#tiaf teaser

[nerevarswritingstuff]

TIaF Teaser - Chapter 46

A small pause. Wukong hears Macaque snort. He catches Macaque leaning closer, his tail lazily circling behind Firecracker. “Well,” he murmurs, his voice dipping into something that’s almost amused, “I suppose I should be flattered, then? You’re paying such close attention to my behavior, spitfire.”

“I have to when you’re being a whole bag of dicks,” says Firecracker, squinting at him. “And that wasn’t a compliment.”

His tail lazily flicks against their ankle. “Pity,” he hums, “I was enjoying the concern.”

Wukong nearly chokes.

Is—

Is he seriously—

Is he flirting?

Firecracker looks unimpressed. “Stop deflecting.”

“Observing,” Macaque corrects. “You get very intense when you’re annoyed. It’s endearing that you think a tiny human like you could make me shrivel up with a look.”

Okay—he’s definitely flirting. Wukong doesn’t know if he should feel envious, jealous, or impressed.

For a second, he felt a bit of it all. But then he saw the expression on Firecracker’s face remained unchanging. Did—Did they really not see what Macaque was doing?

They say, “I can make you shrivel on the ground with a knee to your balls, though.”

…

Nope. They’re clueless.

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TIaF Teaser - Chapter 49 (2)

Fengshe closes his eyes, images flashing past his eyelids. Memories of his last excursion into the Marrow, how foolishly he thought he could handle it alone. How he could have just asked Mother or Uncle Lion for help or some kind of backup while he fulfilled his end of the contract to Auntie.

He remembers his hands shaking so badly that he couldn’t keep a protective seal closed. He remembers the taste of rot and iron, the way the dead noticed when he still breathed and took personal offense to it.

He remembers how, three days later, Uncle Lion was the one to find him. 

Barely alive, covered in blood, in the field of ghost lotus, slowly sucking his very life force out of him. He still recalls the feeling of the roots getting pulled out of his skin. The way the gashes on his body were hastily—sloppily—sealed by magic. Uncle Lion’s arms holding him secure, tight. The first time Fengshe felt warmth in a week.

Fengshe can still remember the sound his body made when it hit proper sunlight—like something being torn loose from a grave.

Idiot boy, Uncle Lion had muttered then. Not angry. Terrified.

My headstrong child, Mother had scolded, tears in her eyes at nearly losing her youngest son—permanently. She nearly fought Auntie—Auntie—after finding out about their contract.

Then grounded Fengshe for a decade.

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TIaF Teaser - Chapter 40

Finally, you tug your hand away. “Okay, good.” Choosing to move the topic to something lighter, you say, “Because if you kept it to yourself, I’d have to punish you, you know.”

“Oh? Punish me, you say?” Wukong bends down, waggling his eyebrows. It’s seven different types of horrible. “And what kind of punishment are we talking?”

Not getting the innuendo he was insinuating, you say with a deadpan tone, “Not watching your awful soap operas with you, obviously.”

He sputters, his tail slapping at a cabinet before coiling around his ankle. “Buh—wha—firecracker!” He whines. Actually whines. You’ve heard plenty of his complaining, but this made him look more like a child than a several thousand-year-old monkey. “We were just about to get to the finale of ‘A Thousand Words Beneath the Moon’! You can’t do that!!”

You reach out and flick his forehead. “Then you better make sure to practice proper communication, huh?”

“You are cruel. Awful. I can’t believe you would ever threaten such a thing.”

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TIaF Teaser - Chapter 44

Wukong’s tail curls tight around his ankle. His fists tremble at his sides. “You pushed me away! You were the one that kept making all the accusations!”

“You made it easy with all the shit you pulled back then!”

Wukong’s voice raises with the temperature, “You didn’t give me a damn choice!!”

Before he knew what he was saying, the words ripped from Macaque’s throat, “I didn’t think you wanted me anymore!”

The echo hit the stone, then faded. Everything stopped the minute he said that, admitted it. The anger in Macaque drained all at once, filling him with a sudden emptiness.

Wukong just stares. Wide-eyed. Breathless like someone knocked the wind out of him.

…

…

…

“…I did,” Wukong whispers. A quiet, but true confession. Macaque knows it’s true because Wukong was a terrible liar because his heartbeat would always increase and— “I always did.”

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TIaF Teaser - Chapter 49

Red Son’s jaw tightens. He looks around, searching for any eavesdroppers, and scoots closer. “I need to get into the Kingdom of Marrow.”

MK sucks in a sharp breath and Mei goes still. Fengshe doesn’t react. Not outwardly, that is. Inwardly, something old and cold unfurls its claws. His tone remains deadpan when he speaks, his expression barely readable to the three young adults, “That’s a terrible idea. You should try having a better one.”

Red Son huffs, flames licking along the strands of his hair. “I don’t need your opinion, Fengshe. I need your help.”

Fengshe studies him closer this time. The tension in his shoulders, the way his flames are too controlled, like he was gripping them tight so they won’t betray him. It’s not bravado he’s trying to give, it’s resolve.

“You know it’s still dangerous, little brother,” Fengshe says.

“I know.”

“You know it’s sealed for a reason.”

“I’m well aware, thank you.”

“You know most people who go in… don’t come out.”

Red Son meets his gaze. “You did.”

“Barely.” Fengshe feels the fur on his tail bristle. “And that's only because Uncle Lion found me. Mother grounded me for a decade when she found out. What do you think she and Auntie Iron will do if they find out what we did?”

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TIaF Teaser - Chapter 38

“How…” The oracle looks at their hands, rubbing the pad of their thumb and index finger together. “How… bad can his anger get…?”

…

Erlang’s brows knit downward. He doesn’t mean to, but he does a quick scan of their body, trying to catch a flinch, a twitch, to see if any part of them was harmed. He’s thankful to find nothing but the tension in their shoulders. He shifts in his sitting position, propping a leg onto the bench so he may properly face them.

Looking is one thing, but asking is another.

“Oracle,” he starts, slow, steady, so they may back out should they desire to. “Did he hurt you?”

Their response was just a second later, “No, he didn’t. He…” Their mouth forms the word ‘almost’, and that’s enough for him to know. Almost is bad enough, but he knew better than to step into something that’s, frankly, not his business. Even if the deepest recesses of his thoughts, his desires, screamed to march over to Sun Wukong’s temple and confront him for harming a human—a heaven blessed, no less—he doesn’t.

It will not help, his thoughts tell him, though he already knows. It will only make it worse.

So, he’ll remain on the sidelines. Watching. Waiting. Offering a hand. Just as Azure Lion taught him so many years ago. Too many years too late. He’s aware. But that old lion would argue it’s never too late to try now.

[nerevarswritingstuff]

TIaF Teaser - Chapter 39

“I want you to fix this mess you made before it gets worse,” Macaque tells them. He knows they want to. He’s heard enough hints of hitched breathing and heavy, wet sighs to know they’ve cried through sleep thinking about it. Either that or he’s making heavy assumptions right now, but given their closed-off stature, he’s willing to be bold with those assumptions.

Spitfire runs their fingers through their hair. “What mess are you getting at?!”

“I already said it!” Now he’s getting frustrated. Is it really that hard to see how stupid their current actions are?! “Talk. To. Him! You’re doing no favors to anyone, least of all your-fucking-self, by forcing this distance.” Rolling his eyes, his grievance speaks for him, "You'd think for someone who grew up with little to no friends, you'd want to actually keep the ones you have right now rather than actively sabotaging the relationship."

Silence.

Macaque hears their heart flutter, their breath—subtle as it may be, he always hears subtleties—sucking in through teeth. He sees their eyes turning glossy, filled with hurt and anger and a hint of betrayal. Since their argument concerning his jabs towards Wukong in front of MK, they hardly ever fought after. They bickered still, sure, but not to that extent in a while.

Fengshe was the first to break the silence, “A smooth talker as always, big brother.”

[nerevarswritingstuff]

TIaF Teaser - Chapter 47

Uncle Zan doesn’t even flinch, that smile still in place. One arm holds the basket, the other tossing up a—

A fig?

“Uncle—”

“Too slow. You’re dead.”

You rub your shoulder, pouting without realizing it. “What was that for?!”

“As I said.” Uncle Zan catches the fig, his smile growing. “Practical application. Your reflexes have gotten better thanks to Macaque’s training, but now you must apply that to your shield creation.”

Before you can protest further, he flicks his wrist, and another fig sails through the air. You react more on instinct this time, dodging out of the way. Uncle arches a brow, saying, “No dodging, nibby. You know how to dodge. Now you must learn how to deflect.”

“Is there no better way to do this? Like—I dunno—using lychee instead?” Something that won’t bruise you if it hits you, preferably. You never realized how hard Uncle could throw until that fig collided with your shoulder.

“Lychee is too easy. And so, figs!” He throws another. It hits you square in the thigh before you can react.

“Ow!”

“Too slow. Again.”