monkeykingdomblog2

[monkeykingdomblog2]

Was having conversations in @blackknight-kai's Discord Server with @karoxarts and one other who asked to stay anonymous about Wukong and they directly inspired me to write this! While writing I was imaging Wukong to look like @aerkame's Demon Lord, but you can imagine him how you want, albeit long hair for him is described. (I love me some long haired Wukong…)

Smut ahead

Most mammals can smell when a female goes into estrus/starts ovulating and that normally triggers rut and mating displays in the males.

That means Wukong would know when you're ripe for breeding.

Snorting hot steam against your skin as he takes a deep breath, savoring your smell as it washes over him. His eyes roll into the back of his head as they flutter closed, his hands moving to your hips and gripping them tight enough to make you squeak. He pulls you back against him, his firm chest against the entire length of your back as he enjoys this change in you. He grazes his sharp canines over the gentle slope of your throat, nuzzling his flat nose against you to get more of that intoxicating smell.

"You smell divine today Peaches…you'll let me indulge a little today, right? Just for a little while, till I'm satisfied…" He chirps in your ear, nipping its shell.

Hours later he's still not satisfied. Kneeling on the bed above you, your face pushed into the pillows as he humps against your ass, his cock buried deep inside and moving with quick sharp jerks. He's not even pulling out all the way, keeping himself nestled inside you where that delicious smell is emanating, begging for his seed. You just need to keep your hips up for him.

He gets frustrated when he finally cums inside your sloppy cunt and then his cock is too sensitive for another round. It's still hard and throbbing, his sheathe drooling your combined fluids down his still full ball sack, but every touch to the pink skin has him hissing and gritting his teeth. He wants to plunge back inside you but it's too much.

You try to use this time to convince him to take a small break, just to get some water and relax for a moment, you both have plenty of time to keep going. (It's also a chance for you to rest, your cunt lips fat and swollen as they leak fluids over your thighs. Your clit is so damn sensitive it hurts to touch, you need a break-)

So Wukong throws on one of his silk robes to race to the kitchens and grab some water and snacks, grinning smugly to himself at the blush all the monkeys he passes get on their face at the overwhelming smell of sex coming off him.

When he comes back you're resting with your eyes closed, the hickeys and bite marks he left all over you already darkening against your skin. He places the plate of fruit on the bed beside you and tosses off his robe, climbing up and settling with his knees on either side of your hips. His cock is back in its sheathe now, soft but twitching in interest at the sight of you. Your pretty eyes flutter open to see him looming above you, a gourd of water in hand. He uncorks it and holds it to your lips, gently tipping it and letting you drink your fill. Your throat is parched and rough from your earlier screams, and you drink greedily. No matter how much you drink though, there's always more water left.

When you've had your fill Wukong takes the gourd back and takes his own drink, staring at you as he does. Water trickles from his lips and down the column of his throat, darkening his soft fur as it goes. You watch his throat bob as he drinks, listen to the sound of him swallowing. It reminds you of him eating your cunt out multiple times today, pressing your thighs against your stomach to give himself the best angle as he suckled your clit and thrust his tongue inside your puffy hole, moaning about how sweet you taste - how you taste even better with his own cum leaking from your womb.

You squirm and wiggle your hips under his own, biting your lower lip as you watch him drink. You're still so sore but...he makes you feel so good, you can't help the heat pooling in your tummy.

Wukong finishes his drink with a gasp, licking his chops clean of water as he corks it back up and tosses it to the side. He doesn't even acknowledge your squirming, simply leaning over and inspecting the variety of fruits he brought. His tail flicks gently in the air as he thinks, and you admire his naked form. Thick thighs around your hips covered in soft fur that thins out to an almost velvety texture at his apex. His sack is still fat and full looking, balls resting against your skin right above your mound. His sheathe keeps his cock hidden from sight, the adorable shade of pink you love kept secret. The velvety fur goes up along the V-shape of his hips and the long line of his torso, making his belly and chest feel incredibly soft when he presses against you. There's a distinct line where the fur thickens back up again surrounding this soft velvet, where his sides meet with his tummy and chest. Despite all of it you can still make out the definition of hard muscle covering him, thick and strong from so many years of hard work. Small lines cut through the fur in specific places, scars from old injuries he simply brushed off like they were nothing as he kept fighting.

His broad shoulders make you want to touch, to tangle your fingers in the fur there and pull him closer to you. The length of his neck leads up to his handsome face, his long flowing hair undone from his usual high knot thanks to your clever fingers when he first stole you away to your shared bedroom this morning. His long hair falls down his neck and over his shoulders like a waterfall, the ends curling up ever so slightly and begging for you to twirl your fingers between them.

You do so, playing with the strands as he looks over the plate of fruit, smiling softly to yourself as you watch him. His lips are pulled into a puzzled frown, his strong brow furrowed, golden eyes glaring at the fruit. It seems none of the pieces offered are 'perfect enough' to present to you. Finally his eyes light up at the sight of one of the peaches, a perfect shade of light pink and yellow. He plucks it between sharp claws and holds it up to your lips, leaning further over you.

You keep playing with his hair and watching him as he moves, opening your mouth on autopilot to bite into the soft fruit without thinking. A burst of sweetness over your tongue, juice gushing back over your lips and dribbling down your chin as he pulls it away. His own eyes watch the trail of juice as you chew, pupils dilating at the sight. Wukong snorts hot breath over your skin and leans in closer, pressing his tongue against the bead of juice on the column of your throat. He licks one long, hot stripe up your soft skin and back to your lips, licking over them before pulling away once more. You follow him for a proper kiss, pressing your lips against his desperately as your fingers tangle further into his hair. He meets you happily, opening his mouth and licking across your soft lips for more of that sweet taste. You open for him, peach still in your mouth as you kiss. His tongue wiggles inside and he groans low in his chest, the combination of your taste with his favorite fruit sending fire through his veins. You can feel his balls twitch against your lower tummy, the length of his spent cock slowly peeking back out as his interest returns.

His tongue steals from the piece you were chewing as he pulls back, swallowing the fruit with a satisfied sigh. You swallow too, the taste of him mixing nicely with the ripe peach flavor.

"Damn you sweetheart, I wanted to give you that rest you were begging for but now-" He looks pointedly at his half hard cock, one eyebrow raised accusingly at you. "Looks like you'll have to wait a little longer."

You don't even try to protest - despite how sore your pussy still feels, the heat is back in your belly and you want him. You're still too exhausted to do much though.

Your mate, ever the observer, knows this. Wukong pushes the plate of fruit away from you both before gripping your hips. Lifting himself up, he flips you onto your belly with no issue, settling back down with his cock now resting against the curve where your ass meets your thighs. You settle down on your tummy as comfortably as you can, bringing your arms up to rest your head against and letting your husband do as he pleases with your body.

His clever fingers push at the meat of your ass cheeks to spread them open, revealing both of your holes to his greedy view. He takes in the sight of your previous mating, your combined fluids still wet and sticky where it's been rubbed into your skin. Your thighs and ass have streaks of creamy white smeared all over, your pussy swollen and puffy with an engorged clit just begging for his touch. He can't resist the temptation, pressing the pad of his thumb against the swollen pearl. You cry out immediately and buck against his hand, and his chest swells with pride that he can reduce you to this.

"Fuck-! Be-be gentle, please...fuck, it hurts baby..." You whimper against your arms, your hips wiggling. You don't know if you want to pull away or press closer against him.

"Do you want me to stop?" Wukong purrs, leaning over you and pressing his lips to the shell of your ear. His long hair falls around you both at the motion, his eyes intense as they watch you.

"N-no...please keep going..." He hums in response, satisfied by your answer and leaning back onto his haunches to keep playing with you.

He hooks two thumbs inside your cunt, spreading the fat lips open to watch as his own cum stretches into sticky strands inside your opening, some snapping under their own weight. Your gummy walls flex and squeeze against empty air as his thumbs keep you spread, a satisfied growl rumbling from him. You no longer feel embarrassed when he does this to you, watching your stuffed cunt without shame. He makes a habit of doing it every time he breeds you.

"Look at this perfect cunt. So pretty, and all mine, right love? Made perfect to take my cock and grow my seed into perfect little children, hmm?" His words make a fresh wave of heat wash over you, a moan escaping your mouth as you rock your hips back and forth against his hold.

"Yes, yes please..." You whimper, and he chuckles above you. You feel him wiggle his own hips closer into place, one hand leaving your ass to grip his fully erect cock. He settles back comfortably on his haunches, dragging the tip of his pink head against your slick folds.

"Hmmm, just can't get enough of you my sweet peach...I know you need a break, a proper one, and I'll give it to you...I'll give it to you, I promise..." He huffs and snorts as the smell of your arousal surrounds him, eyes locked onto the sight of his cock pressing against you. The tip of his head catches on your opening as he rubs, pressing so close against you, nearly inside-

"But first just-...just one more round...one more should be okay, right love? It's okay for me to fuck this sloppy cunt one more time, you can take it can't you?" You whimper in response, pressing back against him as much as you can with his weight holding you down. "Yeah, yeah you can take it...my good, sweet peach..."

He finally presses his cock inside your soaked hole, his length sliding in easy from the copious amounts of cum and slick already there. You squeal and bite onto one of your pillows, your toes curling as your mate's cock bullies its way into your sore pussy. The pain feels like ecstasy, heat tearing through you as you pant and moan and can do nothing but take what your mate gives you. Wukong throws his head back with a groan of his own, hissing and biting his bottom lip as his own too sensitive cock is squeezed by you. He brings his gaze back down quickly, not wanting to miss the sight of your perfect, greedy cunt sucking him dry.

"F-fuck. All—hehe, all that talk about needing a break—but look at you...cunt is just desperate to be fucked. Look at how you squeeze me, what a filthy little whore I've chosen for my mate~" You cry out at his words, wiggling your aching hips desperately to try and get him to move-

"Pl-please! Please Wukong, please move my love, please-! I need it..." You hear him chuckle above you.

"Whatever my sweet, filthy peach desires. You want me to fuck you senseless? Turn you into a cock addicted toy that's desperate for my cum?" He does as you ask, pulling his hips back and starting a rough, brutal pace that has your overwhelmed cunt gushing and seizing in response. Your breath is caught in your throat, the wet sound of his hips smacking against yours echoing around your lavish bedroom. You babble in response to his words, you don't know what you're saying, just anything to get him to keep moving like that-

"Wh-what am I saying? As if you aren't that already! You can't—unf, f-fuck...can't even speak when I fuck you, hmm? Do you like this peaches? L-like being my good little breeding mount?" The coil in your tummy tightens, your hips trying to buck desperately against his own even with him holding them down.

"Y-yes-! Yes, please, fuck-! Breed me my love, break me on your cock-!" Tears leak from the corners of your eyes as you try to watch him over your shoulder. Wukong growls at your words and leans in closer, licking up your tears as they fall before pulling you into a searing kiss. His tongue tastes like peaches and salt when it tangles with your own, the flavor making you dizzy.

The coil in your belly snaps - a blissful wave washing over you, the stinging of your oversensitive pussy just adding to the sensation and overwhelming your senses. You feel Wukong growl where he's pressed against your back, his thrusts turning sloppy and uncoordinated as hot, viscous cum floods your insides.

His cock twitches where it's nestled inside you, blocking his seed from leaking back out. Your womb swells with it, nestled comfortably against the softness of your bed. Your entire body is shaking as the high fades away, limbs limp and unable to move. Wukong pulls away from your kiss, strands of saliva connecting your tongues snapping under their own weight.

He doesn't move too far, simply pressing his forehead against the warm skin of your shoulder, panting as he comes down from his own high. His cock is still leaking a steady trickle of cum inside you, his balls flexing where they rest at the apex of your thighs. His claws dance around the skin of your hips and lower back, like he doesn't know what to do with his hands but needs to touch you. You simply lay together, enjoying the afterglow.

[monkeykingdomblog2]

Rise and Change

Relationship: Caesar (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) X Reader

AN: So this took me waaaaaayyyy too long to finish because it follows the plot of the first movie but I had to add Reader in there and add my own stuff that I wanted to see and do with Caesar. I hope it’s enjoyable, please let me know if you like it, this took so goddamn long to get out, clocking in at 26k words, the longest thing I've written and posted.

Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Character Death, Fluff, Falling in Love, Friendship, Revolution, It’s the entire 2nd and 3rd act of the first movie but with Reader, Reader is ride or die for Caesar and the apes, Please let me know if I’m missing any tags

Read it on AO3!

“Hey, c’mon, down here.” 

You watched out the corner of your eye as Dodge gestured to the new chimp, trying to lure him into his new cage. You grimace and keep mopping up the hallway.

You hate this awful place. 

Years of schooling and study for your degree to work with apes and the best job you could get was this - a miserable concrete prison that treated its occupants like shit. You would have quit and reported this place long ago if the resulting guilt wouldn’t eat you alive. So many of these apes are here because of human intervention and cruelty, and there was nowhere else for them to go. The zoo wouldn’t take them and the medical research facilities nearby would only keep them for short periods of experimentation before returning them. If this place was shut down…all of these apes would no doubt simply be euthanized. Much cheaper than relocating them to a new facility.

You couldn’t live with yourself if you let that happen.

The best you could do in this situation was try to make them happy and comfortable - as much as you were able to in this shithole at least - and keep Dodge from hurting them.

The new chimp dropped down as expected, Dodge closing the door lightning fast and locking it with a key. The poor thing was clearly confused and hooted, and Dodge mimicked it before laughing to himself.

“Stupid monkey.” He muttered, glaring. 

“Ape.” You said. He turned to you, blond hair falling in his face.

“What was that, freak?” You sigh and lean against the handle of your mop, returning his glare full force. You didn���t care that his father ran the place, you weren’t terrified of him like Rodney was and he knew it.

“He’s an ape. They’re all apes. And they aren’t stupid. They have a much higher intelligence than you know.” Dodge took a step closer to you, trying to make himself look taller. Behind you in his cage, Rocket hooted softly and swung his arms, watching. The new ape moved closer to the cage door, his eyes on you.

“Course I should expect the freak to try and defend these things. You like ‘em so much, why don’t we just put you in the cages with ‘em? See how quickly you change your tune.” You bite your tongue, refusing to back down as you glare at him. A sickening smile spreads across his face as he leans into your personal bubble.

“Or maybe you’d like that, huh? Fucking gross.” You snarled at what his words were insinuating, pushing him away from you. The apes in their cages went wild at the motion, screeching and jumping between the linked walls of their cages, shaking the metal with all the force they could muster. Dodge laughed and turned away, screaming at the apes and riling them up further. You watched as the new chimp slammed against his own cage door, and a shock of interest shot through you at the expression he had. You don’t think you’ve ever seen an ape look so…despondent. Almost human, even…

Those vivid green eyes lowered to the floor, his fingers going limp in the metal links of his cage.

“That all you got!? C’mon! It’s a madhouse! It’s a madhouse!” Dodge screamed as he walked up the ramp, throwing his head back and laughing as the screeching got worse. He knew you had the rest of the night shift to work with the apes, and with them so excited it would make certain tasks near impossible. You sigh to yourself and get back to mopping. It was best to let the apes tire themselves out and do your best to ignore the screeching.

It took nearly half an hour, but eventually they did settle back down into a quiet lull. You had already finished your cleaning but it wasn’t dinner time yet, so you decided to check on your newest charge.

He still had his red sweater and sweatpants on, and if it weren’t for all that hair you would have thought it was a human in the cage. Green eyes glanced up at your approach, and he huddled in on himself further.

“Hey there-” You look at the tag on his door, “Caesar, right? That's a fancy name. Very handsome.” You spoke softly, and without any prompting dropped a cookie into the food slot for him. He perked up at the ‘thunk’ as it slid in but didn’t move. “I’m going to do my best to take care of you till your dad can get you out of here. At least, I'm going to try. I stole these from Dodge, so don’t tell him I’m sharing them okay?” You giggle to yourself, shaking the bag of cookies like a prize.

He scooted closer at your words, untrusting. After the day he’s had you don’t blame him.

With careful precision he grabs the cookie and holds it close, as if expecting you to snatch it back from him. The intelligence you see in his eyes is startling. Other apes have certainly understood humans, research shows they’re capable of that, but something in Caesar's gaze tells you his intelligence goes beyond that. Your own eyes dance over his, taking note of each fleck of golden green in his iris. Then his hand comes up to touch his chin and moves away.

‘Thank you.’ He signs. You gasp in delight, smiling and moving closer to his door.

“You know ASL? Oh that's fantastic! I’m sure Maurice would be happy to have another friend to chat with when I’m not here.” The chimp before you raises an eyebrow, a very human gesture that stands out to you once again. Rocket coos from behind you, and you stop your excitement from rising too high after meeting this fascinating new ape. You have plenty of time to understand him, but you need to make sure none of the other apes get jealous at your attention shifting.

“I’ll be back to check on you later, I have to get treats out to everyone before they get upset. Don’t worry Caesar, everything will be okay.” You try to reassure him one last time before turning and dropping a cookie into Rocket’s tray. He’s a bit of a bully to the others, but that's simply how ape hierarchies work. You move on and drop a sweet treat in all the trays, smiling at Maurice and Cornelia; as well as Fern, Coco, Benny, Milo, Bobo, all of them. The hall is filled with the sounds of soft cooing as each one enjoys their treat, and all the while you can feel a pair of intelligent eyes watching you.

Being careful not to make too much noise you open the door to the yard and sneak across the way to the massive holding cell in the corner. Buck the gorilla hides in the dark with his back to you, sitting still as a statue.

“Hey Buck…I have a treat for you. I made sure to save the biggest cookie in the package just for you.” You speak softly as you drop it in his feed tray, but are not surprised when he doesn’t turn around. Your heart clenches in sympathy for him, such a gentle giant being completely misunderstood just because of his size…

“I stole the bag from Dodge again. I hope that makes it taste sweeter.” You say. 

When you sneak back to check on him later, the cookie is gone.

~~~~~~~

“Dinnertime!” Dodge calls out, and the apes stick their hands out of the slots of their cages as he scoops chow into their food trays. The gunk smells disgusting and is not at all a proper diet for an ape, but John has never once listened to your concerns about their care. You help Rodney add fresh hay to their beds, bold enough to actually add it to their sleeping area instead of just shoving it inside the slot and hoping they would make it themselves like your coworker did. He follows you diligently with the wheelbarrow and doesn’t say a word. 

It feels like only moments later that you hear Dodge getting upset, and you roll your eyes as you get up to face him and step in. You turn just in time to see Caesar shake his hand to clean off the slop and fling it into Dodge’s face. A laugh escapes you before you can stop it. Rodney isn’t doing much better next to you, chuckling into his fist as the apes around you huff in amusement. Caesar himself gives a breathy series of hoots you would call a laugh.

Dodge turns to glare at you and Rodney with fiery eyes before turning back to Caesar, scowling at the ape.

“Think that’s funny huh!? I’ll show you funny-” With a gasp you watch as he grabs the emergency fire hose from the wall and drags it over, shoving the nozzle in between the rungs of the cage. Before you can stop him, he turns it on full blast and hits Caesar square in the chest. The poor ape is knocked off his feet and slammed against the wall, screeching as freezing cold water buffets him from every angle.

You scream and rush forward, pulling and hitting at Dodge’s back while Rodney sits uselessly behind you with the wheelbarrow.

“Dodge! Stop it! Fucking knock it off you monster-!” You shout, getting a tight grip on his blond hair and yanking his head back as hard as you can to get him to stop. He loses his grip on the hose and it clatters to the floor, still spraying water and soaking the both of you. You don’t care, all that matters is that he’s not hurting Caesar.

It’s Rodney who grabs the flailing hose and shuts the flow off, stepping backwards as Dodge wrestles out of your grip and shoves you into the cage behind you. The metal digs painfully into your side and leaves you gritting your teeth, glaring at your coworker in defiance. 

“Don’t touch me you freak!” He shouts at you before turning back to the ape in the cage. “You’ll learn who’s boss soon enough.” He growls, wiping angrily at the gunk still on his face. Caesar picks himself up from the soaked cement and hay of his cage, wiping water from his face and shivering under his red sweater. You stand back up and lean on the metal behind you, which you only now realize is Maurice’s cage. The orangutan is sitting close to the bars, one of his large fingers poking through and gently curling around the edge of your shirt. He lets out a soft coo at you. Your own fingers curl against his to let him know you’re okay as you force yourself to stand tall.

“What about his clothes?” Rodney asks, very carefully not looking in your direction, the coward.

“What about ‘em!?” Dodge shouts. Rodney jumps and scrambles for what to say. You glare at their backs.

“I-I-I don’t know…It might cause problems with the other apes.” He shrugs. Dodge snorts.

“Good.”

The ache in your side and hip has faded to a dull throb, so you push at Rodney’s back and snarl at the both of them.

“Get the fuck out of here, both of you. I have your temper tantrum to clean up.” Rodney to his credit, looks ashamed under your gaze, but Dodge simply meets you with one of his own, kicking the length of the hose as he stomps away. Rodney follows him.

You grunt as you kneel before Caesar’s door, ignoring the burn in your hip at the motion as you speak softly to him.

“Are you okay? I’m so sorry, he’s such an asshole.” Caesar wipes at his wet fur and huffs in response, curling up in the middle of his stone cell where it’s driest. Your heart aches at the sight of him.

“Let me go get you a towel.” You whisper. He doesn’t respond.

Rocket stands at his door and bares his teeth in Caesar’s direction and you can’t help but mutter at the ape, even though you know it won’t change anything.

“Be nice to him, Rocket. Please.” The chimpanzee continues to bare his canines, completely oblivious to your words.

You root around through the storage closet for the softest towel you can find and pass it through the bars towards Caesar. The ape makes no attempt to grab the cloth from you, only watching with sad eyes as you sit in front of his cage. Water soaks the bottom of your pants but you don’t care.

“...If I could move you guys somewhere nicer…I would in less than a heartbeat. Somewhere with sunshine and grass and real trees you could climb to your heart’s content. If I could make it possible I would.” You sigh, cradling your head in your free hand, elbow resting on your thigh. You drag your hand down your face and scrub at your skin, trying to shake off the bone deep exhaustion you feel. Caesar watches you with those green eyes.

“If I could take you home I would.” You swallow, regret and anguish building inside you, your throat closing from the emotions. 

It simply isn’t fair. 

“I’m sorry.” You whisper. Caesar’s eyes widen at your words, his head lifting from where it lays on the ground. He shuffles and sits back up, scooting closer to you despite the door between you both. He tentatively grabs the towel you were still holding through the bottom slot, patting at the fur of his head as he watched you. You bring our hand back through the metal opening and simply sit in silence with him as he dries off.

“...You’re going to be sent into the yard tomorrow, they won’t let you stay in here. It…might be best to take off your clothes. Other apes won’t like the scents on them.” You finally mutter. Caesar looks at you and then down at his sweater, the towel damp where he dropped it on the ground. His hand moved up to his chin and along the edge of his jawline.

‘Home.’ 

“...I’m sorry.” It felt like the only thing you could say. 

He didn’t move to take his clothing off, and you didn’t insist any further. It was much later that John found you dozing against the metal of Caesar’s door, your cheek pressed against the metal rungs. He didn’t notice Caesar’s fingers tracing the curve of your cheek before he pulled his hand back inside, pretending he wasn’t interested in your sleeping form as John woke you up and demanded you go rest.

When he found the small rock at the bottom of his cage he was overcome with pain and longing, and began to draw. He wanted to be home again, he wanted the feel of cool glass from his window pressed against his cheek, the sound of neighborhood kids laughing and riding their bikes echoing around him, the smell of his attic bedroom filled with his clothes and his books and gifts from his grandfather while his father and Caroline made dinner downstairs.

He wanted Will and Caroline and Charles to be there, holding him.

He wanted you to be there too. Your hand holding his own as you smiled.

~~~~~~~

You slam the door behind you as you practically run down the ramp, stopping next to John as he examines his clipboard.

“What the hell happened?” You demand. John sighs, rolling his shoulders as if he’s carrying a great weight on them.

“A scuffle-turned-fight in the yard. Dodge had to knock out Rocket and the new one to take ‘em back in. The new one is meeting with his owners now.” He shakes his head as he speaks and you grow angrier at his words. You shove past him and head towards the front office, moments later his footsteps sound behind you as he follows.

“Ey, don’t you give me that attitude. You don’t know what's best for these animals, I do. They aren’t cute little puppies and kittens that you can cuddle and play with, you hear me? They’re savage-” You ignore him as he speaks, bullshit you’ve heard many times over and don’t care to entertain any longer. You’re just about to burst through the door into the main office when his hand grips your shoulder and forces you to face him. You grit your teeth and crane your neck to look through the glass, catching sight of two people crouching in front of Caesar in the separation cage, Dodge leaning against the other entrance door with his arms crossed.

“They will kill you before you can say ‘help’, ripping your limbs off one by one.” You jerk your arm out of John’s grip, stepping away from him again. He’s about to continue his rant about your behavior when movement inside the office catches your eyes. The man who left Caesar here is holding Dodge up by his shirt, slamming the blond against the wall and getting in his face. John leaves you immediately to slam open the door, angrily demanding to know what was happening. You follow, ignoring the strangers in the room and crouching next to Caesar.

“I’m taking him out of here right now.” The man says, grabbing the key off the wall.

“Not without a court order you’re not.” John says, snatching the key and tossing it to Dodge. You ignore their argument and focus on your ape friend, grabbing the hand he has hanging out of the door slot and looking it over. Dried blood cracks and flakes from his palm, the woman next to you holding a damp rag stained pink with a water bowl. 

“Oh Caesar…” The ape coos at your voice, tracing your cheek with a single finger. The woman sitting next to you stares at the display, her gaze steely as she watches you. You feel heat rise to your cheeks, but you don’t do anything to stop Caesar’s touch.

“Have you been taking care of him?” The woman asks. You swallow, your throat closing up as you look more closely at the cut on Caesar’s hand.

“...I’ve been trying to, the best I can in this place.” You grumble. Caesar hoots, using his free hand to sign at the pretty woman next to you.

‘First friend.’ 

You bite your bottom lip at his kind words to describe you, a burning sensation in your tummy you refuse to analyze right now in a room full of strangers and people you can’t stand. The man who brought Caesar in stands behind you, and you let the ape’s hand slide from yours so you can move out of the way. Caesar immediately tries grabbing at the man, pulling him in close to sign. The man looks torn, unable to meet Caesar’s gaze as they talk.

“No. No, we’re not going home right now.” 

Those are not the words the ape wanted to hear. You can see the disappointment and anguish on his expressive face as he snorts in response. You hear John open the door for visitors behind you.

“You have to trust me. Caesar, you have to trust me, okay?” The ape huffs, tears gathering in his eyes as he looks away from his father. You try your best not to choke as John speaks behind you.

“I think this visit is over.” The two visitors don’t put up a fight. The man simply tells Caesar to trust him once more before they stand and leave the way they came. Caesar barks and howls as they go, his voice echoing around you and doing nothing to distract you from the heartbreak you see in his eyes.

His howling sounds like a scream.

~~~~~~~

The next day passes, then the next and the next after that.

Caesar doesn’t seem to recover from the visit with his family, going quiet and contemplative in his cage, only moving when required to. You can see a faint outline of something drawn on the wall that was erased, and sometimes you walk into the hall to find him tracing the vague shape with a finger.

You do your best to comfort him.

“I went out and bought something different than cookies for today.” You speak at his door, holding up a shiny red apple for him to see. All the other apes are happily munching away at their fruity treat, some of them playfully throwing the skins at each other through the bars that you’ll have to clean up before Dodge or John come back. You don’t mind though, their screeches of joy make you happy. Caesar doesn’t look very enthused, but he still reaches a hand out to accept your gift.

You have one last apple left for Buck, and you tuck it back into your produce bag as you turn to leave.

“I’ll be right back, gotta make sure Buck gets his share!” You smile and make your way to the yard door, aware of Caesar signing for you to come back and speak more when you’re done. You nod at him, delight pooling in your tummy at the thought that he wants to talk to you more. You really have come to think of him as a friend, no different than any other human you would get to know.

Maybe even a little more…

The confusing mixture of emotions you feel at the idea of catching feelings for an ape isn’t easy or comfortable to sort through. He’s a chimpanzee, and yet in the short time you’ve known him Caesar has proven to be smarter than any ape you’ve ever come across, even smarter than many humans. It’s confusing and a little scary to admit, even to yourself, that you’ve been watching him more than the other apes in your care. That you’ve admired the form of his muscled chest under black fur, the cute birthmark on his right pectoral, the hidden strength his body holds. Even his face, different from your own but with a strong jaw and a stern but kind look to his features that has your chest fluttering.

You find yourself trying to ignore these messy thoughts and focus on what you’ve always done, taking care of the apes around you.

“Buck? Hey buddy, I have an apple for you!” The gorilla didn’t respond to your voice at first, sitting with his back to you as he always did. You didn’t let that deter you however, holding the apple through the bars of his cage instead of dropping it down his food hatch like you usually did.

“C’mon big guy. I’m not Dodge…I won’t hurt you. I just want to be friends.” You weren’t sure he could actually understand you, but the intelligence both Caesar and Maurice displayed made you question more and more everyday how little humans understood apes. All your years of schooling and you found yourself questioning so much of what had been taught to you. Whether they understood your words or not, they were still your distant cousins on the same family tree. You were an ape like them, even if you looked different.

Buck shifted where he sat, looking over his shoulder at you and the apple you held.

You had to bite your tongue to keep from gasping in delight as he slowly stood, stepping closer and closer to you. You stayed firm and kept your hand out, hoping that he wasn’t trying to fake you out and suddenly charge at you despite the bars separating you both.

His hand, absolutely massive compared to your own, reached up and plucked the apple from between your fingers with a gentleness only a giant like him could possess. 

“There we go…” You breathed a sigh of relief, smiling without teeth at the floor. You slowly retracted your hand from the bars, stepping back to give the gorilla his space. “Enjoy buddy. One day I’ll get you out of here, I swear.” Buck’s brown eyes watched you as he bit into the apple, juice dribbling down his chin as he munched away. 

“I’m…I’m going to show you a flower field. Where you can run and jump and play for as long as you want, with no Dodge or John there to try and lock you back up. I’ll even make you a flower crown!” You giggle softly at the idea of such a massive ape with a tiny ring of daisies strung around his head, but you mean every word. A nice big field with flowers and a ring of trees surrounding it growing his favorite fruits. A place any gorilla would be happy to call home…

“Someday. I promise.” You whisper. His eyes watch you as you turn away.

You made your way back inside, the sound of Caesar’s hooting catching your attention. He beckoned you over to his cage, giving the breathy sort-of-laugh he did when he was happy.

“Did you like the apple that much?” You giggled, settling down on the floor next to his door. It was nice to see him so happy after so many days looking miserable. His fingers immediately poked out between the rungs, pulling at strands of your hair and playing with them. You let him, content to sit and enjoy his company. It wasn’t long until he brought his free hand up, signing slowly to you.

‘Buck. Why?’ Your brow furrowed as you processed his words.

“Why what? Why is he in a separate cage?” Caesar shook his head at your words, thinking for a moment before trying again.

‘Why you. Always nice to ape, always kind.’ Heat rose to your cheeks at his praise, words failing you as you stuttered out an answer.

“I…I don’t know really. I’ve always loved animals, especially apes and monkeys and I don’t like seeing anyone suffer. I don’t want you guys to be mistreated but there isn’t…anything I can do to keep Dodge away from you guys. So I figured it’s better to try and help where I can.” You shrug and curl your knees up into your chest, resting your chin on top of them. Your eyes jumped from Caesar to Rocket to Maurice, thinking about the years you’ve spent here.

“I’ve spent months trying to get Buck to trust me. I guess I was hoping that…I don’t know, if I could somehow prove it to John that he’s not a horrible creature hellbent on killing then he could get better accommodations? He could be let out into the yard like the rest of you? I swear if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s clean in there I would think they threw out the key for his cage ages ago. I’ve never been able to find where they hide it but I swear if I did, I would be letting him out every night. He doesn’t deserve that treatment.” You look up at Caesar, the chimp’s fingers still playing with the ends of your hair.

“None of you deserve this. That's…heh, that's probably why they don’t show me where the keys are stashed, they know I would be letting you guys out without permission.” Caesar’s eyes widen at your words, his gaze darting down to your waist. Sure enough, your tool belt is devoid of any keys that would unlock their cells, only the most basic ones for the facility are on your loop. You sigh.

“Yeah…John doesn’t trust my decision making. Thinks I care too much about you guys.” You roll your eyes as Caesar snorts. You let yourself relax against his door, the smell of him surrounding you as your eyes grow heavy with sleep. It was a long day and you should have technically left a while ago, but you had wanted to stay late and make sure all the apes were okay. The gentle breathing of Caesar next to your ear combined with the soft hooting of the other apes, the gentle warmth of Maurice’s eyes on you from across the walkway made you feel safe. Caesar’s fingers still gliding through your hair didn’t do anything to chase away the call of slumber. You could easily fall asleep here…

The sound of the power turning on rang through the facility, the TVs above you flickering on as voices sounded down the hall.

“It’s like your own private zoo! There’s hundreds of them!”

“More like a prison for hairy dudes!” Laughter echoed, and you scrambled to get back on your feet, all thoughts of sleep chased away as you recognized the voices of Dodge and his friend. You didn’t recognize the girls with them. They weren’t supposed to be back here, this was an employee only space.

“They watch TV?” One girl asked. Dodge spun around to face her, amused.

“We call it ‘enrichment’.” 

“Aww, this one is so cute! What’s his name?” A blond girl asks, stepping up to the cage at the far end.

“Cornelia.” You speak, and they all jump at the sound of your voice, finally taking notice of you standing at the end of the hall. “Her name is Cornelia. And you all shouldn’t be back here, Dodge.” You growl out his name. Dodge just laughs at your tone and flips you off, clearly pissed that you interrupted his private time with his…friends.

“Shut up freak, we’re on our way out.” He hisses. The blond next to him crosses her arms over her chest, stepping away from Cornelia’s door. The other girl screams and clutches onto the other guy with them, staring at Maurice in his cage. You can see him huff and turn away from the group, staring out into the empty space of the yard through metal bars as the girl complains he ‘scared her’.

“Don’t scream at him like that!” You demand, leaving Caesar’s side to stand in front of Maurice’s door. The girls raise their eyebrows at you, judging you from head to toe. The boys laugh at you.

“No fun.” The girl who screamed complains. She rolls her eyes at you, and Dodge shoves the six pack of beer he’s holding into his friend’s arms. His friend smirks and passes the pack on to the blond girl, stepping forward to follow Dodge as he winks at them. You grit your teeth and all but snarl at Dodge.

“Didn’t you say you were on your way out? Get going!” You hiss. He ignores you, pulling his taser out from his belt loop and flicking it on with a ‘click’. You gasp and step towards him, about to yell at him to stop when-

“I’ll show you somethin’ fun, check this out!” And he drags the sparking tip against the metal of Rocket’s cage, sending sparks throughout the whole hallway and making the TVs flicker off. The girls scream and the apes follow with screeches of their own, immediately jumping and slamming themselves against their cages. You immediately try to do damage control, shushing and calming the panicking apes to the best of your ability and making sure none of them are actually hurt by Dodge’s ‘trick’. You hear the door above the ramp open, Rodney’s voice echoing.

“You, uh, y-y-you shouldn’t be in here.” He flinches when Dodge points his taser at him, shouting in response.

“You’re next if you don’t shut it!” He snarls. You scoff in disgust, looking back at the now frightened girls standing next to you. You gesture with an arm for them to move down the hall, away from the cages. They don’t give you any attitude, clinging to each other and looking at Dodge with expressions that scream they didn’t appreciate his actions. The blond coughs and beckons them towards him.

“C’mon, let’s go. I spend too much time here already, don’t want to end up like our resident freak here.” His friend laughs at his words as the girls scurry away. You roll your eyes and focus your attention on Huckleberry, soothing the bonobo until he feels comfortable enough to climb down from the top corner of his cage. 

“Hey, check out this guy.” The other guy with Dodge speaks, leaning closer to Caesar’s cage. He pulls out a multitool and pops off the cap of his beer.

“Yeah that one’s a pain in the ass. Thinks he’s special or something.” Dodge says. You move towards the guy, ready to intervene if he tries anything with Caesar.

“Freaky.” He smirks, teasingly holding his bottle closer to the cage door.

“You’re playing with fire.” You warn, folding your arms across your chest. The guy ignores you.

“It’s like he’s thinking or something-” Within moments Caesar has a vice-like grip on the guy’s shirt, yanking him closer to the door and staring into his eyes. He drops his beer bottle to the floor with a clatter as Dodge pulls his taser back out, running down the ramp. You gasp and rush forward as well, the girls shouting for the ape to let their friend go.

Caesar does just as both you and Dodge reach the door, Dodge yanking his friend back and away. You throw yourself between the taser and the cage, shielding Caesar from any jabs directed at him. Dodge stops himself just in time from electrocuting you, panting and glaring at the ape you’re protecting. You see Rocket slam against the door to his cage, scaring the other guy and making him back up from the hallway and towards the girls. They fuss over their friend, checking him over for any harm.

“Told you not to get too close, man.” Dodge tries to laugh the situation off, but when he looks back in your direction, it’s not you he’s looking at. His gaze is locked with Caesar, the ape huffing softly behind you. Your heart is pounding, blood rushing in your ears as you wait for your coworker to make a move. He doesn’t even try, simply stepping away and leaving with his friends.

The moment you hear the door click closed you turn to face Caesar, looking him over the best you can through the metal.

“Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you, did he?” You ask, panting and swallowing thickly in the aftermath of such a tense situation. Caesar stares at you for a moment, as if he can’t believe you’re real. 

‘Yes.’ He signs with one hand. You sigh in relief and slump against his cage, your eyes lowering to the floor as the adrenaline leaves you.

“I thought he was going to hurt you…” You whisper. You notice a glint of something shiny in his right hand and your brow furrows in curiosity. You open your mouth to ask what he has when a calloused finger is pressed against your lips.

“Shhh.” Caesar purses his lips as he shushes you, his finger tracing over your own lips with a gentle caress that has your breathing quicken for entirely different reasons than before. Your eyes dart towards his right hand once more before jumping back up to his green eyes. You can see it in his gaze - he’s planning something - and depending on your actions right here and now you could put a stop to it.

But why would you want to do that?

You nod your head slowly and step back from his cage. Caesar lets you go, his gaze warm and soft and trusting and you can’t hear anything over the pounding of your heart-

“I…I’m going to head…home. For the night.” You look over your shoulder at Maurice, the orangutan is staring at Caesar with a curious expression that mirrors your own. When you look back at the chimpanzee, he’s saying goodnight.

‘Be safe. Sleep well.’ 

“I-I will. You be careful too. Don’t…don’t do anything dumb.” He chuffs a laugh at your words, keeping his right hand from view still.

Inside the main office, you shout to Rodney that you’re heading home and that he should do the same.

~~~~~~~

You notice things are…different the next day.

Caesar and Maurice are happy to see you, signing away as you do your morning routine of checking the apes with Rodney. Knowing that your coworker wouldn’t say anything, you hold a spoon and a jar in between the bars of Maurice’s door.

“Avocado, your favorite~” You singsong. The orangutan gives a rare hoot of delight and takes the items from you with delicate care. Within moments he has the lid off and is scooping pureed green fruit into his mouth. Spoon gritted between his teeth, he signs a thank you that you accept with a nod. Happy he’s enjoying himself you turn and rush over to Caesar’s door, holding out a treat for him as well.

“Got a mango just for you Caesar! I tried to grab the ripest one, I hope it’s sweet enough.” You hold the fruit inside the bars of his cage for him to grab. He chuffs and reaches out, his hand caressing down the length of your forearm until he reaches the fruit in your palm. Your skin tingles where his fingers trace, your heart quickening where it sits in your chest. You bite your bottom lip as you smile, unable to meet his eyes. 

They’re so intense…vivid gold and green surrounding a warm brown that you’ve seen in your dreams so often lately…

He also signs a gentle thank you, the corner of his lips quirking up at the flustered reaction you have to his touch.

“N-no problem. I also bought some mini oranges for everyone else to enjoy, while you’re in the yard.” You point towards the office door, thinking of the bag of fruit you left sitting in the mini fridge. Caesar nods his approval, humming deep in his chest.

He bites into the soft skin of his treat as you tell him about your plans for the weekend, humming and signing along with your words. As you sit with him, you notice Rocket sitting in silence across the walkway. Normally the grey ape is more energetic in the early morning, jumping from one wall of his cage to the other while waiting for the ceiling to open for yard time. But now he sits in silence, glancing over at Caesar and you as you sit together. You give Caesar a questioning look and the ape merely brings a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, handing you the scraps of his mango as he chews.

It’s best you don’t ask.

You’re right in the middle of explaining a twist in your favorite TV show when the door to the office area opens. Both John and Dodge walk in, the man who left Caesar here following after them both. Dodge wastes no time in pushing you away from Caesar’s cage while muttering about how weird you are under his breath. John doesn’t even flinch at his unfriendly demeanor, used to the behavior his son shows both you and Rodney already. You move without fuss, but you catch Caesar glaring at the blond’s hand where it nudges you.

With a click and a slide the door is unlocked and opened, Dodge handing a leash to Caesar’s father figure. The man rolls his eyes but takes it, smiling softly at Caesar.

“Hey Caesar.” The ape in question sits on the ledge of his bed, staring resolutely at the floor. “Hey, c’mon bud. We’re going home.” Caesar refuses to meet his eyes. The man leans in closer to the ape, his voice growing more firm as he speaks.

“Home. I mean it, we’re really going.” This finally gets a reaction from Caesar, looking up to stare at his father figure. Without a sound he stands up, walking closer to the door. 

He pauses and looks over at where you stand, then further behind you and towards Maurice who is pressed against his own cage to watch everything. You smile softly at him, moving backwards to be closer to Maurice’s door. You’ll miss him, of course you will, but he has a home to get back to and it would be unfair of you to try and convince him to stay put in this hellhole. Maurice will miss him too, you know. The two of them have spent quite a bit of time together in the yard, signing together. Many times now they would both move to the part of the yard that offered glimpses into the cages to sign at you as you cleaned and prepped everything.

You’ll miss seeing them together. You’ll miss the way Caesar makes your heart flutter, as wrong as it may be to think such thoughts. He made working here just a little bit brighter-

The creaking sound of the door sliding closed draws your attention back.

Caesar has his gaze locked with his father figure, the metal grate of his door between them both. His father is still holding his hand up for Caesar to take, looking lost at the turn of events. You can’t help the tiny gasp of surprise that leaves you as you watch the chimpanzee turn and sit back down on his stone bed.

“Caesar?” His father calls, sounding lost and sad.

“Guess he likes it better here with his own kind.” John says. He turns and leaves as Dodge locks the cage door back up, smirking at the man as he snatches his leash back from him and leaves. You aren’t certain what to do, standing in the walkway next to Maurice’s cage and staring. Caesar has his back turned towards his father and everything else, staring resolutely at the wall.

The man looks over his shoulder at you and then back at Caesar, as if he can find the answer for this change in attitude in the cement walls and metal surrounding you both.

You fidget in place and watch as his hands drop to his side. With one last look at Caesar, he turns and walks away. The building is silent for a moment, as if every being inside was holding their breath.

And then, in the yard, you hear the sound of Buck gently bellowing.

Within moments the other apes join in and start up their own calls, all screeching and hooting in unison.

A nudge to your back makes you jump, turning to see Maurice’s knowing eyes staring at you. A shaky breath leaves you as you look around, the hooting sounding more and more like cheering with every second. You look back to Caesar and see the same shock you feel written all over his face. You step closer to his cage once more, gripping the open links of the metal as if you could pull it away and give your friend a hug he desperately needs. The ape seems to appreciate your presence anyways, stepping closer and touching your fingers with his own through the bars.

“It’ll be okay.” Is all you can say to him.

He gives you a sad smile in response.

~~~~~~~

It is very late.

And if John figures out you came to visit at this hour he’d have a fit about it.

But after spending hours laying in bed tossing and turning, wondering if Caesar was okay, you couldn’t take it anymore.

So here you were, in your pjs and slippers with a small case of bedhead, quietly unlocking the front door to the sanctuary and hoping Dodge was already asleep in the overnight shed instead of watching trashy movies. If he found you he would rat you out in seconds.

You creep through the dark office area and towards the ape holding cells with the flashlight of your phone to guide you, doing your best to avoid security cameras but knowing it wouldn’t make a difference. Dodge never checks them anyways.

With a quiet ‘click’ you sneak through the last door, and nearly drop your meager key ring and phone at the sight before you.

Caesar stands in the middle of the hallway, looking towards the opposite end, watching Rocket specifically. Rocket himself is going from cage to cage, dropping something from a bright blue package into the feed slots of all the apes.

You choke on your own gasp, standing stock still.

Caesar’s ear flicks in your direction before he turns, wide green eyes watching you with equal amounts of shock.

“...C-Caesar…?” You manage to whimper, and you see Rocket freeze in place at the bend of the hallway, his gaze locked on you now as well. He looks to Caesar and then back at you, as if waiting for an order. The chimpanzee simply stares at you.

You can see his gaze turn pleading, a subtle shift in his brow that tells you he would be begging you to keep silent about this, to forget what you weren’t supposed to walk in on. He takes one step towards you, his hand moving as if to reassure you before it drops limply at his side.

You look past him towards Rocket, the bright blue bag drawing your attention. 

Cookies.

Dodge’s cookies. 

A laugh of disbelief leaves you and you bring a hand up to drag over your face. Were you dreaming? A hard pinch to the skin of your cheek proves that no, no you aren’t dreaming. So many questions bombard the forefront of your mind - how did he get out, how did he get Rocket out, how long have they been able to just open their doors and wander around, why would he stay if he could leave - but only one manages to leave your lips.

“Did you remember to give one to Buck?”

Caesar jolts at the sound of your voice, staring in surprise at you where you still stand by the office door. He turns to look in the direction of the yard and then back at you, green eyes wide and hopeful.

‘Not yet. Just started.’ He signs. Rocket looks between him and you, lowering to a crouch and holding the bag of cookies close to his chest.

“I…I still have some mini oranges left in the fridge. If-...if you want to use those…” You mumble, feeling suddenly very stupid.

What the hell are you doing?

Caesar looks at you like you hung the very moon up in the sky, his large canines making a rare appearance as he huffs with delight at you. 

You decide you’re doing whatever it is that gets him to keep looking at you like that.

A flick of his wrist towards Rocket has the other ape going back towards the cages, dropping cookies into each feed slot as he goes. You hold your small ring of keys up into the air and jangle them at Caesar before tossing them. He catches them midair and stares at where they rest in his palm before looking back up at you.

“The small gold one opens the food locker, big silver one opens the supply cabinet. Keep them hidden from Dodge, and I’ll need to borrow them during the day for my duties.” You smile and turn around, going back into the office hallway, the sound of hooting apes following you.

You have oranges to grab.

~~~~~~~

The trickling sound of water mixes nicely with the delighted hooting of his own kind, Caesar thinks.

The hose in the yard was normally kept locked up behind the gates, but with the silver key he had playfully dancing between his fingers it was much easier to get access to small things that made the apes' lives better while they stayed here.

If he had his way, they would be leaving very soon. 

The group playing in the water look up to him and hoot softly, seeking his approval as the new alpha. He gives it to them, huffing and showing his canines in a friendly manner. Cornelia plays with an old milk jug to hold water and dumps it on another female, hooting in delight when the other ape returns the favor with a splash. It's nice to have others to play with, unlike his childhood home, always watching from the window. 

A sudden ��thump’ next to him gets his attention and he looks up to see Maurice. The orangutan is idle chewing and picking at the skin of a ruined avocado, the treat given to him this morning by you. He silently offers a piece, and Caesar waves it away. It's his gift from you, it's all his to eat as far as Caesar is concerned. The orangutan shrugs and pops the piece into his mouth, using his now free hand to sign.

‘Why cookie Rocket?’

Caesar looks at his friend before laying the silver key he was fidgeting with down, grabbing a stick and using it to make his point as he signs.

‘Ape alone, weak.’ The snap of the twig makes Maurice jump, his matted red hair tangling further with the straw covering the ground. ‘Ape together, strong.’ He holds the bundle of twigs he's made and tries to snap them further, failing.

It’s at this moment that a male chimp below them screeches in frustration at the ones gathered around the water, and another jumps and tackles him in response. The start of a brawl begins as males gang up on the one who interrupted their fun, Cornelia and the other female running up the branches on the very fake tree in the center of the yard, screeching in protest. Caesar straightens up, about to leap down from his spot and stop the fighting himself when the sound of your voice from the other end of the yard reaches their ears.

“Coco! Bono! Gordy! Leave Mickey alone!” The three males stop bashing the other and look at where you stand, the door leading to the inner walkways propped open by your hip, the second protective gate still closed and keeping you safe. “Everyone come get an apple! That’ll keep you all busy…” You sigh with fondness, handing shiny red apples out to all the apes as they crowd around you at the door. Your gaze catches Caesar’s, and he’s pleased by the flustered way you duck your head and avoid eye contact with him. He feels Maurice nudge him in the side, distracting him from the pretty sight you make taking care of his people.

‘Apes stupid.’ He signs. 

Caesar wants to laugh at the frankness his friend speaks with, but a sudden thought hits him full force.

He wasn’t stupid…because of-

‘Human kind. Good to have around.’ The orangutan continues, gesturing towards where you stand. Caesar nods, a wave of relief he wasn’t expecting washing over him. He knows that the two of you have a special bond, and yet a small voice in his mind had been agonizing over whether Maurice would approve of you being involved in their lives. If the orangutan thought it was best to keep you around though…it felt like a relief to find out he wasn’t the only one desiring your company.

He hadn’t shared his ideas of escape with Maurice yet, too many holes and what-ifs he had to straighten out first, but he was certain the other ape was aware he was planning something. And with the idea the orangutan had just given him about their intelligence problem, they might be moving sooner rather than later. Caesar didn't know what would happen afterwards, except that everything would change.

He really hoped you would be a part of that change. Knowing that Maurice would advocate to keep you around was a relief. He could only hope now that you would agree to stay with them - with him - after everything, and not run screaming out of his life.

He picks up the little silver key you had given him just the night before and twirls it between his fingers. His very non-human fingers.

Perhaps he was as stupid as Maurice claimed.

The harsh ringing that signified yard time was over blared throughout the room, and all the apes came to a sudden stop. They had all settled down around the metal guard door you were handing apples from, munching away and peeling at the skin of their fruits. At the noise, the hoard of apes stood and made their way back to the upper walkways leading to their cages, eager for dinner time despite their recent treat.

Caesar is the last one in the yard, still holding the key and his bundle of twigs. 

The guard door opens and closes with a harsh creak, and suddenly you’re standing next to him with a juicy looking apple.

“You better head back inside, before Dodge tries something.” The painted landscape on the walls makes you look vibrant, and something inside Caesar aches with the desire to see you out in proper sunshine, in a proper field of flowers and grass and trees. But instead you stay in here with them, in this awful place you have told him more than once is a ‘shithole’, and he can’t disagree with you. He just wishes he could provide something better for you, just like his fellow apes.

He huffs in agreement at your words and stands, happy that you decide to walk with him towards the opening in the upper wall towards the cages. When you’re both closer, you grab his hand, pushing the apple you offered earlier into his much larger grip and leaning close to whisper to him.

“I managed to convince John to let me work the night shift with Dodge tonight. He’ll probably settle down to watch trash TV and you’ll be free to do whatever, and I can help cover, long as it’s nothing too crazy.” Your face is so close to his own, he can see individual flecks of color in your eyes. The warmth of your breath mingles with his own and, not for the first time, he wonders if your lips are as soft as they look.

He wonders if he’ll ever get the courage to find out.

He nods at your words instead, about to thank you when he hears Dodge shouting.

“Dang it, Rodney, you leave the hose out in the atrium again?” The two of you glance over your shoulder at the hose still on and trickling water into the cement pool. Caesar immediately pushes the silver key he’s still holding into your softer, smaller hand.

“What!? No!” Rodney calls, panic clear in his voice.

“Calm down Dodge, it was me! I was just giving them some extra water, it was hot this morning.” You shout out, and Caesar can see Rodney running inside the yard towards the stairway leading to the second floor, where the water shut off is.

“Oh my god! Why are you so close to it!? Get over here before he-before he r-rips you ap-part-!” Rodney shouts at you, fearful eyes locked onto Caesar. The terrified man punches a code into the keypad, slipping inside the doorway and holding it cracked open for you. You roll your eyes, putting a hand on your waist as you respond. 

Caesar memorizes the code Rodney used.

“Oh yes, because he’s so malicious and evil, aren’t you Caesar?” You shoot him a teasing look. Caesar looks between Rodney hiding behind the metal door and you, and a wicked idea comes to mind. Huffing in amusement to himself, he leans closer to you, watching out the corner of his eye as Rodney grows more panicked. Quick as lightning he puckers his lips and places a kiss against your cheek, making sure the wet smack of his lips against your skin echoes around the space. It’s just as over the top as the kisses he would see chimpanzee’s give in TV shows when he was little, silly and exaggerated to make a studio audience laugh.

It clearly tickles you, as you burst into giggles and lean away from him, calling his name and gently pushing at his chest to get him to stop.

Rodney looks slightly less terrified than before, but still gestures furiously for you to join him.

“Alright, alright! I’m coming!” You shout across the yard at him. You glance back at Caesar one last time, and like a lightbulb, he can see the exact moment you register that he just kissed you, even if it was a goofy one on the cheek. Shock and disbelief last for only a moment before a full blown smile stretches across your cheeks and you bite your bottom lip to try and hide it as you push him towards the cage walkway.

Suddenly, he hears Buck give a rhythmic hoot, his face pressed against the bars of his cage and giving Caesar a knowing look.

He bares his teeth in a grin and slips inside the small square door.

~~~~~~~

It’s well past dark when he sees you again, chatting quietly with the apes inside their cages while you sit on the floor near them. Some are engaged with your voice, even if they don’t understand a word you speak, while others are sound asleep to it, like you’re their own personal lullaby.

When he picks the lock to his door with the multitool, you only smile and wave at him as he slips into the yard.

“Be careful of Dodge. It’s too early for him to be asleep yet.” You whisper. He grunts his thanks and slips away into the night.

Just as he had thought, his father still had canisters of medicine for his grandfather’s ailment. A quick peek into Charles’ room shows the old man isn’t there, but Caesar can’t for the life of him figure out where he might be. Perhaps, he thinks with no small amount of bitterness, his father had put the older man in a home, getting rid of him just as easily as he got rid of Caesar.

He knows that isn’t fair of him to think.

He finds he doesn’t care.

His father and Caroline don’t wake up even as he watches them sleep.

He needs to move on.

The fridge has three sealed metal canisters, labeled ALZ-113. Clearly his father had been hard at work trying to improve the remedy, and he picks up a canister for a closer look. A bit of fiddling and he figures out the trigger to release the gas inside, getting a strong breath of it. 

This will work. He’ll take all three of them and use them for his apes.

Right as he’s about to close the fridge door, a small blue vial clatters from the back of the fridge, right behind where the canisters had been sitting. A single remaining vial of the ALZ-112. Caesar’s brow furrows as he considers it, then he snatches the small injection based formula as well.

As he runs back towards the sanctuary, he makes sure to smash his full body weight onto the car of Mr. Hunsiker, delighted by the sound of the alarm ringing throughout the street.

Sneaking back into the sanctuary is as easy as sneaking out was, Dodge passed out in the overnight shed with the TV still blaring loudly. Caesar wastes no time, grabbing one of the keys you leant him and using it to stab right into the pressurized canisters. Thick yellow gas leaks in clouds from the new holes, and he rolls them down the length of the hallways where his kind are sleeping. He makes sure to throw a near empty one into the yard as well, satisfied when it rolls to a stop by Buck’s hulking form. The apes don’t react to the hissing in the air or the smell, laying in peaceful sleep brought on by your bedtime stories.

Caesar lets himself breathe in the fumes as he walks, only to grow more concerned the further down the walkway he goes and doesn’t find you slumped against the cage door of an ape, sleeping with them.

Where are you?

His first thought is that Dodge did something - he hurt you in some way - or that some stranger broke in while he was gone and somehow took you. Anger floods his veins as he stalks the building, desperate to find you.

He bursts into the mini office area, panic rising stronger in his chest for every empty room he finds. A sudden loud gasp from a desk startles him and he looks over to see you, clearly just woken up by the commotion he was making. You’re sitting at your desk, papers strewn all across its length as a pen rolls and falls over the edge. Your hair is mussed and your eyesight unfocused, staring at him in the doorway like you’ve never seen an ape before. A second passes, and then you groan low in your chest, rubbing both hands over your face and pulling at your skin as you wake yourself up.

“God Caesar-What happened? Did someone get hurt-!?” You suddenly stand up in panic at the thought of one the apes being harmed, but immediately fall back into your chair with a pained groan that has him huffing in amusement.

“Uhg, my leg…pins and needles, I hate when this happens-!” You shake said leg under your desk, stretching your - no doubt, very sore - shoulders and back. “I always do this, I make the mistake of thinking I can get some paperwork done and I always fall asleep…” You mumble. Caesar lets himself step closer, utterly charmed by your rambling.

‘No one hurt. Couldn’t find you.’ He signs for explanation. You nod through a yawn, smiling up at him as he looms over you. The thought comes to him that he could possibly see you like this every morning, freshly woken up in a much more comfortable bed than a work desk, smiling lazily at him while sunshine caresses your skin.

He takes a deep breath, heart fluttering as your scent surrounds him, much better smelling than the yellow gas of the ALZ-113.

Speaking of which…

“Did you get what you wanted from outside? No cops are gonna show up right?” You joke, He nods and holds up the one thing he hadn’t used on his fellow apes. The small blue vial of the ALZ-112 glimmers under the harsh lights of the office, as you stare at it in curiosity.

He explains what the vial is filled with, your eyes widening in shock and darting towards the office door leading to the cages beyond.

“S-so…you gave them all a dose of this?”

‘Gave them stronger. 113. This is 112. Want you to have it.’

If possible, you look even more shocked.

“You want…me to-to take this? Are you sure?” He can hear the sound of your heart rate increasing, panic tainting your sweet scent and making his hair stand on end in response. Ever so slowly he takes your hands in his own, kneeling onto the floor before where you sit, your linked hands resting on your lap. He coos softly at you, pleased when your breathing slowly evens out. When he thinks you’re calm enough, he moves his hands and begins to sign.

‘We can’t stay here. Ape need to be free. Not locked in cage.’ You nod along in agreement to his words. ‘Want you…I want you to come with us. When ape leaves, you leave too.’

There. He put it out there for you to accept or reject.

Whatever you want to be with him, even if it's nothing at all, he will accept it. The road ahead is uncharted territory and he truly has no idea what he’s doing, but he knows it’ll be dangerous. If you choose to have nothing more to do with him, he will honor that and make sure you’re unharmed when they break out.

If…if you want to stay with him though…

He hardly dares to entertain the thought. Making sure they live a more comfortable life while in captivity is one thing, actually joining them in their escape and living with the danger that would surely come as a consequence with it, is another matter entirely. A small part of him even hopes that you won’t want to join him, if only so you’ll stay safe and happy even if he never sees you again.

He watches as a variety of emotions dance across your face - anxiety, fear, hope, affection - and he swallows his nerves. He hopes you understand the gravity of what he’s asking of you.

“I…will I-” You stutter and take a deep breath. Slowly, he watches as your hands move to grab his once more. Your thumbs rub circles into his palms, your fingers press against the fur on the back of his knuckles. “...Will I get to stay with you…? If I take it and…and go with you?”

Hope swells like a tidal wave in his chest, and the nod he gives you is a bit too eager to be taken as a platonic interest. A smile spreads across your face and before he knows it, your face is much closer to his own. Your lips press against the corner of his mouth but are gone too quickly for him to confirm if they’re as soft as they look.

“Okay. I’ll go.” You whisper into the quiet surrounding you both. The joy he feels is nearly unbearable, and without thinking his lips close the distance and press against your own in a true kiss. 

They are soft.

You make a soft noise of surprise but don’t move away, kissing him back gently. It’s a bit of an odd sensation, still new and different, but the excitement roiling in his gut makes him want to do this again and again, until he can’t breathe without the scent and taste of you overwhelming him. One of your hands lets go of his to reach up and caress his jaw line, and he follows your lead, using his free hand to do the same. The curve of your own jaw is so small in his hand, his much longer fingers are able to tangle in the hair at the nape of your neck as he pulls you closer. You move with him, your chest pressing against his own, he can feel you breathe against him, the hard muscle of his chest a contrast to your much softer body. The pleased squeak you give tells him that you enjoy the feeling just as much as he does.

He lets you pull away from him to breathe for only a moment before he’s on you again, a deep groan from his chest leaving him at the feeling. He likes this, he likes this a lot. He could understand why his father loved doing this with Caroline so often.

The slew of kisses you share are interrupted by your yawning.

“Oh-Oh my god, I’m sorry Caesar that’s not a reflection on you-!” You start giggling as you lean your forehead against his, staring into his eyes. He chuffs in amusement and tangles his other hand in your hair as well, pressing a kiss to your nose before pushing your foreheads together again. 

“Sorry, I’m just really sleepy after today. Uhg, I don’t want to go sleep in the overnight house with Dodge though…” You grumble. Caesar picks up the vial of ALZ-112 off your desk and cradles your forearm, raising an eyebrow in question. You nod at his unspoken request and let him pop the cap for the injector off.

It’s less than a moment later that the vial is completely empty, and you hold a tissue to the puncture spot as it heals. 

“Would you…This will sound weird but…can I sleep with you? Just for a little while?” You ask him with a shy smile. He can’t deny you, the weakness in his knees makes that clear.

‘Stone bed, not comfortable.’ He warns you. You shrug and toss your tissue away leading the way out of the office and back to the cages.

“I don’t care. I just…want to be near you.” Your words send a pleased shiver down his spine, and he grabs your hand as you both walk. His cage door is still unlocked from when he picked it hours earlier, and you both leave the door cracked open as you step inside the small space. It’s not meant for more than one person at a time, it’s hardly big enough for him, but neither of you complains about the closeness. Caesar settles himself onto his ‘bed’, making sure you get the softest part of the hay pile for maximum comfort as you lay next to him.

Without hesitation you scoot closer to his side, laying half way on top of his chest and pressing your ear to the birthmark on his right side. You give him a gentle smile as he curls his arms around you, holding you close. You quickly set an alarm for yourself on your phone and toss it aside. 

Caesar watches you drift to sleep in his arms, your fingers tracing idle patterns in his fur slowing down until they aren’t moving at all.

Hope for the future swells inside him until he feels he might burst open from it.

~~~~~~~

When you wake up, it’s not to your alarm, but to the gentle prodding of Caesar.

Your eyes flutter open to see the dark fur of his chest your cheek is pressed into, and you breathe a sharp inhale as pain shoots through your sore muscles. You look up at the warm body curled next to yours to see his vivid green eyes already watching you. It seems he didn’t get much sleep last night, judging by the quiet exhaustion in his gaze.

Your phone sits next to you, the alarm turned off but still the hour you were aiming to wake up at. You’re thankful Caesar didn’t let you sleep in further, Dodge should be getting up any moment now and you need to pretend you woke up even earlier to get some work done. You shift and groan at the pain in your hips and shoulders, your muscles screaming in protest.

“How-...How was this the best and worst sleep of my entire life?” You groan as Caesar snorts. His fingers push into the small of your back, rubbing soothing circles into the muscle and making you melt against him. Your shirt had ridden up during your sleep and nothing was blocking his touch to your bare skin. The callous feeling of his fingers against you feels addicting. 

“Oh~ That's nice…” You practically purr as you stretch in his arms. Without thinking you press a kiss against his lips, and he looks shocked for only a moment before nuzzling against your cheek. You can feel heat rising to your own cheeks at your impulsive kiss, but you honestly don’t care. 

There are bigger things to worry about.

You eventually manage to untangle yourself from Caesar’s arms and slip out of his cage, grimacing as you close and lock the door once again. 

Soon. Soon they’ll all be free and you’re going to go with them. Wherever ‘with’ ends up being.

It’s just in time as well, you can hear Dodge slam the door open at the other end of the hall, stomping towards the food supply cabinet. You make sure that no stray pieces of straw are stuck to you as you get to work.

Rodney shows up not too long after and the three of you get started on morning tasks, and neither of the two men notice anything out of place with you or the apes. The apes themselves…you notice the difference right away.

Dodge’s shouting wakes them one by one as you all release the levers at the top of their cages for them to head out to the yard, but they don’t react the way they used to. There’s a quiet confusion for all of them, looking at hands and feet with wonder, taking in their surroundings with a new clarity they didn’t have before.

You feel different too, after the injection you received. Your mind feels sharper, clearer. You can remember things you didn’t even realize you had forgotten, your thoughts are racing with ideas and plans you could follow through with to help your apes.

“Good morning.” You say with a smile to each one of them. They all look back at you with vivid golden green eyes.

Maurice lets out a low hoot when you come to him, and you can’t help but snicker. You feel like a kid keeping a secret, all giddy and excited to see what happens next. The orangutan understands your excitement, sticking his hand through the bar and holding your own for a brief moment of connection before you move on.

“I’ll see if I can sneak into the yard with you all later.” You whisper to him. 

And sneak out you do, in the early afternoon. Rodney is on lunch and Dodge is hiding in the back to avoid his work duties while his father does the crossword from the newspaper. No one is there to interrupt you.

All the apes are gathered around Caesar, who stands tall as he grunts and hoots at them. They lounge over the fake rock wall and the fake tree branches, focused and intent with a new level of intelligence that takes your breath away. The crowd of them look at you when you first step inside, muscled forms tensing and getting ready to break apart from their meeting, before they register it’s you. You brought a backpack full of stuff with you inside the yard, and you lower it to the floor under their watchful gaze. Soft hoots are given as you step closer, and you give a tentative wave to them all.

Maurice, who’s standing at the top of the fake cliff edge, waves you over with a deep grunt. As you step between the different apes standing tall, one of them reaches out towards you. It’s Cornelia, her hand gentle as she strokes your cheek and then your shoulder, down the length of your arm. Her expression is warm and inviting, and it eases some of the anxiety you feel.

A small part of you had been worried they would turn on you the moment they saw you, snarling and hissing because of your position, but Cornelia isn’t the only one to reach out for you. Huckleberry, Bono, Gordy, Mickey, Fern…so many apes you tried to make happy and comfortable here reach out and brush at you - your hair, your arms, your back and shoulders - and coo softly in welcome. Caesar watches at the front, approval and warmth in his gaze as his people accept you into their fold.

When you finally climb up to stand by Maurice, the orangutan pulls you close to him in a fierce hug, his long arms holding you steady before separating. With you settling in their group, Caesar resumes his earlier grunting, and now with a front row seat you realize he’s teaching them sign language to match their calls. You already know what he’s saying with his hands, so you make a conscious effort to learn the sounds he makes while teaching. You’ll need to recognize them in the future, you’re sure, even if you can’t recreate them.

It’s hours of practice and learning for all of you, only interrupted once when John left for home. You had seen him through the windows to the office and immediately dropped down to hide behind the ledge of the cliff, the other apes pausing in their learning to stare at you. With one glance they all look to the window as well and immediately start trying to act casual, turning away from Caesar and climbing to new spots to sit and relax. Maurice very carefully settles down on top of the ledge you’re behind, using his bulk to hide you further.

It’s only when you hear Caesar give two grunts in unison that you poke your head back out and look around. The others mimic his call, and with a wave of his hands Caesar makes it clear you’re done for the day. You go and grab your backpack where you left it earlier, digging through it until you can pull out the bags of oranges and grapes you brought for today.

“Who wants a treat after working so hard? Come and get it!” You call to them all, and you can’t help but laugh as you’re swarmed by eager apes reaching for the fruits. You hand off the bags of produce and slip under their reaching arms with your backpack, hedging straight towards where Maurice and Caesar sit on the rock wall. When you get closer Caesar reaches a hand up and towards you, and without hesitation you grab it and squeeze. The smile on his stern face is soft - your heart flutters uncontrollably at the sight.

Maurice snorts next to you, and when you turn to him he’s looking between you both with a raised eyebrow, amusement in his eyes. Heat rises to your cheeks as you sit next to them both.

“Yeah, yeah, now you know. Get the teasing out now.” You roll your eyes. Maurice chuffs a laugh at your words.

‘Already knew. Could smell Caesar on you, all day.’ He signs. You sputter and look over at Caesar, who looks far too smug at his friend's words. You look over your shoulder at the other apes surrounding you, and see how many of the males avoid your gaze in a respectful manner while glancing at Caesar. You catch Cornelia’s eyes where she sits and munches on grapes with other females, and the group starts giggling - or the closest thing to a giggle they can make, it certainly gives the feeling of a giggle - as they wave at you and give knowing nods towards the chimpanzee sitting next to you. 

You cover your face with your hands, squeaking with embarrassment. A warm hand cards through your hair and begins tracing patterns on the back of your neck. On instinct you lean into the touch and hear Caesar give a pleased huff.

Okay. No big deal, you can think about being swallowed by the earth out of embarrassment later. Right now, you’re on a mission.

You take a deep breath and straighten back up, giving a determined look to Maurice. The orangutan is surprised by the sudden change in demeanor, and his gaze shoots nervously towards Caesar. You pay him no mind, simply reaching into your bag and grabbing your supplies - multiple different hair brushes and hair detangler products. Maurice looks ready to run.

“Caesar, can you please take my keys and get me a big bucket of water?” You ask without breaking eye contact with your red haired friend, but you can hear Caesar huffing in laughter as he stands and leaves to do as you ask.

“I have been waiting to do this since you got here mister. Those mats are not good for you and you know it.” Maurice raises his hands as if to argue with you, but simply sighs and turns around in his spot, presenting the long lengths of tangled red hair hanging from his body. 

You spend the rest of your evening picking out straw and ever so carefully working out the knots in your friend’s neglected coat. He’s very patient with you as you do so, only hissing when you tug on a particularly thick mat. Those ones you don’t even bother trying to untangle, simply using a small pair of scissors you packed to snip the mats off. Caesar settles next to you and chats with you both as you work, teasing his friend occasionally. They both have you laughing, and you’re even more pleased when Rocket grows bold enough to come and sit with you as well. 

You weren’t sure what it was exactly that Caesar did to get the other to submit to him, but you’re happy to see the grey ape acting more like his old self again, albeit as less of a bully. You watch as Caesar gently knocks his knuckles against Rocket’s cheek as the two of them chat. Rocket’s sign language is improving greatly, but he still needs a translator to be able to share his thoughts with you.

It's…it's nice. 

Other apes come and sit to talk with your little group before separating again, gentle hooting and familiar motions of sign language being practiced fill the space of the yard. You look over your shoulder to see Buck still sitting in his own secure cage and a twinge of sadness disrupts your good mood. Other apes sit around his area, unafraid of him now with their boosted intelligence, but a part of you still aches that he’s not allowed to move around like the rest of you.

“Could we…could we let Buck out? For a little while at least?” You look at Caesar with pleading eyes, and he stares at you before shifting his gaze towards the glass windows of the office. Neither Rodney or Dodge can be seen, and you’re willing to bet they’re both lounging at one of the TVs. No doubt Dodge would be bullying Rodney into watching whatever it is the blond feels like seeing.

With a decisive nod Caesar steps away from your tiny group. Your work on Maurice’s coat is done, he’s mat free and glossy - a little uneven but it’ll grow back - so you throw your supplies back in your pack and stand to follow. Caesar quickly slides into the doorway leading to the cages and leaves you standing in the yard. You wait only a few moments before he’s back out, multitool in his talented fingers.

You watch with bated breath as he kneels before the door for Buck, the gorilla shuffling back to give him space to work. With a decisive ‘click’ the latch springs, and Caesar pulls the door open.

Buck steps out carefully, keeping his eye on the window to the office as he comes to stand before you both. You step forward and reach out to touch, only to hesitate. 

“C-...can I…?” Your voice trembles. The gorilla stares at you for a moment before grabbing your hand and pulling you close in a tight hug that steals your breath away. You wrap your arms around his massive bulk immediately, smiling and laughing as he stands and spins in a circle with you in his arms. The sheer strength he holds means your weight is nothing to him, and you’re still giggling to yourself even as he sets you back down. 

“Oh I’m-...I’m so happy you get to be out of there, Buck! Even if it’s only temporary for now-” Buck chuffs and pats your head. You turn towards Caesar, the chimp already watching you with a tender look.

You step towards him and cup both his cheeks in your hands, leaning forward to kiss him. A shock of excitement races through you as his lips press back to yours with a gentle fondness, his own hands wrapping loosely around your waist. A chorus of hoots echoes through the apes watching you, but you don’t care, riding high on the pleasure that comes with kissing Caesar.

“Thank you.” You whisper against his lips when you part. He presses another kiss against your lips in response before grabbing at your hands and leading you to sit down on an outcrop near Buck’s cage. The gorilla settles with you both, and you can’t hide your excitement at getting to practice some sign language with him.

Buck, and all the other apes, don’t comment on how Caesar settles into a sitting position right behind you, his legs circling you from behind as he holds you close to the warmth of his chest. You lean back against him with a happy sigh, pulling his arms to wrap them around you and rest on your tummy as you practice talking with Buck.

You could get used to this.

~~~~~~~

“...They took her. They took Cornelia.” Is the only thing you can bring yourself to say when you walk into the yard.

You had spent the last couple nights staying hidden at the sanctuary to be close to Caesar and make plans for escape, and last night was the first time you had actually gone to your home so you could grab some necessities for when the time was right. You had run to the closest drug store and bought wraps and bandages, any painkillers you could afford, and anything else that looked vaguely helpful for possible injuries. 

Loaded up with enough supplies you could open your own hospital, you had gone to the closest survival outfitters next. The bored teen closing for the night had given you some strange looks but shrugged and helped you with any questions you had about basic survival tactics. You grabbed pocket book after pocket book on how to make things, how to dress and prepare hunted kills, so many botany and fungi identification guides, and anything else that would help prepare you for the future to come.

The teen helping you with everything did take you to the aisle of weapons and tools useful for survival, and had been incredibly helpful with helping you pick out a reliable axe and multitool you could carry around. It was when you passed by the wall of bows that you paused.

It had been years since you last messed with one but…what if helped? You were looking to clear out your bank account and leave no trace of yourself starting tomorrow, so what would the harm be? Again the teenager gave you an odd look but gave a brief refresher course on bow maintenance and helped you pick out an appropriate one for your height. One hip quiver and a slew of arrows bought with it followed by yet another book on how to make your own bow and fletch your own arrows and you felt…somewhat prepared for what the next day would bring.

You had made your way to the sanctuary, clocked in, put your new, bigger bag that was full of useful tools and supplies into your work locker and made your way through the walkway and straight towards the yard. You passed Rodney and Dodge in the office, the former giving you a squeak of a hello and the latter simply sneering at you. You paid them no mind and went past the rows of metal cages, pausing as you stared in shock at the bright yellow tag on Cornelia’s cage door.

‘Deliver to: GEN-SYS’ 

Now you stand with Caesar and Maurice in the yard and speak, frustration making you pace back and forth as the two apes plan.

“We’ll get her back right? They-...I know we were planning to go there anyways before the zoo but Cornelia-” A heavy but gentle hand grabs your shoulder, pulling you into the warm embrace of Caesar as he coos softly at you. You peek up over the strong chest your face is buried in at Maurice to see him sign.

‘She will be fine until tonight. Cornelia, strong.’ You nod at his words and take a deep breath, trying to calm the rising panic you feel over your friend. Cornelia was strong, and she was smart and gentle. They wouldn’t mistreat her…you hope.

“Right…right…” Your voice is only slightly muffled by Caesar’s fur when you speak. Feeling calmer, you pull away just enough to look at them both and speak. “Are you sure you don’t want me to be in the yard with you for the plan? I’m…I don’t know how far Dodge would go if it’s just the two of you in here…”

Caesar's brow furrows at your words and his hand comes up to hook his pointer finger under your chin, tilting your head up to look him in the eyes. With your attention on him, he pulls his hand away to sign.

‘Won’t risk you getting hurt. I handle Dodge, you stay safe with apes. Be ready to move.’ You sighed and nodded, grabbing his hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“Just be careful.”

When the buzzer for dinner time rang, the apes did as they were expected to, heading back into their cages. You were playing your own part, walking down the walkway in the opposite direction of Dodge, closing latches as each ape jumped down. You kept your head low, trying to not let your anxiety eating you alive show in front of Dodge.

Huckleberry, who had just jumped down, stuck a hand through the bars and placed it on your arm. He nodded in reassurance to you and nudged you forward to continue. You smiled in thanks as you did.

“What the hell?” You heard Dodge whisper behind you. You peeked over your scheduler as he dropped his bucket to the ground, pulling his radio from his belt loop. He pointed a finger at you as he walked away.

“You stay right there. Don’t do anything stupid.” You watched him go without complaint. You peered through the bars of the cage in front of you, Mickey’s cage, seeing Caesar stand tall in the yard. Mickey shared a look with you and turned to watch. You could hear Dodge speaking into his radio as he left the hallway.

“Rodney, get to the platform now.”

You made your way over to Maurice’s cage, looking for the silent comfort your friend would bring. You hated this, you hated that you weren’t allowed to be in there and help your mate. Maurice stuck his hand out of the bars for you to hold, grunting quietly. In the yard, you could see Buck gripping the door of his own cage, watching intently. 

“Rodney!” Dodge’s voice crackled over your radio as he stepped into the atrium. You watch with bated breath, biting your lower lip to keep yourself from calling out to Caesar to be careful. In his hand, Dodge powers up the cattle prod he was so proud of. Blue sparks buzzed on its end.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, huh?” He approached Caesar, who stood firm. You heard the opposite door from the office creak open and saw Rodney slip into the caged staircase, fumbling with the tranq gun as he ran up to the sniper platform. Caesar had been careful choosing where to stand for this confrontation, keeping the fake tree in the center of the yard in between himself and the lookout platform, but still the nagging dread that he would be shot clawed away at your insides. 

Maurice squeezed your hand and grunted softly, petting your forearm. 

Right. He would be fine. Caesar was smart, he would be fine.

Maybe if you repeated it enough times to yourself you would start to believe it.

“Get!” Dodge commanded with a flick of his arm towards the cage entrance, circling around Caesar and trying to force him towards the door. Your mate stood calm and focused, the steady rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed helping you ground yourself as you watched. Dodge continued to shout at Caesar to move, looking more and more frustrated by his lack of response.

“That's it!” He snarled, lunging towards Caesar with the cattle prod. It struck true, right into the meat of Caesar’s right pectoral, over his birthmark. You gasped and let go of Maurice’s hand to cover your face as you watched him fall into a crouch and pant in pain. He barely manages to stand back up before Dodge is on him again, jabbing him in the back with the prod. Sparks fly and the apes around you start to screech, jumping against the bars of their cages as Caesar gets prodded again and again.

“What is wrong with you!?” Dodge growls. Caesar manages to get some space between them and uses it to roll away from his next attack. The blond falls to his hands and knees as he loses his balance, shouting. “Dumb monkey!”

The screeching is ear-piercingly loud around you. Even Maurice has moved to cling to the bars of his cage looking into the yard, hooting with all the other apes. You whimper as you watch Caesar duck and weave some more, your fingers pulling at your hair and digging into your own skin as panic overtakes you.

You have to do something, you need to get in there and help him-!

You rush towards the door and swing it open just in time to see Dodge fall again, swinging his arm back to try and hit Caesar once more. The ape catches him by the forearm, staring down at the blond with barely repressed fury. You pause, catching yourself on the bars of Buck’s cage and taking a deep breath. You glance up to the sniper platform to see Rodney staring at you, gesturing furiously for you to go back inside.

You ignore him, watching the two figures before you.

“Take your stinking paw off me, you damn dirty ape!” Dodge hisses. You grit your teeth and snarl at his words, about to step forward and lodge your fist into his jaw like you’ve been wanting to do since you were first hired-

Caesar stands tall above him, breathing deep and baring his canines before-

“NO!”

Everything goes silent.

You can’t even hear the sound of your own heartbeat pounding in your chest anymore. You can only stare at the figure before you in awe.

And then Caesar rips the cattle prod away from Dodge and hits him across the face with it. He’s panting, gripping the rod in his right hand and turning to the apes as they go ballistic in their cages, Dodge’s unconscious form laying on the ground.

“NO!” He screams again with all his teeth bared, and you look to Buck to check if this is real. 

Your gorilla friend looks at Caesar like he’s God himself. 

Caesar turns towards the two of you, fury on his handsome features as he snarls.

“No! No!” He screams again. He paces before the cages of the screeching apes and rallies them further. Your heart races in your chest as you watch him, awe and love filling your whole body until you feel you’ll burst apart at the seams. Caesar grabs the back of Dodge’s shirt and starts dragging him towards the door back into the cage walkway, right next to where you stand. Feeling like you’re on autopilot you fumble with the handle until you can slam the door open, letting him drag the unconscious body with him inside. Caesar pulls Dodge into an empty cage and you slip in right after, shaking hands fumbling for the key ring on your ex-coworker’s belt loop. Caesar holds the cage door open for you to slip back out, holding the cattle prod up in his fist as he continues to shout his defiance.

You bring your hands up to his jaw and curl your fingers into his fur, yanking him in for a rough and messy kiss. The keys you hold in one hand dig into his skin, but he kisses you back all the same.

“No-” You pant as you pull away, your voice breathless. He grins with all of his teeth at you, fury burning in those vivid eyes you love so much.

“No! No!” He shouts as you smile back, feeling manic and crazed as you turn and start unlocking each cage door Dodge locked up only moments before. Caesar pulls open all the doors you had closed, unlocked still due to your lack of keys. Apes swarm you and the walkway as you go, screeching and cheering their freedom. You can’t help the giddy laugh bubbling up inside you, the insanity of everything overwhelming - and yet you would rather die than have it be stopped.

You hear the sound of the office door slamming open and turn to see Rodney standing at the top of the ramp, tranq gun still in his hands. Every head in the room turns to stare at him, and you meet his terrified eyes for only a microsecond before he turns and tries to run back the way he came. An ape jumps to where he stands with ease, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and tugging him backwards over the railing. 

Within moments apes swarm and start beating him on the floor, screeching in rage for all the times he let them be abused and mistreated under his watch. You feel the need to step in and stop them, but hesitate. He didn’t step up and stop Dodge from hurting them, but he was a victim of the blond’s cruelty all the same. Is it even your place to step in though? The apes care for you, yes, but Caesar is their leader.

You lock eyes with Rocket where he stands near the group of apes, his own concern and uncertainty over the punishment is clear. He gives you a helpless shake of his head, and together you both turn to look at Caesar for instruction.

The alpha himself rushes over and pushes the apes away, growling as he stops them. The group listens, separating and moving back as their leader takes control. Caesar grips the man by his shirt, lifting him back up to his feet and dragging him to a now empty cage. You step closer to watch, a small wave of relief washing over you that Rodney isn’t dead, and you don’t notice Dodge shifting on the floor of the cage he was dragged into.

Caesar yanks Rodney to a stop before a cage door, and with a stern look and gentle hand, guides the shaking man inside. Rodney goes without complaint, his bleeding lower lip trembling as he holds his arms close to his chest. The cage door is gently shut, and you smile at your mate for his display of mercy.

Behind you, you hear the sound of another cage rattling open, and turn just in time to see Dodge slip back out.

He takes one look at the horde of apes surrounding you and in a flash he dives for the fire hose on the ground. You manage to react faster, grabbing the hose and yanking it backwards as Caesar steps forward, as if to protect his people from the blond’s wrath. He grabs the nozzle as you pull it closer, and you see Dodge scramble for a way to protect himself.

His cattle prod, which you hadn’t even noticed Caesar drop, is laying on the floor.

The blond grabs it and powers it up with a high pitched whine, stomping forward with a sneer on his face.

“I’m gonna skin each and every one of ya-!” Caesar yanks the lever of the hose back and blasts him with pressurized water. In an instant the hallway lights up as thousands of volts race through Dodge’s form, his muscles spasming in place as he stands at the end of the hall. Crackling electricity jumps from his body as he falls backwards, limp and smoking.

Caesar turns the hose off, looking over at you with a lost expression. 

You can’t speak for a moment, simply staring between your mate and the now very dead body laying on the cement before you.

The apes moving closer to check the body shakes you from your frozen state, and you cry out to them.

“Be careful! The water could still be charged!” The apes closest to the body pause and jump back, looking to you and then back to Caesar.

The alpha drops the hose nozzle with a clatter, still staring at the body. The apes surrounding you both don’t seem to care for their leader’s crisis about having killed someone, instead jumping around and making sure every last ape is let out of their cage. 

You step closer to Caesar, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turns to face you in a daze, panting and wide eyed.

“It’s okay…it was self defense. He-” You pause, looking at the pink and black corpse before you. Your stomach rolls at the sight, but you swallow it down and look back at Caesar. Focus on him, on those beautiful eyes, not the body next to you. “We need to go.”

He gives a slow nod at your words, shaking his fur out and bringing himself back to the present. You both carefully step around the corpse, avoiding looking at it by watching each other still. 

“I’m-...I’m going to get Buck out. You get the skylights.” You swallow around the lump in your throat. You can’t focus on Dodge right now, you have more important things to take care of. 

Caesar takes a deep breath and snorts, his expression determined and focused. He pulls away from you - you miss his warmth immediately - and runs to the opposite end of the walkway where the gate to the atrium stairway is.

You turn and run back towards the office space, refusing to look in Rodney’s direction as you go. His meek voice calls out after you, but you let the door slam closed behind you and cut him off. You grab your stuff from your locker - hooking your new quiver to your hip and slinging your new bow over your shoulder, followed by your pack of supplies. You fumble through the key ring for the right one to Buck’s cage as you step back into the atrium, apes still gathering as they wait for Caesar to crank open the top windows.

The second you hear the latch click, Buck is charging out of his cage, and you jump back to avoid getting hit by the metal bars. Far above you, Caesar’s voice shouts commands you can’t understand, but the apes around you do, and they begin to climb the fake tree in the center of the room. Buck turns and holds out a hand for you, his gaze expectant. Trusting your friend, you grab his much larger hand with your own. With ease he lifts you from the ground and swings you, your much smaller form landing against the back of his silvery shoulders. On instinct you wrap your arms and legs around his bulky form, your fingers gripping tight at the fur under them as your thighs squeeze a little below his rib cage.

Buck doesn’t seem to care, only making sure your grip is secure before he starts to climb with everyone else. You squeak in surprise as he moves, clinging impossibly tighter as the ground gets further and further away, and your body takes on a more vertical position as he goes. Apes of all kinds run up the tree at a faster pace, and you catch sight of Maurice above you. The orangutan waves at you both with his foot before swinging himself up another branch.

The reality of the situation hits you full force.

You are currently straddling the back of a silverback gorilla, your friend, as he climbs to freedom with an army of apes being led by the one you love, at the crack of dawn.

You start laughing to yourself as you look around, apes grinning back at you with sharp canines and exhilarating joy on their faces. They screech and hoot their excitement as they go, their emotions infectious. You cheer as Buck carries you up, whooping and shouting with joy as he swings you higher and higher. The apes that reach the top first burst through the glass panes that aren’t able to open, glass raining down in a harmless sprinkle as others slip out through the windows Caesar cranked open.

Buck follows their lead, with a mighty leap he jumps up and bashes his way through the window frame, one of his hands coming up to grip your forearm tightly and keep you secure. You screech in delight as he lands on the roof, finding his footing quickly as you both slide down the smooth dome of the sanctuary. 

Your gorilla friend manages to jump and slide you both down to ground level without issue, and immediately take off down the road with all the other apes. You think for a second about asking him to let you down so you can run with them all yourself, but one glance at the way the apes speed past on all fours shoots the idea down quickly. Without a lot more practice, you wouldn’t be able to keep up with them all. Buck doesn’t offer a single noise of complaint to your added weight though, simply charging down the road as if you don’t affect him at all.

You focus on trying to keep your balance as he runs, to make this as easy as possible for him. You look around and catch sight of Caesar, running on all fours just a little ahead of you. The strength and agility of his muscled form catches your eye, and you can’t help but stare in wonder as he runs. 

As if sensing your gaze on him, the leader of the apes looks back over his shoulder at you and grins with all his teeth. You give a giddy laugh in response, your hold on Buck growing a little looser as you become more comfortable with balancing on his back.

In moments all of you crest the hill and come to a stop at a small stone wall, Caesar standing tall and looking over the city. Buck holds a hand up towards you and you take it. He easily swings you off and places you on your feet on the stone ledge, sharing a pleased look with you as he does so. You adjust the items you carry in your own back, making sure your bag is still zipped and your quiver full. 

You really, really hope you won't actually be using any arrows today. You’re certain your aim isn’t what it used to be and you don’t intend to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary, and these facts combined has your anxiety spiking high. 

You just need to stay calm. Follow Caesar and keep a level head, and everything will be fine.

Caesar grunts where he stands next to you, looking at both Rocket and Buck and gesturing for them to head northwest. The two apes give decisive nods and take off immediately, both of them giving you a gentle nudge in the arm as they pass. You smile, knowing it’s their way of telling you to be safe while they head off. The zoo sits as a landmark in that direction, and when you meet back up with the two of them and the group following, their numbers will have doubled in size.

Those apes will be needing more of the ALZ-113, and that's exactly why Caesar wants to take on GEN-SYS himself. There are apes that need freeing and serum to be grabbed. You left space in your pack specifically to fit a good handful of canisters.

Caesar turns to Maurice and grunts, signing so you can understand as well.

‘Take care of mate. Keep safe.’ He glances at you as he signs, concern for your safety mixing with the determination he feels. Maurice and you share a look and both nod at him - conviction that you will help them and survive this boiling in your veins. Maurice hardly has to lift a hand for you before you're already settling on his back, clinging tightly to the fur of his shoulders.

Caesar had originally insisted that you ride on his back during all this, but both you and Maurice had sided against him. Caesar could carry you with ease, you had no doubt about that, but you would slow him down. He needed to be front and center for all of this, to be the leader his people needed him to be during the chaos that you’re all about to plunge headfirst into. Staying with Buck and Maurice through all of this was the better option. Your mate had been unhappy to admit it, but he could see the logic. 

He looks unhappy even now, gritting his teeth as he gambles on the safety of his mate and dear friend.

“It’ll be okay.” You tell him, and you’re surprised by how confident you sound. Caesar gives you a decisive nod before grunting out to the apes still waiting for orders. He gestures out to the southwest, the towering skyscraper belonging to GEN-SYS in clear view. A chorus of hoots is his response as he takes off down the slope at a run you couldn’t possibly hope to keep up with yourself. Maurice has no issue keeping up however, his large frame easily covering ground as the chill dawn air stings at your cheeks.

Your group runs across grass and then roads, then climbs up street lights and swings from trees, moving from residential neighborhoods and into the heart of the city. You watch your surroundings go by with breathless awe, Maurice steady beneath your hold. 

When you arrive at the front doors of GEN-SYS, you watch as Caesar charges forward at breakneck speed and crashes through the glass and into the lobby. You give a breathless laugh at his recklessness even as you worry about him cutting himself. Maurice is much more careful about getting inside, leaping high over the shattered glass made by other apes also crashing through, skidding to a halt on the waxed floor and looking over his shoulder to check on you.

“All good!” Your voice sounds giddy to your own ears, and Maurice huffs in amusement himself. You slide off his back and rush towards the stairs with all the other apes, watching as employees flee in terror. An alarm rings throughout the building as you all rush upwards, but you don’t stop until you spot what you're looking for. Handy signs on the walls point the way to the ape holding cages, and you find yourself leading the pack there.

You don’t realize it until you come to a sudden stop to check the directory and look over your shoulder to see a swarm of apes anxiously come to a stop next to you, watching to make sure no running employees come too close.

They can’t read, you realize.

You know Caesar can, and even Maurice - though his understanding is limited compared to Caesar’s for now - but the rest of them have never learned. Caesar is busy keeping an eye on them all as you go, and Maurice is keeping an eye on you, so now you find yourself helping them navigate.

Determined, you look back at the directory and focus, memorizing the instructions before bolting ahead once more.

You run and climb stairs and take turn after turn before the glass panes of the room you're looking for come into view.

“There! Caesar, it's that one!” You shout and point as you run. Caesar grunts in acknowledgement and charges forward with the others, leaping through the glass and shattering it once more. The apes being held in holding cells screech and jump about in panic at your group's arrival, but quickly grow excited when you and the others begin slamming the electric locks on their doors. Circuits short out and doors pop open, apes swinging from the ceiling lights and cabinets as they go.

You do what you volunteered to do, rushing towards a cabinet a chimp was currently tearing open to reveal canisters of ALZ-113. The female holds the heavy steel door open wide as you loop your fingers into the metal rings of the canisters and pull them out. Within moments you unzip your bag and shove them inside with the rest of your supplies, safe until they’re needed. The female chimp lets the door close while nodding at you before rushing over to help unlock more cages.

Another ape steps close to you and looms over where you’re crouched.

You look up to see a bonobo, heavily scarred down the left side of his face, eye a milky white. His upper lip is curled into a sneer as he looks at you, standing eerily still compared to the chaos of everyone else surrounding you. Your heart aches at the sight of him, clear signs of abuse or torture littering his body. 

“You-” You open your mouth to speak, but stop as something over his shoulder catches your eye.

Another bonobo is opening a locked cell, and a familiar face leaps out.

“Cornelia!” You cry, jumping to your feet and rushing past the bonobo standing over you without a second thought. Cornelia turns at the sound of your voice, eyes widening as she sees you rush towards her. She meets you half way, screeching in joy as she wraps her arms around you, gripping your shirt tight as she rocks with you in her arms.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, I was so worried about you-” You speak against her ear, squeezing her as tight as you dare. Caesar steps up next to you both, gently patting Cornelia on the back to welcome her. She coos and chirps at him while looking over her shoulder, her grip on you not loosening. 

Satisfied she isn’t harmed, Caesar turns to the apes scattered across the room, giving deep grunts of command that everyone responds to in unison. It’s only then that you and Cornelia separate, rushing back into the hallway with everyone else. You manage to worm your way through the crowd towards Maurice, sticking close to the orangutan’s side like you planned. You can catch up and bond with everyone later, when you’re safely over the Golden Gate and in the safety of the redwoods.

The hallways are empty as your group rushes through, employees evacuated outside and leaving the building in a state of chaos. Apes splinter off to go down to the lower floor as you follow Caesar, coming to a circular opening in the main room that each floor overlooks. A lone man stands in the center of the room, looking lost and confused at the state of the place. Judging by how expensive his suit is, you wonder if he's a chairman or department head of some sort. It’s as if the universe itself is holding its breath as he looks up, confusion turning to shock as he takes in the sheer numbers of your group.

The tension is broken jarringly when one bold ape screams and jumps down, and before you know it everyone follows and rushes towards the front door. The man runs as best he can, and you see to your right and left that some apes don’t even bother going lower, they just run straight at the windows and leap to the ground below. You laugh in disbelief at their resilience and excitement, clinging to Maurice’s back once more as the orangutan heads down in a much safer way.

Apes scramble in different directions as you head into the heart of downtown, some climbing buildings as others run through the streets. You can see coming from the north are the apes that had been sent to the zoo, quite a few of them carrying massive metal poles that must have belonged to a fence before being…repurposed. You see Huckleberry run past and you wave to him, getting an excited hoot in response. 

The street ahead of you and Maurice is clear except for one chimpanzee, and you recognize him as Mickey. You’re about to open your mouth and shout at him to come follow you both when the sound of a launcher fires. Mickey is sent tumbling to the ground with a squeal as he gets tangled in a net, a human you hadn’t even noticed leaping out from his hiding place near the sidewalk. He starts to drag your friend towards his van, ‘Animal Control’ written in bold letters on the side.

You don’t hesitate, leaping off of Maurice’s back and rushing towards the van, screaming at the man to stop.

He looks at you like you’re insane, throwing Mickey into the back of his van and getting into the driver’s seat while you run towards him.

A sudden ‘thunk’ sounds from the car, a metal fence rod sticking out from the roof that was definitely not there before. You pause and look upwards to see a line of apes on the roof high above, Caesar standing tall and proud. He holds his hand out for another makeshift spear, and doesn’t hesitate before he launches it full force towards the van.

The sight of him like this makes your insides feel heated and your legs weak, but you force the feeling away. Mickey needs rescuing. 

Rocket had leaped down from the opposite building, using Caesar’s attack as a distraction, and tears the van doors off like the vehicle is made of tissue paper. The animal control officer is clearly panicking in the driver’s seat, slamming on the gas and darting away at full speed just as you get there. Your hand reaches out and grabs the netting holding Mickey captive, Rocket grabbing a fistfull as well, lowering your friend to the ground as the van races away.

You waste no time and pull out your brand new multitool, flicking the blade out and sawing at the tight orange rope. More makeshift spears are tossed at the van as it goes, and you laugh as you cut Mickey free. The chimp rips the rest of the rope off and hugs you, reaching a hand out and grabbing at Rocket’s own hand in thanks. You rub soothing circles on his back, speaking gently to him until he calms down enough that you can rejoin the others. The heavy footfalls of Maurice are right behind you, but he doesn’t rush you as you comfort the chimp in your arms.

Up above, Caesar watches you with a warm, approving gaze before directing his people to keep moving.

When you hear the sound of his call, you untangle yourself from Mickey’s hold, smiling at the young chimp.

“We have to keep going. The woods aren’t far.” Mickey and Rocket both nod at your words as you turn and let Maurice manhandle you onto his back once more. The four of you rush to keep up with Caesar as he leads, Rocket running up ahead to follow at his leader’s right side. Your group bursts through windows and into office buildings, leaping across alleyways and swinging from streetlights without difficulty. From the left you see Buck run up to join your group, falling into a run next to you and Maurice on the street.

The sound of police sirens echoes behind you, and both Buck and Maurice stop. Two cars are heading straight towards you, and you slide off Maurice's back and step away at his gruff growl. Buck turns and rips a parking meter right out of the sidewalk as easily as you would pick a grape off a stem, and Maurice lifts a heavy manhole cover from the ground without so much as a grunt of effort. You watch in awe as your two friends line up their aim - Maurice is the first to act, throwing the manhole cover like a discus straight at the windshield of the police car. It lands with a loud ‘crack’ in the reinforced glass, and the car goes spinning out of control immediately.

The second car swerves to avoid a collision, and that's when Buck takes his turn, tossing the parking meter from over his head and straight into the engine of the cruiser. Steam billows from the damaged metal as the car veers and crashes into the sidewalk. Buck gives a pleased huff that you smile at, patting his shoulder before climbing back onto Maurice.

“That was amazing you two!” You praise them both, and they preen at your words even as they turn to follow the rest of your group once more. Ahead you see the trolley rolling along the tracks, completely devoid of passengers. You point at it over Maurice’s shoulder, talking loud enough they can both hear you.

“Over there! Caesar just climbed on!” Maurice grunts under you and rushes to reach the back of the trolley before it’s out of reach. You lean forward as much as you can, grabbing at the open window ledge and heaving yourself up. Your feet find purchase on the decorative edge of the trolley as you hold on tight, trying to find your next foothold so you can climb up. A hand reaches down from above, and you look up to see Caesar leaning over the car’s roof and smiling at you. You smile back and grab his hand, letting him pull you further up as you climb.

Without you on his back Maurice is able to grab onto the other side of the trolley and climb up himself, Buck following without issue. 

You find your balance on the roof with ease, enjoying the feeling of Caesar’s thick arms wrapped around your waist as he holds you steady. You cup the back of his head and pull him close to you, pressing your foreheads together as you breathe in his smell. The sounds of chaos and revolution around you drown out for a moment as you reconnect with him, thankful he’s safe and unharmed.

He huffs softly as he looks into your eyes before pulling away and pressing a gentle, quick kiss to your forehead, turning to face the others as the trolley rolls on. 

You look to your left down an alleyway as apes swing from powerlines, and you recognize Rocket running on all fours. He’s looking down the road instead of at the car you’re currently sitting on, so you call out and wave for him.

“Rocket! Over here!” His head snaps in your direction as he rushes forward and disappears on the tracks before you. For one heart stopping moment you think he just got run over, but you see him moments later on the side of the car closest to you, climbing up and settling on the roof with the rest of you.

Caesar walks forward to make room for all of you as Maurice sits on the ledge, resting while he can. You stand between them all in the middle, taking in the view of the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance.

“They’re going to set up a barricade, no doubt about it.” You say. Caesar and Rocket both look at you when you speak, and Buck huffs in frustration next to you. “I have no idea how many officers, but there will be cars and guns. Lots of guns. They might even bring in horses if they can get there in time.”

Caesar’s brow furrows in concern at the mention of horses, but both Rocket and Buck share a look of confusion as they stare at you. 

It dawns on you that neither of them have ever had a chance to see a horse before, living in captivity for as long as they did. Maurice doesn’t share their confusion, and you have no doubt he had seen many horses while traveling with the circus. You look at Buck and Rocket as you try to explain, leaving Caesar to plan your next move. The trolley rolls onwards below you, apes running and swinging as they follow your group.

“-they can be great for transportation, which is why they’re still used in law enforcement in some places. Just be careful not to get trampled by them, if any show up.” Both apes listen to you attentively as you speak, nodding at your words. Rocket turns towards the apes still following behind the trolley, barking and grunting in quick succession towards the masses. Apes that are too far to hear are spoken to by others as they run and swing, knowledge being passed between everyone in quick succession. 

The few minutes you spend on that trolley feel like an eternity with the way your heart is still racing after everything today. The city you’ve known for so long looks…almost alien as you take in the property damage done by your apes, but you don’t feel regret. 

Caesar stands tall before you, his strong back facing you, broad shoulders straight. His fur glitters black and brown in the sunlight, fists clenched at his sides.

No. No, you don’t regret anything.

When he makes the call for everyone to start moving once more, you hop onto Maurice’s back without trouble and take off.

Lines of traffic mark the beginning of the bridge as you get closer, people inside cars screaming and leaving their vehicles behind as the swarm of apes you travel with run right past them all. You adjust your bow where it rests over your shoulder, your other hand fidgeting with Maurice’s red hair as he runs. Your nerves are grating on you - the thought of taking on an entire police barricade setting you on edge. This is the kind of action you only see in movies, and now you’re somehow living through it yourself. 

You can only hope that none of your apes are seriously hurt after all this.

Maurice runs and jumps over car hoods as you go, windshields breaking under the force of your combined weight, but none of the people running from the vehicles actually try to stop you. You catch a couple of people staring in slack jawed awe at you clinging to the back of your friend, but they don’t stick around long, turning and running as fast as possible.

The further you go however, the thicker the mist gets along the length of the road, obscuring everything ahead of your group. You can make out the outline of a bus sitting diagonally across the lanes, and beyond that the flash of red and blue police sirens. Caesar comes to a stop on top of a car and holds a fist up high.

“Wait!” He shouts in that raspy growl of voice. Shivers race down your spine at his call, and Maurice gives you a look over his shoulder that has heat rising to your cheeks. You bashfully avoid his teasing gaze as apes come to a stop around you all, Rocket standing off to your side and anxiously swinging his arms back and forth as he waits for orders. 

The sound of sirens comes from behind you all, and heads turn collectively to see more officers closing in on the end of the bridge you bashed your way through. 

Horses. Great.

Everyone turns back to Caesar at the sound of his growl. He points to a bonobo standing on a car roof, and you vaguely recognize it as the scarred one from GEN-SYS.

“Go, up!” Caesar rasps, gesturing with his arm for the bonobo to lead a group of apes up the cabling of the bridge and into the high mist. The group all hoot and jump to the cables, climbing without hesitation. Caesar then turns towards Maurice and gestures again, his hand going under his arm as he growls.

“Under.” Maurice gives a high pitched coo, giving you a moment to slide off his back and onto the car beneath you both. You bite your bottom lip as you watch him go with a group of orangutans and chimps, climbing over the edge and out of sight. A large number of the ones going under are females with babies still clinging to their backs, and small apes much too young to be fighting. You hope with every fiber of your being that they’ll be safe hiding in the supports of the bridge while the rest of you fight to keep them safe.

You slide your bow from your shoulder and grip it firmly in your hand. You had been hoping you wouldn’t have to use it, but you weren’t about to let anyone hurt your apes and get away with it either.

You hear a shout from the line of mounted officers, and in a line they charge at you all. Apes that had fallen behind the group struggle to catch up with you all, and the officers show them no mercy. 

One rider gets close to a chimp on the roof of a sedan and swings with his baton. You flinch at the loud ‘thwack’ that follows when his strike hits true, and the chimp falls to the ground in a roll with a cry of agony. Fury rages through your blood at the sight, and like you’re on autopilot you stand tall and draw your bow. Muscle memory guides your movement, feet rooted, shoulders square, deep breath in and let it out, hold before breathing in again-

You let your arrow loose and watch it fly, lodging straight into the thigh of the officer you were watching.

He cries out in agony and topples off his horse, grabbing his leg and staring in shock at the metal sticking out of his muscle. His pants are steadily growing darker in color around the new wound, and you swallow the horrid feeling rising in your chest at the sound of his screams. You had been aiming for his arm, but the leg works just as well, as long as it's not fatal and he can’t get back up to hurt your apes any more. His horse comes to a stop just a few cars away, mouthing at its bit as it waits for commands.

You rush over and crouch next to the ape still on the ground, checking them over as they roll onto their hands and knees and shake themselves. It’s a young female you don’t recognize, but her green eyes are full of gratitude as she takes your hand to stand and keep running forward. The other officers keep weaving between cars as they swing their batons, missing and striking apes in equal measure. You watch as Caesar yells in fury and tackles a rider right off his mount, rolling to the ground and slamming the guy's head into the asphalt below. 

You hear a roar sound off to your right and watch as Buck turns around, charging straight towards a mounted officer.

“Buck! Wait-!” You scream, watching in terrified awe as your friend meets the horse straight on, planting a hand right in the center of its chest and lifting it onto its hind legs in a rearing position. The horse whinnies in protest but can’t do much against the sheer strength of your friend, its rider frantically swinging his baton and hoping to land a lucky hit. Buck shoves at the horse to keep it from trampling him and uses both hands to grab onto the rider, flipping him over his head and straight onto the ground below. He raises both arms up high to smash the officer into the asphalt, when you hear the sound of Caesar’s growling voice from up ahead.

“No!” Buck pauses and looks between you and Caesar, then back at his own fists where they're curled in anger. Instead of killing the man, he grips him by the vest and roars in his face. 

The officer does not try to get back up as Buck runs back to join you all.

Horses without riders still weave between the cars as Caesar grunts orders for you all, and you move closer to the bus marking the separation between you and the police barricade just down the road, hidden in mist. He uses both arms to order the gorillas forward, and in an instant they all charge.

As a team, you watch Buck and the other gorillas slowly lift the bus up from one side, flipping it off its wheels to use as a barrier from gunfire. 

“Mate.” Caesar barks at you. Heat rises to your cheeks at the casual way he calls you such a title. “Horse, please.” He gestures towards the stallion fidgeting and throwing its head back next to you. You reach up and grab its reins with your free hand, careful to not startle the poor thing more than it already is. The gorillas are pushing the bus over the road and into the mist while you lead the horse over to Caesar. He hesitates for a moment when you get closer, fiddling with the stirrups that are much too long for his shorter legs. Even shortening them won't do much, he’d need a custom fit.

“You don’t need them, just keep a strong grip with your thighs and hold onto the mane.” You tell him. He gives you a nod, hoisting himself onto the saddle as you keep the stallion in place until he’s comfortably sat on its back. The sound of gun fire echoes from the bus, but when you turn to look all the gorillas, including Buck, are safely hidden from the spray of bullets. Caesar grabs the reins from you and directs the horse forward, his movements jerky and unsure. That's okay for now, he’ll have plenty of time to properly learn later.

“Hold your fire! Hold your fire!” You can hear the officers on the other side of the bus shout as the gun fire finally quiets down, and you watch as Caesar leans forward on the horse's back, giving it a jab in the side with his heel as he flattens himself into the saddle. When he charges through, the officers won’t see him till it’s too late.

You run forward and press yourself against the undercarriage of the bus with the other apes, Buck’s large form a comforting presence next to you. His deep panting helps you ground yourself as you wait for Caesar’s signal.

It comes moments later, a loud screech from the other side of the bus. You rush around to the other side with an arrow nocked and take in the absolute chaos taking place. Apes descend from up high on the cables of the bridge while even more flood up from below, attacking the officers on all sides. Chimps tackle and orangutans smash guns against the floor, officers are taken out one by one in a ruthlessly precise attack.

Within moments they start calling for a retreat, officers running for their lives back into the mist and away from your group. Rocket gives a cry of victory where he stands on top of a van, and the others join in immediately. You give a cheer of your own, holding your bow up in the air and joining in on the call. You meet Caesar’s eyes where he stands above the rest, his grin matching yours. He lets his head fall back and screeches towards the sky, canines on display. 

You’re so mesmerized by the sight of him you don’t hear the footsteps coming from around the bus.

“Caesar!” You jerk and look to the side, recognizing the man standing there as Caesar’s adoptive father from the sanctuary. He doesn’t seem to know what to make of the victorious screeching of the apes, and he looks even more lost at the sight of you standing there among them. Caesar doesn’t seem to know what to do at the sight of him either, only staring in shocked silence.

And then from under the bridge you hear the sound of a helicopter flying closer and closer, the blades peeking over the railing as it ascends. Your eyes widen in shock as the body is revealed, officers with automatics held in their hands in the cabin.

“Get down!” You scream, ducking behind the body of the car closest to you. Apes scramble to do as you command, running to vehicles and throwing themselves behind the metal frames. You hear the sound of gunfire lodging into something wet and alive, followed by the sound of an ape screeching in pain.

You cover your ears and squeeze your eyes shut as it happens again and again. 

You don’t know what to do, how can you help!? What can you do against a helicopter!? They’re getting closer, hovering just over the road of the bridge itself now as apes scramble to run and hide around you. Caesar needs you, he needs you to help but you don’t know what to do-

The gunfire stops for a moment, long enough for you to peek your head around to take in the situation. Caesar stands in the open as the man holding the automatic falls back into the helicopter with a shout. Now is your chance, you can take a shot at the pilot with your bow, make him retreat or something-anything just to get him away from here-

You see the pilot pull a pistol from his belt and start firing, and fear paralyzes you as he shoots at Caesar. You’re too far away, you won’t reach him in time-why won’t your legs go forward-!

Buck, however, can move.

It’s as if the whole world is suddenly in slow motion as you watch your friend. He barrels forward and shoves Caesar out of the line of fire, his shoulder jerking back as a bullet lands dead center in his chest. You want to scream at the sight but find you can’t do anything as the gorilla leaps forwards and over the railing, using his momentum to jump and cover the gap between the bridge and the helicopter. He lands in the cockpit, the vehicle spinning wildly out of control as he smashes his fists into the pilot. 

You do scream now, as the helicopter spins and spins in circles above you, going high into the air before falling back. The reinforced cables holding the bridge up prove stronger than the tail of the vehicle, the thin metal snapping off and sending the whole thing into a tailspin straight into the sitting cars on the bridge.

The explosion sends debris and fire in every direction, all the apes and yourself ducking behind your makeshift hiding spots to avoid the worst of it. You panic as you think of Buck inside that flying deathtrap, of the helicopter crashing into your apes, into Caesar, taking him from you-

The vehicle rolls to a stop on the other side of the bridge, hanging precariously over the edge as fire consumes the sharp metal frame. Car alarms ring out around you as you stand and rush towards the remains of the wreckage. Caesar appears next to you, running on all fours towards the flames as well.

You can see Buck, still in the cockpit, limp and dangling from the window. 

Your heart squeezes inside your chest as you run full sprint to him, Caesar using his superior strength to pull Buck’s heavy body out. You help him as best you can, gripping Buck’s other arm and dragging him onto the asphalt of the road, his deep grunts of pain echoing in your ears. 

“I-it’s okay, y-you’re gonna be okay-B-Buck…it’s okay…” You whimper even as tears gather in your eyes. Caesar cradles the gorilla’s head in one hand, and you grip one of his hands tightly between your own despite his shaking. Bullet holes litter his chest and ooze a steady trickle of red that matches the blood coating the inside of his mouth. His white teeth are stained pink and his eyes are unfocused, rolling into the back of his skull as he struggles to breathe. You use one hand to drop your bag from your shoulder, frantically pulling at the zipper without letting go of his trembling fingers. A frustrated sob leaves you as the zipper stays stubbornly in place, and you yank your bag up to your teeth to bite the zipper and pull the bag away with your free hand. 

It finally comes loose to reveal all the supplies you have packed - the ALZ canisters, handbooks, and a mountain's worth of medical supplies. You yank packages and boxes out frantically, unable to read the writing on each one as your vision blurs. Your tears burn, your throat burns, the pain you feel is so consuming you wonder for a moment if you had actually been caught in the explosion yourself.

“I-I-I can f-f-fi-x-ssss…fix it-! You’re-guh-! Gonna be o-okay-...” You choke on your own sobs as you look at the gorilla, his unfocused eyes not meeting yours as he chokes on his own blood. He shudders in your and Caesar’s hold once more before slowly laying back, his body going limp against the asphalt. His nose twitches once with his final breath as his jaw goes slack, his hand going limp in your own.

“N-no…” You whimper, your fingers tightening their grip on him. Your free hand comes up to cradle his cheek, your thumb stroking the worn skin right under his eye as you watch him. You desperately want this to be fake, a sick practical joke of some sort where it turns out your friend is perfectly fine and didn’t just give his final breath in your arms while you stood there and did nothing.

Caesar is still holding Buck’s other limp hand, and when he looks at you with such sadness it hits all over again that this is real.

Your friend is dead.

Caesar lets Buck’s head lay gently on the ground, his fingers caressing over him and gently closing his eyes. His hand trails over Buck’s muzzle and throat, down to his chest where he gently pats the strong muscle. Muscle that should still be moving and working, carrying your friend to the promised freedom of the open woods. He was supposed to go with you. You were supposed to take him with you…

You lean down and press a shaky kiss to his cut temple, your tears dripping along the length of his face. You whisper against him, loud enough that Caesar, and the apes surrounding you, can hear.

“We’ll meet again, my friend…in the flower field.” You promise. 

When you pull away, Caesar’s hand comes up and caresses the back of your head, pulling you close to him and leaning over Buck’s body. You can feel him press a sorrowful kiss to your forehead as you wipe fruitlessly at your eyes, your sobs quieting down. You slowly let Buck’s hand go and take Caesar’s instead, gripping his fingers like he’s the only thing keeping you grounded to earth. When he stops kissing your forehead he presses his own against yours, sharing your grief as you share breath together.

You press a shaky kiss to the part of his jawline you can reach. You’re going to miss Buck, and you will never forget the sacrifice he gave to make sure Caesar lived. 

“H-help…help me…” A voice whispers from the wreckage still smoldering behind you. Both you and Caesar look up at the sound, slowly rising to your feet and leaving your dear friend where he rests. 

You turn and look inside the helicopter to see a man, the same one you encountered at GEN-SYS this afternoon.

“Help me-” He whimpers, his hand gripping the edge of the helicopter. Caesar seethes next to you, glaring at the man who clearly held more power than you had first assumed. You don’t know who he is, and you don’t care to know.

His very actions led to the death of your friend.

Caesar walks closer to where the man struggles, watching with cold eyes. 

“H-hey-Take my hand-” His face and suit are covered in copious amounts of blood, his other hand gripping the safety belts of the helicopter to keep himself from sliding down the length of the cabin floor and to the sheer drop beyond.

“C-come on, come o-aughh! Ahh!” One of the safety belts snaps under his weight and he screams in fear, struggling to find a new holding point for his weight. You don’t feel pity for him, only watching with a cold fury settling in your stomach. You pointedly don’t reach a hand out for him to grab, and you watch Caesar curl his to his sides. You share a look with each other.

“Y-you! You’re hu-uman! Help me!” The man cries, but you ignore him. Both you and Caesar turn away from his struggle. Standing behind you is the bonobo from GEN-SYS, the one with the scarred face. Caesar gives him a decisive nod, and the other gives a gleeful smile that looks downright sinister as he steps forward to take your place next to the broken helicopter. 

You don’t care what he does.

You kneel and start packing the supplies you desperately took from your bag back where it belongs, letting your tears fall freely as you try not to stare at Buck’s relaxed face. You can hear the creaking of metal from behind, then the sound of screaming.

“St-stupid monkey in a ca-!” You don’t turn to look back as the helicopter falls.

You sling your bag and your bow back over your shoulder and stand tall next to Caesar as he gives the orders for everyone to move.

Your eyes meet Maurice’s own where he hangs from a stoplight, how green eyes full of sorrow and compassion as he coos in your direction. You give him a slight nod, one that tells him you’ll be fine, as you walk forward with the group. The mist thickens as you reach the end of the bridge, but you can’t hear the sound of officers lying in wait. It’s safe to pass.

Caesar walks up to you and wraps an arm around your shoulders, nuzzling into the crook of your neck. You nuzzle back, breathing in his musk and the smell of mist and gasoline coating his fur. He pulls away from your shared embrace just enough to sign to you.

‘Mate, carry?’ He gestures to his own back. Now that the danger is clear you can travel with him to your new home, and with the aching loss you feel in your chest you’re too weak to deny yourself the comfort of holding him.

You nod quietly, your throat feels swollen and shut even if you don’t have any more tears to shed, so you don’t bother speaking. You just want to be alone now, with Caesar holding you close and breathing quietly under you, his heart beating against your ear.

A glance at all the apes moving past you makes it clear that isn’t an option, there’s so much you both need to do in the coming weeks now that everyone’s free. You’ll only have small moments of togetherness like this to relish in between the monumental task of leading everyone.

Better enjoy them while you can.

You slide up onto his back with ease, used to the feeling of being carried by now, as Caesar drops to all fours and begins to run along the road. Apes call out behind you both as they follow, until the hard road gives way to dusty, worn hiking trails. Trees grow more numerous, getting taller and thicker the deeper you go. Sunlight gleams through the leaves and dapples the forest floor, a gentle breeze carrying the scent of earth as it washes over you all. Some apes give frantic calls as the trees grow in number, and Caesar gives a bark from under you. Permission granted, apes climb the tall trunks and swing from the branches while others stay at ground level and follow you both through the underbrush.

A woodpecker calls from somewhere, you see a squirrel dart up between branches before hiding in a hole in the trunk. A young chimp swings and lands next to the hole, pushing his face against it and cooing at the small animal hiding inside. You can;t help the small smile that twitches at the corner of your lips as you watch them all, their joy infectious despite your own loss. You snuggle further against Caesar’s strong back, clinging tightly to him.

“Caesar!” A human voice calls out from somewhere to your left, and you sit up right at the sound. Caesar pauses as well, standing to his full height and letting you slide down his back.

“Is…is someone calling for you?” You mutter, mostly to yourself. Who would follow your group all the way out here looking for Caesar specifically-

Your eyes widen as you share a look with Caesar, and you nod for him to take off. He huffs in gratitude before jumping up and climbing high enough into a tree to start swinging away, and you follow on foot. A heavy thump next to you makes you pause, and you turn to see Maurice standing in the dirt. He stands silently next to you, a knowing look on his face.

Like a damn bursting, a fresh wave of tears bubbles up from inside you and makes you choke as you rush into his arms and hug him tight. Maurice coos softly into your ear as he pets the back of your head, letting you cry into his fur without complaint. He slowly starts to rock you back and forth, the motion soothing for your exhausted body.

Today has been…a lot.

You can never go back to the world you came from. You don’t want to, and you don’t regret your choice, but you’re not naive enough to believe that this will be an easy life. You knew the risks going in, and yet still a part of you, a small desperate part of you, had wanted everyone to be able to make it. But they didn’t, you lost quite a few apes on that bridge, and Buck was the most devastating for you. 

As you bury your face into Maurice’s soft red hair and let your grief out. He offers no words for you, just simply holds you close and acts as your dear friend when you need him.

Feeling worn and tired, you finally pull away and wipe at your face, giving him a grateful, if sad, smile. He brings his arms up and signs for you.

‘Caesar, let’s follow.’ You nod and turn, both of you leading the way for the other apes through the trees and after your leader. The quiet of the forest allows you to settle yourself. You can pull through your grief, you can be the support Caesar needs, the leader your apes need. And you’ll carry the memory of the fallen with you into a new, happier life for them.

“You know what they’re capable of. Please come home.” A voice interrupts the quiet, and between the trees you can see Caesar standing with his father. You come to a stop near the clearing they both stand in, watching from a respectful distance. 

This man is fighting a losing battle, and you know it. You can see the determined resolve in Caesar's gaze, in the strong set of his jaw. You all have sacrificed so much to get here, and even if you go back, nothing will be the same as it once was. Not even the desperate pleas of his father can sway Caesar from the path he now walks. A path you intend to walk beside him, hand in hand, for as long as he’ll have you.

“...If you come home, I’ll protect you.” His father speaks softly. Caesar looks in the direction of all of you, standing beneath the shade of the redwoods, and meets your gaze. He looks over to Maurice and Rocket, to the line of chimps, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans all crowded behind you, in the trees and underbrush. 

He gives a gentle sigh before grabbing the back of his father’s head, pulling him in close for a hug as he whispers with his gravelly voice in his ear.

“Caesar is home.” His father pulls back as if he’s been shocked, looking wide eyed at Caesar as he pats his shoulder. He gives a shaky nod as he gently pulls away, the hint of a smile on his face.

“O-okay…Caesar is home.” However reluctant he may be to let go of him, the man before you steps away and lets his son go. Caesar walks towards all of you, meeting your eyes and smiling softly as he takes your hand. His father sees, and calls out to you in a soft voice.

“You-...You’ll take care of him, yeah?” He asks, looking at your linked hands and then your face, searching. You smile and nod.

“I will.” You promise. He nods to himself, watching as you turn and walk with Caesar.

Apes surround you both as Caesar leads you closer to a massive redwood, the trunk so thick you wouldn’t be able to wrap your arms even a quarter of the way around it. Rocket and the others look to you for your next move, waiting and expectant. Maurice holds a hand out, his palm up in a supplicating gesture. Caesar drags his own hand down his palm with the confidence of a king, nodding to his friend. When Maurice doesn’t drop his palm, they both look to you.

Your breath catches in your throat as you look between their green eyes, uncertainty and nerves taking root. They-they want you to-?

Caesar smiles softly at you and lifts your hand he was already holding, moving his calloused fingers down your palm to your wrist, holding it gently as he guides you forward. You follow his lead, letting him move your hand over and down the length of Maurice’s palm just as he had done moments before. They both look to you with approval as Maurice finally lets his hand drop back to the ground. 

Fingers gripping yours tight once more, Caesar continues towards the base of the redwood, stopping before its mighty roots and looking up into the swaying branches. His eyes flutter closed in bliss for a moment, just a small moment, that you will hold in your memory for years to come as he embraces freedom for the first time.

He turns to look over his people, your people, one more time as they all stand and wait for his lead. He shares one last look with his father, one last nod of permission from him, before turning back to the tree. In an instant he grips you tighter and swings you towards his back, and like a dance you follow his lead perfectly, sliding along his muscled form with ease as you grip him tightly. He scales up the length of the redwood with practiced ease, and over your shoulder you look down to see your people follow, climbing up and up the trunks surrounding you.

Within moments Caesar is at the top, the branches thinning and giving you a view of San Francisco that steals your breath away. Caesar holds his free arm out for you to balance with as you step down from his back, your own feet a little unsteady on the branch below, but made firm with Caesar’s firm grip around your waist. You grab onto the branch right above your head as you lean into his warmth, watching the sun set over the city you left behind.

“We have a lot of planning to do.” You eventually mumble against his warm fur where your cheek is pressed. He grunts softly in acknowledgement, burying his nose into your hair as he watches the view with you.

“Everyone is going to need food…we’ll need a clean source of water, shelter…” You ramble, mostly to yourself. You don’t think he’s fully listening to what you’re saying, but instead, simply listening to the sound of your voice as you speak. You don’t mind. 

“Moving further north would be a good idea, Muir woods is considered a national monument. It might be safe to stay there, at least for a little while.” You stifle a yawn as you speak, pressing a gentle string of kisses to the muscle of his neck. Caesar lets out a tired grown in response, his own yawn managing to make its way out. His lips curl back and reveal his prominent canines, and you watch them as they disappear back into his mouth moments later.

“I guess sleeping up here for the night wouldn’t be too bad. We can plan more in the morning.” He huffs in amusement at your words, slowly lowering himself and you to a sturdier spot to lay in among the branches. With a loud series of barks he lets the other apes know your plans for the night, and you watch as some of them settle down to sleep right where they sit in the trees, while others swing to sit next to others and start grooming each other.

You pull your bow and bag off to keep in your lap as you settle down in Caesar’s warm, protective embrace. You hear the sound of the ALZ canisters clink, and you look around at the apes in the trees.

“We also have to make sure everyone from the zoo gets a dose of the ALZ…Don’t-...don’t want to miss any of them…” You yawn as you speak, leaning further back and going limp in Caesar’s hold as your exhaustion finally hits you.

Caesar presses a kiss to the crown of your head, letting you rest. 

It’s true you both have a lot of work ahead of you, and truthfully you can’t stay in this spot all night. He doesn’t believe the police will be foolish enough to send another wave of officers towards them after the fiasco on the bridge, but he doesn’t want to chance it. After a few hours of rest he’ll get everyone up and moving again, towards someplace more defensible they can settle down in.

He thinks of your suggestion, Muir woods. It’s not a bad place to at least check while they move, a decent spot of wild woods that doesn’t see much human intervention due to its protected status. It’s certainly worth checking out. For now, he simply holds you as he drifts off, burdened with worries but content with you in his arms.

~~~~~~~

A/N:

So thats the first movie! I want to do smaller one shots about living with with Caesar as well as even branch into doing something with Koba X Reader as well (I can’t resist a damaged bloodthirsty blorbo) and if I do then I would need to get a couple other things straightened out - like if I do another recap this time of the second movie, would Koba get a redemption since having Reader be his Matriarch would def change the way he thinks and reacts to certain things, and since humans can have kids at a faster pace than apes would that mean that Reader and Caesar would have more than just Blue Eyes and Cornelius? And if I do a Koba X Reader would it be sent in the same universe where a human is the ape king’s mate, etc etc… 

I have quite a few ideas, I just need to figure out which ones would be most fun to play with and then…how I would incorporate them. So if you want to see more, and even have some ideas of things you would like to see, please don’t hesitate to send me a message or leave a comment saying so! It makes it more fun when I get to talk to others about these things!

[monkeykingdomblog2]

Fine Dining

Relationship: Sun Wukong X Female Chubby!Reader

AN: So I got permission from @skymoral to write this! I used their Mafia AU Wukong to write horny filthy smut cause I really like him ♥ Nearly 6k words and 90% of it is just straight up smut, you have been warned.

Tags: Smut, D/S Dynamics, Daddy Kink, Dirty Talk, Cunnilingus, Anal Play, Ass Eating, But only a little, Minor Violence, A random demon threatens Reader, Wukong takes care of the problem, Implied/Referenced Torture, Slight Yandere Themes, Reader loves her protective monkey tho, Reader has anxiety, Female Reader, Chubby!Reader, If I missed any tags let me know

Read it on AO3!

With a quiet ‘click’ you shut the door closed behind you, standing shyly as the meeting concluded. You kept your hands clasped and close to your chest, watching as daddy’s business partners packed up their documents and cash, shaking hands and chuckling at inside jokes. Some of the older members still had whiskey in their glass and weren’t going to move from their chairs until they were finished. That was okay, Wukong didn’t mind when they stayed over time. He had laughed to you once that the drunker they were, the more secrets they gave away.

You gave a dreamy sigh as you watched your husband, your insides tingling. His shoulders rolled as he cracked his neck, a cigar gritted between his teeth, and the sight of it makes you smile. The meeting must have gone very well if he was breaking out the cuban. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his tailored suit pants, the suspenders holding them up on clear display. He always complained about running hot during these meetings and having to take his blazer off. You never complained, you got to see that beautifully sculpted chest in a buttoned down dress shirt that could barely contain him.

You were just admiring the curve of his biceps when a shadow falls over you.

You look up to see a cat yaoguai you don’t recognize leaning on one arm against the wall above you. You take a step to the side, edging away from the stranger in a way that's not obviously rude but still gives you personal space. Daddy always told you to be on your best behavior when his business partners and their goons came to visit, and you were a good girl who did just that. That didn’t mean you wanted them in your personal space.

“Uhm, hello-”

“What’s a cute little thing like you doing in a dangerous place like this?” The cat, you think he’s a leopard of some sort, purrs at you. His tail flicks upwards with interest even as you edge further away.

“I-” You start, but he interrupts you again.

“You must be an assistant or something, cute piece of eye candy like you.” You try not to grimace at his words, remembering to be polite and courteous. “Why don’t I take you out tonight, huh? Have some fun?” You shudder and wrap your arms tight around yourself.

“N-no thank you.” You mumble. The cat stares at you for a long moment, ears pricked up and focused on you. After a beat of silence, he lets out a chuckle.

“I'm sorry, what?”

“...No, thank you.” You repeat. The leopard snarls and steps further into your personal space, and you cringe, ducking down to make yourself smaller.

“You think you can say ‘no’ to me, bitch? You’re fodder here, for us to enjoy and use how we want. If I say you’re going out with me, you’re-” His claw is in your face, index finger pointed threateningly at you. You bite down hard on your bottom lip to keep from whimpering in fear.

Another figure steps into your personal space, and you’re about to cringe and run away, when the new person wraps an arm around your plush waist and pulls you close. You look up to see Wukong, his diamond red eyes glancing between you and the cat yaoguai with laser focus.

“Everything okay, peachy girl?” He rumbles, puffs of black smoke pouring from the corners of his mouth. His unruly hair flows down his back, and immediately one of your hands moves to wrap around the soft locks, twirling it around your fingers to soothe your nerves. Your belly is roiling with anxiety and fear - fear that you’ve disappointed him by not being the gracious host you’re supposed to be as his wife. This cat is going to complain about you and Wukong is going to be so upset-

“Sorry, Great Sage,” The leopard gives a polite bow, sending you a wicked glare, “just a little confusion between-”

“When I want your opinion I’ll pull your brown nose out of your boss’ ass.” Wukong growls, the lit end of his cigar burning bright as he takes a deep breath to keep his temper. The yaoguai’s eyes widen in fear and he ducks his head, his hands trembling where they’re clasped before him. Wukong turns his body towards you, pulling you closer to him and lowering his voice to a quiet purr. You bury your face against his chest as he speaks.

“What happened, peachy? You can tell daddy.” His words should be comforting, but all you can think about is how you’re causing problems by being here. You had just wanted to visit him and ask if he would have lunch with you, and now you’ve managed to piss off this mobster and he’s going to be so disappointed in you-

“Whoa, whoa…slow down baby, slow down. Deep breaths.” It startles you to realize that your breathing had been growing quicker as your thoughts spiraled. You squeeze your eyes shut and tremble, unwilling to look at Wukong’s face, and the frustration that will no doubt be burning in his eyes at how difficult you are. You do as he says and breathe, trying to rein in your emotions and not cause even more trouble. You angle your head up, gently tugging at his hair for him to lean down. He does so without complaint and your lips brush across the shell of his ear as you whisper.

“I just wanted to have lunch with you and then he-...He started talking to me and asked me out, I said no, I said no, daddy-” Even if he’s upset with you for this, you want Wukong to know that you would never leave for a night out with someone else. He needs to know that you wouldn’t do that.

“Shh, shh, it’s alright.” He whispers back to you, a calming chirp in his voice. “Then what?” You swallow your nerves.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-” You start, but Wukong gently tuts, his claws tracing soothing circles over your entire back. It helps ground you. “I didn’t mean to upset him…He said I can’t say ‘no’ to him, that I’m-...”

“...You’re what?” He hisses. You shiver at the sound.

“...I’m fodder for everyone to use…” You whimper the words out, feeling ashamed. Bile rises in your throat that you force back down, choking on air. A low growl starts up in Wukong’s chest, right against where your head is still cradled against him. Fear freezes your veins to ice and a cool numbness washes over you. He’s angry with you now. He has to be.

You peek up at him, fully expecting to see red diamond eyes glowing and glaring at you, a snarl of disgust and disappointment on his handsome face as he shoves you away from him and tells you to get out.

That is not what happens.

His glare is pinpointed on the yaoguai still before you both, who is now trembling with barely restrained panic. Wukong uses two clawed fingers to pull his cigar from his mouth and hold it out, using his thumb to flick the ashes onto the hardwood floor. He angles his head up and blows a black smoke ring, wisps trailing from his lips like a caress. He's so handsome when he smokes…

“Bull King?” He calls over his shoulder towards his brother in arms. You watch over his shoulder as Demon Bull King looks up from his conversation with Erlang, large ears perked up and attentive. He had been casually swirling the amber scotch in his glass as the two of them spoke, Erlang looking slightly more relaxed than usual surrounded by allies he respects.

“Yes, brother? What's the problem?” The bull snorted. His and Erlang’s eyes glanced over the sight the three of you made, taking in your uncomfortable body language and Wukong's simmering rage. You see Erlang’s eyes narrow, his third eye honing in on the leopard before you both. 

“This one is yours right?” Wukong asked, voice calm. 

“Yes. New hire, kinda stupid.” Bull King laughed, his grin sharp and mean and full of teeth. Erlang snorts as well, his posture changing from relaxed to business within moments when he picks up how tense Wukong currently is. You could feel the muscles of your monkey’s back flexing under his shirt, but his body language was still calm as he observed his cigar. His hand was still rubbing soothing circles against the small of your back.

“How much?” The Monkey King asked. 

“Uh-” Bull King shrugged, rolling his eyes skyward as he thought. “Think 500 even? You wanna buy him?” 

“Something like that.” Wukong muttered. 

“Of course brother, I've got plenty more-” Demon Bull King barely spoke the words before Wukong moved, his arm leaving you with lightning speed towards the leopard. 

The cat couldn't even choke out a gurgle to plead for his life before Wukong's clawed hand was gripping tight around his throat and squeezing. The leopard’s mouth opened in a silent cry, eyes wide and panicked as his feet left the ground. The pressure of Wukong's hand around his windpipe grew worse and he kicked his feet and tail desperately for any kind of way to ease the burning in his lungs. Wukong was scowling now, upper lip curled and revealing the massive canines hidden beneath. With no hesitation he brought his lit cigar up towards the leopard's mouth.

“What should I do with you, hmm?” He purred. A shiver raced down your spine at the tone of his voice - something dangerous and cruel coming to the surface as he glared. You bite your bottom lip, trying not to squirm too obviously as heat pools in your lower belly. You feel the length of Wukong's tail side up the length of your legs and wrap around the curve of your ass, keeping you close to his side and not at all helping with the warmth gathering in your core.

Wukong brought the cigar closer to the yaoguai’s face and you prepared to watch as he put the burning filter out on the idiot cat’s cheek. Instead, your mouth dropped open in shock as Wukong instead dropped the whole cigar into the gasping mouth of the leopard, using his now empty hand to force the mobster’s mouth closed. The thrashing grew wilder and more uncoordinated, a high pitched whine of agony leaving the leopard's chest as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. Wukong didn't flinch, not even when the cat managed to land a hard kick to his shin. 

“You lay your eyes on my mate, try to steal her from me, insult her and her honor, and then try to brush it off like it's no big deal.” Wukong hisses, dragging the flailing mess of a yaoguai closer to his gritted teeth. The leopard is sobbing against the hand covering his muzzle, fat tears streaming down his face in rivers as smoke puffs out his nose at a rapid, uneven pace. He watches Wukong's teeth as they move closer, as if to bite into the fur of his jugular and tear him to pieces. The Monkey King does no such thing, simply tossing the thug to the ground with a growl. 

The leopard hits the hardwood with a dull ‘thud’ and immediately starts to hack and cough, spitting out a drool-covered cigar and wet ash that stains the fur of his muzzle grey. He heaves for breath as henchmen surround him. One of the stronger enforcers stomps his foot on the leopard’s back, squishing any breath he may have managed to scramble into his lungs in an instant. 

“What do you want done to him, Great Sage?” He asks. Wukong thinks for a moment, pulling his lighter from his pocket and fiddling with it, switching the flame on and off as he thinks.

“Get him some place comfortable for now. I’ll visit him later.” The henchmen do as he says, dragging the whimpering mess on the floor out the door without hesitation. Wukong waves a hand at another goon, who rushes up to Demon Bull King with the previously mentioned cost for the leopard. Bull King snorts in amusement, taking the offered cash without complaint and going back to enjoying his scotch while chatting away with Erlang.

You stand stock still behind your husband’s back, shocked by how fast everything changed and trying to process what you just saw. Wukong turns to you, red eyes staring at you with an unreadable expression on his face. His thumb still fiddles with his lighter, the repeated glow of the flame coming on and turning off making him look more demonic than usual. Your nerves are still frayed, and all you want to do is collapse in his arms and kiss him, beg for forgiveness for not doing what you were supposed to do-

“Come on, sweet peach.” His arm wraps tight around your waist, his thumb stroking the curve of your tummy as he pulls you into his firm side. The smell of his cologne and musk wash over you, making you shudder in relief as you bury your nose against him. Your own arms wrap tight around his waistline, gripping onto the material of his dress shirt as you walk out of the meeting room.

The walk through the hallways is quiet and tense. Wukong looks straight ahead as you move, taking each turn that leads straight to your shared bedroom. You try to calm yourself as you walk, letting the peace and comforting presence of your husband chase away the lingering anxiety you felt back in the meeting room. Before long you find yourself standing in front of your bedroom door and Wukong ushers you inside with a gentle push of his hand against the small of your back.

Your arms wrap around yourself in an effort of comfort as the door clicks shut behind you. You turn to look at Wukong, opening your mouth to apologize again only for him to hold a hand up to silence you.

“Strip.” Is all he says. You’re a good girl, so you listen. 

You take your layers off one by one, shivering not from the chill of the room but from the heated red eyes watching your every move. Your nipples harden and your core heats up despite the lingering anxiety of disappointing him taking root in your heart. Your arms go back to how you had them before, hugging yourself and pushing your tits close together as you give your husband the most apologetic look you can muster.

“I-I am sorry, daddy. I really didn’t mean to-...to ruin things-” You start, only pausing briefly as Wukong uses a finger to beckon you closer to him. Without hesitation you step up to him and his warm hands grip yours and bring them up to the buttons of his shirt. Catching on to what he wants, you begin to undress him, trailing your fingers delicately over every inch of fur and skin revealed to you. The intimacy of the moment has your breath stuttering in your chest and you can feel your slick dripping from your cunt and onto your inner thighs as you work. Wukong’s own hands settle back onto your waist, thumbs stroking the soft curve of your belly to your hips, his eyes watching your every move with an intensity that’s almost too much. You slip your fingers into the waistband of his slacks and work them off, happy to see he went commando today.

The hard length of his cock is completely unsheathed and presses against the curve of your mound and the softness of your belly. Thin trails of precum bead at the head and smear against your skin, you can feel it throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

You don’t know if you should bend over and beg him to fuck you sensless or get on your knees and plead for his forgiveness. 

Your anxiety must show because his hands are suddenly both cupping your face, his thumbs stroking over the ridge of your cheekbone as he angles your head to look up at him.

“Now, listen to daddy, baby girl. You-” He pressed a kiss to your forehead, holding you tight against him. The warmth of his chest bleeds into you, soothing your frazzled emotions. “did nothing wrong today. You were sweet and thoughtful for wanting to get lunch with me, and you were very polite before that needle dick tried to-” He snarled and glared off to the side before taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself. The anxiety ebbed away, your heart feeling lighter as he reassured you.

“S-so…you’re not mad at me?” Wukong chuckled at your words, the force of it shaking his chest under your hands. You bit your bottom lip, your hips wiggling in eager anticipation at the sound, your cunt twitching.

“No, sweet peach, no. I was actually thinking…you looked so upset by everything, it’s my job to make sure you’re happy and well taken care of…” Wukong threaded one clawed hand through your hair, gripping the strands and pulling till your throat was angled like an offering before him. You moaned softly at the action, eyes fluttering closed in bliss. He brought his lips down to the juncture of your throat, giving a teasing nip to the skin with incredibly sharp canines. You bucked your hips against his in desperation at the feeling. The previous bite mark he left was still fresh on your skin, along with the numerous purple hickeys he left. You wanted him to sink his teeth back into your shoulder and break the skin again, to make you cry his name as he marked you for the world to see as his.

“I’m going to take care of you, sweet girl.” He growled into your ear. He nipped at your earlobe, making you hiss at the sting before pulling away from you. You whimpered in protest, hands sliding away from his soft fur as he made himself comfortable on your bed. He lounged back against your shared pillows on full display, his cock thick and engorged where it leaked over his tummy.

“Well come on. Don’t keep daddy waiting~” He purred. You shuddered, feeling weak in the knees as you eagerly climbed up to join him. You wanted that cock inside you, forcing you open and making you see stars as he used you-!

“Nuh-uh, what are you doing peaches?” He interrupted you as you settled on top of him, thighs locked around his hips and your pussy hovering over his dick. You raised a confused eyebrow at him even as you rocked your slick pussy against his length.

“I-I thought…” You trailed off, unsure what else it is he could have meant. Wukong chuckles, his claws settling onto the curve of your ass and pulling you upwards, away from his hips and towards-

His face.

You stutter, gripping his shoulders and digging your knees into the mattress below to stop him from pulling you further up. He was strong enough that he could do it regardless, but he pauses for you anyways.

“You-you want-? I don’t think-” You try to protest despite the fond exasperation on his features. “What if I hurt you somehow? Or I’m too heavy-?” Wukong barks out a laugh at that, sharp canines on display.

“Sweetheart, you know what I’m capable of. I’ve carried mountains without issue! And if, somehow, you were magically able to hurt me I would brag about it for the rest of eternity.” He brought a hand up to gesture at his face, putting on a voice that had you giggling into your hands. “‘Oh, what? This? Yeah I ate my mate’s juicy cunt so good she bruised my neck while cumming.’ Come on, don’t be silly.” His hand moved to the meat of your ass and gave it a harsh slap, your hips jumping at the force. You squealed at the sting of his palm and moved forward, his arms sneaking their way under your knees to pull them above his broad shoulders.

Your hips hovered above his muzzle as you peered down at him, still unsure. Wukong’s red eyes were focused completely on your mound and the slick coating the skin of your thighs. He licked his lips, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as drool coated his fangs. The heat in his gaze made you shudder, your nipples hardening as pure want coursed through you. 

“O-...okay daddy…” You whimpered.

“Good girl. Now take a seat on your throne.” He purred the cheesy line at you as you grabbed onto the headboard for stability as you lowered yourself closer. An amused snort barely makes it out of you before his hands are suddenly gripping your waist tight, yanking you the rest of the way down and onto his eager mouth.

You cry out, back arching as heat envelopes your sensitive pussy. He wastes no time letting you adjust, Wuong’s tongue already bullying its way between your lips and lapping at your slick with the intensity of a man starved. He sighs under you, his whole body going lax as his hot breath leaves his nose in a harsh exhale against your mound, eyes fluttering closed as he savors your taste. You can only sit there and take it, moaning your approval as the thick muscle of his tongue pushes against your clit before going back down to lap against your hole. One of your hands grips the headboard till the wood creaks under your fingers as you ride his face properly. Your other hand tangles in his thick mane of hair, tugging at the strands while you grind your pussy against his mouth.

He groans low in his chest at the feeling, letting you take your pleasure from him. You let your head fall back as bliss consumes you, getting lost in the feeling of his hot mouth working wonders against your dripping hole. His tongue is thick and hot, pressing against your engorged clit before he suckles the nub hard enough to make your knees shake where they sit around his head, and then moves back down to stretch your gummy walls with his tongue.

“F-fuck, daddy-! Feels so good…so good, oh my g-od-!” You whimper. Wukong groans against your pussy again, and a wet sound echoes from behind you. You peek over your shoulder to see his free hand gripping his cock, squeezing up and down in time with his tongue as it fucks your needy hole. Precum dribbles in a steady stream down his pink length and coats his hand, the sight of his slick making your cunt clench down hard on his thrusting tongue. You need him, you need him inside you-need to taste-

You squirm and buck your hips desperately, trying to get his arm wrapped around your waist to relax just enough for you to reposition.

“Daddy, daddy please let me-I want to turn around-” You plead. He pulls his mouth off your swollen cunt with a desperate gasp, licking his chops as his chest heaves under you.

“...You want to turn around?” He pants, giving you a questioning look. He takes a moment to nip and suckle at the skin of your thigh as you try to catch your breath.

“I want your cock, please daddy-...please, I want to choke on it-” You stare longingly over your shoulder where his hand is still playing with the head of his dick, thumb rubbing over the weeping head. That should be your hand, your tongue lapping up all that musky smelling pre and swallowing him down till you choke.

He chuckles underneath you, a cheeky sound that makes your heart squeeze inside your chest.

“Well, whatever my peaches wants~” He removes the arm locked around your waist, gripping your hips with both hands to help flip you around. You shuffle and try to keep your legs from hitting him in the face, settling back down with your plush tummy pressing against the length of his chest as you lay across him. Hard muscle is unyielding to your weight, your tits pressing together on top of his waistline as you move your face closer to his cock. His fur tickles your nipples, his hands find their way to the meat of your ass, and his hot and heavy cock is pressed right against your face. You coo at it, nuzzling your cheek against its heat as precum smears across your skin.

The heat of Wukong’s mouth returns to your dripping pussy, sucking hard at your puffy lips and making your hips buck uselessly against him. Pleasure coils in your tummy and you moan, sticking your tongue out to kitten lick the thick cock before you. Salty pre floods your mouth and Wukong’s musk fills your nose, heady and addicting. You trail your tongue downwards, stopping to suckle at a particularly thick vein pulsing with your daddy’s heartbeat, and reach the folds of his sheathe. Wukong’s tongue is pressing hard against your spasming hole, so you decide to return the favor. You press your own tongue into the sensitive skin of his sheathe, lapping at the base of his cock hidden underneath with wide strokes of your tongue, savoring the salty taste of his sweat that's gathered there.

A rumbling groan leaves him from under you, his own mouth working fervently in response to your touch. You kiss and lick your way back up, drooling openly and lapping at his sensitive pink head before sealing your lips around him. His hips buck up and push him further into your mouth, and he presses a sweet kiss against your clit in apology. 

You hum in the back of your throat, unbothered, and swirl your tongue over the leaking slit. You relax your jaw as much as you can, taking a deep breath in through your nose as you push yourself further down his cock, until you can feel the head nudging the back of your throat. So much is still left in your hands, his heavy balls sitting full right below you.

You focus on using one hand to squeeze the part of his cock your mouth can’t reach, letting the weight of him sit fully on your tongue and dribble precum down your throat. Your other hand makes its way to his sack, massaging and playing with his balls as they twitch against your palm. You bob your head slowly, trying to match the rhythm of his tongue as he wiggles it inside you. It's so hard to focus when the heat coiling in your belly winds up tighter, your cunt fluttering and leaking over his face. Wukong indulges in your taste, the lewd sound of his tongue lapping at your twitching hole filling the room.

And then his fingers dig into the meat of your ass cheeks, spreading them open to get a view of your asshole, twitching in time with your oversensitive cunt. Your cheeks burn knowing that he's watching, but you don't stop, keeping his fat cock shoved as far down your throat as you can handle. A thick vein pulses in time with his heartbeat against your tongue. He pulls his mouth away with a shuddering gasp, his hot breath puffing against your heated skin. 

“Gonna eat this tasty ass out, so you just be a good girl and take it, okay?” You don't even have a chance to respond before his thick tongue is wriggling against your hole, the tight ring of muscle clenching down hard. You keen at the feeling, your hips stuttering and your hands moving to grip at the fur of his thighs. You pull off his cock to moan, the heavy weight of it leaking against your cheek as you're forced to accept his touch. You can feel his tongue, wet and thick as it presses against soft gummy walls of your ass, your pussy clenching on nothing as he plays with you how he wants. It's overwhelming, being stretched in such a new way.

You had talked about anal in the past but hadn’t found the right time to actually experiment with anything. The foreign feeling of his tongue takes a moment to adjust too, but within moments you find yourself pushing your ass back against his mouth, moaning your approval with your face pressed against his length.

“F—fuck thats…nggh, it feels good daddy-” He gives an approving hum from below as one of his hands lets go of your ass. His fingers trail delicately over the puffy lips of your pussy before sinking in knuckle deep with ease. His fingers curl and press against the sensitive spongy spot inside and the coiled heat gathering in your tummy tightens. You’re babbling now, repeating his name like a mantra as the coil finally snaps and you cum. Your cunt gushes over his hand and face, his tongue pulling out of your ass to lap from your clit all the way back up, groaning at the taste of your slick. Your hips buck uselessly against his hold, your legs squeezing tight around him as you rock back and forth. 

When you finally catch your breath again his hands are roaming the expanse of your hips and lower back, rubbing soothing circles into the muscle as his mouth suckles away at your oversensitive lips. You whimper and wiggle at his touch, oversensitive to the point of discomfort.

“Ss-too much…” You moan, aftershocks still tearing through you and making your limbs shake. Wukong simply chuckles underneath you, and within moments you find yourself flipped over on your back, pillows beneath you. You look up at the towering frame of your husband as he looms over you, his thick mane of hair falling over his shoulders and around you like a curtain. With weak hands you reach up and tangle your fingers in it, pulling him close and kissing him. You can taste yourself on his tongue, his breath is hot against your lips. His hands roam from your hips and over the soft curve of your tummy and waist, finally cupping your tits where they’re sandwiched between the two of you. His fingers sink into the softness of your body, indulging in the squish and smirking into your kiss at the whimpers you give. 

When he pinches your hardened nipples you squeal, breaking the kiss to throw your head back against the mound of pillows beneath you and bucking your hips up and into his. Despite its exhaustion your body responds to his touch, heat already building back up in your core.

“Wukong…pl-please daddy, fuck me, I-...I want it so bad-” You plead, staring up and into his molten eyes. They glow softly in the dim light of your bedroom, and the eerie glow sends shivers racing down your spine. He presses another kiss to your lips, one hand leaving your chest and trailing down to your mound. He grips his cock and drags it through your puffy cunt, smearing slick and precum as his head pushes against your hole.

“Fuck, alright peaches, alright…Let daddy take care of you, gonna fuck this slutty pussy till you’re screaming-” He pants, his breath puffing like steam from his muzzle. He licks his chops and presses inside, his cock stretching you open and making your thighs shake where you have them squeezed around his hips. His tail circles around the length of your calf, another way to ground himself to you.

“Sh-shit…slides in with ease, huh baby? Such a good slut for me, always so eager…your cute little cunt knows who owns it, huh?” He hisses, grunting at the tight squeeze his words cause. You whimper and gasp, tugging desperately at his hair as your body tries to adjust to the thick cock bullying its way inside you. Your back arches and presses your tits against the soft fur and heated skin of his chest, his arms immediately moving to circle under you and hold you close to him while his hips rock against yours. 

It’s slow and tender, the way he starts. His hips give shallow, deep thrusts against you as he huffs in your ear, his lips pressing kiss after kiss to the juncture of your neck. The closeness has your clit grinding against your waist with each thrust, the fur there tickling your sensitive skin even as it's coated in your own slick. He holds you like he can’t bear to let you go, as if you’ll disappear the moment he separates from you. You grip him tighter and press a kiss to the shell of his ear, whispering against it as the head of his cock kisses the entrance to your womb repeatedly. 

“I won’t leave…never, I’ll never leave you Wukong. I l-love yo-u…!” Your voice sounds ruined when you speak, and it has him groaning low in his gut as his thrusts turn sloppy, his rhythm lost as he loses himself. You keen and wrap your legs tight around his hips to keep him snuggled deep inside you, biting the muscle of his shoulder as the heat inside you coils tighter and together once more.

“L…love you-...too-” He moans brokenly, and it’s enough. You cum once more, squeezing his thick cock where it’s buried inside you. He follows after you, a broken sound leaving him as he shudders over you, warm viscous ropes of cum pouring into your slick cunt and squirting back out when the pressure becomes too much. You can feel it filling you up, flooding your womb and leaving you feeling full and satiated as your whole body trembles with aftershocks. You hold Wukong close to you as his arms finally give out, letting his weight settle on top of you. You pant together and bask in your shared bliss, his cock still giving the occasional twitch as more cum leaks out from him and into your already stuffed pussy. 

You bring a shaking hand up and play with his long hair, twirling the strands between your fingers as you remember what it feels like to be human again.

“Th-thank you…” You manage to squeak despite the exhaustion you feel. Wukong shifts above you, pulling his face from where it was buried between your tits to look up at you.

“...Hmm?” He grunts. You give a tired snicker, delighted by the dazed look on his face.

“Thank you for taking care of me like you do. You always come in to save me when I need it.” You mumble. You try not to think of the discomfort you felt earlier with the leopard, wanting to keep the peace of the moment for just a little longer. Wukong smiles and presses a kiss to the area right above your heart. “Course. Anything for my sweet peach.”

[monkeykingdomblog2]

Sorry I'm not dead drawing muscles 😔

But at least I drew monkey King hero is back‼️ yay😭

Tag list: @lotusloong @monkeykingdomblog2 @newkatzkafe2023 (sorry to bother y'all 🙇🏽‍♀️)

[monkeykingdomblog2]

still managed to forget about this one lmao

[monkeykingdomblog2]

This is the ancient government official version of passing notes in class omg

Shamelessly taking an incorrect quote from a cute comic to use with Wukong;

Monkey attendant: An urgent message from His Majesty. *says as he gives y/n a scroll*

Y/n: *unfurls the letter and reads, "I love you."*

Y/n: 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Ohhhhhh myyyyy gooooddddddd thats so cute

That same monkey attendant, finally reaching the Celestial Palace where Wukong is stuck in a boring meeting, his tail flicking and his cheek resting on his fist where he sits. The other celestials pay his attendant no mind.

Monkey attendant: "From your consort, your highness."

Wukong, unfurling the scroll to see 'I love you too' written, the faint scent of you coming from the paper.

Monkey attendant: "I was instructed to inform his majesty that a great many kisses are supposed to be delivered with the letter but...forgive me for not delivering them myself."

Wukong, holding your letter close like a lovesick teen: "Thats fine...I'll collect them later."

Erlang, sitting next to him with a raised eyebrow: "Show a little dignity monkey."

Wukong: "You're just jealous you don't have a beautiful mate telling you they love you while stuck here."

Erlang: "..."

[monkeykingdomblog2]

Wukong: "Pfft. Love isn't real."

Bajie, sitting next to him with a raised eyebrow: "You're literally making a marriage proposal letter for 'your sweet peach' right now."

Wukong, looking down at the multiple pages long letter talking about how much he loves you, with a card covered in glitter and cut out hearts: "..."

Wukong, threatening Bajie with his glue gun: "You're on thin fucking ice."

[monkeykingdomblog2]

LMK wukong feels like the type of guy that would just pass out if his wife called him a good boy doesn’t matter where or when his gone the second his wife is done saying that

When your wife doesn't call you a good boy because your student got a new trauma (he's fine tho)

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[monkeykingdomblog2]

How about monkey king reborn but being adorable with y/n as they finally have some time alone :3 ? 💞🍑

Behind (previously) closed doors, a moment is shared by two lovers.

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[monkeykingdomblog2]

I really really really like how he's wearing NewGod's jammy set!!!

If ur request are still open- LMK Wukong and reader trying to compromise who gets the tv remote

At the end, they let the monkeys decide who should get the remote when they end up arguing 🤣🤣

Thank you @marinasekuz for the clothes idea !

[monkeykingdomblog2]

OOO PUT THE MIDDLE FINGER DOWN‼️‼️😡

Emo monkey King 🖤💀

He's very overprotective fr

.

.

.

I was trying to make him scary looking too and I was struggling with the hands a bit (it was the angle on the bottom) but yeah and again not good at drawing y/n 💔

[monkeykingdomblog2]

How about a Goddess Y/n giving birth to Boy and girl Twins and Mk sees them for the first time????

The babies are normal human size! They can't all be giants.

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[monkeykingdomblog2]

Dude I had an idea! Can you do one of those “ fish out of water ” troupes? Where the female office worker comes to Netflix Wukong’s time line? Or Lego past Wukong? ( I’ll let you choose! )

Like a female office worker with messy hair bun, office worker shirt, pencil skirt and glasses who’s trying their best and sweet but very clumsy that drops papers everywhere and gets the boss coffee wrong ( yes. I’m talking about one of those types of women and I adore it! ) and she ended up in another world where she’s in a dynasty and Wukong meets a strange woman wearing a strange attire.

I’ll think of part 2 if you’re interested!

I actually just drew myself lol!

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[monkeykingdomblog2]

monkey i found hm i wonder who it might be

[monkeykingdomblog2]

Would you say that Macaque is that type of dad that would put his children into star shaped onesie. Why star? Cause that's how he sees his kids🥰

The moon and his stars!~

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[monkeykingdomblog2]

Can we get more Macaque and JTTW ‘96!Wukong? Fluff or smut is up to you!! :DD

He's whisking you off for an adventure!!!!

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[monkeykingdomblog2]

Even though Mks daughter doesn’t have a monkey form what do you think it would look like if she did have one? And how would it turn out for him if he and his daughter find out she has a monkey form?

After so much training and hard work, daughter finally managed to access her monkey form!

MK was bawling his eyes out after this picture was taken!!!

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