene. Amidst the bleak atmosphere of Megapolis, a hooded figure rushed through the opaque curtain of rain as steam rose from the gutters.
That hooded figure didn't stop as they maneuvered through the alleyways and rooftops, scaling the buildings and traveling the road less taken.
The streets of the coastal city changed from the shining lights of the city to the gloom-ridden slums. Approaching a building, the mysterious person squeezed into a crack in the boarded window.
The crack itself, small and jagged with sharp splits in the wood, wouldn't have fit an adult. It suited someone of a smaller stature—someone like a young adolescent or toddler. Or perhaps, a malnourished teen.
Once in the safety of the building's looming shadows, then, and only then, did the hood-donning person stop and pull back their soaked hood to reveal your face.
There was a lack of light that once burned with a hearty warmth in your eyes. The chilliness of the approaching night nipping at your dried lips and sunken cheeks reminded you of your drenched hoodie clinging to your sweat coated skin.
You peeled the hoodie from your body and chucked it carelessly in the corner. You shuffled over to the little makeshift bed you crafted and fell face first into it. A grumbling noise roared from your stomach and pressing your hand to settle the beast called hunger did nothing to ease its cries.
Was it Wednesday? Sunday? Or perhaps it was three days ago since you've eaten? It was hard to keep track of such things when you were too busy focusing on retrieving the last of your items from your home-...your previous home.
Your eyes stung with the familiar lump forming in your throat as you recalled the reason you were in this abandoned building in the first place.
You couldn't recall what the argument was about, but all you could remember was the overwhelming sensations of rage that boiled beneath your skin, eating away at your heart and gnawing on your veins.
Unfair, unfair, not true, that wasn't fair-
The whispers egged you on, vindicating the very thoughts that swarmed in your mind.
Then the next thing you knew, your guardians were staring at you in horror from across the crater with what was the living room's couch split in two.
After that incident, more things started to happen that drove the wedge deeper between your guardians and yourself. These weird…abilities of yours only showed up when you wished them away the most, yet without fail they appeared every time you were under distress and that was practically all the time.
These damned emotions of yours were hard to control, especially when you needed help the most during this time but ended up driving everyone away.
Your grades start slipping, your friends begin distancing themselves from you, rumors begin, your guardians couldn't even look you in the eye—and worst of all you can't blame them. You were a danger to everything and everyone around you.
Nobody wanted to deal with your mess and you deserved it.
Burden. Annoying. Waste of space. Monster.
You exhaled softly, your bottom lip quivering as a tear slipped from the corner of your eye. Curling into yourself more as you buried your face in your knees, trying to keep your emotions at bay as the wisps of shadows flickered around your body—twisting and curling around you like a protective blanket.
You couldn't make sense of why these powers of yours showed up. Neither the research you did, trips to the library, or your guardians (not like they were of any help anymore) provided any answers.
It was obvious that the only solution to keep everyone safe was to put an end to all of this.
…
..
.
You were too cowardly to go through with it, despite everything that has happened.
So, you decided to run away.
No one could get hurt if you kept to yourself. So far, this plan has worked.
CRASH-!
You jumped from your bed as the wisps of shadows swish wildly. They grew faster than wild grass to attack whatever had crashed through the window. You couldn't see if your tendrils landed on their target, but after a few seconds they were smacked away as something large flew out of the darkness and was heading toward you.
Your reflexes and tendrils were too slow to the shadowy figure that slammed into you. Something warm and fuzzy wrapped around your throat, squeezing your windpipe and their pointed nails dug into your skin enough to draw blood.
You gasped and clawed at the hand keeping you pinned. Your eyes began to water faster as your vision blurred, the lack of oxygen added onto the fact you hadn't had any food in the last few days made you weak.
Perhaps this was your punishment, your guardians may have hired someone to take you out once and for all.
With this in mind, your attempts at getting free slowed as you stared into your captors glow-y purple eyes, then closing them as you fell limp to accept your destiny.
"...wait…you're a kid?"
The next thing you knew, you were tossed out of your bed and onto the floor. The remaining amount of air within you was knocked out the moment you landed on the ground. Coughing and wheezing, you gently held a hand to your bruising throat, wincing at the dull ache beginning to form.
"...tsk, and here I thought some lowlife demon decided to squat in my place," The voice continued.
You glanced up from the ground and tilted your head at the figure.
"Wh..who are…?"
The figure seemed to have glanced in your direction, given by the way you saw the outline of their head turn to you.
"Oh, right." The figure snapped their fingers and soon the room was bathed in dark purple light provided by the burning, purple flames lit up from the chandelier above.
"Better?" The figure–monkey, grinned at you.
You squinted at the stranger who stood before you, questions rushing through your mind at the display of power he had demonstrated. Why did it seem so familiar?
Whatever it was, you couldn't exactly pinpoint why you felt that way since your brain slowly processed why/how there was a monkey communicating with you. Then it hit you all at once.
"Monkey King-?"
"No, no, but I get it…we look the same and all–ahem!" The monkey coughed into his fist. "Anyway, the names Macaque, the Six Eared Macaque is my full name."
"Nice to meet you," You rasped, your eyes downcast as you moved to sit up. "Sorry for intruding… but I need to stay until the rain passes and then I'll leave for good. I promise."
Macaque raised a brow before squatting in front of the pitiful teen. His eyes quickly took in the appearance of the boy who looked worse for wear.
The teen looked like he had seen better days and that was coming from someone who came back to life a few weeks ago.
The kid seemed harmless enough, the monkey had thought. However…
"Sure, sure, now are you gonna tell me about that cool party trick of yours or…?"
"Oh!" You remembered how your powers had attempted to harm Macaque. You jumped back and scooted away from the monkey. "I-I for-for…forgot! You need to stay away from me! I might..I could..I don't wanna hurt you…"
"No, you…you don't understand, I-'' Your stomach decided it was time to make its presence known as it growled.
"-You're hungry? Hm, well, you are technically a guest," Macaque cut in as he grinned at your feeble attempts to hide the noise coming from your belly. "Wait here, kiddo, I'll be back."
It didn't take long for Macaque to return with two plastic bags of takeout.
The savory aroma of steam wafting from the bag that was handed to you made your hands tremble as you began digging into the meal. Macaque plopped down next to you as he opened his own bag as his brow rose in mild concern and amusement as you tore into the noodles.
"Slow down or you'll-"
Your cheeks bulged as you leaned forward to cough out a piece of noodle that fell down the wrong pipe.
"-choke." Macaque sighed.
"Sorry."
"No worries, but…you haven't eaten in a while, have you?" Macaque twiddled with the chopsticks, his eyes straying from his bowl to look at your side profile. "Why is that?"
"I…um, ran away," You admitted. This guy was nice enough to buy you food and provide shelter. Why shouldn't you trust him a little?
Macaque hummed, urging you to continue.
"It's a long story, but I ran away because of…um, well, I'm-" You found it harder to articulate everything you've experienced so far—but you somehow managed to spill everything. Something about the tragedy of it all made you realize that this was now your reality.
The tears that welled up from earlier began to fall down your face before you could stop them. Your breath hitched as something heavy landed on your shoulder, you flinched and looked at the hand before looking at Macaque.
"Your power…is that right?" Macaque guessed, his eyes shifted from your face to something below. That's when you noticed the small tendrils of shadows curling between the two of you, one of them even began poking against Macaque's thigh. "Those things that attacked me from before…hm, looks like me and you have a lot more in common than I thought."
"Huh?" You hiccuped as you brushed your arm across your damp face.
Macaque simply grinned before moving the cape of his scarf away to reveal a strange looking object. Before you could ask what it was, Macaque raised his hand in the air and the shadows created by the chandelier began to move in unnatural ways.
You watched in awe as Macaque manipulated the shadows into different shapes; a horse, a pig, and a dragon. You felt a smile creep up your face at the less-than-flattering shadow imitation of you running around the room.
"See?" Macaque lowered his hand and made the shadow puppets disappear as well as the glow from the lantern. "We're alike, you and I."
Your smile falters as the horrified expressions of your guardians appear. "No…we're not, you bring joy while I bring nothing but pain."
Macaque resisted the urge to scoff at the irony, but he figured he could at least entertain whatever else you had to say.
You wrapped your arms around your knees and pressed your face into them. "Your powers are cool and mine? Uncontrollable and dangerous…that's why I ran away."
"Well-...I could do a lot more than that, but I thought showing you something like this would be better than messing up my home even more," Macaque stood up and offered his hand to you. Your gaze flickered between his hand and face before reaching out to take it. The moment your fingers touched, a burst of energy knocked you back before you could even see what it was.
Your gasp was caught in your throat as what held you against the wall was none other than your tendril…but it wasn't? You followed where the ribbon-like tendril led to and found Macaque staring at you with a shit-eating smirk.
"See? What did I tell ya?" Macaque stalked over to your pinned form step by step. His hands stuffed in his pockets as he leaned down to your level. "You aren't the only one who can be capable of mass destruction, kid…but at least I have the sense to not trust the first guy who gives me a free meal."
You became aware of how tight the tendril around your throat was, yet it was either the adrenaline, lack of oxygen, or the deficiency of common sense that made you blurt out-
"Could you train me?"
Macaque blinked a few times before throwing himself back to rest on his tail as he laughed. The tendril loosening around your neck, causing you to fall on your ass.
"Train you? Tra-..pfft hahaha!"
"Can you stop?! Fine, I get it, you don't want to," You spat with crossed arms. Your cheeks felt scorching hot as his laughter began to intensify, the least that jerk could've said was no.
"Haha! Ha, heh…ha…okay, okay! I'm done," Macaque rubbed his chin as he gave your form a once over. "You sure are one of a kind, kid…asking the person who was about to kill you to train you is…heh–sorry, hilarious."
"You were gonna kill m-?"
"Anyway, I need to ask a few questions before I decide, think of this as an…" Macaque glanced around for a moment. "…interview! Wouldn't want to waste my time if it turns out you're not worth it, amirite?"
You nodded your head before the monkey began shooting question after question at you. Some of them were weird, like how many friends you had (none), do your parents know where you are (no), and stuff like that.
Macaque moved to sit on the ground after the 'interview' was done. There was nothing that he could lose if he did decide to take you in. You were ripe for the taking as you had no one else to rely on or any pesky friends to get in the way of him shaping you into the perfect little sidekick for his schemes.
There was always the possibility of you betraying him, but that would most likely be years down the line…yet Macaque noticed a growing darkness within you–and he wasn't referring to your powers. If you were already abandoned by the world just as he was, then who was he to turn a fellow lost cause away?
"Alright, here are the ground rules," Macaque shifted onto his feet and knocked his finger into your forehead a few times. You, in turn, swatted the offending hand away but the smile couldn't be wiped from your face even if you tried to make it go away.
"First rule, you will listen to everything I tell you to do."
"Ok!"
"Second, make sure to clean up after yourself, I'm not your dad and I am not anyone's babysitter."
"Of course!"
"Third, you gotta understand that I'm not your friend…if you truly want to learn how to control your powers and learn from me, you will undergo a lot of harsh, mind breaking and vigorous training…got that?"
"Mmhm!" You nodded.
"Finally…tell me your name," Macaque grinned.
You told him your name with gusto.
"Nice name, now, let's get some shut eye, yeah?" Macaque stretched his arms above his head before yawning. He waved a hand over his shoulder as he turned around to make his exit.
"O-oh, okay! See you in the morning!" You answered back before bouncing over to your bed and hurrying to get a head start on sleeping.
Seems like your days will get better from here on out. Hopefully.
🍜 - I do not give permission for anyone to translate, copy, republish, or plagiarize any of my written works. I provide no permission for any of my literary works to be used in artificial intelligence. sparkle banner(s) by @adornedwithlight !!
